Fairchild Channel F

edmaul69 · 12 Sept 2016, 20:25

@OneSwitch log in as root and not pi. If you havent set up a password for root i am going to post instructions. Need to switch to my computer to post them

edmaul69 · 12 Sept 2016, 20:26

Why can't I SSH as root anymore?

The root password is disabled by default (as is the case for Raspbian and many other linux distros).

before setting a root password, the following must be edited

sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config

look for

PermitRootLogin without-password

change it to

PermitRootLogin yes

then ctrl+x to save,

next set your root password:

sudo passwd root

restart your Pi to register your changes

edmaul69 · 12 Sept 2016, 20:27

or you can do what he said but im not sure if it is recommended to do it his way or not

OneSwitch · 12 Sept 2016, 20:57

I've been able to copy most things across and change to 777 set-up, but I'm not seeing anything in EmulationStation. I'm a bit confused about step 6 and 7.

Am I to pick up this code...

<system>
<name>channelf</name>
<fullname>Fairchild Channel F</fullname>
<path>/opt/retropie/configs/mame-advmame/image/channelf</path>
<extension>.bin .BIN</extension>
<command>/opt/retropie/supplementary/runcommand/runcommand.sh 0 SYS channelf %ROM%</command>
<platform>channelf</platform>
<theme>channelf</theme>
</system>

and just copy it into the same config file on the SD card? I've tried retracing my steps. Is there a Channel F system ROM I need to copy too that I'm missing out (I just have a few game roms in the image folder?

OneSwitch · 12 Sept 2016, 21:13

Tried dropping the Fairchild Channel F BIOS SL31253 (1976)(Fairchild).bin into the image folder, but made no difference. Sadly, it's not working still. Knew it was fatal when you said 10 minutes. :)

Thanks again for your help. Would be cool to get this working, but I think I need some clarification on those steps 6-7.

edmaul69 · 13 Sept 2016, 00:03

@OneSwitch you need to add that to your es_systems.cfg if you have an es_systems.cfg in /opt/retropie/configs/all/emulationstation/ then copy that info and put it there otherwise add it to /etc/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg. Save and then reboot emulationstation. See if it shows up on your system list. Try to play a game.

OneSwitch · 13 Sept 2016, 06:07

I've got a little further along, thanks.

An ugly "chan..." section has appeared across a white background. Games are being displayed when I go into the "Fairchild Channel F" section, including the BIOS.

When I select a game, I get no option to change the emulator from the launch dialogue box, and just the dreaded flashing cursor top left then returning to the selection screen. Nothing starts.

I'm assuming the Fairchild Channel F BIOS is misnamed, and in the wrong place, but no idea what to do with it. Any more help appreciated.

OneSwitch · 13 Sept 2016, 06:23

I've copied sl31253.rom, sl31254.rom and sl90025.rom direct to the /opt/retropie/configs/mame-advmame/image/channelf/ directory.

Made no difference. Tied popping them in the retropie/bios (from //retropie) - and it made no difference either.

edmaul69 · 13 Sept 2016, 15:07

@OneSwitch you dont need those bios there. They are in the /opt/retropie/configs/mame-advmame/roms folder. Do you have the folder and files in/opt/retropie/configs/channelf/ on there?

edmaul69 · 13 Sept 2016, 15:31

@edmaul69 read last post. Also did you copy all the files from /opt/retropie/configs/mame-advmame/ ? Also did you give permissions to all those files and folders including the game roms? Also make sure you give 0777 permissions to /opt/retropie/emulators/advmame/ also make sure you copied all the files from the zip into there as well.

OneSwitch · 13 Sept 2016, 19:08

I followed your advice point by point, but still no luck. Thanks for info on the bios. Can I just clarify with you please...

I don't need to install MESS from the optional/experimental packages area.
I don't need to place Channel F system roms anywhere (beyond the folder copying that you specified), as they'll be in the folders copied from the "ultimate console" download.
This should work with RetroPie 3.8.
It will be possible to start, play and exit the Channel F games using the joypad alone (once set-up).

Thanks again for trying. When I get time, unless nothing new surfaces, I'll try again.

edmaul69 · 11 Mar 2017, 00:13

@OneSwitch as long as you copied the folders
/opt/retropie/configs/channelf/
/opt/retropie/configs/mame-advmame/ &
/opt/retropie/emulators/advmame/
And gave full permissions to all files and folders in
/opt/retropie/configs/mame-advmame/image/
/opt/retropie/configs/mame-advmame/roms/ &
/opt/retropie/emulators/advmame/
It will work.

OneSwitch · 16 Sept 2016, 20:46

I'm pretty sure I did, but when I have time I'll try again. Thanks again for trying to help. I'd still love a nice very easy to install version. One day hopefully.

edmaul69 · 16 Sept 2016, 21:11

@OneSwitch its better than the lr-mess. I cannot get that working on any systems and a libretro version should be easy. If i can get that figured out i will definitely let you know.

OneSwitch · 17 Sept 2016, 08:06

:) Nice one. Thanks again. I will get onto this again. Just no time at the minute.

Pyjamarama · 17 Sept 2016, 12:28

Tried it but no luck. Cursor blinks and returns to emulationstation

I did everything except the copy to opt/retropie/emulators/advmame/bin because I am already using adv-mame1.4

edmaul69 · 17 Sept 2016, 18:28

@Pyjamarama just add the advmess file. the files that advmame uses in bin works with advmess.

Pyjamarama · 17 Sept 2016, 20:15

@edmaul69 Will they affect the AdvMame 1.4 emuator? I run all my MAME vector game throught it. Thank you

edmaul69 · 17 Sept 2016, 21:52

@Pyjamarama as long as you dont overwrite any of the files already on there then no. Overwriting them im not sure.

TPR · 11 Mar 2017, 00:13

@edmaul69 said in Fairchild Channel F:

@OneSwitch as long as you copied the folders
/opt/retropie/configs/channelf/
/opt/retropie/configs/mame-advmame/ &
/opt/retropie/emulators/advmame/
And gave full permissions to all files and folders in
/opt/retropie/configs/mame-advmame/image/
/opt/retropie/configs/mame-advmame/roms/ &
/opt/retropie/emulators/advmame/
It will work.

So this does not seem to work anymore with the most recent version of RetroPie (I'm using 4.1) It did get me very CLOSE but it took some tweaking. For the longest time I couldn't get it to work like others had stated. Everything was in the correct folders, es_config was properly edited, all files had correct permissions.

There was an update to retropie setup that when it did the update, it mentioned changes to advmame. At that point I could get the system to work, but I couldn't get specific roms to work (the system comes pre-loaded with a couple of games.)

I replaced the newer version of advmess with the older version in this folder: /opt/retropie/emulators/advmame/bin and all of a sudden it worked.

Unfortunately, I did not document everything I did, but it would seem that RetroPie needed to make some sort of an update, but the new executable of advmess wasn't compatible with Channel F, but the old version was.

End of the day, those instructions didn't work with 4.1 but it got me to the point of being close enough to where a few tweaks made it work.