Retro Freak firmware update

[Andromeda Stardust]

I bought a cheap laptop cooler (as in $5 shipped from China) with the collapsable legs and placed it under the Rfreak with the legs folded. It plugs into the third USB port that nobody uses.

[Foxfire]

I created an account to just reply to this topic.

I bought a retrofreak recently and i am pretty much pleased with what i got. I did though take the information that this unit could overheat to heart and did some slight modifications to the system.

Doing this pretty much voids any warranty, if there was one to begin with.

 

First take the main unit out of the cart reader and flip it over. Next remove the rubber stoppers on the four corners, underneath are small philips screws. Remove them.

The top should cleanly come off the base giving you a sight similar to picture one. Remove the stickers and clean the top of the chips with IPA, preferably 70% strength or stronger.

For the next part you will need to get some raspberry pi heatsinks, at least the ones for the ram. And a passive heatsink kit for older motherboards that have separate south and north bridges, you will want one with a small passive southbridge heatsink. Found both at my local microcenter, in total costing a bit under 20 dollars. Both need to be under 8mm or so tall to fit inside the retrofreak case without modifying it.

Use thermal pads to apply the raspberry pi ram heatsinks to the center of the ram chips on the board. The two to the left of the rockwell chip, closest to the power in. Then attach the small southbridge to the rockwell chip. You should end up with something similar to picture two.

When done the chips should run cooler but the case 'may' feel warmer. Don't panic, that is simply the heatsinks doing their job of transferring heat off the chips.

To reassemble just put the screws back in and cover them with the stoppers.

I went from a well running system that may crash when changing filters while running or starting certain games to a stable system.

 

On a side note i have noticed two oddities. Zelda 2, the adventures of link 'feels' like it is running a tad bit fast. 10% faster or so. And the system doesn't seem to be able to emulate Y's 3 very well. No background or dialog.

[RetrogamerX]

My Retro freak is not booting now. Not happy at all.

 

I've only used it a few time.

 

[Andromeda Stardust]

My Retro freak is not booting now. Not happy at all.

 

I've only used it a few time.

 

That sucks...

[bigeviljohn]

Hello newbie user here need some basic help please. What type of format does the request have to be in? My computer keeps opening this up as an adobe reader file or internet explorer file and it wont read to update automatically in the retrofreak what am I doing wrong????

[cybercylon]

I finally got around to getting one of these, and I like it so far.... more so than the Retron 5. Nice to be able to plug in my games and have them available to play on the SD card. That means the carts can go back into storage instead of sprawling everywhere. I can see why they encrypt the dumped roms even though it would be nice to use them on another emulator.

 

I didn't know the optional controller adapter was so rare on it's own so I am glad I got the version with it.

 

The only issue is that I can't get to recognize my NES Burgertime cart or my Gauntlet IV (Genesis cart). Not sure what is going on there. Both still work on the Retron 5.

 

Now I am debating on selling off the Retron 5, but I want to play with the Retrofreak for a few more days before I decide.

[Tanooki]

I finally got around to getting one of these, and I like it so far.... more so than the Retron 5. Nice to be able to plug in my games and have them available to play on the SD card. That means the carts can go back into storage instead of sprawling everywhere. I can see why they encrypt the dumped roms even though it would be nice to use them on another emulator.

 

I didn't know the optional controller adapter was so rare on it's own so I am glad I got the version with it.

 

The only issue is that I can't get to recognize my NES Burgertime cart or my Gauntlet IV (Genesis cart). Not sure what is going on there. Both still work on the Retron 5.

 

Now I am debating on selling off the Retron 5, but I want to play with the Retrofreak for a few more days before I decide.

Where did you find yours? I want to ditch the lame Retron5 I have and was thinking this would be a good upgrade considering the better support and obviously the dumping capability which negates the reason for everdrive like devices too. It maybe generic and ugly, but remove all the extras and it's really quite tiny. I do wish it with the controller & NES adapter ports though.

[cybercylon]

I got it off of Amazon from a vendor that Amazon fulfills their orders, so it is eligible for Prime shipping if you have that. It will run you somewhere between $200-$210 depending on which vendor you go with. Just search for Cyber Gadget Retro Freak Controller Adapter Set or just Retrofreak (vendor's name was hyaK).

[Bill Loguidice]

Where did you find yours? I want to ditch the lame Retron5 I have and was thinking this would be a good upgrade considering the better support and obviously the dumping capability which negates the reason for everdrive like devices too. It maybe generic and ugly, but remove all the extras and it's really quite tiny. I do wish it with the controller & NES adapter ports though.

 

I know you keep harping on the cartridge adapter thing, but to me, that shouldn't be a deal breaker. I agree 100% about the controller adapter, but that's included with the deluxe versions of the product. You can use any NES cartridge adapter with the thing (it's just a pin adapter), plus, you really don't NEED any cartridges since you can just use the ROMs anyway.

 

The only thing I really need for mine at this point is a second controller adapter (just waiting for a better price) and then probably a second wireless SNES gamepad. Right now I have one wireless SNES gamepad (8bitdo) and one wireless NES gamepad. Of course I have many wired options, but wireless is considerably more convenient for my particular situation.

[Tanooki]

True enough one could pick up a cheap NES to FC adapter. They cost less than the FC to NES stuff for US systems. I like to use my real carts I grew up with, otherwise I just wouldn't care because as you said -- ROMs. It's not really a dealbreaker either way it's just that they were releasing that module this year, and it is out, but I hadn't seen a US based vendor with it yet so I hadn't pulled the trigger.

 

As it is I need to dust off the unused replacement R5 I've had sitting around for a long stretch doing nothing atop of my PS4 and photo it, put it back in the packing materials/box and throw it on ebay or here. They go for around $100 used in fantastic shape so that'll take a good slice out of the trade out costs.

 

 

Oh and cyber-- yeah I saw that, it's 209 shipped.

https://www.amazon.com/Cyber-Gadget-Retro-Freak-Controller-Adapter/dp/B00ZZ70KMG

Edited May 23, 2017 by Tanooki

[+Gemintronic]

Apparently online sellers like to undercut each other on this product. So, the prices come in waves. people get stock. Undercut each other. Prices rise when stock runs out. Rinse and repeat.

[Andromeda Stardust]

 

 

Oh and cyber-- yeah I saw that, it's 209 shipped.

https://www.amazon.com/Cyber-Gadget-Retro-Freak-Controller-Adapter/dp/B00ZZ70KMG

OT, but would have been nice if Cyber Gadget made these adapters available separately.

[Tanooki]

OT, but would have been nice if Cyber Gadget made these adapters available separately.

They do, same with the system sliding scale from $20-30 or more for those who already have the system. A bundle of it all was coming, that's kind of what I was holding out for. Either way, it's fluff.

[MundekStw]

Hello

I have Retro Freak with last firmware 2.5. I bought 3 Retro-bit Nes to usb adapters and 8bitdo Nes bluetooth receiver. Everything working great on Nes system game but is problem on Snes. Controllers from 8bitdo like Nes30 pro, from Ps4 and Wii, Retro Freak detecting like "other usb". On cable all these controllers working normal. I can mapping all buttons, but on bluetooth mode i can't use select/start buttons on Snes system. When controller profile is default i can play normal on snes, but i can't start game without wired controller. When profile is changed i can start Snes game but i can't shoot or jump in game. Is any way to edit profile files? Where on Retro Freak i can find these profiles? Sorry for my english. I hope you uderstand me. Thanks.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Hello

I have Retro Freak with last firmware 2.5. I bought 3 Retro-bit Nes to usb adapters and 8bitdo Nes bluetooth receiver. Everything working great on Nes system game but is problem on Snes. Controllers from 8bitdo like Nes30 pro, from Ps4 and Wii, Retro Freak detecting like "other usb". On cable all these controllers working normal. I can mapping all buttons, but on bluetooth mode i can't use select/start buttons on Snes system. When controller profile is default i can play normal on snes, but i can't start game without wired controller. When profile is changed i can start Snes game but i can't shoot or jump in game. Is any way to edit profile files? Where on Retro Freak i can find these profiles? Sorry for my english. I hope you uderstand me. Thanks.

You can edit profiles but you have to create a separate profile for each controller and for each system you use it with. So using the 8-bitdo's USB cable for instance, I might have to rename them "8bitdo NES" "8bitdo SNES" "8bitdo Game Boy" etc. And if you use the retro receiver with a USB dongle for NES/SNES, the inputs will be all different.

 

Also the Rfreak reads all non-PS3/4, non- controller adapter controllers as "other USB" so if you swap USB controllers you'll have to manually select the appropriate profile before the start of each game or your inputs will likely be messed up. You cannot assign an "Other USB" profile to a specific controller and expect it to detect it when plugged in. If your "Other USB" doesn't match the "Other USB" profile you are currently useing, the inputs will likely be mapped incorrectly. And it gets worse trying to play multiplayer with multiple controllers. The configuration process is a HUGE PITA why I stopped bothering with 8-bitdo / generic USB controllers (I have the REtroUSB retroports for NES/SNES/Genesis as well) and just used a 6-button Hori PS3 wired fight pad for everything.

 

My console has been collecting dust for some time now; thinking of selling it.

[Noah98]

Based on the mostly positive experiences here, I decided to finally order a Retrofreak. Got the controller adapter bundle for $194 on Amazon with free two day shipping and no tax.

 

Wish me luck! I had a launch Retron 5 that was defective and I was leery about the Retrofreak. Hopefully this is much better.

 

Any ideas on what firmware these are shipping with now?

[Newsdee]

Wish me luck! I had a launch Retron 5 that was defective and I was leery about the Retrofreak. Hopefully this is much better.

 

Any ideas on what firmware these are shipping with now?

I don't know about the firmware. But I can tell you the quality is much better than the Retron 5. Still, be careful when taking carts out just in case. Good luck!

[Tanooki]

Well once you get the carts in it dumps them into that tiny part of the system, so after that you should be set unless you want to throw a save game back on real hardware right? (like the meh R5)

 

I've been thinking long and hard about getting one too after having both models of the R5 and its odd handling of a few things. My only hang up would be the inability to throw my recently acquired super everdrive at it. It would be nice saving the space and well the HDMI clarity though my TV converts like a champ.

[Newsdee]

My only hang up would be the inability to throw my recently acquired super everdrive at it. It would be nice saving the space and well the HDMI clarity though my TV converts like a champ.

You can just put the ROMs in the SD card of the Retro Freak, it works fine.

 

Caveat is that if you have too many files, it will take more time to boot. But essentially the RF *IS* an Everdrive

[cybercylon]

Well, the big difference is one is using real hardware (generally) to run a rom with a flash cart instead of using arm based console that is running an emulator. Only picky people will probably care about the difference.

[Tanooki]

Yeah I had known about that, it was more me groaning over having just got the Super Everdrive v2(w/dsp) and then going into that. At the least I could take my existing SD card with all my sectioned off goodies and just go with it. Though I would imagine those lovely chipped games would now be usable on there as something to add.

[cybercylon]

I am pretty sure that the emulator in the Retrofreak likely emulates all of those special chips okay (accuracy is another question). Unless you are going to invest in SD2SNES (and even that does not support them all), there are games that won't work with a flash cart. A feature that was supposed to work with the Super UFO Pro 8 was the ability to use a donor cart that has the chip to play another rom file that needs it (e.g., Starfox plugged in to play a Stunt Race FX), but I have read that feature does not work very well.

[Andromeda Stardust]

I am pretty sure that the emulator in the Retrofreak likely emulates all of those special chips okay (accuracy is another question). Unless you are going to invest in SD2SNES (and even that does not support them all), there are games that won't work with a flash cart. A feature that was supposed to work with the Super UFO Pro 8 was the ability to use a donor cart that has the chip to play another rom file that needs it (e.g., Starfox plugged in to play a Stunt Race FX), but I have read that feature does not work very well.

Currently there are no options for Super FX or SA-1 games on real hardware short of paying up for an original or shelling out for a repro using some other game with same chip as a donor.

[Tanooki]

25 years ago my friend had a chinese knockoff of a knockoff of that old Super8 for the SNES (SFC) that ran off stock floppies (3.5") and it did allow pass through both for the DSP and FX as we ran ROMs of Mario Kart and Starfox at his house at the time to try it out. Maybe they were hit and miss but that one was a hit as it passed fine. I know the limit of the Super EDv2, and I own the FX, SDD1, and SA1 games almost entirely for the system, definitely FX wise for the ones I want. Since mine has the DSP enabled outside of not being able to do Parodius 3 (SA1) there's no loss in holding onto it thankfully.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if the RF ran anything thrown at it if it came in a ROM format that was some legit non bootleg multicart type setup. It likely runs off a similar version of the popular android emulators which handle the stuff admirably well.

[Noah98]

Got mine a few days ago and I have to say that I am very happy with it. It was relatively easy to update and add roms, uses original controllers, and everything plays well. For the price, this is an excellent product. The only advantages the Retron 5 has on this are price and another set of controller ports. Otherwise, this is the one to get.

 

I've been playing a ton of Turbografx/Pc Engine software (from my own hu cards and downloaded roms) and am having so much fun exploring that library.

 

My only criticism is that the scanlines option is not great. I wish there were more scanlines to choose from like the hidef nes or the AVS. Still, not a dealbreaker. They look good enough playing on a 55 inch 1080p TV. The graphics do look pretty pixelated when playing on my 75 inch 4k TV though. Probably a combination of the size and added resolution. I do play pretty close to the TV's, so that is also a factor. I also wish that I could get another controller adapter on the cheap. In addition, I wish there was an easy way to secure it when playing. It flops around so much when I'm playing, that I was thinking about using velcro on it lol!

Edited July 24, 2017 by Noah98