Devoted 2600 Lego Linux MAME (and problems, seeking suggestions)

[Silntdoogood]

I've probably been working on this system for a month by now. I'll go into more detail on parts below. The system is running Ubuntu 10.10, it auto-launches Stella on boot. The problem is, Stella isn't properly entering full screen. In windows, when Stella enters fullscreen, Stella literally utilizes the 'full screen'. In Ubuntu, when Stella enters full screen, it stays the same size, and blacks out the rest of the screen, only utilizing the original area it was in.

 

I was wondering if anyone else uses Linux, has noticed this, and/or has a solution.

 

 

System Story:

 

Please forgive me for the potential misuse of the acronym "MAME" in the title. The system can potentially use original controllers in an emulated environment. I thought it close enough to the true definition.

 

I've become quite addicted to the homebrew 2600 games I am finding Atari Age members coding. I've had several PC components laying in my possession for a while. A late 90's Western Digital 8gb hard drive and a motherboard I thought was dead. I began to scrap it for parts. With a little effort and some new caps, I got it running again some time after. It has no BIOS battery nor buzzer, but all the better. Without a battery, I didn't need to worry about installing a power button to the case. It's running on about 100mb of DDR2 RAM. For practical use, it works fine. When the VGA is directly connected to a screen larger that 50 inches...the integrated graphics that barely display Windows 2000, RAM, and Pentium 4 proc all start to struggle a bit. It's fuel for a little lagging. To protect the performance, I usually run the system through a scan converter to lock in at lower resolution, and allow me to play on my B&W 12" screen.

 

The system is controlled by a 'hacked' keyboard. If you've been reading the forums for a while, you might remember my post while constructing the board. I installed a DB9 port to the back, so Stella can be controlled by any capable 9 pin controller. Update to that, I devoted the arrow keys and right shift as player two. I'm planning to install a second DB9 port. The rest has been discussed, I will not go into it.

 

This was all fine an dandy, but the system needed a case. I was about to go construct a Plexiglas case and liqued cool it, but my friend offered a good bit of Legos. After constructing countless devices I'd pretend worked as a kid, the kid inside me could not turn down the opportunity to make one ACTUALLY WORK. I have a jail cell door next to the proc heat sink fan for intake, and access to the fan plug that frequently falls out. I have a window for access to the PS2 mouse port that is unneeded unless I am doing some maintenance (the window lights up green thanks to the networking LEDs) and a red door that hides USBs and the Ethernet.

 

If anyone is familiar with newer PCs, and could tell me the purpose of the separate 2x2 power connection going from the power unit to the the motherboard color coded yellow and black, I'd appreciate it. If it's something now useless like a BIOS battery charger, or a backup clock connection, I'd like to get rid of it. Keeping that connection is limiting the places I can put the power unit, and is annoying in transport.

 

Eventually pictures and video of this will surface. I hesitate to post anything until I'm sure I am done. I'd like to get the full screen problem fixed, along with acknowledge any suggestions anyone could have to improve the system before I deem it "done".

 

Thanks!

-Spence

 

Edit:

One picture for now.

http://silntdoogood.webs.com/DSCN0381.jpg

 

Suggestions?

[+stephena]

I've probably been working on this system for a month by now. I'll go into more detail on parts below. The system is running Ubuntu 10.10, it auto-launches Stella on boot. The problem is, Stella isn't properly entering full screen. In windows, when Stella enters fullscreen, Stella literally utilizes the 'full screen'. In Ubuntu, when Stella enters full screen, it stays the same size, and blacks out the rest of the screen, only utilizing the original area it was in.

 

I was wondering if anyone else uses Linux, has noticed this, and/or has a solution.

I use Linux almost exclusively as my main Stella development system. I've heard of similar problems before.

 

This is most likely related to what resolution you specify for fullscreen mode. I refer you to Options -> Video Settings -> FS Res. The 'Auto' setting is supposed to work just as it specifies; it's supposed to automatically determine what the best fullscreen resolution is, and use it. However, sometimes it might get things wrong. In that case, you should set the resolution manually, perhaps to '640x480'.

 

Now, if you try changing the resolution and the dropdown box lists only 'Auto' and your desktop resolution, then those are all that Stella can use. This can happen depending on how well the graphics card is supported in Linux. I have seen this happen, and unfortunately there's no way around that specific issue. If the operating system 'reports' only one valid resolution to Stella, then that's all it can use.

 

However, there's possibly a work-around. If you use OpenGL mode, you can scale the image to the size of the screen. To do this, use Options -> Video Settings to set 'Renderer' to OpenGL, and 'GL FS Stretch' to on. Restart Stella and see what happens.

 

In any event, it would be useful if I had more info. What type of video card, version of drivers used, list of resolutions that Stella recognizes, desktop resolution, how you 'auto-launch' Stella on boot, etc.