PSX - Loading Disc 2 first from a .pbp file

MrSkyle

@capeman Welp, I'm afraid this is beyond my skills... I did locate the joypad file on the folder you mentioned (two of them, actually - one .cfg, one .bak) via the local network and on the Windows explorer, but I don't know how to open it. I'm simply not a tech-savy guy...

I did, however, try the easier alternative you mentioned earlier: I got a .bin / .cue version of the game with separate discs. Tested both and worked great.

Now I just hope that, once I finish one disc and need to load the other, I can simply follow that routine on "disk control" that we previously discussed (open virtual tray, change disc, close virtual tray). Do I need to click somewhere else after closing the virtual tray or do I simply close the Retroarch GUI? (because nothing seemed to happen when I did this before...)

EctoOne

The only minor problem with using multiple separate bin/cue is that you also have to manage the save games. Best way seems to be using symlinks, so that all Discs of the same game have access to the same memory card.

MrSkyle

@ectoone Symlinks?! Oh boy, this just keeps getting weirder...
Is there a simpler way to play multi-disc games?

EctoOne

@mrskyle Nope, there's always a little bit of work involved when it comes to linux.
Here's a post about the creation of symlinks. https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/8514/how-to-play-a-multi-disk-game-on-the-retropie-like-resident-evil-2/2

MrSkyle

@ectoone Well, maybe I should be asking how to navigate to these folders and run command lines first... I have zero knowledge of Linux.
Is there a thread on these forums that explain how to do these things?

EctoOne

@mrskyle There is a Docs Button at the top and there is the wiki but I think both are kinda the same. The Docs wasn't available when I started to mess with this, but the wiki helped a lot. You need to get comfortable with using the command line either directly on your Pi or via SSH from another PC on your network.

herb_fargus

@ectoone the docs are automagically generated from the wiki so they are the same. One is just prettier.

MrSkyle

@Capeman After a little more exploring, I found out that it is indeed possible to input those parameters from the Retroarch menu. The path was:

Settings
-- Input
--- Input hotkey binds

And then I attributed different buttons / hotkeys to "disk eject toggle", "disk next" and "disk prev".
The result was exactly the same: after loading disc 2 and closing the virtual tray, I selected "new game" and the screen went black, Retropie not responding anymore.

I did forget to mention that this particular version of Resident Evil 2 is the Dual Shock version eboot. Maybe it's the file itself that is corrupted?

Ecks

If you're using a .pbp file hold down on your hotkey button then press X to go in the retroarch menu after that unload disc one load in disc two go back into the game then hold your hotkey button again and press B to restart the system and it should start with disc two by default (just that one time which you have to repeat it again the next time you turn on your Pi).

MrSkyle

Problem solved!
Turns out I was missing the PSX bios. Don't know how I managed to play other games without ever needing them, but once I paid attention to the message "bios missing, add them for better compatibility" and placed them on the BIOS folder, everything turned out better. Games that crashed before no longer do so and I can now switch discs on Resident Evil 2 just like you all told me (eject, switch, close, reset) from the .pbp file.