Hacking Emulation POPS on PSP/Vita - Config Research

[mrjaredbeta]

Sadly, Brave Fencer Musashi didn't work with that config on PSP, so I took the liberty use the SLPS-01724 command for PSP only, so that the game doesn't crash.

That is really odd why it doesn't work. It is a direct port of internal config, which also gets applied on PSP models, so it in theory should work fine. Do you know if the Japanese version works fine without any config applied on PSP? Can you make sure this config lines up with the one you had tested:

70 00 07 06 00 00 06 06 00 00 00 00 0F 00 00 00
FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF F7 FF FF FF
FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
FF FF FF FF 10 00 00 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
88 82 12 80 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 00 00 00
FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 02 00 00 00 FF FF 00 00
FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 FF FF FF FF 00 00 00 00
0F 00 00 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
F7 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 10 00 00 00 FF FF FF FF
FF FF FF FF 88 82 12 80 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
00 00 00 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 02 00 00 00
FF FF 00 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 00 00 00
00 00 00 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
FF FF FF FF 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 FF FF FF FF

 

[Webardo]

That is really odd why it doesn't work. It is a direct port of internal config, which also gets applied on PSP models, so it in theory should work fine. Do you know if the Japanese version works fine without any config applied on PSP?

Using the JP ID when converting the US release doesn't work either, but the japanese release works fine (even with no config applied). Guess it's a really sensitive game.
I did try those exact config lines, and no luck.

 

[mrjaredbeta]

Using the JP ID when converting the US release doesn't work either, but the japanese release works fine (even with no config applied). Guess it's a really sensitive game.
I did try those exact config lines, and no luck.

Potentially, address in command 0x0D may to be different in cfg1 for it to work. That is my only guess for now. Otherwise, I have no idea.

 

[Webardo]

Potentially, address in command 0x0D may to be different in cfg1 for it to work. That is my only guess for now. Otherwise, I have no idea.

Seems odd that the chart says that 0x0D is used in conjunction with 0x0C, both having the same value. And yet, BFM only uses 0x0D...

 

[mrjaredbeta]

Hm, can you try testing with this config? It is older revision of external config, maybe it is something this config requires. It is also only a single cfg and not a double:

00 00 07 06 00 00 06 06 00 00 00 00 0F 00 00 00
FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF F7 FF FF FF
FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
FF FF FF FF 10 00 00 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
88 82 12 80 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 00 00 00
FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 02 00 00 00 FF FF FF FF
FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF

 

[Webardo]

Hm, can you try testing with this config? It is older revision of external config, maybe it is something this config requires. It is also only a single cfg and not a double:

00 00 07 06 00 00 06 06 00 00 00 00 0F 00 00 00
FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF F7 FF FF FF
FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
FF FF FF FF 10 00 00 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
88 82 12 80 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 00 00 00
FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 02 00 00 00 FF FF FF FF
FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF

Still doesn't work .

 

[mrjaredbeta]

Maybe I have been testing wrong. Where exactly does it hang? It seems like it was right at the beginning, but is it not?

EDIT: I’m probably just being ignorant, thinking issue was something else. If you can send a save file before the freeze, I can double check the address for 0x0D. It probably is not correct.

 

[Webardo]

Maybe I have been testing wrong. Where exactly does it hang? It seems like it was right at the beginning, but is it not?

It is at the beginning. Just let the cutscene play, and after it zooms onto the castle, it just stays on a black screen. That, or outright crashing when skipping the cutscene.

The config I gave to Ronnie is this:
70 00 07 06 00 00 06 06 00 00 00 00 07 00 00 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 00 00 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 FF FF FF FF 00 00 00 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 00 00 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 FF FF FF FF

It works fine on the PSP with the command 0x00 set to value 0x07. Does it work on your Vita with the original config? I supposed it did, so I left the config you had made for Vita only.

 

[mrjaredbeta]

Yup, config fixes the black screen hang after cutscene. I read something about the Skullpion boss, so that is why I was curious on if I was testing right, but issue at start is definitely fixed.

 

[Webardo]

Wouldn't be the first time a game has better luck on Vita than PSP. Worms Armageddon is an example of that. Thanks for letting me know. Also, your config should be fine for Skullpion. If the game showed no issues related to the first cutscene, it should not show any issues past that.

I will keep trying on and off to see any proper fix for BFM on PSP though, because although the command 0x00 avoids the crashes, there are reports of laggy dialogues.

EDIT: seems I gave you the wrong config. This is the one I gave to Ronnie for pop-fe:
70 00 07 06 00 00 06 06 00 00 00 00 07 00 00 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 00 00 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 FF FF FF FF 00 00 00 00 0F 00 00 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF F7 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 10 00 00 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 88 82 12 80 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 00 00 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 02 00 00 00 FF FF 00 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 FF FF FF FF
The other one I had just copied when testing the game .

 

[ronniesahlberg]

It must be something akin I guess. Games either use it with the value set to 0xFFFFFFFx or simply 0x00. I think that 0x00 sets it to a default setting. 0xFFFFFFFx must only let you select a setting based on the first four bits (or last, however you see it).

Guess it's a multi command one, as it fixes Colony Wars for it load, and also appears to fix Bubsy 3D's graphical issues.


They changed it literally two weeks later (time frame between 3.02 and 3.03). Makes sense, they screwed the GTE at first. In a lot of games there were visible seams between polygons and other weird stuff when running 3.02.
Must have changed memory adresses and other values, messing up Destruction Derby 2.


This must fix Fear Effect too. I remember that the main issue with the NTSC release was that you could not swap discs.

Anyway, really thankful for your help with this all! Now a few games that were always problematic can be fully enjoyed by just converting them with pop-fe .

Can you test this config with Fear Effect and send me a config it fixes the problem? This problem only occurs in the NTSC-U version?

 

[ciarli-b]

I tried to convert both Bugs Bunny LIT EUR and USA version with POP-Fe (with last configuration files), but they don't boot on my PSVita

 

[ronniesahlberg]

I tried to convert both Bugs Bunny LIT EUR and USA version with POP-Fe (with last configuration files), but they don't boot on my PSVita

Which version of pop-fe did you use?
Did you use pop-fe straight from the github sources or the latest artefact build under the Actions tab or the latest released version?

It is quite involved cutting a new release so the official releases are behind. I only cut new releases when new features are mature for general use.
To test the configs you will need to either use pop-fe python from the master branch or the latest artefacts from the Actions tab.

EDIT: we should have a document where we track games with known issues yet to be fixed.
Should we use this?
https://www.psdevwiki.com/psp/PS1_Classics_Emulator_Compatibility_List
and then everyone can add games that have issues and a description of the issue? So we track what games need work and what games are good to go?

 

[wad11656]

EDIT: we should have a document where we track games with known issues yet to be fixed.
Should we use this?
https://www.psdevwiki.com/psp/PS1_Classics_Emulator_Compatibility_List
and then everyone can add games that have issues and a description of the issue? So we track what games need work and what games are good to go?

well the ntsc-u games with broken disc-swap functionality that i mentioned on your github:

• Golden Nugget
• GTA: The Director's Cut
• The Hive
• In Cold Blood
• Fear Effect (Allows disc swap, but throws "Unknown disc format")
• Fear Effect 2 (Allows disc swap, but throws "Unknown disc format")

...i pulled from my compatibility list. people have been contributing to it recently (adding comments) recently enough to where they've been suggesting fixes using pop-fe, so I'd consider it the most up-to-date source for pops 6.61 compatibility info. (Though most testing was done with PSX2PSP instead of pop-fe, so things might need to be double-checked. Pop-fe fixes crashes caused by CDDA music + CDDA_enabler plugin, for example.) I like having my columns for each POPS version (at least as a testing ground), but I guess we could greatly water down/simplify the data to bare-bones relevancy and transfer it over to the wiki? I of course trust the data that's there haha.

i was flying solo for years blackbox testing games, and I never expected anyone else to really contribute to this stuff...especially The_Ho making this thread or the (resulting?) surge of interest and incredible technical insight. I see you guys already found my re-upload of the libcrypt ppf patches in this thread, but i guess they're apparently not needed anymore, ha. Very exciting to get this new insight into the POPS emulator (Apparently we now know all the GameIDs with built-in patches?) and all these amazing fixes I thought we might never see. Braindead13 in particular I remember spending way too much time troubleshooting. Thank you everyone. I'm going to read through this thread and see if I can't figure out how to work out this newfangled "config" stuff (which maybe seems like it's basically transplanting the fixes from certain Game ID's to other games without needing to change the Game ID)

 

[ronniesahlberg]

well the ntsc-u games with broken disc-swap functionality that i mentioned on your github:

• Golden Nugget
• GTA: The Director's Cut
• The Hive
• In Cold Blood
• Fear Effect (Allows disc swap, but throws "Unknown disc format")
• Fear Effect 2 (Allows disc swap, but throws "Unknown disc format")

...i pulled from my compatibility list. people have been contributing to it recently (adding comments) recently enough to where they've been suggesting fixes using pop-fe, so I'd consider it the most up-to-date source for pops 6.61 compatibility info. (Though most testing was done with PSX2PSP instead of pop-fe, so things might need to be double-checked. Pop-fe fixes crashes caused by CDDA music + CDDA_enabler plugin, for example.) I like having my columns for each POPS version (at least as a testing ground), but I guess we could greatly water down/simplify the data to bare-bones relevancy and transfer it over to the wiki? I of course trust the data that's there haha.

i was flying solo for years blackbox testing games, and I never expected anyone else to really contribute to this stuff...especially The_Ho making this thread or the (resulting?) surge of interest and incredible technical insight. I see you guys already found my re-upload of the libcrypt ppf patches in this thread, but i guess they're apparently not needed anymore, ha. Very exciting to get this new insight into the POPS emulator (Apparently we now know all the GameIDs with built-in patches?) and all these amazing fixes I thought we might never see. Braindead13 in particular I remember spending way too much time troubleshooting. Thank you everyone. I'm going to read through this thread and see if I can't figure out how to work out this newfangled "config" stuff (which maybe seems like it's basically transplanting the fixes from certain Game ID's to other games without needing to change the Game ID)

If you already have a compatibility list, I think why not use yours to track problem games.
I only suggested the other link because I did not know about anything else.
No need to trim your doc down, I was only concerned about that we keep a record of "game sles12345 does not work" so we don't forget about it.

But we can still post the configs here and I will pick them up and add them to pop-fe. Posting them here allows others to see the patch and also chime in if they have additional suggestions. Or if others want to test and confirm too. Like a team effort.

If you can test those games with the config and they work, please post them here and I will add them to pop-fe.
The easiest way to test a pre-existing config (for another game?) with a new game is to copy the pre-existing config and store it in the same directory as the new game to be tested and name it the same as the .cue file wuth with the extension .pspconfig instead of .cue.
Then when you create the PSP EBOOT pop-fe will detect that the file Foo.pspconfig exists in the same directory as Foo.cue and will automatically inject it in the EBOOT

 

[wad11656]

If you already have a compatibility list, I think why not use yours to track problem games.
I only suggested the other link because I did not know about anything else.
No need to trim your doc down, I was only concerned about that we keep a record of "game sles12345 does not work" so we don't forget about it.

But we can still post the configs here and I will pick them up and add them to pop-fe. Posting them here allows others to see the patch and also chime in if they have additional suggestions. Like a team effort.

Sounds good, whoever sends me their google account email address I can make an editor (instead of commenter)

 

[ronniesahlberg]

Sounds good, whoever sends me their google account email address I can make an editor (instead of commenter)

Have a look here,
https://github.com/sahlberg/pop-fe/tree/master/pspconfigs
mrjaredbeta and webardo have already added a handful of configs to fix a few games.

This in addition to all the games that should work now just because of the cdda tracks being cut from the disc image.

 

[ciarli-b]

Which version of pop-fe did you use?
Did you use pop-fe straight from the github sources or the latest artefact build under the Actions tab or the latest released version?

It is quite involved cutting a new release so the official releases are behind. I only cut new releases when new features are mature for general use.
To test the configs you will need to either use pop-fe python from the master branch or the latest artefacts from the Actions tab.

EDIT: we should have a document where we track games with known issues yet to be fixed.
Should we use this?
https://www.psdevwiki.com/psp/PS1_Classics_Emulator_Compatibility_List
and then everyone can add games that have issues and a description of the issue? So we track what games need work and what games are good to go?

I used the last windows release available, but I forced the config putting it into the game folder and renaming the config as written in GitHub guide, since pop-fe didn't recognized the configuration automatically

 

[ronniesahlberg]

I see you guys already found my re-upload of the libcrypt ppf patches in this thread, but i guess they're apparently not needed anymore, ha.

Off-tangent but maybe interesting still.

These patches are absolutely useful and I plan to add them to pop-fe at some stage.
We don't need them for PS Classics on PSP or PS3 because we recently found out that sony had added special fields in EBOOT.PBP/ISO.BIN.DAT to provide to inject data to handle libcrypt.
In fact, sony did not just add a way to inject the libcrypt data into EBOOt/ISO.BIN, they provided TWO different ways to do so!!!
You can either inject the actual subchannel data, basically a not quite identical but close enough equivalent of an SBI file or you can alternatively just inject the "magic word" at a special place in the EBOOT/ISO.BIN.

So, libcrypt should be solved once and for all now for PSP and PS3.
Your PPF patches for libcrypt will still be very valuable because there are a couple of targets I support that do not support either sony's format or even SBI files, for example PS2 and PSIO, and for those the only option is to apply a PPF.

Post automatically merged: Oct 8, 2023

I used the last windows release available, but I forced the config putting it into the game folder and renaming the config as written in GitHub guide, since pop-fe didn't recognized the configuration automatically

Don't use the latest release. This is still very much a work in progress so I am not creating releases for this until it is ready for general use.

If you want to test it you will need to download the build artefacts for the most recent automatic build that is available under the Actions tab.

 

[mrjaredbeta]

I did just test a disc swap for Fear Effect without any config using a pop-fe EBOOT. Everything worked fine for me, no unknown disc error, so probably just some older issue on PSX2PSP. I assume Fear Effect 2 is the same, neither need any config and work properly if converted through pop-fe.