Retropie Zero W SNES issues
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@Darkangle emulation is always a bit of a tweak especially when running on <$10 devices. Expectations of course should be tempered ;)
An interesting article on emulation and processing power which may be enlightening:
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It's built in because SNES is one of the most popular 16-bit gaming platforms and people want it.
It's also because MANY Super Nintendo games run at an acceptable FPS for people who haven't played a real SNES in 20 years.
Maybe it's also because people can't fathom how the Pi Zero's 1000 MHz (1 GHz) processor can't emulate the SNES's 3.58 MHz system (yes, three point five eight MHz if the Wiki is correct).
And furthermore, ironically, the slightly-inferior-spec'd Sega Genesis/Mega Drive plays pretty much PERFECT on the Pi Zero...(which is one plan of action for you: many games were released for both systems - play the Genesis version, chances are it'll run a TON better).
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@Darkangle
I don't have a pi zero, so I don't know which snes emulator is included. Have you tried installing lr-snes9x2002 or snespi? -
@Darksavior
Snes9x2002 is the default Super Nintendo emulator for the Pi Zero. Some totally non-scientific test FPS numbers I jotted down at some point (HDMI 4 in config.txt for 720P output, emulator set to 640x480 render I believe)Alien 3 40 FPS - horribly laggy
Cool Spot 42 47 49 FPS (first couple mins of game - just barely tolerable)
Donkey Kong 47 FPS (entire first level, speeds up a little bit on 2nd stage - totally playable overall).Overclocked in 4.1.0:
Alien 3 - 50 FPS
Cool Spot - 60 FPS
Donkey Kong Country - 60 FPS(numbers drop by 5+ FPS in 4.1.12 or 14 and above FYI - which management has alluded to nothing has changed which would effect this....although I've tested it on literally 10+ different Zero's in a row - see my other topics/posts if you want more info...)
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@Dochartaigh I stumbled onto videos of games running pretty good. Odd. Update all packages and update snes9x-2002 by source?
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@Darksavior said in Retropie Zero W SNES issues:
@Dochartaigh I stumbled onto videos of games running pretty good. Odd. Update all packages and update snes9x-2002 by source?
No offense, but you said you don't even own a Pi Zero....this is just how it is I'm sorry to say - SNES will NOT run at 100% in default form on a Pi Zero for a TON of games. Still totally playable for a large percentage of games however.
Heck, even the master himself (that's right BuZz, I'm talkin' about you ;) has said even the lowly 8-bit Nintendo DOESN'T RUN AT 100% on a Pi Zero with the default emulator without overclocking. The Pi Zero is slow. Period. There's a reason why it's $5! lol (and EXCELLENT at that $5, but still slow ;)
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@Dochartaigh no offense taken. Gameplay videos on youtube can be misleading and I was just pointing them out, I was just wondering and offered the typical tips since I do remember a while back the snes emulators had a fix for some of its input lag.
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@Darksavior said in Retropie Zero W SNES issues:
@Dochartaigh I stumbled onto videos of games running pretty good. Odd. Update all packages and update snes9x-2002 by source?
Yeah, I bought them because of that. In retrospect, those are all running on the Zero running r-pie 3.x and are not running anything that is "demanding".
I test with copying Mario Kart, Top Gear 1, 2 & 3000 (last one never worked properly) onto my image, and then booting 2. As soon as the race starts , even while the screen is still black, you can hear a 2 second holdup in sound and then choppy sound. A perfect way to test fast since these games run smooth on a real snes (even on my copy box) but will poop any system running a poorly optimized emulator.
@Dochartaigh said in Retropie Zero W SNES issues:
It's built in because SNES is one of the most popular 16-bit gaming platforms and people want it.
It's also because MANY Super Nintendo games run at an acceptable FPS for people who haven't played a real SNES in 20 years.
Maybe it's also because people can't fathom how the Pi Zero's 1000 MHz (1 GHz) processor can't emulate the SNES's 3.58 MHz system (yes, three point five eight MHz if the Wiki is correct).
And furthermore, ironically, the slightly-inferior-spec'd Sega Genesis/Mega Drive plays pretty much PERFECT on the Pi Zero...(which is one plan of action for you: many games were released for both systems - play the Genesis version, chances are it'll run a TON better).
My best guess is that the emulation software is rather inefficient, substituting efficiency by tossing raw power at it. And before anyone comments, yes I do know the impact of very little clock speed on a CPU combined with an optimized chip set to support it versus just raw power.
By all means the Zero should be able to, it's just a matter of the Emulation software "not being there yet", for whatever reason. Or at least, that's my interpretation of the matter. If I'm right then someone will get worked up enough to actually start a new emu based on more efficiency.
In the end that leaves me with very little right now.
@Dochartaigh I saw elsewhere you had run into this issue too, and I've gotten a few older imaged for the plain zero, and it seems to run a lot better on an older version of retropie.
Currently testing 3 images I've altered (not happy about that) and I'm happy with the result; SNES works "flawlessly". A quick run of Top Gear 2 and 15 minutes of metroid & Mario Kart showed no slowdown and felt almost as good as the real deal (which I have next to it as comparison).
I'm upgrading them (
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
)
to be able to run on the Zero W and see if they will still survive. Will report back as promised.To be continued...
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@Darkangle said in Retropie Zero W SNES issues:
@Dochartaigh I saw elsewhere you had run into this issue too, and I've gotten a few older imaged for the plain zero, and it seems to run a lot better on an older version of retropie.
Yup, management swears I'm crazy and that NO ONE else is experiencing this (although I've tried multiple Zero's)....fact is somewhere right after 4.1.5 totally bricked the performance of SNES (and NES too, to a lesser degree) on the Pi Zero (and I'm sure a bunch of other emulated systems too).
That's why I'm sticking with the 4.1.0 image (which I URGE everybody who uses a Zero to download it right now as the next update it's going to 4.2.0 and then the 4.1.0 image will disappear from the site for download).
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Anyone know why overclocking the Pi Zero W causes freezes?
Overheat/undervoltage?
Wondering if OC with an effective cooling solution, or a voltage tweak might fix the problem.
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@sixspeeddeath said in Retropie Zero W SNES issues:
Anyone know why overclocking the Pi Zero W causes freezes?
Overheat/undervoltage?
Wondering if OC with an effective cooling solution, or a voltage tweak might fix the problem.
freezes would generally be caused by lack of voltage and/or overclocking headroom. the pi will downclock if temperature is too high, so i doubt it is that.
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Oh my god, I'm glad I found this post and I really hope Darkangle is still paying attention to it because I feel like there is a conspiracy around the Pi Zero (W). I researched a lot before I bought it and everything on the internet seemed to say it will run all 8 bit and 16 bit consoles perfectly with the default setup. just jam the board, some adapters and a USB hub into a NES cart, download the stuff and your good to go! This HAS NOT been the case for me and I'm having a hell of a time trying to figure out why.
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ive heard that turning off wifi can help the zero w
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@herb_fargus I know this is an old post, but thanks for posting this hefty tidbit on emulator speed vs accuracy. It was very educational and an enjoyable read.
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