What features do you want in a DexDrive replacement device?

[Thutmose]

I am considering making a replacement for the DexDrive. Normally I wouldn't think about this right now, since I'm working on Kupid, but the work and research I'm doing for this special Kupid project (which I haven't officially announced yet) means that I'm learning a lot about the same things that would be necessary to create and sell a DexDrive replacement device. So now is as good a time as any to at least start thinking about it.

So - what features, capabilities, etc. would you like to see in a replacement for the DexDrive? Ideas? Suggestions?

The more input I get now, the better the final product will be if and when I complete it.

[Valkysas]

Re: What features do you want in a DexDrive replacement device?

gme compatability.

the ability to work on 64 bit operating systems.

thats really all I can think of.

if you need to take a look at the dex drive software, it's on the pav in the tools section. ours is strictly for the PS1, while I think the mag's is the N64 PS1 hybrid software.

[Thutmose]

Re: What features do you want in a DexDrive replacement device?

gme compatability.

I need to do some research on this. It should be possible.

the ability to work on 64 bit operating systems.

This shouldn't be a problem. I'm going to try to design it so it's compatible with all OSs.

if you need to take a look at the dex drive software, it's on the pav in the tools section. ours is strictly for the PS1, while I think the mag's is the N64 PS1 hybrid software.

Thanks. I actually have a DexDrive, but the software disk is long gone. So that will definitely help.

I'll probably open up the DD and analyze the circuitry with my logic analyzer. It should help me figure out exactly what is going on internally.

[Alex]

Re: What features do you want in a DexDrive replacement device?

USB.

Software that isn't terrible.

[Thutmose]

Re: What features do you want in a DexDrive replacement device?

USB.

You mean you don't want it to hook up to your computer using a parallel cable or Vesa Local Bus connector? :P

I'll try to make certain that there is an easy way of getting the data files to your comp.

Software that isn't terrible.

I'd like to make it as easy as just plugging it in to your computer, and having it appear like a USB flash drive, so you can just drag/copy the memory card file onto your desktop - and writing files to the memory card would be as easy as plugging in a USB cable, copying the file over, and pressing a single button on the device to write the game save to the card. No glitchy/complicated software.

Ideally. If I can figure out how to do that.

gme compatability.

From what I've read, it looks like GME format is pretty simple. Basically there's 3904 bytes of useless junk at the beginning of the file, and the rest is the raw card data. Should be pretty simple to make it compatible with the GME format.

And the PSV format has a 256 byte header, with the rest being the card data. So that should be easy enough to implement too.

Are there any other data formats that are commonly used for RPG Maker games?

[Valkysas]

Re: What features do you want in a DexDrive replacement device?

No, that's it. only the gme (PS1) and psv (PS3) file types were used. japan's file transfer devices may have used something else, I cant remember. Ixzion might know.

if you make this, I will buy it for sure. lots of people would. outside the RPGM community, too. I'm very sure the PS1 monster rancher fans would love it, they hold tournaments and stuff by sending save data around.

[Thutmose]

Re: What features do you want in a DexDrive replacement device?

No, that's it. only the gme (PS1) and psv (PS3) file types were used. japan's file transfer devices may have used something else, I cant remember. Ixzion might know.

I know there are several other proprietary formats. But I'll focus on GME and PSV.

if you make this, I will buy it for sure. lots of people would. outside the RPGM community, too. I'm very sure the PS1 monster rancher fans would love it, they hold tournaments and stuff by sending save data around.

I guess this would have a much wider appeal than Kupid. :P

I downloaded a GME file from the RPGM1 game database and took a look at it in a hex editor. It looks like I expected it to. A bunch of useless header data for the DexDrive which can easily be stripped off, and then the rest is the raw memory card data.

In theory, you should be able to write the binary data from a GME file (with the DexDrive header stripped off) directly to a PS1 memory card. So that ought to be fairly straight forward.

After having done a bit more research, though, it looks like the PSV files might be a bit more tricky. I'll need to get the GME & PSV files of single game so I can look at the hex code and compare them. I don't know if the data stored in a PSV file is in quite the same format as a raw card (I know there are a few differences). It might need to be massaged a bit for it to work properly.

Basically what I need is a simple RPGM1 GME save file and a matching PSV converted save of that same game save. [EDIT: I'll used Cursed Desires for this. It looks like a good candidate.]

Once I figure out what the differences are, then I'd have to come up with an algorithm or somesuch to add/remove/modify the data. I already know that the headers are different, but there may be other differences I'm not aware of yet.

[1ce]

Re: What features do you want in a DexDrive replacement device?

For the device itself, I'd want USB and 9 pin connectors. I still use a Windows 98 for storage, so 9 pin would be preferable to USB right now. Although the option to switch would be nice. The light that turns on and different colors would also be nice.

For software, I'd like memory card convertion software. I can't find anything out there that can convert a .psm file.

[Thutmose]

Re: What features do you want in a DexDrive replacement device?

For the device itself, I'd want USB and 9 pin connectors. I still use a Windows 98 for storage, so 9 pin would be preferable to USB right now. Although the option to switch would be nice.

USB is probably the only connector that there will be for it. Adding serial would actually require a lot of extra work. So it's either going to connect directly to a computer via USB, or you will plug a USB thumb drive into the device to transfer saves.

The light that turns on and different colors would also be nice.

That shouldn't be a problem.

For software, I'd like memory card convertion software. I can't find anything out there that can convert a .psm file.

I won't be programming conversion software beyond what is necessary for the internal operation of the device. Though, I've never heard of a PSM file before - so I don't know what device/software uses it.

-~_~-~_~--~_~-~_~--~_~-~_~--~_~-~_~--~_~-~_~--~_~-~_~-

I've done some more research on PSV files. It seems that each individual PSV file holds a single save file, no matter how many blocks that may be per individual save.

So while the raw save data is writable directly to the memory card (after stripping off the PSV header), the beginning directory structure data necessary for the card to work is missing from the PSV files. This directory structure and header data has to be generated in software for the PSV files to be put onto a memory card.

I may be able to write an algorithm that does this so that PSV files will be natively compatible with this device. If I'm unable to, there is another option.

There is a program that allows you to extract the PSV save into an MCS file. And a second program will convert the MCS file into a GME file which will be natively compatible with this device. It would require two extra steps, but it would work.

And, basically, if you have a save file of any type and are able to convert it into GME format, then it would work with this device.

[orius]

Re: What features do you want in a DexDrive replacement device?

USB.

Software that isn't terrible.

This. My biggest issue with the DexDrive right now is that it's 9-pin serial, and recent PCs have been phasing that out. The computer I'm using right now just has USB, so I can't use the DexDrive with it.

As for software, the original Dexplorer software does suck pretty hard (and my floppies got corrupted somewhere onlong the way). The last few times I used the DexDrive I used Dexter to access it. It's freeware, it's more or less reliable, and it's a hell of a lot better than Dexplorer.

[Valkysas]

Re: What features do you want in a DexDrive replacement device?

my biggest issue with the dex drive is that the hardware itself is a piece of ****. even when I got it brand new in 2000, I was getting "DEX DRIVE NOT FOUND!" over and over, which caused me to have to unplug it from the computer, unplug the power cord, and then re-connect them in different orders over and over until it finally was recognized.

I wasnt alone in this, the pavilion was filled with similar topics asking for help with this problem for years. hell, one of these "dex drive not found!" topics popped up on the mag not too long ago, showing that it's still an annoyance.

well, that very well could be a software thing. most likely is, actually. meh.

and then there's the thing where dex drives sometimes just burn themselves out, which is ****ing lovely. I'm on my third. I assume it works, although I can't connect it to anything, or use the software.

but, as much as I hate the dex drive, I still love the stupid gray box. this community wouldnt be here if it wasnt for the dex drive. the pav would have started, but it wouldnt have lasted very long at all.

[Gustaff 13]

Re: What features do you want in a DexDrive replacement device?

The transfer rate of the dexdrive is also painfully slow. The same speed, I believe, as when moving files around with the PSone's memory card utility. Do you think there's a way around that?

[Thutmose]

Re: What features do you want in a DexDrive replacement device?

This. My biggest issue with the DexDrive right now is that it's 9-pin serial, and recent PCs have been phasing that out. The computer I'm using right now just has USB, so I can't use the DexDrive with it.

As for software, the original Dexplorer software does suck pretty hard (and my floppies got corrupted somewhere onlong the way). The last few times I used the DexDrive I used Dexter to access it. It's freeware, it's more or less reliable, and it's a hell of a lot better than Dexplorer.

Yep. I'll will make this use USB. And I'll try to make it so simple that you don't even need software. Just plug everything in, and push a button. Ideally.

my biggest issue with the dex drive is that the hardware itself is a piece of ****. even when I got it brand new in 2000, I was getting "DEX DRIVE NOT FOUND!" over and over, which caused me to have to unplug it from the computer, unplug the power cord, and then re-connect them in different orders over and over until it finally was recognized.

I wasnt alone in this, the pavilion was filled with similar topics asking for help with this problem for years. hell, one of these "dex drive not found!" topics popped up on the mag not too long ago, showing that it's still an annoyance.

well, that very well could be a software thing. most likely is, actually. meh.

The DexDrive software, from what I read, was very poorly written (same goes for the firmware). So it's probably a mixture of both.

and then there's the thing where dex drives sometimes just burn themselves out, which is ****ing lovely. I'm on my third. I assume it works, although I can't connect it to anything, or use the software.

Wow. I didn't know about that. I don't know why that would happen, except because of poor engineering/design.

The transfer rate of the dexdrive is also painfully slow. The same speed, I believe, as when moving files around with the PSone's memory card utility. Do you think there's a way around that?

At maximum speed, it should take around 60 seconds to write to a memory card. There's not really any way to make it faster, as writing/reading the card requires the use of an SPI protocol which operates in 128 byte chunks (i.e. reading/writing 128 bytes at a time), and the total amount of data on the card is 128KB. There is also a limitation in that the flash memory used in these memory cards is an earlier version of the modern flash technology, so it's read/write cycles are slower too.

[Valkysas]

Re: What features do you want in a DexDrive replacement device?

60 seconds is much faster than what the dex drive would often do. sometimes a full card would take a minute, sometimes around 15 minutes.

[Thutmose]

Re: What features do you want in a DexDrive replacement device?

60 seconds is much faster than what the dex drive would often do. sometimes a full card would take a minute, sometimes around 15 minutes.

Well, 60 seconds is an estimate based on my reading.

The thing that (partly) made the DexDrive slow was that it was getting data from a computer over serial, stored in a buffer, then written to the card.

By incorporating a USB flash drive or somesuch directly into the unit, I hope to accomplish higher speeds than what the DD was capable of. I may add an SRAM chip to improve the transfer times, too.

But I still have a lot of work and research to do before I can be certain of all the details.