FPGA Based Videogame System

[kevtris]

 

Here, I've got a 100% repro process that should probably give you some clues as to what's happening, the problem goes away entirely when bringing the menu up on screen.

 

1. Load Super Mario Bros., press start on title screen, leave Mario in his starting position

2. Size to 4x horizontal and 4x vertical

3. Observe Mario. He looks perfect.

4. Exit menu.

5. Observe Mario. He has the "teardrop" effect on his face.

6. Press hotkey to bring menu back up.

7. Observe Mario. His face is perfect.

 

I've taken screenshots of his face in both states 8 separate times, the results are the same every time. Images attached.

 

Explanation of attached images:

 

mariotest01.png - 4x horizontal and 4x vertical with the menu open. Note that Mario looks perfect, as if from an emulator screenshot.

mariotest02.png - 4x horizontal and 4x vertical with menu closed. Note the "teardrop effect" on Mario.

 

Bonus:

 

mario5x.png - this is the same game with 5x horizontal and 5x vertical. Totally separate issue obviously, but there is some "ringing" around Mario with 5x horizontal.

I am going to say that is a problem with your capture card/device. Opening the menu does not do anything on the hardware except set or clear a single bit that makes it visible/invisible. Unless someone else can corroborate. In 5x mode I do not have that edge issue at all. That should stick out like a sore thumb but I see nothing. I can stretch the hell out of the image (like each NES pixel occupies 100+ output pixels) and don't see that happening.

[TheRedEye]

I am going to say that is a problem with your capture card/device. Opening the menu does not do anything on the hardware except set or clear a single bit that makes it visible/invisible. Unless someone else can corroborate. In 5x mode I do not have that edge issue at all. That should stick out like a sore thumb but I see nothing. I can stretch the hell out of the image (like each NES pixel occupies 100+ output pixels) and don't see that happening.

 

I think you're right. I just tried something I should have tried earlier, which was recording video instead of taking stills from my capture software. When I take individual frames from the video, it's perfect. False alarm, so sorry man.

[killersquirel]

On the latest jailbreak firmware the famicom dragon buster 2 game freezes on the title screen with a long note playing. I tried the game on the everdrive and it plays, but sometimes crashes while playing. On the powerpak it plays but has lots of graphical issues.

[Flangle]

Has anyone here experienced or heard of the Mini NT having sudden or straight out of the box controller port 1 issues?

 

Addendum: I'm almost certain this has nothing to do with the cores since I and a friend checked everything we could by trying all the pieces and parts from the NT and my SD card on his NT.

Edited March 19, 2017 by Flangle

[TheRedEye]

Has anyone here experienced or heard of the Mini NT having sudden or straight out of the box controller port 1 issues?

 

Hardware thread is here: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/263325-analogue-nt-mini-hardware/

[kevtris]

 

I think you're right. I just tried something I should have tried earlier, which was recording video instead of taking stills from my capture software. When I take individual frames from the video, it's perfect. False alarm, so sorry man.

s'ok, it was possible that was my fault due to how the video pipeline works. but good to know it's not an issue.

 

On the latest jailbreak firmware the famicom dragon buster 2 game freezes on the title screen with a long note playing. I tried the game on the everdrive and it plays, but sometimes crashes while playing. On the powerpak it plays but has lots of graphical issues.

did it work before the update? I don't think I changed anything internally but it is possible something broke.

[Smoke Monster]

I'm a huge fan of Kev and especially his FPGA core work. I think it's the most important preservation project in gaming, which is why I've tried to support the cores with my packs. I don't own an NT Mini though, so I can't test myself. I would greatly appreciate any packs of proper roms that anyone could send me. I'll credit the submitter and source as always.

 

Also if you notice any problems in other packs that I maintain, just let me know and I'll get them squared away.

[rezb1t]

I'm a huge fan of Kev and especially his FPGA core work. I think it's the most important preservation project in gaming, which is why I've tried to support the cores with my packs. I don't own an NT Mini though, so I can't test myself. I would greatly appreciate any packs of proper roms that anyone could send me. I'll credit the submitter and source as always.

 

Also if you notice any problems in other packs that I maintain, just let me know and I'll get them squared away.

I completely agree This is an incredibly exciting project for preservation

 

Thanks for your work! Your sets have become my GOTO recommendation.

 

 

I am going to say that is a problem with your capture card/device. Opening the menu does not do anything on the hardware except set or clear a single bit that makes it visible/invisible. Unless someone else can corroborate. In 5x mode I do not have that edge issue at all. That should stick out like a sore thumb but I see nothing. I can stretch the hell out of the image (like each NES pixel occupies 100+ output pixels) and don't see that happening.

Just wanted to confirm that it's got to be the capture device. I just took some stills and video using my Magewell HDMI card and don't see any artifacts

[Wolf_]

I'm a huge fan of Kev and especially his FPGA core work. I think it's the most important preservation project in gaming, which is why I've tried to support the cores with my packs. I don't own an NT Mini though, so I can't test myself. I would greatly appreciate any packs of proper roms that anyone could send me. I'll credit the submitter and source as always.

 

Also if you notice any problems in other packs that I maintain, just let me know and I'll get them squared away.

When the greatest compiler/organizer of roms, hacks, and homebrew shows up to the party with the greatest fpga developer it is a bromance made in heaven.

 

I just wish I could send you a Nt mini to test stuff on because I'm sure you would go nuts on it.

[jamon1567]

 

May I ask what BVM you're using? Is it a BVM-A24E1WU using the BKM-68X RGB input board?

 

If it's a BVM-D24E1WU, then you should be able to remove that skew with the image by enabling the "VCR MODE" in the "EXTEND MENU" section of the BVM menu.

 

I'm using the BVM-D32E1WU and changing that worked! You sir are a scholar and a gentleman. Thank you.

[Smoke Monster]

When the greatest compiler/organizer of roms, hacks, and homebrew shows up to the party with the greatest fpga developer it is a bromance made in heaven.

I just wish I could send you a Nt mini to test stuff on because I'm sure you would go nuts on it.

Ha! Thanks But just to be clear, we're not teamed up or anything. I'm just following his progress here in awe and doing my thing independently. Edited March 19, 2017 by Smoke Monster

[jamon1567]

Kevtris, wanted to also let you know that there is an issue with Robopon for GBC. It boots and after the Hudson credits roll I just get a blank white screen. I know you said that GBC wasn't 100% and would have some issues, so not sure if we should even be bringing up issues in this thread or not, but wanted to let you know.

[Wolf_]

Ha! Thanks But just to be clear, we're not teamed up or anything. I'm just following his progress here in awe and doing my thing independently.

I'm sure, sadly given the nature of what you do he can't attach his name to yours because he is running a business and that means he has to take precautions. Luckily that doesn't hinder your efforts in any way because you can just keep doing your thing. I'm just excited you are aware, enthusiastic, and supportive of the Nt mini because a Smokemonster fpga pack complete for every core developed by Kevtris is imo the epitome of preservation. The fan hack and homebrew scene is an important aspect of preserving a system and sadly No-Intro doesn't agree on that front. Your organizing of the roms into manageable folder sizes is just icing on the cake.

[ccovell]

To test this, run it in RGB mode and see if FDS still crashes. I don't have a crashing FDS, so it makes it impossible for me to test this. I think the FDS stick might be partially to blame if it has some kind of timing problem, so it latches bad data or something. Again, without any way to repro I am stuck. Running in RGB mode will fix timing to "exact" original NES btw.

 

re: FM chip, yes I knew about this and haven't had much luck fixing it actually. I checked my code and it is in there but for some reason it isn't working and I dunno why. That's why it's still not listed as 100%. I need a good "go/no go" test for this, or some way to repro it so I can test it. I was having a lot of problems trying to test this. Spent about 8 hours on that before I released the SMS core but had no luck finding a good way to test/repro to know for sure if I fixed it.

 

I'm not sure if you noticed my 1st post on page 84 ( http://atariage.com/forums/topic/242970-fpga-based-videogame-system/page-84?do=findComment&comment=3718588) but I'm running the NT in RGB all the time, and I tested a real FDS drive, as well as 3 different types of FDSEmu/FDSStick (8 disk side, 256 disk side, SD card) and all failed _most_ of the time for me. (my RAM adaptor says "HVC-FMR-04" and appears to use a Fairchild SRAM for U1, and the common Sharp SRAM for U3.)

 

You can test individual SMS FM settings with my tool here: http://www.chrismcovell.com/data/SMS_FM_Tool.zip

Not sure which emu is the most accurate to the real SMS/MkIII; perhaps you have real hardware to test it on too.

Edited March 20, 2017 by ccovell

[+eebuckeye]

Hi Kevtris!

 

A few questions if you do not mind..

 

1) If I run the Colecovision core and run the rom test I see "rom checksum C213 Rom Bad". Is this ok?

2) I try some larger roms and the core says "Turn game off before inserting cartridges" but they work in my Coleco Multicart - is that normal?

3) For the Coleco and Atari 2600 cores.. if I can load the rom into my Coleco Multicart or Atari Harmony SD cart the work fine but not on the NT Mini. Is there a reason?

 

Thanks!

[kevtris]

 

I'm not sure if you noticed my 1st post on page 84 ( http://atariage.com/forums/topic/242970-fpga-based-videogame-system/page-84?do=findComment&comment=3718588) but I'm running the NT in RGB all the time, and I tested a real FDS drive, as well as 3 different types of FDSEmu/FDSStick (8 disk side, 256 disk side, SD card) and all failed _most_ of the time for me. (my RAM adaptor says "HVC-FMR-04" and appears to use a Fairchild SRAM for U1, and the common Sharp SRAM for U3.)

 

You can test individual SMS FM settings with my tool here: http://www.chrismcovell.com/data/SMS_FM_Tool.zip

Not sure which emu is the most accurate to the real SMS/MkIII; perhaps you have real hardware to test it on too.

 

oh sorry I didn't see that. That's weird then. It should have exact timing in that case. I wonder if there's a hardware issue on the nt then causing it? Cool thanks for the rom! I will give it a try.

 

Hi Kevtris!

 

A few questions if you do not mind..

 

1) If I run the Colecovision core and run the rom test I see "rom checksum C213 Rom Bad". Is this ok?

2) I try some larger roms and the core says "Turn game off before inserting cartridges" but they work in my Coleco Multicart - is that normal?

3) For the Coleco and Atari 2600 cores.. if I can load the rom into my Coleco Multicart or Atari Harmony SD cart the work fine but not on the NT Mini. Is there a reason?

 

Thanks!

Not sure about the checksum- it could be the coleco BIOS in use. Mine did that too but I am using a hacked up BIOS to remove the 10 second power on delay.

 

what's a "larger rom"? something greater than 32K will have bankswitching which isn't implemented yet (but I will add it) Not sure what multicart you have, either. game titles?

 

Depends on the ROM. It might need bankswitching defined (2600) via file extension.

[+eebuckeye]

The 'larger' Coleco roms I was talking about are 64k, 128k and 256k. I'm sure bankswitching is used. :-)

 

I guess the confusion on the 2600 is that on the Harmony it works fine and I'm not sure why since they all have the same extension.

[retro_fan]

 

[...]

 

You can test individual SMS FM settings with my tool here: http://www.chrismcovell.com/data/SMS_FM_Tool.zip

Not sure which emu is the most accurate to the real SMS/MkIII; perhaps you have real hardware to test it on too.

Wow, this tool of yours is really awesome!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4uPerAsWLk

[ccovell]

Wow, this tool of yours is really awesome!

 

Thanks! It already sounds quite good in the NT mini SMS core.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Has anyone been using CopyNES? I've been having good luck with the few licensed games that I wanted to dump. However I do have some homebrews that use different boards and mappers. I'm looking to see if anyone has a CopyNES plugin for UNROM512. The games uses mapper 30. I've got a game that I can't get to work. I haven't had any luck with what I've found on Google. This is for my personal use and isn't something I'm going to post all over the internet. I just want to save some of my nicer cartridges from wear and tear.

Yeah most of RetroUSB's homebrew games use this mapper. Depending on jumper settings, some games allow flash saving.

[Fafner]

That's weird. What exactly is it doing? I have heard of this happening and it ended up being the SD card that had issues.

 

I assume it's the Channel F rom set I have.

I loaded it onto a different sd card and had the same issue.

What's happening is a lot of them are just loading to a gray or black screen and the few I do actually get to run when I try to exit out of them and load a new rom it just jumps back to the previous rom that was loaded.

 

I'm gonna see if I can find another set tomorrow

[killersquirel]

 

 

did it work before the update? I don't think I changed anything internally but it is possible something broke.

 

It worked somewhat. You could start the game and start playing, but every now and then it would crash and kick you out to the title screen. Hopefully this game could be fixed to working completely. It's basically an updated version of AD&D Cloudy Mountain from the Intellivision.

[Andromeda Stardust]

 

Homebrews would work, but you need to specify mapper (if needed). Think I mentioned it earlier, someone tried to run a homebrew and asked me to help. So I checked it out and the homebrew had NO mapper information listed for it! I am not sure how you're supposed to run it on emulators. Maybe Stella just knows the mapper by osmosis, not sure. The homebrew was this:

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/217009-zippy-the-porcupine-4-level-demo/

 

Zippy uses bog standard 64kbyte bankswitch. 16 banks of 4kb each, swapped by reading one of 16 bytes near the end of the ROM to switch banks. It is a textbook extension of the standard 32k bankswitch scheme which many 32kb homebrews use. Stella's Stocking was the first game to use this mapper. It do not run on the original Harmony cart due to the 32kb limit, but it runs on the Encore.

 

Sadly the ARM (DCP+) and newer "bus stuffing" homebrews as you mentioned won't work, but should run on a Harmony cart connected via cart adapter.

[xga]

 

I'm using the BVM-D32E1WU and changing that worked! You sir are a scholar and a gentleman. Thank you.

 

No worries, glad to hear that fixed it for you. I should have recognized that was a D32 (hard to tell the scale sometimes), I've got one too and they produce an amazing image.

[kevtris]

To make life easy, I have edited the first post of this thread to reflect the latest goings-on. I will keep the first post updated as things develop and cores get ported or made. Eventually it will contain all the Z3K information too when the time comes. Hope this helps everyone out!