PS3 [ sMAN v1.06n & v1.07 ] - Lots of Improvements & Some new features from deank for this PS3 Plugin

sMAN is progressing into a "Super Hero" type of plugin as fellow PS3 developer Joonie dubs these latest updates the "SuperMAN" plugin due to the evolution and responsiveness as developer deank continues to polish the plugin that combines the original webMAN project with the newly developed sLaunch feature (a new UI for launching games from the XMB) into this single project dubbed sMAN, while not officially standing for "SuperMAN", we have to agree with Rebug developer @Joonie that @deank is creating yet another masterpiece before our eyes as this new UI continues to mature and evolve. Since the last checkup up on this plugin, it was residing at version 1.05 since then deank has made several new updates, making v1.07 the latest release (as of writing this article) for this new ps3 plugin experience .

These updates includes new rewrites of the plugin for a improved and optimized user experience, in comparision to some of the early version & original POC's prior to the formation of sMAN, plus a new layout of game with 10 games or 40 game display options as seen in the included screenshot, to toggle these layouts simply press down on the R3 stick on your Controller.

Latest Updates​

v1.06n v1.07

• 
  sMAN 1.06n ( http://deanbg.com/sman.sprx | http://deanbg.com/sman_1.06.zip )
  
  • Some important parts of the plugin are rewritten and optimized to reduce stack usage
  • Returned another 112KB back to fg vsh (2316KB free - was 1920KB a month ago without ntfs so about 396KB less used)
  • Changed sman.bin to support longer game names/paths/icons - a rescan will be initiated
  • Cleaned some code (about 1000 lines gone after the optimization)
  • Loading games speed improved (at least the perceived speed)
  • sMAN will show the name of the loaded game as popup message (not the filename)
  • sMAN is now properly unloaded when requested (no zombie or dead threads should remain)
    
  • It supports up to 2000 titles (games/bd/dvd) now
  
  ​
  
  Thinks look really stable at the moment.
  
  ​
  
  Dean
  
• 
  sMAN v1.07
  
  • It can be either 10 or 40 games per page. Both layouts can be switched with [R3].
  
  
  
  http://deanbg.com/sman.sprx | http://deanbg.com/sMAN_1.07.zip
  

Download(s):

• http://deanbg.com/sman.sprx
• http://deanbg.com/sMAN_1.07.zip

Source: psx-place.com (v1.06n) / v1.07​

 

If you wish - redownload sman.sprx. Because mounting of the last game is performed so early in the boot process it won't interfere with "disc-auto-start". This should be good enough for not adding another option to the setup.

http://deanbg.com/sman.sprx

 

If you wish - redownload sman.sprx. Because mounting of the last game is performed so early in the boot process it won't interfere with "disc-auto-start". This should be good enough for not adding another option to the setup.

http://deanbg.com/sman.sprx

thanks Dean ill check it out later after work

 

If you wish - redownload sman.sprx. Because mounting of the last game is performed so early in the boot process it won't interfere with "disc-auto-start". This should be good enough for not adding another option to the setup.

http://deanbg.com/sman.sprx

Well it mounts early but still boots game mounted on reset of system
On total shutdown works fine

 

Well it mounts early but still boots game mounted on reset of system
On total shutdown works fine

yeah i noticed that too, my workaround is i have sMAN look for AUTOBOOT.ISO which is simply a renamed empty text file

 

On my ps3 slim it doesn't. I tried restart/shutdown from internal HDD, net, NTFS.

That is with disabled scan at startup.

 

Just downloaded the latest version to try out again, but if I delete wmtmp, then try run sman, it drops out and goes to do the first scan as usual, but then freezes the PS3. (Can see the Scanning popup, but waves stop moving, no hdd activity etc.)

Alternatively, If I delete wmtmp, open the browser first and refresh there everything is fine.

Edit: It half got a webpage open (127.0.0.1/setup.ps3) before freezing this time. (just a white screen, didn't have enough time to actually load any content before freezing)

Edit 2: Rebug 4.81.2 / latest sman / psnpatch. Just 1 ntfs drive plugged in.

Looking at wmtmp post crash, It doesn't appear to of gotten very far.

Edit 3: Hmm, somethings put png and sfo files on my ntfs drive....
Looks like it crashed when it got to one that didn't have those files extracted.
Might clean up my hdd and try play with it some more.

 

yeah i noticed that too, my workaround is i have sMAN look for AUTOBOOT.ISO which is simply a renamed empty text file

I made some changes so you won't need this hopefully. Even with disc-auto-boot enabled, sMAN will disable it temporary when mounting the last game so it won't activate and some seconds later it will reenable it.

Tested with scan disabled/enabled at startup and it never kicks in.

 

@self_slaughter it doesn't use sfo files from your ntfs drives. Also sMAN doesn't write to ntfs drives (only the ftp service does if you transfer files).

You can redownload the sprx. It won't auto initiate scan when there is no content but will only open the setup page. This way one can set network scan and later click refresh.

 

@self_slaughter I also had the same crash, but the ps3 crashes in vsh.self and not in sMAN, so I guess it gets too much for it to handle at one time (scanning/mounting/unmounting and loading webbrowser). I made few more changes and I think the problem is solved for now.

 

Ahh sweet, I'll give it a try again shortly.

Not sure what's been writing stuff to the NTFS drive without me knowing... That's something I'm wary of and will have to try avoid in the future. I remember having my ntfs drives corrupted many a times with the early ntfs drivers in linux. Was a right pain in the ass to fix if you didn't have a windows box handy. Not something I care to repeat if possible.

Edit: Seems to be working perfectly again. Man, you move fast!

You're making it really hard for me to stick to webman with how many improvements you've made to things on sman lately...

 

Well I just want sMAN to be as simple as possible and 100% stable. It is not competing with wmM

 

Mission accomplished.

Still hope you find the time to incorporate some of your improvements to webman (vanilla) one day. Still can't believe how quick this project has come along. Excellent work.

 

What is the point in using my webMAN over sMAN? If it is the XMB integration (XML) it can be easily added back and will still support 2000 games without any memory constraints. sMAN has 99% of webMAN functions and uses over 512KB less memory which I believe is quite important. It is also really light and doesn't burden the ps3 while working in the background.

 

@deank when sman load game, we are kicked out of sman and go to xmb and when bluray icon show up, focus is switched to loaded disk game (bluray).In that procces, all game icons are refreshed.. is there no way to sman switch focus without refreshing game icons?

 

For me personally it's just the XMB list view is so much quicker to scroll through and find games (almost 300 total) and I love the integration with the stock menus. Just feels slick.

Also being on an SD TV the downscaling of sman is a bit much to use on a day to day basis. Can only just see what games are what at 10 games per page, 30 pages... 40 games per page is right out! :P

Love the stability, speed and ease of use with sman though. Recent additions like being able to use any hdd through any port/hub without having to change any options is brilliant.

Edit: Is it a viable option to somewhat integrate both together and output two sprx files when compiling similar to webmanmod with its lite, full editions etc? That way both programs stay separate enough to keep memory usage low, yet both get each others advances in features / stability, with minimal work on your end?

Or is that just a headache of an idea? :P

 

what @self_slaughter said..i like how sman is lite on options , but i also like webman xmb aproach, if you could mix whats the best of those two plugins, it will be great..also i know that are we wish to much

 

Yeah, asking a bit much considering how much we are already getting for nothing!

Still.... Don't ask, Don't get... Worth a shot.

 

On my ps3 slim it doesn't. I tried restart/shutdown from internal HDD, net, NTFS.

That is with disabled scan at startup.

so disable scan at startup was the trick that worked for me, thanks Dean. One thing not a big deal at all but is there a way to change background easily or would that have to be done in compiling

 

Pretty sure it overwrites the files again on plugin load? Unless things have changed recently... (Hard to keep up)
Maybe add an "if exist plugins/sman.jpg" or something along those lines for an easy user background swap?

Can play around with files in /dev_hdd0/tmp/wmtmp/res/ and try your luck in the meantime.

 

I added an option in Setup "XMB Integration" for those who prefer the xmb-loading-style. sMAN 1.08 will be available a bit later.