Trouble with MSX libretro emulators

mvlaza

Hi,

I'm trying to run some MSX ROMS in retropie (everything in the latest available version in a PI3 board) but facing some problems that looks like bugs to me.

I have installed three MSX emulators: lr-fbneo-msx, lr-fmsx and openmsx.
I can use openmsx perfectly (and all ROMs work fine), but because I do not have a USB keyboard attached to the PI3 (only two PS3 controllers), I cannot exit openmsx with the default shortcut (hotkey+start) and the only way I found was to ssh to the box and kill openmsx process.
I understand that outside libretro world, I should configure shortcuts myself using any config file provided by openmsx. That's more hassle than I want, so I would prefer something from libretro world.

The thing is that I tried two other emulators and they all failed. I have published all logs here https://pastebin.com/wNfv2yzE but in summary:

lr-fbneo-msx cannot open this ROM (it closes right after starting - looks like it could not find the ROM file)
lr-fmsx opens like no ROM file has been provided (loads BASIC interpreter and gives me a blue screen prompt - looks like it ignored my ROM file).

I am confident that the ROMs files are working: I have tested im my Windows machine with fmsx.exe and they all work. Also it works with openmsx. I also tried to zip the files (just in case, you never know) however with no better luck.

Some specs of my system:

pi@retropie:~ $ uname -a
Linux retropie 5.4.72-v7+ #1356 SMP Thu Oct 22 13:56:54 BST 2020 armv7l GNU/Linux
pi@retropie:~ $ cat /etc/debian_version
10.6
pi@retropie:~ $ sudo RetroPie-Setup/retropie_setup.sh
...
Version: 4.7.1 - Last Commit: 3 days ago (3d0a4ed7)
System: rpi3 (armv7l) - running on Raspbian GNU/Linux 10 (buster)

I have some Linux understanding and can continue to debug but right now, I am out of ideas and kind of stuck here.
Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Marcos

mitu

FBNeo expects the game to be placed in a .zip file, similar to how arcade ROMs are packaged. It will not run .rom files directly. The only similar games I found in the [MSX1 Dat for FBNeo)(https://github.com/libretro/FBNeo/blob/master/dats/FinalBurn Neo (ClrMame Pro XML%2C MSX 1 Games only).dat) are the 2 variations of Road Fighter. If this is the game you want to run, then the .rom should be placed in an archive named either roadfght.zip or roadfghta.zip. You'll also need a msx.zip file containing the MSX1 bios files placed in the BIOS/fbneo folder.

For lr-fmsx , the log file shows it loaded the BIOS files, but it couldn't load default.fnt:

Loading DEFAULT.FNT font...FAILED

I don't think that's the reason why it didn't work, but maybe the MSX model loaded is incorrect. What game are you trying to run ?

Folly

@mvlaza

lr-bluemsx is also a good emulator.
You can find it in the optional packages.

mvlaza

Hi @folly
I tested the lr-bluemsx emulator and in fact it worked out of the box with my ROMs! Very welcome tip.

Thanks!

mvlaza

Hi @mitu
thank you very much for your answer! You know, your 5-line post “glued” all the information I have learned reading pages and pages of documentation in the internet. I was now able to figure out how fbneo-msx expect rom files.

You're correct, the game name is Road Figher, and put the ROAD.rom file in a roadfght.zip file (this ROM has the correct checksum according to the DAT you've mentioned).

For some reason, the MSX BIOS roms that I have always used so far had a different checksum than the one listed in the DAT file. I downloaded a new set of MSX BIOS roms (checksum match now) but it still got the same result and could not run the emulator (I manually checked all checksums and they all seems correct). As far as I could understand, the correct files are all in the right place, but it fails to start. I put the log files here https://pastebin.com/Eq6eRGQs if you want to check.

As a last resort I put the BIOS rom files in the same zip as roadfght.zip (like a merged set ROM package) - and it worked! lr-fbneo-msx found everything with this config. I put the logs here https://pastebin.com/ktByLxT5 so you can compare the result.

BTW, I’ll try to understand/fix lr-fmsx issue in another moment.

For now I’ll follow Folly tip and use lr-bluemsx but as a personal challenge I’d like to find what’s going on here with the lr-fbneo-msx. Do you have an idea?

Thanks for you help,
Marcos

mitu

@mvlaza said in Trouble with MSX libretro emulators:

As a last resort I put the BIOS rom files in the same zip as roadfght.zip (like a merged set ROM package) - and it worked! lr-fbneo-msx found everything with this config. I put the logs here https://pastebin.com/ktByLxT5 so you can compare the result.

You've added an extra folder in BIOS/fbneo, you should put msx.zip directly there (not under BIOS/fbneo/msx).

Folly

@mvlaza said in Trouble with MSX libretro emulators:

Hi @folly
I tested the lr-bluemsx emulator and in fact it worked out of the box with my ROMs! Very welcome tip.

Thanks!

Nice to hear it's working for you with lr-bluemsx.

You also have to know this :

OOB you can't use the keyboard fully in lr-bluemsx.
(hotkeys are in the way)
If you want to use the keyboard in MSX add a input_enable_hotkey in /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg
For example use the tab key ( other keys are also possible search in the config file, then you will find them ) :

input_enable_hotkey = "tab"

So now your hotkeys are not in the way when you want to use the keyboard in MSX.
If edited, it is enabled in all the cores. (some other cores will benefit too then)
If you don't want that you can add it just for MSX :
/opt/retropie/configs/msx/retroarch.cfg
Normally you would press "F1", when enabled you have to press "TAB + F1"

To get MSXTurboR working look here, if you already got the bios files :
https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/28241/solved-bluemsx-msx-turbo-r-doesn-t-work/3

Happy MSXing.

mvlaza

@mitu perfect. Now it works!

Thank you!

mvlaza

Hi @folly
I understood the config change you proposed (at least I think), but I did not understood why should I need it.
Perhaps there are ROMs that you need to type some key to start/config the game, or to open a map. Is this the reason of your suggestion?

Thanks!

Folly

@mvlaza said in Trouble with MSX libretro emulators:

Hi @folly
I understood the config change you proposed (at least I think), but I did not understood why should I need it.
Perhaps there are ROMs that you need to type some key to start/config the game, or to open a map. Is this the reason of your suggestion?

Thanks!

If you are a more advanced user you can work in basic with your keyboard fully working.
There are also games that require the "F*" keys. Now you can use them in the games. They are only becoming hotkey's for RetroArch when u use the "tab" key in combination. Do you get it ?

mvlaza

@folly thanks for the clarification; it makes sense now. I have need for this now, but it’s good to know.

mvlaza

I don’t know how to mark this post as [solved], but I’ll try to make a summary of the lessons learned here anyway:

lr-fbneo-msx needs all MSX BIOS files in on pack named msx.zip in /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/msx/msx.zip
lr-fbneo-msx needs ROM files to be zipped and verified against DAT checksums (the filename and CRC must match)
MSX ROMs that are downloaded together with lr-fmsx does not work with lr-fbneo-msx (CRC are different for all files); you have to find the right BIOS files elsewhere.
I still unable to load ROMs with lr-fmsx (however lr-bluemsx is a good alternative so far)
In lr-bluemsx you can use the keyboard in MSX if you add a input_enable_hotkey in /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg or /opt/retropie/configs/msx/retroarch.cfg:
input_enable_hotkey = "tab"
Normally you would press "F1", when enabled you have to press "TAB + F1"

Thank you @mitu and @Folly for your help!
Happy MSXing