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    BBC Micro / Acorn Electron Emu

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    bbc acorn model b electron bbc micro
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    • M
      MrNoHolster
      last edited by

      Hi all, I'm really surprised there's not an emulator (such as BeebEm) available for the Pi. I'm willing to donate a contribution to anyone who would be able to make this happen as I'd love to be able to play all my old favorites for the BBC Micro! There's a huge fanbase that would welcome this as an addition to RetroPie.

      I know there's a workaround using AdvMAME but it's full of bugs and I can't even get it to run.

      Hope someone can help!

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      • F
        Folly
        last edited by Folly

        My advise, try to find your way in the retropie forum.
        You can search within the forum on what you are looking for.
        Then you would know there were some attempts to get beebem working by @zerojay and @valerino .

        When it worked, beebem was unstable, had speed issues and had no sound.

        I tried the valerino script for you, but beebem will not compile on rpi4 anymore.
        So, I think, it also will not compile on others.

        So one has to dig, dig and dig into the code to get this working.
        As said, there were issues with beebem.
        So if compiling can be done, the code has also be improved by the maker or someone who has the knowledge to do so.
        That's why we see no beebem on RetroPie.

        For now the best way is to use the @valerino Retropie-Setup for this.
        (do it the lr-mess way !)
        https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/25576/new-scriptmodules-lr-vice-xvic-gsplus-proper-lr-mess-integration

        Get the proper mame bios roms !

        Here you can find some way's to load tapes and disks :
        https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/28345/old-computer-appreciation-thread/992
        https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/28345/old-computer-appreciation-thread/994

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        • M
          MrNoHolster @Folly
          last edited by

          Thanks @folly
          I'm still confused about how to get this working but will have a dig around some more. The valerino setup sounds great - is this separate to the official Retropie Setup script? I don't want to break my other emulators of course! :D

          I see lr-mess is already included in the Retropie Setup but couldn't see where to add roms etc.

          Thanks and really appreciate your help.

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          • F
            Folly @MrNoHolster
            last edited by Folly

            @mrnoholster said in BBC Micro / Acorn Electron Emu:

            Thanks @folly
            I'm still confused about how to get this working but will have a dig around some more.

            Indeed, you have to read a lot before you know how this works.
            It took me quite a lot of time to figure out this myself.
            But if you start, you learn.
            And later on you get the "aha" effect.
            If then you know how it works, it's seems actually quite simple.

            The valerino setup sounds great - is this separate to the official Retropie Setup script? I don't want to break my other emulators of course! :D

            If you don't want to break your original install.
            Do it on a fresh install.
            If you do something wrong, begin from scratch again.

            I see lr-mess is already included in the Retropie Setup but couldn't see where to add roms etc.

            Yes, lr-mess is already implemented in the Retropie Setup.
            But it's added for just a few systems : nes, gb, coleco, arcadia and crvision.
            This will basically work with "mame game naming" using xml database hash tables.
            Earlier on you could use, for examle, the arcadia rom directory for other systems also using subdirectory's for your added system. But after an update of lr-mess this doesn't seem to work anymore. If you don't know what you are doing it can be quite difficult ! For MAME and AdvMAME you have the same problem because all these packages come from the MAME source.

            An other way is to create/use a .cmd file for running a game.
            This could be done with an original Retropie/lr-mess install.
            But the .cmd file extension is not recognised by default in emulationstation.
            So it has to be added manually.
            Here you can find an example booting an msx game with a .cmd file :
            https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/28345/old-computer-appreciation-thread/1025

            The Valerino's Retropie-Setup works a bit different and is easier.
            There are more systems added that can seperately be installed.
            Every system gets seperate configs installed.
            And MAME naming is turned off so it becomes easier to run games, because you don't have to know the names anymore.
            So if you install the bbc-micro you get a bbc rom directory added where you have to add the games.
            All these added seperate systems use the same lr-mess package though.
            Every time you run a game the valerino script will generate automatically a .cmd file to run the game with the correct system, then boot lr-mess with that .cmd file and removing the .cmd after the run.

            If you know it all !!!
            Then you can also use my script to generate systems that are not added by valerino.
            https://github.com/FollyMaddy/RetroPie-Share/tree/main/00-scripts-00

            Thanks and really appreciate your help.

            That's ok ;-)

            Here is just a taeser (works but sound echo's a bit) :
            Beebem running in Box68/wine.

            Read here about Box86/wine :
            https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/28528/box86-and-wine-on-rpi4

            2021-01-25-215247_1600x900_scrot.png

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            • H
              h2805270
              last edited by

              Honey please...

              Those two are so 2019.

              The Raspberry Pi Pico is all the rage now (came out recently even).

              Raspberry-Pi-Pico.jpg

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              • F
                Folly @h2805270
                last edited by Folly

                @h2805270

                Nice, but what has your post to do with BBC Micro / Beebem ?

                Edit :
                I see what you mean now :
                https://raspberrypiprojects.com/bbc-micro-emulation-on-a-4-raspberry-pi-pico/

                Cool, but where is the emulator code ?

                Edit :
                Graham Sanderson used source-code of the B-em project.

                Development on B-em seems to be active !

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                • F
                  Folly @Folly
                  last edited by Folly

                  This post is deleted!
                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • F
                    Folly
                    last edited by

                    I was able to compile B-em on the raspberry pi 4, here is the first picture :

                    2021-02-02-170522_1600x900_scrot.png

                    I had to choose bbc master 128 to boot .ssd disk files.
                    In default it runs in 30% speed, If you select 400% it runs approximately 100%.
                    Tested with the same zalaga disk, it runs and later freezes.
                    So this emulator still seems to be buggy somehow.

                    2021-02-02-182836_1600x900_scrot.png

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                    • F
                      Folly
                      last edited by Folly

                      For those who are interested :
                      Graham Sanderson (kilograham) uploaded the source-code of b-em for the pico, about 10 days ago.
                      So it's available now on github.

                      I can confirm it's working on the pico.

                      I have built the VGA DAC's on a breadboard and the keyboard is working through an sdl_event_forwarder on the RPI, connecting it to the gpio serial port.
                      I still have to build the audio filter circuitry though.
                      Edit :
                      I compiled for the pico with keyboard enabled and other disks and it works with a few glitches here and there.

                      PS.
                      You can even compile this version for running it on the raspberry pi.
                      So perhaps there is a future for b-em within RetroPie.

                      M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • M
                        MrNoHolster @Folly
                        last edited by

                        I tried downloading Graham's version of B-Em but couldn't figure out how to install it on the Pi3... really hoping this will be added into the Experiential menu options on Retropie soon.

                        F 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • F
                          Folly @MrNoHolster
                          last edited by Folly

                          @mrnoholster said in BBC Micro / Acorn Electron Emu:

                          I tried downloading Graham's version of B-Em but couldn't figure out how to install it on the Pi3... really hoping this will be added into the Experiential menu options on Retropie soon.

                          Indeed it's not yet that simple.
                          When I learn more about it, I will share my knowledge here.

                          BTW.
                          Did you have a look over here :
                          https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/29682/development-of-module-script-generator-for-lr-mess-and-mame-standalone
                          Here we are improving my script, so feel free to join in.

                          The project has matured now and I have rewritten the readme on github to understand the script better.

                          You can use this to generate module-scripts for BBC-micro and run it with lr-mess and MAME standalone.

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                          • F
                            Folly @MrNoHolster
                            last edited by Folly

                            @mrnoholster

                            I made it really simple for you to install (BBC Micro Model B with 1 floppy support), which can run with lr-mess and mame standalone.

                            You can use the original RetroPie-setup.

                            Use these commands to get the run_mess script and the module-script for (BBC Micro Model B):

                            wget -nv -O /home/pi/RetroPie-Setup/scriptmodules/run_mess.sh https://raw.githubusercontent.com/valerino/RetroPie-Setup/master/scriptmodules/run_mess.sh
wget -nv -O /home/pi/RetroPie-Setup/scriptmodules/libretrocores/install-bbcb-from-mamedev-system-bbcb-flop1.sh https://raw.githubusercontent.com/FollyMaddy/RetroPie-Share/main/00-scriptmodules-00/libretrocores/install-bbcb-from-mamedev-system-bbcb-flop1.sh

                            Go to the RetroPie-setup and install :

                            • lr-mess and mame from the experimental packages (binary packages will do the trick)
                            • install-bbcb-from-mamedev-system-bbcb-flop1 from the experimental packages
                            • place the bbcb.zip and saa5050.zip bios file in /home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/mame ( I used the one from the MESS-0.151.BIOS.ROMs set )
                            • place the .ssd disk games in /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/bbcb

                            Let me know if it works for you.

                            PS.
                            Use scroll-lock to activate the hotkey's, so you can escape with esc from lr-mess or mame.
                            Use shift+F12 to boot the disc. ( sometimes you have to do it twice )

                            M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • F
                              Folly
                              last edited by Folly

                              @MrNoHolster

                              When are you going to try ?

                              Here a few pictures.
                              2021-03-19-093341_800x600_scrot.png

                              2021-03-19-094439_800x600_scrot.png

                              ps
                              I also made a test port to install a pico_pi build of kilograhams b-em fork.
                              Interested ?
                              read this post

                              A 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • M
                                MrNoHolster @Folly
                                last edited by

                                @folly Thanks for the help - I'll try this out and let you know! Will it appear it Emulation Station?

                                F 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • F
                                  Folly @MrNoHolster
                                  last edited by Folly

                                  @mrnoholster said in BBC Micro / Acorn Electron Emu:

                                  @folly Thanks for the help - I'll try this out and let you know! Will it appear it Emulation Station?

                                  When you install this install-bbcb-from-mamedev-system-bbcb-flop1 you will see it as the console BBCB without any theme, if you add games to the bbcb rom directory.

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                                  • F
                                    Folly
                                    last edited by Folly

                                    @MrNoHolster

                                    Have you already tried something ?

                                    I have some new stuff and improved stuff, still interested ?

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • A
                                      AdamBeGood @Folly
                                      last edited by

                                      @folly said in BBC Micro / Acorn Electron Emu:

                                      @MrNoHolster

                                      When are you going to try ?

                                      Here a few pictures.
                                      2021-03-19-093341_800x600_scrot.png

                                      2021-03-19-094439_800x600_scrot.png

                                      ps
                                      I also made a test port to install a pico_pi build of kilograhams b-em fork.
                                      Interested ?
                                      read this post

                                      What is the second screenshot here? I think I recognise it...

                                      F 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • F
                                        Folly @AdamBeGood
                                        last edited by Folly

                                        @adambegood

                                        It is Blagger from Alligata.

                                        With BBC you can do the same now as what you did with cdimono1.
                                        (I just improved the naming in my script, so you will see the BBC Micro theme if it is there(carbon is ok))

                                        curl "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/FollyMaddy/RetroPie-Share/main/00-scripts-00/generate-systems-lr-mess_mame-2v0-alpha.sh" | bash -s bbcb
mv /home/pi/RetroPie-Setup/ext/RetroPie-Share/scriptmodules/libretrocores/* /home/pi/RetroPie-Setup/scriptmodules/libretrocores

                                        Use roms/bbcmicro/ for the games
                                        Place the bbcb.zip and saa5050.zip bios file in /home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/mame ( I used the one from the MESS-0.151.BIOS.ROMs set )

                                        2021-03-28-204058_800x600_scrot.png

                                        A 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                        • A
                                          AdamBeGood @Folly
                                          last edited by

                                          @folly Nice, thank you! I'll try that tonight.

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • F
                                            Folly
                                            last edited by Folly

                                            Because this thread is only for BBC Micro I also add this new module-script here.

                                            I have made the emulator module-script for the b-em fork,
                                            so we can run the discs from the bbcmicro rom directory !
                                            Read the package help for some extra information.

                                            Get it with this command :

                                            wget -nv -O /home/pi/RetroPie-Setup/scriptmodules/emulators/b-em-pico-pi.sh https://raw.githubusercontent.com/FollyMaddy/RetroPie-Share/main/00-scriptmodules-00/emulators/b-em-pico-pi.sh

                                            Then install from the RetroPie-Setup.

                                            A 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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