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MESS 0.153…The next generation of Atari 7800 emulation


Trebor

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What are the requirements to compile it on a Mac besides the latest Xcode? Any special tricks or dependencies to worry about?

 

almost the same as compiling MAME:

 

- Install latest Xcode

- Install SDL1.2 development libraries

- type "make TARGET=mess" (without quotes but respecting capitals)

- add -jN (N=your cores + 1) to speed up a bit the compiling process, e.g. -j3 for dual core, -j5 for quad core etc.

Edited by etabeta
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Windows x86 (32-bit) Binary - from SVN r31769 (Includes updated hlsl folder for those who like to make it look extra sweet):

 

EDIT: *See updated/recent postings*

 

Make sure you do a clean install - a new folder would be best, or at least delete any prior *.ini and *.cfg files.

 

To save some frustration and FYI...Launching games/ROMs through the internal MESS "tab" menu often crashes the emulator. A similar issue has been around prior to this update and affects some other drivers as well. A post was made about it here: http://forums.bannister.org/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=95119#Post95119

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I'm slightly confused, what should be the naming convention for the highscore ROM file. A78 makes no sense here since it's more like a second BIOS file not a game file. I'm assuming something like .bin or .rom?

 

And thanks for adding the support for the HSC! :thumbsup:

 

Mitch

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you have to match the softlist entry: the file with no header (size="4096" crc32="9be408d3") has to be zipped in a file named hiscore.zip and located in the roms/ folder (or in the roms/a7800/ folder)

the actual name of the file does not matter because the emulator verifies only the checksum when loading from compressed archives ;)

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Happy to have been of help :)

 

I'm trying to clean up the driver a little bit more, then I plan to look better to the XM expansion.

The HiScore cart is detected and you can enter your initials

 

0003_770778767.png

 

...but the RAM at 0x1000-0x17ff is not written to! so that if I quit the emulation and restart, the score is gone

 

However, in the standalone HiScore cart everything works fine so it shall not be that part of code at fault... we will see

The dkxm_hsc version was only intended to be used with the prosystem emulator. It's a hack that takes advantage of the emulator treating the HSC memory area as RAM. When the game boots, it copies the HSC ROM and a sample of saved data into the HSC memory space. So it will overwrite any data that MESS has previously copied into the HSC ram. The standard demo version of DKXM should work with your XM HSC emulation.

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Here's an updated compile (x86/32-bit Windows):

 

UPDATED

 

Although it no longer crashes, the "old" behavior mentioned in the previously linked MESS thread post still exists:

 

Specifically:

 

"Selecting any ROM image via internal ("tab") ui listing, appears to load an image but MESS runs nothing and returns back to a blank screen. The cart slot is empty when the internal ("tab") is brought up again.
HOWEVER...
Launching a ROM image via Command Line...
i.e. mess a7800 -cart "Full ROM location path"
Works without issue."

 

 

To reproduce, just click mess.exe. Press tab, select a7800 driver, press Enter.

Then press tab again, go down to "File Manager" hit enter.

Hit enter again, and navigate to the directory your game ROMs are located.

When you (try to) launch a ROM the above (quoted) behavior occurs.

 

Certainly not a deal breaker, and I work usually through a front-end or batch files anyhow.

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Although it no longer crashes, the "old" behavior mentioned in the previously linked MESS thread post still exists:

 

"Selecting any ROM image via internal ("tab") ui listing, appears to load an image but MESS runs nothing and returns back to a blank screen. The cart slot is empty when the internal ("tab") is brought up again.

HOWEVER...

Launching a ROM image via Command Line...

i.e. mess a7800 -cart "Full ROM location path"

Works without issue."

 

unfortunately, this does not happen on my mac so that I cannot really help to track down the problem: I can select and launch everything here.

I had looked to the code when you first reported the issue, but there is nothing obviously wrong so I'm at loss here :(

 

 

Now all we need is the Yamaha chip. :-D

 

you mean like in svn rev. 31779? :D

on a more serious note, thanks for the mapping info: it was an easy addition and it sounds very good in your demo

 

also, thanks for explaining me the issue with the HSC version of the DK demo... the thread was a bit too long and I must have missed the part where you discussed that, because I had understood the opposite: I was under the conviction that the no-HSC version had hiscore completely disabled (and the HSC had it working).

I can confirm that everything works like a charm in MESS with the no-HSC version :)

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Great work etabeta and the other usual suspects!

 

I'm looking forward to checking out this source! :D I tried helping out with implementation of the HSC.. however my MESS experience is with the older, way outdated MESS source used by a7800x.

 

It'll be interesting to see if I can get the YM chip working with it.

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unfortunately, this does not happen on my mac so that I cannot really help to track down the problem: I can select and launch everything here.

I had looked to the code when you first reported the issue, but there is nothing obviously wrong so I'm at loss here :(

 

 

No biggie - as I stated earlier, I work primarily from batch files or a front-end anyhow. Your time is better spent elsewhere... ;) ...like...

 

 

It'll be interesting to see if I can get the YM chip working with it.

 

Utilize the latest SVN - etabeta already added support for it under MESS...Woo-Hoo! I'll have a binary up in a little bit. :)

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hiscore rom not working...is there something I am doing wrong???

 

 

I haven't been able to get the "-cart2" option (required for hs support or/and xm support) to take, at least with a later SVN with YM support from the Command Line; receiving the message: "Error: unknown option: -cart2".

 

Don't go crazy beating yourself over it until etabeta is able to weigh-in.

 

There may be something amiss. It's why I haven't posted the aforementioned promised binary yet.

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I haven't been able to get the "-cart2" option (required for hs support or/and xm support) to take, at least with a later SVN with YM support from the Command Line; receiving the message: "Error: unknown option: -cart2".

 

Don't go crazy beating yourself over it until etabeta is able to weigh-in.

 

There may be something amiss. It's why I haven't posted the aforementioned promised binary yet.

 

Roger that...will be patient

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hiscore rom not working...is there something I am doing wrong???

 

attachicon.gif mess154.PNGattachicon.gif hiscore.PNG

 

Hard to say if you don't tell me exactly how are you trying to launch it :)

You might want to verify first if it works from command line, because it's been 5 years since last time I used MESSUI and I'm not sure about whether the UI works with passthru carts (they are a bit peculiar because the second cart slot only becomes available once you have mounted the hiscore cart in the first slot). I can only ensure you that it is fully supported by command line and by the QMC2 frontend, because I have tested them :)

 

 

 

I haven't been able to get the "-cart2" option (required for hs support or/and xm support) to take, at least with a later SVN with YM support from the Command Line; receiving the message: "Error: unknown option: -cart2".

 

that's weird. what is the output if you type at command line "mess a7800 -cart hiscore -lm" or "mess a7800 -cart xm -lm" ?

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that's weird. what is the output if you type at command line "mess a7800 -cart hiscore -lm" or "mess a7800 -cart xm -lm" ?

 

post-18-0-75214100-1409095648_thumb.png

C:\MESSWIP>mess a7800 -cart hiscore -lm
 SYSTEM      MEDIA NAME (brief)   IMAGE FILE EXTENSIONS SUPPORTED
----------  --------------------  ------------------------------------
a7800        cartridge   (cart)     .bin  .a78

C:\MESSWIP>mess a7800 -cart xm -lm
 SYSTEM      MEDIA NAME (brief)   IMAGE FILE EXTENSIONS SUPPORTED
----------  --------------------  ------------------------------------
a7800        cartridge   (cart)     .bin  .a78

C:\MESSWIP>
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erm... no idea, here I get

 

bash-3.2$ ./mess64 a7800 -cart hiscore -lm
 SYSTEM      MEDIA NAME (brief)   IMAGE FILE EXTENSIONS SUPPORTED     
----------  --------------------  ------------------------------------
a7800        cartridge1  (cart1)    .bin  .a78  
             cartridge2  (cart2)    .bin  .a78  
bash-3.2$ ./mess64 a7800 -cart xm -lm
 SYSTEM      MEDIA NAME (brief)   IMAGE FILE EXTENSIONS SUPPORTED     
----------  --------------------  ------------------------------------
a7800        cartridge1  (cart1)    .bin  .a78  
             cartridge2  (cart2)    .bin  .a78  

 

any possibility that you launched the old exe by mistake? I see no possible cause causing the lack of the second cart slot with the new executable...

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