SNES MSU-1 Guide

meleu

@meleu My guide was a bit longer because I wrote it with people that had close to zero computer skills in mind

Hey bro. Please don't take that as a negative criticism. I'm really grateful to you for bringing this up.

I was just trying to simplify the steps for those used with RetroPie. ;-)

Anyway if you think it would be useful to add that text, you can copy'n'paste the content below:

**Installing the lr-snes9x core**

1. launch RetroPie Setup
2. Go to Manage Packages -> Manage Optional Packages -> lr-snes9x
3. Install lr-snes9x (installing from source gets the most recent updates in the code)


**Preparing your ROM with MSU-1 capabilities**

1. Find the MSU-1 related patch for the game. [This romhacking.net googling seems to be a good place to start](http://www.google.com/search?q=site:www.romhacking.net/hacks+msu-1).
2. Apply the patch to the respective ROM (if you don't know how to do this, [check this question in romhacking.net FAQ](http://www.romhacking.net/faq?page=faq#question3). **Do NOT share/ask for ROMs in this forum!**).
3. Put the patched ROM in the `~/RetroPie/roms/snes` folder.
4. Restart EmulationStation in order to see the patched ROM on your gamelist.
5. Launch the patched ROM and invoke the runcommand menu.
6. Go to "Select emulator for ROM" and choose `lr-snes9x`.
7. Choose Launch.
8. **Enjoy!**

edale

@meleu said in SNES MSU-1 Guide:

Hey bro. Please don't take that as a negative criticism. I'm really grateful to you for bringing this up.

Not taking it as negative criticism, taking it as very constructive criticism. I'm just on 40ish hours without sleep atm (you think insomnia is bad? try delayed sleep syndrome), so probably not getting my point across properly, lol. I'll do some reformatting of the guide sometime later today or tomorrow when I'm a bit more cognisant.

Oh, and I grabbed that Mega Man X MSU-1 mod, quick tip, the manifest.bml that comes with the mod... Kill it with fire! Thing's incomplete and will actually stop the mod from working.

Use the "mmx_msu1_emulator.ips" patch to patch the ROM, you'll get audio distortion on the Pi with the other one. This is a problem with a lot of the earlier MSU-1 mods (see @Darksavior's problems with LttP), but most of the older ones have alternate patches, and the newer ones don't have the problem.

Darksavior

@edale I'm using the lttp from https://www.zeldix.net/t453-enable-msu-streaming-music-for-alttp

I didn't like how the others mixed the music. I patch my roms so my folders just have the .sfc game, .msu file, and .pcm files. I have no clue on how to edit msu/ips files, but I believe there must be some setting that increases the volume for flashcarts. There is no ips file meant for emulators.
EDIT: looks like the website says it wants the bml file for higan, i'll throw that in later to re-test.

It still doesn't explain why mmx1 has distorted sound effects. I'll double check later if it happens without the msu1 music enabled.

edale

@darksavior Yea, I figured that was the version you had. That was the "proof of concept" for MSU-1 mods I mentioned, it's THE oldest MSU-1 mod out there, before any of the kinks had been worked out.

Give me 1/2 an hour or so and I'll have it tested, but I think you can use the PCM files from one MSU-1 mod in another, so you could use that LttP MSU-1 mod's PCM files, while using a newer MSU-1 hack (or hell, have the MMX soundtrack paying for LttP, lol).

Edit-
OK, I tested it out by grabbing the PCM files from your MSU-1 mod and plugging them into the LttP DX mod that I linked to. It worked fine. I played for about 10 minutes and didn't get any audio distortion.

You'll need to rename all the PCM files to match the DX mod, this program will make it take seconds: http://www.bulkrenameutility.co.uk/Download.php

Alternately, try this patch: https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/2483/
It's the same MSU-1 mod you use, but it has a v1.1 update to fix a sound issue, might fix your problem.

Darksavior

@edale Thanks, I'll try them out when I can.

edale

Edited and reformatted the guide.

Just found this, it's AMAZING:
https://github.com/Insidious611/DancingMadFF6/releases

It's a MSU-1 soundtrack mod for Final Fantasy VI (AKA III). It has multiple options for the soundtrack used including both the OST and A rather amazing fan-made remix soundtrack (http://ff6.ocremix.org/), as well as a few other fanmade remasters.

You just need the DancingMadInstaller.exe and the FFVI ROM to get it setup. The installer will let you choose which audio tracks you want for each song, download them, convert them, and patch the ROM file for you. (only downside is if you want to change one music file, you need to re-download everything, though you can just swap the pcm files if you already have the one you want from a previous build)

Darksavior

@edale I tried both and made zero difference. I also didn't need to rename to the dx mod, I just renamed the rom to what I already had and it did play the music. Oh well.

edale

Then the problem's probably in the PCM audio itself. I can only suggest getting a different set of PCM audio from elsewhere.

Unless... are you using a what version Pi are you running? Because I doubt Pi Zero's will be able to handle MSU-1 mods easily...

Darksavior

@edale Pi3. I get slowdowns when there's transparencies even at 1.3ghz, so zero won't be an enjoyable experience..

NowArrivingHere

This is a good guide. I can confirm that this setup method works with the Link to the Past DX romhack. I can also confirm that this works with another Link to the Past romhack that adds the same music as Link to the Past DX and adds an FMV intro.

Also, if anyone is interested in the Satellaview expansion module for the Super Famicom and the three exclusive Zelda games that used that for live voiceovers, I can confirm that the English-Translated MSU-1 recreations all work with the guide from edale.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellaview_games_from_The_Legend_of_Zelda_series

Word of warning, these recreations do use FMV and voiceover narration, so with all files included they can get very large
BS Zelda no Densetsu (BSゼルダの伝説, lit. BS The Legend of Zelda) = 2.45GB
BS Zelda no Densetsu MAP 2 (ＢＳゼルダの伝説ＭＡＰ２, lit. BS The Legend of Zelda: Map 2) = 2.45GB
BS Zelda no Densetsu: Inishie no Sekiban (BSゼルダの伝説古代の石盤, lit. BS The Legend of Zelda: Ancient Stone Tablets) = 3.78GB

edale

@nowarrivinghere said in SNES MSU-1 Guide:

Also, if anyone is interested in the Satellaview expansion module for the Super Famicom and the three exclusive Zelda games that used that for live voiceovers, I can confirm that the English-Translated MSU-1 recreations all work with the guide from edale.

I've played Ancient Stone Tablets, which is great (was actually the second MSU-1 game I played; but quite annoying to transfer the save files for the next part on the Pi, unless you ftp to do it).

But those other 2 BS zelda games... I thought those were just remakes of Zelda 1 with updated graphics?

edale

@Darksavior in a few days I may have a new set of PCM files for you for that Zelda:LttP MSU-1 mod.

I've been working with Insidious611 on his Dancing Mad FFVI MSU-1 mod, there were a number of problems with his PCM audio, and in the process of helping him I taught myself how to encode MSU-1 compatible PCM audio.

Pretty much all his PCM audio tracks needed to be deamplified (I'm actually going through and manually normalizing most of his tracks, then using a hex editor to copy/paste the header/loop data back in). A few of his tracks needed to be completely redone (one even had the data for an entire second song in it for some odd reason, and one track desperately needed the intro cut out)

I've managed to develop a sox script to deamplify the PCM audio, and Insidious611 is making me a python script that'll copy the header data over for me, turning this overly complex process into quickly running 2 batch files.

Once Insidious611 codes the script for me, it'll only take me like 10 minutes to deamplify the PCM files for that Zelda MSU-1 hack, which should hopefully remove that distortion you were experiencing (won't help with the slowdowns though).

Guy-Sensei

Has anyone managed to get MSU-1 successfully working with network share?
Everything works fine when I run games directly from the SD card, but I only get original music and no videos (basically non-MSU-1 version of the game) when using network share.

Darksavior

@edale Nice, I'll try them when it's available, thanks. I believe all that amplified music from EVERY msu1 game does have some crackling of some sort. In mmx1, the msu1 audio is fine, but the sound effects are the ones that randomly have scratchy audio.

I guess these msu1 games were made for sd2snes and not for emulators.

edale

@darksavior Yea, most of the earlier MSU-1 mods had the audio normalized for playback on the SD2SNES, since playback on the original system is the biggest selling point of MSU-1 mods.

Prior to the fix being made in SD2SNES v1.7, there was a bug in the MSU-1 emulation chip that made it so the PCM audio needed to be really loud to play normally. This was obviously a detriment to emulation users. Most MSU-1 modders just made a second patch which tricked the audio into playing quieter for emulators.

Once the 1.7 upgrade went out for SD2SNES, MSU-1 modders can have their sound normalized normally, and it'll play right across all platforms.

edale

@Darksavior Insidious611 hasn't gotten me that script yet, but turns out I don't need it for this. In fact, I don't need to edit the PCM files at all. It's already been done by someone MUCH more qualified than me.

Qwertymodo, one of the leading authorities on MSU mods, the guy that coded pretty much the only tool that lets you create MSU-1 audio without having to hex-edit the header and loop info in, the guy that made the Zelda:LttP DX mod, the guy that coded MSU-1 support into Snes9x, along with a bunch of other MSU-1 related things I likely don't know about yet... He already did it.

Go to: https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/2483/
(you should recognize the link, I've sent it to you before, it's the same mod you're using)

Click download and grab that copy of the mod (97kb).

Open the .zip, and click the readme.

Towards the top of the readme, you'll see 2 download links labeled "Mirror 1" and "Mirror 2".

Grab either of those, they're the fixed PMC files (~500Mb).

You might need to re-patch the game with the updated .ips (best to do it to a fresh copy of the rom, rather than over an already patched one.), but not sure.

Darksavior

@edale That did it, thanks. That site should really change the links..

edale

@darksavior First time I looked at that patch page, I thought the volume fix mentioned was a .ips adjustment like in the "for emulator" patches, but it actually mentions the new .pcm files. When I noticed that, I downloaded and checked the files and saw they were already fixed. I should have noticed that days ago.

At least I didn't notice after I adjusted the audio on the original ones, lol.

Darksavior

@edale In surfing the zeldix site today, I did notice there's a thread with fixed audio tracks. I'll re-download the few games that have given me issues like introducing crackling into sound effects and the music just being too loud, but sounds fine.

edale

@darksavior It wasn't exactly easy, but I've found that thread too. In fact, one of the sets of tracks I was fixing for Insidious had already been fixed by qwertymodo, and me pointing that out to Insidious got qwertymodo himself to show up and help us out with the normalization. Insidious now has a bastardized version of qwertymodo's script for normalizing MSU-1 PCM audio.

I've also added a number of tracks, such as The Black Mages versions of Battle (the basic battle theme), Decisive Battle, and Dancing Mad, and getting some PCM audio to replace ambient sounds when there's a sound that's only called when no music is playing (MSU-1 chips can only stream one data line at a time, so you can't play 2 tracks of PCM audio at once), So far I've got some since white-water sounds going on the raft scenes, looking for other similar cases.

I'll post a link to the open-beta when the release with normalized audio comes out in a few days.