Android Nexus 7 not good enough for DS emulation?

the_randomizer

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As some of you know, I have a Nexus 7 2012 model that I asked my brother to get me for Christmas, that, and a 2013 model is way out of his budget, no way I could have asked. That being said, I'm 100% convinced that, despite having a ARM Cortex-A9 Nvidia Tegra 3 T30L processor, a 416 MHz twelve-core Nvidia GeForce ULP GPU, plenty of RAM, etc, DraStic will not run properly or at full speed, with or without auto frameskip. Am I SOL to the point of never being able to fully enjoy DS emulation the tablet? I mean like, really? Or is it just bad optimization and not meant for 2012 tablets?

PPSSPP runs fine, ePSXe runs practically perfectly, the only emulators that don't are DS and N64. Really? Is there nothing I can do about these speed issues in DraStic?
 

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Tell me what DS games you have an issue with.
I am able to run and enjoy every game I throw at my tablet which is a kindle fire had (2013 model ) at full speed.
 
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Pleng

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It should be able to work fine. My JXD7800B managed to run Drastic full speed on NSB without any frame skip. Mario Kart DS only required a frame skip of 1.

Maybe certain games run better than others, though. Which ones are you trying to play?
 
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bobmcjr

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Just out of curiosity, is your tablet on Lollipop? If you rapidly tap the screen or rotate the device repeatedly, does it run a bit faster when you are doing either of those?
 
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the_randomizer

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How the hell did I not get notifications? :blink: What version is everyone using? I confess to...using a "special" version of DraStic because I hate the concept of paying for emulators. I don't know if having that is interrelated to the emulator not running properly. I will NOT use Android Lollipop because 4.2+ breaks all Wii remote support, period.

Can you try out Dolphin Emulator Alpha with a GCN game and tell me the speed/fps?

DS Emulators are probably poorly made...
Dolphin is only optimized for Tegra K1 processors, Tegra 3 doesn't have chance, maybe the Nexus just sucks for DS emulation as a whole.

Tell me what DS games you have an issue with.
I am able to run and enjoy every game I throw at my tablet which is a kindle fire had (2013 model ) at full speed.

But do they have that Cortex A9 Tegra 3 processor?

It should be able to work fine. My JXD7800B managed to run Drastic full speed on NSB without any frame skip. Mario Kart DS only required a frame skip of 1.

Maybe certain games run better than others, though. Which ones are you trying to play?

But the specs aren't quite the same as a Nexus 7 2012 are they? Dragon Quest IV, V and VI, Final Fantasy IV DS, none of them run smoothly at all, I have to set the frameskip to 1 or 2 and it's choppy as hell :( Maybe the Nexus 7 isn't meant for DS emulation.

I have a Nook Color (read: piece of shit) and it ran everything fullspeed on DraStic. A high-end device like the Nexus 7 should have no problem at all with DraStic.
Then why do games run like crap? I'm so very confused:blink: Do you have a screenshot and what version are you using? BTW, the version of DraStic I have is, well...

Could it be that it's not very optimized for tegra processors, either that's what I think it said before or I thinking of another emulator.

Maybe, but that would really really suck, as every other emulator (barring N64) runs very nicely on this device. Poor choice by Exophase.

Just out of curiosity, is your tablet on Lollipop? If you rapidly tap the screen or rotate the device repeatedly, does it run a bit faster when you are doing either of those?
No, and there's a technical reason I've dual booted OSes on here, 4.1.2 and 4.4.4. The reason is anything past 4.2 break s the Bluetooth support for Wii remotes, 5.0 doesn't have a chance in hell of supporting Wii remotes and I refuse to but another Bluetooth controller.

I don't know why you're having issues with it, I'm using the exact same tablet and it runs like a hot knife through butter for me...
What the deuce? Maybe I'm just cursed. What version do you have of DraStic? Could it be due to the fac that I'm using a "special" version of it?

Maybe I really am so doomed as to never be able to play it properly :( This really really sucks, I don't know what's going on.
 

Joe88

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This video was recorded via a screen recorder (which causes ADDITIONAL load) on a Nexus 7 2012, and it's perfectly smooth.
it doesnt say which nexus 7 it is
the video was posted 10 days after the 2013 model released so its possible it could be that version
 

the_randomizer

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it doesnt say which nexus 7 it is
the video was posted 10 days after the 2013 model released so its possible it could be that version


Damn it to hell, now I'm really screwed. This is just....I couldn't have asked for a 2013 model, they're bloody expensive, so yeah, I'm SOL. Surprise, surprise. I'm not exactly made of cash and I hate the concept of paying for grey software.
 

loco365

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What the deuce? Maybe I'm just cursed. What version do you have of DraStic? Could it be due to the fac that I'm using a "special" version of it?

More than likely. It's had a boatload of updates. I say the $7 or whatever it is that you pay for it is well worth it. If you're not willing to shovel over money for it, get the Google Opinion Rewards app. It gives you Google Play credits in exchange for completing anonymous surveys. Save up for a little while (Some surveys only give you $0.10, others give you a whole $1), and get it that way, for free.

In fact, I can run Pokemon Diamond semi-decently on a Samsung Galaxy Ace II X, which is a shitty device in general, only having about 680MB of ram and a single-core processor. If your Nexus 7 can't run it as well as my phone is, either your version is well out of date, or you have a lot of processes running and it's clogging up your device.
 
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the_randomizer

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More than likely. It's had a boatload of updates. I say the $7 or whatever it is that you pay for it is well worth it. If you're not willing to shovel over money for it, get the Google Opinion Rewards app. It gives you Google Play credits in exchange for completing anonymous surveys. Save up for a little while (Some surveys only give you $0.10, others give you a whole $1), and get it that way, for free.

In fact, I can run Pokemon Diamond semi-decently on a Samsung Galaxy Ace II X, which is a shitty device in general, only having about 680MB of ram and a single-core processor. If your Nexus 7 can't run it as well as my phone is, either your version is well out of date, or you have a lot of processes running and it's clogging up your device.


I have it rooted, dual boot OS, one is 4.4.4 and the other is 4.1.2 for reasons of being able to support Wii remote support (4.2 and above break BT code for Wii controllers for some stupid reason). That, and it's a cracked version like I said, that might explain a lot. What version of DraStic do you have? And besides, I don't have many things running in the background and no, I won't update to 5.0 for the reasons previously stated, I care too much about Wii remote support in 4.1.2, you know? Never thought of that survey thing, heh :P Thanks!

The hardware itself is definitely powerful enough :D
 

Judas18

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My Nexus 7 2012 runs DraStic perfectly fine, Black/White 2 runs nice and smoothly. The only problem I ever encountered was sometimes the sound was a little out of sync but it seems fine now.
 

the_randomizer

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My suggestion is to try retroarch

Hmm, I seem to have had issues setting up RetroArch, as the GUI seems weird on Android; there's an initial GUI then the actual RGUI that launches. For the life me, I can't seem to map the Classic Controller well for it, are there pre-configured control config files I can download, already set up so I don't have to map the controls, to save me time? You mean the DS emulator core in RetroArch, would the Nexus 7 be able to handle the core and is it optimized for Android?

My Nexus 7 2012 runs DraStic perfectly fine, Black/White 2 runs nice and smoothly. The only problem I ever encountered was sometimes the sound was a little out of sync but it seems fine now.

Yeah, methinks it's due to the fact I was using an outdated (and cracked) version of it, I just wish I didn't have to pay six dollars, that's all. Maybe I'm just cursed to never be able to enjoy mostly full speed DS emulation:wacko:
 

the_randomizer

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Just pay the $6.


Downloaded the demo, will try that out first to test the waters of the newest version. I cant't help but still assume it'll run like crap on the Nexus 7. Surely, a quad-core Cortex A9 processor with a Tegra 3 graphics chip (which has twelve cores), would be more than enough for DS emulation. This damn well better work :P Shouldn't matter what Android OS I use it on; I refuse to install 5.0 because it would be missing Wii Classic Controller support, 4.2+ breaks certain BT code for Wii controllers.
 

Judas18

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Hmm, I seem to have had issues setting up RetroArch, as the GUI seems weird on Android; there's an initial GUI then the actual RGUI that launches. For the life me, I can't seem to map the Classic Controller well for it, are there pre-configured control config files I can download, already set up so I don't have to map the controls, to save me time? You mean the DS emulator core in RetroArch, would the Nexus 7 be able to handle the core and is it optimized for Android?



Yeah, methinks it's due to the fact I was using an outdated (and cracked) version of it, I just wish I didn't have to pay six dollars, that's all. Maybe I'm just cursed to never be able to enjoy mostly full speed DS emulation:wacko:

Well I must say I paid for it 'cause I got bored of having to keep looking for the updates and since buying it I don't have the problems anymore.
 

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