MiSTer FPGA Forum

Is there any chance of adding compatibility for the old PS3 memory card adapter (CECHZM1) that reads PS1 and PS2 cards through USB? It would be really cool to load up some old PS1 saves on the MiSTer

It would have to be supported on Linux. Supposedly on Linux it can be accessed for PS1 with this tool: https://github.com/paolo-caroni/ps3mca-ps1 that uses libusb-1.0

Probably a similar process to how People got Physical carts to work with the MiSTer
https://youtu.be/A9CkyjtJ6i4

You need your Memory card adapter, perhaps a linux driver and some linux console commands to symbolic link the memory card's contents to a folder.
You have to mount the memory card image manually in the OSD.

You are better off using the Memory card adapter with your PC and then transferring the Memory card image to the MiSTer

The methods I used to back up my vintage PSX/PS2 memory card saves in the past (the former are now happily on my MiSTer):

PSX:
Dex Drive via Serial to USB adapter controlled by MemcardRex, which is an excellent Windows PSX memcard management software.

PS2:
Homebrew hacks like FreeMcBoot let you run a file manager like uLaunchElf that can copy your memory card saves to a USB key.

In addition...
I see that MemcardRex recently added direct support for the PS3 Memory Card Adaptor you mention. So if you have that, I imagine you can just plug it into your PC and use MemcardRex to read and save both PSX/PS2 memory cards. Convenient!

Wave wrote: ↑Mon May 30, 2022 6:04 am PS2:
Homebrew hacks like FreeMcBoot let you run a file manager like uLaunchElf that can copy your memory card saves to a USB key.

I can confirm that this works wonderfully. That's how I'm using my old PSX saves.

It requires some post-processing though because it only saves the file blocks (8K each) instead of a full dump (128K).

Thanks for the info guys. Although I never tried it, I was vaguely aware of solutions involving a PC. I'll definitely have to try that at some point. What I was wondering was is there any possibility of seeing it getting used directly on the MiSTer? Like instead of saving or loading to a virtual memory card could it be possible in a future update for one to be able to point the core to a real card hooked up through this adapter? Like what darksakul was getting at but support would actually be baked into the core? I know it's a long shot but I figured I'd put it out there anyway

There's already support for a SNAC adapter that handles a single controller and memory card (reusing actual PSX ports), if that helps.

I copied my Files with Mencardrex:
https://github.com/ShendoXT/memcardrex

Thanks to my Life in Gaming for presenting it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic-LtyX-ICg

Was waiting since i bought the Adapter back then for such a Tool on the PC.

Also conider such Websites to convert Files:

https://savefileconverter.com/#/ps1/ps3

https://www.save-editor.com/tools/wse_p ... erter.html

Options are difficult on FPGA cores, so trying to add support for memcard-to-file, indirect USB-to-PS3 gizmo-to-PS1 card, and SNAC-to-PS1 card support, all at the same time, could be a significant pain. And since those adapters aren't being made anymore, that could be a lot of developer effort to benefit a tiny, tiny population of people.

A solution already exists to do what you want. It's not free, unfortunately, but it's done and works correctly. If you really want to use actual PS1 cards, buying a SNAC adapter solves the problem, and doesn't require any dev effort.

If it was me, I'd work on getting the data off those cards and just switch to savefiles instead, preferably stored on a spinning drive. The PS1 memcards are ancient, and I trust modern hard drives a lot more. Modern SDs, on the other hand, are less trustworthy than I'd like. Make sure you have good backups if you're using them as a primary storage device.