Experimental 2600+ Firmware

[raz0red]

The purpose of this thread is to track the progress of an experimental 2600+ firmware.

 

Instead of making this firmware the next beta release, it seemed to make more sense to create a new thread due to how significant the changes are in this version. For example, the video output portion has been rewritten to optimize its performance. Thus, it is very possible that there may be regressions. But, the hope is that this experimental firmware will evolve into an upcoming beta release. 

 

There are two versions of the firmware available, a standard version, and a debug version. When reporting issues, please capture the information displayed in the debug version (at the top, photo preferred). This provides information such as the cartridge hash, its type, and size. This information makes it relatively easy to determine if the issue is with the dumper or the firmware itself. For example, if a 32k cart is showing as 16k, it would be a dumper-related issue.

 

 

Change history:

 

1.1x-r2:

 

• 2600
  • SC-RAM cartridge support (Aardvark, etc.)
  • Click audio fix (Pitfall!, Fishing Derby, etc.)
  • Game-specific fixes:
    • Brik180 (Joystick and Paddle support)
    • Spike's Peak (NTSC)
    • Polaris (PAL) (Uninitialized  BCD mode, @Thomas Jentzsch fix applied)
    • Maze Craze fix (force NTSC)

• 7800
  • Updated NTSC palette (thanks @Trebor)
  • Game-specific fixes:
    • Support for Diagnostic Cartridge variant

 

1.1x-r1:

 

• 2600
  • Optimized video output (should fix missing sprites, etc.)
  • Code optimization (PGO and other modifications)
  • 50hz display (PAL games)
  • SaveKey disabled
  • Game-specific fixes:
    • Pick 'n Pile (PAL)
    • Moonsweeper (PAL)
    • Time Pilot (b1)
    • Tac-Scan
    • Spike's Peak (PAL)
• 7800
  • Optimized video output
  • 50hz display (PAL games)
  • Updated PAL palette (thanks @Trebor)
  • Pokey buffer size fix

 

Caveats and Disclaimers:

 

• This is an experimental build, not an official Atari/Plaion release, so please use at your own risk.
• This build may contain regressions, or other defects not in the official beta builds. 
• The updated video driver means that the RetroArch UI is no longer accessible. You can still configure settings via the RA configuration file, but any video-related settings will be ignored.

 

Downloads:

 

• 1.1x-r2
  • Standard: update-022624-1.1x-r2.img
  • Debug: update-022624-1.1x-r2-debug.img

• 1.1x-r1
  • Standard: update-021724-1.1x-r1.img
  • Debug: update-021724-1.1x-r1-debug.img

 

Edited February 26 by raz0red
1.1x-r2

[John Stamos Mullet]

[chad5200]

Here is the notorious Smurf Rescue (NTSC) that has been causing problems. 
 

Edited February 18 by chad5200

[chad5200]

Spike’s Peak is still has no joystick response.  
 

[raz0red]

1 minute ago, chad5200 said:

Here is the notorious Smurf Rescue that has been causing problems. 
 

 

Thanks a lot for submitting those.

 

That is an 8k game, but as you can see it is currently dumping as 4k. So, in this particular case it is dumper-related (either the dumper code itself, or an inability to successfully read that particular cartridge).

 

Thanks,

Chris.

[chad5200]

Tac-Scan NTSC is now working with paddle in left port. 
 

Journey Escape NTSC now playing at correct speed. 
 

Very nice.  

[raz0red]

2 minutes ago, chad5200 said:

Spike’s Peak is still has no joystick response.  
 

Sounds good, the current fix was for the PAL version. Let me put together an NTSC fix.

 

Thanks,

Chris.

[chad5200]

Since people will probably be asking...

 

Here is reminder of how to install just the firmware update.  Skip down to the section labeled "Emulator Part 2":

 

 

[chad5200]

14 minutes ago, raz0red said:

That is an 8k game, but as you can see it is currently dumping as 4k. So, in this particular case it is dumper-related (either the dumper code itself, or an inability to successfully read that particular cartridge).

In the debug picture of my Smurf Rescue NTSC, it shows (50.00)... does that also mean the dumper thinks the game is a PAL 50 game?

Edited February 18 by chad5200

[raz0red]

1 minute ago, chad5200 said:

In the debug picture of my Smurf Rescue NTSC, it shows (50.00)... does that also mean the dumper also thinks the game is a PAL 50 game?

Because only half of the game was dumped, it is in a bad state.

 

Chris.

[raz0red]

1 hour ago, raz0red said:

Sounds good, the current fix was for the PAL version. Let me put together an NTSC fix.

The fix has been confirmed working (NTSC Spike's Peak). It will be included in the next update.

 

Thanks,

Chris.

Edited February 18 by raz0red

[KainXavier]

Am I correct in assuming there are no differences between the standard build and the debug build aside from debug text being rendered?

Also, I'll go ahead and update my console with the debug build so I can get you some information on what's going on with Aardvark and Juno First.  I'll also try running Maze Craze to see how my TV handles the new PAL detection code.

[raz0red]

6 minutes ago, KainXavier said:

Am I correct in assuming there are no differences between the standard build and the debug build aside from debug text being rendered?

Also, I'll go ahead and update my console with the debug build so I can get you some information on what's going on with Aardvark and Juno First.  I'll also try running Maze Craze to see how my TV handles the new PAL detection code.

Great, thank you very much!

 

And, yes, that is the only difference between the two builds (the debug output).

 

Thanks,

Chris.

[KainXavier]

Here's Aardvark after it freezes:

 

 

With Juno First, I had a hard time even getting it to boot, but here's a photo of the debug text when it did:

 

 

As for Maze Craze, it's gone back to failing to display 9 / 10 times.  I'm guessing my TV just doesn't support 720p at 50hz.  I doubt it'll help but here's a photo of when it did run:

 

 

Lastly, I can't get Zippy the Porcupine to display at all but that was the case even with the Rev 2 beta.

 

I hope that helps!

 

P.S.: Dungeon II and T:ME Salvo seemed to work just fine.  (I already had them on-hand.)

 

Edit: Just to be clear, the version of Maze Craze I'm running is the one included in the NTSC release of the 10 Games In 1 cartridge.

Edited February 18 by KainXavier

[Thomas Jentzsch]

2 minutes ago, KainXavier said:

Here's Aardvark after it freezes:

SC-RAM is not detected by Stella:

Quote

// We assume a Superchip cart repeats the first 128 bytes for the second
// 128 bytes in the RAM area, which is the first 256 bytes of each 4K bank

 

[Diewaldo]

I tested my PAL games, I can recommend updating for everyone using PAL games. Speed is much better and it does away with the stutter introduced by the odd timings of playing 50 Hz games with 60 Hz output instead like on the most recent official Beta firmware.

 

It is especially noticable on fast scrollers like Stargate. Also Galaxian plays a lot better with regards to flicker and disappearing sprites.

 

Well done!

[raz0red]

2 hours ago, KainXavier said:

Here's Aardvark after it freezes:

 

 

As @Thomas Jentzsch mentioned, it isn't detecting SC-RAM (F4SC vs. F4). I will put together a test build that forces this and send it to you to test with. 

  

2 hours ago, KainXavier said:

With Juno First, I had a hard time even getting it to boot, but here's a photo of the debug text when it did:

 

 

Yeah, it is only dumping 16k, while the game itself is 32k. So, this is going to be a dumper issue (code or cart compatibility issue). 

  

2 hours ago, KainXavier said:

As for Maze Craze, it's gone back to failing to display 9 / 10 times.  I'm guessing my TV just doesn't support 720p at 50hz.  I doubt it'll help but here's a photo of when it did run:

 

Edit: Just to be clear, the version of Maze Craze I'm running is the one included in the NTSC release of the 10 Games In 1 cartridge.

 

Yeah, the video rate is reported as 50, which enables 50hz display mode. We can force NTSC mode. I will send this fix as part of the Aardvark test build.

 

2 hours ago, KainXavier said:

Lastly, I can't get Zippy the Porcupine to display at all but that was the case even with the Rev 2 beta.

 

By not display at all, does it get past the dumper part? Meaning, does it load to a blank screen, or does it fail to dump with an error?

 

Thanks a lot,

Chris.

Edited February 18 by raz0red

[2LTIME6100]

4 hours ago, Diewaldo said:

I tested my PAL games, I can recommend updating for everyone using PAL games. Speed is much better and it does away with the stutter introduced by the odd timings of playing 50 Hz games with 60 Hz output instead like on the most recent official Beta firmware.

 

It is especially noticable on fast scrollers like Stargate. Also Galaxian plays a lot better with regards to flicker and disappearing sprites.

 

Well done!

I can only agree. Pal games run much smoother with the 50 HZ output. Atlantis no longer stutters, River Raid, Vanguard, Galaxian and Grand Prix also show a clear difference. Great work 👍😊

Edited February 18 by 2LTIME6100

[Gamma Ray]

Wake me when the paddle support is fixed.

[Trebor]

7 hours ago, chad5200 said:

Since people will probably be asking...

 

Here is reminder of how to install just the firmware update.  Skip down to the section labeled "Emulator Part 2":

 

 

Isolated the applicable information, tweaked slightly, and pdf it:

Atari 2600+ Emulator Firmware Update.pdf

[+sramirez2008]

Time Pilot works.🙂

Tac Scan loads and looks good, but the paddles are still not recognized.

[chad5200]

42 minutes ago, sramirez2008 said:

Tac Scan loads and looks good, but the paddles are still not recognized.

Plug the paddles into the left port. 
 

[Thomas Jentzsch]

4 minutes ago, chad5200 said:

Plug the paddles into the left port. 
 

Right port. 🙂

[chad5200]

4 minutes ago, Thomas Jentzsch said:

Right port. 🙂

For Tac-Scan, the old manual says to use paddles in the Right port.  The classic 2600 only works with paddles in the the Right port.

 

However, this firmware build that @raz0red has shared needs the paddles to be in the Left port.

 

Stella 6.7 even mentions Left port by default:

 

I suppose I would prefer it if this firmware matched the old manual (or better yet if both Left and Right port worked) but I guess that is debatable.  It is kind of nice to just keep the paddles plugged into the Left port if you are in a "paddle game playing mood" where you are playing a bunch of paddles games.

 

 

 

[+sramirez2008]

2 minutes ago, chad5200 said:

For Tac-Scan, the old manual says to use paddles in the Right port.  The classic 2600 only works with paddles in the the Right port.

 

However, this firmware build that @raz0red has shared needs the paddles to be in the Left port.

 

Stella 6.7 even mentions Left port by default:

 

I suppose I would prefer it if this firmware matched the old manual (or better yet if both Left and Right port worked) but I guess that is debatable.  It is kind of nice to just keep the paddles plugged into the Left port if you are in a "paddle game playing mood" where you are playing a bunch of paddles games.

 

 

 

I’ll try the left port. Thanks.