--- In ezpatch@y..., cryophil@y... wrote:
> I have the Apex 703 Poiuytre.asd file, not a .bin file.  I would
like
> the Apex 703 loophole CS chip bin file if anyone knows where the
most
> recent is.  Thanks.

FAQ #1:  Look in the group's bookmarks :)

Jason

I have the Apex 703 Poiuytre.asd file, not a .bin file.  I would like
the Apex 703 loophole CS chip bin file if anyone knows where the most
recent is.  Thanks.

--- In ezpatch@y..., jfk@l... wrote:
> I think my player is having problems with Bitrate...

Yes, the same problem exists on most of the MiniDVD converted
players.  Manufacturers aren't willing the pay the extra money for a
higher speed loader, so (as with most) the combined video + audio
bitrate cannot exceed approx. 5 mbits per sec.  I don't recall the
exact rate.

> If the DVD  player inside is the bottleneck, can I upgrade
> the internal drive with a newer IDE unit?

Apex drives are not IDE, unfortunately :(  Although, this is where I
step out onto thin ice:  I think the drive type is an AV Loader.  I
don't know where to get those drive types for a single disc, let
alone a 3 disc changer.  I think we're pretty much stuck.

Jason

Has anyone ever noticed this problem? My 703 doesn't play the last 2
seconds of tracks on music CD...  I've noticed in from time to time
when playing audio CDs, very noticable on live CDs with one continous
show, but broken into tracks... Anyhow...  Just wondering if there is
a fix to this, or and if others are experiencing it...

Thanks...

joe kocsis

Successfully patched...  Things look good.. I'm trying to get the
MiniDVD thing to work well.. I think my player is having problems
with Bitrate...  Totally chokes with 9Mb ecoding.. Stutters Quite a
bit at 4.5Mb encoding with PCM audio...  Stutters every couple
seconds with 4.5Mb encoding AC3 audio... I'm going to try lower bit
rate... If the DVD  player inside is the bottleneck, can I upgrade
the internal drive with a newer IDE unit?

Anyhow.. Thanks... Good work Jason.. I'll report more results later
today...

joe kocsis

--- In ezpatch@y..., "Jason Olsen" <jasonolsen@m...> wrote:
> All 10 of the patches that were released for the 703 BT are now
> available for the 703 CS.  This includes the long awaited
AutoMiniDVD
> patch.  They are in the patch extension folder of the group.
>
> Erwin Beckers has made several patches for the Yamakawa 780 and has
> uploaded those patches.  Thanks Erwin!
>
> Jason

All 10 of the patches that were released for the 703 BT are now
available for the 703 CS.  This includes the long awaited AutoMiniDVD
patch.  They are in the patch extension folder of the group.

Erwin Beckers has made several patches for the Yamakawa 780 and has
uploaded those patches.  Thanks Erwin!

Jason

Great news! Thanks.

--- In ezpatch@y..., "Jason Olsen" <jasonolsen@m...> wrote:
> Dimmer and AutoMiniDVD successfully flashed into a borrowed CS
player
> last night.  I need to clean up the patches a little bit and
convert
> them into EZ Patch extensions, which I plan on doing tonight.  The
> other 8 patches are already functioning correctly, although the
> background color patch might not work on the Shinco 868 and
possibly
> other players.  Also, the password patch might not work on the
Shinco
> 868/other non 703 players unless you reset the defaults to factory
> control.  Since I do not have any of those other players, I cannot
> confirm this information.
>
> Jason

Dimmer and AutoMiniDVD successfully flashed into a borrowed CS player
last night.  I need to clean up the patches a little bit and convert
them into EZ Patch extensions, which I plan on doing tonight.  The
other 8 patches are already functioning correctly, although the
background color patch might not work on the Shinco 868 and possibly
other players.  Also, the password patch might not work on the Shinco
868/other non 703 players unless you reset the defaults to factory
control.  Since I do not have any of those other players, I cannot
confirm this information.

Jason

--- In ezpatch@y..., taxicabsamuraiuk@y... wrote:
> No ROM definition found for that file
>
> Does this proggie work ok with the Shinco? If so what am I doing
> wrong,

See FAQ #4.

However, I happen to know that the 703 CS firmware does work on the
Shinco 868 (although you will not retain the game functions if you
have the megadrive).

Jason

Hi all, kewl poriggie, wish I could work the thing! I have a Shinco
868 with the CS chip and would like to get trid of that crappy
screen saver :) When I try to load the rom.bin file in EZ Patch i
get this error:

No ROM definition found for that file

Does this proggie work ok with the Shinco? If so what am I doing
wrong, I have all the patches etc in the EZ directory to. Thanx in
advince guys.

Stevie

Well, the XP Problem went away; it works now.  I am in the midst of
reinstalling s/w on my HD so an earlier version might have caused
that Memory error.

Yeah, Jason - with the cheapness of PC DVD-ROM players and s/w like
DVDx, VCD/SVCD/Mini-DVD is becoming a popular alternative to DVD and
it would be great to have the OSD fix for that as well.

BTW, I recommended a friend to replace his buggy Apex AD800 for the
GE5803P since that is a Shinco machine and compatible with the
hacks.  My concern, though, is that Walmart claims it does CD + G
Karoake.  If that's so, wouldn't that drastically change the firmware
structure and possibly not work with EZPatch??

I'd tell him to get a 703/500A but those are getting real scarce
now.  He definitely wants at least a 3 disc carousel player.


> Hmm.  What I should do is use a complete installer to put it on.
> That'd solve the issue regarding mismatched control versions.
Guess
> I'll do this on the next round.  Interesting to note that it
doesn't
> work on XP.  Anybody had success running it on XP?
>
> > else is on the wish list which I hope will happen especially the
> > VCD OSD bug.
>
> I'm surprised by the number of people who have e-mailed me
> individually asking specifically for that part of the patch.  I
guess
> there are more people using VCDs than I expected.  I'll see what I
> can do.
>
> Jason

Thanks, that's exactly what I needed to know.

--- In ezpatch@y..., diestelmeic@h... wrote:
> Well, this was frustrating and used to be true.  However, after the
> firmware patch I can just hit the SUBTITLE button and turn them off.
> Before the patch, the SUBTITLE button wouldn't do anything.
> Thanks for adding this feature and solving an annoying problem as
> well.

This is cool!  I didn't know it could do something like that.  Thanks
for sharing the info.  UOPs are also in other places.  For instance,
sometimes there is a small sequence before the menu or title menu
appear.  For instance, on "The Matrix" a UOP starts when it shows
Morpheus, goes through his glasses to show Neo, etc. etc up
to "Welcome to the real world".  Annoying that you have to watch it
and wait for all the words to draw out.  Not any more, just push the
menu button a couple of times and presto -- skip right over it.

Couldn't have done this without Jocky.

Jason

--- In ezpatch@y..., synchron@n... wrote:
> 1)  Can't run EZpatch in WinXP Pro - I get 'Run-Time Error 7 - Out
> of memory.  I have 196M RAM so I don't think that's the problem.
>
> 2) In Win98 (1st Edition), it detects that OLEAUT32.DLL is too old.

Hmm.  What I should do is use a complete installer to put it on.
That'd solve the issue regarding mismatched control versions.  Guess
I'll do this on the next round.  Interesting to note that it doesn't
work on XP.  Anybody had success running it on XP?

> else is on the wish list which I hope will happen especially the
> VCD OSD bug.

I'm surprised by the number of people who have e-mailed me
individually asking specifically for that part of the patch.  I guess
there are more people using VCDs than I expected.  I'll see what I
can do.

Jason

>Could you tell me if the file header on the SPU file is always the
>same?
>Is there any utility to convert .bmp to spu?

This Q has already been answered in msg #5.


_________________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com

Jason,

Could you tell me if the file header on the SPU file is always the
same?
Is there any utility to convert .bmp to spu?

Great job Jason!  But there are a few quirks I'd like to report:

1)  Can't run EZpatch in WinXP Pro - I get 'Run-Time Error 7 - Out
of memory.  I have 196M RAM so I don't think that's the problem.

2) In Win98 (1st Edition), it detects that OLEAUT32.DLL is too old.
Copying the one from XP Pro ( I got dual boot and unhidden
partitions) fixes this and I can run EZpatch in Win98 (only :( ).

So far, i changed logo and OSD bug and it works great!  Everything
else is on the wish list which I hope will happen especially the VCD
OSD bug.

Cheers!

Synchron.

Thanks Jason.

Apart from fixing the display bug and turning off the green lights with
the dimmer button, I would like to thank you for the remove prohibited
functions feature.

I have a Region 2 German DVD that has two audio tracks:

1. German
2. The Original English audio w/ NON-REMOVABLE German Subtitles

The outside of the DVD case even says (in German) that the German
subtitles are not removable when listening to the English audio track.
Well, this was frustrating and used to be true.  However, after the
firmware patch I can just hit the SUBTITLE button and turn them off.
Before the patch, the SUBTITLE button wouldn't do anything.
Thanks for adding this feature and solving an annoying problem as well.

--- In ezpatch@y..., jpbrain@h... wrote:
> first of all, Congratulations for a great job done...

Thanks.  The comments are this are pretty much the only pay I get for
my work.

> What's the deal about the padding file. Can you explain that?

It expands the overall content and makes it easier for the laser to
find a valid CD.  I was able to make numerous CDRWs without it, but
one time it actually required having the padding file to find it.
I've done it that way ever since.

> Y tried to use the original 5803.rom file and Ezpatch did not
> recognized it. Wich files should I use?

See FAQ.TXT in the files section.  Only the 703 BT and CS are
supported at this point.

> I opened the Player to check the Video chipset but I decided to
take
> a picture so I don't need to open it again. I could not identify
wich
> one was the Eprom. Do you know wich one it is?

Nukebrewer uploaded in the 5803 group a detailed scan of the 5803
board (its in the files/images section).  The first chip you see
appear in the top, left corner of the JPG is the Conexant BT865
encoder (that's your video encoder, in this case as with most GE
5803Ps, it is a BT encoder).  On the right side of the pic, covered
with a Thom6 1032 label is the soldered in EEPROM.


Jason

first of all, Congratulations for a great job done...
I have a GE 5803P w/Bt865

now, I have some questions.....

What's the deal about the padding file. Can you explain that?

Y tried to use the original 5803.rom file and Ezpatch did not
recognized it. Wich files should I use?

I opened the Player to check the Video chipset but I decided to take
a picture so I don't need to open it again. I could not identify wich
one was the Eprom. Do you know wich one it is?

Thanks in advance, JP.

I have uploaded the first 5 confirmed patches for the 703 CS
(including OSD fix).  As more patches are confirmed/debugged, I will
add them to the file and keep it updated.  When all 10 are completed,
I will again post another announcement (for those who are subscribed
to announcements only.)

Jason

--- In ezpatch@y..., cryophil@y... wrote:
> Will the 703 CS chipset EZ patch have miniDVD support when it comes
> out?
> I read the FAQ and some other docs here.  I'm a bit confused.  Does
> miniDVD support come at the expense of having VCD support on the
> apex 703?  Or is it just that you can't play VCD after playing
> miniDVD unless you re-power the machine again?
> thanks

Auto MiniDVD will be supported as one of the 10 patches.  It is
having trouble in testing, so I have not yet released it.

Auto MiniDVD will enable you to play anything you ever played
before.  VCD 1.1 takes about a second longer to recognize.  However,
if you play a MiniDVD and then try to play a VCD 1.1 immediately
after it, your player will freeze and you will need to power off/on.
Not a huge thing, but it is a known bug in the patch.

Jason

I read the FAQ and some other docs here.  I'm a bit confused.  Does
miniDVD support come at the expense of having VCD support on the apex
703?  Or is it just that you can't play VCD after playing miniDVD
unless you re-power the machine again?
thanks

Will the 703 CS chipset EZ patch have miniDVD support when it comes
out?

Thanks for the effort here.  Fantastic!

Below is the text for an error that may occur and what to do about it.

>>gives me the following error:
>>Run-time error '20476'
>>The FileName buffer is too small to store the selected filename(s).
>>(Increase MaxFileSize)

>Open Explorer. Go to the \Windows\system directory and find
>the COMDLG32.OCX.  Rename it to COMDLG32.OLD
>EZ Patch has a COMDLG32.OCX in its own directory, and it will
>automatically self register once you remove the other file,
>so just start EZ Patch from there.
>
>If you continue having a problem, search the computer for other
>COMDLG32.OCX files and rename those as well.
>
>Once you have established that EZ Patch is working, copy the
>COMDLG32.OCX file from the EZ Patch directory into your
>\windows\system (or \winnt\system32 if you are on 2000/XP).
>That's just a safety precaution incase you ever delete the EZ Patch
>program directory.

Jason

--- In ezpatch@y..., "Trevor" <tchart@z...> wrote:
> Thanks for that, I didnt realise your group was so organized
already
> (ie with FAQ, files etc). Guess I should have looked first.

Thanks.  I spent the entire week last week organizing it while the
firmware was undergoing testing.  I have a vision for this, and I
hope that by organizing it this way I can make that vision a reality.

> Now another question or two;
> 1) Why are there two SPU files in the graphics packs?

Vision.  The graphics packs are all graphics on the firmware.  The
first SPU is the screensaver.  The second SPU appears momentarily
when you turn on the player and then fades out.  At some point in the
future, somebody will release a patch for that one and people will
start replacing it too.  There is only one SPU in the hand-designed
Theater Pack that I made.

> 2) Is there any way to get an SPU out of a ROM file? I would like
to
> get the TEAC logo out of my TEAC firmware (just so that the BT703
> firmware looks like the TEAC one)

Its not easy to locate.  If you have a hex editor, search for:
    00 10 80 80
It has appeared in almost every SPU I've extracted.  That entry is
usually the first and/or last color entry in the SPU.  Read it
backwards from there, using the SPU format to figure it out.
Backtrack to the FF.  From the FF, start counting (in hex) and
continue going backwards through the file.  When you hit a word (2
byte combination) that is the same as your count, and the following
word is just a little less than the count, you have found the
beginning of the file.  Go back to the FF and then count forwards 16
dwords (4 byte combinations).  The end of the 16th dword is the end
of the SPU.  The SPU file has a flexible format, so this may not
always work for you.  Also, keep in mind that there may be more than
1 SPU in the firmware.

FirmTweak will have a built in SPU ripper when the next version is
completed, so you might want to keep an eye on it.

I do have a program that can convert a SPU back to a BMP.  I'll
upload the source and executable to the utilities section.  It
requires the SPU to already be extracted, but you could use it to
validate your SPU.  It also provides a good way to create the BMP if
you're planning on doing a graphics pack.

Jason

Jason

Thanks for that, I didnt realise your group was so organized already
(ie with FAQ, files etc). Guess I should have looked first.

Now another question or two;
1) Why are there two SPU files in the graphics packs?
2) Is there any way to get an SPU out of a ROM file? I would like to
get the TEAC logo out of my TEAC firmware (just so that the BT703
firmware looks like the TEAC one)

The SPU information is way past my programming abilities but I will
read it again (I understand some of it).

Thanks again for the great application (and support)!

Trevor


> Thanks for being the first brave soul to ask a FAQ.  Now I can
> explain my policy.  When a question is asked that is likely to be a
> FAQ (Frequently Asked Question), I will usually put it on the FAQ
and
> then refer the person to it.  I'm hoping to keep the number of
times
> the same question is asked under control.

--- In ezpatch@y..., "Trevor" <tchart@z...> wrote:
> where can I get some more spu files or how can I make my own?

Thanks for being the first brave soul to ask a FAQ.  Now I can
explain my policy.  When a question is asked that is likely to be a
FAQ (Frequently Asked Question), I will usually put it on the FAQ and
then refer the person to it.  I'm hoping to keep the number of times
the same question is asked under control.


See FAQ (Question #2).

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ezpatch/files/FAQ.TXT

Jason

Wow what a killer app! Thanks very much for this. Just one question,
where can I get some more spu files or how can I make my own?

Thanks
Trevor

I have setup this group as a support mechanism for the freeware EZ
Patch program.

I have uploaded several files and setup a structure for future
uploads.  I have also included bookmarks for obtaining the roms and
for instructions on how to create the background screens.  If
uploading graphics paks, please upload a zipped file containing both
the .BMP and the .MPG and/or .SPU.

If you would like to develop EZ Patch extensions, E-Mail me and I
will send you the necessary SDK.  Most extensions will require a
knowledge of MIPSx.  You will also need to have experience with a
language capable of supporting COM objects (such as Visual C++ and
Visual Basic) for some of the more complex patch extensions.

Do not upload ROMs to this group.  Firmware binaries take a lot of
space and can usually be found elsewhere.  If not, I'm sure one of
the bookmarked sites would be happy to keep the binary for you.

Suggestions and requests for EZ Patch will be considered for the next
release.  Look at the WishList.TXT file to see if it has already been
posted before you request it.

Jason