Problem Setting up Atari 5200

rkoster · 1 Apr 2021, 04:43

I have tried games in 7z format and in extracted bin files - the result is the same. When I press the "B" button I bring up a blue menu called "Select Carttridge Type" - presumably a lr-atari800 configuration utility.

I MAY be misunderstanding what you are seeing, but just in case:

The Atari 5200 had carts with varying memory configurations. The carts normally have a header that tells the machine how to deal with them. But most ROM dumps strip the headers.

When you get this screen, it means your ROM lacks the header. You have to know which one to select to get the game to boot. Fortunately, the emulator has the ability to replace the header!

There are instructions in my giant Atari guide linked in my .sig.

jamrom2 · 1 Apr 2021, 17:47

I'll second this. This was a very good write-up to get an exremely finicky emulator running right. Go through it and take it one step at a time.

I just worked this write-up a few weeks ago... after months of issues with the video not being correct.

Now all is as it should be... just need virtual disk support and this will be an ass-kicking emulator on both a5200 and atari800 side.

dsquared · 4 Jan 2021, 23:09

@thorr69

Hello:

Thank you for replying again. I printed out the thread, read it several times, highlighted what I thought were the important instructions and tried to follow them as best I could, but found them a tad confusing. However, I still haven't got it working.

The process I followed was:

launch an *.a52 game,
wait for it to load a page that is blue and now says "ATARI COMPUTER MEMO PAD" with a white cursor under the A in ATARI.
Hit F1 on my keyboard to bring up a blue screen called "ATARI 800 EMULATOR VERSION 3.1.0"
Scroll down to "SYSTEM SETTINGS" and hit enter
In the "SYSTEM SETTINGS" Menu, On the first line, I change "Machine" to "ATARI 5200"
I hit esc to back out and select "Emulator Settings"
On the "Emulator Settings" menu, I go to "Configure directories" (near the bottom) and add the following directories to the "Directories with ATARI Software" field:
/home/pi/Retropie/roms/atari5200
/opt/retropie/configs/atri5200
and add the following directory to the "Directories for emulator saved files" field:
/home/pi/Retropie/roms/atari5200
I hit esc to back out the "Emulator Settings" menu and select "Save configuration file" and receive message that "configuration file updated" BTW. the last line "Save configuration on exit" is set to "Yes"
I hit esc again to return to the "ATARI 800 EMULATOR VERSION 3.1.0" Menu and select "Exit Emulator"
and return to Emulation Station ATARI5200 section.
Try and launch game again and hit select + X on game pad to bring up Retroarch "QUICK MENU"
Scroll down to "options" and select it
On 2nd line Atari system I select "5200" with the game pad
Hit B on the game pad to back out to "Quick Menu"
Hit B on the game pad to "MAIN MENU"
Select "Configuration file" on "MAIN MENU" by pressing A on the game pad.
Then I select "Save Current Configuration" on the game pad and pressing A
I hit B on the game pad to bring me back to the retroarch "MAIN MENU" and select "Quit Retroarch" by pressing A on the game pad.
I hit start on the game pad to bring up emulation station "MAIN MENU" , select "Quit" and press A with game pad, then select "RESTART SYSTEM" and "YES" with A button on the game pad.

I then try to launch the game (in this case "Defender"). I get the Atari Defender splash screen and the starting screen - where I get my choice of the number of players and difficulty. However, The game pad does not work and none of the buttons do anything. Do I have to also set the game pad in Retroarch?

attachment 1: New /dev/shm/runcommand.log file: https://pastebin.com/J0jreDvL

Thorr69 · 1 Apr 2021, 20:41

@dsquared You did exactly what I hoped you would, then. You managed to get the game going properly. Grats! The controls are a different issue, one that I have no experience in. Hopefully another reader will have more for you.

dsquared · 1 Apr 2021, 22:13

@thorr69 thanks for your help. but you have go through this with every game you want to play? - I don't see it worth the time.....

Libation · 1 Apr 2021, 23:56

@dsquared Try starting game, then go to RetroArch (usually Select + X), then Options. Change Atari system to Atari 5200. Back out, go to Controls, then Port 1 Controls. Change Device Type to Atari joystick.

Thorr69 · 2 Apr 2021, 00:21

@dsquared The bios directories and such are saved as a Core override (your steps 1-9) so you shouldn't have to repeat that part. Doing what @Libation is suggesting above (which should replace your steps 10+) will likely need to be done per game. Once your game is working, save the configuration as a game configuration. Then you won't have to do it again for that game. Because lr-atari800 covers multiple systems and setups, you have to set up new games individually to a certain extent.

dsquared · 2 Apr 2021, 00:54

@thorr69 "go to RetroArch (usually Select + X), then Options. Change Atari system to Atari 5200. Back out, go to Controls, then Port 1 Controls. Change Device Type to Atari joystick."

I tried this and am unable to change it....

rkoster · 2 Apr 2021, 01:47

@dsquared said in Problem Setting up Atari 5200:

The process I followed was:

launch an *.a52 game,

wait for it to load a page that is blue and now says "ATARI COMPUTER MEMO PAD" with a white cursor under the A in ATARI.

This means that Retroarch launched the emulator as an Atari 8-bit computer.

This means two things:

you have set .a52 as a valid extension for Atari 8 bit computers. I suggest you make .a52 only work for 5200 games.
your retroarch-core-options.cfg file for Atari 5200 doesn't say atari800_system = "5200"

You need to have a retroarch-core-options.cfg for EACH system, Atari 8 bit and Atari 5200, in the appropriate directories. The one for the 5200 should say the above; the other should specify a computer model. Then when you launch a file associated with one or the other, it will launch the core with the right config.

Hit F1 on my keyboard to bring up a blue screen called "ATARI 800 EMULATOR VERSION 3.1.0"

Scroll down to "SYSTEM SETTINGS" and hit enter

In the "SYSTEM SETTINGS" Menu, On the first line, I change "Machine" to "ATARI 5200"

I hit esc to back out and select "Emulator Settings"

On the "Emulator Settings" menu, I go to "Configure directories" (near the bottom) and add the following directories to the "Directories with ATARI Software" field:
/home/pi/Retropie/roms/atari5200
/opt/retropie/configs/atri5200
and add the following directory to the "Directories for emulator saved files" field:
/home/pi/Retropie/roms/atari5200

I hit esc to back out the "Emulator Settings" menu and select "Save configuration file" and receive message that "configuration file updated" BTW. the last line "Save configuration on exit" is set to "Yes"

I hit esc again to return to the "ATARI 800 EMULATOR VERSION 3.1.0" Menu and select "Exit Emulator"

All of this is basically setting up the config files I described above.

and return to Emulation Station ATARI5200 section.
10) Try and launch game again and hit select + X on game pad to bring up Retroarch "QUICK MENU"
11) Scroll down to "options" and select it
12) On 2nd line Atari system I select "5200" with the game pad
13) Hit B on the game pad to back out to "Quick Menu"
14) Hit B on the game pad to "MAIN MENU"
15) Select "Configuration file" on "MAIN MENU" by pressing A on the game pad.
16) Then I select "Save Current Configuration" on the game pad and pressing A

You should not need to do any of this if the config file is set up right.

I hit B on the game pad to bring me back to the retroarch "MAIN MENU" and select "Quit Retroarch" by pressing A on the game pad.

I hit start on the game pad to bring up emulation station "MAIN MENU" , select "Quit" and press A with game pad, then select "RESTART SYSTEM" and "YES" with A button on the game pad.

I then try to launch the game (in this case "Defender"). I get the Atari Defender splash screen and the starting screen - where I get my choice of the number of players and difficulty. However, The game pad does not work and none of the buttons do anything. Do I have to also set the game pad in Retroarch?

You need to set the controller to be Atari Joystick for the core. This is true for both Atari 8 bit and 5200.

Apologies, doing this from memory so I can't go provide working configs...

dsquared · 4 Feb 2021, 16:38

@rkoster said in Problem Setting up Atari 5200:

This means that Retroarch launched the emulator as an Atari 8-bit computer.
This means two things:

you have set .a52 as a valid extension for Atari 8 bit computers. I suggest you make .a52 only work for 5200 games.
your retroarch-core-options.cfg file for Atari 5200 doesn't say atari800_system = "5200"

You need to have a retroarch-core-options.cfg for EACH system, Atari 8 bit and Atari 5200, in the appropriate directories. The one for the 5200 should say the above; the other should specify a computer model. Then when you launch a file associated with one or the other, it will launch the core with the right config.

If you look at my original post I included my retroarch-core-options.cfg file as attachment 3 ( https://pastebin.com/WD1DSCsf).
Doesn't the last line of this file say atari800_system = "5200"? or am I reading it wrong?

Thank you everybody for your help, but I think I am going to give up on the ATARI5200 emulator. It does not appear to be ready for "Prime Time".

Maybe the lr-atari800 package should be moved to experimental packages given the atari5200 emulator need for additional instructions and failure to launch in all cases..... In any event the instructions should be updated when time is available at the very least.

jamrom2 · 4 Feb 2021, 18:57

@dsquared Wait... before you give up, as I stated before the A5200 is tricky to get working alongside the A800. Mostly because it's the same core running two separate versions of the emulator by configuration only. So if one thing is not correct... it won't work.

I'll post what I have and change yours to what I have.

In the /opt/retropie/configs.hdmi/atari5200/retroarch-core-options.cfg

change it to what I have here... I know what I have is not what is written in the instructions... but mine is working... so let's start there.

atari800_artifacting = "enabled"
atari800_cassboot = "disabled"
atari800_internalbasic = "disabled"
atari800_keyboard = "poll"
atari800_ntscpal = "NTSC"
atari800_opt1 = "enabled"
atari800_opt2 = "disabled"
atari800_resolution = "336x240"
atari800_sioaccel = "enabled"
atari800_system = "5200"

Make sure in your retroarch.cfg file in the same folder you have the following statement... if not, change it to this.

core_options_path = "/opt/retropie/configs/atari5200/retroarch-core-options.cfg"

In the same folder as well...

emulators.cfg

should have the following:
lr-atari800 = "/opt/retropie/emulators/retroarch/bin/retroarch -L /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-atari800/atari800_libretro.so --config /opt/retropie/configs/atari5200/retroarch.cfg %ROM%"
default = "lr-atari800"

Now one more thing...

In /opt/retropie/configs.hdmi/atari800 copy the lr-atari800.cfg file and rename it to just atari800.cfg. open it and make sure you have the A5200 rom name listed like this...

ROM_5200=/home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/atari5200.rom
ATARI_FILES_DIR=/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari5200

About a week ago, I updated retroarch to the latest build. Shortly after doing that, my A5200 side of the Atari800 emulator failed to load games. I checked everything as I had changed nothing... but I looked at my runcommand.log and it was looking for that config file I just told you about. I have no idea why as it never did before. I did what I just told you to do, and it's been fine since.

Just make sure you have good known a5200 bios rom and all the atari bios roms placed in the bios folder, unzipped. If they are bad, or one is... nothing will work.

Here are the rest of my BIOS names listed.... and location. Google to find them.
ROM_BASIC_A=/home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/BASIC Revision A (19xx)(Atari)(400-800).rom
ROM_BASIC_B=/home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/BASIC Revision B (19xx)(Atari)(400-800).rom
ROM_BASIC_C=/home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/ATARIBAS.ROM

Tell me if that helps at all.

BTW... all of my a5200 roms are .bin files and zipped. The need to be a good set otherwise they won't work either... same for the BIOS files.

dsquared · 4 Feb 2021, 20:45

I just tied it out and IT WORKS!!!!! (including all the games in 7z format! Thank- you everybody so much!!!!!!

@jamrom2 said in Problem Setting up Atari 5200:

change it to what I have here... I know what I have is not what is written in the instructions... but mine is working... so let's start there.
atari800_artifacting = "enabled"
atari800_cassboot = "disabled"
atari800_internalbasic = "disabled"
atari800_keyboard = "poll"
atari800_ntscpal = "NTSC"
atari800_opt1 = "enabled"
atari800_opt2 = "disabled"
atari800_resolution = "336x240"
atari800_sioaccel = "enabled"
atari800_system = "5200"

Did this

Make sure in your retroarch.cfg file in the same folder you have the following statement... if not, change it to this.
core_options_path = "/opt/retropie/configs/atari5200/retroarch-core-options.cfg"
In the same folder as well...
emulators.cfg
should have the following:
lr-atari800 = "/opt/retropie/emulators/retroarch/bin/retroarch -L /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-atari800/atari800_libretro.so --config /opt/retropie/configs/atari5200/retroarch.cfg %ROM%"
default = "lr-atari800"

It was like this but I followed your instructions and deleted the old file and replaced it with a new one.

Now one more thing...
In /opt/retropie/configs.hdmi/atari800 copy the lr-atari800.cfg file and rename it to just atari800.cfg. open it and make sure you have the A5200 rom name listed like this...
ROM_5200=/home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/atari5200.rom
ATARI_FILES_DIR=/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari5200

Now we run into a problem. I do not have a directory called "/opt/retropie/configs.hdmi/" only one called "/opt/retropie/configs/" - When I go to the file called /opt/retropie/configs/atari800/atari800.cfg, I have the first line as:

ROM_5200=/home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/5200.rom

Because my BIOS is called 5200.rom (not atari5200.rom) in my BIOS directory (~/RetroPie/BIOS)) as per the instructions.

About a week ago, I updated retroarch to the latest build. Shortly after doing that, my A5200 side of the Atari800 emulator failed to load games. I checked everything as I had changed nothing... but I looked at my runcommand.log and it was looking for that config file I just told you about. I have no idea why as it never did before. I did what I just told you to do, and it's been fine since.
Just make sure you have good known a5200 bios rom and all the atari bios roms placed in the bios folder, unzipped. If they are bad, or one is... nothing will work.
Here are the rest of my BIOS names listed.... and location. Google to find them.
ROM_BASIC_A=/home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/BASIC Revision A (19xx)(Atari)(400-800).rom
ROM_BASIC_B=/home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/BASIC Revision B (19xx)(Atari)(400-800).rom
ROM_BASIC_C=/home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/ATARIBAS.ROM
Tell me if that helps at all.

BTW... all of my a5200 roms are .bin files and zipped. The need to be a good set otherwise they won't work either... same for the BIOS files.

The BIOS files are good - as I said in the 5th post of this thread I have verified all their MD5 checksums posted on the instruction page.

jamrom2 · 2 Apr 2021, 22:46

@dsquared so what got it working? Your bios file name or the changes to retroarch-core-options.cfg. If you change the line for opt1 to "disable" it crashes the emulator. I'm not sure what it's for, but that worked for me.

Also... I don't know that you needed to add in that extra config file like I did. For whatever reason, I had to.

The "/opt/retropie/configs.hdmi/" points to the same folder you used ... I don't know why it is setup this way. It's just a location marker. So you were in the correct folder, I should have removed the "hdmi" from my address.

I'm glad it's working for you. Paitence is really needed with some of these setups.

Now the fun begins... Overlays and shaders. When you're ready for really making it look authentic, let me know.

dsquared · 3 Apr 2021, 17:11

@jamrom2

Ok, now another problem has emerged with the Atari 5200 emulator. When I scrape my game collection - The images and descriptions are not saved. I suspect I need to tweak an emulationstation config file somehow.....

Once again any helpful suggestions would be appreciated.

jamrom2 · 3 Apr 2021, 22:14

@dsquared open the gamelist file for a5200 and see if there is anything in it. Sounds like a permission issue. If it finds the games, it should create and write a gamelist.

If there is no gamelist or folder for it, check the permissions for the main folder and change them so they can be accessible to everything.

See if that helps. The config file is only if the games don't scrape at all. If the A5200 is found in the systems list, and the games are found by the scraper, you're good.

dsquared · 4 Apr 2021, 04:32

@jamrom2 said in Problem Setting up Atari 5200:

open the gamelist file for a5200 and see if there is anything in it

Ok, I got it working - I tried updating the permissions on /home/pi/.emulationstation/gamelist/atari5200/gamelist.xml - I kept getting

Error parsing XML file /home/pi/.emulationstation/gamelists/atari5200/gamelist.xml

So I renamed that file and tried again and emulationstation created a new /home/pi/.emulationstation/gamelists/atari5200/gamelist.xml file that saved the images & descriptions.

jamrom2 · 4 Apr 2021, 19:34

@dsquared ok. Cool. I was leading to that "error parsing" message. I did the same for mine as well when. I got it

I'm glad it's working for you.

A Former User · 13 Jul 2022, 16:23

Hello everyone,

How can I set default controller on RetroArch for Atari 5200 emulator to be Atari Joystick instead of RetroPad?

RetroPad doesn't work only Atari Joystick works.

Right now I have to change it every time I play an Atari 5200 game and it won't save it.

Regards

rkoster · 25 Jul 2022, 03:52

@JuanZt set it, then choose Save Core Override. Or, find the line in the .cfg and manually edit it.