New MiSTer Owner Help Setting Up

[Samelak]

Well, I have been messing with this for two days straight and I am not getting anywhere. I bought a pre-built Mister plus formatted SD card from Mister Add Ons. I think I got to a bad start because I never saw the initial upload to the FPGA because I thought I needed to be connected to a standard computer monitor. I finally hooked up to a TV via HDMI and got an image, but did I miss my opportunity to have the initial set up?

Here is what is working:
Genesis, TG16 and SNES games

Here is not working:
I can’t get my 8bitdo bluetooth to work..keeps telling me I have to define first at the menu core...can’t figure this out. No problem to pair with the dongle.

I can get a wired controller to work on the game, but not control the Mister menus...I have to use the keyboard to to navigate the menus..annoying!

I cannot figure out how to get NEO to load games. I tried .neo roms and all I get is a black screen and I tried the Darksoft files (recommended) and I get nothing to select in the individual game folder.

[aberu]

How much of the MiSTer Wiki have you read? I think you are off to a typical start for someone who is new to this. I believe in you!

I'd suggest, since you might have powered down the MiSTer during the Mr. Fusion installer, redoing your MicroSD installation. So start here:

https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/Main_Mi ... etup-Guide

Then after Mr. Fusion has completed, make sure to run the official Updater script as the wiki shows.

Take your time and look at it as an opportunity to learn.

If you have any questions about the specifics here, we are glad to help. Welcome to the community!

[Samelak]

I appreciate the words of encouragement. I’ll try reformatting the card and go through the loading process. I did make a copy of the card prior to inserting the Mister so I still have that as a back-up.

So is the programming only on the card or does it flash anything to the hardware itself. I’m not computer savvy...

[Tacoguy125]

All is written to the SD card and runs from there.

[Samelak]

Made some progress... I found a Youtube video that was specific to NEO GEO and was able to walk my way through it. Seems to work well. My SNES isn’t working anymore. I get a blank screen when I select a game. I’m not sure what is happening there. Here are my next objectives:

How do I control the menus with my controller? Using the keyboard for navigating is annoying. I’m currently using a wired arcade stick.

I primarily got the Mister to play the new Dondonpachi core. Is there a tutorial on how to load this?

Thanks for the help so far!

[ToothbrushThreepwood]

Regarding 8bitdo: have you made sure you’re using the controller in d-input (or x-input) mode? Otherwise it work on linux/MiSTer.

Edit: Some people report 8bitdo controllers work better with MiSTer using a generic USB BT dongle, instead of the 8bitdo dongle.

[Samelak]

I’m trying to use the M30 Genesis controller. Is that an option for this controller.

I am using the usb dongle.

[kfreiberg]

Here is not working:
I can’t get my 8bitdo bluetooth to work..keeps telling me I have to define first at the menu core...can’t figure this out. No problem to pair with the dongle.

I use multiple 8bitdo dongles, and they are a bit touchy on the MiSTer. I have to frequently re-pair my controllers 2-3 times to the dongle to get the MiSTer to recognize them upon reboots. I would use a directly connected USB controller until you have all the bugs worked out on your MiSTer and get a feel on how everything works. Just my two cents.

Good luck!

[aberu]

Made some progress... I found a Youtube video that was specific to NEO GEO and was able to walk my way through it. Seems to work well. My SNES isn’t working anymore. I get a blank screen when I select a game. I’m not sure what is happening there. Here are my next objectives:

How do I control the menus with my controller? Using the keyboard for navigating is annoying. I’m currently using a wired arcade stick.

I primarily got the Mister to play the new Dondonpachi core. Is there a tutorial on how to load this?

Thanks for the help so far!

Did you run the update script? If so, delete the SNES_########.rbf from /media/fat/_Console. The RBF files are the cores for each of the systems. Then run update script again so it will redownload the SNES core.

For controlling the menus with your controller do the configure inputs. F12 on your keyboard when at the main menu and it will switch to another screen.

There's lots of videos out there that can help too. Here's one I found.

https://youtu.be/-IP0k3GatHE?t=738

Regarding 8bitdo: have you made sure you’re using the controller in d-input (or x-input) mode? Otherwise it work on linux/MiSTer.

Edit: Some people report 8bitdo controllers work better with MiSTer using a generic USB BT dongle, instead of the 8bitdo dongle.

In my experience this depends on a lot of different factors. If you are using the stock power supply from the DE10-Nano and a usb hub addon board you will often run into an issue where you are undervolting something among these. That can cause issues. Sometimes people have issues because they have the 8bitdo dongle, and another bt dongle, and a wifi dongle all right next to each other, that's 3 signals that can mess with each other and drawing a lot of power, etc... The 8bitdo dongle does have some quirks, you have to turn off and on the controller after each reboot. Personally though, it's lower lag with the official dongle, and it's quicker and easier to pair if you have multiple controllers, that's the main benefit for me.

[Samelak]

More progress. I got the bluetooth controller figured out and running the update fixed the SNES core. It’s also nice navigating the menu with the controller and not on a wired keyboard. Here are my next chalenges:

Installed Turbo CD roms and the Turbo bios, but I cannot see the roms to run. I have them in a separate folder from the HuCards.

I want to start tackling some JAMMA games like CPS1 games, but didn’t see the core on the main page.

I also picked up a wireless mini keyboard and a separate dongle. I tried pairing by using F11 and it said it was recognized, but it would not pair.

BTW...I really appreciate the help and the community seems to be great. Thanks!

[kfreiberg]

Installed Turbo CD roms and the Turbo bios, but I cannot see the roms to run. I have them in a separate folder from the HuCards.

I want to start tackling some JAMMA games like CPS1 games, but didn’t see the core on the main page.

Have you run the Update All script? If not, I suggest doing that to get the proper BIOS info and Arcade Cores (like CPS1):

From the GitHub page:

https://github.com/theypsilon/Update_All_MiSTer

All-in-one script for keeping up-to-date with the MiSTer ecosystem.

This script chains the following scripts:

1. Main MiSTer Updater. Downloads most of cores and firmware. You are able to select between these two options:
- Official Main MiSTer Updater maintained by Locutus73 in the MiSTer-devel organization.
- DB9 Fork Main MiSTer Updater with Extended Native Controller Compatibility for Genesis and NeoGeo/Supergun controllers. Requires SNAC8 compatible adapter.

2. Jotego Cores Updater. Downloads many advanced cores made by Jotego.

3. Unofficial Cores Updater. Downloads some cores that are not yet released but are fairly stable. Disabled by default.

4. LLAPI Cores Updater. Downloads LLAPI cores which are compatible with BlisSTer and LLAMA. Disabled by default.

5. BIOS Getter download bios for your installed systems from https://archive.org/

6. MAME and HBMAME Getter download roms from https://archive.org/

7. Names TXT Updater. Downloads a community curated names.txt file that enables better core names in the menus.

8. Arcade Organizer. Creates a folder structure under _Arcade/_Organized for easy navigation to all the MRA files.

[Samelak]

Does the Brooks Zero-Pi fighting board work on the Mister. I am putting a stick together and I am not getting any movement.

[Samelak]

Turbo CD-ROM is up and running. I found a good tutorial on Youtube. Next up to tackle are the Arcade cores, in particular CPS1 and Dodonpachi.

[Samelak]

I can’t seem to figure out the Arcade cores. I tried looking for Youtube turorials and it helped with navigating the folders. So this is what I am trying to do...

I picked three games to start with: Ghosts’n Goblins, Dodonpachi (Japan) and Daimakaimura -Japan- ...all .226 ROMs

I tried to just place the zipped file (as is) into the Arcade/MAME folder
I tried unzipping into the Arcade/MAME folder
I tried renaming the zip files to match the MRA files (also tried leaving the name as downloaded)

The Daimakaimura (CPS1) just flips back to the previous folder when selected
The Ghosts’n Goblins gives me a black screen
The Dodonpachi gives me a garbled (looks like a boot up) screen

[johhenrik]

You are complicating things. Now maybe you have really really slow Internet, I don't know, but - download the installer, download the update_all.sh script and install that after you have installed the SD card. Run the update_all.sh and EVERYTHING will be installed and ready for you. At least if you are connecting to an HDMI TV. Once that is done, you can start playing with the INI files and setup things for you, for CRT, monitors etc if needed.

Edit: This in regards to Arcade cores, I should say. Regarding computers and consoles, you still need to install all roms etc.

[grizzly]

And yes update_all.sh do download all arcade roms!
Sure it can take a while but it´s EASY.

[Samelak]

I did run update in Script...twice since getting this. It takes about 10 minutes to run.

My question is on setting up the Arcade ROMs. Like I said, I am placing the zipped .226 files into the MAME folder. Do I need to change the zip file names to match the MRA files? What else do I need to do? I don’t want to download all the Arcade ROMs, just the games I intend to play.

[Tacoguy125]

If you ran the Update_all script you would not have the questions you are posing. So something is not adding up. You are making this harder then it really is. If you have manually added anything i would start over to not muck up the update_all script.

[Samelak]

I must be. So I’ll remove the ROMs that I added to the MAME folder and then run the update again...then what do I need to do?

[Enthropy]

Be sure to use update_all script from https://github.com/theypsilon/Update_All_MiSTer. It is different from normal update script.

[Samelak]

I was not aware of that. Thanks for letting me know. I’ll give that a try.

Once updated, how are the ROMs placed in the MAME folder? Zipped vs Unzipped, downloaded name vs mra name, etc...

[jimmystones]

ROMs should be left zipped with their original file names - the MRA files has an attribute which tells MiSTer which ROM to look for.

[Samelak]

Well that was easy. A couple of games are displayed upside down but there is only an option to play horizontally, not completely flip.

[allyourbasekris]

Well that was easy. A couple of games are displayed upside down but there is only an option to play horizontally, not completely flip.

Check out the DIP switches setting, there should be an option to flip there.

[grizzly]

Well that was easy. A couple of games are displayed upside down but there is only an option to play horizontally, not completely flip.

Hmmm

Sure it can take a while but it´s EASY.

[Yim]

In my experience this depends on a lot of different factors. If you are using the stock power supply from the DE10-Nano and a usb hub addon board you will often run into an issue where you are undervolting something among these. That can cause issues.

Is this a common problem? I recently switched from a cheap unpowered external hub to the daughter board (with the same stuff plugged into it as I had on the other hub), and I’ve noticed since that my fan’s speed audibly drops when the MiSTer is working hard, which I’m pretty sure didn’t happen before. I’m using the stock supply.

[aberu]

In my experience this depends on a lot of different factors. If you are using the stock power supply from the DE10-Nano and a usb hub addon board you will often run into an issue where you are undervolting something among these. That can cause issues.

Is this a common problem? I recently switched from a cheap unpowered external hub to the daughter board (with the same stuff plugged into it as I had on the other hub), and I’ve noticed since that my fan’s speed audibly drops when the MiSTer is working hard, which I’m pretty sure didn’t happen before. I’m using the stock supply.

It depends.

Is this a 12v fan that is being undervolted to 5v? Then it could potentially be having issues regardless as undervolting electric motors comes with a good amount of problems. I've seen people use 12v's on the MiSTer frequently and they probably shouldn't be doing that.

That being said, the current draw of a 5v fan is usually under 0.3amps. The Terasic DE10-Nano's power supply I think is a 2 amp power supply. So if you had a 802.11ac wifi dongle, and a keyboard with LEDs, and a gamepad, and then the MiSTer pulls a lot of power from a particular core, something could be getting less current than it should, and it just might be the fan in your case, or some other device as well. Worst case scenario is the DE10-Nano gets less current than it should for long periods of time, and that can damage some of the electronic components (potentially).

Anyone using the usb hub addon board should get an upgraded power supply in my opinion.

[Samelak]

I am slowly working through setting it all up. I have the games working on the Cores that I want to play and the WIFI is working. My last objective is to get the wireless keyboard to pair. The Mister is recognizing the keyboard, but it fails to pair because the keyboard is not giving a response. I followed the set-up guide and it said to enter on the keyboard “0000 and then enter”. Not sure if I need to actually input the zeros or if there is a 4-digit number associated with my keyboard. The keyboard is a Fosmon and the instructions only show pairing by selecting on the computer.

[aberu]

That might not use a regular keyboard protocol given it's designed to connnect via bluetooth to android and apple devices. The failure to respond indicates to me that it might use a weird protocol. If there are different modes the keyboard can be ran in, in the manual, try those. Maybe it has a different mode for Android, PC, and Apple. Try all three.

If the MiSTer doesn't prompt you to enter a code, then it's possible that it might not be compatible at the moment.

Finally, do you have a standalone bluetooth dongle? If you are hoping to use a combo wifi+bluetooth dongle, it won't work.

Connect another keyboard and go to the command line/shell and type "hcitool dev" to see if the bluetooth dongle is recognized. If it's not then its the dongle. Also disable all other bluetooth devices when setting this up first.

[pbsk8]

I just got a vga-video component cable. To make it work on mister io board do I have to set something on mister ini to detect it when using this cable?

So far I have been only using hdmi