Hacking Project Lilygo-T-Dongle-S3-PS4-Payload-Launcher

[mrdude]

Great, with this latest release, it finally works well for me, using PSFree and latest release of GoldHen , so far, no issues, speed is there and stability ,(using defaults settings, and didn't need to increase usb time). Thanks @mrdude

That's good to hear, I didn't know you were having issues with previous releases though so you probably should have said as everything was working ok for me?

Anyway the upcoming micro sd card code seems to be working for now, See screenshot:

Because the transfers need to go via micro sd via the chip I can only get about 1MBps write speed, read speed is a bit faster though. So it will be ok for storing small homebrew apks on such as homebrew store etc that you can install to the PS4 - so for that reason I'm going to make the sdcard FAT32 only compatible or the dongle will go into a boot loop when trying to mount exfat or ntfs etc. As a bonus you can use the dongle in a computer as a storage device or emergency sd card reader/writer when not in use. (although the card will need to be formatted to fat32 first). Personally I just take the card out of the dongle and use a usb3 reader to transfer the files and then put the card into the dongle. Another issue I need to solve it the speed to mount the sd card as it seems to take about 30/40 seconds for the dongle to mount, although this could just be a hardware limitation? Anyhow things are underway so expect a new release with that support soon.

 

[Maupiti]

That's good to hear, I didn't know you were having issues with previous releases though so you probably should have said as everything was working ok for me?

Well, didn't have time to report as I just tested your previous release last night coming from work, and didn't work for me, tired and went to sleep, and this morning waking up saw your fixed update
Loosing wifi on the dongle either on PC or PS4 was the issue I think, but you fixed it

 

[mrdude]

Well, didn't have time to report as I just tested your previous release last night coming from work, and didn't work for me, tired and went to sleep, and this morning waking up saw your fixed update
Loosing wifi on the dongle either on PC or PS4 was the issue I think, but you fixed it

I've done all the sdcard code now, I thought that PS4 was supposed to be able to read fat32 drives? The dongle shows up in my pc as fat32 and it can be formatted as fat 32 etc, but for some reason when I put it in the PS4 it says the drive is unsupported.....hmmmm! I was expecting that it would work ok after glitching to be able to use for installing pgk files, but alas no!

I'm using this driver here (which is only for fat32).
https://docs.espressif.com/projects/esp-idf/en/stable/esp32/api-reference/storage/fatfs.html

I can't find any exfat driver that works with the esp32-s3 for sd cards, so I guess for the meantime sd support with only be useful on a PC.

EDIT: SUCCESS, I managed to get it all working now with the microsd card, I had to change the partition type from gpt to mbr, and then format with a different block size and mark the partiton as active, after that it still says on the ps4 the file system is unsuported but it works fine and you can install pgk's from it

 

[Maupiti]

I've done all the sdcard code now, I thought that PS4 was supposed to be able to read fat32 drives? The dongle shows up in my pc as fat32 and it can be formatted as fat 32 etc, but for some reason when I put it in the PS4 it says the drive is unsupported.....hmmmm! I was expecting that it would work ok after glitching to be able to use for installing pgk files, but alas no!

I'm using this driver here (which is only for fat32).
https://docs.espressif.com/projects/esp-idf/en/stable/esp32/api-reference/storage/fatfs.html

I can't find any exfat driver that works with the esp32-s3 for sd cards, so I guess for the meantime sd support with only be useful on a PC.

EDIT: SUCCESS, I managed to get it all working now with the microsd card, I had to change the partition type from gpt to mbr, and then format with a different block size and mark the partiton as active, after that it still says on the ps4 the file system is unsuported but it works fine and you can install pgk's from it

Will give it a try when I come back from skiing (I work and leave in the french Alpes), the firmware in the OP is the right one I suppose ? Thanks for all your hard work and supporting this really nice project


Bytw, if I want to customize the display screen, everything is on the source code right ?, haven't look yet, but many thanks for providing it

 

[mrdude]

Will give it a try when I come back from skiing (I work and leave in the french Alpes), the firmware in the OP is the right one I suppose ? Thanks for all your hard work and supporting this really nice project


Bytw, if I want to customize the display screen, everything is on the source code right ?, haven't look yet, but many thanks for providing it

I haven't updated the OP yet as I need to make a few tweaks to the code and I'm busy for the rest of the day so I'll probably update over the weekend at some point. The display name isn't in the source code, it is baked into the chip the same as the mac address is. This is what gets reported by esptool when you look at chip info. Theres nothing you can do to change it.

Post automatically merged: Feb 22, 2024

YES. I now got exfat working as well so we can install from any size micro sd card! I tested with a 256GB sandisK Ultra, and surprisingly It was rather simple and only involved doing this.

1st we need to totaly wipe our sd card, change to mbr and then create 2 or more partitons. We do it like this:

In windows open a command prompt and type "diskpart". A command prompt window pops up and then you type this:

list disk (look for your sd card)
select disk 2 (or whatever number your sd card is)
clean (this will wipe the disk)
convert mbr (this is mandatory)

OK now that's done, close the diskpart program. In another command prompt type this:

diskmgmt.msc

We will create a very small fat32 partition of 4GB (4096mb), (the smaller the better as it loads faster, but 4gb is fine)
In the remaining space create an exfat partition, just like in this picture where I made an 8gb fat32 and 230gb exfat partition.

Go to your first fat32 partition, right click and make the partition active:

OK, now when you use on the ps4 (inside the dongle), you will get a popup saying the file system is unsupported - this is good because we know the drive is mounted. We can then run PS4-Xplorer 2.02 and look at usb drive 0 and 1 and can install from both partitions, the fat32 and the Exfat. Also on PC both partitions will show up.

I've got a couple of tweaks to do to the firmware and an option to put in the config page for this, the dongle button code is already done for mounting and unmounting on PC and PS4. But so far so good. I expect to release this at the weekend, so look forward to that. That will be my last dongle update probably for a long time as I will be working on other projects, because of this I will post the source code so that you can mess about with it yourself.

 

[Ashish999]

Is this T dongle working?? It's not lilygo...

 

[mrdude]

Is this T dongle working?? It's not lilygo...

There's two different lcd screen types so it depends what one that manufacturer uses., the firmware in the OP will work on it but it might not work with the lcd screen. I imagine the button and onboard led pins are the same and they are using the same type of addressable led. You can't tell from that picture though. it would most likely work, but why take the chance? The lilygo version is as cheap as chips as it is.

 

[Ashish999]

There's two different lcd screen types so it depends what one that manufacturer uses., the firmware in the OP will work on it but it might not work with the lcd screen. I imagine the button and onboard led pins are the same and they are using the same type of addressable led. You can't tell from that picture though. it would most likely work, but why take the chance? The lilygo version is as cheap as chips as it is.

In our country it's only available.. I ordered it.. no problem with display.. i want stability... Esp32s2 doesn't stability... I have 4 different esp32s2 but all of now useless...

 

[Maupiti]

I haven't updated the OP yet as I need to make a few tweaks to the code and I'm busy for the rest of the day so I'll probably update over the weekend at some point. The display name isn't in the source code, it is baked into the chip the same as the mac address is. This is what gets reported by esptool when you look at chip info. Theres nothing you can do to change

In our country it's only available.. I ordered it.. no problem with display.. i want stability... Esp32s2 doesn't stability... I have 4 different esp32s2 but all of now useless...

Humm, I have an Esp32-S2 dongle working flawlessly with PSFree and Ps-Phive! Selfhosted and also a custom dongle with Esp32-S2 mini

 

[laz305]

O boy let me go get a sd card ready. I can’t believe I’m just now learning that the LilyGo has a sd card slot lol and now we can utilize it you the man Mrdude!!

Post automatically merged: Feb 26, 2024

how do you clean it? i type disk 2 clean and nothing happens

EDIT: I think I got it lol

 

[mrdude]

O boy let me go get a sd card ready. I can’t believe I’m just now learning that the LilyGo has a sd card slot lol and now we can utilize it you the man Mrdude!!

Post automatically merged: Feb 26, 2024

how do you clean it? i type disk 2 clean and nothing happens

EDIT: I think I got it lol

You'll probably get a test release in the next hour or so, I am just cleaning up some code and then I'll post in here so you can test it and see if you can find any bugs.

 

[laz305]

ok the first part was able to do but then what? need more detail on how to create partition. cuz I'm stuck with this that I can't do anything with

Post automatically merged: Feb 27, 2024

Ok I managed to do the rest following this guide
https://www.techtarget.com/searchwi...t-to-create-extend-or-delete-a-disk-partition
But now it won’t let me make it active

 

[mrdude]

See above for setting up your micro sd card:

Button Functions:
1 short click - mount or unmount the micro sd card.
2 short clicks - reboot dongle
3 or more short clicks - trigger factory reset to clean all files and configs.
1 Long click - remove config files/keep other files.

Mounting and Ejecting the SD card - can also be done from the dongles Admin page (http://1.2.3.4/admin.html).

Bug Fixes: No Dongle restarts between glitching functions, this allows for a more stable glitch.
If you don't select deep sleep after the payload has been sent, only the onboard led and lcd goes out - wifi is still enabled until your sleep timer expires (if you set it), this is to allow you to mount the sd card via the web interface if you want to install pgk's from it. Also it makes sure that the payload is fully sent before the dongle shuts down.

Lot's of under the hood fixes, PSFree is now the default mode of operation as this is now very stable. So wipe your dongle on the first install and just leave all the default settings and you should have a very stable glitching experience.

Sd enabled - this means you can use a micro sd card in the dongle and can be used as a storage device on a computer or for installing pkg files on your PS4, both fat32 and exfat work, but you need to follow the instructions above to get this working properly. Enjoy!

Note: IF USING ON A PC, disable the sleep timer from the admin page as you don't want the dongle shutting down when reading/writing files as you could corrupt your micro sd card.

If you find any bugs, report so they can be fixed.

 

[laz305]

And the source you said you were gonna post.

 

[mrdude]

And the source you said you were gonna post.

I'll post it when I'm ready to post it, I still have to clean it up and tweak some bits. You don't need it for now.

 

[Ashish999]

See above for setting up your micro sd card:

Button Functions:
1 short click - mount or unmount the micro sd card.
2 short clicks - reboot dongle
3 or more short clicks - trigger factory reset to clean all files and configs.
1 Long click - remove config files/keep other files.

Mounting and Ejecting the SD card - can also be done from the dongles Admin page (http://1.2.3.4/admin.html).

Bug Fixes: No Dongle restarts between glitching functions, this allows for a more stable glitch.
If you don't select deep sleep after the payload has been sent, only the onboard led and lcd goes out - wifi is still enabled until your sleep timer expires (if you set it), this is to allow you to mount the sd card via the web interface if you want to install pgk's from it. Also it makes sure that the payload is fully sent before the dongle shuts down.

Lot's of under the hood fixes, PSFree is now the default mode of operation as this is now very stable. So wipe your dongle on the first install and just leave all the default settings and you should have a very stable glitching experience.

Sd enabled - this means you can use a micro sd card in the dongle and can be used as a storage device on a computer or for installing pkg files on your PS4, both fat32 and exfat work, but you need to follow the instructions above to get this working properly. Enjoy!

Note: IF USING ON A PC, disable the sleep timer from the admin page as you don't want the dongle shutting down when reading/writing files as you could corrupt your micro sd card.

If you find any bugs, report so the

See above for setting up your micro sd card:

Button Functions:
1 short click - mount or unmount the micro sd card.
2 short clicks - reboot dongle
3 or more short clicks - trigger factory reset to clean all files and configs.
1 Long click - remove config files/keep other files.

Mounting and Ejecting the SD card - can also be done from the dongles Admin page (http://1.2.3.4/admin.html).

Bug Fixes: No Dongle restarts between glitching functions, this allows for a more stable glitch.
If you don't select deep sleep after the payload has been sent, only the onboard led and lcd goes out - wifi is still enabled until your sleep timer expires (if you set it), this is to allow you to mount the sd card via the web interface if you want to install pgk's from it. Also it makes sure that the payload is fully sent before the dongle shuts down.

Lot's of under the hood fixes, PSFree is now the default mode of operation as this is now very stable. So wipe your dongle on the first install and just leave all the default settings and you should have a very stable glitching experience.

Sd enabled - this means you can use a micro sd card in the dongle and can be used as a storage device on a computer or for installing pkg files on your PS4, both fat32 and exfat work, but you need to follow the instructions above to get this working properly. Enjoy!

Note: IF USING ON A PC, disable the sleep timer from the admin page as you don't want the dongle shutting down when reading/writing files as you could corrupt your micro sd card.

If you find any bugs, report so they can be fixed.

bro if I don't use SD card and it will work with psfree with this new Firmware?? I don't want to use SD card, just want stable psfree exploiting without any KP...

 

[mrdude]

bro if I don't use SD card and it will work with psfree with this new Firmware?? I don't want to use SD card, just want stable psfree exploiting without any KP...

Yes it should do. all that will happen if you try to mount an sd card is - Nothing! The sd card code is just an extra feature to make use of the sd card slot. It works fine without an sd card as well.

 

[Ashish999]

There's two different lcd screen types so it depends what one that manufacturer uses., the firmware in the OP will work on it but it might not work with the lcd screen. I imagine the button and onboard led pins are the same and they are using the same type of addressable led. You can't tell from that picture though. it would most likely work, but why take the chance? The lilygo version is as cheap as chips as it is.

Bro this is the company named spotpear....

https://www.spotpear.com/index/product/detail/id/1235.html

Post automatically merged: Feb 27, 2024

Bro this is the company named spotpear....

https://www.spotpear.com/index/product/detail/id/1235.html

Same as lilygo...

 

[mrdude]

Bro this is the company named spotpear....

https://www.spotpear.com/index/product/detail/id/1235.html

Post automatically merged: Feb 27, 2024

Same as lilygo...

That just looks like a clone and although it says the lcd screen is ST7735, these can contain different chipsets and need different drivers. I know this for a fact because I broke my screen and ordered a replacement, even though it fitted fine and was ST7735 it used a differet chip to drive it and I needed to get drivers from Adafruit, at first I though the display was faulty, because the graphics looked corrupted, but once I used the different drivers it was fine. Now I don't know what parts are in a cloned dongle, but as the one I am using came straight from lilygo's Ali express shop, I only use the drivers for those. That dongle you linked might work fine, but it is a clone and for the same price or cheaper you can get the original Lilygo board from Ali express for £8.55 ($13.32) with free postage. Why take the risk to save a few cents?

 

[laz305]

Has anybody else been able to get the sd card too work? And when flashing the 3 files do we just do 1 after the other without removing it from usb? Or we have to put it in flash mode every time?