Looking to rip PS3 titles for testing (and FAQ down?)

Greetings EmuNewz!

Github issues kept redirecting others to this forum for support, so when I couldn't find any resources for getting started on ripping PS3 discs and testing their boot capabilities in rpcs3, I thought I should refer to the FAQ here.

Problem is: the FAQ thread was replaced with the github wiki page, and the github wiki page was taken down. The last archive.org copy of it wasn't too helpful either. Is there more to the FAQ than this, or is it just those old four questions/answers?

It sounds like it's possible to have rpcs3 recognize ripped disc titles even if it can't play them yet, and that's what I'm looking for so I can correctly rip everything now so that over the next few years all I have to do is update the rpcs3 files (and already have my full library backed up).

So, what is the correct way to do this? Do I need a specific bluray player, or will my Pioneer BDR-209DBK work? Just looking for info on first time rpcs3 disc ripping and setup here.

Thanks!

Greetings EmuNewz!

Github issues kept redirecting others to this forum for support, so when I couldn't find any resources for getting started on ripping PS3 discs and testing their boot capabilities in rpcs3, I thought I should refer to the FAQ here.

Problem is: the FAQ thread was replaced with the github wiki page, and the github wiki page was taken down. The last archive.org copy of it wasn't too helpful either. Is there more to the FAQ than this, or is it just those old four questions/answers?

It sounds like it's possible to have rpcs3 recognize ripped disc titles even if it can't play them yet, and that's what I'm looking for so I can correctly rip everything now so that over the next few years all I have to do is update the rpcs3 files (and already have my full library backed up).

So, what is the correct way to do this? Do I need a specific bluray player, or will my Pioneer BDR-209DBK work? Just looking for info on first time rpcs3 disc ripping and setup here.

Thanks!

You'll need a PS3 with Custom Firmware to properly rip the files of the discs. Though you can use a blu-ray drive, it will not provide some necessary files for decrypting certain files of the games - those decryption files can only be obtained through running the game on the PS3, and then grabbing them through a FTP server, while the game is running, AFAIK. You would also probably want to obtain the firmware files from the PS3, that will still probably be needed to run many games for many years to come.

Also, the FAQ is perfectly fine. Seems like the FAQ link on the forum was outdated - we switched to a Github organization about a year ago. I have updated the link on the forum.

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You'll need a PS3 with Custom Firmware to properly rip the files of the discs. Though you can use a blu-ray drive, it will not provide some necessary files for decrypting certain files of the games - those decryption files can only be obtained through running the game on the PS3, and then grabbing them through a FTP server, while the game is running, AFAIK. You would also probably want to obtain the firmware files from the PS3, that will still probably be needed to run many games for many years to come.

Also, the FAQ is perfectly fine. Seems like the FAQ link on the forum was outdated - we switched to a Github organization about a year ago. I have updated the link on the forum.

Aw bummer! Is this like Saturn stuff, where the games are still playable but some media (eg. audio files) are missing? I'm just looking to poke around with where development is right now rather than a serious investment, showing friends that PS3 emulation does exist and can run on your computer - it's just not a fully functional emulator yet. Or is it more like 3DS and Wii U stuff, where a single file blocks access to the game entirely? I'm wondering if my PC bluray rip is good enough to prove that the games exist and maybe open/run, not flawless emulation.

Glad to see the FAQ is in fact up! (and thanks for updating the other topic too) Bummer to see that ripping games isn't covered at all. Can we just transfer PSN games by flash drive or anything like that? (not hard to try, but I'd rather ask than spend the time doing it wrong )

...

You'll need a PS3 with Custom Firmware to properly rip the files of the discs. Though you can use a blu-ray drive, it will not provide some necessary files for decrypting certain files of the games - those decryption files can only be obtained through running the game on the PS3, and then grabbing them through a FTP server, while the game is running, AFAIK. You would also probably want to obtain the firmware files from the PS3, that will still probably be needed to run many games for many years to come.

Also, the FAQ is perfectly fine. Seems like the FAQ link on the forum was outdated - we switched to a Github organization about a year ago. I have updated the link on the forum.

Aw bummer! Is this like Saturn stuff, where the games are still playable but some media (eg. audio files) are missing? I'm just looking to poke around with where development is right now rather than a serious investment, showing friends that PS3 emulation does exist and can run on your computer - it's just not a fully functional emulator yet. Or is it more like 3DS and Wii U stuff, where a single file blocks access to the game entirely? I'm wondering if my PC bluray rip is good enough to prove that the games exist and maybe open/run, not flawless emulation.

Glad to see the FAQ is in fact up! (and thanks for updating the other topic too) Bummer to see that ripping games isn't covered at all. Can we just transfer PSN games by flash drive or anything like that? (not hard to try, but I'd rather ask than spend the time doing it wrong )

It's kind of like Saturn - in some games the missing files may block audio from playing, but in others they may just cause a freeze/crash upon startup. Most games currently will definitely require cellSre and cellSpursJq Low Level Emulated to make most games run.

I don't know if your bluray drive will be able to decrypt PS3 games. A perfect example of PS3 emulation would be Arkedo Swap, which is completely playable and will be missing only audio without some modules LLE'd. You'll need the .rap decryption file though.

If you're interested, I made a small guide here on how to get games from a PS3.

It's kind of like Saturn - in some games the missing files may block audio from playing, but in others they may just cause a freeze/crash upon startup. Most games currently will definitely require cellSre and cellSpursJq Low Level Emulated to make most games run.

I don't know if your bluray drive will be able to decrypt PS3 games. A perfect example of PS3 emulation would be Arkedo Swap, which is completely playable and will be missing only audio without some modules LLE'd. You'll need the .rap decryption file though.

If you're interested, I made a small guide here on how to get games from a PS3.

Definitely what I was looking for. If that + info on PC rips + that "google it" PSN approach you were mentioning were all in one place, that's what I was really hoping to find. Given that my google search for "rip PSN games for rpcs3" gave this very thread as the ninth result... I'm thinking such a thing does not quite exist yet.

But this is a good start! I'd love to see a more thorough/clean list of the pros/cons for ripping via PS3 vs PC somewhere (there's some good content over in this thread), like, say, the FAQ but for now I'll take the scraps I can find here and there.

Thank you!

EDIT: Oh, and this link also keeps popping up, which still doesn't explain ripping titles, but does give some details and downloads for getting encryption figured out: "Testing and running Arledo’s Swap in RPCS3 requires you to own a copy of the game, know how to rip it, and acquire a decrypted version of the game’s key.edat, which you can do with edat3tool, or PS3 Tools"

It's kind of like Saturn - in some games the missing files may block audio from playing, but in others they may just cause a freeze/crash upon startup. Most games currently will definitely require cellSre and cellSpursJq Low Level Emulated to make most games run.

I don't know if your bluray drive will be able to decrypt PS3 games. A perfect example of PS3 emulation would be Arkedo Swap, which is completely playable and will be missing only audio without some modules LLE'd. You'll need the .rap decryption file though.

If you're interested, I made a small guide here on how to get games from a PS3.

Definitely what I was looking for. If that + info on PC rips + that "google it" PSN approach you were mentioning were all in one place, that's what I was really hoping to find. Given that my google search for "rip PSN games for rpcs3" gave this very thread as the ninth result... I'm thinking such a thing does not quite exist yet.

But this is a good start! I'd love to see a more thorough/clean list of the pros/cons for ripping via PS3 vs PC somewhere (there's some good content over in this thread), like, say, the FAQ but for now I'll take the scraps I can find here and there.

Thank you!

EDIT: Oh, and this link also keeps popping up, which still doesn't explain ripping titles, but does give some details and downloads for getting encryption figured out: "Testing and running Arledo’s Swap in RPCS3 requires you to own a copy of the game, know how to rip it, and acquire a decrypted version of the game’s key.edat, which you can do with edat3tool, or PS3 Tools"

That last part is no longer relevant, as far as I know. Once you obtain the .rap file, RPCS3 is able to decrypt the files on fly, and you don't have to mess around with external tools to decrypt encrypted files.

I'm not sure exactly how, but you should be able to find the download URL of the game for PSN games, when you start downloading the game and use a packet sniffer. Someone might be able to explain that better, as I don't know much about that, but I'd assume that would work. You'll need to still obtain the .rap file through a CFW PS3 or through other means.

As about ripping on PC vs PS3, PS3 is superior in the fact, that you can obtain the decryption files and firmware files, though it will require you to obtain a CFW PS3. Ofcourse for ripping on a PC, you'll need to obtain a blu-ray drive, that can decrypt PS3 game blu-ray discs.