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by ugetab at 5:18 PM EDT on August 10, 2007

On the subject of SNSFs, consider looping the main CPU with CB80FD(WAI, BRA to WAI), instead of just 80FE (Infinite Loop). I think that the sets could be more stable with this bit of coding forcing the CPU to wait for the next interrupt to occur, instead of wasting time going through an uninterruptable loop. Tests with the SNES9X debugging version confirm a lower amount of CPU being used by about doubling the turbo speed of the music in Wario's Woods, with the only difference being the use of a NOP in the infinite loop vs the use of a WAI command. The results of this command are even more dramatic when used on a game that has interrupts disabled, like Chrono Trigger. In that game, the main CPU never recovers from the command. The sets must sometimes crash winamp for other people too, and this change may make the player more stable. I can only guess that it's related to the level of activity on the emulated CPUs.

by marioman at 6:29 PM EDT on August 10, 2007

In_snsf crashes for me all the time. The most notable/reproducible occurrences are as follows:

- Seeking using the right arrow key.
- Loading a SNSF file in the Winamp Playlist, restarting Winamp, and then double-clicking the entry in the playlist.

There are other crashing/CPU usage problems, but I haven't nailed them down yet. Overall it is very unstable (not as much as the first version though), but I am just glad that it is available. However, if you can make any improvements it would be appreciated.

by ugetab at 7:30 PM EDT on August 10, 2007

Reduced CPU usage seems to generally increase the stability. I managed to rather quickly scan about 25 tracks with the WAI fix in place in a set, where I'm usually lucky to get 8 before a crash

by marioman at 7:38 PM EDT on August 10, 2007

Great! If get around to it, could you please post a bugfix version of in_snsf? It would at least make my life a little easier. Thanks in advance.

by ugetab at 9:59 PM EDT on August 10, 2007

This isn't a fix for in_snsf, this is a programming trick that makes sets use less CPU power. I don't know enough about emulator design to start changing the plugin, but I'm familiar with some *SF format storage schemes, and I believe I'm adequately familiar with SNES programming to find some tricks and info for making or optimizing some sets.

The trick is to turn off the main SNES CPU when it's not in use using the WAI command, which essentially puts the main CPU into a comatose loop instead of an active one, while the sound CPU continues. It's a bit technical, but I've tested the effect, and it definately reduces the amount of processing required using only 1 instruction put into the right place just before the main CPU is no longer required.

Caitsith is still the plugin developer, but a source for simple solutions to SNSF ripping doesn't exist yet, there's no standard decompressor for the sets to help you learn from them(I built my own power tool for that purpose), and the WAI solution would be better put into place with 9 sets around than when there's 50. I may update the documents with some notes, and release a friendlier compression/decompression tool for the snsflibs.

by marioman at 10:43 PM EDT on August 10, 2007

I seem to have been a little confused, but I understand now. Sorry.

This info should be relayed to CS2 before any more SNSF rips are made. I am not sure of the best way to reach him, but there is an E-mail address for him in some of his GSF rips. He may also be available on IRC, but I am not sure.

Thank you for all of your work on this. It will definitely help the format get established faster.

by ugetab at 1:42 AM EDT on August 11, 2007

I'm releasing some minor info about the SNSF format, along with a compression/decompression program. This should also be something you could modify to work with other zlib compressed formats. Right now, only SNSF is structurally supported.

http://www.angelfire.com/nc/ugetab/SNSF_ZLIB.zip

by unknownfile at 5:14 PM EDT on August 31, 2007

Bumping to see how the RSS feed reacts

by Josh W at 11:49 PM EDT on August 31, 2007

ive had an RSS feed for ages:

http://joshw.hcs64.com/rss.php

by unknownfile at 12:45 AM EDT on September 1, 2007

lol wrong thread

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