VMC issue

[cdgfx84]

I am trying to add some game saves from an PMC to a VMC I mount the VMC in ULE then after I copy the save it increases the VMC file size. So when I try to configure the VMC in OPL 8.0 I get an error code about it being the wrong size and then it formats the VMC.


I wasn't sure if this should go here or the OPL board.

[dlanor]

I am trying to add some game saves from an PMC to a VMC I mount the VMC in ULE then after I copy the save

OK, but here you use the singular form, though you used plural form at the start of the sentence. Please clarify if the error occured after copying one gamesave folder or several.

it increases the VMC file size.

That in itself is an error. The size should not change.
Only the usage of the allocated sectors should change.
But this was a common bug in the early (== buggy) VMC mounting implementations of uLE.

So when I try to configure the VMC in OPL 8.0

You,ve got the version digits reversed. The latest release is v0.8

I get an error code about it being the wrong size and then it formats the VMC.

That is an error which should be reported to the OPL subforum, as no software should ever format a storage device (even a virtual one) based only on its own decision, without first having it confirmed by the user. A prompted query dialog box should be added to the OPL GUI for this purpose.

I wasn't sure if this should go here or the OPL board.

The first problem fits better here, since the VMC format produced by uLE is intended to be the same as that required by OPL. So if the uLE-changed VMC file is no longer accepted, then the report belongs here. But that doesn't necessarily mean that any uLE bug is responsible. This remains to be investigated.

And OPL formatting a VMC without user permission is something you should complain of in its own subforum.
NB: This is not another 'board' as in another 'site', since the real home of OPL is just in another subforum of this psx-scene.com site.

As for possible causes of your problems, I am here going to quote extensively from an earlier post I made in the OPL subforum, concerning uLE and its use of OPL-compatible VMC.

There are some problems with VMC mounting in uLE, but there are also many opportunities for user error, which probably explains some of your problems.

Here are some of the basic rules:

NEVER use any uLE version older than v4.41 for VMC access
NEVER mount a VMC file in uLE over network
NEVER copy content directly from one mounted VMC to another mounted VMC
NEVER paste multiple backup folders into a VMC from a non_MC source (like HDD, USB, or network) with a single command (but opposite direction is OK in making backups)

Very important!
NEVER disconnect a USB drive after writing to it from uLE without first exiting the uLE FileBrowser or unmounting the VMC of that drive. It is such an operation (either one) that closes the VMC file, and if you disconnect without closing it first the VMC may be corrupted.

That is because the VMC closing flushes the USB driver cache to the physical drive, and without such flushing you lose any unflushed data. And since that will often relate to FAT table updates of the VMC, the entire root directory may be lost (== total corruption).

I hope this can help you have greater success with your VMC operations.

@cdgfx84:
Please double-check your VMC usage procedures with uLE and see how they fit with my recommendations above, as I suspect this may throw some light on the cause of your problems.

Best regards: dlanor