Super Metriod Rom Freezing [Solved]

eclipse249 · Post by **eclipse249** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 7:56 pm

I've been playing a super metriod rom downloaded from I AM TOO STUPID TO READ THE RULES, and up until yesterday it had performed well. It now seems to freeze at seemingly random points, forcing me to either restore a previous state or reset the rom. I have figured out that it freezes any time i receive a super bomb, either through the space ship or a random enemy. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks,
-Ryan

Joe Camacho · Post by **Joe Camacho** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 8:07 pm

What zsnes' version are you using?

What's the rom's specs? At least the checksum.

Don't use savestates, use normal saving.

eclipse249 · Post by **eclipse249** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 8:23 pm

ZSNES version is 1.51 running on vista.
I'm a bit ashamed to say that I'm not too literate when it comes to computer terms, so I am not sure how to view a rom's stats or checksum. Thank you for your reply and patience.

adventure_of_link · Post by **adventure_of_link** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 8:42 pm

load the super metroid ROM and close ZSNES.

then open rominfo.txt and paste the contents of that file into a new post here.

eclipse249 · Post by **eclipse249** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 8:50 pm

Thanks!

File: Super Metroid (E) [!].smc Header: No
Super Metroid TYPE:NORMAL
INTERLEAVED:No CHKSUM:OK
VIDEO:PAL BANK:Lo CRC32:AD2CBF9C

Post by **Agozer** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 8:53 pm

You might want to play the NTSC version. Not only it is faster, but IIRC, ZSNES PAL timing leaves much to be desired and will introduce all kinds of problems in PAL games.

eclipse249 · Post by **eclipse249** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 8:54 pm

I think I have found the solution! I deleted a .cht file I had made for Super metroid and now it seems to run great again. Hope it's the fix.

Joe Camacho · Post by **Joe Camacho** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 8:57 pm

eclipse249 · Post by **eclipse249** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 9:07 pm

To clarify, I added a game genie cheat to the game for unlimited energy way back when I first started playing it. It had no effect, and I thought I had deleted it. I had no problem with this cheat I thought I had deleted until about 3/4 through the game when the freezing started. I was looking through the ZSNES folder when I came across the .cht file. I deleted the file and now it seems to be running again with no hitches. Thank you all for your help. I truly appreciate your patience with a low tech guy like me.

Regards,
-Ryan

adventure_of_link · Post by **adventure_of_link** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 10:20 pm

No problem. Enjoy the game!

HINT: the code may have worked with a US ROM image instead of a PAL.. IIRC there's different addressing schemes between versions.. this is why there's cheats specifically for, say, a version 1.0 for megaman X and there's cheats for version 1.1 of MMX.

if you wanna use a cheat for your PAL copy of super metroid, you'll have to find it specifically for the PAL version.

franpa · Post by **franpa** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 2:30 am

And most places that don't mention what version or region the code is for, are for U.S.

Post by **grinvader** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 10:42 am

It's much more likely to be a code that only works at set moments.

I.e. it affects a part of WRAM that's used for energy in some parts, and some other stuff elsewhere - think a loop counter. Freezing a counter usually doesn't fare well for the game.
This issue is typical and is the main reason the cheat carts can hotswitch codes.

To fix it in a clean manner, you can read the game's damage handling routines and replace the line where it loads the appropriate value from ram into a load #0.
Hopefully there won't be many throughout the code... you can also ask seasoned SM romhackers if they can point you in the right direction to save time.