Nintendo GBA

[zealous nacelle]

I mean, depends on TV but leaving any static image on for long periods of time isn’t good for burn-in

[somber rain]

Thats sort of what I thought. Wonder if the original Gamecube GBA Player borders wer unsafe as well???

[zealous nacelle]

I don’t think any of these are unsafe. Just depends on how long you leave it on. But yes the Super Game Boy and Game Boy Player both had lots of borders that were completely static.

The same can also be said for playing a game with a HUD that’s always in the same place.

[timber silo]

To see if it's an issue with the game you could put it in a relatively accurate emulator and just turn on turbo mode to save time. See if it errors out based on time.

[lyric gust]

Oh hey I like that!

Oh wow!!! I love that!!

When do we get to add them to the github?

[short anvil]

i've thought about this too, so im mindful when im playing to have a break every hour or so. a "nice to have" could be to have an option to have a "Burn In Prevention" option to quickly turn off/on borders at a configurable interval, or rotate to the next border in a folder. Or darken the border dramatically for a moment? not expecting robert to do this, he's already given me h/v border adjustment and deblur in n64 core ❤️

[lone canyon]

I don't think CRTs get burn in.
They get burn out instead

[fringe comet]

Thank you! Feel free to download the border I uploaded for the GitHub 😁

[lyric gust]

You've got a few don't you?

[fringe comet]

I do, I can share them once I'm finished work!

[fierce eagle]

Glad to see the border channel is lively as always.

[timid phoenix]

#BorderBoyAdvance

[lyric gust]

If you don't mind that would be awesome

[wide ember]

hot

it's understated, yet bold

[low carbon]

fix dma hang when switched off while triggering (e.g. E0006 in Wings)

[unborn yew]

Makes sense, it is eternal life after all.

[delicate python]

Added to WIP DB

[zealous nacelle]

I do da peens

[lean remnant]

Great fixes thank you 🙂

[zealous nacelle]

Congrats on the Bordes!

Also I can’t type worth shit so I ain’t got room to talk lol

[lean remnant]

Wings is fixed 🙂

[tardy warren]

guess what Robby, 'bordes' is a spanish word

now you just look mean

but we already expect that of you!

[fierce eagle]

Wait, what? How can I get this? Will update_all grab update_all so I can use update_all to grab all borders?

[vagrant plover]

Yes. Although it sounds like you need to go into the update_all menu to enable the grabbing of said borders (after update_all is updated)

[fierce eagle]

Update_all is updating now. First round.

[lyric gust]

Thanks!

[lyric gust]

I assume update all grabs the borders now but I also assume you still need the core out of here

[proper dagger]

decided to finally play through megaman zero so I've been chipping away at it on the core. Having a lot of fun with it, but it's pretty brutal at times

[fierce eagle]

I think there are some romhacks for the first 2 or 3 that make it more reasonable.

[fierce eagle]

Update_all keeps timing out a bunch. I'll just let it run assuming the old update_all isn't set up anymore. But if it does it again I'll try and grab the new one manually.

[vagrant plover]

I just updated and am running it now and didn't experience that

[zealous nacelle]

ARRRRGGHHHH you’re right and I’m a Spanish!

I’m so sorry!

[fierce eagle]

Maybe my internet has an issue. I notice it being very slow on my phone as well. I'll try again later.

[vagrant plover]

Maybe you could install my MiSTer speedtest addon and see how its going 😄 https://github.com/davewongillies/mister-speedtest

Although you'll need to install it with update_all, welp

[fierce eagle]

It finished now and I can select the borders under extra content. Round 2! The bordes strike back!

[hushed narwhal]

Would any saves that i made with the old gba core still work with this new one? For example, i was doing a playthrough of Pokemon Red Rescue Team with the old core. If i load up that game with this new core, can i load my save?

[fierce eagle]

Success. 🥳 dunno why my internet shit the bed the first time around but this time it went fine without timeouts. I'll probably never use the borders since I play on am oled through an external scaler but they are truly beautiful.

[vagrant plover]

I know this was asked before but because searching in threads in discord is terrible I can't find the answer, but I'm pretty sure the answer was "it should be fine barring unknown unknowns"

[hushed narwhal]

Okay dokey Ty kindly.

[waxen verge]

playing hard mode literally right now

rest assured that the later games, while still difficult, are much more balanced

and just better overall

[proper dagger]

that's what I've heard

[fringe comet]

Here are the borders I've worked on so far

[lyric gust]

Yeah my Metroid fusion save transferred

Not save states though I assume

[lyric gust]

Sweet you're happy with them? And you're okay with me adding them to the collection?

[zealous nacelle]

I selfishly prefer they all get added to your collection lol.

[fringe comet]

I might have a little update for the neon outline one

[lyric gust]

Okay let me know when you're ready

[fringe comet]

Here we go

Just antialiased it a little better

[lyric gust]

Sweet I'll try and get to those tonight

[low carbon]

Saves should be safe to transfer between both cores at this point with the low amount of bugs being there.
Savestates are compatible to a certain degree. It's not full compatible, however, so far I found no savestate that didn't work when transfering it over, so i would give it a 95%+ chance.

[copper needle]

are all the best borders getting into a repo somewhere so i dont have to hoard them from in here?

i can hardly keep up lol

[fierce eagle]

They're part of update_all now.

But you habe to update_all first and then you can turn them on to download under extras.

[vagrant plover]

And the github repo is here for anyone who wants to contribute to them https://github.com/Dinierto/MiSTer-GBA-Borders

[delicate python]

How large are these GBA borders and the whole pack?

[fringe comet]

They all seem to be about 300kb each

[lyric gust]

Currently they're all part of update_all, in the future the non copyright ones may get merged into the core or something

But for now you're getting everything

[lyric gust]

Each one is 300 kb

So yuge!

[lyric gust]

Yeah like he said lol

[fringe comet]

Massive by 1998 standards.

[lyric gust]

I looked myself once we got a ton of them, they're only 320 x 240 so I figured they weren't crazy

[waxen verge]

mmz1 completed on hard mode in the new gba core

core performed perfectly from start to finish!

[fringe comet]

This game is beatable? I thought the point of the game was to break your soul.

[fierce eagle]

I only had mm zero 3 as a kid, which I beat. There are some romhacks for 1+2 which make it more manageable. I'll play the whole series at some point.

[fringe comet]

I bought the original MMZ shortly after it came out and got my arse handed to me.

Fortunately the MMZ Legacy Collection makes the games a lot more palatable but I'm not currently in a Mega Man mood

[fierce eagle]

Legacy collection would be nice, if only I could play it on mister.

[ionic phoenix]

Now I'm reminded of how the GBA was meant to have a Mega Man collection called Mega Man Mania. Basically a collection of the Game Boy titles with updated graphics and extra content.

For some reason it was canceled, despite being far enough in development to have advertisements.

[waxen verge]

i would've loved to have seen that come out

mmz1 is pretty brutal. z2 is still difficult but at the very least it's more forgiving, and follows the traditional mega man formula a bit closer

you've got a bit more of a fighting chance in z2 even without the cyber-elves, thanks to sub tanks and zero's different forms

[zealous nacelle]

Oh yeah I remember! I was so excited for it too.

[lyric gust]

Well we now have DX versions of those so it's close

[lyric gust]

Can someone tell me where the borders are in update_all so I can add it to the readme lol

I'm not near my MiSTer right now

[fierce eagle]

It's under extra content

[lyric gust]

sweet

do you press up for options?

[zealous nacelle]

Right next to me!

[zealous nacelle]

Yes

[lyric gust]

hey don't try and steal my moment

[zealous nacelle]

sorry lol

[fierce eagle]

Sorry, ain't got time to answer your questions anymore, famous Robby is here.

[lyric gust]

dammit this happens every time

Just cause I didn't make any guns in Doom Eternal

[timid phoenix]

Dammit.. Robby?

Dang.. it..?

[lyric gust]

are you new here

[zealous nacelle]

I was just excited we’re best buds in update_all : (

[lyric gust]

we have a library of dang it Robby

[timid phoenix]

[lyric gust]

awww I can't stay mad at you

get over here ya big lug

https://tenor.com/view/ori-gif-9960264302835426560

Okay does this make sense and sound right?

These GBA Borders have now officially been added to the update_all, so if you are running the script simply press 'up' for settings, and you'll find the option to download them under extra content.

If you're NOT using update_all, and you’d like your Downloader script to automatically grab the latest borders from this repository, add this line to the end of your downloader.ini:

[Dinierto/MiSTer-GBA-Borders]
db_url = https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Dinierto/MiSTer-GBA-Borders/db/db.json.zip

[copper needle]

makes sense to me

[lyric gust]

sweet thanks

[fringe comet]

I actually ended up remaking the sprites based on the ones from Fire Red.

These are the original ones.

Probably not CRT safe btw

[fierce eagle]

Can you make one in violet?

[fringe comet]

Should be easy enough to change the colours. I'm done with this, I spent far too long on it 🤣

[timid phoenix]

Is it your favourite colour?

[fierce eagle]

It's just that everybody prefers the dx violet hack over red and blue.

[zealous nacelle]

it's true!

[wide ember]

does anyone have this running on a VGA monitor?

[dapper marsh]

wait is the new core in update_all now?

[lyric gust]

no, my borders are

[dapper marsh]

I see that the borders are

[lyric gust]

well, "the" borders

[dapper marsh]

ahhh ok so just the borders

[lyric gust]

yeah cause as soon as he announced support we all jumped on it lol

and it's way easier/faster to make 320 x 240 borders than finish an entire core lol

[zealous nacelle]

the borders

[dapper marsh]

sounds like the borders have been secured

[lyric gust]

I hate to lose an old timer like you but unfortunately you're banned now

[fierce eagle]

Imagine turning on the borders in the gba core only to have your tv swarmed by ice agents trying to secure it.

[lyric gust]

I can't

[short anvil]

looks awesome

[lyric gust]

Some new borders by @fringe comet have been added to the github

[fringe comet]

Again, neither of these will be CRT-safe

[lyric gust]

Those are based on Gameboy borders right?

[wide ember]

thanks for the fuchsia, @fringe comet. I am blind

[fringe comet]

You're welcome!

[wide ember]

it activated cones in my eyes that hadn't seen light since I worked on Windows CE stuff

[fringe comet]

Yeah they're from the SGB borders for Red and Green

[lyric gust]

Just trying to think of how to organize them

[fringe comet]

Ended up remaking the sprites from scratch to be more relevant to the fire red/leaf green ones.

Yeah I'm not sure what the best approach is tbh. I just imagined there'd be a lot of people playing Pokémon Fire Red etc who might want a throwback border

"Throwbacks"?

As for the magenta, its a horrible colour on purpose to make sure I'm not actually using that colour anywhere within the border lol

[zealous nacelle]

Yeah, very common transparency color

[fringe comet]

Btw, don't feel like you have to pull all of these together.

[lyric gust]

"SGB Inspired" maybe

And a note on the Readme about those two not being great on a CRT

[fringe comet]

Yeah good idea

Having looked at a lot of the SGB original borders, even they're not ideal for CRTs!

[lyric gust]

I should find a better home for your MiSTer kun border

It's been tossed around from folder to folder lol

[fringe comet]

Make it the default and make me famous

[lyric gust]

It kind of was since it was the only one without a folder

Now it's in the folder with your name

But if we go to SGB Inspired it leaves it homeless again

[fringe comet]

Maybe Gameboy player inspired?

[lyric gust]

Are they from gameboy player?

[fringe comet]

Well the MiSter Kun one was kind of inspired by it

The most important question is...

what folder would this go in?

[lyric gust]

haha wtf

I had a "miscellaneous" folder at one time

or something like that

Did you make that

[fringe comet]

I did. And I spent way too long doing it,

[lyric gust]

MiSTer can't run XP though sadly lol

[fringe comet]

Whenever I have doubts about my ADHD, I remember times like this.

[lyric gust]

if it could holy shit that would be powerful

[fathom lintel]

I love it

[zealous nacelle]

the “ILoveIt” folder

[fathom lintel]

I can't wait for the microsoft word border with clippy

[fringe comet]

Now this is how GBA games were meant to be played

[lyric gust]

Definitely

[zealous nacelle]

I gotta say, people are going to unironically love that.

[fringe comet]

The most stupid part is that I made the taskbar from scratch lol

[lyric gust]

Wow good job lol

https://tenor.com/view/suicide-gif-23888293

[fierce eagle]

But some core symbols in there to populate it a bit.

[fringe comet]

I only initially intended to just do the windows xp background... Then I added the taskbar... Then it all went downhill

[lyric gust]

You could do a silver variant

[wide ember]

where's my Royale theme

[tepid moth]

IMO bonzi buddy may just be the GBA border killer app

Slap a windows border/tilebar around the GBA image and we're done.

[wide ember]

retroarch border

[echo oyster]

Tried the new core just now.
Great work @low carbon
Lovely borders @lyric gust

Is it easy to make your own?

[tepid moth]

Needs a juvenile emulator name like nesticle or genecyst

[wide ember]

GonorrhBA, probably

[low carbon]

Doesn't really take more than any drawing tool. Even paint is enough.
Afterwards you must run a python script to convert it. Still not more than just execute the script in the same folder as the image is, but you need to have python installed.

[echo oyster]

My dad asked what version

[low carbon]

I don't know to be honest. I have 3.11.9 here, but any 3.x is probably good enough?

[lyric gust]

Very

There's a template, the scripts, and instructions here:

https://github.com/Dinierto/MiSTer-GBA-Borders

[lime heath]

should you include a non proprietary file format template?

[lyric gust]

Hmm like what?

Lots of programs open PSD

Is there another format that's more universal?

[lime heath]

well paint was mentioned it doesn't open .psd. Do you have different layers?

[fringe comet]

If you're wanting to just use paint, you're probably going to need to work in a much different way.

The PSD file contains some useful guide lines

I personally use a combination of Photoshop and Aseprite

[lyric gust]

Yeah it has guides and all that

[fringe comet]

You can use this as a very basic template

I made sure that the colours are easy on the eyes

[lime heath]

I wasn't really asking about it for me, but maybe someone will find it useful.

You could probably have some sort of guide lines and their meanings without layers in a png or bmp

[fringe comet]

At that point, a psd is probably just easier

I'm pretty sure a lot of programs that aren't photoshop can open them

[lyric gust]

I think just about everything can

Gimp and paint.net for sure

[lime heath]

Are you really for sure paint.net can without a plugin?

You wouldn't even need a guide if you knew how big the screen was and it's location. Which could be mentioned on the template itself.

I really don't care one way or another, if someone wants to make one I'm sure they can figure something out. But making it easier isn't a bad thing.

[wide ember]

that's perfect, I'll use it

[lyric gust]

I've done it maybe there was a plug in I don't recall

[lyric gust]

It's in the Readme

Although I maybe don't have the gba resolution part

I can make a basic png template

Doesn't hurt to have redundancies

[lime heath]

Could the pic used be better? like that one the indicated the safe and unsafe areas of the border where the crt is going to cut it off.

Yeah I wasn't saying get rid of .psd just make another one that's png or whatever

[lyric gust]

Yeah I'd shade it or something to show the three areas the guides mark

[lone canyon]

What exactly about these isn't safe for a CRT?

[ionic phoenix]

Overscan covering the Pokémon illustrations on the sides.

[lone canyon]

Only if you have any overscan on your CRT so doesn't apply to everyone I guess

[lyric gust]

Correct

Pretty much everybody that ran the test background had overscan though so that's why we added the guides to the template

[lone solstice]

There's like 4 variations of the non-backlit version of the GBA screen and two variations for the backlit version 😵‍💫. Color differences

AGS-101 (Backlit)

AGS-001 (Frontlit, 2 variations)

AGB-001 (32-pin, Panasonic screen)

[fierce eagle]

I like the color correction on the chromatic a lot and appearently you can stream the screen to pc and enable/disable the correction. When I found out how all that works I can share some screenshots.

[lone solstice]

AGB-001 (40-pin, Sharp Screen)

Lighting condition and angle of how the light hits the screen (light from above vs light from below) also affects the colors

[fierce eagle]

I found some pictures with the chromatic color correction online. I think the waves disappearing in the second set is due to the animation, but I think the correction is nice since it doesn't turn the yellows brownish. Maybe something similar would be applicable to GBA?

[lone solstice]

The screen of the first version of the GBA and the screen of the GBC work in some similar ways but in opposite directions. The GBA screen has a darkening effect so devs boosted the brightness of the games whereas the GBC screen has a lightening effect so devs made the colors of games harsher to balance it out.

[timber silo]

That's why Shantae is best played in gbc mode with a patch to enable the GBA exclusive content.

[lyric gust]

Added a .png template and further instructions to th readme for the GBA borders github

[low carbon]

chromatic code is open, easy to use that. It's rather simple compared to the GBA shader colors:
https://github.com/ModRetro/chromatic_fpga/blob/main/esp32t/src/rtl/BSP/vid_system_top.v#L439-L484

[fierce eagle]

Good catch! @lean remnant think this could be applied to the gb core?

[lean remnant]

you could opened a ticket for Gameboy !

[fierce eagle]

Don't have a github account. 😦

[lean remnant]

Ok I could fill it if you sum up all parts 🙂

[fierce eagle]

Modretro Chromatic has great color correction and is open source.

https://github.com/ModRetro/chromatic_fpga/blob/main/esp32t/src/rtl/BSP/vid_system_top.v#L439-L484

This could be applied in addition to the current color correction as an additional toggle.

[finite briar]

module color_correction(
    input                     hClk,

    input                     hCorrectLCD,
    input                     hCorrectUVC,

    input                     hValid,
    input                     hHsync,
    input                     hVsync,
    input       [17:0]        hColorPixel,

    output  reg               hValidCorrected,
    output  reg               hHsyncCorrected,
    output  reg               hVsyncCorrected,
    output  reg [17:0]        hColorPixelCorrected,
    output  reg [17:0]        hColorPixelUVCCorrected
);

    wire [5:0] red = hColorPixel[5:0];
    wire [5:0] green = hColorPixel[11:6];
    wire [5:0] blue = hColorPixel[17:12];

    wire [9:0] r10 = (red * 'd13) + (green * 'd2) + blue; // 999
    wire [7:0] g8 = (green * 'd3) + blue; // 252
    wire [9:0] b10 = (red * 'd3) + (green * 'd2) + (blue * 'd11); // 1008

    wire [15:0] rlcd1 = red[5:1]  * 'd216  + green[5:1] * 'd30;
    wire [15:0] rlcd2 = blue[5:1] * 'd25;
    wire [15:0] rlcd3 = ( rlcd1 < rlcd2 ) ? 'd0 : rlcd1 - rlcd2;
    wire [15:0] glcd = red[5:1] * 'd39  + green[5:1] * 'd137 +  blue[5:1] * 'd24;//620 + 1054 + 217 = 1891
    wire [15:0] blcd = red[5:1] * 'd21  + green[5:1] * 'd24 +  blue[5:1] * 'd125;//620 + 1054 + 217 = 1891

    wire [5:0] blcdc = blcd[13] ? 6'h3F : blcd[12:7];
    wire [5:0] glcdc = glcd[13] ? 6'h3F : glcd[12:7];
    wire [5:0] rlcdc = rlcd3[13] ? 6'h3F : rlcd3[12:7];

    always@(posedge hClk)
    begin
        hValidCorrected <= hValid;
        hHsyncCorrected <= hHsync;
        hVsyncCorrected <= hVsync;
        hColorPixelCorrected    <= ~hCorrectLCD ? {blue, green, red} : {blcdc, glcdc, rlcdc};
        hColorPixelUVCCorrected <= ~hCorrectUVC ? {blue, green, red} : {b10[9:4], g8[7:2], r10[9:4]};
    end

endmodule

[fierce eagle]

Like this?

[tardy warren]

is the chromatic color correction tied to their choice of display?

[lyric gust]

Do it!

[fierce eagle]

I don't think so, you can put video out with the chromatic via usb and there is an option to turn the correction on and off. See:#1347219390130688024 message

[lean remnant]

thank you 🙂

[cloud plinth]

Let me know when you need gba to gc link testing. I will be happy doing it.

[flint notch]

has the source been posted for the newest version of this?

I was hoping to play Wario Land 4

oh wait derp, don't need the source for that, I guess

...much as I'd like it

not sure I need the source for my personal project...

so I only need the compiled thing, and only for GBA gaming :)

oh I found the pinned thing

should have checked that first...

[low carbon]

source is available as branch

[flint notch]

nice!

That's what I was hoping for

I might try extending it to NDS at some point

also it seems that MiSTer is unaware of the new time/date?

from loading it up

it still shows 2024

hmm

I thought I erased the previous core

[flint notch]

turns out I didn't

at first, I tried just placing the GBA core into the Consoles directory

then I tried renaming both of them

how does manually swapping a core work?

I am guessing there's more than just swapping out the core files?

(if someone replies to me with an answer, please ping me, since that will enable me to see the solution)

bbl

[brisk garnet]

just copy the new core to your sd, browse to it, and launch it.

No need to replace the prev. one

[flint notch]

it didn't show up when I was browsing

maybe this is because I was using the "use more friendly console name" option

I'll disable that option

also cool, thanks

oh! It turns out I just missed it

it's there

[tepid moth]

You can make a subfolder like /_Console/_Beta/ to keep WIP cores separate from the standard ones the update scripts get. Needs the underscore for it to show in the menu

[lyric gust]

That's a good idea

[flint notch]

that is a good idea!

[echo oyster]

That is a good idea

[fringe comet]

Pretty good idea tbh

[flint notch]

does there exist a filter for Game Boy Player plus composite?

[fathom lintel]

That's a good idea

[timid phoenix]

Hmm.. seems like a good idea to me

[flint notch]

Wario Land 4 is fun

[dusty river]

any plans to port the NSO color filter on the new core?

[low carbon]

switch immediately to next sprite when last pixel to be drawn is finished so total pixel count matches original hardware (fixes Superman graphical glitch)

[delicate python]

Added to WIP DB

[zealous nacelle]

peeeeeeeeeeeeens

[ashen heath]

Could someone please check the intro of Konami Krazy Racers on real hardware? See a tearing like effect when the circle closes in the intro, when it opens again on the lava stage see loads of flicking in the upper half of the image. Looked for footage on youtube but couldn't fins anything showing the full intro. Latest core with unstable nightly.

[hushed narwhal]

I could potentially look on my IPS GBA with an everdrive? If that helps

Just having a nice cup of tea first though

[gilded schooner]

Already reported some time ago

Part of the effect is broken and reported on the compatibility sheet.

[hushed narwhal]

Damn, thought I could've been useful

[gilded schooner]

Sometimes we win, sometimes not. 😏

[lyric gust]

You were very useful in solving basically every one of your Uncle Gadget's cases

[gilded schooner]

Thanks for that.

We need everyone as possible.

[lyric gust]

Any time

[hushed narwhal]

Your more than welcome 🙂

[zealous nacelle]

this was pretty good

[lyric gust]

https://tenor.com/view/inspector-gadget-cartoon-opening-sequence-gif-8109716

[lyric gust]

Thanks!

[hushed narwhal]

As I said before. once the link stuff is supported with this core. I can test anything really. I have a GameCube player, various Gameboys, a gameboy printer,

I've got an everdrive GBA too.

[zealous nacelle]

Do you have a GBA micro

[lyric gust]

Me three but by the time I get home I bet someone tried it already

[hushed narwhal]

Unfortunately I do not

The one I am missing

[zealous nacelle]

Well now

[hushed narwhal]

I don't think I can One up you.

Do you have a Gamecom?

[lyric gust]

There is a Gameboy micro border so you can feel like @zealous nacelle

[ashen heath]

Thanks for confirming, will be sure to reference the sheet next time...

[dapper forge]

Is there anything missing on the core so it can be released for the general public?

[fierce eagle]

Maybe it needs some more borders.

[fathom lintel]

Only issues i can think off the top of my head is the graphical bug on characters in jet grind radio and diddy kong pilot not booting. Everything else seems solid from what i've tested

Maybe last update fixed jet grind radio, haven't checked

[onyx lynx]

The problem is gonna be testing the entire library

[lyric gust]

Uhh what about that Konami Krazy racers bug

[fathom lintel]

That too :p

[coarse cape]

https://tenor.com/bgJIm.gif

[ashen heath]

Latest core, Metroid Fusion at points in new game intro and cutscenes shows errors.

[lean remnant]

same here. Good catch !

[coarse cape]

yeah weird. something with the lense flare in that first scene

[fathom lintel]

Oh weird hadn't seen that before. Regression I guess

[fringe comet]

At least that's only affecting a pretty obscure game 👀

[fathom lintel]

Yea no one's gonna play that unknown game anyways

[fringe comet]

So long as it doesn't affect any Barbie games

[fathom lintel]

Superman is fixed, that's what matters :p

[hallow grove]

I believe I'm getting some of the same issues in F-Zero Maximum velocity

[ashen heath]

More vertical lines in Dancing Sword.

[timid phoenix]

GBAccuracy should be the name of the new core

[coarse cape]

I think it is. Which I guess means its coming down with update all?

can anyone double check that? I have the unstable and WIP repositories in my downloader.ini

[timid phoenix]

https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/GBA_MiSTer/tree/master/releases

there’s a release in there - so maybe it is coming down with update_all

Have the branches changed? Looks like master is the same as accuracy? Not sure where the old code lives now, unless it’s just back in the commit history of master

Ah, I see what happened. There was a commit that went in which removed the old releases. You need to go back through the history to get them 🙂

[tardy warren]

I guess we're released now!

[wide ember]

woo

[thorn osprey]

Nice!

[lyric gust]

Does it come with update_all then?

[vagrant plover]

I just checked my MiSTer and it did

Didn't even notice that it happened

[coarse cape]

it's not the most recent build

which is probably fine because there is a regression

[delicate python]

Catching up, so is the new GBA core now overwriting the old one?

[tardy warren]

yeah

just with a slightly different name, but it won't break anything

[coarse cape]

Oh I didn't notice that it deleted the old core

that's...probably not optimal as folks are going to suddenly be missing features they were used to

[tardy warren]

well the day was coming one way or another

[coarse cape]

I thought the plan was to do a genesis mega drive split? Or maybe sorg didn't want to do that again

[slim dust]

I am just glad the accurate version is the main download using update all. You can always manually download the old one I suppose.

[tardy warren]

after you figure out how to dig through github commits, so basically no normal user

[timid phoenix]

Only the worthy are able to get the old cores

I’m kinda surprised a branch wasn’t created for the old cores. Still, they’re in the history so not lost

[hushed narwhal]

The old one has fast forward right?

[timid phoenix]

Yep

[hushed narwhal]

That helps a lot with Pokémon

But I think that's due to me not having any patience

[flint notch]

did the Metroid Fusion graphical glitch get fixed before this release?

[fathom lintel]

It came with the latest release as far as i know

[hallow grove]

The stable release version is from may 9th, the core posted here today comes with these graphical regressions.

[coarse cape]

I think the 2025.05.09 release was when Robert was being harassed into open sourcing it or whatever.

[timid phoenix]

Hmm.. I could be wrong, but I think that overwriting master may have been a mistake.

#1347219390130688024 message

[coarse cape]

github’ed under duress

[timid phoenix]

Yep

[timid phoenix]

@low carbon @-ing you for visibility - just in case it wasn’t intentional 🙂

[timid phoenix]

Kinda annoying that people come in here harassing the devs 😔

[coarse cape]

the internet was a mistake

That person was a real gem, though

[timid phoenix]

Don’t treat him like some neophyte! Don’t you know who he is?!

[coarse cape]

me until the heat death of the universe

[zealous nacelle]

GBA core is dead, long live GBA_accuracy.

before anyone asks, I don't know sheeeeeeeeet

[sand saffron]

Robby is keeping things from us!

[fathom lintel]

Got around to testing out new core and the vertical lines are indeed not present in previous core.

[flint notch]

okay thanks for letting me know

[fathom lintel]

Sprite issue still in jet grind radio, old video from couple months ago but still performs the same. Only other graphical bug i can recall

[flint notch]

is "Jet Grind Radio" a fangame for "Jet Set Radio" or is it from back when the GBA was current?

[fathom lintel]

It's official from back in the day

[flint notch]

ah

[lone canyon]

Jet Grind Radio is the original name btw

For the NA release on DC

[zealous nacelle]

I bought it for GBA when it was new. Neat port.

[fathom lintel]

You got a real copy of metroid classic on gba? :p stupid drm on it won't me let me load it on my everdrive to confirm a graphical bug

No worries if you don't just thought if anyone would have a copy it might be you :p

[honest viper]

Tony Hawk GBA games are very good too

[fathom lintel]

graphics are little glitchy and not sure if it's accurate or not

It happens on the old core so probably is accurate

[honest viper]

It might be if they are scaling a 256x240 game down to 240x160. Not sure if they redrew the sprites.

Samus definitely got chibified

[fathom lintel]

I remembered that metroid classic gets unlocked when you complete metroid zero mission so i loaded up my save and yea it appears to be accurate

[honest viper]

Looks like they did alter the sprites for the standalone release

"It seems that during the months between the release of Metroid: Zero Mission and the release of the Famicom Mini Series Metroid, Nintendo took it upon themselves to alter the graphics tiles contained in the embedded Metroid ROM. The resulting tiles would look weird when displayed on a NES, but as close to ideal as possible on the shorter GBA screen."

Regarding Zero Mission unlockable version:
"The simplest way to handle this is to not display every 4th line. The NES draws everything with 8x8 tiles, so the tiles essentially become 8x6. This is what Nintendo seems to have done with Metroid on the GBA in Metroid: Zero Mission. All versions of Metroid: Zero Mission, US, Europe and Japan, all contain this version. "

Source:
https://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2017/01/metroid-classic-nes-series-vs-metroid.html?m=1

[fathom lintel]

Good to know 😄

[honest viper]

Zero mission bonus

Nes classics

[low carbon]

yes it was, but i rolled back the commit on master

[low carbon]

thank you, Will look at these next.

[tardy warren]

you didn't roll back the correct commit

the releases dir is still just the one GPA_accuracy rbf

I think you commited the entire accuracy branch into main somehow

[timid phoenix]

Yeah, it needs to go back like 3/4 commits I think

Checking out c76c6e075949c3075591e0d64bf27f989bc47ee6 and branching from there would create an “old” branch

[timber silo]

I love how reverting a commit is somehow the most complicated thing in git.

[zealous nacelle]

Never roll back.

Rolling back is admitting failure. You never fail, you just iterate.

[timber silo]

I pretty much stash nonfunctional changes for the peace of mind of not losing progress even though I never go back to it

[scenic oasis]

In the GBA_NEW_250521 core, I’m seeing vertical strip glitches in the dialog boxes in Konami Krazy Racers licence center section

[fringe comet]

That looks cursed

[hardy olive]

Now that the new GBA core is in update_all, where can I find the lastest update for the old core? Tried Github but I was only able to find the new core now

[deep cargo]

Maybe if someone can upload it here and pin it? Nice to have a second core for Fast Forward 😄

[tepid moth]

https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/GBA_MiSTer/blob/3f263ce46995ceb2952fb5acd7e0b3c2508059d9/releases/GBA_20240410.rbf

But it sounds like both new and old cores will be in the normal places soon

[deep cargo]

Thanks!

[hardy olive]

thanks!!

[tepid moth]

NP

[gaunt yoke]

Is the fast-forward feature going to make it from the old core?

[thorn osprey]

Thank you. Github added an actual download button on the raw files.

[lyric gust]

I don't think so

[crude marten]

i’ve got a friend with some sort of adhd

watching him constantly hitting the fast forward on a gba emulator the moment there was a the slightest hint of waiting (text box, battle animation, etc) was telling

[hollow leaf]

Slow textboxes are evil thougg

We dont get any younger waiting for the individual charactera to appear

Almost like they anticipated the young generation's literacy

[tepid moth]

'20 hours of gameplay' 🙂

Good to use the new core and help Robert find bugs. Impatience can wait till it's complete

[low carbon]

master branch should be restored, sorry for the trouble

[zealous nacelle]

my beloved “GBA_enhanced” core!

[tepid moth]

You forgot your beloved's name so quick :p

[tardy warren]

you couldn't have loved it that much, you don't even remember it's name

[tepid moth]

Lol

[zealous nacelle]

That’s what it was called!

[tepid moth]

CSI:GBA. Enhance!

[coarse cape]

https://tenor.com/b0FKn.gif

[delicate python]

So if people run update all now, what happens? Do they have both the old core and the new core?

[coarse cape]

Nope

_Console/GBA_20240410.rbf
docs/GBA/README.md
Unpacking PSX at Cheats/
..
Removing /media/fat/_Console/GBA_accuracy_20250509.rbf (/media/fat/_Console/GBA_accuracy_20250509.rbf)```

[delicate python]

OK, so what should be happening?

[coarse cape]

This is what's intended, I believe

old core in _console

new core (from WIP) in _unstable

[delicate python]

I am so confused. Ignoring the WIP DB, is it still the case that the old core comes down to the Consoles folder and the new core does not?

[coarse cape]

Yes.

The issue happened yesterday when Robert accidently merged the accuracy branch into the main branch, meaning the WIP core started coming down with update all, and deleing the old core.

This has been fixed, so now the old core comes down properly, and the new core is on a branch

[delicate python]

Good stuff, thanks for explaining

[low carbon]

Sometimes things happen if you click to fast

[tardy warren]

that one guy on the forum that demands explanations for every change they see when running updater must be going insane

[hollow leaf]

update all should list all commit commentaries since last run

[coral jewel]

I ran update all, I see Gameboy Advance from 24.04.10

is this the new latest version of

[coarse cape]

Link please. My schadenfreude reserves need filling

[wide ember]

lol

[vagrant plover]

Is this the same person? https://www.reddit.com/r/MiSTerFPGA/comments/1klxdp2/are_there_any_resources_containing_coresupdates/

[hollow leaf]

I'd call it elendstourismus instead of schadenfreude

[coarse cape]

You would wouldn’t you

sounds like a medical disorder

Grief tourism?

[hollow leaf]

more like misery

[wide ember]

elände

we have this word too

[hollow leaf]

give it a few more decades, maybe it will added to the english language

[wide ember]

nah they chummed up with the french and never looked back

their loss

[coarse cape]

yeah but did you see the statue we got out of the deal?

[wide ember]

that rust bucket

[coarse cape]

Oxidized, please

[wide ember]

ahem

[lone canyon]

You can always find alternate core branches by clicking on branch selection drop down

[hardy olive]

Thanks!

[dusty river]

Noticed some glitchy lines in Mario vs. Donkey Kong

[ashen heath]

(Accidentally put this is the handheld section, moved here where it should be!) Just finished Metroid Fusion, captured what I think is an audio bug that plays in a track present a couple of times throughout the game, can't hear it in steams from real hardware on youtube. At 11 seconds you will hear it, like a sneaker squeaking on a basketball court over the melody. Have attached a save too from the area. This is with the accuracy core that went live by accident for a little while on update all, so should be recent enough that the issue still persists in more up to date builds.

Loads of slowdown on the Ridley fight when using a charged shot too, music slowed down considerably and went all crunchy too, again can't see that on real hardware captures. Unfortunately didn't think to copy the save.

[ashen heath]

Known issue with the latest test core.

[low carbon]

latch sprite settings one clock cycle earlier -> fixes regression from last build (wrong color lines)

[fringe comet]

I like regressions as it's often a one step back, two steps forward kind of thing.

[eternal laurel]

I just ran update_all and it deleted GBA_accuracy_20250509.rbf and installed GBA_20240410.rbf

was it a mistake that the new one was installed recently?

[zealous nacelle]

It was an accidental upload. You correctly have the old core back.

[flint notch]

so can I install GBA_accuracy via update_all?

Or am I misunderstanding

oh

Okay I get it

so I still have to do this manually

[zealous nacelle]

correct, you just grab the one pinned

[delicate python]

Added to the WIP DB

[warm galleon]

So I finally ordered the GBA Everdrive this week, so that I can start to analyze its audio output for audio filter development. Since Luigi however got banned, I never got the required test rom... I'll have to look into it. I'm just very short on time lately, I haven't even exported my GBA borders yet.

[lyric gust]

I noticed, I keep looking on my desk and nothing!

[warm galleon]

I might find the time to get them exported today. Just need to check the logo position and placement on my CRT before doing so.

[lyric gust]

Nice

[dapper marsh]

oh damn, I thought things had gotten cleared up with Luigi 🥲 He started spouting off again, eh?

[hallow grove]

#1347219390130688024 message

[timid phoenix]

Don’t you know who he is?! Stop treating him like some neophyte!

I wish I had that level of arrogance 🙄

[zealous nacelle]

da real mvp

[dapper marsh]

Ah, I see

[lyric gust]

Damn I missed drama

[wide ember]

luiwho

oh the license guy

[lyric gust]

License? I'm way out of the loop lol

[timid phoenix]

Looks like most of the messages have been deleted. Scroll down here and you can see some aftermath #1347219390130688024 message

[wide ember]

he demanded an instant source release since he hereby filed a request for source code and according to blah blah blah

was there more after that?

[timid phoenix]

And then apologised in public but seemingly continued to harass the moderators in private

[fringe comet]

I can't believe this. After I wore my Luigi socks to my wedding yesterday.

[delicate python]

It was an unfortunate outcome, but there were rules broken that people here weren't privy to. Irony is the code he originally demanded is now publicly available a few weeks later.

[wide ember]

wedding ruined

congratulations if true

[warm galleon]

I didn't intend to bring up drama. Despite everything that happened, he was also helping me with my work as he seems to have plenty of knowledge when it comes to using video and audio media with the GBA, which I appreciate.

[timid phoenix]

A real shame, for sure

[fringe comet]

I was hoping I could look at those socks and remember the best day of my life but instead it's just gonna dig up memories of open source heartbreak

[wide ember]

you'll have to burn them now

[timid phoenix]

Might as well just get divorced and start over tbh

[fringe comet]

Thank you I did actually get married yesterday. Same day the new version of the experimental core got released. Terrible timing.

[lyric gust]

You can continue via DM surely?

[lyric gust]

Congratulations!

[low carbon]

didn't you just need to play pcm audio through the DMA channels? If yes, this is tiny effort, let's discuss when you have your everdrive.

[warm galleon]

Yes, that's it. I have also two other methods available to determine the frequency response of the output. However since the core output and the GBA's audio output will likely not be entirely identical down to the sample level, likely due to assumed slight variations in speed (even two recordings from the same console or handheld might not line up perfectly on a sample level), I would have to work with slightly smoothed values, which I would still assume to be reasonably if not decently accurate for our purposes of reconstruction a simple LPF.

[wide ember]

what was the nickname of the Luigi that got banned? I'm asking for esoteric reasons

[dapper marsh]

it was just Luigi

[waxen verge]

it was the actual real luigi mario

[dapper forge]

Then after Robert released the source code he was still asking for what? A foot massage? 🤔

[lyric gust]

https://tenor.com/view/jones-bbq-and-foot-massage-meme-funny-comedy-gif-4261550545966438470

[jade wraith]

So Robert is going to release a foot massage core?

I think that’s the outcome we’ve deduced here anyway

[zealous nacelle]

Well it’s in the past.

All that matters is this core kicks ass.

[jade wraith]

He’s already released a foot massage core?!

[lime heath]

I did yell at him a bit, and felt bad about it but it was after he whined that he wasn't going to share some changes that he ported over even though he wanted the code that Robert worked on for months. My position was he earned the right to do whatever he wanted with the code since he wrote all of it and demanding things was not the right way to try and get it.

[tardy warren]

(gpl doesn't require you hand the code over immediately when asked)

you'd think people who write long paragraphs about software licensing would realize that

[timid phoenix]

Don’t treat him like a neophyte who hasn’t contributed to FOSS before

But yep, demanding isn’t the right way to do things

It’s especially more weird when it’s Robert’s core - someone who has a track record of making things open

[coarse cape]

dude had kind of a shit attitude from the jump iirc

[lyric gust]

I think we don't need to keep beating the horse now that it's dead

[coarse cape]

need to make an example of it for all the other horses

[vagrant plover]

https://tenor.com/view/simpsons-stop-hes-already-dead-gif-10174413

[zealous nacelle]

Updated my friend’s MiSTer and this core is so good, I replaced the old GBA one with it.

[lyric gust]

https://tenor.com/view/bold-commentary-lets-go-strategy-gif-13609518

[snow galleon]

That's why kids shouldn't invite Kenshiro for show and tell.

[fierce eagle]

I demand the source code to your change.

[hushed narwhal]

Don't knock the brown sauce until you try it.

Nothing like a bacon and brown sauce sandwich

[fringe comet]

Damn right

This was my breakfast yesterday. Brown sauce was the perfect touch.

[flint notch]

I know quite a bit about the GBA as well, so feel free to ask me too :)

at least... I used to write GBA homebrew as a hobby

...nowadays I'm more into making my own retro-ish-style game system

I made FPGA code for my own custom PPU that's pretty similar to that of the GBA

[warm galleon]

Thanks for your offer. I need to inject two different uncompressed audio files containing test tones at 65536hz 8bit to measure the output frequency response of the GBA system. Note that Robert already offered his help in this matter. If it's something you can do and you want to contribute, I'm happy to send you the audio files.

[flint notch]

...frequency response is something I'm not really equipped to help with, I think

if Robert already offed his help, I think you'll be fine

if you need help with something like, how to design a PPU or CPU, I can do that stuff

also I've recently learned about how to implement the FPGA code (or alternatively software-based emulation) for audio hardware

there are two Roberts, aren't there?

we also have Robby!

[warm galleon]

I was specifically referring to FPGAzumSpass, I don't know if there's another Robert around.

[fierce eagle]

There is Robert (good) who made the n64, lynx and gba core and a lot more. And then there is Robby (bad) who makes cringe video games and is a mod for some reason.

[warm galleon]

But Robby would be Bobby then, right? 😁

[flint notch]

Robby makes video games?

[fierce eagle]

Don't ask. He'll talk about the desirability of micro transactions for hours again.

[flint notch]

oh right I remember reading some stuff he's done

I also make video games sometimes but I only do that as a hobby

for my day job I actually work on software-based emulation of aerospace hardware

[fierce eagle]

Like ace combat? That's neat.

[warm galleon]

Sounds cool and interesting.

[flint notch]

yeah the emulators are just internal to the company though

I got into the company doing FPGA development though

I don't want to do FPGA dev anything aerospace ever again. DO-254 takes all the fun out of it.

[fierce eagle]

Maybe write a ds core as a fun and exciting diversion? We'll help you with testing and all.

[flint notch]

...I'm interested in attempting it at some point

not now, currently working on custom stuff

[fierce eagle]

DS core confirmed!

[flint notch]

I'm not sure when I'd get around to it

...also what would we do for the touch screen?

...DS would be harder to make perfect with its somewhat high clock rates

at least TCM could be implemented in BRAM

eh I'm gonna get back to working on my project now I guess

I could reuse some of the code from that

[fierce eagle]

Just use a mouse for now. There will be input and suggestions as soon as the first games boot.

[timid phoenix]

Mouse. Can always buy a cheap tablet

[flint notch]

...I should try DS emulation with my not-that-cheap tablet at some point

that one has a screen!

it's a touch screen monitor intended for art

[lone canyon]

Brown sauce is just BBQ sauce by a dumber name

[crude marten]

it’s HP sauce

[wide ember]

printers, sauce, is there anything they don't make

[lyric gust]

Mouse/dual sense touch pad/right analog stick

Yay I can't believe we're getting a DS core!

[wanton egret]

You wash your mouth out!! BBQ sauce is for toddlers, brown sauce is for men.

[wide ember]

what IS brown sauce

and why isn't this #food-talk

isn't it roughly the same as BBQ sauce anyway

[lone canyon]

Yes.

[delicate python]

It tastes very different from BBQ sauce

[lone canyon]

I hope you are aware that BBQ doesn't taste like BBQ

[wide ember]

I would say BBQ sauce is a very loose concept

[lone canyon]

So many different sauces that have completely different flavor profiles

[delicate python]

Yeah, and none I have tasted taste like brown sauce

It is it's own weird thing

[wide ember]

define it

I dare you

[delicate python]

I don't like it, so never have it

[wide ember]

hm

[lyric gust]

Isn't brown sauce more savory

[wide ember]

I always had trouble understanding "savory"

I don't think we have the word

[lyric gust]

Umami?

[wide ember]

translation is "tasty" which seems wrong

[tardy warren]

"meaty"

[wide ember]

maybe it's umami

[lyric gust]

Yeah meaty kind of

[wide ember]

but all these sauces contain soy sauce

[lyric gust]

You can have umami without soy sauce

Mushrooms are savory

[wide ember]

yes but

[delicate python]

Is HP brown sauce that hard to get outside the UK still?

[lyric gust]

Hewlett Packard?

[wide ember]

it's not even made in the UK anymore

it was bought by a huge corporation

and now made in the Netherlands

nothing is ever real

[fringe comet]

It's like ketchup but with a lot more of a vinegar/zingy/spicy flavour

[delicate python]

https://www.amazon.com/HP-29157-Sauce-Original-255g/dp/B000QAETZ6#:~:text=Amazon.com %3A HP Sauce Original,Barbecue Sauces %3A Grocery %26 Gourmet Food

[wide ember]

I'm going to purchase the three sauces and make a taste test

HP, A1, Worcestershire

I don't know what is a good representative of BBQ sauce

[delicate python]

Worcestershire sauce is very vinegary, it is watery and something you splash on things, like Tabasco, it isn't like ketchup. Brown sauce is ketchup consistency.

[wide ember]

I still think the flavors could be compared

I will include Klaus's ketchup as the final palate killer

[delicate python]

I suspect if you are used to American BBQ sauces you would find these all quite disappointing to be honest, but only one way to find out

[wide ember]

I'm not

[delicate python]

I didn't appreciate we were in the GBA channel, this should really move to the Food channel

[zealous nacelle]

I got some brown sauce for ya

[lyric gust]

Sweet Baby Ray's

[wide ember]

good save

[wide ember]

Robby pls read up

we have been talking about HP sauce all along

[lyric gust]

A1 steak sauce?

[wide ember]

yes

[lyric gust]

You should include Heinz 57 if that's what we're doing

[wide ember]

ah

let's move to #food-talk though

[lyric gust]

That's another random tangy brown sauce lol

Yeah true

[zealous nacelle]

Hit point sauce

[wide ember]

tangy is another word I have no reference for

[timid phoenix]

Brown sauce and BBQ sauce are absolutely not the same thing

Also Daddies Brown Sauce > HP

[flint notch]

I'm not starting it yet!

I'm doing my own stuff first

[lyric gust]

DS core tomorrow! Woohoo!

[fathom lintel]

I'm looking forward to dual crt support in the upcoming ds core

[flint notch]

haha

[waxen verge]

DS core would be neat considering the lack of a consolizer for the thing

and the price of the nitro capture dev kits/video out mods

[flint notch]

yeah that's true

[short anvil]

i recently got a wiiu and tried ds on that. not too bad and you a good variety of layout options and smoothing on/off. however wiiu didnt have a big library of ds releases, so you have to inject the game you want over a released one. and the injected game doesnt always have best compatibility. bit of a muck around

[waxen verge]

yeah, i remember seeing that. shame the compatibility isn't 100%, otherwise it would probably be the de facto option

[zealous nacelle]

lol daddies brown sauce

[inner torrent]

Isn't it kind of like A1/Heinz 57? Not a huge fan of either since the good Lord already gave us butter for steak, salsa for tacos, Buffalo for wings and ranch for the rest

[lone canyon]

convo moved to #food-talk

[fringe comet]

I'm heading on honeymoon today so please don't release any core updates until I'm back plz

My honeymoon will be ruined if I know there's a new core update waiting for me at home

[fierce eagle]

Should've married your mister then. I did.

[echo oyster]

That's my plan. Need to work on my proposal. My MiSTer is fancy and has high demands

[fierce eagle]

Does it have an aluminum case?

[echo oyster]

...

This has put a strain on our relationship...

I need to work to be the panda my MiSTer needs me to be

[tepid moth]

outside the US they're even fancier, aluminium

[fierce eagle]

Yeah, I wonder how many there are in my region. Bet not many.

[coarse cape]

I will kill for a pink pink case

[tepid moth]

get a white and red one and wash em together?

[coarse cape]

Tried that. What do you take me for?

[tepid moth]

yeah, too simple

[fierce eagle]

Purple is best

[tepid moth]

agreed

[coarse cape]

I was gonna do pink with purple armor

[fierce eagle]

I was gonna do purple with green armor for neon genesis vibes.

[hollow leaf]

Don't know what you are talking about but i can support purple and pink, with a dash of white or black

[lone canyon]

Purple and green is Joker vibes

[fierce eagle]

That's a new one. I've been called day of the tentacle but not joker.

[zealous nacelle]

Why so ernst?

[wide ember]

apologies for the saucy chat last night

[placid crater]

Dudes! Can you keep on topic? I mean there are other channels for general banter. I’m coming in here and are struggling to find actual updates on the testing of the core

[zealous nacelle]

Yeah, thanks for pointing that out. This core is in active development and being super chatty about topics not related to this core's development makes it hard to keep on track of testing and being aware of new core releases.

I'll relay your message to the mod team so all of us can be more cognescente of keeping this chat and others like it on track.

[lone canyon]

#1347219390130688024 message

Latest update.
No talk about any issues with it.
Only conversation regarding the core after this was posted was between zum and bear about future audio filters

Then talk about Luigi, then about NDS, then talk about brown sauce.

And now here.

[zealous nacelle]

Thanks dude. All the regressions from the prior rbf were addressed right?

[hallow grove]

Just been testing it out now, seems like everything has been fixed

[fathom lintel]

Put in dent in the testing sheet and its tough to find any more issues

Most of the issues i've noticed turn out to be accurate to real hardware

[fringe comet]

The street fighter 2 flashing line is still present. I wonder what causes that? I'm assuming the game was kind of thrown together.

I also thought I'd found an audio bug in Game and Watch Gallery 4 but it's also present on real hardware

[zealous nacelle]

I can verify against real hardware if you want, what’s the issue?

[fringe comet]

There's a flashing line at the top of Dee jay and T. Hawk's stage. It's not present on the old core and it doesn't occur on my DS.

[zealous nacelle]

Good find! I’ll check it out too but it looks like you covered comparing it against real hardware.

[copper yacht]

No line on real hardware that I can see

This is the newest core

[fathom lintel]

Not seeing on my gba sp either

[ionic phoenix]

There are similar glitches in Spyro 2 Season of Flame and Puyo Pop.

Maybe a bug with how sprites are drawn from the top?

[low carbon]

i think the season of flame issue is also with the old core, but this one is not?

would be great if someone could get a savestate from the street fighter issue where the bug is visible in every frame and load that state in the old core. If the issue is not there, it's hopefully not that hard to fix

[lean remnant]

Top line glitches on stage of T. Hawk and Dee Jay for Super Street Fighter II also present on Mario & Luigi RPG
https://imgur.com/a/dIxk5cq

SS with the top line glitch

[tepid moth]

using wark91's Mario & Luigi RPG (Japan)_1.ss, the glitched line at top is present under GBA_20240410.rbf

the SSF2 state loads to a frozen image for me under both cores

[low carbon]

same for me, which stage is this?

ok, got it. Bug is only in the new core

[lean remnant]

The SSF2 save state was done on first new cores and didn't test it before send it (20250405) and confirmed it freesed with last version of new core sorry

[low carbon]

no worries, the frozen image helped me to find the stage 🙂

[lean remnant]

It is also on Dee Jay stage

[tepid moth]

same here using your SSF2 state Robert, only there on the new core

mario n luigi one was on both

[low carbon]

I can remember something like this existed with the old core as well at some point, but I can't remember any details

[fathom lintel]

Do E0008 errors matter? I've only come across two and they're both disney games but they both seem to run fine

[fathom lintel]

Crash bandicoot the huge adventure is completable on the core, no issues I noticed

Only worried about collecting the purple gems

[low carbon]

Errors only matter if the game shows issues. Some of them are just weird behavior.

[fathom lintel]

I thought so just wanted to be sure

The errors only popped up on games no one would care about anyways, Home Range and Kim Possible 2

[low carbon]

To be fair: bit 3 really points to something else. It signals that the game is doing something weird that doesn't allow the sdram to refresh as fast as planned.
I trigger this already when 50% of the max refresh wait time is crossed, so very likely it's not really a violation.
And even then, it would not really break the game or sdram data consistency, it would just make the ROM access 1 clock cycle slower, because refresh gets priority above GBA core cycle accurate.
So the game speed COULD be slightly inaccurate in the moment the error comes up. If it happens once per second: 0.0000059% off.
With endless time, I should take a look, but to be honest...I consider it not important enough to bother.

[fathom lintel]

With the games being Kim Possible and Home Range it really wouldn't be worth the effort when maybe 3 people are going to load it on the core

[ionic phoenix]

Wouldn't be surprised if someone did care. People that grew up with the GBA tend to have a fondness for the licensed games, even if objectively they're mediocre at best.

[fathom lintel]

I think i've covered 99% of the us library by at least loading them and not seeing E0006 errors on latest core and that's what matters

[fathom lintel]

You're not wrong, i bought a gba sp from a young girl years ago and their library of games i received consisted of mostly bad licensed games

[ionic phoenix]

I will admit that I only have the SpongeBob games in my GBA games folder because I used to be a big SpongeBob SquarePants fan and used to play the licensed games a lot.

[fathom lintel]

I got a SpongeBob game from my brothers friend when I was 7 and i thought it was tight

[tepid moth]

folks will notice bad games not running well, but not when they do despite a momentary 1 clock cycle difference
unless the error popup is accidentally left on by default 🙂

[lone solstice]

Nice replaced glass lens you have there

[copper yacht]

Thanks! It's an IPS v5 screen/shell replacement.

[fierce eagle]

Was that the laminated one? I had one that wasn't laminated and something always got between the screen and the lense. I only do laminated now. Even my dmg is laminated, took me forever to find one that was laminated since funnyplaying didn't sell them as such.

[dapper marsh]

I’ve been looking at doing a laminated screen replacement for a DMG and was looking at the ones on Aliexpress. Where did you get yours?

[copper yacht]

Yep this one is. I like it.

This one was ali

[fierce eagle]

https://www.silentmodding.com/en/ips-lcd-kit-v5-pro-with-osd-fur-game-boy-classic-1.html

I think this was the one. Shipped from Austria iirc.

They didn't have the pre trimmed shell at the time, so I had to carve up a funnyplaying one quite a bit.

Also they only had "silly colors" left with black and gray sold out.

This is what I did in the end.

[dapper marsh]

nice! I may still look at the aliexpress ones because that display looks almost identical to what i was finding there and they also have kits that come with the shell and everything

I want to do the laminated ips mod for the dmg and the gbc

[fierce eagle]

GBC is very easy!

I'd also recommend the chromatic if you don't plan on using flashcards, the screen is really nice.

[lone solstice]

I also have have mine replaced with a glass lens though I still have the original LCD coz I'm a masochist.

The repair guy I frequently go to doesn't recommend installing a glass lens to my GBA SP due to the clamshell nature of it. What do you think?

[fierce eagle]

I have one and it works fine.

If you don't have an ags 101 I'd do it.

[zealous nacelle]

Buy a micro to test your eye sight

[fierce eagle]

Don't tempt me.

[zealous nacelle]

I think they’re neat imo. I bought a fun little sock for mine.

I use it to compare against the core.

[fierce eagle]

You can exchange the front plate, right?

[zealous nacelle]

Yeah, and they’re finally making good quality third party ones.

[fierce eagle]

I mean... I ONLY have 2 gba sps and 2 normal gbas...

[zealous nacelle]

Oh then you’re covered.

[fierce eagle]

No... no...

I think you're right and I won't find happiness unless I buy a micro.

[zealous nacelle]

I think Micros are pretty overrated unless you need a tiny handheld. But it has become my go to gaming device for when I need to take my kids to extracurricular activities.

[lyric gust]

For your what? Wait please don't answer

[copper needle]

they are?

the boo one?

[zealous nacelle]

I think so. I bought one recently and it was very nice.

Lemme get the link

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C39Z8CWC

[copper needle]

thanks

[zealous nacelle]

I’ve seen other vendors sell the same type so I don’t think it’s unique to that one vendor.

So I’m sure you can get it for much cheaper.

But I was pleasantly surprised by the quality.

[copper needle]

i've tried a few third party ones and never been satisfied

bad fitment or being slightly too thick and making the buttons hard to push

[copper yacht]

I honestly have never had an SP or had thought about that until this very moment. Having something accidentally in there while closing it could be pretty bad but if you're careful, I'd be fine 😂

[zealous nacelle]

You might be a much better judge than me then. I haven’t tried that many. I bought one years ago that was trash and that one lol.

[copper needle]

a glass screen might fare slightly better than a plastic one if you manage to close the SP with something inside

i find it slightly hard to imagine doing that though honestly

[zealous nacelle]

I think it’s a good concern but I’ve never had that issue.

With the SP

[copper needle]

anything hard enough to shatter glass will likely dent /bend plastic as much or more

plastic might win in a situation where you say, sat on the entire SP maybe

its lighter too

[fierce eagle]

Maybe I'd get a micro if they make a really neat Golden Sun plate.

[lone solstice]

I wish the colors of the AGS-101's LCD was the same as the Micro's

[zealous nacelle]

They’re that different? I haven’t thought to compare.

[lyric gust]

aren't every model's colors different

[lone canyon]

Yeah man, original GBA look is just better IMO

More realistic and natural and I can see the artists intention with it

[waxen verge]

too washed out for my tastes

rupee icon practically looks grey lol

[half kiln]

So does the new core support the serial port yet? I wanna hook it to my GameCube for Zelda Four Swords Adventure and FF Crystal Chronicles multiplayer 😛

[compact vessel]

Original GBA and DS had surprisingly different screens from later revisions. Colour, latency, screen response time...

[ionic phoenix]

That's why I think there is no definitive way a GBA should look.

[compact vessel]

Indeed. The more options the better

I'll be waiting for the ultimate display mod for some emulator (Unless I make it because who would want this!).

Newly mappable "complain" button. The screen fluctuates as if being semi-randomly hit with street lights, then darkness, like sitting in the back of a car with no control. Panning changes to brightness across the screen.
The complain button either reduces the fluctuations for a few minutes, does nothing, or makes it worse

[fierce eagle]

Even if there was one correct look I still think there should be as many options as possible. There are absolutely hideous nes palettes, but I'm glad for the option.

[lone solstice]

The Zelda games were one of the select games that had color settings to accomodate for different screen types. Wish more games had that

[lone solstice]

Even within the same "model", the display could vary. I had two AGS-001s, one was colder and one was warmer.
I hear DS lites and DSis also have varying LCDs

[wide ember]

very inconsistent, the platform is ruin

[ionic phoenix]

GBA 🤝 Mega Drive

System Revision Hell

[lone solstice]

At least all GBA revisions were consistent with the GBA games it ran. Early revisions of the GBC had borked audio in select GB games, which got fixed in later revisions of the GBC

[timber silo]

Curious what GBA dev kits look like. That would ultimately be what devs worked with.

[lone solstice]

If i recall correctly, they had tools that would convert the color of their games to accomodate the GBA's screen

[zealous nacelle]

I imagine there’s also some minor variance with those LCD brightness values too

[low carbon]

not yet, Don't have much time currently because of work and also want to spend less time, because summer feels great this year. We'll get to it eventually.

but i already ordered and tested all cables and adapters to start

[coarse cape]

I'm finding all the weird bugs today. Totally unimportant, but if someone feels like updating the framework on the GBA2P core, it would fix a dual ram "bug" where you still need SW3 set to on in order to get toslink audio with a 9.2 board and dual ram.

(9.2 boards auto detect dual ram, so you don't need to flip any switches with them - but that's a framework change, and the 2P core doesn't have the latest framework)

[fierce eagle]

Last week and next week are pretty rainy in the south of Germany, glad to hear you have better weather. 😅

[hollow leaf]

skin melting 28°C in the middle, wild surprise after a week or so with nice 17ish°C

[low carbon]

Last week was ok, only 2 days with rain, but overall just spending time outside in general.
I typically don't like it much when it's very warm, but this winter was kind of sad for me and I was wishing for it to end since January already, so I'm very fine with anything between 15 and 30°.
let's see when our american friends will wake up and are confused about the low numbers 🙂

[fierce eagle]

I got drenched while trying to meet my daily step goal. I'm not equipped for it.

[snow galleon]

Odd thing is the weather here in the eastern US isn't too different with humidity and wind throwing me off. It also started raining more this week.

[lone canyon]

Hard to be confused when you're a member of the PCMR

It's 25 today with 64%

[little lodge]

Sending warmth and sunshine your way! It was 107F (41.667C) for me yesterday.

[fathom lintel]

Perfect weather for us in my area for robert

[snow galleon]

It was rainy today around 15-21 degress celsius (I'm used to farenheit tbh)

Even when it was warmer around 85F, there was a cool breeeze. Some days it was in the high 60s (F) and felt hotter than when it was 85F.

[ionic phoenix]

https://bskyx.app/profile/retrodotcards.com/post/3lqi726qp7s2o

[lyric gust]

I played some E reader homebrew at MGC this year I thought it was so cool!

[zealous nacelle]

Oh no, oh nooooo no no no

[zealous nacelle]

LMAO how did you record me

[lone canyon]

[low carbon]

PPU: Y scroll register changes apply during line drawing -> fixes flickering line in street fighter

[lean remnant]

It fixed also top line glitch on "Minna de Puyo Puyo (Japan) (En,Ja)" during tutorial/explain how to play

👍

[low carbon]

Great, thank you for testing so quick!

[short anvil]

Any bugs left? Feels like we are at the homestretch

[ionic phoenix]

Does this fix Spyro 2?

[fringe comet]

Any bugs are probably in obscure Japanese/shovelware titles

[lean remnant]

somes still listed on the google sheet

[warm galleon]

Interesting. On my CRT I actually prefer the raw GBA core colors. Any of the color options just look too desaturated most of the time, except maybe GBA 1.6.

I'm assuming most of these color corrections were made with modern displays in mind?

The core feels amazing by the way.

[fierce eagle]

Yeah but the audio is a bit crunchy. 😉

[crimson gate]

@low carbon how portable is the arm cpu now?

it's actually the same as the arm cpu used for the abominable atari 2600 harmony/melody carts

[tardy warren]

finally I can port GBA games to the 2600

[crimson gate]

yes

[coarse cape]

as miyamoto intended

[zealous nacelle]

Ok, I've added text commands to give you a list of shortcuts to all the pinned posts in a channel. Type "#channel name pins" and you'll get it. I covered the most popular channels.

For Example: #1347219390130688024 pins

[brazen cradle]

Game Boy Advance:

• Core Developer
• Download Core
• Testing Sheet
• Important Info

[honest shadow]

Yessss.....give in to your hatred.....

[tardy warren]

I think this means you add the arm to the core, and then rework the core so the atari 2600/7800 just runs emulated on the arm

people want those abominations? they get an abomination in return

[zealous nacelle]

If we wait long enough, then all the 2600 fans will pass away and then we’ll no longer have to worry about supporting it.

[honest shadow]

Given your track record, you realize you just doomed yourself to become a 2600 fan, right?

[zealous nacelle]

||I like the 2600 lol, don’t tell anyone||

[low carbon]

way better than before. There are still some quirks inside, e.g. the register<->DMA switch is inside the CPU, which is probably not the case for the real CPU. Also it's not using original pins or bus behavior.
The question is how much that really matters. I don't know how the 2600 hack would need it, but the Pocketstation could live with the new CPU module, while the old one was not really useable due to GBA timing information being baked into it.

[crimson gate]

the 2600 thing passes opcodes directly to it but I doubt it's very timing sensitive given the original system runs at.. umm, 1.19mhz 🙂

it runs in some kind of MCU context

[low carbon]

I mean, the CPU is timing accurate, just the bus model (when read enable is set and done is set) probably differs to original pins

[crimson gate]

it's probably workable

[low carbon]

i don't get how it can pass opcodes only? It must at least offer some memory region the ARM can read the opcodes from?

[crimson gate]

I have to look more into it, it emulates mappers basically

but basically it feeds arm code to the cpu for absurdly fast processing

I'm not sure if it uses a secondary rom or a bit of ram to hold the program

probably is effectively an arm-code mapper

then has an atari-bus interface from the arm-bus

it's an mcu so it must have at least some ram

yeh it has 64kb sram

[low carbon]

I would expect they have some kind of shared ram the ARM reads instructions from and works on data.
If that is the case, using the module would be fairly easy.
Best to have some open source application that uses the ARM and then see what happens

[crimson gate]

stella has some kind of implementation

I'm sure I could make it if I had the cpu

but making the cpu would be insane for that

it's actually probably more code than the entire rest of the core

[wide ember]

seems to me that cart should have been like one big rom and a bank switch

[echo oyster]

I read that chasing the beam book and I remember that the whole thing is like really complicated

[fathom lintel]

Pokemon Fire Red is completable on the core, no issues

[short anvil]

growlithe the backbone of the team

[inner torrent]

Now do Emerald's Battle Frontier, just to make sure

[flint notch]

and make sure to get all gold symbols

[fathom lintel]

Ok i'll see where I'm at in 3 months 😅

[gilded schooner]

EDIT : I removed the list, as soon or later, Robert will check most probably by himself the newer version of alyosha tests suite.

[low carbon]

The jsmolka test fork?
Haven't run these yet, so if you have that would be great. Ideally if for each of the tests a known-good emulator exists(e.g. can Nanoboy Advance run it?)

Don't know how good/accurate their own emulator is currently

To be honest, I didn't bother yet after I have seen that multiple tests fail on real hardware with flash card.

[gilded schooner]

I will check the tests suite later after my workday on my original system and on NBA/Mesen2.
I thought about it as I see Sour (Mesen2 author) trying to fix the emulator with it this week.

[gilded schooner]

My conclusions, after 4 hours of tests.

Tests performed with the tests here from 2025-06-10 : https://github.com/alyosha-tas/gba-tests

If you should find something interesting behind all that, that would be wonderful.

[placid crater]

how are tests failing on original hardware? lol!

[gilded schooner]

Possible difference between a GBA and a NDS.

For the saves, I think the issue is the flashcard too.

[smoky loom]

does cheat work on new gba core? Because I tried using it on metroid fusion to enable invincibility or infinite energy and all the similar names and none work, tried enabling it to fight the sa-x. Any way to make it work then?

[low carbon]

no, cheats don't work yet

[low carbon]

great overview, thank you!
Hopefully I find time for it. Still so many things to do. But it's always fun to work on these and figure out the tiny differences 🙂

[gilded schooner]

You're welcome.
And you can also check the recent commits to the Mesen2 source code, that could be useful if you need to check how some tests were fixed the last days.

[onyx lynx]

Where did you get that build of Mesen2? The only one I see is from a month ago

[gilded schooner]

GitHub Actions from yesterday.

[graceful hedge]

I have one simple question to ask. I am enjoying the gameboy, advance, color core series but I am using the keyboard to control the games.

Can I use the NES controller to control the games instead?

Thanks in advance.

[tepid moth]

with a USB adapter, sure. Not enough buttons for GBA though

[fierce eagle]

I use the 8bitdo nes modkit myself. Snes for gba.

[graceful hedge]

Oooh

it have to be through USB?

[low carbon]

original controllers through SNAC only work for the cores of the system they have been for originally

The core currently does not support using a GBA as SNAC controller. Maybe in future

[hushed narwhal]

I use a 4daptor (which is similar to a reflex). I can connect my NES, N64, SNES and Sega controllers to the mister that way.

I use it with my SN30, as that comes with a proper snes connector and not a usb one.

[zealous nacelle]

Why do you sin

[ionic phoenix]

I want to play GBA games using the DK bongo controller.

[zealous nacelle]

ok, I’m on board

[copper needle]

left bongo for left, right bongo for right, clap to jump

still better than most amiga games

[wide ember]

I'm still hurting from up to jump

[onyx lynx]

Does this involve using nightly link?

[gilded schooner]

Yes, you need an account on GH.

[onyx lynx]

I got one
I'm just kinda terrible at using it

[gilded schooner]

Select "Mesen (Windows - net8.0)"

If you're on Windows.

[onyx lynx]

Ok

[graceful hedge]

What is the best usb controller for game boy cores series ?

[waxen verge]

i like the snes controller the most

nintendo console so it makes sense. button layout is comfy for gb/c/a games

[onyx lynx]

I like any of the 8bitdo sn30 line

[fathom lintel]

I'm odd and like using an n64 controller for gameboy games

[waxen verge]

i mean, n64 controller works well enough. good d-pad and nice big A and B buttons

[graceful hedge]

https://www.8bitdo.com/sn30-pro-usb-gamepad/

I will get this one.

I take it, all I have to do is hook it into the USB port of MisterFPGA and just map the thing

Of course gameboy does not support rumble, right hehe?

Let us party!

[fathom lintel]

There are some games that support rumble that work on the core

[lone canyon]

Yes and no. You can plug it into any of the normal USB ports of an add-on board or USB hub that is connected via the micro USB port on the de-10 nano.

Do not plug it into the port that looks like a USB port on the top layer IO board

[fathom lintel]

https://afska.itch.io/beat-beast i use this to test if rumble is working on the core

[graceful hedge]

I am going to get it

I will use this for all game boys series. So I have PSX controller, NES controller, controller for all the game boy series. What I need is get SNEX for my SNES controller, and get a N64 controller.

I wonder if I can get a USB joystick also to make my apple // to the USB joystick and what would be the best USB joystick for apple //?

[zealous nacelle]

I use the turbo grafx controller because it only has two buttons like the game boy.

[inner torrent]

I just use the last two buttons on a Saturn controller (B + C)

[lone canyon]

The original pong/Atari controller only has one button so it's the most superior

[low carbon]

n64 controller is where all began 🙂
This was even a direct, low latency interface like SNAC.

Nearly 6 years ago

[low carbon]

Cheats functionality added -> please report if a cheat works on the old core, but doesn't work in the new core

[lean remnant]

It seems a very old rbf 28/03/2025

and it doesn't have border

[low carbon]

Haha, thank you for finding this. here is the correct one:

[lean remnant]

Thank you 🙂

[smoky loom]

Thanks! Cheats working like a charm, I finally could beat SA-X on Metroid Fusion. I always got stuck on that part.

[fierce eagle]

SA-X was a nightmare to fight as a child. Loved it.

[wide ember]

is that a metroid

[honest viper]

Yeah there's a Samus clone that hunts you while playing careless whisper

[wide ember]

damn

[fierce eagle]

Wish Samus would hunt me.

[wide ember]

I know

[sand saffron]

It's not a metroid!

It's an X parasite! All these fake Metroid fans here!

[wide ember]

I admit I'm not

[honest viper]

But in Fusion, Samus is the Metroid

[fierce eagle]

I don't like dreads story much tbh. In my head canon Samus ||quit bounty hunting after fusion and came to earth to marry me||.

[wide ember]

crange

[fierce eagle]

I embrace the cringe.

[crude marten]

The only time a handheld game has made me jump out of my skin

https://tenor.com/view/nekomata-okayu-samus-dance-panic-dance-panic-gif-12418764987893636780

[honest viper]

I think Fusion is good first Metroid game. It tells you where to go for a while then makes you break the rules by exploring outside of the map (teaching you how to hunt for secrets). Plus SA-X gives a clear and present danger to motivate you into looking for upgrades.

Even if you don't really have a combat encounter with it until very late in the game. For a new player it's a good trick.

[wide ember]

isn't Metroid 1 a good first Metroid game

[fringe comet]

Fusion is my favourite game

[fierce eagle]

I like the nes metroid game but some people act like they're allergic to nes games. Not true gamers if you ask me.

[sand saffron]

Super Metroid will always be my favorite. Followed by Zero Mission.

[onyx lynx]

Most people would hit a pretty hard wall with the controls