Old Computer Appreciation Thread

Folly

@Zering said in Old Japanese Computer Appreciation Thread:

@Folly Just out of curiosity, is there any software that can automatically generate .m3u files?

You can just use a text editor.

Don't know if there are automated m3u generators.

Perhaps I can make something.

Well, it all depends on how the files are organized.

Zering

@Folly The reason I'm asking is I don't see myself doing it manually for +5000 games ^^

Folly

@Zering said in Old Japanese Computer Appreciation Thread:

@Folly The reason I'm asking is I don't see myself doing it manually for +5000 games ^^

Ofcourse, I get it.
Well, I will try some things.

Perhaps someone already did something like that.
We can see in the forums or on github.

Zering

@Folly I'll look into it of course, but I thought I'd start by asking you!

Folly

@Zering said in Old Japanese Computer Appreciation Thread:

@Folly I'll look into it of course, but I thought I'd start by asking you!

That's ok.

I was thinking about a bash solution with the command "ls".
If the files of 1 Game are in 1 directory you can check all the directory's and write the output to a file and use the directory's name and add an .m3u extension to that file.

The files have to be in good order though, then it will work.

Do you get it ?

Zering

@Folly Not at all ^^

I'm terrible with terminal commands and whatnot. Could you show me an example?

Folly

@Zering said in Old Japanese Computer Appreciation Thread:

@Folly Not at all ^^

I'm terrible with terminal commands and whatnot. Could you show me an example?

This is very basic.

You see if I go to that directory and run the command, it will output the files we need in the .m3u file.

pi@raspberrypi:~/RetroPie/roms/pc88/Wibarm (Arsys) $ ls -w1
 Wibarm.d88
'Wibarm (User disk).d88'

(-w1 => show everything in 1 column)

This will already create an .m3u that can be used :

pi@raspberrypi:~/RetroPie/roms/pc88/Wibarm (Arsys) $ ls *.d88 -w1 > Wibarm.m3u

*.d88 wil list only diskfiles, otherwise the newly created .m3u is also added in the file.

This will only list directory's :

pi@raspberrypi:~/RetroPie/roms/pc88 $ ls -d */
'Wibarm (Arsys)/'

If we put that in an array, we can list every directory one by one

AdamBeGood

@Folly said in Old Japanese Computer Appreciation Thread:

@Zering said in Old Japanese Computer Appreciation Thread:

@Folly I'll look into it of course, but I thought I'd start by asking you!

That's ok.

I was thinking about a bash solution with the command "ls".
If the files of 1 Game are in 1 directory you can check all the directory's and write the output to a file and use the directory's name and add an .m3u extension to that file.

The files have to be in good order though, then it will work.

Do you get it ?

I know this isn't helpful, but someone has put the contents of a batch file that produces .m3u somewhere on this forum I think. I saw it the other day and thought if I was downloading a lot of stuff it would be worthwhile.

AdamBeGood

@Folly said in Old Japanese Computer Appreciation Thread:

@AdamBeGood said in Old Japanese Computer Appreciation Thread:

@Folly I got the games you mentioned, I was catching some rice balls in Konami Collection this morning!

You have to be fast !!! How many levels ?

When I first got this game. I could go five or six levels I think.
How further you go, it becomes dark, later it will lighten up again.

I had a very quick go but I'll get on it properly tomorrow!

Folly

@AdamBeGood said in Old Japanese Computer Appreciation Thread:

@Folly said in Old Japanese Computer Appreciation Thread:

@Zering said in Old Japanese Computer Appreciation Thread:

@Folly I'll look into it of course, but I thought I'd start by asking you!

That's ok.

I was thinking about a bash solution with the command "ls".
If the files of 1 Game are in 1 directory you can check all the directory's and write the output to a file and use the directory's name and add an .m3u extension to that file.

The files have to be in good order though, then it will work.

Do you get it ?

I know this isn't helpful, but someone has put the contents of a batch file that produces .m3u somewhere on this forum I think. I saw it the other day and thought if I was downloading a lot of stuff it would be worthwhile.

This is helpfull.

Found this :
https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/15551/sharp-x68000-multi-disk-games-questions/14?_=1604429566708
(too bad, windows batch)

There seems not to be some suff on the Retropie Forum.

AdamBeGood

@Folly said in Old Japanese Computer Appreciation Thread:

Found this :
https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/15551/sharp-x68000-multi-disk-games-questions/14?_=1604429566708
(too bad, windows batch)

There seems not to be some suff on the Retropie Forum.

That is the batch that I had seen, yep. Sorry that isn't useful to you.

@Zering - I've managed to set up PC98. I have to go to sleep now, but I managed to get Rude Breaker to work. It was an absolute punt actually, I had the four BIOS files but none of the hashes were right, and I couldn't find the .wav files anywhere (I don't know if that will cause me problems with some games). I really didn't expect the system to load at all.

So it works! My controller didn't, so I need to look at that. I'm not sure how to map it, and the game was running slowly but you mention somewhere above about a setting to sort that out.

I'll have another look tomorrow.

Edit: Oh, do .m3u files work with the PC98 emulator? They aren't listed on RetroPie wiki but then that doesn't mean they don't work.

Folly

@AdamBeGood said in Old Japanese Computer Appreciation Thread:

@Folly said in Old Japanese Computer Appreciation Thread:

Found this :
https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/15551/sharp-x68000-multi-disk-games-questions/14?_=1604429566708
(too bad, windows batch)

There seems not to be some suff on the Retropie Forum.

That is the batch that I had seen, yep. Sorry that isn't useful to you.

I prefer a bash, but if that does not work, we can always try that batch. Lateron I was thinking that batch can also be run within the dosbox. Perhaps a solution.

I've managed to set up PC98.

Perfect.

I couldn't find the .wav files anywhere.

These are "YM2608 (OPNA) rhythm samples", I think.
Hope It's helpfull.

Edit: Oh, do .m3u files work with the PC98 emulator?

Not mentioned in both docs. We will have to try.

AdamBeGood

Thanks, @Folly

I will try on the .wavs with that then, and I'll give .m3u a go.

All games apart from Rude Breaker seem to be giving me a Japanese "Please set the system disk" message... Do you think that relates to my BIOS being wrong or is this something you've encountered?

Folly

@AdamBeGood

I think we actually don't need .m3u files for PC-9800.
Most games are on harddrive images, you know.

AdamBeGood

@Folly said in Old Japanese Computer Appreciation Thread:

@AdamBeGood

I think we actually don't need .m3u files for PC-9800.
Most games are on harddrive images, you know.

Yeah, I have Puyo Puyo on 2 disks - but I think I can find it as a .hdi

Good thinking.

I have the .wav files, now I need the proper BIOS with the right hash. Weird that Rude Breaker still worked though.

Edit: .wav files don't have correct checksums. I may cry.

Zering

Wow, so much to catch up on!
I find that PC98 roms are mostly .fdd actually. They're a bit of a pain, but .fdi and .hdi games seem to work out of the box on my end. I think Rude Breaker is probably the easiest game to set up.
PC98 on RPi has a lot of issues. For example, my .fdd files do not appear in ES unless I scrape the whole system. More importantly, and this is something I was going to open a thread about soon, translated games do not seem to display any text. There are a lot of games that seem great that require a translation patch, ie. the Farland Story games.

@AdamBeGood Please share your .wav files checksums. The issue may be entirely unrelated. Like I said, PC98 emulation is tricky and there is very little information.
I do not believe .m3u files work. When I tried, it didn't work, but that was ages ago and may have done it wrong.
To suppress the slowdown in Rude Breaker, you will need to set the CPU Clock Multiplier high. 24 did it for me, but for some games, ie. Flame Zapper Kotsujin, you may need to set a much lower value.
I believe mapping the controller in lr-n2pkai is as easy as going into the RetroArch menu and switching a setting in the Options menu. I don't remember which one but I think it's fairly self-explanatory. Many games require a keyboard and mouse though.

Edit : @AdamBeGood My .wav files do not match the md5 checksum indicated by the documentation. Try them anyway!

@Folly Thank you for all your help with the .m3u files! I'm just catching up after a long night, but I'll look into it this week and let you know how I get on...

AdamBeGood

@Zering said in Old Japanese Computer Appreciation Thread:

Wow, so much to catch up on!
I find that PC98 roms are mostly .fdd actually. They're a bit of a pain, but .fdi and .hdi games seem to work out of the box on my end. I think Rude Breaker is probably the easiest game to set up.
PC98 on RPi has a lot of issues. For example, my .fdd files do not appear in ES unless I scrape the whole system. More importantly, and this is something I was going to open a thread about soon, translated games do not seem to display any text. There are a lot of games that seem great that require a translation patch, ie. the Farland Story games.

@AdamBeGood Please share your .wav files checksums. The issue may be entirely unrelated. Like I said, PC98 emulation is tricky and there is very little information.
I do not believe .m3u files work. When I tried, it didn't work, but that was ages ago and may have done it wrong.
To suppress the slowdown in Rude Breaker, you will need to set the CPU Clock Multiplier high. 24 did it for me, but for some games, ie. Flame Zapper Kotsujin, you may need to set a much lower value.
I believe mapping the controller in lr-n2pkai is as easy as going into the RetroArch menu and switching a setting in the Options menu. I don't remember which one but I think it's fairly self-explanatory. Many games require a keyboard and mouse though.

@Folly Thank you for all your help with the .m3u files! I'm just catching up after a long night, but I'll look into it this week and let you know how I get on...

8a1cf3c72683a2620bef0737f1aa0c32bde47ae5 2608_bd.wav
b4bbefabe19b427a092dfd9279ad08d037c4e83b 2608_hh.wav
4382aceb6968e3cb259cc7f2565a828494e0b3eb 2608_rim.wav
0ea4f93b81df9dbb8d48590b440f5910c0b798b6 2608_sd.wav
dcf9da3ce28608b6bb177b35c16ee6f7057cff5b 2608_tom.wav
31e6381c65a562574299f2add724dc808fcb5dd3 2608_top.wav
910fae6763c0cd59b3957b6cde479c72e21f33c1 BIOS.ROM
541271ea46c5166a1e054379963b0dc663e9b60f FONT.ROM
9bca7d5116788776ed0f297bccb4dfc485379b41 ITF.ROM
34137c287c39c44300c04ee97c1e6459bb826b60 SOUND.ROM

I've just typed those out as I couldn't think of a better way of doing it that would be quicker than me just getting to typing...

I sorted out the joypad issue now, thank you. Yet to get any game apart from Rude Breaker to work though...

Fair enough on the .m3u issue. Most games don't seem to need it anyway, and I saw there was an in-game menu so maybe swapping disks is possible there if we did need to play a multi-disk game.

Zering

@AdamBeGood I've got the same sums. Can you give us more detail about the Issue? File types, screenshot, anything like that?

Where is lr-np2kai looking for your bios?

Edit : I may have misspoken, I'll double check my sums in a sec.

AdamBeGood

@Zering said in Old Japanese Computer Appreciation Thread:

@AdamBeGood I've got the same sums. Can you give us more detail about the Issue? File types, screenshot, anything like that?

Where is lr-np2kai looking for your bios?

Edit : I may have misspoken, I'll double check my sums in a sec.

Cool, let me know. So far as I know it is looking in RetroPie/BIOS/np2kai. It has certainly created an np2kai.cfg file in there.

I get the CPU - High and then Memory lines on a screen, and then a black screen with Japanese text in the centre, which translate on my Google app as "Please insert the System Disk".

Zering

@AdamBeGood Here are my checksums :

bios.rom - e246140dec5124c5e404869a84caefce
font.rom - 2af6179d7de4893ea0b705c00e9a98d6
itf.rom - e9fc3890963b12cf15d0a2eea5815b72
sound.rom - caf90f22197aed6f14c471c21e64658d
2608_bd.wav - 90310248964425690f47c7d09b0ae61b
2608_hh.wav - 4932d26fc9eaa60dca90248cdd4ff8b0
2608_rim.wav - 8510f4de81aad417f7853606d899760f
2608_sd.wav - f0e65db251cbda5af7def30fbb9c24dc
2608_tom.wav - 2c15be5d50c94721288d9700de736b86
2608_top.wav - 5b5bf9736631d3ef01180ed66dafe270

So our files don't match but given that my checksums don't match the documentation and that I've still been able to run a bunch of games, I doubt that this is the issue.
Could you go into your RetroArch menu and check under Directory/System Bios to see where the emulator is actually looking?