ePSXe annoyance

[Roto13]

Ok, I've tried about six PSX emulators and they all have their own stupid little reasons why they won't run. Since this is supposed to be the best one, I want to try to figure out why it's terrible. When I try to boot a game from a CD, it tells me to configure the video. When I try to, the drop down list is empty. What the hell am I supposed to do with this? -_-;

[Meat Puppet]

Did the emulator come with a plugin zip? If so, you need to extract that into the /plugins directory.

Here you can find a table that describes which video plugin may suit you best:

http://www.epsxe.com/help.php?step=step01

And here is where you should be able to download some video plugins:

http://www.emuxhaven.net/pluginpsx.shtml

(I only tested one download so I cannot guarantee they are all in working order)

Just in case, I found you one more site with plugins:

http://www.emulator-zone.com/doc.php/psx/psxplugins-tools.html

[Roto13]

It didn't come with any plugins, but one of those did work. Thanks. Now, on to a new problem! Yay! Now it wants me to configure the bios, or whatever. I don't even know what that is. :P

[Meat Puppet]

You should be able to get a bios (scph1001.bin, scph7502.bin) from here:

h

I imagine putting it in the /bios folder should do the trick.

[Roto13]

You're a godsend, MP.

Next up, why does it rape my resolution and then crash?

[Meat Puppet]

Unfortunately I can't help you anymore than this; I've never had that problem before. :-\ I can only take a guess and suggest a different video plugin. I'm certainly no o_O.

[Sylvie]

Keep trying different video plugins and such. It might help.

[Roto13]

Yeah, I downloaded an assload of video plugins and I'm going to try them systematically. I think I need a new audio plugin too, though. The test button doesn't do anything for it...

[o_O]

The error messages you're getting there are to do with OpenGL.
That's a graphics API (OpenGL and DirectX are the two main graphics APIs), so there's an incompatibility with the way your computer is trying to render the emulation.

Probably the best chance of fixing this would be to try a DirectX plugin (Pete's Direct3D plugin is the best), or Lewpy's Glide plugin if you have an older graphics card. If you do, indeed, have an older card, you may want to try Pete's OpenGL1; OpenGL2 was made for newer ones.

The other thing you'll want to try is in the video plugin configurator in ePSXe, set it to "compatibility mode", to lower the settings down. This will ensure that the emulator isn't trying to display something beyond its capabilities.

As for the "resolution raping", that's normal - when you start a game, it can't be displayed at your monitor's native resolution, so it has to switch down sharply. It's supposed to return to normal after the game closes, but sometimes it will stay that way if there is an exception or error somewhere.

[Roto13]

The other thing you'll want to try is in the video plugin configurator in ePSXe, set it to "compatibility mode", to lower the settings down. This will ensure that the emulator isn't trying to display something beyond its capabilities.

The one I'm trying at the moment doesn't seem to have such a setting, but I'll keep that in mind for whatever else I try.

Right now, I'm using E}|{'s Soft Driver K6/P1MMX 0.98. It works pretty well for a while, but it eventually starts to lag like a bitch. That's the problem I've had with any of them that worked. On top of speed and aspect ratio problems, they always started to lag like crazy after a few minutes. This one lagged every now and then, but always recovered until one point where it just started lagging every half second.

*frustration*

EDIT: Oh, and I'm using Street Fighter Alpha 3 to test them all. 2-D game. I don't know what's going to happen if I try Final Fantasy VIII.

[Endless]

Out of curiosity, what video card do you have? Because I never had such problems on my geforce fx5200, or now on my geforce 6600.

[o_O]

If you haven't tried Pete's OGL1 and/or Pete's Direct3D plugins, I would definitely recommend trying those. I've done a bit of Googling and it seems that the majority of people getting those errors have been using Pete's OGL2, and switching to Pete's D3D has fixed it. Note that you'll want to make sure DirectX9.0c is installed though.

And for the compatibility mode thing, you'll want to look for anything that lowers graphics quality. There may be an option for "Best playability" or "Low quality" or something like that. If there isn't:

Turn off all effects like antialiasing and anisotropic filtering
Take off framerate limiting
Check to see if there is a specific game fix for Street Fighter II
Make sure you have your latest graphics card/chip drivers

[Roto13]

I actually don't know. -_-;

I'm not good at... stuff.

EDIT: Ok, I'll make a note of those and give them a try.

[o_O]

Just for reference, everything in that list I made should be found in the graphics plugin configuration in ePSXe, except for the graphics card drivers.

You can get Pete's D3D plugin <a href="http://www.ngemu.com/download.php?action=plugin&id=1">here</a> (which I recommend that you do).

Go <a href="http://www.ngemu.com/plugins.php?cat=1&os=win32&type=gpu">here</a> for a large selection of GPU and sound plugins.

Go <a href="http://www.pbernert.com/html/old_gpu.htm">here</a> if you want to try older versions of Pete's GPU plugins.

EDIT: To find out what graphics card or chip you have, click start > run, and type "dxdiag" into the run dialog. Then go to the display tab, and whatever you have next to "Chip type" is what you want to find out.

[Roto13]

Ok, in that case, it's a "Mobile Intel(R) 915GM/GMS,910GML Express"

[o_O]

That's an integrated graphics chipset, meaning you don't have a graphics card, but a graphics chip on your motherboard.
It also probably means that the VRAM is shared with your PC's RAM, and probably doesn't go higher than 64MB.

So that basically means, while you should be able to emulate PSX at full speed, you likely won't be able to attain a decent framerate with all the bells an whistles of the GPU plugin turned on.
You'll want to bear that in mind, as it it often the cause of low framerates etc.

What version of DirectX are you using? You can find it on the start screen of dxdiag. Note this is only relevant if you're now using a DirectX plugin.

[Roto13]

Actually, I have been able to get it to run at normal speed, but it eventually just starts screwing up.

As for what version of DirectX... uhm...

[o_O]

You're using DirectX 9.0c; using Pete's Direct3D plugin should work fine. Have you tried it yet?

[Roto13]

Just now. It didn't work as well as E}|{'s Soft Driver K6/P1MMX 0.98. It was all choppy and weird-looking. I've learned that the one I'm using now is ok for some games (I'm trying a few) but it still doesn't work with the 2-D fighting games I've tried. I'm wondering if it's going to mess up half way through Final Fantasy VIII.

[o_O]

I believe FFVIII needs to be patched in order to run on an emulator.

Next thing for you to try is updating the drivers for your video chip.

[Roto13]

Sorry for the late reply.

I don't know about any patch, but FF VIII seems to be working ok for me so far. I think I'll wait until I have trouble with it before I try anything else. It's kind of... irritating.

[o_O]

I have a feeling only the PAL release of FFVIII needs to be patched.
FFIX is a different story though.

Oh well, good luck with FFVIII. :p