[SLES-53473/SLES-53474] The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer's second level's first FMV sometimes has no sound when played via UDPBD

[Windows10User2]

The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer's second level's first FMV sometimes has no sound when played via UDPBD.

[rickgaiser]

Bug confirmed. I also notice in the first level gameplay the sound has an annoying repeating component in it. Like something hangs.

[Windows10User2]

Bug confirmed. I also notice in the first level gameplay the sound has an annoying repeating component in it. Like something hangs.

I didn't notice that issue.

OPL via SMB has even more issues since The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer's first level's last FMV and second level's first FMV have a loud buzz-like noise when played from an external HDD connected to the laptop's USB port without enabling any OPL mode; the first level's last FMV has no issues and the second level's first FMV still has a loud buzz-like noise when played on OPL via SMB from the laptop's SSD without enabling any OPL mode; the first level's last FMV and second level's first FMV have a loud buzz-like noise when played from an external HDD connected to the nano router's USB port without enabling any OPL mode.

Is Neutrino generally more compatible with PS2 games than OPL?

[rickgaiser]

Is Neutrino generally more compatible with PS2 games than OPL?

In theory, yes. Neutrino started a stripped down OPL fork, with the same compatibility. Over time many things should have improved in neutrino. Quite a few games are known to now work in neutrino that have not yet been fixed in OPL.

But there has never been an extensive compatibility test done.

[DukeJP]

I think that because it lacked a GUI, Neutrino was much more difficult to use, so even though it was known to exist, few people used it. This started to change a couple of months ago and I hope that its development improves and becomes more widespread.

[Windows10User2]

Is Neutrino generally more compatible with PS2 games than OPL?

In theory, yes. Neutrino started a stripped down OPL fork, with the same compatibility. Over time many things should have improved in neutrino. Quite a few games are known to now work in neutrino that have not yet been fixed in OPL.

But there has never been an extensive compatibility test done.

I don't get it why The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer's second level's first FMV sometimes has no sound when played via UDPBD. Shouldn't it always have that issue or not instead of only sometimes?

OK, but official OPL Beta Builds compatibility may have grown as well and some games might work in the most recent ones that don't in the most recent Neutrino stable one too.

What is Neutrino's most compatible device, the HDD? Is UDPBD more compatible than SMB?

Could you tell me if there is a short compatibility list for Neutrino, at least?

The problem with XEB+ neutrino Launcher Plugin that I use to run Neutrino is that it needs to be on an USB device connected to the PC and so it can't be run from a PS2 MC.

I don't understand why OPL has a different behavior when running the same game (The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer) via the same device (SMB) if the latter is located on a PC's SSD, on an external connected to the PC or in an external HDD connected to a nano router which in turn is connected to the PS2.

Regarding Neutrino's latest development build via UDPBD, it has even more issues than Neutrino's stable one since The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer's first level's last FMV and second level's first FMV have a loud buzz-like noise when played from the laptop's SSD.

How can XEB+ neutrino Launcher Plugin use Neutrino's modes?

I think that because it lacked a GUI, Neutrino was much more difficult to use, so even though it was known to exist, few people used it. This started to change a couple of months ago and I hope that its development improves and becomes more widespread.

I guess so. I for instance don't know how to run it without a GUI and that's why I use XEB+ neutrino Launcher Plugin. I also don't know how to run Neutrino even if using this OPL fork.

Can RETROLauncher play games via UDPBD? What are the limitations the third-party loaders have that this repository mentions when comparing to directly running Neutrino?

[rickgaiser]

You ask too many questions. This is a bug report please try to stay on topic.

It seems like a timing issue between the EE and IOP. If the game expects the IOP to process something within a fixed amount of time. But becouse of our (OPL / neutrino) emulation of the DVD, this time will be longer (or shorter). A good program would wait for completion, but it's very possible some games don't do that, and instead expect the IOP to always process something in the exact same time.

I'm not talking about the processing of the DVD reads itself, but for instance the processing of the sound. If this driver has a high priority (low number), then this will always process in a fixed amount of time. A real DVD read will be done by hardware, and not cause the auto processing to delay. But in our emulation of the dvd, if our driver (usb for instance) has a thread with a higher priority (it does), then reads will cause the audio processing to be delayed during reads.

This will result in random behaviour, depending on the driver used (usb/hdd/..) and also the device used (hdd/ssd/...). As this changes the timing on the IOP ever so slightly.

But it would also explain why changing the timing on the EE would make a difference:
ps2homebrew/Open-PS2-Loader#846 (comment)

If this is the case, then it's not a question of 'compatibility' of opl/neutrino, but more a question of luck with a certain combination of code and devices. I'm investigating this theory.

Module of interest:
cdrom0:\MODULES\HIS.IRX "heavy_iron_streamer"

HIS v1.8 SP10
Release Version
Debugging APIs are available
Copyright (C) 2003-4 Heavy Iron Studios

Starting threads with priorities of 40, 39 and 38

[Windows10User2]

You ask too many questions. This is a bug report please try to stay on topic.

It seems like a timing issue between the EE and IOP. If the game expects the IOP to process something within a fixed amount of time. But becouse of our (OPL / neutrino) emulation of the DVD, this time will be longer (or shorter). A good program would wait for completion, but it's very possible some games don't do that, and instead expect the IOP to always process something in the exact same time.

I'm not talking about the processing of the DVD reads itself, but for instance the processing of the sound. If this driver has a high priority (low number), then this will always process in a fixed amount of time. A real DVD read will be done by hardware, and not cause the auto processing to delay. But in our emulation of the dvd, if our driver (usb for instance) has a thread with a higher priority (it does), then reads will cause the audio processing to be delayed during reads.

This will result in random behaviour, depending on the driver used (usb/hdd/..) and also the device used (hdd/ssd/...). As this changes the timing on the IOP ever so slightly.

But it would also explain why changing the timing on the EE would make a difference: ps2homebrew/Open-PS2-Loader#846 (comment)

If this is the case, then it's not a question of 'compatibility' of opl/neutrino, but more a question of luck with a certain combination of code and devices. I'm investigating this theory.

Module of interest: cdrom0:\MODULES\HIS.IRX "heavy_iron_streamer"

HIS v1.8 SP10
Release Version
Debugging APIs are available
Copyright (C) 2003-4 Heavy Iron Studios

Starting threads with priorities of 40, 39 and 38

But on OPL The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer's second level's first FMV always has the same behavior unlike on Neutrino.

I don't get how GSM settings may fix this issue on OPL.

EDIT: I tried this but the second level's first FMV still has a loud buzz-like noise.

[rickgaiser]

I thought I had it working, but the behaviour seems random.
I'm using UDPBD and I have a savegame for the second level.

When I start the savegame, the FMV sometimes works, and sometimes the loud buzz-like noise.

I tried multiple priorities, but the most important are:

• 40: game wont boot, probably a thread of prio 39/40 that is busy waiting for data
• 39: issue still randomly present

However, the smap_udpbd driver also has a thread, with prio 8. I can't change that without breaking the protocol.

So far still no fix.

[Windows10User2]

I thought I had it working, but the behaviour seems random. I'm using UDPBD and I have a savegame for the second level.

When I start the savegame, the FMV sometimes works, and sometimes the loud buzz-like noise.

I tried multiple priorities, but the most important are:

* 40: game wont boot, probably a thread of prio 39/40 that is busy waiting for data

* 39: issue still randomly present

However, the smap_udpbd driver also has a thread, with prio 8. I can't change that without breaking the protocol.

So far still no fix.

I thought only OPL Modes could fix issues, not OPL GSM settings as well (I'm not talking about resolution/picture problems).

[Phantasm1990]

@AKuHAK @rickgaiser @Windows10User2 @10522 this opl udpbd fork made by @israpps can play the NTSC version of the game SLUS_212.17 without issues https://www.mediafire.com/file/v0pyp49pmh3sr3v/OPNPS2LD-v1.2.0-Beta-1973-88079d7-UDPBD.ZIP/file it needs mode 1, i tried the PAL versions but they get stuck at the first loading screen

Here is a save file if anyone wants to make tests, all levels are unlocked
BASLUS-21217Incrdbls.zip

[Windows10User2]

@AKuHAK @rickgaiser @Windows10User2 @10522 this opl udpbd fork made by @israpps can play the NTSC version of the game SLUS_212.17 without issues https://www.mediafire.com/file/v0pyp49pmh3sr3v/OPNPS2LD-v1.2.0-Beta-1973-88079d7-UDPBD.ZIP/file it needs mode 1, i tried the PAL versions but they get stuck at the first loading screen

Here is a save file if anyone wants to make tests, all levels are unlocked BASLUS-21217Incrdbls.zip

You used UDPBD on that OPL fork, right?

[Phantasm1990]

You used UDPBD on that OPL fork, right?

Yes, select BDM just like with oplneut

[Windows10User2]

You used UDPBD on that OPL fork, right?

Yes, select BDM just like with oplneut

I was never able to make OPL Neutrino work.

Regarding it (OPL Neutrino), what's the command to run udpbd-vexfat.exe? If using udpbd-server.exe on OPL UDPBD, it is:

"C:\path\to\udpbd-server.exe" \.\F:

("F:" is a USB flash drive in this case).

What's the command to run udpbd-server.exe?

May I have my games on the PC's SSD along with udpbd-vexfat.exe, instead of on an USB flash drive (unlike if using udpbd-server.exe)?

Also, may I have my games on the PC's SSD and udpbd-server.exe on an USB flash drive or it has to be otherwise for it to work? Do I need to format the PC's SSD partition/USB flash drive where the games are located in Linux/GParted Live if using udpbd-vexfat.exe or only if using udpbd-server.exe?

Regarding OPL UDPBD, what's the command to run udpbd-vexfat.exe? If using udpbd-server.exe, it is:

"C:\path\to\udpbd-server.exe" \.\F:

("F:" is a USB flash drive in this case).

May I have my games on the PC's SSD along with udpbd-vexfat.exe, instead of on an USB flash drive (unlike if using udpbd-server.exe)?

Also, may I have my games on the PC's SSD and udpbd-server.exe on an USB flash drive or it has to be otherwise for it to work? Do I need to format the PC's SSD partition/USB flash drive where the games are located in Linux/GParted Live if using udpbd-vexfat.exe or only if using udpbd-server.exe?

[Windows10User2]

@AKuHAK @rickgaiser @Windows10User2 @10522 this opl udpbd fork made by @israpps can play the NTSC version of the game SLUS_212.17 without issues https://www.mediafire.com/file/v0pyp49pmh3sr3v/OPNPS2LD-v1.2.0-Beta-1973-88079d7-UDPBD.ZIP/file it needs mode 1, i tried the PAL versions but they get stuck at the first loading screen

Here is a save file if anyone wants to make tests, all levels are unlocked BASLUS-21217Incrdbls.zip

The problem with that build is that it's not based on the latest OPL Beta. Also, I prefer the PAL version.