Release Emu EX Plus Alpha ported to the Pandora

[ptitSeb]

Well milky didn't show it as an update, should I redownload it manually ?

And since last night. I haven't used it in a while.

Last night??? Mmmm, corrupted datas?

 

[Silent-Hunter]

Possibly. I'm reinstalling it.

That fixed it, thanks!

 

[aidenn]

Thanks for that xset bit, awesome. You're the best, guys.

But what about the audio? Is it only me? I'm pretty sure it didn't do this in previous versions, but if no one experiences this stutter (as I said, it's extremely minor and hard to notice, but it's there, even for the NES and PCE. It's easier to notice on headphones) I'll reinstall the firmware and look deeper, I'm on the latest SZ incremental update, 1 GHz @ 1.3 GHz.

 

[ptitSeb]

didn't notice the audio thingy, but I've not paid close attention to that, so I cannot say for now (will do some test latter).

 

[aidenn]

I overstated the problem. Previously, I was FTPing in the background, which apparently makes audio in everything skip. I'm using PCE, MD, NES and SNES emulators, PCE and MD are fine when there's nothing going on in the backround. I tested this more thoroughly on a freshly booted Pandora/MiniMenu, and the problem is limited to NES and Snes9x 1.53 (1.43 doesn't skip). I suppose NES is the most weird (since Snes9x 1.53 is much more demanding). The skips are random, about once a minute maybe, and I couldn't find a pattern, it's game-independent, happens just as well in a menu when there's nothing going on, and doesn't occur more often in demanding scenarios in Snes9x 1.53.

 

[ptitSeb]

I overstated the problem. Previously, I was FTPing in the background, which apparently makes audio in everything skip. I'm using PCE, MD, NES and SNES emulators, PCE and MD are fine when there's nothing going on in the backround. I tested this more thoroughly on a freshly booted Pandora/MiniMenu, and the problem is limited to NES and Snes9x 1.53 (1.43 doesn't skip). I suppose NES is the most weird (since Snes9x 1.53 is much more demanding). The skips are random, about once a minute maybe, and I couldn't find a pattern, it's game-independent, happens just as well in a menu when there's nothing going on, and doesn't occur more often in demanding scenarios in Snes9x 1.53.

So, only SNES 1.53 & NES have the random seldom skip?

 

[aidenn]

Yes. Maybe others too, but I only tested PCE, MD, NES and SNES.

 

[aidenn]

Sorry for double posting, but I think I got the "why" - it's only happening in NTSC games. PAL games don't skip.

So, my interpretation is this: since PAL games run at 50 Hz, Pandora sets the screen to 50 Hz, and nothing is lost. For NTSC, the refresh rate remains at 60 Hz, but NTSC games actually run at 59.94 Hz, and therein lies the skip. I think Snes9x 1.43, PCE and MD emulators actually speed up the games to 60 Hz, and I believe the NES emulator and Snes9x 1.53 try to be more accurate and sync to 59.94, which results in this behaviour.

Is this a plausible explanation?

 

[ptitSeb]

Sorry for double posting, but I think I got the "why" - it's only happening in NTSC games. PAL games don't skip.

So, my interpretation is this: since PAL games run at 50 Hz, Pandora sets the screen to 50 Hz, and nothing is lost. For NTSC, the refresh rate remains at 60 Hz, but NTSC games actually run at 59.94 Hz, and therein lies the skip. I think Snes9x 1.43, PCE and MD emulators actually speed up the games to 60 Hz, and I believe the NES emulator and Snes9x 1.53 try to be more accurate and sync to 59.94, which results in this behaviour.

Is this a plausible explanation?

Ah yes, very plausible explanation (and my game are PAL...).

 

[TrashyMG]

NEON optimized code is very buggy with overclocking, you're running at 1.3Ghz, I'm surprised you're not freezing up let alone your odd skipping problems. 

Run Notaz's CPU Stress test for 4 hours or so, this will give you an idea of where you can safely overclock without getting NEON errors. 

http://repo.openpandora.org/?page=detail&app=package.overclock_test.notaz

 

[aidenn]

I ran CPU Stress for 12 hours @ 1.3 GHz. My Pandy is just that awesome.

And, as I said, the skips are very, very minor, I wouldn't be surprised if others didn't notice them.

@ptitSeb, is it possible to change this behaviour?

 

[TrashyMG]

I ran CPU Stress for 12 hours @ 1.3 GHz.

And, as I said, the skips are very, very minor, I wouldn't be surprised if others didn't notice them.

@ptitSeb, is it possible to change this behaviour?

I highly doubt it said you could run at that speed.

 

[aidenn]

Well, that's what happened. I let it run overnight, and it was still going at it in the morning. It hangs at 1305 MHz though.

 

[TrashyMG]

If you say so... screenshot or it didn't happen.

 

[aidenn]

I was covering it live on IRC a year and a half ago or so, I believe it was you who instructed me on overclocking and congratulated for the result back then ;D. I'm running my Pandy at this speed to this day and I didn't have a single hang or glitch.

Also, there's a simple proof that it's not my overclock (I just posted this info so that there's no doubt that it's due to lack of raw power) - I tried running the emulator without the overclock and nothing changed.

But if you really want me to repeat the stress test, I think that's doable. ;p

 

[ptitSeb]

@aidenn: change what behavour? the 60Hz/59.94Hz ?

 

[aidenn]

Yeah, to make the emulators speed up games to 60 Hz, it's not really noticeable and doesn't skip.

Or maybe something like sync to audio, so that there's a double frame once in a while, but the sound itself is not skipping?

 

[PokeParadox]

Hi a little feature request, if at all possible.


Could the palette editor from Gamebatte-QT be ported over to the GBC emulator?


And could SGB border support similar to how Goomba Color does it be added? (It runs in SGB mode for 6 frames to place the border then resets the rom and runs in either gb/gbc mode only updating the area within the border)

 

[ptitSeb]

Hi a little feature request, if at all possible.


Could the palette editor from Gamebatte-QT be ported over to the GBC emulator?


And could SGB border support similar to how Goomba Color does it be added? (It runs in SGB mode for 6 frames to place the border then resets the rom and runs in either gb/gbc mode only updating the area within the border)

That doesn't sound like a "small" feature request. I have to check, but the Palette Editor specificaly seems like a big change to me (no idea about the other one).

 

[PokeParadox]

That doesn't sound like a "small" feature request. I have to check, but the Palette Editor specificaly seems like a big change to me (no idea about the other one).

Hmmm yes I guess I should have put the little in quotes... 


The palette editor would be removing all of the QT specific code and adapting the Emu Ex UI to be able to access the feature. (GBC in Emu Ex is based on Gambatte so it should be able to shoehorn the feature in)


Thinking about it this is probably something I could do if I can find some minutes to rub together so ...


The Super Gameboy borders... I did take a look at the source for Goomba Color and it is ARM assembler... which I don't really understand but I did read up the gist of how it does it maybe again I should stop being lazy and see if Gambatte exposes the Super Gameboy stuff cleanly to knock something together...