Disc swapping in PSX emulator

Tagged: disc, psx, retroarch

This topic has 12 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 6 months ago by soadshavo56.

Viewing 13 posts - 1 through 13 (of 13 total)

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02/16/2015 at 15:35 #87671

soadshavo56
Participant

With the Pi2 emulating PSX very smoothly, I’m wanting to put together one with RetroPie for my dad for his birthday since the PSX is one of his favorite consoles.

I’m trying to make it as user-friendly as possible since all he’ll have to access it is an Xbox 360 controller.

The problem I run into is changing the disc for multi-disc games on the PSX (like the Final Fantasy titles or Metal Gear). I know the quick and dirty solution is to just rename the save file and boot up the next disc when you get to it, but that won’t really work for my dad.

The other stuff I’ve read is that RetroArch should provide an option in its menu for “Disc Index” and “Disk Image Append” when loading Playstation games so you can change the disc through the menu.

However, after booting a PSX game and accessing the RetroArch menu, I’m missing these options completely.

Anyone know how to get this working?

02/16/2015 at 17:15 #87681

BuToNz
Participant

Wondering this too as I’ll likely be playing quite a few of the multidisc games.

03/03/2015 at 09:36 #89977

gezz
Participant

Would like to know a solution to this also.

03/03/2015 at 19:48 #90036

texasliberal
Participant

indeed, I as well would like this information.

03/03/2015 at 22:43 #90064

GameRockeR
Participant

With the standalone pcsx rearmed there’s an option to swap disc, with the pcsx libretro core some options/configurations remain unsupported.

03/09/2015 at 02:52 #90707

gezz
Participant

[quote=90064]With the standalone pcsx rearmed there’s an option to swap disc, with the pcsx libretro core some options/configurations remain unsupported.[/quote]

So whats the solution? I read you can rename the save file name but this isn’t ideal for games that swap back and forth between discs.

03/09/2015 at 03:46 #90709
sselph
Participant
Is it possible to symlink the same save for each disk?
```
$ ln -s rom-disc1.srm rom-disc2.srm
$ ln -s rom-disc1.srm rom-disc3.srm
```
03/09/2015 at 03:57 #90710

GameRockeR
Participant

[quote=90707]

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>GameRockeR wrote:</div>
With the standalone pcsx rearmed there’s an option to swap disc, with the pcsx libretro core some options/configurations remain unsupported.

So whats the solution? I read you can rename the save file name but this isn’t ideal for games that swap back and forth between discs.
[/quote]

Compile pcsx rearmed from source (standalone version), I have not tested on the Pi2 but for me it’s working fine under retropie 2.3 rpi 1. Pcsx libretro core is still slow on some games even with the rpi 2.

05/28/2015 at 16:13 #98597

familyguy315
Participant

I am playing FF VII with a SNES gamepad. I have gotten to the end of Disk 1 and now need Disk 2. I have found alot of help on the forum, but my below process does not seem to work. Any suggestions?

I started by editing my retroarch.cfg @ /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg
I found the lines the hotkeyed save and load and added these lines:
input_enable_hotkey_btn = “8” (this is my select button, check yours)
input_menu_toggle_btn = “2” (this is my b button, check yours)

Next, I rebooted my system to ensure the changes would update.

Now I loaded FF VII Disk 1 and loaded my save file that told me to swap to disk 2 (on disk 1), now I hit my hotkey “Select + B”. Navigate to “Options” > “Core Disk Options” > “Disk Image Append” > select disc 2. Now this appended disk 2 at index 2. Now I navigate back to “Core Disk Options” and I open the virtual drive, set in disk 2, and close the drive.

At this point, I would expect Disk 2 to load, but never does.

05/28/2015 at 16:22 #98599
soadshavo56
Participant
The best way I’ve found to make it work is to rename your save file and start the emulator using disc 2.

For example, if your game files are:
```
Final Fantasy VII disc 1.img
Final Fantasy VII disc 2.img
Final Fantasy VII disc 3.img
```
You should also have a filed named:

Final Fantasy VII disc 1.srm

I can’t look right now, but I’m about 95% sure the extension is “.srm” on the save files. These are created the first time you start the game, and will contain any game saves you’ve made to the “memory card.” I’m pretty sure any time a PSX games asks you to swap discs, it lets you save first. Save the game and exit the emulator.

To continue on disc 2, rename the save file as:

Final Fantasy VII disc 2.srm

Then start the game using the disc 2 file. It should recognize the renamed file as the save file for that particular disc.

I’d also recommend backing up the original save file, just in case.
05/28/2015 at 20:49 #98613

patl
Participant

Link–> Best way for PSX Multidisc games

Here I made a guide that works really fine for me.
And you have nothing to do with save files or renaming files or so…

05/28/2015 at 22:52 #98626

familyguy315
Participant

Just FYI, this process worked better for me than renaming the .srm file. Not sure why it would not work correctly for me. My issue was a bad disc 2 file. I got a new file and tried appending it, open the tray, load disc 2, close the tray, and it worked for me.

05/28/2015 at 22:56 #98627

soadshavo56
Participant

[quote=98613]Link–> Best way for PSX Multidisc games

Here I made a guide that works really fine for me.
And you have nothing to do with save files or renaming files or so…

[/quote]

Sweet! I’m excited to try this method. I’m giving the Raspberry Pi to my dad for Father’s Day and I was prepared to include instructions for renaming the file, but this sounds like it’ll be much simpler!
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