They used to load fine but suddenly they refuse to launch the game and instead the Saturn CD-ROM menu appears. Windows version launches them fine. Cue/bin files are exactly the same on both OS, same for the BIOS files (mpr-17933 and sega_100/101.bin) and folders. USA cue/bin discs run without issue.
I use Linux Mint
We would need to see a log to even guess what’s going wrong.
log gives the following for Beetle Saturn. Game is Slayers Royal 2. With the default Beetle config the music and gray color logo without a cd tray appears. however with the following config the Saturn black logo and music with CD drive inside is heard, however instead of game launching, only the CD player menu appears. Japanese PSX cue/bin games with the PSX cores launch fine.
Same issue both in Flatpak and Appimage that use a different config folder. I do not know if a Linux update could be the culprit.
beetle_saturn_analog_stick_deadzone = "15%"
beetle_saturn_autortc = "enabled"
beetle_saturn_autortc_lang = "japanese"
beetle_saturn_cart = "Extended RAM (4MB)"
beetle_saturn_cdimagecache = "disabled"
beetle_saturn_horizontal_blend = "disabled"
beetle_saturn_horizontal_overscan = "0"
beetle_saturn_initial_scanline = "0"
beetle_saturn_initial_scanline_pal = "0"
beetle_saturn_last_scanline = "239"
beetle_saturn_last_scanline_pal = "271"
beetle_saturn_midsync = "disabled"
beetle_saturn_mouse_sensitivity = "100%"
beetle_saturn_multitap_port1 = "disabled"
beetle_saturn_multitap_port2 = "disabled"
beetle_saturn_opposite_directions = "disabled"
beetle_saturn_region = "Japan"
beetle_saturn_shared_ext = "disabled"
beetle_saturn_shared_int = "disabled"
beetle_saturn_trigger_deadzone = "15%"
beetle_saturn_virtuagun_crosshair = "Cross"
beetle_saturn_virtuagun_input = "Lightgun"
Retroarch log.
[INFO] RetroArch 1.17.0 (Git 28326ce)
[INFO] === Build =======================================
[INFO] CPU Model Name: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6700HQ CPU @ 2.60GHz
[INFO] Capabilities: MMX MMXEXT SSE SSE2 SSE3 SSSE3 SSE4 SSE42 AES AVX
[INFO] Version: 1.17.0
[INFO] Git: 28326ce
[INFO] Built: Feb 16 2024
[INFO] =================================================
[INFO] [Input]: Found input driver: "x".
[INFO] [Environ]: SET_PIXEL_FORMAT: RGB565.
[INFO] [Core]: Version of libretro API: 1, Compiled against API: 1
[INFO] [Core]: Geometry: 320x240, Aspect: 1.333, FPS: 122.38, Sample rate: 48000.00 Hz.
[INFO] [Audio]: Set audio input rate to: 48000.00 Hz.
[INFO] [Video]: Set video size to: fullscreen.
[ERROR] [Wayland]: Failed to connect to Wayland server.
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Vulkan dynamic library loaded.
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Found vulkan context: "vk_x".
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Detecting screen resolution: 1024x768.
[INFO] [XINERAMA]: Xinerama version: 1.1.
[INFO] [XINERAMA]: Xinerama screens: 1.
[INFO] [X/Vulkan]: Using Xinerama on screen #0.
[INFO] [X/Vulkan]: X = 0, Y = 0, W = 1024, H = 768.
[INFO] [X/Vulkan]: Using windowed fullscreen.
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Found GPU at index 0: "NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060".
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Found GPU at index 1: "llvmpipe (LLVM 17.0.6, 256 bits)".
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Using GPU index 0.
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Using fences for WSI acquire.
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Using GPU: "NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060".
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Queue family 0 supports 16 sub-queues.
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Got 3 swapchain images.
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Using resolution 1024x768.
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Using RGB565 format.
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Loading stock shader.
[INFO] [Joypad]: Found joypad driver: "udev".
[INFO] [X11]: Suspending screensaver (X11, xdg-screensaver).
[INFO] [Video]: Found display server: "x11".
[INFO] [PulseAudio]: Requested 24576 bytes buffer, got 22272.
[INFO] [Audio]: Started synchronous audio driver.
[INFO] [ALSA] Using ALSA version 1.2.6.1
[INFO] [Microphone]: Initialized microphone driver.
[INFO] [Display]: Found display driver: "vulkan".
[INFO] [Playlist]: Loading history file: "/mnt/7571a82e-f4bb-4ae8-90aa-252228c292c7/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64.AppImage.home/.config/retroarch/content_history.lpl".
[INFO] [Playlist]: Loading history file: "/mnt/7571a82e-f4bb-4ae8-90aa-252228c292c7/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64.AppImage.home/.config/retroarch/content_music_history.lpl".
[INFO] [Playlist]: Loading history file: "/mnt/7571a82e-f4bb-4ae8-90aa-252228c292c7/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64.AppImage.home/.config/retroarch/content_image_history.lpl".
[INFO] [Playlist]: Loading favorites file: "/mnt/7571a82e-f4bb-4ae8-90aa-252228c292c7/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64.AppImage.home/.config/retroarch/content_favorites.lpl".
[INFO] [X/Vulkan]: Resized fullscreen resolution to 1024x768.
[INFO] [Core]: Using content: "/mnt/7571a82e-f4bb-4ae8-90aa-252228c292c7/Sega Saturn/SlayersRoyal2/Slayers Royale 2 (J).cue".
[INFO] [Core]: Content ran for a total of: 00 hours, 00 minutes, 00 seconds.
[INFO] [PulseAudio]: Pausing.
[INFO] [Core]: Unloading core..
[INFO] [Core]: Unloading core symbols..
[INFO] [XINERAMA]: Xinerama version: 1.1.
[INFO] [XINERAMA]: Xinerama screens: 1.
[INFO] [XINERAMA]: Saved monitor #0.
[INFO] [Video]: Does not have enough samples for monitor refresh rate estimation. Requires to run for at least 4096 frames.
[INFO] RetroArch 1.17.0 (Git 28326ce)
[INFO] === Build =======================================
[INFO] CPU Model Name: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6700HQ CPU @ 2.60GHz
[INFO] Capabilities: MMX MMXEXT SSE SSE2 SSE3 SSSE3 SSE4 SSE42 AES AVX
[INFO] Version: 1.17.0
[INFO] Git: 28326ce
[INFO] Built: Feb 16 2024
[INFO] =================================================
[INFO] [Input]: Found input driver: "x".
[INFO] [Core]: Loading dynamic libretro core from: "/mnt/7571a82e-f4bb-4ae8-90aa-252228c292c7/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64.AppImage.home/.config/retroarch/cores/mednafen_saturn_libretro.so"
[INFO] [Overrides]: Redirecting save file to "/mnt/7571a82e-f4bb-4ae8-90aa-252228c292c7/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64.AppImage.home/.config/retroarch/saves/Beetle Saturn/Slayers Royale 2 (J).srm".
[INFO] [Overrides]: Redirecting save state to "/mnt/7571a82e-f4bb-4ae8-90aa-252228c292c7/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64.AppImage.home/.config/retroarch/states/Beetle Saturn/Slayers Royale 2 (J).state".
[INFO] [Environ]: GET_CORE_OPTIONS_VERSION.
[INFO] [Environ]: GET_LANGUAGE: "0".
[INFO] [Environ]: RETRO_ENVIRONMENT_SET_CORE_OPTIONS_V2_INTL.
[INFO] [Environ]: GET_VFS_INTERFACE. Core requested version >= V2, providing V3.
[INFO] [Environ]: GET_LED_INTERFACE.
[INFO] [Environ]: SET_CONTROLLER_INFO.
[INFO] [Environ]: GET_LOG_INTERFACE.
[INFO] [Environ]: SYSTEM_DIRECTORY: "/mnt/7571a82e-f4bb-4ae8-90aa-252228c292c7/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64.AppImage.home/.config/retroarch/system".
[INFO] [Environ]: SAVE_DIRECTORY: "/mnt/7571a82e-f4bb-4ae8-90aa-252228c292c7/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64.AppImage.home/.config/retroarch/saves/Beetle Saturn".
[INFO] [Environ]: GET_DISK_CONTROL_INTERFACE_VERSION.
[INFO] [Environ]: SET_DISK_CONTROL_EXT_INTERFACE.
[INFO] [Environ]: GET_PERF_INTERFACE.
[INFO] [Environ]: PERFORMANCE_LEVEL: 15.
[INFO] [Content]: Content loading skipped. Implementation will load it on its own.
[INFO] [Environ]: SET_INPUT_DESCRIPTORS:
[INFO] [Environ]: SET_PIXEL_FORMAT: XRGB8888.
[INFO] [Environ]: SET_CONTROLLER_INFO.
[INFO] [Environ]: SET_CONTROLLER_INFO.
[libretro INFO] Loading "/mnt/7571a82e-f4bb-4ae8-90aa-252228c292c7/Sega Saturn/SlayersRoyal2/Slayers Royale 2 (J).cue"
[libretro INFO] Calculating game ID (1 discs)
[libretro INFO] Game ID is:
[libretro INFO] [Mednafen]: CPU Cache Emulation Mode: Data only
[libretro INFO] [Mednafen]: Region: 0x4.
[libretro INFO] [Mednafen]: Cart: Backup Memory.
[INFO] [Replay]: Found last replay slot: #0
[INFO] [SRAM]: Skipping SRAM load.
[INFO] [Core]: Version of libretro API: 1, Compiled against API: 1
[INFO] [Core]: Geometry: 320x240, Aspect: 1.333, FPS: 59.83, Sample rate: 44100.00 Hz.
[INFO] [Audio]: Set audio input rate to: 45106.56 Hz.
[INFO] [Video]: Set video size to: fullscreen.
[ERROR] [Wayland]: Failed to connect to Wayland server.
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Vulkan dynamic library loaded.
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Found vulkan context: "vk_x".
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Detecting screen resolution: 1024x768.
[INFO] [XINERAMA]: Xinerama version: 1.1.
[INFO] [XINERAMA]: Xinerama screens: 1.
[INFO] [X/Vulkan]: Using Xinerama on screen #0.
[INFO] [X/Vulkan]: X = 0, Y = 0, W = 1024, H = 768.
[INFO] [X/Vulkan]: Using windowed fullscreen.
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Found GPU at index 0: "NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060".
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Found GPU at index 1: "llvmpipe (LLVM 17.0.6, 256 bits)".
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Using GPU index 0.
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Using fences for WSI acquire.
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Using GPU: "NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060".
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Queue family 0 supports 16 sub-queues.
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Got 3 swapchain images.
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Using resolution 1024x768.
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Using BGRA8888 format.
[INFO] [Shaders]: Specific shader preset found at "/mnt/7571a82e-f4bb-4ae8-90aa-252228c292c7/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64.AppImage.home/.config/retroarch/config/global.slangp".
[WARN] [Shaders]: Could not read shader preset in #reference line: "/app/share/libretro/shaders/shaders_slang/misc/interlacing.slangp".
[INFO]
[WARN] [Shaders]: Could not read root preset: "/mnt/7571a82e-f4bb-4ae8-90aa-252228c292c7/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64.AppImage.home/.config/retroarch/config/global.slangp".
[ERROR] [Vulkan]: Failed to create preset: "/mnt/7571a82e-f4bb-4ae8-90aa-252228c292c7/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64.AppImage.home/.config/retroarch/config/global.slangp".
[INFO] [Joypad]: Found joypad driver: "udev".
[INFO] [X11]: Suspending screensaver (X11, xdg-screensaver).
[INFO] [Video]: Found display server: "x11".
[INFO] [PulseAudio]: Requested 24576 bytes buffer, got 22272.
[INFO] [Audio]: Started synchronous audio driver.
[INFO] [ALSA] Using ALSA version 1.2.6.1
[INFO] [Microphone]: Initialized microphone driver.
[INFO] [Display]: Found display driver: "vulkan".
[libretro INFO] Controller 1: Control Pad
[libretro INFO] Controller 2: Control Pad
[WARN] [Shaders]: Could not read shader preset in #reference line: "/app/share/libretro/shaders/shaders_slang/misc/interlacing.slangp".
[INFO]
[WARN] [Shaders]: Could not read root preset: "/mnt/7571a82e-f4bb-4ae8-90aa-252228c292c7/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64.AppImage.home/.config/retroarch/config/global.slangp".
[INFO] [Playlist]: Loading history file: "/mnt/7571a82e-f4bb-4ae8-90aa-252228c292c7/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64.AppImage.home/.config/retroarch/content_history.lpl".
[INFO] [Playlist]: Loading history file: "/mnt/7571a82e-f4bb-4ae8-90aa-252228c292c7/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64.AppImage.home/.config/retroarch/content_music_history.lpl".
[INFO] [Playlist]: Loading history file: "/mnt/7571a82e-f4bb-4ae8-90aa-252228c292c7/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64.AppImage.home/.config/retroarch/content_image_history.lpl".
[INFO] [Playlist]: Loading favorites file: "/mnt/7571a82e-f4bb-4ae8-90aa-252228c292c7/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64.AppImage.home/.config/retroarch/content_favorites.lpl".
[INFO] [Environ]: SET_GEOMETRY: 352x224, Aspect: 1.347.
[libretro INFO] input_set_geometry: 330x224
[INFO] [X/Vulkan]: Resized fullscreen resolution to 1024x768.
[INFO] [X/Vulkan]: Resized fullscreen resolution to 1024x768.
[INFO] [X/Vulkan]: Resized fullscreen resolution to 1024x768.
[INFO] [Config]: Saved new config to "/mnt/7571a82e-f4bb-4ae8-90aa-252228c292c7/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64.AppImage.home/.config/retroarch/retroarch.cfg".
[INFO] [Core]: Content ran for a total of: 00 hours, 00 minutes, 17 seconds.
[INFO] [Runtime]: Saving runtime log file: "/mnt/7571a82e-f4bb-4ae8-90aa-252228c292c7/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64.AppImage.home/.config/retroarch/playlists/logs/Beetle Saturn/Slayers Royale 2 (J).lrtl".
[INFO] [Core]: Unloading game..
[INFO] [PulseAudio]: Pausing.
[INFO] [Core]: Unloading core..
[INFO] [Core]: Unloading core symbols..
[INFO] [Core]: Saved core options file to "/mnt/7571a82e-f4bb-4ae8-90aa-252228c292c7/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64.AppImage.home/.config/retroarch/config/Beetle Saturn/Beetle Saturn.opt".
[INFO] [XINERAMA]: Xinerama version: 1.1.
[INFO] [XINERAMA]: Xinerama screens: 1.
[INFO] [XINERAMA]: Saved monitor #0.
[INFO] [Video]: Does not have enough samples for monitor refresh rate estimation. Requires to run for at least 4096 frames.Hmm, I only see some shader errors in there, which could potentially cause a black screen. Have you tried it with no shaders?
usa Saturn games run fine. But all japanese cue/bin files refuse to run. Few days ago Saturn games would run fine. Will try to reset the config file to see if it solves the issue. However it is strange that both flatpak and appimage have same problem simultaneously. issue seems to be that retroarch does not recognise the Japanese cue/bin game Id for all Japanese titles as it is empty and thus the cd menu appears because it can not recognise the disc. maybe a core update caused this. Will try to update info and data files too
Loading “/mnt/7571a82e-f4bb-4ae8-90aa-252228c292c7/Sega Saturn/SlayersRoyal2/Slayers Royale 2 (J).cue” [libretro INFO] Calculating game ID (1 discs) [libretro INFO] Game ID is:
downloaded retroarch from ppa, created new config files, downloaded saturn beetle, copied system bios, same issue. It refuses to load Japanese cue/bin games and now it crashes as well at this point. Same for the other Japanese games. USA games or English patched games load fine.
[INFO] [Core]: Using content: "/mnt/7571a82e-f4bb-4ae8-90aa-252228c292c7/Sega Saturn/SlayersRoyal2/Slayers Royale 2 (J).cue".
[INFO] [Core]: Content ran for a total of: 00 hours, 00 minutes, 00 seconds.
[INFO] [PulseAudio]: Pausing.
[INFO] [Core]: Unloading core..
[INFO] [Core]: Unloading core symbols..
[INFO] [XINERAMA]: Xinerama version: 1.1.
[INFO] [XINERAMA]: Xinerama screens: 1.
[INFO] [XINERAMA]: Saved monitor #0.
[INFO] [Video]: Does not have enough samples for monitor refresh rate estimation. Requires to run for at least 4096 frames.
[INFO] RetroArch 1.17.0 (Git r202402032131~ad8975cb5a)
[INFO] === Build =======================================
[INFO] CPU Model Name: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6700HQ CPU @ 2.60GHz
[INFO] Capabilities: MMX MMXEXT SSE SSE2 SSE3 SSSE3 SSE4 SSE42 AES AVX AVX2
[INFO] Version: 1.17.0
[INFO] Git: r202402032131~ad8975cb5a
[INFO] Built: Feb 3 2024
[INFO] =================================================
[INFO] [Input]: Found input driver: "x".
[INFO] [Core]: Loading dynamic libretro core from: "/home/petros/.config/retroarch/cores/mednafen_saturn_libretro.so"
[INFO] [Overrides]: Redirecting save file to "/home/petros/.config/retroarch/saves/Beetle Saturn/Slayers Royale 2 (J).srm".
[INFO] [Overrides]: Redirecting save state to "/home/petros/.config/retroarch/states/Beetle Saturn/Slayers Royale 2 (J).state".
[INFO] [Environ]: GET_CORE_OPTIONS_VERSION.
[INFO] [Environ]: GET_LANGUAGE: "0".
[INFO] [Environ]: RETRO_ENVIRONMENT_SET_CORE_OPTIONS_V2_INTL.
[INFO] [Environ]: GET_VFS_INTERFACE. Core requested version >= V2, providing V3.
[INFO] [Environ]: GET_LED_INTERFACE.
[INFO] [Environ]: SET_CONTROLLER_INFO.
[INFO] [Environ]: GET_LOG_INTERFACE.
[INFO] [Environ]: SYSTEM_DIRECTORY: "/home/petros/.config/retroarch/system".
[INFO] [Environ]: SAVE_DIRECTORY: "/home/petros/.config/retroarch/saves/Beetle Saturn".
[INFO] [Environ]: GET_DISK_CONTROL_INTERFACE_VERSION.
[INFO] [Environ]: SET_DISK_CONTROL_EXT_INTERFACE.
[INFO] [Environ]: GET_PERF_INTERFACE.
[INFO] [Environ]: PERFORMANCE_LEVEL: 15.
[INFO] [Content]: Content loading skipped. Implementation will load it on its own.
[INFO] [Environ]: SET_INPUT_DESCRIPTORS:
[INFO] [Environ]: SET_PIXEL_FORMAT: XRGB8888.
[INFO] [Environ]: SET_CONTROLLER_INFO.
[INFO] [Environ]: SET_CONTROLLER_INFO.
[libretro INFO] Loading "/mnt/7571a82e-f4bb-4ae8-90aa-252228c292c7/Sega Saturn/SlayersRoyal2/Slayers Royale 2 (J).cue"
[libretro INFO] Calculating game ID (1 discs)
on command line I get the message Segmentation fault (core dumped)
Fortunately it only happens with a few games, ending with cue/bin.
If I load the cue file via CDemu client and then load the saturn core and choose “load disc” game loads fine and I get the message [libretro INFO] Loading “cdrom://drive2.cue” [libretro INFO] Calculating game ID (1 discs) [libretro INFO] Game ID is: T-27907G [libretro INFO] This is a Saturn disc. [libretro INFO] Disc Region: “Japan” [libretro INFO] [Mednafen]: CPU Cache Emulation Mode: Data only [libretro INFO] [Mednafen]: Region: 0x1. [libretro INFO] [Mednafen]: Cart: 4MiB Extended RAM. [INFO] [Replay]: Found last replay slot: #0
Though unfortunately Slayers Royal 2 specifically freezes on the first screen this way. It needs to be played via the cue file. however when I load the cue file straight from Retroarch it does not recognize the disc.
Another solution is to load just the bin file but without the Beetle core as it only Yabause supports it. or convert the cue/bin to chd if I want to use Beetle Saturn.
Have you tried converting those games to CHD? also, have you gone to redump.org to verify that the cue sheet is correct?
They run properly on chd, yes. But the thing is, regardless of whether they are dumped correctly or not, on Windows version of Retroarch those same cue files load directly without issue, but not on the Linux version. It seems Windows version bypasses some disc checks. Converting them to CHD is the best solution.
Any chance there’s an issue with case-sensitivity? that’s a common divergence between Win and Lin.
no it is not an issue with case-sensitivity , like above answers it´s really the best to convert / use chd for saturn i got the same weird issues month ago i tried to rename the files with no luck (this happend for me on windows btw) , since i converted everything to chd all games play fine i wish i could point directly to the problem no other system has such issues
Could you do a checksum of both the BIOS and game, in both Windows and Linux, and compare if they’re changed? There’s a chance of corruption in those files. Who knows if it’s that.
I used a chd based on a correct dump as the previous one would freeze in Beetle Saturn but would run fine on yabause/sanshiro
so best option is to have both a correct dump and proper chd conversion
run mortal kombat2 jap cue/bin
run fine on all cores
linux mint 
some games that got issues without chd conversion were the arcade ports of Bubble Symphony and Elevator Action Returns