Project Artemis

[misfire]

Adapting ps2link would be very difficult. One issue is that its code already has a big footprint. But we have to reduce the size as much as possible to make it fit into EE RAM without affecting games... we can do this, for example, by moving the whole network communication code to IOP, and by calling the existing Sif* functions (e.g., SifLoadModule) of the actual game we want to hack.

I was able to send data from the PS2 to the PC over network while running a game. This was the first and, unfortunately, also last milestone I achieved. There's much left to be done. I wasn't able to receive any data on the PS2. And after switching to Linux and the latest PS2SDK (I was using an old Cygwin build before), neither sending nor receiving worked for me... I didn't investigate it carefully though.

ps2link's protocol is indeed very simple and straightforward, but we'll need an adequate replacement for the slow TCP (in order to find cheat codes, we have to dump lots of memory). Until now, I've been using a proprietary UDP protocol for reliable packet delivery. That way, I was able to achieve about 1 MB/s. But I never liked my implementation. I recommend using Reliable UDP Protocol (RUDP) or something similar as a reliable and fast data transport service.

[Lazy Bastard]

It doesn't have to be written in .NET (it's fairly counter to the open source goal of Artemis, after all, heh), but it might be conducive of a quickly-written Windows GUI, especially if it's to be merged with Majestic Porter.

Ah; I stashed that text file somewhere some time ago, and never got to reading it. I'll take a detailed look later Thanks.

misfire: Have you tested your PS2SDK since then? You could also take a look at the fixed, pre-built MinGW/msys build I've provided...

[misfire]

No, I haven't. If I finally get around installing Ubuntu on my laptop, I'll give it another try (I want to reinstall my whole system).

[noobwithboobs]

hmm,i compiled the dumper.elf, driver made,will it dump any games memory? I tried a couple games but it wouldnt load the game.
Or else the data in systemhooks.s specific to a certain game?

[ooPo]

Well, ps2link already uses udp for some parts of the protocol, but you're going to find that the PS2 is very very slow when it comes to sending large amounts of data like that.

Perhaps a smarter approach would be better than brute force. How about a command that sends you only the memory values that change over the next X seconds? Send the command, do something, see what changes.

[Lazy Bastard]

noobwithboobs: It was made specifically for one of the Socom games, I believe, and it's merely a proof-of-concept, and isn't ready to be used yet (it crashes instead of dumping, though I do believe it can be used a cheat system, assuming you have the exact version of whatever game it was made for, heh).

Oopo: In this case, we're willing to sacrifice speed for functionality, if it comes to that. There are many cases in which we'll need to search for things that haven't changed, and so forth. After the initial dump, we will be operating only on specific memory addresses, but there will still be a time in which we have to dump the entire memory.

[ooPo]

My lack of experience with code hunting shows.

How about a more generic approach, then? Make a very small layer that allows you to upload binary code pieces at runtime. You could minimize memory usage and defer development of the meatier parts until after the loader is finished.

[Lazy Bastard]

You mean an application that would allow us to launch an ELF, then stay resident, and merely allow us to upload and execute other pieces of code at will?

[misfire]

This can be seen as an extension of the planned upload feature. Might be a good idea (if it's feasible at all).

To get the project rolling, we'll need some working code to start with - a solid base for further development. Then we can continue our efforts and provide patches until we achieve our common purpose.

[misfire]

I hope that the participation will continue to increase when I've contributed some code. Many people seem to be interested in the project. Only time will show if the scene is really ready for such an open source project...