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mess bios retro arch problem


sonicboom88

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I did, but a lot has changed. It really needs to be updated, but I've been holding off until A) the RA module is complete, which can't happen definitively until B) RetroArch v1.1 comes out. I think the old guide is still pretty useful for getting an idea about RetroArch, but its lack of detail makes it problematic at this point. Besides, who doesn't want more than one guide? If Takaji wants to take my guide and expand upon it, I have no problem with that at all, and/or if he just wants to author his own. I volunteer to help in that endeavor as well.

Edit: It is VERY hard to troubleshoot RA for people right now because there's dozens of versions floating around. I think any attempt at making a current guide would need to be updated daily for it to be effective. I have some time, but not that kind of time.

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Then yeah, Takaji, I'll help in any way I can. First, I have to figure out exactly what is going on with the configs. I know how to make it work for me, but that doesn't mean I know why it works haha. My concern are these new example_libretro_dll.cfgs that came out more recently. My guess is that these are files that are generated when Per Core Configs options are turned on. As far as getting Mess to work, I tried everything, and was unsuccessful until Zero uploaded his build. Yet, I was able to update the EXE over that and stay current with it still working. In other words, I'm a mess, haha.

So where I'm at is like you said, Duplicate a single config and rename it for every system. (Maybe upload all the renamed configs to the FTP to save time)

Make sure "Save on exit" is on.

Make sure "Per core configs" is off (unless you're getting an error where its looking for that config? I saw a post about that.)

Make sure RetroArch is up to date (config folder instead of configs folder)

More Details about the bios (and general system folder stuff)

Recommend setting PSX core to use 2 mednafen save cards (Its easier than the alternative which involves writing cue files)

Advise that the Mess and Mame core don't support savestates in most cases

RetroPad vs RetroKeyboard for IPAC users.

A little diddy on shader behaviors (they can cause black screen or if you put too many cause a crash. Here's a mystery: If for example I put too many on my psx core, it'll crash, and turning shaders to false in my Playstation.cfg has no effect. I have to go to the mednafen_psx_libretro_dll.cfg and turn them off in there, every time, even if hyperlaunch is supposedly reading my Playstation.cfg.)

And lastly, and I can't figure this one out either, maybe a bug, when I set my keybindings but then unplug my controller, it doesn't erase the bindings per say but RetroArch doesn't always read the controller if I plug it back in and launch again. Bear in mind I'm using a Mayflash Wii Pro adapter.

So.... yeah if we can put all this together that's be swell.

That would be the basis of the new guide as I see it.

And then have to explain how to set everything up in HyperlaunchHQ again as they changed it considerably. (per system settings now).

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Then yeah, Takaji, I'll help in any way I can. First, I have to figure out exactly what is going on with the configs. I know how to make it work for me, but that doesn't mean I know why it works haha. My concern are these new example_libretro_dll.cfgs that came out more recently. My guess is that these are files that are generated when Per Core Configs options are turned on. As far as getting Mess to work, I tried everything, and was unsuccessful until Zero uploaded his build. Yet, I was able to update the EXE over that and stay current with it still working. In other words, I'm a mess, haha.

It shouldn't be a concern, as long as you have a %system name%.cfg file in \config, then RetroArch seems to ignore them. (We can thank the magical inner workings of the module for that... :P)

So where I'm at is like you said, Duplicate a single config and rename it for every system. (Maybe upload all the renamed configs to the FTP to save time)

Make sure "Save on exit" is on.

Make sure "Per core configs" is off (unless you're getting an error where its looking for that config? I saw a post about that.)

Make sure RetroArch is up to date (config folder instead of configs folder)

More Details about the bios (and general system folder stuff)

Recommend setting PSX core to use 2 mednafen save cards (Its easier than the alternative which involves writing cue files)

Advise that the Mess and Mame core don't support savestates in most cases

RetroPad vs RetroKeyboard for IPAC users.

A little diddy on shader behaviors (they can cause black screen or if you put too many cause a crash. Here's a mystery: If for example I put too many on my psx core, it'll crash, and turning shaders to false in my Playstation.cfg has no effect. I have to go to the mednafen_psx_libretro_dll.cfg and turn them off in there, every time, even if hyperlaunch is supposedly reading my Playstation.cfg.)

I don't do PSX emulation, so perhaps I could leave that part up to you?

Also it's good to advise that the MESS core currently doesn't do save/load states. Who knows when this will be implemented...

And lastly, and I can't figure this one out either, maybe a bug, when I set my keybindings but then unplug my controller, it doesn't erase the bindings per say but RetroArch doesn't always read the controller if I plug it back in and launch again. Bear in mind I'm using a Mayflash Wii Pro adapter.

I've noticed that if you plug/unplug a controller while RA is open, then that controller won't work. So, it's not recommended you do that :P

So.... yeah if we can put all this together that's be swell.

That would be the basis of the new guide as I see it.

And then have to explain how to set everything up in HyperlaunchHQ again as they changed it considerably. (per system settings now).

Indeed, this is gonna be a lot of work, but I'm willing to put in some time on it. Let's start a Google Doc with an outline before proceeding to write up anything? If you PM me your email I'll send you the link to share it. :)

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Would a possible solution for the time being be... now bare with me ;) 1 complete and working RetroArch template is made, people who have theres working such as yourselfves work on it to ensure all systems are working to the best you can get them. All the user would need to do is place their Config files for their systems to get their controls and shaders etc to how they want it. But the backbone would be the same as everyone elses.

Would keep things more simple to help, improve and share work for now until the 1.1 is released???

Kind of like a "Hyperspin Stable Version". Updated when needed, but always the same for everyone, tried and tested.

Of course this is me talking out of my ass again and Im most probably talking about something which I have no idea of ;)

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No, I don't think its a bad idea at all. A lot of people on here want people to get the experience of setting up, and I'm one of them, but I also think that a lot of setting up is just repetition and I will save people from that if I can.

My only beef is that I'm leery of trying to distribute an emulator I don't own. The configs, sure, but not the exe. Unless one of the devs explicitly said we can put a build on the FTP. The only case we could make is that it might alleviate some clutter on their forums (and ours). BUT it will also probably reduce the people who sign up for the retroarch forums.

Besides, almost 100 percent of everyone's problems is directly related to the configs - missing, named wrong, wrong place, bad settings. I don't think putting a build up is necessary to help people make progress. Maybe some working configs though, specifically for Mess, but I still haven't isolated the problem, why Zero's worked but mine didn't. I had boot from CLI enabled on both.

Edit Edit: For now maybe we just need to take stock of the module changes, and the standard way to get everything working. It sounds like Takaji is all over that. Maybe we should just start writing.

Overview:

I: Background on RetroArch, what it does.

- Where to download, where where to install, where to sign up for the forums, and also info on what a nightly is and why you should be using the latest (to keep us all in sync)

II: RetroArch Standalone

- This section will NOT include configs as that needs to be a whole section so here we talk about standard set up, some info on the folders (all already done on my other tutorial) and get into some specifics about specific cores and bios files

III: How to set up through Hyperlaunch

- This will include the generic how to set up a system in HL as well as all the module specific options, and hopefully some notes on how the module deals with this emulator, which will lead us right to

IV: Configs!

-What they do, how to control which is loaded, what settings get pulled from what configs, etc, and maybe accompanied with some working ones on the FTP

V: Troubleshooting

-Just look around the forums for common troubleshooting problems

Anyone want to volunteer for a section? :D

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My only beef is that I'm leery of trying to distribute an emulator I don't own. The configs, sure, but not the exe. Unless one of the devs explicitly said we can put a build on the FTP. The only case we could make is that it might alleviate some clutter on their forums (and ours). BUT it will also probably reduce the people who sign up for the retroarch forums.

I agree - this is not the way to do it. I've already found a bug in the file explorer system of rGUI (when starting in \content), so it would be a bad idea to take the latest build and provide that.

In order to distribute cfgs, we need to find one key mapping that works (no double-use of keys, as RetroArch uses keys like "f" to go fullscreen) and then make copies of that one config with the name of each system. Luckily, I have already done this ;)

Besides, almost 100 percent of everyone's problems is directly related to the configs - missing, named wrong, wrong place, bad settings. I don't think putting a build up is necessary to help people make progress. Maybe some working configs though, specifically for Mess, but I still haven't isolated the problem, why Zero's worked but mine didn't. I had boot from CLI enabled on both.

It's frustrating, isn't it?

Edit Edit: For now maybe we just need to take stock of the module changes, and the standard way to get everything working. It sounds like Takaji is all over that. Maybe we should just start writing.

Overview:

I: Background on RetroArch, what it does.

- Where to download, where where to install, where to sign up for the forums, and also info on what a nightly is and why you should be using the latest (to keep us all in sync)

II: RetroArch Standalone

- This section will NOT include configs as that needs to be a whole section so here we talk about standard set up, some info on the folders (all already done on my other tutorial) and get into some specifics about specific cores and bios files

III: How to set up through Hyperlaunch

- This will include the generic how to set up a system in HL as well as all the module specific options, and hopefully some notes on how the module deals with this emulator, which will lead us right to

IV: Configs!

-What they do, how to control which is loaded, what settings get pulled from what configs, etc, and maybe accompanied with some working ones on the FTP

V: Troubleshooting

-Just look around the forums for common troubleshooting problems

Anyone want to volunteer for a section? :D

Concerning the overall layout, I don't plan to cover RetroArch standalone at all - I'm treating this guide from the point of view that the person reading it is a HyperLaunch user, and they want to get RetroArch working with their systems in HyperLaunch/HLHQ. I also don't see any need to get into core specifics, because the latest version of the RetroArch module has eliminated ever needing to think about which core you're using (for the most part). The proper cores are set already in the module and I haven't yet encountered a reason they would need to be changed. I don't think we need to focus on specific BIOS settings either, since the notes in the RetroArch module state what you need - and you can also refer to the original MESS module if needed. I think the most important part is just clearl stating where files need to be.

I think that setup + configs would be one part where we would discuss general setup, core options that need to be set, and the configs. I don't think configs needs its own section. One section I would add is about overlays and shaders.

So here's my modified proposal of what you wrote:

I. Background and links to support

II. First-time setup and required files

- Basic file structure, how to access settings

- retroarch-core-options.cfg

- retroarch.cfg

- Per-system configs

- Location of BIOS files

- Relevant menu settings

III. Using RetroArch in HLHQ

- Example system setup

- Some things that may be different in other systems (such as setting up vertical games in Lynx/WonderSwan Color, PSX, etc.)

- Setting up a keymapper (using your system's RA config as reference)

IV. Overlays and shaders

- Links to nosh's overlays

- How to set up an overlay (x/y coords, etc.)

V. Troubleshooting

- How to get help (HL log, running RetroArch from command-line to test, etc.)

- Common problems

How's that sound? :)

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So what's happening with this? Are we going to have a hyprspin ready version of retroarch? I don't see the issue here. We get to have a proper stable working version and they devs get to work on newer builds. It's not like we are modifying their code or anything not are we distributing it outside of our small community here.

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I find reading post after post frustrating just looking for basic answers. Most have been asked numerous times but not in one thread or forum. Most people are more than willing to have a go - after all we want to be able to mod and fix our systems. However, when the majority are struggling I guess it's time to put the facts in one place and easy reach for all who want to learn. ;-)

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I think that sounds like a great idea Takaji. If I have time today, I'll start on section II since I'm at work and don't have access to HyperlaunchHQ. Where do you want to build the guide? On the forums? Google Doc? Email? A lot of section 2 is covered in my previous guide so some of it can be cut and paste. Can you focus on the Hyperlaunch side?

Potts43, agree totally. That's the point of this. However, if you want to help, you could start saving the threads/link to threads that you're accessing and find useful both here and at Hyperlaunch.net.

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  • 7 months later...

Here's my folder with just about everything unneeded stripped. There may be a few random files here or there that I forgot to remove that were put there while I was trying to work out how to get stuff working. I haven't had time to clean it out.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/e384xk

 

I'm trying to get mess working with retroarch too but the link from zerojay isn't working anymore ( I might be a little late to the party ). Could anybody please share it?

 

Many thanks

L

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I'm trying to get mess working with retroarch too but the link from zerojay isn't working anymore ( I might be a little late to the party ). Could anybody please share it?

Many thanks

L

That package isn't working because I removed it after it had served its purpose: Helping a few of us try to figure out what configuration differences we were having. It was not meant to be used for any other purpose.

I haven't read through this thread at all recently, and my PC is still currently dead so I can't really help you with any of this myself (especially since there may have been changes since I dropped off).

In better news, I may soon have the money to get back up and running as I believe I am almost about to land a dream job. Hope to be around again soon.

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That package isn't working because I removed it after it had served its purpose: Helping a few of us try to figure out what configuration differences we were having. It was not meant to be used for any other purpose.

 

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. Sorry to hear about your pc.

 

It would definitely help me as I'm trying to figure out a proven retroarch system folder structure which works (at least for somebody).

Could anybody share that file or perhaps shed some light please?

 

any mess dependent retroarch systems fail to load in retroarch, I just need to figure out where exactly to put the bios files/how to name them.

I have colecovision, atari5200, amiga and a few other systems waiting patiently to be setup through retroarch :)

 

Thanks

L

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Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. Sorry to hear about your pc.

It would definitely help me as I'm trying to figure out a proven retroarch system folder structure which works (at least for somebody).

Could anybody share that file or perhaps shed some light please?

any mess dependent retroarch systems fail to load in retroarch, I just need to figure out where exactly to put the bios files/how to name them.

I have colecovision, atari5200, amiga and a few other systems waiting patiently to be setup through retroarch :)

Thanks

L

I believe it's [retroarch dir]/system/mess/ but I can't be certain.
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I believe it's [retroarch dir]/system/mess/ but I can't be certain.

 

I found retroarch quite confusing.it would help if somebody with retroach and rocketlauncher and lots of emulators running with mess would send me a print out of his/her retroarch folder and possibly config files?

 

Here's what I found so far:

I so far only managed to get a single system running with mess in retroarch, gx4000. colecovision and atari5200 and amiga show black screen when launched in RL and crash to desktop or can't find roms when launched directly in retroarch.

I'm confused about system/mess/EMULATOR folders, hash folders and files.... argh! :)

 

and attached is the print out of my system folder:

 Volume in drive D is Data
 Volume Serial Number is C4B8-4145

 Directory of D:\HyperSpin\Emulators\RetroArch\RetroArch_1.2.2\system

26/09/2015  00:16    <DIR>          .
26/09/2015  00:16    <DIR>          ..
25/09/2015  22:53    <DIR>          mess
10/09/2015  23:26               864 mupen64plus.cfg
10/11/1999  11:26         1,048,576 panafz10.bin
26/09/2015  00:16                 0 test.txt#
               3 File(s)      1,049,440 bytes

 Directory of D:\HyperSpin\Emulators\RetroArch\RetroArch_1.2.2\system\mess

25/09/2015  22:53    <DIR>          .
25/09/2015  22:53    <DIR>          ..
27/08/2015  12:00         2,351,546 3dobios.zip
27/08/2015  12:00           126,145 acpsx.zip
27/08/2015  12:00           702,615 airlbios.zip
27/08/2015  12:00             1,804 aleck64.zip
27/08/2015  12:00           143,125 alg_bios.zip
27/08/2015  12:00             2,926 allied.zip
27/08/2015  12:00           261,375 aristmk5.zip
27/08/2015  12:00         1,018,910 aristmk6.zip
27/08/2015  12:00           681,333 ar_bios.zip
27/08/2015  12:00            49,385 atarisy1.zip
27/08/2015  12:00           126,071 atluspsx.zip
27/08/2015  12:00           126,033 atpsx.zip
27/08/2015  12:00            16,945 awbios.zip
27/08/2015  12:00            12,021 bubsys.zip
27/08/2015  12:00           468,660 cdibios.zip
27/08/2015  12:00         2,104,141 chihiro.zip
27/08/2015  12:00           125,571 cpzn1.zip
27/08/2015  12:00           137,827 cpzn2.zip
27/08/2015  12:00            43,480 crysbios.zip
27/08/2015  12:00           673,549 cubo.zip
27/08/2015  12:00             4,603 decocass.zip
27/08/2015  12:00           920,869 f355bios.zip
27/08/2015  12:00           471,690 f355dlx.zip
27/08/2015  12:00           672,671 galgbios.zip
24/12/1996  23:32         1,048,576 goldstar.bin
27/08/2015  12:00             3,140 gp_110.zip
27/08/2015  12:00            74,462 gq863.zip
27/08/2015  12:00             3,734 gts1.zip
27/08/2015  12:00             3,734 gts1s.zip
25/09/2015  23:22    <DIR>          hash
27/08/2015  12:00           785,967 hikaru.zip
27/08/2015  12:00            37,735 hng64.zip
27/08/2015  12:00         1,057,859 hod2bios.zip
27/08/2015  12:00            10,185 isgsm.zip
27/08/2015  12:00         3,602,204 iteagle.zip
27/08/2015  12:00            81,391 konamigv.zip
27/08/2015  12:00             8,712 konamigx.zip
27/08/2015  12:00            33,864 kviper.zip
27/08/2015  12:00         1,462,941 lindbios.zip
27/08/2015  12:00           305,290 macsbios.zip
27/08/2015  12:00            13,673 maxaflex.zip
27/08/2015  12:00            49,978 megaplay.zip
27/08/2015  12:00            33,137 megatech.zip
27/08/2015  12:00           930,829 mk6nsw11.zip
05/09/2015  00:46               864 mupen64plus.cfg
27/08/2015  12:00         7,208,884 naomi.zip
27/08/2015  12:00         5,384,060 naomi2.zip
27/08/2015  12:00         3,563,067 naomigd.zip
27/08/2015  12:00         1,488,178 neogeo.zip
27/08/2015  12:00            50,555 nss.zip
24/12/1996  23:32         1,048,576 panafz1.bin
24/12/1996  23:32         1,048,576 panafz10.bin
27/08/2015  12:00         2,094,614 pgm.zip
27/08/2015  12:00            23,516 playch10.zip
27/08/2015  12:00           128,510 psarc95.zip
27/08/2015  12:00            24,809 pyson.zip
27/08/2015  12:00            24,090 sammymdl.zip
24/12/1996  23:32         1,048,576 sanyotry.bin
27/08/2015  12:01         1,281,424 segasp.zip
27/08/2015  12:01           194,344 sfcbox.zip
27/08/2015  12:01             3,332 shtzone.zip
27/08/2015  12:01           854,241 skns.zip
27/08/2015  12:01         2,699,375 stvbios.zip
27/08/2015  12:01            90,729 su2000.zip
27/08/2015  12:01           580,122 sys246.zip
27/08/2015  12:01           582,110 sys256.zip
27/08/2015  12:01           225,972 sys573.zip
27/08/2015  12:01           126,160 taitofx1.zip
27/08/2015  12:01           331,498 taitogn.zip
27/08/2015  12:01            77,002 taitotz.zip
27/08/2015  12:01            24,789 tourvis.zip
27/08/2015  12:01           138,474 tps.zip
27/08/2015  12:01         2,046,778 triforce.zip
27/08/2015  12:01             3,753 v4bios.zip
27/08/2015  12:01           126,204 vspsx.zip
              74 File(s)     53,313,888 bytes

 Directory of D:\HyperSpin\Emulators\RetroArch\RetroArch_1.2.2\system\mess\hash

25/09/2015  23:22    <DIR>          .
25/09/2015  23:22    <DIR>          ..
25/09/2015  23:21           670,817 coleco.xml
25/09/2015  22:53            67,895 gx4000.xml
               2 File(s)        738,712 bytes

     Total Files Listed:
              79 File(s)     55,102,040 bytes
               8 Dir(s)  60,176,379,904 bytes free



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ok some progress, still confused by the following retroarch core:

a5200 games are not listed as content, but rocketlauncher tries to launch them using the mess-RL-retroarch combo. blackscreen followed by a nag screen for a fraction of a second before disappearing

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  • 5 months later...

Just wanted throw this out..

I've fully tested several builds and all do not boot mess arghhh

So...

I tested zero's and found out that the core he is using is the reason to why it works yeahh!!

I threw the core he has into my other builds and can confirm that all is working as it should, seems that there are a few options missing in the latest mess 2014 core build

so no matter what core option config file say it will not happen!

Thanks zero for finding this!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Just wanted throw this out..

I've fully tested several builds and all do not boot mess arghhh

So...

I tested zero's and found out that the core he is using is the reason to why it works yeahh!!

I threw the core he has into my other builds and can confirm that all is working as it should, seems that there are a few options missing in the latest mess 2014 core build

so no matter what core option config file say it will not happen!

Thanks zero for finding this!

Is it possible to send me this core?  I cant make mess work in RA at all.  im hoping this is my issue.  

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