FPGA Based Videogame System

[bikerspade]

Will there be eventual (next year?) support for FDS via SD on the jailbroken Analogue NT Mini, and if so, how would the disk eject/load/side change theoretically work?

[Andromeda Stardust]

Will there be eventual (next year?) support for FDS via SD on the jailbroken Analogue NT Mini, and if so, how would the disk eject/load/side change theoretically work?

Might be a while as Kevtris has other obligation currently. It has been suggested that those wanting FDS support use an Everdrive or FDS stick.

[coderkind]

Hi kevtris,

 

sorry if this has been addressed elsewhere, but might there be a future firmware option (way down the line; I appreciate you're busy otherwise with other work) to align the HDMI framerate output of the Nt mini with the analog connection?

 

I was playing my SNES via OSSC earlier and I think the framerate displayed was 60.08 and my flatscreen TV displayed it fine. It would be great for the option to mirror the digital and analogue outputs (which might potentially also open up being able to use both connections concurrently for playing and recording footage).

 

I understand why it was decided to play it safe on the framerate over HDMI, but that's part of the reason for the jailbroken firmware right; for those wanting to push their consoles a little further

Edited June 5, 2017 by coderkind

[Radikus]

Why the Analogue Nt Mini Composite / S-video PAL signal does not work anymore, after update latest 2.0 Jailbreak firmware and version 1.8, 1.9.

Older Jailbreak firmware versions and 1.7 the PAL signal working good with Composite and S-video.

NTSC signal does not have any problems.

[atmn]

Hi kevtris,

 

sorry if this has been addressed elsewhere, but might there be a future firmware option (way down the line; I appreciate you're busy otherwise with other work) to align the HDMI framerate output of the Nt mini with the analog connection?

 

I was playing my SNES via OSSC earlier and I think the framerate displayed was 60.08 and my flatscreen TV displayed it fine. It would be great for the option to mirror the digital and analogue outputs (which might potentially also open up being able to use both connections concurrently for playing and recording footage).

 

I understand why it was decided to play it safe on the framerate over HDMI, but that's part of the reason for the jailbroken firmware right; for those wanting to push their consoles a little further

 

I belive I heard thats not possible with the current hardware. But I could be wrong...

[Andromeda Stardust]

 

I belive I heard thats not possible with the current hardware. But I could be wrong...

Correct. Suppose you're running in 720p mode with pure integer scaling. During one analog scanline, the same scanline must be rendered three times in the digital HDMI output, plus H-scaling with one analog pixel compressed towards screen center and scaled to 3, 4, or 5 HD pixels. Simultaneous output simply isn't possible due to this scaling issue, even if the timings were compatible, which they aren't.

 

The only way to achieve simultaneous output would be to render SD first then upscale to HD out, which would add lag. At that point, you might as well buy a framemeister or xRGB and hook it to the analog RGB out.

[funkwad]

Hi - does anyone know the the current status of game saves (actual in game saves) with the GB core? I thought this was working, but apparently not after playing an RPG. Was it something that's not currently an option? thanks,

[killersquirel]

Hi - does anyone know the the current status of game saves (actual in game saves) with the GB core? I thought this was working, but apparently not after playing an RPG. Was it something that's not currently an option? thanks,

I think I had saved some GB games before. What game were you playing? I will test it on mine and see what happens.

Edited June 7, 2017 by killersquirel

[funkwad]

I think I had saved some GB games before. What game were you playing? I will test it on mine and see what happens.

 

***EDIT*** - figured it out, had to set the core to auto save always...then when I was done with the game, hit down and select (then the core 'saves ram') All good...would be nice if save states could be supported but I guess that's a wish list item

 

Hi thanks - was "Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru (For the frog the bell tolls)"

 

I went through the first couple of minutes, and got the save book. Made two saves, but lost them after I restarted. Is there anything special we're supposed to do? Not seeing any written files to the SD card related to keeping the game save

Edited June 7, 2017 by funkwad

[killersquirel]

 

***EDIT*** - figured it out, had to set the core to auto save always...then when I was done with the game, hit down and select (then the core 'saves ram') All good...would be nice if save states could be supported but I guess that's a wish list item

 

Hi thanks - was "Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru (For the frog the bell tolls)"

 

I went through the first couple of minutes, and got the save book. Made two saves, but lost them after I restarted. Is there anything special we're supposed to do? Not seeing any written files to the SD card related to keeping the game save

 

I actually have mine set to always ask. I do this so that I can tell what games have the save and what games don't. The key to it is that you have to press select and down to save the game. Glad you figured it out, and hope you enjoy your gaming.

[funkwad]

So I am a bit curious - where then is game save data going to? Can it be saved to the flash drive? Then I wonder how far off the ablity to do save states may be..I seem to remember Kevtris addressing this , saying it wouldn't be possible.

[NE146]

If I recall he said it wasn't likely because the NT Mini as it is isn't a computer.. i.e. it's all base hardware level stuff.

 

In order to design it differently w/ savestate support, etc. it would basically require an entire rewrite from scratch... or something to that effect.

 

For what it's worth, you can pop in an Everdrive into the NT Mini and it gives you all the savestates you want. Although the hotkeys (e.g. down + select, up+select) do interfere with some of the core hotkeys so you would have to go through the trouble of reconfiguring on one or the other. But then again if you're putting an Everdrive into a jailbroken NT Mini with the same roms on an SD card it's just getting ridiculous already so that probably won't be an issue

Edited June 8, 2017 by NE146

[funkwad]

ok so an Everdrive could be a computer? Also any idea where RAM saves are going? Just curious how 'at risk' they are of being lost due to firmware update or , extended time w/out power to the NT

 

If I recall he said it wasn't likely because the NT Mini as it is isn't a computer.. i.e. it's all base hardware level stuff.

 

In order to design it differently w/ savestate support, etc. it would basically require an entire rewrite from scratch... or something to that effect.

[NE146]

Here.. wasn't hard to find the original post. I just searched for "save states" up above.

 

kevtris, on 05 Mar 2017 - 8:06 PM, said:

Save States are difficult because this is not a computer. It's running at the hardware level, so saving all the registers and mapper stuff and things would be very difficult to do. The flash carts get away with it because it's on a per-mapper basis. Emulators can do it easily since it's all just data sitting in RAM. Unfortunately I do not have this luxury and I'd basically have to rewrite everything from the ground up which I am not willing to do right now. The amount of work required would be staggering. My mappers are integrated into one giant "supermapper" structure basically that emulates ALL mappers at once and selects which to use. I was thinking about redoing this using a mapper CPU or something but it ended up not working out so I left it as-is to focus on adding in all the other systems.

[funkwad]

Here.. wasn't hard to find the original post. I just searched for "save states" up above.

 

kevtris, on 05 Mar 2017 - 8:06 PM, said:

Cool, thanks for digging up...it's not terribly easy to search through threads, so appreciate your effort. Still curious on what happens to RAM saves on the NT, when they are at risk of being erased, etc. And any way to transfer them off the NT

[kevtris]

Cool, thanks for digging up...it's not terribly easy to search through threads, so appreciate your effort. Still curious on what happens to RAM saves on the NT, when they are at risk of being erased, etc. And any way to transfer them off the NT

 

They are simply stored on the SD card with the same name as the ROM. so if you have game.gb the save will be game.sav and will be in the same directory as the ROM. This is true of all systems that save RAM contents. These will usually work interchangeably with emulators, so you can move your i.e. zelda save onto the SD card from an emulator and it should work. It won't work for save states of course; just the saved RAM contents.

[funkwad]

Doh!@! I forgot to check the SD card after I figured out how to enable save...and there it is...thanks Kevtris and thanks NE146...Killersquirrel too!.

Edited June 8, 2017 by funkwad

[Radikus]

Why the Analogue Nt Mini Composite / S-video PAL signal does not work anymore, after update latest 2.0 Jailbreak firmware and version 1.8, 1.9.

Older Jailbreak firmware versions and 1.7 the PAL signal working good with Composite and S-video.

NTSC signal does not have any problems.

 

Can somebody answer my question, why the PAL does not work anymore, I cannot play PAL NES games with my PAL CRT TV, anymore? Some thing wrong with the latest Jailbreak Firmwares 1.8, 1.9 and 2.0, but what ?

[atmn]

Why the Analogue Nt Mini Composite / S-video PAL signal does not work anymore, after update latest 2.0 Jailbreak firmware and version 1.8, 1.9.

Older Jailbreak firmware versions and 1.7 the PAL signal working good with Composite and S-video.

NTSC signal does not have any problems.

 

Can somebody answer my question, why the PAL does not work anymore, I cannot play PAL NES games with my PAL CRT TV, anymore? Some thing wrong with the latest Jailbreak Firmwares 1.8, 1.9 and 2.0, but what ?

Think the implementation of composite/svid are not complete on PAL, belive its just working on the NES core.

[Radikus]

Think the implementation of composite/svid are not complete on PAL, belive its just working on the NES core.

 

Hope Kevtris fix that next Jailbreak firmware, it does not work NES core also. now only orginal firmware from Analogues webpage working good with PAL mode and the older Jailbreak firmware 1.7 working PAL mode also good (composite / S-video).

[atmn]

 

Hope Kevtris fix that next Jailbreak firmware, it does not work NES core also. now only orginal firmware from Analogues webpage working good with PAL mode and the older Jailbreak firmware 1.7 working PAL mode also good (composite / S-video).

Why using composite and svid? Since you want PAL stuff to work I assume you have access to zillions of RGB CRTs, since almost all euro TVs have RGB-Scart.

[Radikus]

Why using composite and svid? Since you want PAL stuff to work I assume you have access to zillions of RGB CRTs, since almost all euro TVs have RGB-Scart.

Here in Finland we need RGB scart cables, and I dont know where to get working one.

[atmn]

Here in Finland we need RGB scart cables, and I dont know where to get working one.

Brought mine from retrogamingcables.co.uk. I have noticed that he dont sell those anymore for some reason.

Had some troubles with mine analoge out on my Nt mini, so I made a cable myself just to double check that the cable from retrogamingcables was correct and my console was faulty.

 

https://support.analogue.co/hc/en-us/articles/115000923948-Using-Analog-Video-output-with-the-Nt-mini

 

Do one yourself, need an old VGA cable, a scart cable and 3x 220uF caps. Also a 180ohm resistor for RGB switching from the USB port.

Thats my advice.

[kevtris]

Why the Analogue Nt Mini Composite / S-video PAL signal does not work anymore, after update latest 2.0 Jailbreak firmware and version 1.8, 1.9.

Older Jailbreak firmware versions and 1.7 the PAL signal working good with Composite and S-video.

NTSC signal does not have any problems.

 

Can somebody answer my question, why the PAL does not work anymore, I cannot play PAL NES games with my PAL CRT TV, anymore? Some thing wrong with the latest Jailbreak Firmwares 1.8, 1.9 and 2.0, but what ?

I don't know why it broke if it did, but unfortunately I can't fix it for a long time. I thought I tested PAL but it's possible it slipped through the cracks. As others said, PAL video is only really supported for NES and no other systems.

[atmn]

Is there any news on the card adaptors? Since its already done design-wise game-tech would be able to order, assemble and sell them?

 

But the "read cart" is only available in the software for the nes at the moment?