PSX - Loading Disc 2 first from a .pbp file

Capeman

@mrskyle
Find your joystick config file in the all configs / auto joystick folder.

Open the file for your joystick and add these 4 parameters:

input_disk_eject_toggle =
input_disk_next =
input_disk_prev =
input_reset =

(reset might already be there) Set each one to a controller button (you might need to remove other functions), and use the hotkey to activate them.

To switch a disk, you do them in this order while in game:
Eject Toggle button (opens virtual ps1 tray)
Disk Next Button (changes disk)
Eject button again (closes virtual ps1 tray)

That is the best way to use disk switching for pbp files.

But since resident evil isnt a disk ordered game, it's more like 2 separate game disks, you might just be better off getting separate bin cue files for each disk and making 2 separate entries in retropie (that's what i did).

Capeman

@mrskyle said in PSX - Loading Disc 2 first from a .pbp file:

I have tried this method on the “Disk control” menu and it causes Retropie to crash (black screen, no response) once I select “new game”

Also I've heard this function doesn't properly open/close the virtual tray. It does the whole process instantly, and some games freak out when that happens. It's best to use manual controls. You can also set those controls to keyboard inputs if you don't want to waste controller buttons.

edmaul69

@mrskyle i do the same as @Capeman does. I moved menu to button b and put eject on x. I put the prev and next on the shoulder buttons. I removed reset so i dont accidently hit it trying to eject a disc. Also this setup works on the famicom disc system too.

nunofrsc

This post is deleted!

MrSkyle

@capeman said in PSX - Loading Disc 2 first from a .pbp file:

@mrskyle
Find your joystick config file in the all configs / auto joystick folder.

Open the file for your joystick and add these 4 parameters:
input_disk_eject_toggle =
input_disk_next =
input_disk_prev =
input_reset =
(reset might already be there) Set each one to a controller button (you might need to remove other functions), and use the hotkey to activate them.

Thank you for your assistance @Capeman, however i can't seem to find this menu you're referring to. Do I access it via the retroarch config menu or the Retropie setup menu? Or must I access it outside the emulation station? If that should be the case, any chance you can guide me through it?

Capeman

It's not in any user accessible menu, this is in a system config file.
Located in:
/opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch-joypads

They can be accessed in multiple ways. You can edit them with nano in the command line, access them with an ftp client using ssh or through windows explorer by finding RETROPIE on the local network.

Each one of these has some setup you need to do on your pi first:

For windows networking, you have to have wifi enabled on your pi and be on the same wireless network as your windows machine.

For command line editing, you'll need a keyboard and basic understanding of commandline navigation and how to list contents of a directory to find the file you need.

For ftp/ssh clients, you will need to enable ssh on the pi in the raspi config and get your IP address. Default user name for a raspberry pi is:
USER: PI
PASSWORD: RASPBERRY

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.