Retro Freak firmware update

[Guest LiqMat]

If I load a rom file onto the RF internal hard drive - say a Genesis ROM with a file ending of *.md - will the system read this as a megadrive/genesis file? Or would the ROM file need to be renamed as XXX.bin?

 

If you leave it .md it will still play on the RF in my experience.

[Unadan]

^Thanks. Trying to decide between a Retro Freak and/or a Mega Everdrive.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Have any of you inserted a NBA Jam cart yet into your RF? I have had two NBA Jam carts not pull up at all. I inspected both carts and all looks good physically. Recapped one of them just in case. Checked all solder joints. Just wondering if this particular cart had a poor quality PCB and is prone to failure. This particular game has the flip-flop ICs along the top of the PCB above the main game IC. Thanks.

Some games simply aren't detected and for those you'll need a clone or real Genesis/MD. RIP Genesis Six Pack and Psycho Pinball...

 

I have not tried NBA Jam yet.

 

If I load a rom file onto the RF internal hard drive - say a Genesis ROM with a file ending of *.md - will the system read this as a megadrive/genesis file? Or would the ROM file need to be renamed as XXX.bin?

Mine (dumped by RF) are encrypted BIN files. My no intro set on my Everdrive MD are all *.md though. Try it and find out. You won't break anything if it doesn't work.

[LadyLilith]

If I load a rom file onto the RF internal hard drive - say a Genesis ROM with a file ending of *.md - will the system read this as a megadrive/genesis file? Or would the ROM file need to be renamed as XXX.bin?

 

I have never ever had to change a file name extension (only the actual game title in cases like imports), and I have probably close to 300 games installed (somehow a tiny fraction of my overall collection)

 

Probably over half of my Genesis games are in .md format, and I believe most of the games I actually dumped via cart were that format.

[<<<Andrew>>>]

Anyone get a problem like this on Sega Master System games? It appears to only happy on SMS games.

 

Have you tried changing the "Display overscan" and/or "Force Original Resolution" and/or "Screen Size" settings under the "A/V Settings" menu for that game? This might help.

[LadyLilith]

 

Have you tried changing the "Display overscan" and/or "Force Original Resolution" and/or "Screen Size" settings under the "A/V Settings" menu for that game? This might help.

 

Last time I tried that (a few days ago shortly before I posted this), nothing helped. For some reason, doing so made my patch stop working. I ended up having to delete it and re add it to get it to work again. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try again (maybe all three at the same time?)

[Guest LiqMat]

Some games simply aren't detected and for those you'll need a clone or real Genesis/MD. RIP Genesis Six Pack and Psycho Pinball...

 

I have not tried NBA Jam yet.

 

Mine (dumped by RF) are encrypted BIN files. My no intro set on my Everdrive MD are all *.md though. Try it and find out. You won't break anything if it doesn't work.

 

Yeah, after testing multiple carts of NBA Jam and Battletoads those carts are a no go on my RF. Did a full multimeter/solder workup on two sets of carts and nothing. I'll just get the roms.

[Andromeda Stardust]

 

Yeah, after testing multiple carts of NBA Jam and Battletoads those carts are a no go on my RF. Did a full multimeter/solder workup on two sets of carts and nothing. I'll just get the roms.

Do you have a real Genesis / MD, or a Super Retro Trio, FC3, or Retron3 clone? Any carts that don't work on the Retro freak or Retron5 should work fine on any SOAC (System on a Chip) clone.

 

The exception would be NES homebrew that use 4-way mirroring or do some other weird stuff with the cart bus. Many NOAC clone chips lack some circuitry that a real NES possesses and is necessary for certain advanced mappers (like MMC5) to operate.

[Guest LiqMat]

Do you have a real Genesis / MD, or a Super Retro Trio, FC3, or Retron3 clone? Any carts that don't work on the Retro freak or Retron5 should work fine on any SOAC (System on a Chip) clone.

 

The exception would be NES homebrew that use 4-way mirroring or do some other weird stuff with the cart bus. Many NOAC clone chips lack some circuitry that a real NES possesses and is necessary for certain advanced mappers (like MMC5) to operate.

 

Unfortunately because I travel non-stop all my Sega consoles I have restored are in another state and I bring my RF with me. Either way I am pretty sure these carts are good and the RF just doesn't like them. When I get to my storage unit down the road I'll give it a go.

[gorfcadet]

I have a Battletoads for Genesis that hates my real hardware (all models) and Retro Freak, but will work on my @Games clone.

[Guest LiqMat]

I have a Battletoads for Genesis that hates my real hardware (all models) and Retro Freak, but will work on my @Games clone.

That is really strange. Those two carts are driving me nuts. Thanks for the info.

[Andromeda Stardust]

The less said about AtGames Genesis clones, the better. I will say, the Retro Freak plays my Ballz3D SNES cart from which I harvested the DSP1 chip for my Super Everdrive v2.0. I tried playing it a few rounds and it's actually one of those "so bad, it's good" type cult classics. That's my only game cart I currently own that plays on the RFreak, but fails on real hardware (because I harvested chips off it but left the ROMs intact). I suspect your Battle Toads may have dirty pins if it works on the AtGames but not a real Genesis.

[gorfcadet]

Nope. My Battletoads is immaculate. Failed on 2 Genesis model 1s, a model 2, both setups with and without 32X, a CDX, and the Retro Freak. The only thing it worked on was the @games. I think there is a security chip that is bad that causes the original hardware to think it is pirate or import.

[gorfcadet]

But yeah, the @games sucks. That sound is garbage!

[LadyLilith]

I guess it's a good thing I skipped over the At Games consoles after wanting them at first, then. Once I did some research though, they just sounded worse and worse. The Retro Freak is really like a million times better.

[Unadan]

I'm a bit interested in their new handheld with the SD slot.

[LadyLilith]

Lately, I've been all about getting new Sonic hacks for my Retro Freak.

I've been trying to find Sonic 1 Special Version. The site all the YT videos link to doesn't appear to work, and it seems like the last video the guy uploaded was 2 years ago, so I have little hope of getting into contact with him. I'd appreciate it if anyone here had a copy of the hack that they could send me or point me to a working download.

Edit-It has been solved. Actually the first game I've ever needed to change from .gen to .md

http://editchris.sonicgamesdimension.net/Sonic%201%20Special%20Version/5.5%20(SGD%20HC%20Release)/

Edited April 18, 2016 by LadyLilith

[LadyLilith]

I think it's just like the Mario 3 issues with Virtual console. Most old TVs cropped the 8-pixel borders of games so the glitches did not show. It's likely present in the actual NTSC video stream of old hardware.

 

So there's nothing I can do to get that border to go away? I've tried messing around with all the video options again, nothing works. Hell, displaying overscan makes it worse.

[Newsdee]

So there's nothing I can do to get that border to go away? I've tried messing around with all the video options again, nothing works. Hell, displaying overscan makes it worse.

I don't think the Freak supports it, but it could be hidden by moving the display to one side a bit. I do it sometimes with upscalers...

[Andromeda Stardust]

 

So there's nothing I can do to get that border to go away? I've tried messing around with all the video options again, nothing works. Hell, displaying overscan makes it worse.

Just leave it alone. It's no different from what is present in the uncropped composite signal (minus the moire patterns) of a real NES.

 

Real NES hardware has the same glitch issues along the left hand edge, and sometimes the upper and lower 8 pixels. My Hauppauge USB capture device even captures a few vertical lines worth of horizontal overscan beyond the bounds of the 256 pixel screen borders. This shows up as skinny little side bars filled in with whatever the PPU background color is for the current scanline, if the background color is not set to black.

 

Retro Freak can put out a 256x240 pixel image, and you will see these effects, same as the real composite signal from an NES beyond the screen borders will show these same glitches if you use a CRT TV or 15kHz monitor that allows adjustment of the overscan area. Most consumer CRTs were set at the factory and contained no user adjustments.

 

So the presence of glitch pixels on the screen border in emulation is in fact present in real hardware and is not poor emulation. Wii Virtual Console did exactly the same thing with Super Mario Bros 3, which gamers complained about incessantly not realizing it was also in present in the original composite signal on authentic NES consoles.

[Guest LiqMat]

Just leave it alone. It's no different from what is present in the uncropped composite signal (minus the moire patterns) of a real NES.

 

Real NES hardware has the same glitch issues along the left hand edge, and sometimes the upper and lower 8 pixels. My Hauppauge USB capture device even captures a few vertical lines worth of horizontal overscan beyond the bounds of the 256 pixel screen borders. This shows up as skinny little side bars filled in with whatever the PPU background color is for the current scanline, if the background color is not set to black.

 

Retro Freak can put out a 256x240 pixel image, and you will see these effects, same as the real composite signal from an NES beyond the screen borders will show these same glitches if you use a CRT TV or 15kHz monitor that allows adjustment of the overscan area. Most consumer CRTs were set at the factory and contained no user adjustments.

 

So the presence of glitch pixels on the screen border in emulation is in fact present in real hardware and is not poor emulation. Wii Virtual Console did exactly the same thing with Super Mario Bros 3, which gamers complained about incessantly not realizing it was also in present in the original composite signal on authentic NES consoles.

 

It reminds me when I picked up a heavy sixer 2600 a few months back after 35 years of not using a 2600. I had completely forgotten about the lines on the left hand side of the screen and how many games masked them out by shifting the image over. Oh how hindsight is in fact through rose tinted glasses.

[+remowilliams]

Just leave it alone. It's no different from what is present in the uncropped composite signal (minus the moire patterns) of a real NES.

 

Yep I see things like this on many different systems when run through the xrgbmini.

[LadyLilith]

Just leave it alone. It's no different from what is present in the uncropped composite signal (minus the moire patterns) of a real NES.

 

Real NES hardware has the same glitch issues along the left hand edge, and sometimes the upper and lower 8 pixels. My Hauppauge USB capture device even captures a few vertical lines worth of horizontal overscan beyond the bounds of the 256 pixel screen borders. This shows up as skinny little side bars filled in with whatever the PPU background color is for the current scanline, if the background color is not set to black.

 

Retro Freak can put out a 256x240 pixel image, and you will see these effects, same as the real composite signal from an NES beyond the screen borders will show these same glitches if you use a CRT TV or 15kHz monitor that allows adjustment of the overscan area. Most consumer CRTs were set at the factory and contained no user adjustments.

 

So the presence of glitch pixels on the screen border in emulation is in fact present in real hardware and is not poor emulation. Wii Virtual Console did exactly the same thing with Super Mario Bros 3, which gamers complained about incessantly not realizing it was also in present in the original composite signal on authentic NES consoles.

 

Strange that I never saw it on my Model 1 Master System, but I suppose I was too engaged in the game to notice.

[Bill Loguidice]

I just got a promo email from Play-Asia and they've re-iterated that the 8bitDo wireless controllers work with the Retro Freak. I'm not sure how, as "through the app" is rather vague. I'd LOVE to get one of these as using wires is kind of a pain in my house until everyone goes to bed, but not if it's a major hassle to get working.

 

Here's the email newsletter about it:

 

As gaming peripherals have always existed since gaming, great peripherals have endured the decades of demands from many gamers; that the controllers simply work the most important feature above all else, even regardless of style. However, that doesn't mean that there hasn't been attempts to combine gaming aesthetic and function - a perfect example of this is found in Hong Kong. 8BitDo, a company concerned with the design, development and, production of Bluetooth wireless game controller has created a series of controllers that work as promised and look just as good.

The devices featured share the same main theme; 8BitDo's full buttoned wireless bluetooth game controller connect with as many platforms as possible, and comes with full support, upgrades, and even an app dedicated to improving the connectivity between game and gamer. This has been quite successful, as there are many positive video reviews made with each release.

And for such a portable device, there is a lot of functionality available. All the devices work with iOS, Android, MacOS, Windows, iPhone (iCade), iTouch, iPad, Samsung Note II, Galaxy series, Android Pad, and Windows platforms. With the app, the controllers can even be used on the WiiU and even the RetroFreak! 8BitDo has also made it easier for the device to connect and promises zero lag based via their built-in CPU ARM Cortex-M3 32 installed with each controller. There is a way to enable multiplayer functionality by connecting multiple controllers to one platform.

A huge mention must go towards the retro design too - a lot of the times the term "for gamers by gamers" is used too liberally; 8BitDo certain has the passion and the right to make this claim. Designer Welin Li's inspiration for adding the glowing blue hue into the classic hued NES30 Pro is drawn from a gamer's game: Castlevania Symphony of the Night, specifically, the powerful Crissaegrem Sword. In the world of gaming, a controller can be considered a weapon. A great way to express it, this is the combination of the Designer's favorite game and an analogy, an attractive way to fuse the two - plus it looks damn cool.

Please feel free to learn more about 8BitDo on their official website, you'll find that there is so much care in making these peripherals for those who need to always be close to gaming; these are products built towards furthering a popular lifestyle.

The Signature Series:

8BitDo's first release, the Crissaegrem is the first full button wireless bluetooth controller worldwide. With the glowing blue light, retro NES and Famicom colorways, these have been also 8BitDo's most popular release.

 

The Homage Series:

As subsequent releases to the FC30 and NES30, by taking the idea of retro forward, there's even replica offerings, which recreate the feel of some of the most appreciated controllers ever. There is also no sacrifice with form, as each controller retains all function of it's predecessors.

 

Arcade Sticks:

Hong Kong, like many parts of the world, used to have a golden arcade period; as 8BitDo hails from such a time and place, they've also made stylish arcade sticks with a Famicom flair. To take it even further, the Sanwa Version is just that; using authentic Sanwa parts, this is a very premium bluetooth game controller.

 

Accessories:

Continuing the design theme, 8BitDo's Retro Cube Speaker is a powerful device meant to be pair with bluetooth devices while using wireless controllers. It's careful attention to the lower frequency spectrum ensures that game music and sound is given the attention that it deserves.

And as their most contemporary controller yet, the ZERO gamepad is perhaps the worlds smallest controller, at approximately seven centimeters in length. About the size of a house key, ZERO is not just a gimmick; careful attention has be made on it's silicone buttons for smoother control, and it can also withstand day to day usage en route.

[Dragun]

I have the snes30 with the current firmware on the controller and retro freak. It works but it must be plugged in the USB port as the system doesn't have Bluetooth. I believe they are working on an Bluetooth adapter for the snes controller port which would work wirelessly if you have the premium console with the controller port add on but I'm not sure when that adapter will be available. It was demonstrated at a recent game/trade show on a retro freak! Also, if you use it now with the cable, you can setup a controller profile for it to assign the buttons as it detects is as a usb controller, not an snes controller - all buttons are decteced and assignable.