ePSXe plugin problems and gameshark

[xPeterGriffinx]

CPU: AMD E-450 dual core 1.6 GHz (horrible I know)
Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 6320
RAM: 4g
OS: Win7 Ult 6.1 Build 7601 x64 bit

Emu: ePSXe
Version: 1.9.0
Plugins: Not relevant to the post, but basic petes/peops.
Different ISOs: Irrelevant
Different Emu: But I like ePSXe..

Now onto the problems and questions.
First, when I config the Video plugins, whether it is peops opengl, or petes opengl 2, it freezes after clicking the Okay button. It will close the config window, but then ePSXe freezes, and I have to force close. I'm able to play some games, just not edit the video plugin options.

Second, the same thing happens when I config the cdrom plugin, whether it is ePSXe wnt/w2k or peops cdr. I cannot config it without it freezing during the config. I don't normally use ps1 cds, but I was experimenting with my ps1 gameshark/action replay.

Third, is there anyway to use a gameshark ISO/CD (I have both) with ePSXe, and get it to actually work? Yes, I know there is PEC, but that is very buggy with my game, Parasite Eve 2. Using cheats cause the game saves to be corrupt, and even if deactivating them, I'm not able to load a finished game save, for replay, because its corrupt. First I tried using a gameshark v4 iso, and it loads, but the screen is very awkward looking. I'm also not able to do anything, it just sits there, looking awkward. Then I tried Gameshark 2 V2. Same thing. So then I pull out my gamesharks for my ps1, and they load, and I'm able to pick my cheats, change disc (iso) but most of the time the games freeze. Just curious, not important, I just want to try making my own cheats for PE2.

That's it, thanks for your interest.

[Zorlon]

I would try a fresh copy of ePSXe from a new folder you are having far too many issues that don't exist in ePSXe normally

PEC does have a cheat search engine ect for creating your own codes, or you can use a general PC memory search/cheat system to find codes but best to find a known code first so you can calculate the difference PSX memory and emulator memory, I have used one called T-Search before, though not with ePSXe so much I can use PEC for that but more for Saturn and Dreamcast ect, probably would for other systems also if my laptop was good enough for doing that but it's not really :/

EDIT:- best cheat CD to use if you can't get PEC to run properly though to be honest I think you may have an external issue there with you having so many issues, anyway get the Xplorer CD 9000 downloaded and give that a shot

Xploder FX CD-9000 (v2).7z should work fine, It takes raw code types and is easy enough to convert most Action Replay/Game Shark codes, it also takes Codebreaker codes directly as it is just the PAL name for the Codebreaker

[xPeterGriffinx]

Thanks for the reply, I've tried what you mentioned, but to no avail. I downloaded brand new copies of ePSXe, plugins, etc. and put them in a new folder. I configure the video plugin, and its still freezing right after I click the okay button. I then tried configuring with pec plugin, and the same thing happened. Even if I open the video config, but don't change any options, it still crashes after closing the config. Same thing with the CD plugin. I'm able to change the drive to boot from, I just can't change anything else without an instant crash. Not sure what's going on, maybe my computer is dying. If there is anyway to get a crash report, log, etc I would have to try that, but I wouldn't know how to go about doing that.

Also, thanks for the Xploder link. It loads up and works way better than my gameshark iso/cd. Will begin experimenting with it once I can fix the above problem.

If anyone else could shed some light on what might be happening, that would be great. Open to any and all suggestions.

[MaslowK]

This is just a shot in the dark, but one thing you can try is deleting the registry key set by ePSXe that holds its configuration settings. To get to it, go to your start menu and type "regedit" into the search box, and hit Enter. When the Registry Editor comes up, expand HKEY_CURRENT_USER, and scroll down until you see a folder simply called "epsxe". Right click that folder and click Delete, Yes to confirm. Now run ePSXe again, and it should give you the setup wizard, hopefully allowing you to configure your plugin options properly.

Now if that doesn't work, maybe try an earlier version of ePSXe (like 1.7). Can't imagine why it would make a difference but then, the issue you're describing is highly unusual anyway.

[xPeterGriffinx]

I was wondering if ePSXe held a registry entry, and thought about that, didn't feel like searching though. I will go ahead and try that.

Also, another weird problem... I'm able to randomly config the video plugins. Sometimes it works, most of the time it crashes. When it works, I go ahead and try my game. Here's some findings.
PEOpS soft driver 1.18 running on fast and nice settings are generally the same.
PEOpS OpenGL driver running on Nice, causes gameplay to run really fast, as if I had a beefy computer running a game on minimal graphics. Running on fast does the same.
Petes OpenGL driver running on nice is visually the same as PEOpS soft driver, and also runs the same.

I thought OpenGL was better than the soft driver in terms of graphics, but running Peops OpenGL on nice is much faster than Peops soft on fast. Although I found a good mix for PE2, after deleting this registry key, I'm afraid I might have to go through all that trouble again lol. Oh well, here goes nothing.

EDIT: After deleting that registry key, the problem still persists, but only when configuring the plugins after the first run wizard setup. When I configured right after deleting the key, using the wizard that comes up, I had no problems whatsoever.

[Zorlon]

Set the FPS Limit either to auto or manually set that and make sure FPS Limit is enabled

Sounds like the issue is with an external program possibly viral

Normally you can config ePSXe easy without crashes

even your video setting don't sound like they are working at all, OpenGL looks totally different to the soft plugin, OpenGL is a 3D plugin and Soft is a 2D plugins, setting the 2D plugin to fast will just have a pixcelated display for both 2d and 3d games no matter the res (unless you change the stretching options to a filtered one), OpenGL for 3D games will have much less pixcelated visuals especially noticeable at higher res

OpenGL is great for 3D games allowing you to run 3D games at higher res with nice effects
Soft is great for 2D games HQ2x or HQ3x stretching looks best, doesn't look too bad for 3D games either just not as nice as 3D plugins do, still good for lower end PC users plus closer to the real thing

[xPeterGriffinx]

I just did fresh install of Win7, due to some files that weren't able to be deleted, that messed up the recovery process, causing the Hp recovery boot loop, so I had to delete all partitions, and start from scratch. I installed all of the proper drivers, making sure they are up to date. Maybe that had an affect on the graphics card, or my computer is indeed dying.

Oh well, whatever the cause, I can run most games after a few attempts to config the plugins. PE2 is all I really play anyway, and it works great no matter the video settings, its just the cheats I have problems with. Guess I'm playing vanilla!

Thanks again for the help. I don't believe I'll find a fix for these problems, unless I had someone physically here to do diagnostics, and unfortunately, my computer skills only go so far.

[Itsutsume]

Man, it's been a LONG time since I've used any type of ePSXe emulator, and I'm sure that what's out there now is WAAAAAY updated to what I had back then, lol. I remember trying to use GameShark as well, and after multiple attempts, it never worked. Though, like Zorlon mentioned, I downloaded the PEC tool and used that plugin as my main video plugin so I could use cheats, and it worked!

If restarting the program (download and all) doesn't work, have you fooled around with all of the different plugins? Audio and Video? You said that the plugins "don't really matter", but the PEC won't run just by itself. It's a type of GUI (it seems to me) that ONLY work IF you have the plugin installed and being used at the same time. If you're using Pete's OpenGL v.1 or 2, or some other random one, then of course the cheats won't work.

I think your main problem is not using the PEC plugin. Try that and see, it's worth a shot

[skullpoker]

I also get crash after I configure my video plugin sometimes(on closing the config window), though I find that my settings are saved when I check them.

Like Itsutsume said, you have to set psx emulation cheater as your video plugin, and then config that to set the video plugin that you will really use. The PEC gui is used to select cheats, then you click "Send cheats to plugin" at the bottom, then run iso in ePSXe file menu. I have played PE2 with cheats this way with no problem at all. I wasn't able to get one of the infinite ammo codes to work, but no biggy since the game is so easy with other cheats.

One problem that probably stops you from using Gameshark discs is that they use a memory card slot to send cheats into your game, and ePSXe is probably not designed for that.

But when you say that your game save is corrupt, are you using Memory Card saves(like on a standard Playstation) or save state on the emulator? I played through enough to get the rail gun using cheats with no corruption, but every computer is different.


Necroing this for 2 related reasons:

1: I was unable to start this game using the download from emuparadise.me. It contains a .ecm, .ccd. and .sub and after running through unecm.exe my ePSXe would not recognize Disc 1 as a disc at all. Trying to start from Disc 1(whether from the .ccd or the .bin) gave a black screen. Disc 2 would start but when I tried to start a new game it said insert disc 1, so I used ePSXe menu on 1.9.0 to change discs and it returned wrong disc, please insert disc 1. If a Moderator finds that the copy of the game on the main site is bad, please fix it so people can enjoy this game, and your lovely web site.

2: to let xPeterGriffinx know that I did get the game to start using a .img I downloaded from a different site, and he can PM me if he wants the link. I have made it to the phone in the starting area with the following added to PECs codelist: Download Links:
Links are hidden from guests. Please register to be able to view these links. I also notice that trying to start with Maximum BP Cheat and Maximum Exp Cheat off gives me the message "Save File Corrupt" after starting the game with them on. Make sure you always use the same codes and your game should load okay.