Linapple Launching From Emulation Station/Disk Swapping

lavalamplighter

Hi All, I want to start by saying that i have read through all the available documentation for the Linapple, including tons of posts here and on reddit, along with the wiki and readme files, and i am still not understanding something in there. Additionally all of these posts are 6-7 years old at this point.

i am running a raspberry pi 4, RetroPie 4.8.5. i have 0 programming/coding experience so i need step by step instructions.

i have linapple installed (reinstalled latest version today). i have 3 games in the rows file, all of which have multiple disks (2-3).

I see all the games in emulation station under the correct Apple 2 system.

1st question - If i choose one of the games, i need to immediately hit f3 and chose the first disk of another game to get it to launch, otherwise it will launch whatever previous game i was playing. is there a way to change this? the petrockblock document seems to suggest this is possible but, i tried following those instructions and when i launched games, i was immediately taken back to the games list in emulation station. plus, those instructions are 7 years old.

2nd question - i cannot for the life of me get the disks to switch. i have tried using multiple combinations of f3 or f4, and nothing seems to work. When a game asks to switch disks, i hit f3/f4 (never really sure which to hit), find the rom file of the 2nd disk, hit enter, hit f2, and nothing happens. what am i not understanding?

i think i've included all relevant info, and i have taken my searching to the limits of my knowledge. any help here is appreciated. and again, i need it spelled out super clearly, otherwise i just won't be able to get it. learning differences suck. thanks for your patience.

seroster

@lavalamplighter Hi, I am by no means an expert but I am also using linapple and a Raspberry Pi 4 to play some old Apple II games.

Can you be more specific about which games you are having trouble with?

I just tried to run Captain Goodnight (2 disks) and that was simple: I waited for the prompt to enter the other disk/side, hit F3, picked the second disk image, and then just hit a key. (Important difference from hitting F2) I played for a bit and it seemed to load from the "floppy" so I think that was ok.

I was able to follow the same procedure to launch Below the Root.

So I think that would be the general procedure where you are only using one disk drive at a time, and only inserting the second disk when prompted.

It's possible that using the second "disk drive" would work, but I haven't tried that yet.

lavalamplighter

@seroster thanks for the tip. I’m not able to try that out for a day or two but will give it a go.

When you select the 2nd rom (disk/side) are you hitting enter, then any key? Or are you highlighting the rom then hitting any key?

The games I am trying to play are the Carmen Sandiego series (where in the world, Europe and US).

Any thoughts on the other issue I’m having? The first disks of all three will launch, but if I want to switch games, I can’t launch from the entry in emulation station. No matter which disk 1 I choose, it will always launch the most recent disk I played. I can hit f3 at that point and switch to a different disk 1.

Are you having to do similar when switching games?

seroster

@lavalamplighter Hi again lavalamplighter,

I navigate the UI to pick the rom, and once it's highlighted hit a button. I am probably using the joystick for this. Then the game's screen reappears. Then I hit a key or joystick button.

As far as your first question goes... honestly I don't understand what you are trying to do or the steps you are taking. I don't know this "petrockblock document" you mentioned. Can you provide a link?

lavalamplighter

@seroster thanks for the ongoing help. For the first question, I guess what I’m after is launching directly from the UI. Here is the document referenced: https://www.petrockblock.com/forums/topic/how-to-get-linapple-disk-images-running-from-emulation-station-in-retropie/

I got the link from the Retropie docs page for Apple2.

Thanks again!

seroster

@lavalamplighter When you say "from the UI" are you talking about "from retropie" or "from within linapple"?

The link you posted is in reference to "from retropie" and I believe is from working with an older version of linapple. Launching games from the Retropie UI ... just works for me.

Let me just describe me starting up different games. I haven't seen any weirdness like you describe.

I'm in Retropie's UI and I see my list of games. I use the joystick to pick Karateka and I hit the button. It runs.

I hit F10 on the keyboard. This quits Linapple and I am back at my list of games. I use the joystick to scroll down to Serpentine and I hit the button. It runs.

(Repeat as desired)

Are you wanting to do that, or something different?

sleve_mcdichael

@lavalamplighter said in Linapple Launching From Emulation Station/Disk Swapping:

I guess what I’m after is launching directly from the UI. Here is the document referenced: https://www.petrockblock.com/forums/topic/how-to-get-linapple-disk-images-running-from-emulation-station-in-retropie/

That document is from 8 years ago. The methods therein have been already included in RetroPie since 7.5 years ago.

My suggestion: delete the folder /opt/retropie/configs/apple2, then update RetroPie-Setup script and reinstall linapple from the optional packages.

.po, .dsk, and .nib images are supported. If you have .do Images, they can in my experience be renamed as .dsk. If you rename only the first disk, then only that one will show in EmulationStation, for example:

Carmen Sandiego (Disk 1).dsk
Carmen Sandiego (Disk 2).do
Oregon Trail (Disk 1).dsk
Oregon Trail (Disk 2).do

EmulationStation shows:

Carmen Sandiego (Disk 1)
Oregon Trail (Disk 1)

When playing, use F3 to select (Disk 2).do when prompted.

lavalamplighter

@sleve_mcdichael @seroster Thanks guys! I was able to use the advice from both of you, and got things working. After deleting the configs file, doing a fresh install, then following the advice on launching games, all is working as it should. Thanks again...now time to catch some of Carmen's gang!

lavalamplighter

@sleve_mcdichael In my searches I also learned that if you create folders for each game in the apple2 rows folder, it will only show as 1 game in emulation station. so rather than change the file extension, just create a folder and dump all roms in there. when you choose a game, it will show the disks, but easier than having a thousand rooms to choose from at the start.