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Post by Sune on Aug 28, 2007 15:19:08 GMT -5
The elusive Dr. Hell released a new version of his self contained Playstation emulator Xebra/Arbex. members.at.infoseek.co.jp/DrHell/ps1/index.htmlAs usual, click on the screenshot at the bottom of the page to download. Does anybody know what game it's from? I feel "dirty" posting this here but someone has to do it. ;D
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Post by patrickp on Aug 28, 2007 15:30:10 GMT -5
You dirty rat, you... Well, it _is_ a Playstation emulation issue, Sune!
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Post by kinghanco on Aug 28, 2007 20:02:16 GMT -5
Look like he change the name from Xebra to Arbex. I wonder why?
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Post by patrickp on Aug 29, 2007 5:46:23 GMT -5
The emulator seems to exist under both names, kinghanco; I'm not sure why, but I think they're different versions. What the difference is, I have no idea.
Edit: I'm not sure, but I think Arbex includes its own fabricated BIOS; presumably, Xebra uses an external one.
Pity I don't spend much time in Windows any more; this looks like it would be an interesting emulator to try.
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Post by Sune on Sept 3, 2007 14:06:53 GMT -5
bah, everybody knows you have a dual boot system with some form of Ubuntu and Windows 98.. Here's how to get Xebra to actually do anything: Rename your BIOS file of choice to OSROM (no extension needed) and place it in the Xebra folder. Run Xebra.exe If required, open a memory card from the file menu. You can use MCM.EXE (it's a memory card manager utility that comes with the emulator) to create them. I haven't played around with this much - I already have two memory card files in the Xebra folder but I'm not sure where they come from, maybe an old version. They are named BU00 and BU01. Insert a Playstation game CD (or mount an image on a virtual drive). (You can also run the game straight from a CD image but I'm not sure what kinds of image formats the emulator supports. It doesn't seem to work with CCD images. Also, contrary to what your intuition might tell you, the "running image" option is for save states, not for CD images. Anyway, I'll conveniently skip this part..) Go to the Run menu and select the Run1(Interprete) option (I haven't tried the others yet - if I'm not mistaken they represent different approaches to emulate the PlayStation's CPU). After a short time the system will boot into the memory card manager/CD player. Then go to the file menu and pick "Open CD ROM via SPTI". Navigate to your CD drive, select the game ID file, click Open and the game should boot after a short while. I'll leave it up to you to discover the rest..and when you do, please come back and tell me what it all means..
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Post by patrickp on Sept 3, 2007 14:38:11 GMT -5
I have two dual booting PCs, Sune, both running Feisty along with W2K on one of them and W98SE on the other. However, I very rarely boot into Windows any more - it just isn't fun. About the only times I ever do are to rip Playstation CDs (there are no Linux apps that can rip to .ccd/.img/.sub or .mds/.mdf) or occasionally to try pSX in W98 when pSX Author wants something tried - and how often is that? And what about Arbex?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2007 14:59:03 GMT -5
I very rarely boot into Windows any more - it just isn't fun. I never though booting to any OS could be considered fun. On another note, I wish someone could get in touch with the elusive Dr. Hell and offer their help in translating the emulator in understandable English.
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Post by Sune on Sept 3, 2007 16:49:23 GMT -5
Well Patrick, now there's one more reason for you to use Windows!
I can name a few games that have problems or don't work at all in pSX but work in Xebra...next time you're in Windows, try with some of yours just for the hell of it! I'm sure you have some that don't work 100% in pSX.
I think (like you said before) that the only difference between Xebra and Arbex is that Arbex uses reverse-engineering in place of the PlayStation BIOS and thus probably isn't as compatible. Though it could also actually be more compatible I guess.
This is not only an interesting concept from a hackers point of view, it's also interesting because it will mean less people breaking the law in order to play PlayStation games on their PCs.
@ Mika Xebra's distribution archive now includes a .pdf format manual in Japanese. Instead of placing a burden on the author to accommodate us gaijin, maybe someone else could translate the manual to english and host it on their own site...fat chance..
Anyway..after you've messed around with it for a while you'll start to get the hang of how to use it. Also there are some additional hints in the help menu.
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Post by patrickp on Sept 3, 2007 17:09:57 GMT -5
Heh, heh, I'll think about it next time I boot Bill... but I'm not sure I have any games ATM that don't work in pSX - certainly not games I play at all often and enjoy.
It depends, I guess, on just how Dr Hell developed his integrated BIOS - and on what the law would be for something like that in Japan, as well. Connectix v Sony certainly established that their BIOS function was legally produced and legal to use.
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Post by Gamesoul Master on Sept 3, 2007 20:59:07 GMT -5
It doesn't seem to like my .cue files either... at least not the ones associated with img/sub files. Haven't tried a cue/bin yet. For the record, I just point Xebra to my SCPH-1001 BIOS in my pSX folder by doing Open -> OS ROM Image the first time I use it, and I never have to worry about it again unless my configuration settings go bye bye somehow. And I actually use Run2, as someone seemed to recommend that one at some point. The little testing I did with the three Run commands didn't really yield any better/interesting results. And actually... I load the game first, then hit Run, as it seems to make a bit more sense to start it with a game loaded than inserting one while it's already running... =P
The theory with Arbex would certainly make sense, considering that it's *reversed* (almost a pun of sorts).
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Post by Sune on Sept 3, 2007 22:12:25 GMT -5
Yeah there's not just one way to run games with this emulator. I guess that's one of the things that put people off. That and the inexplicable and intimidating functions in the run menu, which I guess must be development related.
Xebra's GUI and the website in particular makes me think of Dr. Hell as some kind of mad, reverse engineer-doctor (and I mean this in the nicest possible way!). The whole thing has a very "laboratory" kind of feel to it.
Now that I no longer have to fiddle with it for 5 minutes to figure out how to get a game to run, I think I'll be using it more - especially to play my Duke Nukem games, which don't work fully or at all in pSX.
Which reminds me that I should go check if the CD sound fix in 1.13 has restored the in-game music in Time To Kill...
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Post by kinghanco on Sept 5, 2007 0:59:27 GMT -5
Xebra have a running game speed option that I like which pSX doesn't have at all. The only thing that I don't like about Xebra is the controllers setup. I hated that setup. pSX have a much better controllers setup. I haven't look at the Arbex and I probably don't want to look at it anyway. Too bad Dr Hell doesn't come around here on this forum.
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Post by Sune on Sept 6, 2007 20:22:32 GMT -5
Yes, for once I agree with you on something.
I haven't bothered to set up the analog sticks on my DualShock controller yet because I didn't understand right away what I was supposed to do...so I'll be saving that for a rainy day. Or a day when the sun is too strong, more likely.
At first I thought Xebra wasn't saving my controller mapping but it actually does.
I wonder if Xebra has the same issues with DualShock vs. normal pad emulation that pSX has.
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g00
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Post by g00 on Sept 25, 2007 18:42:59 GMT -5
I assume Xebra is a purist emulator like pSX? I'll keep it handy in case some games don't work on pSX. As usual, click on the screenshot at the bottom of the page to download. Does anybody know what game it's from? Ah, that's from IQ. One of my favorite Playstation games. Goes for high prices on eBay.
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Post by Sune on Sept 25, 2007 22:23:32 GMT -5
Thanks, I found a review of it. Looks interesting, I like puzzle games.
Yeah, Xebra is self contained and doesn't do anything to "enhance" sound or graphics. And it runs some games that don't work (or only partially work) in pSX.
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