Games/applications which require a dongle to run

Supamax · 03 October 2009, 18:12

Hi mates,
it would be interesting to know which games/applications require a dongle to run.

I have these ones:

- Italy '90 Soccer (Simulmondo) ITALIAN
- Logistix v1.12A (Grafox) ITALIAN (*)
- Superbase Personal v1.0 (Precision Software) ITALIAN (*)

(*) these two applications share the same type of dongle

EDIT: it would be very interesting (and useful) if someone had some dongle schematics, too

Here's the updated list, thanks to you:

Code:

SPS ID  PROGRAM                                    PUBLISHER               PORT TYPE
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

----    Aladdin 4D v2.1                            Adspec                  Joystick 1 or 2 ?
----    Aladdin 4D v4.?                                                    Joystick 1 or 2 ?
----    Allcopy System 2 [!4]                      Hi-Tec Inventions       Disk drive
0434    B.A.T. II (DE)                             Ubi Soft Entertainment  Serial
1635    B.A.T. II (FR)                             Ubi Soft Entertainment  Serial
1835    B.A.T. II (EN)                             Ubi Soft Entertainment  Serial
----    Brilliance v1.0                            Digital Creations
----    Caligari v?.? (not v3.0x)                  Octree
1244    Cricket captain (EU)                       D & H Games             Joystick 1
----    Cyclone I/II/III (X-Copy) [!3]             Cachet                  Disk drive
NYD     Dames Grand-Maître                         Cobra Soft              Joystick 2
0664    Dyna Blaster (EU) [!5]                     Ubi Soft Entertainment  Parallel    The "dongle" consists in a 4 players adapter
2798    Hotball (EU)                               Satory                  Parallel    The "dongle" consists in a 4 players adapter
NYD     Italy '90 Soccer (IT) [!1]                 Simulmondo              Joystick 2
?       Jeanne D'Arc FR or GE ?                    Chip
0523    Leader Board (EU) [!2]                     U.S. Gold               Joystick 2
1474    Leader Board tournament disk #1 (EU) [!2]  U.S. Gold               Joystick 2
NYD     Leviathan [!7]                             English Software        Joystick 1
----    LightWave 3D v3.0                          NewTek                              The dongle was called "LightRAVE" or "RAVE"
----    LightWave 3D v3.1                          NewTek                              The dongle was called "LightRAVE" or "RAVE"
----    LightWave 3D v3.5                          NewTek                  Parallel
?       Links: The challenge of golf
----    Logistix v?.? (EN)                         Grafox                  Joystick 2
----    Logistix v1.12A (IT)                       Grafox                  Joystick 2  Uses the same dongle as Superbase Personal v1.0 (IT)
----    PowerCopy - all versions                   Geoff Lohere            Disk drive
----    Real3D v2.0 (2.35)                         RealSoft
0805    RoboCop 3 (EU)                             Ocean                   Joystick 2
0251    Rugby Coach (EU) [!6]                                              Joystick 2
----    Scala Multimedia MM200                     Scala
----    Scala Multimedia MM210                     Scala
----    Scala Multimedia MM300                     Scala
----    Scala Multimedia MM400                     Scala
----    Scala InfoChannel 400                      Scala
----    Scala InfoChannel 500                      Scala
----    Superbase Personal v1.0 (IT)               Precision Software      Joystick 2  Uses the same dongle as Logistix v1.12A (IT)
----    Syncro Express I/II/III                    Datel                   Disk drive
----    Tornado 3D v2.1a
----    Tornado 3D v3.0
----    TV Paint v2.0 Professional                 Tecsoft                 Joystick 2
----    X-CAD Designer v?.?                        Cadvision

NYD = Not Yet Dumped by SPS team

[!n] = known schematics:
[!1] see post #11 of the thread http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=42687
[!2] see post #10 of the current thread
[!3] http://aminet.net/package/docs/hard/Cyclone / http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/9003/schematidt3.png
[!4] http://www.ntrautanen.fi/computers/h...c/allcopy2.htm
[!5] http://www.hardwarebook.info/Amiga_4_Joysticks
[!6] see post #36 of the current thread
[!7] see post #63 of the current thread

Peter · 03 October 2009, 18:15

Scala
Brilliance
Robocop 3

Someone will have to confirm which actual versions of the top two...

Galahad/FLT · 03 October 2009, 18:33

Links Golf
BAT II

Supamax · 03 October 2009, 19:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter

Robocop 3

Hi Peter,
which release of RoboCop? Retail, budget, ...?
In other words, which SPS ID (if possible/exists)?

Galahad/FLT · 03 October 2009, 19:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Supamax

Hi Peter,
which release of RoboCop? Retail, budget, ...?
In other words, which SPS ID (if possible/exists)?

Original release was dongle, later budget was doc check

Supamax · 03 October 2009, 19:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Galahad/FLT

Original release was dongle, later budget was doc check

Thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Galahad/FLT

Links Golf

Which release of Links? Retail v1.5 or Retail v1.53?

gulliver · 03 October 2009, 19:20

Scala Multimedia MM200
Scala Multimedia MM210
Scala Multimedia MM300 (There were some non dongle versions)
Scala Multimedia MM400 (There were some non dongle versions)
Scala InfoChannel 400
Scala InfoChannel 500

They used a HASP dongle, with different colors for the different versions.
I cant remember correctly, but i believe both raytracers, Tornado 3D and Caligari, at some point used dongles for copyprotection purposes.

dlfrsilver · 03 October 2009, 19:49

caligari24 is not using a dongle, i own a 3.0x version without one. Brilliance v1.0 use a dongle. The version 2.0 has it removed due to customers complains.

gulliver · 03 October 2009, 20:19

@dlfrsilver

Caligari was realeased in three different flavours: Caligari, Caligari 24 and Caligari Broadcast. So you are only reffering to only one particular flavour at a specific version.

Toni Wilen · 03 October 2009, 20:44

Leaderboard and Leaderboard tournament disk 1 (523 and 1474)

EDIT: dongle check code only does following (C-pseudocode):

v1 = JOY1DAT;
v2 = v1 >> 1;
if ((v1 ^ v2) & 0x0101) == 0x0101) -> dongle ok

In other words, dongle is a "joystick" with both up and down directions switched at the same time. (note that emulation does not support up/down or left/right at the same time or it would have been really easy to bypass the dongle in emulation..)

EDIT2: simultaneous up/down works with input panel configuration, also game seems to work only with KS 1.1 (freezes when clicking right mouse button) and chip only (player and trees disappear)

Toni Wilen · 04 October 2009, 12:22

Can you also add port type? (joystick, serial etc?) Makes reverse-engineering easier

I guess most are joystick port but for example B.A.T.II dongle is connected to serial port.

EDIT:

B.A.T.II dongle operation (from disassembly):

Set DTR high
Check CTS. Must be one.
Wait a little (short cpu timing loop..)
Check CTS again. Must be zero.

Toni Wilen · 04 October 2009, 13:01

Robocop3 (disassembly again)

Read JOY1DAT
Pulse Firebutton line
Read JOY1DAT

JOY1DAT bit 8 must change state (either 0 to 1 or 1 to 0)

I guess this dongle is only a simple wire (!) between fire (left mouse button) line and either left or forward joystick line. Pulse basically increases mouse counter by one. (mouse counter low bit toggles)

btw, I expected something more complex..

prowler · 04 October 2009, 13:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

btw, I expected something more complex..

Most users would. I guess that's why the dongle which Supamax dimantled was so comprehensively encapsulated. Without this safeguard, it would have been all too easy to duplicate and distribute together with copy disks...

Mad-Matt · 04 October 2009, 13:44

Cricket Captain had a little black joystick dongle. Dont have the game anymore(Apart from disk image) to look more into it.

Supamax · 04 October 2009, 19:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

Can you also add port type? (joystick, serial etc?) Makes reverse-engineering easier

Ok (whenever possible

)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

btw, I expected something more complex..

If you think about it, it's clear: games are generally sold at (much) lower prices than applications, so the dongles are much simpler. It must be so, if the Publisher needs to remain within a reasonable budget.

Toni Wilen · 04 October 2009, 20:27

Italy'90 Soccer: POT1DAT POTX must be between 0x32 and 0x60 (tested multiple times) I guess at least some analog joysticks can be used to pass this test

Supamax · 05 October 2009, 02:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by gulliver

Scala Multimedia MM200
Scala Multimedia MM210
Scala Multimedia MM300 (There were some non dongle versions)
Scala Multimedia MM400 (There were some non dongle versions)
Scala InfoChannel 400
Scala InfoChannel 500

They used a HASP dongle

Hi gulliver,
How exactly is a HASP dongle? Does it plug on a parallel/serial/joystick port?

Supamax · 05 October 2009, 02:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

Italy'90 Soccer: POT1DAT POTX must be between 0x32 and 0x60 (tested multiple times) I guess at least some analog joysticks can be used to pass this test

Hi Toni,
Is this compatible with the 220Kohm value I found? I'm 99% sure of the resistor's color codes I could see after having scraped off all the resin, but not 100%... and I cannot measure it with my multimeter because the resistor broke in two during the cleaning process.

Based on your disassembly, can you tell in which joy port (1 or 2) do these games expect the dongle to be?
Leaderboard (I suppose joystick port 2)
Leaderboard tournament disk 1 (I suppose joystick port 2)
Robocop 3

Toni Wilen · 05 October 2009, 08:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Supamax

Hi Toni,
Is this compatible with the 220Kohm value I found? I'm 99% sure of the resistor's color codes I could see after having scraped off all the resin, but not 100%... and I cannot measure it with my multimeter because the resistor broke in two during the cleaning process.

I don't know, I don't have real Amiga analog joystick, no idea of real world resistor values

Try to measure both halves separately. (just stick the multimeter probe to broken end, it "should" work)

Quote:

Based on your disassembly, can you tell in which joy port (1 or 2) do these games expect the dongle to be?
Leaderboard (I suppose joystick port 2)
Leaderboard tournament disk 1 (I suppose joystick port 2)
Robocop 3

All in joystick port 2

andreas · 05 October 2009, 08:53

Not sure (too long ago!) but...
could be that Bars & Pipes had one. (sequencer software like Cubase/Cakewalk)

And what about Aegis titles?

I think one of them had a dongle, can't remember which though...

03 October 2009, 19:49	#8
dlfrsilver CaptainM68K-SPS France Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Melun nearby Paris/France Age: 46 Posts: 10,412	caligari24 is not using a dongle, i own a 3.0x version without one. Brilliance v1.0 use a dongle. The version 2.0 has it removed due to customers complains. Last edited by dlfrsilver; 04 October 2009 at 20:55.

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03 October 2009, 19:20	#7
gulliver BoingBagged Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: The South of nowhere Age: 46 Posts: 2,358	Scala Multimedia MM200 Scala Multimedia MM210 Scala Multimedia MM300 (There were some non dongle versions) Scala Multimedia MM400 (There were some non dongle versions) Scala InfoChannel 400 Scala InfoChannel 500 They used a HASP dongle, with different colors for the different versions. I cant remember correctly, but i believe both raytracers, Tornado 3D and Caligari, at some point used dongles for copyprotection purposes.

03 October 2009, 20:19	#9
gulliver BoingBagged Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: The South of nowhere Age: 46 Posts: 2,358	@dlfrsilver Caligari was realeased in three different flavours: Caligari, Caligari 24 and Caligari Broadcast. So you are only reffering to only one particular flavour at a specific version.

03 October 2009, 20:44	#10
Toni Wilen WinUAE developer Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Hämeenlinna/Finland Age: 49 Posts: 26,502	Leaderboard and Leaderboard tournament disk 1 (523 and 1474) EDIT: dongle check code only does following (C-pseudocode): v1 = JOY1DAT; v2 = v1 >> 1; if ((v1 ^ v2) & 0x0101) == 0x0101) -> dongle ok In other words, dongle is a "joystick" with both up and down directions switched at the same time. (note that emulation does not support up/down or left/right at the same time or it would have been really easy to bypass the dongle in emulation..) EDIT2: simultaneous up/down works with input panel configuration, also game seems to work only with KS 1.1 (freezes when clicking right mouse button) and chip only (player and trees disappear) Last edited by Toni Wilen; 03 October 2009 at 21:46.

04 October 2009, 12:22	#11
Toni Wilen WinUAE developer Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Hämeenlinna/Finland Age: 49 Posts: 26,502	Can you also add port type? (joystick, serial etc?) Makes reverse-engineering easier I guess most are joystick port but for example B.A.T.II dongle is connected to serial port. EDIT: B.A.T.II dongle operation (from disassembly): Set DTR high Check CTS. Must be one. Wait a little (short cpu timing loop..) Check CTS again. Must be zero. Last edited by Toni Wilen; 04 October 2009 at 12:47.

04 October 2009, 13:01	#12
Toni Wilen WinUAE developer Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Hämeenlinna/Finland Age: 49 Posts: 26,502	Robocop3 (disassembly again) Read JOY1DAT Pulse Firebutton line Read JOY1DAT JOY1DAT bit 8 must change state (either 0 to 1 or 1 to 0) I guess this dongle is only a simple wire (!) between fire (left mouse button) line and either left or forward joystick line. Pulse basically increases mouse counter by one. (mouse counter low bit toggles) btw, I expected something more complex..

04 October 2009, 13:44	#14
Mad-Matt Longplayer Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Lincoln / UK Age: 44 Posts: 1,846	Cricket Captain had a little black joystick dongle. Dont have the game anymore(Apart from disk image) to look more into it.

04 October 2009, 20:27	#16
Toni Wilen WinUAE developer Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Hämeenlinna/Finland Age: 49 Posts: 26,502	Italy'90 Soccer: POT1DAT POTX must be between 0x32 and 0x60 (tested multiple times) I guess at least some analog joysticks can be used to pass this test

05 October 2009, 08:53	#20
andreas Zone Friend Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Germany Age: 50 Posts: 5,857	Not sure (too long ago!) but... could be that Bars & Pipes had one. (sequencer software like Cubase/Cakewalk) And what about Aegis titles? I think one of them had a dongle, can't remember which though...

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