RetroN5: Hands on first look

[stardust4ever]

i joined over here just to follow the R5 thread. Loving mine. Thanks for all your work Tanooki in working with them and getting the system better.

that find a mapper automapper was nice.


any chance we might see an "advanced" mode where we can pick the mapper and name the game so it will use that all the time. Might help them build their database to.

Gracenotes (formerly CDDB) does a wonderful job of allowing users manually entering CD track info into the database. They've got literally millions of CDs indexed.

If only Retron5 had networking capabilities, users could use the "Advanced" option to simply type in the game name, header info, special chips, or save type (if applicable). Then the Retron5 could submit the game data to be reviewed by Hyperkin and added into the next update. Nearly all ROM variants, homebrews, repros, hacks, pirates, imports, you name it could be added, quickly exhausting the supply of "unknown" or nonworking games.

[nusilver]

Gracenotes (formerly CDDB) does a wonderful job of allowing users manually entering CD track info into the database. They've got literally millions of CDs indexed.

If only Retron5 had networking capabilities, users could use the "Advanced" option to simply type in the game name, header info, special chips, or save type (if applicable). Then the Retron5 could submit the game data to be reviewed by Hyperkin and added into the next update. Nearly all ROM variants, homebrews, repros, hacks, pirates, imports, you name it could be added, quickly exhausting the supply of "unknown" or nonworking games.

The company is called Gracenote. I worked there for 5 years running their games division under their former owner, Sony

[tomm1313]

Gracenotes (formerly CDDB) does a wonderful job of allowing users manually entering CD track info into the database. They've got literally millions of CDs indexed.

If only Retron5 had networking capabilities, users could use the "Advanced" option to simply type in the game name, header info, special chips, or save type (if applicable). Then the Retron5 could submit the game data to be reviewed by Hyperkin and added into the next update. Nearly all ROM variants, homebrews, repros, hacks, pirates, imports, you name it could be added, quickly exhausting the supply of "unknown" or nonworking games.

well they do force you do put a file on an SD card to update. Maybe that file could include game info for games that people added via an advanced mode. you get multiple ones and they know its legit and can add to the patch.

[Tanooki]

I tried about 10 different GBA boots and like you, all were seen as "unknown cart" but most still played.

I've gotta say after playing with this on a few different size LCD/plasma TVs and getting used to the bright, crisp picture it was hard to go back to my original systems on the older CRT. I even caught myself preferring to play some games using a filter or two, which is something that I've never had a taste for in the past.

If we could just map that pesky select button to the mode button so the Sega arcade pad joy could be spread around more....

Your wish is my indirect command. I took your request to the Tech and last week he added the MODE button as something you can map. He also has added the ability to remap select and start as well if I recall right as they can get annoying being well out of reach for NES stuff.

I feel similar about the R5 too, not with the visual filters though the lqx one is pretty decent but I love the audio processing upgrades.

[Az]

not with the visual filters though the lqx one is pretty decent

Lqx is the only one I can handle, anything beyond that is just too blurry for my tastes.

[nusilver]

Had anyone successfully gotten cheats working on Unknown Cartridges?

I wanted to add the 16-hit combo cheat for my Mother 3 repro, since the timing seems off during battle and I can't do combos anymore like I can on Nintendo hardware, so I created a GBA cheat XML based on one of the other ones, then added the CRC because it appears to be listed in the name of the save file in the system. Unfortunately, no cheats show up when I boot the game.

Anyway, I've asked Téch, but wanted to throw it out here, too, since he has stopped replying to my questions/comments.

[Tanooki]

AZ: Same here 100%. I can't stand how blotchy and round the stuff gets as it just looks terrible in various levels of crappiness depending how the original game drew its art.

WARNING -- GBA SAVE ISSUE RETURNS: I put in my copy of Circle of the Moon to hear that awesome title audio and see what it would look like in play on my system using the 1.4 firmware. It claimed to have copied the save, yet when I went in the game showed none. Suspicious, I put the game back into my GB Micro, and it was gone. GRRRRRR! I had just got it to where you can attempt the eternal hallway and it's all gone. Not sure if I want to restart this one again as I've got other stuff including FF6A still.

SRAM SAVES ARE BEING EATEN AGAIN! I've written the tech about it.

FLASH style saves are OK. EEPROM will READ but not WRITE as it's not done yet/enabled. SRAM is playing russian roulette with GBA games.

[Tanooki]

This is something I was unaware of, SNES Mouse support goes beyond games.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EV703lViSpk

Watch that! You can use it to navigate the entire R5 menu itself and not just to draw in Mario Paint.

[treismac]

It's well enough that Hyperkin is still working towards the elusive 100% compatibility goal post the RetroN 5 release, but they really out to have ironed out the game/battery save flaws before letting the bird out of the nest. Not to rub any salt into any fresh wounds, but I'd be really pissed if I lost any game saves on a game I worked hard at achieving. Hopefully by the time there is a decent price drop all of those issues will be sorted out.

[stardust4ever]

Man, sucks about the saves. I don't see why it should delete the save from the original carts. It is possible to read the RAM without writing to it or erasing it. <br /><br />Another side effect, is the Retron5 hotplugging carts into a bus that's presumably always powered on. Hotplugging carts is unlikely to permanently damage either the console or the carts, but the electrical snafu that intermittently results during the hotplug operation can easily corrupt the volatile SRAM memory even with a fresh battery. It is always recommended to power off the console before changing carts, something the current Retron5 doesn't do.

[omegadevil]

Hello eveyone,

I'm new here and wanted to know how do you know when the Retron 5 controller is fully charged? I've had it charging on the cord for about 4 hours while I played but all the lights keep blinking and it hasn't stopped yet. I also wanted to know if anyone had issues with cheats on Genesis/Mega Drive carts. Every time I try to use a cheat on a Genesis/MD cart I get a red screen and have to load a save to get the game to run the cheats. Is this normal? I have my R5 updated to v1.4 and the newest cheat update. Any info provided would be appreciated

[stardust4ever]

I wouldn't worry about the controller charger. Charge times vary wildly across devices. Leave it plugged up overnight if you want. Contrary to what some people may tell you, all consumer devices that utilize Li-Ion batteries have a protection circuit that prevents overcharging. The old adage about "don't leave electronics on the charger" applies mainly to older Ni-Cad devices using a trickle charge circuit.

[tomm1313]

well they do force you do put a file on an SD card to update. Maybe that file could include game info for games that people added via an advanced mode. you get multiple ones and they know its legit and can add to the patch.

I took the ideas that stardust and myself put on about the "advanced mode" and it writing back to the SD card so they increase the DB and they said it is planned already and in the works to mark the mappers for a game yourself.

[Tanooki]

Hey guys AZ and other Genesis people in particular surprise, new build. Since this is more pro-feelings on this and I got a nod to share this I'm going to drop the link straight here.

http://retron5.in/?src=182be0c5cdcd5072bb1864cdee4d3d6e

Current changes:
Fixed corrupt text in GBA Phantasy Star Collection
Fixed NES mapper 159 games
Fixed SNES Megaman X/Rockman X
Fixed Genesis American Gladiators
The MODE button on Genesis 6-button controllers is now supported
START/SELECT may now be configured via the button mapping


UPDATES to come -- They're in test to drop the BOOT time of the system to .5seconds so you can just basically press the power button and use it, no more 5 second hold time (finally!) It's in internal test, should go public testing he says in a few days.

My kid is bumbling around earlier this morning so I can't just get the SD card and slip it in there to update mine to try it out, so knock yourselves out.

[ibain]

The quick boot time is awesome news!

[nusilver]

So, I heard back from Téch about creating cheats for Unknown Cartridges, and he confirmed I did it exactly the correct way, but that GBA cheats just aren't currently supported. Good to know!

Much more importantly - what this tells me is that the CRC is saved in the filename of your SRAM save on the Retron 5, meaning it's not beyond reasoning that users could start submitting CRCs to Hyperkin to add to firmware updates. Wouldn't that mean they wouldn't need to get hold of every cart in existence to get compatibility?

By the way, I've now tested the system with about 50 NES/Famicom games and 70 SNES/Super Famicom games. All of them worked with the exception of 1 Famicom game. I haven't gotten to test GBA/GBC/GB yet, other than Mother 3, which I know I can't stop talking about.

[Tanooki]

Well that's pretty good if it's down to 1 game whatever that is.

I'm talking with him too currently and I brought up your CRC idea, he had it already but for whatever reason it's just not there but he liked the idea. If it's the company perhaps that makes sense, but even from a private build standpoint it could solve a lot of problems.


If anyone here has GBA games that lose their saves at all that have the SRAM type, please log what game it is and how/when it happened? Did you put the game in before/after/during the boot process? Did it supposedly copy over OK saying as much? The issue is there but consistency isn't so it's a problem.

The future looks to eventually add the fast loading of bigger games, EEPROM save copy to cart added, single game issues cleaned up, and more accessories as they get them. It's looking pretty good overall.

[T]

I still have not received my unit that I preordered for $99 from amazon.

Has anyone received their amazon unit yet?

If so, how much did you pay for it?

[T]

also,

I live I Illinois not Canada....

[omegadevil]

I wouldn't worry about the controller charger. Charge times vary wildly across devices. Leave it plugged up overnight if you want. Contrary to what some people may tell you, all consumer devices that utilize Li-Ion batteries have a protection circuit that prevents overcharging. The old adage about "don't leave electronics on the charger" applies mainly to older Ni-Cad devices using a trickle charge circuit.

Thanks for the info. I just wanted to make sure I didn't have a busted controller. It would be nice if there was a way to tell how much charge is left on the controller like the PS3 controller when you press the PS button or even use a PS3 controller with the Retron.

No word on the Genesis cheats red screen situation? Could someone contact the Retron Tech reguarding this issue.

I still have not received my unit that I pre ordered for $99 from amazon.

Has anyone received their amazon unit yet?

If so, how much did you pay for it?

I got my gray unit from amazon on June 12th and paid $76.19. I pre ordered when it was first made available at $99. I assume you pre ordered a black unit since you haven't received it yet. I read on some forums that black units were being shipped out to customers from amazon. Hope you get yours soon as it's nice to play the classics on a big screen.