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Atari Flashback X Custom Firmware for USB roms and boxart


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Draxxon mentioned Lynx emulation.

 

I want to say that at this point it is easy to add/test additional cores.  I look at docs here:

https://docs.libretro.com/library/handy/

Then go back here to see if the core is available (handy is there):

http://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/linux/armv7-neon-hf/latest/

Drop the emulator core .so in the /emulator folder, add a new case (for the .lnx extension and handy_libretro.so in this example) in the /emulator/runcommand file by copying an existing entry.  Be careful though, because if you screw up runcommand it could break everything.  I have found that the retroplayer.x has greater compatibility, but retroplayer.9 is faster if it works so I usually start by trying with retroplayer.x then move to retroplayer.9.

 

Add a game in one of the rom folders and an entry in the all-games.ini to test for testing I never bother with any artwork - you will just get a "blank", but it still launches the game.

 

Sometimes there are core options which could be added to retroplayer.ini, but I doubt there are any for handy.

 

Some of the cores just won't work for whatever reason.  I have not been able to get mame2003 to work.  I also tried DOSbox with a couple games but no luck.  Maybe they could work with other roms, or maybe there are some extra config files needed - or maybe libraries our Linux does not have that are needed - just don't know. 

 

Also, many emulators don't make sense with a 1 button joystick or will be way out of reach for this device - like Nintendo 64!

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Handy/Lynx works with player.X. I tried Ms. Pac-Man. Rewind button freezes gameplay.
So try the player.9, obviously, but there is also mednefen_lynx core. I've never used that core before.
There is a jaguar core. but that doesnt make sense. No Daphne core. So no attempt to run Dragons Lair 2. *bummer*
I see colecovison, but the numberpad controller and its on the LFB already. C64, maybe??? but it has its own mini. And I have one all "hooked up" already.


Anyways good news is, I feel like I figured out how to add the cores from Rocketfan's list he shared. And its easier than adding a game, thats for sure. It seems like it always get quiet around here whenever a decent release gets dropped, lolol. :) I think I might take the weekend to play a few 7800 games.

 

Edited by Draxxon
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18 hours ago, Draxxon said:

Anyways good news is, I feel like I figured out how to add the cores from Rocketfan's list he shared. And its easier than adding a game, thats for sure. It seems like it always get quiet around here whenever a decent release gets dropped, lolol. :) I think I might take the weekend to play a few 7800 games.

All that is good news Draxxon!

To be fair, I have been remodeling a spare bedroom for the past couple of days, and I just now finished today!

I am going to take tonight and tomorrow and play my Switch try out Monster Hunter Rise to see what the big deal is about.

 

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Hey all,

 

I am having a weird issue with my Flashback X. I had the older update firmware on it and I tried the nexus pack - everything worked EXCEPT the 2600 games, it just would go to a blank screen with a flash every few seconds. I thought it might be because of the firmware, so I flashed the new firmware 1.9 with the 1.2Ghz clock speed. The unit boots up fine and functions normally without the usb Y connector - but if i try to use the Y, it will not boot at all. even if there is not USB drive attached to it. Ive tried 2 different Y connectors with the same results. Any ideas what is going on with this silly thing?

 

And yes, the Y was working fine with the older firmware.

 

NEVERMIND: I started over from scratch for the 5th time and everything is working fine now. Bleh - electronics are so weird sometimes!

 

 

 

 

Edited by Tifany
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Its wild to me, I never have issues much. When I do, I am experimenting with crazy firmware updates, but its always fixable.

problems I have is sometimes the Flashdrive doesnt load and I get stock games, but i move it from PC to conspole non stop.

Sometimes if i reboot with the in game command, i go to stock. and once in a blue moon, when i choose a folder like say a800,

I get stock. I have never had a unit just die, or stop working just because. Anyhoo, always glad to hear people get it sorted.

I find the SanDisc drives work well, and something Ive never mentioned is I ditch the AtGames power adapter and use a

quality micro usb to usb cord and wall brick (sometimes straight to the TV USB input itself.) I dont know if that helps. I'm 

always running my files off of my ext drives and cards and not the system itself, Maybe that extends the life span of these units,

I heard that it atcutally does, indeed.

Okay so...

Atari Flashback NEXUS - V.0.4.1 (Coming Soon)

 

Works on ALL Current Atari Flashback Systems: AFB 9 HDMI, 9 Gold, X, X Deluxe and both Late Model Xs..

 

Legends Flashback retroplayer ported

  - LIMITED button configuration support

  - Stella 6.1 works (use .26a for the file extension)

  - added some stella 6.1 only games w/ art to Homebrew folder

ColecoVision Flashback folder added (.cv)

  - LFB2 CV libretro core was added

  - select brings up the on screen number pad

  - added CV 1-Button games w/ art

Atari Lynx folder added (.lnx)

  - Atari lynx libretro core was added

  - added few Lynx games w/ art

Turbo Grafx-16 libretro core was added (.pce)

  - Select is Button 2

  - few games added to the Legends Flashback folder

Atari Hit Parade (Jukebox) folder was added

  - added a few chiptune songs

Edited by Draxxon
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I am finished implementing all of rocketfans updates. and everything works as intended.
i haven't got to implement too many games as examples of the new features but here is a rundown.

 

Handy/Lynx = with the X player rewind was broken, with the 9 player the screen was small but you could rotate it, with the new LFB player

                      screen is large and rewind works, but buttons arent mapped correctly... BUT i can map buttons with the LFB player (ONLY).

                      mednafen_lynx.so did not work. Ms. Pac-Man is the only game ive tried so far. It runs great.

 

Stella 6.1 = seems to run a tiny bit slow, maybe its just me. uses the LFB player. I've only tried Galagon. It is very playable, but again, I'm not

                   sure its full speed. 

 

Turbo Grafx-16 = Raiden and Galaga '90 are working in the LFB folder. They run great.

.

ColecoVision = Luckily, CV was already finished for the LFB, It was just a matter of cut and paste the whole library.

                       Rocketfan was good enough to go through the game list and pull out the ones that did

                       not work with this joystick. CV games are in their own folder. They run great. He also went

                        through and made a button config entry for every single CV game to make it work (have the On

                        Screen Number Pad show with select button). And it looke like he optimized 2 button games.

Im guessing now we can double back for all the two button games that had the wrong action button mapped, and if their core

runs optimal with the LFB player, we can swap buttons and get them running. Im not sure we can map jump to up though, or

even multiple buttons to one action button. i think we can only swap the layout of the action buttons.

Edited by Draxxon
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A couple things -

 

Using the handy core with LFB Retroplayer, it looks like the same button mappings as TurboGraphx-16 will work OK.

 

The Bluemsx core also works for Colecovision.  But in a quick test it seems like it's not any more compatible than the atGames core and it does not have an on screen number pad.  Unless your device has a bunch of buttons you can map to numbers (or a keyboard) it is kind of a bust except for the few games (maybe 1/8 of them?) that let you in without using the number pad.

 

3 hours ago, Draxxon said:

Rocketfan was good enough to go through the game list

I only partly did this for the Colecovision games!  Problem is it is VERY time consuming.  This is Draxxon's original pack from the Legends Flashback and it has a ton of games in it.  I pulled out 8 or 10 games I saw were not working and I'm sure there are more.  There are, however many good playable games in there - I bet the majority are, just not sure how big a majority.  It's almost hard to tell without going into games on the LFB (which has more buttons on Sega-Genesis style controllers) to see if they use multiple buttons or even the number pad during game play - some do.    If people find non-playable games please post here and they could be pulled or if they are "won't boot" problems maybe checked to see if they could work with the Bluemsx core.      

 

 

Edited by rocketfan
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yes, copy your TG16 button mapping for Lynx is what i did exactly.

 

from what i remember libcv.so IS the bluemsx core modded by AtGames to have the OS#P

so probably exact same compatibility and NO Super Game Module support.

CoolCV emulator for Mac OS X, Linux, Windows and Raspberry - ColecoVision / Adam - AtariAge Forums
CoolCV is the other one. It has CV Super Game Module support. Not in the shared list of available cores.

 

I want daphne, and dragons lair II, lolol. Also keyboard and other controllers support.

Edited by Draxxon
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3 hours ago, Draxxon said:

Stella 6.1 = seems to run a tiny bit slow, maybe its just me.

Yes, I agree - it's still not running really 100%.  Comparing a game like Battlezone between the two I think it's around 90% when using the LFB retroplayer.  I have really just hacked at the core to allow a decent level of speed to run any games that come along the old emulator won't handle.  Still wish I could do it "right" but I'm stumped.

 

Still, that Galagon amazes me for a VCS game!  ?

 

 

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12 hours ago, rocketfan said:

I have really just hacked at the core to allow a decent level of speed to run any games that come along the old emulator won't handle.  Still wish I could do it "right" but I'm stumped.

Well, not that long ago the consensus was "it would be really, really hard to get a version that we could try and it would probably never even work anyways" to "its about 90% speed". I can handle that!

 

 TBH I'm more interested in all the people that clamor for a "NEWER STELLA!!!!" lol. So, here it is, what do we gain? Galagon, Wizard of Wor, Super Cobra, Mappy, I can't even remember anymore. Wasn't there just like 4 games that needed removed from the A.T.A.R.I. pack? While its super neato that its working, next to 800, 7800, lynx, arcade, ... de we even care anymore? I mean, I'm glad its in there, and glad that rocket showed it could be done. but I'm saying... now what. What can we do with it?

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hello. im at 58% doing the copy of ver 4

very excited to see whats new. ive been documenting everything on my phone but i think its pretty obvious this is cool. thank you again Draxxon

 

its done. everything is really cool. in the next update if there is one can you set the main menu with the yars revenge music again. that was cool.

Edited by martin00000000001
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your welcome, bud.

Atari 7800 and ColecoVision are the main stars of this pack. there are probably a few

2 button and non working games left to weed out, yet.

 

Lynx, TG-16 and Stella 6.1 are just working. Only one or 2 games for those sections.

It's a GIANT work in progress. Thanks for visiting us here, Martin! I appreciate you!

Edited by Draxxon
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@Draxxon 

So, I only own an Atari Flashback 2 which I quite like. I was never interested in them after AtGames took over and they became something else, that said form everything you have posted it seems worth considering. However I am confused by some things, if you could clarify, " Works on ALL Current Atari Flashback Systems: AFB 9 HDMI, 9 Gold, X, X Deluxe and both Late Model Xs.. ?" - So, as someone has has no other Flashback which is recommended, is their any advantage choosing one or the other since they would be flashed to change the stock roms/emulators anyways? Please if I could trouble you to explain in the simplest terms also an unmodified console, do I need to flash any of the previous offerings from the start of this thread or would I be good to go directly with your "Atari Flashback NEXUS - V.0.4.1" you just posted? Would that give me the best experience and options with one of these consoles? ? THANKS. 

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the NEXUS pack runs from the sd card or flash drive. so nothing I do ever gets flashed to your system. you WILL need to flash a custom firmware that allows you to read files from your external drive, but that does nothing to your built in games and menu. Each systems stays basically stock with no card or drive inserted.

just running stock, the 9 is better than the X at playing 2600 games. as far as console design, i prefer the look of the X. 9 has issues with paddles, the X paddle support is nothing to write home about either, though. I feel like the NEXUS pack runs better from the flash drive than from the sd card. the x needs an OTG adapter to use the flashdrive. the 9 has an sd card slot built in. I feel like over the last two years ive heard people say that their AFB9 "dies" but not so much with the AFBXs. the 9 has a monkey king clone chip. the X has an actual RockChip.

the NEXUS pack is the same pack no matter what system you have. it took the best parts of all the systems, even the LFB and put it all together with even more emulators. Maybe others have opinions.

Edited by Draxxon
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other things that occurred to me. The 9 Gold has wireless joysticks, the X does not. The 9 looks a lot like an AFB2, which you already have. the X is A LOT smaller. looks like a mini "5-switch?" 2600. The custom firmware you need for the 9 is the same old CFW we have been using made by Brad from the 80s on page one of that thread. The X is a little more tricky. Brads X CFW will work. there is newer CFW by FrFister made from an Up-To-Date AtGames firmware. There is also an Overclock 1.2Ghz firmware by Rocketfan for the X. As of now, there is no overclock CFW for the 9s. Im still unclear what speed the 9s are running at. Is it different between the two versions??? standard is 800Mhz. I'm not clear what the Gold version's CPU is running at.

 

there are 2 versions of the X. Early versions you have to open the unit up and flash the 1st official atgames firmware update and its a Royal PITA. if you get a later model, reset button hole on the bottom, you dont have to do anything but get an otg cable and flash cfw with it. Sticks are very loose and very similar across all models, they vary in the amount of looseness.

 

The newer Xs have a nice power cable, no brick. crap ass power cord for all the others. Also, no hdmi cord included in any version.

 

 

Edited by Draxxon
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I believe that Rocketfan changed the MAME games to use the AFB9 retroplayer instead of the AFBX. I think that makes it so you cant go into mame button config. I believe more games played with the 9's retroplayer than the X's.

Drop this on your current setup. It will change it back to the AFBX retroplayer. I think that is the difference. You didnt mess anything up.

 

emulator.rar

 

EDIT: I just checked and MAME seems to be like it was before. Here is what I think happened. rewind on the X is u+select and I'm guessing that MAME uses u+select to go into the config menu. im guessing differences in the players settings are why there are differences in gameplay speed. I think that the AFB9 must not use u+select for rewind but something like u+d instead. thats why its not triggering the config menu, but you get rewind feature working. there are pros and cons. I'm not sure why the 9 player doesnt bring up the MAME config file on game launch when the X player does. No clue.

That said, there is quite a bit more flexibility, teakability and choices than before. multiple arcade cores and multiple retroplayers.

Edited by Draxxon
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I believe there are some mame arcade games in the LFBD folder that needed the afb9 retroplayer to work properly. they were too slow before.

 

so, just a heads up, changing your mame retroplayer from the X to the 9 will break those other games. Maybe we can run two versions of the mame emulator and change the extension for games that need a specific player. Like maybe, .zim for the x player and .zin for the 9 player. more work, more time, more testing of games. At this point, there are an infinite amount of things we could do, add or change.

Ive got my eye on this Odyssey 2 emulator. I'll have time to test it later this afternoon sometime, hopefully.

Edited by Draxxon
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