PS3 LaunchPad (Unofficial addon for webMAN MOD) v0.17

[aldostools]

The only real bug I experience is PKG Launcher mounting to the BD Drive somewhat irregularly at the moment, and ROMs on usb001 are detected, but will not boot under any condition. However when PKG Launcher is successfully mounted (both to app_home and the BD drive) it will launch any game from hdd0 without any issues.

If the roms on usb001 can't be launched, it should be some issue with the RetroArch or with the configuration files....
I'll have to test when I get some free time (which is very limited ATM).

For appearances, is there any potential to have cover art instead of disc images without too much effort, in the same way as normal backups? Either in the same Multiman covers folder, or ideally in a separate folder. Retroarch already stores cover art archives in system based subfolders in:
thumbnails\Nintendo - Super Nintendo Entertainment System\Named_Boxarts and thumbnails\Nintendo - Super Nintendo Entertainment System\Named_Snaps and thumbnails\Nintendo - Super Nintendo Entertainment System\Named_Titles

The roms are treated by webMAN as "isos". So if you put a .jpg or .png with the same name of the rom file (only the extension changed), it should be displayed on XMB. If the dimension of the image is too large, a spining arrow will be shown.

The Snapshots and Titlescreens are well suited to icons due to square dimensions, while the boxart may be distorted due to it's rectangular shape. There are a *lot* of images in these archives normally but the files will be an *exact* match to the filename of the ROM, so it should function similar to the multiman covers, just longer paths.

A workaround for rectangular images is to use PNG with a transparent background and change their dimensions to a square.

Here's a blank version of the folder icon I remade from the others as a template. It's not perfect though, mainly just clone brush to fill the gaps.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6Z4l5OoT8IfaVdoZDRJU3hENVk/view?usp=sharing

Here's a cutout version of the invader, again it can be a simple placeholder for now till you have time to tweak it.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6Z4l5OoT8IfUnNEd2xhWm9uN00/view?usp=sharing

Thanks so much for this, this is an incredible addition to the features of webman.

Thank you for the files.

 

[occassionallyaduck]

If the roms on usb001 can't be launched, it should be some issue with the RetroArch or with the configuration files....
I'll have to test when I get some free time (which is very limited ATM).

Don't worry, I'm happy to test! I tried this out with some more changes. The folder names seem to be case sensitive, so roms stored in usb001/ROMS/snes/ will not work, even if detected, but simply capitalizing the folder to ROMS/SNES completely erased the issue for me. Dunno how easy making it non-case sensitive is, but if it's hardcoded then renaming them isn't a *huge* pain. Retroarch is flexible and can handle both types.

The PKG Launcher however still fails to mount itself on the BD Drive sometimes until after starting and exiting something else. edit: Launching via app_home and XMB icon fails, so it needs to be launched from the disc icon.

The roms are treated by webMAN as "isos". So if you put a .jpg or .png with the same name of the rom file (only the extension changed), it should be displayed on XMB. If the dimension of the image is too large, a spining arrow will be shown.

I see. I was trying to put covers in the /covers, /covers_retro, and covers_retro/SNES folders. However just putting it in the same folder as the rom with the same name loads fine for now.

Longer term, for a large collection pointing these thumbnails to dev_hdd0( or usb)/game/SSNE10000/USRDIR/cores/thumbnails/PLATFORM/FORMAT would be helpful.
The libretro team already has a perfect set of images for nearly every proper ROM out there, so it would be somewhat redundant to do it all over again and make a separate database. https://github.com/libretro/libretro-thumbnails

Thank you for the files.

Happy to help where I can. I'm not using the icon much myself since I'm constantly refreshing the .xml while testing this stuff, but I though it looked alright when testing it. I could make it translucent instead of cut out, I did that last one quickly before bed.

 

[occassionallyaduck]

I tried testing the POC build with other ROM types. Not really sure if this is a bug or not though cause I don't know if all the retroarch .selfs have their paths PKGLAUNCHER yet, or how it is passing those along exactly.

Right now though, launching nearly any SNES rom works fine. Couldn't get GBC to work from webman directly though. Gonna test some other formats as well later. Unsure what's causing it to quit on GBC. Maybe a path issue again like what I encountered with the SNES vs snes folder issue?

 

[aldostools]

I tried testing the POC build with other ROM types. Not really sure if this is a bug or not though cause I don't know if all the retroarch .selfs have their paths PKGLAUNCHER yet, or how it is passing those along exactly.

Right now though, launching nearly any SNES rom works fine. Couldn't get GBC to work from webman directly though. Gonna test some other formats as well later. Unsure what's causing it to quit on GBC. Maybe a path issue again like what I encountered with the SNES vs snes folder issue?

You can try with this PKG Launcher:
http://aldostools.org/temp/test/UP0001-PKGLAUNCH_00-0000000000000000_v2.pkg

I added GBC and made the folder detection case insensitive. Also added default retroarch.cfg to USRDIR.

These are the folders currently detected by PKG Launcher and the emulator associated.

Spoiler

if(strcasestr(path, "/ROMS/NES/"))  {sprintf(param, "%s", path); sprintf(path, "%s/fceumm_libretro_ps3.SELF", RETROARCH);}            else
if(strcasestr(path, "/ROMS/GEN/"))  {sprintf(param, "%s", path); sprintf(path, "%s/genesis_plus_gx_libretro_ps3.SELF", RETROARCH);}   else
if(strcasestr(path, "/ROMS/GBA/"))  {sprintf(param, "%s", path); sprintf(path, "%s/vba_next_libretro_ps3.SELF", RETROARCH);}          else
if(strcasestr(path, "/ROMS/GB/"))   {sprintf(param, "%s", path); sprintf(path, "%s/gambatte_libretro_ps3.SELF", RETROARCH);}          else
if(strcasestr(path, "/ROMS/GBC/"))  {sprintf(param, "%s", path); sprintf(path, "%s/gambatte_libretro_ps3.SELF", RETROARCH);}          else
if(strcasestr(path, "/ROMS/FBA/"))  {sprintf(param, "%s", path); sprintf(path, "%s/fb_alpha_libretro_ps3.SELF", RETROARCH);}          else
if(strcasestr(path, "/ROMS/PCE/"))  {sprintf(param, "%s", path); sprintf(path, "%s/mednafen_pce_fast_libretro_ps3.SELF", RETROARCH);} else
if(strcasestr(path, "/ROMS/NGP/"))  {sprintf(param, "%s", path); sprintf(path, "%s/mednafen_ngp_libretro_ps3.SELF", RETROARCH);}      else
if(strcasestr(path, "/ROMS/VBOY/")) {sprintf(param, "%s", path); sprintf(path, "%s/mednafen_vb_libretro_ps3.SELF", RETROARCH);}       else
if(strcasestr(path, "/ROMS/WSWAM/")){sprintf(param, "%s", path); sprintf(path, "%s/mednafen_wswan_libretro_ps3.SELF", RETROARCH);}    else
if(strcasestr(path, "/ROMS/ATARI/")){sprintf(param, "%s", path); sprintf(path, "%s/stella_libretro_ps3.SELF", RETROARCH);}            else
if(strcasestr(path, "/ROMS/MAME/")) {sprintf(param, "%s", path); sprintf(path, "%s/mame078_libretro_ps3.SELF", RETROARCH);}           else
if(strcasestr(path, "/ROMS/QUAKE/")){sprintf(param, "%s", path); sprintf(path, "%s/tyrquake_libretro_ps3.SELF", RETROARCH);}          else
if(strcasestr(path, "/ROMS/DOOM/")) {sprintf(param, "%s", path); sprintf(path, "%s/prboom_libretro_ps3.SELF", RETROARCH);}            else

 

[occassionallyaduck]

You can try with this PKG Launcher:
http://aldostools.org/temp/test/UP0001-PKGLAUNCH_00-0000000000000000_v2.pkg

I added GBC and made the folder detection case insensitive. Also added default retroarch.cfg to USRDIR.

These are the folders currently detected by PKG Launcher and the emulator associated.

Spoiler

if(strcasestr(path, "/ROMS/NES/"))  {sprintf(param, "%s", path); sprintf(path, "%s/fceumm_libretro_ps3.SELF", RETROARCH);}            else
if(strcasestr(path, "/ROMS/GEN/"))  {sprintf(param, "%s", path); sprintf(path, "%s/genesis_plus_gx_libretro_ps3.SELF", RETROARCH);}   else
if(strcasestr(path, "/ROMS/GBA/"))  {sprintf(param, "%s", path); sprintf(path, "%s/vba_next_libretro_ps3.SELF", RETROARCH);}          else
if(strcasestr(path, "/ROMS/GB/"))   {sprintf(param, "%s", path); sprintf(path, "%s/gambatte_libretro_ps3.SELF", RETROARCH);}          else
if(strcasestr(path, "/ROMS/GBC/"))  {sprintf(param, "%s", path); sprintf(path, "%s/gambatte_libretro_ps3.SELF", RETROARCH);}          else
if(strcasestr(path, "/ROMS/FBA/"))  {sprintf(param, "%s", path); sprintf(path, "%s/fb_alpha_libretro_ps3.SELF", RETROARCH);}          else
if(strcasestr(path, "/ROMS/PCE/"))  {sprintf(param, "%s", path); sprintf(path, "%s/mednafen_pce_fast_libretro_ps3.SELF", RETROARCH);} else
if(strcasestr(path, "/ROMS/NGP/"))  {sprintf(param, "%s", path); sprintf(path, "%s/mednafen_ngp_libretro_ps3.SELF", RETROARCH);}      else
if(strcasestr(path, "/ROMS/VBOY/")) {sprintf(param, "%s", path); sprintf(path, "%s/mednafen_vb_libretro_ps3.SELF", RETROARCH);}       else
if(strcasestr(path, "/ROMS/WSWAM/")){sprintf(param, "%s", path); sprintf(path, "%s/mednafen_wswan_libretro_ps3.SELF", RETROARCH);}    else
if(strcasestr(path, "/ROMS/ATARI/")){sprintf(param, "%s", path); sprintf(path, "%s/stella_libretro_ps3.SELF", RETROARCH);}            else
if(strcasestr(path, "/ROMS/MAME/")) {sprintf(param, "%s", path); sprintf(path, "%s/mame078_libretro_ps3.SELF", RETROARCH);}           else
if(strcasestr(path, "/ROMS/QUAKE/")){sprintf(param, "%s", path); sprintf(path, "%s/tyrquake_libretro_ps3.SELF", RETROARCH);}          else
if(strcasestr(path, "/ROMS/DOOM/")) {sprintf(param, "%s", path); sprintf(path, "%s/prboom_libretro_ps3.SELF", RETROARCH);}            else

Fantastic! I'll give it a try when I get home later to test it out. This should resolve my GBC issue and case issues.

Is PKG Launcher the final or stand-in name? To a lay-user it sounds a little like it somehow launches .pkg files without installing them, not launches .self files directly. Something like "wmm Launcher" or even "Retro Launcher (wmm)" might be more clear I think.

Is it in any way possible to have these path > .self relationships pulled from a plaintext file? It would make adding new systems or filetypes easy, and future proof this it a bit so you don't have to recompile if vba_next becomes vba_2010, or if people want to mix and match between Retroarch and other individual emulator installations, add other filetypes, etc. It seems like it could be very broadly useful. But again, questions of complexity and time.

 

[aldostools]

Fantastic! I'll give it a try when I get home later to test it out. This should resolve my GBC issue and case issues.

Is PKG Launcher the final or stand-in name? To a lay-user it sounds a little like it somehow launches .pkg files without installing them, not launches .self files directly. Something like "wmm Launcher" or even "Retro Launcher (wmm)" might be more clear I think.

Is it in any way possible to have these path > .self relationships pulled from a plaintext file? It would make adding new systems or filetypes easy, and future proof this it a bit so you don't have to recompile if vba_next becomes vba_2010, or if people want to mix and match between Retroarch and other individual emulator installations, add other filetypes, etc. It seems like it could be very broadly useful. But again, questions of complexity and time.

The project for PKG Launcher is just an initial release. It still can be improved in several ways. Here is the source code:
https://github.com/aldostools/webMAN-MOD/blob/master/wm_url_launcher/main.c

 

[occassionallyaduck]

I might try and setup a simple dev environment on my laptop to try and see if I can build this and help. I haven't complied anything a long, long while though, so this will be interesting.

The v2 PKG Launcher works as expected, and resolves both the issues as intended, so flawless now for GBC as well, and switching between the engines works fine. The webman mod mounting method for PKG Launcher still seems to not occur consistently, and it only mounts after you launch it via XMB. Not sure if it's missing a "reload" or "refresh" command that folders and .iso have for some reason.

 

[aldostools]

The webman mod mounting method for PKG Launcher still seems to not occur consistently, and it only mounts after you launch it via XMB. Not sure if it's missing a "reload" or "refresh" command that folders and .iso have for some reason.

What is the path of the files that you're mounting outside XMB?

The PKG Launcher currently only can launch the roms inside the following folders:

Spoiler

/ROMS/SNES/
/ROMS/NES/
/ROMS/GEN/
/ROMS/GBA/
/ROMS/GB/
/ROMS/GBC/
/ROMS/FBA/
/ROMS/PCE/
/ROMS/NGP/
/ROMS/VBOY/
/ROMS/WSWAM/
/ROMS/ATARI/
/ROMS/MAME/
/ROMS/QUAKE/
/ROMS/DOOM/

It still needs a method to detect the engine based on more criteria (e.g. file extension or tag in file name).

 

[occassionallyaduck]

What is the path of the files that you're mounting outside XMB?

So, the SNES roms for example, launch just fine once "mounted". What I mean is the PKG Launcher doesn't appear under the Bluray Icon sometimes. So using usb01/ROMS/SNES/GAME.smc for example, the command executes fine according to the browser notification. However the final step of actually mounting PKG Launcher doesn't seem to go through. The drive is not unloaded and refreshed as it is when one changes backed up folders or .ISO files.

Once you launch PKG Launcher from XMB once, it is then in the bluray icon after the XMB reloads however. I think it's just missing a command perhaps to unmount the current content and mount PKG Launcher in the same session as "mounting" the rom file perhaps?

 

[aldostools]

So, the SNES roms for example, launch just fine once "mounted". What I mean is the PKG Launcher doesn't appear under the Bluray Icon sometimes. So using usb01/ROMS/SNES/GAME.smc for example, the command executes fine according to the browser notification. However the final step of actually mounting PKG Launcher doesn't seem to go through. The drive is not unloaded and refreshed as it is when one changes backed up folders or .ISO files.

Once you launch PKG Launcher from XMB once, it is then in the bluray icon after the XMB reloads however. I think it's just missing a command perhaps to unmount the current content and mount PKG Launcher in the same session as "mounting" the rom file perhaps?

Thanks for your feedback... I have to test that when I get home.

 

[gosseux]

I don't know if it's a bug but, currently the PKG Launcher's logo stays at NO GAME even when a game is mounted. Should it be the game png/jpg instead ?

I tested with NES and SNES with same result.

Another thing I found, autoplay starts every games except PSP.

 

[gosseux]

can I use the PKG Launcher to browse for PKG files and install them or it's only a retro game launcher?

 

[bguerville]

can I use the PKG Launcher to browse for PKG files and install them or it's only a retro game launcher?

You know you can already use the webMAN-MOD file manager in the browser (on PC or ps3) to browse the ps3 internal & external drives (except ntfs) & launch a pkg install. Just click on the size of the pkg file & the installation will launch...

 

[aldostools]

I don't know if it's a bug but, currently the PKG Launcher's logo stays at NO GAME even when a game is mounted. Should it be the game png/jpg instead ?

I tested with NES and SNES with same result.

It is not exactly a "bug"... it is an non-implemented feature.

PKG Launcher has 2 functions:
1- It lets you launch PKG files extracted to GAMEI folder stored in USB drives.
(The "No Game" icon changes to the icon of the mounted game)
2- The ROMS are mounted as a Disc icon on XMB.
(They can be launched also through the "No Game" icon, but the Disc icon is the icon that should be used)

I tried replacing the icon with the png/jpg of the ROM, but I didn't get good results, so I decided to leave the PKG Launcher with the original icons.

Another thing I found, autoplay starts every games except PSP.

PS2 Classics and PSP ISOS require the a launcher... They are not automated.

 

[gosseux]

If I understand, I extract the pkg in GAMEI then it can be launched like a game in jb format. Then the option PKG Launcher in setup.ps3 will show a folder on the xmb with all the games in the GAMEI subfolders.

If so, can you tell me what tool to use for extraction.

 

[pinky]

if u mean extracting a pkg, u can do so with pkg view. it's part of @aldostools ps3 tools. u can extract the game to gamei, then just install the param.sfo for the game to show up in the xmb unless wmm bypasses that. I'm not sure on that part since I'm just now getting used to wmm. I don't play my ps3 often enough anymore for anything new.

 

[gosseux]

You know you can already use the webMAN-MOD file manager in the browser (on PC or ps3) to browse the ps3 internal & external drives (except ntfs) & launch a pkg install. Just click on the size of the pkg file & the installation will launch...

Thanks for the tip.
The app is named PKG Launcher, so I thought it was for installing pkg files

 

[pinky]

not sure. I've never heard of it. I stopped researching the ps3 stuff some time ago, so I don't know about new things really.

 

[bguerville]

Thanks for the tip.
The app is named PKG Launcher, so I thought it was for installing pkg files

You don't need a new app to manage pkg files, there are all the commands you need to install pkg files already.
These 2 web commands from wMM:
http://ps3-ip-address/download.ps3
http://ps3-ip-address/install.ps3
can be used directly from any browser.
You can feed a URL or a local path as parameter with those according to the behaviour you require. The parameters & the syntax is explained in the OP of the webMAN-MOD Web command list thread

For instance, have a look at these 2 commands.

http;//ps3-ip-address/install.ps3/dev_hdd0/packages/test.pkg

will install the test.pkg file located in /dev_hdd0/packages then delete the pkg after installation.

http;//ps3-ip-address/install.ps3?url=http://www.test.com/test.pkg

will download then install the test.pkg file located on the test.com website then delete the pkg after installation.

These web commands are also used by other projects like XMBPD to manage pkg files but also by wMM internally.
As I mentioned before, the wMM file manager for instance already allows you to browse the contents of your drives & click on the size of any pkg file to install it immediately.
The wMM file manager can be easily accessed using hxxp://localhost on the PS3 only or hxxp://ps3-ip-address on any device connected to the LAN. (replace hxxp with http obviously!).

 

[pinky]

just like with FSD on the 360. u can enter the ip address of the system into ur browser, type in the username and password (in the http section), and check out the database of the system, check the system's temps, etc. I didn't know the ps3 had something similar with wmm. I'm still learning about that. I've focused my attention on the wii-u recently though. the dev responsible for scetool is/was working on the wii-u as well.