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How to get through ready screen in 800xl MAME


Swami

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I have installed the 800xl emulator pack in MAME on my PC and it goes to the blue window with "READY", I click Tab (configure), go to file manager and find the game rom I want to play and it goes to this test screen for memeory, ect.

 

At the bottom of the screen are "select" "start" and "Reset", but the only thing I can get to respond is to hit F4 and go to the color test screen. I cannot get to the game. Tried it with Asteroids and Pitfall.

 

files were:

atari800-3.0.0-winsdl.zip

xf25.zip

 

Thanks.

Edited by Swami
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P.S.

 

For Asteroids I can't get by the test screen, for the others, it is the start screen that shows beginning of the game with the "press start" message. The F3 appears to do reset, but I cannot find anything to activate what it says is "press start button". F1, F2, "1", "5", "Ctrl", "Alt" "S", etc. Most of the keyboard buttons pause the motion on the game start screen and restart the motion on a second push.

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Okay, by using the a800xl.zip file and setting configuration to keyboard = emulated, I can get games that come up with the start screen of the game to start playing, but I still cannot figure out how to get to the game screen when the test screen for memory and keyboard comes up and star raiders just gives me a black screen.

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According to the machine input defaults, F1 is Start, F2 is Select, and F3 is option. That depends on the keyboard emulation (scroll lock) since F3 is also system restart.

 

I can't get Star Raiders to work with mame atari 800xl. Star Raiders does start with mame atari 800 or 400. I can't get Asteroids to work; the same rom works in Altirra. I'm testing with mame v0.181 on Win7-64. There are mame warnings about problems with the emulators on these machines. Mame 800xl has something about video emulation problems and mame 400/800 has something about incorrect rom dumps.

Edited by mr_me
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Okay, thanks for the info. Sounds like it could be a fundamental issue. I do believe at this point it is bugs in the console files or game files. I tried two different roms for star raiders in the mame 800xl and neither worked. I also tried two different roms in mame 5200 and the second one worked. The default keyboard combo was F2 to leave intro screen, "1" on upper number row to start game, Key pad numbers as control panel. On keypad Enter was # (control panel mode) and "+" was "*" (speed mode).

One of the roms worked in Altirra, but not mame 800xl, as you experienced.

 

I will check out the softlist and other mame forum. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

Mostly I was doing this to try to see if I could rig up the colecovision controller for joy+keypad games for a single handheld controller. No dice there. Keypad numbers trip multiple functions in every atari emulator so far. I'm going to try it with a 5200 controller (Which is a canned controller in Atari800Win Plus and maybe others emulators), although the absence of self-centering makes it less desirable for some games, although I have read it it is beneficial on Star Raiders. Otherwise, I guess one might have to Krazy Glue an atari keypad to a joystick, but I might prefer the PC keyboard to that kluge. One advantage of the keyboard with AtariWin800 Plus Star Raiders is it uses keys with letter codes...F for forward, A for Aft, S for shield, etc.

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Mame is pretty lousy for Atari 8-bit emulation. Why not try something like Altirra?

I have Altirra and Atari800Win Plus, but I wanted to try a little project to see if the mame emulator of 800xl could use a Colecovision controller for games like Star Raiders. Too many bugs, though.

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Try the Atari 5200 Star Raiders. Since the Atari 5200 version of Star Raiders has all functions on the hand controller, the button mapping would be straightforward in any emulator.

 

Altirra emulation is great for Atari 5200 or Atari 400/800. Altirra 5200 keypad button mapping is straightforward. I don't think you can map controller buttons to Atari 400/800 keyboard keys in Altirra but even that is possible with a utility like JoyToKey. So use 5200 emulation.

 

You can try either Mame 5200 or 400/800 emulation. Mame does let you map controller buttons to keyboard keys.

 

All this does depends on your controller working properly in Windows (ie. the USB adapter). The emulator sees the Colecovision controller as a standard system game controller. First make sure the Colecovision controller is working properly in the Windows "Game Controller Settings Test"; all buttons should work expected. What USB adapter are you using?

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Unfortunately, MAME's Atari 5200 (and Atari 8-bit emulation) is badly broken, and has been that way for quite some time, due to a core rewrite of the m6502 a number of years ago. No-one has had the interest, time, knowledge or/and specific skill set to fix it since. I believe there are issues with the ANTIC too, as Ms. Pac-Man's colors are corrupt.

 

Anyhow, MAME rates poor to fair for Atari 5200/8-bit emulation, good to very good for 2600 emulation, and excellent for Atari 7800 emulation. Outside of its 7800 emulation (Which actually sets the bar for the system's timing and overall emulation accuracy), the other Atari systems are much better managed by other emulators. As mentioned, Altirra emulator for the Atari 5200/8-bit side (Though I do also like kat5200 very much for the 5200), and Stella for the Atari 2600.

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Unfortunately, MAME's Atari 5200 (and Atari 8-bit emulation) is badly broken, and has been that way for quite some time, due to a core rewrite of the m6502 a number of years ago. No-one has had the interest, time, knowledge or/and specific skill set to fix it since. I believe there are issues with the ANTIC too, as Ms. Pac-Man's colors are corrupt.

 

So much for the "accurate documentation" claim of mame. The damned thing sucks and isn't getting any better.

Edited by Keatah
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Doesn't their mission statement say it's all about documenting and preserving? Why bother doing something half-assed and un-usable? I'd rather have nothing than to see the classics disgraced and twisted by poorly written emulators.

 

"MAME originally stood for Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator. MAME's purpose is to preserve decades of software history. As electronic technology continues to rush forward, MAME prevents this important "vintage" software from being lost and forgotten. This is achieved by documenting the hardware and how it functions. The source code to MAME serves as this documentation. The fact that the software is usable serves primarily to validate the accuracy of the documentation (how else can you prove that you have recreated the hardware faithfully?). Over time, MAME absorbed the sister-project MESS (Multi Emulator Super System), so MAME now documents a wide variety of (mostly vintage) computers, video game consoles and calculators, in addition to the arcade video games that were its initial focus."

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Why bother doing something half-assed and un-usable? I'd rather have nothing than to see the classics disgraced and twisted by poorly written emulators.

 

It's a misunderstanding of what has transpired or is transpiring. The emulator has been around for ~20 years now. About 15 of those years include the computer, console, and other devices that make up MAME in addition to Arcade games. In the case of the Atari 5200/8-bit, that driver has unfortunately fallen to the ground due to changes made over the years and no one interested, able enough, or had/has the time to fix what is broken for that particular driver.

 

The case of the aforementioned Atari 7800, it demonstrates quite the opposite. It has received the interest and time to bring the driver to the point of MAME being the most hardware accurate emulator available for the system; including some extensive documentation in the source.

 

There is a considerable difference between what is "half-assed" and a WIP. Ditto with "unusable" and unintentionally broken. Due to the shared nature and strive for accuracy in all it's components, if a particular driver (I.E. A400) was written at one time with an understanding of how a processor (m6502) worked or chip functioned, and later that understanding was corrected or updated to better reflect that processor or chips actually behavior, but a particular driver was not - there will be a problem or problems with the driver.

 

That is the case with the Atari 5200/8-bit.

 

On the other hand, take another component such as POKEY chip emulation. MAME to this day, has some of the best emulated POKEY sound which is due to all the time and attention it has received from it being utilized across many arcade games in addition to the Atari consoles. Even when MAME's emulation of the 7800 graphics chip (MARIA), was nowhere near as good as it is today, the POKEY emulated sound always shined brilliantly. Over the years, the rest of the components have caught up and the end results are fantastic for Atari 7800 emulation.

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Try the Atari 5200 Star Raiders. Since the Atari 5200 version of Star Raiders has all functions on the hand controller, the button mapping would be straightforward in any emulator.

 

Altirra emulation is great for Atari 5200 or Atari 400/800. Altirra 5200 keypad button mapping is straightforward. I don't think you can map controller buttons to Atari 400/800 keyboard keys in Altirra but even that is possible with a utility like JoyToKey. So use 5200 emulation.

 

You can try either Mame 5200 or 400/800 emulation. Mame does let you map controller buttons to keyboard keys.

 

All this does depends on your controller working properly in Windows (ie. the USB adapter). The emulator sees the Colecovision controller as a standard system game controller. First make sure the Colecovision controller is working properly in the Windows "Game Controller Settings Test"; all buttons should work expected. What USB adapter are you using?

I have a 2600-dapter II and a Vision-dapter for Colecovision. I have used Joy2key for a couple of fight sticks I have playing software but didn't consider using it for emulators, I assumed the two mapping programs would conflict, but maybe I could piggy-back them.

 

Thanks for the inspiration to return to device settings, After your message I went back to the device settings and messed around with the Vision-dapter a while, flipping the switches around bewteen the 4 different types of systems (Colecovision, Intellivsion, Sega Genesis and Sega Master System). Initially, the Vision-dapter was giving no signal for the buttons on the colecovision controller on CV (how it arrived) and the 2600-daptor was triggering multiple keyboard keys per button. Anyhow, after flipping the switches around a while I flipped the switches back to CV controller on the Vision-daptor, plugged and uplugged the USB and retried it and all the buttons and keys worked with the device settings for the adapter, so must have been something a little fubar with the switches on the Vision-daptor as received. I did end up using MAME 5200 for Star Raiders because there were too many keys in the Altirra setup, which uses different keys for all the console and speed settings instead of the switch-over like the 5200...unless I can track down a 5200 setup rom that works in Altirra, which there may well be. However, it works like a charm now in MAME 5200.

 

I'll try some partial setup with Altirra, just for fun and education.

 

Thanks again.

Edited by Swami
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I have a 2600-dapter II and a Vision-dapter for Colecovision. I have used Joy2key for a couple of fight sticks I have playing software but didn't consider using it for emulators, I assumed the two mapping programs would conflict, but maybe I could piggy-back them.

 

Thanks for the inspiration to return to device settings, After your message I went back to the device settings and messed around with the Vision-dapter a while, flipping the switches around bewteen the 4 different types of systems (Colecovision, Intellivsion, Sega Genesis and Sega Master System). Initially, the Vision-dapter was giving no signal for the buttons on the colecovision controller on CV (how it arrived) and the 2600-daptor was triggering multiple keyboard keys per button. Anyhow, after flipping the switches around a while I flipped the switches back to CV controller on the Vision-daptor, plugged and uplugged the USB and retried it and all the buttons and keys worked with the device settings for the adapter, so must have been something a little fubar with the switches on the Vision-daptor as received. I did end up using MAME 5200 for Star Raiders because there were too many keys in the Altirra setup, which uses different keys for all the console and speed settings instead of the switch-over like the 5200...unless I can track down a 5200 setup rom that works in Altirra, which there may well be. However, it works like a charm now in MAME 5200.

 

I'll try some partial setup with Altirra, just for fun and education.

 

Thanks again.

Update: Oddly enough, using both joy2key and Altirra, I can get the keypad to work, but not the joystick. I'm calling in quits for the night though.

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You shouldn't need joy2key with a 5200 emulator. Below is the Altirra 5200 controller mapping. The colecovision controller has enough buttons for everything except start/reset/pause. The Vision-daptor might have some virtual button combos you can map to start/reset. You could map them to keyboard buttons in the controller mapping but that is not necessary if you have the default keyboard to controller mapping activated as well.

post-43287-0-53990800-1494415533.png

 

----------------------------

Regarding Mame compatibiliy; since there are other excellent projects emulating Atari 8-bit it isn't necessary to duplicate efforts. Their mission of the tech being documented and preserved is being fulfilled as long as someone is doing it. There is obviously more work than there are programmers and free time. Correct me if I am wrong but I think Mame is one of the better Colecovision emulators. So-so for Intellivision, but it is the only option for the Intellivision Keyboard Component. Although the Keyboard Component emulation is incomplete I'd rather have something than nothing.

Edited by mr_me
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...Correct me if I am wrong but I think Mame is one of the better Colecovision emulators. So-so for Intellivision, but it is the only option for the Intellivision Keyboard Component. Although the Keyboard Component emulation is incomplete I'd rather have something than nothing.

 

The above is correct. :)

 

What is MIA from ColecoVision emulation under MAME is support for the homebrew MegaCarts and Super Game Module (From Opcode). Otherwise, it is excellent; including its controller/peripheral support. My prime choice for ColecoVision emulation though is blueMSX. Not as robust in the graphics and sound options of MAME, but not shabby either...And it includes support for the MegaCarts and SGM.

 

For Intellivision, I stick with Nostalgia; although I do not utilize or have an interest in the Keyboard Component of the console.

 

You may be interested in the Ultimate Interface if you have a Keyboard Component.

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Does bluemsx emulate Slither and the colecovision trackball/mouse? Trackball emulation is the one thing that is buggy in mame colecovision. Homebrew peripheral support would be outside Mame's scope. Nostalgia emulator is abandoned, aspect ratio is wrong, and may have a problem with Windows 10 (confirmation needed). Jzintv and maybe mame are the only active Intellivision projects. Jzintv even emulates the Tutorvision.

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You shouldn't need joy2key with a 5200 emulator. Below is the Altirra 5200 controller mapping. The colecovision controller has enough buttons for everything except start/reset/pause. The Vision-daptor might have some virtual button combos you can map to start/reset. You could map them to keyboard buttons in the controller mapping but that is not necessary if you have the default keyboard to controller mapping activated as well.

attachicon.gifaltirra.png

 

----------------------------

Regarding Mame compatibiliy; since there are other excellent projects emulating Atari 8-bit it isn't necessary to duplicate efforts. Their mission of the tech being documented and preserved is being fulfilled as long as someone is doing it. There is obviously more work than there are programmers and free time. Correct me if I am wrong but I think Mame is one of the better Colecovision emulators. So-so for Intellivision, but it is the only option for the Intellivision Keyboard Component. Although the Keyboard Component emulation is incomplete I'd rather have something than nothing.

I was using the 5200 controller setup you show, but in Altirra 800 emulator. Perhaps these two are not well matched even thoug it is included in Altirra 800. I have not got a chance to look into 5200 emulation with Altirra yet. In the Altirra 800, without joy2key, stick and buttons were not responding, with joy2key, only keyboard was responding. May just need more troubleshooting with Vision-dapter and emulator communication. I was also thinking that, in theory at least, my CV supercontroller has enough buttons for the 800 Star Raiders.

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It emulates real hardware accurately so like real hardware you can't use a 5200 controller on an Atari 400/800. You could use a real Atari 5200 controller with a USB adapter as a Windows game controller emulated as an Atari single button digital joystick. The Atari 400/800 had single button digital joysticks so in Altirra 400/800 mode use the CX-40 joystick. The Atari 400/800 did have keypad peripherals but I don't think the 400/800 version of Star Raiders was programmed to use it. Perhaps they should filter out the 5200 controller and 5200 trakball from the list.

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It emulates real hardware accurately so like real hardware you can't use a 5200 controller on an Atari 400/800. You could use a real Atari 5200 controller with a USB adapter as a Windows game controller emulated as an Atari single button digital joystick. The Atari 400/800 had single button digital joysticks so in Altirra 400/800 mode use the CX-40 joystick. The Atari 400/800 did have keypad peripherals but I don't think the 400/800 version of Star Raiders was programmed to use it. Perhaps they should filter out the 5200 controller and 5200 trakball from the list.

That would make sense. Could be it was seeing the CV controller as a CX40 or a keypad, but not both, which is why I could not get both the stick and keypad to work at the same time.

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I don't think Atari 400/800 Star Raiders was programmed to use a keypad. The only way you can use your controller keypad is with Joytokey/Altirra or Mame since both can map controller buttons to keyboard keys. Joystick as CX40 in Altirra and it should work.

 

My recommendation is to get the 5200 version of Star Raiders and configure a 5200 controller in Altirra.

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