[Beta Release] Open PS2 Loader with ZSO support (compressed ISOs)

Acid_Snake · May 16, 2022

Hey guys, over the last few weeks I've been working on adding support for compressed ISOs on Open PS2 Loader in the ZSO format.
While the project is still in beta, the results so far are incredibly positive, with ZSO games working 100% perfect on internal HDD, and many games now running perfect on USB devices.

I've tested the following games on a Fat PS2 over USB:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1K7szQS_9VG8es22eORw3xXTXxp5bZRpHOL6YJDH7S6c/edit?usp=sharing

Comparison of ISO and ZSO performance in the same USB device (an external SSD):
ISO: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1O7EGH1cO09SexxgyfadjHJrUvIR0kkAu/view
ZSO: https://drive.google.com/file/d/15E_9sWO_eNHl52XDjOpBIueADcZ9_ZwY/view

The more people help test this, the faster we can fix issues.

Download:
https://github.com/ps2homebrew/Open-PS2-Loader/releases/tag/latest

Always Download the latest OPL builds from the Official OPL Github Release Page.

LATEST UPDATE:
A new build with exFAT support is now available on the Official OPL Github page.

Compressing ISO to ZSO:

In the download package you can find a python script to compress ISO images to ZSO.
You need to install Python 3 and the lz4 library (pip install lz4), then use command line:

python ziso.py -c 2 "input.iso" "output.zso"

Shadow#1 · May 16, 2022

Acid_Snake said:
Hey guys, over the last few weeks I've been working on adding support for compressed ISOs on Open PS2 Loader in the ZSO format.
While the project is still in beta, the results so far are incredibly positive, with ZSO games working 100% perfect on internal HDD, and many games now running perfect on USB devices.

I've tested the following games on a Fat PS2 over USB:

- **Aggressive Inline**: intro FMV stutters. Gameplay is perfect.
- **Ape Escape 3**: works perfectly.
- **ATV Offroad Fury 2**: takes a while to bootup, intro FMV stutters, otherwise works perfectly.
- **Black**: very minor FMV stuttering though FMV audio is perfect and cutscenes can be watched. Everything else perfect.
- **Bully**: intro FMV stutters, rest of the game is perfect.
- **Call of Duty Finest Hour**: works perfectly, zero FMV lag.
- **Call of Duty 2 Big Red One**: some minor stuttering in the intro FMV, otherwise plays perfect.
- **Dragon Ball Z Budokai**: works perfect with no lag.
- **Dragon Ball Z Budokai 3**: intro FMV stutters, rest of the game is perfect.
- **Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3**: intro FMV stutters, rest of the game is perfect.
- **FIFA 14**: works perfectly.
- **Grand Theft Auto 3**: works perfect. No FMV lag at all.
- **Grand Theft Auto Vice City**: works perfectly. No FMV lag at all.
- **Grand Theft Auto San Andreas**: intro FMV stutters, gameplay and in-game cutscenes work perfectly with no lag.
- **Grand Theft Auto Liberty City Stories**: minor stutter in the intro FMV, rest of the game is perfect.
- **Grand Theft Auto Vice City Stories**: works perfectly, zero FMV lag.
- **Gun**: intro and in-game FMV stutters, rest of the game is perfect.
- **Lord of the Rings - Return of the King**: works perfectly. Zero FMV lag.
- **Metal of Honor Frontline**: works perfectly, no FMV lag at all.
- **Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty**: intro FMV stutters. Gameplay is perfect and in-game cutscenes have no lag.
- **Metal Gear Solid 3 Subsistance**: works perfectly. No FMV lag at all.
- **NBA Street Vol. 2**: very minor intro FMV stutter, otherwise works perfectly.
- **Need for Speed Undercover**: intro and cutscenes FMV stutters, some popping of buildings during gameplay, otherwise works perfectly.
- **Tekken 4**: intro FMV cuts off, rest of the game is perfect.
- **Tekken Tag Tournament** (converted to DVD): intro FMV stutters. Gameplay is perfect.
- **Scarface**: intro FMV stutters, rest of the game works perfect.
- **Silent Hill 2**: very minor stutter.
- **Silent Hill 3**: intro FMV stutter, in-game cutscene are perfect.
- **Simpsons Hit and Run**: heavy stuttering on FMVs, gameplay is fine.
- **Soul Calibur 3 Arcade Edition**: intro FMV stutters. Gameplay is perfect.
- **Shadow of the Colossus**: works perfectly, no FMV lag at all.
- **Splinter Cell**: works perfectly.
- **Ratchet and Clank**: intro FMV and pre-rendered cutscenes stutter.
- **Red Dead Revolver**: works perfectly.
- **Resident Evil 4**: works perfectly, no FMV lag at all.
- **The Godfather**: works perfectly, zero FMV lag.
- **Transformers**: intro and in-game FVM stutters, game crashes after first call.
- **Psi-Ops the Mindgate Conspiracy**: works perfectly, zero FMV lag.
- **WWE Smackdown vs RAW 2011**: works perfectly.

Comparison of ISO and ZSO performance in the same USB device (an external SSD):
ISO: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1O7EGH1cO09SexxgyfadjHJrUvIR0kkAu/view
ZSO: https://drive.google.com/file/d/15E_9sWO_eNHl52XDjOpBIueADcZ9_ZwY/view

The more people help test this, the faster we can fix issues and have it incorporated into the main OPL repositories for the next release.

Download:
https://github.com/JoseAaronLopezGarcia/Open-PS2-Loader-ZSO/releases/tag/r111

Does this have PS2 MS2SIO support?

Acid_Snake · May 16, 2022

Shadow#1 said:
Does this have PS2 MS2SIO support?

This works on all devices but MX4SIO in particular doesn't work very well even with plain ISO, much less with ZSO.
The driver for this device is still early and needs to be optimized. Maybe try it out and let us know your results.

Nomado · May 16, 2022

Hi, read your post on PSX-Place. This is an exiting development. If you could provide guide to convert to ZSO. I could do some testing. Currently I was setting up external HDD and was defragging backups. So I could test out. But I don't know how to convert to ZSO.

Acid_Snake · May 16, 2022

Nomado said:
Hi, read your post on PSX-Place. This is an exiting development. If you could provide guide to convert to ZSO. I could do some testing. Currently I was setting up external HDD and was defragging backups. So I could test out. But I don't know how to convert to ZSO.

In the download package you can find a python script to compress ISO images to ZSO.
You need to install Python 3 and the lz4 library (pip install lz4), then use command line:

python ziso.py -c 2 "input.iso" "output.zso"

If you get an alignment error:

python ziso.py -c 2 -a 3 "input.iso" "output.zso"

Nomado · May 16, 2022

Edit: NVM

esmith13 · May 16, 2022

Personally I'm using a PS2 Slim dedicated micro router to access a 2.5" USB HDD (like a PS2-NetBox setup). If I can find a spare USB HDD to test with is it helpful to try this on my setup and report back or are you specifically looking for directly connected USB test results since SMB already does great with most ISOs as-is?

Acid_Snake · May 16, 2022

esmith13 said:
Personally I'm using a PS2 Slim dedicated micro router to access a 2.5" USB HDD (like a PS2-NetBox setup). If I can find a spare USB HDD to test with is it helpful to try this on my setup and report back or are you specifically looking for directly connected USB test results since SMB already does great with most ISOs as-is?

I appreciate any and all tests. I know that SMB doesn't work very well with the latest OPL code and ZSO doesn't help here but it might also depend on your connection so it'd be interesting to see your results.

sion_zaphod · May 27, 2022

I'm gradually working my way through testing every PAL and USA compressed games compatibility with SMB. I have started a compatibility list here ZSO OPL Compatibility list. So far I have tested only SMB and will continue til every PAL USA game is done. Feel free to edit too. There are tabs for SMB/USB/HDD. I will not be testing USB at all because of the limitations of filesize in fat32 and the USB1 speeds of the PS2. I have 2 FAT PS2's both with 2tb drives that are full so when I'm done testing SMB and pickup another 2tb SATA I'll get around to testing HDD compatibility (provided there is a straightforward method of transferring ZSO to internal drive).

zfreeman · May 27, 2022

@sion_zaphod, could you add an SD tab? It would be for those that play games from the memory card port (MX4SIO).

lazyguy · May 27, 2022

how does the ps2 have spare compute to decompress iso?

sion_zaphod · May 27, 2022

zfreeman said:
@sion_zaphod, could you add an SD tab? It would be for those that play games from the memory card port (MX4SIO).

@zfreeman I'm working at the mo but as soon as I'm home I'll sort the extra tab. Interesting does the MX4ISO SD have to be formatted as fat32 or can it be in NTFS or EXFAT?

CoolMe · May 27, 2022

Acid_Snake said:
Hey guys, over the last few weeks I've been working on adding support for compressed ISOs on Open PS2 Loader in the ZSO format.
While the project is still in beta, the results so far are incredibly positive, with ZSO games working 100% perfect on internal HDD, and many games now running perfect on USB devices.

I've tested the following games on a Fat PS2 over USB:

- **Aggressive Inline**: intro FMV stutters. Gameplay is perfect.
- **Ape Escape 3**: works perfectly.
- **ATV Offroad Fury 2**: takes a while to bootup, intro FMV stutters, otherwise works perfectly.
- **Black**: very minor FMV stuttering though FMV audio is perfect and cutscenes can be watched. Everything else perfect.
- **Bully**: intro FMV stutters, rest of the game is perfect.
- **Call of Duty Finest Hour**: works perfectly, zero FMV lag.
- **Call of Duty 2 Big Red One**: some minor stuttering in the intro FMV, otherwise plays perfect.
- **Dragon Ball Z Budokai**: works perfect with no lag.
- **Dragon Ball Z Budokai 3**: intro FMV stutters, rest of the game is perfect.
- **Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3**: intro FMV stutters, rest of the game is perfect.
- **FIFA 14**: works perfectly.
- **Grand Theft Auto 3**: works perfect. No FMV lag at all.
- **Grand Theft Auto Vice City**: works perfectly. No FMV lag at all.
- **Grand Theft Auto San Andreas**: intro FMV stutters, gameplay and in-game cutscenes work perfectly with no lag.
- **Grand Theft Auto Liberty City Stories**: minor stutter in the intro FMV, rest of the game is perfect.
- **Grand Theft Auto Vice City Stories**: works perfectly, zero FMV lag.
- **Gun**: intro and in-game FMV stutters, rest of the game is perfect.
- **Lord of the Rings - Return of the King**: works perfectly. Zero FMV lag.
- **Metal of Honor Frontline**: works perfectly, no FMV lag at all.
- **Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty**: intro FMV stutters. Gameplay is perfect and in-game cutscenes have no lag.
- **Metal Gear Solid 3 Subsistance**: works perfectly. No FMV lag at all.
- **NBA Street Vol. 2**: very minor intro FMV stutter, otherwise works perfectly.
- **Need for Speed Undercover**: intro and cutscenes FMV stutters, some popping of buildings during gameplay, otherwise works perfectly.
- **Tekken 4**: intro FMV cuts off, rest of the game is perfect.
- **Tekken Tag Tournament** (converted to DVD): intro FMV stutters. Gameplay is perfect.
- **Scarface**: intro FMV stutters, rest of the game works perfect.
- **Silent Hill 2**: very minor stutter.
- **Silent Hill 3**: intro FMV stutter, in-game cutscene are perfect.
- **Simpsons Hit and Run**: heavy stuttering on FMVs, gameplay is fine.
- **Soul Calibur 3 Arcade Edition**: intro FMV stutters. Gameplay is perfect.
- **Shadow of the Colossus**: works perfectly, no FMV lag at all.
- **Splinter Cell**: works perfectly.
- **Ratchet and Clank**: intro FMV and pre-rendered cutscenes stutter.
- **Red Dead Revolver**: works perfectly.
- **Resident Evil 4**: works perfectly, no FMV lag at all.
- **The Godfather**: works perfectly, zero FMV lag.
- **Transformers**: intro and in-game FVM stutters, game crashes after first call.
- **Psi-Ops the Mindgate Conspiracy**: works perfectly, zero FMV lag.
- **WWE Smackdown vs RAW 2011**: works perfectly.

Comparison of ISO and ZSO performance in the same USB device (an external SSD):
ISO: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1O7EGH1cO09SexxgyfadjHJrUvIR0kkAu/view
ZSO: https://drive.google.com/file/d/15E_9sWO_eNHl52XDjOpBIueADcZ9_ZwY/view

The more people help test this, the faster we can fix issues and have it incorporated into the main OPL repositories for the next release.

Download:
https://github.com/JoseAaronLopezGarcia/Open-PS2-Loader-ZSO/releases/tag/r111

Compressing ISO to ZSO:

In the download package you can find a python script to compress ISO images to ZSO.
You need to install Python 3 and the lz4 library (pip install lz4), then use command line:

python ziso.py -c 2 "input.iso" "output.zso"

If you get an alignment error:

python ziso.py -c 2 -a 3 "input.iso" "output.zso"

How does it & what does it compress exactly? If you don't mind me asking..
Is there a way to trim just dummy data out of the iso image, without touching anything else like compressing video files etc.
And even with that, from what i understand, even touching the dummy data would throw the compatibility and the PS2 out of whack, because of how it expects certain data to be in certain places, so disruping that should result in all sorts of problems.. One the big reasons why we never had a compression or trimming tool for the PS2, unlike the GC or Wii..

Reploid · May 27, 2022

lazyguy said:
how does the ps2 have spare compute to decompress iso?

Prolly just longer load times with compatible games. often it's not fast enough for FMV it seems

sion_zaphod · May 27, 2022

@zfreeman Added MX4SIO tab.

zfreeman · May 27, 2022

sion_zaphod said:
@zfreeman I'm working at the mo but as soon as I'm home I'll sort the extra tab. Interesting does the MX4ISO SD have to be formatted as fat32 or can it be in NTFS or EXFAT?

FAT32. Used cluster size: 16KB

Shadow#1 · May 27, 2022

zfreeman said:
FAT32. Used cluster size: 16KB

Uea I found thst out myself that no other cluster size worked other then 16k

sion_zaphod · May 28, 2022

So you are still bound by the 4gb filesize limit. That sucks. That's one of the reasons I won't touch USB for PS2. Splitting the ISO is not an option in my book. My 2 FAT's with internal HDD's work fine with every game but there limited to 2tb per console. For my slim I have a portable travel router flashed with cfw and 4tb USB attached (Formatted as NTFS) no 4gb limit so I can have complete ISO's or ZSO's. I've not noticed any lag comparing my internal HDD games with my external SMB share games. Previously I had it setup with a raspberry pi zero 2 hosting the SMB server but since you can't buy RPIZ2's anywhere now I went the portable router way and for £30 I'm not disappointed at all. I get to use my rpiz2 for other projects and I have a dedicated PS2 SMB server.

esmith13 · May 28, 2022

sion_zaphod said:
So you are still bound by the 4gb filesize limit. That sucks. That's one of the reasons I won't touch USB for PS2. Splitting the ISO is not an option in my book. My 2 FAT's with internal HDD's work fine with every game but there limited to 2tb per console. For my slim I have a portable travel router flashed with cfw and 4tb USB attached (Formatted as NTFS) no 4gb limit so I can have complete ISO's or ZSO's. I've not noticed any lag comparing my internal HDD games with my external SMB share games. Previously I had it setup with a raspberry pi zero 2 hosting the SMB server but since you can't buy RPIZ2's anywhere now I went the portable router way and for £30 I'm not disappointed at all. I get to use my rpiz2 for other projects and I have a dedicated PS2 SMB server.View attachment 311655

Nice. My setup is almost identical. I just used a GL.iNet Mango mini router instead so I didn't need custom FW on it and it was only ~$22 US.

Acid_Snake · May 28, 2022

sion_zaphod said:
So you are still bound by the 4gb filesize limit. That sucks. That's one of the reasons I won't touch USB for PS2. Splitting the ISO is not an option in my book. My 2 FAT's with internal HDD's work fine with every game but there limited to 2tb per console. For my slim I have a portable travel router flashed with cfw and 4tb USB attached (Formatted as NTFS) no 4gb limit so I can have complete ISO's or ZSO's. I've not noticed any lag comparing my internal HDD games with my external SMB share games. Previously I had it setup with a raspberry pi zero 2 hosting the SMB server but since you can't buy RPIZ2's anywhere now I went the portable router way and for £30 I'm not disappointed at all. I get to use my rpiz2 for other projects and I have a dedicated PS2 SMB server.View attachment 311655

We are working on porting the FATFS driver, which would give us exFAT support. Hopefully we get it working soon.

CoolMe said:
How does it & what does it compress exactly? If you don't mind me asking..
Is there a way to trim just dummy data out of the iso image, without touching anything else like compressing video files etc.
And even with that, from what i understand, even touching the dummy data would throw the compatibility and the PS2 out of whack, because of how it expects certain data to be in certain places, so disruping that should result in all sorts of problems.. One the big reasons why we never had a compression or trimming tool for the PS2, unlike the GC or Wii..

This is a lossless format, none of the original data is lost, so it's preferable over stripping dummy files. The game doesn't care about the format as long as you feed it the data it needs.
There's no extra FMV stuttering with this, it's very performant even with SMB.

[Beta Release] Open PS2 Loader with ZSO support (compressed ISOs)

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