WebMSX release 2.1 with MSX2+ and FM sound support

By tfh

Prophet (3347)

24-07-2016, 15:06

Good to know: Some functions (like sound) don't work in Internet Explorer

By Latok

msx guru (3938)

24-07-2016, 16:53

Why does this emulator run demos much smoother than openMSX and blueMSX? Is it because in a browser, it is easier to imitate the 60hz refresh rate?

It has such a good experience and is so easy to use. Love it

By Marq

Champion (387)

24-07-2016, 18:02

Positively surprised when trying some demo stuff on it. Chromium+Linux here. Even the fullscreen works fine.

By tfh

Prophet (3347)

24-07-2016, 18:04

Yep... It's a very easy to use and already very complete MSX emulator. Paulo has done some great & amazing work with this emulator.

By tfh

Prophet (3347)

24-07-2016, 18:11

BTW, top first link in the news-item doesn't work

By niek

Expert (112)

24-07-2016, 20:44

Amazing work indeed! Also, the speed of development amazes me.

@tfh; which link is that? Tried them both, they seem to work fine with both Chrome and Firefox.

By tfh

Prophet (3347)

24-07-2016, 20:48

niek wrote:

Amazing work indeed! Also, the speed of development amazes me.

@tfh; which link is that? Tried them both, they seem to work fine with both Chrome and Firefox.

The link is already corrected ;-)

By Manuel

Ascended (19470)

24-07-2016, 22:38

Latok wrote:

Why does this emulator run demos much smoother than openMSX and blueMSX? Is it because in a browser, it is easier to imitate the 60hz refresh rate?

Because it's cheating a bit AFAIK it adjusts the emulation speed to match the monitor refresh rate. But the author can tell you more about it.

By edoz

Prophet (2482)

25-07-2016, 08:38

This is very impressive! A MSX emulator on a website.. i never thought .. when we had internet back in the nineties that this was even possible... if you think about it... what will it be in the next 10 years.. Yesterday i wend to the cinema watching a 3d movie.. in this 3d movie there was a old CRT television (with the news on it..) an that in 2D view! while i was in 3D mode! Would that be the next MSX emulator? That you put on your 3D glass and that you are sitting behind your beloved MSX?! Funny idea not?

By meits

Scribe (6544)

25-07-2016, 10:53

Quote:

PSG, SCC, SCC-I, FM-PAC and MSX-MUSIC sound

Music Module or the FM-PAC (accidentally) mentioned twice?

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

25-07-2016, 19:08

Although very similar, FM-PAC and MSX-MUSIC standard are a bit different. AFAIK you have to activate the sound chip on the FM-PAC, for instance. Also, you may have programs that try to detect the FM-PAC in some means that will not work in a built-in MSX-MUSIC chip, as another example.

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

25-07-2016, 19:14

Manuel wrote:

Latok wrote:

Why does this emulator run demos much smoother than openMSX and blueMSX? Is it because in a browser, it is easier to imitate the 60hz refresh rate?

Because it's cheating a bit AFAIK it adjusts the emulation speed to match the monitor refresh rate. But the author can tell you more about it.

I'm not sure if I understand what you guys mean by cheating :-)

But what WMSX does is that, by default, it auto-detects your native video frequency and always try to achieve 1:1 V-Synch, even if your host machine is 60Hz (almost all machines) and you're running an emulated PAL MSX at 50Hz. It implements a technique called "video pulldown" (without interpolation), which is what most modern TVs, for instance, do to adapt the various source video frequencies to their native frequency.
WMSX currently supports pulldown for 50, 60, 100 and 120Hz host frequencies.

Paulo

By tfh

Prophet (3347)

25-07-2016, 22:14

ppeccin wrote:

Although very similar, FM-PAC and MSX-MUSIC standard are a bit different. AFAIK you have to activate the sound chip on the FM-PAC, for instance. Also, you may have programs that try to detect the FM-PAC in some means that will not work in a built-in MSX-MUSIC chip, as another example.

I notice that ProTracker (https://www.msx.org/downloads/music/trackers/protracker-10) indeed doesn't seem to work. It doesn't detect the MSX-Music of FM-PAC.
The basis-replayer which is included on the same disk, does work fine though...

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

26-07-2016, 00:35

tfh wrote:

I notice that ProTracker (https://www.msx.org/downloads/music/trackers/protracker-10) indeed doesn't seem to work. It doesn't detect the MSX-Music of FM-PAC.
The basis-replayer which is included on the same disk, does work fine though...

You think that may be some problem with WMSX or it is supposed to work that way?
Remember to DISABLE the default MSX-MUSIC Extension of you want to insert an FM-PAC cartridge to avoid conflicts on the YM-2413 ports.

By tfh

Prophet (3347)

26-07-2016, 12:49

ppeccin wrote:

tfh wrote:

I notice that ProTracker (https://www.msx.org/downloads/music/trackers/protracker-10) indeed doesn't seem to work. It doesn't detect the MSX-Music of FM-PAC.
The basis-replayer which is included on the same disk, does work fine though...

You think that may be some problem with WMSX or it is supposed to work that way?
Remember to DISABLE the default MSX-MUSIC Extension of you want to insert an FM-PAC cartridge to avoid conflicts on the YM-2413 ports.

Well.. I am not sure.. But the version here on MSX.ORG is a "cracked' version. The original .DSK file can't be loaded by wMSX due to it's copy protection I guess.
I just found out that I can get ProTracker to work by first running the Editor, stopping it and then going to ProTracker itself. Then there is sound. My guess: It's a bad crack.

It would be nicer if we can get the original ProTracker Disk Image to work correctly in wMSX ;-)

http://www.file-hunter.com/Fony/pro.zip

BTW, any plans to add MSX-Audio support? ;-)

/edit/
For the moment "solved" it by making a Savestate file: http://www.file-hunter.com/MSX/ProTracker.html
Now I can listen to my old songs again ;)

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

26-07-2016, 15:58

tfh wrote:

Well.. I am not sure.. But the version here on MSX.ORG is a "cracked' version. The original .DSK file can't be loaded by wMSX due to it's copy protection I guess.
It would be nicer if we can get the original ProTracker Disk Image to work correctly in wMSX ;-)

I didn't even know that DSKs could carry copy protection....

tfh wrote:

I just found out that I can get ProTracker to work by first running the Editor, stopping it and then going to ProTracker itself. Then there is sound. My guess: It's a bad crack.

Maybe it assumes there is MSX-AUDIO and does not work right with only MSX-MUSIC? Does it work in a real machine with only MSX-MUSIC?

tfh wrote:

BTW, any plans to add MSX-Audio support? ;-)

Yes, its in the roadmap... ;-)

By Wolverine_nl

Paragon (1160)

26-07-2016, 16:37

ppeccin wrote:

I didn't even know that DSKs could carry copy protection....

You can find a forum thread here about that, might you need it in the future.

By tfh

Prophet (3347)

26-07-2016, 16:58

I think both Fony DemoDisk #2 and ProTracker are using (at least) tracks 81 & 82 for example

By ren

Paragon (1934)

26-07-2016, 17:33

-edit- posted something suited better perhaps for the forums.

By nanochess

Master (222)

27-07-2016, 01:13

Surprised by the smoothness of everything well done!

By wilsonpilon

Champion (279)

27-07-2016, 14:34

Wow, the program will be of great help in my preservation site on MSX. I'm testing with some of the page's software, and so far everything is OK. Soon post more results.
Very good job!

By abslide

Resident (33)

27-07-2016, 19:42

Wow! Very Good!I have wanted to include all of the features. Rom format Do you plan to add more? For example, Mirrored ROM, etc.

By tfh

Prophet (3347)

28-07-2016, 12:06

I've got a save stat file for WebMSX that sometimes does start and other times it doesn't:

http://www.file-hunter.com/MSX/RedLights.zip
If I "power off" WebMSX and load the file it seems to work fine, but on other occasions the savestate just doesn't start. Also integrated in a webpage, the state file doesn't seem to work: http://www.file-hunter.com/MSX/RedLights.html

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

28-07-2016, 16:43

tfh wrote:

I've got a save stat file for WebMSX that sometimes does start and other times it doesn't:

http://www.file-hunter.com/MSX/RedLights.zip
If I "power off" WebMSX and load the file it seems to work fine, but on other occasions the savestate just doesn't start. Also integrated in a webpage, the state file doesn't seem to work: http://www.file-hunter.com/MSX/RedLights.html

Strange... Having a look now.
Are you using a Savestate in this case because of the "Press CTRL" thing?
I plan to add a feature to automate that too, so we can start games that need this easily.

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

28-07-2016, 19:39

BTW tfh, its better if you report the bugs in the project issue tracking, in GitHub.

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

28-07-2016, 21:09

tfh wrote:

I've got a save stat file for WebMSX that sometimes does start and other times it doesn't:

http://www.file-hunter.com/MSX/RedLights.zip
If I "power off" WebMSX and load the file it seems to work fine, but on other occasions the savestate just doesn't start. Also integrated in a webpage, the state file doesn't seem to work: http://www.file-hunter.com/MSX/RedLights.html

You found a bug that occurs in rare situations when loading a State at launch time with a different VideoStandard.
Its fixed, please update to Release 2.1g.

Also, you can omit the AUTO_START_DELAY (that changed) and the ALLOW_URL_PARAMETERS (default) parameters from your launch config.

Thanks!

By tfh

Prophet (3347)

28-07-2016, 22:47

ppeccin wrote:

BTW tfh, its better if you report the bugs in the project issue tracking, in GitHub.

WIll do so in the future I hope you don't mind me bugging you all the time.
It's been quite some time since I have played around with MSX stuff so much and I am having quite a good time with your emulator. And not only me. I can see in the logs that quite some people are playing quite some games wih your emulator. Sometimes for multiple hours!

ppeccin wrote:

tfh wrote:

I've got a save stat file for WebMSX that sometimes does start and other times it doesn't:

http://www.file-hunter.com/MSX/RedLights.zip
If I "power off" WebMSX and load the file it seems to work fine, but on other occasions the savestate just doesn't start. Also integrated in a webpage, the state file doesn't seem to work: http://www.file-hunter.com/MSX/RedLights.html

You found a bug that occurs in rare situations when loading a State at launch time with a different VideoStandard.
Its fixed, please update to Release 2.1g.

Also, you can omit the AUTO_START_DELAY (that changed) and the ALLOW_URL_PARAMETERS (default) parameters from your launch config.

Thanks!

Thank YOU :)
All works as expected now.

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

30-07-2016, 00:01

abslide wrote:

Wow! Very Good!I have wanted to include all of the features. Rom format Do you plan to add more? For example, Mirrored ROM, etc.

Mirrored ROM? What is that? Any example of ROM that would need this format to run properly?

By tfh

Prophet (3347)

31-07-2016, 13:11

ppeccin wrote:

BTW tfh, its better if you report the bugs in the project issue tracking, in GitHub.

Hmmm. It seems I need an account on Gitbhub to do so, which I don't have...
Anyway, it seems that the new version of the Salamander Voice ROM isn't recognized as SCC anymore, even when I give it the [KonamiSCC] tag:

https://www.msx.org/forum/msx-talk/development/salamander-vo...

See bottom of the page & next page.

By Victor

Champion (509)

31-07-2016, 20:01

I think that the SCC is not correctly emulated at all.. It seems that this routine does'nt work to detect a SCC inseted in webMSX:

LD A,02 ;is ROM??
LD (09000h),A

LD HL,9800h
LD A,(HL)
CPL
LD (HL),A
CP (HL)
JR Z,isRAM

LD A,03Fh
LD (09000h),A
LD A,(HL)
CPL
LD (HL),A
CP (HL)
JR nz,isRAM

Tell me if I'm wrong... or tell me how can I detect a SCC inserted in webMSX

Thanks!!

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

31-07-2016, 21:54

It works for every SCC ROM so far, if loaded with the correct format.

Victor, please, first of all, using the latest version, try to determine if the emulator is using the correct mapper for your ROM. Put the mouse pointer at the Cartridge1 icon and a tooltip will be shown. At the end, after the file name, the mapper type being used is displayed between brackets. If that isn't [KonamiSCC], the format is not correct.

WebMSX will not recognize your ROM (or any new custom ROM) as SCC automatically. You have to force it to use the SCC format, either by putting the format hint in the file name, or by using the parameter CARTRIDGE1_FORMAT to set the correct format. I have answered this to tfh in the original thread, and now his page (with your ROM) works as expected.

Then, after you make sure the ROMs are being loaded with the correct formats, we can discuss if the emulation is not correct, or how it should be detected!

Paulo

By Victor

Champion (509)

01-08-2016, 06:40

I haven't explained correclty... for your answer...

I didn't wnat to say that your emulator isn't correct or something similar.

There are some games that use that routine to serach the SCC cartridge... I only insert in slot 1 a "SCC cartridge", direclty from the config menu "KONAMI SCC Extension Enabled in slot 1".

You can try it with, for example, the SD Snatcher Melancholia Translation. It works with SCC+ extension, but does'nt find the normal SCC. It uses the same rutine than me.

That routine only shows that the SCC is RAM through memory area from 9800h to 9FFFh. That's all...

Of course, thanks for your emulator, it's amazing!!

By tfh

Prophet (3347)

01-08-2016, 10:35

Your emulator is also mentioned here: http://www.zophar.net/
Just scroll down a bit ;-)

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

01-08-2016, 17:23

Victor wrote:

I haven't explained correclty... for your answer...
I didn't want to say that your emulator isn't correct or something similar.

Not at all... I didn't take this way. We are cool.

Victor wrote:

There are some games that use that routine to serach the SCC cartridge... I only insert in slot 1 a "SCC cartridge", direclty from the config menu "KONAMI SCC Extension Enabled in slot 1".

Can you explain the routine a bit? The "is RAM" jumps are considered success (its an SCC) or not?

Victor wrote:

You can try it with, for example, the SD Snatcher Melancholia Translation. It works with SCC+ extension, but does'nt find the normal SCC. It uses the same rutine than me.

The SCC and SCC-I are different chips, the address ranges to access the wavetable are different. Also, the SCC has no extra RAM, the SCC-I has. As I understand, SDSnatcher is meant to work with an SCC-I, not SCC. I don't know if I have the exact same version you mentioned, but the English Translation I have here only works with the SCC-I.

The SCC-I chip starts in the SCC compatibility mode, but SD Snatcher (at least the on I have) immediately switches to SCC-I mode, and if there is no SCC-I, it fails and asks "INSERT SOUND CARTRIDGE".

Victor wrote:

That routine only shows that the SCC is RAM through memory area from 9800h to 9FFFh. That's all...

But it isn't in a real SCC, right?

Victor wrote:

Of course, thanks for your emulator, it's amazing!!

Thanks!

By Victor

Champion (509)

01-08-2016, 18:54

Read [url=]http://bifi.msxnet.org/msxnet/tech/scc.html[/url]. In "Locating SCC" and "Memory Behaviour"

You can test that with OpenMSX or BlueMSX. You will see that SCC is RAM in that range.

By abslide

Resident (33)

01-08-2016, 18:55

Does the diskette image bundle zip file is only 5? It is not available but no more?

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

01-08-2016, 19:41

abslide wrote:

Does the diskette image bundle zip file is only 5? It is not available but no more?

I don't know if I understand you question right.
But yes, currently you can load up to a 5 disk stack in each drive, plus 1 new blank disk when you ask the emulator to insert a new disk (mainly useful for creating save game disks and so, while maintaining the other disks still on the stack).

I chose 5 disks because Its extremely rare that a game uses more than 5 disks. Also, each disk being 720KB, if you load too many disks you will consume a lot of memory, and all that disks will also have to be saved in Savestates.

But I can very easily increase this number, or make it adjustable via a parameter.

But please observe that this feature is not meant to read a big archive of disks and displaying all the options for the user to select which game to play.
Its meant for actually inserting all the disks for a title, that you WILL need to switch later, like in a multi-disk game.

Do you need it to be more than 5? Please tell me about your use case, what you are trying to achieve.

Paulo

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

01-08-2016, 19:48

Victor wrote:

That routine only shows that the SCC is RAM through memory area from 9800h to 9FFFh. That's all...

Read [url=]http://bifi.msxnet.org/msxnet/tech/scc.html[/url]. In "Locating SCC" and "Memory Behaviour"

You can test that with OpenMSX or BlueMSX. You will see that SCC is RAM in that range.

From the text you linked:
"The memory area from 9800h to 987Fh behaves as RAM. The memory area from 9880h to 98FFh is write only; if you read it, it'll always return FFh."

Edit: Can you please explain your routine, and where it fails in WebMSX?

By abslide

Resident (33)

02-08-2016, 04:33

In the case of Princess Maker it is a 7 disks. In WebMSX it has found that only 5 disks when attempting to ZIP. So I have a question. In the case of Burai II,Dragon Knight II it is a 9 disks.

By Victor

Champion (509)

02-08-2016, 05:30

ppeccin wrote:

"The memory area from 9800h to 987Fh behaves as RAM. The memory area from 9880h to 98FFh is write only; if you read it, it'll always return FFh."

Edit: Can you please explain your routine, and where it fails in WebMSX?

I have written incorrectly the last part of the routine, anyway I'll explain it:

LD A,02
LD (09000h),A ;select a ROM part in visible area (8000h-A000h)

LD HL,9800h
LD A,(HL) ;read in A the value of 9800h
CPL ;put in A the complementary value of A
LD (HL),A ;write that value in 9800h
CP (HL) ;compare the actual value of A with the actual value in 9800h
JR Z,isRAM ;is the same?? then in 9800h we have RAM
;is different? we have ROM
LD A,03Fh
LD (09000h),A ;select SCC part from visible area (8000h-A000h)
LD A,(HL) ;read in A the value of 9800h
CPL ;put in A the complementary value of A
LD (HL),A ;write that value in 9800h
CP (HL) ;compare the actual value of A with the actual value in 9800h
JR z,isSCC ;is the same?? then in 9800h we have RAM (we have SCC!!)
;is different? we have ROM (we haven't SCC)

That's all...

By tfh

Prophet (3347)

02-08-2016, 14:59

Well, I did notice that none of our (Fony & Tyfoon Software) demos or programms detect the SCC correctly in WebMSX. Unless we have hardcoded to slot 1, or if we give the use the chance to select a port, none of our software gives sound in WebMSX.

For example, SCC-Musixx: http://www.file-hunter.com/MSX/sccmusixx.html

will not find the SCC. You have to hit the 1 key, to tell it's there. And this only works withthe SCCI. The normal SCC won't work at all.
I also noticed btw, that both ProTrack & SCC Musixx have their data (The music data) placed 1 location to the left for some reason in WebMSX.

By Victor

Champion (509)

02-08-2016, 17:15

tfh wrote:

Well, I did notice that none of our (Fony & Tyfoon Software) demos or programms detect the SCC correctly in WebMSX.

All of them use the same way to detect the SCC... the one that I've explained in the previous comment... First checks ROM and then checks RAM for the SCC part...

I'm sure that Paulo will solve that small problem...

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

02-08-2016, 18:47

tfh wrote:

Well, I did notice that none of our (Fony & Tyfoon Software) demos or programms detect the SCC correctly in WebMSX. Unless we have hardcoded to slot 1, or if we give the use the chance to select a port, none of our software gives sound in WebMSX.

For example, SCC-Musixx: http://www.file-hunter.com/MSX/sccmusixx.html

will not find the SCC. You have to hit the 1 key, to tell it's there. And this only works withthe SCCI. The normal SCC won't work at all.
I also noticed btw, that both ProTrack & SCC Musixx have their data (The music data) placed 1 location to the left for some reason in WebMSX.

tfh, do you know if SCCMUSIXX works on a real machine with a real SCC-I cartridge?

I have found a problem in my SCC impl, when someone tries to read-back samples values > 128 (negative values).
That is fixed (not published yet)

Now SCCMUSIXX finds the SCC and plays music in the intro, but then later inside the editor is says "NO SCC".

It appears it is trying to find ROM in the SCC cartridge... But it should not, since a real SCC-I cartridge has no ROM, and WebMSX SCC Expansion cartridge is similar, which is a SCC chip, but unlike the SCC Games, it has no ROM.

Any light?

By larsthe18th

Master (189)

02-08-2016, 20:09

A while ago i have created a Patch for the SCC detection in SCCmusixx.

The new detection routine can be found here (Code included)
https://www.msx.org/forum/msx-talk/software/scc-music-altera...

The Patched SCCmusixx Disk can be downloaded here
http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=000470941597336... (Warning POPUPS !)

Unfortunately the patched version can not find the SCC in WEBMSX, not shure why ?
it works on a REAL MSX (with FlashROM-SD) and OpenMSX, even with a SCC-i

@ppeccin, Keep up the great work on this great Online MSX emulator, Great Job...

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

02-08-2016, 20:20

larsthe18th wrote:

A while ago i have created a Patch for the SCC detection in SCCmusixx.

The new detection routine can be found here (Code included)
https://www.msx.org/forum/msx-talk/software/scc-music-altera...

The Patched SCCmusixx Disk can be downloaded here
http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=000470941597336... (Warning POPUPS !)

Unfortunately the patched version can not find the SCC in WEBMSX, not shure why ?
it works on a REAL MSX (with FlashROM-SD) and OpenMSX, even with a SCC-i

@ppeccin, Keep up the great work on this great Online MSX emulator, Great Job...

I have tested the version tfh is using, and it does not work in Blue/OpenMSX either.

Testing your version now.

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

02-08-2016, 20:26

ppeccin wrote:

I have tested the version tfh is using, and it does not work in Blue/OpenMSX either.
Testing your version now.

Same behavior. Intro works plays the SCC. Inside the editor, it says "NO SCC".
2 different detections are being performed? One in the Intro and another in the editor???? Why?

larsthe18th, can you describe what the detection routine does? What it assumes should happen with the SCC?
I have found a problem and fixed it, but for SCCMUSICXX I still get this weird behavior.

It works if I insert a REAL SCC GAME with ROM (like SpaceManbow), but it does not work with the SCC Expansion (no ROM).
That makes me think something is wrong with the detection routine. ROM in the cartridge should not make a difference, and should not be searched for.

Am I wrong?

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

02-08-2016, 20:36

Opps, sorry. Tested with the wrong version.

larsthe18th: it works with your new version. Both SCC and SCC-I.
As it appears, it was trying to find ROM as I mentioned.

tfh, please update your page with the fixed SCCMUSICXX from larsthe18th link.

I am releasing a new version of WebMSX in the next minutes. Please also update.
I'll let you know here when its ready.

By tfh

Prophet (3347)

02-08-2016, 20:45

Well... I could be wrong here, so please don't shoot me if I am I haven't owned a piece of real MSX hardware in over 15 years now I think
But, I remember when using real MSX hardware, you had a switch on your SCC-cartridge. When you plugged it in, and the machine was in BASIC (or DOS) you switched the cart back on, meaning that also the game ROM was active again, together with some other parts maybe. Not only the SCC.

As for the SCC-Musixx & Pro-Tracker (and our Fony DemoDisks) not finding the MSX-Music & SCC, I suspect the following:

* If the software searches these chips, it won't find them (for some reason)
* If the software assumes it's in port 1 and just starts writing to those ports (intro of SCC-Musixx), it works
* If the user selects the correct port and the software starts writing to those ports (Both music editors), it works

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

02-08-2016, 20:58

WebMSX release 2.1i is online.
Everything should work now, hopefully.

Please gyus, test and give some feedback!

Thanks

By Victor

Champion (509)

02-08-2016, 21:11

ppeccin wrote:

Please gyus, test and give some feedback!

Now it detects the SCC correctly!! Good work!!

By tfh

Prophet (3347)

02-08-2016, 21:37

ppeccin wrote:

WebMSX release 2.1i is online.
Everything should work now, hopefully.

Please gyus, test and give some feedback!

Thanks

Man, you're fast!
And YES: The SCC is detected correctly

Now the only remaining problem is that the tracking data is still shifted one position to the left
Going to replace the .WST by a zip-as-disk now to save some space Trying to keep www.file-hunter.com below 10MByte ;-) (for no specific reason...)

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

02-08-2016, 21:46

tfh wrote:

Now the only remaining problem is that the tracking data is still shifted one position to the left

Yes, that is VERY VERY funny.
Its using the Text2 mode. I can't imagine right now any reason that would make a program write to the wrong VRAM address like this...

If that were a line interrupt issue, sprite collision or any other timing-related issue, I know that the line accuracy may cause some problems.

But a simple write to VRAM in Text mode? I don't know what could possibly cause this.

Any ideas? I don't know if the authors are watching this, but any idea of what crazy operation could cause something like this?

By larsthe18th

Master (189)

02-08-2016, 21:56

Exactly, the old routine only works if a SCC cartridge with ROM is inserted.
That is why the the SCC cart with switch that tfh mentions is only working if the switch is On.

The new detection routine uses a different approach, and will find the SCC with switch
no mather if its switched On or Off. It now allso find SCC-i, Flashrom-SD SCC, Konami SD-Snatcher Sound Cartridge...

Works like a charm now... Great job

By tfh

Prophet (3347)

02-08-2016, 22:09

ppeccin wrote:

tfh wrote:

Now the only remaining problem is that the tracking data is still shifted one position to the left

Yes, that is VERY VERY funny.
Its using the Text2 mode. I can't imagine right now any reason that would make a program write to the wrong VRAM address like this...

If that were a line interrupt issue, sprite collision or any other timing-related issue, I know that the line accuracy may cause some problems.

But a simple write to VRAM in Text mode? I don't know what could possibly cause this.

Any ideas? I don't know if the authors are watching this, but any idea of what crazy operation could cause something like this?

Both authors haven't seen an MSX from up close in like 20 years and are also not active on this forum (or anywhere in the MSX scene....), so we don't have to expect any information from them.

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

02-08-2016, 22:09

larsthe18th, do you know what could be causing the "left shift" of characters tfh mentioned?
Any "different" operations or "tricks" being used in the Text2 mode?

By ricbit

Champion (438)

02-08-2016, 22:28

@ppeccin Are you aware of the early vram reading when setting the vdp address for input? If you set the address for input, but do an output instead, it will skip one address.

By tfh

Prophet (3347)

02-08-2016, 22:35

/me almost feels guilty for all this bug-hunting...
@Paolo: I hope you understand that we are only reporting these issues because we are so happy with your emulator! It's really amazing to see what you have accomplished. It's so easy to use, and already has so much features!

And are you already aware of this site:

http://www.msxnostalgia.com/

It seems you have sparkled quite some interest with your emulator! The integration in MSX Games world is also very very nice!

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

02-08-2016, 22:56

tfh wrote:

/me almost feels guilty for all this bug-hunting...
@Paulo: I hope you understand that we are only reporting these issues because we are so happy with your emulator! It's really amazing to see what you have accomplished. It's so easy to use, and already has so much features!

If course! I am very happy with the feedback guys!
PLEASE keep reporting the problems. That only makes WebMSX better!

tfh wrote:

And are you already aware of this site:

http://www.msxnostalgia.com/

It seems you have sparkled quite some interest with your emulator! The integration in MSX Games world is also very very nice!

No, I didn't know about this site.
Quite a few adds there! :-)
Looking forward to receive some donations! :evil: B-)

Its a pity they have reduced the screen size sooo much. The bottom bar even looks ugly... :(
Its also a bit too low on the page, I have to scroll down to see the screen.

Do we know the author? I could help and give some design tips.

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

02-08-2016, 23:01

Wow... They are still using version 0.95...

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

02-08-2016, 23:18

ricbit wrote:

@ppeccin Are you aware of the early vram reading when setting the vdp address for input? If you set the address for input, but do an output instead, it will skip one address.

My god, I think you nailed it!
That passed completely unnoticed to me! I thought that this pre-read would be non observable in real scenarios, but you're right. It can affect the resulting writes if you use this undocumented and odd sequence!

I will test this right now.
Thanks SO MUCH for pointing that, even if it does not work...

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

03-08-2016, 01:47

Yes, you NAILED IT! (clap)
Problem solved! Also, the new version fixed some other issues in other demos (like Traktor, IO, for example).

abslide: Maximum disk stack increased from 5 to 10.

Release 2.1j is online. Have fun!

Thanks guys, and keep sending feedback!

By tfh

Prophet (3347)

03-08-2016, 10:20

LOL.. ricbit is also some kind of an emulation guru... A long long time ago, he wrote BrMSX. The fastest MSX emulator in town!

By tfh

Prophet (3347)

03-08-2016, 10:28

And.. due to this fix, also Fony DemoDisk #1 works fine now!

By Manuel

Ascended (19470)

03-08-2016, 12:24

So, what about FDD2 and the Traktor demos? Are they full working now? Or what is still left?

By tfh

Prophet (3347)

03-08-2016, 12:43

Nop, FDD #2 still crashes after loading it's first track. No idea why

By ren

Paragon (1934)

03-08-2016, 15:14

Nice improvements/progress Paulo!

Manuel wrote:

So, what about FDD2 and the Traktor demos? Are they full working now? Or what is still left?

I had a (discerning) look:

Syntax Infinity (in order of appearance):

* a blink (or two) in the first part;
* garbage in the title screen (black lines, looks like remains from previous part);
* some garbage in the screen after that (face scene & before, top-left corner);
* sound: what's supposed to sound like a hat, sounds more like a snare;
* explosion scene is missing;
* credits part goes wrong, showing the next credit too early.

When this demo was released some of this stuff was problematic in either blue-/openMSX (or both) as well:
* the title screen lines/garbage;
* the missing explosion scene;
* ... (more?)

openMSX still show some garabage / 'stray pixels' on the tumbling/rotating bars scene (near the end) btw (in a way it looks worse ATM than it once did..?)

For reference: MSX2 recording / live recording.

@Paulo: have you considered implementing reverse / step back (yet)? :)

By tfh

Prophet (3347)

03-08-2016, 14:28

/offtopic/
Damn.. Nice demo!

By ren

Paragon (1934)

03-08-2016, 14:39

tfh wrote:

Damn.. Nice demo!

It is!

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

04-08-2016, 15:27

Guys, thanks for the feedback!

Manuel: I don't know about FDD2, but the Traktor Epas demos seems to run fine to my eyes! Bold too. IO runs quite well in the MSX1 machine if you DO NOT apply the OpenMSX patch. I don't know why but it hangs in the MSX2+ machine, any idea?

ren: I never run Syntax Infinity. Will try this one. About reverse/step back, no I haven't thought of it yet! Seems very hard to do with the current impl. Maybe have to sacrifice too much (needed) performance to achieve this. I would definitely go for other more important things first.

Paulo

By ricbit

Champion (438)

04-08-2016, 20:40

@ppeccin Can you make Aleste 2 rom work? Looks like mapper trouble.

http://www.ricbit.com/temp/aleste2.zip

By ren

Paragon (1934)

04-08-2016, 20:51

@ricbit: v8 is working fine here, both mapper types. Make sure to add the mapper type to the filename as explained here.

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

04-08-2016, 21:52

ricbit wrote:

@ppeccin Can you make Aleste 2 rom work? Looks like mapper trouble.
http://www.ricbit.com/temp/aleste2.zip

It will work if you place the format hint "[KonamiSCC]" in the filename.
It also works on the latest development version due to new Formats supported and the new extended Roms DB, not published yet.

I will be publishing a new release later today, it will work out of the box.

Paulo

By ricbit

Champion (438)

05-08-2016, 01:07

@ren @ppeccin cool, thanks!

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

05-08-2016, 03:03

WebMSX Release 2.1k is online.

Main changes:
- A lot more ROM Formats (mappers) supported. Mostly cartridges with SRAM including GameMaster2
- Save/Load the SRAM from all cartridges supporting it to/from a file (drag&drop suported!)
- Better ROM recognition. Thanks to Vampier for sharing the DB! :-)

Paulo

By Victor

Champion (509)

05-08-2016, 06:15

ppeccin wrote:

- Better ROM recognition. Thanks to Vampier for sharing the DB! :-)
Paulo

Great!!

One suggestion:

If ROM file isn't found in the Vampier DB, search this string in the ROM file: 3E 3F 32 00 90
Found? Then that ROM is a SCC ROM... It works with all SCC roms, except Space Manbow that includes a jump... Just an easy and usefull idea...

By ren

Paragon (1934)

05-08-2016, 10:09

ppeccin wrote:

ren: I never run Syntax Infinity. Will try this one.

Well, yeah, it's a demo, so some edge stuff there, take it easy..

Quote:

About reverse/step back, no I haven't thought of it yet! Seems very hard to do with the current impl. Maybe have to sacrifice too much (needed) performance to achieve this. I would definitely go for other more important things first.

Sure, more somewhat of a 'wild' suggestion.. But *if* you might consider it at some point, perhaps it could be feasible to just record every x seconds or so (and just keep a limited amount of history), so it won't be that much of a performance hit.

By tfh

Prophet (3347)

05-08-2016, 10:41

Updated the version on my site as well. And thanks to Lars 18th I now also have FDD#1 and the FDD#1 promo with better SCC detection routines, so ... TFH is a happy camper!
Furthermore still pleasantly surprised by this emulator (and it's maker!) Great job!

By abslide

Resident (33)

06-08-2016, 04:08

Eagles 5 Download

Eagles 5 was executed on blueMSX. It was good. Eagles 5 Rom format is Mirrored ROM. Running in WebMSX displayed in black screen.

Please Troubleshooting.

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

08-08-2016, 19:54

abslide wrote:

Eagles 5 was executed on blueMSX. It was good. Eagles 5 Rom format is Mirrored ROM. Running in WebMSX displayed in black screen.

Looking into that right now.

By Wolverine_nl

Paragon (1160)

09-08-2016, 11:59

Tried it on a tablet, only problem is the tablet keyboard won't show, so controlling or other input isn't possible. Tried it on a Chrome browser on an iPad.

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

09-08-2016, 16:48

Wolverine_nl wrote:

Tried it on a tablet, only problem is the tablet keyboard won't show, so controlling or other input isn't possible. Tried it on a Chrome browser on an iPad.

Yes, I plan to add controls to be used in touch devices. Not a simple task, but will be done!

By tfh

Prophet (3347)

10-08-2016, 22:15

Your detection for .ROM files is working pretty well btw I added some more games to my site and only ran into one .ROM that wasn't detected propperly! Well done! Even all the SCC+ version are detected with 100% accuracy O

By AxelF

Champion (395)

10-08-2016, 23:22

Amazing great emulator.

Allthow i have a small problem when loading DSK files in Internet eplorer 11
i get the folowing error "Could not load disk file(s) ... No valid Disk found
ROM files work perfecly.

Tested on Filehunter and on webmsx.org

By tfh

Prophet (3347)

10-08-2016, 23:27

Yup... It was confirmed earlier that IE11 isn't supported 100%. You probably also don't have sound in IE11.
Switch to Chrome or Edge and all works fine

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

11-08-2016, 23:27

Guys, I am trying to test my Halnote Mapper impl.

But all I found is a ROM that appears to do nothing, and also a DISK that appears to run completely unrelated to that ROM.
Can someone point me to how it should be run?

Unfortunately I don't speak Japanese!

Tks,
Peccin

By AxelF

Champion (395)

12-08-2016, 21:42

tfh wrote:

Yup... It was confirmed earlier that IE11 isn't supported 100%. You probably also don't have sound in IE11.
Switch to Chrome or Edge and all works fine

Ow sorry, did not know it was allready mentioned.
Is it something that can be easy fixed ? it would make me very happy.
The sound issue is not a big problem.

By tfh

Prophet (3347)

12-08-2016, 21:50

AxelF wrote:

tfh wrote:

Yup... It was confirmed earlier that IE11 isn't supported 100%. You probably also don't have sound in IE11.
Switch to Chrome or Edge and all works fine

Ow sorry, did not know it was allready mentioned.
Is it something that can be easy fixed ? it would make me very happy.
The sound issue is not a big problem.

Microsoft also dropped support for IE11 in favor of Edge. It's probably wiser to change browser

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

12-08-2016, 23:29

AxelF wrote:

Is it something that can be easy fixed ? it would make me very happy.
The sound issue is not a big problem.

AxelF, IE is a very bad browser, it lacks several of the resources that WebMSX uses. It will not run properly.
Do you need to use IE for any particular reason? Why can't you switch to a more decent browser like Chrome?

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

13-08-2016, 03:11

Guys, I have released a new version. Please go to: http://webmsx.org

New in WebMSX 2.2

- Support for Cartridges with PCM Sound: Konami Majutsushi, Synthesizer
- Support for several Cartridges with onboard SRAM, Game Master 2
- Support for several specific Mappers, Zemina muti-game ROMs
- Better ROM Mirroring auto detection
- Lots of improvements and fixes

Already made a news submit.

Enjoy, and keep the feedback coming!
Peccin

By abslide

Resident (33)

13-08-2016, 05:57

Baby Dinosaur Dooly Link

Please support this game. Baby Dinosaur Dooly was executed on openMSX.

Thank you very much.

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

13-08-2016, 06:25

abslide wrote:

Baby Dinosaur Dooly Link
Please support this game

Wow, how did you find this ONLY game for this Mapper type, that I have never heard of? :-)
Well, I'll try to support it. Do you have any info on this Mapper?

By abslide

Resident (33)

13-08-2016, 07:07

openMSX Source Code Download

openmsx-0.13.0.tar.gz decompression.

openmsx-0.13.0 > src > memory > RomDooly.hh, RomDooly.cc

By Victor

Champion (509)

13-08-2016, 09:25

ppeccin wrote:

Wow, how did you find this ONLY game for this Mapper type, that I have never heard of? :-)
Well, I'll try to support it. Do you have any info on this Mapper?

It's a game with Zemina RAM extension

By tfh

Prophet (3347)

13-08-2016, 13:58

ppeccin wrote:

Guys, I have released a new version. Please go to: http://webmsx.org

New in WebMSX 2.2

- Support for Cartridges with PCM Sound: Konami Majutsushi, Synthesizer
- Support for several Cartridges with onboard SRAM, Game Master 2
- Support for several specific Mappers, Zemina muti-game ROMs
- Better ROM Mirroring auto detection
- Lots of improvements and fixes

Already made a news submit.

Enjoy, and keep the feedback coming!
Peccin

Cool :) Updated the version on my site as well :)

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

15-08-2016, 16:50

VictorIt's a game with [url=http://map.grauw.nl/resources/msx_io_ports.php#zemina-memory wrote:

Zemina RAM extension[/url]

Thanks Victor, but what do you mean exactly? The game HAS a RAM extension on board, or is it a normal cartridge that requires another one inserted to work?

By Victor

Champion (509)

15-08-2016, 18:23

ppeccin wrote:

Thanks Victor, but what do you mean exactly? The game HAS a RAM extension on board, or is it a normal cartridge that requires another one inserted to work?

I don't know that exactly, I think that is a special RAM inside that cartrdige... All you have to know is the way the game delivers with that port (0Fh):

#0F Page size select
bit 7, 6: 8K (1, 0) or 16K (0, 1)
Function of writing to address range #4000-#BFFF
bit 5, 4: RAM SELECT (1, 0) or WRITE (0, 1)

the Zemina memory extension slot is selected for address range #4000-#7FFF

By ppeccin

Champion (376)

15-08-2016, 19:43

Victor wrote:

I don't know that exactly, I think that is a special RAM inside that cartrdige... All you have to know is the way the game delivers with that port (0Fh):

#0F Page size select
bit 7, 6: 8K (1, 0) or 16K (0, 1)
Function of writing to address range #4000-#BFFF
bit 5, 4: RAM SELECT (1, 0) or WRITE (0, 1)

the Zemina memory extension slot is selected for address range #4000-#7FFF

Well, I had to look into some OpenMSX source code for that one, as pointed by abslide, since there is no information elsewhere about this!
It appears, at least for OpenMSX, that this cartridge does not have the RAM thing.... Just an encoding scheme for the ROM. Its just 32KB, no mapper.

WebMSX release 2.1 with MSX2+ and FM sound support

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