Atari Flashback X Custom Firmware for USB roms and boxart

[Gotham]

Realised I had a brainfart and did just that. But now I'm looking at this:

 

 

 

[Draxxon]

I have no clue. I just followed the steps and it worked. did you get the dev tool to work and say "found one loader device"?

 

Continue to hold the recovery button until the tool shows “Found One LOADER Device" in its status bar. 
Click on the "Upgrade Firmware" tab and then click on the "Firmware" button. 
Locate the firmware image on your PC, click on "Upgrade" button and wait until “Reset Device Success” shows in the status window. 
Turn off the console and disconnect it from your PC.  
 

 

[Gotham]

I did those steps exactly following this website: https://armchairarcade.com/perspectives/2019/10/21/atari-flashback-x-2019-upgrade-to-support-external-usb-drives/

 

Which is pretty much the same thing you had posted. So I guess now I'm looking at a bricked system?

[Draxxon]

try to reflash the official atgames update image. 

I think maybe you are you just stuck in recovery mode.

Edited March 10, 2020 by Draxxon

[Gotham]

Alright, that was a success. Official firmware flashed and working properly!

 

Should I give it a try again with the CFW?

[Draxxon]

NICE! yes but you don't have to do all the opening of the system and holding of recovery button and whatnot.

put the cfw image on the drive, plug it in via otg, and power on.

let me know how it goes, bud.

[Gotham]

Putting the .img file as well as the other two on the USB stick and booting with it inserted does nothing. I'm getting zero prompt for an update.

[Draxxon]

you want to put the cfw image on the drive by itself. not with the other files. check your firmware version on the about screen and make sure the official atgames update worked. otherwise make sure your usb device is formatted to fat32.

Edited March 10, 2020 by Draxxon

[Gotham]

Okay, so the vanilla Flashback X was apparently doesn't have the option to update via USB? So despite having a regular X, I updated it with the X Deluxe firmware, and then it detected the regular X CFW on boot and updated. So we're on our way!

[Draxxon]

The vanilla X DOES have the option to update via USB. That's what I have.
 

I'm not sure what happened but sounds like you sorted it out. next you will remove the update image from your device and put just the mount_sd file on there. put it in the system and let it sit for few minutes. maybe launch a game. 

 

if that works and you dump the rom folder, go ahead and put the startup file on the drive too, repeat the steps above to dump the emu folder.

 

or download my theme and rom pack, and put them on the drive with the 2 control files.

Edited March 11, 2020 by Draxxon

[Gotham]

Downloaded your packs, and everything is working perfectly! 91 pages of Atari goodness. Thank you for the help!

[Draxxon]

I'm glad you got it all sorted out.

Have fun.

Edited March 11, 2020 by Draxxon

[Draxxon]

Here is the "emulator" dump for the Legends Flashback 2019 (standard edition) if its of any use. The ColecoVision (lbcv.so) core is in there for example. (The fixed Disney roms were removed.)

 

Its all basically the same thing as the AFBX. The "emulator" folder was dumped with a startup script.

LFB2019_emu.rar


 

 

Note: this is not for just swapping into the AFBX with the CFW. This is just to look at on a PC and take files out of if they are useful. REPEAT. DO NOT PUT THIS "EMULATOR" FOLDER ON THE ROOT OF YOUR USB DEVICE FOR YOUR AFBX!!!

Edited March 11, 2020 by Draxxon

[N0mi]

On 3/8/2020 at 7:41 PM, Brad_from_the_80s said:

Greetings Atari fans. 

 

I have had the standard Atari Flashback X sitting around here for a few weeks and finally got around to creating a custom firmware to allow you to load additional roms with boxart from USB (using USB OTG hub/cable and a USB drive of your choice).

 

The basic idea is the same as the firmware I created for using the SD card on the Flashback 9 series, see original thread here:

 

 

Attached here you will find a CFW version for the standard Atari Flashback X, and also one for the Atari Flashback X Deluxe.  The standard firmware has been tested a little, but I don't have a Deluxe model to test.  However it's the exact same hack, so I think it should work for those who need it.  If it does work for you then feel free to report back, or I can tweak as needed.

 

In the zip archive you will find an atari_update.img file.  You can follow the AtGames official firmware instructions to load this firmware image using the same desktop flashing tools.

 

HOWEVER, if you have applied at least one of the earlier firmware updates then this new CFW can be applied in a manner similar/same as for the Flashback 9.  Simply attach your USB drive with the atari_update.img file in the root and the system should detect the update and flash the same way it did for Flashback 9.  After successfully applying the firmware delete the atari_update.img file from your USB drive. 

 

As before, the customizations are activated by the presence of the "mount_sd.ini" file in the root of your USB drive (yeah, I didn't bother renaming it).  By default the custom firmware will dump the internal /rom partition from the device to your attached USB storage and then use the USB copy of /rom for game roms, box art and all-games.ini file. 

 

Also included is a sample startup.sh custom script you can include in your USB drive.  This script will also dump and run the /emulator partition from your USB drive.  This should allow for tweaking the artwork.

 

One tip, if you are using an old or slow USB thumb drive (like USB 2.0), you may need to wait a few minutes to allow write operations to complete when first allowing the CFW to dump files, so be patient.

 

I haven't messed with the Flashback X or this CFW much really.  it's simple enough, and I think it should work fine, but if you do find issues just report here and we'll see what can be done about it.

 

No warranties, use at your own risk, etc, etc.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

AR3060_CFW.zip 6.23 MB · 20 downloads AR3060S_Deluxe_CFW.zip 5.81 MB · 19 downloads

Thank you very much! I wasn't expecting to see something like this, very much appreciated. 

[Draxxon]

Has anyone else noticed that the box art looks jacked up on the Atari FBX? It's really noticeable on diagonal lines on the large box art, M Network games really look bad. I don't remember it looking like this on the AFB9, but I gifted my FB9 to my buddy when I got the FBX going so I don't have it to check anymore. After working so long on the boxart for the FB9, I can't believe I wouldn't have noticed this.

I'm continuing to add Homebrew games to the pack. A lot of them don't have box art so I am creating them as I go. I'm at about ~930 games. I'll post the update when I reach ~1000.

Edited March 14, 2020 by Draxxon

[Draxxon]

I'm wondering if its my TV settings? anyone else seeing this?

Edited March 14, 2020 by Draxxon

[Wizzard]

Do I have to have all-games.ini? If so, how do I generate it from the files? It seems that my games are not visible without this file.

[Draxxon]

all-games.ini file is generated/belongs in the rom folder. the AFBX had moved it to the emulator folder in this new model. It was "moved" back to the rom folder with the CFW control files. There is still one left over in the emulator folder generated by the startup.sh file. Ignore that one.

 

In the rom pack I posted, it will contain an all-games file in the rom folder.

Here is one from the vanilla FBX.

all-games.ini

Edited March 14, 2020 by Draxxon

[Wizzard]

Okay, thanks, but I would like to use my own collection of ROMs, not those from FBX or other collection and I dont have corresponding all-games.ini file generated.

 

Also, is it possible to use different resolution or aspect ratio for an emulator? I am using HDMI-AV converter for my 4:3 TV cause I like it looking retro

[Draxxon]

just take any ini file, open it with notepad, delete the entries you don't want to appear, create correct entries for games you want to implement. all ini files are the same, you have to edit them. When finished, it goes in the rom folder.

Edited March 14, 2020 by Draxxon

[Wizzard]

Yes, I was afraid I have to do it manually by myself okay, it is just 128 games, nothing special

 

btw, is it possible to change that resolution? thanks!

Edited March 14, 2020 by Wizzard

[Draxxon]

yes manually. the tool to do it was never created. there was a tool in the rom folder of the legends flashback 2018, but im not sure it is correct for the FBX (but I'm sure it is similar) It could maybe generate some kind of base file.

 

You put it in the folder with all your roms and then run it.

makeini.bat

 

It will create an all-games.ini file with an entry like this for each game in the folder:

 

[Asteroids]
File=/rom/Asteroids.bin
Platform=MAME
Year=1995
Genre=Adventure
Description=Asteroids

Edited March 14, 2020 by Draxxon

[Wizzard]

I made it manually.

 

If someone wants to see the games that the kids in central and eastern Europe played on Atari clones, here is it

 

rom.zip

[Draxxon]

Thanks for sharing this. Awesome to see a PAL setup. I'm glad you got it all sorted out. I think you should continue and add more PAL region titles.

Edited March 15, 2020 by Draxxon

[Wizzard]

These was the only games I had before my first PC. I am glad you like it. I just wanted to setup my FBX to use some 4:3 resolution, but seems it is not possible.