Jump to content
IGNORED

Atari Flashback X Custom Firmware for USB roms and boxart


Recommended Posts

I got my OTG cable last night, so updated to the custom firmware provided by Brad_from_the_80s and Draxxon's flash drive image with star wars theme.  Very nice.  That really makes an already good product into a great one!

 

I also did some minor experimenting.  Did two things:

1) Temporarily replaced SpaceInvaders.a26 with a copy of the Frogger.a26 renamed as SpaceInvaders.a26 - Pick the SpaceInvaders entry and Frogger starts up - more or less as expected.

2) Tried the same thing by replacing 3dTicTacToe.a26 with the contents of Frogger.a26 - game will not start.

 

I was kind of hoping it would start for the #2 case also, (like the startup somehow figures out when it is an executable and does an exec instead of opening it with the core) but no dice.

 

That 95% proves what I suspected and what MrFister was saying in his post above.  SpaceInvaders.a26 and Frogger.a26 are special cases.  However, you could easily plop another executable in there as a launching point of some kind.  I was hoping I could find something like an xterm executable to try dropping in there, but do not see anything that would work in the AFB9 Firmware image.

 

I started looking at the Atari800 emulator, but porting it could be a real chore and possibly beyond my abilities to make it work with no real way to debug problems.  What would help is if I could get the devel. environment or at least some helpful hints from AtGames. 

 

Question:  Does anyone know if you can ssh into these things when hooked up via the OTG cable?   From looking at the AFB9 ROM dump it does look like the ssh service is in there. 

 

Second Question:  Does anyone think AtGames would ever provide sources?  They do provide sources just for the cores they use HERE.   That's a a bit helpful, but not enough for what I want to do.

 

I'm back to thinking it could be worth a try to get or build an appropriate version of the Libretro core "atari800_libretro.so" and just replace the stella core which is sitting under /emulator in the custom firmware.  You could just have a different USB stick for 8bit vs. VCS games.  If that worked, then the whole front end and artwork setup could still be used.

 

 

Edited by rocketfan
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I experimented some more and learned some things.  Sorry for the longish posts, I'm trying to record what I learn in case I hit a dead end and anyone else can use the information at some point. 

 

Others certainly understood this already, but I didn't:  When the system boots with the custom FW it is remounting the /rom partition using the folder on the flash drive.  So the original "read-only" /rom on the device is then not used.  However, for /emulator it is different.  Your flash drive has a copy of /emulator and the startup.sh runs the UI (retromenu) from there, and using a variety of the info (like Draxxon's theme stuff) from there.  However, inside the retromenu executable there are hard-coded "fully qualified" paths to like: /emulator/retroplayer (which is essentially the emulator) and also to the Stella core in the original /emulator as opposed to the one out on your media.  So, my mistake was thinking I could replace the Stella core by replacing the .so file in the /emulator on the flash drive, but that will not work.  As it is currently, you would have to replace the one embedded in the custom firmware update image to have it used.

 

Based on some information from an error message I logged in my experimenting, I believe AtGames used a MarsBoard rk3066 Linux image as their reference.  Possibly the MarsBoard rk3066 device was the reference design for the HW as well, with all the extras stripped out to reduce cost?  Bottom line is that information and downloads here at MarsBoard.com is probably relevant to developing for the product. Also, the best references I found and tools for unpacking/packing the update images are:

http://www.hotmcu.com/wiki/Flashing_Firmware_Image_Files_Using_The_Rockchip_Tool#Using_Linux_Upgrade_Tool_to_flash_update.img

http://wiki.t-firefly.com/ROC-RK3328-CC/fw_pack_unpack.html

https://github.com/T-Firefly/rk2918_tools

 

BTW, to build those tools you also need: "sudo apt-get install libssl-dev libcrypto++-dev"

 

And after building, using the tools as described specifically in the second link above I could unpack one of the update images and see the contents in Linux.

 

The last thing is kind of an interesting/strange thing I came across and partially successful experiment.  By examining the retromenu executable I see it has three cores referenced inside.  They are stella_libretro.so (expected) but also mame2003_plus_libretro.so and quicknes_libretro.so (not expected).  BTW, there is ONLY stella_libretro.so included in the firmware.  Inside retromenu you see references to starting those three cores using the retroplayer emulator which gives a hint how the games are started up.  There are also references to ".nes" and ".zip" in the retromenu along with ".a26", which makes me wonder if the menu system could also launch NES and MAME games if the cores were only there (big question mark)?

 

So on to the experiment. 

First, I got the mame2003_plus_libretro.so and quicknes_libretro.so files from a legends flashback 2018 update file, probably something from Draxxon.  I put those in /emulator on my flash drive.

Second I found some ROMs for MAME (joust) and NES (1942) and put them in the /rom folder on the flash drive.

Third, I experimented around a lot and ultimately modified the startup.sh script on the flash drive to look like this (my adds in bold):

#!/bin/sh

if [ ! -d /media/usbhd-sda1/emulator ]
then
    su -
    mkdir /media/usbhd-sda1/emulator
    cp -r /emulator/* /media/usbhd-sda1/emulator
fi

   #pwd > /media/usbhd-sda1/pwd.txt
   #mount > /media/usbhd-sda1/mount.txt

cd /media/usbhd-sda1/emulator

startx /emulator/retroplayer /media/usbhd-sda1/emulator/quicknes_libretro.so /rom/1942.nes >/media/usbhd-sda1/output1.txt 2>/media/usbhd-sda1/error1.txt

#startx ./retroplayer ./mame2003_plus_libretro.so /rom/joust.zip >/media/usbhd-sda1/output2.txt 2>/media/usbhd-sda1/error2.txt

while :
do
    cd /media/usbhd-sda1/emulator
    startx ./retromenu
done

 

The thing that ended up working (the added line not commented out above) was starting the NES rom.   As the system starts, before the UI menu comes up (retromenu in the script), 1942 came up and worked perfectly.  Select and start work, both joysticks work for 2 player play, and rewind and menu buttons all work as intended.  I tried a couple more NES games and they worked also.

 

The MAME rom never worked - don't know why.  Maybe the emulator has some other unsatisfied dependencies?

 

I was happy when that started, but I'm not sure exactly of the real value.  I am pretty sure most NES games need more than one button to play anyway, and I already own a LFB2018 for that.  Plus I personally am much less interested in those than Atari 8bit games.  At least it slightly encourages me that atari800_libretro.so could really somehow be made to work to run Atari 8bit games.  BTW, the NES 1942 played pretty nice with the Atari joystick!

 

 

 

Edited by rocketfan
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I haven't responded before; first time seeing this.  I suspect trying to get the latest Stella working on this device may be futile.  The old Retroarch one is based on Stella 3.x, which is software-rendering based.  The latest versions (from 4.x onwards to current 6.5) are hardware-rendering based.  If the system hasn't been set up to handle that, then the latest version of Stella will never run on it.


We had to add some extra 'sauce' to the Retron77 port to allow this to work.  And the latest Stella is in Retroarch.  But the system/hardware needs to be configured to support it.  So just dropping in an 'so' file from the latest release probably won't work.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

were the mame roms from the correct set for the emulator? 2003+? I'm gonna mess around with this later. I dont think the LFB pads work on the AFBX, but I dont 100% remember.
I know that the early LFB2018 had NES A and B buttons in the proper spots, but later FW updates swapped those buttons and you cant re configure them anymore. I wanna say the change was in the retromenu, but again, its been awhile since I messed with it.

Rocketfan, is there a way to modify the mounting scripts so it will dump subfolders in the /rom partition. I'm wondering if we can rip Fix It Felix Jr from the LFB2019 and port it over to the AFBX. Also is there a way to swap Galaga mame/arcade version from the LFB2019 to the AFBX frogger or Space invaders spot? I see it has its own .so file in the pack i posted below.

But about what you were saying earlier, yes the core is hardcoded. But, it sounds like its set up for two extra slots for emulators. A800 would be dope.
Here are all the cores that have been ripped from SG/MDFB, AFB and LFB FW updates. There are around 10 or so actual cores. Also included are the game specific .so files, (for like namco games and FIFJr, etc.) if you wanna check those out too.

AtGames Cores Pack v1.0:

 

EMULATOR CORES FOR ATGAMES.rar

Edited by Draxxon
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, stephena said:

I haven't responded before; first time seeing this.  I suspect trying to get the latest Stella working on this device may be futile.  The old Retroarch one is based on Stella 3.x, which is software-rendering based.  The latest versions (from 4.x onwards to current 6.5) are hardware-rendering based.  If the system hasn't been set up to handle that, then the latest version of Stella will never run on it.


We had to add some extra 'sauce' to the Retron77 port to allow this to work.  And the latest Stella is in Retroarch.  But the system/hardware needs to be configured to support it.  So just dropping in an 'so' file from the latest release probably won't work.

I can believe that may be true.  These devices have a "retroplayer" application which is "the emulator" exploiting the retoarch cores.  If there are dependencies between the layers, then you are probably correct.  My own agenda is to get the atari800 core running for 8bit 400/800 games.  I will be happy when I have played Quasimodo and etc. on there!  If I have to go to an older version of the sources it will be OK.  I believe now I found the correct tool chain for cross-compiling.  My development skills are rusty and I'm only 20% sure I can build what is needed even if I do find all the right parts!  ?  What I have been doing so far are the baby steps trying to figure out if the atari800 core can be wedged in there somehow, and I think the answer is yes on that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Draxxon, you are asking some good questions.  I was definitely using a rom from the 2003+ reference set, but I think I know the issue.  I went back to the original AFB 9 custom FW thread started by Brad_from_the_80s and read through some of it.  Brad and rmr_md were making comments and now that I poked around I can actually understand some of it.  rmr-md mentioned that the 2003_plus core was probably reduced or hard-wired to handle only the included games.  They could not use it to generally launch mame games, so they pulled the 2000 core (in the set you provided - thanks!).  I also now tried the 2000 core, but not much better results - EXCEPT now there is a mame2000 folder in my rom folder.  I believe the core did run and create that - maybe I should try again?  Not tonight...

 

The reason I was focusing on those two cores is there are referenced in the retromenu, so I suspect the version of retromenu on this product can deal with those additional rom types and their .zip and .nes extensions (for whatever reason I don't know - cause the cores are not even there).

 

I don't know about your idea of folders in the rom directory.  It seems like the all-games.ini might handle just having subfolders in there and providing the relative path for the rom name like "NES/1942.nes", but it will take experimenting.  In post #199 of this thread, I saw that Ronner51 provided an all-games.ini which I think puts things into subcategories in the menu?  That would be handy if it is doing what I think - like levels in the menu.  I pulled it down when I read it, but I have not tried that yet.  

 

OK, now here is a bit of news, which is I figured out how to launch NES games from the menu system.  I had to modify the retromenu executable slightly with a hex editor, and I will attach that. 

 

If anyone wants to experiment with it:

1) please rename your current files (retromenu in /emulator and startup.sh in the root) first to save them in case of emergency.

2) copy the replacement retromenu into /emulator.

3) Place the quicknes_libretro.so from Draxxon's post into your /emulator folder. 

4) Use the slightly modified startup.sh I will provide (sorry it still has some other junk in it) into the root folder of your flash drive.

5) Drop a rom or roms in the /rom folder (extension must be .nes, no spaces or any special chars in file names)

6) You need to make entries in your all-games.ini.  I just hacked it by copying some Draxxon art from other games for now.

 

The basic approach is this:  The new startup.sh script creates a symbolic link to the new core.  The link is located in the /tmp directory of the running device (which is writable, unlike some other paths out there).  This shorter path starting in /tmp made it convenient to hex edit the absolute path in the modified retromenu (which already has a call to the NES core, just a different path) to point at the link.  So that allows the core to be out on the flash drive.

 

The real limitation is still the button mapping.  1942 worked well.  Pac-Man would work.  Maybe original Mario bros would work.  Even if there is only one button it could be mapped to the "wrong" button on the NES, so there may be a really limited set of NES games that are playable on the device.  Draxxon mentioned other controllers but I'm a skeptic as I guess these are probably hardwired for Atari joysticks.

 

At least this provides a technique that can be used to stick another core in there.  The link in /tmp and the hex edit could be modified to "flash_drive_core_link" (or something of the right string length) to experiment with all those cores.

 

 

AND the VCS games can still be there and working.

 

startup.sh retromenu

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I followed your steps and got everything working. I tested nes galaga and it works well. Buttons are mapped correctly.
I tested LFB controllers, down, start and A button worked. not much else and I couldn't back out of menus.

I'm not sure where you want to go from here but I can help test if needed.

 

Edited by Draxxon
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just a wild guess, but, I'm guessing the AFBX is built off of the old LFB, which is why the AFB9 box art size is wrong. Maybe they swapped the genplusGX core for stella and just disabled NES and MAME cores.
There are a handful of decent one button NES games, I could add them all with box art, but I would need a list of NES games with 1 or 0 action buttons, and so far I can't find one online.
I'm sure the same could be said for mame, if you can get a version working rocketfan I could do that instead of NES. In case you figure out A800.>

For now I'm just going to import a couple nes games and test them, Hopefully something shakes loose with a version of MAME (I'll mess with it tomorrow). And FINGERS CROSSED for A400/800!

Question, is there a way you can unlock .nes extension support for the "game" folder?
P.S. I remember rmr_md saying something about "using unused games slots from the main menu to hex edit emulator cores in???" not sure what he meant.

Edited by Draxxon
Link to comment
Share on other sites

TESTING RUSULTS FOR COMPATIBLE NES GAMES:
*****************************************

Some of the working games have minor errors in the start screen font.

 

Galaga              Worked
Galaxian            Worked
Dig Dug             Worked
Space Invaders      Worked
Donkey Kong 3       Worked
Mappy               Worked
Wrecking Crew       Worked
1942                Worked
Circus Charlie      Worked
Ms Pac-Man (Tengen) Worked
Ms Pac-Man (Namco)  Worked
Pac-Man             Worked
Pac-Mania           Worked
Pooyan              Worked
Joust               Worked
Mappy-Land          Worked
Balloon Fight       Worked
Son Son             Worked
Dig Dug II          Worked
Clu Clu Land        Worked
Pinball             Worked
BurgerTime          Worked

 

Tetris 2+Bombliss   Almost - (Can't Rotate Pieces Left)
Tetris (Tengen)     Almost - (Can't Rotate Blocks Right)
Tetris 2            Almost - (Can't Rotate Blocks Right)

Dr Mario            Almost - (Can't Rotate Pills Right)
1943                Almost - 2 Buttons (Can't Lighting Super)

 

Donkey Kong         Broken - (Can't Jump)
Donkey Kong Jr      Broken - (Can't Jump)
Q*bert              Broken - 2 Buttons (Can't Start Game)
Popeye              Broken - (Can't Punch)
Paperboy            Broken - (Can't Move)
Mario Bros          Broken - (Can't Jump)
Marble Madness      Broken - (Can't Enter Name/Start Game)
Defender II         Broken - (Can't Shoot)
Tetris              Broken - (Down, Up & Fire Mapped Wrong)

***********************************************

I'm no nes expert, and I haven't tested these too extensively. Some of the "working" games may actually be 2 button games missing a 2nd action button.
Is there a way to easily hack the roms of DK, DKJr, Mario Bros and Popeye and swap the functionality of the A and B buttons? Because I think that would make those 4 work.

 

Edited by Draxxon
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Draxxon, thanks for checking that stuff out.  That is a pretty good list of working games.  Boulderdash should work too - no buttons I think!  Also, I know a game called Air Fortress will work - both buttons do the same thing.  Maybe the list will be longer than I think...  I'm really happy that Joust/Galaga/Galaxian are on the list - I didn't even realize there were NES ports of those!

 

On swapping A and B, that is a good idea - and I have no idea.  I also tried "Castelian" which is a game I like - one button, but the wrong one - like the others you mentioned.  If you could just get both A and B emulator buttons to fire when the one physical button is pressed on the joystick it would fix those.  That might also work OK-ish for a game like Xevious where you have shoot and bomb on seperate buttons.  We need an expert on the NES emulator to help and they are probably not hanging out on AtariAge.  I will look at it a little but I am pretty doubtful I can figure that out unless they don't have it baked in to their compiled code, but have a controller mapping config file someplace obvious. 

 

Also, I don't know if you want to release game packs with those roms populated - here anyway.  But your call.

 

Where I want to go from here is do some more experimenting and when I have time try to get an atari800_libretro.so built for the device.

 

Experimenting:

1) I still feel stumped by the mame cores and want to give it another try.

2) I would like to try one or two of the other cores you provided.  I will just do that by launching from the startup script.  BTW, Those other "one game cores" you provided are kind of interesting.  I'm convinced the SpaceInvaders.a26 and Frogger.a26 are just straight ports.  I don't know why atGames would do it that way, because the device can emulate those types of games.  I  guess all the old "TV plug and play games" from the early 2000's were just ports too, because those devices would not have enough power for emulation.  Maybe atGames has those ported versions licensed forever, so it saves some small per-unit royalty?  All just WAGs.

3) I want to see if the menu system setup "allgames.ini" from Ronner51 can give a way to have like "NES" and "Atari800" categories.  I may play with that in the next couple of days.

 

Building the Atari800 emulator is not going to be too easy (for me) and may take some weeks before I get the job done, then more weeks if I have troubles or until I say uncle if I can't get it to work. 

 

At some point it will be good to see what Brad_from_the 80s thinks, because if someone wants the NES support they currently have to do a crazy lot of steps to get there.  So it might make sense (and especially if any of the other cores works out) to have a second custom FW version, which he was hinting about mid January at least.

 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pac-Man CE           Worked
Flappy Bird          Worked
Ult Frogger Champion Worked
QIX                  Worked
Elevator Action      Worked
Gyruss               Worked

 

I don't think Ronen has folder support implemented if thats what your thinking. he used a blank game spot and "box art" to separate the list. Not make separate, nested categories.

Not sure if thats what youre thinking. 

I think if we can somehow dump the newest version of the firmware installed on the late models, and add nes support to that, it would be best. That said, this setup is pretty stable and once there is 

a definitive list of compatible games, it wouldnt be hard to make a pack and everyone just copy/paste the files.

P.S. Air Fortress    Worked

      Boulder Dash    Broken (Can't Start Game)

Edited by Draxxon
Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 hours ago, Draxxon said:

Question, is there a way you can unlock .nes extension support for the "game" folder?

Yes, that was doable by replacing ".A26" (caps) in retromenu.  I attached the one that does that.  With this retromenu .nes .a26 (lower case) and .BIN (as original in upper case, I think for Stella?) will work to populate the /game folder and add the extra menu in the UI.

 

Should make it easier to check a lot of games.

 

Millipede would not work - wrong button.

 

retromenu

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fantasy Zone   Worked

 

This link may help with hacking this system:
Custom Firmware for Atgames Legends Flashback with support for Arcade games | GBAtemp.net - The Independent Video Game Community


Here is how they mapped the buttons for main menu games on the LFB2019. Not sure if it will help. Although, I'm not sure you can simply just edit this file, I think its hardcoded if I remember right.

retroplayer_ro.ini

 

Here is the entire, most recent, LFB2019 Deluxe Firmware Update, if you want to poke around:

arcade_update_8660_V1.0.1.rar

And this one is the AFBX Deluxe Firmware Update:
0.1.5.rar

 

I dont think Ive mentioned it, but there are minor graphical glitches in some sprites. littles notches missing along the top edges. Atari Fire Button is deff acting as the NES B Button. Also, probably a pipe dream (lol, haha, I wonder if thats a one button game!) but, if rewind could be disabled and the A button mapped to there instead, that would open up a lot of possibilities. I also wonder if all the games would run better if the cheating-ass rewind feature was disabled. That seemed to speed up some games on the LFB systems. Also, you can deff sort roms in the /rom folder in subfolders and just make sure that the path link in the all-games.ini file reflects were it is. I started a /rom/nes folder to avoid a cluster fuck of files. But it doesnt give you folder support in the actual in game main menu. As far as that goes you just have the built in sections. favorites, all games, atari games, paddle games, and ext. usb drive games. you could use those sections to sort and house whatever you wanted, but the names of the sections are hardcoded. LFB had a featured games section, not sure if that could be ported over. More bezel slots would be great, somehow the AFB9G had extra slots. If there is a way to hex edit "Paddle Games" to "Nintendo Games" or "Homebrew Games" or something, that would be an idea. As far as other ideas, GenplusGX runs SG-1000 and Master System roms. not sure how many of those games are one button games, but ive already built art packs for these units for both of those consoles. the colecovision core uses the LFB Y button to bring up the onscreen cv numberpad, so Im guessing porting that over will be a train wreck. Mame or FBAlpha use the menu button to add credits to start a game. hopefully thats mapped to atari select if mame gets rolling.

Actual, In Game folder support would be great. I wonder how they did it on the S/NES/PSX Classic and C64Mini, etc. I think folder structure would cut down drastically on boot up time.

Edited by Draxxon
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey Draxxon, that is good info for sure and I will check it all out.  Thanks.  I don't think most of those settings for LFB are going to apply because I think the retromenu/retroplayer are customized per product.  It might be interesting to try to run the LFB retroplayer though - I bet the controllers get broken.  I looked a bit and even tried something, but I was not able to disable rewind.  All the other emulators I want to do some experiments and will get to it maybe over the weekend.

 

Also BTW, I discovered you can point to a file with no extension and the menu will try to launch it like an executable, so no need to take over the Space Invaders or Frogger ports to start a random executable.  I wish we had some ARM/XWindows/SDL2 experts getting interested in providing ports for the device!

 

The main update is I had an inspiration of how to have different categories in their own menu setup, and basically got it working.  For example you could put Homebrew or NES into a second set, and so on.

 

A .zip file is attached this time.

 

Here is how it works:

In place of one of the games, there is a script called Next.  This can just be put at the top of all-games.ini, with a sorting order so it is first in the list.  The entry looks like this:

 

[Next]
File=/rom/Next
Platform=Utility
Sort=0 0 0 0 A A
Year=2020
Genre=Arcade
Description=Switch to next category or platform.
Note= \
Please do not turn off the device while retromenu is restarting.

 

 

When you select it, the Next script just kills off the retromenu.

Out in the startup.sh where retromenu was started, the script looks for a "next" roms folder to swap in.  If there is a next one, it mounts that one, otherwise it starts over at "rom".

With the new folder mounted on the /rom filesystem, retromenu is restarted and is none the wiser.

Now you see your next set of roms in the UI.  If the set is small it happens pretty quick.  If really big it is slow, just like on startup.

 

Save of individual favorites and recently played lists is in place.  I think it is working.

That has a limitation, because the save happens when you do the "Next" switch, so if you play a game and just turn off the unit it is not going to be saved to the recent list.  If that's important, do one last Next before you power down.  Or a "shutdown" entry could be added to do it...

 

Setup Instructions:

You still need the original /rom folder.  Add alternate rom folders as /rom_alt_1, /rom_alt_2  and so on.  They have to be named exactly like that, starting at 1, and no skipped numbers.

Put roms, art, and an all-games.ini file into each roms directory.

Each rom folder needs the Next script and the artwork for it which I provided in the .zip.  You can see I'm no artist, and I'm color blind anyway.  That art can be changed to whatever is wanted, and even different in each rom set.

Each all-games.ini needs the entry described above.  There is a text file in the .zip with that entry.

Back up your old /startup.sh and replace it with the new one included.

This still relies on (or more like supports) the recently modified retromenu executable which allows nes roms.  That is included but is the same as the last one.  It replaces the one in /emulator.

 

 

I think that's it.  Please let me know if it is not working, I forgot something, or you see problems.  It is a hack, but one way to skin the cat.

 

PS - you really should not shut off the device during the switch.  Stuff is being remounted and copied.  It is Linux under the hood, and your flash drive could easily get corrupted at that point.

PPS - This is going to put a /data folder in each of the rom directories when you step through.  That is where the settings info about recent and favorites is stored, so don't delete it.

 

AFBX_MENU_Feb32021.zip

Edited by rocketfan
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had some time this morning, and thought of a better way to deal with favorites and recent lists.  Now the same trick as on the /rom folders is used, by remounting over the real /data with the /rom/data embedded in each /rom folder.  That way, after they are initially created the lists will be updated and saved right away instead of only when you do the "Next" selection.  It is cleaner in the script also.  I only barely tested, but it seemed to work OK.

 

The only thing changed in the new zip is the startup.sh, but I also added the quicknes_libretro.so core file (which should be placed in /emulator) just so all the files are collected in there.

 

I just counted and Draxxon has identified almost 40 working one-button .nes games.  That's already more than I guessed would work!  I am going to try some more myself in the next few days.

  

AFBX_MENU_Feb42021.zip

Edited by rocketfan
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm going to try and get started separating real games from homebrew,
I've already inserted all the working nes games ive found with artwork, ill get them in their own folder as well.

So... I'm guessing this can also be done on the LFB systems. It will come in very handy on that unit.

Here is the LFB ini file maker, again. It should come in handy right about now.
https://atariage.com/forums/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=709992

Edited by Draxxon
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I tried moving the frogger and space invaders ports and frogger wouldnt load, im guessing the bmp file is the issue. Space invaders loaded, but I couldn't exit the game with the joystic menu button, and thats when i discovered something strange. I pressed both the start and select switches at the same time on the console itself and it existed the game. I then tried it again and menu on joystick still wouldnt work, but this time I tried Start+Select on the joystick itself and it exited the game. Might come in handy if you get stuck somewhere.

Besides those two ports, everything else seems to be working as intended. I havent messed with save states or favs or anything yet.

Edited by Draxxon
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Messing with it a little more, I moved the two ports back to the /rom folder. When i exited them, I noticed they have a different exit menu and no way to save states. The start+select only work on those ports and not the other ROMs. But it is a way to exit them if you decide to move them. I think I'm just going to leave them in the main rom folder.

For anyone following along, to be clear, the "rom_alt_1" and "rom_alt_2" etc. folders go on the root of your flash drive.


nested ini file entries should look like this:


[Galaga: Demons Of Death]
File=/rom/Galaga.nes   <------------
Platform=NES
Sort=Galaga
Year=1984
Genre=unclassified
Description=
Note= \
Player Mode: Single-player game
 

 

It should not look like this:

[Galaga: Demons Of Death]
File=/rom_alt_2/Galaga.nes    <------------
Platform=NES
Sort=Galaga
Year=1984
Genre=unclassified
Description=
Note= \
Player Mode: Single-player game

 

The same goes for your "Next" folder entries in each nested ini file.


 

Edited by Draxxon
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, MrZarniwoop said:

Having great fun watching this thread evolve and can't wait to load this.

 

Start+Select sounds like a Retroarch default config. That may imply the controller may be remappable, perhaps for things like remapping a second 7800 joystick button?

Yes it does sound like that.  

We use the select+Start on all the mini consoles to go back to the main game menu.

They should be remappable if this the case.  But first we need to figure how to launch Retroarch to remap those.

Edited by MrFister
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So, I have everything working as it should, and its very stable. Real Atari 2600 + Frogger & S.I. Ports, Atari 2600 Homebrew & Hacked games, and one-button nes games are the 3 categories I set up.
I also personalized each "Next" page to reflect what category you are going to.

Now I have to separate the Real games from the Homebrew games. Not sure how long that will take. I'm going to look to Ron's & MrFister's packs for guidance.

P.S. Pipe Dreams - BROKEN (Wrong Button)

      Duck Hunt, Wild Gunman and Hogan's Alley, etc. have hacked versions, but they require a mouse to emulate the gun, so they also are "BROKEN".
 

Edited by Draxxon
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Draxxon said:

So, I have everything working as it should, and its very stable. Real Atari 2600 + Frogger & S.I. Ports, Atari 2600 Homebrew & Hacked games, and one-button nes games are the 3 categories I set up.
I also personalized each "Next" page to reflect what category you are going to.

Now I have to separate the Real games from the Homebrew games. Not sure how long that will take. I'm going to look to Ron's & MrFister's packs for guidance.

P.S. Pipe Dreams - BROKEN (Wrong Button)

      Duck Hunt, Wild Gunman and Hogan's Alley, etc. have hacked versions, but they require a mouse to emulate the gun, so they also are "BROKEN".
 

My pack contains no homebrews or hacks just to let you know.  My pack is retail only.  If it was sold physically, then it's in my pack.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Minor observation, ALL of the random files you find in the rom folder belong to Frogger and Space Invaders. The menu.png, all the sounds, hop, coin, start, squash, etc, the cursor.png, all the "extra" files belong to those games, they are just all dumped in /rom by default.

Those files only need to be present in whatever category/rom folder those two ports are in.

Edited by Draxxon
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Draxxon said:

I tried moving the frogger and space invaders ports and frogger wouldnt load, im guessing the bmp file is the issue. Space invaders loaded, but I couldn't exit the game with the joystic menu button, and thats when i discovered something strange. I pressed both the start and select switches at the same time on the console itself and it existed the game. I then tried it again and menu on joystick still wouldnt work, but this time I tried Start+Select on the joystick itself and it exited the game. Might come in handy if you get stuck somewhere.

That is a good catch.  And neat find about the two console sliders to break out!  I looked at the issue - they were working in the /rom folder but not in the /rom_alt_? folder.  It is due to a set of files they need beyond just the .a26 files.  I'm going to zip those files up and attach them. 

 

Update - I just saw your post with basically the same info, but maybe there are more even than I found -Really I'm not sure they are all needed but the Menu.png and Menu.tff for sure and with these zipped files the two games worked for me.

 

 

Also, working .nes games:

Ballon Fight

Silkworm (at least playing as the helicopter - I think the jeep needs to jump).

Star Force

Star Soldier

Terra Cresta

Tower of Druaga

 

I think Burai Fighter would work, but my rom wouldn't start - maybe just the file I have.

 

port_extras.zip

Edited by rocketfan
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello everyone!

 

I am brand new to all of this.  I just picked up a Flashback X and am anxious to get the CFW setup on it.  The only problem is that my version comes with firmware v0.1.21.

 

I don't see any reference to that version number anywhere.  Am I going to run into problems by potentially using an "older" version of the firmware than what is included in the CFW?  I have no idea of what possible improvements v21 could contain since there is nothing on their website about it.  Right out of the box it allows me to put additional games on a flash drive and they work.  But I am looking forward to having the customized box art and additional themes.  Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Screen Shot 2021-02-04 at 8.37.23 PM.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...