Flashback X firmware upgrade issue

[mrhalloween31]

Hello,

 

I recently got interested in playing Atari and I picked up the Flashback X as I saw that it can be upgraded to load roms through USB along with boxart.  I'm trying to complete the initial firmware update that allows USB access and I'm following the tutorial from atgames' website.  I'm stuck at the part where the RKDevtool is supposed to go from "No Devices Found" to "Found one LOADER device".

 

This is the tutorial I'm following: http://legendsultimate.atgames.net/afz/AtariFlashbackX-FirmwareUpgrade.pdf

 

This is my file structure:

 

And here is the screen that I'm unable to progress past:

 

I remove the case to the Flashback X, connect it to my PC through USB, hold the recovery button down on the board, and then power it on.  I am using windows 10 and the computer recognizes I've hooked something up.  The tutorial shows that the "No Devices Found" should  change to "Found one LOADER device".  Prior to running this program I did use the driverassistant program to install the driver and I restarted my PC afterwards.

 

I feel like as soon as I can get it to find the LOADER then the rest of this will upgrade fairly easy.  I've contacted atgames support as well.

 

Any help would be appreciated!  Thanks.

[Greg2600]

I've heard USB 3.0 has better results.

[Draxxon]

He hasn't gotten to the USB Device part yet, Greg.

 

try to manually install the drivers yourself. (driver assistant may have issues with some machines)

 

try an older pc with an older version of windows. (some windows 10 machines block the drivers)

Edited June 10, 2020 by Draxxon

[mrhalloween31]

Thanks for the advice Draxxon. I had a windows 7 laptop (may be a netbook) that I tried to do the update on this morning.  When using Driver Assistant to install the drivers it took a few minutes as opposed to windows 10 that says it installs nearly instantly after hitting install.  Windows 7 did seem to install the drivers, but when I hooked up the atari flashback X to it the system kept disconnecting and reconnecting over and over again.

 

I am thinking that the driver did install correctly, but maybe the USB ports on a laptop are not as strong as a desktop and it can't handle it being plugged in.  Is that a possibility?

 

I don't have a Windows 7 desktop, but I do have another laptop that I can try it on after work tonight.

 

Oh and I did try to install this on a Windows 8.1 desktop and it reacted just like my Windows 10 desktop is.

[mrhalloween31]

I got it to upgrade last night!  I did use a windows 7 laptop and at first it didn't work.  I ended up having to use a USB cable from my HTC Vive and it worked fine.  I am assuming the better quality USB cord played a role in it as well.

 

Thank you for your help!

 

My next step is to follow this thread for adding the roms and boxart.  https://atariage.com/forums/topic/303298-atari-flashback-x-custom-firmware-for-usb-roms-and-boxart/

[cripnite]

Having the same problem, I've tried a few cables and I have one that makes the "connected" sound when I power it on, but the RKDevTool never changes to "Found one Loader Device". I saw someone else had a problem with the driver program not install the drivers right, and they manually installed the drivers to get it to work. Any suggestions on how to do that? Thanks. 

[mrhalloween31]

I did try manually installing drivers by going through device manager, but I don't think I ever got it to work correctly.  I kept getting a message that said the best drivers have already been installed so I don't think it ever took the ones I was trying to install.

 

Here is a link on how to install drivers manually if you think it will help you:  https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/faq/228/

 

So I did finally get my Flashback X to update and here are some of the hoops I jumped through.  I tried updating it on a windows 10 desktop and a windows 8.1 desktop.  Both installed the drivers super fast with the driver assistant program.  I too found one cable I had that would actually make the connected sound so I thought that was the one to go with (It's a microsoft one that I use to play an Xbox One controller on Steam.)  Neither of those desktops would ever have the RKDevTool change to "Found one Loader Device".

 

I reached out to atgames and posted on this forum for help.  Both suggested I try an older computer that had windows 7 because 10 seems to block drivers from being installed.  I tried it on a netbook which had windows 7 first.  This time when I hit install on the driver assistant program it took a long, long time.  Twice it popped up asking if I should trust the program and it eventually said it installed.  On the netbook I got the same results as the desktops.  I hooked it up with the cable that made the connected sound and it would constantly disconnect and reconnect.  I read something that said the netbook may not have enough voltage to do the update for some items.

 

I then found an old windows 7 laptop and it installed the drivers just like the netbook did.  It took a long time.  I got the same results yet again with the flashback connecting and disconnecting.  I then changed the cable.  I own an HTC Vive VR headset and they have some very thick cables that are used to charge the controllers.  I tried it and I couldn't believe my eyes when I finally saw "Found one LOADER device."  After that the update was easy.  I do think if I had started with the better USB cable from the beginning it would have updated a lot faster.

 

Updating to CFW and adding the games from Draxxon's pack wasn't too bad either.  Just a lot of black screen where I'm assuming it was loading all of the games.

 

This took me about a week to update and I've modded all my other consoles in the past so I didn't think a plug n' play system would be so complicated.  I can tell you this, IT IS WORTH IT!  At first it's cool just to load a game from USB, but when you install the pack and see all of the boxart you'll see it was worth all of your time.

 

All I can say is keep working at it, try a new cable (buy one from amazon or something if necessary), try a new computer, and don't give up.

 

Reply back with any other questions and let's get you playing Atari today!  This thing is awesome!!!

[Draxxon]

Let me first say, yes you need a usb cable with a data line. Same as other mini systems like the NES Classic.

I had the exact same issues. A lot of people have. I tried on a windows 10 laptop and the drivers were blocked. I tried to install them manually and failed. I have a couple MAME arcade machines with old PCs and older version of Windows. It worked just like it said in the AtGames instructions with one of those. I have since seen a lot of people have the same issues. As far as the AFB9/X packs with art. Make sure you use a 3.0 storage device. old sd cards and flashdrives take a miserably long time to load, but they will work. They also take a few times to get the firmware updates and partition dumpings to work. It takes a few tries. I've seen a few people give up because of these issues.

Now if you do have an AFBX and a 3.0 device it is gonna take aprox 30 seconds to load everything after the green AtGames boot screen. After some asking around this was the longest we were willing to wait. Its because there are 1100+ games with art. That's why no more large updates are happening to it anymore. One way to lessen the black screen time is to remove games. you need to delete their entries in the all-games.ini file in the rom folder. Eventually ill come back to the Atari pack.

Glad you got it all sorted out!

P.S. I just wanna say, imagine my frustration when I tried to update mine and there was no help. Because we all have had the same problem we have figured it out together. I got lucky trying the MAME machines PC. I have hacked all the mini systems. this one is right up there with the NEO GEO mini.

Edited June 16, 2020 by Draxxon

[Krathoon]

I figured out how to get it to work with Windows 10.

 

You have to manually install the driver.

 

Update the driver of the unknown device that shows up when you plug in the flashback in device manager. Then, get to the part where you select a driver. Then select the have disk button. Go to the driver directory of the driver install software and go into the x64 and then Win10 directory. Select the rockusb.inf file in there. Windows will complain about installing the driver. Say yes.

 

Win10 had trouble matching this driver to the Flashback. You have to force it.