Editing PlayStation archive (PSARC)

<small>

=Structure=

==Header==

PSARC header example:

| style="background-color:#66ff66;" | 0x04 || style="background-color:#66ff66;" | 0x04 || '''version''' || 00 01 00 04 || v1.4 || First 2 bytes is the '''major version''', next 2 bytes is the '''minor version'''

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|}

*'''Relative''' (default, no flags)

**e.g: '''Folder/File.bin"'''

*'''Ignorecase''' flag

==TOC Table==

==Blocks info table==

==File table==

===Manifest===

In windows all the paths uses the slash "\" but when the psarc is created the paths are stored inside the manifest as "/". When making a '''--list''' command over a psarc the slashes will appear as "/"

There are several versions of PSARC related tools, features has been implemented along the different versions and is hard to keep a record of them, please help filling the info in the page

==Open PSARC PS3 Extractor==

==PSARC Extractor==

  '''Usage:'''

==PSARC==

  1.60.008 SDK : x

  1.92.001 SDK : x

  4.50.001 SDK : psarc-1310.001 (C++), built on Nov 16 2011 at 03:31:36

===help===

  psarc verb [options] [file...]

  psarc --xml=XMLFILE

   

  create                                  Create an archive. (default)

  extract                                Extract contents of an existing archive.

  dtd                                    Display a DTD describing psarc's XML input syntax.

  -h, --help                              Show this help message and exit.

     --version                          Display version and exit.

  --xml=XMLFILE                          XML list of actions to perform.

  -oFILE, --output=FILE                  Archive filename to create.

  -IINPUTFILE, --inputfile=INPUTFILE      Inputfile listing files to archive. Consider --xml instead, which gives you more control.

  --mergedups                            Compare the content of all files, and merge identical files so that only one copy of the data is included.

  --input=FILE                            Archive to extract files from. (default is first file argument)

  --to=DIRECTORY                          Directory to write extracted files to. (default is current directory)

===dtd===

The output of this command is a layout that defines the structure of an .xml document. See: http://www.w3schools.com/DTD/

<!ELEMENT psarc (create|extract)+>

                   skipmissingfiles (true|false) "false"

                   overwrite (true|false) "false">

*DTD Notes:

To use an .xml is needed to prepare it based in this layout

<psarc>

<create archive="" absolute="false" ignorecase="false" mergedups="false" stripall="false" blocksize="65536" jobs="" skipmissingfiles="false" format="psarc" overwrite="false">

</psarc>

</syntaxhighlight>}}

*Some attributes appears as common in the DTD for "create" and "extract" but are not common, some of them has been deleted to avoid mistakes... but probably is needed to delete some more

When the xml is ready you can run it this way:

The options '''--verbose''', '''--debug''', and '''--quiet''' cant be used inside the xml, so if needed are specifyed in the command line, this way:

===verify===

*Output info per-file is: Validating <file ID/number>: - file path inside psarc archive - (file original size in bytes)

Verifying C:\psarctests\source files\test.psarc

Validating 1: dummy.txt (0 bytes)

Validating 4: PNGfolder1/PNGfolder2/PNGfolder3/Image3.png (6142 bytes)

Archive OK

===dump===

*Output info per-file is: file path inside psarc archive - file original size - file compressed size - file block start offset ?

Dumping C:\psarctests\source files\test.psarc

dummy.txt  os=0 cs=0 fb=1

JPGfolder1/JPGfolder2/Image2.jpg  os=12524 cs=209 fb=97

PNGfolder1/PNGfolder2/PNGfolder3/Image3.png  os=6142 cs=6142 fb=98

===list===

*In the compression percentage: 100% is no reduction, 0% is a huge reduction

Listing C:\psarctests\source files\test.psarc

dummy.txt (0/0 100%)

JPGfolder1/JPGfolder2/Image2.jpg (209/12524 1%)

PNGfolder1/PNGfolder2/PNGfolder3/Image3.png (6142/6142 100%)

{{Boxframe2|content=

{{Boxtip1|content=Is posible to generate a text file containing the output of the '''list''' command by using the character '''>''' (right arrow) and the path/name of the destination file, this is usefull to convert the generated file to a '''filelist.txt''' for rebuilding the psarc archive later}}

}}

====create by directory====

<psarc>

<create archive="C:\psarctests\by_directory.psarc" absolute="false" ignorecase="false">

</psarc>

</syntaxhighlight>}}

Strip: C:\psarctests\source files\test

Flags: relative

       99.9%: Compression Ratio

           9: Compression Level

Listing C:\psarctests\by_directory.psarc

BMPfolder1/Image1.bmp (8018/6220854 0%)

JPGfolder1/JPGfolder2/Image2.jpg (209/12524 1%)

PNGfolder1/PNGfolder2/PNGfolder3/Image3.png (157/6142 2%)

====create by filelist====

The psarc archive is created by using the filelist as the '''--inputfile''' and uses an explicit path to '''--strip''' from every file inside the filelist, this way:

Or you can prepare an .xml that contains the path to the filelist.txt

<psarc>

<create archive="C:\psarctests\by_filelist.psarc" absolute="false" ignorecase="false">

Then run the contents of the .xml this way:

The output of the tool is the same in both cases (except the InputFile not present when using an xml)

Strip: C:\psarctests\source files\test

Flags: relative

       99.9%: Compression Ratio

           9: Compression Level

Listing C:\psarctests\by_filelist.psarc

dummy.txt (0/0 100%)

JPGfolder1/JPGfolder2/Image2.jpg (209/12524 1%)

PNGfolder1/PNGfolder2/PNGfolder3/Image3.png (157/6142 2%)

====create by file====

The other per-file attribute avoids the tool to output an error in the case the file dummy.txt is missing in the source folder

<psarc>

<create archive="C:\psarctests\by_file.psarc" absolute="false" ignorecase="false">

</psarc>

</syntaxhighlight>}}

C:\>psarc.exe --xml="c:\psarctests\CREATE by_file.xml"

Strip: C:\psarctests\source files\test

       99.8%: Compression Ratio

           9: Compression Level

Listing C:\psarctests\by_file.psarc

dummy.txt (0/0 100%)

JPGfolder1/JPGfolder2/Image2.jpg (209/12524 1%)

PNGfolder1/PNGfolder2/PNGfolder3/Image3.png (6142/6142 100%)

Batch. This is an useless example to show how the .psarcs are created sequentially and how to create several .psarc's with only one .xml, it uses all default values for compressions, formats, flags etc...

In step 1 it creates an egg.psarc containing a dummy.txt. In step 2 it creates a chiken.psarc containing the egg.psarc made in step 1. In step 3 it creates an egg.psarc containing the chicken.psarc made in step 2 (egg.psarc created in step 3 overwrites egg.psarc made in step 1)

<psarc>

<create archive="C:\psarctests\egg.psarc">

</psarc>

</syntaxhighlight>}}

Strip: C:\psarctests\source files\test

Flags: relative

       -44.8%: Compression Ratio

           9: Compression Level

Listing C:\psarctests\egg.psarc

chicken.psarc (143/174 82%)

Listing C:\psarctests\chicken.psarc

egg.psarc (69/105 65%)

----

When using this options the command line output is the same, there is no mention of wich files are stripped, overwritten, or missing in the extraction process

Extracting: dummy.txt (0 bytes)

Extracting: BMPfolder1/Image1.bmp (6220854 bytes)

Extracting: JPGfolder1/JPGfolder2/Image2.jpg (12524 bytes)

Extracting: PNGfolder1/PNGfolder2/PNGfolder3/Image3.png (6142 bytes)

Extracting: dummy.txt (0 bytes)

Extracting: BMPfolder1/Image1.bmp (6220854 bytes)

Extracting: JPGfolder1/JPGfolder2/Image2.jpg (12524 bytes)

Extracting: PNGfolder1/PNGfolder2/PNGfolder3/Image3.png (6142 bytes)

'''extract all (xml)'''

<psarc>

<extract archive="C:\psarctests\source files\test.psarc" to="C:\psarctests\all">

</psarc>

</syntaxhighlight>}}

Extracting: dummy.txt (0 bytes)

Extracting: BMPfolder1/Image1.bmp (6220854 bytes)

Extracting: JPGfolder1/JPGfolder2/Image2.jpg (12524 bytes)

Extracting: PNGfolder1/PNGfolder2/PNGfolder3/Image3.png (6142 bytes)

====extract by file====

This extraction method is only available when using an xml because command line doesnt allows to specify files inside the archive

<psarc>

<extract archive="C:\psarctests\source files\test.psarc" to="C:\psarctests\by_file">

</psarc>

</syntaxhighlight>}}

Extracting: BMPfolder1/Image1.bmp (6220854 bytes)

When extracting single files is also posible to use the same attributes availables in command line, and attributes per-file, but they uses different names inside the xml (see the DTD example)

<psarc>

<extract archive="C:\psarctests\source files\test.psarc" to="C:\psarctests\by_file" stripall="true" skipmissingfiles="false" overwrite="true">

**The element "extract" uses the attribute '''archive''' but could be replaced by '''input''', in this case are exactly the same and both will work, actually '''--input''' is the same option used in comand line but the examples in wiki uses the name '''archive''' because is more intuitive (is also used as an attribute for "create" and in both cases is refered to the compressed archive.psarc). Both (archive and input) appears in the DTD as optional (#IMPLIED) but only one of them can be used in the xml

**The element "file" uses the attribute '''archivepath''' but could be replaced by '''path''', in this case are exactly the same and both will work, but the examples in wiki uses the name '''archivepath''' because is more intuitive (is refered to the path of a file inside archive.psarc). Both (archivepath and path) appears in the DTD as optional (#IMPLIED) but only one of them can be used in the xml

==Total Commander plugin==

Download link: http://aldostools.org/ps3_psarc_gui.rar

=Rebuilding PSARC files=

This need to preserve the original positions of all the files inside the archive in the practise means there are only 2 methods to rebuild a psarc: "by filelist" or "by file". For both is needed to create a list of files

* Step 1 - Identify compression method, archive flags, and verify default structure sizes

* Step 2 - Identify if per-file compression was used <!-- and dupes --->

** Step 3a - If per-file compression was not used, rebuild with the method "by filelist" or "by file"

** Step 3a - If per-file compression was used, rebuild with the method "by file"

}}

Most important ones are the '''<span style="background:#ffff66;">compression method</span>''' (zlib/lzma) and the '''<span style="background:#d0000d;">archive flags</span>''' (relative/absolute, and ignorecase), this settings will be used when rebuilding from command line or from xml this way:

<psarc>

<create archive="C:\psarctests\by_file.psarc" absolute="true" ignorecase="true">

The other values in the header that needs to be verifyed are the '''<span style="background:#dd00dd;">TOC entry size</span>''' and the '''<span style="background:#dddddd;">Block size</span>''', is needed to know if the original psarc we are trying to rebuild uses the default values (all i found used defaults), otherway is posible to use non-default values this way: <!-- not sure if is posible to change the "TOC entry size" -->

<psarc>

<create archive="C:\psarctests\by_file.psarc" absolute="true" ignorecase="true" blocksize="65536">

'''Step2'''

This is important to know wich rebuild method will be used in the next step, is needed to make a --list command with psarc tool and store the output of the command as a .txt

**If there some files with the 100%, normal sizes (not minimal), using the same file extension, and can be identifyed (like audio or video formats) then you have a psarc with per-file compression

**If all the files appears as 100% it means the psarc has been created with the compression attibute set as "false" this way:

<psarc>

<create archive="C:\psarctests\by_file.psarc" absolute="true" ignorecase="true" blocksize="65536">

**Ape Escape target.psarc includes "dupes" (or duplicated files) in the TOC (table of contents) of the psarc archive. This method used at creation time basically works by making several entries of the TOC to point to the same file, this way a single file inside the psarc is indexed several times in the TOC and can be accessed from several different paths/filenames. The only way to identify this dupes before extraction is by reading the TOC of the psarc for all the files and compare wich position are pointing to. As an example the original size of target.psarc is 328mb... after a "standard" extraction is 2.52GB (this extraction doesnt identify the dupes so are extracted several times under different paths/filenames)... if you try to rebuild it again his final size will be much bigger than the original target.psarc

*The file paths inside filelist.txt or inside an xml admits 2 formats:

The output of the '''list''' command has some characters that are needed ro remove or replace, the purpose of automatizing this process by using regular expressions is because usually psarc files contains thousand of files, the examples used here are commands for fnr.exe (find and replace tool) and contains regular expressions (to search) and a character strings (to replace)

The file generated by the list command will have this content (note there is en empty line at the end):

  Listing C:\psarctests\source files\test.psarc

  PNGfolder1/PNGfolder2/PNGfolder3/Image3.png (6142/6142 100%)

   

  Listing.*\n

The resulting file:

   

The resulting file:

find:

find:

replace by:

The resulting file:

  C:\psarctests\source files\test\dummy.txt

  C:\psarctests\source files\test\JPGfolder1\JPGfolder2\Image2.jpg

  C:\psarctests\source files\test\PNGfolder1\PNGfolder2\PNGfolder3\Image3.png

----

Listing C:\psarctests\source files\test.psarc

</syntaxhighlight>}}

find:

  /

  \\

The resulting file:

Listing C:\psarctests\source files\test.psarc

</syntaxhighlight>}}

find:

replace by:

The resulting file:

<psarc>

</syntaxhighlight>}}

find:

replace by:

The resulting file:

<psarc>

</syntaxhighlight>}}

find:

replace by:

The resulting file:

<psarc>

find:

replace by:

find:

replace by:

The resulting file:

<psarc>

</create>

</psarc>

</syntaxhighlight>}}

find:

replace by:

The resulting file:

<psarc>

</create>

</psarc>

</syntaxhighlight>}}

=Games or Apps using PSARC files=

|-

| TEXTURES.PSARC ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  

|-

| Motorstorm Pacific Rift ||  ? || ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  ||   

|-

| All others || 00010003 || zlib || 0000001E || 00010000 || 00000003 (ignorecase + absolute) || compress all ||  

|-

| The Last Of Us || All ? || 00010003 || zlib || 0000001E || 00010000 || 00000000 (no flags) ||  ||  

|-

! TITLE !! PSARC files || Version<BR />(offset 0x04) !! Compression<BR />(offset 0x08) !! TOC entry size<BR />(offset 0x10) !! Block Size<BR />(offset 0x18) !! Flags<BR />(offset 0x1C)

|-

| VidZone || vidzone*.db.psarc || 00010004 || zlib || 0000001E || 00010000 || 00000000 (no flags) || compress all || Vidzone is a web service, the .psarc is hosted in the web

|}

{{File Formats}}