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diff --git a/content/posts/gcz-rvz-wia-size-comparisons.md b/content/posts/gcz-rvz-wia-size-comparisons.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..530842e --- /dev/null +++ b/content/posts/gcz-rvz-wia-size-comparisons.md @@ -0,0 +1,69 @@ +--- +title: "GCZ, RVZ and WIA size comparison" +date: 2020-12-29T15:18:00 +tags: ["Emulation", "Formats", "Games", "Media", "Software"] +--- + +For as long as I can remember, the [Dolphin emulator](https://dolphin-emu.org/) has supported GCZ compression, and since version 5.0-12188, it has added two new formats, WIA and RVZ (as outlined in [this blog post](https://dolphin-emu.org/blog/2020/07/05/dolphin-progress-report-may-and-june-2020/)). The original post has a quick overview of size comparisons, but it doesn't detail how well each compression method works. + +I tried this with Kururin Squash!, a Japanese exclusive Gamecube game and sequel to the GBA exclusive Kuru Kuru Kururin. No junk data was removed during any of these tests. + +The compressed sizes were as follows, with percentage values to match: + +| Format | Size (bytes) | Relative size (percent) | +| --- | --- | --- | +| ISO (Original) | 1,459,978,240 | 610.57 | +| ISO (Uncompressed) | 239,116,400 | 100.00 | +| GCZ (Standard) | 107,272,770 | 44.87 | +| WIA (No Compression) | 239,149,168 | 100.01 | +| WIA (Purge) | 229,449,768 | 95.96 | +| WIA (2MiB, bzip2, level 1) | 106,515,768 | 44.55 | +| WIA (2MiB, bzip2, level 5) | 105,127,440 | 43.97 | +| WIA (2MiB, bzip2, level 9) | 104,732,188 | 43.79 | +| WIA (2MiB, LZMA, level 1) | 91,674,188 | 38.34 | +| WIA (2MiB, LZMA, level 5) | 86,715,744 | 36.26 | +| **WIA (2MiB, LZMA, level 9)** | **86,618,716** | **36.22** | +| WIA (2MiB, LZMA2, level 1) | 91,688,008 | 38.34 | +| WIA (2MiB, LZMA2, level 5) | 86,728,708 | 36.27 | +| WIA (2MiB, LZMA2, level 9) | 86,728,708 | 36.27 | +| RVZ (128KiB, bzip2, level 1) | 106,771,616 | 44.66 | +| RVZ (128KiB, bzip2, level 5) | 106,339,216 | 44.47 | +| RVZ (128KiB, bzip2, level 9) | 106,339,216 | 44.47 | +| RVZ (512KiB, bzip2, level 1) | 106,568,640 | 44.57 | +| RVZ (512KiB, bzip2, level 5) | 105,239,600 | 44.01 | +| RVZ (512KiB, bzip2, level 9) | 105,093,188 | 43.95 | +| RVZ (2MiB, bzip2, level 1) | 106,515,768 | 44.55 | +| RVZ (2MiB, bzip2, level 5) | 105,127,440 | 43.96 | +| RVZ (2MiB, bzip2, level 9) | 104,732,188 | 43.80 | +| RVZ (128KiB, LZMA, level 1) | 96,654,712 | 40.42 | +| RVZ (128KiB, LZMA, level 5) | 92,597,268 | 38.72 | +| RVZ (128KiB, LZMA, level 9) | 92,521,648 | 38.69 | +| RVZ (512KiB, LZMA, level 1) | 93,891,916 | 39.27 | +| RVZ (512KiB, LZMA, level 5) | 89,668,640 | 37.50 | +| RVZ (512KiB, LZMA, level 9) | 89,586,320 | 37.47 | +| RVZ (2MiB, LZMA, level 1) | 91,674,188 | 38.34 | +| RVZ (2MiB, LZMA, level 5) | 86,715,744 | 36.27 | +| **RVZ (2MiB, LZMA, level 9)** | **86,618,716** | **36.22** | +| RVZ (128KiB, LZMA2, level 1) | 96,666,280 | 40.43 | +| RVZ (128KiB, LZMA2, level 5) | 92,608,300 | 38.73 | +| RVZ (128KiB, LZMA2, level 9) | 92,532,604 | 38.70 | +| RVZ (512KiB, LZMA2, level 1) | 93,905,124 | 39.27 | +| RVZ (512KiB, LZMA2, level 5) | 89,681,068 | 37.51 | +| RVZ (512KiB, LZMA2, level 9) | 89,598,776 | 37.47 | +| RVZ (2MiB, LZMA2, level 1) | 91,688,008 | 38.34 | +| RVZ (2MiB, LZMA2, level 5) | 86,728,708 | 36.27 | +| RVZ (2MiB, LZMA2, level 9) | 86,631,708 | 36.23 | +| RVZ (128KiB, Zstandard, level 1) | 111,340,684 | 46.57 | +| RVZ (128KiB, Zstandard, level 5) | 105,730,496 | 44.22 | +| RVZ (128KiB, Zstandard, level 10) | 104,140,564 | 43.56 | +| RVZ (128KiB, Zstandard, level 22) | 100,217,436 | 41.91 | +| RVZ (512KiB, Zstandard, level 1) | 109,719,948 | 45.89 | +| RVZ (512KiB, Zstandard, level 5) | 103,921,924 | 43.46 | +| RVZ (512KiB, Zstandard, level 10) | 102,535,204 | 42.88 | +| RVZ (512KiB, Zstandard, level 22) | 97,270,064 | 40.68 | +| RVZ (2MiB, Zstandard, level 1) | 108,380,880 | 45.33 | +| RVZ (2MiB, Zstandard, level 5) | 100,285,556 | 41.94 | +| RVZ (2MiB, Zstandard, level 10) | 98,800,396 | 41.32 | +| RVZ (2MiB, Zstandard, level 22) | 93,857,212 | 39.25 | + +As you can see, from this extremely limited test, the best performing archive format is LZMA using a 2MiB block size at compression level 9. It doesn't matter which container, our of RVZ and WIA you use. diff --git a/content/posts/using-nordvpn-on-arch.md b/content/posts/using-nordvpn-on-arch.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fa6e1d6 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/posts/using-nordvpn-on-arch.md @@ -0,0 +1,29 @@ +--- +title: "Using NordVPN on ArchLinux" +date: 2020-12-03T13:43:00 +tags: ["Linux", "Networks", "Snippets", "Software"] +--- + +I found myself with access to a NordVPN account a while back, and while VPN's have many, **many** downsides and the advertising of them is even worse, there is still a place for them. + +The CLI client is available in the AUR, so it can be installed via: +``` +yay -S nordvpn-bin +``` + +Once installed, you can manually start the daemon as root: +``` +sudo nordvpnd +``` + +With the daemon started, you can login to your account, list available coutries to connect to and connect via: +``` +nordvpn account +nordvpn countries +nordvpn connect Iceland +``` + +Once you've finished your nefarious activities, you can disconnect logically using: +``` +nordvpn disconnect +```
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