PS2dumperV2_bin.7z... Is it pure garbage or what ?

[dlanor]

The question in my post title may seem a bit extreme, but I have good reason to ask it, since I've just used that bios dumper successfully with three different PS2 consoles (v7, v15 and v18), only to find that the resulting bios files do not work right with PCSX2 v0.9.6. I had no problem generating the files, using PS2Link and PS2Client at PS2 and PC end respectively for each console. But the resulting files just don't work right!

The .P2b files did not even show up in the bios selection list of the PCSX2 configuration dialog, even though this was clearly stated as the preferred bios file format for newer PCSX2 versions.

And when I used the non-packed files instead (.inf, .diff, .rom0, etc), my bioses did show up in that list, but attempting to launch the emulation resulted in heaps of complaints about missing files (.erom etc).

The only way to get it to start without those error messages was to use some bios files I had gotten from another dumper quite some time ago (a dumper no longer available to me, after an HDD crash).

So apparently this particular dumper from PS2dumperV2_bin.7z, recommended on the pages of this forum and supposedly created only to provide 100% PCSX2-compatible bios dumps, is in fact the one dumper least capable of doing so.

So what the heck is everyone else using with PCSX2, if the recommended tool can't do the job it's supposed to do ?

Best regards: dlanor

[vsub]

The new dumper was created because the pcsx2 team was going to use new format for the bios but later they decided not to.
The P2b is actually archive and the files are inside(I can't give you more info because it was really long ago the last time I used that dumper and for some reason I can't dump my bios again using that new version of the dumper)

You can use the old dumper.

[Shadow Lady]

Extract the files inside the .P2B with winrar or 7zip then rename the .rom1 file to rom1.bin, should work fine then.

missing rom2, erom files don't really affect emulation.

[dlanor]

The new dumper was created because the pcsx2 team was going to use new format for the bios but later they decided not to.

I've come to that conclusion myself, but the shocking thing is that lots of current posts and tutorials still tell people to use that dumper, without ever mentioning that the format its own readme recommends has been dropped.

And nowhere is it mentioned that the real emulator demands additional files which that dumper is unable to generate.

The P2b is actually archive and the files are inside(I can't give you more info

I'm well aware of how it works, and I made backups of all separate files before running the .BATs which create the P2b files and also destroy the original separate files.

But even when using those files the emulator keeps nagging about the additional missing files that it wants.

because it was really long ago the last time I used that dumper and for some reason I can't dump my bios again using that new version of the dumper)

I used it myself three times today, having no problem at all to do it via PS2Link. But the documentation claiming that it can be done with USB as well is clearly false, since that did not work in any of my attempts, using a variety of USB drives that work fine with other homebrews. Possibly your failures were also related to attempts to dump to a USB drive.

You can use the old dumper.

Thanks. I'll try this to see if if PCSX2 will like this better.
I'll just have to reinstall it again first. (I've revived ghost backups several times today, to recover from various problems involving both PCSX2 and other applications.)

Best regards: dlanor

[dlanor]

Extract the files inside the .P2B with winrar or 7zip then rename the .rom1 file to rom1.bin, should work fine then.

Thanks for the tip, but I have no need to extract any files, as I made a backup copy of them before they were destroyed by the batch files that create the .P2b files. But they are not satisfactory to the emulator, as it keeps complaining about needing more files.

missing rom2, erom files don't really affect emulation.

If they don't affect the emulation at all, then the emulator should never ask for them, as that in itself is a serious bug, misleading the user.

The emulator should only ask for files it can use, by error reports when they are missing. This clearly differs for different bios versions, and the emulator should adapt accordingly to the bios selected, both in its usage (which it already does) and in its error reporting (which it does not).

Best regards: dlanor

[rama]

Dude, we forgot to change the documentation to reflect this.
Maybe that's because we don't redump our BIOSs 3 times a day,
maybe it's because our quality control team didn't get payed enough.

A simple "There's an error in the docs, please fix it." would've been sufficient.

[dlanor]

Dude, we forgot to change the documentation to reflect this.
Maybe that's because we don't redump our BIOSs 3 times a day,
maybe it's because our quality control team didn't get payed enough.

I fully understand how things like this can get overlooked, and how trivial it may seem to those that already have the emulator working well. But for those who need to rely on the available tools and documentation to make it work from 'scratch', it is still important that they are updated properly.

The readme document inside the release package for that dumper describes PCSX2 v0.9.4 as the 'new' version where the new format would be adopted as the new standard one. And now we are rapidly approaching another release beyond the current v0.9.6, so that document error has survived for a couple of 'generations' already, as these things go.

I'm not bashing anyone about that, as these things are bound to happen. I just think it is time something was done about it.

A simple "There's an error in the docs, please fix it." would've been sufficient.

Perhaps, but this way I did catch your attention in a way that a more 'placid' post might not have done...

Best regards: dlanor

[vsub]

I used it myself three times today, having no problem at all to do it via PS2Link. But the documentation claiming that it can be done with USB as well is clearly false, since that did not work in any of my attempts, using a variety of USB drives that work fine with other homebrews. Possibly your failures were also related to attempts to dump to a USB drive.

I've never dumped my bios using anything other than my USB drive.The last time that I successfully dumped my bios using the new dumper,I was using the same USB device but now the device is formatted to FAT32(not like before FAT16).

[dlanor]

I've never dumped my bios using anything other than my USB drive.The last time that I successfully dumped my bios using the new dumper,I was using the same USB device but now the device is formatted to FAT32(not like before FAT16).

Ah, yes, of course. That would certainly explain why it doesn't work for dumping to any of my USB drives, since they are all formatted to FAT32 as well. (Except for one USB HDD used with a PC, which has NTFS instead.)

In any case I made good use of the dumper you attached in your previous post, and with the new bioses it produced I can now use PCSX2 without a lot of error messages at each launch, like I got before.

The only odd thing about it is that the bioses from both my slim consoles are stated to be japanese by PCSX2, even though the dumper correctly marked them as being PAL versions (by using "_PAL_" in the filenames).

Still, I'm mainly going to use the bios from my fat v7 anyway, for compatibility reasons, so it doesn't really matter.


I now have most aspects of the emulator configured to work like I wanted, and can even start both games and homebrews from uLE, like I'm used to on my real consoles.

But that only works thanks to uLE beta v4.40h, which partly circumvents the missing EE-timer implementation of PCSX2 (at cost of imprecise timing). The regular uLE release would of course still freeze in PCSX2, due to that lack.

Best regards: dlanor

[refraction]

But even when using those files the emulator keeps nagging about the additional missing files that it wants.

ah yes, for some reason the dumper puts the CRC of each file in to the filenames, for the emulator to pick it up, they all have to have a similar structure to rom0 for it to see it, so taking out the CRC's should fix this.