Megaman X4 stuck

[Evanescent]

This is my very first time to PSX. I've tried playing Megaman X4 on it. It had worked well until I have killed my first boss, Web Spider.

The video freezes, but the sound continues. I've waited for more than 2 minutes (as seen in screenshot thread that someone encountered 20-30 secs after ends a stage) but the video doesn't continue still.

Any help?

Thank you.

[jonc2006]

try running the game from both the disk as well as an image of the disk to see if it freezes in both methods.

[Evanescent]

I've tried both ways, and it's still the same. Besides, running from the CD was a bit laggy while it's smooth with image file.

[patrickp]

What sort of system are you running on, Evanescent? Playing from CD can be laggy compared to an image in some emulators, but pSX normally runs from a CD as well as it does from an image. If you think of it, access to a PC optical drive is way faster than a Playstation's x2 drive, so playing from CD or image should really make no difference.

What format image are you playing from, and how did you rip it? Playstation images need care in ripping because of their non-standard format, and it's generally better to use an application developed for ripping games, like CloneCD or Alcohol, rather than the more usual general-purpose rippers.

Just checked the Compatibility Lists - apparently this is a game that needs the -r switch. Try that.

[Evanescent]

Oh... I used PowerISO to make the image file.

And what is that '-r switch'?

[patrickp]

And what format image did you rip, Evanescent?

The -r switch is a command line switch. You can use it in one of three ways: you can start pSX from the command line, but add -r after the executable name (leaving a space between them). Or you can create a shortcut/launcher to start pSX, right click it, click properties and, in the Target/Command panel, move your cursor to the end of the line (after the inverted commas in Windows) and type a space, then -r. Click OK/Close. The shortcut will start pSX with the -r switch.

Or, the easiest way, get Ultima's pSX Frontend and, when you set up the profile for your game, go to the Switches tab and tick the box that says -r Enable event rescheduling. This profile will start your game in pSX with the -r switch running.

[Evanescent]

Ohh

patrickp! Thanks for your help!

I've tried the frontend, and it works! The game doesn't freeze after killing a boss anymore hehe.

Thank you.

PS. The format's ISO

[patrickp]

I'd recommend using another format to the .iso one, Evanescent. Since it doesn't have a descriptor file (one that includes information as to the placement of any extra tracks within the image), many Playstation games won't play properly from an .iso image.

Descriptor files are ones like the .cue file in the .bin/.cue format, the .ccd file in the .ccd/.img/.sub format and the .mds file in the .mdf/.mds format. Additionally, the .ccd/.img/.sub and .mdf/.mds formats include subcode, which may be necessary for defeating copy protection. So .ccd/.img/.sub and .mdf/.mds are the best formats to rip your games to, .bin/.cue is usually Ok, but .iso should be avoided. Also when using any of the formats with a descriptor file, start the image by selecting the descriptor file rather than the image itself; this will tell the emulator to use this file to read the image.

[Evanescent]

I see.

I'll tried Alcohol next time.

Thanks again.

[patrickp]

Good choice. Don't forget they do a free version of their Alcohol 52% application - you can rip with it, but you can't burn.

[Gamesoul Master]

Though of course, the better option for burning (for free) would be ImgBurn anyway, so no worries there. Between ImgBurn and Alcohol 52%, you can pretty much cover all your ripping and burning needs.

[patrickp]

Interesting, GM; the documentation on its site isn't very clear, but it seems ImgBurn supports the .ccd/.img/.sub and .mdf/.mds formats, and should run successfully in Wine. Running stuff in Wine is still not my ideal solution but - could this be the end of Windows for me?

Edit: as I said, the ImgBurn information isn't very clear - does ImgBurn support ripping to the .ccd/.img/.sub and .mdf/.mds formats, or just burning them?

[Evanescent]

/me taking note hehe

[Gamesoul Master]

Well, it'll rip to cue/img. Which is quite odd of course, but I guess I can't complain *too* much about a program that is made primarily for burning. Basically, it'll rip to .bin, .img, or .iso, with a .cue descriptor file for CD and a .mds descriptor file for DVD.

That's why I'm forced to stick to Alcohol 52% for my ripping purposes... :/

[patrickp]

When you say it'll rip to .cue/.img, GM, I presume that doesn't include the .ccd and .sub files (i.e. the more detailed descriptor file and the subcode file)?

Which would make it really a .bin/.cue image with a slightly different name.

[Gamesoul Master]

Yeah, that's what I was getting at. Not really useful for what you were hoping for, I know...

Though you *did* say so yourself, that .img files seem to work better than .bin files, even without the subcode data...

[patrickp]

True, but that was for ePSXe. For pSX I want the whole shebang!