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Contents:

1) Basics information

2) System requirements

3) Plugin setup

4) Some tips

5) Known problems

6) License

7) Contacts

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1) Basics information

Blade_Arma_CDR_Plugin  plugin for PSEmuPro-based emulators (ePSXe, SSSPSX, 
PSXeven, PCSX, AdriPSX, etc.), a part of the rbpse project. It emulates the 
CD-drive.

introduction:

I guess I should write a few words about the cdr plugin. Practically it's not a 
normal plugin, emulator plugin is - a part of the code, which is responsible 
for emulating some kind of console subsystem, which is inserted in the dynamic 
library. For example GPU plugin gets access to both ports/dma/memory of the 
graphical subsystem and is fully responsible for the output picture. Cdr plugin 
in this case is just a library tool, making it easier to read sector/playing 
the CD-DA music for the emulator. It means that any wizardry in a term of 
messing up with a cdr plugin in the psemupro interface won't make the emulation 
better, this task is relied solely on the emulator.
So the stated tasks while writing this plugin were:
 Accessibility of CD selection. Personally I like more images and not the 
virtual devices, made by other programs. Plugin allows you to select devices, 
from which the CDs should be read and the directories with the images. To 
launch a game you should just double click the mouse. To make the search easier 
there is a filter, in which we can insert a part of the game's name and all the 
similar named games will be displayed.
 Playing CDDA music.
 Using subchannel data in sub/sbi/m3s formats.
 PPF usage.

Supported image formats:
cue/bin, ccd/img.

Installation:

Unpack the cdrBlade.7z archive to the emulator directory.
(or where your distribution stores psx emulator plugins.)

Download and install the GTK+ runtime, it is needed for the configuration GUI.
Windows: http://sourceforge.net/projects/gtk-win/
Linux: Install from you distribution's repository (in an unlikely case that you 
don't have it installed)

Download and install OpenAL for playing the CDDA music:
Windows: http://connect.creativelabs.com/openal/Downloads/oalinst.zip
Linux: Install from you distribution's repository (in an unlikely case that you 
don't have it installed)

Reboot.

Select the plugin in the emulator.

If you want to do everything manually, you should know this:
The CDR plugin cdrBlade.so/cdrBlade.dll should reside n the plugins 
directory (./plugins). The plugin configuration GUI 
cdrBladeGui/cdrBladeGui.exe and settings file cdrBlade.ini should reside 
in the configurations directory (./configs).

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2) System requirements

Software:

 OS Linux, kernel 2.6 or newer / OS Windows 2000 or newer.
 Gtk 2.16 or newer for gtk gui.
 OpenAL.

Hardware:

 CD-drive.
 OpenAL compatible sound card.

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3) Plugin setup

SETTINGS TAB

CD SELECTION TAB

Recently opened ->
List of recently opened CDs.

Edit CD-ROM's list / cd images directory list
Triggers a window, in which you can edit the list of CD devices and image/demo 
directories.

Update
Refresh the list of CD images.
(If CD images were added when plugin settings dialog was started already.)

Get ID
Get ID of a disc in format XXXX-XXXXX.
(SLUS-00330, SLPS-01300 and so on.)

Calc md5
Calculate MD5 control sum of a CD.

Filter
A string, inserted with a help from a keyboard. It allows the filtering of 
images, which are not compiant with stated name.

CD-ROM PROPERTIES TAB

Play CDXA music
Most games use music in CDXA format. You may disable it if you don't like the 
in-game music.

CDXA volume level
(Possible values: 0 - 100.)

Play CDDA music
Quite a few games use CDDA music. Do not disable this if you want to hear it.

CDDA volume level
(Possible values: 0 - 100.)

Enable PPF sector patching
Enable sector patching if there is a PPF with the same name as an image.

Read subchannels data
If not read from the disc, subchannel data is forged by the plugin. Some 
games hang or do not start at all without real subchannel data. And you should 
enable this for copy-protected games.

Speed limitation
CD-ROM speed limitation.
(Possible values: 0 - 32, 0 - unlimited.)

Try again on error
Number of read retries in case of a CD read error.
(Possible values: 0 - 16.)

Spindown time
FIXME

Caching strategy
Enable/disable caching of data read from a CD.
Disabled  caching disabled.
Read one sector at a time  sectors from a CD can be cached in the RAM. This 
can reduce slowdowns when you run a game right from a CD. And it is almost 
useless if you run a game from an image on a hard drive.

Cache size
(Possible values: 10 - 450000 sectors, 1 sector = 2448 bytes.)

MISC TAB

Hot keys:

Configuration dialog
Set the button to call the plugin configuration dialog.
('Ctrl+Alt+C' by default.)

Show status
Set the button to show/hide the in-game plugin status display.

Toggle CDXA
Set the button for enable/disable CDXA playing in-game.

Toggle CDDA
Set the button for enable/disable CDDA playing in-game.

Decrease CDXA volume
Set the button for decreasing CDXA volume in-game.

Increase CDXA volume
Set the button for increasing CDXA volume in-game.

Decrease CDDA volume
Set the button for decreasing CDDA volume in-game.

Increase CDDA volume
Set the button for increasing CDDA volume in-game.

Open cover
Set a button for opening the CD tray cover in-game.

Close cover
Set a button for closing the CD tray cover in-game.

CD swapping
Use this button to change a CD.
- virtual drive cover opens.
- then you choose a new disc.
- and the cover closes.

Other:

Show status
Enable plugin status display on startup.

Cover opened
Open the CD tray cover on startup.

Call dialog on emu start
FIXME

Enable logging
Enable debug output logging (logs/cdrBlade.log).

Save dialog parameters
Enable saving of the dialog window position and size on exit. (If disabled 
dialog will show up in the center of the screen with the default size.)

Save the settings on exit
Save all the settings on exit, like volume level, cover state, showing 
additional on-screen info, etc.

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4) Some tips

http://redump.org/discs/libcrypt/2

Default plugin settings are optimal. If you don't understand what the setting 
does, better don't touch/change it.

Images (bin, img) with multiple tracks (for example, CDDA music) need the 
corresponding cue or ccd to work correctly. Image file, subchannel file and 
cue-sheet all should have the same name. (Final Fantasy 9.img, Final Fantasy 
9.ccd, Final Fantasy 9.sub)

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5) Known problems

iso is an image of a disc in Mode 1, with sectors 2048 bytes long. And PSX 
CDs are in Mode 2/XA, with sectors of 2352 bytes. If youve  got Mode 2 images 
with iso extension its better to rename them  to bin and find a 
corresponding cue-sheet. Or, better yet, find proper ccd and sub files, and 
rename the image into img. :)

Not all CD/DVD drives support disc reading speed limitation.

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6) License

This program is freeware and cannot be sold. Also this program cannot be 
distributed without written permission. This program cannot be used for any 
commercial purposes. You may not reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble 
the enclosed software. Authors are not responsible for any damages that this 
program may cause, and are also not responsible for anything this plugin will 
be used for.

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7) Contacts

http://forum.emu-russia.net
irc://irc.newnet.net:6667/emu-russia
mailto:edgbla@yandex.ru

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