[evilllama]

Silly question, did you hit TAB on the keyboard and change the settings like in the video from Floob?

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CB8QtwIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dp9nCcVf3tD8&ei=InnjVJ2IE4SfNqqkg8gD&usg=AFQjCNGKS74EOjXBnswn3y1Ad2QJpEQuPA&sig2=FV-4IIojhKpWhPn6wRq3MQ&bvm=bv.85970519,d.eXY

[evilllama]

I may have missed it, and it might be a silly question, but this would also work for wired xbox360 controllers? What about a generic (IE: MadCatz) version of the wired and wireless controllers?

[evilllama]

It seems that there should be a way to do this.

Anyone have a working n64 / Mame fix?

The only problem is that when I found the mupen64plus configuration file, it only has about 60% of the lines listed under [CORE]. I assume that we can copy and paste the lines for [video], [input], [rice], etc., but when I changed the line

frameskip = false, I tried “true”

There was no change that I could see. Was it looking for a value? If so, is it basing it on skip per second, or maybe a ratio of frames:skips? Or maybe I found the file, but it is not the correct location to alter this because there is a file that is read after this one that alters the behavior I set?

Just thinking of people who might want to emulate at 100% speed, but also don’t mind if there is a slight frame jump that is barely even noticeable. Pi 1 B+ can’t seem to hit 100% all the time even after (multiple) overclocking settings have been changed.

[evilllama]

Interesting… Looks like there was an issue with the image file I had. I compared my 2.4 image to the 2.5 beta version I downloaded for the pi2. It seems that there was an entire section of my MAME emulator configuration file missing in my 2.4 image.

I think that is odd because I downloaded a fresh zipped version of 2.4 when I started over, and that was when the issue presented itself.

Solution = download 2.5 Beta. MAME is working and mapping correctly.

[evilllama]

Interesting. I want to know what happens when you get the new board. Considering the configuration, wiring, and the fact that even with everything out of case, and you still have the humming sound…

I am going to looking into your display a little more. Think I might pick one up for testing. What one are you using? By spec, they all seem to be shielded and should not throw interference (but separating the sound and video devices would have lessened the hum if that was the issue). I also can’t think of a reason for it to send back interference through the board(s). Even if it is under-powered at 6v dc… but that would be the crackle issue, not the humming.

At this point, less an oscilloscope, I can’t for the life of me think of an easy way to test the standard jack (which you are taking out of the equation with the new board). Curious…

[evilllama]

[quote=87642]Install jstest and test that the inputs are working outside of mame.[/quote]

Just tested it last night. The inputs from the joys are all registering outside of MAME.

Side note, on FBA J0 is player 2, keyboard is player 1, j1 is unknown as I do not have any 3+player machines here to rip ROMs from that work on FBA. I need to fix that too I guess, but configuration is different than MAME.

(without opening a new can of worms…) Is FBA config in the same place as the typical retroarch config? I can’t check it ATM. :/

[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.

[evilllama]

THAT is a tough installation. Proximity make diagnosis more of an issue. Should you try the breakout board yet render no change, you may find trying a new set of speakers or (if you did what I think you have here) moving the power supply out of the cabinet. I *think* from what I see, you have the plug inside the cab. The humming sound might be fixed by moving the power supply outside the cabinet. Also, you want to insure that you separate the audio and power lines. For example, if you run power through the right side of the cab, make sure the audio lines are run on the left side. They should never run together side by side, be close to one another, and (as they say in Ghostbusters) never cross the streams! The audio line are likely to pick up distortion (humming) if you touch the two types of lines.

RE crackling, the speakers you are using a VERY small if you are using stock locations (again assuming). Considering the emulator is typically emulating larger cabinets, turning down the volume might be a small step in the right direction. I believe the only speakers that would fit in the stock location would be constructed more like a headphone speaker. The coil is not designed for the type of frequency response that the emulator is trying to force. IE bass sounds of an explosion will sound garbled because there is not enough play in the mini coil to extend and there is not enough cone space nor surround to allow the extension needed to recreate the frequency without “bottoming out” causing distortion (the garble or crackling sounds).

Much like putting a sub-woofer in a car, under-powering the driver would also cause this issue should the cone and coil allow for the necessary movement as there is not enough “juice” to force the extension repeatedly. IE 30 cycles over a 3 second period requires the load of almost double the specs of the driver to CLEANLY produce or continue to produce the vibrations…. or on the most basic level, 100W 4ohm speaker needs almost 200W @ XOhms (depending on bridge and a million other factors) to produce and sustain the sound at full volume (considering the line level provided is not trowing amplified distortion… nor the amplifier). Not a huge issue here, but again… If you have only one gallon of water, you can not fill a 500 gallon pool.

Sorry, was trying not to go technical, but if the new board fails to fix the issue, you may want to consider the above. ;)

[evilllama]

I can’t help but wonder if this is a hardware issue, not a software one.

First off, if you are using the jack rather than HDMI, I think I know where you are getting the humming sound from. Are you able to use the HDMI output for sound, or is this a cabinet (or old TV) installation? With my home-made cabinet, I am using a new style tv at 90^ because the audio jack and crt/projector video seems to throw too much interference for the sound to be crystal clear. But the hum does make it sound more authentic…

I have a set of powered speakers that I was going to use on my cabinet that produced almost identical issues. It picked up a hum from the projector within the cabinet (foil fixed that issue until I figured out how to turn the video output 90^ and grabbed a new flat) and it was crackling on specific heavy load conditions where the driver (coil of the speaker) was under heavy stress.

After a a while, I added an 12v light strand into the power circuit for my speakers and draped the inside a reflective cabinet in the top behind the PAC MAN translucent so that it would light up when the machine was on. This allowed me to SEE the amount of power consumption on the power circuit. When the cracking started, the light was either out or dull and flashing like a weak strobe light. Turns out, there just was not enough juice (with the power supply that came with the speakers) to handle the load, and no it was not because of the lights. I removed the lights and took out my trusty multimeter to confirm. I switched them out for a sound bar that I modified (as I had installed a flat screen).

I have no hum and no crackling. Though now I miss the humming because it made me feel 14 years old again with the humming of the arcade cabinet… nostalgia…

I would try a different set of speakers to see if the issue persists. If the issue is worse or better, I think you can bet the speakers you have are underpowered (as far as cracking). As far as the humming (and assuming you are using the audio jack), I would try moving the speakers (and wires) around to see if there is any change in the intensity of the humming. interference can be picked up by the coils, but also by the wires of the speakers.

OH, and could you please also let us know what your set up is currently? RPI version, monitor type, speaker set up or rather what you are using for your audio outputs… In this situation, it COULD be just a hardware issue. Or not. :)

[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.

[evilllama]

This is taken from my own PERSONAL installation guide that i have been creating as I build my retro station. Please excuse any spelling mistakes and such, I spun this off while working on the pi, but the steps are exactly the process I used while doing individual emulator mapping.

ALTERING EMULATOR SPECIFIC CONTROLS

Assuming you have 4 controllers that are the same… (if not scroll down)

From terminal, type”

cd /opt/retropie/emulators/retroarch/configs

dir (or ls -1)

Now select a controller to look at for reference for button mapping

sudo nano “controller cfg file to reference/alter”

find specific buttons to change and write down the current configuration. For example, I want to change the NES a and b button mapping by swapping the function of each. MadCatzXbox360Controller.cfg states:

input_a_btn = “0”
input_b_btn = “1”

So now I exit without changing anything (ctrl X, n, enter)

Now type:

cd /opt/retropie/configs/nes
sudo nano retroarch.cfg

Now in nano, scroll to the bottom and type:

input_player1_a_btn = “1”
input_player2_a_btn = “1”
input_player3_a_btn = “1”
input_player4_a_btn = “1”
input_player1_b_btn = “0”
input_player2_b_btn = “0”
input_player3_b_btn = “0”
input_player4_b_btn = “0”

Now press ctrl x to exit, y to save, and enter.

IF YOU HAVE DIFFERENT CONTROLLERS (not all the same type)

Enter the emulator you want to alter mapping for. Find the USB that controls the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th player controllers. Write down the type of controller is for each # player. Exit emulation and emulationstation.

Now in terminal follow the above instructions but repeat the first part for finding how the controller is configured (cd /opt/retropie/emulators/retroarch/configs and sudo nano config file for the controllers that need to be changed) for the controller type for each player. Write down the controls that you want to change under each controller type/player.

Continue to the emulator retroach.cfg file (IE: cd /opt/retropie/configs/nes then
sudo nano retroarch.cfg) and alter the buttons by player# and controller type for remapping (using the configurations from the controller config files). for example, if player 1 is an xbox controller, player one should be reconfigured using mapping for xbox controllers, playstation player # to playstation mapping, etc..

NOTE: You may want to mark what ports they are plugged into by painting a number on the port and the controller. As long as the controllers are in the SAME ports when you load the pi, they should be correctly mapped each time you start emulation.

[evilllama]

[quote=87244][directory] artwork=/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/mame-artwork rompath=/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/mame samplepath=/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/mame-samples[/quote]

That was EXACTLY right Roo!!! I change the path to = /media/usb/mame and now it is finding the roms and all the needed file to run the roms!

Anyone who is running ROMs from USB, here is the answer for MAME not finding ROM files!

Thank you again Roo!

[evilllama]

[quote=87161]what does the section for mame4all in you es_systems.cfg file look like?[/quote]

Stock, except path is altered to
<path>/media/usb/mame

rather than
<path>~/RetroPie/roms/mame

mame4all is the only emulator that “seems” to hiccup on the path.

[evilllama]

I used the DAT file from MAME4ALL (from the pi) to compile through clrmamepro. Though it could be incorrect ROM files, it was matched 100% to the DAT file of MAME4ALL, directly from the pi, and complied using the information directly from the pi.

Also, FBA seems to (mostly) work using the same ROM set and USB settings. As 1941 is on both systems, I tried playing on FBA (works perfect) then tried on MAME4 (does not work). That tells me the directory is not the issue (per say), nor the ROM. For some reason, MAME4 is seeing the ROM, directing to it, then ignoring the files inside the ZIP folder or looking elsewhere… or so it seems.

[evilllama]

Well, I have one ROM that works for MAME. Thank you to the anonymous source for the CORRECT version of the ROM to match my cabinet.

So I went to the local arcade shop and picked up a few old cabinets that were “beyond repair” and old as sin. I gutted a couple of them and found that the internals are working well (IE: software), but the hardware (and cabinets) are toast. Rather than “repairing” them, I am pulling the ROMs from the 37.b set and building them into on cabinet whilst storing the original internals in a box.

That said, I first used clrmamepro to ensue that I have the correct ROM set and files. According to CMP, I have every file needed and everything should work fine. I have the ROMs on USB in the pi, set the config file at /etc/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg to search for my ROMs under /media/usb/*system I am using* and it works great for everything except the MAME.

Is there another area in the configuration that would tell MAME4ALL where to look for ROMs that would cause it to see the ROMs, start the ROMs, then look elsewhere to run the ROMs? As there are multiple files within a single ZIP file (unlike SNES or genesis, etc), I am concerned that it is seeing the parent directory to list the ROM in MAME, but then trying to execute from a different location. Can that happen? If not, why is MAE4ALL not able to see the files where it was directed to look?

PS.
Short version when I go to media/usb/mame, it shows the games and required files, but in ES, I click on a game, and then it tells me the files that are in folder (verified) are missing. The one game that works is on a different pi on the SD and only works from terminal (not conducive to portability when I have to drag around a keyboard). Ultimately, I want to run the ROMs from the USB as I have the ability to alter game sets and add/delete with ease.

PPS. FBA (mostly) works on the same configuration of /media/usb/fba. I was just playing 1941, but some other ROMs (compiled by clrmamepro) state they are unsupported (?).

Thoughts? Questions? Emotional outbursts?

[evilllama]

Off the wall thought…

Do you have the ethernet cable or wifi plugged in? If so, unplug it and restart the system. For some reason, the connection to a network slows down the pi a lot.

[evilllama]

BTW, that video from Floob is how I got all my configurations for my controllers set up. Works like a charm… but I think he had a cold when he recorded it. ;)

[evilllama]

I just want to make sure I understand the situation here.

First, you had all 3 controllers working at one time. For example, you could play a 3 (or 4) player game using all the controllers at the same time?

If yes, you never updated anything after you were able to use all the controllers?

If no, were you able to play 2 player games using 2 different controllers at the same time? Like in Contra to Battletoads?

When you say “useless and doesn’t respond at all” did you mean the controller is a brick or did you mean “usless and doesn’t respond PROPERLY at all”?

Does this happen with all emulators, or just one?

Off the wall question, did you EVER change the emulator config file? For example, I altered the inputs on my NES emulator to make it more ergonomic when playing. Because I did this, I have to have the exact same controllers in the exact same ports every time I load up my pie.

Like you, I have 2 different types of controllers, and the
/opt/retropie/emulators/retroarch/configs
config files for for one had the “B” button as
input_b_btn = “0”
and the other controller type is
input_b_btn = “2”
So when I wanted to change my mapping in the NES emulator, I altered the file
/opt/retropie/configs/nes/retroarch.cfg
by entering the command
input_player1_b_btn =

This made the joypad that was found as player one map in a specific manner. If I plugged the wrong controller in the port that was recognized first, the mapping was WAY off, and I first thought the controller was not fully functioning. That was when I (by accident) found that i had to use the same USB port for the same controller every single time.

[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]

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)

[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]

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?

[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.

[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. :)

[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.

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