Install ePSXe Playstation Emulator

[johannes]

This guide is outdated and will not be updated anymore.
Try using one of these instead:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=612021
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=550304]

This is a guide to install the freeware Playstation 1 emulator ePSXe in Ubuntu. It is based on this guide, which I found a bit outdated.

ePSXe is made for x86 (common pc) only. If you use powerpc it probably won't work. You might want to try another emulator instead, for example PCSX. An installation guide can be found in this link. Apparently it is possible to run it using an amd64 system, but to do that you need to install some 32 bit libraries, see this post.

Legal note: The installation and use of this emulator requires a Sony Playstation BIOS file. You may not use such a file to play games in a PSX emulator if you do not own a Sony Playstation, Sony PSOne or Sony Playstation 2 console. Owning the BIOS image without owning the actual console is a violation of copyright law. You have been warned.

Installation

First, open a terminal and install the packages that you will need:

sudo apt-get install unzip libgtk1.2-common libgtk1.2

Get the ePSXe base package:

wget http://www.epsxe.com/files/epsxe160lin.zip

Make the installation folder by typing:

sudo mkdir /usr/local/games/epsxe

Since typing this whole path we just added is tedious and clutters up this text, we will store it in a shell variable using the export command. That way, we can call it up by typing $varname, which we'll have to do a few more times...

export EPSXE='/usr/local/games/epsxe'

Extract the ePSXe package and set up permissions:

sudo unzip -d $EPSXE ~/epsxe160lin.zip
cd $EPSXE
sudo chmod 777 cfg sstates snap memcards
sudo touch memcards/epsxe000.mcr memcards/epsxe001.mcr .epsxerc
sudo chmod 666 memcards/*
sudo chmod 666 .epsxerc

If you own a Playstation system, get the PSX Bios _somewhere.around.the.internet_:

sudo mv ~/SCPH1001.BIN $EPSXE/bios/

You can run the emulator with either software render or hardware acceleration plugin. The latter requires a NVIDIA, ATI, or similar card with working OpenGL drivers. You can install both and use the one that works best for you. The hardware acceleration plugin in this how-to apperantly requires a quite new card (I don't know how new though). If it doesn't work there is an older plugin that uses MesaGL. Look here. The installation is quite similar, but I don't care to include it in this guide.

Install hardware acceleration plugin:

cd ~
wget http://www.pbernert.com/gpupetexgl208.tar.gz
sudo tar xfz ~/gpupetexgl208.tar.gz -C $EPSXE/plugins/
sudo mv $EPSXE/plugins/cfgPeteXGL2 $EPSXE/cfg/
sudo mv $EPSXE/plugins/gpuPeteXGL2.cfg $EPSXE/cfg/
sudo chmod 666 $EPSXE/cfg/gpuPeteXGL2.cfg

Install software render plugin:

cd ~
wget http://www.pbernert.com/gpupeopssoftx117.tar.gz
sudo tar xfz ~/gpupeopssoftx117.tar.gz -C $EPSXE/plugins/
sudo mv $EPSXE/plugins/cfgPeopsSoft $EPSXE/cfg/
sudo mv $EPSXE/plugins/gpuPeopsSoftX.cfg $EPSXE/cfg/
sudo chmod 666 $EPSXE/cfg/gpuPeopsSoftX.cfg

Install audio plugin (uses the OSS sound daemon):

cd ~
wget http://www.pbernert.com/spupeopsoss109.tar.gz
sudo tar xvfz ~/spupeopsoss109.tar.gz -C $EPSXE/plugins/
sudo mv $EPSXE/plugins/cfgPeopsOSS $EPSXE/cfg/

Create a shell script that will start ePSXe:

sudo gedit /usr/local/bin/epsxe

and paste this:

#!/bin/bash

export EPSXE='/usr/local/games/epsxe'
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$EPSXE
cd $EPSXE
./epsxe
chmod 666 $EPSXE/cfg/*.cfg $EPSXE/sstates/* \
$EPSXE/memcards/*.mcr $EPSXE/snap/* 2>/dev/null

Save it and change permissions for the new file:

sudo chmod 755 /usr/local/bin/epsxe

You can now start by typing "epsxe" in the terminal (without "").

Configuration

• In the menu, open "Config -> BIOS", and set it to /usr/local/games/epsxe/bios/SCPH1001.BIN, click OK.
  
  
• Open "Config -> Video", and select either "Pete's XGL2 Driver 2.8" or "P.E.Op.S. Softx Driver 1.17". Click configure, then OK to write a config file. Verify that it is working by clicking the Test button, then OK.
  
  
• In "Config -> Sound" select "P.E.Op.S. OSS Audio Driver", Configure, then OK. Verify that it is working by clicking the Test button, then OK.
  
  
• In Config -> CDROM, set the path to your CD/DVD-ROM. In most cases it should be /dev/cdrom but in my case /dev/hdc. You can check your path by typing "mount |grep cd" in a console.
  
  
• In Config -> Game Pad -> Pad 1 menu, you can set up the controls. If you want to use a real PSX Joypad to play with, you have to search for a advices elsewhere, since I don't have one that I can use with my computer or any experience using them in Linux. There is a guide in the original howto, referred to in the beginning of this text, but as said, I haven't tried it.

Now you should be all set. If you want to use an original PSX CD-ROM, insert it and select "File -> Run CDROM" It might take a while for the game to load, so be patient. You can also load backup ISO:s from your hard disk with "File -> Run ISO. When you are running your game you can press Esc any time to exit, save/load game states, or change discs. To get back, select Run -> Continue.

Troubleshooting

• Problems with segmentation faults using PeteXGL2 plugin, See this reply.
  e.g:

* Init gpu[0][libgpuPeteXGL2.so.2.0.8]
/usr/local/bin/epsxe: line 6: 25248 Segmentation fault ./epsxe

• Problems with Chrono Cross and possibly others might be solved by using an older version of Epsxe. See here.

If you have other problems with plugins that you can't solve by reading the discussions/replies in this thread, check out Pete’s Domain and try using some of the other plugins not covered by this guide.

Have fun, and if you run into problems, post here and hopefully you will get help...

The mandatory howto screenshot. The game is Final Fantasy 7: