PAL BIOS Protection Measure (Fix Included In Issue)

[alex-free]

PAL BIOS detection is only seen in 2 Japanese games:

i-mode mo Issho: Doko Demo Issho Tsuika Disc http://redump.org/disc/20321/
Koneko mo Issho http://redump.org/disc/6329/

On detecting the letter E in the BIOS string it will lock up the game. Good news is I have bypasses for these 2 games in my not yet released next version of Tonyhax International. Instead of jumping when detecting the PAL BIOS, you can replace the instruction with a nop and it works just fine. Both these games are APv2 titles as well so they trigger an AP screen after this check if a bypass is not implemented. I have bypasses for everything in my not yet released update to my fork. MottZilla and I co-developed these ourselves since no game specific ones exist, we are thrilled they finally work for International (which now will be supporting non-stealth mod-chips and not just stock consoles like the original Tonyhax).

I didn't test if original Tonyhax can bypass the APv2 screens with your general bypass measures but I did see the PAL BIOS issue is present in original Tonyhax. If I enable just the PAL BIOS codes in DuckStation Tonyhax original stops locking up.

The interesting thing is most protected games if they detect a PAL BIOS they disable the protection entirely (which is also something that helped me add non-stealth mod-chip support to Tonyhax International). These 2 do the reverse though.

Koneko Mo Isso

Test commands force OK:
D01520D8 0062
801520D8 0014
D01520DA 1202
801520DA 1800

Fake a VC0 without ReadTOC:
D016957C 001E
8016957C 0000

Fake Non PAL BIOS:
D0151950 000A
80151950 0000
D0151952 1062
80151952 0000

i-mode mo Issho: Doko Demo Issho Tsuika Disc

Test commands force OK:
D015205C 0062
8015205C 0014
D015205E 1202
8015205E 1800

Fake a VC0 without ReadTOC:

D01698B4 001E
801698B4 0000

Fake Non PAL BIOS:
D01518D4 000A
801518D4 0000
D01518D6 1062
D01518D6 0000

[alex-free]

Any update on this?

[socram8888]

Not really - I'd need to write some more game-specific patches like for Vandal Hearths 2, and honestly tonyhax is currently very low on the priority list.