[SLUS-21621] Persona 3 FES FMVs stutters on HDD

[AmyRoxwell]

Launching Persona 3 FES on neutrino on a HDD causes the cutscenes to suffer stutters, very noticeable on the first one after you had boot the game while using a HDD.

On OPL this can be fixed by enabling MODE 2 (Synchronous Mode) but enabling any of the settings on NHDDL do nothing.

Neutrino version used: neutrino-20241103-2ccca2d8 and neutrino_v1.3.1
I'm also launching Neutrino via NHDDL.

Also tested [SLPM-65869] Monster Hunter G and [SLPM-65495] Monster Hunter 1 Japanese and those two also stutter even if Sync mode is enabled.

[rickgaiser]

I don't know how NHDDL works with modes.

You can try mode 0, this disables all modes that are enabled by default, including accurate reads. Making read speeds on HDD much faster.

Then try mode 2 again if that didn't help.

From the command line this would be -gc=0 and -gc=02

@pcm720 is this possible in NHDDL? PS: I added a link to your project from the readme.

[pcm720]

is this possible in NHDDL?

Yeah, compatibility flags can be toggled from the options menu for each ISO individually.
They're passed as -gc=? to Neutrino.

I also tried launching P3FES on my PS2 and had zero issues with FMVs without any gc arguments, by the way.
But I'm using a microSD as my "HDD" via IDE2SD adapter, not an actual SSD or HDD.
Maybe these stutters are caused by a combination of ISO being fragmented and a slow HDD?

PS: I added a link to your project from the readme.

Thanks!

[DukeJP]

I can't confirm the bug, the game works perfectly on HDD with the latest Neutrino and Nhddl (sync reads enabled). Could it be that you are using a clone adapter from Aliexpress? I had problems in GTA3 (the game freezes loading every few seconds) with a clone, but an original adapter worked perfectly.

EDIT: About Monster Hunter G, I tried the translated version (same ID) without problems.
And Monster Hunter 1, at least the USA version works fine for me

[AmyRoxwell]

I can't confirm the bug, the game works perfectly on HDD with the latest Neutrino and Nhddl (sync reads enabled). Could it be that you are using a clone adapter from Aliexpress? I had problems in GTA3 (the game freezes loading every few seconds) with a clone, but an original adapter worked perfectly.

EDIT: About Monster Hunter G, I tried the translated version (same ID) without problems. And Monster Hunter 1, at least the USA version works fine for me

I'm using the Gamestar adapter from amazon and a laptop HDD, idk why only neutrino gets funky with it and not OPL hmm

[rickgaiser]

Did you try mode 0, or mode 0 and 2 as I suggested?

[AmyRoxwell]

Did you try mode 0, or mode 0 and 2 as I suggested?

Haven't been able to be at home, so not yet, I will try as soon as possible, sorry.

[DukeJP]

I'm using the Gamestar adapter from amazon and a laptop HDD, idk why only neutrino gets funky with it and not OPL hmm

afaik, it's not original then. The official Sony ones are for Ide disks (can be adapted to SATA). For me, a clone gave me the problems I mentioned above, even some OPL versions didn't even boot. As I said, the games you mention work perfectly with "sync reads" activated (in fact, it's a standard for me when testing games).
If you have everything installed and configured correctly and your game still stutters, the problem is your hardware.

[AmyRoxwell]

Did you try mode 0, or mode 0 and 2 as I suggested?

I wonder, how can I do that without connecting to a network? the gamestar adapter does not have a network port

[pcm720]

I wonder, how can I do that without connecting to a network? the gamestar adapter does not have a network port

You know you can just press triangle in NHDDL and toggle the modes you need, right?

[AmyRoxwell]

I wonder, how can I do that without connecting to a network? the gamestar adapter does not have a network port

You know you can just press triangle in NHDDL and toggle the modes you need, right?

Yes, but like I explained they don't do anything compared to OPL. Not matter the option I toggle it just doesn't do anything anything different.

[DukeJP]

As a test, I launched the game without any option activated and it also works fine, at least referring to the stutter of the intro

[AmyRoxwell]

Then probably it's an incompatibility with my HDD and/or Gamestar adapter, I would still need to test back home just in case.

[pcm720]

Yes, but like I explained they don't do anything compared to OPL. Not matter the option I toggle it just doesn't do anything anything different.

What did you do after toggling the compatibility flags?
Did you launch the game with the square button straight from the options menu or save the options with the Start button?

[AmyRoxwell]

Yes, but like I explained they don't do anything compared to OPL. Not matter the option I toggle it just doesn't do anything anything different.

What did you do after toggling the compatibility flags? Did you launch the game with the square button straight from the options menu or save the options with the Start button?

I did the following:

1. Press triangle to show the option menu
2. Did the following combination of options:
   A. Disable Compatibility Flags + Sync Mode
   B. Disable Compatibility Flags + Accurate Reading
   C. Sync Mode Only
3. Press Start and Press triangle again to verify my settings, then start again
4. Run the game.

[pcm720]

Okay, that means Neutrino got the gc argument.