[Tutorial] Sega Saturn Emulator Setup

[Hypnoziz]

Sega Saturn Emulator Setup Tutorial

Author: Hypnoziz

Date: 09-04-2011

For use within the HyperSpin-FE Community only.

(This tutorial may be downloaded in whole in .doc (Microsoft Word) format at the following link: Sorry, link removed. If you would like the document version, send me a PM)

Table of Contents

I.......... Requirements

II......... Introduction

III....... Daemon Tools Lite

IV........ Preparing Your Emulator

V......... Setting Up Your Controller/Joystick

VI....... Defining Video Output

VII...... Adding Sega Saturn To HyperSpin

VIII.... Identifying Rom Files For SSF

IX....... Converting Audio For Use With Daemon Tools/SSF

X........ Cue Check!

XI....... Sega Saturn Game Settings

XII...... Sega Saturn Module

XIII.... Closing Notes

I. Requirements

SSF Ver0.12 beta R1 (Sega Saturn Emulator)

Audacity 1.3.13 (Free Audio Editing Software)

Daemon Tools Lite 4.41.3 (Free Disc Image Mounting Software)

HyperLaunch 2.x (2.7 or higher)

II. Introduction

This tutorial will outline the steps required to get Sega Saturn up and running within your HyperSpin build. You will be required to use Daemon Tools Lite because the emulator runs from a mounted image. You cannot directly load your disc image into the emulator. Please follow all steps in the order they are presented to you in this tutorial. Do not ask for rom or BIOS files. That will not be covered in this tutorial or anywhere in the HyperSpin-FE Community.

III. Daemon Tools Lite

Head over to the Daemon Tools website (http://www.daemon-tools.cc/eng/downloads) and download Daemon Tools Lite. It's important that you get the Lite version. The Lite version is free and guaranteed to work with your emulator setup. After downloading and installing Daemon Tools Lite, open it up so it can be configured.

Click on the Add DT Virtual Drive button and take note of what virtual drive number you have just added to your system. In most cases, it will be set to 0.

To finish setting up Daemon Tools Lite, make sure you have HyperLaunch 2.x installed. You'll want at least version 2.7 or higher. Follow the setup instructions at (http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10709). When adding the settings to your Settings.ini file, make sure you properly fill out the path_to_daemontools= area. An example would be:

path_to_daemontools=C:\Program Files (x86)\DAEMON Tools Lite\DTLite.exe

IV. Preparing Your Emulator

Begin by ensuring that your bios files are placed in a folder titled “bios” in the root directory for SSF. Open the SSF emulator by double-clicking “SSF.exe”. Navigate to the top menu bar and click Option (O). Click on Option (O) again in the drop down menu. In the Saturn BIOS area, click the Browse button and point to the location of your BIOS file. In this example, we will be using SS – BIOS (U).bin. If your directory shows characters from a foreign language, go ahead and ignore it.

In the same window, locate the Area Code portion near the bottom. For this tutorial, we will have the value set to America, Canada, Brazil as default. Set the CD Drive value to the drive you set up in Daemon Tools Lite (DTSOFT BDROM).

V. Setting Up Your Controller/Joystick

This section of the tutorial is going to be specific to your setup. Click the Controller tab at the top of the Options window. All you need to be concerned about is that you have both Port 1 and Port 2 set to Direct Connect. You may have multiple control schemes set up per player port, but for now, ensure that Player 1:A and Player 2:A are set to Control Pad. Click the Redefine button for each and assign your key mapping.

VI. Defining Video Output

Again, in the same Options window, click the Screen tab at the top. You may set this up for either windowed or fullscreen mode. Since we are integrating this emulator into HyperSpin, we're going to want fullscreen settings. You'll want to check off Enforce Aspect Ratio (Fullscreen), Fixed Fullscreen Resolution, and Full Size.

The Wide Screen (16:9) setting and Vsynch Wait (Fullscreen Only) setting are optional. Play with those to see if you prefer using them in your setup.

You are finished preparing your emulator's options. Click the OK button to close out the Options window. Hold the Alt key and press the Enter key. Your emulator window should expand to fullscreen. Press the Escape key to close the emulator window. You're now ready to add the system in HyperSpin.

VII. Adding Sega Saturn To HyperSpin

Not much time is going to be spent on this portion of the tutorial. The HyperSpin-FE website already has a “Documents” section covering how to add a system to your HyperSpin build.

VIII. Identifying Rom Files For SSF

If your rom consists of two files that are in MDF/MDS format, you may skip to the Sega Saturn Game Settings section of the tutorial. If your rom file consists of a BIN/CUE fileset, an ISO/CUE fileset, or any set that includes a .cue file, please follow this section carefully.

There are two possibilities here. One is that you have just a .bin and a .cue file. The other is that you have a .bin and .cue file and a bunch of audio files. If you fit in situation one, skip to the Cue Check! section of the tutorial. If you fit in situation two and have at least one audio file in your romset, then read on.

IX. Converting Audio For Use With Daemon Tools/SSF

Chances are that the audio included with your romset is in .mp3 format. If it is, then you're going to need to follow this section. If your audio is in .wav format, skip to the Cue Check! section of the tutorial.

To start out, all your mp3's need to be converted to wav format. We're going to do this the faster way by batch converting all of them on the fly. To do this, we need the audio editing software Audacity. You can download Audacity at (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/). Go ahead and download and install the software. Once you're finished, open up Audacity. Click on File and then Edit Chains. We're going to create a chain, which is a batch conversion process that will go through all the mp3's and convert them all for you so you don't have to do it one-by-one manually. Click the Add button in the bottom left of the Edit Chains window. Enter the name of the chain. For the tutorial, we're going to name it “MP3 to WAV”. Click OK.

Now your chain is ready to be set up. Click the Insert button on the bottom right area of the window. Double-click ExportWav and make sure it appears in the Command box at the top of the window.

Click OK to close this chain's command window. Make sure that ExportWav has now appeared in the right hand area of the Edit Chains window. Underneath it should read "02 -END-". Once you've verified that the chain is properly created, hit OK in this window to close it out.

Now Click File and Apply Chain. Make sure your "MP3 to WAV" chain is highlighted and click Apply to Files. Navigate to the folder that has your romset with your .mp3 audio files. Select all the audio files. You can do this by holding the Ctrl key to select multiple files or you can click the topmost file and then hold the Shift key and click the bottom .mp3. Once you have them all selected, click Open. Your chain will begin to apply to all mp3's and they will all be converted to wav. Once the chain process window closes, the conversion is complete.

Close out Audacity. There is no need to save any changes if it prompts you. Open up your rom folder again and you'll notice that there is now a folder there named “cleaned”. Delete all the .mp3 files you had before and move the newly created .wav files out of the “cleaned” folder and into the rom file, next to the .bin and .cue files. Delete the now empty “cleaned” folder. On to the next section.

X. Cue Check!

The .cue file is going to tell Daemon Tools Lite what image to load and what audio files to load. This is important because it determines how the data is fed into the SSF emulator. Right-click the .cue file and choose to open it in Notepad. You'll see that the file has a listing for the rom image and a listing for each audio file that needs to be mounted. These names must match the actual file names.

Cue File:

Actual File Names:

You must rename the listings in the .cue file so they are exactly the same as the actual file names. There are ways to speed this process up if you use the Edit-->Replace option in Notepad, but I'll leave that up to you. You can also go through line-by-line and change each name. I'm going to rename mine to match my file names using the Replace function in Notepad because it is faster.

Now the .cue references mirror my actual file names. Repeat this for all the audio tracks you have. You could have 10 or more. All the references must match. Also, make sure the .cue file has the .wav extension for your audio tracks and includes “WAVE” at the end of each audio reference.

Save the .cue file. Mount it in Daemon Tools Lite to make sure it mounts properly. If it gives you any error, go back to the beginning of this section and re-read. You missed something. If it mounts properly, then continue to the next section.

XI. Sega Saturn Game Settings

Make sure you have mounted your game file in Daemon Tools. If you have a .cue file, mount it. Otherwise, mount your .mds file.

It's important to note that SSF will save settings for games individually. They are stored in the “Settings” folder located in the root of the SSF emulator folder. The main thing you'll want to verify here is the Area Code setting for your game and whether or not you want your game to be displayed in Widescreen. Once you've mounted your game in Daemon Tools Lite and run it once in SSF, the setting file for that game will be automatically created and added to the “Settings” folder.

Each game will require a specific Area Code for its respective region. If you run a game with the wrong Area Code, you'll receive an error in SSF stating: Game disc unsuitable for this system.

The most fool-proof way to correct this is to take the manual route. Sometimes the user interface for SSF will not make the changes for you. To do this manually, go to the “Settings” folder in the root of the SSF folder, open up the “Saturn” folder, and locate your game's .ini configuration file. It is identifiable because it will include a portion of your game's name in the file name. Open it in Notepad. You can change the Area Code by changing this line:

Areacode="4"

The key for the Area Codes is as follows:

Areacode

1 = Japan

2 = Taiwan, Korea, Philippines

4 = America, Canada, Brazil

12 = Europe, Australia, South Africa

Change it to match your game's region, or play around with the value testing out each Area Code until your game launches properly. Once this has been set, you are ready for full HyperSpin integration.

XII. Sega Saturn Module

You can download all HyperLaunch modules from the HyperSpin-FE website at (http://hyperlist.hyperspin-fe.com/). Any questions regarding module setup should be directed to the HyperSpin Forums. After including your module, you are ready to test out Sega Saturn in HyperSpin.

XIII. Closing Notes

Thank you for taking the time to read through this tutorial. I can guarantee this tutorial will leave you with a working system as long you accurately follow all the steps. Any questions you have about this tutorial or any errors you may encounter should be posted here. I'll take the opportunity to answer your questions when I am available. If you find that I've missed something, please post your findings. I'd be happy to hear the input. Take care and cheers.

-2011, Hypnoziz

[ChazMan]

WOW!! What a great tutorial. Thanks for sharing!

[Skitprat]

Very nice tutorial ! Thanks =)

In addition, There is a tool to patch saturn isos in order to make them work on the region you want. I guess it's a good way to help make your games work without having to manually change the setting into the emulator.

http://madroms.satakore.com/#SRP

[Hypnoziz]

Awesome tool and thanks for sharing. I think I might even use it because only the American region games actually fill my monitor in Fullscreen mode.

[Dragiin]

very nice,,,i may just have to grab a couple saturn games to try this out..maybe it will enlighten me more on using deamon tools? ive still put sega cd on the backburner cuz of the dayum cue/bin, iso , all that stuff lol

[level42]

Incredible!!!! I still have alot to do before I get to Saturn, but BOOKMARKED!

Thanks!

[Wildcats]

Thanks! Thanks! Thanks! Thanks!

[trancechris]

Thanks alot for the guide have worked great for me until i came to the cue check part, what if all my cue files look like this:

FILE "C:\SATURN\078 ALIEN TRILOGY (U).BIN" BINARY
 TRACK 01 MODE1/2352
   INDEX 01 00:00:00
 TRACK 02 AUDIO
   PREGAP 00:02:00
   INDEX 01 11:58:50
 TRACK 03 AUDIO
   INDEX 00 14:09:05
   INDEX 01 14:11:05
 TRACK 04 AUDIO
   INDEX 00 16:19:08
   INDEX 01 16:21:08
 TRACK 05 AUDIO
   INDEX 00 18:17:35
   INDEX 01 18:19:35
 TRACK 06 AUDIO
   INDEX 00 20:40:06
   INDEX 01 20:42:06
 TRACK 07 AUDIO
   INDEX 00 22:54:14
   INDEX 01 22:56:14
 TRACK 08 AUDIO
   INDEX 00 25:10:06
   INDEX 01 25:12:06
 TRACK 09 AUDIO
   INDEX 00 28:07:55
   INDEX 01 28:09:55
 TRACK 10 AUDIO
   INDEX 00 32:27:62
   INDEX 01 32:29:62
 TRACK 11 AUDIO
   INDEX 00 35:18:32
   INDEX 01 35:20:32
 TRACK 12 AUDIO
   INDEX 00 37:47:31
   INDEX 01 37:49:31
 TRACK 13 AUDIO
   INDEX 00 40:30:62
   INDEX 01 40:32:62
 TRACK 14 AUDIO
   INDEX 00 42:47:25
   INDEX 01 42:49:25

except the game name changing, what do i do then?

[Hypnoziz]

Has your rom come packaged with extra audio files? (wav or mp3)

If not, then you don't need to change anything other than the game name in the cue file. In other words, if you only have a BIN and CUE file, then just change the game name in the CUE file and leave the rest alone.

Here's an example of a perfectly working cue file that looks similar to yours. Notice that there are NO mp3 or wav files that accompany that rom:

[trancechris]

Has your rom come packaged with extra audio files? (wav or mp3)

If not, then you don't need to change anything other than the game name in the cue file. In other words, if you only have a BIN and CUE file, then just change the game name in the CUE file and leave the rest alone.

Here's an example of a perfectly working cue file that looks similar to yours. Notice that there are NO mp3 or wav files that accompany that rom:

Sweet!!! I didn't have to change anything

Is there anyway to get saturn up and running with the old hyperlaunch?

having lots of problems with 2.x

Otherwise, thanks for a perfect tuturial.. any chance you will be doing some for other system?

[Hypnoziz]

Is there anyway to get saturn up and running with the old hyperlaunch?

having lots of problems with 2.x

This tutorial is designed to help you avoid any problems with the 2.x module. Can you describe where your operation is going wrong?

Otherwise, thanks for a perfect tuturial.. any chance you will be doing some for other system?

Depending on how much time I have, I may write another. It would help to hear what people are requesting for a tutorial. But again...it all depends on how much time I have available to me.

[trancechris]

Depending on how much time I have, I may write another. It would help to hear what people are requesting for a tutorial. But again...it all depends on how much time I have available to me.

Turbografx16, Turbografx CD or MSX whould be nice Or perhaps Neo Geo CD

[lilsui1]

Hey Hypnoziz,

I can't seem to get ssf working through hyperspin. I downloaded the emulator on your post, I went through all of your steps, it runs outside of HS, I'm using the HL 2.0 module and daemon works. When I try to run it in HS, either it can't find the rom with any given extension or the emu starts but nothing is loaded and the screen just stays black.

[Hypnoziz]

When I try to run it in HS, either it can't find the rom with any given extension or the emu starts but nothing is loaded and the screen just stays black.

Are your roms in subfolders or all together?

Try making these changes in red to your Sega Saturn module:

; This gets rid of the emu window that pops up on launch
Gui +AlwaysOnTop -Caption +ToolWindow
Gui Color, 000000
Gui Show, x0 y0 h%A_ScreenHeight% w%A_ScreenWidth%, HSHIDE

RunWait, "%daemonToolsPath%" -mount 0`,"%romPath%%romName%%romExtension%", Min

[color="Red"]Run, %executable%, %emuPath%
Sleep, 3000       ; Adjustable timer for black screen
Gui Destroy
WinShow, SSF Ver0.12 beta R1
Process, WaitClose, %executable%[/color]

ExitApp

CloseProcess:
return

[lilsui1]

They are all in subfolders. I made the changes and noticed that while the screen stayed black there was an alert sound. Daemon now says there is a mount switch error.

[Hypnoziz]

Can you post a picture of the error? Also, try pulling the roms out of subfolders and test it out. Ensure that your Daemon Tools virtual drive is a DT drive as well and that you're using Daemon Tools Lite.

[wvvlad]

hi man, ive tried to add those lines to the module but still the image is not mounting, seems daemon tools lite doesnt responds to the calls

[lilsui1]

As you can see it's lite and I originally didn't have the drive as the right type but I changed that before I posted yesterday.

[Hypnoziz]

You guys are both having Daemon Tools mounting problems, so go through this checklist and make sure your modules and settings adhere to the following:

1) Your call to Daemon Tools in the module should be:

RunWait, "%daemonToolsPath%" -mount 0`,"%romPath%%romName%%romExtension%", Min

2) When you set up Hyperlaunch 2.0, the first step was to add variables to your main settings file (...Hyperspin\Settings\Settings.ini). You should now have a new [Hyperlaunch] area in that file. Double-check the value path_to_daemontools= and make sure it's set properly. If you need an example to go by, here's mine (notice the quotation marks):

path_to_daemontools="C:\Program Files (x86)\DAEMON Tools Lite\DTLite.exe"

3) The virtual drive in Daemon Tools must be a DT drive for Sega Saturn emulation through SSF.

4) SSF should be pointing to the correct (virtual) drive in the emulator settings.

[wvvlad]

still dont getting daemon working not opening after the emulator

[lilsui1]

started from scratch. redownloaded everything. works now. thanks!

had to tweak the module a bit to exit properly though. now I have to go through my library and manually fix area codes. :/

I don't remember having to do that for ssf .11 in hl 1.x. is what changed?

[keno21176]

nice tutorial thanks partner

[Drexster]

Thanks for the tutorial, went through it a couple of times.

I ran into the following error window when testing:

"Cannot find rom - C:\... path of rom testing\ - with any provided extension."

I've tried updating the extensions defined in HyperHQ from your cue,xyz to cue,bin still does not work.

[Hypnoziz]

Thank you for posting, Drexster. You'd be better off posting that issue in the general support thread. I'd like to keep this centered on support for Sega Saturn emulation only and the error you're getting is a generic HyperSpin error.

Before you open a new thread, make sure your XML database for Sega Saturn has the correct titles of your roms and matches your .cue files. You don't need "bin" in your extensions unless your rom does not have an accompanying .cue file. Lastly, check to see if your roms are in subfolders and if they are, use the "check subfolders" option in HyperHQ. If you still haven't resolved it after that checklist, then go ahead and post in general support.

[Drexster]

Thanks Hypnoziz.

I'm just starting to go through the trails and tribulations of setting up my first mame cabinet. Obviously lots for me to learn still!