Taiko Drum Master - Region Hack Development & Testing Thread

I can't seem to get this working for the life of me. Can someone share a ready to use file for the PSXMemcardGen2 or provided more detailed instructions on how to get the modified file onto this card?
 
I can't seem to get this working for the life of me. Can someone share a ready to use file for the PSXMemcardGen2 or provided more detailed instructions on how to get the modified file onto this card?
You have a PSXMemCard, you just need an application that can open virtual memory card images without ECC (if you like command line apps, try ps2vmc-tool from GitHub)

OR, if you have a jailbroken retail PS2, there's a thread in this forum I made, with a modified version of wLaunchELF filebrowser that can open dongles and handle their files

Also, I will do a simplified version of this hack, that doesn't require any kind of file modification and doesn't involve proprietary software (as in IOPRP image), it will be as simple as replacing the ACRTC file from the dongle. Allowing simple and safe sharing across internet without any danger
 
@AwesomeAL would you mind trying the new hack?

a copy of the readme.md just in case



Region change​

Namco system256 units store a regional signature on the playstation2 eeprom, exactly on the same area than retail ps2 use for storing iLink ID
TAIKO Drum games will check this signature via the ACRTC driver, wich interally calls CDVDMAN sceCdRI()
the driver provided here is a custom version of the open source ACRTC driver, which has been updated to feed the game with user defined data

installation process:​

1. take the ACRTC file from the repository and use it to replace the ACRTC file from the game dongle
2. select the desired region file vector (one of the ACREGION_*) files, and put it inside dongle named as ACREGION

if no ACREGION file is provided, the ASIA5 is the default value
 

Attachments

@AwesomeAL would you mind trying the new hack?

a copy of the readme.md just in case



Region change​

Namco system256 units store a regional signature on the playstation2 eeprom, exactly on the same area than retail ps2 use for storing iLink ID
TAIKO Drum games will check this signature via the ACRTC driver, wich interally calls CDVDMAN sceCdRI()
the driver provided here is a custom version of the open source ACRTC driver, which has been updated to feed the game with user defined data

installation process:​

1. take the ACRTC file from the repository and use it to replace the ACRTC file from the game dongle
2. select the desired region file vector (one of the ACREGION_*) files, and put it inside dongle named as ACREGION

if no ACREGION file is provided, the ASIA5 is the default value
edit: silly me totally forgot that the taiko drum games pack the ACRTC.IRX inside a compressed file called IRXARC.BIN

making this new simpler approach useless without means of patching the IRXARC.BIN. which I can currently only unpack

edit2: now I've updated the unpack script as well as created a repack script that will solve this issue. it's still a bit tricky as it involves command line stuff, but it's less annoying than injecting a driver into the games IOPRP image

https://github.com/PS2Homebrew-arcade/DrumTools/tree/main/IRXARC.BIN/unpacker and https://github.com/PS2Homebrew-arcade/DrumTools/tree/main/IRXARC.BIN/repacker
 
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You have a PSXMemCard, you just need an application that can open virtual memory card images without ECC (if you like command line apps, try ps2vmc-tool from GitHub)

This was what I needed. I was able to edit the file and make it run. I can now launch Taiko 14 on my chinese 12 cab.
 
This was what I needed. I was able to edit the file and make it run. I can now launch Taiko 14 on my chinese 12 cab.
so, let me make sure i got it right.

You used the scripts and replaced the acrtc driver from the IRXARC and it worked? or you used the old method (IOPRP image patch)?
I'm asking just to update the repository with the new regional hack in case you got it working
 
Ah sorry I didn't provide all the details. I used the old IOPRP Image patch since I was not able to find ACRTC file.

Happy to try the new method as well soon. I am however limited on when I can access the machine, so it may take a week to do any tests.
 
Ah sorry I didn't provide all the details. I used the old IOPRP Image patch since I was not able to find ACRTC file.

Happy to try the new method as well soon. I am however limited on when I can access the machine, so it may take a week to do any tests.
yes, taiko developer went on and renamed the driver as acrtcilk.irx inside the archive... maybe because the only thing that driver does is get the mechacon RTC and read/write iLinkID (region signature for the sys256)

the process is simple

use the decompress script, on the generated folder, replace the acrtcilk.irx with the new one, repack with the other script, replace on dongle and try again

just make sure the dongle does not have the old hack, otherwise we wont know which is doing the job
 
@El_isra Really nice stuff- sorry, last few years have been a mess so I haven't been in the scene much (hell, dont even have a viable test setup for all the hardware I have, but really cool to see some actual development done to bypass these checks- love it!
 
1781525091216.png

If the sizes are different, forcing packet encapsulation will result in a black screen with no display.
 
1781525091216.png

If the sizes are different, forcing packet encapsulation will result in a black screen with no display.
The IRX archive format doesn't have any problem with changing file size

Unless the game manually checks file sizes, which would be kinda dumb bc it goes against the flexibility seeked by the format used to pack the IRX
 
The IRX archive format doesn't have any problem with changing file size

Unless the game manually checks file sizes, which would be kinda dumb bc it goes against the flexibility seeked by the format used to pack the IRX
I have been reading this with a lot of interest. I would like to have a taiko no tatsujin setup at home but find a board is expensive if you find one. how ever I have a complete time crisis japanese version. I'm wondering could this work to convert TC4 to tatsujin or it only taking one tatsujin to another version? thanks
 
I have been reading this with a lot of interest. I would like to have a taiko no tatsujin setup at home but find a board is expensive if you find one. how ever I have a complete time crisis japanese version. I'm wondering could this work to convert TC4 to tatsujin or it only taking one tatsujin to another version? thanks
TC4... so you have a namco system super256. the problem with the super256 is that it has an additional 12.5% of overclock compared to regular system256 (50% compared to retail PS2), so any game that is not time crisis 4 (such as taiko drum) will sound funny and feel spedup on the super256...
 
TC4... so you have a namco system super256. the problem with the super256 is that it has an additional 12.5% of overclock compared to regular system256 (50% compared to retail PS2), so any game that is not time crisis 4 (such as taiko drum) will sound funny and feel spedup on the super256...
I will be look for another board
 
I finally got my hands on a taiko no tatsujin 14 board. First surprise I was not expecting the laptop sata drive but it makes sense. After looking for a minute. I can’t figure out how to get to the main board under the whole thing seems riveted. Will I have to drill those rivets out? Here is a video

Taiko 14
 
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