MultiMAN beginner's guide (How to play backups and everything with it)

Tutorial by Cyan at GBATemp.net.

Also check out my Original Eboots Thread: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Guide
is still under construction I will continue to update and try to make
it easier to guide through the tutorial. For now just hit CTRL+F to
search for keywords and chapters.


This guide is not complete yet considering what I want to cover.
I'll complete the "game manager" part (currently 98%).

As multiMAN is in constant development, I'll try to updated the guide frequently to reflect the new improvements and additions.

The purpose of this guide is to explain how everything is working, why
doing something instead of another, explaining what the user have to do
instead of telling him "do it blindly".
Maybe I'm doing a book, but I like explaining things correctly so noobs understand what they are doing.

I've tried to maintain the same layout and the same sentence structure along the tutorial.

I hope you will appreciate the work I put in it and find it useful



Tutorial Contents & Index:

1.Tutorial introduction
2.multiMAN setup
- Download
- Files preparation
- Install
- First steps and layouts presentation
- MultiMAN settings
- Update
3.Games Manager
- Storing paths
- Internal or external?
- Dumping a game
- Copy/move/delete
- Playing a backup game
- Last game
- BD-ROM reset
- Updating games
- Games with files bigger than 4GB
- Problematic games
4.NTFS Support
5.FTP server
6.Launching homebrew
7.File Manager

Chap. 1 - Tutorial introduction


MultiMAN is a homebrew for PS3 developed by Dean Kasabow, from PSX-scene.com, and author of multiAVCHD (software used to create compatible video files for PS3).
On his first release, the Homebrew was called "Simple AVCHD Manager"
and included both an AVCHD Video folder mounter to be read on PS3 video menu and a Games Manager.
Along its development, the author added many new functionalities
gathered from other homebrew, and finally the name got changed for
multi-Manager.

MultiMAN shares all this features:

Games manager
Homebrew launcher
Files manager
FTP server
MP3 player
Media player, using Showtime homebrew integration (picture/audio/video).
Log cleaner
File permission fixer
Game's updates checker and download feature
Web browser, used to download game demos
Mount AVCHD video folder
Mount DVD video folder
Mount Blu-ray movie folder and convert the structure to AVCHD format
dev_flash mounter
Lv2 memory dumper


This tutorial will cover each of these functionalities (Except for
the Blu-ray Movie converter, I don't own any BD-Movie disc), and will be
based on multiMAN version 2.00.00, released on May 7th 2011.


To install
multiMAN you will need a FAT32 USB device (external HDD, or flashdrive)
of anything size, but a big one is better if you want to backup your
games to the external HDD.
The FAT32 USB device will be referred to as "USB drive" along this tutorial.

Chap. 2 - MultiMAN setup

Chap. 2.1 - Download

MultiMAN is compatible with any PS3 from firmware 3.4x to firmware 3.55 supporting execution of unsigned homebrew.
Previous multiMAN versions were also compatible with older PS3 firmwares, like 3.10 or 3.15.
If your PS3 has an old
firmware, for example to keep OtherOS, you can download multiMAN
v01.16.11 (latest compatible version as of this writing).


MultiMAN distribution can be found in different formats:

BASE : This package includes all the minimum necessary files to use
multiMAN. Use this package if you are updating, or if this is your first
installation.
FULL : Same as the BASE, but include all the game's covers.
MEGA : Same as the FULL, but also include a lot of different Themes.
UPDATE : This package is released when there are little changes, for
testers only. The package includes only the modified files, so you need
the previous complete version already installed before installing any
UPDATE version. Always use one of the other packages if you are not a
tester and want a stable version.


Inside the archives, you may find additional homebrew or applications, such as Last_Game, EBOOT_FIX, PS3_serv_GUI, BDROM reset, or BDEMU.
Note 1: They are not always included and can be find separately on the official website.
Note 2: BDEMU is not provided by the developer, but may be included inside other website's archives distribution.


BDEMU informations:
BDEMU.BIN is a "payload" (an active program in memory) based on the original PSGroove payload to allow access to the PS3 Syscall36.
The System_Call_36 is used to redirect /app_home/ to launch a mounted
games without a disc in the drive, and redirect /dev_bdvd/ path to mount
DVD/BDMV folders to emulate a Blu-ray drive. The PS3 think the new path is a Blu-ray reader.
There is no more payload included in multiMAN since v1.16.00, because:
- Allowing the reading of Blu-ray movies not using the actual BD-disc can be considered as "DRM protection circumvention device" in some countries, the decision to use this feature is left to the final user.
- Depending on your jailbreak method (Dongle, or Custom Firmware), you may already have a Payload and BDEMU is not needed.

If your jailbreak method doesn't include a payload, you can enable the
Blu-ray emulation and paths redirection by either installing BDEMU.bin
back in multiMAN, or patching the PS3 in memory using a homebrew (Lv2 Patcher, by Kmeaw) after booting your console. Remember to launch Lv2 patcher before using multiMAN, as the console memory is cleared when the PS3 is switched off.

BDEMU is usually provided in two different installation packages, one for Kmeaw cfw and one signed for Wutangrza cfw.
Alternatively, advanced users can also install it manually by using the FTP or the file manager: Browse to multiMAN /dev_hdd0/game/BLES80608/USRDIR/ and copy BDEMU.BIN into that folder.

On the May 12th 2011, an updated BDEMU v2 has been released with added support for Hermes Syscall8.

List of Custom Firmware without a native payload:

Kmeaw Custom Firmware 3.55
Wutangrza Custom Firmware 3.55
GeoHot Custom Firmware 3.55
Modified Firmware 3.41 (mfw, Not to confound with 3.41 jailbreak dongles or Hermes cfw3.41)
For these firmwares, you will need either BDEMU or Lv2 patcher to access the PS3's Blu-ray emulation functions.



Download the files from my thread:
You can find links to the latest release of multiMAN at my thread
BDEMU v2.
Lv 2 Patcher. (no longer needed)

Chap. 2.2 - Files preparation

Step 1. Extract the downloaded archives to your computer.

Fig1. The extracted archive.


In the folder, you will find:
BDrom-reset : Unmount the virtual Blu-ray drive from memory to restore real blu-ray disc playback on XMB™.
multiMAN[Last Game] : This homebrew is a shortcut to reload the last
played game without launching multiMAN. In the archive, there is one
for firmware 3.4x and one for 3.55.
multiMAN v2.xx.xx BASE (date and time).pkg : This is the main multiMAN installation package for your PS3.
option_default.ini : The file containing the paths preferences for multiMAN. You can edit the file in notepad or any text editor.
multiMAN_[EBOOT_FIX] : Windows application to re-sign and create PSN-like games for XMB™.
PS3Serv_GUI : A windows application to enable multiMAN to access your computer folders through your network.
USB.CFG : A config file used to enable NTFS support (Chapter 4) in multiMAN.


multiMAN packages are provided in two different versions:
multiMAN ver 2.00.00 FULL (20110507_200000) WT.pkg : The WT package
is a signed version of multiMAN and is the one you need if you are on
Wutangrza or GeoHot custom firmware 3.55.
multiMAN ver 2.00.00 FULL (20110507_200000).pkg : This package is for PS3
firmware 3.4x with Dongle, and for Waninkoko v1, v2, Kmeaw custom
firmware 3.55, or any firmware not requiring a signed installation
package.



Step 2. Connect your USB drive to your computer.

Step 3. Copy the correct multiMAN pkg file, according to the firmware you are using on your PS3, to the root of your USB drive.

Step 4. If you are using Kmeaw cfw, extract and copy BDEMU-355KM.pkg to the root of your USB.
If you are using Wutangrza or GeoHot cfw, extract and copy BDEMU-355WT.pkg to the root of your USB.
If you want to use Kmeaw's Lv2 patcher instead of BDEMU, extract
Lv2-v9.pkg from lv2_patcher.rar and copy the file to the root of your
USB, but BDEMU is recommended for multiMAN.

Step 5.
On your USB, create a new folder named games. This is the folder where
your Blu-ray game's dumps will be stored when copied to the external
HDD.

Step 6. [Optional] Extract and copy BDROM-Reset.pkg and copy the file to the root of your USB.

Step 7.
[Optional] Extract and copy Last_game_3xx.pkg (select the one
corresponding to your firmware version) and copy the file to the root of
your USB.

Step 8. [optional] If you
changed the options, rename options_default.ini to options.ini and copy
this file to the root of your USB device. It will be automatically
transfered into multiMAN internal folder upon launch.
See the Paths information's chapter (Chapter 3.1) to modify the paths stored in this options file.

Step 9.
[optional] If you want NTFS support (Chapter 4), create your own
USB.CFG file and copy it to the root of your USB device too. It will be
automatically transfered into multiMAN internal folder upon launch.
See NTFS support to create your own file.

Your USB drive should now look like this:

The USB drive with the pkg, ready to install.

You can create the games folder if you want, but it will be created
automatically when you will backup your first game to external USB
drive.

Chap. 2.3 - Installation

Step 1. Launch your PS3 in jailbreak mode. (Either with dongles or custom firmwares).

Step 2. Plug your USB drive into your PS3
(any USB slot, they are all working the same way) and go into the "★
Install Package Files" menu under the "Games" column of your XMB™.

Step 3. Select MultiMan v2.xx.xx and press to install the package to your internal HDD.
Once done, proceed with BDEMU or Lv2 Patcher if you need it.
Optionally, you can now install Last_Game.

All these files are now installed in your PS3 internal HDD, press to go back to XMB™.

Step 4. Select the multiMAN icon under the "Game" columns and press to launch the homebrew.

Chap. 2.4 - First steps and layouts presentation

On the first launch, or after an update, multiMAN will show you three License and Warning screens.
Select yes to each of the screens to accept the license agreements and load the main screen.


Information:
At the loading screen, multiMAN is putting new game's icons, game's
background image, and different other files in a cache folder to speed
up the process when navigating in the interface.
The cached files can be deleted manually if needed.


MultiMAN has 9 different screen layouts (or Display modes): 8 for games and medias, 1 for File's manager.

Press or to scroll through the display modes.




Display mode 1 - Game list (plain)
Display mode 2 - 4x2 game list
Display mode 3 - Game list (Poster)
Display mode 4 - Game list (user background)
Display mode 5 - Slice cover flow
Display mode 6 - File Manager mode
Display mode 7 - Box-art
Display mode 8 - 8x4 game list
Display mode 9 - XMMB (XMB™ clone) (Default mode)

If this is your first time using a game manager, you won't have any game listed except your Blu-ray disc. Insert a game in PS3 to show at least 1 game in all multiMAN modes.


The navigation can be done using different controller input : PS3 controller, keyboard+mouse, PSMove, BD REMOTE.
To see the navigation keys for a specific controller, open the navigation.txt found in the multiMAN released archive.

Using the PS3 controller, the main controls are:
Accept/open/launch/load the game in memory and return to XMB™.
Cancel/exit to XMB™.
Open the game's sub-menu for the specified title.
Open the main settings / open the game's sub-menu in XMMB mode.
/ : scroll through display mode.

Change the current FreeType font.
Switch Title Names font size / display paths.

Some functionalities are triggered by pressing 2 buttons at the same time, the press order is important.
For example "Select+Start" means "press and hold Select, then press Start". It's a shortcut to open the File Manager's mode.
If you press Start+Select, it will instead restart multiMAN.

Start+ Takes a screenshot (saved to root of USB device, or root to /dev_hdd0/)
Select+ show Games/Media files/Both
Select+ Refresh all devices content. Also available on the xMMb's Game column.

Other controls and button's combinations are specific to your current display mode. They will be covered on their own sections.

Chap. 2.5 - MultiMAN setup

ou can open the main preferences by pressing the button.
On the XMMB layout (XMB™ style), the main preferences are directly available under the Home column.



Here are the available options:
Update : If your PS3 has a working internet connection, you can check and download new multiMAN released.
Refresh List : Re-Scan internal and external hard disk drives to reload new content.
File Manager : Switch to the File Manager mode. You can press Select+Start too.
Launch Showtime : Launch the internal version of Showtime media player. To quit Showtime, select the exit icon on the top-right corner.
PFS / NTFS Driver
: Switch between FAT32 and NTFS mounting method for the external HDD.
You need to create your own USB.CFG file first (Chapter 4).
Link VIDEO to Showtime : Creates links of your video files present on your XMB™ into a video folder to be readable while using Showtime.
Screenshot : Takes a screenshot of the current Mode. You can use Start+ to take a screenshot almost anytime. You can also use telnet to connect to your PS3 IP on port 8080, and send "screenshot" command to capture any screen.
Screenshots are saved on the root of the internal or external HDD.
Use the file manager to copy the files to your external USB Drive if
saved internally. The images are saved as RAW, use a compatible pictures
viewer to load them (like gimp or Photoshop).
Screensaver : Launch a screensaver. Press any button to quit the screensaver mode.
Restart : Close and restart multiMAN.
multiMAN Setup : Switch to XMMB mode to change the multiMAN settings.
Quit : Exit multiMAN and go back to XMB™.
Help : Shows a screen with all the controllers and buttons combination.

Additional options available on the XMMB mode only:
Themes : Show a list of installed themes to apply a new theme to multiMAN.
The themes will be covered later in the Themes chapter.


Press the directional pad buttons or use the left analog stick to move the cursor, then press to select an option.
Press to cancel and close the settings page.


Since multiMAN v2.00.00, user settings can be changed directly from the XMMB layout, under the Settings column.
These settings are stored in a file (options.bin) and are automatically reloaded on launch.


Each of theses settings will be covered later, or in their respective chapter.

Chap. 2.6 - Updating multiMAN

To update multiMAN you don't need to delete the currently installed/old version from your PS3. Install the new version over the old one.
You can update multiMAN manually or use the included update menu from multiMAN.

Manual: Follow the procedure from the installation chapter (Chapter 2.2).

multiMAN:
Step 1. Ensure that you have a working internet connexion for your PS3.

Step 2. Enter multiMAN main settings by pressing , or go to the "Home" column in the XMMB layout.

Step 3. Select the "Update" menu and let multiMAN download the new package.
The downloaded file is stored in /dev_hdd0/game/BLES80608/USRDIR/TEMP/

Step 4.
When prompted, accept to exit multiMAN to return to XMB™ and install
the pkg from the "★ Install Package Files" menu under the "Games" column
of your XMB™.

If you don't exit multiMAN when prompted, the path containing the downloaded .pkg won't be set in the PS3 memory as a correct installable path and your .pkg won't be listed in the "★ Install Package Files" menu on your XMB™.
Use the File manager (Chapter 7) mode to manually move the downloaded
.pkg file from the TEMP folder to the root of your USB device if needed.


Information:
When updating, your old options_default.ini is overwritten with the new
one. If you want to keep your old settings, make your changes in
options.ini file instead.

Chap. 3 - Game's manager

Chap. 3.1 - Storing paths

A game manager allows you to store and play your games directly from the internal PS3 HDD or on a FAT32 external USB drive.
The folder where the games are stored has change few times since the beginning of the PS3 jailbreak.

multiMAN can read all those paths at the same time, but it's recommended that you move all your games into the same folder.

multiMAN's default paths are:
Internal HDD: /dev_hdd0/GAMES
External HDD: device_root:/GAMES

Your dumped games will be placed in one of these folders by the manager's dumping tool.
If you store your games on your computer and want to put them back, note that the path must be as follow:

/dev_hdd0/GAMES/Folder's name you want/PS3_GAME/USRDIR/EBOOT.BIN
or
USB drive:/GAMES/Folder's name you want/PS3_GAME/USRDIR/EBOOT.BIN


The folder can have any name you want, usually the game's name and GameID, like /BLES-00444 - Eternal Sonata/
If your game doesn't appear in the game manager, check that you don't have an additional folder's level before your PS3_GAME folder.
/GAMES/Folder's name you want/too many folder, remove this one/PS3_GAME/USRDIR/EBOOT.BIN


If you used another manager before multiMAN, your games were stored in all those folders:
Original backup Manager: /dev_hdd0/game/LAUN12345/GAMEZ
Backup Manager 1.x: /dev_hdd0/game/LAUN12345/GAMEZ
Open Manager & OM2.x: /dev_hdd0/game/OMAN46756/GAMEZ
Open Manager & OM2.x: /dev_hdd0/game/OMAN01234/GAMEZ
Gaia Manager_gamez: /dev_hdd0/GAMEZ
Gaia Manager_games: /dev_hdd0/GAMES
Gaia Manager_bdrips: /dev_hdd0/BDRIPS

Common to all the managers: usb:/GAMEZ/


When the first game Manager was released by Team PSJailBreak, the internal storing folder was under the Game manager's own path.
If you deleted the manager from the XMB™ menu, all the sub-folders were also deleted and you lost all your dumped games.
On the same way, if you were using a different manager, your previous
games were not accessible, because they were not stored in the same
sub-folder.

Gaia Manager's developer started to store the games on an external
folder, located at the root of the internal HDD, but allows the user to
choose from 3 different folders: GAMEZ, GAMES or BDVD.
Gaia Manager is released in 3 different package, one for each folder.

multiMAN's developer decided to create an options.ini file which allows the user to list all his wanted folders.
The 5 most used folders are already defined, but you can change them if you want.


Follow these steps to change the paths:
Step 1. Rename the options_default.ini file from the multiMAN archive you extracted on chap2 to options.ini

Step 2. Open options.ini in a text editor (notepad).

Step 3. Edit the paths as you want.


"Game Backup Folders" are the ones used when dumping a game from blu-ray to HDD.
"Main search folders" should match the ones define in backup folder,
because it's the first that will be loaded (but you can set another one
if you want).
"Secondary search folders", this is where you add all your additional paths that multiMAN will search for dumped games.

Step 4. Save and copy options.ini to the root of your USB drive.

Step 5. Launch multiMAN and the file will be copied to the internal HDD, in multiMAN's USRDIR.
If you want to move it manually, it's located here: /dev_hdd0/game/BLES80608/USRDIR/options.ini


If you still have games stored in LAUN12345 or OMANxxxxx, it's
recommended that you move the folders into /dev_hdd0/games/ or
/dev_hdd0/gamez/ folder, that way you won't loose your games dumped
using older backup managers. To move the games to another folder, see
the File Manager chapter.


Attention : Do not move your games to the /dev_hdd0/game/ folder, the
one without the S is used by the console to install game's data and
game's updates.

Chap. 3.2 - Internal or External?

Most games can be stored either on internal or external without
differences, they work the same way and don't suffer any loading speed
if they are located on an external USB drive.
Unfortunately, this is not the case for all the games.
While some will work only on internal, others will work only on external.

Internal only:
Some games have very big files and can't be stored on external device because the FAT32 has a file size limit of 4GB.
To be able to move these games with individual files bigger than 4GB, you have 3 solutions.

The easier solution is to split the files into multiple 4GB chunks.
Pro: It's supported by most managers and Comgenie's awesome file
manager. While doing a game transfer the files are split/un-split
automatically.
Con: You can't play the game in a split form. You MUST copy a split game into the internal PS3 HDD to re-construct the files and play the game.

See the Split games chapter for more informations about the split
process on a computer and how to manage these games on multiMAN.


A game containing split files will have his folder's name renamed with a
starting underscore "_BLESxxxx - Gran Turismo 5", and will be shown in
black and white in multiMAN.


Update: v2.00.01 allows the launch of games with split files directly
from the external USB drive. Up to 10 reconstructed files can be cached
to internal hdd.

The second solution is to use the included FTP server in multiMAN.
Launch an FTP client on your computer and connect to your PS3 IP to browse the internal HDD content.
After adding a game to internal HDD using the FTP, you will need to
run multiMAN's "fix permission" function available in the sub-menu
options of the selected game.
See the FTP chapter (Chapter 5) for more informations.

The last solution is to use NTFS external HDD to copy a game into the internal PS3 HDD.
Pro: It's faster than FTP and you don't need to split the files.
Con: You can only copy from NTFS to internal. You can't play the game in NTFS, you can't dump or copy a game from PS3 to NTFS.
It can only be used to copy to internal!

See the NTFS chapter (Chapter 4) to enable NTFS drive.





External only:
There's two kind of games working on external only.

Normal Games
This category has very few games, if not only 1: 3D Dot Game Heroes.
While this game works sometime on internal, the user may encounter many freeze. It's best to play on external.

Black Screen Games (BSG).
Black screen games require the external USB drive. If they are
launched from the internal drive the game lock on a black screen.
For more informations on these games, check the Black screen games section on the problematic games chapter (Chapter 3.10).
You can find a list of Black screen games on Wikitemp.

Chap. 3.3 - Dumping a game

Dumping a game will make a copy of your retail game disc to your internal or external HDD.
The dump/backup process copy all the game disc's files and folders to
the HDD, it doesn't create an iso. The speed is around 4GB for
10Minutes.


Step 1. Insert your PS3 game disc in your console.

Step 2. Select the game and enter the game's sub-menu by pressing , or if you are using the XMMB layout.



Step 3. Select the "Backup / Copy" menu and press to start the backup process.

When asked if you want to copy to internal, select yes.
If you select no and you have a FAT32 USB drive connected, it will ask if you want to copy to external.

Step 4. Just wait (10min for 4~5GB) until the backup process is done and press to go back to multiMAN game's sub-menu.



If your game contains files bigger than 4GB, it will be stored on the
external drive with split files and will appear in black & white on
multiMAN. You need to copy the backup to your internal HDD in order to
play the game.

Update: v2.00.01 allows games with split files to be launched directly from the external HDD. See the Split files chapter.


Every PS3 games contain a
256MB firmware update files which is copied along the dump process. You
can delete this file manually using the File manager to save space on
your HDD.
/dev_hdd0/GAMES/Game folder name/UPDATE/PS3_UPDAT.PUP
usb:/GAMES/Game folder name/UPDATE/PS3_UPDAT.PUP

Chap. 3.4 - Copy/Move/Delete a game

You can make a copy from internal to external, and external to internal.
You can't move a game, so you need to make a copy and then delete the one you don't want anymore.

Step 1. Select the game and enter the game's sub-menu by pressing , or if you are using the XMMB layout.

Step 2. Select "► Backup / Copy" menu to make a copy to another device. (USB000, USB001, HDD), or "► Delete" menu to delete the game from its current location's device.


When the copy or deletion process is done press to go back to multiMAN game layout.

Chap. 3.5 - Playing a backup game


There's 2 different method to play a backup game.
- Launch the game directly from the Game Manager.
- Load the game in the PS3 memory and exit the game manager. Launch the game from the XMB as if it was a real game inserted in the blu-ray drive.

The first one is known as "Direct Boot", but have many inconveniences.
First, it works only for very few games (less than 10%), so you will have to try yourself and see if it works.
Secondly, the GameID of the game Manager (multiMAN ID is BLES80608) is
used to check the updates, trophies and saves data. If your game already
has an update on the PS3 it won't be used.
It's not recommended to use this mode, but some users are too lazy to go
back to XMB (which takes ~1.5 additional seconds) to boot the game, so
this option is available if you want to use it.


The second launching option is a "mounting" method. It tricks the PS3
by placing game's backup folder path in memory instead of the one of
the Blu-ray drive. Once done, the Game Manager exit itself to let you
return to XMB. You can't then launch the game by inserting a blu-ray
game in the PS3, and the backup path will be read instead of the real inserted Blu-ray game.
If you have a payload installed (dongle, cfw, BDEMU or Lv2 patcher), the "★ /app_home/PS3_GAME/"
menu will be patched and redirected to the game path, it will allows
you to launch the game without inserting a game in the drive.

A lot of games will work without a disc in the drive, but some games
need a disc to make proper disc insertion checking. The best thing to do
is to always leave a game disc inserted in the blu-ray drive.

Mounting a game in memory

Step 1. Select one of the games layout from multiMAN available layouts. (Any layout except the file manager), eg



On every layout, you can see where the game you are selecting is
located, internal HDD, USB or Blu-ray, along with the full backup
folder's path.

Step 2. Select the game you want to mount in memory and press .
The manager will exit itself and the PS3 returns to XMB.

Step 3. In the "Games" column on the XMB, select the Disc icon to launch the mounted game.
If you have a payload, you can launch the game from the "★ /app_home/PS3_GAME/" menu.

Direct Boot

To direct boot a game, you need to access the game's sub-menu options.

Step 1. Select the game and enter the game's sub-menu by pressing , or if you are using the XMMB layout.


Step 2. Select the "Direct boot" option on the bottom left and press to enable the option.

Step 3. Press Start to launch the game from the sub-menu, or press to save and return to the game layout.
The options are memorized for each games, you don't need to do it every time.

Step 4. when you are on a game layout, press to launch the game.

If the game is not compatible with the Direct boot it will reboot the PS3 or freeze to a black screen. If it's the case, return to the game's sub-menu and remove the "direct Boot" option.

Other game's options

The game's sub-menu contains different options and functions you can use to play your games.


At the top, you can see the name and the current installed version&update of your game, and the required firmware.
At the right, you see the location of the game, either External, internal or Blu-ray.

The memo group is used for you to remember that a particular game needs
to be on internal HDD in order to work, or need a disc in a drive.
Just enable one of these options and if you try to launch the game
without complying to your choices multiMAN will give you an alert.

Direct boot: Try to launch the game directly from the game Manager without returning to the PS3 XMB. Very few games are working with the direct Boot mode. It's best if you don't use it.

BD Mirror: This option allow the redirection of the blu-ray device to
the USB device. Some games require this option, and works only from a
FAT32 external USB drive.
Check the BD mirror (Chapter 3.10) section in the Problematic games chapter (Chapter 3.10).

USB Patch: This mode is used for very few games. It's a fix for the controller issue on 3 different games.
Check the Controller issue (Chapter 3.10) section in the Problematic games chapter (Chapter 3.10).

Favorite: The games with the Favorite option set will be listed in a separated column on the XMMB layout.

► Backup / Copy: Backup a blu-ray game to internal or external HDD, and copy the game from/to external/internal.
► Delete: Delete the current game at its current location (internal or external).
► Rename: Rename the display name for that game.
► Update: Check for official game's updates (An
internet connection is required to use this function). See the Updating
Games chapter (Chapter 3..
► Test: Launch a test of integrity and readability on the game's file and print a detailed report.
► Permissions: Fix the file's execution
permission after transferring the game from external or FTP to internal
HDD. Check the BD mirror (Chapter 3.10) section in the Problematic games
chapter (Chapter 3.10).

Update: v2.00.01 added a new option in the sub-menu. Ext Game Data
allows the installation of "Game Data" to the FAT32 external USB drive
instead of using the /dev_hdd0/game/ folder to store the game's file
installation and downloaded updates. This feature require BDEMU v2 and
hermes payload selected as BD emulation mode in the XMMB settings
column.


The "► Test" menu used on a Blu-ray game disc reports the number of files and folders, and if big files are present.

Chap. 3.6 - Last Game

If you installed the "multiMAN [Last Game]" package on your PS3, you can mount the last played game in memory without launching multiMAN interface.
It's a multiMAN's shortcut to the "mount" function to put the game in the PS3 memory.
Last Game is not compatible with the "BD Mirror" option.

Step 1. After booting your PS3, launch the "Last game" homebrew from your "Games" column on the XMB™.

Step 2. wait until it returns to XMB™.

Step 3. Launch the mounted game from the Disc icon.

Chap. 3.7 - BD-rom Reset

If you installed the "BDROM Reset.pkg" package on your PS3, you can un-mount the current loaded game from the memory.
While a game is mounted, you can't use your Blu-ray drive to read the
inserted disc as the blu-ray drive is mapped to another folder.

Step 1. Launch BDROM Reset homebrew from the "Games" column of the XMB™.

When launching BDROM Reset homebrew, it will:

Remove the path redirection to unload the current game in memory and give blu-ray drive access back.
Clear BD Mirror by:
Unmount the emulated USB device (clear BD Mirror).
Remount the USB device as /dev_usb000x/.
Remount the Blu-ray device as /dev_bdvd/.
Move the PS3_GAME folder located at the root of the USB drive back to its original game's folder.

Chap. 3.8 - Updating games


You have 3 available methods to update your games.

Let the PS3 check for new
updates, download it and install it automatically when you launch the
game from your XMB™. (You need internet access on your PS3)
Use multiMAN to check if there's an available update and select the
one you want to download. (You need internet access on your PS3)
Download the update files manually from your computer using a
web-browser or a specific application. (No internet access needed on
your PS3)


The first one is the official update method from the PS3, so I won't detail it. Just connect your PS3 to internet, launch your game and accept the update if prompted.

Update a game using multiMAN's update function

MultiMAN can check if your game have an update available on Sony's update server.

Step 1. Verify that your PS3 have internet access. (XMB™/Settings/network Settings)

Step 2. Select the game you want to update and enter the game's sub-menu by pressing , or if you are using the XMMB layout.


Step 3. Select the "► Update" menu and press
If the internet connection is detected, it will prompt you that one or
more updates are available and will ask you if you want to download only
the latest or all the available versions.



Step 4.
Select yes to start the download. The files will be stored in this path
on your internal HDD: /dev_hdd0/game/BLES80608/USRDIR/PKG/

Step 5.
When the download is completed, it will show you a screen with the path
and filename and you will be prompted to quit to XMB™ right now.
Select Yes and press .


excl.gif If you don't exit multiMAN when prompted, the path containing the uploaded .pkg won't be set in the PS3 memory as a correct installable path and your .pkg won't be listed in the "★ Install Package Files".
Use the File manager (Chapter 7) mode to manually move the
downloaded .pkg files from the PKG folder to the root of your USB
device, then you can use the Installation menu from XMB™.

Step 6. On the XMB™, go to the "★ Install package files" menu, select your update file and press to install the game update.


Some games require that you install all the update in the released
order, and other games only require the latest available update version
only.
To know if the game needs all the versions or not, you can launch
the game with a working internet connection and accept the update
process. It will show you the number of download needed. If it shows
only one, then you need only the latest. You can then press to cancel the official update process.

Update a game manually

To update a game manually, you will need to verify if a game has an
update, download it and install it from the the update "★ Install
package files" menu on the XMB™.
There are different websites and applications available to do that.

Step 1. Select and download your update using your preferred method: (Applications are at my thread)

Applications:
PS3 Game List : Windows, Linux and Mac
PS3 Game Updater

Step 2. Place the downloaded .pkg file to the root of your USB device.

Step 3. Connect the USB device to your PS3 and go the "★ Install package files" menu on your XMB™, select the update you want to install and press .

Chap. 3.9 - Games with files bigger than 4GB


Some games contain files bigger than 4GB, but you can't store these files on a drive formated as FAT32.
To be able to transfer or dump a game to a FAT32 drive, the homebrew
(Comgenie file Manager, Gaia Manager, multiMAN, etc.) are automatically
splitting the big files into multiple 4GB files when copying or dumping a
game to the external USB device. The split files are joined back
automatically when copied from an external device to internal HDD.


A game with Split files can't be played directly from the FAT32 USB
device, you need to copy the game back on the internal HDD if you want
to launch it.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
UPDATE: v02.00.01 can now launch game with split files by
reconstructing the split files on the fly and storing it on the internal
HDD. The guide will be update later to cover v02.00.01 features.

To play these games, you can either reconstruct the split files by
copying the game on internal HDD, or if the big file is a Playstation
Archive format (PSARC) you can extract the archive's content into
multiple shorter files.
This chapter will cover both methods.

If you don't want to split the files, you can use the FTP server
(Chapter 5) to transfer the game folder, or use an NTFS partition
(Chapter 4).

Split files

Files with big files are automatically split and reconstructed by
multiMAN, but you can also use computer's application to split or
reconstruct the files.
You can find few Windows applications to split and un-split game's
files automatically on your computer to create a FAT32 compatible files
version.
split4G, developed by Dean, multiMAN's author. Allow .666xx and .xx.part file extensions.



A game containing split files will have his folder's name renamed with a
starting underscore, for example "_BLESxxxx - Gran Turismo 5", and will
be shown in black and white in multiMAN.

Split4G

Split4G is an application developed by multiMAN's author.
It allows the split of files in two different formats:
• .666xx
• .xx.part

Only .666xx is compatible with multiMAN.

Step 1. place your game folder on an NTFS partition (you can't have a big file on a FAT32 partition).

Step 2. Download and extract Split4G anywhere on your computer (Get it at my thread).



Step 3.
Launch Split4G.exe and click on the first input field. Select your game
folder, for example For example "X:\games\BCES-00569 - GT5".

Step 4. Click on the second input field and select the destination folder, for example "X:\games".

Step 5. Select the "666xx" format from the drop down menu and click on Start button.
If you selected the destination folder where the original game folder is
located, it will only create (add) the new split files. You will have
to delete the big files manually.
If you selected another folder, all the files will be copied to the new
destination, so if you select your fat32 device as destination, the game
will be copied directly with split files.

Pro:
Split4G can create/copy the game with split files directly to the FAT32
destination drive. You can select 666xx or xx.part files format.
Cons:
Split4G can't reconstruct split files to Big files. It doesn't delete
the big files and doesn't add the underscore automatically when saved to
the same folder? (please let me know, I currently don't have a game
with big files on my HDD to test).

Extracting PSARC files

If the big files have a .psarc file extension, then they are Playstation
Archives files and can be extracted like a .zip or .rar.
If the files have another file extension, use the split method.

PSARC extractor (Get it at my thread).

This program require .Net framework 4.0

Step 1. Download and extract PSARC extractor.

Step 2. Search files bigger than 4GB from all your game's folders and sub-folders, and copy the files to the PSARC extractor folder.

Step 3. Drag and drop the bigfile.PSARC into PSARC.exe
Note: Sometime the program is not working. Maybe a bad Net framework version, or the file is not compatible.

Step 4. When the process is complete, you will have a new folder named after the archive filename.
Go into that folder and copy/move all the content into your game's
folder, at the location of the bigfile, and delete the bigfile.PSARC
(replace the big file with the extracted content, don't copy the created folder but only its content).

Step 5. Place your game on a FAT32 USB device and load the game with multiMAN.


Some games request the ".PSARC" file instead of the file's content.
(for example to install the game data to HDD on the first launch).
If it's the case, you can try to place the game with all the big files
on internal first, let the game install the game's data when launching
it for the first time, then delete the game from your internal HDD and
use the game with its big files replaced by the extracted archive on
your external USB device.

Playing split file's games


Update: v2.00.01 allows the launch of games with split files directly
from the external USB drive. Up to 10 reconstructed files can be cached
to internal hdd.
This feature requires the new BDEMU.BIN v2 with Hermes syscall8,
and you need to set the "Verify USB Games" option to Always or Auto.
Note that not all the games with split files are working on external.

[add chapter to launch split games here] until then, you can see the chapter bellow chapter 12.

Chap. 3.10 - Problematic games



Some games require specific booting options or patches applied to the game's files in order to be played.
Here you will find a list of possible causes if your games are not working.

Return to XMB™ at game launch ¶


The game doesn't work without a disc in the drive, or can't be launched from the "★ /app_home/PS3_GAME/" menu.
Solution: Put a PS3 game disc in your Blu-ray drive and launch the game from the Disc icon.

Black Screen at game launch - 1 - Game data

There are 3 possible causes which will give you a black screen at launch.
The first one is a common issue:
If you already played the game from a retail original Blu-ray
disc and your game created a Game Data (Game installation on HDD,
Updates, etc.), you need to delete them and let the game mounted in
memory from the game Manager recreate the data.


Step 1. In the manager, mount the game you want to play with and return to XMB™ (Do not use Direct boot).

Step 2. Go to the "Game Data" menu in the Games column and locate the installed game's data. Press and choose Delete from the menu.
Verify that you don't have more than 1 Game data icon for that game.

Step 3. Go back to the Game menu and launch the game mounted in memory from the Disc icon or the "★ /app_home/PS3_GAME/" menu.

Note:
You need to delete the Game's data only if the last time you played the
game you used a retail Disc. Do not delete the Game's data every time.


Black Screen at game launch - 2 - Files permission

This issue is due to incorrect file's permission while copying
the games from external to internal using the PL3 payload, or when using
the FTP method to transfer the files.
Some FTP homebrew can't set the CHMOD files permissions (read,
write, execute), so the files are not set to allow the game execution.
You can fix the permission from the game's sub-menu option in multiMAN.

Step 1. Select your game and enter its sub-menu by pressing , or if you are using the XMMB layout.

Step 2. Select the "► Permissions" menu on the right and press .


Wait until the process is completed. You can now launch your game the usual way.

Note: The fix permission is needed only once.


Black Screen at game launch - 3 - The Black Screen Games

Some games are called "Black Screen Games" because they just stop on
a black screen when you launching and no other fixing method are
working.
These games need to be placed on the external drive and require a specific setting called "Blu-Ray mirror".
The external USB drive is then mounted as if it was a real blu-ray
drive. This is like a virtual drive mounter, or a blu-ray drive
emulation on USB.

This mode needs a PS3 game disc inserted in your blu-ray disc drive. No payload, Lv2 Patcher or BDEMU.bin are needed for BD-mirror to works.
These games are not compatible with the "Direct boot" method, they need to be launched from the real PS3 XMB™.

Step 1. Go to the game's sub-menu by pressing on a game, or if you are using XMMB layout.



Step 2. Place the cursor on "BD mirror" and press . You can also check the "External" and "Disc" memo and on the left.
The memos are used to give you an alert if you try to launch the
game from the internal HDD, or if you mount the game without a disc in
the drive.

Step 3. To play the game, select a game layout and press on the game, or open the sub-menu of that game with and press Start button.

Step 4. Once the PS3 it back to his real XMB™, insert a PS3 Game disc in your drive if you didn't yet, and launch the game from the Game Disc icon.
Do not use the "★ /app_home/PS3_GAME/" menu, the BD mirror option doesn't use a payload to patch the game path but instead it re-maps the USB device as the PS3 Blu-ray device.

You can activate the BD-mirror option without going into the game's
sub-menu by pressing the Select+ combination shortcut. The option is
applied and saved automatically in the sub-menu, the game is mounted in
memory and the PS3 returns to XMB™.

excl.gif A list of Black screen games can be found on WikiTemp.


Games requiring a newer firmware - Eboot Fix

The games requiring a newer firmware than the one you are currently
using can be played by decrypting and re-encrypt the game (eboot.bin)
with a 3.55 or lower firmware keys.
The decryption can be done with the EBOOT_FIX tool included in
multiMAN's archive. To decrypt the files you first need to place your
backup game, or at least the eboot.bin, on your computer.
Sometime, decrypting the eboot.bin (game executable) is enough, but it's better to decrypt all the game files.

Decrypting only eboot.bin:
Step 1. On PS3,
if your game is on internal HDD, copy your game's eboot.bin file to
your external USB drive using the File manager mode (Chapter 7) or use
the FTP server (Chapter 5) included with multiMAN to transfer eboot.bin
to your computer.

Step 2. Extract multiMAN_[EBOOT_FIX].rar to any folder on your computer.

Step 3. Drag and drop your eboot.bin file into eboot_mod.exe, a new MODIFIED_eboot.bin file will be created in the folder where your eboot.bin is located.

Step 4. Rename eboot.bin to eboot.bak and MODIFIED_eboot.bin to eboot.bin

Step 5.
If your game is on internal HDD, replace the old eboot.bin file in your
PS3_GAME/USRDIR/ folder with the new modified eboot.bin file using the
file manager or the FTP server.


Decrypting all the files (If eboot.bin alone is not enough):
Step 1. On PS3,
if your game is on internal HDD, copy your game to your external USB
drive. Once done, connect your USB drive to your computer.

Step 2. Extract multiMAN_[EBOOT_FIX].rar to any folder on your computer.

Step 3. Drag and drop your game's folder (PS3_GAME) into eboot_fix.exe
and wait until the process is complete and the command window is
closed. You will now have 2 new folders named after the game's name, one
containing "NPDRM" and one with "RETAIL".
[/B]

[b]Step 4.
Go into the folder with the "RETAIL" name, copy and replace everything
from this folder into your external HDD backup game folder
(usb:/GAMES/game name/PS3_GAME/). You can keep a backup of your original
files if needed.

Step 5. Copy your game
back to internal HDD if it contains split files, or you can just play
it from the external USB drive. If you want to put it on the internal,
delete the game already present on internal and copy back the modified
one from external to internal. See the copy/delete chapter (Chapter
3.4).

Update:
v2.00.01 allows games with split files to be launched directly from
external HDD. You don't need to copy the game back to internal.
This feature requires the new BDEMU.BIN v2 with Hermes syscall8, and you
need to set the "Verify USB Games" option to Always or Auto.
Note that not all the games with split files are working on external. I'll make a wiki list.


Games requiring a 3.60+ firmware

These games can't be played for the moment. The fw3.60 keys are unknown and thus the games can't be decrypted.
Here is a known game's list as of this guide writing date:

Portal 2
Thor

Games working after an update


Some games were developed and signed with a key from a greater
firmware, so they shouldn't work on lower firmwares because newer keys
aren't included in older firmwares.
But sometime, the developers are providing official online game updates signed with older keys wink.gif
Other games just need the update to work correctly.
List of games working after an update:

Brink: This is a game encrypted with the 3.60 key, the first update is based of the 3.56 key.
Call of Duty: Black Ops: This 3.56 game required a 3.41 update. It doesn't need the update anymore, just use the Eboot_mod tool to decrypt eboot.bin.
Disgaea 3 Absence of Justice:
This game needed an update from the debug-psn to get a non signed
eboot. I don't know if the debug version is still needed now the we have
eboot_mod tool, but the "fix" installation package can be found on
torrent websites, disgaea3_2.30_by_segata.
L.A. Noire:
This is a game encrypted with the 3.60 key, the first European update
is based of the 3.50 key. Modify the param.sfo of the update to edit the
gameID to BLES00933 if you are using US version.



To make these games working, you will need to download the updates manually using multiMAN's game update function.

Step 1. Verify that your console have Internet access.

Step 2. Go to your game sub-menu options.

Step 3. Select Update. It will download the update package to the root of your FAT32 USB device.

Step 4. Exit to XMB™, go to "Install Game Package" and install your update.

Step 5. return to multiMAN, launch the game, and when asked if you want your param.sfo to be patched answer yes.
It will modify the param sfo to request your own firmware version as the minimum required version.

Step 6. Launch the game from XMB™.


Controller issue

Some games required a fix to be enabled on 3.41 firmware, or the PS3 controller didn't work in-game.
The fix, known as "patch mode", required a specific memory access
included in Hermes Payload and PL3 for Dongles on 3.41, and needs to be
enabled in the managers before launching the problematic games.
The "patch mode" stays in memory until the go back into the backup
manager and disabled it. It affects both games and file permissions on
FTP transfer.
The fix can also be activated in multiMAN but on a game by game basis instead of a switch mode like in other managers.



List of games needing the USB Patch mode (For fw3.41 ONLY):

Street fighter IV
F1 Grand Prix
Mortal Kombat

Installing games as PSN package


When you can't launch a game from external, and it only gives you a
black screen on internal, then you can create a PSN-like package to
install the game on the XMB™ as if it was a downloaded PSN game.
This part is already covered in another tutorial which you can find here.

You can package games as PSN-like even if they are working fine with
all the other method. When creating a PSN-like icon, the eboot.bin is
signed and the game is launched by the console as if it was a retail
game. You don't need to use the game manager.
Though, you can't update your games, so this method is interesting
when you have a game without updates or when it's not working with any
other methods (It's better to have it working without update than not
working at all), or use your original Blu-ray game disc for playing that
game with updates.

Specific games fixes

Some games required a different fix than the usual one.
I'll try to list them here.

Colin McRae: Dirt 1: Create a PSN-like package using eboot_fix tools and install on internal HDD.
Dante's Inferno:
Put the game on internal HDD. Let the game install the Game Data and
the updates. Once installed you can place the game's backup folder on
internal or external.
Heavy Rain: Put the
game on internal HDD. Let the game install the Game's data and updates.
Once installed you can place the game's backup folder on internal or
external.
Note: The European version contain a
file bigger than 4GB, but doesn't work on external with split files,
use the internal only. [multiMAN v2.00.01]
Medal Of Honor:
This game require the installation of the Game Data to the external
hard drive. Enable the "ext game data" option in the game's sub-menu.
[multiMAN v2.00.01]


Specific games fixes - Links

There are always new games requiring specific settings. As this
guide can't list all the compatibility issues for every games, you can
use other websites or wiki.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] : PS Jailbreak Compatibility List, a little old but have some informations and links.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] : PS3 backup Compatibility List. A wiki maintained by every one. A lot of informations.

Chap. 4 - NTFS support

MultiMAN can mount NTFS partitions, but it can be used only to transfer
the files from the external HDD to internal HDD. The NTFS partition
can't be used to Play game or transfer a file from internal to external.
The main purpose of the NTFS is to transfer a Game's backup folders
containing files bigger than 4GB without the splitting the files with an
application.
NTFS partition can also be used to store and play multimedia files
(movie in .mkv) bigger than 4GB. When launched from multiMan, the movie
file is cached on the 2GB internal /dev_hdd1/ and ShowTime media player
is launched by multiman to play the cached file. See the Media chapter
to play video.

[insert tutorial for NTFS here]


Chap. 5 - FTP server



Chap. 6 - Launching homebrew

There's currently no Homebrew mode to list installed homebrew along with the Game layout.
You need to use the File manager to locate the .elf or .self file and launch it.

See the next chapter to launch a homebrew manually.

PS for users:
multiMAN v1.16.14 changelog says :
• Added: Installed homebrew apps with RELOAD.SELF can be launched via multiMAN

I don't have homebrew with RELOAD.SELF file yet. Do you know which one use this file?
I have some eboot.bin, or eboot.elf
If multiMAN can list homebrew nicely along the games and media files, let me know and I'll add it to this tutorial.

Chap. 7 - File Manager

Big part about the file manager.

Chap. 11 - Frequently asked questions (FAQ)


If you ask questions in this topic it will be added here.
I'll try to group the question by themes.
(Currently thinking which questions to add to the list, no answers yet).

HARDWARE:
My blu-ray drive is broken, can I play games without a disc in the drive?

INSTALLATION & DUMPING PROCESS:
I already have GAMEZ, Can I rename the folder to GAMES ?
I already have GAMEZ, how can I set this folder as the official backup folder?
My game files are too big to put on a FAT32 drive, can I use NTFS instead?
Can I play from NTFS?

ONLINE:
Can I update games ...
Can I access online
Can I be banned

Chap. x.x - Split games

[explain why it's split]

[Here will be the chapter explaining how to split games on computer]
And maybe detail/screenshot the available tools.


Launching games with split files from external

[here will go the launching split games tutorial].

Quick tut for interested users:
•To launch games with split files from the external HDD, you need
multiMAN v2.00.01+ installed with BDEMU v2, or an Hermes Payload dongle.
•Go to XMMB settings, select BD Mirror option "Hermes syscall8".
•Set the "Verify USB Games" option set to Always or Auto.
•IMPORTANT : REBOOT your PS3! because the PS3 memory is currently using syscall 36 since you launched multiMAN with syscall36.
•Reload multiMAN (now PS3 will
be patched with Syscall8), and launch a split game (grey cover), it
will rebuild and cache the split files into the internal HDD
(USRDIR/game_cache/[TITLE_ID]).
Info : You can store up to 10 reconstructed file per games. (or 10 in total?)

• launch the game from the disc icon from the XMB, or from the ★
/app_home/PS3_GAME/ (some game only works from the shortcut, other only
from the disc with a game in the drive).
info : some games don't work at all! If it doesn't work, it's maybe
normal, check other forums to get a list of split games working from
external.

info : The cached games are deleted on demand (select the "clear games
cache" option) or automatically when there's no more space available on
internal HDD (It deletes another game's cache files)