(EMS) Goldfinger 2.1 - how do I upgrade?

[GamerboyGU82]

I've been searching high and low for instructions on how to upgrade/update the software/firmware on my goldfinger to be used as a mod chip.


here's what it looks like




I can actually fit it on the printer port of my computer if I take it out of it's casing but I don't know if it needs to be attached to the playstation when I upgrade it, also I don't know where to get the software to update it and I'm not sure if it will work in windows XP.

Can anyone please provide some insight?
Thanks in advance!

[pepharytheworm]

I thought all you had to do was keep the lid button pushed down, then put in a ps1 disk as a boot disc while keeping the lid open. When it stops spinning put in the burnt or different region disc. On the goldfinger startup screen push start then your playing. As far as I know you don't need to update any of them for this feature.

Are you talking about a different feature other than playing burnt and imports? If you are I would be interested to know also.

[GamerboyGU82]

I thought all you had to do was keep the lid button pushed down, then put in a ps1 disk as a boot disc while keeping the lid open. When it stops spinning put in the burnt or different region disc. On the goldfinger startup screen push start then your playing. As far as I know you don't need to update any of them for this feature.

Are you talking about a different feature other than playing burnt and imports? If you are I would be interested to know also.

I can manage to get burned games to run on by doing that, but the music doesn't work in some games and I'm a bit picky about that =P

and certain games won't run (I.E. Strider 2) where it says the game won't start because the system has been modified. I know that you can get around that by using a gameshark code.... but I read somewhere that someone updated their goldfinger with an anti-stealth modchip firmware allowing them to boot games, even the ones with modchip blocking code and I was hoping to do the same

[pepharytheworm]

Here's a website you can check out with some info on the Goldfinger and other similiar devices. Hope this helps. By the way I get strider 2 to work with mine but of course some skipping music issues.

http://sadbuttru.tripod.com/userguide.htm

[squirrel_king]

Might be worth contacting EMS direct (either by email or on their forum, website is http://www.hkems.com) - they seem to be pretty good at supporting their old products.

[GamerboyGU82]

Here's a website you can check out with some info on the Goldfinger and other similiar devices. Hope this helps. By the way I get strider 2 to work with mine but of course some skipping music issues.

http://sadbuttru.tripod.com/userguide.htm

Thanks for the link.
I think I've run across that site before, but it doesn't have any info on how to update it =(

Might be worth contacting EMS direct (either by email or on their forum, website is http://www.hkems.com) - they seem to be pretty good at supporting their old products.

That site has updated software for my goldfinger, but no info on how to apply it, I emailed them about it and the response I got was "I am sorry that this product is too old, we don't have further information / guide about this."

I'm just wondering why I can't find any info on how to upgrade it

[todesengel]

I can manage to get burned games to run on by doing that, but the music doesn't work in some games and I'm a bit picky about that =P

and certain games won't run (I.E. Strider 2) where it says the game won't start because the system has been modified. I know that you can get around that by using a gameshark code.... but I read somewhere that someone updated their goldfinger with an anti-stealth modchip firmware allowing them to boot games, even the ones with modchip blocking code and I was hoping to do the same

The CD audio issue is just something you'll have to put up with when you use a Gameshark/Goldfinger/boot disc to play imports and backups that use CD audio tracks for music. As for updating it to add stealth mod functions that's a new one to me, I thought that the port was just to update the cheat code section and not the actual firmware. At least every Goldfinger I've used never mentioned firmware updates in the instructions. As to how to apply updates to it though, there was software that you had to download and you would connect the Goldfinger to the parallel(printer) port of your computer with a printer cable. I remember the software being for Windows 98 based PC's but I'm sure you could get it to work in XP.

[skaar]

The CD Audio thing can be fixed as long as you boot a game with MORE audio tracks than the game you swap it with. And the mod chip protection on some games needs to have the ISOs for the games patched before you burn.

[Az]

All these clones are cheap Action Replay / Gameshark knockoffs with a hacked version of a homebrew bios flashed to them. The original bios is called Caetla and companies like EMS just changed a few words in the title screens to make it look like their own product.

The most common way to update the thing was a PC Comms card that installed on your computer. I kinda lost track of the whole cheat device scene around 2000, but I'm pretty sure there was some convoluted way to update your firmware on both this and a Gameshark Pro using a CD-R. I'm almost 100% positive you won't gain any useful features on this particular model even if you did update it.

I've never heard of a cheat device bios that overrides the device check in some games. If for some reason you don't like using codes you can use a homebrew program called Import Player that will also bypass the check.

[pepharytheworm]

The CD Audio thing can be fixed as long as you boot a game with MORE audio tracks than the game you swap it with. And the mod chip protection on some games needs to have the ISOs for the games patched before you burn.

You know a good game to use as a boot disc that has tons of tracks?

[todesengel]

The CD Audio thing can be fixed as long as you boot a game with MORE audio tracks than the game you swap it with. And the mod chip protection on some games needs to have the ISOs for the games patched before you burn.

That's cool to know, too bad I only have the very last CD only version of the Gameshark and Boot Disc Version 2 to load up imports & backups.

[Az]

You know a good game to use as a boot disc that has tons of tracks?

AFAIK, both Mortal Kombat 3 and Mortal Kombat Trilogy have several dozen.

[rbudrick]

Is there perhaps a way to burn an image that uses CD audio tracks faithfully in the way one must do to get Duo discs to work? If I remember correctly, Duo discs have to have everything lined up byte for byte as they are on the original disk.

-Rob