Scramble vs unscramble bin

[dospro]

Whats the difference between them?
Which one tuns on DC?

[BlackAura]

An unscrambled binary is a plain memory dump of a program. It can be loaded quite simply, by copying it into the appropriate place in memory, and jumping to it.

The Dreamcast's bootloader doesn't load the 1ST_READ.BIN file normally. For some reason, it rearranges parts of it. So, when the file is loaded into memory, it doesn't really resemble the file on the disc. If you try loading a normal binary in this way, it won't work.

So, scrambling rearranges the parts of the binary so that, when loaded by the Dreamcast's bootloader, it becomes de-scrambled.

Basically, if you're self-booting something, a scrambled binary is required.

[dospro]

To boot it from DC i use Demomenu. What do you think is the working one?
unscramble too? or scramble?

[mankrip]

So it's the IP.BIN the reason for the scrambled binaries? Would it be possible to make an IP.BIN which works with unscrambled binaries then?

[LyingWake]

http://www.consolevision.com/members/fa ... info.shtml

So it's the IP.BIN the reason for the scrambled binaries? Would it be possible to make an IP.BIN which works with unscrambled binaries then?

Ip.bin just directs the Dreamcast to the main binary.

The Dreamcast loads them in a specific way, which is the reasoning for the needs of scrambling and unscrambling. That's what I've always known.

EDIT: I didn't read you post BlackAura when I posted that, but you explanation gives me a perfect understanding of how it works.

[dospro]

ok. thanks very usefull.
The only bad part is that my application is still not working on the DC.
It works on windows, onlinux but not on DC...tooo bad.

[LyingWake]

*bump*

I was curious because I came across DreamSpec which is a Katana program. How does the Dreamcast load these things? Is it any different than the KOS programs? What exactly does the BINHACK tool ECHELON created do?

[BlackAura]

How does the Dreamcast load these things?

Same way, basically.

From a GD-ROM, it seems to load the binary without scrambling it. When loading from a CD, it does the scrambling thing.

What exactly does the BINHACK tool ECHELON created do?

Katana's disc reading code is a little simpler than KOS's. It makes the assumption that it's running from a GD-ROM, and that all the data is on the second session. Reasonable assumptions, since Katana apps were only ever meant to run off a GD-ROM. So, it has the LBA address of the high density session hard-coded into it (from memory, I think it's 45000). It also checks to see if it is running off a GD-ROM by checking the media type.

Binhack replaces that LBA address with a different one, so it'll run off a CD. It also changes the media checking code. I think it might also remove some copy protection bits that might be present in commercial apps.

For DreamSpec, it would only be changing the LBA and media type.

[Masen]

Is there anyway to boot an unscrambled bin file created with kos ??

[OneThirty8]

Is there anyway to boot an unscrambled bin file created with kos ??

They won't selfboot unless you scramble them, but you can load them with DemoMenu or DCHakker, which you should be able to find at http://dchomebrew.org . Load one of those programs, press "Y" on your control pad, and it will allow you to load an unscrambled binary.

You should be able to find tools to scramble your bins at:
http://www.dcemulation.org/neededtools.htm
http://www.consolevision.com/dreamcast/needed/
http://dcevolution.net/DCHelp/index.php?id=apps

I suggest fackue's file checker, which you can find on the third page I linked to above.