Beetle Saturn No Longer Loads Games in 1.7.3

[Hot_Violet]

I have an installation of 1.7.1 with the latest Beetle Saturn core update (today). I have the correct BIOS file in the in the System folder and all works perfectly.

However, I installed 1.7.3 (taken from the Download page) and copied over my System folder containing my BIOS files but no Saturn game loads. All I get is the “Failed to Load Contents” message.

I loaded the core to check that the BIOS file was being recognised and I found that it was. Just to be safe, I put in a fresh BIOS file, checked that RA recognised it and tried to again. Still, no game will load.

My install of 1.7.1 still works fine. Both 1.7.1 and 1.7.3 are installed on my C:\ drive. All other cores seem to work fine.

I’m on Windows 10 x64 Pro.

[wertz]

works fine here. a logfile would be helpful here…

[Hot_Violet]

Here’s the full log. The only error I see is that it fails to load the BIOS file. Problem is that it’s the same BIOS file that works in 1.7.1 and the checksum also bears out…

https://pastebin.com/KzxjZxB9

[wertz]

-weird game. a disk labeled (USA) that needs an SBI file(is this a bad dump or something)?

-requres this bios?

[libretro ERROR] Cannot open BIOS file "E:\Emulation\Sega Saturn\Games\Virtua Fighter 2 (USA) (DW0553)\\mpr-17933.bin".
[ERROR] Failed to load content.

• looks like theres an error in path too, the use of “\” where is should just be only one.

i havent touched stuff in the saturn core for a while now. ill see what i can do unless someone beats me to it or is more familiar with much more game compatibility info.

[Hot_Violet]

The game is one of the Dark Water dumps if that’s any help. Regardless, this is what happens with every game I try to load. Doesn’t matter the region or format (bin/cue, ccd etc).

What’s really weird is the fact that all the games worked fine in previous builds and the BIOS (which also worked in 1.7.1 as well the standalone emulator SSF) also file passes the checksums. The core info tab in RA states the BIOS files are all present…

I’ve no idea about the directory path thing (the double slash etc). I haven’t touched any of the paths. Every path (except my games path) is as they were upon installation.

[DaveTheMan1985]

The game is one of the Dark Water dumps if that’s any help. Regardless, this is what happens with every game I try to load. Doesn’t matter the region or format (bin/cue, ccd etc).

Have you Tried a Game from the ReDump Dumps?

[wertz]

are you intentionally using

E:\Emulation\Sega Saturn\Games\Virtua Fighter 2 (USA) (DW0553)\

as your system directory? if not or in anycase, kindly re-set the correct system directory where the bios files are supposed to be placed.

(ignore the .SBI comment above as this seems to be normally shown in log for whatever reasons even if its not needed…)

[Hot_Violet]

No. I have not touched the path to the System directory. It is still set to “RA-Digital\System”. I have not changed it. RA-Digital is what I’ve called my RA folder. When I go into the Directory menu in RA it still reads: SYSTEM/BIOS: RA-Digital\System.

Just to be on the safe side, I have gone into the menu and specifically chosen the System folder. The issue is remains…

PS: Thanks for your replies and help.

[wertz]

goto settings > saving and make sure to turn OFF “System files in content Dir” - this is probably whats causing this…

UPDATE: i can confirm that this option is the cause of this problem. This causes to look for system folder in the rom folder instead of where the “system” folder was set.

[Hot_Violet]

Thank you. I’ve absolutely no idea how or why that was switched ON. Still, all’s well that ends well.

Thanks again for your help and time.

[bad_boo]

I am having this same problem, Sega saturn just stopped working… after reading OP’s issue, does it mean that the roms should be inside a folder each one??? I have them all on 7z and inside of them are on cue/bin format. Is this an issue?

[wertz]

yes… 7zip/zip not supported (or recommended) for cdimages. if you want to save space, consider creating .chd format instead.

[bad_boo]

Oh I see. I will try to convert them to chd in that case… uff it is gonna be a long conversion , I guess lol But cue/bin format is ok, right?

Thanks, I will come back with a reply if it works.

[bad_boo]

ok, coming back with an update. I was able to make it work … finally!!! I had to download the RA 1.6.7 version from the libretro website and then I got the cores for the sega saturn and placed them in the system folder.

I used the beetle (mednafen) core for sega saturn by dowanloading it through the same RA 1.6.7.

If I try this same thing on 1.7.x versions, doesn’t work…

well, I am glad I got it working again, but too bad it took me some days to figured just this out. lol Also, I didn’t need to get any other rom library (like darkwater set, etc), my old zipped roms with cue/bin files in them are working fine as before… I don’t know what is going on with 1.7.x versions

[Squalo]

Mednafen Saturn, the core itself, was renamed Beetle Saturn somewhat recently. Playlists and folders and settings need to be reconfigured accordingly. It might have something to do with that.

[Seether2141]

I am using the Beetle Saturn core and when I try to load a rom it tries to play it as an audio file

[wertz]

wrong region specific bios or invalid cue file

[Seether2141]

Think it was the Cue file. Got another game load load up fine.

[RobP]

I’m helping someone troubleshoot a similar issue. The logfile is below:

[INFO] RetroArch 1.9.0 (Git 6388872a54)
[INFO] === Build =======================================
[INFO] CPU Model Name: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4300M CPU @ 2.60GHz
[INFO] Capabilities:  MMX MMXEXT SSE SSE2 SSE3 SSSE3 SSE4 SSE4.2 AES AVX
[INFO] Built: Aug 11 2020
[INFO] Version: 1.9.0
[INFO] Git: 6388872a54
[INFO] =================================================
[INFO] [Environ]: SET_PIXEL_FORMAT: RGB565.
[INFO] [Overrides]: Redirecting save file to "C:\Users\scitz\OneDrive\Desktop\RetroArch\saves\.srm".
[INFO] [Overrides]: Redirecting save state to "C:\Users\scitz\OneDrive\Desktop\RetroArch\states\.state".
[INFO] Version of libretro API: 1
[INFO] Compiled against API: 1
[INFO] [Audio]: Set audio input rate to: 48000.00 Hz.
[INFO] [Video]: Video @ fullscreen
[INFO] [GL]: Found GL context: wgl
[INFO] [GL]: Detecting screen resolution 1366x768.
[INFO] Setting fullscreen to 1366x768 @ 60Hz on device \\.\DISPLAY1.
[INFO] [WGL] extensions: WGL_EXT_depth_float WGL_ARB_buffer_region WGL_ARB_extensions_string WGL_ARB_make_current_read WGL_ARB_pixel_format WGL_ARB_pbuffer WGL_EXT_extensions_string WGL_EXT_swap_control WGL_EXT_swap_control_tear WGL_ARB_multisample WGL_ARB_pixe
[INFO] [WGL]: Adaptive VSync supported.
[INFO] [WGL]: wglSwapInterval(1)
[INFO] [GL]: Vendor: Intel, Renderer: Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600.
[INFO] [GL]: Version: 4.3.0 - Build 20.19.15.5126.
[INFO] [GL]: Using resolution 1366x768
[INFO] [GL]: Default shader backend found: glsl.
[INFO] [Shader driver]: Using GLSL shader backend.
[INFO] [GLSL]: Checking GLSL shader support ...
[WARN] [GL]: Stock GLSL shaders will be used.
[INFO] [GLSL]: Found GLSL vertex shader.
[INFO] Shader log: WARNING: 3:1: '' :  #version directive missing


[INFO] [GLSL]: Found GLSL fragment shader.
[INFO] Shader log: WARNING: 3:1: '' :  #version directive missing


[INFO] [GLSL]: Linking GLSL program.
[INFO] [GLSL]: Found GLSL vertex shader.
[INFO] Shader log: WARNING: 3:1: '' :  #version directive missing


[INFO] [GLSL]: Found GLSL fragment shader.
[INFO] Shader log: WARNING: 3:1: '' :  #version directive missing


[INFO] [GLSL]: Linking GLSL program.
[INFO] [GLSL]: Found GLSL vertex shader.
[INFO] Shader log: WARNING: 3:1: '' :  #version directive missing


[INFO] [GLSL]: Found GLSL fragment shader.
[INFO] Shader log: WARNING: 3:1: '' :  #version directive missing


[INFO] [GLSL]: Linking GLSL program.
[INFO] Setting up menu pipeline shaders for XMB ...
[INFO] [GLSL]: Compiling ribbon shader..
[INFO] [GLSL]: Found GLSL vertex shader.
[INFO] Shader log: WARNING: 3:1: '' :  #version directive missing


[INFO] [GLSL]: Found GLSL fragment shader.
[INFO] Shader log: WARNING: 3:1: '' :  #version directive missing


[INFO] [GLSL]: Linking GLSL program.
[INFO] [GLSL]: Compiling simple ribbon shader..
[INFO] [GLSL]: Found GLSL vertex shader.
[INFO] Shader log: WARNING: 3:1: '' :  #version directive missing


[INFO] [GLSL]: Found GLSL fragment shader.
[INFO] Shader log: WARNING: 3:1: '' :  #version directive missing


[INFO] [GLSL]: Linking GLSL program.
[INFO] [GLSL]: Compiling snow shader..
[INFO] [GLSL]: Found GLSL vertex shader.
[INFO] Shader log: WARNING: 3:1: '' :  #version directive missing


[INFO] [GLSL]: Found GLSL fragment shader.
[INFO] Shader log: WARNING: 3:1: '' :  #version directive missing


[INFO] [GLSL]: Linking GLSL program.
[INFO] [GLSL]: Compiling modern snow shader..
[INFO] [GLSL]: Found GLSL vertex shader.
[INFO] Shader log: WARNING: 3:1: '' :  #version directive missing


[INFO] [GLSL]: Found GLSL fragment shader.
[INFO] Shader log: WARNING: 3:1: '' :  #version directive missing


[INFO] [GLSL]: Linking GLSL program.
[INFO] [GLSL]: Compiling bokeh shader..
[INFO] [GLSL]: Found GLSL vertex shader.
[INFO] Shader log: WARNING: 3:1: '' :  #version directive missing


[INFO] [GLSL]: Found GLSL fragment shader.
[INFO] Shader log: WARNING: 3:1: '' :  #version directive missing


[INFO] [GLSL]: Linking GLSL program.
[INFO] [GLSL]: Compiling snowflake shader..
[INFO] [GLSL]: Found GLSL vertex shader.
[INFO] Shader log: WARNING: 3:1: '' :  #version directive missing


[INFO] [GLSL]: Found GLSL fragment shader.
[INFO] Shader log: WARNING: 3:1: '' :  #version directive missing


[INFO] [GLSL]: Linking GLSL program.
[INFO] [GL]: Using 4 textures.
[INFO] [GL]: Loaded 1 program(s).
[INFO] [GL]: Using GL_RGB565 for texture uploads.
[INFO] [XInput]: Found XInput v1.4.
[WARN] [DINPUT]: Strong rumble unavailable.
[WARN] [DINPUT]: Weak rumble unavailable.
[INFO] [Joypad]: Found joypad driver: "dinput".
[INFO] [Font]: Using font rendering backend: freetype.
[INFO] [Video]: Found display server: win32
[INFO] [XAudio2]: Requesting 64 ms latency, using 64 ms latency.
[INFO] [Display]: Found display driver: "gl".
[INFO] [Font]: Using font rendering backend: freetype.
[INFO] [Font]: Using font rendering backend: freetype.
[INFO] [Font]: Using font rendering backend: freetype.
[INFO] [Display]: Found display driver: "gl".
[INFO] [Font]: Using font rendering backend: freetype.
[INFO] [Font]: Using font rendering backend: freetype.
[INFO] [MIDI]: Input disabled.
[INFO] [MIDI]: Output disabled.
[INFO] [MIDI]: Initialized "winmm" driver.
[WARN] Input device ID 5 is unknown to this libretro implementation. Using RETRO_DEVICE_JOYPAD.
[INFO] Disconnecting device from port 4.
[INFO] Disconnecting device from port 5.
[INFO] Disconnecting device from port 6.
[INFO] Disconnecting device from port 7.
[INFO] Disconnecting device from port 8.
[INFO] Disconnecting device from port 9.
[INFO] Disconnecting device from port 10.
[INFO] Disconnecting device from port 11.
[INFO] Disconnecting device from port 12.
[INFO] Disconnecting device from port 13.
[INFO] Disconnecting device from port 14.
[INFO] Disconnecting device from port 15.
[INFO] Disconnecting device from port 16.
[INFO] [SRAM]: SRAM will not be saved.
[INFO] [DISCORD]: Registering startup command: C:\Users\scitz\OneDrive\Desktop\RetroArch\retroarch.exe -v --log-file retroarch-log.txt
[INFO] [Playlist]: Loading history file: [C:\Users\scitz\OneDrive\Desktop\RetroArch\content_history.lpl].
[INFO] [Playlist]: Loading history file: [C:\Users\scitz\OneDrive\Desktop\RetroArch\content_music_history.lpl].
[INFO] [Playlist]: Loading history file: [C:\Users\scitz\OneDrive\Desktop\RetroArch\content_video_history.lpl].
[INFO] [Playlist]: Loading history file: [C:\Users\scitz\OneDrive\Desktop\RetroArch\content_image_history.lpl].
[INFO] [Playlist]: Loading favorites file: [C:\Users\scitz\OneDrive\Desktop\RetroArch\content_favorites.lpl].
[INFO] [GL]: VSync => on
[INFO] [WGL]: wglSwapInterval(1)
[INFO] [Font]: Using font rendering backend: freetype.
[INFO] [Font]: Using font rendering backend: freetype.
[INFO] [Font]: Using font rendering backend: freetype.
[INFO] [GL]: VSync => on
[INFO] [WGL]: wglSwapInterval(1)
[INFO] [GL]: VSync => on
[INFO] [WGL]: wglSwapInterval(1)
[INFO] [config] Saved new config to "C:\Users\scitz\OneDrive\Desktop\RetroArch\retroarch.cfg".
[INFO] Content ran for a total of: 00 hours, 00 minutes, 00 seconds.
[INFO] [CORE]: Unloading core..
[INFO] [CORE]: Unloading core symbols..
[INFO] [Playlist]: Written to playlist file: C:\Users\scitz\OneDrive\Desktop\RetroArch\content_history.lpl
[INFO] [Video]: Does not have enough samples for monitor refresh rate estimation. Requires to run for at least 4096 frames.
[INFO] [Video]: Does not have enough samples for monitor refresh rate estimation. Requires to run for at least 4096 frames.