ZX Spectrum Next Port to MiSTer

[danielb]

I am having the exact problem with joystick as described up here

This seems to me to be a bug, and I reported it on Github.

D.

[guddler]

Anyone know if it's possible to take a screenshot of the next core?

I can't get it to work for two reasons. Firstly the command key (I'm using a Mac keyboard as I share it with two other devices) is read as brace, or something like that in the core - I assume the Win key does the same with a windows keyboard but don't have one to hand, secondly, if COMMAND+F13 is doing anything then the 'screenshot' folder isn't getting created anywhere on my SD card (the mister one).

This leads me to my other question - I use a secondary SD card for Next because it just seemed easier. Is it possible to get at that without having to switch off the mister and remove the SD card so I can copy stuff on and off?

[edit] ignore that second bit. I realise that the secondary SD card on the I/O board is not accessible from the host but the way to go is to have a vhd file on the primary sd card and mount it as drive D in Next.

[CartoonDonkey]

Any way to access the 2nd sd card on the io board through the network?

[Fallon]

Any way to access the 2nd sd card on the io board through the network?

Don't think so.

I have a 20MB VHD in Windows, add files that I need to it, send it via FTP to Mister.
You can then load this VHD within the Next Core as second drive and access it through the Next Browser Menu, choosing 'D' to select the drive and browse the vhd contents.

[antonie]

Any way to access the 2nd sd card on the io board through the network?

Don't think so.

I have a 20MB VHD in Windows, add files that I need to it, send it via FTP to Mister.
You can then load this VHD within the Next Core as second drive and access it through the Next Browser Menu, choosing 'D' to select the drive and browse the vhd contents.

You can also connect to the VHD directly on Mister as a SAMBA share.

[CartoonDonkey]

Hrm... that’s a shame. I just purchased a microsd card so that I wouldn’t have to use the VHD. If I could mount or access that over the network, this would be an improvement over a real Next in my eyes. Has to be possible on Mister’s linux side. I mean, the base / core is accessing it in some way. I can’t believe that it couldn’t be symlinked to somehow. Hrm.

Anyway, the microsd does seem quie a bit snappier to me. Interestingly, I sold my Spectrum Next N-Go machine and upgraded to the Mister. Kept a copy of my Next N-Go installation and placed it on the secondary MicroSD, removing the vhd. When I boot up, the boot screen now shows TBBLUE instead of Mister or N-Go. I’d like to know how it’s sensing the hardware it’s running on as a clone or what have you. Have this core set as my default when the Mister boots up. Back to some Delta’s Shadow.. maybe a little Jetpac later.

[Fallon]

I sold my Spectrum Next N-Go machine and upgraded to the Mister. .

How doe Mister compare with the N-GO?
The Mister ZX Core seems to have some kind of regular scrolling stutter in games such as Warhawk, which I've seen it in a few other games. I was considering buying an N-GO, so it would be interesting to know.

[CartoonDonkey]

@fallon it's indistinguishable to me that I'm not playing on my old N-Go. Mister core seems every bit as functional. Warkhawk is buttery smooth. I've got it going to both rgb to scart on a Commodore 1084s crt and hdmi at the same time. No stuttering. I'll be recording a youtube vid about the Mister this week for my youtube channel. I'll try posting it here when it's ready.

[Fallon]

@fallon it's indistinguishable to me that I'm not playing on my old N-Go. Mister core seems every bit as functional. Warkhawk is buttery smooth. I've got it going to both rgb to scart on a Commodore 1084s crt and hdmi at the same time. No stuttering. I'll be recording a youtube vid about the Mister this week for my youtube channel. I'll try posting it here when it's ready.

Cool, thanks.

I tried 'Scramble' today, and it definitely has a regular slowdown and speedup while scrolling. I'm on HDMI. Guess I will double check my video settings.

[CartoonDonkey]

Giving scramble a try... What version? You don't mean on an original next flashing the Scramble arcade core do you?

[Swainy]

No there is a version of Scramble written by Rusty Pixels that is pretty much arcade perfect.

Checkout https://www.specnext.com/software-directory/

[Fallon]

Giving scramble a try... What version? You don't mean on an original next flashing the Scramble arcade core do you?

It's Rusty Pixels' port to the Next:

https://www.rustypixels.uk/?p=238

[CartoonDonkey]

Ah, just tried it. Great conversion. Buttery smooth on my end. No stuttering that I can see either on rgb out to the crt or hdmi.
I should note again, that I'm booting from the secondary microsd card on the analog i/o board, and I'm not using boot.vhd. I'm using my old spectrum next OS I copied over from the latest official.

[Fallon]

Ah, just tried it. Great conversion. Buttery smooth on my end. No stuttering that I can see either on rgb out to the crt or hdmi.
I should note again, that I'm booting from the secondary microsd card on the analog i/o board, and I'm not using boot.vhd. I'm using my old spectrum next OS I copied over from the latest official.

Thanks.

I tried hooking up the Next to a VGA monitor via the HDMI connection with a convertor - Scramble is now really smooth with no jerky scrolling.

Thinking back, I'm sure there was some discussion about HDMI on real hardware having issues, with people recommending a VGA monitor.

[CartoonDonkey]

So after some research, I think I've found the best method (with a pc) of getting files on and off of the Next core. This might be obvious, but I thought I'd write out the steps if it helps someone. I actually like the Mister core *better* than my old Spectrum Next N-Go clone if not only for the reason that I can now send things over to it via the network without having to physically move an SD card in and out of a machine.

1)Booting from a full install of the OS on the 2nd microsd, I renamed the used boot.vhd that lives in the ZXNext folder on the main Mister microsd, storage.vhd

2) Used Imdisk https://sourceforge.net/projects/imdisk-toolkit/ to mount the image over samba.
3) Fully deleted the contents of storage.vhd from Windows, in order to use it as storage. Moved any games etc, over to the mounted storage.vhd (I have mine as the x: drive on my PC)

4) Booted the Next core from the microsd card, and then used the Mister menu to mount that storage.vhd in the ZXNext folder on the main Mister microsd as the D: drive. Use M to mount or U to dismount the storage.vhd and refresh any changes. press D to switch drives. All my files are listed on that storage.vhd for use. Profit!

Yes, I used the image while never dismounting it from Windows. But as long as I'm not modifying it's contents while the Next is running that vhd won't get corrupted. If it did, I guess I'd make another 10gb vhd and move that over. No biggie. If while using the Next, I want to move new content over or delete and have those changes show up on the D: drive, I make those changes from windows and then just press f4 to reset the Next and things get refreshed. I've also got an Ultimate 64 Elite FPGA in a breadbin case and I don't know why the Next guys didn't just build in an ftp server into the core like Gideon did for the ultimate. It was the one thing that frustrated me about it. And now that's solved with the Mister. Yeah, the Mister Next core doesn't like tzx files but honestly, I just boot into the regular Spectrum core for those, and I really don't miss anything. No biggie.

End of rant. Game on!

[pgimeno]

Yes, I used the image while never dismounting it from Windows. But as long as I'm not modifying it's contents while the Next is running that vhd won't get corrupted.

I wouldn't be so sure. The OS may keep a cache of some sectors and rely on them not having been modified. If the core modifies those sectors, you may easily get corruption due to a disagreement between what the core wrote and what the OS thinks those sectors contain.

[CartoonDonkey]

Midi possible on this core, for NextDaw?
There's this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hun-0u9hslo

[Fallon]

Midi possible on this core, for NextDaw?
There's this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hun-0u9hslo

Next DAW requires mouse support, which I 'm not sure the Mister Next Core has?

[CartoonDonkey]

It has mouse support. My bluetooth mouse works fine with it.

[breiztiger]

https://www.specnext.com/latestdistro/

new version

[caffeinekid]

Can the new distro be used on MiSTer?

[Stinky]

Can the new distro be used on MiSTer?

I can confirm it works on my setup.

[rhester72]

Can the new distro be used on MiSTer?

I can confirm it works on my setup.

Which archive is recommended for updating? Complete? Lightweight? Emulator?

Self-answering: NoSrc is what the "standard" VHD uses.