Hi knob,
I downloaded you app but I wasnt able to test it yet. Do you plan to release the source? To answer your very 1st question: the crc checking code that also loads the BASE.RKW is either in the ROM of the chip or inside the flash. The datasheet mentions something about configuring some pins to determine where to boot from, so its kinda hard to find it or even modify it. Besides, that you can deactivate CRC checks by setting a bit flag in the header but I think keeping crc-checks would be nicer.
May I propose another feature for your tool like "make the hidden partition visible"? A general approach (that does not rely on the name of a file you put on the visible partition) would be via USB MSDC. Have a look at the code at the end of BulkOnly.c and here are the MSDC specs:
http://www.usb.org/developers/devcla...assbulk_10.pdf. Also most probably Windows does offer a special API here, I think there must be a default driver for USB mass storage but Im not familiar with this.
Maybe you can also extend it to determine such things like LCD configuration etc, and maybe offer the option to patch it so a firmware can run on a player with a different screen.
Happy Coding :-)