Open-PS2-Loader: [ISSUE][SCUS_973.53] Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal freezes during Qwark vid-comic 5 [SMB]

Disclaimer Issue reports for OPL version which were not downloaded from the official GitHub repo are not accepted. Before posting the issue confirm that you meet the below requirements.

• I have checked existing OPL issues for duplicates and found none https://github.com/ps2homebrew/Open-PS2-Loader/issues
• I am using either OPL beta version from https://github.com/ps2homebrew/open-ps2-loader/actions?query=workflow%3ACI+is%3Asuccess++ or OPL stable version from https://github.com/ps2homebrew/Open-PS2-Loader/releases

Describe the issue Qwark vid-comic 5 cannot be completed, music skips and the game blackscreens after you die or restart the level

Configuration (please complete the following information):

• Console Model: SCPH-39001
• Open PS2 Loader revision: 1.0.0
• Open PS2 Loader mode: SMB
• Information about affected games (if any):
• SCUS 973.53, verified against redump: http://redump.org/disc/11307/
• md5sum ba9f2b38c7346e7b6e5b8e87717d5893
• sha1sum b080139c5a94688ef9472b78d5f5585a756d1ee4

To Reproduce Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. In SMB mode, boot the game and load this savedata or this VMC
2. Go to the VG-9000 and start vid-comic 5
3. Press the start button and choose “Restart Level”
4. Attempt to play through the vid-comic
5. Listen for the music to start skipping, this is how you’ll know you’ve hit the crash
6. The game will hang at a black screen the next time you die or restart the level

Expected behavior Any time you die or choose to restart the level, Qwark should appear beginning of the level and the game should not crash

Additional context “Restart Level” is optional, you can also die once, and on your next life, the game will crash (Nefarious/Lawrence dialog is heard, music begins to repeat). You can also reproduce the issue by starting the vid-comic, immediately exiting it, and then starting it again. Common denominator seems to be the second time the level starts. I’m not good enough to have ever beaten the level in one go so I’m not sure what would happen in that case.

I tried with mode 1 and mode 2 (separately) but this did not make a difference.

Any advice would be appreciated! Spent a good bit of time puzzling this one out. Eventually figured out that I could work around the issue by using a retail DVD and juggling savedata around a bit. Would be nice to know why it happens though.