Anyone have a working n64 / Mame fix?

[evilllama]

I know this is a tired topic, but either I am screwing up the directions for fixing the n64 emulator and mame emulator, or something else is not working, I hedge my bets on the former. I get that famous line 23 issue when loading an n64 image then booted back to ES, and mame does the famous “back to ES” when I try to load my flash from the Donkey Kong machine in my garage (BTW it works on my PC emulator).

To tackle this in order, I would like to get my n64 roms working as my chinchilla ate through the video cable for my n64 console so I can’t play them ATM.

Current config.
R-pi B+
RetroPie 2.3

After searching the forums for about 4 weeks, tracking down every solution I can find here, I have not made any headway. I followed the direction stating to go to setup.sh and install experimental, it ran, it stopped… Waited about 6 hours and nothing happened. It had all the actions it had taken and commands it used, and at the bottom it said “more>” and gave me a solid cursor and stopped responding. I then had to power down (unplug) and power on again. Nothing changed.

I tried the other git pull way listed, and it ran from terminal and did the same thing. showed it’s work on screen, then stopped. Waited 1 hour this time, and nothing happened. I unplugged the unit and plugged it back in. No change.

I tried manually installing the emulator, and it still gives me the error then returns me to ES.

I started over with a brand new SD card and fresh image, and I still have the issue.

So, now that I am starting fresh with no alteration, where did I go wrong before, and how do I do it correctly this time? Is there anything else I can add to assist with diagnosing this?

Side note:
Maybe there should be a sticky for individual emulator issues and how to fix them? Also, does version 2.4 fix the n64 and/or Mame issues? It didn’t say anything about it in the notes…

[petrockblog]

I’m not familiar with the “famous” issues you are referring to, but if you can describe a specific issue, I can try and help.

Also please start with retropie 2.4.2 – a lot has changed since 2.3

[evilllama]

Just an example….

n64 ROMs show up, but won't play

That issue is when you load a rom, the emulator starts loading, then halts, closes, with “sementation fault in line 23”, then returns your to emulation station. As there are at least 20 (or more) different people who have stated that they have this problem over 4-6 different posts.

BUT…
I can start over with r-pie 2.4 and see if the issue persists. I assume there are many changes with the n64 emulator as that is my concern and you stated there have been many changes.

[Roo]

I commend you for obtaining your ROM from your own machine.

But if your Donkey Kong ROM works in current MAME it will not work with MAME4ALL that RetroPie uses. MAME4ALL is based on an older version of MAME and the ROMs are (sometimes) different. I know for sure Donkey Kong is one of the ROMs that is different.

I posted a new WIKI article on checking your ROMs, I would suggest you read through it.

[u][url=http://github.com/petrockblog/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/Managing-ROMs]Managing ROMs[/url][/u]

[evilllama]

[quote=85437]…But if your Donkey Kong ROM works in current MAME it will not work with MAME4ALL that RetroPie uses. MAME4ALL is based on an older version of MAME and the ROMs are (sometimes) different. I know for sure Donkey Kong is one of the ROMs that is different.
[/quote]

Interesting side track…
Actually, it is an original cabinet from the old arcade that closed down about 20 years ago. My friend made the ROM because I couldn’t figure out how to get the information from my coin machine into a digital form.

Is there a specific way to create the ROM from my cabinet that would work on R-pie? All I know about the machine is that it was built in 1982 and it is an upright

[quote=85437]
I posted a new WIKI article on checking your ROMs, I would suggest you read through it.

Managing ROMs
[/quote]

Nice… very nice. I know what I will be doing this week before work. :)

[Roo]

[quote=85444]
Is there a specific way to create the ROM from my cabinet that would work on R-pie? All I know about the machine is that it was built in 1982 and it is an upright
[/quote]

I’m sure there is – that’s how we got these ROM files in the first place, from the original machines :)

But the how… That’s not an area where I have any technical knowledge. I imagine that’s a whole new can of worms. Seeing how many different versions of these ROMs there have been over the years, there must be multiple ways of ripping these ROMs to your PC. So how to rip [b]your[/b] ROMs to the exact version MAME4ALL is expecting? Seems crazy complicated to me – and lots of wheel reinventing going on.

If I were in your shoes, I would just find it via google and download it.

If you are concerned about the legal gray area I would say that most people around here believe this would legal since you own the original machine.

[evilllama]

[quote=85446]

If I were in your shoes, I would just find it via google and download it.

If you are concerned about the legal gray area I would say that most people around here believe this would legal since you own the original machine.

[/quote]

No worries about legal issues. :) By law, owning the cabinet and using the ROM is not illegal… unless I SHARE said ROM with someone that does not own the original cart. I forgot about… those places… but a good idea.

My intention was to put my intelivision, atari, nes, snes….. etc.. in one simple machine with a single hook up and single power plug. Then I can store the hardware and carts in the garage.

I will update when I have 2.4 installed. Currently it is burning to the SD card. Opps, it just finished, time to work.

[Roo]

Good luck! :)

[evilllama]

Started a FRESH install of V2.4 and PRESTO! We have N64 emulation. I made a ROM image of my favorite game and my girlfriends favorite game. Now I have to figure out how to alter the settings for the specific emulator such as frame skips and over clocking.

N64 is clipping when Super Mario 64 starts. It gets worse when Mario’s face is on screen. I have not been much deeper than that yet because….

MAME:
For some reason, I was not able to get any Donkey Kong cart working (using alternative methods), so I tried another cart that I “borrowed” for testing. I always get the same error:

“Required files missing, game cannot be run”

I used the MAME emulator on my PC, and it works perfectly. Is there something I am missing here, or is it just a compatibility issue? If this is just ROM compatibility issues, I can just plug in the cabinet in the garage and run Jump Man after Polly on the original machine (though truth be told, the machine needs to be overhauled due to over use, hence using the r-pie)

Any ideas?

[Roo]

I would love to be corrected here, but I’m pretty sure no one gets N64 running at full speed on the Pi. It’s just not quite powerful enough.

For MAME roms, you don’t have the version that [b]this[/b] MAME needs. Google MAME v0.37b5 ROMs.

[GameRockeR]

N64 emulation will never be accurate/fast on the Raspberry Pi (maybe porting another N64 emulator, sincerely I do not expect too much speed), most N64 roms will crash or run at very low fps depending on how much is on the screen, even overclocking the Pi. About MAME, I’m going to test the game, maybe isn’t supported with that version (romset 0.37b5).

[Roo]

Oh Donkey Kong works, I just had my best game ever last night playing DK on my Pi. No, I didn’t break 100k :( but I’m getting close!

It just uses some older ROMs in the zip that the newer MAME’s DK zip doesn’t have.

[evilllama]

I want to say thank you very much for all the help pasting this system together. If has been a lot of fun building this, and it has taught me quite a bit about a new subject. I love learning (I know, I am sick)!

I don’t know if it would be helpful to anyone at all, but I have been keeping detailed notes on how I have been creating the R-pie from the perspective of a person who knows absolutely NOTHING, but build the r-pie despite being quite inept. I have it step-by-step in a MS .txt file so I can build another one “quick” and “easy” for the car (I drive 1,800 miles over 2 days about 4-8 times a year with my family, and this would be a good way to add some fun on the long trips)

Once I get the MAME running, I will list this as resolved and explain what resolved the issues.

Thank you!

[evilllama]

SWEET!!! We have Donkey Kong! Still searching fro how to introduce frame skipping and throttle to some of the emulators.. but it is resolved! 2.4 was the fix (and the correct rom from MAME)

[Roo]

:)

Curious – why do you want to introduce frame skipping? Wouldn’t that make the games play worse?

[evilllama]

Fameskip only seems to cause an issue if you skip too many frames (making it choppy or if un-throttled it goes too fast). When I was testing out a gamecube emulator for my PC I used it for windwaker and it went from choppy sound and laggy gameplay to smooth gameplay, perfect audio, and no noticeable difference in the animation (graphics). Mind you I was only skipping up to 3 frames and had it throttled to the audio, and it was giving my an average of 2 frames skipped per.

I started a topic about it because even if most people don’t like the idea, some of us might want to try it for a mild speed-up. :)

EDIT:
…and I could not find any information about how it might be done here or on the wiki…

[evilllama]

Still digging inside the emulator for n64, but I am not seeing any place where frame skip is “set”, not even a null command. This is a bit of a side project atm due to my new MAME woes, but I was wondering IF there was no frameskip within the configuration of the emulator, how would one add such? Would this be more of a “code from scratch” situation, or would this be more of a “add <Frameskip=X> ‘ to file “XYZ” situation?

I have been using mupen64 on an android to test the effects of frameskip (an option within mupen64), and I see this as a viable option for the pi and those who are needing that little bit more to overcome the max clock of the pi.

[Floob]

There is a framskip option in mupen64plus if that helps:
http://pastebin.com/raw.php?i=bpGRzYqX

Havent tried it though – looks like it wants the Rice video plugin as well.
I put how to swap that in on my video.

[evilllama]

Ah, that would make sense. Rice is what I am using on the android device. When I changed drivers, the options changed for the frame skip. Going to play with this later. :)

Thank you Floob! I was looking under (and for) video and graphics rather than rice. That was silly of me.

[Author]

Posts