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Compressed PS2 Isos (gz) and HLHQ

Aorin

By Aorin
in HyperSpin

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Aorin Mentor

Aorin

Posted
Posted

Hi and thanks for taking time to read this.

Some time ago Awakened told me in a Retroarch thread he was using Gzipped roms, i.e., ".gz" for PS2 games, I use PBP for PS1 , CSO for PSP and GCZ for GameCube, it saved me lots of Gigabytes without the need to wait for uncompression, like it does for 7z, but for systems like 3DO, Sega CD and some others that don't support compressed isos I only leave them uncompressed to Bin+Cue or ISO.

PCSX2 (SVS versions from emucr) now supports reading compressed ISOS to .gz and it's a great deal because some games gets half it's size.

When we run a gzipped game for the first time it does create a reference .tmp file in the same folder the game is, taking about a minute or 2, but the second time we run that game it starts directly like it does for ordinary isos.

I managed to compress some PS2 isos I got here and downloaded the latest PCSX2 which supports this format, I also updated hyperlaunch and HLHQ via GIT today but I get this error when I try to load a game from HLHQ.

2gucbyq.jpg

I tried setting 7z support and ignoring rom extensions but it remains.

Does anyone know how to sort it out or show me how to update PCSX2 module?

Thanks again!

Aorin Mentor

Aorin

Posted
  • Author
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.gz extension was already added prior in my tests, they are recognized in the audit section, that message appears.

Thanks for your attention.

Awakened Newbie

Awakened

Posted
Posted

I had to open \HyperLaunch\Modules\PCSX2\PCSX2.ahk and add .gz to this line:

} Else If romExtension in .iso,.mdf,.nrg,.bin,.img,.gz	; the only formats PCSX2 supports loading directly

Aorin Mentor

Aorin

Posted
  • Author
Posted
I had to open \HyperLaunch\Modules\PCSX2\PCSX2.ahk and add .gz to this line:

} Else If romExtension in .iso,.mdf,.nrg,.bin,.img,.gz	; the only formats PCSX2 supports loading directly

Thanks Awakened, works perfect now, also I learned what should I do when this kind of stuff happens!

  • 2 months later...
potts43 Collaborator

potts43

Posted
Posted

Hi and thanks.....

When we run a gzipped game for the first time it does create a reference .tmp file in the same folder the game is, taking about a minute or 2, but the second time we run that game it starts directly like it does for ordinary isos.

Can I ask if you have delete temp file turned on or off . The reason I ask is if you run a zip file it takes 2 mins to unpack. If you close the game and the run it again it doesn't need to unzip it again and runs quickly- just as you describe but if you don't delete the temp files (unzipped ISO) you are really storing the game twice and not saving any space. Just wondered if when you close HS or HLHQ and there is no temp file does it take that 2 mins again? As if unpacking the Gz file to a recognised format.

Aorin Mentor

Aorin

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Well, actually the way PCSX2 works along with Gzipped isos is a little different in this case.

 

Latest GIT releases, which you can easily find at emucr, supports reading Gzipped isos.

So, how does it work? When you open, for example, God of War, for the first time, it will create an index file for that Gzipped iso, I said a minute or two, but it will take surely less than that, so the next time you run that very game, it will directly open it just like a normal iso.

This index file is not a decompressed Gzipped iso, but a small file that will help the emulator access information within that compressed iso (it's kept inside the iso folder, I use to hide it to leave that folder clean)

 

ps2_zpskgxfnncj.jpg

 

In short, it saved me lots and lots of GB, and it doesn't need to decompress.

  • 2 weeks later...
Aorin Mentor

Aorin

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hi all, I wanted to let you guys know that "Gz" is officially supported by the oficial PCSX2 module, if you have migrated to Rocket Launcher UI, the built-in updating system will update this module for you.

 

Thanks to Rocket Launcher guys and their fast support!

Min2001 Newbie

Min2001

Posted
Posted

 Thanks Aorin, great news!... this is gonna save me a whole lot of disc space on my already full hard drive

 

:thanks:

 

BTW: .Gz is also supported using the 7zip utility too for people who are already using this as a main zip utility.

(Not too sure on the batch support though, but I only have about 7 games installed for PS2 so not really a problem for me)

Maybe someone can confirm batch conversions using the .gz extension and 7zip?

potts43 Collaborator

potts43

Posted
Posted

What is the process for converting 7z isos?

Do you uncompress to ISO and then gz the ISO? Or do you unpack the ISO to raw data first?

Sounds like a batch file could handle this...

zerojay Contributor

zerojay

Posted
Posted

Last time I tried this, I found that it was highly unstable. Has it gotten better? Is it significantly tested? I want to make sure I don't regret going through the trouble of converting them all.

Min2001 Newbie

Min2001

Posted
Posted

Mine are working great, you just need to convert them to .gz straight from the .iso files (Right click>7zip>Add to archive and just select the highest compression settings for .gz format). After running them once I got a warning message but after that it auto generates the .tmp file to go with the compressed .gz file and runs them fine.

 

Also don't forget to update to the latest RocketLauncher modules and add the .gz extension to RocketLauncherHQ

 

You also probably wouldn't want to run the highest compression settings though on a large set as it takes quite a while to compress even 1 file with high settings, so I would reserve putting the settings up high if your going to be batch converting.

Aorin Mentor

Aorin

Posted
  • Author
Posted

What is the process for converting 7z isos?

Do you uncompress to ISO and then gz the ISO? Or do you unpack the ISO to raw data first?

Sounds like a batch file could handle this...

 

The simplest way I found for Gzipping PS2 isos in batch process is using Total Commander. In 5 minutes or less you already know how do deal with this program.

  • 3 months later...
demonseed Community Regular

demonseed

Posted
Posted

I am having issues with this... It worked fine last week or so now over black screen and error with gzips... Works fine with iso???  I have tested with PCSX2 outside of RL on its own.  GZIP games go to BLACK screen. If I unzip them they work??

Aorin Mentor

Aorin

Posted
  • Author
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DemonSeed, Gzip for PCSX2 are supported in the newest nightly builds, but there's something else you should know.

 

It works this way, when you compress a Iso to gain space in your HDD to Gz, and after that you open this like a iso in PCSX2, the emulator will take some time to create what they call an index file, it's nothing but a temp file for the emulator to use as a reading index.

When you use this emulator, please use it outside Hyperspin or Rocket Launcher first, I'll tell you why.

It take some time to create this index file, if you use it inside HS or RL you'll get a black screen because RL will understand that the emulator delayed too much to start the game when actually it's creating that index file.

Also, see it for yourself, open PCSX2 and load a Gzipped iso with the console window showing the index creation process, once it's finished, open this very game inside HS or RL and it should open OK now.

demonseed Community Regular

demonseed

Posted
Posted

Hey

So I managed to fix the issues outside of RL. It turns out I had one of the early versions of PCSX2 that supported GZIPs. I updated and not PCSX2 outside of RL works great!!

The problem is in RL when I run a game, I get the black screen (as I do when I run games in PCSX2) but then I get an error see attached pic...... Then error screen closes.. and kicks me back to RL.  PCSX2 eventually loads the game.  I am wondering if there is a fix for this? I love this emulator but want it to run in HS.  I have not tried in HS yet but I assumed it would do the same thing as RL.

 

 

 

post-4824-0-09276900-1440039602_thumb.png

demonseed Community Regular

demonseed

Posted
Posted

Solved my issue with newer build. For the error I had to edit the PCSX2 module..  in rockelauncher/modules..

 

changed  ahk_class wxwindowclassnr

 

 

to

 

ahk_class wcWindowNR

 

Only one minor issue now.. PCSX2 small window pops up on load and exit??

mccorkled Community Regular

mccorkled

Posted
Posted

Can u all post the compression Apps in the third party section

Tapatalk signature

 

Yes, I think a sticky with every system with the best compression/readable format should be on here.

 

Like for Wii, ciso and wbfs are basically identical but beat iso any day of the week. zip files for some, gcz instead of iso, etc. Would save us all a lot of time of multiple conversions and downloads to re-convert.

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