It's so nice to easily connect my 360 controller and use it straight away (something I am absolutely not use to...damn Microsoft :P). Force feedback would be great.
As for mapping other buttons for emulator specific functions...well how about a button combo to exit the emulator from the controller. Not unlike how you can access the Dreamcast BIOS from A+B+X+Y+start. In fact how about A+B+X+Y+back..lol
Great work so far though really. Also triggers seem right to me. :)

Thank for you job DK and if your need some help, open to me only call functions of your joypads plugin for Naomi and Dreamcast, I build some plugins to help you in concentrate on some important fixes...

I am hoping you are working on correct aspect for widescreen monitors. Im crossing my fingers. :)

For this, no is so Hard, only have 2 Variables to enable the Correct Virtual Size, like this, the Resolution Default for Virtual Size is 640x480, create 2 Variables on the INI with the names X and Y (Names is for DK, he say what name have on Variables) and load INI Variables to create the Overlay window with this size, or Create the SDL Window with this size.

..... Why respond to my comments but not dknute's post? Anyway its his project not yours dude..Jeez.

Ok, if your need some Help again, stay of me. I'm try to Help, but many people is @#$%??.
And, I dont Ask for you this is my project, only respond, the way to fix you question.

Sorry Deunan for spamming up your comments. I only mentioned the aspect ratio, because I was sure at some point you had said you would be working on that.

can some one ask me why i can't play dreamcast on makaron? when i open makaron show me to enter the day, month, year. i put OK and then show me again to enter the same. I put OK. (i have readed, this is a problem with the flash)Then show a control, a clock, and other options. I don't know why, i have the correct bios. If i choose the control to start to play, the emu tilts with a black screen. Some guy says that i need gdi games, not cdi. this is the way of run a game in makaron, is that true?

other problem i have, i cant play naomi in version T11/1, all the time shows "error 01 the game is not compatible by main board". strange, the version Test 11 HNG64 works very well for me.

what i can do?? thx!

For Naomi, Use the Japan BIOS and take decripted Games like this, http://www.snk-neofighters.com/forum/Nulldc-Naomi-t43440.html is a Brazilian Forum with some Roms Decripted, has been function in Makaron Naomi.
For What use Japan Bios ? Is more compatible with all Roms.

thank you, i already tested again downloading from the brazilian forum, but "error 01 the game is not aceptable by main board". I'm sure, i am doing all correctly. Version of naomi Test 11 HNG64 works very well.

And dreamcast? there is any solution? makaron works with .cdi??

I'm try build one driver to support this option for Makaron Dreamcast, but I'm no due part of the project, but I can build some soluctions, in future if DK no build this, maybe offer my help to build this option.

Hi

Makaron was working in the past, now I cannot get past the error message :
(-1005) marple error (mmm, sure i got error 1002 few minutes ago).

I set PADcfg = 1 in makaron.ini, but that doesn't make the pad config screen appear.
I must be missing something :(

how do i fix sound in vista as its choppy and clicky is there any fix for it

dont using vista, cause it sux

Hi

First, thank you very much for this great emulator !
Unfortunately, for racing games (which are my main concern), it's unusable.
When I (try to) use my PS2 controller, I cannot map the axis properly, as you don't make use of split axis (the right stick up should throttle, and down should brake), so it's unusable.

It's even worse with my racing wheel. This one as 3 axis, so I thought it should be perfect (I expect to play racing games with a wheel, right ?).
No way. I forgot that you need four axis, and a lot of buttons.
I guess it should work if I dont configure the dreamcast stick up (y axis).
Anyway your plugin only see half of my buttons (the first 4, on 8).
I thought, ok, I will use my pc keyboard for the D-pad and some buttons, but you can only use one controller !
Could you please change that, and allow use multiple controllers (any input, I mean).

cheers

Hi

Does it work with XBCD drivers ?
http://matt-land.com/xbcd/
(they support reconfiguring axis, deadzone etc)

Thanks for all

It doesn't :(
Any hope for a change ?

Cool plugin, I'll have to get a 360 pad! But I'm actually having a problem with your emulator Deunan. I'm playing a GD-ROM image I ripped of Shenmue II and using a euro bios with flash. The game seems to play fine other then the graphical glitches, but it'll crash hard. Interpreter will usually crash right away, fast interpreter will take longer and finally the dynamic recompiler will take the longest. I've tried everything to fix it I could think of including redumping.

It says this in the Dynamic recompiler at the action scene where you're trying to get your bag back from that kid wong.
T11-2: (-1006) in module HOLLY/AT:Unkown type S:7

Oops sorry for the double post, I didn't copy the whole message.
(-1006) in module HOLLY/AT:Unkown type S:7

-Zuzma

Now that is very interesting, this kind of error would only happen in WinCE games. And Shenmue II is not...
To be sure, you've not enabled MMU for this game? Could you post your PC spec?

Naw I never use the MMU setting. Ah just for the heck of it I tried it in nullDC 1.0.3 with the same files and it works fine, not that it really helps solve the problem at all.

Specs:
Windows vista 64 SP1
Intel Core 2 Duo P8400
4GB of PC3 8500 DDR3
Nvidia Geforce 9800M GTS SLI

I'll try to reproduce this error on my rig. The bad news for you is I won't fix that bug anytime soon - simply because I'm not sure what causes it. The good news for me is (if it turns out to be the same thing that plagues CE games) I can narrow list of suspects down to just a few. That's a really important clue, that report of yours.
Nice PC BTW.

That's okay, I'm not really in a big hurry to play it. I zipped up the VMU from my game to make it easier for you to test. Just walk forward and you'll get into the little action scene. You need go through a bit of it before the crash though. I just have this feeling it's going to work fine for you. : )

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?oyzjqm0gwjz

Thanks, it's a nice replacement for my 6 or 7 year old Pentium 4 box. I'm not really one to go out and splurge on a new machine very often. Dreamcast games were pretty laggy on it. ; )

-Zuzma

hi

Seems there's no mip mapping at all applied, which make games look very pixelated.
Any way to activate that ?

Also, you're probably aware of that, but shadows are non existent in F355 and wrong in MSR(changing options with f12 doesnt help).

Cheers and thanks for the great emu !

Just copied Makaron over to my new computer, and now can't run any Naomi games. The odd time a game will load, but the majority it won't. For example, Capcom VS. SNK 2 freezes at the Loading Game Now... screen and won't go any further. I updated my graphics driver to the latest and still the same problem. Here are my PC specs:

Core2Duo E8400 3.0GHz (overclocked to 3.7GHz)
Gigabyte EP35-DS3L Motherboard
nVidia GeForce 8500 GT (182.06 driver)
2GB RAM
Windows XP SP 3

The funny thing is that I can run games with absolutely no issue (other than some slowdown) on my other (older) computer. Here are the specs of my other PC:

Pentium 4 3.6GHz
ASUS P4C-800-E Motherboard
nVidia GeForce 7800 GS (182.06 driver)
2GB RAM
Windows XP SP3

I copied Makaron exactly from my old computer and put it in the exact same path as before (E:\MAKARON). I installed the runtime libraries and all the XP updates are current on both computers. The program itself loads fine, it just hangs whenever a game gets to it's loading screen.

When a game freezes at Loading Game screen, the last two lines in the NAOMI emulator window are:

D3D9: Z-buffer test: D3DFMT_D24FS8
D3D9: Z-buffer test: D3DFMT_DS4S8

Please help.

Another interesting one :)
Try reducing your new CPU speed back to 3GHz (or even below that if possible). Does that help any?

That seemed to solve the problem. Ideally, I would like to keep my processor overclocked since it's much faster for so many other things, so hopefully this can fixed in the next version.

I tested by launching various games in no particular order and they loaded 20 out of 20 times. The only one which won't load is World Series Baseball, but that has never worked even on the old computer. It freezes with a black screen and says in the NAOMI emulator window:

D3D9: Z-buffer test: D3DFMT_D24FS8
D3D9: Z-buffer test: D3DFMT_DS4S8

This is the same as the all the other games that would freeze when overclocked to 3.7GHz. Now back to 3.7GHz and testing again. Tried to launch Capcom VS. SNK 2 about 5 times, and froze at the same place. Then tested Spikers Battle 4 times. It loaded each time but took a long time to do so. After the D3D9 Z buffer stuff above would show up in the NAOMI emulator window, it would hold on that for about 5 seconds and then would say:

AICA/MMAP:[PC=0x0c0a4366]RESET = 1
AICA/MMAP:[PC=0x0c0a4366]RESET = 0 (ea000142)

There is a black screen which holds for about 30 seconds after this stuff shows up in the NAOMI emulator window, and then the game loads.

Tested once with Ikargua, it loaded, but again takes a long time to do so. The messaage in the NAOMI emulator windows is similar to Spikers Battle and says:

AICA/MMAP:[PC=0x8c02b5f8]RESET = 1
AICA/MMAP:[PC=0x8c02b5f8]RESET = 0 (ea00003e)

Again it holds for about 30 seconds after this pops up and then loads the game.

Tested 3 times with Sports Jam. First time it didn't make it passed the D3D9:Z buffer stuff at all. Just remained frozen at Now Loading...Sports Jam. Second and Third time it loaded after the AICA/MMAP stuff came up, and in this case it only took about 10 seconds instead of 30 like the others.

Hopefully this can give you a better idea to help solve the problem. I'm using the USA Naomi BIOS if that makes any difference. Any other way around this for the time being without having to reduce the clock speed of my computer?

Your CPU is too fast for Makaron :)
Go back to your o/c settings and add this line to NAOMI.ini (put it just under "SH4core" entry):

SH4MIPS = 300

If this doesn't help, try reducing the value a bit - by 10 or so every time. Not much point going below 150, too low setting will limit SH4 speed too much and you'll experience slowdowns.

I don't have a SH4core entry in my Naomi.ini file. My file looks like this:

[Settings]
region=1
fullscreen=0
MMU=0

I tried putting the SH4MIPS=300 underneath the MMU line but it didn't work. I then tried putting SH4MIPS=150 underneath the MMU line and it still didn't work. Then tried SH4MIPS=100 and still nothing.

I also noticed on the overclocked settings that in the NAOMI emulator window, NAOMI: P = 3708060000. On the normal settings NAOMI: P=3000030000.

I'm guessing that this is the processor speed so I tried adding a P=30003000 line to my NAOMI.ini file but nothing happened so I guess this value can't be changed with the ini. The default SH4MIPS on the overclocked settings is 360. When I put the SH4MIPS=300 line into my ini, it changed to that value in the NAOMI emulator window, but as I said above, the games still don't load properly or at all.

Another discovery :)

If I put the line SH4core=1 into my NAOMI.ini as well as the line SH4MIPS=300, then everything works like it does when my processor isn't overclocked. However, when SH4core is set to 2, it doesn't load the game or takes a very long time to load for those games that do. When it's set to 0 or 1, it works fine.

By having the SH4core set to 1 or 2, is that going to affect emulation at all? What exactly do each off these values represent in regards to how the games are emulated?

An additional question, is there a way to make the screen in Ikaruga horizontal instead of vertical? The default is vertical so everything is sideways. If I change it to horizontal in the test menu, I then get an error saying:

Caution 54
Game assignments are incorrect. Set correctly in system assignments of test mode.

Then when I change it back to vertical there is no error message, but the screen remains sideways.

Sorry, forgot the official INI files are lacking a bit in the tweaking department. You put it in a good place though.
There's one more parameter you can play with. Add "SH4K = 2500" line to the file.
Now, this is a tad bit more complicated so please excuse me for not explaining properly. Just try values from 1500 to 50000. The lower value the slower emulator will become - and it's not necessarily the lowest you're aiming for (but I'd start with 5000-10000 region).

If that doesn't fix it, you're out of luck because you can't really change anything else in the release versions. Just to be sure you could also try "SH4core = 1", this will switch SH4 to fast interpreter core. It's slower than recompiler and this might be enough to get things working. Maybe.

In case nothing helps you might want to contact me via gmail. I can't o/c my own system that high so I'd need you to test any other ideas I might have. That means custom builds :) Now keep in mind I'm still having very little free time and custom versions might require some more patience than public ones...

The SH4core=1 worked fine as I said above. I guess I was writing that as you were writing your reply :)

What is the better solution? I haven't tried the SH4K=2500 yet, and won't do so unless it would provide better results.

Also, is there a solution to the Ikaruga problem I posted above?

Tweaking the K parameter is tricky. I'd say stick to fast interpreter for now unless you get slowdowns - unlikely considering your CPU speed. Interpreter is not as accurate when it comes to floating point operations (mostly corner cases like not flushing denormals properly at all times), but that also shouldn't be a problem. It only affects demo/attract modes of some games as far as I know.

Ikaruga (and other games that require vertical screen mode) will not work unless the setting is changed to match the game specs. There's a feature planned to kick the screen 90 degrees in that case but that's not implemented yet. NVidia driver should allow you to rotate the screen though, try that.

I haven't noticed any slowdowns yet using Fast Interpreter. Haven't really tested that thoroughly though.

As far as Ikaruga goes, I'll probably just write a small batch file to alter the controls slightly before it launches. At least with the type of game that it is, you can play it the wrong way. It will be fine for now until the new feature is implemented. I can't really read what's on the screen anyways since it's in Japanese :)

Thanks for all your help, and I look forward to the next version. Awesome emulator.

hi,
I have been trying to use Makaron,
but I always stuck at the problem that it ask me set the time twice,
and black screen when boot game.
I have read the instruction and I know the way
go to menu -> setting -> time -> confirm without changing anything -> back to menu ->close and restart it
but I have no luck getting it done.
everytime it ask me again twice.
And I thought is the flash or bio problem.
then I have use like other 6 to 7 pairs bio/flash,
still no luck.
I wonder if it's because I am using vista??

Thank you.

Hi,

my problem is that every time I start the emulator I'm stuck at the set date/time screen, but i cant change anything. There is no input recognition. I'm using a ps2 controller (dualshock2) with an USB adapter. When I start makaron, and the pad configuration is set to 1, a window appears for a short time and it says the name of my controller but it exits immediately so that I can't configure anything. Also there is no makaronPAD.ini created.
Is this a problem with the adapter or am I missing something?
Thanks in advance

Crimson

There is a known issue with that plugin, namely it will close on the first clik on anything inside the config window if you switch (alt+tab for example) to any other window, even for a second. Is that what's happening? Or is is closing itself even if you don't touch anything?
If the latter then please check if your pad is visible as DirectInput device in Windows Control panel -> Gaming devices.
Also, what Windows/Makaron version are we talking about?

hi,
thanks for your fast reply. I use makaron v. 11/1 with the 11/2 update (i also tested it with the earlier 10 version). OS is Win XP with Service Pack 2.
The config windows closes itself without me doing anything. I have a firewall that asks permission for every step a program makes and so i can see that first the console starts up, then the config windows appears and shows the name of the gamepad (yes it is visible under gaming devices, status ok and i can fully configure it). But the config window only shows the name nothing else and immediately after that it closes and the gaming screen appears.
The use of a keyboard isn't possible so I can see if the controller is the problem or something else?

Must be some ugly bug then. Try creating an empty MakaronPAD.ini yourself and see if it helps any.

Yeah i tried that but to no avail.
I'm curious if the controller is the problem or not. I don't have a second contr. to test. Do you know it is working apart from the bug you mentioned earlier?

Works for me (even if I'm using T11/3 now, the plugin is the same). I'm using XP SP3 but I don't think it matters.
One more thing. Edit Maple.ini and make sure you're not using MakaronPAD.dll at addresses 0x01 or 0x02 (that would be rumble pack). If you do, comment the line out with # or semicolon, or assign a VMU plugin to that address.

If the window just closes it's most likely due to internal error, and that happens when DirectInput and/or device init fails. Some drivers are broken and return silly values that trip my code. If nothing else works, drop me a mail. I will make a special plugin version for you to see where it dies.

Deunan maybe I shouldn´t ask this but I readed on Guru´s page that Elsemi is working on a method to dump the NAOMI cart directly from the console, so if this method finally work will you add support for those cart to Makaron?

hikari02

I don't see why not. As long I can get my hands on full dumps that include security chips :)
Also, some of the existing dumps seem broken. I hope those will be remade once the method is perfected.

Thank you for the answer and I hope too the Elsemi will be able to make those dump perfect.

Another question if he make the dump directly from the console, that means we won´t need those security chips? I´m thinking on the flash roms using in the CPS3 emulation thats why I ask.

I have no idea how CPS3 protection system works :)

NAOMI carts seem to have a secure FLASH chip with I2C interface. Its contents is protected by 2 passwords, 8 byte long each, one for reading and one for writing data.
I'm not sure what ElSemi is planning exactly but I'd try to intercept the password as it's being sent to the chip.

Game can use the data in that chip in any way it wants so I guess it'd be easier to just dump it and emulate the whole system as-is.

Mmmm I guess Elsemi know how to solve that is he came with that idea and as far as I know the CPS3 have a security cart to decrypt the cd, so when the machine decrypt the game then generate that flash rom that I was talking about, in the other way if you use the chd then the emu decrypts the cd itself. Probably I´m wrong with all of this but this is why I think that the method of dumping the NAOMI carts directly should work.

hikari02

Hehe, I forgot :p ---- hikari02