eLoader PSP

eLoader
General
Author	Noobz
Type	Utilities
Version	1.000
License	Mixed
Last Updated	2007/09/15
Links
Download
Website

Loader that allows you to run homebrew based on 1.50 kernel. It is intended for launching tricky EBOOTs on the PSP.

Installation

Extract the zip file and to ms0:/PSP/GAME/.

User guide

Use eLoader to launch the app in the GAME folder.

If you encounter issues, try disabling plugins/mods on the PSP.

Using a different menu

v1.000 of the loader ships with a default menu, emenu--.pbp.

It's also possible to install optional alternative menus, such as Choice.

The loader will use emenu--.pbp menu by default. If you want to use one of the alternatives, then edit the loadmenu1000.cfg file (with Notepad, or any other text editor), and change the following line:

menu=ms0:/psp/eloader/emenu--.pbp

to point at the location of the alternative menu's .PBP file.

Configuration File

v0.8.5 and beyond of the loader support configuration via a file, /psp/game/eloader/LOADER1000.CFG. See inside the file for basic details on what the various options do. For most purposes, the defaults should be sufficient.

If you want to try to tweak the options for a specific EBOOT, here are some pointers:

• Each EBOOT has a special signature that identifies it to the eLoader. To find out the signature, use the bundled Windows program "EBOOT_SIGNATURE.EXE". This will tell you the name you need to use for the config file section header for the EBOOT.
• The following options are the most common ones to change to make a specific EBOOT work. Often, changing one of these (more-or-less at random) will fix the more sensitive EBOOTs such as USER_LUA. Try changing these one at a time, in this order, for best results.
  • passparameters
  • confirm
  • callinit
  • clearscreen
  • initbssfull
  • initbsspartial
• If you want to suppress screen-spam during loading of a known-good EBOOT, you can try changing these options. You may find that the EBOOT stops working after changing an option - if so, just change it back.

confirm	displays the 'press X to start' menu.
unknownNIDwarning	warns you if some system calls requested by the EBOOT couldn't be identified.
patchkernelwarning	warns you if the EBOOT is kernel-mode. For some EBOOTs, this doesn't matter.
ignorefixedpath	warns you if the EBOOT contains a suspicious- looking filename, that implies it might need to be run from a fixed location on the memory stick.

Controls

D-Pad - Select option

Circle/Cross - Start

Triangle - USB

Square - Screenshot

Select - Help

Start - Exit

L/R - Change CPU speed

Screenshots

Compatibility

Support for launching via HEN and custom firmwares, including the PSP Lite.

Known issues

• Can't run most kernel-mode applications.
  • That means anything that emulates ISOs/UMDs.
• Some minor system calls are still unsupported.

Changelog

v1.000 : Support for HEN and Custom Firmwares

• Added support for launching via HEN and custom firmwares, including the PSP Lite.
• v0.9.9.5 : Support for FW v2.80, XMB loading.
• v2.80 user-mode syscall resolution added.
• Experimental XMB loading, firmware 2.80 only for now.
• Suspend mode now supported for v2.5- v2.80.
• PSP on-screen keyboard functions now supported.
• Improved compatibility for TIFF mode on other firmwares, now TIFF mode should be as good as GTA mode.
• Installotron now bundled with eLoader, to make it easier for beginners to install homebrew.

v0.9.9 : TIFF homebrew support on FW v2.70- v2.71

• 2.00- 2.71 support.
• Limited kernel mode (any "constructor" sections will run under kernel mode) to allow patching of kernel memory, it works using the standard pspsdk method.
• Exception handling, so now when a game crashes the developer will be able to determine why which should help to improve stability of games for eloader.
• New menu API.

v0.9.8 : TIFF homebrew support on FW v2.01- v2.60

• Added support for the new TIFF exploit. Support for v2.7+ is still a work-in-progress.

v0.9.7 : Wifi for all

• Add dynamic wifi loading support: automatically determines whether your application requires wifi, and loads the correct libraries.
• Added config parameter to control warning if wifi can't be loaded.
• Added config parameter to control code relocation (might help some apps).
• Added memory stick scan-caching in the menu.

v0.9.6 : Configurability, Infra-Red

• Support SIRCS infra-red (GTA only).
• Added config option to use old memory manager code (might help some apps).
• Added config option to limit thread stack sizes (helps some apps).
• Moved config option to clear RAM after menu on a per-EBOOT basis.
• Moved config option to delete user-main thread on a per-EBOOT basis.
• Moved config option to delete system threads on a per-EBOOT basis- Allowed separate configs for GTA and TIFF.
• Add USB support to the menu (TIFF only).
• Support O as well as X to select in the menu.
• Added square to generate EBOOT ID in menu.
• Fixed most corrupted images in menu.
• Fix clearRAMafterMenu option for TIFF.
• Fixed "patchkernelwarning" bug.
• Added GTA autoload option to installer.
• Made fixed paths easier to change with hex editor.
• Add latest config update.

v0.9.5 : v2.01 / v2.5 / v2.6 support

• Added stable GTA exploit loader.
• Rewrote NID resolution code to support different firmware versions.
• Removed kernel-mode warning by default.
• Improved audio stability.
• Improved thread tidy-up upon program exit- no more dead copies of user_main lying around.
• Improved memory tidy-up and integration with system heap: this gives more memory available to homebrew, and is a factor in the GBA emulator now working.
• Massively improved stability, especially for GTA.
• Added config option to not call exit callback (should help with apps that crash on exit).
• Added config option to not automatically prevent display dimming (saves power).
• Added config option to control system bus speed.
• Added automated installer for Windows.

v0.9 : Wifi support, stability

• Added wifi support! Now the loader auto-detects if the wifi libraries are loaded (via the wifi load method above) and offers them to homebrew for use.
• Added call to application exit callback, to allow RIN etc. to save state when L+R+START reset is used.
• Added memory reset after running the menu. This should make things much less sensitive to whatever has been run before them. Can be turned off in config.
• Added memory reset on exit- this might make it easier to restart the loader.
• Added config option to fake success code from unknown functions.
• Added clock-speed option to the config file, to allow automatic overclocking / underclocking of applications.
• v0.8.5 : Flexibility, compatibility.
• Introduce configuration file, to allow tweaking of EBOOTs by end-users. See loader085.cfg for details.
• Improved kernel-mode override patching logic.
• Attempt to kill surplus system threads, for stability.
• Run loader from reserved memory for increased stability.
• Tidied up some memory reuse in ELF section header handling.
• Bundled graphical menu now filters to only display the names of EBOOTs for selection- all the surplus fluff is hidden. Also now handles v1.5 homebrew directory structure.
• Added option to allow L+R+START reset to go back to loader menu, rather than main menu.

v0.8 : Usability, compatibility

• Added capability to reboot the PSP without holding the power button. During any EBOOT, just hold Left Trigger, Right Trigger and START buttons for 1 second to exit the loader and reboot back to the PSP menu.
• Separated menu binary from loader binary, to allow custom menu creation. Included custom menu by Calum.
• Added kernel-mode override facility- allows the loader to attempt to load apps marked as kernel-mode, that don't really require kernel access. This doesn't enable a huge number of apps, but it does enable a few- e.g. ScummVM 0.5, PSPChess, Nethack. Expect more progress in the future.
• Relax requirement to resolve all NIDs. Now you can choose to ignore failed NIDs in the hope that they aren't required.
• Improved USER_LUA stability (by incorporating the 0.7 USER_LUA patch).
• Added PowerTick() call to prevent display dimming during play.
• Skip calling .init code by default.
• Allow easier co-existence of multiple loader versions.
• Improve memory and thread manager semaphoring.
• Added all remaining VSH-mode NIDs, thanks to Vampyre's work.
• Moved working EBOOT list to new web-page.
• Filled in some missing opcodes from the disassembler.
• Added syscall dereferencing to disassembler.
• Added hook to sceKernelCreateThread, to improve thread monitoring.
• Reduced screen spam during loading, by moving it to debug-only build.
• Attempt to load more of the ELF sections into RAM if appropriate.
• Retired hokey malloc implementation during file load, use proper memory blocks now.

v0.7 : Compatibility, usability

• Implement simple internal memory manager, hooked onto firmware memory management, to boost memory pool available to applications.
• Hook thread allocation and exit, to allow for clean return to the loader from applications that support an Exit option.
• Improve code signature algorithm to distinguish between similar EBOOTs (fixes mis-identification of Casino Addict as SMS emulator).
• Added overclocking option : use left and right trigger buttons when choosing file to change CPU speed.
• Add NID resolution for Sircs function : enables PSP IR Remote function.
• Add USB stubs to user-mode LUA, and better debug info in case of script errors.
• Added left and right DPAD support in file-chooser, to go to the start and end of the list.
• Now supports more than 20 files in a directory.
• Found pathname hack to run PSP Rhythm Composer.
• Improved cache flushing, should improve reliability.
• Added safeguard to prevent PSPSet from being run and bricking 2.0.

v0.6 : Compatibility and stability

• Bundle user-mode LUA player.
• Only process stringtable section header and .reginfo, all others are unused.
• Setup $gp register from .reginfo.
• Change folder thumbnail to smaller image, improves launch stability.
• Added scan for EBOOTs with hard-coded paths.
• Clear display RAM before starting some EBOOTs, to clear up some graphical anomalies.
• Added direct seek to ELF header- much much faster file loading.

v0.5 : More compatibility enhancements, bug fixes

• Better argc/argv handling, prevents a common cause of startup crashes (e.g. PSP Schedule).
• Made the 'return to chooser' function more stable. It now shouldn't affect how well the next EBOOT loads.
• Improved file scanning speed- large EBOOTs should load much faster.
• Added 'alternate startup parameters', use this to run Sega Master System emulator which was broken in v0.4.
• Introduced 'EBOOT signatures' : known workarounds for specific EBOOTs should now be turned on automatically, and install location can be automatically checked if a specific path is required.
• Added support for .init sections, should help avoid a few more startup crashes.
• Added option to return to EBOOT chooser on final confirmation menu.
• Version number shown on screen fixed.
• Lots more info in readme file.
• Various minor bugfixes.

v0.4 : Usability & reliability enhancements

• Return to menu if possible after failed load. NOTE : this is a bit flaky, and mainly designed for quick checks for kernel-mode apps, etc. If something crashes after you ran through a few EBOOTs that wouldn't load, it's worth retrying it immediately after a reboot.
• Experimented with exception handlers for extra diagnostics, but this is not possible in user-mode (and anyway the appropriate syscall code is unknown for v2.0).
• Fixed overflow with more than 19 directory entries- now apps that failed just after EBOOT selection will get further.
• Added set up of argv, argc to supply path arguments- helps for Ghost In The Matrix, possibly others.
• Changed load address to 0x0860000, to allow more headroom for increased loader complexity. Also begun integrating Abu's loader code with the TIF file.

v0.3 : Compatibility enhancements

• Allow browsing of multiple EBOOTs.
• Change directory to selected EBOOT location (adds sounds to Attack of the Mutants).
• Restore screen mode before running EBOOT (improves reliability).
• Allow multiple text segments in ELF.

v0.2

• Original version, ported to C from original v0.1 EBOOT loader by Saotome.

Credits

This app wouldn't have been possible without the toc2rta TIFF exploit code, or Saotome's hard work on the first beta EBOOT loader, or the support of the fantastic folks at the ps2dev.org forums (especially Groepaz's list of NID -> syscall mappings, and Vampyre's continuing efforts to expand that list). And later, of course, the TIFF exploit that opened up access to homebrew on v2.0-v2.8 - thanks to psp250, Skylark, NOPx86, Jim Paris, Chris Swindle, joek2100 and Fanjita for that.

Thanks to Edison Carter (and later Jim Paris and psp123) for the development of the GTA savegame exploit, which made homebrew possible on v2.01+.

More thanks to hitchhikr, for the LoadExec kernel mode exploit, which we rely on for v2.70 and v2.71 support.

Thanks to Alex Richter for Installotron development.

Thanks to all the forum mods at PSPUpdates.QJ.net, and operators in the fanjita IRC channel, for supporting all the questions from eLoader users. Special thanks to Serideth and Wakaru, who seem to never sleep.

Thanks also to the many beta testers for their hard work beta testing, as well as many other individual email contributions with information on which EBOOTs are working.

External links

• Author's website - http://www.noobz.eu (archived)
• eLoader forum - http://forums.qj.net/f-eloader-help-205.html/ (archived)