.7z and Network Support

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Wow, very impressive guys.  I love that you've gotten an emulator working
for such a great classic console, on a current gen console.  I was just
wondering though, do you plan on adding .7z support or support for loading
ROMs over a network?  Just curious... Again, thanks.  I really appreciate it.

Original issue reported on code.google.com by ibigf...@gmail.com on 28 Nov 2008 at 2:21

• Merged into: #82

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currently, I'm the only one working on this emulator and I don't plan adding 
support
for network loading or 7zip files.
Indeed, I don't think these are interesting neither important features to add 
(you
can already load from DVD/SD and have zip support) and have other plans with 
higher
priorities

anyway, the project is opensource and anybody is encouraged to submit code or 
patches

Original comment by ekeeke31@gmail.com on 1 Dec 2008 at 8:56

• Changed state: WontFix
• Added labels: Type-Enhancement
• Removed labels: Type-Defect

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Original comment by ekeeke31@gmail.com on 1 Dec 2008 at 9:03

• Changed state: Standby
• Added labels: Priority-Low
• Removed labels: Priority-Medium

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Definitely dropping the ball on network support. I personally am a fan of 
having all
my roms and saves in one place on the network so I can play whether I have the 
tv
with the wii accessible or my pc.

I'm a developer myself, although haven't done anything with the wii... maybe 
I'll
download the source and take a look.

Original comment by augs...@gmail.com on 2 Jan 2009 at 2:08

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just look in snes9xgx sourcecode to see how they handled ROM file loading from 
Samba
server, you will need to link with libtinysmb as well but overall, this should 
not be
very complicated

Original comment by ekeeke31@gmail.com on 3 Jan 2009 at 5:16

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I'm planning on writing a patch for adding SMB support, but I'm running into 
some
problems compiling the latest SVN of genplus-gx.

First off, gcc warns that the functions "mem_open", "mem_close", and
"fatEnableReadAhead" are being implicitly declared, i.e. they're not in the 
headers.
The latest revision of libfat doesn't seem to have the "fatEnableReadAhead" 
function.
What version are you using?

Secondly, I tried to install the latest tremor library using the patch and
instructions found here: 
<http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/Compiling_ScummVM/Wii#Tremor>
but when I tried to link with the resulting .a file (after making a symlink to
libvorbisidec.a) ld gives me this:
"ld: skipping incompatible
/home/auntieneo/software/misc/wii/devkitpro/libogc/lib/wii/libtremor.a when 
searching
for -ltremor"
How do I link with this library? Is libvorbisidec.a the wrong file? It's the 
only
library file that was installed.

Sorry if this question is bothersome. I suppose you've made quite a few changes 
in
preparation for the new GUI, so I guess you haven't had a chance to update the 
wiki
to reflect that.

Oh, and I think .7z and SMB support is critical, as ROM collections can get 
quite
large and the largest SD cards supported on the Wii are only 2GB. Just my two 
cents.

Original comment by auntieNeo@gmail.com on 29 Apr 2009 at 4:36

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Update:
I got rid of the "fatEnableReadAhead" warning when I found the libogc version 
you
have posted in the downloads section.
I got past the tremor error when I discovered that ld wasn't following the 
symlink
for some reason.
Now I'm getting a linker error for undefined reference to "mem_open" and 
"mem_close"
in gx_audio.c. What libraries do these functions belong to and what versions do 
I
need? Thanks.

Original comment by auntieNeo@gmail.com on 29 Apr 2009 at 6:02

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Heh, I got it to work quite easily like you said. It's practically the same as 
using
a FAT device, except I had to connect to the share and use "smb:/" instead of 
"usb:/"
with diropen().

There are some issues though:
1. How should I store the ip/share/username/password information? genplus-gx 
doesn't
seem to use an XML file for configs like snes9x-gx does.

2. How should I display errors?

3. How should I indicate that it is loading the filenames in a directory of a 
share
so the GUI doesn't freeze up? Network loading has way more latency than USB 
loading.

The code I've written so far isn't very clean, so I won't bother posting a 
patch just
yet. I still have to properly close the share and reconnect when it's closed. I 
need
to put in buttons for the config menu and the load menu, not to mention some
textboxes for inputing username/password/etc., but I'm no artist so don't expect
button icons. Next week is finals week, so I probably won't get around to that 
for a
while. :)

Original comment by auntieNeo@gmail.com on 29 Apr 2009 at 11:42

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1. you need to add  XML file parsing (using libmxml) as well

2. error messages are currently done using the WaitPrompt(char *message) 
function

3. wait message are currently done using the ShowAction(char *message) function

PS: mem_open and mem_close are funtions from OGG player, I have updated the 
current
precompiled libogc package I'm using so you can compile the current SVN

However, to be included in the upcoming release, it would also need proper
integrations to the new GUI (specific icons, additional config settings, 
onscreen
keyboard...), stuff that I don't have time to implement 

About 7z support, I'm quite satisfied with zip compression and don't think 
space is
really a critical issue with USB hdd or SDHC cards now... Also, it encourages 
people
to keep only the ROM files they really need to play, not their entire 
"collection" or
"romset", filled with useless variants and baddumps

That's the main reason why  I don't see the need of adding plenty exotic 
features
like this, considering the memory overhead it would require is not worth it (and
also, then some other people would want .Jma support, then .rar, etc... and this
never ends)

anyway, you are still very welcome to provide patches for 7z support if you 
really
want it

Original comment by ekeeke31@gmail.com on 30 Apr 2009 at 11:47

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Would it be possible to post the one with SMB support?  I like having all my 
roms on
my hard drive

Original comment by pro...@gmail.com on 12 May 2009 at 6:24

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I don't think it's done yet.
You will have to wait until it's officialy included, if this is ever done.

Original comment by ekeeke31@gmail.com on 12 May 2009 at 2:29

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Cool, thanks for the update.. and great work on the emulator =)

Original comment by pro...@gmail.com on 12 May 2009 at 10:19

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Man I just need 7z support so badly.. If only I knew how to code T_T

Original comment by poderseg...@gmail.com on 15 May 2009 at 5:50

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there is nothing you need so "badly", there are programs out there to convert 
your
7zip "collection" in regular .zip files 

If only you were not so lazy ;-)

Original comment by ekeeke31@gmail.com on 16 May 2009 at 3:39

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Um, actually... I'm using a program called unzipfs for Linux to extract my .7z 
files
on my server on the fly. It uses fuse to make it transparent to my samba 
server. Uh,
if you don't know what Linux is, forget about it, because it won't work for 
Windows.
But here's a link where you can get more info:

http://apps.sourceforge.net/mediawiki/fuse/index.php?title=ArchiveFileSystems

Oh, and now that I got life out of my way, I'm going to actually start writing 
SMB
support. Sorry for the wait. :P

Original comment by auntieNeo@gmail.com on 17 May 2009 at 12:27

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I can add you as developper or create a branch for you in the SVN repository if 
you
want, just tell me...

Original comment by ekeeke31@gmail.com on 17 May 2009 at 6:39

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woot =) can't wait for SMB support!

Original comment by pro...@gmail.com on 20 May 2009 at 5:46

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@ #13

Well i'm asking because i can't find the app you are saying.

Original comment by poderseg...@gmail.com on 24 May 2009 at 2:25

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anyone still working on network support?

Original comment by pro...@gmail.com on 16 Jun 2009 at 4:45

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As I said, I've no interest in implementing such features myself and I have not
received any patches from anybody.

Original comment by ekeeke31@gmail.com on 21 Sep 2009 at 1:51

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Original comment by ekeeke31@gmail.com on 22 Oct 2009 at 9:25

• Added labels: Usability

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Original comment by ekeeke31@gmail.com on 13 May 2010 at 2:24

• Changed state: Duplicate

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Yes, SMB support is very useful, the emulator is excelent but could be better :D

Original comment by pmagnu...@gmail.com on 10 Nov 2010 at 2:11

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I don't think the quality of an emulator is based on the number of options you 
have to load ROM files, etc.

I personally have no use for SMB as I don't like the idea of having my PC 
always connected to play an emulator on TV. In my opinion, it kinda defeats the 
purpose of running emulators on Wii. How hard is it to copy your ROM collection 
on SD or USB ? 

Adding useless features like these just increase the memory footprint of the 
program and reduce the opportunities for more interesting features.

Original comment by ekeeke31@gmail.com on 10 Nov 2010 at 3:35

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Wii only supports 2-4GB on an SD card and you want to take up 30-60% of that 
space on a sega genesis rom collection?  Of course SMB support is important. 
Get over it.

Original comment by wesjg...@gmail.com on 20 Feb 2011 at 10:48

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Well, it's his project and his decision whether or not to support something. If 
you want it that bad, then just add it yourself.

Original comment by kingofch...@gmail.com on 21 Feb 2011 at 12:26

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*** RANT TIME (again) ***

The saddest is that back in earlier days of homebrew, only SD (and not even 
SDHC) cards were supported and everybody was happy with that, people could play 
their ROM "collection" just fine and did not complained. Then SMB (or 7zip, 
NTFS, USB2, cIOS, whatever the hype feature is at that time) support was added 
in a few projects and suddenly it becomes a "must have" feature for every 
emulators. 

Truth is that some people are simply never satisfied with what is given to 
them, they just always want more, might it be because they saw it somewhere 
else (the "it has been done here so why don't you do the same" song) or simply 
because they are obsessed by novelty or completeness (the "I must get the 
ultimate version" song). Another category is the "lazy user" who wants the 
emulator to be as featured as possible so the steps between "downloading romset 
from torrent" and "playing sonic for 5 minutes" are minimal to him. 

Now, as I stated it many times, the ONLY reason I still work on this project is 
because I'm interested with emulation (and Sega emulation in general). I'm 
interested in improving the accuracy of the emulator, optimizing code, fix 
games that does not work properly, make it the closest to the feeling you had 
when hooking up your old Mega Drive to your TV and generally, adding features 
that fit with those goals or that that I have an interest in.

I don't care if your "collection", filled with romz that you will even probably 
never open, comes with 7z files and you are desesperate to loose a few GB by 
recompressing them, or that you are too cheap to buy a SD card or burn a DVD 
dedicated to Mega Drive games, or that you won't play this emulator ever again 
because it doesn't let you connect to your computer for the 2 seconds it takes 
to load a ROM file.

Seriously, YOU should get over it and start to accept that:

- this is not an important feature in the sense that various other ways are 
already available for loading ROM files.

- the point of an emulator is to emulate games, not to be the ultimate ROM file 
manager and the more external libraries you add to it, the less memory you have 
for more important and interesting things.

- I did not received your last paycheck so I do whatever I want when I feel 
like. What is sure is that I have zero interest in doing this. Adding 7z or SMB 
support is very easy, really, it's just a bunch of copypasting and the job is 
95% done by the libraries so I'm wondering why anyone hasn't submitted a patch 
yet.

Original comment by ekeeke31@gmail.com on 21 Feb 2011 at 9:42

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Oh my God. This has gone on too long. Someone do the artwork for a network 
button and I'll write a patch for this over spring break. I've experimented 
with it in the past, and really it's just a few calls to the homebrew libs in 
almost the same way as accessing FAT, and it works fine. There's just a few 
connection issues I hadn't figured out, and things came up, so I never got 
around to fixing it. Sorry guys.

If no one does artwork, the buttons will probably be green squares.

And honestly, your rant is 100% correct. The only game I ever play on this 
emulator is Sonic 2, the only game I ever played as a kid. And the code really 
is a 95% copy-paste job. I'm sorry you even had to write this rant; I should 
have submited a patch ages ago. Sorry, everyone. :(

Original comment by auntieNeo@gmail.com on 21 Feb 2011 at 4:45

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Try this artwork.  I opened the Load_sd.png file in GIMP, then I cleared the 
main layer in the Load_sd.png then opened the Load_smb.png that was already in 
there as a layer, then scaled that new layer to fit the canvas (they were 
different sizes). then saved and overwrote the Load_smb.png forcing the exact 
same image format as Load_sd.png so it should work, I'm about to rip my hair 
off figuring out how to compile so if someone can compile and try it, that 
would be just great!  ;)

Original comment by SonicXxRush@gmail.com on 24 Apr 2011 at 11:30

Attachments:

• Load_smb.png

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still no patch ? :(

Original comment by stringm...@gmail.com on 12 Dec 2013 at 10:55

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To be brutally honest, I tend to play the usual games. Some I've beat every 
time whether it was on the original hardware(ie. Sega Genesis, Game Gear, etc.) 
or on the Wii/Wii U. But I CAN grasp the realization that having a "complete" 
collection is never satisfying due to how many .ips patches put on RomHacking 
or filling up a Micro-SD on whatever cartridge Gamester81 plugged for Everdrive 
& Stoneage Gamer. But given some circumstances, SMB share WOULD be a novel 
concept, but it's NOT by demand, but from the creator's choice. ekeeke...I 
understand what you mean, and asking for it is a burden.

Keep in mind, I do have a 32GB SDHC full of Sega roms(Genesis, SMS, Game Gear), 
yet limited for space just to put only a couple or so Sega CD games on it(which 
only work if it's CUE-BIN, but not CUE-ISO+WAV/CUE-ISO+MP3)...I found that out 
the hard way. I have read about how frustrating it could be if there was a 32X 
rom support for it, so limitations may be a reason why seeing it paired with 
the rest hasn't happened. Getting back on topic, SMB share is only useful if it 
means having limited amount of space on an SD card or if finding out the 
Homebrew Channel can't support anything higher than 32GB(provided if it's 
running via USB through a SD reader) or that hardly anyone can afford a 128GB 
Micro SD or USB External HDD(which you have to consider the budging gamers that 
rarely afford games, but somehow manage to scrimp for a console that's over 10 
to 40 years old).

I have a huge collection of Sega Roms, and would like to run not only 32X(even 
though this emulator doesn't have the support for it), but also every rom that 
I haven't played back in my youth. Still, I do tend to play them to see what 
I'm missing, and with past and future rom hacks aside, this can be helpful for 
those who are limited in storage. Still...your word over the rest of us. Can't 
demand gold from a mere curious thought.

Anyway, the point I'm making is that it would be a good idea to add SMB share, 
but it doesn't mean I'm gonna remiss my actions to still purchase an SD-Card. 
You got to account for USB Loaders, emulators, homebrew games, media, and so on 
that can waste up more space than the entire Sega CD's library can allow, yet 
it exceeds the size of an SD card(32GB). So SMB would help. But that's not 
mine, nor anyone's call to make but yours, and yours alone. I'm not agreeing, 
nor disagreeing to everyone, even you eke-eke...but good enough or not, some 
possibilities can be taken in spurts, and it's to each their own. Simple as 
that. I may not know how to create an emulator from scratch, but I can do up a 
Virtual Console wad inject when I have the time. But that's besides the point.

Just saying...it would help, but that's more your call than ours. Sorry for the 
rant, but unless nobody grasped that large amount of info, the shorter version 
is "not everything can be done as expected, but it would benefit to those that 
think of it as a something to try". 32X Support & SMB Share or not, again...not 
our call but yours. Done ranting.

Original comment by jonvel...@gmail.com on 15 Sep 2014 at 4:48

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To clear up some misleaded assumptions:
1) SMB would not be that useful for Sega CD because the files are continuously 
read in real-time so it will dramatically slowdown emulation.
2) Sega CD emulation does NOT only work with cue+bin, iso+wav and iso+ogg are 
also supported.

The rest of your very long rant could have been summarized in one sentence by 
"please implement this because some users need it for xxxx personal reason". 

If that wasn't clear already, the reason I keep working on this emulator is not 
to please every end-users out there or to fulfill their needs, I do this 
exclusively for me and to please myself. Off course, I'm interested in 
end-users feedback and suggestions and I'm perfectly able to understand your 
arguments (which are nothing new to me) but I'm simply not interested to add 
that myself as I think it's perfectly possible to enjoy the emulator without 
such features without plagguing the emulator with additional libraries and 
thread processing.

Original comment by ekeeke31@gmail.com on 15 Sep 2014 at 6:40