New to ESR, confuzzled

[*~*]

Ok, so I'm booting ESR through uLE launched through Swap Magic v3.8. When I try to boot ESR'd games through ESR, it gives me a pink screen. What am I supposed to do? Am I supposed to take out the Swap Magic after uLE boots? Or when I boot up ESR?

[amp2006]

your games should be patched in order to run them via ESR .and only DVDs no CDs

[*~*]

Yep, ESR patcher 0.24, Sony DVD-Rs, yada yada.

Just dig some searching, apparently I need Disc Control: ON in uLE and have PS2Disc use ESR.ELF in the case that it's an ESR disc. Still didn't work. Gave ESR test GUI a go and works all of a sudden.

Still would rather boot discs by PS2 disc.

[dlanor]

Yep, ESR patcher 0.24, Sony DVD-Rs, yada yada.

Just dig some searching, apparently I need Disc Control: ON in uLE and have PS2Disc use ESR.ELF in the case that it's an ESR disc.

You should be able to get exactly the same effect by launching the same ESR elf either through FileBrowser or via a uLE menu shortcut, and then the "Disc Control:" feature should not really matter, but it is always best to have it "ON" anyway, to ensure that the disc rotation is stopped (thus minimizing wear-and-tear of drive, laser and disc). And for use of the MISC/PS2Disc command that "ON" state is mandatory, as this is what allows the type of disc to be identified.

Some test results also indicate that most elfs launched by uLE (such as ESR) will work better with CDVD access if uLE had "Disc Control: ON" at the time of launch, presumably because the elfs then start with the CDVD drive in a known and stable state. This gives them more consistent behaviour than if the CDVD drive is just left in some unknown state as before uLE was even started (as will be the case with "Disc Controll: OFF")

As for your failures:
Possibly you used the wrong ESR elf file. The original rev9b release contains three different ones, each with a different purpose identified by specific keywords in the filename.

"mcard" => do not boot the disc, but merely reboot "mc0:/BOOT/BOOT.ELF" with ESR driver active (lets uLE see DVD-R)
"off" => boot the disc, but with some of the driver 'rehooking' turned off. Required by some few games, but crashes some others.
The third elf has neither of the keywords "mcard" or "off" in its filename, and this is the one you should normally use. This is the one that boots most games.

Still didn't work. Gave ESR test GUI a go and works all of a sudden.

The GUI version includes all the abilities of the other three elfs, plus some more, but it requires manual input for choosing what to do. Personally I find the normal elf more convenient, but that is a matter of taste.

Best regards: dlanor

[*~*]

Ah, I was assuming the mcard one meant you booted the .elf of a mass, while the others meant booting off a disc (ran the .elf from a disc).

Hmm, sometimes my uLE is not reading the disc as "DVD ESR", and sometimes it does (or I've been randomly hoping that ESR works and rebooted too many times to keep track of what's happening).

Ok, just tried playing some games, uLE is not reading any discs as "DVD ESR (off)". I think that's the issue here, not a matter of using the wrong .elf now. If it reads as DVD Video, it always gets a pink screen. And using the test GUI isn't really what alleviated the problem (before, I was only using the mcard elf, so using the GUI was using the "correct" elf).

[dlanor]

Ah, I was assuming the mcard one meant you booted the .elf of a mass, while the others meant booting off a disc (ran the .elf from a disc).

All of the ESR elfs are independent of the media they were launched from, and normally I use them all from MC, but they should all work equally well from USB or HDD or even CDVD. But the latter would be futile, as it would only work if you already had access to a burned disc before running ESR.

Hmm, sometimes my uLE is not reading the disc as "DVD ESR", and sometimes it does (or I've been randomly hoping that ESR works and rebooted too many times to keep track of what's happening).

If the indication of uLE with "Disc Control: ON" is unreliable, then that is because the CDVD disc access of the mechacon is unreliable, for one reason or another. This could be due to anything from an old and worn laser/drive or a disc in bad condition either through wear-n-tear or as a result of bad burning.

Ok, just tried playing some games, uLE is not reading any discs as "DVD ESR (off)".

What is the point of telling me that, when you don't tell me what it did show ???

I think that's the issue here, not a matter of using the wrong .elf now. If it reads as DVD Video, it always gets a pink screen.

Well, duh !!!

After identifying a disc as DVD Video all the PS2Disc command will do is to launch Sony's DVD-Player from ROM. And if it really is a mis-identified game disc that can never work.

And if you tried starting ESR directly, most likely it too will fail to access the disc correctly, for the same reason (whatever) that the disc identification of uLE failed.

Quite generally, if uLE shows "DVD ESR (off)" that is the ONLY time when running ESR will be able to boot the game as intended. With any other indication from uLE such launch of ESR will crash. A game shown as "PS2 DVD" is an original, and should be started without ESR (using uLE PS2Disc is fine), and a game shown as "DVD ESR (on)" means that the disc is ESR-patched, but the ESR driver is already active. Such a game can not be launched by ESR (double activation crashes), and for some odd reason the PS2Disc command also fails to do it right. I intend to fix the latter, but meanwhile you can still start such games by browsing cdfs: in the uLE FileBrowser and use it to launch the main elf (the file named as the game's SLES/SLUS/whatever_region product code).

NB: The above applies for non-modchip consoles only, as modchips interfere with all disc recognition methods. For most cases all DVD-R discs then show as "PS2 DVD".

And using the test GUI isn't really what alleviated the problem (before, I was only using the mcard elf, so using the GUI was using the "correct" elf).

The GUI contains all the other variants in a single program, but you'll need to use it manually for every launch, which I find tedious. So I use the "dvdv direct" variant instead, which just launches the game.

Best regards: dlanor

[*~*]

Ok, the problem is that once in a while, uLE decides to read my backups as "DVD ESR (off)", the rest of the time, it just reads as DVD Video. How can I stop this happening?

Also, AFAIK, "dvdv direct" still takes me to pink screen even when the backup is recognised properly, so I just use GUI for the moment. I'll try dvdv direct next time (if it reads properly...)

[dlanor]

Ok, the problem is that once in a while, uLE decides to read my backups as "DVD ESR (off)", the rest of the time, it just reads as DVD Video.

No. uLE does not 'decide' to introduce any variations of its own.
uLE simply uses the original disc check responses, and extends its interpretation of those, by further anylyzing "DVD Video" and "PS2 DVD" responses by checking for the existence of an ESR patch.

Original method says "PS2 DVD" and ESR patch does exist => uLE says "DVD ESR (on)"
Original method says "PS2 DVD" and ESR patch is absent => uLE says "PS2 DVD"
Original method says "DVD Video" and ESR patch does exist => uLE says "DVD ESR (off)"
Original method says "DVD Video" and ESR patch is absent => uLE says "DVD Video"

That's basically how it works, though a bit simplified.

The only ways uLE can get confused about it, is if the reading of the ESR patch sector is somehow unreliable, or if the basic mechacon responses (its own reading) is erratic, and if either of those things happen then it has a physical reason for happening. Something is making the reading of those discs unreliable, which could be due to many things. (low quality discs, bad burns, dirty/scratched discs, dirty/worn CDVD drive, tired/dying laser...)

How can I stop this happening?

It should stop if you can somehow raise the reliability of disc reading.
Else it will continue as-is. There is nothing uLE can do about it.

Also, AFAIK, "dvdv direct" still takes me to pink screen even when the backup is recognised properly, so I just use GUI for the moment.

When they do work at all they should work identically.
It is essentially the same kernel code written by the same author.
But if physical read results are inconsistent, this will introduce random variations.

I'll try dvdv direct next time (if it reads properly...)

That is a prerequisite of course, as improper reading makes all reliable use impossible.
And that I think is the root of your problems, as it seems that all your reading of burned disks is somewhat unreliable.

Best regards: dlanor

[*~*]

Argh, there really isn't anything I can do outside of getting a new PS2 is there? My burns are on coloured Sony DVD-Rs, burned at 1x...

Maybe I didn't put in the right settings on IMGburn? Is the a tutorial on exact settings at which to burn?

Some old advice was right, I should have just kept my old fatty and played off of the HDD... ESR so painful... 1 in 10 tries just to play a game...

[dlanor]

Argh, there really isn't anything I can do outside of getting a new PS2 is there?

There are plenty of other things to try, especially as your next comment proves that you have not yet made any proper attempt to do it right.

My burns are on coloured Sony DVD-Rs, burned at 1x...

And that is probably the main reason why they don't work for you.

High quality discs do not work well at all when burned at 1x... This is a well-known fact.

Only crap discs work better when burned at that speed (as they have no hi-speed capability). But being crap they obviously won't let you play games safely anyway. So there is NO disc type available today for which 1x is a suitable burning speed.

(Unless you have some top-quality discs that are VERY old, from the time when 2x was still considered a good speed limit.)

Maybe I didn't put in the right settings on IMGburn? Is the a tutorial on exact settings at which to burn?

If you used a burn speed of 1x, that in itself explains all of your problems.

The best speed choice, if you have a good burner and use media it recognizes is to use a speed setting of 'Auto' or 'AWS'. But otherwise the rule of thumb is to use a speed which is half of the top speed for which the disc is certified.

So for my normal 'Verbatim AZO 16x DVD-R', I should use 8x speed, if I did not have 'AWS'/'Auto' settings that work with my burner (but I do so that is what I use).

Some old advice was right, I should have just kept my old fatty and played off of the HDD... ESR so painful... 1 in 10 tries just to play a game...

Slim or fat, there are other alternatives than HDD or ESR too. Personally I nearly always use the SMB core of OPL nowdays, to play the games stored on my PC over LAN using my PS2. And this method works for all slim consoles, as long as they have any way to launch homebrews.


NB: The speed issues discussed here relate directly to the 'read reliability' issue I raised in my previous post, since burning a disc at 1x will reduce its readability considerably (essentially 'overexposing' the laser-photosensitive disc surface).

Best regards: dlanor