Atari 2600+ Beta Update 1.1 REV 2

[MysticSword]

Just now, LS650 said:

It's funny.  BITD people complained the video was too fuzzy and blurry, and now people complain the video is too crisp and sharp!  

Personally I love the picture being crisp and sharp.

[RevEng]

4 hours ago, Jerry0720 said:

hi Ben. Image 12324 would not work for me.  It told me the file was corrupt. Can you help me please?

Try re-downloading the image, and make sure the file size on your computer is 72190424 bytes. Then try the update process again.

 

2 hours ago, jnagy13 said:

This one is giving me the same problem, only this time, under Other Devices, nothing says Unknown Device or Evercade? So I am unable to download this update. Has anyone else run into this issue or know another way to fix it? 

Make sure you're following the directions carefully, as the console switches are different for the dumper part of the update vs the Emulator update. If you still don't see the device, try with other USB ports and/or cables. IIRC some people have issues with their (blue) usb-3 ports.

 

[+OLD CS1]

If no one else has mentioned Ace of Aces, when I try to play I get no front window graphics.  The sky is always just a full window of grey, dark grey, or white.

 

Another homebrew that works: b*nQ.

[Trebor]

~9"-25"+ screen with 320x240 resolution --> Want as clear and sharp of a picture possible for an image that was designed for such resolution, screen sizes, and other aspects of the display technology.

 

~32"-65"+ screen with 1920x1080 or 4096×2160 resolution --> Want to soften the picture and add features to an image that was not designed or intended for such high resolutions, screen sizes, and other aspects of the display technology.

 

🤷‍♂️ Makes sense to me 🤷‍♂️

 

However, not expecting the 2600+ to handle that task.  There is not enough CPU power to leverage for the required processing.  The 2600+ job is to run the game providing a modern output interface at a price point that is appealing to consumers and relatively profitable.

 

RetroTINK line of products and similar devices are really needed for satisfying results and provide the highest level of compatibility across modern displays.  Those devices alone typically cost a couple, to a few, to even several hundreds of dollars.

[+Mitch]

14 hours ago, RevEng said:

The composite smoothing is only enabled for Jinks and Tower Toppler. Since it blurs 320 pixels, like a real composite display, it's not worth degrading the display on other games that don't use artifacting.

 

MIA tends to be very crashy in emulation. The emulation in a7800 is pretty accurate as far as emulators go, but MIA crashes with it, even quicker than here. There's some kind of super-sensitive race condition in this game, involving the interrupts.

 

Great point! I don't know how many other people will be willing to mess up their label to find out, but I'll start...

 

C300565 NTSC Crossbow works (RevEng)

I thought Missing in Action also used artifacting. But it has been a while since I messed with it in an emulator.

 

Yes, it is very timing sensitive. When I was building carts of it many years ago I found that certain combinations of the PROM and GAL chips would crash the game. I would let a cart run in the demo mode for a minute or two. If it didn't crash I knew it was good to go.

 

You shouldn't need to pull the label to check the cart board version. You should be able to tell by the via's on the end of the cart board.

See here: https://atarihq.com/danb/7800cart/C300565.shtml

and here: https://atarihq.com/danb/7800cart/C100339.shtml

 

Mitch

[Jeffrey the Legend]

8 hours ago, Ben from Plaion said:

Did you install driver assist from its app or did you update the drivers via device manager?

 

Because the app just doesn't work even though it says it's installed. It must be done via device manager

Ok good to know about the app. I'll use it again to uninstall it first before trying anything else.
But I only installed from the app, after not being able to get an "unknown device" in device manager to update the drivers from.

Just to be really sure, it needs to be done with COLOR+Game RESET, right?, cause that one combination does not produce a windows USB device connected jingle and thus nothing in device manager to see

[JetmanUK]

4 hours ago, MysticSword said:

Personally I love the picture being crisp and sharp.

Add me to this list.

 

Yes it might not represent how we saw the games back then but isn't the big thing about the Plus that it's works on modern displays? And back as a kid I was playing on a 14inch budget TV. 

 

The 2600 graphics with their simple blocky resolution and bright colours really pop for me in a crisp presentation, on a 4K 55 inch OLED the games look awesome to me. 

 

But sure, add a (quality) scanline feature for those who want it. 

Edited January 26 by JetmanUK

[Sean_1970]

1 hour ago, JetmanUK said:

Add me to this list.

 

Yes it might not represent how we saw the games back then but isn't the big thing about the Plus that it's works on modern displays? And back as a kid I was playing on a 14inch budget TV. 

 

The 2600 graphics with their simple blocky resolution and bright colours really pop for me in a crisp presentation, on a 4K 55 inch OLED the games look awesome to me. 

 

But sure, add a (quality) scanline feature for those who want it. 

I always put on scanlines when available, though for early 8-bit it doesn’t add anything for me, probably because like some other folk I was playing on a small b&w tv. For raster arcade games, however it gives some nostalgia vibes 👍

[Ben from Plaion]

8 hours ago, jnagy13 said:

This is great! I was able to do the first Christmas update, but not this one. I did have an issue with the first one where on the Update itself, when trying to find the Atari 2600+ under Other Devices in the Device Management folder, I could not find it. I had updated my Evercade and that is what it showed up under. So I selected that and was able to complete the first firmware update. This one is giving me the same problem, only this time, under Other Devices, nothing says Unknown Device or Evercade? So I am unable to download this update. Has anyone else run into this issue or know another way to fix it? 

If you successfully updated the Christmas build and you are using the same PC there should be no need to install Driver Assist again, the RKDevTool should see the machine when its connected and show 'Found one Maskrom device'

 

But anyway, if you are having difficulty then uninstall the driver in device manager and re-install driver assist, remember your 2600+ must be plugged into your PC with TV Type in Color and whilst powering on hold GAME RESET.

 

Try it again and see how you get on

[Jeffrey the Legend]

2 hours ago, Ben from Plaion said:

If you successfully updated the Christmas build and you are using the same PC there should be no need to install Driver Assist again, the RKDevTool should see the machine when its connected and show 'Found one Maskrom device'

 

But anyway, if you are having difficulty then uninstall the driver in device manager and re-install driver assist, remember your 2600+ must be plugged into your PC with TV Type in Color and whilst powering on hold GAME RESET.

 

Try it again and see how you get on

I'm starting to get a feeling that person has the same issue as I have, It's just I skipped the Chrismas update with my new device completely so to say.. Maybe 1.1.0.9 breaks the color / game reset mode thingy? Is that possible?
I'll try downgrading to Christmas update later and see if I can get a response in Device Manager that way.

[+sramirez2008]

15 hours ago, OLD CS1 said:

Beef Drop gives a scrolling rainbow (see below,) while Froggie works but has no sound.  I should amend: Froggie's in-game sound does not work, but I have caught it croaking when it starts up (unfortunately, the screen mode change between loading and starting the game forces my projector, even though I have it set to only use HDMI, to search for an active input.  This means I miss a lot of start-up action, like the Atari Age logo and jingle on some games.)

 

I am going to pull around an HDMI monitor to see if there is any difference.

 

Attached are a couple of videos from my Beef Drop and Froggie carts. Both have POKEY chips installed and Beef Drop is a numbered cart (# 96) from the original run. FWIW, my 2600+ is connected to an older Samsung (Model UN55J6200AF) TV via HMDI cable. I don't have a RetroTINK or anything else in between my connection to the TV. Apologizies for the crappy video but I don't own a capture device.  

[John Stamos Mullet]

10 hours ago, Trebor said:

~9"-25"+ screen with 320x240 resolution --> Want as clear and sharp of a picture possible for an image that was designed for such resolution, screen sizes, and other aspects of the display technology.

 

~32"-65"+ screen with 1920x1080 or 4096×2160 resolution --> Want to soften the picture and add features to an image that was not designed or intended for such high resolutions, screen sizes, and other aspects of the display technology.

 

🤷‍♂️ Makes sense to me 🤷‍♂️

 

However, not expecting the 2600+ to handle that task.  There is not enough CPU power to leverage for the required processing.  The 2600+ job is to run the game providing a modern output interface at a price point that is appealing to consumers and relatively profitable.

 

RetroTINK line of products and similar devices are really needed for satisfying results and provide the highest level of compatibility across modern displays.  Those devices alone typically cost a couple, to a few, to even several hundreds of dollars.

I have a RetroTink Mini that I use with my UAV modded 7800. It cost me $59 new. It correctly scales and smooths the output of any 320x240 console to be displayed on an HD/4K tv. Yes, there are more expensive models that have more features, but the basic function of upscaling and smoothing the output is NOT expensive.

Edited January 26 by John Stamos Mullet

[John Stamos Mullet]

10 hours ago, LS650 said:

It's funny.  BITD people complained the video was too fuzzy and blurry, and now people complain the video is too crisp and sharp!  

Nobody is asking for "fuzzy and blurry". The smoothing feature already exists in this device, because it is the default setting in REtroarch. Just asking for a way to enable it so color blending is accurate.

 

again, it's the same basic principle as Tower Toppler not displaying correctly because of missing CRT artifacting.

[+sramirez2008]

Well, Time Pilot now loads, however its unplayable. Attached are a couple of videos of how the game is currently working. -Thanks.

[+Atari_Warlord]

23 hours ago, RevEng said:

Great point! I don't know how many other people will be willing to mess up their label to find out, but I'll start...

 

C300565 NTSC Crossbow works (RevEng)

My NTSC Crossbow that doesn't work is C100339.

 

With @Mitch 's info, you can tell by just looking at the end of the board. 

 

 

[+OLD CS1]

47 minutes ago, Atari_Warlord said:

My NTSC Crossbow that doesn't work is C100339.

 

With @Mitch 's info, you can tell by just looking at the end of the board.

Comports with my non-working Crossbow: based upon the cartridge port-side vias and the angle of the two larger traces to the right, it is a C100339.

 

Last night while going through all of my 7800 library, I was wondering if it is possible for the 2600+ to directly access cartridges, precluding the need to dump them.  That would give a much faster start-up to the system.  There are other implications involved, once being digitizing audio from the cartridge, so it was really a rhetorical thought.

 

1 hour ago, sramirez2008 said:

Attached are a couple of videos from my Beef Drop and Froggie carts. Both have POKEY chips installed and Beef Drop is a numbered cart (# 96) from the original run.

Mine are not original runs.  Perhaps there is a difference between original and later runs.

 

 

I have a solution to the color blending and artifacting: HDMI to composite down-scaler routed through a composite to HDMI up-scaler.  Lag be damned!

[John Stamos Mullet]

I have a Crossbow cart that was made for me by an AA user many years ago, I believe he burned an eeprom and soldered it into another cart, so I don't know the chip serial, but it loads and plays fine on the 2600+.

[Ben from Plaion]

2 hours ago, Jeffrey the Legend said:

I'm starting to get a feeling that person has the same issue as I have, It's just I skipped the Chrismas update with my new device completely so to say.. Maybe 1.1.0.9 breaks the color / game reset mode thingy? Is that possible?
I'll try downgrading to Christmas update later and see if I can get a response in Device Manager that way.

No the dumper update 1.1.0.9 is a totally seperate function to the Mainboard emulation update.

 

I'm pretty sure, because your machine clearly can connect to the PC as you've done the dumper update that your issue is to do with the driver for the machine that enables rkdevtool to see the machine. Remember to uninstall / install the driverassist driver from wondows device manager.

[+sramirez2008]

49 minutes ago, OLD CS1 said:

Mine are not original runs.  Perhaps there is a difference between original and later runs.

Perhaps. @Albert can you confirm whether there were any differences (boards etc.) between the original and current later runs of Beef Drop and Froggie? -Thanks.

[shane857]

9 hours ago, JetmanUK said:

Add me to this list.

 

Yes it might not represent how we saw the games back then but isn't the big thing about the Plus that it's works on modern displays? And back as a kid I was playing on a 14inch budget TV. 

 

The 2600 graphics with their simple blocky resolution and bright colours really pop for me in a crisp presentation, on a 4K 55 inch OLED the games look awesome to me. 

 

But sure, add a (quality) scanline feature for those who want it. 

Yes. Not the sh**ty one like on the evercade. A decent one like on the atari 50 celebration 👍. Maybe it would possible to add a save state feature in a future update. Would be nice to have it there ,if needed.

[+sramirez2008]

I must say again that this beta update has been huge. Looking forward to the next one.🙂

[+-^CrossBow^-]

22 hours ago, splendidnut said:

Beef Drop is a 7800 game, so it wouldn't be on a Melody board.

Absolutely correct and I wasn't paying attention I guess. But I've only seen the scrolling rainbow on newer 2600 'brews on the 2600+. Don't think I'd see it happen with any 7800 games yet.

 

[Jerry0720]

18 hours ago, RevEng said:

Try re-downloading the image, and make sure the file size on your computer is 72190424 bytes. Then try the update process again.

 

Make sure you're following the directions carefully, as the console switches are different for the dumper part of the update vs the Emulator update. If you still don't see the device, try with other USB ports and/or cables. IIRC some people have issues with their (blue) usb-3 ports.

 

Thanks for answering.  I think I got it to work.  I didn't realize that I still needed to use the RKDEVtool from revision 1.1 to get it to work.  Once I used that I think it installed correctly.  Let me know if I did it wrong.  Thank you so very much!

[Zoyous]

7 hours ago, John Stamos Mullet said:

I have a RetroTink Mini that I use with my UAV modded 7800. It cost me $59 new. It correctly scales and smooths the output of any 320x240 console to be displayed on an HD/4K tv. Yes, there are more expensive models that have more features, but the basic function of upscaling and smoothing the output is NOT expensive.

Personally I'd love a passthrough hardware device that processes the image to overlay psychedelic effects on the game. Kind of like a Jeff Minterizer box. I looked into it a bit and there are such devices, but they're aimed at live music concert productions and as a result they're quite expensive.

[Jerry0720]

Thanks for answering.  I think I got it to work.  I didn't realize that I still needed to use the RKDEVtool from revision 1.1 to get it to work.  Once I used that I think it installed correctly.  Let me know if I did it wrong.  Thank you so very much!