Neocd/ps2 0.0.3 released !

[evilo]

After a few weeks of work, here is the new version !

Changelog:

- Compatibily greatly increased (no more sprites/tiles missing).
thanks so much to Ian for the very very helpull tip !
- In game "freezing" fixed.
- Memory save "crash" fixed.
- Added 2nd controller support & analog controls
- Added possibility to disable z80 emulation.
- Optimized rendering code (better but still not fullspeed).
- Corrected HDD/MC support ("should" work now, untested).
- Checks local "cd" folder before asking to swap CD.
- Rewrote CD reading/swapping code using Hiryu CDVD library.
no more iso9660 limitations (like 31 files in root dir, ...)
and cd swap issue should be fixed.
- Removed loading of memcard.bin (useless empty file)
- Removed need for timer.irx (not used anymore)
- Automatically set region (EUR for pal ps2, USA for ntsc ps2)

I'm really starting to be proud of it, as it reached now a good level. Graphics are almost ok(still have a few minor pb), and most games are playable at a good speed. No, fullspeed is still not here for all games but it should be fixed in the next version with the integration of a new 68000 core (about 2x faster) thanks to Stef (author of GENS emulator), and with the rewrite of the gfx rendering routines, it will be then ready for the sound support :)

Last point, It's now time for me to have some holidays (real one, out of the country) so I won't be able to work on it before next month, so next release in October ;) In the mean time, enjoy this version as most of possible and please give it some feedback in the forum, I will try to check it when I can.

For people that was using the previous dev build, as I mentioned previously that version is not anymore maintained, but know that both previous version (official & dev) are now included in this one ;)

evilo.

[pava]

yeahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!i'm gonna test it!!!!
keep on the good work evilo and enjoy your holidays

Saludos

[monkey01]

So should I be able to just install the whole thing to my hd and run if off the of there as long as I have that file tree in place? Also, where is the "neocd.bin" file that goes in the bios folder? Thanks

[<G>]

So should I be able to just install the whole thing to my hd and run if off the of there as long as I have that file tree in place? Also, where is the "neocd.bin" file that goes in the bios folder? Thanks

thats the bios, you need to find that on your own.

[RigoHoward]

Well, to "conmemorate" the release of this new versión, i want to you see this:

Game Name
Converted by
Bugs

Neonopanemon
KaNyErO


Columns
KaNyErO


NeoDemo
KaNyErO


Poker Night
NEWDUMP


Neobeast
KaNyErO
Graphic glitches in Neocd SDL (missing layers)

Legend Of Success Joe
KaNyErO
Ok in nebula, some graphic glitches in Neocd SDL(intro)

Gururin
KaNyErO
Ok in nebula, graphic glitches in Neocd SDL

Puzzle de Pon
NEWDUMP
Z80 data is bigger that NGCD supports ? missing sounds

Quiz Daisousasen
KaNyErO
Z80 data is bigger that NGCD supports ? missing sounds

Andro Dunos
KaNyErO
Z80 data is bigger that NGCD supports ? missing sounds

Ok in nebula, some graphic glitches in Neocd SDL

Mahjong Kyo Retsuden
KaNyErO
PCM data is bigger that NGCD supports, missing sounds

Janshin Mahjong
KaNyErO
PCM data is bigger that NGCD supports, missing sounds

Panic Bomber
KaNyErO
Z80 data is bigger that NGCD supports ? missing sounds

PCM data is bigger that NGCD supports, missing sounds

Pop And Bounce
KaNyErO
Z80 data is bigger that NGCD supports ? missing sounds

PCM data is bigger that NGCD supports, missing sounds

Neo Mr Do
KaNyErO
Z80 data is bigger that NGCD supports ? missing sounds

PCM data is bigger that NGCD supports, missing sounds

King Of The Monsters
KIKEXX
Z80 data is bigger that NGCD supports ? missing sounds

PCM data is bigger that NGCD supports, missing sounds

Flip Shot
KaNyErO
Z80 data is bigger that NGCD supports ? missing sounds

PCM data is bigger that NGCD supports, missing sounds

Quiz Daisousasen 2
KaNyErO
Z80 data is bigger that NGCD supports ? missing sounds

PCM data is bigger that NGCD supports, missing sounds

Zupapa

(Nebula fix)
KaNyErO fixed by KIKEXX
Z80 data is bigger that NGCD supports ? missing sounds

PCM data is bigger that NGCD supports, missing sounds



Pochi and Nyaa
KIKEXX
Z80 data is bigger that NGCD supports ? missing sounds

PCM data is bigger that NGCD supports, missing sounds

Using Zupapa Z80 and PCM files

Ok in nebula and NeocdSDL DC graphic glitches in Neocd SDL Windows

Nightmare in the Dark
KIKEXX
Z80 data is bigger that NGCD supports ? missing sounds

PCM data is bigger that NGCD supports, missing sounds

SPR data is bigger that NGCD supports ? missing intro

Ghost Lop
KIKEXX
Z80 data is bigger that NGCD supports ? missing sounds

PCM data is bigger that NGCD supports, missing sounds

SPR data is bigger that NGCD supports ? missing intro and backgrounds.

Zupapa
KaNyErO
Z80 data is bigger that NGCD supports ? missing sounds

PCM data is bigger that NGCD supports, missing sounds Doesn?t work on NEBULA (Red logo)

Neo Diggerman
KaNyErO
Doesn?t Work (Only arcade mode, no playable due to insert coin limitation)

Neopong
KaNyErO
Z80 data is bigger that NGCD supports ? missing sounds

PCM data is bigger that NGCD supports, missing sounds

Doesn?t Work (Reboots)

Puzzle de Pon R
KaNyErO
Z80 data is bigger that NGCD supports ? missing sounds

Doesn?t Work

EightMan
KaNyErO
Z80 data is bigger that NGCD supports ? missing sounds

PCM data is bigger that NGCD supports, missing sounds

Doesn?t Work

Bakatono
KaNyErO
Z80 data is bigger that NGCD supports ? missing sounds

PCM data is bigger that NGCD supports, missing sounds

Doesn?t Work

Minasan
NEWDUMP
Z80 data is bigger that NGCD supports ? missing sounds

PCM data is bigger that NGCD supports, missing sounds

Doesn?t Work

V-Liner
KaNyErO
Doesn?t Work (SRAM ERROR)




* Neocd SDL 0.31 for Windows and Nebula 2.24 were used for testing.

* Fm music plays a little slow on Neocd.

* Maximum Z80 data for NGCD is 64Kb while most of the NG AES/MVS roms use

128Kb roms that makes the game miss a lot of voices and music. It seems NGCD is limited to 64kb but Nebula doesn?t have that limitation. All games Z80 data were trimmed to 64k to avoid problems. 128Kb roms are still in the isos.

* PCM memory is limited to 1 mb at once, so most of the games miss sounds due to the lack of samples (only the first mb is loaded). All the samples are included but only the first mb is loaded.

* SPR memory is limited to 4 mb at once, so some games miss graphics (only the first 4 mb are loaded). All the sprites are included. Anyway we try to avoid those conversions so only 2 or 3 games

miss graphics.


NGCD memory:
------------
PRG 2 Mb
FIX 128 Kb
SPR 4 Mb
PCM 1 Mb
Z80 64 Kb

[evilo]

ok... but what's the point with the last release.. I'm afraid I didn't understand !

[dask]

i test kof97 .is slow.my ps2 model:39001.

[dask]

i add 100m dummyfile in neocd/ps20.0.3.
play game is more slow.

[pava]

hi evilo...i'm having troubles to get work ver.0.03 with ps2link 1.23 and ps2exec...the problem is that the emu boots but when it loads from the folder "cd" it freezes when loading the ipl.txt
i have this problem with all games that i have tested...can be a bug?the other versions works fine for me :(

Saludos

[evilo]

hmm.. strange.... as this is exactly what I'm using everyday..... do you have any error message displayed ? or just hang up without further notice ?

[EDIT] to be precise I think my version is 1.23b, but I don't think it could change anything...

[pava]

i have this

Initialize cdrom...
open name host0:C:\ps2\ps2exec\CD\IPL.TXT flag 1 data 41378
cmd: open C:\ps2\ps2exec\CD\IPL.TXT
open fd = 2
Game detected = Loading from host

cmd: close 4295448
Reset M68K...
Init PD4990 chip
Ps2 Clock : 6/9/4 23:26:56
START EMULATION
opening IPL.TXT...
open name host0:C:\ps2\ps2exec\CD\IPL.TXT flag 1 data 41378
cmd: open C:\ps2\ps2exec\CD\IPL.TXT
open fd = 2
[.... ]cmd: seek 4295448

then the emu freezes on the loading cd screen and nothing happens :(
PS:I have used the new ps2link 1.24 and get the same error

Saludos

[evilo]

well..

sorry, I have no clue for the moment, as I told you this is what I always use to run the emulator (I only run it from cd a few times to check that the swap code is working), else all testing/debugging is done by loading it from host...

can you retry with another client, like ps2client ?

try to use the last official version before 1.24, if you can : http://ps2dev.org/kb.x?T=1001 and make sure you also use ps2exec 1.1

you didn't packed it right ?

[Nachbrenner]

Good job,

all games that froze before or had graphical glitches do now run fine.
Therefore i updated my gallery (for practical reasons screenshots have been made with PCSX2).
Actually i played the game "Ninja Commando" yesterday from beginning to the end (on a real PS2 of course) :)

One little complaint: against the last release the screen appears shifted to the right and showing a changing black bar on the left.

[evilo]

thanks Nachbrenner !

I put the link to your screenshots (I guess I can ?) for whose interested : http://nachbrenner.pcsx2.net/neocd/

concerning the bar on the left, yes I know, it's problem I have with games using a specific display (working on this)

what about speed, on the different game you tried ?

[Nachbrenner]

what about speed, on the different game you tried ?

Just made a test with "Ninja Commando", there is sth odd:

1 minute game time takes 2:02 real time in NTSC mode
1 minute game time takes 1:14 real time in PAL mode

Besides the big difference i would have expected NTSC to be faster than PAL.

I will test more games asap.

[evilo]

hi evilo...i'm having troubles to get work ver.0.03 with ps2link 1.23 and ps2exec...the problem is that the emu boots but when it loads from the folder "cd" it freezes when loading the ipl.txt
i have this problem with all games that i have tested...can be a bug?the other versions works fine for me :(

Saludos

After a few investigation/discussion it appears that the bug is not in the emulator (meaning my code is not wrong) itself but in the ps2ip module used by ps2link (that doesn't like repetive small reads) so look if you can manage to have it running with another version, in the mean time I will try to write some workaround and publish it as soon as possible (but I won't have free time before a few days).

[loy]

theres a new version of ps2link maybe that will fix this

[Nachbrenner]

I forgot to mention that the game clock does not represent the speed of your gfx engine.
From my subjective impression games are actually running at 95%-100% speed.
The slow running game clock appears also in "Ninja Combat", so it's more likely an unprecise timer routine?

[Dave_v76]

is there sound emulation?
Bye

[wazzanapa]

So should I be able to just install the whole thing to my hd and run if off the of there as long as I have that file tree in place? Also, where is the "neocd.bin" file that goes in the bios folder? Thanks

hei guy what is romdisk folder????
on start up of "insert neo geo cd press X" freeeze :chinscrat

whats put on folder CD :rolleyes:

Thanks,
See Yaa.

[boule]

Hello there,
first of all thank you evilo for your great work on this emu.
now my problem (sorry) is that I can't get the emu to load from the memory card.
I tried a lot of ways but I always end up with the phrase:"load elf returned" on my tv screen.
and yes I put the neocd bios into the bios folder. :p
I use ftp to do all the transfers on the mc.
Has anyone succeeded in putting the emu on the mc? :banghead:

I also tried with hdd with no luck :banghead:

[evilo]

wazzanapa :
romdisk folder contains the patch.rpg and startup.bin files, that's all... name of the folder is due to historical reason (already defined as it on initial port). so it has nothing to do with games rom images, or sthg like that !!

CD folder is an optional way to boot games that allows you to put both the emu and a games on the same cd (just copy all games files *.txt, *.prg, etc.. into that folder). note that some loading issues have been reported using this method since the addition of the lib cdvd, so it might be buggy in this release !! (not cdvd fault but mine!!), I check the code and found sthg that could fix it, need to test. (more tests will be done for the release 0.04)

boule :
I never tried to load the emu from the mc, mine is full, and I still need to backup it to my pc before trying... but if you have a msg like "load elf returned" it's more like a loading problem rather than an issue with the emulator itself...

[pava]

hi evilo!!!
i just have solved my issue with this version :D
the problem is what if you have a dvd control remote in port 2 the emu freezes when loading the game like some other emus do...
keep the good work

Saludos

[evilo]

hi evilo!!!
i just have solved my issue with this version :D
the problem is what if you have a dvd control remote in port 2 the emu freezes when loading the game like some other emus do...
keep the good work

Saludos

Oh, thank you so much for this information, I'll try to fix it in the coming 0.4 version ....

I'm glad that finally you'll be able to test it :)

see you,
evilo.

[robinfartman]

Hi everyone, I have a question about "STARTUP.BIN"

I'm using InLink and PS2LINK to send NEOCD.ELF to my PS2. But when it loads, on InLink it loads everything until it loads the startup.bin and stops because there was an error. It's as follows:


Loading BIOS...
open name host:E:\NEOGEO\NEOCD_PS2\BIOS\NEOCD.BIN flag 1 data 41378
open fd = 2
[NET] : Sent NEOCD.BIN at 130KB/s
DONE!
patching BIOS... OK
DONE!
Loading startup ram...
open name host:E:\NEOGEO\NEOCD_PS2\ROMDISK\STARTUP.BIN flag 1 da[FILE] : Cannot Open E:\NEOGEO\NEOCD_PS2\ROMDISK\STARTUP.BIN #0
ta 41378
open fd = -1
Fatal Error: Could not load STARTUP.BIN


What does that mean??? Is the Bios bad or am I doing something wrong.

Can someone help :cry:

Thanks

[boule]

It doesn't work with inlink,try to use xlink,or ps2exec :)

http://ps2dev.org/kb.x?T=863

[robinfartman]

It doesn't work with inlink,try to use xlink,or ps2exec :)

http://ps2dev.org/kb.x?T=863Thanks Boule :dance: :dance: