[Evaldas]

Games directly from a CD device...
...run horribly. Especially in movies (intro, e.g.), both sound and graphics are disgusting, with glitches. If I run an ISO (or another type of virtual CD), all the problems go straight to hell, and I can enjoy a MUCH better quality that even from a real PlayStation console.

The problem is that I can't save all my games in my hard disk, because soon there will be no free space any more there. And it is not comfortable to make a CD image every time I want to play.

Any suggestions to enhance the quality of games running directly from a CD would be strongly appreciated.

 

[Betamax]

I'd try ecperimenting with different cd plugins to begin with. An autoconfigure one such as Xeven's or SaPu's. Alternatively the problem may be due to large spinup/down times. Although this sounds daft, it may be better to slow the drive down, as this will allow it to remain at a speady speed. Pete's oplugin has an option to this effect.

 

[Evaldas]

Unfortunately, both Xeven's and SaPu's plugins work even worse than Peops which, if configured, barely achieves 40 fps. If I limit frames to 40, game seems to be playable, but very slow. Even then 40 fps falls till 35 time to time. This is with PAL version. NTSC games run much worse. The speed limit of CD drive does not seems to be working, or I don't know something.

 

[cooliscool]

Search for ForceASPI on google, download it, run killaspi, run instaspi, reboot, have fun. :wub:

Also, what are your PC's specs?

 

[Evaldas]

Well, after some 4 hours of experiments I've managed to find an optimal configuration for Peops. Now all my games run, let's say, good, and glitches are quite rare, often even not present at all. Only one of my games - "Parasite Eve II" - does not give up. The fps in the intro are a nice "merry-go-round": from 14 to 60 (NTSC) or 50 (PAL) fps. ISO of this game works normally. I used the Cooliscool's advice, but that did not fix the problem. Anyway, one game on my hard disk does not occupy much space, so I can copy it to my computer without any problems. But those rare glitches in other games make me nervous. Does everyone really always runs ISO's here?

My main PC's specs:
CPU Pentium 4 2,6 GHz
DDR 512 MB
Combo Lite-On DVD-ROM/CD-RW 48x(and less)
Radeon 9200

 

[fluxcapacitor]

Well, after some 4 hours of experiments I've managed to find an optimal configuration for Peops. Now all my games run, let's say, good, and glitches are quite rare, often even not present at all. Only one of my games - "Parasite Eve II" - does not give up. The fps in the intro are a nice "merry-go-round": from 14 to 60 (NTSC) or 50 (PAL) fps. ISO of this game works normally. I used the Cooliscool's advice, but that did not fix the problem. Anyway, one game on my hard disk does not occupy much space, so I can copy it to my computer without any problems. But those rare glitches in other games make me nervous. Does everyone really always runs ISO's here?

My main PC's specs:
CPU Pentium 4 2,6 GHz
DDR 512 MB
Combo Lite-On DVD-ROM/CD-RW 48x(and less)
Radeon 9200

Check the Device Manger and look under ATAPI/IDE controllers or whatever. Double click primary or secondary or whatever your cd drive is on and see if it's in Ultra DMA mode. If it's in PIO or Multi-Word DMA, delete that channel from Device Manager. Then reboot and Windows should reinstall in DMA.

 

[Evaldas]

I checked my both drives. They already are in Ultra DMA mode.

 

[Tomasz]

Running games directly from CD is a bit tricky because modern PC drives are not optimized to read CDs like PSX CDs. Lite-on drives, although I like them for many other purposes seem to be especially poor at this task. So a lot of your final result depends on the drive that you have: For example: my old ASUS E612 DVD-ROM is significantly better at reading PSX CDs than is my newer Lite-on 163D. Even when using the default plugins, the ASUS gives good results -- in this same situation, the Lite-on struggles to deliver 5-10 fps on MDECs.

However, usually, I can get good results on even poor drives using the Async read or Smooth read options in Pete's open source plugin. Also ASPI seems to give slightly better results than IOCTL. Another thing that helps is slowing the drive down to about 16X.

 

[Evaldas]

Actually, I can run the most of my games directly from a CD device. I managed to find an optimal solution, only the quality of Parasite Eve II did not change at all. What's wrong with this game??? Even with some rare glitches, most games are now playable.

I noticed that while the intro is shown, if I press "Escape" button in most games and continue in a couple of seconds, the quality becomes as poor as the intro of Parasite Eve II. I must restart or wait untill another video sequence.

Another problem. All plugins, which care "ASPI" in their titles, seem not to be working in my computer. I downloaded ePSXe, unzipped it. Downloaded necessary plugins. Everything seemed to be fine. But I noticed "ePSXe CDR ASPI core 1.5.2" in my CD-ROM plugins section. If I try to configure it, I get "Error in init aspi (235)" message, and ePSXe shuts down. I looked at the plugins folder. I found none with "ASPI". So could it be present in the list, but not in the folder? You wrote that ASPI seems to give slightly better results than IOCTL, but if I choose "W9X/ME - ASPI scsi commands" in PEOpS, I get no CD-ROM option.

 

[Badaro]

Another problem. All plugins, which care "ASPI" in their titles, seem not to be working in my computer. I downloaded ePSXe, unzipped it. Downloaded necessary plugins. Everything seemed to be fine. But I noticed "ePSXe CDR ASPI core 1.5.2" in my CD-ROM plugins section. If I try to configure it, I get "Error in init aspi (235)" message, and ePSXe shuts down.

If you're running Windows 2000 or XP, you need to install the ASPI drivers. Google for "ForceASPI".

I looked at the plugins folder. I found none with "ASPI". So could it be present in the list, but not in the folder?

Some plugins are built-in in the ePSXe executable, and require no external files.

[]s Badaro

 

[Tomasz]

Badaro is right, you need to install an aspi layer on Windows XP or 2000 (Microsoft does not install one by default). This might help a little, depending on the drive and plugin that you use.

You can use ForceASPI, but you don't really need to anymore because Adaptec offers ASPI drivers for free on their website. To install ASPI, follow the directions on this website: http://www.fivestonesdev.com/xpinstall/xpAspi.htm

Be sure to not forget about step 5 (modifying registry settings with ATAPI.reg)... otherwise ATAPI devices will not be supported.

By the way, out of curiosity, what is the "optimal solution" that you are using?

When I get the chance, I will try to test Parasite Eve II to see if I can reproduce the problems you are having.

 

[Evaldas]

I followed the instructions exactly as it is written, but nothing changed with my ASPI... ePSXe still does not recognise any drives in ASPI scsi commands after rebooting the computer.

Anyway, "this optimal solution" would be:

a) for PEOpS:

Interface: IOCTL scsi commands (any other does not work)
Read mode: BE_2 (ATAPI SPEC 2)
Cashing mode: Smooth read
Ad. 4 MB data cash is off

Try to limit speed to 16x is on
Don't wait untill drive is ready is off

Reading errors are all off
PPF patch file off

Use Subchannel SBI/M3S info file

b)I use default (nice) settings for my graphics plugin:

Plugin: Pete's OpenGL2 Driver 2.5
Author: Pete Bernert
Card vendor: ATI Technologies Inc.
GFX card: RADEON 9200 LE DDR x86/SSE2

Resolution/Color:
- 1024x768 Fullscreen - NO desktop changing
- Internal X resolution: 1
- Internal Y resolution: 1
- Keep psx aspect ratio: off
- No render-to-texture: off

- Filtering: 0
- Hi-Res textures: 0
- TexWin pixel shader: off
- VRam size: 0 MBytes

Framerate:
- FPS limitation: on
- Frame skipping: off
- FPS limit: Auto

Compatibility:
- Offscreen drawing: 2
- Framebuffer effects: 3
- Framebuffer uploads: 1

Misc:
- Scanlines: off
- Mdec filter: on
- Screen filtering: on
- Shader effects: 0/1
- GF4/XP crash fix: off
- Game fixes: off [00000000]

 

[Phoenix Flame]

Here's another suggestion if you're quite computer savvy and have no problem opening up your machine:

Has the CDROM drive got an IDE channel all to itself or does it share with another device? Do you have IDE Block Mode enabled or disabled in the BIOS? I realise I may be clutching at straws here but it might be worth having a look.

 

[Tomasz]

Evaldas,

When you run aspichk.exe in c:\adaptec\aspi, does it report the presence of aspi32.sys and wnaspi32.dll (both at version 4.71.2)?

Try to run Nero Infotool, available for free from the author at the following website: http://www.cdspeed2000.com/go.php3?link=download.html
It should also report the presence of these two files under the Aspi section.

For me, ASPI works under Windows XP (after I installed it following the procedure I outlined before). While using the Pete's open source plugin with Interface: ASPI scsi commands... do any drives show up if you select this option?

The optimal solution you posted is the one that I use on my Lite-on drive with IOCTL. With ASPI, I can sometimes get away with using async instead of smooth -- but I am still testing this.

 

[Evaldas]

Has the CDROM drive got an IDE channel all to itself or does it share with another device?

How do I check it?

Do you have IDE Block Mode enabled or disabled in the BIOS?

Do you mean "IDE HDD Block mode"? It is enabled.

When you run aspichk.exe in c:\adaptec\aspi, does it report the presence of aspi32.sys and wnaspi32.dll (both at version 4.71.2)?

Yes, it does.

Try to run Nero Infotool, available for free from the author at the following website: http://www.cdspeed2000.com/go.php3?link=download.html. It should also report the presence of these two files under the Aspi section.

It states that "ASPI installation is corrupted". What???

While using the Pete's open source plugin with Interface: ASPI scsi commands... do any drives show up if you select this option?

NO, they do not show up.

The optimal solution you posted is the one that I use on my Lite-on drive with IOCTL. With ASPI, I can sometimes get away with using async instead of smooth -- but I am still testing this.

This optimal solution does not seem to be working with some other games, not only Parasite Eve II. "Chase the Express" (Spanish, PAL version) runs perfectly if I play it. But the intro of demo (not the one of the game) runs with the same glitches as PE2. I just don't get it. It is also weird that those glitches are in the same moments every time (as well as in PE2). This would lead to the idea that my CDs are scratched or something. But these games have two CDs with the same intros, and the glitches are EXACTLY in the same places every time in every CD! Such coincidences are impossible!

I reinstalled my ASPI with another tool (ACE mega Codecs pack). No Nero InfoTool states everything is OK, but nothing changed with my ePSXe.

 

[Tomasz]

It states that "ASPI installation is corrupted". What???

That's because NERO Infotool still looks for WOWPOST.EXE and WINASPI.DLL -- these legacy files aren't really used for anything anymore, so the Adaptec installer does not install them. For ASPI to work right in XP, all you need are ASPI32.SYS and WNASPI32.DLL. As long as those two files are present and the registry settings are correct then ASPI should work in ePSXe, using Pete's plugin.
This setting must be in the registry for ATAPI drives to work under Adaptec's ASPI:

 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Aspi32\Parameters]
"ExcludeMiniports"=""

But don't worry too much about not having ASPI -- it might help a bit, but it is no miracle worker. I'm sorry to say, but sometimes the only solution is to use an iso image or buy a cd/dvd drive which is adept at reading psx cds (there really is quite a difference in different brand drives).

 

[Evaldas]

I'm sorry to say, but sometimes the only solution is to use an iso image

Well, I guess you're right.

 

[bcrew1375]

Someone mentioned Lite-on drives not reading well. Actually, I have a Lite-on drive and it plays PSX games flawlessly.

So, the only game you're having trouble with now is Parasite Eve 2? If so, maybe ePSXe itself has compatibility issues with the game.

 

[Evaldas]

Maybe, but ISO of this game runs PERFECTLY! I would like to know the reason. Why is this game so special? What is wrong with it? I must reject the possibility of my CD being scratched, because both of them which the game contains run with exactly same glitches in exactly same places.

And I noticed that some separate parts of other games don't run sometimes well either. I tried to demolish my video settings from "nice" to "fast", and it worked! But not every game. Something is wrong with the intro of demo of "Chase the express" (Spanish, PAL), and the problem seems to be of the same origin as the one of PE2. Nothing is more horrible than the reproduction of intro of PE2. This game lets me choose between PAL and NTSC, and it is Russian version.

So, bcrew1375, could you post your video and CD plugins settings? Another question: have you ever tried running PE2 on ePSXe?

Wait a second! I've just ran the demo plays of some other games. NONE OF THEM WORKS WELL! They all are distorted! Why??? But still all video sequences PE2 are like that.

 

[kingking 3rd]

use internal epsxe cdr plugin