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Flash uploader tool
Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2021 2:40 am
by Red Ring Rico
Hi, there,
I've been looking to try and figure out more about the Flash contents of the Dreamcast so I made a tool to dump and upload the contents. There's no front-end for going through the dumps, though they are all available to download as-is in a compressed format (
https://flash.y2k1.dev/dump/all-dumps.tar.xz).
I failed in creating a CDI and made a few coasters, hence why there isn't one. Sorry about that. If anyone can help me out with that, I'd appreciate it.
I don't know how much the PSO access key and serial number are guarded (partition 2, block 7), but I decided to blank that out before it gets uploaded.
I haven't tried the GDI due to not owning an ODE. It's only been tested with Flycast.
Here's the location of the client-side files to burn/copy:
https://flash.y2k1.dev/?version=latest.
The dumps are uploaded to their own directory, based off the console ID. As an example, here's one I made:
https://flash.y2k1.dev/?id=D0C428151DA.
Only detected partitions will be uploaded.
Client files:
BINCUE.tar.xz - CUE with BIN files
FLASH.cim.tar.xz - CIM file, mostly useless but I added it for completeness
Flash.iso.tar.xz - ISO file works for DreamShell
GDI.tar.xz - GDI file for emulators/ODEs
Loose.tar.xz - The files outside any image format
I'm expecting there to still be issues and I most likely haven't thought of all edge cases.
Basic usage is to press Start to connect (for the BBA, it will attempt to ping your default gateway to confirm a connection has been made) and A to upload. Y will disconnect the network device when the upload is not in progress. The partition numbers are displayed after they are discovered when starting the upload.
Re: Flash uploader tool
Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2021 9:40 am
by MoeFoh
Rollup of client side files in ZIP format to facilitate Windows users.
Re: Flash uploader tool
Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2021 8:05 pm
by SMiTH
MADE A QUICK SELFBOOT CDI FOR YA
Re: Flash uploader tool
Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2021 8:24 pm
by Red Ring Rico
Much appreciated. Thanks, guys
.
Re: Flash uploader tool
Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2021 7:57 am
by TapamN
I was also interested in the Dreamcast's flash RAM, and wrote a program to display some of the stuff stored in flash. The MAME source describes some of the factory settings, and I figured out some of the game record format. I started a bit on getting it to display internet settings, but the way I was planning to do it wouldn't have worked out. Sega's [url=
https://en.sega-dreamcast-info-games-pr ... t=internal internet flash settings tool[/url] would work best for that at the moment.
I cleaned up a bit and included the source for what I finished on my flash viewer.
One odd thing about the flash is that Codebreaker stores some code in it for some reason.
Re: Flash uploader tool
Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2021 8:32 am
by MoeFoh
TapamN wrote:I was also interested in the Dreamcast's flash RAM, and wrote a program to display some of the stuff stored in flash. The MAME source describes some of the factory settings, and I figured out some of the game record format. I started a bit on getting it to display internet settings, but the way I was planning to do it wouldn't have worked out. Sega's [url=
https://en.sega-dreamcast-info-games-pr ... t=internal internet flash settings tool[/url] would work best for that at the moment.
I cleaned up a bit and included the source for what I finished on my flash viewer.
One odd thing about the flash is that Codebreaker stores some code in it for some reason.
Useful information from Marcus:
http://mc.pp.se/dc/flashmem.html
Re: Flash uploader tool
Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2023 10:14 pm
by deluxux
bump
Re: Flash uploader tool
Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2024 8:29 am
by RazorX
Red Ring Rico wrote: ↑Tue Nov 09, 2021 2:40 am
Hi, there,
I've been looking to try and figure out more about the Flash contents of the Dreamcast so I made a tool to dump and upload the contents. There's no front-end for going through the dumps, though they are all available to download as-is in a compressed format (
https://flash.y2k1.dev/dump/all-dumps.tar.xz).
I failed in creating a CDI and made a few coasters, hence why there isn't one. Sorry about that. If anyone can help me out with that, I'd appreciate it.
I don't know how much the PSO access key and serial number are guarded (partition 2, block 7), but I decided to blank that out before it gets uploaded.
I haven't tried the GDI due to not owning an ODE. It's only been tested with Flycast.
Here's the location of the client-side files to burn/copy:
https://flash.y2k1.dev/?version=latest.
The dumps are uploaded to their own directory, based off the console ID. As an example, here's one I made:
https://flash.y2k1.dev/?id=D0C428151DA.
Only detected partitions will be uploaded.
Client files:
BINCUE.tar.xz - CUE with BIN files
FLASH.cim.tar.xz - CIM file, mostly useless but I added it for completeness
Flash.iso.tar.xz - ISO file works for DreamShell
GDI.tar.xz - GDI file for emulators/ODEs
Loose.tar.xz - The files outside any image format
I'm expecting there to still be issues and I most likely haven't thought of all edge cases.
Basic usage is to press Start to connect (for the BBA, it will attempt to ping your default gateway to confirm a connection has been made) and A to upload. Y will disconnect the network device when the upload is not in progress. The partition numbers are displayed after they are discovered when starting the upload.
i don't know if you've seen some of my other software such as my pso tool gui but i'm a huge pso fan and dreamcast fan in general and have made a few bits of software for it, if possible i'd love for you to make a cdi that does nothing but erase the pso snak from the dreamcasts flash so i can recommend that with my software over the current flash eraser which erases the entire flash.
if you could do that i'd really appreciate it, also let me know if the snak stored on the flash is plain text or encrypted in some way, thanks.
Re: Flash uploader tool
Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2024 9:06 am
by Red Ring Rico
I just checked it out. Very cool tool.
I can do. I've been meaning to do the same for other potentially sensitive fields, such as email and password information. Figuring that it wouldn't be valid anymore was an oversight on my part.
I'll create a version that has the ability to just delete the PSO information for now.
Re: Flash uploader tool
Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2024 9:25 am
by RazorX
Red Ring Rico wrote: ↑Sun Oct 13, 2024 9:06 am
I just checked it out. Very cool tool.
I can do. I've been meaning to do the same for other potentially sensitive fields, such as email and password information. Figuring that it wouldn't be valid anymore was an oversight on my part.
I'll create a version that has the ability to just delete the PSO information for now.
thank you, if possible please kill two birds with one stone and have it tell you the snak stored in the flashrom as well as give you the ability to erase it, i know a few people who used my pso tool gui simply to recover their snak from the save because it was a very old save and since then they got rid of the console etc and now when getting back into the scene they want to play their old save again.
if you're able to make a selfboot cdi for that then i will replace the flash eraser link for yours instead so they don't also loose their dreampi settings as well as anything else stored in flash.