External Hard Drive - Lag on PSX games
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Hi all,
Just started utilizing an external 1 TB drive (powered by a hub) to store my roms. I previously used a 128 GB micro SD, but I switched over because I wanted to add additional PSX games to my collection. I was disappointed to learn that many PSX games lag terribly (unplayable) when they load from the external drive. In hindsight, I guess I should have seen this coming since some PSX games load various audio tracks and other data on the fly. I assume the issue lies in the relatively slow transfer speed of the drive. It's a USB 3.0 drive, but I believe the pi only supports USB 2.0 transfer speeds?
Question - are there any affordable external storage options that are capable of running PS games and other CD based games smoothly? I suppose I could purchase a 256 GB micro SD card, but I'm trying to avoid shelling out that kind of money. I assume the prices will drop in a few months now that 400 GB+ micro SDs are available, but the 256 GB units are still pricey as of this date.
Thanks,
Jim
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@jamesrives said in External Hard Drive - Lag on PSX games:
It's a USB 3.0 drive, but I believe the pi only supports USB 2.0 transfer speeds?
yes.
i've had no problems with a 32GB USB thumbdrive. i would have thought a plattered drive would have comparable transfer speeds but i guess they have a slower access time?
the ps1 had a 2x CD drive so it shouldn't need much I/O, but who knows.
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This issue has been there for the time I've been around, it's propably purely about the luck with the device, filesystem format of it or just overall emulation. It's not that noticeable, when you put the games to the internal SD card, but with any USB memory, stick or HDD/SSD, the issue is there. But it's also pretty random too, in some games it does it all the time (car games especially does that, since they require constant stream of data loading due short drawing distance), while some open world 3D games have no issues (like Spyro's).
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@dd-indeed i have 2 raspberry pi 3 systems using a powered hub. One is a 2.0 500gb hdd and one uses a3.0 1tb hard drive and i dont have lag and issues.
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nor me with a thumb drive, as i mentioned :P
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Do you use regular game images or eboots ?
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@dd-indeed eboots, but i used bins for a year before then
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Okay, so it's not about that. When you use that thumb drive, do you plug it straight to the Raspi or do you use externally powered hub ? Maybe it could be about power issues.
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@dd-indeed plugged in directly to the pi. i used a powered hub for my controllers.
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Hmm, well I previosly used hub without external power supply and had thumb drive on it for the games. Now that I started to use the internal SD card, no issues. So it definitely could be about the power.
Edit: I just read, that SD cards uses 3.3V, whereas thumb drives require 5V. When the Raspi is stressed enough, it could be, that the voltage supply to the USB ports is varying a bit and it could possibly cause these issues.
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@dd-indeed i use psx eboots with a 13 port self powered hub that has 11 devices on it using a canakit 2.5a power supply that i converted the tip on to be able to use in my hub. My pi has 2 other items running on it.
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You mean self powered that it has its own separate psu ?
My soul rests, when I hear the PS1 boot music
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DId you create the pbp files using maximum compression? I’ve had some slow loading times on pbp’s that went away when I used the bin/cue image of the same game since there was no decompression required when loading the image.
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@dd-indeed yes i used a canakit 2.5a power supply to power the hub. Then i use one to power the pi. On my other pi i am powering both the pi and a hub by splitting the power from a 2.5a power supply. But it is a bigger power supply that can handle it.
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@jamesrives I have a Western Digital 2TB drive attached directly to the Pi (no usb hub) and so far I've had no speed issues running PSX eboots.
However, if I turn on the 'enhanced graphics' option, everything starts chugging like a frat-boy at a keg party.
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@mattrixk Thanks. Is the 'enhanced graphics' option turned on automatically on the newest version of Retropie? For the life of me, I can't recall if I'm using enhanced graphics.
I connected my 1 tb to an external powered hub. Just for the heck of it, I'll try plugging it into the pi directly, but I was under the impression this would probably make performance worse rather than better (assuming the pi can even handle the drive without the hub's power source) because of the power draw.
Jim
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@jamesrives said in External Hard Drive - Lag on PSX games:
Thanks. Is the 'enhanced graphics' option turned on automatically on the newest version of Retropie?
nope, it's off by default.
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Try turning off vibration in the quick settings RetroArch menu as well.
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