Transitioning from Disc 1 to Disc 2 - PS1 Emulator

therealrahlin

Hello, I'm new to Retropie.

IM GOING TO START BY SAYING, I PERSONALLY OWN ALL OF THE TITLES AND PERSONALLY BACKED THEM UP. (Which took forever at slow read speeds!!!) Lol.

Im running on a Raspberry Pi 3 B+ with a personally file formatted 128gb Samsung Micro Sd with a 161 game Personal Choice PS1 Library (That I'm very proud of)
Everything is updated to the fullest as I just got it fully up and running 2 days ago. I have a problem when switching my disks according to the documentation on the site. At the end of disk 1 a prompt appears to insert disk 2. On the website It says to go into the retropie via hotkey menu, go to disk settings, open virtual disk tray, and then load the disk image, when I cycle through my folders to my bin/cue files I have 4 files (I own all the games I put on my pi.) Parasite Eve (Disc 1).bin, Parasite Eve (Disc 1).cue, Parasite Eve (Disc 2).bin, and Parasite Eve (Disc 2).cue. I loaded the Parasite Eve (Disc 2).bin and it then flashes the prompt box, but in the Information in the prompt it says loading Parasite Eve (Disc 1).bin and then takes me to the main menu to start a new game. I'm a beginner as far as programming, but I have set my pi up all on my own just watching videos on youtube. And have been hacking since the original psp battery cut game hack, so I can do basic adjustments to files and what not. But I have yet to find a video that addresses this bug. I have also read that I need to change the game index number above the virtual disk tray setting but it won't let me adjust the value, it just stays at 1. Any help would definitely be appreciated as I bought and set this up specifically to back-Up and play my PS1 library in HD. Hooking up the PS1 is way easier but it doesn't hold up on a 4k tv even with an HDMI converter. Thanks in Advance!!! 🤘

mitu

I might have a clue why this happens. There was a report for RetroArch that when the content_directory isn't set, changing discs would reset the content or start a new game.

Try this - open the \\retropie\configs\psx\retroarch.cfg folder (via file shares) and add the following line

content_directory=`/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/psx

before the last line. Try again the disc switching.

I think that if you create a .m3u file for the game, that combines the discs, and then just switch the disc index, this problem might not occur.

therealrahlin

@mitu
First off I'd like to say thank you for replying so quickly. I will try the change and see if that works. Also, if i create the .m3u file will the game index actually allow me to change the value from 1 to 2, or whatever it may be? And if the .m3u method were to work would I need to do it for every multi-disk game?
Thanks again!

mitu

@therealrahlin If the .m3u works, then it must be done for every game - is explained in the Docs very well. It also has the advantage of cleaning up the gamelist since you'll not be seeing doubled or tripled games (one for each CD).
However, if my other recommendation works, then it's the only thing that needs to be done.

Are you using .bin/.cue files ?

therealrahlin

@mitu
Okay, so .m3u would be the way to to probably. And yea the program I used to rip them from the original disk to the pc gave me both the .bin and .cue files for each game. Also, if I were to convert all my multi-disk games to .m3u would I need to delete the files from the pi and put the new ones in their place? And would that affect my save state for my game?

mitu

@therealrahlin The .m3u file is just a 'wrapper' over your existing .bin/.cue files, you don't need to delete anything. If you've every used Winamp, the .m3u is just a playlist :), a text file containing the names of your .cue names. That is, you don't need to re-convert anything, just add a new text file for multi-disc games.

For save games, you probably have to rename them according to the name of the .m3u file - you have them now with name of the CD.

EDIT: but first you should determine if any of the proposed solutions fixes your issue.

therealrahlin

@mitu
Alright, I will try the method you provided earlier first to see if that fixes the disk switching problem, and then I'm going to look into 'wrapping' my files in .m3u
I believe you provided the link for this above. I will check into that later tomorrow as it is 3:30am where I'm at. But I just finished Disk 1 about an hour and a half ago, then scoured YouTube for an hour and then I found a forum similar to this link I made but the guys problem wasn't exactly the same as mine, other than the game index number not changing. If I try to load the 2nd disk via read disk image I can cycle through my folders and what not and find my files. It just seemed to me like it loaded the first disk again because it didn't say loading Parasite Eve Disc 2.bin it said disc 1.

therealrahlin

@mitu
I seen somewhere a possible fix via hotkey setup for disk tray and disk index number? But if it doesn't work in the menu then that probably wouldn't work with hotkey would it?

therealrahlin

@mitu
The lines in the file now read as such, and I used notepad++ so the numbers beforehand are just what line its on.

2851 input_keyboard_layout = ""
2852 bundle_assets_src_path = ""
2853 bundle_assets_dst_path = ""
2854 bundle_assets_dst_path_subdir = ""
2855 content_directory=`/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/psx
2856 #include "/opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg"

I rebooted emulation station and loaded up my game and got to where I need to change disks and the same thing, it keeps booting disk 1. I know the .bin and .cue files are fine, their not duplicates or anything, I checked all that.

therealrahlin

@mitu said in Transitioning from Disc 1 to Disc 2 - PS1 Emulator:

I might have a clue why this happens. There was a report for RetroArch that when the content_directory isn't set, changing discs would reset the content or start a new game.

Try this - open the \\retropie\configs\psx\retroarch.cfg folder (via file shares) and add the following line
content_directory=`/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/psx
before the last line. Try again the disc switching.

I think that if you create a .m3u file for the game, that combines the discs, and then just switch the disc index, this problem might not occur.

The lines in the file now read as such, and I used notepad++ so the numbers beforehand are just what line its on.
2851 input_keyboard_layout = ""
2852 bundle_assets_src_path = ""
2853 bundle_assets_dst_path = ""
2854 bundle_assets_dst_path_subdir = ""
2855 content_directory=`/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/psx
2856 #include "/opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg"
I rebooted emulation station and loaded up my game and got to where I need to change disks and the same thing, it keeps booting disk 1. I know the .bin and .cue files are fine, their not duplicates or anything, I checked all that.

mitu

@therealrahlin You've probably enabled 'Save config on Exit' in RetroArch and also the line you should have added is wrongly quoted.
Replace the retroarch.cfg in the psx folder with

# Settings made here will only override settings in the global retroarch.cfg if placed above the #include line

input_remapping_directory = "/opt/retropie/configs/psx/"
content_directory = "/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/psx"

#include "/opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg"

and re-try. Also, don't enable 'Save Config on Exit' in RetroArch, it will mess up your config.

therealrahlin

@mitu Yes I have autosave config on, because my controller kept resetting my bindings.
Also, I'm having a bit of a problem understanding you. You say to replace the retroarch.cfg completely?

this is the part I don't exactly understand.

Settings made here will only override settings in the global retroarch.cfg if placed above the #include line

input_remapping_directory = "/opt/retropie/configs/psx/"
content_directory = "/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/psx"

#include "/opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg"

Sorry for all the complications, again im new to the platform.

therealrahlin

@mitu

UPDATE: I re wrote the file as you said, my lines now read as such:

input_remapping_directory = "/opt/retropie/configs/psx/"
content_directory = "/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/psx"

And the very last line of the file reads:
#include "/opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg"

Did I do this correctly?

Also, when I loaded up my game and got to where it said insert disk 2 it didn't work. However, I loaded up Parasite Eve (Disc 2).bin and it still read booting Parasite Eve (Disc 1).bin but I went and clicked on new game just to see what would happen, and it told me to insert Disc 1? so maybe it is working correctly im just having trouble starting the 2nd disc because of the save state thing? Which I don't completely understand, Can we not use in-game save points? I have yet to try it as I seen the save state and thought it was a great idea, but now im not so sure. lol. Im in a save state where I just load up the state and walk off screen to the left and it prompts to insert disc 2. So I cant go back to an in-game save point anymore.

mitu

Alright, about the key bindings - the correct way is to use the Core input remapping to have it save your bindings, without resorting to 'Save Config on Exit'.

About the disc change - it's described in Docs how it works. You can manually add the disk to the list, with disk image append, or create the .m3u file for RA to load all discs at once. The result should be the same, you just switch the disc index when the game asks you to do it.

therealrahlin

@mitu
did I re-write my lines correctly? ^

mitu

@therealrahlin said in Transitioning from Disc 1 to Disc 2 - PS1 Emulator:

did I re-write my lines correctly? ^

Yes, it looks like it's ok.

therealrahlin

@mitu hmmm, I wonder why its still not working, can I download a save file and rename it to .srm and load it "in-game"

mitu

@therealrahlin Probably yes, as long as the .srm file is correct and named after the game you're running.

therealrahlin

@mitu okay, ill try that and play to disk change and update again.
Thanks for all your help.

mitu

@therealrahlin If you have a save from before the disc change, you can upload it somewhere to try it myself. You can also save the state in RetroArch and copy the .state file.