[PLUGIN] Virtual Drive Loader

[Adultery]

Virtual Drive Loader

1.2.8

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Simply put, it's a plugin for virtual drive loaders. It currently supports Daemon Tools, Alcohol, and Virtual Clone Drive natively. The plugin also supports GameEx's Roms In 7-zip and Roms In Subfolders options, making it your only native choice for these features if you use them. Some other features for the plugin include:

Emulator Specific Setup

• Select the emulator you wish to use the loader on from the drop down menu
• Set up your mount and unmount commands
• If you don't have this set up the fields will populate based on found mounting software

Headless Mode

• Add switches to the GameEx emulator command-line to bypass the emulator configuration
• Using [DTLOADER] or [DTOOLS] in the emulator's CL will mount using the default drive
• Using [DTLOADER-SCSI] or [DTOOLS-SCSI] in the emulator's CL will mount using the default SCSI drive
• Using [DTLOADER-IDE] or [DTOOLS-IDE] in the emulator's CL will mount using the default IDE drive
• Using [ALCOHOL] in the emulator's CL will mount using the default Alcohol drive (both 52% and 120% are supported)
• Using [CLONEDRIVE] in the emulator's CL will mount using the default Virtual Clone Drive drive
• Using [MAGICISO] or [MAGICDISC] in the emulator's CL will mount using the default MagicISO/MagicDisc drive
  NOTE: If you installed these programs using the default options, no setup is needed for Headless Mode to work

Any questions or comments? Feel free to ask 'em. I also like feature requests and very much appreciate bug reports (these are especially helpful if you also attach a copy of your log file in the GAMEEX>PLUGINS>DT LOADER folder).

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DOWNLOAD LOCATIONS:
This plugin can now be downloaded using GameEx's Repository Manager or via the plugin administration menu in the Setup Wizard.

Download @ GameEx Community Download Portal
 

 

[KRC]

Buddy, your on fire, keep up the good work

[nullPointer]

This is so cool Adultery! The ability to specify a virtual SCSI drive is something that's going to make life easier for a lot of users. Thanks so much!

[Adultery]

Anytime!

[Adultery]

Updated to 1.0.1:

• Headless Mode will now attempt to find the Daemon Tools EXE on its own
  • No need to set up the loader path in the Configuration Settings if you have Daemon Tools installed in the default location
  • If you chose another location to install the EXE, specify it in the Configuration Settings and the plugin will check there
• Added support for Alcohol 52% and Alcohol 120% Virtual Drives in Headless Mode
  • ​No need to set up the loader path in the Configuration Settings if you have Alcohol 52% or 120% installed in the default location
  • If you chose another location to install the EXE, specify it in the Configuration Settings and the plugin will check there
  • Use the command [ALCOHOL] to specify an Alcohol Virtual Drive
• Added support system for future Virtual Drives (just make a request for yours and I'll add in the code)

You can get it from the first post.

[Adultery]

Updated to 1.0.2:

• Changed plugin name to Virtual Drive Loader
• Added support for Elaborate Bytes Virtual Clone Drive in headless mode
• Use the command [CLONEDRIVE] to specify a VCD Virtual Drive
• No need to set up the loader path in the Configuration Settings if you have VCD installed in the default location
• Plugin now supports the variables "[ROMPATH]" and "[ROMFILE]" separately via the configuration menu

[nullPointer]

So cool to see the functionality of this plugin growing by leaps and bounds! Well done my friend!

[Adultery]

Updated to 1.0.3:

• Added a pause before the emulator executes (fixes issue with Sega Saturn/SSF loading before mounting was completed)
• More debug logging added should there be future problems

[zeenon]

I may actually have a use for this

I have never setup my HOD 1 2 3 iso images in GameEx because they needed to be mounted in order to work and I just never got around to creating a batch file. Will this do the job?

Also does it work with daemon tools lite?

Z

[Adultery]

I'm not sure how you would do that unless your loader can load more than one image via command line.

Yes of course it supports DT Lite.

[discomike]

Hello

I have a collection of images that are compressed with 7z. I have enabled 7z support for the emulator in GameEx.

If I use the plugin on a folder of uncompressed images, the plugin works great. However, If I use the 7z folder, the plugin tries to mount the image from the original folder, rather than where GameEx has uncompressed it to.

Is there any way this can be address via the plugin, or is it a problem with GameEx?

[Adultery]

Oh well that stinks! Lol!

What folder is this uncompressed to? I can run a filter check for *.7z and change the Rom directory accordingly to that location. Is it still going to /unzipped7zip in the Rom folder?

[Adultery]

Can you try this one for me? This assumes you have your zip/7z/GoodMerge option turned on in GameEx for that emulator (assuming that's how you're doing it). It instead looks to the unzipped7zip folder, so if it doesn't work get back to me on the exact name of the directory your ROM is being unzipped to. Please and thank you.

[discomike]

Hello. Thanks for the BETA.

I gave it a try and it didnt make any difference. I'll describe the scenario i am using.

I am testing this with EPSXE. Normally the emulator command line is "epsxe.exe -nogui". The emu is configured to use the I: drive

I added "[DTLOADER_SCSI]", to the command line and this resulted in the behaviour mentioned earlier.

I have included the plugin log below, but don't worry too much about it. I came up with a solution using before/after commands.

EDIT: Another thing I noticed is that EPSXE didnt like having "[DTLOADER_SCSI]" being included in the command line.

01/04/2013 13:11:10 : Virtual Drive Loader (Version: 1.0.3b)01/04/2013 13:11:10 : 13.08 INITIALIZED OK!: GameEx01/04/2013 13:11:10 : LOAD XML: E:\GameEx\GameEx\PLUGINS\DT Loader\Settings.xml01/04/2013 13:11:10 : XML: XML file was loaded OK!01/04/2013 13:11:10 : RESULT: XML(EXE_PATH) - C:\Program Files (x86)\DAEMON Tools Lite\DTLite.exe01/04/2013 13:11:10 : INIT PLUGIN: Initialization completed!01/04/2013 13:11:33 : DT MOUNT (CL-SCSI): EXE IN: C:\Program Files (x86)\DAEMON Tools Lite\DTLite.exe01/04/2013 13:11:33 : DT MOUNT (CL-SCSI): ARG IN: -mount scsi, 0, "[rompath]\[romfile]"01/04/2013 13:11:33 : DT MOUNT (CL-SCSI): CL: epsxe.exe -nogui [DTLOADER-SCSI]01/04/2013 13:11:33 : VD LAUNCHER: Launcher(NEW) - ARG USING: -mount scsi, 0, "Z:\ROMS\[Redump.org] Sony PlayStation (USA) (20130213)\Games\American Pool (USA).cue"01/04/2013 13:11:33 : VD LAUNCHER: Launcher(NEW) - EXE USING: C:\Program Files (x86)\DAEMON Tools Lite\DTLite.exe01/04/2013 13:11:34 : VD LAUNCHER: Launcher(NEW) - Image mounted! Sleeping...01/04/2013 13:11:38 : DT MOUNT (CL-SCSI): Loader was launched successfully!01/04/2013 13:11:47 : DT UNMOUNT (CL-SCSI): Terminating...01/04/2013 13:11:47 : VD LAUNCHER: Launcher(NEW) - ARG USING: -unmount scsi, 001/04/2013 13:11:47 : VD LAUNCHER: Launcher(NEW) - EXE USING: C:\Program Files (x86)\DAEMON Tools Lite\DTLite.exe01/04/2013 13:11:48 : DT UNMOUNT (CL-SCSI): Drive unmounted successfully!01/04/2013 13:11:50 : Exiting GameEx...01/04/2013 13:11:50 : Later!

[Adultery]

EPSXE should never know that it was in the command line in the first place (it gets removed before GameEx runs it, or should...).

The command is actually [DTLOADER-SCSI] by the way (in case that wasn't a typo).

Sorry it didn't work for you, it seems it's still not picking up the unzip folder from your GameEx.ini - I will still fix this though. If you would be so kind, please try this instead. I added a little more logging and fixed the folder that Tom unzips to (it was Unzipped7-Zip as opposed to Unzipped7Zip as I initially thought).

I appreciate your help.

[discomike]

I'm replying quicker this time

As from the log below, it's still trying to mount the .cue file from the original folder, not the extractred folder.

Also included runitgame.bat to show that the [DTLOADER-SCSI] arg is not being stripped.

Thanks for continuing your work.

02/04/2013 22:54:52 : Virtual Drive Loader (Version: 1.0.3b)02/04/2013 22:54:52 : 13.09 INITIALIZED OK!: GameEx02/04/2013 22:54:52 : LOAD XML: E:\GameEx\GameEx\PLUGINS\DT Loader\Settings.xml02/04/2013 22:54:52 : XML: XML file was loaded OK!02/04/2013 22:54:52 : RESULT: XML(EXE_PATH) - C:\Program Files (x86)\DAEMON Tools Lite\DTLite.exe02/04/2013 22:54:52 : INIT PLUGIN: Initialization completed!02/04/2013 22:55:13 : DT MOUNT (CL-SCSI): EXE IN: C:\Program Files (x86)\DAEMON Tools Lite\DTLite.exe02/04/2013 22:55:13 : DT MOUNT (CL-SCSI): ARG IN: -mount scsi, 0, "[rompath]\[romfile]"02/04/2013 22:55:13 : DT MOUNT (CL-SCSI): CL: epsxe.exe -nogui [DTLOADER-SCSI]02/04/2013 22:55:13 : 7-ZIP: Checking for 7-zip...02/04/2013 22:55:13 : 7-ZIP: 7-zip setting found! Changing ROM path...02/04/2013 22:55:13 : 7-ZIP: path=Z:\ROMS\[Redump.org] Sony PlayStation (USA) (20130213)\Games02/04/2013 22:55:13 : 7-ZIP: 7-zip is not enabled!02/04/2013 22:55:13 : VD LAUNCHER: Launcher(NEW) - ARG USING: -mount scsi, 0, "Z:\ROMS\[Redump.org] Sony PlayStation (USA) (20130213)\Games\American Pool (USA).cue"02/04/2013 22:55:13 : VD LAUNCHER: Launcher(NEW) - EXE USING: C:\Program Files (x86)\DAEMON Tools Lite\DTLite.exe02/04/2013 22:55:14 : VD LAUNCHER: Launcher(NEW) - Image mounted! Sleeping...02/04/2013 22:55:18 : DT MOUNT (CL-SCSI): Loader was launched successfully!02/04/2013 22:55:18 : CMD OUT: Returning rebuilt Command Line...

Runitgame.bat

chcp 65001D:CD "D:\Emulator\Sony\PS1\ePSXe"epsxe.exe -nogui [DTLOADER-SCSI]

[nullPointer]

I can't speak for Adultery, but I'd be curious to take a look at the GameEx log for this one. Mainly I'd be curious to compare timestamps to see whether GameEx is waiting for Virtual Drive Loader to parse the emulator command before attempting to run it. Does Virtual Drive Loader run on an asynchronous thread?

[Adultery]

OK, so here we go. I set up a Sega CD emulator to use 7-zip and set the filter to *.iso. Then I launched a game through it. GameEx extracts it and I pick up your 7z setting from your GameEx.ini and act accordingly. So far, so good. I opened the runitgame.bat, and the dtloader.log and assured the commands are looking good. Still good! The GameEx command has the switch removed, the image mounted, all is well.

After a little research I discovered that GameEx now uses the Windows temp folder to extract the files to (which is awesome by the way), so I am sending the Virtual Drive Loader there when 7-zip is turned on. I'm still loading an ISO direct from the emulator, I only confirm that this does indeed mount from the right place now and DTLite is working.

Try it and it should also work for you... And let me know how you get on.

[discomike]

Worked a treat. Thank you very much. I'll look at it again at the weekend and try SSF and 4DO. Not tried on ZIPs yet, but hopefully it'll work great.

Successful log below just in case you're curious.

03/04/2013 19:23:06 : DT MOUNT (CL-SCSI): EXE IN: C:\Program Files (x86)\DAEMON Tools Lite\DTLite.exe03/04/2013 19:23:06 : DT MOUNT (CL-SCSI): ARG IN: -mount scsi, 0, "[rompath]\[romfile]"03/04/2013 19:23:06 : DT MOUNT (CL-SCSI): CL: epsxe.exe -nogui03/04/2013 19:23:06 : 7-ZIP: Checking for 7-zip...03/04/2013 19:23:06 : 7-ZIP: 7-zip setting found! Changing ROM path...03/04/2013 19:23:06 : 7-ZIP: path=C:\Users\Mike\AppData\Local\Temp\Unzipped7-Zip03/04/2013 19:23:06 : 7-ZIP: 7-zip is not enabled!03/04/2013 19:23:06 : VD LAUNCHER: Launcher(NEW) - ARG USING: -mount scsi, 0, "C:\Users\Mike\AppData\Local\Temp\Unzipped7-Zip\3D Lemmings (USA).cue"03/04/2013 19:23:06 : VD LAUNCHER: Launcher(NEW) - EXE USING: C:\Program Files (x86)\DAEMON Tools Lite\DTLite.exe03/04/2013 19:23:06 : VD LAUNCHER: Launcher(NEW) - Image mounted! Sleeping...03/04/2013 19:23:10 : DT MOUNT (CL-SCSI): Loader was launched successfully!03/04/2013 19:23:10 : CMD OUT: Returning rebuilt Command Line...03/04/2013 19:27:38 : DT UNMOUNT (CL-SCSI): Terminating...03/04/2013 19:27:38 : VD LAUNCHER: Launcher(NEW) - ARG USING: -unmount scsi, 003/04/2013 19:27:38 : VD LAUNCHER: Launcher(NEW) - EXE USING: C:\Program Files (x86)\DAEMON Tools Lite\DTLite.exe03/04/2013 19:27:38 : DT UNMOUNT (CL-SCSI): Drive unmounted successfully!

[Adultery]

UPDATED TO 1.0.4

• Fixed an issue where commands weren't stripped properly
• Added support for emulators that use GameEx's "Files In Zip/7-Zip/RAR" option

Special thanks to discomike for his assistance in fixing GameEx 7-zip support!

You can pick up the latest version in the first post.

[stigzler]

Heyup

So - I am desperately trying to get psx bin+cue files working with Xebra, launched via gameex via DTLite. My head is starting to hurt. Will this help and if so, are there any patient souls out there would would do a quick idiots guide on what to do?

Thanks

[XtC]

Hello there!

I'm loving this Virtual Drive Loader, thank you. This combined with GameEx's RAR/Zip/7Z support has saved me plenty of hard disk space for other fun stuff! :-)

I'm using Virtual Drive Loader v1.0.4 at the moment, and I've noticed a strange issue when launching certain games and I was wondering if a feature introduced in v1.0.3 could possibly be edited to taste please?

1.0.3
Added a pause before the emulator executes
This fixes the issue with some emulators loading before mounting was completed

I'm using DTLite v4.47.1.0333

I'm using pSX to emulate the PS1 and I've noticed that certain games just fail to mount in time before the emulator is launched. These games typically have large file sizes.

The games are CUE/BIN/BIN stored in 7Zip archives, so GameEx extracts them first, and then your plug-in mounts them. As mentioned before, this set-up works fine, unless the files are large.

As an example, a game that works fine is Strider as it's just ~74MB, with no CDDA audio tracks.

Another example of a working game is the Tekken 3 Demo as it's ~169MB with one CDDA audio track.

Examples of games that fail are Tekken ~749MB and 3D Lemmings ~545MB.

It seems Windows 7 needs a maybe a tad longer to recover after the GameEx extract process before the Daemon Tool mount is completed. In all the above examples, GameEx does extract the game files correctly.

Is it possible to specify a longer 'pause' time with the current 1.0.4 version Virtual Drive Loader, or would it be possible please to incorporate the feature into the plug-in settings?

I've attached my .ini files for your perusal.

Many thanks,

Mounting in time - log.txt

Not mounting in time - log.txt

GameEx.ini

[Adultery]

Hi and thanks for the kind words.

I will add a longer pause for larger images. This will be fixed in the next release later tonight.

Thanks for the report.

[Adultery]

Here ya go! 1.0.5 is out. Get it from here.

[XtC]

Here ya go! 1.0.5 is out. Get it from here.

Thanks for working on this again, it's very much appreciated.

The version currently hosted using your link is DT Loader.dll v1.0.4 with a date stamp of 2013-04-03. It doesn't look like the updated file is live to us mere mortals yet.