libretro / libretro/RetroArch

Unable to scan early PSX games

Open
#14,192 1 comment 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

Nobody has claimed this yet.

bug: scanner scanner
Dominant language
C
Stars
14.1k
Forks
2.2k
Avg merge
7h 35m
Merged PRs (30d)
51

Description

Hi

When scanning a folder on PSX games (redump cue+bin) several games failed being scanned properly, mostly the very early PSX Games that didn't have the serial in the game data itself.
Example with Ridge Racer (Japan)

So Retroarch properly finds the 'Magic Numbers' in the data track, and knows it's dealing with a PS1 game. But since the serial can't be found, it decides to report it found a fake serial 'XXXXXXXXXX' (in \tasks\task_database_cue.c(280))
I've modified this function to actually return false at the end, and RetroArch then naturally used the crc fallback and my games were properly identified.

What is the reason for returning this fake 'XXXXXXXXXX' serial ?
Can't we just change the function to return a real failure so retroarch know the serial could not be extracted ?

Expected behavior

We can scan Ridge Racer (Japan) with the folder scanner (other games also have this issue)

Actual behavior

RetroArch detects the game is ps1, but can't extract the serial, so it's returning a fake 'XXXXXXXXXX' serial, which can't be looked up in the database.

Steps to reproduce the bug
  1. Get a clean Redump rip of Ridge Racer (Japan) and place it in a folder.
  2. In retroarch, use the Scanner to analyze this folder
Environment information
  • OS: Win11
  • Compiler: patched and Recompiled with VS2019 and game was scanned properly

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start in tasks/task_database_cue.c around line 280 and reproduce the folder scan with a clean Redump Ridge Racer (Japan) cue+bin set. Check how the fake XXXXXXXXXX serial affects database lookup and compare the reported CRC fallback behavior. Done means the scanner identifies Ridge Racer and other early PSX games without embedded serials.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
c
Domain
databases, tooling
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Clearly specified
Newbie friendliness
45/100

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.