Converting ppf to text to patch 1st_read manually

[Soldiaz]

is there a way to see whats inside a ppf and wich string is replaced.

I am sure this would be very useful cause most patches are made for an iso. But if you do not have the "original" iso then the patch does not work properly.

[Megalexxx]

It very easy to get something like :
_ position of bytes to change
_ number of bytes to change
_ new value

But if you don't know where were the byte in the original iso, it won't help you that much...

[Soldiaz]

mmh thats true. I thought bout it as i read a post from you how to remove the rgb protection from gauntlet legends. Because any time i download a patch and i am trying to apply it, the program says "wrong filesize" and so on. Maybe you post some more hex codes :-) ...

[Megalexxx]

Just for information :

1. The PPF 2.0 Header:

@START_PPF20HEADER
.----------+--------+---------------------------------------------.
| POSITION | SIZE | E X P L A N A T I O N |
+----------|--------|---------------------------------------------+
| 00-04 | 05 | PPF-Magic: "PPF20" |
+----------|--------|---------------------------------------------+
| 05 | 01 | Encoding Method: |
| | | - If $00 then it is a PPF 1.0 Patch |
| | | - If $01 then it is a PPF 2.0 Patch |
+----------|--------|---------------------------------------------+
| 06-55 | 50 | Patch Description |
+----------|--------|---------------------------------------------+
| 56-59 | 04 | Size of the file (e.g. CDRWin binfile) this |
| | | patch was made of. Used for Identification |
+----------|--------|---------------------------------------------+
| 60-1083 | 1024 | this is a binary block of 1024 byte taken |
| | | from position $9320 of the file (e.g. CDRWin|
| | | binfile) this patch was made of. Used for |
| | | identification. |
+----------|--------|---------------------------------------------+
| 1084-X | XX | The Patch itself.. see below for structure! |
'----------+--------+---------------------------------------------'
@END_PPF20HEADER - TOTAL HEADER-SIZE = 1084 BYTE.


2. The PPF 2.0 Patch Itself (Encoding Method #1)

@START_PPF20PATCH
FORMAT : xxxx,y,zzzz

xxxx = 4 byte file offset.

y = Number of bytes that will be changed.

zzzz = New data to be written ('y' number of bytes).

Example
~~~~~~~

Starting from File Offset 0x0015F9D0 replace 3 bytes with 01,02,03
D0 F9 15 00 03 01 02 03

Be careful! watch the endian format!!! If you own an Amiga and want
to do a PPF2-Patcher for Amiga don't forget to swap the endian-format
of the OFFSET to avoid seek errors!

@END_PPF20PATCH


3. The PPF 2.0 Fileid area

@START_FILEID

The fileid area is used to store additional patch information of
the PPF 2.0 file. I implemented this following the AMIGA standard
of adding a fileid to e.g. .txt files. You can add a FILE_ID to a
PPF 2.0 patch by using the tool 'PPFdiz.exe' or "PPF-O-MATIC2"
included in this package. You dont have to add a FILE_ID to your
PPF 2.0 patch. It only for your pleasure! :)

For developers: a file_id area begins with @BEGIN_FILE_ID.DIZ and
ends with @END_FILE_ID.DIZ (Amiga BBS standard).
Between @BEGIN_FILE_ID.DIZ and @END_FILE_ID.DIZ you will find
the File_Id and followed after @END_FILE_ID.DIZ you will find an
Integer (4 byte long) with the length of the FILE_ID.DIZ!

A File_ID.diz file cannot be greater than 3072 Bytes.

If you do a PPF 2.0 Applier be sure to check for an existing FILE
ID AREA, because it is located after the PATCH DATA!

@END_FILEID