Re: DC dev: requirements?

[der Mouse <mouse%Rodents-Montreal.ORG@localhost>]

Thanks for the prompt and informative responses!

> Even if the manpage had been correct, the track needs to be mode 2,
> not mode 1.

Hm, I didn't notice that; the difference between "mode 1" and "mode 2
form 1" escaped my eye.  Perhaps if I actually understood CD formats
this would make more sense to me. :-/

> Yes, the different modes and forms are a bit confusing, especially
> when they rename the options...

Indeed. :-/

>> So, my question mutates a bit: what processing do I have to perform
>> on a kernel to turn it into a data track suitable for burning like
>> the netbsd-kernel.raw file from that www.schnarff.com tarball?  It's
>> not a 9660 filesystem, and unfortunately most of the
>> promising-looking links in the howto are now 404.
> Actually, it is a 9660 filesystem.  It's just that it doesn't start
> at sector 150 like most 9660 filesystems do, because it's not the
> first track of the disc.

Oh!  So that's why "mount -r -t cd9660" didn't like it?

> A 9660 filesystem contains references to absolute sector numbers, not
> relative to the beginning of the track.

Eww, what a horrible design botch!  Important to know, though.

> Also, if you make your own 9660 filesystem, you must remember to copy
> the bootstrap (the initial 16 sectors) from another image, or create
> your own using the "makeip" program.

What's this "makeip"?  My NetBSD build directory contains nothing of
the sort.

This sounds as though the Dreamcast ROMs just load and execute a
handful of sectors from the disk (beginning of the first data track?
absolute sector numbers?) and the use of 9660 filesystems is more in
the nature of a convention used by the usual bootblocks.  Is that a
fair statement?

How much checking do the ROMs do before doing this?  If the bootblocks
are user-replaceable, they obviously don't do all _that_ much, but, if
they demand more than just having that audio track there, it's
important to know....

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