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DARKSOFT CHIHIRO TYPE 3: New Firmware !

At the moment, I don't have a place that documents my progress as that usually generates some exitement and requests I can't furfill at the moment.
Today I tried to update my netdimm and it badly failed. Now it's just giving me an error 22 communication error, so I'll need to fix that first.
It's progress in the wrong direction, but it's better that I find out before someone else does.
I still have one difficult hurdle to take. I need to figure out how the system interfaces with the JVS io on a software point of view. I'll need this for the game selection menu of the multi. The rest is pretty much cleaning up stuff and documenting stuff. I also still need to test most of the games, but I don't expect much suprises there. At the moment I only tested CTHR, outrun 2, outrun2 SP and HOTD3. They all seem to behave as expected.
 
I'm hoping this isn't a stupid questions... but, how do you program the firmware?
Is there a tool, do you need external hardware etc?
Do you have to remove the BIOS chip? If so, which one is it?

Thanks.
 
doozer said:
I'm hoping this isn't a stupid questions... but, how do you program the firmware?
Is there a tool, do you need external hardware etc?
Do you have to remove the BIOS chip? If so, which one is it?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
It's been forever since I did this upgrade, so I'm recollection is very fuzzy. But yes, you need external hardware to do it. The jist is that you have a PC and your Chihiro on the same IP address range and you basically send the update from the computer to the Chihiro a la netbooting. (I'm sure someone can chime in with the full steps.)

As for BIOS chip, you likely mean a ZeroKey security chip. (The bios doesn't matter, as you can set the region once you upgrade your firmware anyway.)
 
You just need a zero key, place the chihiro in netboot mode, and netboot the FW file.
 
Mitsurugi-w said:
You just need a zero key, place the chihiro in netboot mode, and netboot the FW file.
Click to expand...
To clarify - is the zero key the same one as used for a Naomi setup? Or does the Chihiro and Triforce have their own "special" zero key? Wondering if they are all interchangeable or proprietary.
 
Mitsurugi-w said:
You just need a zero key, place the chihiro in netboot mode, and netboot the FW file.
Click to expand...
What's the software called and where can I find it?
I've only used pi/triforce tools so far.

Thanks.
 
Mitsurugi-w said:
You just need a zero key, place the chihiro in netboot mode, and netboot the FW file.
Click to expand...
You don't need a zero key to netboot on a Chihiro in general, do you absolutely need it for the FW update?
 
If you don't have a PIC in your Type 3 Chihiro it will not boot at all. It will error out almost immediately. Do you have a Type 3 working without one?

The zero key fie for Type 3 is different than the Naomi key. It also uses different fuses though it does use the same PIC type.
 
Mitsurugi-w said:
If you don't have a PIC in your Type 3 Chihiro it will not boot at all. It will error out almost immediately. Do you have a Type 3 working without one?

The zero key fie for Type 3 is different than the Naomi key. It also uses different fuses though it does use the same PIC type.
Click to expand...
Yeah, it definitely doesn't boot without any PIC. I didn't say no PIC though, I had said you don't need a Zero PIC.

I have a WMMT PIC in my Chihiro Type 3 and it has no problems netbooting other games.
 
rewrite said:
Mitsurugi-w said:
If you don't have a PIC in your Type 3 Chihiro it will not boot at all. It will error out almost immediately. Do you have a Type 3 working without one?

The zero key fie for Type 3 is different than the Naomi key. It also uses different fuses though it does use the same PIC type.
Click to expand...
Yeah, it definitely doesn't boot without any PIC. I didn't say no PIC though, I had said you don't need a Zero PIC.
I have a WMMT PIC in my Chihiro Type 3 and it has no problems netbooting other games.
Click to expand...
If I netboot Outrun2SP with the outrun PIC installed, it boots and runs for 60 seconds, then I get error 33 saying it can't find the gateway.
 
doozer said:
rewrite said:
Mitsurugi-w said:
If you don't have a PIC in your Type 3 Chihiro it will not boot at all. It will error out almost immediately. Do you have a Type 3 working without one?

The zero key fie for Type 3 is different than the Naomi key. It also uses different fuses though it does use the same PIC type.
Click to expand...
Yeah, it definitely doesn't boot without any PIC. I didn't say no PIC though, I had said you don't need a Zero PIC.I have a WMMT PIC in my Chihiro Type 3 and it has no problems netbooting other games.
Click to expand...
If I netboot Outrun2SP with the outrun PIC installed, it boots and runs for 60 seconds, then I get error 33 saying it can't find the gateway.
Click to expand...
That's your computer or pi or whatever not having a solid network connection to the Chihiro the entire time. Using a PIC that isn't a Zero PIC requires a solid network connection the entire gameplay session. If it drops out, you'll get that error.
 
rewrite said:
doozer said:
rewrite said:
Mitsurugi-w said:
If you don't have a PIC in your Type 3 Chihiro it will not boot at all. It will error out almost immediately. Do you have a Type 3 working without one?

The zero key fie for Type 3 is different than the Naomi key. It also uses different fuses though it does use the same PIC type.
Click to expand...
Yeah, it definitely doesn't boot without any PIC. I didn't say no PIC though, I had said you don't need a Zero PIC.I have a WMMT PIC in my Chihiro Type 3 and it has no problems netbooting other games.
Click to expand...
If I netboot Outrun2SP with the outrun PIC installed, it boots and runs for 60 seconds, then I get error 33 saying it can't find the gateway.
Click to expand...
That's your computer or pi or whatever not having a solid network connection to the Chihiro the entire time. Using a PIC that isn't a Zero PIC requires a solid network connection the entire gameplay session. If it drops out, you'll get that error.
Click to expand...
Seems unlikely, its just a crossover cable between the Pi and the Chihiro.
 
And you are using Piforce tools to boot? If you are using transfergame it will quit after a few minutes.

EDIT: I see. A netboot zero key will most likely give you a better result. You also won't need a constant connection.
 
Chihiro and Triforce type 3 use a different type of Oscillator for the security pic. That's why the pic needs another fuse setting to work properly on those type 3's. A netboot pic with the fuses correctly set for Chihiro and Triforce type 3 should also work on a naomi setup. So, it's impossible to say if your naomi netboot pic will work on a chihiro / triforce type 3.

The system regulary polls the pic to see if it hasn't been removed after startup of the game. If it get's no response, it will show an error. No idea if that's the error 33 that it can't find the gateway. Some error messages have changed with the different firmware revisions for the dimm boards.

On naomi, triforcetools.py can reset the timer that checks for the pic presence. That's why it can work without a security pic. The triforcetools.py has to keep running and obviously, the networking must stay ok as well.

Some chihiro games like outrun use the same network connection for their game linking. It's like they take over the network adapter from the dimm module and reconfigure it. So, once such game started, the port used for netboot connectivity will close and it's no longer possible to upload a game and reset the security timer. To my knowledge, you even can't ping the netdimm anymore once the game is running. This can be confusing during a netboot setup. (The "it worked once"....situation)

The firmware update is a bin file, similar to those of games. It originally also came on a gdrom, with it's own security pic if I remember well. If you have an already decrypted bin file, a "zero" security netboot pic is what you need. It has the decryption key set to all zero's so that the bin isn't altered by the decryption routines when it's loaded into the dimm memory.

The update gdrom image also contains another xbe that has some test and setup functions of the chihiro specific hardware. I renamed the 2 xbe files to run the other one. Not sure if the test button and game test selection would run that other file as well.
It can be found in the boot.id file what is run normally and in game test.
 
So how can one go about getting a Chihiro Type 3 zero null pic for net booting? I don't see any listed on ebay or otherwise - the Naomi zero null pic is easier to find. Thanks.
 
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