Bottom line for PS1 Classic?

[derFunkenstein]

I guess it wasn't entirely clear to me the answer from a couple weeks back, but this Autobleem hack to fix/add to the system, it doesn't use retroarch does it?

It's still using its own emulator but just opening the back door right?

And that emulator actually when properly configured in its own menu isn't trash and actually can run the games properly?

 

I just want some clean yes or no on this as I'd consider popping for one of them if I saw it cheap enough to my liking locally.

RetroArch is an add-on for AutoBleem.

 

But if you're going to use RetroArch, just go RetroArch all the way with RetroBoot. I just downloaded and put this on a memory stick yesterday:

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/PlaystationClassic/comments/bl49ei/release_psc_retroboot_and_retroboot_for_autobleem/

 

The steps are stupidly easy:

• Format a compatible USB stick as FAT32
• Download the main package above along with any add-ons you want
• Copy the contents of the ZIP to the FAT32 USB stick.
• Put any ROMs for any system in the "roms" folder. Including PS Classic ISOs. Just treat it like you would any other RetroArch ROMs folder
• Put the USB stick in controller port 2. DO NOT have the PS Classic connected to power when you do this. Since it sits in sleep mode, it doesn't detect the new stick, but it will when it gets power
• Now connect power. Once the light turns orange, turn it on. Voila.

 

So easy a caveman could do it.

[Tanooki]

I loathe retroarch, so no I'd never use it. I've taken a few swings at it over time (last maybe a year ago) and it just infuriated me with its stupid quirks, especially related to Neo-Geo stuff. So I was asking because I wanted nothing to do with it if that's what was needed to buffer more games into the system library.

 

I think Shannon there made it clear with this: "Whereas on Bleemsync if you go straight PSX ( no Retroarch ) it uses the yucky interface that comes with the PSC." I don't mind the system menu as I've seen it in video, especially if that's the price if not touching retroarch at all.

Edited May 7, 2019 by Tanooki

[derFunkenstein]

I think Shannon there made it clear with this: "Whereas on Bleemsync if you go straight PSX ( no Retroarch ) it uses the yucky interface that comes with the PSC." I don't mind the system menu as I've seen it in video, especially if that's the price if not touching retroarch at all.

It gets unwieldy with a big collection of games, though. If you're not going to use RetroArch, I'd use AutoBleem. It's just as easy to set up and uses the built-in emulator, but has customization for the front-end stuff. I don't use either of the Bleem-named methods because the 8bitdo bluetooth dongle causes a mouse pointer to appear and stay forever. The mouse pointer disappears in RetroArch.

 

https://github.com/screemerpl/cbleemsync

Edited May 7, 2019 by derFunkenstein

[Tanooki]

Well I only have a nice sandisk 32GB thumb drive, so I can't really forsee me having some ungodly huge rotating wheel of pain. I'd probably take what I own real discs for and stuff that on there as a HD mirror, use it for testing perspective new buys, and just for a few random oddities, maybe JP stuff since I won't mod my box. Despite owning a lot of kits, I've learned well it's better to pick something and go with it in their case, but if cherry picking is an option I like less is more as you're more likely to finish less than get all gamer ADHD over a 1000 titles.

[Agamon]

When was the last time you used Retroarch? It was clunky when I first encountered it years ago, but it gets regular updates and seems like an odd thing to loathe.

[derFunkenstein]

RetroArch's UI kind of sucks, especially if you have more than 20-30 games for a system. Scrolling a single list with no way to organize within a system is not ideal. I've got around 75 PSOne games and finding what I want is less than ideal. It's easier than 75 games on the wheel, though. I have the same complaint about most of the pre-built Attract Mode packs that are out there for PC, and the same complaint about Emulation Station. Just one monolithic list sucks.

 

Someone needs to make Smoke Monster's Everdrive packs folder structure into a front-end for emulation.

[Tanooki]

I remember being pretty annoyed with it but was willing to overlook it. There are a list of reasons I don't even remember all of them now I was put off by it, but one huge hang up was BIOS issues, and ROM set issues. The final nail in the coffin was that POS telling me I had illegitimate Neo Geo arcade ROM sets because I didn't go and download some 50+GB honker of a most recently update MAME master archive to use. I had some verified working correct board sets both from SNK themselves in those Neo Geo 25th Anniversary bundle sets using a zipped set dumped straight from the board for use in that single game emulator, to legit roms from carts I have. That damn thing refused both, it wouldn't even tell me why, all it did was tell me each time I had no games, and refused to pop up the Neo Geo section in the thing other than the be blank which infuriated me to no end once I finally through google figured it out and that I'd have to do a huge download like that to recover a couple hundred MB worth of files. Between it's weird setup, being testy about some Nintendo and Sega stuff I'd try and dabble with (I was hoping to find some easy all in one setup to use which clearly it wasn't) and then the Neo Geo middle finger I refuse to use it again under any circumstances.

 

I do agree about your smokemonster comment.

[Shannon]

I can kinda see where Tanooki is coming from. I'm not going to get into a whole explanation on how to get around those particular issues. But I will say that you can use Bleemsync sans ( without ) retroarch and you can use Autobleem without the need to use retroarch either and play your playstation games just fine.

 

In fact for kicks you could try both and stick to the one you like. It is simply a matter of putting them on your memory stick and a couple games, do a test run to kick the tires and then you are done.

 

The only other thing I will say is that bleemsync is the only one that will let you use Fatex, NTFS, FTP and telent to the PSC when at the main menu and it will also recognize a PS3 or PS4 controller if you have one. Autobleem does not do any of those above things. The PS3 / PS4 thing is especially important to me ( for analog sticks, etc ).

[Agamon]

RetroArch's UI kind of sucks, especially if you have more than 20-30 games for a system.

 

Yeah, that's a good point. I only ever use the RA UI for tweeking settings and use a front end for the actually gaming, so I never thought of that. Most emulators have pretty poor/ugly UIs, though.

Edited May 7, 2019 by Agamon

[Razzie.P]

RetroArch is an add-on for AutoBleem.

 

But if you're going to use RetroArch, just go RetroArch all the way with RetroBoot. I just downloaded and put this on a memory stick yesterday:

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/PlaystationClassic/comments/bl49ei/release_psc_retroboot_and_retroboot_for_autobleem/

 

The steps are stupidly easy:

• Format a compatible USB stick as FAT32
• Download the main package above along with any add-ons you want
• Copy the contents of the ZIP to the FAT32 USB stick.
• Put any ROMs for any system in the "roms" folder. Including PS Classic ISOs. Just treat it like you would any other RetroArch ROMs folder
• Put the USB stick in controller port 2. DO NOT have the PS Classic connected to power when you do this. Since it sits in sleep mode, it doesn't detect the new stick, but it will when it gets power
• Now connect power. Once the light turns orange, turn it on. Voila.

 

So easy a caveman could do it.

 

 

Thanks! This convinced me to try RetroArch and yeah, it was probably one of the easiest "hacks" I've ever done. If I'd have known it had all those cores by default, I'd have done this long ago!

[derFunkenstein]

 

 

Thanks! This convinced me to try RetroArch and yeah, it was probably one of the easiest "hacks" I've ever done. If I'd have known it had all those cores by default, I'd have done this long ago!

 

 

Glad I could help!

 

Since I have a powered USB hub and a spare 1TB external hard drive, I decided to try that combo out with this thing. It's a pretty neat setup. I've got the full PS1 library on the PS Classic and a bunch of retro stuff on RetroArch. For systems where I don't have original hardware (PC engine, Atari stuff, 32X, and Nintendo systems), this is pretty hard to beat for the price.

[Razzie.P]

How do these emulators handle multi-disc games? If a game prompts me to insert disc 2, is it "game over" or will it allow me to load a new ISO while maintaining my current game progress?

[derFunkenstein]

How do these emulators handle multi-disc games? If a game prompts me to insert disc 2, is it "game over" or will it allow me to load a new ISO while maintaining my current game progress?

 

No idea about RetroArch. Supposedly you can create an m3u but it's never worked for me.

 

For Autobleem, just put disc1 and disc2 (and 3 and 4...) in the same folder. When you're prompted to switch discs, hit the Open button on the console, just like a stock game like FF7. It worked for Lunar Eternal Blue for me to go from disc1 to disc 2

 

edit: 1100 games in a single list is a sucky UX. I went back to a flash drive with around 60 extra games on it. That's mo re than I'll ever play, but it's everything I want to get to.

Edited May 11, 2019 by derFunkenstein

[NE146]

I've got the full PS1 library on the PS Classic

 

How big is that? And how are you accessing it on the PS1 Classic..an external drive? I forget how big the NTSC collection alone was (enough to make me cherry pick instead) but add in the jap releases and what is it.. a Terrabyte-ish?

[derFunkenstein]

 

How big is that? And how are you accessing it on the PS1 Classic..an external drive? I forget how big the NTSC collection alone was (enough to make me cherry pick instead) but add in the jap releases and what is it.. a Terrabyte-ish?

 

Oh, sorry, I meant the full USA collection. And it's like 600 GB by itself. Way too much s*** to wade through, which is why I pared it back.

 

I had an external 1TB hard drive. Not a great experience, since it's slow to boot, slow to show the UI, and impossible to navigate without some sort of folder sub-structure. It's like nearly 1200 games (which I combined discs for multi-disc games into single folders for each game)

Edited May 12, 2019 by derFunkenstein