PCE and Neogeo CD discs not loading/detected

Libretro Cores
#1

Hi all,

I have an issue where some disc based consoles won’t load disc images in several emulators. I googled for solutions, but most results were for PS1 and SegaCD which ironically work fine for me. Working: PS1 (Beetle HW), SegaCD (Genesis Plus GX), Saturn (Kronos), (plus every other non-disc emulator) Not working: PC-FX (Beetle PC-FX), Neogeo CD (FB Alpha)

I’m on a new install of RA 1.7.5 on Windows 7 x64 with latest cores. The BIOS with the right checksums/names are in system folder. Disc based games for these platforms are not found when using the ‘search directory’ feature. I can attach logs if required, they’re appearing in cmd but I’m not sure how to extract them though.

PC-FX: Using Beetle Mednafen PC-FX v0.9.36 with CHDs (chdman’d from bin+cue files which work fine in standalone Mednafen). BIOS boots, CHD tracks are recognised in both --verbose log and in the BIOS’s music player. I turned ‘Threaded Video’ off per the log comment. The load game icon checks for a disc but gives up, the log doesn’t show anything when it’s trying to read. I’ve also tried the loose bin+cue, but no difference. I swapped from the recommended bios (08e36edbea28a017f79f8d4f7ff9b6d7) to a different one (1c8996258dfe6c1a07df305f0a3e5758), this skips the BIOS menu, but it reaches a black screen and nothing else.

NeoGeo CD: Using FB Alpha v0.29.7.44 with a choice of cue+iso+wav, img+sub+ccd+cue, and cue+iso (embedded audio). All bar one game are MODE1/2048 cues. AES games run fine. If I load a cue via menu bar or UI, it get to pick from a list of cores… but FBA isn’t listed. After loading an AES game, a “Load Neogeo CD” specific option appears under the RetroArch logo menu. Again FBA isn’t listed when loading the cue; when loading the ISO; it says Failed to load. Loading an img it loads the game in; PCE-fast and just goes to a black screen. Loading via command loads the BIOS, and game tracks play but can’t start the game. (“retroarch.exe” -L “\cores\fbalpha_libretro.dll” --subsystem neocd “Metal Slug (1996)(SNK)(Jp-US)[!].cue”) Same as PCFX, the standalone FB Alpha app runs these games fine.

All the other cores I use either run with no issue, or just needed a bios… I’ve managed to move almost every other emulator to RetroArch; except these 2 that really don’t want to run :dizzy_face:

#2

neocdz.zip is in your bios folder ?

#3

So I have them in the ‘system’ folder, and the RA cores can run the BIOS, just not launch the games via the BIOS or directly :confused:

For Neogeo I have: neocd.zip and neocdz.zip (and a renamed version; neocdzj.zip, think the later was required by an old emulator before I moved to Mednafen) And for PC-FX I have; pcfx.rom

#4

I don’t know anything about pcfx.

For fba iirc you need both neogeo.zip and neocdz.zip, from the right romset (FB Alpha v0.29.7.44), preferably in a fba subfolder of your system folder. I don’t know what’s neocd.zip and neocdj.zip, but you definitely don’t need them for fba.

1 Like
#5

thanks for this.

/20 characters

i dont have music though in Ironclad. does it suppose to work with .wav tracks?

[libretro WARN]     reading track  2 - /mnt/shared/EMULATORS/ConsoleISO/NeogeoCD/Ironclad/Choutetsu Brikin'ger (1996)(Saurus)(Jp)(Track 02 of 20)[!][Ironclad].wav
[libretro WARN]     reading track  1 - /mnt/shared/EMULATORS/ConsoleISO/NeogeoCD/Ironclad/Choutetsu Brikin'ger (1996)(Saurus)(Jp)(Track 01 of 20)[!][Ironclad].iso
[libretro ERROR] *** Switching CD mode to audio while in CD-ROM mode!(PC: 0xC0BAC4)
[libretro WARN]     playing track  7 - /mnt/shared/EMULATORS/ConsoleISO/NeogeoCD/Ironclad/Choutetsu Brikin'ger (1996)(Saurus)(Jp)(Track 07 of 20)[!][Ironclad].wav
#6

It should, i fixed it last week.

#7

ok updated the core from buildbot, audio tracks in .wav works great…

thanks and sorry for the confusion…

#8

So I tried using the system\fba structure you suggested. Still no diff, loading a cue takes me to a core menu without FBA being listed. For iso it goes back to the RA main menu with the text ‘Failed to load content’. :cry:

#9 
*Load Core, select FB Alpha (the one with no numbers), 
*You should be back at main menu, but look more options appeared!
*select Load NeogeoCD
*browse you confirmed working .CUE file
*You should be back at the menu, but Load Neogeno CD now is replaced with Start neogeo CD*
* all you need to do now is select Start NeogeoCD and all is well

if those options does not appear, update FBAlpha core

for PC-FX, you probably have a bad dump, usually cue issues.

#10

I don’t think you can do that with subsystems, either launch by command line or use @wertz’s method

#11

So loaded the unnumbered FBA core, loads to the main menu as you said; but no sub opbtions, just loads like a single emulators (ie.e. SNES9x). I loaded an AES game as I know that makes the list you speak of appear, switched to NeoGeo CD, tried to load the CUE, it appears along with the ISO, but when selecting the CUE it loads obvious cores, expect FBA. (Beetle PCE, Beetle PC-FX, Genesis Plus, Saturn Kronos, Beetle HW).

Updated Core, same version number but possibly a different build (7def318) and retired, same deal as above; no change :confused:

#12

Update retroarch to latest nightlies. Subsystem usage through the UI was wrong until a few weeks ago (you had to use command line).

#13

I should have said before; thank you for all you help BTW :slight_smile:

So I found the nightly dated today on https://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/windows/x86_64/latest/ I downloaded the latest 64bit version (it only had 2 exes in it) and the latest FBA core too. With both of these installed; as you say the menu now goes straight into a list of subsystems.

However loading cue or iso still does the same as above. I think the biggest issue is that cue and iso aren’t being recognised as a format for FB Alpha, see below. Any thoughts?

snap
snap.jpg976×778 240 KB

#14

are you “loading” the cue? or are you drop-and-dropping… coz they are not the same. subsystem do not support drag and drop

#15

I confirm some of the issues described here, fba is not an option when loading chd or bin/cue content. Running a neocd game directly from a playlist doesn’t work either (RA fails to load content). Bioses are where they should be (in fact, just to be sure that’s not the problem, I placed a copy of negeo.zip and neocdz.zip in system, system/fba and also in the same folder as the games).

Regarding PCFX, running isos from a playlist works perfectly, something like

C:\whatever\pcfx\Kishin Douji Zenki FX - Vajura Fight.cue
Kishin Douji Zenki FX - Vajura Fight
C:\whatever\RetroArch\cores\mednafen_pcfx_libretro.dll
Mednafen PC-FX
NEC - PC-FX.lpl
00000000|crc

will do the trick, if it’s a good dump+cue. Bios should be pcfx.rom in system.

#17

Okies, so I always load through the UI or the navaigtion menu at the top; didn’t know you could drag; so I’ve learnt something new :slight_smile: And sounds like cores with subsystems run a lot differently atm.

So taking the playlist idea; I made “NEC - PC-FX.lpl” and put it where the other lpl’s were.

LPL: …\PC Engine & TurboGrafx Games\PC-FX Games\Non-CHD\Snatcher (J).cue Snatcher …\AppData\Roaming\RetroArch\cores\mednafen_pcfx_libretro.dll Mednafen PC-FX NEC - PC-FX.lpl DETECT

Not sure I need to hide full paths from the net, but the … are full paths :slight_smile: It was detected, had the game with the label listed and loaded straight to the PCFX core when run. The BIOS loaded, but again the load game button in the middle searches for a second then does nothing.

I get the feeling that playlists is only another way to run the game, but if games aren’t loading I don’t think playlists will fix that as there’s nothing special in the playlist vs the data available to RA when you load a game via the many other ways.

#18

find/test another game or fix your cue sheet. your game is borked

#19

I was going to post the CUEs but the site only allows image uploads and as text it gets mangled!

So this is all I can do… hopefully that helps! They look OK to me but I don’t normally have to review them they usually just work (except DC, that was fun trying to digitise those!)

PC-FX: FILE “Snatcher (J).iso” BINARY TRACK 01 AUDIO INDEX 01 00:00:00 TRACK 02 MODE1/2352 PREGAP 00:03:00 INDEX 01 00:52:49 TRACK 03 AUDIO PREGAP 00:02:00 INDEX 01 08:27:44 TRACK 04 AUDIO INDEX 01 09:32:40 TRACK 05 AUDIO INDEX 01 12:02:02 TRACK 06 AUDIO INDEX 01 14:39:10 TRACK 07 AUDIO INDEX 01 17:26:63 TRACK 08 AUDIO INDEX 01 19:39:40 TRACK 09 AUDIO INDEX 01 20:46:65 TRACK 10 AUDIO INDEX 01 21:20:18 TRACK 11 AUDIO INDEX 01 28:22:33 TRACK 12 AUDIO INDEX 01 33:06:11 TRACK 13 AUDIO INDEX 01 35:12:45 TRACK 14 AUDIO INDEX 01 36:29:41 TRACK 15 AUDIO INDEX 01 37:56:70 TRACK 16 AUDIO INDEX 01 38:11:49 TRACK 17 AUDIO INDEX 01 40:48:41 TRACK 18 AUDIO INDEX 01 43:01:20 TRACK 19 AUDIO INDEX 01 43:19:02 TRACK 20 AUDIO INDEX 01 46:30:00 TRACK 21 AUDIO INDEX 01 46:59:53 TRACK 22 AUDIO INDEX 01 47:03:53 TRACK 23 AUDIO INDEX 01 47:07:54 TRACK 24 MODE1/2352 PREGAP 00:03:00 INDEX 01 52:07:24

Neogeo CD:

FILE “Metal Slug (1996)(SNK)(Jp-US)(Track 01 of 20)[!].iso” BINARY TRACK 01 MODE1/2048 INDEX 01 00:00:00 FILE “Metal Slug (1996)(SNK)(Jp-US)(Track 02 of 20)[!].wav” WAVE TRACK 02 AUDIO PREGAP 00:02:00 INDEX 01 00:00:00 FILE “Metal Slug (1996)(SNK)(Jp-US)(Track 03 of 20)[!].wav” WAVE TRACK 03 AUDIO INDEX 00 00:00:00 INDEX 01 00:02:00 FILE “Metal Slug (1996)(SNK)(Jp-US)(Track 04 of 20)[!].wav” WAVE TRACK 04 AUDIO INDEX 00 00:00:00 INDEX 01 00:02:00 FILE “Metal Slug (1996)(SNK)(Jp-US)(Track 05 of 20)[!].wav” WAVE TRACK 05 AUDIO INDEX 00 00:00:00 INDEX 01 00:02:00 FILE “Metal Slug (1996)(SNK)(Jp-US)(Track 06 of 20)[!].wav” WAVE TRACK 06 AUDIO INDEX 00 00:00:00 INDEX 01 00:02:00 FILE “Metal Slug (1996)(SNK)(Jp-US)(Track 07 of 20)[!].wav” WAVE TRACK 07 AUDIO INDEX 00 00:00:00 INDEX 01 00:02:00 FILE “Metal Slug (1996)(SNK)(Jp-US)(Track 08 of 20)[!].wav” WAVE TRACK 08 AUDIO INDEX 00 00:00:00 INDEX 01 00:02:00 FILE “Metal Slug (1996)(SNK)(Jp-US)(Track 09 of 20)[!].wav” WAVE TRACK 09 AUDIO INDEX 00 00:00:00 INDEX 01 00:02:00 FILE “Metal Slug (1996)(SNK)(Jp-US)(Track 10 of 20)[!].wav” WAVE TRACK 10 AUDIO INDEX 00 00:00:00 INDEX 01 00:02:00 FILE “Metal Slug (1996)(SNK)(Jp-US)(Track 11 of 20)[!].wav” WAVE TRACK 11 AUDIO INDEX 00 00:00:00 INDEX 01 00:02:00 FILE “Metal Slug (1996)(SNK)(Jp-US)(Track 12 of 20)[!].wav” WAVE TRACK 12 AUDIO INDEX 00 00:00:00 INDEX 01 00:02:00 FILE “Metal Slug (1996)(SNK)(Jp-US)(Track 13 of 20)[!].wav” WAVE TRACK 13 AUDIO INDEX 00 00:00:00 INDEX 01 00:02:00 FILE “Metal Slug (1996)(SNK)(Jp-US)(Track 14 of 20)[!].wav” WAVE TRACK 14 AUDIO INDEX 00 00:00:00 INDEX 01 00:02:00 FILE “Metal Slug (1996)(SNK)(Jp-US)(Track 15 of 20)[!].wav” WAVE TRACK 15 AUDIO INDEX 00 00:00:00 INDEX 01 00:02:00 FILE “Metal Slug (1996)(SNK)(Jp-US)(Track 16 of 20)[!].wav” WAVE TRACK 16 AUDIO INDEX 00 00:00:00 INDEX 01 00:02:00 FILE “Metal Slug (1996)(SNK)(Jp-US)(Track 17 of 20)[!].wav” WAVE TRACK 17 AUDIO INDEX 00 00:00:00 INDEX 01 00:02:00 FILE “Metal Slug (1996)(SNK)(Jp-US)(Track 18 of 20)[!].wav” WAVE TRACK 18 AUDIO INDEX 00 00:00:00 INDEX 01 00:02:00 FILE “Metal Slug (1996)(SNK)(Jp-US)(Track 19 of 20)[!].wav” WAVE TRACK 19 AUDIO INDEX 00 00:00:00 INDEX 01 00:02:00 FILE “Metal Slug (1996)(SNK)(Jp-US)(Track 20 of 20)[!].wav” WAVE TRACK 20 AUDIO INDEX 00 00:00:00 INDEX 01 00:02:00

#20

Sorry forgot to mention that these CUEs work in the standalone FB Alpha and Mednafen. I’m wondering if the RA cores are notably different for these platforms…

#21

its hard to know whats wrong without at least some logs

https://docs.libretro.com/guides/generating-retroarch-logs/

and BTW, Snatcher? i dont think this is a pcfx game…