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Homebrew repository at untergrund.net FTP - official thread


ggn

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Hello,

 

Some of you might be aware of this FTP location: ftp://ftp.untergrund.net/users/ggn/Jag%20PD%20collection/. Historically it was created as a stress test of JiFFI and Virtual Jaguar, and of course as a sort of final solution for me to avoid searching for Jaguar releases all over the Internet (not to mention having to figure out how to run them! I'm sure most of you will have really bad experiences).

 

Today I took another shot at updating it and uploading stuff that weren't there before. As I'm writing this binaries are still being uploaded. I also thought of organising the files a bit in folders as the directory was getting too chaotic to make any sense of. So, this post/thread was created to announce this, and also as a call to help. Here are some of my thoughts for the future of that FTP:

 

  1. All files are present in all formats that are possible. .ROM files are headerless or with header, abs/coff/bjl/bin/uls/etc are converted using JiFFI to all other formats.
  2. I've tried to rename the files to have a sensible filename instead of the one that was officially given by its creator. If this sounds confusing for you and you don't want to download dupes to mix with other collections, don't use this FTP! Of course I'll take renaming suggestions under consideration and apply them if they make sense. (short version: I'm a reasonable man, but don't come asking for TOSEC naming scheme - you will be ignored!)
  3. Found any duplicates? Please report them and I'll sort it out.
  4. Found any file(s) in wrong place(s)? Again, report them!
  5. Found any wrongly named files? Don't keep it to yourself!
  6. Found something that's not on the FTP? You know how the 'Reply' button works!
  7. Can you identify any of the binaries in the root folder and tell me their authors? Tell me and I'll probably make a folder so they can be placed neatly inside.
  8. Are you an author and want me to add some files not present? Send them in!
  9. Any suggestions in general? Speak your mind!

 

Another point I'd like to make is that you do not have to download the whole archive file for file, even for the collection! For the non-ROMs, grabbing the abs/coff file is more than sufficient for modern emulators and homebrew carts like the Skunkboard. At a stretch you can download the .CDI files if you fancy burning a CD and you can't run JiFFI (or don't have it handy!).

 

That's all I can think of for the time being. Note that I might not respond to any replies to this thread immediately (or take action in a JiFFI, har har!) but I'll do my best to keep the FTP tidy.

 

Finally, many thanks to www.untergrund.net for the gracious hosting!

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very nice conservation project !

 

but maybe giving all the version of a file is a bit too much ? (especially when cdi takes that much space)

As Jiffi is here to do the job, maybe keep the original file and let the user use jiffi to convert the file in desired format. (I doubt for example that a lots of people will use the jagserver files)

 

Because it begins to get a bit messy in the folder :/

 

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very nice conservation project !

 

but maybe giving all the version of a file is a bit too much ? (especially when cdi takes that much space)

As Jiffi is here to do the job, maybe keep the original file and let the user use jiffi to convert the file in desired format. (I doubt for example that a lots of people will use the jagserver files)

 

Because it begins to get a bit messy in the folder :/

 

Agreed it is messy, but there are ways around that in future.

 

As for JiFFI use - some people can't use it, they don't have a windows machine or are too scared of it :P

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I agree with Orion_. It's a very nice idea. But storing every format sounds definitely overkill, since it's so easy to use Jiffi.

 

I'd suggest :

- ABS or COFF format if possible (since it's the most compatible one, and easy to convert to ROM/CD)

- ROM with header for stuff that can only run from cartridge space

- CDI for CD-only stuff

 

As for JiFFI use - some people can't use it, they don't have a windows machine
Nonsense. There's Wine :P

 

or are too scared of it
Too bad for them. The Jaguar is not a console for cowards :D
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but maybe giving all the version of a file is a bit too much ? (especially when cdi takes that much space)

As Jiffi is here to do the job, maybe keep the original file and let the user use jiffi to convert the file in desired format. (I doubt for example that a lots of people will use the jagserver files)

 

Because it begins to get a bit messy in the folder :/

 

Well, the initial plan was to have a website front-end with a table that could pack each binary's links in one line. But we're thinking of doing that for a couple of years now, which is safe to assume that it won't happen any time soon!

 

And well, using an FTP client like Filezilla or Total Commander it doesn't look too cluttered to me. Things will improve though as more files are moved to folders (just need to identify the author of each one).

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It must be a matter of taste, then ; it looks very busy to me ;)

 

If you definitely want to host every format for every homebrew, I think a folder per release (with an additional level if several versions have been released) would make it neater. Something like this :

 

Reboot/Some_project/v1.1/Some_Project.rom

Reboot/Some_project/v1.1/Some_Project.cof

Reboot/Some_project/v1.1/Some_Project.cdi

 

An index file at the root with a short description of each homebrew would be good, too :)

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WOW That's a lot of stuff, even discounting all the duplicate versions.

 

Might I make a suggestion towards keeping it more orderly? Put things into sub-folders, such as group > author > release, so that each individual program is in it's own folder, with the only files in there being the various different file formats for it and maybe a readme document.

 

Also I suggest splitting things into groups and then individuals because while Reboot are a pretty tight group with your releases going under your own names, Jagware as I understand it isn't nearly so tight and is more like a loose collective of individuals and groups working together on separate things, and people like Symmetry and Spock of TNG released their demos under their own names with a few years lag time in between, and I suspect not much collaboration.

 

You've got a really good archive there, it just needs a little cleaning up.

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As you can see and from what GGN said already, stuff is going into group dirs. Maybe people can use their FTP software to sort by type and only look at the file extensions they are interested in. The idea was every file in every format so nobody can later bug you to do mindless conversion they could do themselves if only they could be arsed - that's how it'll be staying! :poulpe:

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The idea was every file in every format so nobody can later bug you to do mindless conversion they could do themselves if only they could be arsed - that's how it'll be staying! :poulpe:

That's fine by me, just stick them all into subdirectories by release name... so you can first look over a list of releases without seeing all the clutter, and then can see which formats each release is in... sort of like how on pouet you search or browse for a release, then go into its page to find a list of download mirrors, videos, etc.

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Hmm, seems to me that we were magically teleported back to 1995, where a 300 files directory listing seemed huuuuuge to people! Sorry guys, but your suggestions would apply for a site that had 20000 files or so. We're talking about the Jaguar here - it's not like we're up to our necks in releases :). Every binary appears 5-6 times in there, it's the same file with different extension, so if you use this magic thing called a mouse wheel you can actually scroll by the list pretty quick.

 

Again, let me stress that this is meant as a dumping ground for homebrews (damn, I really hate that word, I'll stick to PD methinks :)). It was supposed to be the back end and we were to make a front end that would have lots of neat features and info etc etc. But we simply lack the time to do it. So consider this as a "We give up for the moment! But instead of letting things go to waste, give the files to the people" :).

 

As for the group/project/version/colour of underwear they were wearing when released/phase of the moon/exchange rate of euro to dollar/files/ scheme, what can I say... again I find it too much! Also as a counter example, consider the root directory of the FTP. Most of the binaries are marked as "unknown" atm for me, so I'd have to create directories like "Unknown group 1/what probably is the name of the project/version approximately/" and place the files there? How is anyone going to find anything there? We're back again to "needs front end", which won't happen any time soon from us. And if anyone is inspired and does make a front end, linking to this FTP (which won't bother me one bit), which would be easier: linking to files in the root directory or linking to a structure of 5-6 subdirectories?

 

Honestly, unless people help identifying the files and removing the dupes etc, that's the way the FTP structure is going to stay. Sorry, but I don't want to spend hours after hours doing something that might be unusable or pleases a couple of people. It's better to have all the files in 1 dir and hitting control-f to find something in my humble opinion.

 

So, anyone fancy helping identifying files? :)

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Hmm, seems to me that we were magically teleported back to 1995, where a 300 files directory listing seemed huuuuuge to people!

True. I guess I'm just spoiled by the way things are done elsewhere. Also I wasn't trying to complain, so much as suggest improvements, but you're right, they're not necessary.

 

So, anyone fancy helping identifying files? :)

All the ones I know you've already got identified.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 year later...

Oh wow!... ggn.. this is very very nice, thank you man, this is really awesome, merci beaucoup. danke. mucho gracias. Also thanks to all the developers who made this possible. cool.gifbiggrin.gif

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  • 3 years later...

I have a question about a file on the site. I did visit the FTP site, and I downloaded "Black ICE/White Noise." I used CloneCD to prepare the disc image for use on a blank CD. I burned it four different ways, because I am not really sure which settings to exactly use. That is why I did it that way, to experiment. Problem: I tried using the Jagtopia disc to run the CD, and it would not run. Tell me something, would I need a bypass cartridge to run this, or did I burn it incorrectly? What are the correct settings to use exactly? Any advice on how to successfully burn this to CD would be most helpful. Thanks. :)

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