forums.ps2dev.org

G'day all,

I'm more or less new to the exploit scene and have just installed the exploit on my PS2 about 2 days ago. Im now trying to transfer files via FTP and games via HDL Dump, now with both of them I seem to be having an identical problem. I've got my PS2 and laptop connected via a crossover cable. I've set up the IP addresses correctly. I launch the server for either (I'm using the FTP server built into uLaunchElf) and under the network connection manager in Vista the LAN connection becomes active. I can ping my PS2 and get a response. When I launch my FTP client FlashFXP I can connect initially, but usually after browsing a few directories it disconnects and I can't reconnect. I try to ping to ping my PS2 and nothing comes back and under the network connection manager it shows the LAN as "Network Cable is unplugged". Now when I launch the HDL Dump server the same things happen, connection is active, I can ping, etc. But when I start to transfer a game, it goes for about 30 seconds then it stops and the HDL Dump GUI says "An established connection was aborted by the software in your host machine". After which I can't ping, connect, or see any connection under the network connection manager. I have allowed the IP address of the PS2 in my firewall, I even tried turning it off. I've tried various IP addresses on both the computer and PS2 with the same results. I have also turned off IPv6 and everything else except IPv4 under my network card properties and again no change. Does anyone else have a suggestion I could try??

games via HDL Dump

Piracy is not discussed here.

I never said anything about piracy. I'm using HDL Dump to transfer games I own onto the HDD. Either way, that really has nothing to do with anything. The main reason I added it in was to show that my problem was happening with more than one network capable ELF, thus ruling out the possibility that it is an error in the FTP client. When solving a problem people need all the info they can get and I'm just telling them that I have network issues with two programs, not that I'm having problems transferring an ISO I downloaded onto my HDD and then needing help to make it run, nor am I talking about piracy. I'm just discussing a network issue, If you really wish to be a nit-pick, only help with my FTP issue.

Now for an update:

I changed FTP Clients, uLaunchElf versions, tried different FTP host ELFs and cleaned all contacts. The initial connection is fine, and will be stable for a long time if left alone. The problem is as soon as I start transferring data the connection is lost. I decided to watch the two lights on the back of my network adapter to see what they did. When I started either an FTP server or (jimparis look away) HDLDump server the Link light would light up and the Act light would flash, as one would expect. When I make the initial connection, the Act light flashes as normal. Next when I start transferring data, again the lights are normal until the connection is lost. When the connection drops out the lights behave weirdly. Firstly both lights go out, then the Act light flashes once and the Link light turns on. Next the Act light flashes once again and the Link light goes out, so that both lights are out again. This just keeps repeating until the console is reset. Judging by this behaviour, I would say the problem is on the PS2 side. Possibly an error with my adapter, or even my network driver?

----- snip ----- re: piracy VS legitimate usage
Many guys on this site are hypersensitive when it comes to piracy issues, since this is purely a development site, having nothing whatever to do with any normal console usage, and least of all with any piracy, since homebrew software development doesn't involve any such.

However, even if your needs have nothing to do with piracy, this still isn't the place to come for generic help in using your console or its networking software, unless that software was developed/released through this site and you want to give feedback to the developer (which was not the case here).

A better place to visit for the kind of help you want would be the psx-scene site, which you can reach using this URL. That is also the 'home' site of one of the programs you mentioned (uLaunchELF), so you can find much more detailed information on it over there.

Wingo wrote:I changed FTP Clients, uLaunchElf versions, tried different FTP host ELFs and cleaned all contacts. The initial connection is fine, and will be stable for a long time if left alone. The problem is as soon as I start transferring data the connection is lost. I decided to watch the two lights on the back of my network adapter to see what they did. When I started either an FTP server or (jimparis look away) HDLDump server the Link light would light up and the Act light would flash, as one would expect. When I make the initial connection, the Act light flashes as normal. Next when I start transferring data, again the lights are normal until the connection is lost. When the connection drops out the lights behave weirdly. Firstly both lights go out, then the Act light flashes once and the Link light turns on. Next the Act light flashes once again and the Link light goes out, so that both lights are out again. This just keeps repeating until the console is reset. Judging by this behaviour, I would say the problem is on the PS2 side. Possibly an error with my adapter, or even my network driver?

I follow your reasoning but disagree with your conclusion. Once something messes up the protocol enough so that contact is lost you will see the same type of behaviour of the activity LEDs, regardless of which end caused the problem. The main suspect in any current problems where one of the parties uses the yet-to-be-debugged Vista OS is self-evident. As for having bad network drivers at the PS2 end, that driver is a built-in IRX file of the ELF for most cases (certainly for uLaunchELF, which I know for sure, since I am one of its developers), so if the same ELF works fine for others, then it should for you too.

So my conclusion is that there is something wrong in the networking API of Vista, which causes the PC-side client programs to lose contact with the PS2-side servers.

Btw: You are not alone. I have seen many other complaints from Vista users that have weird networking problems with software which has no such problems under WinXP.

Best regards: dlanor

I am aware that people are sensitive towards the issue of piracy, but it still doesn't give them the right to be condescending when I haven't even mentioned anything about it.

I also understand the aim of this forum/website and I have also posted on the psx-scene forums. So far I haven't had a single reply, thus why I have spread this post over various forums in hope of a reply. So far yours has provided the most help.

I will ask one more question, then just let this whole thread wrap up and die. Do you know if the people experiencing network problems in Vista ever fixed them, and if so how? I'm very quickly running out of ideas short of making a dual boot system with Vista and XP or Linux.

Didn't you read his post? Take it to PSX-Scene. We couldn't care less about your networking problems. If you were writing the drivers and had a low-level question about gdb data you collected, it might be another thing altogether.

Wingo wrote:I am aware that people are sensitive towards the issue of piracy, but it still doesn't give them the right to be condescending when I haven't even mentioned anything about it.

I'm afraid many of them draw conclusions of piracy at the very mention of HDLoader (or any similar tools).

I also understand the aim of this forum/website and I have also posted on the psx-scene forums. So far I haven't had a single reply,

That's odd, since I frequently browse those forums as well, but perhaps you posted in some subforum I don't usually read. The best bet for anything related to uLaunchELF is of course its own subforum inside the PS2 'Homebrew Dev & Emu' forum at psx-scene. Being one of the uLE developers, I always check that one.

thus why I have spread this post over various forums in hope of a reply. So far yours has provided the most help.

I will ask one more question, then just let this whole thread wrap up and die. Do you know if the people experiencing network problems in Vista ever fixed them, and if so how? I'm very quickly running out of ideas short of making a dual boot system with Vista and XP or Linux.

Unfortunately I haven't heard of any such story getting a happy ending. Some people even prefer to revert to WinXP again, to get away from all the compatibility hassles of Vista (which do not only involve PS2 related stuff).

Even more people have chosen not to migrate to Vista in the first place, for the time being anyway. Most likely it will take a year or even more to clean up Vista to the point where its backwards compatibility with WinXP software becomes acceptable.

Best regards: dlanor

hi, I have experienced this problem as well -- I suspect either the ftp server program is either not following ftp spec exactly, or the network library has some issues, or some combination. The networking library might not be fully compatible with all network adapters? I remember there is a patch needed to get networking running on ps2 linux for some newer PS2 network adapters.

As a workaround (and this is in no way convenient or good), I made a tiny ftp client that essentially re-tries any sends or receives until the operation is successful.

Such a thing is so painful to use, I am thinking of writing a wget-type client for ps2 (I suspect simple tcp connections are better implemented in the network libray) has anyone already done this?

That's odd, since I frequently browse those forums as well, but perhaps you posted in some subforum I don't usually read. The best bet for anything related to uLaunchELF is of course its own subforum inside the PS2 'Homebrew Dev & Emu' forum at psx-scene. Being one of the uLE developers, I always check that one.

I placed it in the IDE HDD Discussion forum, as I didn't consider it to be a problem with uLaunchElf.

I was playing with my driver settings last night, and I switched the Speed and Duplex to 10mpbs Full duplex. The FTP made a stable connection to my PS2 and transferred files with no problems.

Didn't you read his post? Take it to PSX-Scene. We couldn't care less about your networking problems. If you were writing the drivers and had a low-level question about gdb data you collected, it might be another thing altogether.

Yes I did read his post, but didn't you read mine? One more question and I'm wrapping up the thread. But, I've decided to just outright leave these forums. After accusations of piracy, and the outright hostility coming from J.F. I know that this forum is for developing apps for the PS2, but I thought that people here might be nice enough to offer a hand to a newbie with a network issue. I can see I was wrong. On the other hand, I would like to thank dlanor for the help and being who seems the only nice guy here.

I must admit, I can detect a bad Elitist attitude from these forums. Just remember, because you can make a program for a PS2, and I'm only a newbie, it doesn't make you better than me.

Wingo wrote:I must admit, I can detect a bad Elitist attitude from these forums. Just remember, because you can make a program for a PS2, and I'm only a newbie, it doesn't make you better than me.

It's not an elitism thing, if you perceive it as such that's your own problem.
There are alot of people here who are pro devs (actually make a living out of coding games) and don't want to be associated with any community perceived (by Sony, or anybody else) as helping piracy, since it could make their life difficult.
HDLoader, like it or not, is used A LOT for piracy, so it's discussion is out right banned on these forums. Nobody cares if it's legal where you are, nobody cares if you're just using it for backups, it's a banned topic here. Same goes for any other tools used for playing copied games, or game hacking and have little or no development merit.

Wingo wrote:After accusations of piracy, and the outright hostility coming from J.F. I know that this forum is for developing apps for the PS2, but I thought that people here might be nice enough to offer a hand to a newbie with a network issue. I can see I was wrong. On the other hand, I would like to thank dlanor for the help and being who seems the only nice guy here.

I must admit, I can detect a bad Elitist attitude from these forums. Just remember, because you can make a program for a PS2, and I'm only a newbie, it doesn't make you better than me.

This is a place for developers. We don't want to have to wade through a hundred "How do I network Vista and HDL to play my (wink) 'backups'?" posts to get to the REAL posts. If that means offending a few people who should be on another board anyway, so be it. It's not elitism, it's exclusivity. This is EXCLUSIVELY a place for developers, elite or not. You don't walk into a flower shop and start asking the clerk about pipe wrenches. Same principle here.