Hacking NDSSFC/CATSFC revival

[Deleted member 319809]

Okay thank you Nebuleon.
I just backuped (is that a word?) the whole card inbefore i formatted it anyway.
I will format it again and try a fresh copy of CATSFC.

"backed up"

To see if it works, you don't need to put everything back on the card, just the DSTWO EOS files, CATSFC and a few games. Put everything back when you see that CATSFC works. That will be better for the microSD card and your patience.

 

[NeoCortex]

Thats what i was about todo, when i noticed:
panasonic fomatter gave me: https://www.dropbox.com/s/c1z4ntw0am4axr9/sd_format.jpg

//edit:
okay fresh install of dstwo eos and catsfc 1.34 works fine.
i'll will now copy my backup back to the card step by step and see what causes the problem.

Oh and thanks for the hint to TempGBA project, i'll try this for sure!

//edit 2:
okay backup is back in and everything still works fine.
only thing i left out is NDSSFC.
i noticed now CATSFC created /CATSFC/system/NDSSFC.cfg on it own, it never has done this before.
i guess it had something todo with having /NDSSFC/system/ and /CATSFC/system on the card at the same time.

 

[Deleted member 319809]

CATSFC 1.35, the Second GUI Loose Ends Edition, is available, with the following improvements:

* Incorporate BassAceGold's filesystem code from TempGBA beta 14. Fixes name corruption.
* 7 localisations completed. Thanks to Aeter, Boriar, Diego Liberal, SignZ and kukuasir.
* Add an option to play the game on the Lower Screen. (No Mouse support, touch == menu).
* Support for SYSTEM/GUI/uicolors.txt. Take the provided file as an example for theming.
* Add the year in the timestamp of newly-created saved states. Compatible with old ones.
* Fix a bug whereby touching a file activated the wrong one in game and cheat selectors.

A version of VatoLoco and Aeter's combined modified LEDS2-Orange skins should be released soon for CATSFC 1.35. Stay tuned! (On the LEDS2-Orange for CATSFC thread)

 

[nl255]

CATSFC 1.35, the Second GUI Loose Ends Edition, is available, with the following improvements:

* Incorporate BassAceGold's filesystem code from TempGBA beta 14. Fixes name corruption.
* 7 localisations completed. Thanks to Aeter, Boriar, Diego Liberal, SignZ and kukuasir.
* Add an option to play the game on the Lower Screen. (No Mouse support, touch == menu).
* Support for SYSTEM/GUI/uicolors.txt. Take the provided file as an example for theming.
* Add the year in the timestamp of newly-created saved states. Compatible with old ones.
* Fix a bug whereby touching a file activated the wrong one in game and cheat selectors.

A version of VatoLoco and Aeter's combined modified LEDS2-Orange skins should be released soon for CATSFC 1.35. Stay tuned! (On the LEDS2-Orange for CATSFC thread)

That's good. I was just about to report that CATSFC has (had) the same problems with save state filenames that TempGBA did as that kind of corruption is known to cause problems with the emulator being able to read any of it's files to the point of freezing on boot.

 

[Rydian]

See I'm not crazyyyy.

 

[profi200]

Nebuleon, can you add a option to turn off sound interpolation? I don't like that.
That would be very good

Greeting,
profi200

 

[njaynl]

Awesome emulator dude .... do you think in the near future starfox will run better? i also have some slow downs on secret of mana

 

[Deleted member 319809]

See I'm not crazyyyy.

I don't get what you mean by "See, I'm not crazy"

 

[Deleted member 319809]

Awesome emulator dude .... a) do you think in the near future starfox will run better?
b) i also have some slow downs on secret of mana

a) The DSTwo is only 396 MHz. Play it on your PC, Android device, etc. Or a GCW Zero, when they are available for purchase. (see video)
b) Ok.

(while I did optimise the core a bit, it is not meant to run all games super duper flawlessly on 396 MHz)

 

[Rydian]

I also had the MicroSD corruption with the save state names.

 

[Deleted member 319809]

I also had the MicroSD corruption with the save state names.

Oh, yeah.

Well, BassAceGold said that he found a pretty "damning" note in the source code, a "TODO" that basically said the coder (who made the SDK or incorporated libfat code, who knows) knew some stuff was missing but shipped the filesystem code anyway.

He fixed the Short File Name (SFN) allocation scheme for the long (LFN) ones, a bit of mixed case fuckery (if the name was < 8.3, it would use the LFN in its original case for the SFN, but SFNs are supposed to be upper case) and the duplication of SFNs in a directory.

So, yeah. If you have a card with corruption, please CHKDSK it, copy files off it and back onto it, and file a bug on GitHub if you experience any more corruption (with the assumption that you're still using the Panasonic SD Formatter) from now on.

 

[vanwavanwa]

@Nebuleon sorry to bother you, but I need a bit of help :/

Firstly, thank you very much for the work on this emu! Really thank you SO much

Now I am having the same problem nightwalkerxx had:

not working could it possibly be from formatting the 64gb sdxc into fat32?
but the original snes emu that was on the supercard site worked fine

****finally got it working reformatted one more time, works flawlessly now

I can't format a 64gb SDXC from exFAT to FAT using the Panasonic SD formatter, and when I use the other formatter I used to make it FAT in the first place then the emulator doesn't work....(white screen bottom black screen top)

Nightwalkerxx how did you fix this? @Nebuleon if you know? Anyone please help?

 

[Deleted member 319809]

@Nebuleon sorry to bother you, but I need a bit of help :/

Firstly, thank you very much for the work on this emu! Really thank you SO much

Now I am having the same problem nightwalkerxx had: I can't format a 64gb SDXC from exFAT to FAT using the Panasonic SD formatter, and when I use the other formatter I used to make it FAT in the first place then the emulator doesn't work....(white screen bottom black screen top)

Nightwalkerxx how did you fix this? @Nebuleon if you know? Anyone please help?

You removed the quote source information, so now Nightwalkerxx won't have gotten a notification that you asked a question that s/he could answer. (You will get one for this post, because I preserved that information.)

Try the following:
a) Format the microSD card as exFAT with the Panasonic SD Formatter and its Size Adjustment option set to On.
b) Following 'a', enter a command prompt (on Vista+, type 'cmd' in the Start Menu; otherwise, Applications/Accessories/Command Prompt) and type:

format <Drive:> /a:64k /fs:fat32

Step 'a' should make the partition start at the right place, and step 'b' would make it FAT32 instead of exFAT, but with huge allocation units (/a:64k).

I have not personally tested this, or even the support for 64 GiB microSD cards in CATSFC and TempGBA, as I do not have a 64 GiB microSD card.

 

[vanwavanwa]

You removed the quote source information, so now Nightwalkerxx won't have gotten a notification that you asked a question that s/he could answer. (You will get one for this post, because I preserved that information.)

Try the following:
a) Format the microSD card as exFAT with the Panasonic SD Formatter and its Size Adjustment option set to On.
b) Following 'a', enter a command prompt (on Vista+, type 'cmd' in the Start Menu; otherwise, Applications/Accessories/Command Prompt) and type:

format <Drive:> /a:64k /fs:fat32

Step 'a' should make the partition start at the right place, and step 'b' would make it FAT32 instead of exFAT, but with huge allocation units (/a:64k).

I have not personally tested this, or even the support for 64 GiB microSD cards in CATSFC and TempGBA, as I do not have a 64 GiB microSD card.

Thank you very much, it didn't go as smoothly as I would have liked haha, basically I dunno what exactly causes this but:

1. I formatted using the Panasonic SD program like you stated with the size adjustment option on (full format if that matters)

2. The "format <drive:>" command would not work kept saying access denied (might be a way around this but i tried everything uac off, admin, even used process explorer to kill anything using the sd card wouldn't let me) so on to #3

3. Used the gbatemp guide found here and got the card back to fat32, now the emulator works.

I think it has something to do with having to use the Panasonic program first and like you said "make the partition start at the right place" but it didn't work the first time around, so if anyone has similar probs with a 64gb card you might have to do it twice? :/ I dunno but it works finally!

Surprisingly Mario RPG isn't running too slow not as slow as my other class 2 card, it's pretty playable. The lag almost feels like I might be "doing too much" on a computer and trying to play a fps, but considering it's a RPG I might just go ahead and play through it finally (my 64gb card is a class 10 i think? I dunno if that is making the diff but it's running a hell of a lot smoother than before)

So yeah, thank you very much Nebuleon and thought I would leave my "findings"

 

[Deleted member 319809]

<snip>

Surprisingly Mario RPG isn't running too slow not as slow as my other class 2 card, it's pretty playable. The lag almost feels like I might be "doing too much" on a computer and trying to play a fps, but considering it's a RPG I might just go ahead and play through it finally (my 64gb card is a class 10 i think? I dunno if that is making the diff but it's running a hell of a lot smoother than before)

So yeah, thank you very much Nebuleon and thought I would leave my "findings"

Thanks! That way I have something to refer to if another user has this same problem, and it's near the end of the thread so it'll be quite visible right now.

The entire game is loaded into the DSTwo's RAM (32 megs) before you start playing, so the card speed doesn't help nor hinder, except the duration of the "Loading game..." screen. You might just be comparing CATSFC with NDSSFC or an earlier version of CATSFC than 1.28; NDSSFC was pretty bad all around, and CATSFC 1.27- have a pretty bad slowdown caused by audio output.

 

[vanwavanwa]

Thanks! That way I have something to refer to if another user has this same problem, and it's near the end of the thread so it'll be quite visible right now.

The entire game is loaded into the DSTwo's RAM (32 megs) before you start playing, so the card speed doesn't help nor hinder, except the duration of the "Loading game..." screen. You might just be comparing CATSFC with NDSSFC or an earlier version of CATSFC than 1.28; NDSSFC was pretty bad all around, and CATSFC 1.27- have a pretty bad slowdown caused by audio output.

Ah ok didn't know it was done that way hehehe.

Having another slight problem not really related to the SNES emu, hate to derail, but thought others should know the method I explained in the previous post now has left my .NDS games loading very sluggishly. I can't put my finger on it, takes a good 20+ seconds to load anything now before the purple/pink DSTWO splash shows and then once in the game it works great no slowdown....hmmm wonder what's going on, will keep you guys updated if I figure it out

 

[Deleted member 319809]

Ah ok didn't know it was done that way hehehe.

Having another slight problem not really related to the SNES emu, hate to derail, but thought others should know the method I explained in the previous post now has left my .NDS games loading very sluggishly. I can't put my finger on it, takes a good 20+ seconds to load anything now before the purple/pink DSTWO splash shows and then once in the game it works great no slowdown....hmmm wonder what's going on, will keep you guys updated if I figure it out

It is entirely possible that the DSTwo does not really support 64 GiB cards that well, having ancient versions of everything including libnds and libfat to access the card in DS mode.

In other words, more proof that the DSTwo SDK sucks.

 

[vanwavanwa]

It is entirely possible that the DSTwo does not really support 64 GiB cards that well, having ancient versions of everything including libnds and libfat to access the card in DS mode.

In other words, more proof that the DSTwo SDK sucks.

Hehe it's quite possible, kind of regret not just getting 32gb HOWEVER: I formatted "quick" with windows native formatter, then did a "FULL" windows format, then put everything back on slowly this time (first time i dumped like 30+ gigs on the card at once took forever to transfer), and then tested the NDS roms, worked good, put your SNES emu back on, and it's also working now no prob.

Soooo, not really sure what the prob was I guess like Night it just randomly fixes itself after a few formats?

Thanks for all the help tho Nebuleon, and ty again for all your hard work!

 

[Deleted member 319809]

Hehe it's quite possible, kind of regret not just getting 32gb HOWEVER: I formatted "quick" with windows native formatter, then did a "FULL" windows format, then put everything back on slowly this time (first time i dumped like 30+ gigs on the card at once took forever to transfer), and then tested the NDS roms, worked good, put your SNES emu back on, and it's also working now no prob.

a) Soooo, not really sure what the prob was I guess like Night it just randomly fixes itself after a few formats?

b) Thanks for all the help tho Nebuleon, and ty again for all your hard work!

a) Perhaps, I have no real idea here.

b) You're welcome

 

[Metoroid0]

Wow SNES revival to?!

Must try this one...


EDIT: Again, as with TempGBA the best settings are 1 frame-skip, NO "screen smoothing" and CPU @ 396MHz.
Speed of emulation with these settings are great, but not as smooth as 0FS

If i set 0 frame-skip it's not like in TempGBA where scrolling is not smooth, just the opposite, it's smooth but runs in Slow motion even @ 396MHz

"[-] keep up with the game" option is worst, it's not as smooth as 1 frame-skip


In any case, i noticed that "screen smoothing" is impacting emulator performances a lot, no matter what the other settings are