New Drmdx Is Killin My Gp2x

[Rayek]

So, wow, I'm really glad there's now SMS support in DrMDx, and that there's improved speed, etc.

But, oh, the lines! They make my eyes hurt!

Basically, whenever I bootup the new DrMD, lines appear from nowhere and start attacking the screen. Is that version for the newer GP2X model or something? Is it meant to fix a problem I don't have?

 

[Nickmon]

batts ok?

 

[grahf]

If you are talking about the black lines that flicker in from the left side of the screen, then dont worry about it. Its a bug due to implimenting Squidgehack. Im sure it will get taken care of when there is time. And really, its not that bad. I hardly notice while playing.

 

[Reesy]

Yes lines are due to the MMU hack, if it annoys you too much drop back to beta 3 which is identical to beta 4 apart from it does not use the MMU hack.

 

[Rayek]

Thanks a lot, the Emu is fantastic. Where can I pick the beta 3 up? It's not on the archive...

 

[grahf]

Hey Reesy (sorry if this has been covered before). Are the lines something that can be programmed out, or is it just a side effect of the MMU hack? In either case, it doesnt bother me one bit. Its a worthy tradeoff.

 

[Rayek]

Well, the problem I'm talking about completely consumes the screen, even if I exit the emulator. It's like a pulsing, waving, screen frequency mismatch. It really hurts to look at. I don't think we're talking about the same thing, and if we are, mine's much worse.

 

[mth411]

Try the cputweaker with mem options, if your newer model might need a little tweaking?

If you find a perfect setting, share with the rest of the group, as it might be simular to the gp32 blu+ bug for the screen.

 

[Mr Pace]

Hey Reesy (sorry if this has been covered before). Are the lines something that can be programmed out, or is it just a side effect of the MMU hack? In either case, it doesnt bother me one bit. Its a worthy tradeoff.

I'm interested in this too Reesy, do you think you'll find a fix for these lines appearing, given time?
If it's unlikely i shall probably revert to an earlier version of DrMD B) Wonderful work btw, DrMd as well as Gngeo are the reasons i got a GP2x, expect a donation soon.

 

[Reesy]

Hey Reesy (sorry if this has been covered before). Are the lines something that can be programmed out, or is it just a side effect of the MMU hack? In either case, it doesnt bother me one bit. Its a worthy tradeoff.

I believe it is fixable, we just need to force the cache to be written at the end of each frame. I'm not sure how much this is going to slow things but hopefully it won't be too much. I have no idea how to force the cache to be written at the moment, I'll have a look into it but I'm sure Squidge will release something before I find anything.


@Rayek: No that doesn't sound like the problem caused by the MMU hack. Does it happen on other apps?

 

[Rayek]

No, it doesn't happen with other apps.

It seems I have one of the second batch of GP2Xs, so while it's not one of the units with 'first edition' printed on it, it didn't come stock with firmware version 2.0. In fact, it still has, I believe FW 1.2 still on it because I don't have a compatible SD card yet. The 'old' firmware could be the problem, but I haven't given it a second run-through after the incredible flickering. I was playing with one of the first iterations of DrMDx before I even found out you'd released another version.

 

[grahf]

Most likely your firmware. If you cant find a cheap compatible card, go to riteaid and buy a 128mb sandisk "shoot & store" card. http://www.sandisk.com/Products/Item(1242)...Card_128MB.aspx
I paid like $13 for it about 8 months ago, and it works great for firmware updates.

 

[scanti]

I believe it is fixable, we just need to force the cache to be written at the end of each frame. I'm not sure how much this is going to slow things but hopefully it won't be too much. I have no idea how to force the cache to be written at the moment, I'll have a look into it but I'm sure Squidge will release something before I find anything.

I think you have to use the assembly code:

MCR p15,0,Rd,c7,c10 (or c14),2

Rd = register that points to the index of the cache data to flush.

The cache is broken up into 8*64 chunks of data. I think you have to loop and clear each one.

I'm not sure what effect this will have on linux though.

Edit: I think I've found it:

	mov r0,#7 << 5
loop1:
	orr r1,r0,#63 << 26
loop2:
	mcr p15,0,r1,c7,c14,2
	subs r1,r1,#1 << 26
	bcs loop2
	subs r0,r0,#1 <<5
	bcs loop1
	mov r0,#0
	mcr p15,0,r0,c7,c10,4

 

[gaterooze]

Where can I pick the beta 3 up? It's not on the archive...

http://reesy.gp32x.de/DrMDv5b3.zip

edit: there are two gpe's in that zip, not sure what the one simply named DrMD.gpe is, but DrMDv5b3.gpe is what you're looking for.

 

[zektor]

Where can I pick the beta 3 up? It's not on the archive...

http://reesy.gp32x.de/DrMDv5b3.zip

edit: there are two gpe's in that zip, not sure what the one simply named DrMD.gpe is, but DrMDv5b3.gpe is what you're looking for.

The other one is Beta 2, with file folder support. Perhaps left in there just in case B3 broke something...or maybe to allow people to use their old save states.

 

[scanti]

In case you are interested here's the source of the d-cache clearing routine I posted above.

I got it from the Google cache, as the original page isn't there anymore, so I've mirrored it.

I contains a few hopefully useful cache manipulation routines.

 

[Rayek]

Okay, so I updated the firmware....

But now the opposite is happening. The older version of DrMDx is flickering uncontrollably and the new one is crisp and clear. At least I can now use the updated version.

But there's a new problem.

I've copied all my SMS and MD roms to the new directories created by the new DrMDx, and whenever I load a rom it boots me back to the menu. I've also found that only half of my roms are even showing up in the navigator, possibly only the zipped roms. So I'm still using the older emulator for now, but I'd like to know what's going on.

 

[Shikaku]

Okay, so I updated the firmware....

But now the opposite is happening. The older version of DrMDx is flickering uncontrollably and the new one is crisp and clear. At least I can now use the updated version.

But there's a new problem.

I've copied all my SMS and MD roms to the new directories created by the new DrMDx, and whenever I load a rom it boots me back to the menu. I've also found that only half of my roms are even showing up in the navigator, possibly only the zipped roms. So I'm still using the older emulator for now, but I'd like to know what's going on.

You have to do a clean install of the new version...

 

[Reesy]

Yes if you are having problems a clean install is always a good idea. You can leave the old version on your SD card, just create a new folder on your card and dump the new DrMD in there. You don't have to worry about making sure that the MD,GG and SMS sub folders exist in this new folder as DrMD will automatically create any subdirectories in requires.

Also you should not need two copies of all your roms. The MD,SMS and GG folders in the directory where you ran DrMD from are for storing save states and menu config files. I would recommend NOT having your roms in there too, as it will be confusing when browsing for games.

You should simply point both your DrMD installations at the same roms, if you are ensure on how to do this let us know.

Reesy