MSX

msx2

The MSX was a 8bit personal computer standard developed by ASCII in 1983. Microsoft provided the BASIC interpreter and later MSX-DOS. Various electronics vendors made MSX systems such as Canon, Casio, Daewoo, Fujitsu, Goldstar (LG), Hitachi, JVC, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, Samsung, Sanyo, Sony, Toshiba, Yamaha and various others. The MSX was followed by the MSX2, after which manufacturers abandoned the market outside Japan due to limited success. In Japan a few manufacturers still held out and released the MSX2+ and finally the TurboR. MSX had its greatest success in Japan, and was able to establish some market share in countries like the Netherlands, Spain and Brazil.

Emulator	Rom Folder	Extension	BIOS	Controller Config
lr-bluemsx	msx	.cas .rom .mx1 .mx2 .col .dsk .zip .m3u	see below	/opt/retropie/configs/msx/retroarch.cfg
lr-fmsx	msx	.rom .mx1 .mx2 .dsk	see below	/opt/retropie/configs/msx/retroarch.cfg
openMSX	msx	.cas .rom .mx1 .mx2 .col .dsk	see below	see below

ROMS

Accepted File Extensions: .cas .rom .mx1 .mx2 .col .dsk .zip .m3u

Place your MSX ROMs in

/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/msx

Controls

Libretro cores

lr-fmsx and lr-bluemsx utilise RetroArch configurations.

Add custom retroarch controls to the retroarch.cfg file in

/opt/retropie/configs/msx/retroarch.cfg

Keyboard support can also be enabled here by adding:

input_libretro_device_p2 = "3"

For more information on custom RetroArch controls see: RetroArch Configuration.
Many games will have varying keyboard controls.

openMSX

By default, openMSX use the keyboard and automatically configures the 1st detected gamepad. MSX joysticks had 1 digital joystick and 2 buttons and openMSX auto-configures the D-Pad for the joystick Up/Down/Left/Right actions, the maps the even buttons as Button A, odd numbered buttons as Button B.

If you configure your gamepad in EmulationStation after openMSX is installed, the gamepad is automatically configured by RetroPie as follows:

Gamepad	openMSX action
A	A button
B	B button
D-Pad or Left Analog joystick	MSX Joystick
Y	`F1`
X	`F2`
Left Shoulder	`F3`
Right Shoulder	`F4`
Start	toggle openMSX menu
Select	openMSX OSD Keyboard

NOTE: when using the openMSX menu, B selects/execute the current menu action, while A exits the current menu (back). You can use the D-Pad or Left Analog Joystick to navigate the menu.

Specific ROM controls

To make it easier to control openMSX just with a gamepad, there is an option to override the generated gamepad configuration for the ROM/game started

open the /opt/retropie/configs/msx/openmsx/share/joystick folder (or via file shares: \\configs\msx\openmsx\share\joystick). The gamepad auto-configuration created by RetroPie should be in a file named after the controller's name and a .tcl extension
copy an already existing controller .tcl configuration file to the game subfolder.
edit the copied file and adjust the 'bind_default' commands configuration. See the openMSX documentation for how to use those commands:
- http://openmsx.org/manual/commands.html#bind
- https://openmsx.org/manual/commands.html#joystickN_config
- http://map.grauw.nl/articles/keymatrix.php, the The key matrix layouts section

rename the new .tcl file to be similar to the disk/tape/rom name (i.e. Metal Gear.zip looks for a file Metal Gear.tcl).
If you are not sure which name to use, start the game, then press F10 while in-game, and type guess_title, followed by Enter. openMSX will print the content name, which can be used as a filename for the override joystick configuration file.

NOTE: special characters (:?/*), are automatically stripped from the name so if your content file is ABC?.dsk, then the configuration file would be ABC.tcl.

BIOS

BlueMSX

Depending on the CORE option and machine you are running, it may require a different BIOS. Each machine folder has an ini file that explains which BIOS is needed, the following are some examples.

BlueMSX BIOS List

COL - ColecoVision: coleco.rom
MSX : MSX.ROM - PHILIPSDISK.ROM
MSX Brazilian : MSXBR.ROM - MICROSOLDISK.ROM
MSX German : MSXG.ROM - PHILIPSDISK.ROM
MSX Japanese : MSXJ.ROM - PANASONICDISK.ROM
MSX Korean : MSXKR.ROM - MSXHAN.ROM - NATIONALDISK.ROM
MSX Swedish : MSXSE.ROM - PHILIPSDISK.ROM
MSX2 : MSX2.ROM - MSX2EXT.ROM - MSX2PMUS.ROM - MOONSOUND.ROM - XBASIC2.ROM - PHILIPSDISK.ROM
MSX2 Arabic : MSX2AR.ROM - MSX2AREXT.ROM - MSX2PMUS.ROM - MOONSOUND.ROM - XBASIC2.ROM - PANASONICDISK.ROM - KANJI.ROM - MSXKANJI.ROM - ARABIC.ROM - SWP.ROM - PAINT.ROM
MSX2 Brazilian : MSX2BR.ROM - MSX2BREXT.ROM - MSX2PMUS.ROM - MOONSOUND.ROM - XBASIC2.ROM - MICROSOLDISK.ROM
MSX2 French : MSX2FR.ROM - MSX2FREXT.ROM - MSX2PMUS.ROM - MOONSOUND.ROM - XBASIC2.ROM - PHILIPSDISK.ROM
MSX2 German : MSX2G.ROM - MSX2GEXT.ROM - MSX2PMUS.ROM - MOONSOUND.ROM - XBASIC2.ROM - PHILIPSDISK.ROM
MSX2 Japanese : MSX2J.ROM - MSX2JEXT.ROM - MSX2PMUS.ROM - MOONSOUND.ROM - XBASIC2.ROM - PANASONICDISK.ROM - KANJI.ROM - MSXKANJI.ROM
MSX2 Korean : MSX2KR.ROM - MSX2KREXT.ROM - MSX2PMUS.ROM - MOONSOUND.ROM - XBASIC2.ROM - NATIONALDISK.ROM - HANGUL.ROM - MSX2HAN.ROM
MSX2 Only PSG : MSX2.ROM - MSX2EXT.ROM - XBASIC2.ROM - PHILIPSDISK.ROM
MSX2 Russian : MSX2R.ROM - MSX2REXT.ROM - MSX2PMUS.ROM - MOONSOUND.ROM - XBASIC2.ROM - NATIONALDISK.ROM
MSX2 Spanish : MSX2SP.ROM - MSX2SPEXT.ROM - MSX2PMUS.ROM - MOONSOUND.ROM - XBASIC2.ROM - PHILIPSDISK.ROM
MSX2+ : MSX2P.ROM - MSX2PEXT.ROM - MSX2PMUS.ROM - MOONSOUND.ROM - XBASIC2.ROM - PANASONICDISK.ROM - KANJI.ROM - MSXKANJI.ROM
Turbo-R : FSA1GT.ROM - KANJI.ROM - MOONSOUND.ROM - XBASIC2.ROM

If you're not sure about where to place your BIOS there is a Shared Roms folder you can also put them into (this only applies to ROMS that can be shared between different variants of MSX; Colecovision BIOS for example will not work if placed in the shared Roms folder.

/home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/Machines/Shared Roms/

The following is a list of roms that can be added to the shared folder:

ARAB1.ROM
ARABIC.rom
BEERIDE.ROM
FMPAC.rom
GCVMX80.ROM
HANGUL.rom
KANJI.rom
MICROSOLDISK.ROM
MOONSOUND.rom
MSX2AREXT.ROM
MSX2AR.ROM
MSX2BREXT.rom
MSX2BR.rom
MSX2EXT.rom
MSX2FREXT.rom
MSX2FR.rom
MSX2GEXT.rom
MSX2G.rom
MSX2HAN.rom
MSX2JEXT.rom
MSX2J.rom
MSX2KREXT.rom
MSX2KR.rom
MSX2PEXT.rom
MSX2PMUS.rom
MSX2P.rom
MSX2R2.ROM
MSX2REXT.rom
MSX2.rom
MSX2R.rom
MSX2SE.rom
MSX2SPEXT.rom
MSX2SP.rom
MSXAR.ROM
MSXBR.rom
MSXDOS23.ROM
MSXFR.rom
MSXG.rom
MSXHAN.rom
MSXJ.rom
MSXKANJI.rom
MSXKR.rom
MSXR2.rom
MSX.rom
MSXR.rom
MSXSE.ROM
MSXSP.rom
MSXTREXT.ROM
MSXTRMUS.ROM
MSXTROPT.ROM
MSXTR.ROM
NATIONALDISK.rom
NOVAXIS.rom
PAINT.rom
PANASONICDISK.rom
PHILIPSDISK.rom
RS232.ROM
SUNRISEIDE.rom
SWP.rom
XBASIC2.rom

openMSX

Copy the BIOS files to

/home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/openmsx

openMSX supports a large number of MSX machines, each machine with it's own firmware and BIOS files. By default, openMSX includes the open source C-BIOS files, which enables the emulation of a MSX2+ machine, but it only supports cartridge based ROMs, without cassette/disk support.

The list of machines supported by openMSX is here. Each machine has its own .xml file, where the ROMs needed are listed with their name and checksums. In order to emulate one of the machines, the necessary files listed in the rom tags should be copied in the openMSX BIOS folder.

For instance, the Al Alamiah AX230 machine model needs the following ROMs:

  <rom>
      <filename>IC125.BIN</filename>
      <sha1>0340707c5de2310dcf5e569b7db4c6a6a5590cb7</sha1>
  </rom>

NOTE: openMSX validates the BIOS files (systemroms) by their checksum, so file naming and folder structure is not important as long as the files' content is correct.

For the additional 3 systems that RetroPie configures, the BIOS files needed are listed below.

MSX2 (based on the BOOSTED_MSX2_EN model)

File	SHA1 checksum
nms8250_disk.rom	DAB3E6F36843392665B71B04178AADD8762C6589 C3EFEDDA7AB947A06D9345F7B8261076FA7CEEEF
nms8250_basic-bios2.rom	6103B39F1E38D1AA2D84B1C3219C44F1ABB5436E
nms8250_msx2sub.rom	5C1F9C7FB655E43D38E5DD1FCC6B942B2FF68B02
fmpac.rom	9D789166E3CAF28E4742FE933D962E99618C633D
phc-70fd2_basickun.rom	22B3191D865010264001B9D896186A9818478A6B
yrw801.rom	32760893CE06DBE3930627755BA065CC3D8EC6CA

MSX2+ (based on the BOOSTED_MSX+2_JP model)

File	SHA1 checksum
fs-a1wsx_kanjifont.rom	5AFF2D9B6EFC723BC395B0F96F0ADFA83CC54A49
fs-a1wsx_basic-bios2p.rom	F4433752D3BF876BFEFB363C749D4D2E08A218B6
fs-a1wsx_fmbasic.rom	AAD42BA4289B33D8EED225D42CEA930B7FC5C228
fs-a1wsx_msx2psub.rom	FE0254CBFC11405B79E7C86C7769BD6322B04995
fs-a1wsx_kanjibasic.rom	DCC3A67732AA01C4F2EE8D1AD886444A4DBAFE06
fs-a1wsx_disk.rom	7ED7C55E0359737AC5E68D38CB6903F9E5D7C2B6
fs-a1wsx_firmware.rom	3330D9B6B76E3C4CCB7CF252496ED15D08B95D3F
phc-70fd2_basickun.rom	22B3191D865010264001B9D896186A9818478A6B
yrw801.rom	32760893CE06DBE3930627755BA065CC3D8EC6CA

MSX-TurboR (based on the Panasonic_FS-A1GT model)

File SHA1 checksum

fs-a1gt_firmware.rom E779C338EB91A7DEA3FF75F3FDE76B8AF22C4A3A
5FA3AA79AEBA2C0441F349E78E9A16D9D64422EA

fs-a1gt_kanjifont.rom 5AFF2D9B6EFC723BC395B0F96F0ADFA83CC54A49

BlueMSX

Changing the machine to be emulated

The machine model that is emulated can be configured through the Core Options menu. The following MSX models can be selected:

MSX
MSXTurboR
MSX2
MSX2+
SVI - Spectravideo SVI-318
SVI - Spectravideo SVI-328
SVI - Spectravideo SVI-328 MK2

Disc Swapping for multi-disc games

To change the disc in-game, open the RetroArch menu (Hotkey + X), open then Disc Control menu and then choose Load New Disc to add a new disc.

M3U playlist for multi-disc Games

Multiple discs can be loaded simultaneously from Emulation Station into RetroArch by creating an M3U file (plain-text, .m3u extension). In its contents, enter the filenames of the DSK files one per line. In game you can then swap disks from the Disc Control RetroArch menu, choosing one of the disks configured in the file from the Current Disc Index selection.

openMSX

openMSX will by default use a MSX C-BIOS rom image. C-BIOS is not a real BIOS rom and has certain restrictions, such as no support for anything other then cartridges (ROMs). So there is no support for disk or cassette for instance.
In addition to that, RetroPie configures 3 other machines, which can be chosen from the Runcommand launch menu:

MSX2 (launches the BOOSTED_MSX2_EN machine). It's a machine based on Philips NMS-8250 (most standard MSX2 in the Netherlands at least) with:
- three external slots, slot B and C are in a sub slot (2-0 and 2-1)
- 2048 kB memory mapper (in slot 3-2)
- 2 disk drives
- V9958 VDP with 192 kB VRAM
- SCC+ in slot 2-3
- FMPAC (slot 3-1)
- MSX Audio
- MoonSound with 640 kB sample RAM
- GFX9000 with Video9000
- 512 kB MegaRAM in slot 2-2
- BASIC Compiler (MSX-BASIC Kun)

MSX2+ (launches the BOOSTED_MSX+2_JP machine). It's machine based on Panasonic FS-A1WSX (most complete MSX2+), which includes:
- Kanji ROM
- MSX-MUSIC
- firmware
- three external slots, slot B and C are in a sub slot (2-0 and 2-1)
- 2048 kB memory mapper (in slot 3-0)
- 2 disk drives
- V9958 VDP with 192 kB VRAM
- SCC+ in slot 2-3
- MSX Audio
- MoonSound with 640 kB sample RAM
- GFX9000 with Video9000
- 512 kB MegaRAM in slot 2-2
- BASIC Compiler (MSX-BASIC Kun)

MSX-TurboR (launches the Panasonic_FS-A1GT machine)

Changing default machine to be emulated

By default openMSX will emulate a MSX2+ using the C-BIOS ROM. To change this, you need to start openMSX, either by starting a game or from the commandline by typing /opt/retropie/emulators/openmsx/bin/openmsx.
When the emulator is running, press F10 and you will get a overlay where you can type commands, here you need to type the following to change the default MSX to be emulated:

set default_machine turbor

In the above example we change the default to the MSX TurboR, which was the last MSX machine produced. Other options could be msx1, msx2 or msx2plus. There are many MSX machines that can potentially be emulated, for a list look in the directory /opt/retropie/emulators/openmsx/share/machines or online here. If, for instance, you wanted to emulate a Spectravideo SVI-728, you will find in that directory a file Spectravideo_SVI-728.xml. Simply use the name of the file, excluding the .xml extension, as the machine name.

If your gamepad has been automatically configured by RetroPie, the machine type can be changed by opening the openMSX menu (pressing Start on your gamepad) and using the Hardware sub-menu to choose another machine and make it default.

Machine types msx1, msx2, msx2plus and turbor are simply links to certain MSX machines :

msx1 - European Toshiba HX10
msx2 - European Philips NMS 8250
msx2plus - Japanese Panasonic FS-A1WSX
turbor - Japanese Panasonic FS-A1GT

The machine type selected will obviously have certain effects. For instance, the FS-A1GT model does not support cassettes, and so you cannot play cassette games on it. Starting some games (mainly Konami) on a Japanese machine may result in the in-game dialogue being in Japanese, while if you start the same game on a European machine the in-game dialogue may be in English.

Depending on the machine model chosen, additional BIOS files may be needed - see the BIOS section to find the necessary BIOS files.

Exiting the emulator

By default the exit key in the emulator is Alt-F4 on a keyboard.

If the gamepad has been automatically configured by RetroPie, then you can also exit by pressing Start (to open the openMSX menu) and choosing Exit openMSX

Setting default screen on MSX2+ and TurboR machines

By default MSX2+ and TurboR machines will start with a screen type which is incompatible with lots of European software. Typically resulting in errors such as Syntax error in 10 when starting disk or cassette based games. This is typically because the software is trying to change the width of the screen to something incompatible with the current screen type selected. The solution is to start the emulator to a MSX BIOS Ok prompt. This can be done when a game fails to start and gives you an Ok prompt, or you can start the emulator outside of RetroPie as shown above.

At the MSX BIOS Ok prompt (not the openMSX command prompt), type the following;

screen0
set screen

You have now changed your default screen to screen0 as was normal on European MSX machines, and saved the setting into virtual nvram.

Note: if you change your default machine type from say a TurboR to a MSX2+ you will have to redo this step as each MSX2 and later machine type has its own virtual nvram file.

50 or 60Hz?

European MSX machines ran at 50Hz, as that is the PAL video standard, while Japanese MSX machines ran at 60Hz as is standard on NTSC. How does this effect things? Well it means that lots of Japanese developed games run ~20% slower when run on a European MSX. This may mean more sluggish behaviour and slower sound if the programmers did not take this into account.

How does this effect emulation? The default C-BIOS based model uses 60Hz. A MSX2+ or TurboR will always be 60Hz since they where never officially sold in Europe. Of course the effect can also be the other way around - European MSX software that runs too fast on a Japanese machine type.

In openMSX, you can change the emulated frequency during runtime. Simply open the openMSX command prompt with F10, and type toggle_freq.

File	SHA1 checksum
fs-a1gt_firmware.rom	E779C338EB91A7DEA3FF75F3FDE76B8AF22C4A3A 5FA3AA79AEBA2C0441F349E78E9A16D9D64422EA
fs-a1gt_kanjifont.rom	5AFF2D9B6EFC723BC395B0F96F0ADFA83CC54A49