I finally got around to testing Darkstalkers Collection for PS2. I use the Hard Drive via network adapter, so I installed it to disc using Winhiip, then booted up OPL.
Well, that didn't work, as it just freezes at a black screen right after the "now loading" screen.
So I went back to researching a fix. Eventually, I came back to this thread and emwearz's post started to make some real sense to me:
So I tried that Momento patcher...with no luck.emwearz wrote:It should work with Swap Magic and ESR. The only way it wont work is via HDLoader because it uses a multi .elf loading system. I will have to get hold of a copy and give it a try, now I am interested.
EDIT: As I said above with the Multi .elf the issue is apparently when you select a new game, it rechecks the region of your console.
EDIT EDIT: I saw this possible solution.Anyhoo, get ISOBuster, extract a .ISO of your DVD. Then get the Memento Disc patcher and patch the ISO. You can confirm it has been patched by opening the ISO again in ISOBuster and seeing the UDF file system renamed to DVD_TS or something like that. But the regular ISO file system will be the original still.
But another forum (I think on psx-scene, but can't remember) mentioned patching with "ESR Disc Patcher". So I unpatched / repatched the ISO using that and reinstalled the game.
BINGO! The game works perfect now.
I'm still using OPL r520, but most revs after that (after r515, I hear) should work as well (same goes for Street Fighter Alpha Anthology).
Anyways, I hope this helps someone. I don't understand why Noiseredux's patched game didn't work work through ESR, but at least there's a solution. OPL can load games installed on a USB device (in the right format), so that should be a workaround for his PS2 Slim system. I doubt the slower USB 1.1 would be much of an issue with arcade ports.
