PicoDrive for PSP v1.35b - Genesis/Sega CD Emulator for the PSP

[notaz]

Here is another bugfix release from me (with a few new features):




mp3 code should no longer fail on 1.5 firmware.
added gamma adjustment option.
added .cso ISO format support. Useful for non-FMV games.
it is now possile to force a region after the ROM is loaded.
fixed a sram bug in memhandlers (fixes Shining in the Darkness saves).
fixed another bug in memhanlers, which crashed the emu for some games (like NBA Jam and NHL 9x).
added suspend/resume handling for Sega CD games.
some other small tweaks I forgot about.



That's all for this update. The CSO feature should help to save space on the memstick (standard ISO to CSO converters should work), but it slows down FMV games. I've tested this version on original 1.5, and on 3.52M33, 3.71M33-3 custom firmwares, so it should hopefully work for everyone now.

Download and Give Feedback/Compat Reports Via Comments

Picodrive for PSP Compatability List - Add your findings (http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=79605)

[Sterist]

compress our sega CD games with a psp iso compresser?

[wolfpack]

Nice to see this thing keep being updated. Id like to see an update to where the program isnt so picky about the MP3's being 44khz, have it be able to read 22khz and others.

Plus now I can run this on my unhacked psp with eloader now. NICE.

[Johnny_Mcbride]

Thanks Notaz :)

Don't forget to check the other thread to see some interesting ideas like having preview pics in the rom browser that were brought up :)

Thanks so much for the update

[darknight88]

Thanx alot Notaz! Keep up the great work

[Napalm-Death]

I love you and your emulator. @__@

[bah]

MP3 cd-audio is working perfectly on firmware 1.5 now.

Thanks for the awesome emu, and the extra time you took to get it running 100% on 1.5 Notaz. Very much appreciated. :)

[shawn23]

I agree awesome emu, never thought it would be possible to play sega cd games on my psp

[LAMPRO]

what are the hottest sega cd games?

[Trekster]

You rock Notaz!!
Please keep up the good work.
Maybe you could help with other emulators lacking such as
Atari Lynx and Amiga, they could use your AWESOME TOUCH!

[V3N0M]

Thank you very much notaz!!! It's good to see how many other people appreciate your work and even better to see you acknowledge that by giving new updates and pushing your emulator a little further!

[M Dash]

Very nice... Will be trying it after work.. :D

[HymnsomniaK]

This is an excellent Emu. Sega CD runs great! Thank You Very Much Notaz , you Are the man.

[Baboon]

I know what I'll be testing out tonight after work now... thanks again in advance for this Notaz! :)

The cso support sounds very handy for saving space on my already tight 4gb card. :)

I know its a biggie (and not simply a bug fix release) but multiplayer via adhoc would be great on this emulator seeing as its already fullspeed! ;)

[mystiemyth]

Something must be wrong with my PSP, I'm still getting the mp3 error message when I load a game.


I asked this in the other topic, but I'll ask it again here.

Is there anyway to get a custom firmware onto a PSP slim that is already at level 3.71? Everywhere I look it says to get a custom firmware you must have already been on custom since a lower level.

Thanks

[Sonicboy 101]

Thanks for the release Notaz. :)

[fucht017]

Lampro "what are the hottest sega cd games?"

The famous Hideo Kojima game "Snatcher" is very good..if you like point and click adventures////Flashback,Heart of the Alien,Syndicate,Ah3 Thunderstrike,Dune...There my favorites..

Thanks a lot Notaz...Your talent is extra Ordinary.

[kharaboudjan]

yeah, thanx so very much notaz! You are already a legend on the psp scene =)

one bug i have discovered is when you switch between fast and accurate render during playing games the sound gets buggy sometimes.

[Paradoxxx]

great !!! sonic cd is wunderful !! i like this old game.

[tuta]

I still cant get music to work
sumone can help me with the mp3 files?

[JKKDARK]

Lampro "what are the hottest sega cd games?"

The famous Hideo Kojima game "Snatcher" is very good..if you like point and click adventures////Flashback,Heart of the Alien,Syndicate,Ah3 Thunderstrike,Dune...There my favorites..

Thanks a lot Notaz...Your talent is extra Ordinary.

don't forget Sonic CD and the Lunar games

[Ryupowerup]

vay is not working?
it loads
but cant get to the gameplay
i see the openings but then it stop and only a black screen is seen i can still use the home and select keys

[fucht017]

don't forget Sonic CD and the Lunar games.....Yes your right ;)..But those i mentioned are my personal favourites...:thumbup:

[wolfpack]

vay is not working?
it loads
but cant get to the gameplay
i see the openings but then it stop and only a black screen is seen i can still use the home and select keys

either your settings arent tweaked right or your iso is bad. vay plays perfectly on my psp.

[Ryupowerup]

either your settings arent tweaked right or your iso is bad. vay plays perfectly on my psp.

it was my setting
got it working

[Dante300981]

Absolutely Brilliant !!! Thanks Notaz

[drock82]

this is a great emulator,playiong games such as sonic 2,sonic 3,sonic and knuckles and finally gargoyles this a great emulator now please see if you can port a good nes emulator to psp;)

[Johnny_Mcbride]

this is a great emulator,playiong games such as sonic 2,sonic 3,sonic and knuckles and finally gargoyles this a great emulator now please see if you can port a good nes emulator to psp;)

Yeah the emu is fantastic.

And NesterJ v1.20 beta 3 isnt good enough for you?

[paladinja]

This really is an impressive emu, top shelf to be sure. I'd also like to add a particular thanks to Notaz for keeping in touch with the comments posted here on DCEMU. The fact that the scene is so live here we have almost direct contact with one of the premier psp coders really is a credit both to his continuing greatness as a coder and also to the DCEMU crew. Bigups to all.

Sidebar question: Has anyone gotten 'Dark wizard' to play? Notaz mentioned messing with the settings in the compatability thread, but I've not been seen success with it yet. Anyone else?

Thanks again Notaz for adding something truly special to the scene here!

[shawn23]

awesome emu never thought it possible on the (best handheld ever) psp!

[da1writer]

Hey Notaz, When it comes to zipping iso's, I actually don't recommend it because it causes very long load times (some almost lasting 10 seconds) with it trying to decompress data. Is there any way to make this not load so long? If not I guess that's alright because the cso format is pretty cool alternative option. I do want to report a bug I noticed and hopefully will be fixed with a patch:

Once you compress a ISO into a cso file, it saves you tons of considerable space which is a plus and no decompression seems to be used (no decompressin file/ loading screens). My bug I'd like to report doesn't happen when you load up a ISO for the first time (no save file, never played before) but this annoying bug pops up after you reset the game or re enter the game (exit emu and return to emu to play game again.) A doctor Robotnick pops on screen immediately saying my sram (or is it bram?) isn't innitiated? Funny thing is... he never pops up when...

1) Iso (not cso) is zipped in a zip file and played
2) Regular Iso is played
3) Once I reformat my Sram and reset game (cso format)

I would love to save alot of space on my memory stick but not run into this Robotnick Character before I even play the game. I do have to say that I only tried Sonic CD when I found this bug, I didn't try other cso files.

[V3N0M]

That's strange da1writer, I have my Sonic CD in CSO format but it seems to be fine. I don't run into any of the problems you've mentioned. You may want rip your Sonic CD disc again because it's very likely you may have a bad ISO image.

[infader]

can you please tell me where to get games and bios for pico?

[bad_lupus]

can you please tell me where to get games and bios for pico?

bioses (http://www.google.com/search?client=opera&rls=ru&q=download+sega+cd+bios&sourceid=opera&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8)
games (http://gametronik.com/site/emulation.php?cat=mega_cd)

[JKKDARK]

can you please tell me where to get games and bios for pico?

Download games/bios is illegal, please read the rules.

[Mr.Denny]

So he can't get games to play on it or even the bios to run it?.

Bit of a catch 22 situation.

So yeah, try google.

[da1writer]

That's strange da1writer, I have my Sonic CD in CSO format but it seems to be fine. I don't run into any of the problems you've mentioned. You may want rip your Sonic CD disc again because it's very likely you may have a bad ISO image.

Well I found out the problem, I guess my iso compressor I usually use got corrupted. So I grabbed that PSP Iso compressor 1.4 and I never ran in the problem I was having with Sonic CD.
Nevermind Notaz, great work! Now I can save tons of memory by converting my iso's to cso format.

Side Note: Could someone or Notaz tell me what CSO compressed games suffer slowdown/long loading when it comes to FMV? Sonic CD runs fine and it has those anime clips...

[fucht017]

"The Animals" doesn't work...I know it isn't the best game...But It would be great to get this game running..Anyone got this problem?..I tried a lot of settings,but no luck...Wel..back to Snatcher than!!

[da1writer]

Holy Crap, I found the bug in actual form and it actually hurts Sega CD games (at least Sonic CD)!
Has anyone been able to save any of their Sega Cd games (at least Sonic CD? If no, it's probably because of the SRAM not being innitiated, Robotknick will pop up to tell you this.
Here's how to get what I'm getting Notaz:
1) Once you are in Picodrive go into 'Change Options'
2) Once inside there go into '[Sega/Mega CD Options]'
3) Once you are inside that one menu, go down to SaveRam cart and turn it ON
4) Then exit all the settings and load up Sonic CD (doesn't matter what form)
5) Now watch what happens after Sonic appears with the Sega Logo... Meet Robotknick. Sonic Hates him and now, so do I...

[JKKDARK]

So he can't get games to play on it or even the bios to run it?.

Bit of a catch 22 situation.

So yeah, try google.

No, he should dump his own original games and bios from his own console.

[Ryupowerup]

Holy Crap, I found the bug in actual form and it actually hurts Sega CD games (at least Sonic CD)!
Has anyone been able to save any of their Sega Cd games (at least Sonic CD? If no, it's probably because of the SRAM not being innitiated, Robotknick will pop up to tell you this.
Here's how to get what I'm getting Notaz:
1) Once you are in Picodrive go into 'Change Options'
2) Once inside there go into '[Sega/Mega CD Options]'
3) Once you are inside that one menu, go down to SaveRam cart and turn it ON
4) Then exit all the settings and load up Sonic CD (doesn't matter what form)
5) Now watch what happens after Sonic appears with the Sega Logo... Meet Robotknick. Sonic Hates him and now, so do I...

you need to format the RAM Cartridge (Sega/Mega cd MEM CARD)
all you need to do it
press B(X) on the Sega/Mega cd logo screen(where the Press Start comes up)
to Bring up the CD player
Option
Press any key
Format RAM

then it should work

[da1writer]

you need to format the RAM Cartridge (Sega/Mega cd MEM CARD)
all you need to do it
press B(X) on the Sega/Mega cd logo screen(where the Press Start comes up)
to Bring up the CD player
Option
Press any key
Format RAM

then it should work

Yeah I did that already, I haven't played Sonic CD for so long... maybe you have to finish a Stage and not just a level for the game to save (could someone confirm)?
If this is the case, maybe I'll play a bit more before I make any more random shouts in this thread. All in all, I don't want to format my sram everytime I enter Sonic CD or any other game...
Is there someway to fix this Notaz or do I need to save the game somehow to stop Robotknick from appearing...

[Kyros]

Hi all, just wanted to thanx Notaz 1st for a great emu and to ask for some help. Can anyone give me a step by step on how to get Sega CD games to work on Pico and what ISO compressor is best to use, I'm using PSP ISO converter right now and I'm able to convert and compress ISO to CSO but I don't know what to do with the MP3 files. I read on the read me that you have to change the sound to 44 but how do I do that? then after that do I compress those files also or do they just go with the CSO and also what should the MP3's be named along with the CSO...thanx for your time.

[bah]

Kyros: Play them in winamp or something and check, they quite likely are 44.1khz but at a higher bitrate than the 96-128 kbps recommended by notaz.

An earlier post of mine about how I transcoded sonicCD mp3s to a lower bitrare. (http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=546570#post546570) Free app, worked for me and Vega.

If the mp3s are already 44.1khz but their bitrate is too high (and maybe VBR/ABR instead of CBR), don't set the 'resample' setting, just lower the bitrate.

The readme explains how to name everything: "
SonicCD.iso
SonicCD_02.mp3
SonicCD_03.mp3
..."
Name the mp3s the same as the ISO, but with an _ then a number (starting at 2 for the first mp3) just as that example above shows and that's it. I havnt used the CSO compression myself, but once you've compressed the iso then the naming/placement of it and the mp3s is the same. The mp3s are always separate files that you copy to the same folder on your PSP as the ISO/CSO, they do not get packed into it.

Make sure you have windows set to show file extensions of course (my computer, 'tools' dropdown menu up top, folder options, 'view' tab on the window that opens, scroll down to 'hide file extensions for known file types' and make sure the box is not checked).
That being checked has to be the worst default setting in windows.


EDIT: Attached something I thought was pretty funny/kinda cool; its FMV, megadrive style :)
Load it up just like a game, Enjoy!

EDIT2: MODS! Please add Picodrive to the genesis section and update the sega-cd link to the latest release on the menu bar down the left hand side of the front page.
Whats with the Genesis and Sega-CD headings anyway? This is a UK site, it should be MegaDrive and Mega-CD with the US names in brackets. :)

[notaz]

1) Once you are in Picodrive go into 'Change Options'
2) Once inside there go into '[Sega/Mega CD Options]'
3) Once you are inside that one menu, go down to SaveRam cart and turn it ON
4) Then exit all the settings and load up Sonic CD (doesn't matter what form)
5) Now watch what happens after Sonic appears with the Sega Logo... Meet Robotknick. Sonic Hates him and now, so do I...
If you are having problems with RAM Cart simply don't enable it, all games can work successfully without it, using save RAM inside Sega/Mega CD itself, which is always emulated. The option is only there for a few games which had more features when that cart was inserted (I don't remenber which ones though, definitely not Sonic CD).

[Bear_XI]

Can someone post there settings for Lunar The silver star.cso
cause all I get is a black screen.

[da1writer]

If you are having problems with RAM Cart simply don't enable it, all games can work successfully without it, using save RAM inside Sega/Mega CD itself, which is always emulated. The option is only there for a few games which had more features when that cart was inserted (I don't remenber which ones though, definitely not Sonic CD).

Cool, I'll probably just do that from now on. Sorry for all the wierd posts from me so far, it's just that I always used the ram save off Gens emu all the time (for PC) and thought it was needed for saving Sega CD games. Thanks for clearing that up for me and the quick reply Notaz :)!

[Kyros]

Thanx for the help bah, I did everything like you said but after the Lunar title it just hangs on a black screen, I can access the menu but that's it, I renamed all the files...Lunar The Silver Star (U)_01 then the mp3's are as follows Lunar The Silver Star_02 ect... did I do something wrong? If anyone else got it to work what did you do and what settings? Thanx for your time.

[Kyros]

Never mind I got it to work, I renamed Lunar The Silver Star (U)_01.cso to Lunar The Silver Star_01.cso like the mp3s and it worked...Thanx again bah for the help and hopefully this can help Bear_XI.

[Bear_XI]

The think is that my Compresser added _ instead of space so my .cso whas Lunar_The_Silver_Star.cso and .mp3's Lunar The Silver Star 02.mp3 thanks.

[mystiemyth]

I still can't get Lunar 1 to play music, I get some sound fx. Lunar 2 works fine now ( I got past the spot it was hung at and have had no problems since.)

Lunar is named

Lunar the Silver Star 01.iso

and the mp3's are called

Lunar the Silver Star 02.MP3
Lunar the Silver Star 03.MP3 etc.

any advice?

[fucht017]

"Lunar the Silver Star 01.iso"...Change your iso in to this "Lunar the Silver Star.iso"..I hope it will work for you.:thumbup:.."Lunar the Silver Star 02.MP3","Lunar the Silver Star 03.MP3" etc..

[mystiemyth]

I changed it to Lunar the Silver Star.iso

Still no music.

[SteveV2]

Thanks for another update. Loving it :)

[bah]

mystiemyth: Have you made sure the mp3s are standard mp3's (not MP3Pro), are 44.1khz stereo and have a (CBR) bitrate of somewhere between 96 and 128kbps?

Does the emu go back out to the menu when the iso finishes loading (can choose resume game to play), or go straight into the game but with no CD-audio?

EDIT: A cpl other things I thought of; You have windows set to show file extensions right? I haven't tried it myself but if windows was hiding file extensions and you renamed the files to .mp3 manually, then they would actually be named GameName_02.mp3.mp3 and perhaps that doesn't work with the emu because the last characters before the extension are not track numbers.
Also, your not on firmware 1.5 and using a previous version of picodrive still are you? CD-audio only works under firmware 1.5 with picodrive 1.35b.
This one is probably just stupid, but perhaps it doesn't like upper case file extensions (.MP3 rather than .mp3). I really doubt that would be it.

[mystiemyth]

mystiemyth: Have you made sure the mp3s are standard mp3's (not MP3Pro), are 44.1khz stereo and have a (CBR) bitrate of somewhere between 96 and 128kbps?

Does the emu go back out to the menu when the iso finishes loading (can choose resume game to play), or go straight into the game but with no CD-audio?

EDIT: A cpl other things I thought of; You have windows set to show file extensions right? I haven't tried it myself but if windows was hiding file extensions and you renamed the files to .mp3 manually, then they would actually be named GameName_02.mp3.mp3 and perhaps that doesn't work with the emu because the last characters before the extension are not track numbers.
Also, your not on firmware 1.5 and using a previous version of picodrive still are you? CD-audio only works under firmware 1.5 with picodrive 1.35b.
This one is probably just stupid, but perhaps it doesn't like upper case file extensions (.MP3 rather than .mp3). I really doubt that would be it.

I've used Mediacoder to adjust the Mp3's to the recommended type (and still nothing).

The emu will not go straight to the game (I get an mp3 error, but I also get that when loading Lunar 2 but it plays fine).

I do not have windows set to hide extensions.

I am using Firmware 1.5 and the lastest version of Picodrive. (1.35b)

And the mp3's are lower case.

[Kyros]

If your .mp3's are to the recommended type (44.1khz stereo and a CBR bitrate between 96-128kbps) then the only thing I can think of is to change your file name from Lunar the Silver Star.iso (I suggest converting to .cso to save memory) to Lunar the Silver Star_01.iso, Lunar the Silver Star_02.mp3, Lunar the Silver Star_03.mp3 ect... Hope that helped.

[Untamed.]

I still can't get Lunar 1 to play music, I get some sound fx. Lunar 2 works fine now ( I got past the spot it was hung at and have had no problems since.)

Lunar is named

Lunar the Silver Star 01.iso

and the mp3's are called

Lunar the Silver Star 02.MP3
Lunar the Silver Star 03.MP3 etc.

any advice?

Change to:

Lunar the Silver Star_02.MP3
Lunar the Silver Star_03.MP3

Add the underscore (_)

[mystiemyth]

Change to:

Lunar the Silver Star_02.MP3
Lunar the Silver Star_03.MP3

Add the underscore (_)

Tried that.

Still nothing.

I think I'm just screwed.

Unless there is a way to get a Custom firmware on a PSP that is already at level 3.71. Is that possible? I've asked several times and no one will give me an answer either way.

Thanks

[pspbeer2]

Thanks Notaz,

This Sega CD emulator is the best emulator for the psp since devhook , custom firmware and downgrader / upgrader / downgrader / upgrader / etc . The only thing missing from the psp is fmv games - like Night Trap, Corspe Killer, Supreme Fighter, etc. , this emulator has fixed that.

Great Job!!! Thanks!

Now time to test the Sega CD emulator...

[pspbeer2]

I tested Night Trap Sega CD, took only a few minutes to install the emulator and game, seems to work @ 100%!! Excellent.

Original request : http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=23039&page=3

[nothingtoday]

I'm not sure if I stumbled upon a major bug, a 3.71 firmware problem, or just bad luck but Picodrive committed suicide on me last night. The emulator completely deleted itself and all of the files and folders in its own directory except the bin file, which was everything including the save files!!!

It has actually happened twice. The first time wasn't so bad because I was just testing games, so I didn't really notice it but this time I lost over a week of saves because it has been the only thing I have been playing.

It may be related to Lunar 1 I think it happened both times after I loaded the iso and then loaded a save state at the sega logo. After that saves failed. When I checked the memory stick, everything in the picodrive folder was gone!

I tried to force it to happen again but it didn't work. Now I've downgraded to 3.52 in hopes that it won't happen again because this emulator just rocks

Fornatting my card seems to have fixed the slowdown issue I was having, and I haven't had any other problems since then, so maybe it was just my card's fault. Keeping my fingers crossed...

[Bear_XI]

I got problem with Dungeon Explorer Freeze after Finishing a tower.

[pspbeer2]

Bought a 8 gig memory stick off ebay - can only get 3 - 4 gig off it. I uploaded a video mp4 file many times - but get same results. Received an error message at about the 7 min mark of the video - with an error incompatible file message. I can however jump from 6 min to 8min and then continue with the rest of the video to the end. I suspect part of the memory stick is crap, so I deleted some files , uploaded the movie again, no more error at the 7 min mark.

Warning do not buy fake memory sticks off ebay!!!

[pspbeer2]

Bought a Sony 8 gig today from retail store. All mp4 videos, music and hebrews now work up to max!! No more corrupt videos and games.

I tested on a psp slim 3.60 m33 with cw cheats pops enabled.

Comparing the authentic with the fake can see a difference on the outside. Real one has slight indentation.

Maybe Sony can make up profits from selling the big memory sticks :)

[NightRaven]

Not sure if any of you are as much a Mortal Kombat fan as I or this could already be known by a few of you but the hacked version of the genesis Mortal Kombat.... that is (search google for:)) Ultimate Mortal Kombat Trilogy which has every fighter from MK 1-2-3 even chameleon actually works with PicoDrive I even zipped it :thumbup:

Youll have more fighters than even the real MKT :rofl:

[Baboon]

Not sure if any of you are as much a Mortal Kombat fan as I or this could already be known by a few of you but the hacked version of the genesis Mortal Kombat.... that is (search google for:)) Ultimate Mortal Kombat Trilogy which has every fighter from MK 1-2-3 even chameleon actually works with PicoDrive I even zipped it :thumbup:

Youll have more fighters than even the real MKT :rofl:


Thanks for the tip.. just tried the modded version and it rocks! :thumbup:


22191

[NightRaven]

Thanks for the tip.. just tried the modded version and it rocks! :thumbup:


Your welcome :) I actually wasnt even expecting it to work since on the webpage it says needs special version of the emu that can run files over 10mb in size but PicoDrive handles it really well.

Btw Chameleon(all male ninjas) is the bluebox with red question mark and Woman Chameleon(woman ninjas- jade,kitana,mileena etc) is the Jade portrait at the upper right. It seems the MK dragon is some kind of random select? Seems like when I use it tho I immediately die when starting a match >_<.

Another interesting thing is you can actually make the CPU fight itself and just watch. :D

[jonkk]

i cant get snatcher to work for the life of me. i have been at it for a few hours and tried everything i know of. The mp3s are all 128, named the same as the .iso...it works all the way up to the first car ride but then hangs forever. any gotten this to work? thanks in advance!

[nothingtoday]

Works fine for me. You probably have a bad copy. I just got past the point when Gibson gets his head ripped off.

[brianon]

Hi Guys,

I have a PSP Slim. Dark Alex 3.80 m33-4 fw.

Am having trouble getting PicoDrive 1.35b going.

First off...does this work with the slim ?

If it does...here is what I have...

H:\PSP\GAME\PicoDrive%
H:\PSP\GAME\PicoDrive
In here I have my roms/ISOs & the ciorrect BIOS files.

On PSP PicoDrive shows up but when I run it it gives an error saying "could not be started".

Any ideas ? Any help much appreciated.

Cheers,
Brian.

[Tinnus]

You need the normal version (with just one folder), not the kxploited one (with two, one normal and one with %).

[brianon]

You need the normal version (with just one folder), not the kxploited one (with two, one normal and one with %).

Thanks for the reply. I actually downloaded what I thouhgt was the non-kxploit version from pspupdates.

Turns out both versions there have the PicoDrive% folder also.

Just downloaded there from DCEmu and it doesn't have the PicoDrive% folder so I will try that one tonight.

Much aprpeciated. Thanks.

[brianon]

You need the normal version (with just one folder), not the kxploited one (with two, one normal and one with %).

Just a quick note of thanks to Tinnus for your help.

PicoDrive working great now :)

Can't get the two Sega CD games I have working though. NHL 94 and Sensible Soccer.

Both are ISO/MP3/CUE. Both load the little sonic logo and then the screen goes black and stays that way.

Any ideas anyone ? MP3s are referenced correctly in the cue file. The mp3 names are quite long though. Could that be a problem ?

[bah]

You don't need a .cue file, just the .iso and the mp3s named correctly.

They must be named as the readme tells you:
"
The game must be dumped to ISO format, but BIN can be used too. If you want
CD music, you must use ISO+mp3 files. Audio from BIN files won't be read at
all. Also BIN files are usually larger, so it's better to use ISO. ISO+mp3
files can be named similarly as for other emus.
Here are some examples:

SonicCD.iso data track
SonicCD_02.mp3 audio track 1 (CD track 2)
SonicCD_03.mp3
...

Sonic the Hedgehog CD (US) - Track 01.iso
Sonic the Hedgehog CD (US) - Track 02.mp3
Sonic the Hedgehog CD (US) - Track 03.mp3
...

It is very important to have the MP3s encoded at 44kHz sample rate and they
must be stereo, or else they will play too fast/slow or won't play at all.
Be sure NOT to use anything but classic mp3 format (don't use things like
mp3pro)."

But having them named incorrectly should only make the cd-audio not work, the game should still run.

Also from the readme:
"
Sega/Mega CD: If the game hangs after Sega logo, you may need to enable
"better sync" and/or "Scale/Rot. fx" options, found in "Sega/Mega CD options"
submenu, and then reset the game. Some other games may also require
"CDDA audio" and "PCM audio" to be enabled to work (enabled by default).
Incorrectly named/missing mp3s may also be the cause."

I've only played sonic CD and night trap (and a whole lot of MegaDrive games), both worked great.

[brianon]

You don't need a .cue file, just the .iso and the mp3s named correctly.

They must be named as the readme tells you:
"
The game must be dumped to ISO format, but BIN can be used too. If you want
CD music, you must use ISO+mp3 files. Audio from BIN files won't be read at
all. Also BIN files are usually larger, so it's better to use ISO. ISO+mp3
files can be named similarly as for other emus.
Here are some examples:

SonicCD.iso data track
SonicCD_02.mp3 audio track 1 (CD track 2)
SonicCD_03.mp3
...

Sonic the Hedgehog CD (US) - Track 01.iso
Sonic the Hedgehog CD (US) - Track 02.mp3
Sonic the Hedgehog CD (US) - Track 03.mp3
...

It is very important to have the MP3s encoded at 44kHz sample rate and they
must be stereo, or else they will play too fast/slow or won't play at all.
Be sure NOT to use anything but classic mp3 format (don't use things like
mp3pro)."

But having them named incorrectly should only make the cd-audio not work, the game should still run.

Also from the readme:
"
Sega/Mega CD: If the game hangs after Sega logo, you may need to enable
"better sync" and/or "Scale/Rot. fx" options, found in "Sega/Mega CD options"
submenu, and then reset the game. Some other games may also require
"CDDA audio" and "PCM audio" to be enabled to work (enabled by default).
Incorrectly named/missing mp3s may also be the cause."

I've only played sonic CD and night trap (and a whole lot of MegaDrive games), both worked great.

Thats great. So .. rtfm ! :o

My bad. Will try that tonight :thumbup:

[brianon]

You don't need a .cue file, just the .iso and the mp3s named correctly.

They must be named as the readme tells you:
"
The game must be dumped to ISO format, but BIN can be used too. If you want
CD music, you must use ISO+mp3 files. Audio from BIN files won't be read at
all. Also BIN files are usually larger, so it's better to use ISO. ISO+mp3
files can be named similarly as for other emus.
Here are some examples:

SonicCD.iso data track
SonicCD_02.mp3 audio track 1 (CD track 2)
SonicCD_03.mp3
...

Sonic the Hedgehog CD (US) - Track 01.iso
Sonic the Hedgehog CD (US) - Track 02.mp3
Sonic the Hedgehog CD (US) - Track 03.mp3
...

It is very important to have the MP3s encoded at 44kHz sample rate and they
must be stereo, or else they will play too fast/slow or won't play at all.
Be sure NOT to use anything but classic mp3 format (don't use things like
mp3pro)."

But having them named incorrectly should only make the cd-audio not work, the game should still run.

Also from the readme:
"
Sega/Mega CD: If the game hangs after Sega logo, you may need to enable
"better sync" and/or "Scale/Rot. fx" options, found in "Sega/Mega CD options"
submenu, and then reset the game. Some other games may also require
"CDDA audio" and "PCM audio" to be enabled to work (enabled by default).
Incorrectly named/missing mp3s may also be the cause."

I've only played sonic CD and night trap (and a whole lot of MegaDrive games), both worked great.

Much thanks again. NHL 94 now boots with "better sync". Unplayable though as too slow. Ah well.

[bah]

Readme is about an apt name as I can possibly think of, I don't understand why people see them but don't think to check there first when they have an issue.

I mean I don't mind copying/pasting that from the file, but it would have been a lot quicker for you to have checked there to find an answer to the issue first.

[Ziim]

First off... Thanks for this amazing emulator!

I wanted to report a possible Bug and Sega CD load time variance.

PSP Info: Phat original 1.50 running custom firmware 3.90m33 1.5 kernal v2. Default Game folder set to 3.xx
The Bug: When using the eboot in the Game folder, the HOME button does not work. If I move the eboot to Game150, the HOME button is working.
Its nothing Emulator breaking because you can still exit via the menu, but strange. While testing this, I found something else. It seems Sega CD games load faster from the 3.xx Game folder versus the Game150. On Sonic CD the difference is 15 seconds. Again, nothing ground breaking but wanted to report it.

It could be the Firmware, but Masterboy and PSPDoom 5.0 do not have this issue when moved back and forth.

Oh and Thanks for the windows port running Virtua Racing!

[RJanimation]

it doesn't work for me! :( it keeps saying

The game could not be started (80020148)

can someone tell me whats wrong?!

[marzsyndrome]

@RJanimation: which GAME folder have you put PicoDrive in, by any chance?


Also, @notaz: although this emulator is otherwise virtually perfect with every game I like to run on it, there are a few niggling things I should point out....


1) Puggsy (the original Mega Drive version) is not playable past the first boss on your emulator due to a rather obscure copy-protection mechanism that triggers depending on whether it detects SRAM upon startup (if it does, then attempting to start the first new level after Boss 1 will take you to a message suggesting you've played enough levels and that you should go play the real version instead of "this silly copy", before taking you back to the SEGA logo). I tried setting "Use SRAM/BRAM savestates" to Off (and even saved it into a config file to use afresh) but this did not foil the protection. Some emulators include a proper "Disable SRAM" option that allows one to play the rest of the game.


2) You should probably improve the "Reset" function some more, like include Hard and Soft options perhaps. This would come in handy - for instance - for beating that level in X-Men which required you to actually press the Reset button on your MD/Genesis at the very end (AFAIK, this is the only game that performs such a unique trick).


Apart from that, thanks for kicking DGEN's ass and giving me a Mega Drive emulator to feel happy happy happy about playing!

[marzsyndrome]

Just noticed that Notaz has released a new PicoDrive for the GP2Xers - v1.40a - which adds support for Virtua Racing amongst other changes. :)

No idea if he'll release a PSP version though.

[jurkevicz]

I hope he releases it soon for the psp!

[wraggster]

yes im hoping too :)

[CaptainMorgan4]

Anyone know how to get Adhoc to work on DGEN, I know it's off topic but no one is helping me in the DGEN thread so....

[marzsyndrome]

I'm not too sure myself, man. Wish I could help!



Meanwhile, I'm kinda hoping Notaz manages to sneak in some last minute changes for the PSP port, like fixing the two problems I mentioned above.... ;)

[krometek]

whats up people,

I have picodrive 1.35a
my psp is 3.80m33-4
my picodrive does'nt come with a percent folder
just one folder.

ok when i select the emulator it works, I get to the rom browser window but when I select a game
I get a black screen.

Im not sure how the roms are supposed to be set up first of all.

Im not sure if my BIOS are correct.

I need someone to help me get this thing up and running, if anybody would help me I thank you in advance.

[Pryncepence2008]

dude or dudett u r awsome

[JayzenFreeze]

why does it freeze when i exit properly or by going to home as well? to answer me www.psp-hacks.com this picodrive thing thank you

[maverickhog]

hey notaz i need help gettin this to work on my psp cuz it doesnt want to start up at all

[phillipjr]

Thanks I will have to try out this emulator with my Gen-D3!

[phillipjr]

Hello, I am a newbie.I just hacked my psp and it has Gen D3 cfw and I don't have the 1.5kernal so was told I need to use the 1.35b download. I want to play some old school sega cd games.Could someone please pm me the bios for the sega megadrive emulator 1.35b

[JLF65]

You should really get 1.51b from notaz's website.

http://notaz.gp2x.de/pico.php#PSP