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How to set up and run a PSX emulator on Macintosh computers.

Started by Pierce, August 11, 2011, 05:34:29 pm

Pierce

Okay, so it may seem like an obvious thing, but I realized today that there's no tutorial on how to get emulators to work on Mac computers. It's done very different from setting up an emulator on a PC.

It should be noted that there are some different steps involved if you've upgraded your OS from Leopard to Lion. I'll include those steps as well, but be prepared to do a little bit more work.

There isn't a huge list of emulators that are Mac compatible. In fact, I've only found one and it's the one I'll be providing links for and such (PCSX-Reloaded).

First off, let's get some supplies you'll need. You're going to need:
An emulator: (http://speedofmac.com/emulation/pcsx-reloaded.php) <- Download the latest version ideally.

A converter: (http://www.stuffit.com/mac-expander.html) I use Stuffit Expander, which is free and does the job fine.

BIOS: I can't link you to BIOS legally. Either rip them from your own PS1, or google PSX BIOS. Googling them works fine.

An FFT rom: Again, can't link you to these legally. Just search for them on Google pretty much.

PPF-O-Matic: (http://philsov.ffhacktics.com/Patching%20Tools/) The .exe doesn't run on Macs, so download the .dmg one. This is only for if you want to patch onto your FFT iso. If you're on FFH, chances are that you want to patch.

Generally, I throw all these things into a folder on my desktop called "Emulation", just simply so I don't have to spend hours trying to remember where I put my files.


So now that you've got all the things from above, your next big move is to apply the BIOS to your emulator. Your BIOS need to be .bin files. If they aren't, run them through Stuffit Expander (Right click -> Open with -> Stuffit Expander) and they should come out as .bin it all sort of depends where you got them from. Highlight your BIOS files and copy them (Command + C), as in a moment you'll be pasting these somewhere.

Open up Finder, and along the left side you should see your name/username with a little house icon next to it. Click on this. In front of you now should be some folders with names like "Documents, Downloads, Music, Library, etc. The one you want to open is Library.
    NOTE: Lion OS hides the user Library folder, so you have to access it differently. Open Finder, and along the top of your screen there is a tab called "Go". Click this, and in the dropdown menu click "Go to Folder". If you don't have an option of Go to Folder, then you have to hold the "option" key as you click Go. A text box should pop up, inside the text box type "~/Library/" (Except not in quotation marks).

Inside the Library folder, you will see another folder called "Application Support", open that one. Inside you should see another folder called "Pcsxr" or "Pcsx", sometimes it's a little different, but open whichever one looks like Pcsx or some variation. Open the Pcsx folder, and inside you'll see a folder called "BIOS". Open up the BIOS folder, the inside should be completely empty. Paste your BIOS in here, and you're all set. Yay.


You've now got a completely functioning PSX emulator! The next steps are for getting roms to work, and how to patch with PPF-O-Matic. But be happy, the hard part is over.
 NOTE: If you're applying patches, always use a clean FFT file. Never patch over a file that has already been patched on, or it will not work. I suggest making a little folder (within your folder) and put your .bin and .cue untouched FFT files, and whenever you want to patch your FFT, you copy and paste the files into a different folder, so no matter what you always have a clean untouched FFT iso.

You should at this point have an FFT file. If you got it online, you likely have to put it through Stuffit Expander first so it's in a format that will actually work. What you should get is a .bin file and a .cue file.

You also need the file for the patch you want to apply. Cruise through the forums to find patches, that's totally your responsibility and I'm definitely not going to provide links to every patch, simply because that's silly. You want the file to be a .ppf

Now open up PPF-O-Matic. It will likely give you a warning about needing Rosetta and it will look for it online or something stupid like that. Just hit okay and it will get Rosetta for you, yadda yadda yadda. PPF-O-Matic should now open.
  EDIT: Note to Lion OsX users. Lion Os X currently is unable to run PPF-O-Matic as Lion can not use Rosetta properly. As of currently, there is no known solution for how to patch using Lion, but I'm currently working on finding an alternative method of doing this.

If you're lucky, PPF-O-Matic will work flawlessly. You will be able to select the patch, select the image (use your .bin file), hit apply and magically a patched file will come out. IF YOU'RE LUCKY THAT IS.

More realistically, PPF-O-Matic has some stupid issue that will frustrate you to no end, where you try to select the patch and the image and it freezes up and closes. If this is the case, you need to do this a little bit differently.

In Finder (or a folder on your desktop, whatever), find the patch you want to apply. Right click on it, and select Open With -> PPF-O-Matic. If PPF-O-Matic is greyed out, you need to have it open first. PPF-O-Matic should now be open and display the patch. You now just need to select the image, hit apply, and you're all done.


You're done! Enjoy! Yaaaay.

Ignorance itself is a crime! - Miluda

Eternal

  • Modding version: PSX & WotL
"You, no less human than we? Ha! Now there's a beastly thought. You've been less than we from the moment your baseborn father fell upon your mother in whatever gutter saw you sired! You've been chattel since you came into the world drenched in common blood!"
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Dominic NY18

August 12, 2011, 01:14:17 am #2 Last Edit: August 12, 2011, 01:58:46 am by Dominic NY18
Nice guide. It's exactly what I needed since it could mean less rebooting back & forth between Windows & OS X.

There is one thing to note though. If PPF-o-matic requires Rosetta, it will not work in Lion since Rosetta support has been completely dropped in Lion. Lion users should take a look at MultiPatch for their PPF patching needs.

Edit: Never mind. It seems like MultiPatch doesn't work too well. While ISOs patched with PPF-O-matic work fine in the emulator, PCSXR refuses to load any ISOs patched with MultiPatch. For the time being, I suggest Lion users patch any ISOs they need to using PPF-O-matic on Windows or an older version of OS X if they can.

dinosaur

Pretty sure you do not need to download BIOS for PCSX-reloaded. It does it automatically,

Pierce

Original post edited to reflect problems with PPF-O-Matic on Lion OS X

Quote from: dinosaur on August 12, 2011, 02:14:56 am
Pretty sure you do not need to download BIOS for PCSX-reloaded. It does it automatically,

It gets plugins for you, but it doesn't get the proper BIOS. It can run some games, but unless you add them yourself, games crash a lot.
Ignorance itself is a crime! - Miluda

GeneralStrife


npepinpe

Regarding the problem of applying a PPF patch on OSX 10.7+, it's just a matter of recompiling the source on OSX Lion.

Attached here is are the two original binaries ApplyPPF and MakePPF which should work on OSX 10.7; additionally you'll find an updated Makefile which should compile both utilities on most Unix systems with GCC 4.2 or higher. Everything is command line, sorry for GUI users; the MultiPatch source code is available though, and compiles on 10.7, so anyone who would update its libppf with the code from this two utils would fix the MultiPatch problem and thus make a nice GUI.