Homebrew mGBA official standalone Wii port

[Tetsuo Shima]

I think i solved the small slowdown issue with the game Mario Kart: Super Circuit on the mGBA Wii.

I was using @SuperrSonic's RA-HEXAECO's (modified RetroArch Wii) core of mGBA Wii. I just set up the sound sample rate to 32000 Hz / 32 kHz (instead of 48000 Hz / 48 kHz) and then i saw for a few moments that the slowdown has disappeared in these moments. I didn't play it for further but i will test it more.

I could also used the Wiiflow-modified version of WiiMednafen 0.3-SNAPSHOT in the Wiiflow Plugins Pack by @Tetsuo Shima, here it runs at an acceptable framerate but it has a heavy frameskip and it also goes a bit slow sometimes. So I prefer using mGBA Wii.

Greetings

That's interesting... some time ago I did the same with all my Dosbox .conf files. I noticed that when I used the Dosbox Log function it was warning me that there was a discrepancy with sound samples rate between my file (which was set at 22050) and SDL, which defaults at 32000. So after changing my mixer rate to 32000, I immediately noticed less audio stuttering in the games.
So now I'm wondering, is that possible that ALL wii homebrews should require a 32000 Hz sample rate?

 

[SaulFabre]

A new version of the official standalone Wii port of mGBA was released!

mGBA Wii 0.9.3 (Release date: December 17, 2021)

Changelog: (taken from official mGBA website)

A new release of mGBA, version 0.9.3 is available. This version is a bugfix release, which contains many important fixes. Importantly, random freezing with the OpenGL display driver, mostly when using fast forward, which had only partially been fixed in 0.9.2, should now be properly fixed. An extensive list of changes follows after the cut.

Emulation fixes:

• GB I/O: Fix incrementing SGB controller when P14 is low (fixes #2202)
• GB Video: Render SGB border when unmasking with ATTR/PAL_SET (fixes #2261)
• GBA SIO: Fix SI value for unattached MULTI mode
• GBA Video: Fix backdrop color if DISPCNT is first set to 0 (fixes #2260)
• GBA Video: Don’t iterate affine backgrounds when disabled
• GBA Video: Delay enabling backgrounds in bitmap modes (fixes #1668)

Other fixes:

• ARM Decoder: Fix decoding of lsl r0 (fixes #2349)
• FFmpeg: Don’t attempt to use YUV 4:2:0 for lossless videos (fixes #2084)
• GB Video: Fix memory leak when reseting SGB games
• GBA: Fix out of bounds ROM accesses on patched ROMs smaller than 32 MiB
• GBA: Fix maximum tile ID in caching for 256-color modes
• GBA Video: Fix cache updating with proxy and GL renderers
• Libretro: Fix crash when using Game Boy codes (fixes #2281)
• mGUI: Fix crash if autosave file can’t be opened (fixes #2268)
• Qt: Remove potentially deadlocking optimization
• Qt: Fix corrupted savestate and fatal error text
• Qt: Fix sprite compositing when sprite tiles go out of bounds (fixes #2348)

Misc:

• GBA I/O: Update KEYINPUT in internal I/O memory (fixes #2235)
• SDL: Use SDL_JoystickRumble where available
• Wii: Add adjustable gyroscope settings (closes #2245)

Get it now in the Downloads section. Binaries are available for Windows, Ubuntu, macOS, 3DS, Switch, Vita, and Wii, and the source code is available for all other platforms.

Direct download link for Wii: https://github.com/mgba-emu/mgba/releases/download/0.9.3/mGBA-0.9.3-wii.7z
Other downloads for other platforms are also avaliable here: https://mgba.io/downloads.html

 

[ber71]

Anyone has a working forwarder that supports usb HDD? Every wad I find can load from sdcard only.

 

[CoolMe]

Anyone has a working forwarder that supports usb HDD? Every wad I find can load from sdcard only.

Wad for mGBA? I've never seen one, maybe it's not possible,for the time being anyway.

 

[RunningSnakes]

@ber71 @CoolMe

I've made 3-4 that have been available for quite some time.

https://www.mediafire.com/folder/kup4smqh4aw45/RunningSnakes_Forwarders

https://www.mediafire.com/file/f7rjd5osmd9zjki/GBA_Forwarders.zip/file

 

[ber71]

@ber71 @CoolMe

I've made 3-4 that have been available for quite some time.

https://www.mediafire.com/folder/kup4smqh4aw45/RunningSnakes_Forwarders

https://www.mediafire.com/file/f7rjd5osmd9zjki/GBA_Forwarders.zip/file

Thank you. However, these launchers work great when the mGBA app is on the sdcard, but I get a blackscreen when the app is on the usb.
I've installed many other forwarders to other apps which do work with those apps on the usb, so it's not a disk problem.

 

[RunningSnakes]

I used to use USB only and can promise you they do work with USB. I will test again and get back soon.

 

[ber71]

Same here, usb only. Perhaps it's a vWii specific problem with this forwarder.

 

[RunningSnakes]

You are correct. They are no longer working. It is definitely mGBA and not a Wii problem. They worked up until 0.8.1 or 0.8.2 before I switched to SD. Using mGBA as a plug-in through WiiFliw Lite, they stopped working as of 0.6.2 using USB only. I will try to make a new forwarder to see if I can fix the black screen, in the meantime only SD or if you want to revert to 081-082.

 

[RunningSnakes]

No luck getting any forwarder to work using USB. You will have to revert back to 0.6.1 in order for USB to work correctly. I thought it worked to at least 0.8.1, but not so.

Making a mGBA 0.9.3 channel only is an alternative for USB only use which would be no problem. Other than that, above 0.6.1 SD is mandatory using forwarder channels.

If channel only is of interest, just let me know which of the forwarders you want switched.

 

[ber71]

No need for that, I'll use the HBC to launch mGBA. You've done more than enough.

 

[anonymysz]

How is the performance of GB/GBC games on mGBA when compared to gambatte these days?

 

[RunningSnakes]

How is the performance of GB/GBC games on mGBA when compared to gambatte these days?

I would say just average as for overall performance. There is some screen tearing on GBC and it still does not support borders or full screen or palettes for GB.

I went to RA mGBA for GB/GBC because IMO it covers everything better than anything else. It still has GBC screen tearing (Toy Story Racing) on some games i have tested, but there is no slowdown on any "Heavy" GBC games that still exists using Gambatte. It has SGB borders, palettes, full screen and the best compatibility (VBAGX may be equal). GBA speed on many Heavy games has been fixed, but some still lag.

Gambatte has been improved in almost every way (speed, palettes, other features), but borders are still not supported.

mGBA is still King when it comes to Advance games, but as for GB/GBC gaming and features it is clearly behind the others.

My preference for GBA would be...
1. mGBA
2. RA mGBA
3. EmGBA
4. VBAGX
5. WiiMednafen

GBC...
1. VBAGX
2. RA Gambatte
3. RA mGBA
4. Hexaeco GearBoy
5. WiiMednafen
6. EmGBA

GB...
1. RA mGBA
2. RA Gambatte
3. Hexaeco GearBoy
4. EmGBA
5. WiiMednafen
6. VBAGX

This is only my opinion. If EmGBA supported full screen it would be higher on both GB/GBC lists. If VBAGX could get an update for GB palette use, it would definitely move up. WiiMednafen GB is very solid but you have to manually change palettes.

As i mentioned though, if you only use ONE emulator, RA mGBA is #1.

 

[RunningSnakes]

mGBA updated a few weeks back to 0.10.0 and i had no idea. I check every so often and today downloaded and tested the latest release.

So scratch my previous rankings post. Now this great emulator supports full screen, palettes and SGB borders...the whole pizza.

New rankings...
GBA
1. mGBA
2. RA mGBA
3. EmGBA
4. VBAGX
5. WiiMednafen

GBC
1. VBAGX
2. RA Gambatte
3. mGBA
4. RA mGBA
5. Hexaeco GearBoy
6. WiiMednafen
7. EmGBA

GB
1. mGBA
2. RA mGBA
3. Gambatte
4. EmGBA
5. VBAGX
6. Hexaeco GearBoy
7. WiiMednafen

There is still screen tearing on some GBC games and very few heavy games are still not 60 fps. Aside from that, this emulator is nearly perfect.