TI99 on Kindle Fire?

[Nomenclaturist]

I recently installed RetroArch on a Kindle Fire and found it works pretty well at least for the older systems.  NES, Genesis, and GBA games all work pretty well, as to some of the older MAME games (like Donkey Kong & Joust).  Galaga '88 plays but at about 2/3 speed.  Space Invaders '95 (Attack of the Lunar Loonies) runs but so slowly as to be basically unplayable.  

 

I was thinking that TI99 games ought to work well as that system is on the older side.  I've tried the MAME versions of the ROMs and BIOS but can't seem to get them working on the Kindle Fire RetroArch.  Is there anyone who has been able to do this and would be able to post detailed instructions for a layperson?  

[mr_me]

Which mame core are you using?  Older versions of mame prior to MESS integration didn't emulate home console and computer systems.  If you see a MESS core it should support the TI994a.

[Nomenclaturist]

2 hours ago, mr_me said:

Which mame core are you using?  Older versions of mame prior to MESS integration didn't emulate home console and computer systems.  If you see a MESS core it should support the TI994a.

 

From the list of available cores in the Kindle Fire RetroArch app, I was using "Mame (Current)".  They seem to have only a limited selection of cores.  There are some other MAME versions but the most recent seems to be 2010.  I don't see any MESS.   

 

 

[Flojomojo]

I'll bet you could sideload the Android TI/994a emulator instead of RetroArch? It's probably easier to set up than RetroArch in any case. 

https://github.com/elorimer/droid99 is the source

 

https://apkfun.com/Droid-99.html has the apk which is what I would do (carefully!)

 

Looks fun!

[mr_me]

2 hours ago, Nomenclaturist said:

 

From the list of available cores in the Kindle Fire RetroArch app, I was using "Mame (Current)".  They seem to have only a limited selection of cores.  There are some other MAME versions but the most recent seems to be 2010.  I don't see any MESS.   

 

 

Mame (current) is supposed to be a recent version of Mame and should have the TI994a emulator, Mame 2010 is too old and doesn't have the emulator.  I don't use retroarch but I do use Mame.  I've used the Ti994a rom cartridge file format .rpk successfully with Mame.  Other binaries of rom cartridges may not work.  If you're using Mame softlists, it could be the way retroarch is feeding the rom file to the emulator.  Are you getting the TI994a start screen and Basic prompt?

[Nomenclaturist]

2 minutes ago, mr_me said:

Mame (current) is supposed to be a recent version of Mame and should have the TI994a emulator, Mame 2010 is too old and doesn't have the emulator.  I don't use retroarch but I do use Mame.  I've used the Ti994a rom cartridge file format .rpk successfully with Mame.  Other binaries of rom cartridges may not work.  If you're using Mame softlists, it could be the way retroarch is feeding the rom file to the emulator.  Are you getting the TI994a start screen and Basic prompt?

 

I actually was using .zip files someone had linked to elsewhere here on AtariAge.  I also tried .ctg versions, but RetroArch doesn't see them at all.  Can you suggest a safe link to obtain the .rpk versions?  

 

With the .zip versions, RetroArch acts like it's loading but doesn't get to the TI994a start screen at all -- just a grayish blank screen with the MAME controls below it.  

 

The RetroArch interface on Kindle Fire is pretty easy/obvious for other systems.  I just tap "load content", navigate to the ROM folder, swipe down and tap the ROM I want, then sometimes select from among a few different cores (presumably because RetroArch thinks more than one might run the ROM), and then the thing runs.  Some run slow, but the TI99 games are the only ones that don't run at all.  I use an iPega controller connected wired via USB-C, and it makes for a really convenient portable system.  

 

[Nomenclaturist]

2 hours ago, Flojomojo said:

I'll bet you could sideload the Android TI/994a emulator instead of RetroArch? It's probably easier to set up than RetroArch in any case. 

https://github.com/elorimer/droid99 is the source

 

https://apkfun.com/Droid-99.html has the apk which is what I would do (carefully!)

 

Looks fun!

 

Thanks for the suggestion!  I tried this, and the resulting app loads, but the text is gibberish and the graphics are all muddled and out of place.  I was able to move the parsec ship around a little, but the game is basically unplayable.  Maybe the Amazon version of Android is missing some features that make Droid99 work?  

 

[Flojomojo]

13 hours ago, Nomenclaturist said:

Thanks for the suggestion!  I tried this, and the resulting app loads, but the text is gibberish and the graphics are all muddled and out of place.  I was able to move the parsec ship around a little, but the game is basically unplayable.  Maybe the Amazon version of Android is missing some features that make Droid99 work?  

Oh, that's too bad. Hopefully it didn't waste too much time. Wild guess: the old emulator is not compatible with newer versions of Android, and maybe that's why it's no longer in the Google Play Store. It looks like it went away in 2014, which is a very long time in mobile app years. 

 

Potential consolation: I like to dabble in the software archives at Archive.org because no setup is needed. Not sure if they have click-n-run TI99 cartridges in there, but I see a curated selection of BASIC programs. https://archive.org/details/basic-games-ti99