Hacking Some questions

[Windows_10_User]

that's installing directly to the external hdd, but doing that requires the drive to be in fat32 format. I don't think that's what you meant. sorry to have confused you.

No, sorry, it was my fault since I made a typo that confused you (I noticed it too late) and so I edited the post afterwards. I meant, installing game data from an ISO or folder format game from an external HDD vs. installing game data from an ISO or folder format game from the PS3. Since PKG format games on the PS3 install game data faster than from an external HDD, it goes the same for ISO and folder format ones.

ISO has about 99% compatibility. some games have issues if just in jb format. you can tell which files are missing by looking at the ird. if you have any psarc files that have been extracted, there will be a folder in there named after the psarc.

And are there games which have issues in ISO format (I've read Persona 5 does)? Sorry, but where's the IRD?

 

[godreborn]

I've never personally come across a game that didn't work.

 

[Windows_10_User]

I've never personally come across a game that didn't work.

On ISO format? I've been told certain games only run from the PS3's HDD/eMMC/SSD/SSHD but I want to avoid wasting its space as much as possible so I'm using an external HDD and trying to avoid PKG games.

Should I use multiMAN, PS3 ISO TOOLS, PS3-ISO-Rebuilder or genPS3ISO to create the ISOs or it doesn't matter which one I use?

If still using PS3 ISO TOOLS, should I keep using the makeps3iso setting or the genps3iso one?

 

[godreborn]

keep the settings the same, yes. ps3 iso rebuilder is what I used to convert jb format games.

 

[Windows_10_User]

keep the settings the same, yes. ps3 iso rebuilder is what I used to convert jb format games.

So, I can't find a folder with pak23.psarc files but I can in my large games. I guess The Last of Us' and Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception GOTY's pak23.psarc files are split since I have 3 of those in each game (though these versions don't have black screens, which might be odd since said files are apparently split). Also, my Red Dead Redemption GOTY has 2 files named rdr2_layer0.rpf. Does that mean they're split too (I also don't have a black screen in this game)?

 

[godreborn]

split games usually have .6660x extensions from what I remember. there's no need to split game files anymore though. I think people realized something was wrong with the last of us rip, and instead of reripping it, they wanted you to extract the psarc and replace a few files. that's why it was so difficult to find a game with that psarc intact. the xml that you normally get when extracting doesn't seem to exist or was deleted. like a lot of dumps for systems, there's usually only one or two dumps circling the internet. stuff is never redumped unless there's a major problem with the dump, rendering the game unplayable.

 

[Windows_10_User]

split games usually have .6660x extensions from what I remember. there's no need to split game files anymore though. I think people realized something was wrong with the last of us rip, and instead of reripping it, they wanted you to extract the psarc and replace a few files. that's why it was so difficult to find a game with that psarc intact. the xml that you normally get when extracting doesn't seem to exist or was deleted. like a lot of dumps for systems, there's usually only one or two dumps circling the internet. stuff is never redumped unless there's a major problem with the dump, rendering the game unplayable.

Maybe these split files regard both the black screens and the issue where I'm kicked to the XMB. I have the latter problem with God of War: Ascension.

 

[godreborn]

in my experience, a black screen is usually the result of a sprx or self issue. if it's the EBOOT, it usually throws an error when you click on it. the self/sprx may not be resigned to the correct firmware.

 

[Windows_10_User]

Maybe if I move the game folder in multiMAN from my external HDD to the PS3 it merges the split files automatically and I stop having this problem where I'm kicked to the XMB. After that I'd move the game folder to the external HDD, convert it to ISO using PS3 ISO TOOLS, move it to the external HDD and then run the game to see if I still had the problem.

in my experience, a black screen is usually the result of a sprx or self issue. if it's the EBOOT, it usually throws an error when you click on it. the self/sprx may not be resigned to the correct firmware.

Well, it's so confusing since there are so many formats (like IRD, PSARC, BIN, SELF and SPRX). There are games which come with more than a EBOOT.BIN file. Where can I find SPRX and SELF files? So, does it have to be resigned even if I'm on CFW, and if so, to my current FW (4.84)?

 

[godreborn]

you can see what they're signed with with scetool gui. self and sprx files will have the same extension (.self/.sprx).

if you're missing files, then it's often times infinite loading. I know the uncharted games behave that way.

 

[Windows_10_User]

you can see what they're signed with with scetool gui. self and sprx files will have the same extension (.self/.sprx).

if you're missing files, then it's often times infinite loading. I know the uncharted games behave that way.

Some PS3 games slow down even if for not even a second. Is it because they're faulty or because they're being ran via USB and not from the PS3, which is faster?

 

[godreborn]

that I don't know.

 

[Windows_10_User]

that I don't know.

What do you think about the problem which kicks me to the XMB after clicking the games' disc icon? Maybe it's caused by some faulty files.

 

[godreborn]

not all games do that?

 

[Windows_10_User]

not all games do that?

No, only God of War: Ascension. I mount it with multiMAN and some seconds after clicking its disc icon, I'm kicked to the XMB. Maybe it has to do with split files.

 

[godreborn]

this is how the last of us look (the pak23.psarc is intact). I keep backups of everything, so this is an iso I made from 3 different dumps by other people:

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

No, only God of War: Ascension. I mount it with multiMAN and some seconds after having clicked on its disc icon I'm kicked back to the XMB. Maybe it has to do with split files.

Why do some users recommend removing the game data and updating the PS3 games via the triangle button when having problems with them?

compare it to its ird with ps3 iso rebuilder or check with mana gunz on the system itself.

 

[Windows_10_User]

this is how the last of us look (the pak23.psarc is intact). I keep backups of everything, so this is an iso I made from 3 different dumps by other people:

View attachment 187398

View attachment 187399

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------



compare it to its ird with ps3 iso rebuilder or check with mana gunz on the system itself.

So, like I said, some of my games' pak23.psarc files are split (unlike that one), though they have the same name and don't have a 666xx format. I don't get how can they have the same name while being on the same location. How big are your pak23.psarc files, by the way?

Maybe I can join them somehow (maybe by using PS3-ISO-Rebuilder)? How could the dumps be different, how can you know which one/s doesn't/don't have problems and how can you know how's the game's structure meant to be? Sorry, it's so confusing.

But should I do that with all my games even with the ones I don't have problems with? Do I need to extract the ISOs to do it? I don't have ManaGunZ installed and it can't be installed right now. I can't compare the game with its IRD since currently I don't have access to my PC as well.

 

[godreborn]

you might want to do it with all games. you can't rebuild a psarc without the xml that came with it. it won't know the structure otherwise. .6660x extension was created by Deank. it's for using games on a fat32 drive (before we could use ntfs). the files are merged and transferred to the internal hdd in a cache.

 

[Windows_10_User]

you might want to do it with all games. you can't rebuild a psarc without the xml that came with it. it won't know the structure otherwise. .6660x extension was created by Deank. it's for using games on a fat32 drive (before we could use ntfs). the files are merged and transferred to the internal hdd in a cache.

So, it's not possible to get that XML file? Also, multiMAN recognizes my external HDD's NTFS partition's games but its file manager doesn't recognize my external HDD's NTFS partition. I thought multiMAN could join the files when copying the games to the PS3's HDD/eMMC/SSD/SSHD so I wouldn't need PS3-ISO-Rebuilder and the XML file.

 

[godreborn]

the xml file I'm referring to is for if a psarc file has been decompiled. it sounds like you may have another problem.

ps3 iso rebuilder is one way to check the integrity of the files. it works with jb or iso.