Hello, I'm Rarefoil. I've been using ePSXe for for quite a while now, and am currently going through RE1C in Advanced Mode with it.
But, when using the original CDs, I come across a kinda big problem. The original PS1 spun the CDs constantly and games relied on it for smooth
opertation. I'm using the built in DVD-RW Drive that came with my laptop, and it... really can't spin the CD that long. Whenever the CD isn't
being read, it just stops spinning, and when it needs to be read, it has to start up. This is so it can cool down and avoid overheating, so
one of my tech-savvy friends says.
This results in ePSXe always hanging while something has to load. I can only avoid it by moving at a fast enough clip in the current game
of choice. But that can lead to more problems.
More than once while playing a long session of RE1C, my DVD-RW drive has just stopped working and automatically ejected the disc.
And it refused to read the disc again until a significant length of time has passed and a reboot. This is, again, according to my tech-savvy
friend, because it reached the max temperature and that's its way of avoiding damage.
In fact, these days, it doesn't exactly need to be a long session before the DVD-RW drive just tuckers out. It can just fail sometimes now.
There have even been points of the game crashing at a loading screen when everything looked fine. I guess that was just it giving out
at the worst time possible. And to put the cherry on top of it all, it's even refusing to eject sometimes! I'm pretty sure all this work
playing RE1C has done some real damage to the poor thing. It still works (I just created a BIN of my Crash 3 CD), and any major
hand ups so far have come back with time and a reboot, but a constantly spun disc is asking too much of it.
Basically, what I need is a CD, DVD drive, whatever, that can handle the effort needed, that has the pure strength, the pure grunt,
to spin a disc forever (not literally, just enough for a decent gaming session, you know?)and not suffer any huge repercussions.
I really don't want to inflict any more torture to my current drive and I'd like to not have to quit in the middle of a good streak of
progress in RE1C due to hardware issues.
I've dug out an old DVD-RW drive from my previous tower PC, which I've heard (once again, from my tech-savvy friend) generally
do have the power for such a task, but given that I remember it hanging when I first played my JP Crash 2 CD with it so long ago, I
have my doubts. Not to mention that since that tower PC's been sitting collecting dust in the corner for years and it was in use for
about 8 years, heavens know what state it's in now. Ordered an IDE/SATA to USB converter for the thing anyway, since I figure anything
is better than my current situation. Or at the very least, I can now salvage the data from the old hard disks.
The issue with hunting for a new drive is that neither my tech-savvy friend or I know which of the specs listed for a drive would say
"This baby can spin discs for a LONG time!" And it isn't an often touted feature.
So. Do any of you guys know of a CD drive (preferably a DVD-RW drive or higher) that can spin a disc long enough for a decent PS1
gaming session? Or rather any gaming session that needs a constant disc spin? Is there a way to tell by looking at it's specs?
Or is there a current solution in my grasp and I've been a fool? Or is this a universal thing and all drives need to do cool-downs,
otherwise serious damage would occur, so there's nothing I can do? If that's the case, I can get by with ISOs and BINs, the loading
hanging isn't a problem at all with using those.
...But using the original CDs is just so much cooler and satisfying.
...Yeah, that's weak. But it hasn't gotten unplayable bad yet with a CD, so I want to continue down this road.
Please help me out with this. I really would appreciate it. If anyone could recommend another forum that would be more knowledgeable
then themselves, that would also be highly appreciated.
But, when using the original CDs, I come across a kinda big problem. The original PS1 spun the CDs constantly and games relied on it for smooth
opertation. I'm using the built in DVD-RW Drive that came with my laptop, and it... really can't spin the CD that long. Whenever the CD isn't
being read, it just stops spinning, and when it needs to be read, it has to start up. This is so it can cool down and avoid overheating, so
one of my tech-savvy friends says.
This results in ePSXe always hanging while something has to load. I can only avoid it by moving at a fast enough clip in the current game
of choice. But that can lead to more problems.
More than once while playing a long session of RE1C, my DVD-RW drive has just stopped working and automatically ejected the disc.
And it refused to read the disc again until a significant length of time has passed and a reboot. This is, again, according to my tech-savvy
friend, because it reached the max temperature and that's its way of avoiding damage.
In fact, these days, it doesn't exactly need to be a long session before the DVD-RW drive just tuckers out. It can just fail sometimes now.
There have even been points of the game crashing at a loading screen when everything looked fine. I guess that was just it giving out
at the worst time possible. And to put the cherry on top of it all, it's even refusing to eject sometimes! I'm pretty sure all this work
playing RE1C has done some real damage to the poor thing. It still works (I just created a BIN of my Crash 3 CD), and any major
hand ups so far have come back with time and a reboot, but a constantly spun disc is asking too much of it.
Basically, what I need is a CD, DVD drive, whatever, that can handle the effort needed, that has the pure strength, the pure grunt,
to spin a disc forever (not literally, just enough for a decent gaming session, you know?)and not suffer any huge repercussions.
I really don't want to inflict any more torture to my current drive and I'd like to not have to quit in the middle of a good streak of
progress in RE1C due to hardware issues.
I've dug out an old DVD-RW drive from my previous tower PC, which I've heard (once again, from my tech-savvy friend) generally
do have the power for such a task, but given that I remember it hanging when I first played my JP Crash 2 CD with it so long ago, I
have my doubts. Not to mention that since that tower PC's been sitting collecting dust in the corner for years and it was in use for
about 8 years, heavens know what state it's in now. Ordered an IDE/SATA to USB converter for the thing anyway, since I figure anything
is better than my current situation. Or at the very least, I can now salvage the data from the old hard disks.
The issue with hunting for a new drive is that neither my tech-savvy friend or I know which of the specs listed for a drive would say
"This baby can spin discs for a LONG time!" And it isn't an often touted feature.
So. Do any of you guys know of a CD drive (preferably a DVD-RW drive or higher) that can spin a disc long enough for a decent PS1
gaming session? Or rather any gaming session that needs a constant disc spin? Is there a way to tell by looking at it's specs?
Or is there a current solution in my grasp and I've been a fool? Or is this a universal thing and all drives need to do cool-downs,
otherwise serious damage would occur, so there's nothing I can do? If that's the case, I can get by with ISOs and BINs, the loading
hanging isn't a problem at all with using those.
...But using the original CDs is just so much cooler and satisfying.
...Yeah, that's weak. But it hasn't gotten unplayable bad yet with a CD, so I want to continue down this road.
Please help me out with this. I really would appreciate it. If anyone could recommend another forum that would be more knowledgeable
then themselves, that would also be highly appreciated.