Atari Flashback X Custom Firmware for USB roms and boxart

[martin00000000001]

Ok Check this out. And would it work with Star Wars the Arcade Game on Atari X ?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08L7TVCM2/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=glensretrosho-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B08L7TVCM2&linkId=6f5992729695cc27945064df0a2eaf98

[Draxxon]

It will work with the Arcade Legends Ultimate but not on the AFBX I'm afraid.

I'm guessing with a PC and mame and the rom youre good to go too.

Edited April 6, 2021 by Draxxon

[Draxxon]

Odyssey 2 emulator is working.

 

Select button brings up the On Screen Keyboard.

Edited April 8, 2021 by Draxxon

[KevinMos3]

Finally tried the latest NEXUS setup on my 9Gold, and man there's a lot of work that's been put into it. Thank you.

 

Here are a couple things I noticed:

 

- A800 and 5200 don't work - its not finding the BIOSes.

 

- Lynx has several 1 button games (especially the homebrew contest releases), but you can't start them since it seems like the wrong button might be mapped.

 

- 7800 games like Pete Rose, Super Skateboardin' (Absolute/Activision) games are 1-button, but seem to require the other button to start the game. Maybe the AFB button should be mapped to the opposite of what it is now (whether 1 or 2).

 

- I can play 2600 Roms from the "games" folder only if they're named with the *.a26 extension. This isn't a problem, but I'm curious if there's a way to play other extensions from that folder (ex: the ones requiring Stella 6.x)?  Changing the extension to *.26a works inside the all-games.ini method, but not from the games folder.

 

- The BG music plays by default when loading another emulator in NEXUS. Can you turn this off by default?

 

- Sound is flaky or not working with the Genesis emu.  Sometimes plays very soft then gets loud and distorted after a minute or two, or stops working altogether.

 

- Man, it's cool to play Circus Convoy on my FB9G even if its not 100% full speed. It's still very playable, even though I can't quite tolerate Galagon at that speed (haven't tried the others).

 

Last thing: can you make the CPU speed patch for the 9? I'd like to see if it helps anything.

Edited April 8, 2021 by KevinMos3

[Draxxon]

ok so, Kevin, you are the first person I know that has tried and left feedback for the nexus on 9 gold. none of us working on it have a 9 gold. so good to hear it mostly works.

rocketfan had to update a800 to get it working on 9 gold, he probably just missed fixing the path to the bios? easy fix, but just a guess.

 

i havent gotten any farther on lynx than just getting the core and that one game working. to change the buttons the core HAS to use the LFB retroplayer. you can then change the button mappings in /rom_lynx/data/retroplayer.ini with notepad.

 

7800 got all the games added so they could be also put into the LFB which has 6 button pads. now we need to see what games need cut from the AFBX and what can be coaxed into working with button swapping magic.

 

i believe there is no more .bin for atari games because sega genesis is now using it. I believe that you can get support for the other games/cores (.26a) in the /game folder. I think we did it for mame or fba for testing for 1 button games. It would need to be programmed in.

 

i think i could turn all the bgm off, save it, and when i share the pack it will be off by "default" for users. I just chose to leave it on. You can turn it off and save it, correct? there may also be a way to set it to off for real in the systems files, but i have never messed with it.

well you got two cores, pico and gen+gx, 3 retroplayers, LFB AFB9 AFBX and all the settings in the /data/retroplayer.ini file, so you can mess around with those to try and fix sega sound. I see that AtGames have some audio settings in place for Sega, so sound is gonna probably be an issue no matter how you tweak it.

Overclocking and CFW isnt anything I know how to do. OC was attempted once on the AFB9 and it didnt go so well.

 

Edited April 8, 2021 by Draxxon

[rocketfan]

3 hours ago, KevinMos3 said:

- A800 and 5200 don't work - its not finding the BIOSes.

Looks like the config file for AFB9 (which specifies BIOS file locations) in the release .zip hasn't got the required paths in it for whatever reason.  It makes me wonder if under certain conditions the config is being re-generated/defaulted?

 

The AFB9's have different paths than the X's hence a second copy of this (with the extra .afb9 extension) is needed.  Copy this into your /emulator folder overwriting the current "atari800.cfg.afb9" and hopefully A800 and A5200 will work.

 

atari800.cfg.afb9

Edited April 8, 2021 by rocketfan

[rocketfan]

3 hours ago, KevinMos3 said:

can you make the CPU speed patch for the 9? I'd like to see if it helps anything.

There should be a file in the root of your SD card:  CPUfreq.txt.  That is the readout of your current clock rate.  The AFBX's were at 812 Mhz, bumped to 1200Mhz with the overclock.  It's not clear what the Golds are at, so maybe let us know.  The overclock update for AFBX is NOT compatible with AFB9.  I might be possible to concoct one, but it is a bit of a process, and if it goes wrong you will be going back to the Android tools to reflash a previous BIOS.

Edited April 8, 2021 by rocketfan

[rocketfan]

5 hours ago, KevinMos3 said:

The BG music plays by default when loading another emulator in NEXUS. Can you turn this off by default?

Yes, what Draxxon said.  If you turn it off in the UI settings menu for the particular rom folder, it should stick.  Those settings are per rom folder with Nexus, not global.

5 hours ago, KevinMos3 said:

Changing the extension to *.26a works inside the all-games.ini method, but not from the games folder.

This gets back  to the old "slots" issue.  The retromenu.run and retromenu.run.afb9 exe's have been hardwired to pick up .a26, .zip, .zim.  I tried wildcards, but in this case that won't work - the programs are looking for exact string matches.  As usual where there is a will there is a way.  I have prototyped a trick - add a .gme "extra extension" so if you have storm_runner.sms  you would make it storm_runner.sms.gme - then it will show up in the game folder list.    When the .gme extension is recognized it is stripped off and then processed as normal.  I will pass these mods to Draxxon for his next full release.

Edited April 9, 2021 by rocketfan

[rocketfan]

5 hours ago, KevinMos3 said:

Sound is flaky or not working with the Genesis emu.  Sometimes plays very soft then gets loud and distorted after a minute or two, or stops working altogether.

I played Genesis Frogger for about 10 mins, no issue - is it only with specific games?

[KevinMos3]

1 hour ago, rocketfan said:

There should be a file in the root of your SD card:  CPUfreq.txt.  That is the readout of your current clock rate...

It says 1008000.

So that's the current clockrate eh?  Well, I guess that makes the overclock less important.  Unless it can go up to 1,200Mhz or higher.  Not sure I want to risk it at the moment, as I haven't soldered a header on this unit for flashing.

 

11 minutes ago, rocketfan said:

I played Genesis Frogger for about 10 mins, no issue - is it only with specific games?

I tried a few:  Sonic, Fix it Felix, another I can't remember...

and also some Game Gear titles like Mappy

and a Master System one that I can't remember.

 

The Game Gear would play low volume and flake out after a couple minutes.  The Genesis didn't seem to play sound at all.

 

13 minutes ago, rocketfan said:

Yes, what Draxxon said.  If you turn it off in the UI settings menu for the particular rom folder, it should stick.  Those settings are per rom folder with Nexus, not global.

Ok, I'll try again, but it didn't seem to be saving the setting.  I could be wrong though.  I'll report back later on it.  If it's just a matter of saving a txt file, I should be able to "find all", edit, and save each.

Edited April 9, 2021 by KevinMos3

[rocketfan]

1 minute ago, KevinMos3 said:

It says 1008000.

That is "1008Mhz"  an intermediate rate - faster than the AFBX was set, but not quite the 1200Mhz where the Legends Flashback or the current AFBX mod sets things.  Probably the main place you will notice is the Stella6.1 - most other content barring some specifically challenging mame games should run very well at that rate.

[KevinMos3]

Yeah, better performance with Stella 6.1 would be a major bonus.  It works, but not fast enough for most of the games that require it, (for my taste).  I haven't tried them all yet, but the one that I was fairly happy with was Circus Convoy because that game doesn't have the kind of sounds that are terrible when emulated slower.  Galagon is a definite no-go for me on this system right now.  Still need to try Mappy, but I'm sure it'll be bad too because of the music that I expect to be choppy.

 

I keep the Retron77 handy for the handful of games that need the newer Stella.  But, I prefer the FB9 wireless controllers so much that I'd gladly just use it instead of the Retron if the speed were a bit better.

 

If you decide to try overclocking the FB9, let me know.  I can grab my standard out of storage for some testing (wouldn't be till next weekend though).

Edited April 9, 2021 by KevinMos3

[rocketfan]

3 minutes ago, KevinMos3 said:

Still need to try Mappy, but I'm sure it'll be bad too because of the music that I expect to be choppy.

I played Mappy first time tonight and it seemed pretty good at the 1200Mhz.  So, I will look at it some time and see what I can do.  I forgot that there could be soldering involved on AFB9's.  Maybe if I make a test patch, someone who has that mod would be willing to try it first?

[KevinMos3]

Has anyone compared the mainboards of the Legends FB and the Atari FB9?  I'm curious if the Legends could be wired up to use in the 9 housing.

 

But I suppose the wireless controllers probably wouldn't sync to it so if not, that's at least one scratch against going through the trouble.  Just spitballing out loud here...

I was thinking of the benefits of 6-button controller, but that wouldn't "feel" Atari, which would be the point of changing out housing. If I couldn't switch to Atari FB wireless controllers, then that would defeat some of the intent.  But if the wired Atari FB9 controllers at least worked with it, then there's that.

Of course, some ppl would just say "get a pi" if I were to go through all that effort.  But none of what we do in this hobby is really logical...    It's all about what we have passion for, driven by whatever.

Edited April 9, 2021 by KevinMos3

[rocketfan]

27 minutes ago, KevinMos3 said:

If you decide to try overclocking the FB9, let me know.  I can grab my standard out of storage for some testing (wouldn't be till next weekend though).

Ah - OK.  Since I don't have one of these I have paid no attention to the details of the differences.  I sure won't get to the overclock attempt until the weekend (at earliest) myself.  It might be interesting to see if your standard works any different or better though! 

 

One thing that worries me is that the AFB9 and AFB9 Gold could have different contents in their /resource partition, which is where the CPU speed change goes.  So, first thing to do is find those partitions from both, unpack them, decode the resources, compare them and etc.

Edited April 9, 2021 by rocketfan

[Draxxon]

If I remember correctly...

 

 - The AFB9s and LFB w/ 50 games all have the same SBC w/ the Monkey King clone chip.

 - The AFBXs and LFBs w/ 100 games have the Rockchip SBC.
 - you cant use atari sticks on the LFB and you cant use the 6button pads on the AFBs.

 

The truth is your better off with a LFB and an OEM retrobit genesis 6 button. UNLESS you

really, really like the Atari brand and the iconic one button, right hand, joystick experience.
 

[+MrZarniwoop]

5 hours ago, Draxxon said:

UNLESS you really, really like the Atari brand and the iconic one button, right hand, joystick experience.

I never bought this shirt from the AtariAge store but I keep coming back to the listing.

https://www.atariage.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=964

 

[Draxxon]

its cool. I think the design could be larger, and lower. and it kind of looks like a bullseye on you back... 

but its still sweet.

 

And for the record, I really DO like the atari console and joystick. Its why I'm spending my time on the unit that can play less games.

Edited April 9, 2021 by Draxxon

[Draxxon]

NEXUS 4.3 (Update only) FIXED a800 for AFB9G. ADDED .gme support for the /game folder.

*Powered by: ROCKETFAN

 

emulator.rar

Edited April 9, 2021 by Draxxon

[rocketfan]

13 hours ago, Draxxon said:

ADDED .gme support for the /game folder.

I did some more testing and realize that the .gme support was not working for ALL extensions.  So here is a runcommand you can put in /emulator (on top of the files from Draxxon above) that allows all extensions.

This runcommand ONLY really applies to the Nexus 4.1, not earlier versions.  Keep in mind some games (like Colecovision) really need the settings in the ./data/retroplayer.ini in the associated rom folder to work right.

On 4/8/2021 at 3:46 PM, KevinMos3 said:

Sound is flaky or not working with the Genesis emu.  Sometimes plays very soft then gets loud and distorted after a minute or two, or stops working altogether.

Tonight I reproduced this a couple of times.  In my case it seemed to be upon boot up it was in a bad mode, but not 100% sure.  In a way it is good news it is not isolated to the 9 gold only. 

 

I first noticed this while testing in the /game folder so I thought it was related to that, but now it seems like not so much.  My last couple of boots I have not been able to have it act up at all.  So, if anyone notices a pattern please let us know.  Also, probably worth trying the "restart" when it happens to see if that helps.

runcommand

[Draxxon]

What's New? A lot... I'm not sure I will remember everything.

 

IMPROVED the speed of the Stella 6.1 core.

FIXED the extra extension (.gme) for use in the /game folder for ALL the various ROM types.

FIXED the a800 PAL games the weren't working in NTSC mode. (Adax and Alchemia.)

ADDED the FinalBurnNEO core.

ADDED the ability to run ROMs of a similar type with different retroplayers by using extended file extensions.

ADDED various a800 chiptunes to the music folder.

ADDED a Magnavox Odyssey2 folder with games. (Some games use P2 stick after the game # is chose w/ the OSK~select button on P1.)

ADDED the Phillips Videopac+ games to the MO2 folder.
ADDED the TurboGrafx-16 1-Button games to the LFBD folder.

ADDED the rest of the 1-Button, Non-Atari, Arcade games to the LFBD folder.

*POWERED BY: RocketFan

 

Atari Flashback NEXUS - V.0.4.4

NEXUSv4.4.rar

Edited April 10, 2021 by Draxxon

[Draxxon]

This AFB NEXUS V.0.4.4 release adds support for a few new extensions:

 

NORMAL EXTENSIONS:

.26a   -  For Stella 6.X games.

.lnx    -  For Atari Lynx games.

.ody   -  For Magnavox Odyssey2 and Phillips Videopac+ games. (select brings up the OSK)

.pce   -  For TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine games.

 

SPECIAL EXTENSIONS:

.gme  -  For the /game folder ONLY. this MUST be added to every ROM in the /game folder.

.nesl  -  NES using the LFB retroplayer. Yes you can swap the wrong button games!

.zim   -  MAME2000 with the AFBX retroplayer. Medium performance. Rewind button brings up the MAME config menu. No Rewind.

.ziml  -  MAME2000 with the LFB retroplayer. This gives best possible performance, but needs key mapping per game.

.zim9 -  MAME2000 with the AFB9 retroplayer. It's better than the AFBX retroplayer. it does NOT support/need key mapping. Rewind works.

.zin    -  For FBNEO ROMs. It MUST use the LFB retroplayer for performance, and will need key mapping per game.

 

To change the Key Mapping (Configure the Buttons) go to /rom_alt/data/retroplayer.ini and edit it with notepad. In the case of the "Special Extensions", DO NOT use the special extension in the Key Mapping retroplayer.ini file entry, but instead use the original extensions. (.nes, .zim, .zip) The first position is the (Fire Button) and the 4th position is the (Select Button). Also, you can't have duplicate numbers. This is an example. Here the 2 in the cosmogng.zim actually sets RA-Select/MAME-P1Coin to the AFB's P1 Select Button & Console Select Switch for adding a coin. In the case of Castelian.nes, the AFB Fire Button is set to RA/NES A Button and AFB Select Button is set to the RA/NES B Button.

 

[KeyMappingUser]
cosmogng.zim=0, 1, 9, 2, 10, 11

Castelian.nes=8, 1, 9, 0, 10, 11

 

These are the actual corresponding values for RetroArch:  (0 is button B, 8 is button A):

#RETRO        B    Y    SLT  STA  UP   DWN  LEFT RGT  A    X    L     R    L2   R2   L3   R3
#INDEX         0    1     2     3     4      5        6      7    8    9   10   11   12   13   14   15

In the case of .zim MAME games. You can use the AFB Rewind Button to bring up the MAME config menu and set your buttons there. It has more options/flexibility. For example, there you could set the Bubble Bubble arcade game to use the Joystick Up Direction as the Jump Button.

Edited April 10, 2021 by Draxxon

[rocketfan]

4 hours ago, Draxxon said:

Atari Flashback NEXUS - V.0.4.4

I reformatted one of my drives and unzipped this onto it.  Draxxon - looking great, there is a massive amount of content now.  It takes a long time to transfer onto a drive! 

 

I spend the last hour+ playing a game or two out of most of the categories.  It all worked for me.  Interesting to play Demon Attack on the Odessey2.  It's tough - and those sound effects will wake you up!  ?

 

For anyone who likes puzzle games there were Several good Turbografx puzzle games added to the LFB section and a "hot off the press" Atari800 home brew Soko-ban game that's pretty good.

 

If you want to play Bubble Bobble map the player 1 button two (jump) to "Joytick up" in the mame config.  It plays pretty great with an Atari joystick!

Edited April 11, 2021 by rocketfan

[Draxxon]

I played a fair amount of bubble bobble today. Its not so bad with up as jump.
I've got Super-Duper playing in the Atari Hit Parade Jukebox folder right now, lol.

 

I have not messed with any new button mappings. There is a lot of options and flexibility now.

 

I've been looking at the available cores again. I see Commodore64, Vic20, Amiga, Tandy & IBM PCJr, Famicom Disc System, so many potential cores. I'm going to mess with Nestopia and FDS, getting the "Wrong Button" NES games in there, and Adding some game content to the Atari Lynx folder.

I's also going to try and do a comparison video of R77 Community Build vs AFBX Nexus Galagon gameplay sometime tomorrow.

Lastly, there was a setting in the LFB retroplayer.ini that made the console wait a few seconds before displaying games? could that same thing be done to hide the first few seconds of a800 games loading and lose the funky audio boom/glitch?

 

[SkipFrames]
cptennis.zip=380
 

Edited April 11, 2021 by Draxxon

[rocketfan]

1 hour ago, Draxxon said:

Lastly, there was a setting in the LFB retroplayer.ini that made the console wait a few seconds before displaying games? could that same thing be done to hide the first few seconds of a800 games loading and lose the funky audio boom/glitch?

 

[SkipFrames]
cptennis.zip=380

This is a great idea.  I have seen that, but didn't realize what that was even for.  Since I build that one from source, I can probably do the same thing in the emulator itself, just skipping some number of the sound frames at the start.  Should only take a few seconds of skips to avoid the glitch.  Let me try that first... 

Edited April 11, 2021 by rocketfan