PS2 games that work after deleting dummy files

depaul

depaul

Member
Hi. There are some PS2 games that have big dummy file. You can delete it and save ~ 1 GB. I've tried the following and game worked fine on PS3 after deletion of dummy data:

Method.
1 - Make sure you locate a game that has a DUMMY file (Example for Sonic Heroes it's called _DUMMY_.bin)
2 - Extract your ISO using Winrar or 7zip
3 - Delete the dummy file
4 - Use Imgburn (a freeware : https://www.imgburn.com/index.php?act=download), to create an ISO image from your game folder, like the original
(4-2 Optional : Test your new ISO on emulator pcsx2)
5 - Now test your game on PS3. It should be ~ 1 GB smaller than the original.

Games that worked for me (so far):
- Sonic Heroes
- Haunting Ground
- Silent Hill 4 the room
- Shadow the Hedgehog
- Sonic Riders Zero Gravity
- Shadow of Memories
(Sometimes even a simple ISO extraction + Re-build using Imgburn reduces size)

Games that didn't work for me :
- Capcom Fighting Evolution (ISO = 2 GB, vs game folder = 250 MB ??!!)
... most PS2 games don't have a straightforward big dummy file

Size comparison : DUMMY-free vs Original PS2 Classics :



 
Last edited:
depaul said:
Hi. There are some PS2 games that have big dummy file. You can delete it and save ~ 1 GB. I've tried the following and game worked fine on PS3 after deletion of dummy data:

Method.
1 - Make sure you locate a game that has a DUMMY file (Example for Sonic Heroes it's called _DUMMY_.bin)
2 - Extract your ISO using Winrar or 7zip
3 - Delete the dummy file
4 - Use Imgburn (a freeware : https://www.imgburn.com/index.php?act=download), to create an ISO image from your game folder, like the original
(4-2 Optional : Test your new ISO on emulator pcsx2)
5 - Now test your game on PS3. It should be ~ 1 GB smaller than the original.

Games that worked for me (so far):
- Sonic Heroes
- Haunting Ground
- Silent Hill 4 the room
- King of Fighters Neo wave

Games that didn't work for me :
- Capcom Fighting Evolution (ISO = 2 GB, vs game folder = 250 MB ??!!)
... most PS2 games don't have simple big dummy file

Size comparison : DUMMY-free vs Original PS2 Classics :



Click to expand...

Wrote this years ago while active in the Dreamcast scene. This will work for Capcom Fighting Evo as I have done it myself. You just have to swap the header from the dummy to the reduced file size. Done this myself and works great as once it goes to check the header if it returns correct it will boot despite being ripped. Kinda for advanced users but easy once you get the hang of it.

https://pastebin.com/rxyEvsZz

arcadekidflo said:
Theory : If you open up the DUMMY file with a HEX editor and it's not all zeros, you should leave it alone.
Click to expand...

Kinda of but there was dummy files with only a few kb of needed data. Header swapping them works as I posted above. Just have to know how to get around the copy protection. Capcom Fighting Evo is like this. The file is over 2gb but if you rip out the 0's it will fail the check. Doing as described above will still pass the copy protection without needing to actually crack the game/protection schemes.
 
atreyu187 said:
Wrote this years ago while active in the Dreamcast scene. This will work for Capcom Fighting Evo as I have done it myself. You just have to swap the header from the dummy to the reduced file size. Done this myself and works great as once it goes to check the header if it returns correct it will boot despite being ripped. Kinda for advanced users but easy once you get the hang of it.

https://pastebin.com/rxyEvsZz



Kinda of but there was dummy files with only a few kb of needed data. Header swapping them works as I posted above. Just have to know how to get around the copy protection. Capcom Fighting Evo is like this. The file is over 2gb but if you rip out the 0's it will fail the check. Doing as described above will still pass the copy protection without needing to actually crack the game/protection schemes.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I've tried to reduce size of several PS2 games and some of them work... even sometimes a simple ISO extraction then re-build with Imgburn cuts some unnecessary space.

For King of Fighters 98 UM, there are some 2 files that I am sure are just junk files to fill DVD space:
-KOF_0000.DAT (size 630 MB)
- KOF_0001.DAT (size 630 MB)

I made 0 byte text file and replaced the two junk files but the game didn't work on PS3 (although it worked on PCSX2 emulator)
Can you please share more details about your method?

You said you used Hex Editor to open the new and old ISO. I found 2 occurrences of the file :

1) 6$�����KOF_0000.DAT;1���������������>�
and 2) 1���������\KOF_0000.DAT;1�\KOF_0001.DAT;1�\SYSTEM.CNF;1��

Do I copy Hex values from old ISO after the junk filename into the new ISO? Do I overwrite? or insert the values after the filename?


Thanks !
 
Strange but I found the issue, if anyone is interested.

For games like Capcom Fighting Evolution, KOF Neowave,.. when you delete dummy the remaining size is too little (200 -300 MB).

Since those games' original media is DVD, we need to add a minimal dummy data to reach DVD size, which is 704 MB.

Add dummy file so that your ISO reaches 704 MB size (with tool http://www.mynikko.com/dummy/), generate your ISO with Imgburn, it will work on PS3!

For instance, now my Capcom Fighting Evolution size is 704 MB, still much better than original 2.4 GB! When you multiply all your games that's a lot of space saved!
 
Last edited:
there are some games that 4gb size and when extracted are below 700mb and dont have a dummy file or any really huge file in them, i do not know where the extra gb are coming from, since the game is bellow 700mb it wont work
and trying to add an extra dummy file to the image also wont work
 
Games can use LBA addressing or hh:mm:ss addressing to find files, while not all can be written to TOC. I.e FF12 have only mandatory SYSTEM.CNF and ELF, while everything else is not in TOC and game seeking specific sectors to retrieve data.

PSX and PS2 era was a very creative time for disc security (like game modifications security ;]) solutions, not needed today as almost all based on encryption provided by internal console DRM or addition one by themself.
 
Yes. Thanks Berion.

Most PS2 ISOs have some dummy file, or can be shrunk because sometimes total files size inside ISO < original ISO size! ("inflated" ISO?).
The good news : most PS2 games work after you extract iso and re-make it using Imgburn.

I was able to shrink most of my PS2 ISOs, except some rare games that don't work because they have a strict LBA check.

I'll cite some games that don't work (because most games work after extracting and re-making ISOs):
-Dead or Alive 2: ISO size 4GB but actual total files size 1 GB. Shrinking makes the game unbootable
-Chaos Legion : Most files are hidden and don't appear inside ISO
-KOF 94 Re-Bout and KOF XI : probably have dummy at the beginning of the ISO, and strict LBA check
 
byaku said:
there are some games that 4gb size and when extracted are below 700mb and dont have a dummy file or any really huge file in them, i do not know where the extra gb are coming from, since the game is bellow 700mb it wont work
and trying to add an extra dummy file to the image also wont work
Click to expand...

Exactly, like ATOMISWAVE's Hokuto no Ken.
Tried ripping it with USBUtil and it can't, spits out "a serious error occurred"...
 
@zedex Games with so called "hidden TOC" can be ripped like any other. Procedure is the same. Some games have intentionally or accidentally wrongly formatted CNF, which fools apps which parsing them. Maybe it is one of this game, I dunno, don't have it.

Do not use USBUtil and so called usb advance format, just place disc image in DVD folder. Of course You need exFAT fs and OPL 1.2.0 beta to support it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Back
Top