NeoGeo topic

[Threepwood]

Okay, I did some more testing and the core is just still glitchy on boot. The free Universe BIOS will sometimes automatically boot into console mode, although the core is set to MVS and then the insert-coin-button won't work and sometimes there is no sound. A soft reboot usually fixes this. When Universe BIOS automatically boots in arcade-mode all works fine.

All files are from this purchased ROM-Collection (https://www.humblebundle.com/store/neog ... collection):

000-lo.lo: SHA-1 = 5992277DEBADEB64D1C1C64B0A92D9293EAF7E4A
sfix.sfix: SHA-1 = FD4A618CDCDBF849374F0A50DD8EFE9DBAB706C3

I tried Metal Slug 1 and 2 so far and combined the files from the collection's mslug.zip and mslug2.zip as per https://www.arcade-projects.com/ howto using their python-script and a hex-editor (Metal Slug needs the prom split at 1MB and the two resulting files combined in reverse order, thanks to paulbnl again for the hint):

Checksums (SHA-1) of resulting files in folder mslug:
crom0 = 4B69F4926766543AE289546569B27C80A82D53D5
m1rom = FD75BD15AED30266A8B3775F276F997AF57D1C06
prom = 411D5560F4F4C13862EDF72EE42CC5F3CE083778
srom = 550B53628DAEC9F1E1E11A398854092D90F9505A
vroma0 = D03F0C513CF5B76AE6193F619EB0B08D435E243A

Checksums (SHA-1) of resulting files in folder mslug2:
crom0 = 9BB1DA87524326DD9FDFA73F202F09411F65F6C5
m1rom = F8A1551CEBCB91E416F30F50581FEED7F72899E9
prom = 322E503E8323E8516861B58270311AC853104408
srom = 2DC38B7DFD3FF14F64D5C0733C510B6BB8C692D0
vroma0 = DD60BF9EC16AF8718D698EFFB1EB48CB928FE267

and the free Universe-Bios from http://unibios.free.fr/:
uni-bios.rom 3.3: SHA-1 = 0AD92EFB0C2338426635E0159D1F60B4473D0785

My romsets.xml looks like this:

Code: Select all

<romsets>
	<romset name="mslug" pcm="1" altname="Metal Slug - Super Vehicle-001" publisher="Nazca" year="1996"/>
	<romset name="mslug2" pcm="1" altname="Metal Slug 2 - Super Vehicle-001-II" publisher="SNK" year="1998"/>
</romsets>

No other files were used and all of them are either free (UNI-BIOS) or are the result of simply combining and renaming the files from the purchased 25th Anniversary Collection. Besides this bootup glitch where Arcade mode sometimes works, sometimes not, this is amazing. The games feel super snappy and play great with an 8bitdo M30 (the SEGAish wireless six-button gamepad).

I will try the other games from that collection over the next days.

[ShyBry]

Okay, I did some more testing and the core is just still glitchy on boot. The free Universe BIOS will sometimes automatically boot into console mode, although the core is set to MVS and then the insert-coin-button won't work. A soft reboot usually fixes this, but the MiSTer needs to be rebooted to fix it. When Universe BIOS automatically boots in arcade-mode all works fine.

You can use A+B+C on startup to enter the unibios menu and pick which region & mode you want. It's not consistently remembering choices for me, but worst case you can pick it each startup if necessary. You might want the MiSTer mode to be AES (console) regardless of unibios mode so that soft dip settings show in the unibios menu (unless there's another way to set them I'm not sure about).

I also converted the Mteal Slug Humble Bundle download, and have the same checksums as you, but I get sound. Though there's no sound during the attract sequence in arcade mode, but there's sound at the Neo Geo logo, and sound after the attract sequence (and even sound in the attract sequence in unibios console mode). Except certain things sound wrong. The insert-coin sound, point collectable pickups (coins, fish, etc.), the "go!" sound... all seem pitched too high. If you're getting no sound at all... Just a wild guess, have you tried changing hdmi_audio_96k ini settings?

Metal Slug has a 2MB prom. I found out you need to reverse the top and bottom 1MB half and then it works.

https://github.com/mamedev/mame/blob/ma ... neogeo.xml gives a hint that some of the Mame (and Humble) ROMs need reversing; for mslug it contains

Code: Select all

<dataarea name="maincpu" width="16" endianness="big" size="0x200000">
	<rom loadflag="load16_word_swap" name="201-p1.p1" offset="0x100000" size="0x100000" crc="08d8daa5" sha1="b888993dbb7e9f0a28a01d7d2e1da00ef9cf6f38" />   <!-- TC5316200 -->
	<rom size="0x100000" offset="0x000000" loadflag="continue" />
</dataarea>

which I'm interpreting as "use the 0x100000 bytes at offset 0x100000 first, then the 0x100000 bytes at offset 0x000000 second". Maybe it would be feasible to use this xml file to make a script for conversion...

Another minor thing with Metal Slug, unibios region=USA, mode=arcade shows some graphical corruption after the "Neo Geo" logo... the winners don't use drugs screen maybe? Region=Europe doesn't show this.

[Piacenti]

Okay, I did some more testing and the core is just still glitchy on boot. The free Universe BIOS will sometimes automatically boot into console mode, although the core is set to MVS and then the insert-coin-button won't work and sometimes there is no sound. A soft reboot usually fixes this. When Universe BIOS automatically boots in arcade-mode all works fine.

All files are from this purchased ROM-Collection (https://www.humblebundle.com/store/neog ... collection):

000-lo.lo: SHA-1 = 5992277DEBADEB64D1C1C64B0A92D9293EAF7E4A
sfix.sfix: SHA-1 = FD4A618CDCDBF849374F0A50DD8EFE9DBAB706C3

I tried Metal Slug 1 and 2 so far and combined the files from the collection's mslug.zip and mslug2.zip as per https://www.arcade-projects.com/ howto using their python-script and a hex-editor (Metal Slug needs the prom split at 1MB and the two resulting files combined in reverse order, thanks to paulbnl again for the hint):

Checksums (SHA-1) of resulting files in folder mslug:
crom0 = 4B69F4926766543AE289546569B27C80A82D53D5
m1rom = FD75BD15AED30266A8B3775F276F997AF57D1C06
prom = 411D5560F4F4C13862EDF72EE42CC5F3CE083778
srom = 550B53628DAEC9F1E1E11A398854092D90F9505A
vroma0 = D03F0C513CF5B76AE6193F619EB0B08D435E243A

Checksums (SHA-1) of resulting files in folder mslug2:
crom0 = 9BB1DA87524326DD9FDFA73F202F09411F65F6C5
m1rom = F8A1551CEBCB91E416F30F50581FEED7F72899E9
prom = 322E503E8323E8516861B58270311AC853104408
srom = 2DC38B7DFD3FF14F64D5C0733C510B6BB8C692D0
vroma0 = DD60BF9EC16AF8718D698EFFB1EB48CB928FE267

and the free Universe-Bios from http://unibios.free.fr/:
uni-bios.rom 3.3: SHA-1 = 0AD92EFB0C2338426635E0159D1F60B4473D0785

My romsets.xml looks like this:

Code: Select all

<romsets>
	<romset name="mslug" pcm="1" altname="Metal Slug - Super Vehicle-001" publisher="Nazca" year="1996"/>
	<romset name="mslug2" pcm="1" altname="Metal Slug 2 - Super Vehicle-001-II" publisher="SNK" year="1998"/>
</romsets>

No other files were used and all of them are either free (UNI-BIOS) or are the result of simply combining and renaming the files from the purchased 25th Anniversary Collection. Besides this bootup glitch where Arcade mode sometimes works, sometimes not, this is amazing. The games feel super snappy and play great with an 8bitdo M30 (the SEGAish wireless six-button gamepad).

I will try the other games from that collection over the next days.

I have this unibios boot problem also, it’s minor, probably will get fixed soon.

[Sprogus]

I've been playing around with this core for a while few hours now and I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.

I'm using uni-bios 3.3 and using the darksoft rom pack. When booting a rom, I'll either get a white screen or an exception error handling screen.

In addition to using the uni-bios I have tried sp-s2.sp1 (MVS) and neo-epo.sp1 (AES). Same sort of results.

Is there something I'm supposed to do with the roms before they will load? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[ZEENPR]

Sorry my english is not very good.

I'm very happy as a that the core was released. The Neo Geo is favorite console so I'm happy that I been patronizing Jotego, Furtek and Sorgelig. I hope the x68000 will get a new more compatible core.

I have a problem with this core.

I have all the files required in the Neo Geo folder And downloaded the Neo Geo Roll-Up BETA 3.1 2019-03-04 and extracted the games. For some reason when I try to open the game Roms I only see the games folders empty.

[Sprogus]

Sorry my english is not very good.

I'm very happy as a that the core was released. The Neo Geo is favorite console so I'm happy that I been patronizing Jotego, Furtek and Sorgelig. I hope the x68000 will get a new more compatible core.

I have a problem with this core.

I have all the files required in the Neo Geo folder And downloaded the Neo Geo Roll-Up BETA 3.1 2019-03-04 and extracted the games. For some reason when I try to open the game Roms I only see the games folders empty.

Hey. The Neogeo folder needs to be on the root of the SD card and you need the romset.xml file in the neogeo folder.

When downloading the romset.xml folder, you need to select it from github>Right click on raw and save as. You can't save as from the romset.xml link.

[Lightwave]

Sorry my english is not very good.

I'm very happy as a that the core was released. The Neo Geo is favorite console so I'm happy that I been patronizing Jotego, Furtek and Sorgelig. I hope the x68000 will get a new more compatible core.

I have a problem with this core.

I have all the files required in the Neo Geo folder And downloaded the Neo Geo Roll-Up BETA 3.1 2019-03-04 and extracted the games. For some reason when I try to open the game Roms I only see the games folders empty.

did you add romsets.xml to the NEOGEO folder?

[ZEENPR]

Yes.

Sorry my english is not very good.

I'm very happy as a that the core was released. The Neo Geo is favorite console so I'm happy that I been patronizing Jotego, Furtek and Sorgelig. I hope the x68000 will get a new more compatible core.

I have a problem with this core.

I have all the files required in the Neo Geo folder And downloaded the Neo Geo Roll-Up BETA 3.1 2019-03-04 and extracted the games. For some reason when I try to open the game Roms I only see the games folders empty.

did you add romsets.xml to the NEOGEO folder?

[djmartins]

I used the same romset and xml is in NEOGEO folder and I have the same issue.
All the bios files seem to have the correct CRCs too.

[Lightwave]

From what I can tell, any game that shows up as a folder in the Neo-Geo core’s browser (rather than as a selectable ROM) is not being recognized properly. Since it is romsets.xml that determines what ROMs are recognized, the only thing I can think of is that perhaps the file was downloaded incorrectly from GitHub? Is your game folder exactly “NEOGEO”?

[djmartins]

From what I can tell, any game that shows up as a folder in the Neo-Geo core’s browser (rather than as a selectable ROM) is not being recognized properly. Since it is romsets.xml that determines what ROMs are recognized, the only thing I can think of is that perhaps the file was downloaded incorrectly from GitHub? Is your game folder exactly “NEOGEO”?

Folder named NEOGEO moved from _Consoles to root and it now works.
FUH!

[LarsDragon]

I've been playing around with this core for a while few hours now and I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.

I'm using uni-bios 3.3 and using the darksoft rom pack. When booting a rom, I'll either get a white screen or an exception error handling screen.

In addition to using the uni-bios I have tried sp-s2.sp1 (MVS) and neo-epo.sp1 (AES). Same sort of results.

Is there something I'm supposed to do with the roms before they will load? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

You must copy the roms from Samba not FTP, the same problem happened to me .

[TillDawn]

I have all the files required in the Neo Geo folder And downloaded the Neo Geo Roll-Up BETA 3.1 2019-03-04 and extracted the games. For some reason when I try to open the game Roms I only see the games folders empty.

I have the exact same problem. Folder NEOGEO is in the root of the SD card. It contains the individual game folders (Neo Geo Roll-Up Beta 3.1), all necessary files (000-lo.lo, sfix.sfix, sp-s2.sp1, neo-epo.sp1, uni-bios.rom), all of which check out via SHA1, and the romset.xml. Its content clearly refers to the game folders. The core seems to load fine (I see 59.2 Hz frequency, for instance), but loading a ROM only shows empty game folders. I am sure that I am making some dumb mistake here...

[Sorgelig]

and the romset.xml

romsets.xml

[tatouine]

Converting the games from MAME is far from ideal (as stated in the readme) and probably only feasible to mess around until you have thiz ROM pack.

Easiest way is to google for cDq3hkYp. Prepare for a loooooong wait time.

some are down

[TillDawn]

and the romset.xml

romsets.xml

Thanks for the reply. Sorry, that was a typo here. The actual file is indeed called "romsets.xml". Anyway, I double-checked that all files have the proper names. Still, no success.

[quabbage]

Sorry my english is not very good.
I have all the files required in the Neo Geo folder And downloaded the Neo Geo Roll-Up BETA 3.1 2019-03-04 and extracted the gamers. For some reason when I try to open the game Roms I only see the games folders empty.

You might want to check that the 7z has extracted correctly. You will need to ensure that the directory structure is retained otherwise you end up with no files in the folders.

In Linux the correct command is 7z x yourfile.7z

The x is to retain the sub directory structure.

[TillDawn]

You might want to check that the 7z has extracted correctly. You will need to ensure that the directory structure is retained otherwise you end up with no files in the folders.

In Linux the correct command is 7z x yourfile.7z

The x is to retain the sub directory structure.

Thanks for the tip! I am on Win10 and used TotalCommander to unzip. While there was no obvious problem with the extracted files (files were present and in their appropriate folders), I downloaded 7zip and extracted with this again. It now works, although I don't really see a difference. Weird

Thanks for all the help and this great core!

[Threepwood]

You can use A+B+C on startup to enter the unibios menu and pick which region & mode you want. It's not consistently remembering choices for me, but worst case you can pick it each startup if necessary. [...]

That's the problem, when unibios boots into console mode although the core is set to MVS, then changing UNIBIOS to Arcade via A+B+C does still leave the insert-coin-button inoperative.

I also converted the Mteal Slug Humble Bundle download, and have the same checksums as you, but I get sound. Though there's no sound during the attract sequence in arcade mode, but there's sound at the Neo Geo logo, and sound after the attract sequence (and even sound in the attract sequence in unibios console mode). Except certain things sound wrong. The insert-coin sound, point collectable pickups (coins, fish, etc.), the "go!" sound... all seem pitched too high. If you're getting no sound at all... Just a wild guess, have you tried changing hdmi_audio_96k ini settings? [...]

I found that the missing sound is also a glitch on core boot up, just like the wrong console mode. I was unlucky on first try and did not realise I need to reboot the core. Now I get sound most of the time. I can confirm that some sounds are too high pitched, though and thus sound off. Same for the graphics glitches you described.

[Sprogus]

I've been playing around with this core for a while few hours now and I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.

I'm using uni-bios 3.3 and using the darksoft rom pack. When booting a rom, I'll either get a white screen or an exception error handling screen.

In addition to using the uni-bios I have tried sp-s2.sp1 (MVS) and neo-epo.sp1 (AES). Same sort of results.

Is there something I'm supposed to do with the roms before they will load? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

You must copy the roms from Samba not FTP, the same problem happened to me .

Thanks! That sorted it out. What a weird issue.

[yoshi41]

I've been playing around with this core for a while few hours now and I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.

I'm using uni-bios 3.3 and using the darksoft rom pack. When booting a rom, I'll either get a white screen or an exception error handling screen.

In addition to using the uni-bios I have tried sp-s2.sp1 (MVS) and neo-epo.sp1 (AES). Same sort of results.

Is there something I'm supposed to do with the roms before they will load? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

You must copy the roms from Samba not FTP, the same problem happened to me .

It's important to set the proper mode when using FTP. Unfortunately, ASCII is default, which most likely is bad for binary files. If you don't want any CR/LF conversions (Unix/Windows text files), always use BINARY mode.

Here an example of the ancient Windows ftp executable. FTP command "bin" switches to binary mode.

Code: Select all

ftp> open 10.xxx.xxx.xxx
Connected to 10.xxx.xxx.xxx.
220 ProFTPD 1.3.5d Server (ProFTPD Default Installation) [10.xxx.xxx.xxx]
User (10.xxx.xxx.xxx:(none)): root
331 Password required for root
Password:
230 User root logged in
ftp> status
Connected to 10.xxx.xxx.xxx.
Type: ascii; Verbose: On ; Bell: Off ; Prompting: On ; Globbing: On
Debugging: Off ; Hash mark printing: Off .
ftp> bin
200 Type set to I
ftp> status
Connected to 10.xxx.xxx.xxx.
Type: binary; Verbose: On ; Bell: Off ; Prompting: On ; Globbing: On
Debugging: Off ; Hash mark printing: Off .
ftp>

[Threepwood]

I finished processing the Humble Bundle ROMs. With the games there is a neogeo.dat (open in text editor) included, that shows if a game is encrypted, if the prom needs splitting and reversing and in general what files to use. For example, if the line under "[program] ends on "1", then you need to split and reverse. Section "[System]" shows if the ROM is encrypted and it seems there is info what key to use.

Here is what I found so far by converting the ROMs from the HumbleBundle Anniversary Collection:

Encrypted: garou, kof2000, kof2002, samsh5sp, sengoku3

prom needs splitting and reversing: mslug, twinspri, ironclad, samsho2, turfmast

Some games contain enough files to build two different sets as per neogeo.dat:

• lastblad,lstbladh:
  Concatenate 234-p1.p1 and 234-p2.sp2 to prom for set "lastblad". Concatenate 234-pg1.p1 and 234-p2.sp2 to prom for set "lastbladh".
• rbff2,rbff2h:
  Concatenate 240-p1.p1 and 240-p2.sp2 to prom for set "rbff2". Concatenate 240-pg1.p1 and 240-p2.sp2 to prom for set "rbff2h".
• shocktro,shcktroa:
  Concatenate 238-p1.p1 and 238-p2.sp2 to prom for set "shocktro". Concatenate 238-pg1.p1 and 240-p2.sp2 to prom for set "shcktroa"

I only have a 32MB RAM module, but I gave all of the games that are not encrypted a quick test. Except for Metal Slug X, which needs more than 32MB and maybe thus gave me a copy protection warning no matter what system (AES/MVS), all of them at least started and seemed to work.

[remowilliams]

Blazing Star has garbled graphic in the intro sequence, gameplay is fine. Tested with NeoGeo_20190908.rbf in AES/MVS mode with stock and Uni BIOS using VGA->SCART.

I just tested Blazing Star here (NeoGeo_20190908.rbf) on my 64MB AIO board, I see no graphical corruption in the intro or game.

[Sorgelig]

Darksoft pack includes ALL officially released AES/MVS games. And it works right away. There is no point to waste your time to convert the ROMs already included in that pack.

I just tested Blazing Star here (NeoGeo_20190908.rbf) on my 64MB AIO board, I see no graphical corruption in the intro or game.

Garbled graphics on 32MB because it needs 64MB.
Now MiSTer warns about graphics corruption due to not enough memory.

[yoshi41]

Blazing Star has garbled graphic in the intro sequence, gameplay is fine. Tested with NeoGeo_20190908.rbf in AES/MVS mode with stock and Uni BIOS using VGA->SCART.

I just tested Blazing Star here (NeoGeo_20190908.rbf) on my 64MB AIO board, I see no graphical corruption in the intro or game.

That's interesting. I have garbled graphics with all games I have tested which require 64GB. For instance Shock Troopers 2, Metal Slug X, Sengoku 3. Other games requiring only 32MB run fine.

To double check, I tested it with HDMI and SCART output. Same issue.

I don't know the difference between the AIO and XXS board. Are those boards different in some (relevant) way?

I use default settings, no MiSTer.ini at all.

And yes, I use this famous Darksoft pack now.

I also ran memtest yesterday. It's stable at 160 MHz.