Fairchild Channel F
The Fairchild Channel F (short for "Channel Fun") was the first videogame system to use a microprocessor and game cartridges. It was first released in 1976 with a price of $169.95 and was discontinued in 1983.
Emulators: lr-fbneo, lr-freechaf
| Emulator | Rom Folder | Extension | BIOS | Controller Config |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| lr-FreeChaf | channelf | .bin .chf | sl31253.bin, sl31254.bin, sl90025.bin | /opt/retropie/configs/channelf/retroarch.cfg |
| lr-FBNeo | channelf | .zip .7z | channelf.zip | /opt/retropie/configs/channelf/retroarch.cfg |
Roms
Place your ChannelF ROMs in:
/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/channelf
NOTE: lr-fbneo expects the game roms to be in .zip/.7z archives named in a similar fashion to arcade romsets, so the filenames of the roms is important. Use a romset validation/building program like Clrmamepro or RomCenter to have the correct filenames, with the FBNeo ChannelF DAT file file and a No-Intro ChannelF ROM collection to get the correct ROMset.
More info is provided here.
BIOS
Pleace your BIOS files in
/home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS
lr-fbneo requires a channelf.zip file. It can also be copied in a fbneo sub-folder under the main BIOS folder.
| Filename | Description | MD5 |
|---|---|---|
| channelf.zip | ChannelF BIOS | 2f2f8de3827ae1faf2495e497ca95232 |
lr-freechaf uses the following files
| Filename | Description | MD5 |
|---|---|---|
| sl31253.bin | ChannelF BIOS (PSU 1) | ac9804d4c0e9d07e33472e3726ed15c3 |
| sl31254.bin | ChannelF BIOS (PSU 2) | da98f4bb3242ab80d76629021bb27585 |
| sl90025.bin | ChannelF II BIOS (PSU 1) (optional) | 95d339631d867c8f1d15a5f2ec26069d |
If the ChannelF II BIOS is included, it will be used instead of sl31253.bin file. All games are compatible with both.
Controls
Both emulators utilise RetroArch configurations.
FreeChaf
Access to the console buttons is provided via an overlay. Pressing 'start' on either controller will display the console buttons. You can select a button by moving left and right and press the button with any of the face buttons (A, B, X, Y). Pressing 'start' a second time will hide the overlay.
- Console Overlay - allows the user to view and select console buttons.
- Controller Swap - Controller Swap swaps the player 1 and player 2 controllers.
| FreeChaF Function | Retropad |
|---|---|
| Forward | D-Pad Up, Left-Analog Up |
| Backward | D-Pad Down, Left-Analog Down |
| Rotate Left | Y, L, Right-Analog Left |
| Rotate Right | A, R, Right-Analog Right |
| Pull Up | X, Right-Analog Up |
| Push Down | B, Right-Analog Down |
| Show/Hide Console Overlay | Start |
| Controller Swap | Select |