Custom firmware for Atari Gamestation Pro

[Boots01]

 

5 hours ago, Jazality said:

I have always felt that the 'Box Art' on the GSP looks a bit too small, making the subtle details of the artwork and font appear squished and blurry...
 

I have 453 total games in my GUI interface, 
about 46 ColecoVision games, including some Coleco only titles, 
and newer CollectorVision homebrews that require SGM (make sure file 'coleco.zip' is in the ROM folder).
If your favorite games are ColecoVision, to help spot them easier mixed in the ATARI ARCADE tab, I put a border around the 'game_menu.png' image file (yellow top half, pink bottom half for CV) - (yellow and lite teal for INTV),  not a standard, but I changed my mind 4 times... mostly because when ALL GAMES tab is selected, Arcade green tab shows,  Atari 5200 tab shows it's color, etc.  Yellow was easy to see different from others. geezzz.
Now with a new  gspgames 057d  update, provided by  big_guitar  sorting option will help too!

 

 

 

 

Edited May 13 by Boots01

[big_guitar]

Some of these older 80s games can be really difficult.

I don't think I've beaten the Clubber computer player (with Rocky) in decades, will need more practice.

That's where some head-to-head play can be a little more entertaining if there is someone else available and willing to engage in some retro gaming.

 

[Spanner]

IDEA: Is it possible to see the artwork like covers in the gspgames.exe app when you add them and can you make a list of games so you can see them all like a list of games or a gamelist box on the left side of the app so you can just click on one to bring up its details and cover art work on the right of the app screen...?

 

And why can't the app set up a new game for you so it adds it  and all works, I find it confusing when there to much stuff going on and having to setup this and that, I tried adding the example game and it added it but it didn't load it, all its artwork and gamelist is in the GUI but the game does not run, I find you have to do alot in the app just to add a game, in PCUAE Manager it easier and take about 2 minutes to add one, have a look at it, you could get ideas from it, it can run without PCUAE, and PCUAE Manager downloads PCUAE too and its Modes so you can install it to a USB Stick or SD Card.

I am autistic so its harder for me...  you need scraping in it, I like the app, just needs this and that added to make it easier.
I noticed it uses .md files, thats the extension for the Sega Mega Drive Roms so `Sonic.md` that used in its emulator like K_Fusion, Gens(best emulators out there for Windows, been using them for AGES...  )or in the Retroarch Cores Picodrive, Genesis Plus GX ....

Edited May 15 by Spanner

[fishmichaela]

On 5/10/2024 at 10:42 PM, Airwolfman said:

Very nice indeed! So...how feasible do you think this would be?

Wow, that is so cool. I'm not a programmer and do not know how to read code. If posable I would like to set up GSP to a cool format like that. Do you have a how to for dummies?

[big_guitar]

14 hours ago, Spanner said:

I tried adding the example game and it added it but it didn't load it,

Sorry it didn't work for you.  There's lots of documentation that explains how it is designed to function. 

The gspgames.exe app assumes you are using firmware 1.30c (page 1 of this thread), so that is required, along with establishing the data folder to sd card (also in original post of this thread). If you then went through one of the quick start options and deployed all the files, that should all work.  It's best if you used the quick start options in the app itself.  

[the log files are helpful]

The runme script included will dump some log data based on your most recent execution attempt.  The files in the logs folder off the root will usually provide a clue as to why something did not run as expected, although you should navigate back to the MyArcade app (either folder nav or GUI) prior to powering down by pressing the Home button. The log files will be more intact if you do that. First they will tell you what settings were like going into the runme, and then it tells you how things are set to run just prior to execution. For custom settings, just before execution, the pre-execution variable settings in most cases should be different from the incoming variables, and that should be exposed in the log files.

 

You're used to the interface that you developed, so that's going to be easier for you of course.  For the retro games system I had, I found a lot of your interface kind of busy and complex myself.  It took quite a lot more than 2 minutes to get it in a state to even attempt to work with it from what I recall.  The initial deployment for your app was certainly just as confusing if not more so than mine.  I also had some issues getting a few games to work using your interface, and not all of the menus would load for me, and ended up using the folder navigation instead since I found that was much faster and less problematic.  I'm sure that you put a lot of work and time into it, but there was only so much time I was willing to invest to work with it, lots of other life issues to deal with, which is normal.  

 

Originally I just made gspgames.exe as a way to edit the games.db games table through a Windows app and nothing more (as some did not prefer the INI method), and then I added the ability to configure games to run with other cores, since I seemed to be one of the only people experimenting with a lot of other libretro cores on the GSP, from the standpoint of what any else reported on Atariage forums.  So I've added to the app over time when I could.  It's setup so you can configure each game as needed in a custom way, because early on I found myself using custom cfg files or remapping files even for different games under the same core (although I really haven't added remapping files in the windows app, since most changes can be established with a custom retroarch cfg file alone).  The gspgames app can be used just for how to launch games from folder navigation for expediency and testing, so you don't have to add them all to the GUI at first, you can add a games table record later as a secondary step to display it in the GUI app.

 

Yes, more could be done with the gspgames windows app to select and display images, I haven't had time to get into that.  The MyArcade GSP GUI app expects the specific images to be within particular sizes, which could be fine for box art since a lot of that is similar in ratio, but not all of the game categories even allow for box art, and the title graphic is especially rather wide and unique in dimension.  I wouldn't want to have to rebuild a graphics app inside of my own app, since there are so many other graphic apps out there to work with, but I did allow for the selecting of the image files under the trigger records to assist with deploying the image files on the sdcard.  Of course with the MyArcade GSP GUI interface, you have to name the files in a specific manner as well. 

 

 

Edited May 16 by big_guitar

[big_guitar]

16 hours ago, Spanner said:

I noticed it uses .md files,

For folder navigation, you have to trick the main GSP app into thinking that you're launching a game it supports. That extension is simply one that the GSP recognizes. If you don't use an extension it recognizes, it won't even show the file via folder nav.  You can use others as well, such as bin or pce, but I wanted to be consistent, so I chose md. So the GSP "accepts" that as input, and then the script determines how to translate that into something else, which in the end can be .col or something that the GSP will not recognize by default. I was wanting to support access via folders as well as the GUI. Prior to Brad's efforts, we were doing everything custom via folders only.  

Edited May 16 by big_guitar

[Spanner]

I noticed to that Retroarch in AGSP it uses the retroarch.cfg to config the joystick so need one with each game, it does not use Autoconfig(it has no folder for it) so use the old way of configuring the joystick, I might try and get Autoconfig to work but it has no folder so no configs for sdl, udev...,(its included with PCUAE, it has its own Retroarch built in, RA's Autoconfig is in /.options/c64_a500_sdl_controllers, I did it like this so I didn't need to duplicate files so RA only uses one Autoconfig folder) it might just work when the folder gets added, Retroarch's binary might of been changed so Autoconfig can not be used like on the Atari2600 Plus.

Has anyone tried to see it Retroarch's GUI works, you press F1 usually on a keyboard, looking at one of the cfgs, they never removed the keyboard shortcuts so they should still work ...?

Edited May 16 by Spanner

[big_guitar]

7 hours ago, Spanner said:

I might try and get Autoconfig to work

You can use autoconfig, I mentioned this to you before.  In order to use SDL2 for input_driver, you'd have to use a dif retroarch app, but the joypad driver still has to be udev.

 

Edit the cfg file you are passing to retroarch (this works with the built-in retroarch) to point to a directory on the sd card.  Then create "udev" folder underneath, copy configs from online resources if necessary.

 

So the retroarch.cfg (can be a different name of course) would have something like:  

 

joypad_autoconfig_dir = "/data/retroarch/autoconfig"

 

Of course you can define whatever location you want,  "/sdcard/retro1/autoconfig", etc..   Or you can edit the runme to execute a non-Myarcarde build of retroarch, and use a keyboard, but various quirks here in there come into play, you can look at the main GSP thread about that. For one, with udev/udev driver settings on the non-myarcard RA, some duplicated behavior for controller 2 using controller 1, but you can resolve that with sdl2 input driver and udev joypad driver.

Edited May 16 by big_guitar

[Spanner]

I used the startup.sh script in the custom firmware on the sd card to boot PCUAE from a USB Drive on the AGSP...

[Spanner]

I am just now adding the custom firmware mods to it so there will be a new folder on the sd card called game_images where the game gui images will be so you can get to them and change them if you want, I be binding retroarch and libretro folders there too, but it will need the sd card because it uses the statrup.sh script to boot PCUAE, you will have to change the script with a new one but it does have a backup of the original file and will load it it it does not see in the folder a flag file called `run_pcuae_from_startup`, I will make it so you can use PCUAE on the SD card as well so no need for a USB Drive, it will check to see where its booting PCUAE from.

Edited May 17 by Spanner

[big_guitar]

10 hours ago, Spanner said:

to boot PCUAE

Have you tried to launch a completely different linux app for the GUI, or are you thinking the other options you have available would not be compatible with this particular os/platform?

 

Ideally I suppose someone would write a gui from scratch that would be generic enough for compatibility, with built-in features to allow for multiple page menus.

[Spanner]

I like to thank Brad_from_the_80s for adding a startup.sh script to the SD Card as part of his custom firmware, without it I would of not got into it...  I was wondering does the custom firmware on the Atari Flashback have the same startup.sh, PCUAE does use a startup.sh of its own but thats for running PCUAE from a fake update on THEC64 and run as a game entrée in USB Media Access on THEA500 Mini, it runs a setup so you can copy the autoboot script to its firmware, you can not do that on this because its rootfs is read only, do not understand why they still use Rockchip when Alwinner SoCs are better and easier to flash, so many things can go wrong with AGSP and AF, like my friends AGSP, not matter what he does he can never get it to come off of LOADER Mode so can not reflash it so it now a dead machine, My Arcade need to make a firmware that supports LOADER Mode too, not only MASKROM Mode if you can not get into MASKROM Mode then you will never be able flash the firmware on AGSP and if you try to flash it in LOADER Mode it will mess up the NAND and the AGSP will not boot no more and needs reflashing, on the Atari Flashback you can flash the firmware on LOADER Mode,
***WARNING***
NEVER try to flash AGSP Firmware on LOADER Mode, you will end up with a brick if you can not get back into MASKROM Mode and if its stuck on LOADER Mode.
Could Brad look into a way of flashing AGSP custom firmware in LOADER Mode, if its possible ...?
And you flash the firmware this way because Rockchip was originally on cheap Android mobile phones and tablets, that why you find it on XDA, I do not like flashing anything this way because it can mess up easy and killed a console that costs £100+.
 

Edited May 18 by Spanner

[Vic20Ian]

On 5/18/2024 at 1:21 PM, Spanner said:

I like to thank Brad_from_the_80s for adding a startup.sh script to the SD Card as part of his custom firmware, without it I would of not got into it...  I was wondering does the custom firmware on the Atari Flashback have the same startup.sh, PCUAE does use a startup.sh of its own but thats for running PCUAE from a fake update on THEC64 and run as a game entrée in USB Media Access on THEA500 Mini, it runs a setup so you can copy the autoboot script to its firmware, you can not do that on this because its rootfs is read only, do not understand why they still use Rockchip when Alwinner SoCs are better and easier to flash, so many things can go wrong with AGSP and AF, like my friends AGSP, not matter what he does he can never get it to come off of LOADER Mode so can not reflash it so it now a dead machine, My Arcade need to make a firmware that supports LOADER Mode too, not only MASKROM Mode if you can not get into MASKROM Mode then you will never be able flash the firmware on AGSP and if you try to flash it in LOADER Mode it will mess up the NAND and the AGSP will not boot no more and needs reflashing, on the Atari Flashback you can flash the firmware on LOADER Mode,
***WARNING***
NEVER try to flash AGSP Firmware on LOADER Mode, you will end up with a brick if you can not get back into MASKROM Mode and if its stuck on LOADER Mode.
Could Brad look into a way of flashing AGSP custom firmware in LOADER Mode, if its possible ...?
And you flash the firmware this way because Rockchip was originally on cheap Android mobile phones and tablets, that why you find it on XDA, I do not like flashing anything this way because it can mess up easy and killed a console that costs £100+.
 

Nick, see this thread with some recovery tips.

[Spanner]

8 hours ago, Vic20Ian said:

Nick, see this thread with some recovery tips.

Thanks, past it on to my friend ...
Video coming soon of PCUAE booting on the Atari Gamestation Pro...

Edited May 19 by Spanner

[Spanner]

How about adding to the GSPgames.exe app a list box of the games on the left so you click on one and it shows its details on the right of the list box...?
Here is a mock-up of what it might look like with a listbox...  I made it in Adobe Photoshop..

What does Hard mean, shouldn't that be Difficulty not Hard, the Chinse names should be changed to english too, makes it more easier to understand, like what is Class Type, do they mean Game Type so Genre what type of game it is Action, Adventure, Simulation, Sport, Platform, Maze, Driving and so on, it should say Genre then not Class Type.

Might be a good idea to make Genre a drop down box to with its names in it like this:

Edited May 21 by Spanner

[big_guitar]

The class categories don't really line up in an ideal one-to-one relationship with how we'd like to group them. 

Class type is not the genre, but is more closely associated with the existing menu sub-sections. (You can't match up 'Sports' for example with any class_type).  We could make another table to tag the games into genres (or test if appending to the main table will work), but it wouldn't have an impact from the GUI menu perspective.  It's also important to know that the class type does seem to contribute to whether or not the paddle on the GSP controller is enabled or if the stick is enabled (in addition to the custom atari paddle folder myarcade provided). You can't re-use the class_types for something else unless you plan to keep the paddle enabled class type as is. Game_type assigns a specific default built-in libretro library.  But if you use the trigger table, the game type doesn't really come into play for the most part since you're customizing how the game runs outside of the box so to speak. 

 

'Hard' is supposed to represent whether or not the controller image is displayed for the game description according to some translated Chinese.

"The joystick icon is displayed on the FEATURED GAMES details page."

 

  

[Spanner]

so Game type is Select Core, well thats what its called in RA, then you could have a drop down box with the core in it its see in its libretro folder on the sd card so you just drop a core in that folder and then it would see it in the AGSP Game Manager, because that where the cores are mounted in PCUAE.
I made it so PCUAE works with the custom firmware now so you need it to load PCUAE.

 

Here is a video of it so far:

I called it PCUAE LCA Edition because I added pictures of a Arcade I made in 3D Arcade Unity called Luna City Arcade(it was based on a real home arcade in the USA, its in 3D so a virtual arcade, I did release it), I thought it would look good in AGSP GUI.

This is just to show it working, its got a long way to go before its finished, I only just got PCUAE Mode working so have not tested the other modes yet.
and wanted to show I am working on it... 

The good thing about this is you only need the Custom Firmware v1.3.0c for PCUAE to work, it uses its startup.sh script to run it from the SD Card, you will need a SD Card for PCUAE to work and a USB Stick to store PCUAE on, if you want to run it that way, you will be able to install PCUAE to the SD Card if you want too but it will need a txt flag file on the SD Card telling it where PCUAE is installed(ATM), more about that later and nearer the time of its release, things could change between now and then.

Enjoy...

Spannernick.

Edited May 22 by Spanner

[Spanner]

Just found one of the music tracks in AGSP.. https://www.shutterstock.com/music/track-1228328-space-80s

[Spanner]

On 5/22/2024 at 3:45 AM, big_guitar said:

The class categories don't really line up in an ideal one-to-one relationship with how we'd like to group them. 

Class type is not the genre, but is more closely associated with the existing menu sub-sections. (You can't match up 'Sports' for example with any class_type).  We could make another table to tag the games into genres (or test if appending to the main table will work), but it wouldn't have an impact from the GUI menu perspective.  It's also important to know that the class type does seem to contribute to whether or not the paddle on the GSP controller is enabled or if the stick is enabled (in addition to the custom atari paddle folder myarcade provided). You can't re-use the class_types for something else unless you plan to keep the paddle enabled class type as is. Game_type assigns a specific default built-in libretro library.  But if you use the trigger table, the game type doesn't really come into play for the most part since you're customizing how the game runs outside of the box so to speak. 

 

'Hard' is supposed to represent whether or not the controller image is displayed for the game description according to some translated Chinese.

"The joystick icon is displayed on the FEATURED GAMES details page."

 

  

What do you think of adding a listbox to the AGSP Games Manager...?

Edited May 23 by Spanner

[big_guitar]

10 hours ago, Spanner said:

What do you think of adding a listbox to the AGSP Games Manager...?

I will look into it.  Having to deal with a lot of other life matters lately.  It's a holiday weekend in USA, and I will be mostly away from home and dealing with other things, but I'll see if I can't mess with it later next week at some point.  

[Spanner]

12 hours ago, big_guitar said:

I will look into it.  Having to deal with a lot of other life matters lately.  It's a holiday weekend in USA, and I will be mostly away from home and dealing with other things, but I'll see if I can't mess with it later next week at some point.  

No worries, do it in your own time and when you have time...  You could upload it to GitHub, you do not need to shear its source code if you do not want to, you could just release it on there like how I do with PCUAE, all of its source is in it already so I upload it as Winrar SFX.exe files. 

Edited May 24 by Spanner

[Spanner]

If you look here... https://github.com/CommodoreOS/PCUAE you'll see it has no source code available and only has Releases available on the right side of PCUAE GitHub page, you can upload up to 2GB per file for free so I limited PCUAE only up to 2GB or less in size compressed so its bigger when you install PCUAE via its WinRAR SFX extractor, I did at the start try windows installers but it limited PCUAE to be installed by Windows only, this way you can uncompress it with 7zip or a extractor on Linux by changing the .exe file to .rar or if you can't use its install setup, it even works on MacOSX this way, you just need a way of uncompressing a rar file on it, once you do you can uncompresses it(but will still need to find a way to remove MACOSX .DS files and duplicated files it makes because it messes up PCUAE loading, there is a way on THEC64 Community), because its a rar file really, makes it easer for users to use on different OSes, otherwise you limiting only one group of users using it... 

Edited May 24 by Spanner

[Spanner]

I made a trigger for the Intelivision game Stonix and it does not load it, is there something thats meant to be in the trigger file so is like a script file, mine only has this in it...
 

This is a trigger file.

and thats it, it has a problem finding the rom and it BIOS files, they are there under `/Game/INTV` on the sdcard its images are under `/Game/triggers` , look below, you can see it in the GUI under Arcade so it can see its Name and its images but not where its rom is or Bios when you run it I added correctly and Deployed a Trigger file for it as how you do it using the Quick Setup of a game in AGSP Games Manager but it don't load it...?

 

Stonix Game in AGPS Games Manager...

Trigger file...

INTV folder...
Please ignore it saying sd_card_backup below, the files are the same on my sdcard, PCUAE has a backup of it, just in case it gets corrupted, I took a pic of it by accident and could not be bothered to change it...

Trigger folder...

Cores...

[Boots01]

I put ALL my files in one folder to avoid jumping back & forth, [I use the main GUI mostly for play]

ALL files (images, *.md, *.int or *.rom  and (exec.bin, grom.bin for INTV folder)

/sdcard/games/triggers/INTV 

or 

/sdcard/games/triggers/COL -- copy coleco.zip from troms\FBNEOC folder

 

-- just seems less confusing to me.

Edited May 25 by Boots01

[Spanner]

I was just thinking... Game Type should be Core Type or Machine Type, because its not a game but a machine it emulating, a game is like PACMAN that runs on emulated machines, I always called them machines from CBM - Commodore Business Machines....  the C64 was my first computer in 1984(I was 13 then, 40 years ago...wow...  )

Edited May 25 by Spanner