PSPVBA: GameBoy Advance Emulator for PSP v1.2.3 (>5% faster)

[zx-81]

http://zx81.zx81.free.fr/images/pspvba-snap-123.jpg

Hi All,

Who said i give up ? I never give up when i got ideas to make things going better :).

Here is a new version of PSPVBA the GameBoy Advance Emulator for PSP,
which is a bit faster (up to 6% on v-rally 3) compared to v1.2.2 !

* This version doesn't work for +2.0 FW ! *

What's new in version 1.2.3 :

- Rewrite critical parts of graphic emulation source code
- Rewrite critical parts of the ARM emulator to make it going faster
- Review memory cache strategy
- Bug fix and code cleaning


How to use it ?

Have a look to the README.txt file !

One binary version for 1.5 FW and sources are included in the zip archive.

This package is under GPL Copyright, read COPYING file for more information about it.

Enjoy, :D

Zx.

Download and Give Feedback Via Comments

PSP VBA Compatibility List (http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=29918)

[SeaN_187]

1st post
great man i cant wait until this gets to 100% speed or close u fkin rule

[tedou]

big big big big thanks zx-81 i love you hihi

[felonyr301]

this is what im talking about zx dont give up if theres a will theres a way for zx to do it lol this is why you my fav coder never give up (like me lol) too bad cant give this a try now will try later tonight but great job man.

[sroon]

Nice!!
Thank you Zx!!!
every day theres a new build!! you are the greatest!! Bro!:D

[wraggster]

yeah he has to be the hardest working PSP coder at this time, i bet his girlfriend loves it ;)

[D0N]

Excellent work yet again zx! Keep up this magnificent work! :D

[Video_freak]

Awesome Zx, 6% speed in increase is HUGE :)

[jimmi]

YOU ARE THE BEST



*babble and drool*

[mcvader]

awesome, 3 updates all on the main news page, this has gotta be a first. I just finished reading the thread on your last update, i go back to the main page, refresh and boom another update. I would'nt be suprised if $ony tried to pay you off to stop helping the homebrew scene lol.

does the fact that this emu is a port hold it back at all, would a new emu built from scratch have better speeds? I suppose with all the work you've done 'forgotten' wouldn't even recognise the code from the original.

thanks for all the hard work, you've gone above and beyond the call of duty again, expect a medal in the post lol

[rock_light]

well, the speed up is definately noticeable.

Still not worth it to average gamers but VERY interesting improvement to emulation addicts.

Thank you for not giving up on what would make the psp the best system to date.

[Uruz 6]

Good work man, I'll try it this night but I'm sure it'll be great!!

[The_Ultimate_Eggman]

Thxs Zx thought u seaid u had taken it as far as you could u going to pass the mantle to someone else now ??.Great work.

[SSaxdude]

I knew you wouldn't give up.

[TrowaX]

OMG you OWN BIG TIME ZX-81 KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK !!!!

[ovrlord]

its amazing how far this emu has come
i remmy when it ran at like half this speed and that was amazing lol
great work as usual and you have my full support zx
:)

[Raekwik11]

just when you think he gives up he comes up stronger. pretty soon you'll have it at 100%. good luck.

[zaiser]

nice!!:eek:

Thank you zx-81

[jopoo]

WhaT Is LoVe!? BaBy dOnT hurt Me dOnT hurt Me no mOrE... i knew you wouldnt let us down!@!!:D

[pspfan]

Great stuff. I wonder what else can be done to speed it up (besides making a dynamic recompiler)...

[hempy]

this is lame

[Mr. Shizzy]

this is lame


You are lame, you disrespectful twit>:mad:

This is terrific news. Thanks again Zx-81!!!:D

[publicprivates]

how much faster is this compared to pspvba 1.10?

[Kvonx]

Already...man u kno how 2 work.....praise ZX

[grebn]

Hi all,

Just wondering what the game is the screenshot is taken from on the news page - looks like a Warsong / Langrisser style RPG strategy game (ie right up my sad street!). If anyone knows, could you tell me?

ZX - You're an inspiration!

Paul

[Video_freak]

this is lame
if you think this is lame, then you have no idea what you are talking about. being able to emulate the GBA's cpu on a 333 mhz psp at this speed is amazing. so respect Zx, for he works pretty much 24 hrs a day on coding (does he sleep :confused: )

[Kvonx]

this is lame Who is so dumb to say that an cant do anything, not even a release!!!:mad:

[cdrdj]

Hi all,

Just wondering what the game is the screenshot is taken from on the news page - looks like a Warsong / Langrisser style RPG strategy game (ie right up my sad street!). If anyone knows, could you tell me?

ZX - You're an inspiration!

Paul

Looks like Fire Emblem. Forgot which one though.

[Uruz 6]

I think it's the first one.

[hack.fool]

I was sure you don't give up the project...
one more time.. thanx zx you make me happy ^o^
..me and about ten millions guys in the world...

[zx-81]

@all: thx

@pspfan: i think we can still win few % by rewritting critical part of the gfx and cpu emulation code ...

[Video_freak]

thanks for the update zx-81 :)

[ACID]

Never say Never when ZX is at work. Let the force be with you. You are the best.

[Uruz 6]

Say ZX will it be possible in future releases to load bigger roms? like 32mb (I want to play Riviera:))?
I know you're probably trying to solve bigger issues but what about sound?

[Dementia7]

Damn it, i said it once and i'll say it again

WHEN THERES A ZX-81, THERES A WAY.

i JUST finished testing the last release, i come online and theres another one. with alot of improvement on speed. (alot IMO)

Your a great coder, keep it up.:D :)

your my psp hero hahaha

[chrisrulz555]

Thought you had a trick up your sleeve :) Keep up the good work im sure there will be other ways of speeding this up

[Gazz021]

Good work ZX-81 I know your get there soon.Just tried it with Fifa06,A little faster with sounf 0ff and turbo 2 ARM 4

[.:}<3\/!}\{:.]

thx man you are the best, YEAH!!!

[SmashinGit]

Thanks ZX-81, this emulator is excellent.

[The_Ultimate_Eggman]

this is lame
Only 6 posts and has the cheek to say that.Crawl back under your rock u insignificant little toad.

[aries2k4]

Nice work Zx. glad to hear you still have a few tricks up your sleeve.
Thanks

[NoQuarter]

Man you're a coding machine!Gonna give metriod fusion a try now thanx for all the hard work,

[MedievalManIII]

Great job on this release! However, I have a small question. Do you know why 32MB roms will not work yet?

[disturbed19]

I have a quick question. i seen your source code for the latest version of pspvba, i wanted to try add a few things for my own personal use but i dont know how to compile it. do u think you can help me out? you said u compile your projects with makefile. could u give me a link to a direct download and mayble give me a few hints on how to comile your source code? thanx alot zx i appreciate it

[zx-81]

Great job on this release! However, I have a small question. Do you know why 32MB roms will not work yet?

Because the PSP Doesn't have enough memory to handle directly such rom ;) ... The PSP has got only 32Mb ;)

[zx-81]

I have a quick question. i seen your source code for the latest version of pspvba, i wanted to try add a few things for my own personal use but i dont know how to compile it. do u think you can help me out? you said u compile your projects with makefile. could u give me a link to a direct download and mayble give me a few hints on how to comile your source code? thanx alot zx i appreciate it

The best is to ask (or to search :rolleyes:) in dedicated development PSP forum .. My makefile is standard, and you can compile pspvba if you have installed properly SDK and SDL libs.

[DrSarcasmo]

ZX81: Thanks for your hard, dedicated work, you crazy coding machine...:) We really appreciate the efforts you put into the homebrew scene.

Now a quick update on this latest release (1.2.3):

When playing Catlevania: Aria of Sorrow, the overlays don't work anymore. I.E. the marker on the map that shows where you are and also the transparent blue background behind text. At least I haven't found a setting where they work. They worked perfectly with 1.2.2, so I think it's an issue with this release. Either way, I'll just go back to 1.2.2 till we figure something out.

In any case, I thank you once again for spreading the joy of your hard work, ZX81...:)

DrSarcasmo

[Exoskeletor]

so sims 2 still not working? zx are you going to add support for large rom files?

[alucard001]

great job zx, so let me get this right you can't play roms that are 32mb in size because the psp only has 32mb is that right? so you would be using all of the psp's memory huh and that wouldn;t be possible, so basically you cant play roms that are 32mb in size or higher

[Lagnus]

Superb, Fabulous, and Ground shattering. Splendid work ZX- 81.

May his name be remebered for years to come.

[pkmusicmaker]

Much respect for ya, this is what I like to see.

[emuking]

nice i knew he didnt up hes to close to give up :D

[s075933]

Great work on this emulator zx. What wer your settings for fire emblem and what percent does it run at?

Cheers

[BPM9]

Will have to try this out later! Thanks

[BelmontSlayer]

great job zx, so let me get this right you can't play roms that are 32mb in size because the psp only has 32mb is that right? so you would be using all of the psp's memory huh and that wouldn;t be possible, so basically you cant play roms that are 32mb in size or higher

Exactly. The PSP can run other rom types that are over 32MB , because they read from small parts of the file at a time (Like NEOGEO CDs or PS1 CDs). A GBA rom is loaded all at once, therefore 32MB roms will NOT work on a PSP.

Good job, zx-81! This just keeps on getting better and better!

[Voltron]

WOW! after the last release I would have been in awe at just a 1% increase. But at a 5% - 6% increase I'm just floored.

zx-81 is the best!

[Cloud_35]

Oh yes, I remember when PSPVBA was just a simple and slow gba emulator.

Now time has passed...

Great work zx-81. Again. Thanks :)

[tophead420]

great work ZX and keep it up u rule

[littleblue]

Well done zx-81 - I'm new to the world of PSPs but what you are doing makes me more and more glad I bought one :)

[Dementia7]

I'm still get a yellow screen during Castlevania, anyone know why or has this happend to anyone? its under 16mbs and im on 1.5 fw, with the latest version.. if anyone knows why or a way around this, it would help.

[brainpan]

BelmontSlayer


"Exactly. The PSP can run other rom types that are over 32MB , because they read from small parts of the file at a time (Like NEOGEO CDs or PS1 CDs). A GBA rom is loaded all at once, therefore 32MB roms will NOT work on a PSP."




I know this isnt really the place, but didnt a dreamcast coder figure out a way past this.

[YourStillWithMe]

ZX----your doing a great job, keep up the great work. Your dedication to this project is inspiring. Did you ever think to team up with the coder working on the deadulus project? I think it would do wonders. Havent heard much from psmonkey lately would love to see you 3 working on that!

[Forsak3n]

I have firmware 1.5, how do i get this to work?! i copyed the file fw1.5 over into my game folder on my psp, and it says corrupted data?

[BL4Z3D247]

I have firmware 1.5, how do i get this to work?! i copyed the file fw1.5 over into my game folder on my psp, and it says corrupted data?
one of the icons shouldn't be corrupt run that one...zx awesome work, can't wait to test it out :D

[Dementia7]

thats cuz Forsak3n did it ALL wrong..almost.

do this
1-open the 1.5 folder
2- take those TWO folder and put THEM in the game folder of your MS stick, then the Roms in the ROM folder inside __SCE__pspvba. ...that should do it, i can't make it any clearer and if u still can't figure it id suggest you check urself in for mentel illness.

j.k:D :D

[shadowprophet]

I knew once he started in with kernal mode this project would really get good!! :D

[mameuser]

yes more speed, the better

[mcvader]

if the psp can't load 32mb roms how come daedelus
can run roms such as zelda? i mean both systems are nintendo's so you's think they'd be simular in that respect. is there no way of splitting up the roms i.e neogeo, style or is this impossible?

how about using the memcard space as virtual memory the way windows does? if this is even possible would'nt that fix the problem? i'd imagine whis would slow down things a fair bit tho.

[Dementia7]

yea why CAN deadlus run roms over 16 megs..weird. good question though, Zx?

[shadowprophet]

yea why CAN deadlus run roms over 16 megs..weird. good question though, Zx?
StrmnNrmn has spent a lot of time working on a dynamic recompiler or (dynarec), That loads the roms differently, instead of loading the entire rom in daedalus It only steams over the parts of the file thats its currently using, However to create a dynamic recompiler takes a lot of time, And doesnt always mean in the long run, that it will benifit over all emulation performance. You see. The psp only has 32 megs of upper memory to work with.
Therefore having the emu loaded into that upper memory. plus a 32 meg rom is impossible without useing some sort of dynamic recompilation.

[mcvader]

that explains it. how about the virtual memory idea then, shadowprophet? if it was possible would'nt it be possible to use the full 32mb memory for emulation and load the entire rom in virtual memory? i know this would be slower but the roms aren't that big anyway?

[shadowprophet]

that explains it. how about the virtual memory idea then, shadowprophet? if it was possible would'nt it be possible to use the full 32mb memory for emulation and load the entire rom in virtual memory? i know this would be slower but the roms aren't that big anyway?

Personally, Ive always wondered, Why the homebrew scene doesnt use use disk images and load them. It seems very simple to me, that one could use the currently frowned upon technology in perfectly legal ways, just create the emu, and a program to make disk images for that app with it, and allow one to create a disk image of that emu with with whatever roms they wanted, and one could use a loader to play them legaly.. Oh well go figure. But anyway, i think that kind of talk isnt allowed here even if you mean in it perfectly legal terms, So im just gonna be quiet now.

[Gizmo356]

thats a good idea :D now let me zip my lips;)

[mcvader]

i think that kind of talk isnt allowed here even if you mean in it perfectly legal terms, So im just gonna be quiet now.

I thought you were one of the people who made the rules,lol

[shadowprophet]

i think that kind of talk isnt allowed here even if you mean in it perfectly legal terms, So im just gonna be quiet now.

I thought you were one of the people who made the rules,lol

The rules where established long before this new generation of staff came along, we just enforce them, We didn't create them :cool:

[jwilds73]

I just wanted to post this here also I posted this in the suggestion thread but wanted to make sure it's seen as it may be the same issue.

Ok in Mario and Luigi Super Star Saga there is a horrible flickering in the intro when the evil people are walking down the carpet to greet the princess and steal her voice. Anyway's I remembered this post by StrmnNrmn about Daedalus and Paper Mario. I wonder if this game is doing the same thing hence the horrible flicker


Firstly, I managed to fix the horrible flickering that happened when running various roms (Paper Mario was a good example). It turned out that I was making an assumption that roms executed exactly one display list per frame. I assumed that each display list would clear the screen, render everything, and then wait for the screen to flip. As it turns out, some roms execute multiple display lists per frame. In the case of Paper Mario it executes 2 display lists per frame (one which clears the screen, then another which renders everything). By making sure that I only flip after the second display list executes, I avoid the flickering (the actual solution is a little more involved but this is the general idea).

[Dementia7]

And once again we get taken down by the MAN. hahah

[Uruz 6]

So 32mb rom can't be read because of the limits of the psp..
A dynamic recompiler would be too much..
How about something that splits the rom in two parts? gba rom are kinda small so if it was possible to load half a time (like first 16mb at the start and the other half when it was needed) maybe..? I'm no expert so bear with my noob questions.

[zx-81]

that explains it. how about the virtual memory idea then, shadowprophet? if it was possible would'nt it be possible to use the full 32mb memory for emulation and load the entire rom in virtual memory? i know this would be slower but the roms aren't that big anyway?

It's of course possible to add virtual memory handler in PSPVBA, but performance won't be good :( ... Anyway i will try to do it in futur version ;).

[Gizmo356]

yay!:D crud i have a 2.6 :(

[ACID]

great work

[benn]

what game is shown as the graphic?
it looks like a turn-based strategy. i love those games on gba like advance wars.

[Kramer]

yay!:D crud i have a 2.6 :(

zx-81 will most likely implement it into the 2.x version for the people still on 2.1-26

[Dementia7]

what game is shown as the graphic?
it looks like a turn-based strategy. i love those games on gba like advance wars.

its Fire Emblem im sure.

[zx-81]

zx-81 will most likely implement it into the 2.x version for the people still on 2.1-26

Yes, as far as i can :).

[zx-81]

its Fire Emblem im sure.

Yes, that's it :).

[mr_nick666]

Thanks ZX - You always deliver! :D (we knew that when you said you may have reached an impass you'd find a way around it!) ;)

[shadowprophet]

I have a question, Ive heard from many coders, That the psp is (overclocked) at 333 mhz mode,
Ive often wondered, how can this be, the psp sports a 333 mhz processor. Which brings me back to my original question, Can the psp be clocked beyond 333 mhz? is such a thing even poassible ?

[zx-81]

I have a question, Ive heard from many coders, That the psp is (overclocked) at 333 mhz mode,
Ive often wondered, how can this be, the psp sports a 333 mhz processor. Which brings me back to my original question, Can the psp be clocked beyond 333 mhz? is such a thing even poassible ?

As many chip, they can work to a faster frequency but for power consumption / heat dissipation we use a low frequency. I'm sure we can overclock the PSP a bit more (let's say 10%), but on a given PSP it will work, and on another one it will result in bad computation results, strange behavior etc ...

Now i really don't know if we can do this using a special kernel function (because afaik 333Mhz is a hard coded limit in the standard clock change kernel function call).

I mean, can we change the max frequency value by software upper the 333Mhz limit ?? ... i don't know ...

[shadowprophet]

As many chip, they can work to a faster frequency but for power consumption / heat dissipation we use a low frequency. I'm sure we can overclock the PSP a bit more (let's say 10%), but on a given PSP it will work, and on another one it will result in bad computation results, strange behavior etc ...

Now i really don't know if we can do this using a special kernel function (because afaik 333Mhz is a hard coded limit in the standard clock change kernel function call).

I mean, can we change the max frequency value by software upper the 333Mhz limit ?? ... i don't know ...
So before it would be possible, some sort of exploit to get around the 333 mhz limit would have to be found:) Thanks for clearing that up for me :) I had always wondered why it hadnt been atempted as of yet :cool:

Perhaps now that custom firmware is a proven concept, someone will make a dedicated (sub) operating system just for us homebrew users, And maybe via that method, an exploit to bypass that limit could be found some day :)

[emuking]

daaaaaaaaaaaaaamn so many comments !!!
lol nice idea man ^ someone should do that it could make this emu and daedalus a whole hell of alot faster :D

[EmuFan]

Oh MAN, am i glad i downgraded now..Great job guys!

[Lagnus]

Hey ZX-81, I find that 4mb roms such as Breath of Fire 1 and 2 , run very fast on the emulator and the sound runs smooth( still distorted) as well. If you find a way to load the GBA roms in sections then I suggest 4 mb sections as a starting point.

[QueadlunnRau]

Zx U RULE!!!

[mcvader]

If writing a dynamic recompiler would be too time consuming (although zx has already put so much work into this emulator i doubt he'd leave any stone unturned) then wouldn't be possible to use the dynarec code from daedelus?, obviously using the whole dynarec wouldn't work being different systems and all, but i mean just the rom streaming code? i'd imagine it wouldn't be anywhere near as hard to port as it would be to code from scratch. I wouldn't think this would help speed at all (except for the extra free memory) but being able to load bigger roms would be nice. I hope i don't sound like too much of a noob with all this, for all I know all dynarec does is stream roms.

ZX, thanks for the reply with the whole virtual memory idea,it made my day that i suggested something that an expert coder like yourself plans on implementing (although i'm sure you thought of it first lol).:)

[jaws365]

ZX! You are brilliant! Don´t give it up!

[ArchAngel]

I really admire the work you have done so far with this emulator.

I really hope some kind of breakthrough comes in as far as speed. People dont understand that if the game isnt going full speed, the sound isn't going to either. So which do people think should be more important?

I just hope you dont give up this project, because it is the farthest yet, but it still has ways to go.

People may be able to deal with the lagginess of the emulator, but to be honest, I think everyone wants their very own actual GBA inside of their PSP.
The emulation world is behind ya bro.

[cooliscool]

StrmnNrmn has spent a lot of time working on a dynamic recompiler or (dynarec), That loads the roms differently, instead of loading the entire rom in daedalus It only steams over the parts of the file thats its currently using, However to create a dynamic recompiler takes a lot of time, And doesnt always mean in the long run, that it will benifit over all emulation performance. You see. The psp only has 32 megs of upper memory to work with.
Therefore having the emu loaded into that upper memory. plus a 32 meg rom is impossible without useing some sort of dynamic recompilation.

Err.. StrmnNrmn using a dynamic recompiler rather than interpreter or static recompiler has nothing to do with how large ROMs are loaded. Dynamic recompilation only means that a certain emulated chip will recompile code as it's recieved by taking advantage of features of the processor that is running the program. The regenerated code can then used by the application's native environment much more efficiently, hence a speed boost.

The real reason is that he actually wrote a pretty clever streaming method, one that I'd love to see in other emulators.

On topic: Great work ZX, I love that you're so active. :)

[s075933]

Yes, that's it :).


Great work on the emulator zx! what settings did you use for fire emblem shown in the picture?

[jOeBrO]

so zx, have you succeeded in making any progress on the emulator??

[pkmusicmaker]

Anyone know the average FPS of this emulator now?

[Dementia7]

Depends on your settings and game

[tedou]

zx t'est francais sa fait vraiment plaisir de voir qu'on est pas larguer au niveau émulation mondiale superbe tous mes encouragement

[s075933]

What are the settings for fire emblem?

Cheers:)

[zx-81]

zx t'est francais sa fait vraiment plaisir de voir qu'on est pas larguer au niveau émulation mondiale superbe tous mes encouragement

lol yes thanks :)

[disturbed19]

hey ZX-81, howz it going? i was just wondering if you made any progresson your VBA emulator. or do u have any new ideas for it?

i have a suggestion, i think it would be really cool if you and psmonkey got together to work on his N64 emulator. it would be very fun and a good challenge to work on. he is currently working by himself but if you are interested in helping him i can tell him. just image psmonkey and zx-81 working on a project for psp......it would make emulation history :p

think about it ZX

[zx-81]

hey ZX-81, howz it going? i was just wondering if you made any progresson your VBA emulator. or do u have any new ideas for it?

i made some progress, winning few more percents in speed (i'm still working on it). I've also modified pspvba to support the GBA bios file (needed by some games).



i have a suggestion, i think it would be really cool if you and psmonkey got together to work on his N64 emulator. it would be very fun and a good challenge to work on. he is currently working by himself but if you are interested in helping him i can tell him. just image psmonkey and zx-81 working on a project for psp......it would make emulation history :p

think about it ZX

lol, for the moment i focus only on pspvba ...

[Lagnus]

Cool.
GBA bios file support, and still you have an increase in speed. Well done. Im eager to test the GBA bios feature.

Has sound clarity increased since using the GBA file?

[zx-81]

Cool.
GBA bios file support, and still you have an increase in speed. Well done. Im eager to test the GBA bios feature.

Has sound clarity increased since using the GBA file?

unfortunatelly not ... with the bios file the emu is a bit slower, and the sound still crappy :( ..

[ACID]

ZX this is a little of topic but is there a way you can get the other computer emulators you made for the psp to load games just like you did with the atari 800. I mean emus like amstra an intellivision

[sroon]

The sound used to be good befor the media!!
what the helk happend?

[BPM9]

Amazing job!!

[Kramer]

hmm i have a feeling a new version is coming out soon

[zx-81]

hmm i have a feeling a new version is coming out soon

yes, may be this evenning (for me in Paris).:D

[Kramer]

cool i hope its out before i go to sleep

[Video_freak]

yes, may be this evenning (for me in Paris).:D
i'm in paris right now too :)
cant wait for the release :D