[PS2] POPS stuff & POPStarter

Ok just a follow up from the previous post, i can confirm that the hdmi adapter is the cause of the games not running
I had an old dvd recorder lying around with scart input in (PS2) and hdmi out (monitor) so I used that and voila all games are running fine now

 

@kHn, @krHACKen the main problem is that I've only tried few games.

Anyway, can you send me at least or attach last proto with debug.
I want to be sure that these drivers was actually loaded.

It'll be also fantastic if @sp193 can help with these USB drivers, if something will be wrong.
I mean he can at least debug it properly.

BTW can also someone else try USB drivers from FMCB\FHDB (08\12\2018).
These drivers should be the same as the ones from 05\11\2018,
but I'm uploading them because someone might complain that it is not the latest
version of FMCB\FHDB.

Spoiler: Add Additional features

1. Support for real MC
   
   
2. Have an ability to enable analog mode at start (maybe through CHEATS.TXT)
   
   
3. Support for PS1 mouse

Spoiler: Other problems that it'll be hard to fix or complete

1. Complete compatibility mode 7
   For some games (Ace combat 3, Duke Nukem, Gran Turismo, Tomb Raider 3 or higher, etc) it is not working (black cars, black ground, lighting problem, etc).
   
   
2. Fix crashes
   Parasite eve - Black screen after ending credits
   Warcraft II: The Dark Saga - Crashes at main menu
   Rayman 2 - Crashes at start of a 2nd level
   
   
3. "Transparency" issues
   Warcraft II: The Dark Saga - Intro credits FMV
   Oddworld - Almost everywhere
   Mortal Kombat 4 - Characters overview
   
   
4. Missing CDDA
   Fighting force - In some levels
   Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit - Even in main menu
   
   
5. THPS 1+2 - Missing floor
   MediEvil 2 - "jumping" textures
   Soul Blade - missing characters textures
   Destruction Derby

Spoiler: Performance speed issue

• Doom
• Hexen
• X-Com
• Sensible soccer - At stadium
• Carmageddon + textures problem

 

You can enable debug mode : https://bitbucket.org/ShaolinAssassin/popstarter-documentation-stuff/wiki/debug-mode (unless I missed something and that is not possible anymore with the last protos)

 

I've uploaded movie with debug settings, but I cannot find if the USB drivers was loaded:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/5dbbl2k4x3y7v6o/04012019061.mp4.

Here is my POPSTARTER folder in MC:

 

I can't see it either... looks like the debug screen doesn't say anything about loading the USB drivers. Your mc content is correct.

 

Thanks for your replies.

Yeah, debug texts don't tell when USB drivers are loaded from the MC.


If that helps you in your testings, I've compiled my current POPStarter code with different USB drivers, POPSTARTER_BUILDS_FOR_USBDRV_TESTS.ZIP :
20181103_POPSTARTER.ELF = with Jolek's drivers from package POPSTARTER-USB03112018.7z
20181105_POPSTARTER.ELF = with Jolek's drivers from package POPSTARTER-USB05112018.7z
20181208_POPSTARTER.ELF = with Jolek's drivers from package POPSTARTER-USB [081218].7z

BUILDBOT_POPSTARTER.ELF = with drivers from AKuHAK's buildbot. Actually I've extracted them from the wLE build.
wLaunchELF 1c8a005 2019-01-03_22:39:24 / ps2sdk 9cf086df 2019-01-03_05:05:32
Although the last commit on USBHDFSD is 97b53a1 from 2018/12/08, this binary was somehow different from Jolek's...

ORIGINAL_POPSTARTER.ELF = with the "reliable" 2014 drivers that I would like to get rid of. Same drivers were embedded in all the POPStarter binaries (except in some broken builds) since r13 WIP 02 and the introduction of the USB loading mode.

RIP06_POPSTARTER.ELF = with drivers of the rushed RIP 06 release. From 2017. If my memory serves me right, they're supposedly causing stuttering issues with POPS. But it was told before I've found (and finally fixed) something awful in my own code, which was causing a gignormous waste of perfs.

Before you use the above POPStarter builds, don't forget to remove or rename the USB drivers that you've copied to mc#:/POPSTARTER/ , otherwise POPStarter will load them of course.

 

Hmm... Jolek's drivers... lol.
I've only taken these files from FMCB\FHDB installer (.../INSTALL/SYS-CONF).

Anyway, I'll at least try to test them at Sunday.
Thanks, best regards.

 

it's good to see development continue on this again.

one question, for Internal HDD Use..
is there a Global option to use cheats for "Special cheats" likeD2LS_ALT/SMOOTH/ etc.. or just only per VMC Folder?

 

You can also use special cheats from POPS folder so it applies to all games.

POPS/CHEATS.TXT
instead of
POPS/VMC-GAME-FOLDER/CHEATS.TXT

 

THX very finally I succes I try lot hddX and I find for HDD2.

 

Is it possible to use a real PS1 memory card instead of a virtual one in this emulator?

 

is this tut uptodate http://www.ps2-home.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2295

this part i understand
Put the 2 Files IOPRP252.IMG and POPS.ELF in the POPS directory.
CODE: SELECT ALL
hdd0:/__common/POPS/POPS.ELF hdd0:/__common/POPS/IOPRP252.IMG
but than this part Create a Partition name it __.POPS "(2 x underscore).POPS".
hdd0:/__.POPS/SLES_123.45.Game.VCD < it wont let me make a file named __.POPS !
i can transfer files no problem but i cant make a dir !

UPDATE March 7, 2018: and now the guide says this If it's your first time you want to start OPL, start it now, so OPL creates a Partition "+OPL" on your HDD.If you already have started OPL then the Partition "+OPL" exists already....ATTENTION: If you want to use more stuff like covers or many games, be careful how big your "+OPL" partition is. Maybe you have to "Expand" it with kHn's uLE in "HDD Manager"Copy the POPStarter.ELF from the POPStarter pack and copy it to the Partition "+OPL" CODE: SELECT ALL hdd0:/+OPL/POPS/POPSTARTER.ELF

 

also transfering ps1 games via usb stick to internal hdd is not working for me after couple of min the ps2 locks up !
so i hope somekind of windows programs is in the make so i can transfer ps1 vcd games to ps2 hdd just like hdl_dump_helper_gui_2.3

 

Sadly no. VMC only.

oof, I can't help with the PS2-Home stuff. Maybe ask them in their forums...

__.POPS isn't a file or a directory. It is a HDD partition, and has to be created from uLaunchELF's HddManager menu. With wLaunchELF; or with uLE WIP7 if your attempt at creating/renaming/expanding the partition with wLE has failed and your HDD isn't a 2TB beast.

I recommend you don't use uLE_kHn for managing partitions and files. Use the latest wLaunchELF release instead. uLE_kHn should only be used for launching VCDs, but since you're using OPL and want to run POPStarter from it, you don't need that old uLE_kHn.

Hmm, I'm not sure that PFSshell does networking. Have you tried the RadHostClient method ? It is at least faster than copying from a USB device.

 

This is a bit sad to say, but I found a 5-year old bug in USBHDFSD, which might explain the strange, low performance when reading small amounts of data, that we've been getting for a long time.
On the bright side, it doesn't put anybody's data at risk, just that the cache has been more or less useless since the day the mistake was made. Due to this mistake, the cache could not evict the least recently used block. In fact, it sometimes selected a recently used block, causing cache thrashing.

All because of this little boi that spawned in commit 53385fb, made in late 2014:

As for why this extra "unsigned" became a problem, the explanation goes deep, deep within the C standard, to what happens when we assign a signed value to an unsigned variable and interpret it. @_@

Some numbers, when deleting a 128MB file on my 4GB thumb drive (more hits = reduced reading/writing from the USB device):

Bugged:

• Misses: 65643
• Hits: 594

Fixed:

• Misses: 108
  
• Hits: 66129

EDIT: as USBHDFSD will only use the cache for reading & writing very small amounts of data, "small amounts" refers to 1 <= n <= sector size (typ. 512 bytes). It's also used for filesystem-level operations, hence why its problems haven't really been too obvious (until we delete/rename files).

So in the case of POPS, perhaps it doesn't really matter. But still good FYI, I suppose.

 

Theoretically we can also test new USB drivers embedded into POPStater
from FMCB\FHDB v1.966 (07\01\2019)\(14\01\2019).

Thanks SP193.

 

Guys. It's the new year. BUGBUG loves me a lot too. I realized that USBHDFSD couldn't truncate files, perhaps since... 2017. I am so sorry. :')
It does not corrupt the filesystem, but it can affect files if you overwrite a file with a smaller file. The truncate option did not work (since the bug's introduction), so the residue content from the larger file will complement the smaller file's content.

New releases for HDDChecker & FMCB (including its bundled LaunchELF) have been made. I want to update PS2Ident as well, but I am also trying to get time to update its database first.

I found it tonight while wondering why OPL could not delete USBExtreme games (with seemingly no error, no corruption etc). I also tried to fix it quickly, so I hope the patch doesn't cause other problems.
But it seems to be a near-direct reversal of the bad parts of the bad commit, so maybe it'll be fine. (Right? )
The new version seemed to work fine, when I deleted the USBExtreme games from OPL.

 

do i report bugs here for games ?
so final fantasy 7 does work intro ingame walking menu etc no problem ,the moment a battle starts the battle part is black sound is working fine but the menu under the battle part is showing fine like health time items magic etc etc !
ps2 phat i have the newest opl/free mcboot/and pops files SCUS_941.63

this is not me but found a video at 22:50

 

It's been a while since I've done some softmodding with my PS2 and I'm glad to see POPStarter developed so much. Last I used this was when it was still POPS-00001 or whatever it was called before.

Anyway I have a question. Is there a way to hide the POPS folder from showing in the HDDOSD?

 

Hi,
No. POPStarter flags the folder so it's visible in the HDDOSD. If you somehow change the POPS folder and subfolders properties, POPStarter reflags them when it boots up.