Hacking Prevent big files from being split

[Windows_10_User]

How can I prevent + 4 GB files (like pak23.psarc ones) from being split after converting folder format games to the ISO one using PS3 ISO TOOLS?

I'm having some black screens or getting kicked to the XMB when running some games and I've been told I may have these problems because their + 4 GB files are split and I just realized some of them have the same name and format and are on the same location, so how's that even possible?

MultiMAN recognizes my PS3 ISOs in the external HDD's NTFS partition but oddly it has problems with them on its file manager (it's permanently loading after clicking them) and I've been told multiMAN joins the + 4 GB files (if I leave the games on the folder format) if I move them to the PS3 but that would take a lot of time and after that I'd also have to convert the game to ISO and to do it maybe I'd have to wirelessly (don't have an ethernet cable) download it to the PC because although multiMAN supposedly converts folder format games to the ISO one (according to what I was told), it seems it uses genPS3ISO (according to what I read), which may not be as compatible as PS3 ISO TOOLS' makeps3iso setting.

 

[rs1n]

How can I prevent big files (like pak23.psarc ones) from being split after converting JB games to ISO using PS3 ISO TOOLS?

I use PS3 ISO Rebuilder and there is an option pop-up window just before building the ISO asking whether to split the ISO or keep it as a single file.

MultiMAN recognizes my PS3 ISOs on a NTFS partition but oddly has problems with my NTFS partition (it's permanently loading when I click on it) on its file manager and I've been told multiMAN joins the big split files (if I let the games on the JB format) if I move them to the PS3's HDD but that would take a lot of time and after that I'd even have to convert the game to ISO and to do it maybe I'd have to wirelessly (don't have an ethernet cable) FTP it to the PC because multiMAN supposedly converts JB games to ISO (according with what I was told) but it looks like it uses the genps3iso method (according to what I as told) which may not be as compatible as PS3 ISO TOOLS' makeps3iso one.

I have had no issues using PS3 ISO Rebuilder, if you would like to try a different option. I recommend using IRD files, too, to help ensure that the important files are indeed clean (have correct checkshums). Use IRD Library to download them (they're just checksum files).

 

[Windows_10_User]

I use PS3 ISO Rebuilder and there is an option pop-up window just before building the ISO asking whether to split the ISO or keep it as a single file.



I have had no issues using PS3 ISO Rebuilder, if you would like to try a different option. I recommend using IRD files, too, to help ensure that the important files are indeed clean (have correct checkshums). Use IRD Library to download them (they're just checksum files).

I used PS3-ISO-Rebuilder and chose the setting to not split them and the're still split.

I get required, missing and invalid files. It seems even PARAM.SFO has one of these problems and if the ISO doesn't have the PS3_UPDATE folder (like in my case), PS3-ISO-Rebuilder says PS3UPDAT.PUP is missing.

 

[spotanjo3]

I chose the keep it as a single file setting and it still splits them.

I have not required, missing and invalid files. It looks like even the param.sfo file has one of these problems and if the ISO doesn't have the PS3_UPDATE like in my case it also has problems.

You also need IRD files to verify if there is missing or invalid files. If you don't then you can run it fine on PS3 but sometimes it will just frozen or crashes due to missing or invalid files. I highly recommend you to get IRD files to verify your games to be 100 percent clean and green highlight so you will know it is safe. HIGHLY RECOMMEND, REALLY!

 

[rs1n]

I chose the keep it as a single file setting and it still splits them.

I have not required, missing and invalid files. It looks like even the param.sfo file has one of these problems and if the ISO doesn't have the PS3_UPDATE like in my case it also has problems.

You can still build an ISO without PS3UPDAT.PUP -- that's just the (minimum) official firmware that gets shipped with the disc at that time so that you can easily update your system to that firmware in order to run the game. This is almost never needed unless you want an exact copy created. Similarly, PARAM.SFO has to do with the install type (disc-based, hdd-based, etc.) and possibly other non-essential settings that should not affect the creation of the ISO. As long as you don't have any essential game files showing up as invalid, your ISO should build fine. If you insist on a 1-to-1 copy, you can find those files by googling for them and including 'disc repair' as part of your search.

Lastly, I don't know if PS3 ISO Tools is any different from PS3 ISO Rebuilder, but it is not clear to me that you have made the switch. If you are in fact using rebuilder, then double check that your target is on an NTFS partition (start with your own internal hard drive, where your Windows installation lives, if you have the space).

 

[Windows_10_User]

You also need IRD files to verify if there is missing or invalid files. If you don't then you can run it fine on PS3 but sometimes it will just frozen or crashes due to missing or invalid files. I highly recommend you to get IRD files to verify your games to be 100 percent clean and green highlight so you will know it is safe. HIGHLY RECOMMEND, REALLY!

I already did, but I like I said, I get not required, missing and invalid files with PS3-ISO-Rebuilder.

You can still build an ISO without PS3UPDAT.PUP -- that's just the (minimum) official firmware that gets shipped with the disc at that time so that you can easily update your system to that firmware in order to run the game. This is almost never needed unless you want an exact copy created. Similarly, PARAM.SFO has to do with the install type (disc-based, hdd-based, etc.) and possibly other non-essential settings that should not affect the creation of the ISO. As long as you don't have any essential game files showing up as invalid, your ISO should build fine. If you insist on a 1-to-1 copy, you can find those files by googling for them and including 'disc repair' as part of your search.

Lastly, I don't know if PS3 ISO Tools is any different from PS3 ISO Rebuilder, but it is not clear to me that you have made the switch. If you are in fact using rebuilder, then double check that your target is on an NTFS partition (start with your own internal hard drive, where your Windows installation lives, if you have the space).

And how can I know if the files appearing as not valid are essential or not?

Yes, I'm using PS3-ISO-Rebuilder now.

 

[smf]

And how can I know if the files showing up as not valid are essential or not?

Essential for what? If you want to avoid any problems then they are essential. If you're willing to risk problems then don't worry about them.
Several scene releases were based on beta versions with hacked files to make it sorta work.

You can sometimes reverse the hex edits done to PARAM.SFO, if you know what you're doing (some games just had a single bit changed that allowed disc less to work, others had version changes and other flags).

Googling for what, the games' names? Could you give me an example of how should I search on Google?

Googling the file names and the hashes for the missing files used to find threads of people going through the same thing, although links might be dead now. You might have to dump an original disc or find another rip. I don't remember there being any threads here unfortumately

 

[rs1n]

And how can I know if the files showing up as not valid are essential or not? Googling for what, the games' names? Could you give me an example of how should I search on Google?

You can find a few more tips here: https://www.reddit.com/r/ps3homebrew/comments/6th15r/rebuilding_a_backup_with_ps3isorebuilder/

As smf mentioned, all files are essential if you want an exact re-build. However, not all files are needed to run the game, and some files can be invalid and still allow the game to run. Read the link above for some tips.

As for splitting files, check your registry:

Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\PS3-ISO-Rebuilder

There might be more places where the settings might be stored, but I would check there for anything affecting file splitting. You can probably just delete it and have it be recreated by simply running the rebuilder program.

 

[Windows_10_User]

Essential for what? If you want to avoid any problems then they are essential. If you're willing to risk problems then don't worry about them.
Several scene releases were based on beta versions with hacked files to make it sorta work.

You can sometimes reverse the hex edits done to PARAM.SFO, if you know what you're doing (some games just had a single bit changed that allowed disc less to work, others had version changes and other flags).



Googling the file names and the hashes for the missing files used to find threads of people going through the same thing, although links might be dead now. You might have to dump an original disc or find another rip. I don't remember there being any threads here unfortumately

You said that as long as I don't have any essential game files appearing as invalid my ISOs should build fine so can PS3-ISO-Rebuilder give any error message when creating one after finding some invalid files, and if so, how can I know which ones are needed to successfully build an ISO, I mean, the essential ones?

But how can I know the original PARAM.SFO settings of the game to make it valid according to PS3-ISO-Rebuilder (I guess that would make it so)?

Regarding PARAM.SFO settings, it seems most PS3 games are 720p so if I only check their PARAM.SFO "1080" setting (or maybe all the video resolutions' settings) after opening the PARAM.SFO files with PARAM.SFO EDITOR, save it, create a new ISO and run it, can I force the PS3 to run those games in 1080p or it's likely not that easy to change the games' resolution and probably even impossible them with that resolution since they weren't made for it?

And where can I find the hashes for the missing files?

You can find a few more tips here:
As smf mentioned, all files are essential if you want an exact re-build. However, not all files are needed to run the game, and some files can be invalid and still allow the game to run. Read the link above for some tips.

As for splitting files, check your registry:

Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\PS3-ISO-Rebuilder

There might be more places where the settings might be stored, but I would check there for anything affecting file splitting. You can probably just delete it and have it be recreated by simply running the rebuilder program.

Yes, I was successfully able to play games with invalid files and (I think) with not required and missing ones as well so may problems arise? And for those I can't, are black screens or getting kicked to the XMB consequences of having missing files, not required ones and/or invalid ones?

I did that but it still split the + 4 GB files in even more files than PS3 ISO TOOLS. Anyway, after reinstalling Windows, PS3 ISO TOOLS stopped splitting the + 4 GB files so should I ignore PS3-ISO-Rebuilder and stick to PS3 ISO TOOLS?

 

[rs1n]

You said that as long as I don't have any essential game files showing up as invalid my ISO should build fine so can PS3-ISO-REBUILDER give any error message when creating an ISO after showing some invalid files and if so, how can I know which ones are needed to successfully build an ISO, i.e., the essential ones?

There is no easy answer since it depends on the game and how the files were extracted. But generally speaking:

PS3UPDATE\PS3UPDAT.PUP - not needed
ICON0.PNG, ICON0_01.PNG, PIC0.PNG, PIC0_01.PNG - not essential for running the game but is by XMB
PARAM.SFO - may be invalid​

That's about it. Everything else should be valid (and not missing).

But how can I know the original PARAM.sfo settings of the game to make it valid according to PS3-ISO-REBUILDER (I suppose that would make it valid?

You can try getting an editor and messing with the options until the MD5 matches with the ones in the IRD file.

Talking about PARAM.sfo settings, it looks like most PS3 games are played at 720p so if I only check their PARAM.SFO's "1080" setting (or maybe all the video resolutions' settings) after opening the PARAM.SFO files with PARAM.SFO EDITOR can I force the PS3 to play the games at 1080p or it's likely not that easy to change the games' resolution and probably even impossible to play games with that resolution since they weren't made for that?

Game dependent; your mileage may vary.

And where can I find the hashes for the missing files?

Load the IRD file into PS3 ISO Builder and nothing else; the MD5 values should be listed after it scans the IRD file.

Yes, I was successfully able to play games with invalid files and I think with not required and missing ones so may I have any problem? And for those I can't, are black screens or being kicked back to the XMB after running the games consequences of having missing files, not required ones and/or invalid ones?

Again, it's highly dependent on how your game was ripped. The symptoms you list are some possibilities, but it's not an exhaustive list. Nor are those symptoms necessarily due to missing/invalid files -- I can think of plenty of other reasons (e.g. failing or corrupt drive). But the point is that you cannot apply any process of elimination because you purposely chose to use an ISO that is not 1:1.

I did that but it still split the + 4 GB files in even more parts than PS3 ISO TOOLS. Anyway, after reinstalling Windows PS3 ISO TOOLS stopped splitting the + 4 GB files so should I ignore all PS3-ISO-REBUILDER and stop caring about having not required, invalid or missing files and stick with PS3 ISO TOOLS?

Like I said, I don't use PS3 ISO Tools; I prefer Rebuilder because I can always build 1:1 ISOs. I don't know how the splitting process works within these tools. Generally speaking, split binary files can be easily combined by doing:

copy /b filename1 + filename2 + ... + filenameN outputname

However, this assumes that the original file is split at the binary level. I.e. the process assumes that you have game1.iso and game2.iso, the second iso file is not an actual ISO file but simply a binary file with an ISO extension slapped on at the end.

 

[Windows_10_User]

Again, it's highly dependent on how your game was ripped. The symptoms you list are some possibilities, but it's not an exhaustive list. Nor are those symptoms necessarily due to missing/invalid files -- I can think of plenty of other reasons (e.g. failing or corrupt drive). But the point is that you cannot apply any process of elimination because you purposely chose to use an ISO that is not 1:1.


Like I said, I don't use PS3 ISO Tools; I prefer Rebuilder because I can always build 1:1 ISOs. I don't know how the splitting process works within these tools. Generally speaking, split binary files can be easily combined by doing:

copy /b filename1 + filename2 + ... + filenameN outputname

However, this assumes that the original file is split at the binary level. I.e. the process assumes that you have game1.iso and game2.iso, the second iso file is not an actual ISO file but simply a binary file with an ISO extension slapped on at the end.

So, should I use PS3-ISO-Rebuilder instead of PS3 ISO TOOLS and may problems arise with split files after using it?

Does PS3-ISO-Rebuilder use makeps3iso or genPS3ISO? Like I said, PS3 ISO TOOLS' genps3iso setting splits the + 4 GB files in more files than the makeps3iso one.

Between PS3 ISO TOOLS' makeps3iso and genps3iso settings, which one is more compatible?

Also, mounting a PS3 ISO with multiMAN created a PS3GAME.CHK and a PS3GAME.VR0 files on it. Is it OK and why were they created?

 

[rs1n]

So, should I use PS3-ISO-REBUIDER instead of PS3 ISO TOOLS and I may have no problems with split files after using it?

You can always just try to see if it works.

Does PS3-ISO-REBUILDER use makeps3iso or genps3iso? IIRC, genps3iso splits the + 4 GB files in more parts than makeps3.iso.

I just tested on a 15GB game; using genps3iso (within PS3 ISO Rebuilder) I got 3 files that were 4.2GB, and a fourth that was 3.7GB so it does not seem to produce more than the necessary number of files for splitting. For the record, the game was mainly a single 13+ GB bin file with a few smaller files.

Between makeps3iso and genps3iso, which one is more compatible? Also, after loading a PS3 ISO with multiMAN it created a PS3GAME.CHK and a PS3GAME.VR0 files on it. Is it ok and why are they needed?

Compatibility has more to do with file integrity. So I don't think either one is any better than the other if you don't have file integrity. (Keep in mind that, again, I only use Rebuilder.) And when you do, I don't think it should matter if both are properly programmed to ISO specs and whatever else is needed by PS3 launchers (e.g. multiman, webman, irisman, etc). Regarding multiman files:

PS3GAME.INI - game settings
PS3GAME.CHK - EBOOT/SPRX/SELF files are checked against current firmware
PS3GAME.VR0 - game checked and no 4GB+ files are found
PS3GAME.VR1 - there are 4GB+ files
PS3GAME.BG0 - use ICON0.PNG as icon in multiman
PS3GAME.BG1 - use PIC0.PNG as background in multiman

Some additional info -- I just tested this. Using copy /b file1 + file2 + ... + fileN outputfile on the split files created by GenPS3ISO (the option inside PS3 ISO Rebuilder) produces essentially the same ISO as the single-file option, although you will see different MD5 checksums on the entire ISO files themselves (because the date field will be different, since it includes the time of creation as well).

EDIT: after creating your ISO (and possibly merging if desired) you should check the resulting ISO file using the Rebuilder program to ensure that all the files inside still have the correct checksums.

 

[Windows_10_User]

.

 

[Windows_10_User]

You can always just try to see if it works.



I just tested on a 15GB game; using genps3iso (within PS3 ISO Rebuilder) I got 3 files that were 4.2GB, and a fourth that was 3.7GB so it does not seem to produce more than the necessary number of files for splitting. For the record, the game was mainly a single 13+ GB bin file with a few smaller files.



Compatibility has more to do with file integrity. So I don't think either one is any better than the other if you don't have file integrity. (Keep in mind that, again, I only use Rebuilder.) And when you do, I don't think it should matter if both are properly programmed to ISO specs and whatever else is needed by PS3 launchers (e.g. multiman, webman, irisman, etc). Regarding multiman files:

PS3GAME.INI - game settings
PS3GAME.CHK - EBOOT/SPRX/SELF files are checked against current firmware
PS3GAME.VR0 - game checked and no 4GB+ files are found
PS3GAME.VR1 - there are 4GB+ files
PS3GAME.BG0 - use ICON0.PNG as icon in multiman
PS3GAME.BG1 - use PIC0.PNG as background in multiman

Some additional info -- I just tested this. Using copy /b file1 + file2 + ... + fileN outputfile on the split files created by GenPS3ISO (the option inside PS3 ISO Rebuilder) produces essentially the same ISO as the single-file option, although you will see different MD5 checksums on the entire ISO files themselves (because the date field will be different, since it includes the time of creation as well).

EDIT: after creating your ISO (and possibly merging if desired) you should check the resulting ISO file using the Rebuilder program to ensure that all the files inside still have the correct checksums.

Sorry, I was misunderstood. What I wanted was to have non-split ISOs with non-split + 4 GB files (like pak23.psarc ones), not split ISOs. I tried both non-split ISOs created by PS3-ISO-Rebuilder and PS3 ISO TOOLS with split + 4 GB files and they worked.

I'll go back to PS3 ISO TOOLS since PS3 ISO REBUILDER uses genPS3ISO (if not using IRD files, at least) and I read in PSX-Place that makeps3iso is more compatible than genPS3ISO (they didn't mention the compatibility had to with file integrity unlike you), so I'll use PS3 ISO TOOLS' makeps3iso setting when creating ISOs.

It seems some games I downloaded already came with some of the said (PS3GAME.CHK and PS3GAME.VR0) files so they weren't created by my multiMAN. I guess those files won't be used if running the games with other backup managers than multiMAN.

EDIT: Apparently, PS3 ISO TOOLS comes with an obsolete makeps3iso. I replaced it with the latest one (as well as the latest extractps3iso) which can be downloaded from here.

EDIT 2: There's multiMAN MOD which supports exFAT and NTFS unlike multiMAN.