Zez Retro is a channel from Louis Zezeran speaking to artists, gamers and creators in retro gaming. "Cathode Ray Podcast" episodes are with my friend and CRT guru Steve Nutter from Retro Tech USA. "Zezcast" episodes are me talking individually to retro creators.
Cathode Ray Podcast IN PERSON! - The first time Louis & Steve record together - CRP60
Louis visited Steve in the US and after 4 days together, this is their live podcast to reflect on the visit.
23 Oct 2023
The PSIO "Litemenu" Story
In this episode I speak to developer Danhans42 who was the programmer of the PSIO homebrew custom menu "Litemenu" which was never released after legal action from the PSIO maker.
PSIO is a plug in dongle for the original grey Playstation 1 which allows you to run games from an SD card. While it was one of the first "Optical Drive Emulator" type mods for PS1, it has experienced a difficult history with a slow pace of updates and negative online behaviour from the creator
After feeling frustrated with the lack of updates, Dan used public information and his own debugging of the PSIO to develop his own menu which was faster and had more features.
Dan offered to give this code to the creator without publicly releasing it, however after a deadline had passed, the offer was not taken up and Dan was on the end of legal threats. While Dan and the community in general were quite confident that these legal threats were baseless, Dan decided to fold the project and not release the code.
There is also MUCH MORE to the story. In this episode we learn a little about Dan's background and how he came into PS1 coding as a young person, hacking up his own Net Yaroze style PS1 dev console. We then jump forward to how he obtained a PSIO clone, what led to his frustration with the development and how we went about coding his own menu.
Dan is quite open in this talk about the part he played and steps along the way he could have handled better.
We try and answer the most controversial points about PSIO and Litemenu
* Does Litemenu enable PSIO piracy?
* Does Litemenu include any PSIO code
Follow Dan
Blog http://psx0.wordpress.com (http://psx0.wordpress.com/)
Github http://www.github.com/danhans42 (http://www.github.com/danhans42)
PSX.dev Discord - http://psx.dev/ (http://psx.dev/)
0:00:00 - Start
0:04:11 - Typing in code from the user manual back in the day
0:11:08 - Using Net Yaroze for PlayStation Programming
0:12:05 - Net Yaroze SDK and PlayStation Boot Disk
0:18:12 - Dan wanted to make a a Chuckie Egg-Inspired PlayStation Game
0:21:49 - Discussion on the PSIO and Clones
0:34:32 - Which chips are inside the PSIO? How did Dan create the menu?
0:39:32 - Could I make any ISO the menu.sys??
0:43:08 - Discovering PlayStation CD Commands via the PSIO debug out
0:56:51 - Does Litemenu infringe on any copyright??
1:04:33 - Technical discussion on PlayStation coding
1:16:28 - Online Drama and PSIO Development
1:25:32 - Litemenu adds Game List Retrieval and faster loading
1:31:44 - Exploring Future PlayStation Hacking Opportunities
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Along with my friend Steve from RetroTech we maintain a blog about our projects "The Cathode Ray Blog"
https://www.cathoderayblog.com
You can find the audio on the web or your favourite podcast app
https://anchor.fm/zezretro
Catch us on Twitter
https://twitter.com/zez
https://twitter.com/usa_retro
For all your CRT repair needs, check out Steve's channel
https://www.youtube.com/c/RetroTechUSA
20 Sept 2023
"CRTs created our whole scientific culture!" - Cathode Ray Podcast #59
"CRTs created our whole scientific culture!" - Steve Nutter, during one of his megalomaniacal rants in this episode
Listen in as we kick off with an exploration of Steve's tech tinkering, where he restores a Sony CRT and adds an S-video mod. He discusses how the S video connector was run from three lines on the board and how the chroma and luma inputs were tapped. In another segment, we take a look at the RF device created by PorkChop Express from MisterAddons, comparing RF and Composite Video Signals and how similar they really are.
Shifting gears, the boys talk about health and fitness as a middle aged content creator. Steve opens up about his effort over the past six months and shares some of his secrets for staying consistent with his fitness routine. We explore the power of positive thinking, and Steve gives us a personal perspective on overcoming struggles and changing perspectives after his brother's visit in June.
Lastly, we share some insights into the world of YouTube content creation and the challenges that come with it. From finding the right balance between work and rest, to dealing with the constant pressure of success, we discuss how maintaining focus and motivation can be achieved. Plus, we do question time at the end with a detailed discussion about the challenges of remaking CRT Tubes and what an ideal BVM setup would look like.
(0:00:02) - Start
(0:00:02) - Sony CRT mod for S-Video
(0:08:51) - RF vs Composite Video Signals - Quality Difference?
(0:22:48) - Steve has been working out!
(0:31:22) - Changing Perspectives as a creator
(0:43:03) - Navigating Work Goals and Finding Support
(0:47:33) - Mental health for content creators on YouTube
(0:59:47) - Listener Question: Why can't we remake CRT tubes?
(1:06:42) - Listener Question: What's in your prefect PVM?
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Follow us on Twitter!
https://twitter.com/zez
https://twitter.com/usa_retro
We encourage your questions however please keep in mind that very technical CRT problems are really hard to diagnose online. If you are interested in Steve's professional CRT repair services please head over to his patreon page
https://www.patreon.com/retrotechUSA
Steve and Louis maintain a blog about their projects "The Cathode Ray Blog"
https://www.cathoderayblog.com
You can find the audio on the web or your favourite podcast app
https://anchor.fm/zezretro
For all your own CRT repair needs, check out Steve's channel
https://www.youtube.com/c/RetroTechUSA
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Spotify
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6 ratings
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