Frequently Asked Questions, read here before posting
#1
Exclamation 
This is the Pcsx2 Playground FAQ. Please read before posting in the forums.

Section I: general questions about the project

How was this project born?
This project started as a collections of small fixes and speed hacks by people who were not part of the official pcsx2 project. Eventually a svn repository was set, and the project started to grow, now including many changes, fixes and new hacks/workarounds.

Why making a public release?
We decided to go public, set up a forum and distribute compiled packages in the interest of the general public. While a svn repository is a handy tool, most of the people interested in emulation can't compile from svn. As such, once we thought the playground had reached a decent level of improvements and stability, we decided to release.

How is this project related to Pcsx2?
This project is a branch from Pcsx2, revision 384.
The basic layout of the code and the recompilers are still there, but many lines of code got changed, new additions integrated and old problems solved.

Is the project open source?
Yes, the project is open source, as dictated by the GNU General Public License v2 the original PCSX2 is licensed under.

Can I help the project?
Sure you can, refer to this thread http://forums.pcsx2.net/showthread.php?tid=2319&pid=11008#pid11008

Is the release package complete? Can I play out of the box?
No, the release package is not complete. You need to do at least 3 things before you can play.
First, you need to put in your own bios. Dump your Playstation 2 bios from your own console. You can find the bios dumper here http://www.pcsx2.net/downloads.php?p=tool .
Second, you need to configure the plugins in the emulator. If in doubt, use the guide from pcsx2.net, it's still mostly valid.
And third, you need to update your directx in order for gsdx to work (important!) . Gsdx is our suggested graphics plugin. Update directx with the web installer here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/detai...6652CD92A3&displaylang=en

Who is part of the project team?
In alphabetical order:
Arcum42 - Developer
Cottonvibes - Developer
Drk||razi - Developer
JakeStine (aka Air) - Developer
Krakatos - Betatesting, Forums, Project Management
Rama - Developer


Section 2: general questions about the emulator

What are the requirements for using this emulator?
Minimum
* Windows/Linux OS
* CPU that supports SSE2 (Pentium 4 and up, Athlon64 and up)
* GPU that supports Pixel Shaders 2.0
* 512mb RAM
Recommended
* Windows Vista 32bit/64bit
* CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo @ 3.2ghz or better
* GPU: 8600gt or better
* 1gb RAM (2gb if on Vista)

Does the emulator support 4 cores?
No, currently only 2 cores are used. To make Pcsx2 efficiently use 3 or more cores will require major code changes. So don't ask when quad-core support will be available, since it won't anytime soon!

Is SLI/Crossfire useful?
It may help if you're GPU limited in games.
SLI and Crossfire are configured by your nVidia/ATI drivers, and are independant of Pcsx2.
In some cases SLI and Crossfire might cause problems with pcsx2, so if you experience problems, try disabling it for pcsx2!

Why not use CUDA to make things faster?
CUDA works best with many parallel threads, something pcsx2 does not use.
So even if we got CUDA support, it would probably run very slow.

Is game X playable?
We may write a Playground compatibility list in the far future, but for now best way to know is trying the game yourself.
You can also check the Official Pcsx2 compatibility guide for a rough-estimate of games that should work.
http://www.pcsx2.net/compat.php?c=key
If the game is listed as playable with the Official build, but doesn't work on Playground, please notify us about the problem in the Bug Report thread!

Do ps1 games work with this emulator?
No, this emulator only works with playstation 2 games.

Why is the emulator so slow?
Because the Playstation 2 is a complex console, with a lot of parts which must be emulated at the same time. Refer to this for a better explanation:
http://forums.pcsx2.net/showthread.php?tid=2330

Where can I get bios and Games?
You can get your own bios from your own ps2.
You can use your own games.
Case closed.

What is the difference between the VM and TLB exes?
The VM version is generally faster, and should be preferred if possible. However some users may have problems with it, especially if using vista (remember to give the program administration rights).
This is also due to the memory allocation, which requires the correct memory addresses to be free. Try to start up the emulator immediately after start if you have problems with allocation.
If the VM version doesn't work well for you, use the TLB version. The difference is not that great.
Also note, a couple of games works better with the TLB version.

How do I play a game?
1) dump your own bios and put it into the bios folder
2) configure the emulator (read section 3 below)
3) get your Ps2 game discs ready, or make an iso of them for faster access
4) configure the cdvdrom plugin to point to those iso/discs
5) file->run->cd/dvd

Why is Pcsx2 Playground slower than the official Pcsx2?
The Pcsx2 Playground has more extra checks and a different, stricter VU/FPU clamping compared to the official Pcsx2. This results in a generally slower if more accurate emulation unless "Stable" is selected in the speedhacks section. Read below for more information though.


Section 3: Configuration options

What about the CPU options?
During normal play you should always leave the EErec and VUrecs options selected. Without those, the emulator will crawl. If you are trying to isolate a bug,you can try to deselect them.
For the MTGS option, if you have a dual core/HT processor you should always select it. It should give quite some performance boost, but it's off by default because not everyone has a dual core/HT processor. MTGS should be stable now, if you are experiencing crashes, try to disable it.

Where did the DC option go?
That option is no longer necessary in the Playground, so it has been removed.

What about the frame limiting options?
The frame limiting options are often necessary for an enjoyable experience. Read out the explanation in the configuration dialogue, it's very detailed.

What is the normal speed for Playstation 2 games?
NTSC games have a normal speed of 60 frames per second.
PAL games have a normal speed of 50 frames per second.
Note that these speed are unlike what happens in normal PC games. Sound, graphic, everything is clocked at that speed. A NTSC game running at 30 frames per second is truly going at half the speed it should be.

What about patches?
Patches were useful especially in the beginning of Pcsx2 to advance in games by setting advanced options. As time went by, patches lost some of their use. We still included them, but they are largely not useful today. As such, patches are defaulted as not used right now. You can enable them from the menu.

What about gamefixes?
Gamefixes are, like the name says, special fixes for certain games. Enable them only for those games, they might cause problems in others. If you are testing unstable games, you MAY try to enable them. Just don't complain if nothing works Smile

What about speedhacks?
Speed hacks are, like the name says, hacks that make games go faster. Some of them are almost safe, others are highly experimental. To reflect that, apart from manually selecting them, we prepared 3 comfy buttons for you.
Nothing: All hacks are off. Use this for maximum compatibility.
Stable: only enables the "stable" hacks. These hacks generally do not break games, so you can try using these setting in order to increase speed. If something does not go well with a game, go back to Normal for that game.
Speed: Use for raw speed, this setting enables all speedhacks but one (the HIGHLY unstable sync hack x3). If you want speed, try this setting. Don't complain when games are broken though...
NOTE: Do NOT report bugs unless you also tried the game with "Nothing" selected.

What about the advanced options?
Advanced options should be only changed knowing you can break up games spectacularly sometimes. The help included in the configuration dialogue is very detailed, read it.

What about the plugins?
We included the latest stable versions of the best plugins out there in the package. You will need to configure them. We may write a comprehensive guide sometime, but for now, you can find more informations in the official pcsx2 guide and in the various official plugins threads over at ngemu.

Why is the sound bad?
We made SPU2Ghz the default plugin, as it has become a very nice choice by now.
Some games don't work very well with it though (especially squaresoft games). If you have trouble with the plugin, try Zerospu2 as well (also included).
Note that SPU2Ghz is emulating the PS2 sound processor more complete than ZeroSPU2.
Likewise, if you hear sound clipping and/or sound artifacts while using SPU2Ghz, try disabling volume boost in the configuration options,and/or setting interpolation to none.

Sponsored links

#2
Ok, this is extremely important when using any beta after 626, or any svn compile from 636 onward.
So be sure to read and follow the instructions.

Short instructions
1) Doing a memcard backup may be a good idea before starting
2) If you don't want to use old saved games, delete your old memcards and let pcsx2 recreate them.
3) If you want to use old files, you have to transfer them in the bios to a new memcard created with the new pcsx2pg version.
4) Do not use any old savestate, delete them all



Detailed instructions
If you create memcards with the new beta they will work, however if you have saves done with old versions of the emu (playground or official), you MUST follow these instructions once.

Old memcards may get corrupted on these new builds, so you need to follow the steps below. Also, new memcards may be corrupted if used on older builds. You have been warned. Old savestates may cause corruption as well, so read below.

You may want to backup your old memcard first, just in case something goes wrong. Should not happen but you never know.

For each game that you have old memcards for
1) DO NOT use savestates. If you have unsaved progress in savestates, go and get it on your memcard with a normal save. Old savestates may cause corruption on new memcards
2)go in the config->memcards dialogue, put in memory card 1 the name of the new memory card you are going to create. This memcard must NOT exist yet. In memcard 2, browse to the location of the old memcard
3) in config->cdvdrom, set plugin as CDVDnull
4) run->execute to enter the bios, select browse
5) enter memcard one, select format, go back
6) enter memcard 2, select the save you want to transfer, select copy to memcard 1. Do this for all the saves you want to transfer, then go back
7) leave the bios, shut down emulator, delete the old memcard. Do the whole thing for each memcard you have of each game like this.

For each game that could not save to memcard before, and you have savestates for
This one is trickier. It's not guaranteed, you can just hope it works
1)go in the config->memcards dialogue, put in memory card 1 the name of the new memory card you are going to create. This memcard must NOT exist yet. In memcard 2, leave whatever
2) in config->cdvdrom, set plugin as CDVDnull
3) run->execute to enter the bios, select browse
4) enter memcard one, select format, go back, leave bios
5) change back the cdvd plugin, load the game, load the savestate. Reach a savepoint and try to save in memcard 1, hope it works. Do this for every savestate you care about

After you did the above for all your games
Delete any and all old savestates, as to never risk corrupting your memcards. Just delete anything in folder sstates



I'll leave the thread open for suggestions for a while, anything else will be deleted.
#3
for some reason, my bios doesn't have the format option.
its USA v01.60. Am i doing something wrong?

EDIT: Nevermind, i cant belive how dumb i am. Forgot format is only available when its a new memory card. After deleting the file, it worked.
#4
The option to format appears after you click X on an unformatted memcard.
[Image: newsig.jpg]
#5
hmmm....does not effect on my old memory card saves still standing alive even i use the 636.
i will continue to analyze this scenario thanks...time for back-up saves.
Main PC1:i5-4670,HD7770(Active!)
Main PC2:i5-11600K,GTX1660Ti(Active!)
PCSX2 Discord server IGN:smartstrike
PCSX2 version uses:Custom compiled buildĀ 1.7.0 64-bit(to be update regularly)
smartstk's YouTube Channel
#6
well, Persona 3 fails to save and produces a corrupted data that the bios can not copy, how can i copy it?
Athlon 64 x2 5200 @ 2972MHz (oc)
Radeon HD 3650 512MB @ 750/425MHz (oc)
2Gb DDR2 667
Vista 64
#7
You can't,your only choice is to make a save state,load it with the new build and create a new save using that one
[Image: newsig.jpg]
#8
Worked like a charm for over 300 savegames, too many to list. Man i wish we had bigger memcards Tongue.
#9
the save state method worked perfectly, and now the save file of the game works well too, it confirms the save on the first try and shows the icon in the bios
Athlon 64 x2 5200 @ 2972MHz (oc)
Radeon HD 3650 512MB @ 750/425MHz (oc)
2Gb DDR2 667
Vista 64
#10
Persona 4 is working now, no more corrupt data, but in PCSX2's memcard option the reload/load icon options aren't working. Sad
Clearly save handling is working great, but the memcard option in PCSX2 needs a little work.




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