FAQ

General Emulation

I have a PSP, but I’m not sure how to get the emulator to run; I’m receiving errors when attempting to run it

Your PSP needs to be able to run “homebrew” software (unofficial software not supported by Sony). Try googling for PSP homebrew; this should get you started in the right direction — be warned, however, that running unsupported software will void your warranty

I am getting a loading error when I try to load an emulator. My PSP is homebrew-capable

Make sure you have the correct version for your firmware, and that you copy it to the correct location. Version 1.5 binaries use 2 folders, while other binaries use 1. Both sets of folders would generally go to /PSP/GAME (unless your firmware supports additional folders for various types of homebrew software)

If everything seems to be set up correctly, it’s possible that a plug-in (PRX file) is interfering with the program - try disabling any active plug-ins (such as speed or display-enhancing plug-ins). If that doesn’t work, try reinstalling the emulator from the original ZIP file available at psp.akop.org

Will you continue existing PSP emulator X or replace the emulator’s GUI?

Probably not. There are reasons for this which I won’t bore you with; suffice to say that most PSP-specific code I’ve seen is quite rigid in implementation, and not likely to yield well to implementation changes. (Update: The attentive reader will note that there was at least one exception)

I have a feature suggestion, will you implement it?

I welcome feature suggestions; if your idea is good and/or feasible, I will implement it

Will you port emulator X?

I just might, if:

  1. The emulator is open-source and written in C/C++
  2. The emulator does not use assembly and/or has a portable replacement for the assembly code (so no ZSNES guys, sorry)

Couple of things to note:

  • My “specialty” is porting. I’m not especially good at optimizing existing emulator code, neither do I like touching the emulator’s core. So far, the only exception to this rule has been fMSX (addition of external sound libraries), for personal reasons
  • My approach to porting is developing PSP code that can serve as a “drop-in replacement” for the original version. If the emulator lacks emulation-specific features (such as support for a specific type of emulated hardware), or is exceptionally slow even on fast hardware, it should probably not be suggested
  • I prefer porting emulators that run full-speed on the PSP. My svn trunk branch is full of half-finished ideas that will probably never run full-speed, and therefore will never be finished

That said, I welcome emulator suggestions; Caprice32 and Fuse were ported specifically because people requested them

Atari800 PSP

I’m getting distorted sound in Atari800 PSP. Other ports don’t have this problem - can you fix it?

Atari800 has two sound engines - a high-quality engine, and a lower-quality engine. Atari800 PSP uses the latter, as the high-quality engine is too CPU-intensive for the PSP. If/when the engine’s speed improves enough to be feasible for the PSP, engines will be switched

fMSX PSP

I don’t hear any FMPAC/MSX Music or MSX Audio sound in fMSX PSP

MSX Music (FMPAC) and MSX Audio need to be turned on explicitly in the Systems menu. Each takes a large chunk of PSP’s processing power; using them both simultaneously is not advised

Vampire Killer and Metal Gear run too fast

I’m not sure what’s causing this, but either game will run fine if you switch the emulated system to MSX2+. One possible reason is that the MSX2 ROM’s included with fMSX PSP are for a European (PAL) system, which messes up the game’s timing - the MSX2+ ROM’s belong to a Japanese system.

General Questions

Can I extend and release another version of your emulator?

Certainly. I only ask that you release the source code, and give me credit for the original port

Who is uberjack?

uberjack is a nickname that I generally use on forums. I usually sign my code by my real name (Akop)