New MSX Core In The Works

[jordi]

Thank you!!

I tried Robocop and Batman the movie roms and it only reboots.
It might be an issue with memory?

[molekula]

I tried Robocop and Batman the movie roms and it only reboots.
It might be an issue with memory?

This may be due to lack of mapping support from cartrige. Currently no external mapper is implemented. More information could be provided if I know which specific ROM it is.

[NinjaWarrior]

I tried Robocop and Batman the movie roms and it only reboots.
It might be an issue with memory?

This may be due to lack of mapping support from cartrige. Currently no external mapper is implemented. More information could be provided if I know which specific ROM it is.

These games were originally released in cassette format. Jordi is trying to load them in ROM format, that is, they have been converted into a ROM using a modern loader/converter, but that is not the original medium. This can lead to incompatibilities and problems. Please use always the original format (CAS, ROM) to load the software in order to provide a good bug report, as conversions may fail even on real MSX and should be avoided.

P.S. I am checking both right now loading as CAS, will update this when ready.

UPDATE: Tested both - Batman The Movie loads ok and plays perfectly (tested 5 minutes playing). Robocop loads ok and plays ok, but some minor graphic glitches show on background (it may be my CAS file, I have to test with another one). Both loaded using core CAS cassette loader in OSD.

Again, please do not use ROM file formats for games that were released as cassette, this may lead to unexpected results and that is definetely NOT the original format, and they may fail even on real MSX (some of them may work only on MSX2 due to memory slots arrangement).

[marcelosofth]

Friend "molekula" is it possible to switch from rom to the famous Brazilian rom from MSX Expert 1.1 Gradiente? follow the link below:

https://www.msxpro.com/hardware/roms/expert11.zip

[NinjaWarrior]

Friend "molekula" is it possible to switch from rom to the famous Brazilian rom from MSX Expert 1.1 Gradiente? follow the link below:

https://www.msxpro.com/hardware/roms/expert11.zip

Molekula is implementing a VG-8020 machine, which has a different slot mapping than Gradiente Expert GPC-1, and also the VDP is different, as the VG-8020 uses a TMS9929A/TMS9129NL 50Hz, while the Gradiente use a TMS9128NL 60Hz. So, the machines are different, though both are MSX compatible.

https://www.msx.org/wiki/Philips_VG-8020

https://www.msx.org/wiki/Gradiente_Expert_GPC-1

Please note that MSX means that software should be compatible with any machine that holds the MSX logo, but that does not mean the machines are the same, so there is no "MSX" implementation but a specific machine implementation. In order to preserve faithfully a machine, that should be a specific model, rather than just be compatible with MSX standard (anyway, you will have to choose a slot map, VDP, rom... and so on).

Said that, it may be possible to implement easily another MSX model in the future based on an existing core when it is polished and finished.

[marcelosofth]

I saw that the sound correction was made, but I didn't find the last file compiled with and this correction will still be released with the sound correction?

[jordi]

I tried Robocop and Batman the movie roms and it only reboots.
It might be an issue with memory?

This may be due to lack of mapping support from cartrige. Currently no external mapper is implemented. More information could be provided if I know which specific ROM it is.

These games were originally released in cassette format. Jordi is trying to load them in ROM format, that is, they have been converted into a ROM using a modern loader/converter, but that is not the original medium. This can lead to incompatibilities and problems. Please use always the original format (CAS, ROM) to load the software in order to provide a good bug report, as conversions may fail even on real MSX and should be avoided.

P.S. I am checking both right now loading as CAS, will update this when ready.

UPDATE: Tested both - Batman The Movie loads ok and plays perfectly (tested 5 minutes playing). Robocop loads ok and plays ok, but some minor graphic glitches show on background (it may be my CAS file, I have to test with another one). Both loaded using core CAS cassette loader in OSD.

Again, please do not use ROM file formats for games that were released as cassette, this may lead to unexpected results and that is definetely NOT the original format, and they may fail even on real MSX (some of them may work only on MSX2 due to memory slots arrangement).

got it, thank you! I was really desiring to try these games and only rom option was available

[NinjaWarrior]

got it, thank you! I was really desiring to try these games and only rom option was available

No worries , there are lot of repositories who offer CAS file format, I think the one you linked had also CAS files where you can download Robocop and Batman The Movie to check them. If by chance you try Robocop, please check if it shows glitch artifacts in background.

[marcelosofth]

Does anyone have the file compiled with the sound corrected?

[molekula]

I saw that the sound correction was made, but I didn't find the last file compiled with and this correction will still be released with the sound correction?

Look Github. Release 20220110

[nonete]

Very thanks molekula, new version sounds great!msx was my first computer, i love it!the CAS option is awesome!

One problem i have, i use mister in a crt tv through RGB, when i put borders on, the osd menu disappears

and it only reappears if I turn off the borders and that has to be done blindly ...

Can this be fixed in a future?

Thank you very much for this wonderful core

[NinjaWarrior]

I saw that the sound correction was made, but I didn't find the last file compiled with and this correction will still be released with the sound correction?

Look Github. Release 20220110

Thank you!!! I will test it tonight more thoroughly but Knightmare sounds good, now we have joystick, more bram... fantastic!

[molekula]

One problem i have, i use mister in a crt tv through RGB, when i put borders on, the osd menu disappears
and it only reappears if I turn off the borders and that has to be done blindly ...
Can this be fixed in a future?

That's gonna be tough. I don't have a way to test it at the moment and video is not my thing.

[marcelosofth]

This latest version "Release 20220110" lost everything, it got slower and lost the Shadow mask!

[NinjaWarrior]

This latest version "Release 20220110" lost everything, it got slower and lost the Shadow mask!

Here is working ok, and this evening we tested it in a Retrocrypta live in Twitch, maybe your config got corrupted?

[marcelosofth]

I simply downloaded the file and copied it to the _computers directory. It's working but slower all games I've tested and before it was at normal speed, the sound is now perfect.

[NinjaWarrior]

I simply downloaded the file and copied it to the _computers directory. It's working but slower all games I've tested and before it was at normal speed, the sound is now perfect.

Maybe you are running it at 50hz, as it should be. As you are used to a Brazilian MSX (60Hz) that's may be the reason you are seeing it slower (if your Mister display config is changing your refresh rate of your monitor to 50Hz, you can check it).

[marcelosofth]

I'll check, curious that the refresh rate was perfect before, thanks friend.

[LamerDeluxe]

Version 20220110 is working great here. The audio is sounding really good now. A lot of games are working.

[molekula]

HI,
New version 20220117 adds support for Konami mappers, Konami SCC, ASCII8, ASCII16. If ROM > 1Mbit (128 kB) is loaded, used SDRAM in the core. If SDRAM is not available the ROM will not work and BASIC will appear.

[wark91]

Thank you !!! Thank you

[NinjaWarrior]

HI,
New version 20220117 adds support for Konami mappers, Konami SCC, ASCII8, ASCII16. If ROM > 1Mbit (128 kB) is loaded, used SDRAM in the core. If SDRAM is not available the ROM will not work and BASIC will appear.

That is just AWESOME! Thank you!

[akeley]

Popping in cartridge roms for insta-gaming is just so great. No disrespect to Sofa Run, but this is just waaaay better and feels like the real thing (paradoxically, maybe even a bit better than my real VG 8020 with a flashcart

[marcelosofth]

Simply fantastic, this new MSX1 core is very promising and has a lot of potential to become the definitive MSX1 Core, good work my friend!!! ^_^

[vampier]

HI,
New version 20220117 adds support for Konami mappers, Konami SCC, ASCII8, ASCII16. If ROM > 1Mbit (128 kB) is loaded, used SDRAM in the core. If SDRAM is not available the ROM will not work and BASIC will appear.

Thanks I gave it a go and it works great - the sound is also much better.

I would say that PSG sounds almost spot on now. SCC sounds good for a 1st implementation but it seems that waveforms and channels are getting mixed up or something (hard to explain)

If you want to have good test scenarios to see how accurate the core is please run Utopia demo by Dvik and JoyRex or Waves by the same people. The sound playback works great that probably means the PSG and z80 implementation are great already.

For future requests if you can implement a 2nd cartridge slot to implement cartridge mixing (used a lot of Konami games)
If you are thinking about implementing cheats let me know I have a massive library that I can extract (I made most of the trainers that can be found in openMSX and blueMSX)

I hope once you feel like the MSX1 core is done you'll continue on an MSX2 core (hey I can dream right? )

Thanks for the amazing work!

[kathleen]

Thank you @molekula for this new release, it is simply amazing !

[pgimeno]

Yes, this release is great, big thanks! And thanks also for the sound fix, it's superb!

I've run my VDP test program. It's working quite well, much better than I expected after my experience with the OCM and Fabio Belavenuto's cores. There are a couple things that are not reproduced so accurately vs. the real machine:

- The per-frame cycle count is 71136 instead of the expected 71364 in most PAL machines. That corresponds to 312x228 (lines x cycles per line) instead of the 313x228 it should be. Hopefully this will be an easy fix.

- Polling the VDP status register with interrupts disabled is always guaranteed to return the interrupt status bit set, once per frame; however, in real hardware, there's a small window of 1 to 2 cycles in which if you poll the status register, you miss the bit for the whole frame. For details see the explanation of values A and B in https://codeberg.org/pgimeno/vdptest/sr ... ESULTS.txt and the results for a TMS9129NL (tested on a Philips VG-8020/40).

[NinjaWarrior]

Is this core ready to be in main? I think it works really good, if you need some testing @molekula please ask, we can provide some feedback to help the debugging/implementation.

[marcelosofth]

Is this core ready to be in main? I think it works really good, if you need some testing @molekula please ask, we can provide some feedback to help the debugging/implementation.

I sent you an inbox message.

[wark91]

I checked the color of the last version of the core with an emulator (I don't have the real MSX1 to verify)
My test was done on the game "The Maze of Galious"

Screenshot of the core:

20220118_224433-Knightmare_II_-_The_Maze_of_Galious_1987KonamiJapanMSX1Konami.png (74.6 KiB) Viewed 11664 times

Screenshot of the emulator (Mode MSX1 Europe):

unknown.png (96.21 KiB) Viewed 11664 times

The core seems too purple and also we see a color gradient in the lower part of the image on the emulator but not present on core fpga.

Thanks for your work great to have a real MSX1 core