Some odd results on my brand-new PS3.

[dlanor]

Yesterday I bought a PS3, a CECH-2004A to be precise (with a 120GB HDD).
Then I spent some hours setting everything up and doing the basic configs and installs, starting with the system update to FW 3.41 which I downloaded via PC some days ago, and now installed via USB drive.

Apart from some slight hitches (as finding out the folder structure required on USB etc), I got everything to work fairly well apart from a few odd results that I may need some help to understand fully.


I know that these models have no PS2 compatibility, but I wanted to see if at least PS1 games worked well, so I got out my PS1 Final Fantasy collection (all original discs) and first tried FF7, which worked perfectly, even able to load some of my old gamesaves that I had managed to transfer to a virtual PS1 MC in the PS3.

But then I tried the same thing with my discs for FF8 and FF9 with near total failure.

The console was able to read the CDs well enough to identify them as PS1 CDs, and when I selected that disc icon and pressed X it also proceeded to boot them, with successful loading and display of the usual PS1 logo, but thereafter I got nothing but BSOD forever.

The console itself was not crashed, though the PS1 emulation was completely frozen, so I could easily terminate that to get back to the main menu again, and since there was no way to shake the PS1 booting loose from that frozen state, that is how I had to end each such attempt.

And I got the same result for all eight of those FF8 and FF9 discs, though they all boot perfectly well on a real PS2 or PS1, just like the three FF7 discs that work fine on the PS3.

I do have one theory about this, that could account for the fact that FF7 works on the PS3, while both FF8 and FF9 fail this way, which is that the PS3 blue-ray drives, or the device drivers used for it, are incapable of reading subchannel data of a CD.

It does make sense that they could miss this, since subchannel data of this kind does not exist for the main media these drives and device drivers are designed for (BD and DVD). And if that implementation is missing, then both FF8 and FF9 are doomed to failure, since they use subchannel data checking as part of an anti-piracy method that was popular back when these games were designed.

So what I am asking for here is just confirmation of that theory if available,
or at least information as to whether or not my FF8 and FF9 results match what others get.


Another odd result is that every 'Media Server Search' I attempt always fails, even though my LAN contains three PCs that all work as media servers, working perfectly with my Roxcore media player (Euro 'Mvix Ultio') and also with my PS2 consoles.

Presumably the PS3 is looking for some other kind of media server than the standard SMB servers in my computers (2xWinXP + 1xWin2K), but what then...?


Finally I am confused by the fact that the video mode to be used by the GUI can not be set independently of the 'highest' video mode permitted for the games.

I definitely want 1080p to be permitted for those games that support it, but the font size used in the PS3 GUI makes many lower-case characters nearly unreadable in 1080p, so that I really would prefer to run the GUI in 720p or even 576p instead. But the only setting I can find with that effect will also enforce the chosen video mode as the 'highest' mode permitted for games, which I find completely absurd.

And I can't keep changing the setting back and forth every time I start or terminate a game. That too would be an absurd way of doing things.

So I guess I'll just have to keep straining my eyes instead, trying to read too tiny text, unless one of you guys knows about some setting I have missed.

Best regards: dlanor

[BradicaL]

Dlanor, you gotta be the most observant guy I know. 1 day of owning PS3 and you find so much... I'm not sure about your Ps1 disc problem. But as for the media server the PS3 can see my netbook with win7 just by making a folder shareable. Also my desktop using xp the PS3 can see under TVersity. I get 2 servers show up in the XMB.

Note: Judging by how many things you found out in one day of owning PS3 you probably saw this but there is an enable/disable media server option in the network settings of XMB.

[Simon66]

I bought the first Gen of the 60GB (Ps2 compatible) and when I tryied playing RE2 Disc 2 it worked fine, then I put in Disc one and it loaded, but when I press play the game it will give me a BSOD just like you.

Maybe Sony re-wrote the PS1 onto the PS3 and forgot a few stuff or they just dont care.

[Pockets69]

one word comes to mind: incompatiblity

as for the network, set your folders as shared folders and make sure your network settings are correct.

[Bootlegninja]

If I can borrow a PS3, I'll test. I have NTSC U/C pressed orginals of FF7, FF8, and FF9.

[dlanor]

Dlanor, you gotta be the most observant guy I know. 1 day of owning PS3 and you find so much... I'm not sure about your Ps1 disc problem. But as for the media server the PS3 can see my netbook with win7 just by making a folder shareable.

I have no real idea what 'netbook' and never use Win7, but I assume that 'netbook' server is not just using normal SMB filesharing, which is my main method of serving files with my WinXP and Win2K systems. If that assumption is wrong, and it really is proper SMB shares you see, then I wonder why I never can see any at all here.

Also my desktop using xp the PS3 can see under TVersity.
I get 2 servers show up in the XMB.

Yes, but what is it that it sees ?

What I want to see is perfectly normal SMB hosts, giving me access to their shared folders and their content. But what I think you may be talking about here are custom server protocols, not SMB at all.

Note: Judging by how many things you found out in one day of owning PS3 you probably saw this but there is an enable/disable media server option in the network settings of XMB.

I did find it and did enable it, with no effect at all on the media server searches that still always come up empty.

one word comes to mind: incompatiblity

Sure, but that can mean many things. The lack of subchannel support that I mentioned would be a major point of PS1 incompatibility, and would break compatibility to a large number of the more 'ambitious' games coeval with FF8 and FF9, as subchannel use was very popular as an anti-piracy method among the top-level game producers of that time.

as for the network, set your folders as shared folders and make sure your network settings are correct.

The shares have been tested for a very long time, and files on all three computers can be freely accessed from three PS2s and one Roxcore media player in the same LAN. Only the PS3 seems oblivious to the existence of the other units, though it has no problem reaching Internet through the same router as used by the others.

All these units, including the PS3, have static IP numbers below the DHCP range and in the same subnet mask space, so there is definitely no IP mixup of any kind.

If I can borrow a PS3, I'll test. I have NTSC U/C pressed orginals of FF7, FF8, and FF9.

Yes, please do. That would be very helpful in further testing my theory about subchannels, since these are not just different individual discs, but also different releases from those I tested, but still with the same subchannel usage (FF7 not using, but FF8 and FF9 both using it). The discs I tested were all UK PAL versions.


Best regards: dlanor

[sk8rping]

I have an NTSC 80GB fat PS3 (CECHK01) and I also have NTSC copies of FF7, FF8, and FF9 and I can confirm that on this model, the games play fine. Of course I've only put in about 20-30 minutes each on the PS3 so that's as far as I can vouch for. I don't know if there's been any changes with the PS1 emulation from the fat PS3s to the slims though, haven't really looked into that. And about the media server, my PS3 can detect all computers on my network (one WinXP and one Vista) but I never could get it to play anything from my shared folders. It sees the folders and the files contained within them but will not play them. That's why I use PS3 Media Server for Windows to stream all my music and videos.

[BradicaL]

It's a Vaio netbook. But the option is a standard win7 option under control panel>network and internet>network and sharing center>advanced sharing settings.

The version is windows 7 ultimate, on my xp pc the best media server i found for ps3 is tversity. Advanced options then disable all the default folders and then in library just choose the folders you want to share. I could never get the ps3 to see anything with stock xp options or settings but id love to know if anyone figures it out.

[Bootlegninja]

Yes, please do. That would be very helpful in further testing my theory about subchannels, since these are not just different individual discs, but also different releases from those I tested, but still with the same subchannel usage (FF7 not using, but FF8 and FF9 both using it). The discs I tested were all UK PAL versions.

I can do an MD5 of the sub channel files of those games if you like. I rip them with Clone CD 4.2.0.2. Also, if I can test, my copies of the mentioned FF games are in mint condition, so I know for fact that no system should have issues booting them if they are compatible.

Edit - Adding MD5 checksums of .sub files of each disc for FF8 and FF9

ff8d1.sub - FF02458762A833B649FE260BC7DF3D5E
ff8d2.sub - 7FCC4DFEC9506CB7BD32A76625910BA9
ff8d3.sub - 419114A87E7E2889735A9C9456C06CA5
ff8d4.sub - 033662681DF044CF3088FD3E52243EEB

ff9d1.sub - 56319A31DBE54D8C1D143C741BBD5606
ff9d2.sub - 391D951A38238BF5C2FAB53DD4376ABD
ff9d3.sub - 53FEAEBE99879E496A6F5888CFD9413A
ff9d4.sub - 8D360D79AD5255055D8649CE458F0FA7

[dlanor]

It's a Vaio netbook. But the option is a standard win7 option under control panel>network and internet>network and sharing center>advanced sharing settings.

The version is windows 7 ultimate, on my xp pc the best media server i found for ps3 is tversity. Advanced options then disable all the default folders and then in library just choose the folders you want to share. I could never get the ps3 to see anything with stock xp options or settings but id love to know if anyone figures it out.

OK, so I take it that this confirms my opinion that standard SMB fileshares are not what the PS3 is looking for in its "Search for media servers" commands, but only some custom media server protocols which are not explicitly mentioned anywhere in the normal user manual that came with the console (which I read completely through before even starting) nor anywhere in the console help texts.

What is the point of Sony investing good money in adding PS3 support for access to media server protocols, and then never telling the customers which those protocols are, leaving it up to chance whether the customer ever discovers how to use them...?

Apparently one such protocol is used by Tversity while one (unknown if same or different) can be used by your Win7 setup. But I still have no clue as to how/if I can use such a protocol here, though I guess running Tversity would be likely to work for me too, as it did for you with WinXP. But I think it is silly having to run some extra server program, when another server built into the OS is already sharing out all the stuff I want.

Best regards: dlanor