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Sony Playstation Classic + Retroarch ?


israelg

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Anyone already mod the console and have positive experience ?

 

It is using an ARM CPU, this should be enough for the 80's & 90's hardware emulation...

 

System-on-chip used MediaTek MT8167a, Quad-Core ARM Cortex-A35 Memory 1 GB of DDR3 RAM Storage 16 GB ECC Flash Graphics Power VR GE8300

 

 

How to Get RetroArch On PlayStation Classic - Play SNES, GBA, N64 & More!

 

 

 

Is it compatible with other USB PC controllers (8bitdo, Logitech Etc.) ?

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Maybe you can get it to run but it will be most likely unoptimized thus resulting in big lag penalties. I've read somewhere that the one on SNES Mini had 9+ frames of lag (much more than RPi).

 

What about Atari 2600, C64, Mame old game...

 

Only 80s stuff should run full speed ?

 

I also have the Atari 2600 USB from curt vandel, it will be nice if this can support the joystick...

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They will run at full speed but input lag is a different thing and will most likely be rather substantial (that's before you even add your TV's lag)

 

Best option is to try it and see if you can live with it. I'm not a 0-lag obsessive, use RPi myself, but going into 9+ frames delay is way too much IMO. But maybe things changed since I read about that SNES Mini situation and they have improved Retroarch on these devices, I don't know.

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You should try it yourself, only you can say what you find acceptable.

 

For the record, the current exploit doesn't "mod the console," it runs everything off the flash drive and is 100% reversible when you power back on without the flash drive inserted.

 

I will read some more about this and probably as you said will try for myself, Thanks!

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I am using a PS Classic running BleemSync and RetroArch. Aside from having to manually select the core for every game (it's still a work in progress) it does everything my Raspberry Pi does. It's also an easy and completely reversable hack. Just unplug the USB drive and reboot.

 

Prices aside (mine was purchased for me at $59 - not worth $99 in my opinion) I have been very happy with my console. I have run Atari through Playstation on mine fullspeed for the most part. It struggled with Advance Wars but played Mario Kart just fine. Just like my Pi.

 

As for the controllers I haven't tried anything else. I have only used the USB controllers it came with.

 

EDIT: If you do ANYTHING with the flash drive unplug the system before you take it out/insert it. I had one drive not respond because I did this - it booted to the PS Classic menu. Thankfully no harm done. The data was fine. I have seen some people lose the data. Just have to reformat and write the information again. Still a pain. I've gotten in the habit of unplugging it anyway since it's "always on" like any modern device and I'm a penny pincher when it comes to electricity.

Edited by ClassicGMR
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The latest mod ( BleemSync 1.1 ) actually does mod the console.. but supposedly does it in a "restorable" way.

 

Retroarch runs great on it (mostly). The thing I like is I can now plug in my PS3 or PS4 controller and get some dual analog stick love.

 

Selecting core issues can be corrected by creating game lists.

 

I have not spend much time playing N64 games (mostly PSX so far) ... but the simpler games seem to run great. My only concern would be running out of memory. For example.. supposedly Star Fox 64 will crash after playing through the first level on the SNESC. I've been meaning to try it on the PSC to see if it has any issues. Now that I got my original PS3/PS4 controller issues straightened out I'll probably do a marathon run of Super Mario 64. ( Been busy with Ape Escape ).

 

I'd have to check my list but I've setup and tested most of the emulators. I kinda stopped recently on the MAME emulator cause it has been taking up a fair amount of my attention.

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I just did the Bleemsync 1.0.0 update today. Very nice what they have done with the Playstation Classic part of this. I especially like being able to use RetroArch for the Playstation games right from the original UI. Loading PS1 games via USB and having them added to the carousel - and in alphabetical order - is a definite plus.

 

I haven't played with any other part of RetroArch since the new install.

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OK... I did more research and the PSC has four times the memory that the SNESC and NESC have. So I would say for more demanding systems or homebrew you are going to get more mileage out of the thing than an SNESC.

 

I can understand the urge to keep it system specific. ( SNES on SNESC, etc). I have been debating myself on how exactly to "divy" up the different systems. Someone mentioned early an Atari 2600 USB stick.. although retroarch may not have specific support for it. It is easy enough to go into the retroarch controller configurations and create your own. What might make it tough, however, is the limited number of "buttons".. You might have to wait until they do OTG support or get yourself a powered HUB so you can have two controllers connected until you get the stick configured.

 

Looks to me like the PSC can probably handle up to the PSX and N64 systems ( mileage may vary on N64 ). It can easily handle the older systems .. maybe a little strain on some GBA and SNES games with a chip on the cart. Ape Escape is the only semi taxing game I've tried so far ( no slow down on the later levels like I have seen on my xbox, etc). I've yet to try games that are harder on emulation like Gran Turismo 1 & 2, Medi-Evil, Syphon Filter, Tony Hawks Pro Skater.. but when I do I'll let you guys know.

 

Bleemsyc 1.0 does not quite have all of the bells an whistles they initially promised.. I like to think of it as them installing the plumbing (the basic things you need), maybe a bathroom sink. But all the other appliances like a dishwasher, washer, etc have not quite been hooked up yet. The thing I like about it most is now I do not have to constantly keep on moving my USB stick back and forth to the PC. I can just FTP straight into the thing and copy files over.

 

One difference I have noticed over the SNESC and NESC ... is on the nintendo mini consoles they have stuff running in the background ( ftp, telnet, joystick monitoring, etc ) and I cannot help wonder if that contributes to lag. On the PSC when I load Retroarch or the built in emulator the FTP and Telnet services are stopped.

 

I'll post more later but that is my thoughts for now.

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Wow... that's all I have to say.

 

The BleemSync/Playstation "side" of the system is fabulous. I love having all my PS1 games in order and accessible in the carousel. Love it. My carousel has 42 games as of right now - 20 pre-loaded and 22 I added. No issues.

 

As an aside I found a great little tool that simplifies the BIN/CUE problem I was experiencing due to having multiple BIN files for PS1 games. It's no longer being developed but it works great and is extremely simple to use. Check out the CDMage portion of this post if you need a tool to reformat your Tomb Raider or Space Hulk game. ;)

 

I played with RetroArch the last few days. I have gotten random crashes here and there (RetroArch menu glitched badly when i exited NES - 1942. System crashed when I exited NES - Super Mario Bros. It locked up when I opened 2600 - Adventure) but nothing repeatable. It just happens randomly and rarely. Still a WIP so I can live with it. I am used to using front ends like GameEx or EmulationStation so using RetroArch is a fairly new thing for me. I found this video that really helped me make it look better.

 

I downloaded all the thumbnail packs for the systems I installed, downloaded the databases and then scanned the directories for playlist creation(that was an overnight task). Now I have all the systems and box art for the games I installed. This thing is really taking shape and I love using it! Got my powered USB hub connected so I can use both controllers that came with the system. The only thing I haven't done yet is try different controllers. I have an XBox 360 wired controller somewhere I just have to find it. :)

 

VERY happy overall. And it should just get better since this is still a beta setup.

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Sounds great ClassicGMR. I pretty much feel the same way. I'll have to check out that vidoe. I did the whole thumbnail pack and database thing as well and it is pretty nice. Getting it to do the Arcade games can be a little tricky ( depending on which core you want to use ) but overall it is pretty good.

 

Under the old system getting multiple bin ( redump.org ) images was tricky but possible. I figured out how to do it without having to convert. Under the new layout I have not tried it yet. All they really need to do is modify their code to only look at the first BIN file and to name it after the cue file not the first bin file.

 

I get the occasional crashes as well. Also when switching arcade games sometimes the screen will be black but you can hear the game running in the background. I just memorized the key presses to "close" a game without being able to see and sometimes that works.

 

I don't think I have any 360 wired controllers but I should have one of those wireless to wired adapters laying around somewhere that I may try to find some day. But to be honest I like the PS4 controller. Mostly... I can't stand where they put the start and select buttons.. but whateva!

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Not sure about overlays but I tested all 3 games you mentioned.

 

The good - they all run full speed no problem.

The bad - I am now crashing almost every single time I select "Close Content". I have had one success so far out of 11 games closed in RetroArch. It's not just Stella. I have this problem using FCEum, Stella, SNEX9x, Picodrive, Genesis Plus GX... seems to be an issue with RetroArch interacting with the PS Classic.

 

Hope this gets an ironing out in future updates.

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I have a theory that sometimes when retroarch crashes that certain config files get corrupted. I've seen the core configuration file get corrupted and then it would mess up the N64 games and they would not display properly. Hopefully they will be able to figure that one out.

 

Put the USB stick in a PC and see if it says the USB needs to be repaired and then when it is done see if it says whether it repaired anything or not.

 

I usually don't bother "closing content" and just select the next game. I seem to have better odds doing it that way. Unlike doing it this way on other systems ( Wii U ) where it can be problematic it seems to work rather well on the PSC.

Edited by Shannon
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I usually don't bother "closing content" and just select the next game. I seem to have better odds doing it that way. Unlike doing it this way on other systems ( Wii U ) where it can be problematic it seems to work rather well on the PSC.

 

Someone on Discord mentioned that. I also got this response to my report:

 

 

The crashing is generally caused by cores not properly setting up the display in Wayland when you close them

If you're handy with shell scripting, you can set up a script to monitor the logs for wayland errors and restart retroarch when they happen

 

Yeah I don't know squat about writing scripts for this stuff. I just use them. :)

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Just a heads up.. apparently there was some disagreements between the main coder Dr. Dalek and other people in the project that caused it to go in a direction he was not comfortable with. As a result the 1.0 release has no measures built in to allow a restore of the PSC to it's original state. For those who are concerned about having this ability in case something goes wrong with the process and a restore is needed.

 

Probably a good idea to keep an eye on all this and see where it goes from here.

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There's an uninstall image on the page https://modmyclassic.com/bleemsync/ under the header "How to uninstall bleemsync 1.0:".

 

Haven't tried it but I see it on the main page. Also from a purely user/layman standpoint just taking the USB out makes the system run stock. Granted the 2MB payload is still there but you'd never know it.

Edited by ClassicGMR
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