Transitioning from Disc 1 to Disc 2 - PSX Emulator

[simongeoghegan]

Hi All,

I have a Raspberry Pi running Retropie 4.4 using a Microsoft XB1 controller.

I have been playing Final Fantasy VIII through the psx emulator - I have all 4 discs available on my Pi, however having finished Disc 1, when I try to load up Disc 2 and load my state, it doesn't appear to work.

Is there some sort of specific instruction for transitioning from 1 disc to the 2nd at all?

I've had a search of the forum but couldn't see anything that helped (it could be that I wasn't searching for the appropriate wording).

Any help appreciated :)

Thanks,
Simon

[mitu]

This is explained in the Docs.
Since the save state will use the disk name, you're probably switching disks, but the save state name cannot be loaded due to it's name. I'd suggest to use an .m3u playlist for the game, listing all the necessary files and the save state will always have the same name. You could probably rename your existing save file and re-use it once you get the disk switching solved.

[simongeoghegan]

Thanks @mitu, I've had a look at those and it makes sense.

I've tried to change the disc following the instructions however I don't seem to be able to change the Disk Index to "No Disk", it stays showing as "1"

If I click "Disk Cycle Tray Status" once it says "Ejected virtual disk tray" and then a second time it says "Closed Virtual Disk Tray"

Do I need to "Eject" and then append the new disk image? I tried it but didn't work however maybe I'm doing it wrong!

Assuming when I navigate on the Disk Image Append options, I just need to go to the Cue File for Disk 2 and effectively "load" that up, if that's the right term?

[BobHarris]

@simongeoghegan You really should make an .m3u playlist first. Then it will work. And yes, first eject, then change the disc number and then close the tray.

[simongeoghegan]

@bobharris thanks, apologies I'm a RetroPie rookie so I'm not sure what is meant by M3u playlist, do you have any advice/instructions on this?

[mitu]

@simongeoghegan It's right in the documentation page I referenced when I first replied - the next section is about creating a .m3u file for multi-disc games.

[simongeoghegan]

Thanks @mitu, starting to get somewhere now.

I've followed the guidance and creating an M3u file and changed the CUEs etc. as instructed.

If I load up the my game through the usual file I've been using, I can load my game up so I get the "insert disk 2" screen.

From there, I go to disk control, change the tray status to eject, however I can't then change the disk index.

If I subsequently use the .M3u file as the chosen file within "Disk Image Append" menu, I can toggle between the disks on "Disk Index" however my saved game data is not there in the first place to select from.

It feels like I may have gone wrong somewhere, as it's like I'm half way to getting it right but I'm a little confused as to where I may have gone wrong.

This is my folder structure and m3u file below. Note, the "FFVIII.BIN" and "FFVIII.CUE" files are those that the Docs instructs to create using ISOBuster.

[BobHarris]

@simongeoghegan Couple of things:

• SCPH1001.BIN should be in the bios folder, not the psx folder.
• Are you starting the game using Finall Fantasy VIII.m3u?
• I don't see a single save file in your psx folder. If you would start a new game, by using the file mentioned above, the game creates save files with the same name as the .m3u file. So you would get save files like Final Fantasy VIII.state when using a save state, or Final Fantasy VIII.srm when using in-game saves. I don't know if you can simply rename your old game save to the name of your .m3u file, but you could try it.

[simongeoghegan]

@bobharris thanks Bob, I'll give that a try. There is definitely a in-game save, could it be saving to a different location perhaps, not sure if there's an easy way of me finding that out?

I'll move that files to BIOS too.

[BobHarris]

@simongeoghegan By default it saves in the psx folder, so unless you've changed some settings, it should be there.

[simongeoghegan]

Thanks Bob.

Have deleted the SCPH1001 files now as they is already a copy of these in the BIOS folder, so not sure why I had them in roms too.

I am starting FFVIII using the Final Fantasy VIII (USA) (Disc 1) file as that is where the in-game save data appears for me. If I start FVIII using the m3u file, I can toggle between the disk indexes, but have no in-game save data to select from.

I'll try to locate the save game files and rename it you like you mentioned.

[BobHarris]

@simongeoghegan I wonder what happens when you create a save game after starting the .m3u file..whether the save file appears in the psx folder or not. Maybe @Mitu knows where the save file could be located.

[mitu]

@bobharris The save file should be in the same folder as the game - unless some configuration was changed from the defaults. @simongeoghegan have you changed the RetroArch save settings or performed any other re-configuration on the default installation ?

[simongeoghegan]

I don't believe so no, I've had a look through the various folders on both my memory stick and the MicroSD card within the Raspberry Pi itself but nothing I can find in relation to a save file, very odd.

[simongeoghegan]

@mitu @BobHarris is there anything I can do with respect to commands within the retropie set up menus to locate saved files? I've had a look through folders on both external memory and microSD that sits in the Raspberry Pi but can't find anything.

[mitu]

You can remove the '.CUE' files from your folder, so only the .m3u will appear in the game list and you don't accidentally start the game with one of the CDs.
The save files location can be found out from the RGUI (Select + X while in-game) and going to Settings -> Directory -> Savefile. On a RetroPie installation, this should be set to Content dir (i.e. alongside the ROM).
To see how the emulator sets this save file, you can use the Runcommand launch menu to set verbose logging and start the ROM, then look in the /dev/shm/runcommand.log logfile to see the file that is uses as save file.

[pjft]

@simongeoghegan The save game should be a .srmfile - I'd guess Final Fantasy VIII (USA) (Disc 1).srmin the roms/psx folder, by default, unless you're running a different image.

If you make a copy of it and rename it to Final Fantasy VIII (USA) (Disc 2).srm you should then be able to load it.

(apologies for sidetracking - everything the others are saying is also correct, but this is usually what I do as it's easier for me).

[Capeman]

If you really want to make this easy, just find FF8 on a psp e-boot file (.pbp). It’s a format specifically designed for holding multiple ps1 discs in one file for booting on psp and it works with the psx emulator in retropie. All you have to do is load the game and use the disc eject and cycle key shortcuts to switch discs. None is this multiple bin, m3u rubbish. Added benefit is that pbp files are compressed, saves room on your memory card.

[BobHarris]

@capeman He already has the .m3u playlist, so anything else (eboot) is actually more work by now. Also I think his save file has a better chance of working this way than with an eboot. (If he can retrieve the save file than @pjft suggestion will work 100% sure.) Disc switching works the same for .m3u and eboot.
Eboots from the internet are sometimes converted poorly so I don't trust those anymore.

[simongeoghegan]

Thanks all for your help, I'll look to locate the file/file location tomorrow and then attempt the suggestions made. Very helpful as always, thanks!