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Retro Freak firmware update


Newsdee

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Thanks for the awesome write up Stardust. I was on the fence on getting one of these for awhile. I don't think I'm going to get one. Most of the consoles I have in my gaming cave are already rgb modded and I have an xrgb mini framemister. The novelty of having everything in one place and hd is great. I do dig the sd card reading but for me, the pi2 that I have does these consoles and more. If I'm gonna emulate up stairs, why blow money on the retrofreak.

 

I definitely think this is for someone who might not have all the consoles that this little gem has cart slots for. Sounds like it blows the Retron 5 away on every front. I'm glad the clones seem to be getting better and have higher build quality. If my beloved consoles ever become not repairable or destroyed, this little unit seems to be the best choice.

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I just ordered the smallest cheapest cooling pad I could find to fix the passive heat issues. The poor thing got very hot and crashed twice the other day during my preliminary testing. I wouldn't want heat issues to cause premature failure...

 

http://www.dx.com/p/usb-powered-dual-fan-laptop-computer-cooling-gear-stand-black-fuschia-302882

 

The pad powers off USB and measures roughly 7.5 x 3.5 inches folded up, so it should make a good cooler pad with ample support for the retro freak with the arms barely open. As a bonus, it comes in Princess Peach Pink. LOL; they misspelled "Fuschia." :ponder:

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Did you upgrade to firmware 1.4 as well? My unit has been working fine so far; we've been playing a bunch of 4-player and 5-player games on PCE and SNES.

 

USB hubs are recognized so you can plug a bunch of pads via USB. I picked up a few PS3-compatible pads which all work.

Edited by Newsdee
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Did you upgrade to firmware 1.4 as well? My unit has been working fine so far; we've been playing a bunch of 4-player and 5-player games on PCE and SNES.

 

USB hubs are recognized so you can plug a bunch of pads via USB. I picked up a few PS3-compatible pads which all work.

Yeah firmware 1.4. I plugged in a number of different games. It's worked with most of the licensed titles I threw at it, but a couple I've found don't work. 2 out of 2 Codemasters Genesis seem to be a bust. I tried my PAL Psycho Pinball. System acts like nothing is inserted. Micro Machines (Genesis) dumped and is recognized by the console but has a bug with the EMU that behaves as though the menu button is pressed the instant emulation starts. Exiting the menu only calls it back up. So far I cannot play the game off the cart or the downloaded ROM. Wierd.

 

RetroUSB Donkey Kong "Pie" Foundry unrecognized but dumps and plays successfully. This, Earthbound, and Gimmick are the only NES repros I have found so far that work. Genesis and SNES are pretty good with accepting repros and homebrews. I seem to have misplaced for the time being Atlantean and Blazing Lazers for the Trubografx, so I can't test those atm. Atlantean being the only homebrew available to test and Blazing Lazers because it's an epic awesome game. My Turbo Everdrive 1.x has a 3D printed Shapeways case glued on and unfortunately the Retro Freak requires the cards to be inserted about 3mm (1/8") deeper than a real Turbografx or PC Engine, so I am unable to test whether auto-loading the flash ROM without an SD works or not.

 

Weird issue with Wario Land II (Game Boy Color, black cart). This title is compatible with both Game Boy Color and Super Game Boy enhancements. When I played the game, it displayed the Super Game Boy borders and seems to be less colorful than I remember when played on the Game Boy Color. So if you play a black GBC game that also has SGB enhancements, the Retro Freak will default to the Super Game Boy mode. I really need to test Space Invaders out to see if SNES code works.

 

Other thoughts, I finally hooked my Retro Freak up to my ultra low latency ASUS monitor. I played Crueball (Motley Crue Pinball) tonight and noticed the Genesis emulator lags more so than the others. NES lag is almost unnoticeable. Turbografx is slight. SNES is slight. Game Boy I have not noticed lag so far, but the Genesis end is definitely bad. That's unfortunate. I had planned on testing more titles but I had too much fun playing, LOL.

 

Also I realized tonight that my Super Mario RPG save was gone. I was at the last area of the game. :_( The battery holder I soldered in a couple years ago had a broken tab on it. I guess I'll just have to fix it with my solder iron and start over...

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Quoted from Nintendoage:

 

 

Firmware 1.4

Piko recognised and working: Super 4-in-1 multicart

Unrecognised but working: Classic Kong, Creepy Bird, Astrohawk

No cart inserted: 3D Noah's Ark, Rockfall

Untested: Thor Quest

I was disappointed that Rockfall didnt dump. It has known incompatability with SNES9x and it would be interesting to have seen how it would behave on this build.

NES repros tested working:

RetroUSB DK "Pie" Foundry: Unrecognised, works!

Earthbound Proto: Recognised and works.

Flashback Entertainment Gimmick with extra sound (INL board, Japan version): Recognised and works. Sound effects glitch when Gimmick dies. Otherwise it's flawless.

Most original NES games I've tested so far worked, with the exception of a couple Famicom Sachen porno games (no cart inserted)

Mario/DuckHunt/WCTM: recognised and works

Mario/Tetris/WC (PAL): this one is a bit weird. Recognised and dumps as World Cup. It's like Super Mario Bros and Tetris don't even exist at all.

Fix It Felix homebrew by Dra600n (Genesis): unrecognised but works.

Sonic 2xL (Hilareous gag hack of Sonic 2 where gold rings are replaced by onion rings. Sonic gets fat if he eats too much and eventually dies from his obesity): unrecognised but works
http://www.lostclassicvgs.com/col...

I also tested a couple Camerica Genesis carts.

Psycho Pinball (PAL): No cart inserted.

Micro Machines (NTSC): game recognised and dumps but game will not run due to an emulation bug. This one is pretty nutty. The home menu is called up the instant the game loads. Closing the home menu to resume the game immediately pulls the home menu back up, makng the game impossible to play. Accessing the ROM off internal storage has the same effect, so it's an emulation bug, not a cart dumping bug.

Game Boy: This was interesting. Warioland II (black GBC version). Game displays Super Game Boy borders and reduced color pallet. This means if you play a Game Boy Color game with Super game Boy enhancements, you get the Super Game Boy version with inferior colors. I really need to get a copy of Space Invaders to test SNES code emulation.

Lag from best to worst (played on extra low latency 9ms 1080p ASUS monitor):

Game Boy (none detectable)
NES/FC (low)
SNES and Turbo/PCe (med)
Genesis/MD (high)

I played some Crueball (Motley Crue themed Pinball) on Genesis and the lag made my game noticeably sloppier than usual.

 

 

Sorry if i'm repeating myself but it's easier to copy/paste the info than retype it multiple times.

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What do you look for in "lag"? Is it input lag? I've noticed what seems to be fps drops in the GB and NES, plus what feels like sound lag in SNES.

 

It could be game-dependent though. Megaman 2 had noticeably less fps than real hw but still plays fine. Street Fighter 2 Turbo on SNES the voice samples are slightly late by a few ms.

 

For the use I'm giving to the machine it doesn't matter though. We've been rocking a few 4 and 5 player games on PCE, NES, and SNES. It's fun to see kids go from "wtf are these graphics" to then seriously get into Bomberman 94 or Gauntlet II :)

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What do you look for in "lag"? Is it input lag? I've noticed what seems to be fps drops in the GB and NES, plus what feels like sound lag in SNES.

 

It could be game-dependent though. Megaman 2 had noticeably less fps than real hw but still plays fine. Street Fighter 2 Turbo on SNES the voice samples are slightly late by a few ms.

 

For the use I'm giving to the machine it doesn't matter though. We've been rocking a few 4 and 5 player games on PCE, NES, and SNES. It's fun to see kids go from "wtf are these graphics" to then seriously get into Bomberman 94 or Gauntlet II :)

Basically input + video lag. Easiest way to tell is by booting a platform game and pressing jump while watching character. If you press jump, and have time to go make some popcorn, or run to the fridge to grab a beverage, then return to the TV set just in time to see your character jump, that is bad. SHMUPs are a great subjective test too. Skill is greatly diminished by lag.

 

Testing was done using a wired PS3 controller on a low latency ASUS monitor with filters and scanlines turned on.

 

Gameboy and Game Boy Advance were nearly unnoticeable. NES/FC was slight. SNES and Turbo/PCe were slightly worse than NES, but manageable. Genesis/MD was by far the worst of the bunch with what feels about like a quarter second. Sonic is alright, but playing pinball sims on the Genesis side made me a sad panda. SHMUPs would probably be a bad idea.

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If there's perceivable Input lag on the MD I think I'll have to pass. I have the MD for the shooters...

 

MAybe a patch will fix that? I doubt...

 

Thanks a lot for the Posts. Rare to see People who care about Input lag. That's to me one of the most important aspects of a gaming Setup.

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Does switching off filters make a difference? You can also try turning on the "use original resolution" option to make sure the image isn't stretched.

 

http://www.cybergadget.co.jp/support/retrofreak/trouble/7107/7106.html

More testing needs to be done. Original resolution basically creates a 480p line-doubled image in the center of the 720p frame with square pixels. Smaller for Gameboy. If the guys had half a brain they would have tripled the image like the AVS and HDMI NES do. Or switch to 480p video. Windowed mode is fine if you have an 55" HDTV, but for those of us using 32" or smaller screens, its a disservice.

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If there's perceivable Input lag on the MD I think I'll have to pass. I have the MD for the shooters...

 

MAybe a patch will fix that? I doubt...

 

Thanks a lot for the Posts. Rare to see People who care about Input lag. That's to me one of the most important aspects of a gaming Setup.

Leods, there will always be lag with emulation, as well as any display that doesn't "race the beam" CRT style. I really need to disable the stupid filters and force original resolution before I make an assessment on lag. Also shoot some video of myself pressing a button in front of the screen. The ASUS monitor is a known near best case display with sub-frame response. Exactly why I insist on a 1080p PC monitor instead of an HDTV for use with HD consoles. That and overscan is stupid, stupid, stupid to still exist in consumer products. Zero overscan on PC monitors... :ponder:

 

The filters don't add much besides give sprites a cartoony look, although neat, and the scanline mask doesn't line up with the sprites because it is a mask which darkens every 3rd scanline on the 720p screen. The 16-bit systems crop the top and bottom 8 pixels, and 224 does not divide evenly into 720. You can turn off "crop overscan" which will give the NES a perfect 240p pixel height, but SNES, Genesis, and Turbo are still cropped to 224p. Using the NES with crop disabled, if you expand the menu to maximize the area on the screen, the pixels will line up perfectly with scanlines, but only with NES. Gameboy just looks stupid with scanlines turned on, as the scanlines (240) are much smaller than the pixels (144 or 160).

 

One setting I haven't tried yet is Zoom mode with Force original resolution. Zoom basically does something similar to what your typical HDTV does when blowing up letterboxed content. You'll end up cutting up to 25% off the picture, way more than the 10-15% or so outside the "safe" area. Perhaps if I toggle it might zoom to some integer ratio. Game Tech said many people were happy using 5x pixel zoom in 1080p, which crops some of the picture but not within the safe zones. You get 216 useable scanlines that way, assuming the display doesn't crop more off. My ASUS monitor does not.

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I have personally Zero Problems playing in a slightly smaller window in the Screen. Sometimes playing low res games I even Play windowed with 2x Pixel scaling. It's not like I had a large tv back in the day anyways. mostly played on a 21" CRT back in the day, and latter even in a 14". It's fine. The games don't have that much Detail anyways.

 

Waiting to see what the results are without any filters.

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I have had a few carts act as if they were not plugged in. A reset of the game fixed that for me. Michael Jackson Moonwalker Genesis version displayed this odd behavior. I also had this issue in the Retron 5 as well and a reset worked out. I have the Retron 5 and Retro Freak Premium and find the Freak controller waaaaaay better. I can't seem to find a second Freak controller for sale though. I contatced Play-Asia and no response. Anyone know where you can purchase a second controller for the Freak? I definitely like the Freak better than the Retron 5 just for the dump to SD feature alone so not to wear out my carts.

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Sega Genesis carts dump to a bin file I believe. Don't have it with me right now. The Freak has it's own accessible file system direct from the GUI. The really slick thing with the Freak is once the cart is dumped it organizes the images by system and you just browse the SD with a master list of your games which you can reorg at will. I use a SanDisk Extreme PRO which saves/loads almost instantaneously even when the database gets big. The only irritating part is the micro SD slot has an annoying spring load to it. You really have to push it in to get it to stay. Once in, though, I just leave it their for good unless for a firmware update. I also grabbed one of these to play Sega Master carts and this particular adapter unlocks FM music which is super cool for the Master System games.

Edited by LiqMat
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Sega Genesis carts dump to a bin file I believe. Don't have it with me right now. The Freak has it's own accessible file system direct from the GUI. The really slick thing with the Freak is once the cart is dumped it organizes the images by system and you just browse the SD with a master list of your games which you can reorg at will. I use a SanDisk Extreme PRO which saves/loads almost instantaneously even when the database gets big. The only irritating part is the micro SD slot has an annoying spring load to it. You really have to push it in to get it to stay. Once in, though, I just leave it their for good unless for a firmware update. I also grabbed one of these to play Sega Master carts and this particular adapter unlocks FM music which is super cool for the Master System games.

I have the Powerbase mini standard edition. The FM version is unnecessary for Retron/Freak because it just dumps to a ROM. The extra in cart hardware is wasted on emulation machine but nice if you have a stock Genesis.

 

My Ballz 3D I gutted for the DSP1 plays well on the Retro Freak but crashes on real hardware. That games is goofy fun believe it or not so I might actually buy another copy...

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Just got one of these yesterday and have been playing with it a bit. Unit is a little bland looking but so far it seems quite nice overall.

 

The controller adapter is cool and it hasn't had any issue so far reading the small selection of carts thrown at it. Build quality is solid (cart slots are better than the Retron5, as is the interface software) All the games run so far on various systems seemed to work quite well.

 

Can't say I've noticed anything as far as lag goes (I may be one of those people who aren't as sensitive). I've set it for force original res and scanlines ON.

 

Don't know if they're accurate/applicable :P but I briefly ran both the Genesis/SNES manual lag tests and the results seemed to be the same (20-30ms or so) running on a cheap Vizio 32"

 

If everything else continues to go well with this unit, being able to separate the cart adapter housing and tote the tiny main module around is going to be excellent for using at friend/family gatherings. :)

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I have the Powerbase mini standard edition. The FM version is unnecessary for Retron/Freak because it just dumps to a ROM. The extra in cart hardware is wasted on emulation machine but nice if you have a stock Genesis.

 

My Ballz 3D I gutted for the DSP1 plays well on the Retro Freak but crashes on real hardware. That games is goofy fun believe it or not so I might actually buy another copy...

 

Yeah. I repair and restore older systems, with the help of all you lovely people in these forums, so it works out for me and I have not tested it on the Freak yet. Plus, my golly gee golly, it has an "Ultra Burgundy colored shell"!

Edited by LiqMat
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I had my unit freeze a few times today when using filters in the PCE and SNES cores. I switched them off and it worked without problem after that. I kept using scanlines and didn't use the original resolution; so must be the filters that are CPU intensive...

 

Good to know. Just curious. Are you playing with cart adapter attached or just the mini console box? I was wondering if the cart adapter might be interfering with thermal dissipation.

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Epic Fail for Tengen MS Pacman. Bad dump or Crapulation?



Seriously folks this is Nesticle bad.


As a side note, I tried to access the ROMs stored on the Micro SD memory card. FCEU error missing header. In fact none of the dumped ROMs play at all for any system in PC emulator. I checked the file size of Super Mario Bros and it is 512 bytes too big. Instead of 40kb + 16 bytes, it is 40kb + 528 bytes. Further examination with offsets in a hex editor will determine if it's encrypted or just formatted weird. I hope it's the latter.
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I just posted my review, along with various videos: http://wp.me/p5dH5R-HQ

Bill, the Genesis side uses .bin extension. Try renaming your SG-1000 ROMs. Also to anyone considering using this as a cart dumper, the ROMs dumped from actual carts appear to be encrypted and won't play in any PC emulator. Further examination with a hex editor pending.

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