Chihiro/NAOMI/Triforce CF Tools

[obcd]

If you have some pc's with ide, a simple flash 2 ide adapter should do the trick. Those are cheap. They have a disadvantage that you shouldn't hotswap your compact flash card.
I have no idea if it works to read the security sector under windows 10. If it does, you likely will need to run the tool as administrator. I have a compaq ia-1 I and a dos tool I use for that purpose. If you write the 2 id's to the compact flash card you only have to read those once.
Starting dos from an usb drive could be an option if you have an older motherboard that has ide. (Assuming the bios supports booting from usb.)

 

[rtw]

If you have a Windows 7/10 laptop you can use a PCI express adapter like this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lexar-UDMA...d-Reader-Adapter-For-Laptop-NB-O/201413686429

And the program ataid which is in the archive on the first page.

You can also use a IDE to CF adapter, I use this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Syba-IDE...nnects-to-3-5-IDE-Host-Interface/333571682231

Don't worry about removing the card while powered, 99% of all CF cards are marked as removable and treated as such.

When you have the ATA ID I just change the volume label to the id so that I don't forget it, like: 0x3423

 

[Geddon]

I have a win 7 laptop so the first option looks good. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[darksofter]

Hello Fellow Members,

thank you for all the valuable information on the CF Naomi adapter.

I have a windows 10 PC that still has two pci slots free. I was thinking to buy those Maxtor or Promise PCI IDE cards. Then with the recommendation of you, I would choose the most compatible IDE to compact flash adapter. Ideally I would like to extend it to the front of my pc for easy access. What are the most compatible setups right now?

Also, I wouldn’t mind trying to run the programs via virtualization on older OSs.

I look forward to hearing your suggestions.

 

[Tailsnic Retroworks]

Hi @rtw

I'm trying to write the House of the Dead II netboot version game with your tools, but using this instruction:

gcfi -r -p -s 0x3631 -d E:\ -l ABC.BIN -g C:\Users\Tailsnic-Retroworks\Desktop\hotd2.bin

Gives me the next error:

gcfi: error, unable to patch out region of encrypted files

EDIT: solved. This game doesn't use the -p argument. It's like the Triforce and Chihiro games. Fully working now.

 

[hamster]

FYI.. HOTD2 has no region locking, however, it will change the color of blood based on region of the System Bios.

 

[twistedsymphony]

you can change the blood color in the game test mode, it's not locked to the bios region.

 

[hamster]

you can change the blood color in the game test mode, it's not locked to the bios region.

only on the US bios...

 

[Kujako]

Having issues I hope someone can assist with. Using a PATA to CF adapter with the jumper set to slave and a Startech PCIe PATA adapter on Windows 10. No mater what I fiddle with, the CF drive is always showing as master drive 0 which causes write errors (not allowed to modify master drive 0). If I drag my old Win2k work machine out of the closet and use the onboard IDE port it works fine. But I'd really like to have this working on my primary desktop...

 

[rtw]

I think there might be a some slight confusion here.

The PATA and CF is only needed to get the security sector using the program ATA ID.

Once you have the security sector you can use any USB Multi Media Card reader/writer.

 

[Kujako]

I think there might be a some slight confusion here.

The PATA and CF is only needed to get the security sector using the program ATA ID.

Once you have the security sector you can use any USB Multi Media Card reader/writer.

Thanks for the clarification, that seems to work (although for some reason my Windows 10 desktop now refuses to mount my USB adapter).

Followup question. With a stack of like CF cards, all with the same sector 0x3030, can the same bin file generated by ataid be used? If not, can it be copied back off the CF after flashing it to reuse when reflashing? Trying to work out a system...

 

[rtw]

Followup question. With a stack of like CF cards, all with the same sector 0x3030, can the same bin file generated by ataid be used? If not, can it be copied back off the CF after flashing it to reuse when reflashing? Trying to work out a system...

The bin file generated by ataid is just an extra, it is not used for anything.

All you need is the security sector when you create the CF card.

 

[Kujako]

Followup question. With a stack of like CF cards, all with the same sector 0x3030, can the same bin file generated by ataid be used? If not, can it be copied back off the CF after flashing it to reuse when reflashing? Trying to work out a system...

The bin file generated by ataid is just an extra, it is not used for anything.
All you need is the security sector when you create the CF card.

So I don't need the -l parameter?

 

[rtw]

The -l parameter is used to specify the name of the loader file.

The loader file name is stored inside your security PIC, it is normally ABC.BIN

 

[Kujako]

The -l parameter is used to specify the name of the loader file.

The loader file name is stored inside your security PIC, it is normally ABC.BIN

I guess that's where I'm getting confused... I'm using the bin file generated by ataid.exe. Where should I be getting it from (assume I'm an idiot... I get that it's from the PIC, but not sure how I get it)?

 

[rtw]

Before we proceed can you describe your NAOMI setup in detail ? Pictures are always good

 

[Kujako]

Before we proceed can you describe your NAOMI setup in detail ? Pictures are always good

It's off site (at work). Will try to follow up later.

Edit: @rtw here we go (forgot I had some pics on my phone)

What I have is a 100% genuine Chinese hodge-podge.

But, despite the cooling fan sounding like a distressed jet engine, it does work. I'm just trying to figure out the best way to load games. The system came with a shareware app for loading games that adds a ABC.BIN to the CF card, I'm just not sure where it's coming from. The app is also cracked and I've found no way of getting a legit copy so I wanted to look into alternatives such as your tool (which may not work with my setup, but I wanted to try). I ask if I can just reuse the ABC.BIN, because as shown in the third pic I have a working CF cart with Metal Slug 6 on it that I can copy the file off of.

 

[Tonybolony]

not to hijack this thread , but i cant even get my sata to ide or usb to ide to work shows my CF as no media , and when i try using naomi CF to write anything to usb it just goes write error on windows 10 too

 

[rtw]

not to hijack this thread , but i cant even get my sata to ide or usb to ide to work shows my CF as no media , and when i try using naomi CF to write anything to usb it just goes write error on windows 10 too

Same goes for you, what kind of NAOMI setup do you have, which SATA to IDE adapter are you using, which USB to IDE adapter are you using ?

 

[rtw]

But, despite the cooling fan sounding like a distressed jet engine, it does work. I'm just trying to figure out the best way to load games. The system came with a shareware app for loading games that adds a ABC.BIN to the CF card, I'm just not sure where it's coming from. The app is also cracked and I've found no way of getting a legit copy so I wanted to look into alternatives such as your tool (which may not work with my setup, but I wanted to try). I ask if I can just reuse the ABC.BIN, because as shown in the third pic I have a working CF cart with Metal Slug 6 on it that I can copy the file off of.

I like the small slot in your DIMM, very neat.

When the NAOMI boots it asks the security PIC on your DIMM board for which loader name to search for. This is normally ABC.BIN

ABC.BIN is not a file you need, it's the name of the file that will be written to the CF card by gcfi.

So all you need to do is:

gcfi -r -p -s 0x3030 -d d:\ -l ABC.BIN -g starseek.bin

Replace d:\ with the drive letter of the CF Card on your system, and select a suitable game.