So when this code here (seg000:00F6) calls the sub_21979 it goes via a sub function sub_10180

Which jumps to the actual function when it has been loaded into ram (after swapping some other code out and other magic!)

here the actual called function

And IDA Pro links this all together auto-magically so life is good.

But really we want to remove the jump functions out of the loop, as we can have the whole project in memory. The main advantage of cleaning up is that sub_21979 only shows one place the refers to this function (green code in top right of picture), but the jump function may have many callers, and we don’t see that, and to explore the code requires jump in and out of the jump function, which gets annoying.

Here an .idc script to fix this up. It finds all the overlay jump functions, then loops across the referencing locations and rewrite those to call the actual jump target.

#include <idc.idc>

static main()
{
	auto seg, loc;
	auto off, base;
	auto xref;

	seg = FirstSeg();

	while(seg != BADADDR )
	{
		loc = SegStart(seg);

		if( Byte(loc) == 0xCD && Byte(loc+1) == 0x3F)
		{
			Message("Fixing segment %s jumps\n", SegName(seg));

			loc = loc + 0x20;

			while(loc < SegEnd(seg))
			{
				if( Byte(loc) == 0xEA )
				{
					off = Word(loc+1);
					base = Word(loc+3);

					xref = RfirstB(loc);
					while( xref != BADADDR )
					{
						Message("Loc %x ref from %x\n", loc, xref);

						PatchWord(xref+1, off);
						PatchWord(xref+3, base);

						DelCodeXref(xref, loc, 0 );

						xref = RnextB(loc, xref);
					}
				}

				loc = loc + 5;
			}
		}

		seg = NextSeg(seg);
	}
}

And now our original calling function calls the real function

And the jump function has nobody call it, but we leave it there in case some later decoded code does call it…

And our called function correctly refers to the code that calls it

Pool of Radiance Forgotten Realms series:

• Pool of Radiance cheat code is ‘start.exe STING’
• Curse of the Azure Bonds cheat code is ‘start.exe STING Wooden’ as noted here
• Secrets of the Silver Blade cheat code is ‘start.exe Hoop Gem’ as noted here
• Pools of Darkness cheat code is ‘game.exe 2 2 Helm’ as noted here
• FRUA doesn’t seem to have obvious cheat code. aka not based on PoR code

Savage Frontier Forgotten Realms series:

• Gateway to the Savage Frontier currently needs a hacked executable (here) and then ‘game.exe Super Wooden’ press the Z button on your turn and ‘-’ on the monsters
• Treasure of the Savage Frontier ‘game.exe 2 2 Helm’

Dragonlance series:

• Champions of Krynn cheat code is ‘start.exe Woof Helm’
• Death Knights of Krynn cheat code is ‘start.exe anything Helm’
• Dark Queen of Krynn appears the same code as FRUA so again not sure.

The two Buck Rogers game are using the PoR code base, but all the normal cheat code has been removed. And there is no obvious “Gods intervene!” in the text strings of the engine

Spelljammer: Pirates of Realmspace  is a different code base, the previous games PoR based code bases are Pascal where as this one is C/C++, I couldn’t see anything that looks like a “Gods intervene” text string ether.

• Skips the title screen
• Allows turning on/off of the debugging
• Allows player affect dumping

Parameter 2 set to Gem

• Skips the copy protection
• Allows ‘The Gods intervene!”, via alt-x
• Allows area view in all locations
• The code has support for ‘Turning on/off free training, via J in training menu’ but as the menu’s no longer use keyboard short-cuts, so I can’t see how to activate it

The first: adding a 1 as the first parameter skips the title screen, and copy protection.

game.exe 1

Then there are three choices of third parameter

• Gem – Allows view of the area map in all locations
• HALIBUT – Allows editing/modifying of experienced players
• Helm – Allows ‘The GODS Intervene!’ – a.k.a. kills all enemy in combat, via alt-x

Thus to play the latter you would type

game.exe 1 2 Helm

What I don’t know yet is how to control what game is loaded if you use the 1 parameter, and the game ends up in a slightly unplayable mode. From reading the code it looks like it should load saved game Z. But that’s not working out for me so far.

Made it super easy to read how it worked. But could be tricky to use as aid for learning flex.

I was also thinking it might make it hard to boot strap to new platform, but I just realised you compile the output code not the flex, to run on the new system, and thus flex already runs on the original platform. Phew, now I’ll sleep better at night, not having to worry about that self referencing loop.

So the OS upgrade worked, and the app’s are all back (after a couple of reboots) but my data is all lost. Arrrg! (weight tracking, car fuel and high scores on card games)

So the errors I’m getting since upgrading to iTunes 9.2 are on sync I get three or four of these:

With these details:

Then after reporting all those, iTunes tells me it didn’t sync correctly, then I get a crash in the crash reporting tool, and another batch of 3-4 of the first error messages:

I’ve not found the a fix yet, but it’s quite frustrating.

So having all this rubbish happening I thought, oh I’ll upgrade the device in case that’s the problem. Wrong thinking..

iOS 4 seems neat, so far my only gripe is my music/podcasts pauses for a few seconds when the home button is push sometimes, or a minute or two after leaving the device alone (when is turns the screen off) which is not so impressive.

Update 14th July: It turned out to be my time zones were not the same. My PC was GMT -6 Central America not GMT -6 Central Time (US & Canada), and my iPod was set to Chicago. OMG I can’t believe it was something so simple and stupidly small. I found the answer in this Apple thread.

It’s Free, it works, yippie!

Now I just need to learn how to use it’s resource scheduler and see how far this program can be pushed.

It’s worth the upgrade!

So much so that I I’ve almost been banned from uttering phrases like: “today I was listen to a podcast” or “today I lent” at home. I really have been learning so many cool things, and thinking about issues from a new perspective.

I originally listened to the main podcast, and towards the end of that I discovered the archive podcasts for 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. This has been one of the main podcast I have listened to on my commute and lunch-time walks, it’s been magic.

Having started at the end and then going back to the begin of the series, it has been really interesting to see how the sytle and format of the show has changed, the introduction of the intro music, changes of email, etc.

Some of my favorite shows have been when Russ talks to Mike Munger as the interaction dynamics between the two is really energetic. Especially with Mike’s love of sarcasm, you really have to think about what he’s saying to workout when he’s joking. Also when Russ, just talks by himself for the hour, as he talks in very logical and balanced style, reviewing both sides of the argument.

On the flip side, when talking to people that fit the more traditional academic stereotype – that are not good talkers, that interrupt lots or use repetitive fillers, to keep control of the conversation – sometimes annoy me, as they are pushing the conversation to hard, and it feels less smooth flowing.

I also really appreciate Russ’s humbleness and openness to stating he doesn’t get something and willingness to ask question that sound simple.

I actually have 6 episodes not listen to, they are the Arnold Klein – The Theory of Moral Sentiments discussions, and that’s because I have purchased the book, and want to listen to each one after having read that section of the book.