Newer Pacrom Like Fw?

[Tobriand]

Pacrom is great - everyone agrees on that pretty much. It has auto-loading, formatting from the firmware, lots of listing options, runs pretty much everything, and of course, there's error checking.
But it is by no means perfect.
Unlike the official fw, there's no built in MP3 player, there aren't any file-management utilities beyond setting how they are viewed, nothing can be done with non executables, and it does look - whilst functional - a little drab.

So, with BlackThunderStudios seeming to have pretty much left the picture, unless they're being *very* quiet in the background, I'm wondering whether it would be worthwhile trying to re-create a possible firmware with Pacrom like efficiency, but with maybe a few more useful bits. What are people's feelings on that idea? Is there any point, what with the advent of multi-firmwares? Do we already have that with GPFM and potentially in the future YAFL? Or would it be nice to have all of the file management utils, a text/picture viewer, and whatever else built into one proggy?

Lets hear what you think. Or not.

 

[yaustar]

an archiver program for zipping/extracting would be damn handy...

 

[aquafish_]

i'm already working on something like that... wait, wait...

 

[Squidge]

It would be nice, but I don't think anyone else knows how to run GXEs, which is one of the biggest drawbacks. Saying that though, I don't play any commercial games now, but not being able to run GpCinema might be a bit, erm, awkward.

Unless, of course, the free version of GpCinema comes out as a regular FXE.

 

[Tobriand]

I think some do know how to load .gxes, but the problem is, releasing any code that showed how would instantly release the code to crack commercial games, methinks. Perhaps someone who does (looks at some of the coders who've been around longest) could code a kind of module that was effectively an .fxe but which then loaded a specified .gxe (so you load the .fxe in, and at a specified address you put the .gxe name while loading the .fxe, then execute, and it'll find the proggyname its supposed to run and run it) would be a slightly convenient solution to that.

We could even ask Gamepark to do it, though I doubt they'd oblige. Despite the fact that it'd probably be fairly simple for them...

That way, you can incorporate .gxe loading without compromising security, and only knowing some slightly modified .fxe loading code (i.e. rather than wiping memory and loading it in, you wipe memory, load it in, and then add some extra bit tagged on the end).

I'll await your SuperPacRom with baited breath, Aquafish; its time Pacrom were replaced with something with a couple more features, methinks.

 

[taubstumm]

just combine the auto launch with yafl

 

[dr.no]

Features that would make a FW prefect:
GPdrive (running constantly in the background when the firmware is running)
MadMP3+GPcinema
SMC recover+ SMC formating
Yafl

All in _one design_ (most important) with some nice photoshopped GFX, Sounds and easy menu-controls.

...and maybe someday a firmware that supports FAT32 or some other more common partitionsystem (if this is possible at all. if not, then im fine with what is there already).