Super Retro-Cade: OFW users

[OMC1979]

A lot of people have gotten here to mod this console that was quite a surprise among all these mini consoles and wanabes, Putting the ethics of the use of certain emulators aside, the console has a lot of potential for retro gaming even with the stock official firmware. I know a lot of owners would like to have a better experience with it without voiding their warranties or bricking their units by trying one of the CFWs out there, so, I've decided to open this thread to share my findings and maybe get even more findings from other users to get the best out of this little console without the hassle that hacking might be for some people. Before starting, I don't guarantee that this works with version 1.0 (the one with Cobra Command), this has been tested with version 1.1.

For starters: by creating the folder "retrobit games" in the root directory of an SD card, the system will search for the contents inside it and, depending on what the extension of the files is, an emulator will be loaded with the selected roms.

Emulators:
*MAME4droid. Specifically, version 0.139u1. You need the romsets for this version, most of them haven't changed in respect to the latest version and can be rebuilt using a ROM utility.
*FCEUX. This is capable of running most of the NES/Famicom roms and FDS disk images with a very good level of compatibility and emulation, including extra sound.
*SNES9x 2010: Super Nintendo emulator.
*VBA Next: Game Boy Advance emulator. (very slow).
*mGBA: Multiple Nintendo portable emulator with great compatibility and speed. Supports GB, GB Color, GB Advance. It also supports DS but seems like there's not enough memory to run them.
*Genesis Plus GX: Sega 8-bit and 16-bit emulator. Supports SG-1000, Master System, Game Gear, MD/Genesis, Sega CD and 32X. Great emulation with great sound quality and speed.
*Mednafen Supergrafx: PC-Engine/TG-16 emulator. Great compatibility and speed.

The system finds and shows the following file types:
.PNG, .ZIP, .NES, .SFC, .GB, .GBA, .BIN, .GG, .PCE, .SM

Each file type triggers an specific function:
*.PNG: Thumbnail files
*.ZIP: MAME emulator
*.NES: FCEUX
*.SFC: SNES9x
*.GB: mGBA
*.GBA: VBA Next
*.BIN, *.GG: Genesis Plus GX
*.PCE: Mednafen Supergrafx
*.SM: Unknown (firmware update?)

And this is where the qwirks begin:
*.PNG files can take a lot of memory, is recommended that small files should be used. In order to link them with a file, it has to have the same name of the ROM, plus the word "game" (i.e. megaman.zip, megamangame.png)
*Famicom Disk System images: the fds files have to have the NES extension to run. The BIOS rom is also required
*Game Boy Color and GB Advance in mGBA: All the roms have to have the GB extension, if GBA extension is used, VBA Next will start instead and is really slow.
*SG-1000 and Master System games: The .GG extension must be used, however, GPGX does not automatically choose the proper emulation for all games, only a few go directly to SG-1000 mode or SMS mode.
*Genesis, Sega CD and 32X: All ROMS have to have the .BIN extension. Running the BIOS of one of the CD systems will enable CD-ROM emulation (more details later). At this moment, I have not been able to run any 32X roms, however, since SVP Virtua Racing performs very slowly, 32X emulation is probably slow as well.
*PC Engine and SuperGrafx. All have to have the PCE extension. I have not been able to run games from CD-ROM images.

This is just the beginning. With this info you will be able to test roms for a quick play. There's more you can do with it but that will be for another moment, there are many ways to customize the menu and each emulator has it own capabilities and there are some useful workarounds to certain limitations. Have fun!

 

[OMC1979]

Small update:
Things to consider when using (and sticking) with the OFW:
CONS:
*The included controllers don't have good rubber membranes, it is recommended to replace them or get another 6 button controller (the controller itself is an iNNEXT SNES Retro USB clone, so any other clone would do).
*Only gamepads can be used, mice and keyboards have crippled functionality. Analog stick functionality is also limited.
*There's sound delay for all emulators. The delay is not consistant, so it can be unnoticeable in most situations. MAME is the one that shows the least delay.
*MAME has sound and stability issues related to memory.
*MAME roms that are beyond the 60 MB mark won't run, it appears to be a RAM limitation.
*MAME compatibility is big, however, the performance of quite a few drivers is very poor, redering them unplayable.
*NES games screen is cut around the overscan area. Most games don't use this area, though; so most are perfectly playable.
*SGB emulation is not enabled, no SGB paks will have frames or colors.
*Avenue Pad 6 emulation is not enabled, so Street Fighter II and other PC Engine games can only be played with a two-button layout. Most games don't use pads with more than 2 buttons, so it isn't much of an issue.
*When playing Sega CD games, there's no way to change the disc image on the fly and only 3-button pads are enabled at all times.
*While most games run at full speed, some SNES and GBA games can have some frameskip
PROS:
*Ease of use. Even when used for purposes beyond those intended, it stays pretty much plug and play.
*USB controllers with a good compatibilty with third party controllers.
*Small form factor
*Good overall performance.
*Capable of reading SD cards up to 256 GB and eXFAT format.

 

[galaxian101]

Small update:
Things to consider when using (and sticking) with the OFW:
CONS:
*The included controllers don't have good rubber membranes, it is recommended to replace them or get another 6 button controller (the controller itself is an iNNEXT SNES Retro USB clone, so any other clone would do).
*Only gamepads can be used, mice and keyboards have crippled functionality. Analog stick functionality is also limited.
*There's sound delay for all emulators. The delay is not consistant, so it can be unnoticeable in most situations. MAME is the one that shows the least delay.
*MAME has sound and stability issues related to memory.
*MAME roms that are beyond the 60 MB mark won't run, it appears to be a RAM limitation.
*MAME compatibility is big, however, the performance of quite a few drivers is very poor, redering them unplayable.
*NES games screen is cut around the overscan area. Most games don't use this area, though; so most are perfectly playable.
*SGB emulation is not enabled, no SGB paks will have frames or colors.
*Avenue Pad 6 emulation is not enabled, so Street Fighter II and other PC Engine games can only be played with a two-button layout. Most games don't use pads with more than 2 buttons, so it isn't much of an issue.
*When playing Sega CD games, there's no way to change the disc image on the fly and only 3-button pads are enabled at all times.
*While most games run at full speed, some SNES and GBA games can have some frameskip
PROS:
*Ease of use. Even when used for purposes beyond those intended, it stays pretty much plug and play.
*USB controllers with a good compatibilty with third party controllers.
*Small form factor
*Good overall performance.
*Capable of reading SD cards up to 256 GB and eXFAT format.

This is a nice idea as I like these super retro-cades very much as-is.
I also have a 1.0 and a 1.1 model and i'm keeping them both as stock units - well, for now at least lol.
Here are my thoughts on both versions of the console.

imo the 1.0 performs well as a low end MAME enabled easy to adapt SD card compat mini console - with CPS games working well. Also 1.0 version ability to play SNES/MD title - also games from various regions work well and mostly fast and accurate emulation.
Also NES & GB games worked on 1.0 but I couldnt get Sega Master System or GBA to work, also not tried any PCEngine/TG16 as don't have any back ups for those.
Overall 1.0 ver. is a good Mini type console for above applications. The controllers are pretty rubish - but can be 'pad hacked' to make a decent arcade stick with a donor arcade stick / large pad, just a small amount of handiwork and some basic soldering skills.
It is also compatible with the Mayflash PS1/PS2 and PC USB arcade stick - enabling 6 buttons to be reconfigured if software allows ie. sfc SF2 etc. , that is what I use for both 1.0 &1.1 - the stock stick, pcb & jstick with modded buttons replaced with sanwa clones.

The 1.1 version does improve on performance with MAME and also maybe a little with consoles - mainly added improvements with more console compatibility and image filter smoothing optional - noticable improvements to frame rates on MAME. CPS2 games run much better and games like XMvsSF, Darkstalkers, the three SFZero's and MvsCap run very well.
Note : Many NeoGeo also games run a bit smoother on here compared to the 1.0, but they are still far from 'perfect' and will be sticking to my AES and MVS for those games. Need to try some PCE / SuperGrafx games on this to review their performance.

Overall 1.1 is a nice update - better stock games, and added performance - if you got the first 1.0 and only want to play the stock games (especially just the CPS titles) and some SFC and Genesis games then maybe its not such big deal to upgrade.
The 1.1 features graphic filer smoothing on/off - the smoothing is fixed on 1.0 but tbh on my large plasma, coupled with a scan gen the option of leaving this smoothing filter on actually looks better - imo.
Suppose on a smaller screen the sharper option looks better.
I do like the added versatility and improvements of 1.1 version - but for a SFC/SNES/Genesis mini console the 1.0 is fine.

 

[Chris69]

Small update:
Things to consider when using (and sticking) with the OFW:
CONS:
*The included controllers don't have good rubber membranes, it is recommended to replace them or get another 6 button controller (the controller itself is an iNNEXT SNES Retro USB clone, so any other clone would do).
*Only gamepads can be used, mice and keyboards have crippled functionality. Analog stick functionality is also limited.
*There's sound delay for all emulators. The delay is not consistant, so it can be unnoticeable in most situations. MAME is the one that shows the least delay.
*MAME has sound and stability issues related to memory.
*MAME roms that are beyond the 60 MB mark won't run, it appears to be a RAM limitation.
*MAME compatibility is big, however, the performance of quite a few drivers is very poor, redering them unplayable.
*NES games screen is cut around the overscan area. Most games don't use this area, though; so most are perfectly playable.
*SGB emulation is not enabled, no SGB paks will have frames or colors.
*Avenue Pad 6 emulation is not enabled, so Street Fighter II and other PC Engine games can only be played with a two-button layout. Most games don't use pads with more than 2 buttons, so it isn't much of an issue.
*When playing Sega CD games, there's no way to change the disc image on the fly and only 3-button pads are enabled at all times.
*While most games run at full speed, some SNES and GBA games can have some frameskip
PROS:
*Ease of use. Even when used for purposes beyond those intended, it stays pretty much plug and play.
*USB controllers with a good compatibilty with third party controllers.
*Small form factor
*Good overall performance.
*Capable of reading SD cards up to 256 GB and eXFAT format.

Hi thanks for all the above - information very useful. The Super Retrocade has just been released in the UK and I am struggling to get any Mame roms to work on the SD card. I am using roms as you suggested MAME4droid 0.139u1 but when I click on them they just flash and nothing happens. I am a total newbie so any help would be much appreciated.

 

[mackay81]

im having same problem just flashes when i load a game

 

[Chris69]

im having same problem just flashes when i load a game

[I think you may be the same guy from YouTube] So we have discovered the only way to get Arcade roms to run on the UK version (at the moment) is to use the custom firmware posted on this site. Otherwise it's a return of unit and buy the US version. You do lose the second joystick port with the roms loading from there and with the custom firmware running from SD card slot. There are plenty of two player games that can be run from SD with the original firmware and that is personally enough for me.

Thanks to WD_GASTER2 who posted the custom firmware on here as otherwise UK players would be out of the loop as far as Arcade games go on this box.

 

[OMC1979]

I'm sorry for not updating as often as I intended to.
For those new adopters, there's a wireless solution for it. The 8BitDo USB adapter for PS Classic can be used with it. You have to set it to Genesis/MD mini mode by pressing UP+LEFT+Select. The only problem is that you will get scrambled buttons, X goes to L, Y to X, A to Y and L to A. Start, Select, R and B stay in the same place.

I've asked 8BitDo for a new mode that would keep the original arrangement for months but there hasn't been any firmware updates yet (though they do promise there will be future updates for it, unlike with the GBros adapter).

By the way, you can also use a USB stick on controller 2 in the American version. It will run the games but will always fail at saving and loading states, it will try to do it from the SD.

It's a shame that the British version had the "add your own roms" feature removed. You should get the American 1.1 instead, you can still get them from Amazon new and used (probably cheaper than a new Euro one).

 

[sateran]

I have got the American Version and the possibility to add ROMs is not there.

When you insert the SD Card, it does not detect it. With correct file system and folder names. Tried exFAT and FAT32 but it does not popup the SD card menu. Tried different SD with no luck. All cards successfully detected in Windows.

I maybe doing something wrong but I doubted it.

How do you tell which version it is? It was bought from Amazon USA and sold by Amazon's directly last week.

Hope this helps.

 

[OMC1979]

I have got the American Version and the possibility to add ROMs is not there.

When you insert the SD Card, it does not detect it. With correct file system and folder names. Tried exFAT and FAT32 but it does not popup the SD card menu. Tried different SD with no luck. All cards successfully detected in Windows.

I maybe doing something wrong but I doubted it.

How do you tell which version it is? It was bought from Amazon USA and sold by Amazon's directly last week.

Hope this helps.

Sorry for the late response.
The SD Card slot has some problems, at least I found some as well at the beginning, It's very prone to collect dust and the connection can fail, Some contact cleaner can do the trick, as well as inserting and ejecting several times with the power off. A message asking you if you want to use local storage or SD card must appear. If you don't get the message or no games appear after the SD card was selected but you can still write savestates in it, there is a chance that they have replenished the stock with fixed firmware even in the US. The box should say version 1.1 and not have Cobra Command in it.

Need to try some PCE / SuperGrafx games on this to review their performance.

So far, the only PCE / SuperGrafx game that suffers from frameskip is Daimakaimura, the rest perform quite well.

 

[Gekido_Ken]

Hello. I have the same problem too. I added games to the SD and downloaded a full package for Super Retrocade, but only the consoles work. Mame's zip roms cause the screen to flash black for a moment but don't load. I don't know how to tell if the console is British or US, but I'm afraid to change firmware, I wouldn't want to lose the use of the second pad. What do you advise me to do?

Thanks!

 

[OMC1979]

Hello. I have the same problem too. I added games to the SD and downloaded a full package for Super Retrocade, but only the consoles work. Mame's zip roms cause the screen to flash black for a moment but don't load. I don't know how to tell if the console is British or US, but I'm afraid to change firmware, I wouldn't want to lose the use of the second pad. What do you advise me to do?

Thanks!

I don't know first hand the problem with the recently released UK version, so I can't tell the difference.
About the mame roms problem, you must check some things: the romset has to be for version 0.139u1 and they have to be merged roms, if you want to play a "clone" romset, the archive containing the files must also have the roms for the parent set or the parent set must be in the same directory. For an instance, if you want to play Ajax (Japan), the archive must be named ajaxj.zip and should have these files inside:
63s241.j11
770_f03.f16
770_f04.g16
770_l01.n11
770_l02.n12
770_l05.i16
770c07
770c08
770c09
770c10
770c11
770c12
770c13
Files in bold come from the parent set, if it only contains those exclusive to the set (the ones in italics), the game won't run. Games that also need a BIOS set (like the Neo Geo or PlayChoice-10) also need to have the BIOS files inside them or the BIOS romset archive in the same folder. There are certain roms that crash because they conflict with an internal name for other game. megaman.zip and karnov.zip won't run, the first one must conflict with the name for one of the included Megaman games and maybe they were going to include Karnov (probably until they found out that G-Mode doesn't have that portion of Data East, probably the same problem with Cobra Command).

 

[KAOOS]

Hello,

i am new in this forum, hello to everybode here!! :-)

I did buy the EU-Version of this console, but have the same issues with the mame roms.
But i tried some other:
GBA MKA runs, but very slow
GB Roms run, but some slow
Also i saw, that you can use USB2 as a storage option, and load this roms.
My console is made in 10/20, and has no Version Sticker anywhere, but the Option smoothing on/off is there.

 

[OMC1979]

Hello,

i am new in this forum, hello to everybode here!! :-)

I did buy the EU-Version of this console, but have the same issues with the mame roms.
But i tried some other:
GBA MKA runs, but very slow
GB Roms run, but some slow
Also i saw, that you can use USB2 as a storage option, and load this roms.
My console is made in 10/20, and has no Version Sticker anywhere, but the Option smoothing on/off is there.

After reading the latest posts, I'm afraid Retro-bit has removed the "feature" in recently manufactured units. I got mine in 2018 and was manufactured in April of that year.

In the version I have, GBA support is given by two different emulators: mGBA and VBA Next, If you leave the .gba extension, VBA Next is triggered and it's very slow. If you change the extension to .gb, mGBA will run the game and it has a good speed for most games, some have frameskip but can still be played.

I can also use USB sticks from the controller ports. In the version I have, roms run from it but you can't have savestates except for those in the internal memory as the system will try to write to the SD card and not the USB stick.

 

[Espiox]

The op says that it's possible to run Mega CD games, but how do you go about this? I ran the BIOS but how do I get it to run a game from there?

EDIT: Nevermind, I worked it out.

 

[atryko72]

The op says that it's possible to run Mega CD games, but how do you go about this? I ran the BIOS but how do I get it to run a game from there?

EDIT: Nevermind, I worked it out.

How did you get this to work? I'm lost trying to get Sega CD or Mega CD games to run?