This release fixes the “Button mode” (US/JP) bug in 3.5.40 reported by several users. The bug caused the emulator to start in US button mode, even when Japan mode was selected.
If you always use US mode, you do not need to download this version.
Archive for the ‘fMSX’ Category
fMSX PSP version 3.5.41 released
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010fMSX PSP version 3.5.40 released
Monday, March 1st, 2010It’s been almost two years since fMSX PSP last saw an update, so today seems as good a day as any to release an updated version. New in this release:
- PSPLIB updated to latest version
- Images are now saved under PSP/PHOTOS/fMSX PSP
- Virtual keyboard updated, option for “toggle display” mode
- Screenshot previews in file browser
This release also significantly improves the save state format by adding versioning, and automatically switching the emulated machine to the system specs appropriate for the save state (no more cryptic state loading errors). To clarify, say you save a game in MSX1 mode, then switch to MSX2. In earlier versions of the emulator, unless you switched back to MSX1 prior to loading state, state would refuse to load. If you changed other features, such as memory sizes and video mode (NTSC/PAL), you would have to remember the specific setup for the game, or the game would not load. In 3.5.40, save state format includes all the necessary system data, and will automatically switch to the appropriate setup. This is the normal behavior in most other computer emulators, such as Fuse and VICE.
That said, please note that only new states will benefit from this – while fMSX PSP is backwards compatible, previously saved states will only load if you restore system setup prior to loading, as before. Of course, if you never switch from the usual setup (MSX2, 128kB, NTSC), this whole discussion is probably moot 
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- Game preview
gsDroid version 1.05 released
Saturday, February 6th, 2010gsDroid 1.05 has been released. This update fixes @msn.com logins, which up to now have not been working. Special thanks to those that helped me troubleshoot the issue (emails to the dev are always more productive than negative reviews on Android Marketplace! )
In PSP news, work on fMSX PSP continues; I am in the process of updating the save state format.
PSP and Android updates, possible cause for gsDroid login error found
Thursday, January 7th, 2010Some progress to report: on the PSP front, I have updated fMSX PSP to use the new psplib; remaining are the new virtual keyboard layout, and the changes I detailed earlier – especially better compatibility for saved states.
Work is continuing on Spark as before; a lot of new features have already been added; an update detailing them may follow soon. Regarding login error being reported for gsDroid – everything suggests that this is limited to msn.com accounts, and I should be able to look into it soon, so stay tuned.
The news and the old..s
Tuesday, August 18th, 2009Looks like the PS3 will finally be getting a much-needed price cut (not to mention a slimmer model) very soon. Will I finally have an alternative to my 360? We’ll see…
While I don’t plan on porting anything new anytime soon (although release of VICE PSP has flooded me with requests for an Atari ST emulator ), I do plan to release sporadic updates for the emulators I currently have out. Software development as a hobby is a double-edged sword – not being compelled to program tends to be a good motivator to program anyway, but when the learning ends, so does the desire to program for a particular platform/purpose. Go figure…
fMSX PSP is probably next in line for a revamp – some of you may be aware that it is my personal favorite emulator (as is the system itself). The usual update to psplib is planned, but two things I feel have been long overdue are improved MegaROM autoselection, and even more importantly, a better saved state format. Because of the unpredictability of save states, I lost my SD Snatcher progress mid-way. Grrr…
At some point, Caprice32 will be updated, but no idea when – the emulator hasn’t been updated for years, and my port doesn’t seem to be popular enough to warrant a rewrite.
Since the release of RACE! PSP, I consider NeoPop dead, so it will not receive rewrites unless something magical happens.
This is a little late, but a fellow named Daniele Fiorentini posted an interview with me on maxconsole.net. It’s from 2007, but most of what it contains is still relevant. I came across it again while I was digging through my list of emails.
Spam, and spam other spam updates
Wednesday, October 8th, 2008The forum has started to get bombarded by spam from China; this has led me to block a number of IP ranges, as well as add spam protection – full details here. I’ve also added a new forum for posting bug reports — if you have any bugs to report, please do so here.
In the upcoming month or so, expect to see updates to a number of existing emulators – Fuse and fMSX are likely to be some of those updated. Updates are likely to range from very small fixes, to new (and hopefully interesting) features.
If you also own a GP2X, good news — I’ve been contacted by the author of the GP2X port of RACE!, who plans to use RACE! PSP’s state saving code his port. Speaking of which, all signs indicate that state saving works without a hitch — if you’re interested in details, here’s a list of tested games.
RACE! PSP news, future ideas, new poll
Friday, September 12th, 2008Flavor recently posted news that he considers RACE! PSP the official PSP port of RACE, and that he doesn’t plan on continuing another port. He also mentioned a new undocumented button (not present on the consumer handheld) discovered by FluBBa, the author of an NGPC emulator for GBA that enables hidden debugging features in several NGP games (namely, Card Fighters’ Clash, Card Fighters’ Clash 2, and Dokodemo Mahjong); this feature will be added in the next release of RACE! PSP; ideally, with the ability to save state.
For a while now, I’ve been seriously considering utilizing PSP’s Media Engine (ME) processor in fMSX PSP, to (potentially) enable full-speed emulation with MSX Audio and MSX Music enabled. Currently, enabling any of the two requires emulation at 333 MHz, while enabling both makes the emulator near-unplayable. Of course, utilizing the ME opens up a whole new slew of issues, not the least of which is the challenge presented by parallel programming. If fMSX/ME succeeds, Handy may be finally coaxed to run full-speed.
RACE! PSP was one of the emulators I reported to be working on; another one is still in the initial stages. If things pan out, there may be another pre-release riddle, which should give you an idea of which system it will emulate. Thankfully, I received my replacement video card yesterday, so I can finally continue work again.
Finally, I’ve added a new poll; if you have some time, please take it.
CORRECTION The discoverer of the undocumented button was not porting RACE to NDS, he’s actually writing a new emulator for the GBA (thanks Flavor)
UPDATE The poll should now be fixed
Bad news, nobody
Thursday, July 10th, 2008A new emulator is currently in the works. If all goes well, there should be a release within the next couple of weeks.
Second, according to the folks at the MSX Resource Center, there is an MSX ROM mapper database, licensed under GPL. This may well mean the end of ROM type selection for fMSX. Special thanks to Manuel Pazos and Manuel Bilderbeek for their help.
If you can help with similar information for the Atari800 (ROM CRC and ROM type information), please let me know.
Great time to be part of open source development, to be sure.
fMSX 3.5.35 released
Sunday, June 29th, 2008This is mostly a bugfix release. Here’s what’s new:
- Bugfix – many games, especially MegaROM games did not load correctly in the previous version (thanks Victor)
- Added Fast Forward button mapping – while disabled by default, you can map any button to fast-forward emulation in the Controls menu
- Custom mapper types can now be embedded in source code. This version includes built-in support for Zanac Ex and Mon Mon Monster. Contact me if you’d like to add additional mappings
This version no longer includes a version compiled for firmware 1.50.
Firmware 1.50
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008The recent issue with fMSX 3.5.3 (fw 1.50 version) prompted me to rethink future support for 1.50/kxploit executables. One option was to regress to an earlier version of the library, dropping any of the adhoc functionality; another was to simply stop working on versions for 1.50.
I (grudgingly) decided to stop providing support for fw 1.50 – reasons for this being threefold – a) the ps2dev community recommends moving away from this firmware, as continuing support for it is getting more challenging (flash0 memory being one reason); b) running simple applications in kernel mode seems counter-intuitive, and c) it’s becoming exceedingly more difficult to cope with two distinct programming models.
The emulators that are currently up will probably be the last ones with support for firmware 1.50; all future emulators are likely to only run on firmware 2.00 and greater.
UPDATE Wow, what a coincidence
I'm a programmer with too much interest in too many programming languages, and not enough time.