RetroN 77 Community Build Image

[dj_convoy]

I think we all expected that there would need to be some community outreach, here. No need to get mad at Hyperkin about it, and no need to get mad when the community hasn't fixed enough stuff yet.

[RockyMtnBri]

Phenomenal interface, and easy to use! Love the Fry button as a return to menu option!

[Andromeda Stardust]

I've mentioned this before and I guess I'll say it again; what should be and what is are two different things. Someone asked for help on something, and I suggested a possible fix/workaround. I didn't design the hardware the way it is, nor can be expected to fix it.

 

To be clear, the best approach has already been suggested in another thread; the port hardware should detect what type of input it's receiving, and just pass that info to Stella. Or the GPIO pins should be somehow connected directly to Stella in code, so it can read as appropriate.

 

I cannot fix what I did not design. And TBH, I'm kind of getting tired of having to take responsibility for a product that is (a) out of my control, and (b) based on a version of Stella that 6+ years out of date. So I won't be working on it any longer.

Stephena, perhaps I came across bit harsh. Thank you for all your hard work.

 

The community build image already states whether each rom utilizes joystick or paddles via a checksum, however there is no option currently to change the controller type prior to boot. Better if it saves changes to the stella.pro config. It should be easy enough to configure the boot menu to select the controller type prior to starting a rom.

 

Then you only need the stella.pro file for paddle compatible physical carts that don't auto detect.

[Mr SQL]

Here's a fun game to play on the Retron:

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/281793-gatecrasher-mellowmix/

 

This release is compatible with the community build, but on mine it needs to be in a subdirectory within the game directory to run or it locks up, not sure why.

 

[Atari Pixel]

It's a design choice to help users from getting lost in the directory structure while running the retron.

[+remowilliams]

Better if it saves changes to the stella.pro config. It should be easy enough to configure the boot menu to select the controller type prior to starting a rom.

 

Writing config(s) on this sytem isn't a good idea due to the complete lack of proper process management on Hyperkin's part, and the resulting fact that Stella can be unexpectedly killed at any given time.

 

from the Stella R77 commit log:

 

- Completely disabled saving the settings file, since it was sometimes being corrupted, and this is pointless on this system.

[Keatah]

Heh. Using a proper dual-config system this problem wouldn't exist. If one file gets corrupt by power-off during write, the system falls back to defaults or a backup of the previously working file. Then it recreates the bad file. Such a simple solution.

 

Automotive electronics do this. "Secure" copy utilities do this. NTFS does this. NTFS writes a file, and doesn't flag it good till the entire file is written. If power is lost at an inopportune time, the flag isn't set, and the previous file remains marked as valid.

Edited August 12, 2018 by Keatah

[Keatah]

Stephena, perhaps I came across bit harsh. Thank you for all your hard work.

 

The community build image already states whether each rom utilizes joystick or paddles via a checksum, however there is no option currently to change the controller type prior to boot. Better if it saves changes to the stella.pro config. It should be easy enough to configure the boot menu to select the controller type prior to starting a rom.

 

Then you only need the stella.pro file for paddle compatible physical carts that don't auto detect.

 

Why are we even "selecting" controllers to begin with? R77 should simply look to the proper I/O pins and be done with it.

 

What's going on now is a rather convoluted solution in comparison the original 1977 hardware.

[+stephena]

Heh. Using a proper dual-config system this problem wouldn't exist. If one file gets corrupt by power-off during write, the system falls back to defaults or a backup of the previously working file. Then it recreates the bad file. Such a simple solution.

 

And this is exactly what I did for the config file in the R77-specific port, and fixes the 'joystick loses fire button' bug. The proper, default config is hardcoded into the app itself. If the config file is ever deleted, corrupted, etc, then it reverts to the built-in one. This means that you'll never lose the fire button again.

 

I understand how this is supposed to work; that's why I added code to do it that way. As to why the maintainers of the system didn't do it, I can't say. But it's now fixed. I noticed it after a week or so of receiving the device, and released an update soon after that. I, nor anyone else on the Stella team, couldn't have possibly fixed it sooner; we didn't have the hardware! Not that we are responsible for it anyway.

 

Why are we even "selecting" controllers to begin with? R77 should simply look to the proper I/O pins and be done with it.

 

And this is exactly one of the solutions I proposed above, when I referenced having Stella access the GPIO pins directly.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Why are we even "selecting" controllers to begin with? R77 should simply look to the proper I/O pins and be done with it.

 

What's going on now is a rather convoluted solution in comparison the original 1977 hardware.

Could you please leave this in any of the other threads where you've repeatedly said the same things?

[Keatah]

Oh dear..

[Andromeda Stardust]

Oh dear..

Exactly. It is trivially simple to detect the controller type.

 

Pins 5 and 9 is low = joystick.

 

Pins 5 and 9 is high = paddle.

 

One pin is high, the other is low, then it is a hybrid Coleco Gemini joystick with built in paddle.

 

Just pass the status of these data inputs to Stella. It isn't rocket science.

 

Logically if the Retron77 can detect controller types and reconfigure the input, then it is possible for Stella to read them as well. No logical reason to guess or assume what should be or is actually connected. Certainly not "The crc index for this game is not in the paddle database. Please assign it to use joystick."

 

The active controller type is whatever the user has plugged into the console. This would also allow hotswapping of controllers, as well as games which allow for dual functionality, ie joystick in one port, paddles in the other.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Exactly. It is trivially simple to detect the controller type.

OK, go ahead. How long will it take?

[Akito01]

I could be exposing myself as fairly dumb, but I need a bit of help.

 

I found an extra Micro SD card kicking around, so I decided to burn this image and give it a try. I'm pretty sure it was successful, since my Retron 77 does boot into the Stella UI, and it does play carts when I plug them in.

 

The problem is that I can't seem to find the roms on the SD card from the Retron. I know where they are when the card is plugged into the computer, but no matter where I poke around from inside Stella on the Retron, I can't see them. Little help?

[Zaltran]

I could be exposing myself as fairly dumb, but I need a bit of help.

 

I found an extra Micro SD card kicking around, so I decided to burn this image and give it a try. I'm pretty sure it was successful, since my Retron 77 does boot into the Stella UI, and it does play carts when I plug them in.

 

The problem is that I can't seem to find the roms on the SD card from the Retron. I know where they are when the card is plugged into the computer, but no matter where I poke around from inside Stella on the Retron, I can't see them. Little help?

The homebrew roms included with the image are in the Games folder. They are accessed by the R77 when you turn it on without a cart.

[Akito01]

Well, that's what I assumed would happen, but the fact that isn't happening leads me to wonder why and what I can do to correct this anomaly.

 

I've re-imaged the card, but with the same results. The Retron 77 just doesn't seem to see the roms inside the Games folder on the card. I'm using a 4GB card formatted in FAT at 2048 bytes.

Edited August 14, 2018 by Akito01

[Akito01]

For reference, this is what comes up when I turn on the machine with this image.

 

[DirtyHairy]

That's the file system root you're seeing. The SD card is mounted in mnt --- go there and you should see its contents.

[Akito01]

 

This is what I get in the mnt folder. No games show up in the Stella folder either.

[+remowilliams]

There are several things missing with what I'm seeing in your pictures. What program did you use to image the build to your SD card?

[Akito01]

There are several things missing with what I'm seeing in your pictures. What program did you use to image the build to your SD card?

I used Etcher

 

I just tried it with the Win32 imager program with the same result.

Edited August 14, 2018 by Akito01

[Mr SQL]

Well, that's what I assumed would happen, but the fact that isn't happening leads me to wonder why and what I can do to correct this anomaly.

 

I've re-imaged the card, but with the same results. The Retron 77 just doesn't seem to see the roms inside the Games folder on the card. I'm using a 4GB card formatted in FAT at 2048 bytes.

 

Try FAT32

[Akito01]

 

Try FAT32

 

I just gave that a try, but sadly got the same result.

Edited August 14, 2018 by Akito01

[+remowilliams]

You shouldn't be selecting (or need to select) any partition format. I just tried Etcher (portable) to write the image and it worked as expected.

[Akito01]

I guess I don't understand what I'm doing wrong. I format the card in FAT and burn the image from the Dropbox link with Etcher. There are literally no other extra steps in the process that I've taken. It loads the UI on the Retron and plays games from cartridges. The only thing that is missing, as far as I can tell, are the roms, which are definitely in the Games folder since I can see them on the computer - they just seem invisible from within the Retron.

Edited August 14, 2018 by Akito01