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vineyard leaf

Adam image

Table of contents

Introduction

Adam is an image for the internal microSD card slot of a series of Ingenic JZ4770 chip-based portable emulation consoles. Specifically those mentioned in the description of this commit, i.e. RG350, RG280, RG300X and PlayGo/PocketGo2 v2.

The image is a dump after installing the following packages:

Result of a collaboration project of Team RParadise formed by:

Upgrade

If you have been using the console with the previous version of the image, surely we are interested in saving the savestates of the games we have played and some personal settings. So, BEFORE flashing the latest version of the image, some of these things should be backed up. To facilitate this task, the Py Backup application can be used, which is described here and comes preconfigured with the most important files that should be periodically backed up.

Due to changes in the Py Backup configuration file between versions 1.1 and 1.2, the update procedure from 1.1 version is slightly complicated by having to replace that file before making the backup. In the following video we can see the entire upgrade process from image v1.1 to v1.2.

See video

If we update from 1.2 to 1.3 we can skip the first 6 steps of the previous video, that is, start at step 7.

IMPORTANT WARNING: Due to changes in the internal format of the files stored in rom_preferences and favorites.sav in version 11 of SimpleMenu installed from image 1.3, the backup copies of these files from a previous version should not be restored. The rom_preferences actually have not changed the internal format of the files but does their location. Before they were all in the root of that same directory and now they go in subdirectories with the name of the corresponding system. Therefore, with a little attention, a backup of these files could be used, but it would be necessary to do the restoration manually or move the files to the directories where SimpleMenu is now going to look for them.

Fresh installation

  1. Download the dump file from the releases section of this repository.
  2. Flash the file (img.xz) without decompressing with Balena Etcher on a microSD card of at least 4GB.
  3. Mount the microSD in a computer. If we just flashed it, depending on the operating system, it may be necessary to remove it from the reader and reinsert it. In Windows, one of the two partitions containing the card will be mounted and the other will give an error. The error is normal since the second partition is Linux type.
  4. Place the kernel suitable to the console model. This can be done in several ways depending on the PC operating system.

Windows

  1. Open the select_kernel.bat script on the partition mounted correctly, by double clicking on it.

    Win selector script

  2. A console will appear where we will have to type the number corresponding to our console model from the list.

    Win selector script 2

  3. Press Return and, when prompted, eject the card safely.

    Win selector script 3

Linux

  1. Open a terminal and change the current directory to the path corresponding to partition 1 of the card (we can find out the mount point on our system with the df command). From that directory run the command bash select_kernel.sh.

    Linux selector script

  2. A dialog will appear inviting us to select our console model with the cursor keys.

    Linux selector script 2

  3. Press Return and, when prompted, eject the card safely.

    Linux selector script 3

Any system

There is a third method valid for any operating system (Windows, Linux, Mac). The idea is to view partition 1 of the card with a file explorer and manually copy the two files in the directory corresponding to our console model to the root of that partition. Being a FAT32 partition, there should be no problem accessing the files from any system. Click on the following thumbnail to see a small video.

See video

At this point, the card will be ready to work on the console model that we have selected in the previous procedure. If we have not already done yet, we will safely eject it from the PC and insert the card into the console slot marked with INT.

The above procedure can be repeated to change to another console model at any time. That is, the image is compatible with the four supported console models, so the same card will serve us for several machines.

Partition 2 contained in the image file has about 3.5GB (so it can be flashed without problems on cards with a capacity of 4GB or greater). In this version of the image, this partition will not auto expand to fill the available space on the card. If you want to do it (although it is not necessary since the heavy contents go on the EXT card), it can be done with the DiskGenius utilities for Windows or GParted for Linux.

In the first part of this video from Retro Game Corps we can see the installation process:

See video

Content installation

The card that we have just prepared is empty of contents. It only contains the OpenDingux system, the SimpleMenu frontend, the RetroArch cores, and a few standalone emulators. All the configuration has been done with the idea that the contents are provided from the card that we will place in the slot marked with EXT.

Before continuing, we will make a brief comment on the legal considerations of installing such contents. The matter is complex. If you are interested, a good article is this Retro Game Corps post. Although there are few legal precedents on the subject, the problem primarily affects BIOS and ROMs. In a simplified way, it is usually considered that we can handle the ROMs of the games and the BIOS of the machines that we own. Actually it is more of a rule based on common sense, since as we say, there are few legal sentences on the subject and of course the opinion of the different participants in the industry is not consistent.

External microSD format and label

For all the preconfigured paths in the setup to work, the external microSD card needs to be in FAT32 format and NOT have label defined. In case of having a label, it will have to be removed.

In Windows we can do it from the Properties box of the unit where the external card is mounted. Click on the following thumbnail to see a small video.

Ver vídeo

In Linux it can be done by executing the following command from a terminal (in the example the device /dev/mmcblk0p1 has been used, but it will have to be replaced by the one that corresponds in our case):

sudo fatlabel /dev/mmcblk0p1 -r

If you have a Mac, for now the best option is the one described in the Retro Game Corps Starter Guide, contributed by @Asppire and which is transcribed below:

“Erase” the disk using the Mac’s built-in Disk Utility app, with the format MS-DOS (FAT), name it whatever you want. Then, on the left side of the Disk Utility app you should see the SD card. Right-click on it and select “Rename” and now delete the name and just press the SPACE bar once so that the name looks blank. On the device, it will register as being blank and work appropriately.

ROMs

The SimpleMenu frontend has been configured with a series of predefined paths where it will try to locate the ROMs and graphical previews. These routes will be created on the EXT card each time the system boots (if they do not exist). This process will only work if, as we said in the previous section, the card format is FAT32 and it does NOT have a label. If we do not want to modify the SimpleMenu configuration, we will have to stick to these paths. In the table below, the name of the directory that will have to exist on the external card when we mount it on the PC is indicated in the second column. For example, in the following screenshot the ROMs directory of the Game Boy system is selected, which as we can see, is located next to all the others within the roms folder at the root of the card.

SDcard paths

The above path on the PC will correspond to /media/sdcard/roms on the console system, once the card is in the console and the system has booted. In case of modifying the SimpleMenu configuration, or manually opening the emulators from GMenu2X, this will be the kind of path that we will use (/media/sdcard/roms/GB for Game Boy for instance).

Below is the table of the systems configured in SimpleMenu with the paths where we must place the ROMs and the supported extensions.

System Paths Supported extensions
MAME roms/ARCADE zip, 7z
Capcom Play System roms/CPS zip, 7z
Final Burn Alpha roms/FBA zip
Daphne roms/DAPHNE zip
Nintendo NES roms/FC nes, zip, 7z
Nintendo Famicom Disk System roms/FDS fds, zip, 7z
Nintendo SNES roms/SFC smc, sfc, zip, 7z
Nintendo Virtual Boy roms/VB vb, vboy, bin, zip, 7z
SEGA SG-1000 roms/SG1000 zip, sg, 7z
SEGA Master System roms/SMS zip, sms, 7z
SEGA Megadrive roms/MD zip, bin, smd, md, mdx, gen, 7z
SEGA CD roms/SEGACD bin, chd, cue
SEGA 32X roms/32X zip, 32x, 7z
Atari 2600 roms/A2600 bin, a26, zip, 7z
Atari 5200 roms/A5200 bin, a52, zip, 7z
Atari 7800 roms/A7800 bin, a78, zip, 7z
Inteillivision roms/INTELLI int
ColecoVision roms/COLECO rom, col
SNK Neo Geo roms/NEOGEO zip, 7z
NEC PC Engine roms/PCE pce, tg16, cue, zip, 7z
NEC PC Engine CD roms/PCECD pce, tg16, cue, chd, zip, 7z
Sony PlayStation roms/PS mdf, zip, pbp, cue, bin, img, ccd, sub, chd
Nintendo Game Boy roms/GB gb, gz, zip, 7z
Nintendo Game Boy Color roms/GBC gbc, zip, 7z
Nintendo Game Boy Advance roms/GBA gba, zip, 7z
Nintendo Game&Watch roms/GW mgw, zip, 7z
SEGA Game Gear roms/GG zip, gg, 7z
Atari Lynx roms/LYNX zip, lnx, 7z
SNK Neo Geo Pocket roms/NGP ngp, ngc, 7z, zip
WonderSwan roms/WSC ws, wsc, zip, 7z
Pokemon Mini roms/POKEMINI min, zip, 7z
Watara Supervision roms/SUPERVISION sv, bin, 7z, zip
Sinclair ZX Spectrum roms/ZX tzx, tap, z80, rzx, scl, trd, dsk, zip, 7z
Amstrad CPC roms/AMSTRAD dsk, sna, tap, cdt, voc, cpr, m3u, zip, 7z
Commodore 64 roms/C64 crt, d64, t64, bin, 7z, zip
MSX roms/MSX rom, ri, mx1, mx2, col, dsk, cas, sg, sc, m3u, zip, 7z
Commodore Amiga roms/AMIGA adf, adz, dms, fdi, ipf, hdf, hdz, lha, slave, info, cue, ccd, nrg, mds, iso, chd, uae, m3u, zip, 7z, rp9
Doom roms/DOOM/DOOM, roms/DOOM/DOOM2 wad, zip, 7z
Quake roms/QUAKE/id1, roms/QUAKE/hipnotic, roms/QUAKE/rogue, roms/QUAKE/dopa pak, zip, 7z
MS-DOS roms/DOSBOX zip, dosz, exe, com, bat, iso, cue, ins, img, ima, vhd, m3u, m3u8, 7z
ScummVM roms/SCUMMVM svm
Pico8 roms/PICO8 png
TIC80 roms/TIC80 tic, 7z, zip
BBC Micro roms/BBCMICRO ssd, dsd, uef

Comments about some systems:

  • PlayStation: ROMs in cue+bin format do not work compressed in ZIP. On the contrary, in iso format, they do open when they are supplied compressed in ZIP.

  • ScummVM: ScummVM games are made up of several files, so they will have to be kept in directories. The extension svm indicated in the former list corresponds to an empty file whose name is the ID of the game that we will extract from this list and that we will place in the directory where we have the rest of the game files. For example, for the game "The Secret of Monkey Island" we will need the files that we can consult in the ScummVM wiki. Specifically for this game we see that we will need the files MONKEY.000 and MONKEY.001 that we will place in a directory of any name within the directory configured in SimpleMenu (<EXT_SD>/roms/SCUMMVM). It will be in this same directory where we will have to place the empty file svm. According to the ScummVM compatibility list, the ID of "The Secret of Monkey Island" is monkey, so the file that we will place inside the game directory will be monkey.svm. Finally, if we want SimpleMenu to show the full name of the game, we will only have to incorporate an entry like the following in the SimpleMenu alias file (/home/media/data/local/.simplemenu/alias.txt):

    monkey=The Secret of Monkey Island

  • Quake: The four directories configured in this system respect the structure necessary for the different Expansion Paks that are described here.

  • MAME: In this system there are 3 different types of emulators, some of them supporting different romsets in turn. The list of romsets supported in each combination is indicated below, with a link to the datafile used in each case that can be used to check the compatibility of the ROMs.

Previews

The previews should be placed in a directory with name .previews within each of the ROM directories in the previous list. For example, the previews of GB should be located in roms/GB/.previews, this being the path from the root of the external card when mounted in the PC. The preview files have to be PNGs with the same name as the game (except for the extension).

Previews path 1

Previews path 2

If we have followed the paths indicated above, later in SimpleMenu the game will be represented as follows:

Previews path 3

BIOS

All the emulators installed in the image (RetroArch included) have redirected the paths where the BIOS should be to the bios directory on the external card. Similar to the case of ROMs, the bios directory at the root of the external card will correspond to the path /media/sdcard/bios on the console system.

Not all emulators need BIOS. This is the case of machines that did not have it or whose function has been emulated. The following is the BIOS file name and path where we will have to install it. To help identify the correct files, its size in bytes and an MD5 hash are indicated if it is known. The cases in which the BIOS is essential for the emulator to work are also marked. If 'NO' is indicated, the emulator will work, but still it is recommended to install the BIOS in order to achieve the best compatibility. To check MD5 hashes, the cross-platform utility Quickhash is recommended.

The sizes and hashes indicated are from BIOS that have been proven functional, but not necessarily the only possible ones. That is, in some machines there are several possible BIOS versions, usually because there have been several models of the machines (the case of the PlayStation being one of the most typical), or because someone has developed BIOS with improved capabilities (here the typical example is that of Neo Geo and his UNIBIOS).

System Path Size MD5 hash Needed?
Atari 5200 bios/5200.rom 2048 281f20ea4320404ec820fb7ec0693b38 Yes
Atari 7800 bios/7800 BIOS (U).rom 0763f1ffb006ddbe32e52d497ee848ae No
SEGACD bios/bios_CD_E.bin 131072 e66fa1dc5820d254611fdcdba0662372 Yes
SEGACD bios/bios_CD_J.bin 131072 278a9397d192149e84e820ac621a8edd Yes
SEGACD bios/bios_CD_U.bin 131072 854b9150240a198070150e4566ae1290 Yes
Intellivision bios/exec.bin 8192 62e761035cb657903761800f4437b8af Yes
Intellivision bios/grom.bin 2048 0cd5946c6473e42e8e4c2137785e427f Yes
PC Engine CD bios/syscard3.pce 262144 390815d3d1a184a9e73adc91ba55f2bb Yes
Commodore Amiga bios/kick34005.A500 262144 82a21c1890cae844b3df741f2762d48d Yes on Amiga 500
Commodore Amiga bios/kick37175.A500 524288 dc10d7bdd1b6f450773dfb558477c230 Yes on Amiga 500+
Commodore Amiga bios/kick40063.A600 524288 e40a5dfb3d017ba8779faba30cbd1c8e Yes on Amiga 600
Commodore Amiga bios/kick40068.A1200 524288 646773759326fbac3b2311fd8c8793ee Yes on Amiga 1200
Commodore Amiga bios/kick40060.CD32 524288 5f8924d013dd57a89cf349f4cdedc6b1 No
Commodore Amiga bios/kick40060.CD32.ext 524288 bb72565701b1b6faece07d68ea5da639 No
Atari Lynx bios/lynxboot.img 512 fcd403db69f54290b51035d82f835e7b Yes
Phillips Videopac bios/o2rom.bin 1024 562d5ebf9e030a40d6fabfc2f33139fd Yes
SNK Neo Geo roms/NEOGEO/neogeo.zip Yes
Nintendo GBA bios/gba_bios.bin 16384 a860e8c0b6d573d191e4ec7db1b1e4f6 No, although recommended
PlayStation bios/SCPH1001.BIN 524288 924e392ed05558ffdb115408c263dccf Yes, since the HLE BIOS has been disabled in the PCSX4All configuration
Nintendo GB bios/gb_bios.bin 256 32fbbd84168d3482956eb3c5051637f5 No
Nintendo GBC bios/gbc_bios.bin 2304 dbfce9db9deaa2567f6a84fde55f9680 No
Pokemon Mini bios/bios.min 4096 1e4fb124a3a886865acb574f388c803d Yes
MSX (BlueMSX) bios/Machines/ Yes
MSX (fMSX) bios/MSX.ROM 32768 364a1a579fe5cb8dba54519bcfcdac0d Yes on MSX
MSX (fMSX) bios/MSX2.ROM ec3a01c91f24fbddcbcab0ad301bc9ef Yes on MSX2
MSX (fMSX) bios/MSX2EXT.ROM 2183c2aff17cf4297bdb496de78c2e8a Yes on MSX2
MSX (fMSX) bios/MSX2P.ROM 32768 847cc025ffae665487940ff2639540e5 Yes on MSX2+
MSX (fMSX) bios/MSX2PEXT.ROM 16384 7c8243c71d8f143b2531f01afa6a05dc Yes on MSX2+
BBC Micro bios/acorn_dnfs 16384 5daed103918277e2065dd7e8d23e57a5 Yes
BBC Micro bios/basic 16384 2cc67be4624df4dc66617742571a8e3d Yes
BBC Micro bios/os12 16384 0a59a5ba15fe8557b5f7fee32bbd393a Yes
Famicom Disk System bios/disksys.rom 8192 ca30b50f880eb660a320674ed365ef7a Yes

Cheats

RetroArch has a built-in cheat system based on a series of files that can be obtained from this repository. In the image, the directory where we have to place the files has been redirected to the EXT card, as with the ROMs and BIOS. Specifically to the cheats directory at the root of the EXT card.

We are going to detail the process using the Game Boy game Adventure Island as an example:

  1. We will look for the corresponding file in the repository. Specifically for this game the file is this.

  2. We will copy it to the cheats directory at the root of the EXT card. Actually, the most logical thing is to copy complete collections of systems, keeping the directory structure that we see in the repository.

  3. Once the console is booted with the EXT card in place, we will open the game with RetroArch.

  4. We access the RetroArch menu (Select + X or Power).

  5. We follow the route: Quick Menu > Cheats > Load Cheat File (Replace).

  6. A file browser will appear showing the contents of the cheats folder on the EXT card. We locate the file corresponding to the game and select it.

    Cheats 1

  7. We will return to the Cheats screen where we will see that the bottom part has been loaded with the cheats. There we can adjust the ones we want (quick adjustment is done with the left/right keys).

  8. Finally we select Apply Changes.

    Cheats 2

  9. If we want the cheat settings we have made to apply between different game sessions, we will have to make an override to the game.

More details on this guide by Retro Game Corps.

PCSX4All also supports a cheat system. As in RetroArch, the directory where we have to place the files has been redirected to the external card. Specifically to the cheats/PlayStation directory at the root of the external card. Keep in mind that the cheats for PCSX4All do not have the same format as those for Sony - PlayStation in the repository that we have indicated before to get cheats for RetroArch.

System access

Once the card with the system (INT) and the contents (EXT) have been inserted in their corresponding slots, and the console turned on, we can access the system by SSH to make some customizations that require this type of access (such as editing SimpleMenu or Py Backup configuration files). To achieve access by SSH we will connect the console with an USB type C cable to the computer using the same connector that is used for charging (that is, the one marked with DC). In Windows, it may be necessary to install drivers. In case of problems installing this drivers, see this video.

On the computer we can use any FTP client configured with the SFTP or SCP protocol (for example WinSCP or Filezilla). Access through the normal SSH protocol can be achieved from a simple console or terminal either on Windows or Linux, by typing the following command:

ssh [email protected]

The password for od user is untoqebboqvboqudrn. If you want to change or disable it, you must use the Password application (only accessible from GMenu2X in the settings section).

Network access 1

By default the image is configured to make use of USB access in Ethernet > RNDIS mode, although with USB Mode application, we can switch to Mass Storage (MTP) or Ethernet > ECM.

Network access 2 Network access 3

Controls

Here are some cool shortcuts that can be used with the OpenDingux system, SimpleMenu, RetroArch, and standalone emulators.

Context Shorcut Function
OpenDingux Hold Power Power off
OpenDingux Power + Start + Select Reboot
OpenDingux Power + Select Kill current app
OpenDingux Power + UP Volume up
OpenDingux Power + DOWN Volume down
OpenDingux Power + RIGHT Brightness up
OpenDingux Power + LEFT Brightness down
OpenDingux Power + A Hardware scaling ratio mode
OpenDingux Power + B Mouse mode (formerly POWER + L1)
OpenDingux Power + Y Sleep mode (tap POWER to resume)
OpenDingux Power + X take screenshot (on ~/screenshots)
OpenDingux A (while powering on) It'll skip the logo and show the output of the init scripts
OpenDingux Select (while powering on) Boot mode. Check this guide
SimpleMenu Start Brings up the Settings screen
SimpleMenu Select ROM options. Let's you select autolaunch, emulator (if multiple emulators are defined for the selected section) and overclocking
SimpleMenu Up Selects the previous game/section/group
SimpleMenu Down Selects the next game/section/group
SimpleMenu Left Skips to the previous page in the current section
SimpleMenu Right Skips to the next page in the current section
SimpleMenu R1 Switches between menu and fullscreen mode
SimpleMenu R2 Refreshes the current section (in case you added some ROMs while the menu is running)
SimpleMenu A Launches a game/program
SimpleMenu B If pressed and released, it takes you one screen back. If pressed and held, it acts as a hotkey to be combined with other keys
SimpleMenu X On regular sections, marks a game as a favorite, on the favorites section, it takes it off from the favorites list
SimpleMenu Y Goes to the favorites section
SimpleMenu B + Left Skips to the previous letter
SimpleMenu B + Right Skips to the next letter
SimpleMenu B + Up Goes to the previous section, without showing the logo
SimpleMenu B + Down Goes to the next section, without showing the logo
SimpleMenu B + Select Random select
SimpleMenu B + X Deletes the selected rom WITHOUT ASKING FOR CONFIRMATION. Doesn't work on the favorites section or in the Apps and Games section
SimpleMenu B + A Launches the emulator itself instead of a rom, if it supports to be run as a standalone application
RetroArch Select + A Pause
RetroArch Select + B Reset
RetroArch Select + X or Power RetroArch Menu. In some cores (G&W for example) the Select + X shortcut collides with the core's own shortcuts; use Power in that case.
RetroArch Select + Y Fast forward
RetroArch Select + R1 Savestate save
RetroArch Select + L1 Savestate load
RetroArch Select + R2 Swap disc
RetroArch Select + L2 Open CD tray
RetroArch Select + Start Quit
RetroArch Select + Left/Right Change savestate slot
RetroArch Select + Up/Down Volume change
RetroArch/Neo Geo FBA Hold Start UniBIOS settings
RetroArch/CPS2 R2 or R3 Test menu on some games
RetroArch/Famicom Disk System L1 Disk side change
RetroArch/Famicom Disk System R1 Insert/eject disk
FBA (MAME, FBA and CPS) L1 + R1 + Start or Power Open emulator menu that allows us to quit
FBA (MAME, FBA and CPS) L1 + R1 + Y Show/hide FPS counter
FBA (MAME, FBA and CPS) L1 + R1 + B Savestate save
FBA (MAME, FBA and CPS) L1 + R1 + A Savestate load
FBA (MAME, FBA and CPS) Select Insert coin
FBA (MAME, FBA and CPS) Start Start Player 1
FBA (MAME, FBA and CPS) Select + Start Start Player 2
xMAME Select + L1 + R1 Quit
xMAME Start + R1 Show/hide FPS counter
Daphne L1 Insert coin
Daphne Start Start game
Daphne Select Quit
PocketSNES (SNES) Select + Start or Power Open emulator menu that allows us to quit
ReGBA (GBA) Select + Start or Power Open emulator menu that allows us to quit
PCSX4All (PlayStation) Select + Start or Power Open emulator menu that allows us to quit
JzIntv Select Open emulator menu that allows us to quit
JzIntv Power Quit
JzIntv R1 Virtual controller
JzIntv L1 Virtual keyboard
ColecoD (ColecoVision) Select + Start Open emulator menu that allows us to quit
Tac08 (PICO8) Start Open emulator menu that allows us to quit
Fuse (ZX Spectrum) Select Virtual keyboard
Cap32 (AMSTRAD CPC) Y + Start Virtual keyboard. Once displayed, open/close the RA menu (Select + X) so that the left stick starts working as a mouse
Vice 64 (Commodore 64) Select Virtual keyboard
PUAE (Commodores Amiga) L1 Virtual keyboard
BeebEm (BBC Micro) L1 Open emulator menu that allows us to quit
BeebEm (BBC Micro) R1 Virtual keyboard

Don't miss this cheatsheet made by @iammeat that includes all the above controls in a much more convenient format.

Problem solving

Unsupported video mode

Some RetroArch cores show the following error screen when working in resolutions not supported by the system:

Unsupported video mode 1

These cases many times are solved by activating a filter and playing with the video scaling options. One of the filters that usually works well is: Upscale_256x-320x240. The complete procedure to make these changes would be:

  1. Open RetroArch menu (Select + X).

  2. Go to Main Menu > Settings > Video > Scaling and check Integer Scale and Keep Aspect Ratio options.

    Unsupported video mode 2

  3. Go to Main Menu > Settings > Video > Video Filter and select Upscale_256x-320x240.filt filter (last on the list):

    Unsupported video mode 3

Finally, to not make this change every time you open the game, go to Main Menu > Quick Menu > Overrides and select Save Game Overrides.

Another filter that usually works well in these situations is LQ2x.

Applications force closing

If the application or emulator that we were running hangs, it can be forced to close by pressing the key combination Power + Select. It is important to press the keys in that order, that is, press a little before Power and without releasing it then press Select. If this key combination does not work either, hold down the Power key for a few seconds to cause a controlled shutdown of the console.

In summary, the methods to close an application or emulator are:

  1. First try normal closing (Power + Select for example in RetroArch).
  2. If the above does not work, Power + Select.
  3. If the above does not work, hold down Power a few seconds until the system shuts down.

Avoid pressing Reset as it has been found quite often to cause SD corruption.

OC risks

Another situation that leads to SD corruption in some users is overclocking. Thus, whenever it is going to try, it is recommended to make a backup of the savestates and configurations that we do not want to lose with Py Backup.

Emulator selection

In the SimpleMenu configuration, many of the systems offer several emulator options, that is, you can choose between several emulators or RetroArch cores. Also the preferred emulator or core can be saved for each game.

In simple systems, such as 8-bit machines, only RetroArch has been configured, considering it the best option. But in more complex systems, such as arcade, the offer of emulators is wide. For example, in MAME, the following options are available:

  • RetroArch MAME2003 core
  • RetroArch MAME2003+ core
  • FBA
  • xMAME romset 84
  • xMAME romset 69
  • xMAME romset 52

The emulation options appear in this order in the list, the first being the default option if you do not manually specify an emulator for a specific game. Therefore, if left unchanged, the default option for running MAME games will be the MAME2003 RetroArch core.

If a specific game does not work with the default emulator, press Select in the SimpleMenu games list. A selector will appear with three options, the third one being the emulator to use. We will move to this third option and change the emulator by pressing left/right. To save the change we will press Select again. When opening the game by pressing A the emulator or RA core that we have chosen will be launched. If the new emulator is not working properly, try another option until you get good performance.

Core selection

Another situation in which we should change the emulator option is when the game runs slow. In addition to the choppy sound, the best way to measure if the game is moving fast enough is to activate the frames per second or FPS counter. In RetroArch we can activate the option for a particular game in the menu Main Menu > Settings > On-Screen Display > On-Screen Notifications > Notification Visibility > Display Framerate, but if we want to activate it in general, we must first close the content that we are executing. This would be the procedure described in detail.

  1. Launch any game that runs with RetroArch (for example, all Handheld systems are configured with RetroArch by default).
  2. Open RetroArch meny pressing Select + X.
  3. Select Close Content menu.
  4. Follow the path: Main Menu > Settings > On-Screen Display > On-Screen Notifications > Notification Visibility.
  5. Enable Display Framerate.
  6. Go back to the Main Menu by pressing B repeatedly.
  7. Open Configuration File menu.
  8. Invoke Save Current Configuration command.
  9. Go back to the Main Menu by pressing B once.
  10. Invoke Quit RetroArch command.

To deactivate it, we will proceed in the same way but deactivating the option in step 5.

In xMAME the FPS option is activated/deactivated at any time by pressing Start + R1. In FBA the shortcut is L1 + R1 + Y.

A special case is that of the CPS system. In this image, it has been chosen to combine CPS1 and CPS2 in the same system (there is no RetroArch core for CPS3 and in general it is a system for which the machines that can use this image do not have enough power). It has been preferred to do this way due to the reduced number of games on both systems and because of the facilities that SimpleMenu offers to select the core that we want to use for each game. Thus, in this system (or rather in the union of CPS1 and CPS2 systems), it will be essential to make the adjustment in the CPS2 games. The core of CPS1 is the default and therefore it will only be necessary to adjust those of CPS2. The complete list of CPS2 games is as follows (the name of the ROM .zip file is indicated, not the actual name of the game). Thanks to @ridsama for putting together the list:

1944, 19xx, armwar, avsp, batcir, choko, csclub, cybots, ddsom, ddtod, dimahoo, dstlk, ecofghtr, gigawing, hsf2, megaman2, mmatrix, mpang, mshvsf, msh, mvsc, nwarr, progear, pzloop2, ringdest, sfa2, sfa3, sfa, sfz2al, sgemf, spf2t, ssf2t, ssf2, vhunt2, vsav2, vsav, xmcota, xmvsf

Console does not boot after flashing

Most likely, the kernel installation procedure described here has not been performed. If the console is booted without the kernel installed, the green power LED lights dimly. In this situation, the console cannot be turned off (unless we disconnect the battery or wait for it to discharge completely). It has been verified that in some cards, even if we remove the card, install the kernel, reinsert it and press RESET, it will still not boot. In these situations, the only way that has been found to get out of the vicious circle (apart from the idea mentioned before disconnecting the battery or waiting for it to discharge completely) is to insert another card that does not give this problem, press RESET and after system boot on this card, shutdown normally. If now we insert the first newly flashed card where the kernel installation procedure has been performed, this time (with a cold boot of the machine) it will boot normally.

Console cannot be powered off

We refer to the situation where we try to power off the console using the GMenu2X Power off launcher or the SimpleMenu Shutdown command. When the problem occurs, just when the console should be turned off, it starts a new boot, making it impossible to turn it off completely. So far two situations have been found that can cause this problem (apart from the case of the PG2v1 which has its own scenario). One case is after a spontaneous reboot of the system after going in and out of sleep mode several times in succession. The other is after using the HDMI output and disconnecting it (see discussion #131). The solution is to use the Reset. To avoid corruptions of the system card, it is recommended to press Reset just when the system finishes shutting down (we can be guided by when the screen goes black). An example of the phenomenon and its solution can be seen in the following video:

See video

Console cannot be powered off (PG2v1)

This is a special case of the previous one. Only occurs with PlayGo / PocketGo2 v1 consoles. In this case the trigger is the disconnection or complete discharge of the battery. User @esmith13 in the scope of issue #7 describes a workaround as follows:

Download the stock firmware for the PG2v1 from here: https://github.com/retrogamehandheld/PocketGo2/wiki/Firmware-and-software-updates

Write it to a spare mSD card and boot your device with it once then shutdown properly (it will stay off as expected).

Swap back to your ADAM image mSD card and resume normal use.

You should be good as long as you don't completely re-flash your ADAM Image mSD card from scratch, pull out your battery, or allow your battery to drain completely. If any of those does happen, just boot from the stock image once to fix the issue again.

Rinse and repeat.

Boot loop after power on

Actually, in this situation, the system is completely up and running. The problem is usually related to SimpleMenu when it is the default launcher if it have trouble restoring the last state. This can happen if the files that SimpleMenu addresses through its configuration files have been manually modified. It can also happen if these files itself have been modified (those found in /media/data/local/home/.simplemenu/section_groups). The solution is usually to delete the status file so that it can be regenerated. This file is last_state.sav and it is located inside the home directory of SimpleMenu, i.e. /media/data/local/home/.simplemenu.

Since version 1.3.1 of the image, there is a way to solve the problem from the console. The steps to find the solution are as follows:

  1. Hold Power during 2 seconds to poweroff system.
  2. Power on while pressing B during complete boot.
  3. Open Commander.
  4. Delete last_state.sav in .simplemenu directory.
  5. Close Commander.
  6. Open SimpleMenu.
  7. Restore lost settings.
  8. We are done.

In the following video we can see the whole process:

See video

FAQ

Q1: Should I reflash every time a new image appears? Perhaps you have an OPK for a more streamlined update?

I'm sorry. At the moment only the flashing method is available. In the past with another image, I published an OPK to make the update, but give me many problems because user tweaks made it difficult to apply the patches. The complete procedure to upgrade between one version of the image and the next one is described here.

Q2: Is there a battery level indicator?

Since version v1.1, SimpleMenu shows battery level on some themes (0A and SimUI). You have also battery level when running RetroArch and entering in the menu (Power or Select + X). At last, you can exit to GMenu2X from SimpleMenu changing Default launcher option to no and then selecting Session: quit.

Q3: Why are the override settings in RetroArch not preserved?

The key in this topic is to understand well the three levels of overrides that exists. If you change a setting and override it at the core level, but then there is an override on the same setting at the content level, the first will not be applied because the second takes precedence. This guide is valuable.

We are going to show an example of one of these cases that is most often asked. It is about activating the option to keep the aspect ratio in GB or GBC. We are going to look at GBC in particular, so in the following greps we do not have to take into account the file GB.cfg. That option is called video_dingux_ipu_keep_aspect in RA config files. This is the default situation of that setting on the different files that apply, as they are in the image just flashed:

rg280v:~/.retroarch $ grep video_dingux_ipu_keep_aspect retroarch.cfg
video_dingux_ipu_keep_aspect = "true"
rg280v:~/.retroarch $ grep video_dingux_ipu_keep_aspect config/Gambatte/*
config/Gambatte/GB.cfg:video_dingux_ipu_keep_aspect = "false"
config/Gambatte/GBC.cfg:video_dingux_ipu_keep_aspect = "false"
config/Gambatte/Gambatte.cfg:video_dingux_ipu_keep_aspect = "false"

In words, the Keep Aspect Ratio setting is enabled at a general level (first grep), but then disabled in overrides at the core and content level (second grep).

The logical thing would be that activating it at the content level would start to work, but RetroArch applies a system of economy of settings and when it sees that an adjustment at any level, matches the general adjustment, it simply removes the override adjustment. As a result, when setting this option to true and then creating the override at the content level, what actually happens is that the override is lost and the core level is applied, which, as can be seen, is still false.

rg280v:~/.retroarch $ grep video_dingux_ipu_keep_aspect retroarch.cfg
video_dingux_ipu_keep_aspect = "true"
rg280v:~/.retroarch $ grep video_dingux_ipu_keep_aspect config/Gambatte/*
config/Gambatte/GB.cfg:video_dingux_ipu_keep_aspect = "false"
config/Gambatte/Gambatte.cfg:video_dingux_ipu_keep_aspect = "false"

The solution is to make another override at the core level (which erases the adjustment at that level as well), leaving only the general adjustment.

rg280v:~/.retroarch $ grep video_dingux_ipu_keep_aspect retroarch.cfg
video_dingux_ipu_keep_aspect = "true"
rg280v:~/.retroarch $ grep video_dingux_ipu_keep_aspect config/Gambatte/*
config/Gambatte/GB.cfg:video_dingux_ipu_keep_aspect = "false"

In short, you have to activate the keep aspect ratio and save the overrides at the core and content level at same time. It is a mess yes.

Q4: How can I reset the RetroArch configuration so that I can mount my own overrides without being affected by the ones in the image?

Just delete /media/data/local/home/.retroarch/config directory and /media/data/local/home/.retroarch/retroarch.cfg file.

Q5: NeoGeo ROMs with FBA standalone emulator do not sync screen well on RG350M (I guess on RG3300X neither). How can it be fixed?

This is a problem with the hardware scaling that this emulator does when you have that screen. The solution is to disable it through the FBA interface itself or UX. To do this, temporarily disable SimpleMenu as the default launcher, open the FBA UX emulator from GMenu2X, locate the game that we want to adjust (it may be necessary to add the path of the NEOGEO ROMs to ROMs Paths), open it and in the Option menu that appears change Hardware scaling to Off. The change is saved at the game level so if we later launch it from SimpleMenu, it will be applied even if we do not go through that intermediate settings screen.

FBA Hardware scaling

If you don't want to make the fix game by game, you can change it in Main settings > Default ROM settings > Default Run Game settings > Hardware scaling, but keep in mind that this change will affect games from other systems that did not have problems with scaling.

Q6: I can't modify RetroArch config, error Failed saving config to... is displayed

To modify the general configuration of RetroArch, there must be no content (ROM) loaded. This can be done in a number of ways:

  1. After launching RetroArch through a ROM, open RA menu (Power or Select + X) and use the Close Content command.
  2. Open the RetroArch launcher. In image versions 1.2 or earlier, it can only be done from GMenu2X, in the emulators section. As of 1.3 there is also a launcher in the Apps section of SimpleMenu.

In any case, it is not usual to manipulate the general configuration of RetroArch. What most of the time is convenient is to override at the core, content (directory) or game level. Check FAQ number 3 for more details.

Q7: How can I lower the minimum volume without actually muting the sound? The minimum is still very high.

This problem affects mainly to RG280V. That is because in that machine the speakers are connected directly to the DAC (digital analog converter) and not to the chain DAC->Headphone port like in other devices. In RG280V the volume control is only affected by PCM channel in alsamixer, and even at its minimum value before the mute (32 / -30dB) is heard too loud in a quiet environment.

alsamixer

Without touching the system, the only thing that can be done is to play with the sound options that some of the emulators may have. Fortunately RetroArch includes in the audio settings the possibility of attenuating the output. The setting is found in the path: MAIN MENU > Settings > Audio > Volume Gain (dB). The -10dB value has been found to be a good balance, so setting the minimum system volume before mute is already adequate, and the maximum is powerful enough. If we choose to make this adjustment, it is best to do it at the general configuration level, for which we must follow the steps commented in FAQ number 6.

RA audio gain

Q8: Can I update Adam with the latest OpenDingux beta builds?

Of course. Adam is just a normal installation of the packages listed at the beginning of this document, i.e. OpenDingux beta, RetroArch, SimpleMenu and a few standalone emulators. None of them have been modified, so they should work as expected. Not only can you upgrade the packages but you are encouraged to do so, to help their development.

Although it is recommended to follow the instructions given in each package, these are the general instructions to upgrade each type of package:

  • OpenDingux beta: Download the build you want to install (usually the latest) from its distribution site. Copy the type of OPK suited for your console (in Adam's case, it will always be the gcw0 kind) into the apps directory of the external card. Locate the launcher in the applications section of GMenu2X or SimpleMenu (in this landazor, if another terminal type application such as USB Mode for example has not been opened before, it does not switch correctly to terminal mode, leaving the OpenDingux logo on the screen; if this happens, press Power+Select to force the OPK closing), open it and follow on-screen instructions. WARNING: Keep in mind that once this is done, you will not be able to use the script to switch between different device models, since if you do it you will end up having an updated rootfs with an old kernel, since the script copies the installed kernels originally in the image, from the different directories with the names of the devices that are in the boot partition.
  • RetroArch: The package that can be found on the distribution site contains the parts that must be installed manually on the console (an OPK to launch RA in frontend mode and do the general configuration, a binary that must be copied to /media/data/local/bin and the home directory containing the cores and basic configuration). Alternatively you can use this installer from which a package designed to fit Adam is offered in the releases.
  • SimpleMenu and standalone emulators: All these applications work like normal OPKs. Therefore, to update them, you just have to locate the version you want to install (for example, the SimpleMenu releases are obtained from here) and copy them to the /media/data/apps directory. They can also be copied to the apps directory of the external card, but in that case if we don't delete the equivalent in /media/data/apps, they will appear twice in frontend.

Q9: Is it possible to use a WiFi dongle?

Yes, although the list of supported chipsets is limited. At the moment the supported ones are the following:

  • Realtek RTL8192CU
  • Mediatek MT7601U

If new chipsets are incorporated into the system in the future, they will be listed in the directory /lib/modules/5.15.0-rc6-opendingux/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/

10: Why don't appear in SimpleMenu the ROMs I just loaded onto the external card?

There are several things to keep in mind so that the ROMs are displayed:

  1. The format of the external card must be FAT32.
  2. The ROMs must be found in the appropriate directories for the system to which they belong and which are listed in the table in the [ROMs](# roms) section.
  3. The extensions of the ROMs files must be those indicated in the table in the [ROMs](# roms) section.
  4. To access the list of ROMs of the system that we are interested in, use the navigation shortcuts between systems and groups indicated in the table in the [Controls](# controls) section. Basically they are B to go up one level, A to go down one level and Up/Down to move between the different elements in each level. For example, the following video shows how to get to the list of Game Boy ROMs from the Applications section that appears by default after flashing the image.

See video

11: Why does not show battery levels correctly the battery indicator?

Battery are one of the most analog elements on the console. No two are the same. To manage this reality, modern smartphones keep a lot of information about previous charges and the rate and conditions in which the discharge occurs. With all this information, they estimate a battery capacity that is as realistic as possible. In the console system, this data is not kept, so the battery capacity is estimated directly from the voltage that it offers at a certain moment. Fixed values are used for the voltage associated with the maximum and minimum charge (4.2V and 3.4V respectively), which may not be suitable for all batteries, hence some consoles misjudge the charge level.

There is also a sensor on the charging connector, but this only determines if there is a cable connected to the console, not that the battery is charging, that is, the other end of the cable may be disconnected and most programs will indicate that the console is being powered.

Finally, the load indicators of the different programs (GMenu2X, SimpleMenu, RetroArch, RG350 test) can be programmed differently, so there may be discrepancies between them.

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