PSX on PSP Multiple Disk Howto
I buy stuff from Play Asia. So should you.
From TheGamersPress
Before you get started, make sure you've followed the instructions on how the How to install the Dark Alex OEB-B - you'll need that before running any Playstation games on your PSP.
Secondly, there's a file that you need. Naturally, you are only going to have this file when you purchased a game off of your Playstation 3, the file called KEYS.BIN. If you seek some other method - such as looking for it on the Internet, I can not help you - and anyone who edits this wiki to include a link to that file will be banned immediately.
So, assuming you have your own KEYS.BIN file from a purchased Playstation One game for the PSP through your Playstation 3, let's get to making your own custom Playstation on PSP file.
The first top half of this page shows you an old outdated way of creating PSP game files for multi-disc games. The bottom half of this page shows you a new better way.
Contents |
Create a Playstation One ISO
The first thing you'll need to do is create a Playstation ISO file. There are several popular programs that people like to use to create their own ISO images. For this demonstration, I'll be using the program Alcohol 120% that I purchased. Other software includes Nero, Toast Titanium (my personal favorite when I'm using my OS X machine, but I'm stuck using this piece of crap Windows thing, so - whatever).
The procedure is very simple. Load your Playstation One game that you purchased into your CD-ROM drive. I usually leave the "Skip reading errors" off.
Then, set up the directory to save your disk image. Set the type to ISO (under Toast, you can use the Toast image, then rename it to ISO later). If you want to make life easier on yourself, put no spaces in the file name, so (for out example) Vagrant Story may become Vagrant_Story.iso. Then, let 'er rip! The procedure may take a few minutes depending on your CD reader, so get for a walk.
OK - first step is done. Now it's time to make your file.
Create the Popstation PSP Image File
Update: While there are good GUI tools (such as Simple Popstation GUI ), which can also translate PAL to NTSC games, which seem to run better), I've revamped this guide to use the standard popstation.exe command line executable, so that if future updates come out, this guide will be more compatible.
First, you'll want to make your graphical image files. These will be used when you want to actually play your game, and give you pretty pictures to look at. There are three to worry about:
- PIC0.PNG 310x180 (text on transparent background)
- PIC1.PNG - 480x270 (the background)
- ICON0.PNG - 144x80 (the icon)
I've included these three files that you can download and play with on your own (just follow the links on the files above). You'll need to edit them using your favorite image editing program. I use Gimp - it's free, works great with Mac OS X and Linux and Windows.
So, as you can see from the example above, you can have 3 separate image files. Place them in the same directory as popstation, along with your ISO image, like this:
Now, go to a command prompt, go to your directory, and run popstation.exe:
Run it like so:
popstation "NAME OF GAME" GAMEID##### Compression_Level isoused.iso
For example:
popstation "DraculaX - Nocturne in the moonlight" SLPM86023 9 draculax.iso
This will make your eboot.pbp display the name "DraculaX - Nocture in the Moonlight" on both the game and the saved games. The save game directory will be SLPM86023. The compression level will be as high as possible (which will make your EBOOT.PBP smaller, but may take longer to load areas), and the ISO image used will be draculax.iso.
On the specifics:
- Product code: This will determine the name of the save game directory. It is a good idea to make it the same as the ID of your Playstation One game, which you can discover by looking at the CD itself. There will be a file marked SCUS or SLUS, with 5 numbers after that. For example, Vagrant Story has a file named SLUS_010.40, so the ID is SLUS01040:
Always try to follow the format of SCUS or SLUS with the 5 numbers afterwards, or else there may be problems.
- Title: The title of the game here. Spaces are OK here, as long as you have them between quotes.
- Iso Filename: The name of your ISO image. In this case, we are using VAGRANT_STORY.iso.
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Now it will create an EBOOT.PBP file. Wait a few minutes - depending on the size of your ISO file and the compression level you set, this might take some time. Once it's finished, make a directory for it - no spaces, something short and sweet, like, say, "Vagrant_Story", and put your EBOOT.PBP file in there. Some Notes: You may be wondering why you had to jump through all these hoops. The main issue is the Product Code. You see, each PSX on PSP game can share the same save game directory, which includes 2 "Playstation One" memory cards. If you don't mind your games all sharing those memory cards, then go ahead - more power to you. I highly recommend you change up your image files so you can tell one disk from the next, perhaps even include the words "Disk 1", "Disk 2" and so on for each image. But, if you're like me and want all the storage you can handle because you save your game every chance you get, having a unique Product Code will create a unique save game directory per PSX on PSP game file. Now when things get interesting. You've done this for the first disk. But if you look at the second disk, odds are you'll notice the ID is different. In the case of Parasite Eve, Disk 1 is SLUS00662, Disk 2 is SLUS00668!
Don't worry - the setup is the same for the second (and all following disks). Make your EBOOT.PBP file, and make sure that the Product Code is the same as Disk 1 when you type it in. The name can be different for each EBOOT.PBP file you create, you can create different icon files - but make sure the Product Code is always the same.
In this example, all of your save games will go into the directory on your PSP titled PSP/SAVEDATA/SLUS00662.
[edit]Putting the file on your PSP
Now, it's time to put your game on your PSP. Plug your PSP into your computer via the USB cable, and nagivate to the /PSP/GAME directory. Put your newly created directory with your new EBOOT.PBP file there along with a copy of your KEYS.BIN - again, in this case, it was Parasite Eve. Disconnect your PSP, go to your Game menu, select Memory Card, and there it is. Start your game, and (as long as it's compatible) it will run.
When you need to change disks, just shut down the Playstation One game by pressing the Home button and choosing "End Game", then launching the next disk. Since they use the same save game file, you can keep playing your game.
Not sure if you game will work? Check out the PSX on PSP Compatibility List.If you check your Save Game files, you should see your game with it's own unique icon and name, and when you plug your PSP into your computer, you can back up those files whenever you wish. Pretty spiffy, hm?
When you reach the end of each disk, all you have to do now is change disks. Since all of the disks are using the same save game file, you should be fine, as long as the game has you save your game before you swap disks (see issues below).
[edit]Using 3.71M33-4 (or above) popstation_md to create multi-disc PBP files
Dark Alex 3.71M33-4 releases and above contain popstation_md. This can only be used to create one big PBP file from 2 or more PS1 CD images. It can read ISOs and CloneCD IMG files.
The command-line syntax is very similar to the previous popstation 3.03. For example here is the 2 CD Metal Gear Solid command-line I would use:
popstation_md "Metal Gear" "Metal Gear CD1" "Metal Gear CD2" SLES01370 SLES01370 SLES11370 9 9 metal1.iso metal2.iso
- The first 3 double-quoted text is: "Main Title" "CD1 Title" "CD2 Title"
- The next 3 game IDs are: MAIN_GAME_ID CD1_GAME_ID CD2_GAME_ID
- The next 2 numbers define the compression level which ranges from 1 to 9, 9 being best compression.
- Lastly the last 2 filenames are the CD images
You can find out your main game ID & game ID from PSX2PSP or just mount the CD and the game code is stored as a file. For example for Metal Gear Solid I can see a file called SLES_013.70 in CD1 & a file called SLES_113.70 in CD2. Main game ID is always the same as CD1 game OD.
The main game ID defines where your saved games will be stored. So even though CD2 has a different game ID, it will use the main game ID for saved games. This means both CD1 & CD2 will share the same memory cards. This is good.
Quoted from 3.71M33-4 popstation_md readme.txt file
The codes of the rest of disc are get by adding 1 to the code of first disc.
This is completely false! I tried this with Metal Gear Solid and my PSP failed to load the PBP file. So I tried the proper CD game IDs (SLES01370 SLES11370, note it's 10000 apart instead of adding 1) and this works.
Sometimes your game freezes at certain points in the game. For example Chrono Cross, Resident Evil 3. Do a google search and you're bound to find forum postings of others with similar problems. They usually state that using a different game ID fixes the problems/freezes/crashes. For example my Chrono Cross has game IDs SLUS01041 & SLUS01080 and I get game freezes at certain points in the game. To fix this we are told to use game ID SCUS94640. They mean to use MAIN GAME ID SCUS94640. But for the CD game IDs you stick with your originals. So the new command-line is:
popstation_md "Chrono Cross" "CD1" "CD2" SCUS94640 SLUS01041 SLUS01080 9 9 chrono1.iso chrono2.iso
Note, main game ID is the fix (which probably is a totally different game ID from another game). The CD1 & CD2 game IDs are still the same.
[edit]To Do List
Figure out how to include the game manual with the game itself.
Manuals need to be in document.dat format and in the same folder as the game's eboot.pbp and the keys.bin. Over 100 manuals have already been created for the psp at PSXPSPManuals.com. If the game you want isn't there, there are tutorials for creating your own psp manual or you can request it.[edit]Troubleshooting
What if I get the error CA000005?
You forgot to put the KEYS.BIN file in the directory with your generated EBOOT.PBP.
The game wants me to change my disk before saving - what do I do?
This may be true for games like Chrono Cross and, if I remember correctly, Metal Gear Solid and Parasite Eve. In these cases - you're hosed, and there's nothing you can really do about it. Until someone invents a better Playstation One emulator for the PSP that includes the ability to change your disk, all you can do is hope the game you're playing has a "Save your game", then swap disks feature.
If you need to back up your PSX on PSP save game file, follow the instructions on PSX_on_PSP_-_Memory_Card_Handling
Or you can use popstation_md (multi-disc) from 3.71M33-4 and above releases.
What if my disk has multiple tracks?
Check out the manual PSX on PSP - Multi-Track Disk Handling.
