Version 3.4.5 of fMSX is out – it addresses most of the features mentioned in the Future of fMSX post. Here’s the complete list of changes:
- MSXMUSIC and MSXAUDIO emulation can now be toggled on and off at any time
- FDD (Floppy Disk Drive) controller activity indicator – displays an icon whenever the virtual floppy drive is busy
- Optional hi-resolution renderer for screen modes 6, 7 and text-80
While MSXAUDIO and MSXMUSIC emulation speed is not perfect, it is significantly more improved than with the earlier versions – with only one of the two enabled, the emulator can still run at full speed (at 333MHz with V-Sync disabled). Since most MSX programs do not use either, keep the two turned off, enabling one or the other when necessary. Note that to initialize the sound emulation engine, fMSX PSP will take longer to start up if either is enabled.
As mentioned in the previous post, high-resolution engine is now available, but its use is discouraged – emulation is slower, visual improvements are marginal. Emulation is also slightly inaccurate – the solid-color 8-pixel wide borders to the sides of the image will not be rendered in high-resolution mode due to image constraints. There’s more discussion in documentation, if you’re interested.
[...] emulator devopler uberjack has released an update to his fMSX Emulator, fixes include: MSXMUSIC and MSXAUDIO emulation can now [...]
Great work uberjack keep it up
Hi Uberjack !
My name is Emmanuel, i’m living in France (sorry for my bad english), i’m a big MSX fan (take a look at my very outdated website) and i wanted to thank you for your marvellous fMSX port on my lovely PSP.
Just a little question (or two): i really want to test the MSX Music and MSX Audio fonctionnality but i think that i must compile the sources by myself to be able to toggle the FM sound switch in the emulator. could you give me the step by step to do this or maybe send me an already compiled binary.
Second thing : is the “reset” fonction a soft reset or hardware reset ? in fact i noticed that when i load and run a disk (“zipped” vampire killer for example) then i eject and i do a reset but it’s vampire killer again (with bad graphics)
Finally, when i load some zipped disk games like “aleste 2″ (from tosec) or FONY Demodisk my PSP hang and shutdown (it’s a PSP fat with 3.71M33-2)
That’s all for now but i’m going to continue my tests…
Thanks for your good work for all the PSP ans MSX fans !!
Hi Emmanuel,
Thanks, I’m glad you like fMSX PSP.
To answer your questions – the latest version of fMSX is compiled with MSX Audio and MSX Music support, but the emulation needs to be explicitly enabled in the System menu (it slows down emulation when turned on).
The ‘Reset’ in the System menu is a hardware reset.
I’ll check out the issues you mentioned with Aleste 2 – I’d be interested to see what’s causing the crash. Have you been successful in running Aleste 2 on fMSX emulators for other platforms?
Hi again (tanks for your quick answer)
More tests of the 3.4.5 version. MSX Audio and MSX Music fonctionnality is indeed a big problem for me : testing Aleste(1988)(compile)(jp) from Tosec database (MSX MSX2 VARIOUS DSK)
Whenever i switch on/off the MSX Music, the result is the same : i got music but not MSX Music in comparaison with BlueMSX (PC) or even MSXPSP. It seems that i have only 3 of the 8 channels (let’s say the 3 channels from the PSG in SCC Music) or maybe there is a problem of “balance” between the channels (i hear the drum kit very well but some level of other channels are very low)
I tried to get another FMPAC.ZIP file but same result.
I also tried a Disc Station and Golvellius 2 with no luck
Another test : Audiowave demodisc (MSX Audio only) : BlueMSX sound is OK while in fMSXPSP there is a message to insert a Music Module ( even if MSX Audio switch is on) then the PSP crash and shutdown itself. same thing in PSPMSX but with no crash.
Concerning Aleste 2, it’s working well in PSPMSX 1.2.2 (sound is good except digitalized voice in the open screen)
Hi Uberjack.
I played SD-SNATCHER(cracked by StarCracks) by fMSX PSP 3.4.5.
After I saved game(not state save), sometimes save disk is broken.
Save disk image size is changed to 0bytes.
Sorry for poor English.
Me again with more test on the more stable 1.50 firmware (i downgraded from 3.71-m33-2)
I preferred a port of DCAlice, a rare French computer : that’s a reel challenge !!) and continue your wonderful MSX port for all the MSX community out there.
no luck, same results (don’t you see tears in my eyes ? )
I don’t understand why Audio options aren’t working : disabled/disabled, enabled/disabled/, disabled/enabled, enabled/enabled (slow emulation in this case even at 333 mhz) nothing change : No FM sound at all !
I tried another thing : enabling the MSX Audio “music module” soundchip with the famous sequence : poke -54,35:poke&hf346,1:call system before puting an MSX audio disc (a disc station or golvellius 2 for exemple)
in this case, fMSXPSP crash and the PSP shutdown but in bluemsx, this tip is working like a charm.
Well, more tests are coming.
Keep the good work Akop and concerning your infernal question, please, don’t spend too much efforts doing another emulators (an Amstrad CPC one, what a waste of time
See ya.
for more info about Matra Alice computer :
http://www.system-cfg.com/detailcollection.php?ident=20
http://alice32.free.fr/
Hi popolon,
I’ll check out the issue you’re experiencing with FMPAC. Comparing fMSX PSP with bluemsx is not really a fair comparison, as fMSX PSP is not based on bluemsx (while both are based on fMSX, I don’t actually modify emulation code, except for adding the new sound engines).
I’ll also consider a port of DCAlice.
Thanks for your feedback.
I have the same popolon´s problem. Can´t get any FM sound and when I try to load the fmpac.rom with a game fMSXPSP crash and the PSP shutdown. I have a fat PSP with 5.00 m33-3.
The most recent version should work with FMPAC – I’ve tested myself with various games (Aleste, Mon Mon Monster, etc…). Try a clean install of fMSX PSP (don’t overwrite any files), and enable MSX Music in the System tab.
You shouldn’t need to load FMPAC.ROM – it’s automatically loaded by fMSX PSP.
I downloaded the lastest version and made a clean install as you suggested and it worked perfectly! I´m very happy, you made my day uberjack, thanks!!!
Hello uberjack, do you have any plans for updating fmsx? It would be great if you add support for digitalized voices in next releases.
There will be more updates to fMSX, but I’m not sure how feature-rich they will be. One planned update is to improve state saving/loading by improving the save state format.