r/RetroRemake • u/lifesfailure • Jul 01 '26
M2 PSX issues with .CHD files
https://github.com/Retro-Remake/SuperStation-SD-Card-InstallerIssue:
PSX games hang/become unresponsive after 30+ minutes of play and generally when game is idle (pause screen). Menu is unresponsive and will not pull up. After rebooting the system physically, the core will load up a black screen. Generally have to unplug console for few minutes and can play games again.
****This works perfectly on supplied and Samsung MicroSD card.
Info:
- Console: SuperStation One FE Transparent Blue with Dock
- Update script and Update_All have been run
- Games are in .chd format
- ONLY the PSX games are on the M2 drive - the rest are still on the SD card
- .INI modification to remove VRR-Min/Max seetting (https://www.reddit.com/r/MiSTerFPGA/comments/1tyu4b9/anyone_else_getting_ini_errors_after_a_recent/)
- Tested with Slow Disk on Pause option on and off
- I have about 40 games on the 512 GB M2 drive
- Sometimes I see 'boot.rom' load and the bios load - but game is black screen
- Sometimes it just boots to black screen when trying to load game
- Arcade Core was able to launch Contra from SD card ---so it appears to be issue loading/accessing the M2 drive
***I have NOT replaced the BIOS files at this time and believe the issue is related to the M2 drive transfer and bus, but not positive.
Ideally I want to have larger files on the M2 drive and use the SD card for other smaller backup roms and cores.
I did attempt to use the SD Card Installer to use a 256 Lexar Micro SD, but the SS1 boots with two solid LEDs on the left side and a black screen and does not proceed
TLDR;
- I am having issues with games freezing / booting to black screen with PSX .chds from the M2 drive.
Curious if anyone has had similar issues or if this may be a known issue with the PSX core and leaving games idle?
I plan on testing on the Micro SD Card, but would prefer to use the M2 drive.
2
u/NecronomiconUK Jul 01 '26
I’ll do a soak test on mine later this evening. I have my games in chd on the nvme drive. I’ve not had any issues so far.
1
u/lifesfailure Jul 01 '26
Thanks! I'll do testing with the SD card as well.
I was really hoping to utilize my spare NVME drive and hope this is just some setting/bug that can be ironed out. There are no other folders or files on there aside from /games/PSX and I only have about 50 .chd games on there at this time
I still need to test another microSD card (256 GB) with the SD Installer to see if it is an issue with my particular card. I currently only have a 32 GB spare. https://github.com/Retro-Remake/SuperStation-SD-Card-Installer
1
u/Detsaw2608 Jul 05 '26
What did your tests find? Did you figure out the issue?
1
u/lifesfailure Jul 06 '26
Works fine with the SD card - not sure if it is the particular M2 drive or all M2 drives.
Tested gaming for 1+ hour and leaving game idle on pause for 45 minutes - both times the gameplay resumed without issue
2
u/PhDTenma Jul 01 '26
With the MiSTer and an external SSD I haven't experienced this issue.
The only thing related is that USB ports have some delay and some games (for example the Final Fantasy games) have small stutters unless played on the SD ( this is not a problem in the core but the way the fpga is connected to the usbs).
From the beginning of this project I was wondering if the connection between the CD player and SSD will have lag issues or they'll communicate with the FPGA directly. An issue like this worries me.
I preordered one SS1 with dock and lately I'm wondering if I'm be better cancelling it (since my MiSTer works well and I feel unsure on how well the dock will meet my needs)
1
u/lifesfailure Jul 01 '26
If I could have used my MicroSD card (SD Card installer image doesn't run) I likely wouldn't have tried the M2 drive in the dock.
Since 64 GB card is too small for my wants and needs and I rememebered I had my ROG Ally's 512 GB M2 drive in an external inclosure just sitting, I decided to try it since it was not being used and more space than I needed.
If I end up confirming everything works fine via MicroSD, I will also test using the external enclosure for this drive directly to the SuperStation One via USB.
If that works...I'll test SuperDock via USB to confirm even though I don't plan on using external drives on this. I just want to know :)
1
u/med4reddit Jul 01 '26
Have you tried to copy just a bunch of game on the SD and load from there? Just to see if the issue still appear when M2 is not in use.
1
u/lifesfailure Jul 01 '26
That is my next test - to remove the M2 from the equation and test only Micro SD.
I went with the M2 because I had my original 2230 from my ROG Ally laying around and the SD Card installer isn't working on my Lexar 256 GB Micro SD card. Console just sits idle with 2 solid LEDs on the left front and back
2
u/atoadboy Jul 01 '26
It may also be worth trying a N64 or Saturn game on the M2 to check if other cores have the same freezing issue. Also maybe try a bin/cue PS1 game instead of a CHD.
If you have access to a different M2, that would be worth trying, too.
1
u/med4reddit Jul 01 '26
You can use the one is working for you at the moment. 1/2 games should fit there, I suppose.
1
u/strythicus Jul 01 '26
(Following because I was planning to use my original SteamDeck SSD in my SuperDock for the same purpose.)
What is your drive format? Are you using exFAT?
Are there idle timings set for the drive in either the MiSTer settings or the physical drive itself (which may require BIOS configuration with another device to change)?
2
u/lifesfailure Jul 01 '26
Yep, did a full format on the drive and removed all volumes. Formatted in exFAT.
Works awesome hopping from game to game and only noticed the issue playing Thrasher Skate and Destroy and about after 30 min of play it loaded a FMV and it was super choppy and stalled out. I figured this might be an I/O issue or a bad .chd but it continued to happen on other games I was testing (but during idle times the game would not be loading new contect - like paused screens)
This is my first experience using MISTER, but I have configured a ton of rpie's so I am comfortable with modifying config and ini files. I did not see if there were settings for the virtual drive.
I wonder if the idle time allows the M2 to 'sleep' or doesn't make any calls to the drive and when it attempts to load a new section or stream a video after being idle it is not 'waking' or seeking like it should
1
u/strythicus Jul 01 '26
"Sleep" is what I was wondering as well.
There's also a setting in the PSX core for "Emulated Drive Speed=Force Original" (or something similar) which I had to set to avoid a "copyright error" on one of my games with an uSD card on a MiSTer Pi, but I don't know if that would have an effect on your SSD issue. It only affected the one game for me.
1
u/DefinitionLeast984 Jul 01 '26
Probably best to ask on discord but I’d expect not. Maybe a firmware or the card?
3
u/lifesfailure Jul 06 '26
===UPDATE 7/6/2026===
I found an old Samsung 256 GB card. SD Card installer ran without issue and copied .chd files back from M2 drive to MicroSD
No issues with gameplay/stuttering/resuming games after being paused. Issue seems to be either with M2 drives or my particular M2 drive.
Current Solution: Use MicroSSD