Atari Flashback 9 FIRMWARE for adding games to SD card

[+HatNJ]

Is the FB9 w/ Composite using the FB portable firmware from last year or this years the one that improved compatiblity or the 2016 version?

 

I guess I am in the minority I wouldnt mind the composite version prob get both

[Mr SQL]

I was not aware that there was a standard def release until just a few days ago. Apparently, a small run was made at the request of retailers. I can't fathom why, but there you have it.

 

Anyway, based on the menu, it looks like the standard def console is running the same custom AtGames emulator as the handheld does. So it's the same as the past consoles and the handhelds. Only the HD 9 and 9 Gold are running Stella 3.x.

 

Thanks Bill. Cool that there are two versions, I think both emulators are pretty good but I would like to make my games that aren't working on one of them cross-compatible, particularly would like to revise the Flashback BASIC compiler so the games will run on all the Flashback models that accept SD carts.

 

I saw on another thread the Stella team is not sure which version of 3.x is on the FB9, is it possible you can find out?

[atxari]

First time posting here...what a great group!

 

I have a small problem with my SD card that I have not seen mentioned on this thread, maybe someone can help?

 

I was able to load all of the games from the Arenafoot Romset 12/6/17 without any problem, although I did have to re-name them to remove the spaces. The first letters are capitalized, all the rest lowercase. Everything plays fine but the games are not in alphabetical, or any particular order at all in the menu!? This makes locating a particular game in 101 menu screens very challenging!

 

I am not at all familar with SD cards but the Game file saved on the card has all the titles alphabetically. I formatted my 16gb Sandic Ultra with SDcardformatter5 for mac.

 

I've seen some mention to putting files in the "root" of your SD card--I'm not sure what that means?

 

Any advice for a solution would be most appreciated!

[Bill Loguidice]

 

I saw on another thread the Stella team is not sure which version of 3.x is on the FB9, is it possible you can find out?

 

3.9.3

[Flojomojo]

I've seen some mention to putting files in the "root" of your SD card--I'm not sure what that means?

That just means the top level ... not in a folder. Just drop it on top of the icon if that helps.

[Greg2600]

The menu in the composite system looks better.

[JeremyR]

First time posting here...what a great group!

 

I have a small problem with my SD card that I have not seen mentioned on this thread, maybe someone can help?

 

I was able to load all of the games from the Arenafoot Romset 12/6/17 without any problem, although I did have to re-name them to remove the spaces. The first letters are capitalized, all the rest lowercase. Everything plays fine but the games are not in alphabetical, or any particular order at all in the menu!? This makes locating a particular game in 101 menu screens very challenging!

 

For some reason, the games seem to be sorted by the order they were copied to the sd card. Or some date. Because I only added a few at a time to mine, but the ones I added always showed up later in the menu.

[atarifan88]

The menu in the composite system looks better.

 

You have got to be kidding?! That old menu is ugly and very generic. I'm so glad they went with an updated menu that shows multiple boxes on the screen at once instead of the text cartridges. That and the fact that its now in HD makes the composite obsolete. I'm actually surprised they are still churning out those things!

[Atari Nut]

 

You have got to be kidding?! That old menu is ugly and very generic.

 

I agree.

[Mr SQL]

 

3.9.3

 

This is interesting, the version is higher than the Retron77 but the Retron77 can play Kool-Aid Man and Defender III.

 

The new community build for the Retron77 does cause Defender III to occasionally scramble like it does on the Flashback9 but this has been modified from the Hyperkin release.

 

Stella team - perhaps something in the configuration if not the version?

My games not running were tested on all consoles including multiple versions of Stella.

[atxari]

 

For some reason, the games seem to be sorted by the order they were copied to the sd card. Or some date. Because I only added a few at a time to mine, but the ones I added always showed up later in the menu.

 

THANK YOU!!

 

I erased my original "Game" file, then copied the .bin files to the SD card again but in stages, only 3-4 alphabetical letters at a time. Now they are showing up in perfect alphabetical order on my FB9.

[Atari Nut]

You can always use something like this....

 

http://www.anerty.net/software/file/DriveSort/

[Greg2600]

I beg to differ. First of all, the HDMI version's box art is stretched out top to bottom, for some reason. Second, you have to move from the box art down to the page numbers in order to navigate, which is plain idiotic. Third, on the SD card menu, you'll need to shorten your rom collection file names (who wants to do that?) just to be able to read them. I have been totally put off my these Flashback 9's, and praying someone can just hack the interface completely so we can replace it with something nice.

Edited November 30, 2018 by Greg2600

[Atari Nut]

Third, on the SD card menu, you'll need to shorten your rom collection file names (who wants to do that?) just to be able to read them.

 

No you don't, the names scroll.

[pip2600]

This is for Atari Flashback 9 and Atari Flashback 9 Gold (same file works on both)

 

1. Download this file atari_update.img.zip

 

[...]

 

this message has been brought to you by the firmware fairy

 

Thank you so much Flojomojo/firmware fairy and ATGames !!

 

It would be good if you can edit your original post and include the warning about the blank spaces in the ROM filenames, I think we all have the ROM set for the Portable and will run into this.

Edited December 5, 2018 by pip2600

[Flojomojo]

Yes, no spaces in file names.

[atarifan88]

The portable games are just one way to put a group of games on the SD card. You can also download them yourself and edit them if you don't want to scroll through hundreds of games. I've only put about 60 games on my SD card, but those are the ones I love to play. I've got no time for filler, LOL!

[Bane_Masters]

Hi all,

 

So, I have gotten myself into a bit of a situation. I bought the Atari Flashback 9 with HDMI output. I played it for a while and everything worked just fine. Then I followed the directions to download the update onto an SD card and when I turned it back on I got the prompt for the update and chose "yes". Then the little updating circle came on screen and everything seemed fine. Sadly, it has turned out that was the end of my smooth-sailing.

 

The update will just load in an endless loop. It says the upload is happening, the status bar fills to three quarters and then it goes to the floating multicolored circle... Then after a while it disappears and the status bar comes back and the cycle repeats. I am not sure what it is that I have done wrong or what the next steps to try to fix it should be. I was using a 16gb SD card because I read somewhere it had to be that or smaller, but now I feel like some places are saying 8 or smaller. Should I just try with a different smaller card? I have tried stopping the update, rebooting the console, rebooting the system without the card inserted(just get "ERROR"), and resetting to factory through the menu that comes up when you hold the fire button for three seconds. Nothing seems to work, so I am hoping someone here may have some helpful tips or pointers. I am sorry my post is Tolstoy length, but I wanted to cover anything that may be relevant.

 

Thank you in advance for any ideas.

[Bill Loguidice]

Thank you in advance for any ideas.

 

Definitely listen to suggestions here, but also please contact info@atgames.net as well for technical support if you haven't already.

[+laz455]

I would view this youtube link if you haven't already

think they mention this issue

 

"

"

 

I'm getting ready to do the same....

Edited December 12, 2018 by laz455

[Sandro Butcher]

Does anyone know the maximum of characters that is accepted in flashback 9? I noticed that the console can only read the roms with small names with no space between them and with few letters, also does not accept any kind of special character, we have to write as short as possible and no space between letters. I found it very tiring to have to rename all roms if you want to play them, Retron is a much better option than Flashback ....

[Atari Nut]

Does anyone know the maximum of characters that is accepted in flashback 9? I noticed that the console can only read the roms with small names with no space between them and with few letters, also does not accept any kind of special character, we have to write as short as possible and no space between letters. I found it very tiring to have to rename all roms if you want to play them, Retron is a much better option than Flashback ....

 

Mine reads long names with special characters...

 

Wizard_Of_Wor_(1982)_[CBS_Electronics].bin

[TJF588]

The update will just load in an endless loop. It says the upload is happening, the status bar fills to three quarters and then it goes to the floating multicolored circle... Then after a while it disappears and the status bar comes back and the cycle repeats. I am not sure what it is that I have done wrong or what the next steps to try to fix it should be.

What update file did you use? I had similar behaviour happen when I used the Flashback Legends firmware update, and what eventually "worked" was using the update provided by this thread, though in the midst of it all, the end result was my system's default game library had been wiped.

[Bane_Masters]

What update file did you use? I had similar behaviour happen when I used the Flashback Legends firmware update, and what eventually "worked" was using the update provided by this thread, though in the midst of it all, the end result was my system's default game library had been wiped.

The update file I used was the one provided in this thread. I have heard people say that the system can be finicky, so I have tried different SD cards, reformatting the card to various file systems(exFAT, FAT32,etc.), and redownloading the update file in case something went amiss in my original download. I am sure the answer is that I am missing something or not taking some step that might occur to me if I was more experienced. It is fun to learn more, but also can be a little trying because it is hard to problem solve while still in the early stages. I will keep trying because I am confident it will work eventually, I just have to figure it out. I appreciate any advice or ideas for what to try next.

[Bane_Masters]

I would view this youtube link if you haven't already

think they mention this issue

 

"

"

 

I'm getting ready to do the same....

Thank you for the reply. I had actually come across this video once before, but I gave it another viewing at your suggestion. I did find it helpful because it at least confirmed that I had completed the same original steps as he did. It sounds like his machine acted the same way initially, but then rebooted to the atGames screen. My machine just never takes this next step. It just starts over again. I did once, briefly, see a literal flash of the atGames symbol across the screen, but then it was back to before. I am not super experienced, so it is possible I have loaded the files wrong or something.