Hello everyone! I've been lurking for quite some time now - this forum is a source of so much stuff you can do with your old consoles, I want to thank everyone participating!
For months I've been trying to use POPStarter (using PS2 Slim). Following ShaolinAssassin's tutorials for both SMB and USB loading, stricktly.
Whenever I start it, it gives me black screen and only resetting the console fixes it. Whenever I use SMB mode (or a patched version of the ELF file to enter debug mode), it shows everything as being 'Done', 'Loaded', 'Connected', etc - no sign of any error at all - and then black screen. I'm using build 2019/06/05, with USB drivers 2019/01/14. I've also tried older versions of the ELF with the same result. The net modules are filled in correctly (every time it manages to write the VMC files in the destination folder, both in SMB and USB mode), so there shouldn't be any issue with read/write permissions (I use the same numbers to play PS2 ISO files via LAN). For example, when loading via SMB, the final 2 lines read:
Connecting to smb... CONNECTED!
FFS Wrapper r6a : 35
(that second line can be actually a little different, the photo I took is not that good and I can't make out the exact letters/number. I can try to shoot pictures again and provide some better ones, if needed).
My TV is SD CRT, not HD LCD, so resolution shouldn't be a problem as well.
I checked the MD5 of the PAK file I got, just in case - it's correct.
I've tried several games so far, with the same result, some of them in both NTSC and PAL versions (my console is PAL, but I play games from all regions and my TV supports both 50/60 Hz, PAL/NTSC modes, just no progressive scan option) - Crash Team Racing, Alundra, Jackie Chan's Stuntmaster - and also a homebrew called Roll Boss Rush. I checked the Crash Team Racing MD5 to be sure - it's correct. Not using any additional BIOS files, fixes, cheats or patches. Tried VCD files both converted with CUE2BIN and PSXVCD, same result. Adding SB. and XX. at the beginning of the ELF file name (POPStarter) for SMB and USB loading, respectfully - the rest of the name stays the same as the VCD file, except for the extension, of course. Using uLaunchElf to start the ELF files manually. Both VCD and ELF extensions written in capital letters.
I've also tried DKWDRV (my console is model SCPH-77004) and PS2PSXe to run PS1 games - and I get the same result, black screen. I'm starting to think that all my settings are correct and it's a hardware issue on my end, but I'm not giving up on that yet - I really don't like how PS1 games look on my LCD monitor through a PS3, I really want to play them on the CRT through my PS2. And my laser still kind of works with back ups, but I want to preserve it.
If anyone can give me a suggestion or a direction, I can provide more info and some screenshots/photos - I just didn't want my first post to be too long and overwhelming (I guess that didn't work at the end lol).
Any and all kind of help/feedback would be highly appreciated, thank you in advance!
For months I've been trying to use POPStarter (using PS2 Slim). Following ShaolinAssassin's tutorials for both SMB and USB loading, stricktly.
Whenever I start it, it gives me black screen and only resetting the console fixes it. Whenever I use SMB mode (or a patched version of the ELF file to enter debug mode), it shows everything as being 'Done', 'Loaded', 'Connected', etc - no sign of any error at all - and then black screen. I'm using build 2019/06/05, with USB drivers 2019/01/14. I've also tried older versions of the ELF with the same result. The net modules are filled in correctly (every time it manages to write the VMC files in the destination folder, both in SMB and USB mode), so there shouldn't be any issue with read/write permissions (I use the same numbers to play PS2 ISO files via LAN). For example, when loading via SMB, the final 2 lines read:
Connecting to smb... CONNECTED!
FFS Wrapper r6a : 35
(that second line can be actually a little different, the photo I took is not that good and I can't make out the exact letters/number. I can try to shoot pictures again and provide some better ones, if needed).
My TV is SD CRT, not HD LCD, so resolution shouldn't be a problem as well.
I checked the MD5 of the PAK file I got, just in case - it's correct.
I've tried several games so far, with the same result, some of them in both NTSC and PAL versions (my console is PAL, but I play games from all regions and my TV supports both 50/60 Hz, PAL/NTSC modes, just no progressive scan option) - Crash Team Racing, Alundra, Jackie Chan's Stuntmaster - and also a homebrew called Roll Boss Rush. I checked the Crash Team Racing MD5 to be sure - it's correct. Not using any additional BIOS files, fixes, cheats or patches. Tried VCD files both converted with CUE2BIN and PSXVCD, same result. Adding SB. and XX. at the beginning of the ELF file name (POPStarter) for SMB and USB loading, respectfully - the rest of the name stays the same as the VCD file, except for the extension, of course. Using uLaunchElf to start the ELF files manually. Both VCD and ELF extensions written in capital letters.
I've also tried DKWDRV (my console is model SCPH-77004) and PS2PSXe to run PS1 games - and I get the same result, black screen. I'm starting to think that all my settings are correct and it's a hardware issue on my end, but I'm not giving up on that yet - I really don't like how PS1 games look on my LCD monitor through a PS3, I really want to play them on the CRT through my PS2. And my laser still kind of works with back ups, but I want to preserve it.
If anyone can give me a suggestion or a direction, I can provide more info and some screenshots/photos - I just didn't want my first post to be too long and overwhelming (I guess that didn't work at the end lol).
Any and all kind of help/feedback would be highly appreciated, thank you in advance!
