Where to find updated OPL compatibility lists?

[Windows_10_User]

Does anyone know where to find up-to-date OPL compatibility lists? I already went here but here's what I have to say:

Algol's OPL compatibility list regards OPL's 0.9.3 version which was out in 2016 so it's obsolete and some of the games that work in that version may not work in the latest stable (and/or Beta) version and vice-versa, the "comments" are mostly in french and I can't find "rev" versions in the official OPL GitHub repository;

I can't access El_isra's compatibility list;

OPL-CL's compatibility list regarding OPL's 1.0.0 version is empty;

OPL ZSO's compatibility list has very few entries;

PS2-Home's OPL compatibility list mentions some OPL versions that aren't mentioned in the official OPL GitHub repository (those which start with "r" or end with "_db") and they're most likely obsolete too;

The last two compatibility lists are obsolete according to PSX-Place itself (even more than the other ones, I guess) and I can't access the last one.

 

[Fishaman P]

In my experience, the vast majority of games are compatible with the latest official version with default settings, and most games work as ZSO with Mode 1 (Accurate Read Speed) enabled. There isn't much need for compatibility lists anymore.

 

[Windows_10_User]

In my experience, the vast majority of games are compatible with the latest official version with default settings, and most games work as ZSO with Mode 1 (Accurate Read Speed) enabled. There isn't much need for compatibility lists anymore.

So, there's no need to use Beta versions and/or changing their (or latest official versions') mode when not using ZSO? I tried the european Yakuza in one of the latest Beta versions and it had a purple/green screen before the video appeared but after setting "Debug Colors" to "Off", I didn't have this problem.

If the latest beta versions don't improve PS2 game compatibility, I guess they improve other things or add new features.

 

[Fishaman P]

So, there's no need to use Beta versions and/or changing their (or latest official version's) mode when not using ZSO? I tried Yakuza in one of the latest Beta versions and it had a purple/green screen before the video showed up but after disabling the debug colors setting, I didn't have this problem.

If the latest beta version don't improve the game compatibility, I guess they improve other things or add new features.

Sorry, by "official" I was referencing the non-forked version, rather than a stable release. Like Dolphin, I would suggest the latest beta/nightly version.

The purple/green screen is literally the point of the Debug Colors option, that's not a bug or issue. I disagree with it being enabled by default, but it's easy enough to change, as you found out.

I've only had to enable one mode manually for ISO copies: Klonoa 2 needs Mode 1. For ZSO, many need Mode 1, but not all.

The modes are explained intuitively in the app, so it's reasonable to try any modes if you do need them.

 

[Windows_10_User]

Sorry, by "official" I was referencing the non-forked version, rather than a stable release. Like Dolphin, I would suggest the latest beta/nightly version.

The purple/green screen is literally the point of the Debug Colors option, that's not a bug or issue. I disagree with it being enabled by default, but it's easy enough to change, as you found out.

I've only had to enable one mode manually for ISO copies: Klonoa 2 needs Mode 1. For ZSO, many need Mode 1, but not all.

The modes are explained intuitively in the app, so it's reasonable to try any modes if you do need them.

I was talking about that version too. Should the latest official OPL stable version be used or the latest official OPL Beta one?

So, will Modes have to be enabled for a minority of games if using the latest official OPL Beta version (I've only been using those) with ISOs?

I also don't get why that "Debug color" setting is enabled by default as well as why it exists in the first place.

 

[Fishaman P]

I was talking about that version too (as well as the other GitHub version, the beta one). Should I use the latest official stable version or the latest official beta version?

So, if using the latest official beta version (I've only been using those), I will only have to enable modes for a minority of games?

I also don't understand why that debug color option is enabled by default, as well as why it exists in the first place.

Use the "Latest", or nightly, download. Currently that's a v1.2.0 beta version.

If you stick to ISOs, correct, only a small minority of games will need some modes set, these being some classic problematic games that are well documented. Compatibility nowadays is definitely _better_ than the old compatibility lists indicate, with fewer or no modes required.

The Debug Colors option is useful to make bug reports for the developers. Rather than saying a game has a black screen, which could be caused by a million things, the specific color the game gets stuck on when booting would tell the developers exactly which part of the boot process is failing. I'm guessing it's disabled by default in stable releases, but I haven't used a stable release myself so I'm not certain of that.

 

[Windows_10_User]

Use the "Latest", or nightly, download. Currently that's a v1.2.0 beta version.

If you stick to ISOs, correct, only a small minority of games will need some modes set, these being some classic problematic games that are well documented. Compatibility nowadays is definitely _better_ than the old compatibility lists indicate, with fewer or no modes required.

The Debug Colors option is useful to make bug reports for the developers. Rather than saying a game has a black screen, which could be caused by a million things, the specific color the game gets stuck on when booting would tell the developers exactly which part of the boot process is failing. I'm guessing it's disabled by default in stable releases, but I haven't used a stable release myself so I'm not certain of that.

Thanks. I'll keep using the latest official Beta versions.

Maybe I didn't delete the settings from the first OPL fork I used (which was a Daily Build Beta one) and I've just been replacing the OPNPS2LD.ELF file with the latest official OPL Beta version's (and before that with the OPL Daily Build Beta version's). If so, I guess OPL Daily Build Beta's default settings are different than the official Beta's and maybe the first OPL Daily Build Beta fork I used had this "Debug Color" setting enabled by default and I didn't change it, and even if the latest official Beta versions have this setting disabled by default, it's still enabled because, like I said, I haven't been deleting OPL's settings every time I use a different OPL fork or official version and they aren't overwritten every time a different OPL fork or official version is used because I haven't been changing and saving them as well.

Could you tell me which are the main differences between them and the 1.1.0 stable version?

Do those compatibility lists regard the official stable (or maybe Beta) versions that were out before the 1.1.0 one?

Could you tell me where is the information regarding those problematic games? You said those games were well documented.

I guess I should use the PS2 to play PS2 games and not the PS3 and I should use the latter to play PS1 games.

 

[Fishaman P]

Thanks. I'll keep using the latest Beta versions.

Could you tell me which are the main differences between it and the 1.1.0 stable version?

So, those compatibility lists regarded the stable (or maybe beta) versions released before the 1.1.0 stable one?

Could you tell me where it's said those classic problematic games have issues? You said they were well documented.

I guess I should use the PS2 to play PS2 games and not the PS3 and I should use the latter to play PS1 games.

Using GitHub's comparison feature, the changes include:

- More accurate/complete OPL language translations
- Improvements to NBD code (for managing internal drives over the network)
- The introduction of PADMACRO, a controller turbo/macro plugin
- The introduction of ZSO format support, which can reduce game size and loading times but also reduce compatibility
- MX4SIO is now able to use VMC
- PADEMU is compatible with more games from external drives and SMB
- Games do not need to be perfectly defragmented on USB drives
- Better game compatibility in general, and VMC/PADEMU/other plugins supported on more games
- Some cheats fixed

Most of the compatibility lists around the internet were made with ancient versions or less-compatible forks. Sometimes they specify the version tested, sometimes not. This is how I use them:

- If a game was compatible then, it's almost definitely still compatible now.
- If a mode was required then, it may or may not be required now, I'll test it myself.
- If a game was not compatible at all then, it may or may not be compatible now, I'll test it myself.
- If a game is compatible as ZSO, it will definitely boot as ISO, though the performance may be different.
- If a game is not compatible as ZSO, that doesn't tell you if it's compatible as ISO, and I'll look at a different list or just test.

Here is a somewhat recent list of problematic games, and you can even see that compatibility with these games improved significantly within the past few years. A few still marked as incompatible there may even work now.

 

[Windows_10_User]

Using GitHub's comparison feature, the changes include:

- More accurate/complete OPL language translations
- Improvements to NBD code (for managing internal drives over the network)
- The introduction of PADMACRO, a controller turbo/macro plugin
- The introduction of ZSO format support, which can reduce game size and loading times but also reduce compatibility
- MX4SIO is now able to use VMC
- PADEMU is compatible with more games from external drives and SMB
- Games do not need to be perfectly defragmented on USB drives
- Better game compatibility in general, and VMC/PADEMU/other plugins supported on more games
- Some cheats fixed

Most of the compatibility lists around the internet were made with ancient versions or less-compatible forks. Sometimes they specify the version tested, sometimes not. This is how I use them:

- If a game was compatible then, it's almost definitely still compatible now.
- If a mode was required then, it may or may not be required now, I'll test it myself.
- If a game was not compatible at all then, it may or may not be compatible now, I'll test it myself.
- If a game is compatible as ZSO, it will definitely boot as ISO, though the performance may be different.
- If a game is not compatible as ZSO, that doesn't tell you if it's compatible as ISO, and I'll look at a different list or just test.

Here is a somewhat recent list of problematic games, and you can even see that compatibility with these games improved significantly within the past few years. A few still marked as incompatible there may even work now.

Do you think problems may arise from playing games via SMB from an external HDD connected to the PC, I mean, if the device goes to sleep (besides other situations), may problems arise?

 

[Fishaman P]

Do you think one can have problems from playing games via SMB from an external HDD connected to the PC, i.e., may the drive go to sleep or may one have other problems whdn playing games this way?

I don't think external vs internal (on the PC side) would have any effect on how well SMB works. Go for it.

 

[Windows_10_User]

I don't think external vs internal (on the PC side) would have any effect on how well SMB works. Go for it.

Shouldn't I mess with the power settings in Windows? Imagine the laptop signs out, shuts down, restarts, hibernates, sleeps, turns off the display, locks or runs out of battery.

Also, after I get a new laptop, should its battery only be used between 20% and 80% to wear it less, and even so, the PC have shouldn't sign out, shut down, restart, hibernate, sleep, turn off the display or lock to to play via SMB?

 

[Fishaman P]

So, I shouldn't even mess with the power settings in Windows? Imagine the laptop shuts down, hibernates, sleeps, turns off the display or runs out of battery.

Also, after I get a new laptop, should I only use its battery between 20% and 80% to degrade it less, and even so, do I have to go to the PC when it goes to sleep, hibernates or turns off the display to be able to play via SMB?

This is starting to go pretty off-topic, but research "Wake on LAN" and disable "Wake only on magic packet". But going this direction is a deep rabbit hole, and at that point I suggest to use the PS2 with an internal drive, USB drive, or dedicated travel router for SMB.

 

[r1vver]

So, I shouldn't even mess with the power settings in Windows? Imagine the laptop shuts down, hibernates, sleeps, turns off the display or runs out of battery.

Also, after I get a new laptop, should I only use its battery between 20% and 80% to degrade it less, and even so, do I have to go to the PC when it goes to sleep, hibernates or turns off the display to be able to play via SMB?

And how do you think? How will the computer supply data to you when it is hibernate state? While he wakes up - PS2 will be offended and leave.
Of course, you will have to adjust some of PC power settings and maybe even hdd internal settings (spin down).
Want less settings - buy MX4SIO.

Update: Also as I remember OPL requires SMBv1 protocol, which is disabled on modern Windowses by default due to a major filesystem security issue with that protocol version (remember WannaCry ransomware attack of 2017? It was epic.). So it's another setting that needs to be set.

 

[Windows_10_User]

This is starting to go pretty off-topic, but research "Wake on LAN" and disable "Wake only on magic packet". But going this direction is a deep rabbit hole, and at that point I suggest to use the PS2 with an internal drive, USB drive, or dedicated travel router for SMB.

My PS2 is Slim so it doesn't support HDDs/SSDs/SSHDs, USB is too slow (especially in FMVs) and the problem with the nano router (connected to the PS2 via its ethernet port) is that I'd have to connect it to a power strip (if using the TL-WR902AC one, at least), connect an ethernet cable to it and connect the external HDD/SSD/SSHD to the nano router when I'm very short in space. Anyway, if using a HDD/SSD/SSHD connected to the nano router, could it go to sleep? Would I have any other problem if using an external HDD/SSD/SSHD connected to the nano router, I mean, would the latter's USB port supply enough energy to power the former?

And how do you think? How will the computer supply data to you when it is hibernate state? While he wakes up - PS2 will be offended and leave.
Of course, you will have to adjust some of PC power settings and maybe even hdd internal settings (spin down).
Want less settings - buy MX4SIO.

Update: Also as I remember OPL requires SMBv1 protocol, which is disabled on modern Windowses by default due to a major filesystem security issue with that protocol version (remember WannaCry ransomware attack of 2017? It was epic.). So it's another setting that needs to be set.

I'm on Windows 22H2 and I already enabled SMB 1.0.

 

[r1vver]

would the latter's USB port supply enough energy?

no, tho it will depend on the disk
at least do not power the router+disk from the ps2 usb port

and this topic somehow completely slipped into offtopic

 

[Windows_10_User]

no, tho it will depend on the disk
at least do not power the router+disk from the ps2 usb port

and this topic somehow completely slipped into offtopic

First you said no and then you said it depended on the disc. Also, like I said, I wouldn't use PS2's USB ports.

There are YouTube videos showing a working nano router (connected to the PS2 via its ethernet port) connected to a power strip with an USB flash drive connected to the former, at least.

 

[r1vver]

USB2.0 port can give 5V 0.5A = 2.5W.
Travel router alone want ~1W to boot up and ~0.5W average to just work (w/o any usb devices connected)
2.5" HDD want ~1.9-2.1W (depend on model) for average reading and even more (some want up to 6W) just for starting (spinup peak).
It's pretty tight. The router must be powered from its own separate power supply.
https://www.psx-place.com/threads/smb-vs-usb-on-77004.37986/page-2#post-346959
https://www.psx-place.com/threads/smb-vs-usb-on-77004.37986/page-2#post-346998
Also this is case where USB Y-splitter cables can help.
If you really want compact setup - try MX4SIO.

 

[tbgtbg]

If you really want compact setup - try MX4SIO.

I messed around with MC2SIO last summer and the hardest thing was I had a "non FreeMCBoot compatible" slim so I had to set up a boot card that works on those and then having to use a utility to split >4GB games (at the time only FAT32 was supported) but overall, it worked really well, and you can't beat just having a couple of memory cards plugged in to a slim for compactness.

Compatability was good as well, everything I tried seemed to at least run to the point where you could save tha game, even on games the compatability list said wouldn't even boot.

 

[Windows_10_User]

USB2.0 port can give 5V 0.5A = 2.5W.
Travel router alone want ~1W to boot up and ~0.5W average to just work (w/o any usb devices connected)
2.5" HDD want ~1.9-2.1W (depend on model) for average reading and even more (some want up to 6W) just for starting (spinup peak).
It's pretty tight. The router must be powered from its own separate power supply.
https://www.psx-place.com/threads/smb-vs-usb-on-77004.37986/page-2#post-346959
https://www.psx-place.com/threads/smb-vs-usb-on-77004.37986/page-2#post-346998
Also this is case where USB Y-splitter cables can help.
If you really want compact setup - try MX4SIO.

First you said it wouldn't work and then it would be pretty tight, when according to your calculations it wouldn't work, after all.

So, would the PS2 power the nano router and the 2.5" external HDD connected to it and the nano router's power supply (I'm using the TL-WR902AC nano router) wouldn't be needed if using an USB Y-splitter to connect the nano router to both PS2 USB ports? Would PS2 games' FMVs slow down?

Is MX4SIO's/MC2SIO's PS1/PS2 game compatibility higher than SMB's and is it faster?

After buying a new laptop (since according to HDD Sentinel my PC's HDD has only 64 days left and has 60 bad sectors), I'll keep using an external HDD attached to the PC, disable hibernation, sleeping and turning off the display when charging and not charging the laptop's battery and pay attention to the laptop's battery to not let it discharge or to not wear it when charging it.

It's less confusing than using a nano router (connected to the PS2 via its ethernet port) connected to a power strip and an external HDD (which in turn is connected to the nano router) and I already have a lot of devices connected to the power strips I use (which in turn are connected to each other and to the same wall socket).

Also, I don't have much space in my room and I don't want to start a fire, though that might happen after switching this old 22" 1080p TV for a 42" 4K one (I'll have to take a shelf to fit it in my furniture and even so it will be very close) and connecting Portta Component to HDMI Converter (it's yet to arrive and it seems I have no choice but to connect a new device to the power strip) to the latter to play PS2 on it, I guess.

 

[r1vver]

disable hibernation, sleeping and turning off the display

Search for utilities that prevent Windows from sleeping.
https://www.raymond.cc/blog/dont-sleep-prevent-windows-from-standby-shutdown-hibernate-and-restart/
Something like Caffeine.
https://zhornsoftware.co.uk/caffeine/index.html
Launch it when needed.
By the way "Turning off the screen" preventing here is not important at all.

What for the external HDD itself - you may have to find the manufacturer's utility (if any) and disable "Spins Down for Inactivity" in the drive firmware. Or find another software way to prevent it.

MX4SIO
https://www.psx-place.com/threads/m...d-sd-driver-for-the-ps2-sio2-interface.29210/
in short: compatibility is not better and speeds are not faster (yet (work still in progress)), list of tested is short and outdated (because people are lazy to report results), slims are supported.
Device is capricious in relation to SD cards. But it's pretty decent. OPL must be BDM4 or last betas.