PS2 NHDDL by pcm720

[jolek]

This is an obsolete discussion.
The proper one is here:
https://www.psx-place.com/threads/nhddl.45053/.

NHDDL - a PS2 exFAT BDM launcher for Neutrino

About Usage Configuration files

• NHDDL is a memory card-based launcher that scans FAT-formatted BDM devices for ISO files, lists them and boots selected ISO via Neutrino.
  It displays visual Game ID to trigger per-game settings on the Pixel FX line of products and writes to memory card history file before launching the title, triggering per-title memory cards on SD2PSX and MemCard PRO 2.
  
  It will not boot ISOs from anything other than BDM devices.
  GSM, PADEMU, IGR and other stuff is out-of-scope of this launcher.
• Usage
  
  Just put the ELF file into Neutrino folder on your memory card and launch it.
  By default, NHDDL initializes ATA modules and looks for ISOs on internal HDD.
  Supported BDM devices
  
  NHDDL reuses Neutrino modules for BDM support and requires them to be present in Neutrino modules directory.
  
  ATA
  Make sure that Neutrino modules directory contains the following IRX files:
  
  • bdm.irx
  • isofs.irx
  • bdmfs_fatfs.irx
  • dev9_ns.irx
  • ata_bd.irx
  
  MX4SIO
  The following files are required for MX4SIO:
  
  • bdm.irx
  • isofs.irx
  • bdmfs_fatfs.irx
  • mx4sio_bd_mini.irx
  
  USB
  The following files are required for USB:
  
  • bdm.irx
  • isofs.irx
  • bdmfs_fatfs.irx
  • usbd_mini.irx
  • usbmass_bd_mini.irx
  
  UDPBD
  The following files are required for UDPBD:
  
  • bdm.irx
  • isofs.irx
  • bdmfs_fatfs.irx
  • dev9_ns.irx
  • smap_udpbd.irx
  
  UDPBD module requires PS2 IP address to work.
  NHDDL attempts to retrieve PS2 IP address from the following sources:
  
  • udpbd_ip flag in nhddl.yml
  • SYS-CONF/IPCONFIG.DAT on the memory card (usually created by w/uLaunchELF)
  udpbd_ip flag takes priority over IPCONFIG.DAT.
  
  See this section for details on nhddl.yml.
  
  Storing ISO
  
  Just like OPL, NHDDL looks for ISOs in directories named CD or DVD. There is no distinction between CD and DVD images, both can be placed in any of those two directories.
  
  Displaying cover art
  
  NHDDL uses the same file naming convention and file format used by OPL.
  Just put 140x200 PNG files named <title ID>_COV.png (e.g. SLUS_200.02_COV.png) into the ART directory on the root of your HDD.
  If unsure where to get your cover art from, check out the latest version of OPL Manager.
  
• Configuration files
  
  NHDDL uses YAML-like files to load and store its configuration options.
  Launcher configuration file
  
  Launcher configuration is read from the nhddl.yaml file, which must be located in the same directory as nhddl.elf.
  This file is completely optional and must be used only to enable 480p or use any device other than ATA.
  By default, 480p is disabled and the ATA device is used to look for ISO files.
  Example of a valid config file:
  

  480p: # if this flag exists and is not disabled, enables 480 output
  mode: ata # supported modes: ata (default), mx4sio, udpbd, usb
  udpbd_ip: 192.168.1.6 # PS2 IP address for UDPBD mode

  To disable a flag, you can add $ before the argument name or just comment it out with #.
  Configuration files on storage device
  
  NHDDL stores its Neutrino-related config files in config directory in the root of BDM device.
  
  lastTitle.txt
  
  To point to the last launched title, NHDDL writes the full ISO path to lastTitle.txt.
  This file is created automatically.
  
  Argument files
  
  These files store arbitrary arguments that are passed to Neutrino on title launch.
  For a list of valid arguments, see Neutrino README.
  Example of a valid file:
  

  # All flags are passed to neutrino as-is for future-proofing, comments are ignored
  # Empty values are treated as a simple flag
  gc: 2
  mc0: mass:/memcard0.bin # file located on HDD
  $mc1: mass:/memcard1.bin # disabled argument
  # Arguments that don't have a value
  dbc:
  logo:

  To disable an argument by default, place a $ before the argument name.
  NHDDL supports two kinds of argument files:
  
  global.yaml
  
  Neutrino arguments that need to be applied to every ISO by default are stored in global.yaml file
  
  Title-specific files
  
  Neutrino arguments that need to be applied to a specific ISO are loaded from either
  <ISO name>.yaml or <title ID><anything>.yaml.
  File that has the same name as ISO has the priority.
  NHDDL creates this file automatically when title options are modified and saved in UI.
  BDM device file structure example
  
  # marks a comment
  

  ART/ # cover art, optional
    |
    - SLUS_200.02_COV.jpg
    - SLUS_202.28_COV.png
    - SLUS_213.86_COV.jpg
  config/
    |
     - lastTitle.txt # created automatically
     - global.yaml # optional, applies to all ISOs
     - Silent Hill 2.yaml # optional, applies only to ISOs that start with "Silent Hill 2"
     - SLUS_213.86.yaml # optional, applies to all ISOs that have a title ID of SLUS_213.86
  CD/
    |
     — Ridge Racer V.iso
  DVD/
    |
     - Silent Hill 2.iso
     - TOTA.iso # SLUS_213.86
     - TOTA UNDUB.iso # SLUS_213.86

Source:
https://github.com/pcm720/nhddl.

 

[HWNJ]

Oh! Damn! @Algol liked it first!

 

[jolek]

Additionally if someone wants to try it through USB without a need to configure it,
try the versions from the attachment in the 1st post.
Just copy (it takes a while) Neutrino folder into the root of your memory card.
Launch nhddl.elf.

BTW Thanks @Haker120 for help.

If someone wants to try through MX4SIO, open nhddl.yaml.
Edit and change usb:

mode: usb #
$udpbd_ip: 192.168.1.6 #

to mx4sio:

mode: mx4sio #
$udpbd_ip: 192.168.1.6 #

 

[Moronz]

Additionally if someone wants to try it through USB without a need to configure it,
try the versions from the attachment in the 1st post.
Just copy (it takes a while) Neutrino folder into the root of your memory card.
Launch nhddl.elf.

BTW Thanks @Haker120 for help.

If someone wants to try through MX4SIO, open nhddl.yaml.
Edit and change usb:

mode: usb #
$udpbd_ip: 192.168.1.6 #

to mx4sio:

mode: mx4sio #
$udpbd_ip: 192.168.1.6 #

There are 2 zip files in the first post, which one?

 

[HWNJ]

There are 2 zip files in the first post, which one?

Pick your poison, stable or nightly...

 

[Moronz]

Pick your poison, stable or nightly...

I will check both then

 

[Haker120]

@jolek there is no need to remove 480. You should simply add $ before.

$480p: # (activates or deactivates force 480p)
mode: usb # (supported modes: ata (default), mx4sio, udpbd, usb)
$udpbd_ip: 192.168.X.X # (put your udpbd IP number here)

And honestly I am unsure if we need to keep # mark. Readme was so convoluted I had to do voodoo to make it work. xD

Ok, everything leads me to conclusion $ is a switch to enable or disable parameters.

I leave these parameters here, I only understand virtual memory cards ones.

# All flags are passed to neutrino as-is for future-proofing, comments are ignored
# Empty values are treated as a simple flag
gc: 2
mc0: mass:/memcard0.bin # file located on HDD
$mc1: mass:/memcard1.bin # disabled argument
# Arguments that don't have a value
dbc:
logo:

 

[pcm720]

And honestly I am unsure if we need to keep # mark. Readme was so convoluted I had to do voodoo to make it work. xD

I've tried (and obviously failed) making README as clear as possible, sorry.

Ok, everything leads me to conclusion $ is a switch to enable or disable parameters.

Parameters stored in config folder are passed to neutrino.elf as-is.
To be able to parse those arguments and allow you to dynamically enable or disable them in UI,
instead of hash symbol, a dollar sign ($) is used to mark arguments as enabled or disabled.
Disabled arguments don't get passed to Neutrino, only enabled ones do.

I leave these parameters here, I only understand virtual memory cards ones.

All of those are described in Neutrino README.
gc is used for switching game compatibility flags, dbc enables debug colors, logo runs the game through PS2LOGO that displays "PlayStation 2" when the game boots.

And honestly I am unsure if we need to keep # mark

In YAML, comments are identified with a hash/pound symbol (#).
Lines starting with # are ignored by the config file parser.
For nhddl.yaml, commenting unused lines out or removing them outright is preferred to disabling them via $. It won't change much, but $ is supported only because nhddl.yaml is processed by the same parser used for files in config folder.