ChannelF libertro core

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I've just uploaded my ChannelF libretro core to SourceForge:

https://sourceforge.net/projects/freechaf/

It includes a pre-built binary for RetroPie.

All 26 original games and the home brews I have (lights, tetris, pac-man) appear to work correctly.

My motivation, however, was just to be able to play the built-in 'Hockey' game with a dual analog controller to more easily move and rotate. There are quite a few control options, however.

Select swaps the left and right controllers. L and R, Y and A, and the right analog stick x-axis rotate. The d-pad and left-analog stick move forward, backward, left, and right. X and B, and right analog stick y-axis push up and pull down.

Start will show/hide the console buttons, along with a description of the currently selected button. Pressing A, B , X, or Y will 'press' the console button in that state.

Installing is ... exactly what you'd expect. There are instructions included in the download as well.

Step 1: Create the necessary directories

> sudo mkdir /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-freechaf
> sudo mkdir /opt/retropie/configs/channelf

Step 2: Install the libreto core

Copy the file:

freechaf_libretro.so to /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-freechaf

Be sure to set permissions to 755:

> sudo chmod 755 /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-freechaf/*

Step 3: Add the retroarch config file

Add the file retroarch.cfg to /opt/retropie/configs/channelf

Be sure to set permissions to 755:

> sudo chmod 755 /opt/retropie/configs/channelf/*

Step 4:

If you're already using an channelf emulator, add the line:

lr-freechaf = "/opt/retropie/emulators/retroarch/bin/retroarch -L /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-freechaf/freechaf_libretro.so --config /opt/retropie//configs/channelf/retroarch.cfg %ROM%"

to the top of the file:

/opt/retropie/configs/channelf/emulators.cfg

Optionally, you can choose to set it as default, as is the case for
the included emulators.cfg file.

If not, copy the included emulators.cfg file to:

/opt/retropie/configs/channelf/

Be sure to set permissions to 755:

> sudo chmod 755 /opt/retropie/configs/channelf/*

Step 5: Add the system

Add the following entry to /etc/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg

  <system>
    <name>channelf</name>
    <fullname>ChannelF</fullname>
    <path>/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/channelf</path>
    <extension>.rom .bin .ROM .BIN</extension>
    <command>/opt/retropie/supplementary/runcommand/runcommand.sh 0 _SYS_ channelf %ROM%</command>
    <platform>channelf</platform>
    <theme>channelf</theme>
  </system>

Step 6: Add the BIOS files

sl31253.bin
sl31254.bin
sl90025.bin

You'll always need sl31254.bin, but you can substitute sl21253.bin
for sl90025.bin. The latter is the updated ROM used by the
ChannelF II. All games work with both sl31253.bin and sl90025.bin.

Step 7: Restart EmulationStation and play some ChannelF!

Turn the dial to ChannelF for Fun!

It's election day here in the states, so be sure to vote before you play.

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It's now on GitHub, thanks to the folks at libretro (hunterk, RiskyJumps, Twinaphex, and swingflip in particular).

https://github.com/libretro/FreeChaF

I'd like to get this added as an optional package. Any idea where to start?

markwkidd

@recompile said in ChannelF libertro core:

It's now on GitHub, thanks to the folks at libretro (hunterk, RiskyJumps, Twinaphex, and swingflip in particular).

https://github.com/libretro/FreeChaF

I'd like to get this added as an optional package. Any idea where to start?

You could look at the scripts for mame2003-plus in RetroPie-Setup as a starting point or model.

SuperFromND

@recompile
I'd recommend looking at scriptmodule files for other libretro cores, analyze them to get an idea of what exactly they do, and then modifying those files to fit your core. Make sure that your modifications comply with the style guide for scriptmodules, and that the script works as intended. (If you're editing the file on Windows Notepad, odds are it won't work as expected due to the way it handles line endings.)

Once you have your scriptmodule, submit a pull request to the RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup Github. If you've never used Github before and have no idea how to do that, here's a quick run-down of doing that with just your browser (a.k.a. without installing a Git client):

Go to the RetroPie-Setup repo and click "Fork"
On your fork of the repository, commit your new scriptmodule file (see here)
Go to the Pull Requests page and click "New pull request"
Click "Compare across forks", then change the "head fork" to your fork
Click "Create pull request", and state your changes

If all goes well, you should have a shiny new pull request with your scriptmodule, and if all continues to go well, that pull request will get merged and your core will officially be part of RetroPie.

I wish the best of luck to you! Always nice to see new cores for lesser-known systems. :)

(Oh, and if you can't quite figure out something with the scriptmodule/PR process, just ask and I'll be glad to answer.)

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@SuperCatFooz Thanks! I'm not terribly familiar with Github, so this was incredibly helpful.

@markwkidd Thanks for that, using other cores as examples made it easier to put together that I expected.

With luck, it'll be merged in no time.

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lr-freechaf has found its way to Retropie Setup as an experimental package.

mitu

@recompile Thank you for the new module !

rand0m

@recompile

Thanks a lot for all the effort you have put into the emulator. The 3 BIOS files in sourceforge zipped file (FreeChaF_2018-11-13.zip) should have the extension .bin (right now its .rom) or it won't work in Retroarch. Atleast not on windows version which I tried, its working after renaming them. Thanks a lot again, old school consoles don't get much love :D

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@rand0m Thanks for that. I've updated the release on sourceforge.

Gwyllion

Not to know where to put the bios files, inside /home/pi/RetroPie/roms or /home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS, not working. Any idea, plz?

Edit: sorry a bad bios checksum found, with the right ones, works perfect. Thanks!!!

Tanzbärli

I recently installed retropie on my Raspberry 4 and one of my main goals was to emulate the Channel F System. (my first gaming console when i was a child). I did a manual install (i missed the experimental package) and it works fine with all roms.

Unfortuneately i cannot run the multirom from Sean Riddle.
http://seanriddle.com/chanfinfo.html
I see the game selection screen, can change the games but i cannot start a single game.

Is it a problem of the Rom, controller config or the Emulator?

PS.:
Meanwhile all works fine. It was just a controller problem. I love to remember this old console despite the games are really bad. But if you ever had the original, you remember the childhood and the hours i have played "Maze" wth my friend.

For new games, this is probably not even worth a try.