Help with PS1 Game Burns - CDR, x Speed, Software, & Drive

[Jagosaurus]

Hey guys, I have 2 modded PS1 systems (one chipped, another via parallel port device) that both play burned games I inherited. It runs these fine, but I've had bad luck personally burning games. I honestly haven't invested too much time & I was using cheap, poorly stored discs. Worth noting the files I used worked in emu & via POPs. Figured I'd poll the crew on fixes & update with my progress.

I read our similar thread recently on the Turbo Duo here: viewtopic.php?f=56&t=53084

I was planning on starting with getting better CDRs. In the thread above it was recommended to get 650mb CDs for Turbo, but I'm seeing PS1 games were 660mb.

Thoughts on a recommendation for disc for PS1 specifically?

If those still give me issues, it may just be my CD drive, burn speeds, or the program. Here were my proposed steps, testing on both modded systems to eliminate any particular console laser issues:
1. Get new disc
2. Tinker with different write speeds
3. Try new program (move from ImgBurn to another tested)
4. Order a new disc drive

What are you using on #3? On #4, I'm running laptops to would be USB or SATA adapter.

Let's get this fixed up & documented in 2020! Thanks for the help gents.

[Nemoide]

If I'm burning CDs for games, I use Verbatim Datalife Plus CD-Rs. From what I can tell, they're just about the best quality discs you can find on the market nowadays.
I'd also strongly advise making sure you use a water-based marker if you're labeling your discs for your discs (look for a special CD marker or archival marker if you can find it) because using a Sharpie will definitely shorten the disc's lifespan.

Do make sure you're burning at a very slow speed; I usually opt for 4x. It takes longer, but you're MUCH less likely to end up with errors that prevent the game from working properly.

As far as programs go, I use ImgBurn, but I also am typically burning Saturn or Sega CD games rather than PS1; I can't imagine that makes much of a difference though.

I hope this is some help!

[fuctfuct]

Media quality is hard to judge by brand alone. There are so many factors, but the best thing to do, without hours/days of research, is to look for Made in Japan. These are almost always high quality discs.

3. It's been so long .. is ImgBurn still the best?
4. I mean, you could.. they are super cheap now. I have like 4 in my closet not being used lol.

5. Make sure to use quality dumps. Redump.org dumps. PM me if you want to know more. *wink*

[Jagosaurus]

@Nemoid
Thanks man. Looks like I can get 10 of those for under 6 bucks shipped on Amazon. Should be a good test bed for cheap.

Verbatim CD-R 700MB 80 Minute 52x Recordable Disc - 10 Pack Bulk Box

Looks like they really don't make 660mb CDRs & I don't want to risk the lower 650mb referenced in Turbo thread.

@fuct
Appreciate it. For my testing initially I'm probably going to run bin/cues from a game I've ripped personally or tested already to avoid that layer of trouble shooting. Shooting you a DM for future reference though

[fuctfuct]

If dumping your own, you can use the checksums at the redump site to confirm your dump is good

Just dl the md5, rename your files to match, and run it through something like HashCheck http://code.kliu.org/hashcheck/

Don't forget: If you change the name of the bin files open the cue in a txt editor and change it there too

[JoeAwesome]

Yep, a lot of stripped down or plain bad rips online, which work fine for emulators, but not for burning.

Last I burned PS1 games, it was around 2016 through a laptop with a USB burner using ImgBurn. Worked fine with my own rips.

[Jagosaurus]

Thanks fuct. Good to know. I always just rip, ensure file size matches... & if I was feeling ambitious tested on a modded PS2 via POPs.

@Joe,
Good point. You always hear people reference to test files in an emulator. I'm gathering the burns/system are pickier than emu.

I'll be testing the setup first with my rips I know are clean.

@Nemoide,
Have 10 Verbatim Datalife Plus 700mb disc on the way from Amazon. Should be here Wednesday & will try out. Thanks for the rec.

There seems to be varying opinions on PS1 burn speeds from 4x, 6x, 10x, to 16x ... I'm going to try to find the sweet spot for my burner & system lasers.

I'll keep the group updated on my progress. Been a bit since I did a group type project here. Looking forward to it.

Worth noting one of goals this year is to play the PS1 fan translation of Policenauts. Also, I've had some fun collecting a small sample size of PS1 JPN imports. There's a few more pricey import games I want to just experience & some other in the sub $40 range I want to test before dropping the dough.

[Jagosaurus]

Okay, a few failures but some progress in my testing and troubleshooting this afternoon. I had a few disc laying around. These are cheapo 10 year old Memorex CDRs that were stored in a hot Texas attic for several years so I wasn't expecting much. I watched a YouTube tutorial video saying to try max speeds and there were several comments stating this helped them vs slower speeds so I was giving this a try today. I found out:

- My MM3 chipped PS1 laser seems less picky than my softmod/AR PS1 laser

- I got an error in ImgBurn on higher speeds I've never noticed in logs saying - 10x, 16x, 20x, 24x only on these disks

- Even at 24x, the average speed was 17x

- Confirmed the model number of my drive and the max speed looks to be 24x matching this

Via Amazon listing for drive:

In short.... spotty at best results, but takes multiple tries and some hit or miss on loads. I ran through 5 disks in my tries so far & I'm out of disks now . Waiting on my Verbatims linked above to come in. I am hoping that will resolve a lot of my issues.

Oh.... I'm determined now! Thoughts on any the new info gents?


Edit/Add: I also verified the CDRs I inherited still work fine on my systems. That guy used mostly Fujifilm & Ridata 700mb disks.

[Jagosaurus]

So my Verbatim disks came in and while they are much better than my poorly stored cheap Maxwells.... they're slight a bit glitchy.

So I got to looking closer... I ordered these: Verbatim CD-R 700MB 80 Minute 52x Recordable Disc - 10 Pack Bulk Box

which look similar but lack the Data Life Plus and Azo branding found here: Verbatim CD-R 700MB 52X DataLifePlus with Branded Surface

Close... but no cigar. Good thing I got the small pack to test. I realize these are rando reviews... but check out what was under the second DLP/Azo reviews:

Review - Mitsubishi Chemicals is what you need for PS1 backups

If you're looking to back up some data, or make PS1 backups, these are the cd-rs you're looking for. Apparently, not all Verbatim discs are alike, and I learned this the hard way. When looking for good media to burn some PS1 backups, after getting nowhere with cheap Memorex cd-rs, I read that Verbatim discs were of excellent quality. I bought a 50 count spindle right here on Amazon, and the discs turned out to be unreliable garbage. Why? Because apparently, Verbatim allows multiple manufacturers to use their name. The worst of these offenders is called CMC Magnetics.

The burning software I use (Imgburn), shows you what manufacturer your discs come from, which let me see that the Verbatim discs I had purchased were made by CMC Magnetics, who also manufactured the crappy Memorex cd-rs I had previously tried. AVOID CMC MAGNETICS CD-Rs like the plague. None of the backups I burned using these discs worked. After doing some research, I found out that Verbatim AZO discs are made by MItsubishi Chemicals, and are supposedly excellent.

I can confirm that these are indeed great, and work pretty much flawlessly. They are indeed made by Mitubishi Chemicals as confirmed by my burning software. The standard Verbatims made by CMC are going in the trash.

Sure enough.... my recently purchased Verbatims CDRs are the CMC disks referenced to stay clear of, in favor of the DLP/Azo:

(see below in MID field above speeds)

For what it's worth, the 10x burns seem more stable on my setup. I think it's because the average & max are closer (nearly asymmetric) meaning a more steady stream of data being burned, vs the vastly differing avg & max on others write speeds chosen.

Onto the next step... order the right Verbatim DLP/Azo disks

[JoeAwesome]

When it comes to burning, it's said slower is better, but modern drives can't go slow. Don't worry about the mismatch: it's happened to me, and hasn't caused issues.

Quality media will certainly help, but I'm so far removed on how to find them. I got some good Verbatim's, so if you need a few later, just text to remind me.

Also, the disc swap methods to play burns have given me issues compared to the chipped systems, too.