Atari 5200 and RetroArch 1.74

[onebadveggie]

This is more of an FYI, than any real help, but I use RocketLauncher in conjunction with LaunchBox.

There is an issue I've ran into where if you are using the Atari800 core, you're unable to use bezels and well... basically all the stuff that makes RocketLauncher worth using. This is because RocketLauncher will always seek out the config file from the config folder instead of .atari800.cfg. And even if you move the file to the config folder, then RocketLauncher will still ignore it over retroarch.cfg.

Not looking for help, just putting it out there for educational purposes.

Edited August 3, 2019 by onebadveggie

[Headrush69]

On 8/3/2019 at 7:56 PM, onebadveggie said:

There is an issue I've ran into where if you are using the Atari800 core, you're unable to use bezels and well... basically all the stuff that makes RocketLauncher worth using. This is because RocketLauncher will always seek out the config file from the config folder instead of .atari800.cfg. And even if you move the file to the config folder, then RocketLauncher will still ignore it over retroarch.cfg.

Found that as well.

Made the switch to the best 800 emulator, Altirra, and fixed that issue. I use RL for very few systems, and Atari 800 is one, just for the bezel.

[an531]

I just dropped in to say that I also had a problem with Atari 5200 and RetoArch. Games would launch from Launchbox, but instead of a game menu/start screen all I got was a shitty sound effect and a black screen. I had the correct bioses in the correct place, games were uncompressed and so on. It turned out that in the .atari800.cfg file there are absolute/full paths to bioses, among other places, that need to be correct for the whole thing to work. Earlier on I changed my HDDs drive letter and was lulled into a false sense of security on account of Launchbox using relative paths for everything... 

I can confirm that Atari 5200 works well with RetroArch Atari - 5200 (Atari800) core on a Windows 7 (x64) with xbox360 wireless controller.

Edited January 25, 2020 by an531

[flatuswalrus]

Does anyone know which line in the .atari800.cfg you put the path to your roms? I tried doing it via the emulator menu but my roms are on G drive and I cannot get out of C drive on the menu. RA launches just fine, I have my bios files in the system folder so I think I just need to stipulate the location of my roms?

[CDBlue]

I don't believe the rom path/location is listed in the .atari800.cfg... at least it's not listed in mine.  I believe the primary key to get it working is to make sure that the location of the bios rom files, that are in your system folder, are listed in that cfg file using in full path to where they are (ie. C:\ not just ..\).  If they are not listed, or not listed using full paths, then that's likely the issue preventing it from working.  Once those are listed correctly you should be able to load the core and load the content from wherever you have your rom files.  Typically, retroarch doesn't really care where your rom files are stored, just where the bios files are when/if needed.

For example, I have the following lines that are showing the location of my bios rom files, if you have an .atari800cfg file, then it shoudl be all populated with the line you need to edit:

ROM_OS_A_PAL=C:\Games\RetroArch\system\ATARIOSA.ROM
ROM_OS_BB01R2=C:\Games\RetroArch\system\ATARIXL.ROM
ROM_5200=C:\Games\RetroArch\system\5200.rom
ROM_BASIC_C=C:\Games\RetroArch\system\ATARIBAS.ROM
ROM_400/800_CUSTOM=C:\Games\RetroArch\system\ATARIOSB.ROM

Hope this helps,
CDBlue

[flatuswalrus]

2 minutes ago, CDBlue said:

I don't believe the rom path/location is listed in the .atari800.cfg... at least it's not listed in mine.  I believe the primary key to get it working is to make sure that the location of the bios rom files, that are in your system folder, are listed in that cfg file using in full path to where they are (ie. C:\ not just ..\).  If they are not listed, or not listed using full paths, then that's likely the issue preventing it from working.  Once those are listed correctly you should be able to load the core and load the content from wherever you have your rom files.  Typically, retroarch doesn't really care where your rom files are stored, just where the bios files are when/if needed.

For example, I have the following lines that are showing the location of my bios rom files, if you have an .atari800cfg file, then it shoudl be all populated with the line you need to edit:

ROM_OS_A_PAL=C:\Games\RetroArch\system\ATARIOSA.ROM
ROM_OS_BB01R2=C:\Games\RetroArch\system\ATARIXL.ROM
ROM_5200=C:\Games\RetroArch\system\5200.rom
ROM_BASIC_C=C:\Games\RetroArch\system\ATARIBAS.ROM
ROM_400/800_CUSTOM=C:\Games\RetroArch\system\ATARIOSB.ROM

Hope this helps,
CDBlue

Thank you for replying. I do have my bios files in the RA system folder and the cfg file is pointing to them:

Atari 800 Emulator, Version 3.1.0
ROM_OS_A_PAL=C:\Users\Dane\LaunchBox\Emulators\RetroArch\system\ATARIOSA.ROM
ROM_OS_BB01R2=C:\Users\Dane\LaunchBox\Emulators\RetroArch\system\ATARIXL.ROM
ROM_5200=C:\Users\Dane\LaunchBox\Emulators\RetroArch\system\5200.ROM
ROM_BASIC_C=C:\Users\Dane\LaunchBox\Emulators\RetroArch\system\ATARIBAS.ROM
ROM_400/800_CUSTOM=C:\Users\Dane\LaunchBox\Emulators\RetroArch\system\ATARIOSB.ROM

It just will not get past that blue/purple colored load screen.

[CDBlue]

Hmm, not sure at this point.  I gave up using the atrari800 core a long time ago in favor of the stand alone emulator Altirra, which I always suggest to people as it just works (http://www.virtualdub.org/altirra.html).  I did just try my roms to load using the atarti800 core in retroach, and while they do load for me, the display is all messed up for some reason.  Not going to bother trying to fix it, as like I mentioned above, I use Altirra for that core all the time now.  But, maybe there's something going on with the latest version of that core which is cause your issues and nothing to do with the config?

[flatuswalrus]

3 minutes ago, CDBlue said:

Hmm, not sure at this point.  I gave up using the atrari800 core a long time ago in favor of the stand alone emulator Altirra, which I always suggest to people as it just works (http://www.virtualdub.org/altirra.html).  I did just try my roms to load using the atarti800 core in retroach, and while they do load for me, the display is all messed up for some reason.  Not going to bother trying to fix it, as like I mentioned above, I use Altirra for that core all the time now.  But, maybe there's something going on with the latest version of that core which is cause your issues and nothing to do with the config?

I did read about people suggesting the standalone. I know some standalone emulators are easy to setup and superior but for simplicity I am sticking to RA and MAME. Whatever does not work outside of those two gets forgotten on my setup. I appreciate you suggesting something that may have been the issue though, thanks kindly.

[CDBlue]

Ok... I'm stubborn so I wanted to get it working again on the atari800 core for me.  Here's what I had to do.  I had to load a game, then go into the options and set the Atarti System listing to Atari5200 then set the internal resolution to 336x240 for it to work/display properly.  I also needed to set my Controler input to Atari joystick for my controller to work.   After that was done, all seems to work fine for me now.... although I am still going to continue using Altirra because (IMO) it's a better emulator for that console.  This may work for you, or may not... but worth a try

Edited March 15, 2020 by CDBlue

[flatuswalrus]

1 minute ago, CDBlue said:

Ok... I'm stubborn so I wanted to get it working again on the atari800 core for me.  Here's what I had to do.  I had to load a game, then go into the options and set the Atarti System listing to Atari5200 then set the internal resolution to 336x240 for it to work/display properly.  I also needed to set my Controler input to Atari joystick for my controller to work.   After that was done, all seems to work fine for me now.... although I am still going to continue using Altirra because (IMO) it's a better emulator for that console.

Haha, we are all stubborn in certain ways. My stubbornness keeps me restricted to RA and MAME even if there is something superior out there for a particular platform. I am going to try what you just said if not today then definitely tomorrow and I will report back on the results, thank you.

[flatuswalrus]

58 minutes ago, CDBlue said:

Ok... I'm stubborn so I wanted to get it working again on the atari800 core for me.  Here's what I had to do.

I hit F1 to bring up the menu, then I went to System Settings and the first option is Machine. I changed that from 800 to 5200 however it did not change anything. I did not do anything regarding resolution or controller settings because at this stage I still cannot get past the menu into a game. I would like it working of course though it is not something like the NES or Arcade where I would be devastated to not have it.

[CDBlue]

Hmm not sure, it works for me as I mentioned   Are you trying this all the time with the same rom/game?  If so, maybe try another rom/game or two to at least rule out that it's not an incompatible game that you're trying.  Changing the machine to 5200 is what got me past the menu system as well, FYI... if I have it set to anything other than 5200 I get that menu screen.

Edited March 15, 2020 by CDBlue

[flatuswalrus]

8 minutes ago, CDBlue said:

Hmm not sure, it works for me as I mentioned   Are you trying this all the time with the same rom/game?  If so, maybe try another rom/game or two to at least rule out that it's not an incompatible game that you're trying.

Yeah I have tried it with about ten different roms, thank you for the suggestion though, I appreciate it.

[dragon57]

You can manually edit the .atari800.cfg file to set the following:

MACHINE_TYPE=Atari 5200

Make sure you aren't using MAME software list roms. Also, make sure your 5200 roms have header information. See this URL for info: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/16556/cartridge-type-code-list-for-atari-5200-games

Edited March 15, 2020 by dragon57
Added url

[bundangdon]

Just wanted to pointed this one out as a reference also. If anyone wants to play Gorf on any of the Atari 5200 emulators, the controls are a complete mess, however there is a patched/hacked version which is discussed here: https://atariage.com/forums/topic/89771-how-to-play-5200-gorf/

and it plays normally with that particular patch ?

[Headrush69]

1 hour ago, bundangdon said:

Just wanted to pointed this one out as a reference also. If anyone wants to play Gorf on any of the Atari 5200 emulators, the controls are a complete mess, however there is a patched/hacked version which is discussed here: https://atariage.com/forums/topic/89771-how-to-play-5200-gorf/

and it plays normally with that particular patch ?

I normally use Altirra for 5200 and can use the XBOX sticks for true analog input, but that hack works with my cabinet controls as well and frankly plays better anyways. Thanks for the heads up. (Just need a hack for centering input for MAME starwars now ? )

[flatuswalrus]

18 hours ago, dragon57 said:

You can manually edit the .atari800.cfg file to set the following:

MACHINE_TYPE=Atari 5200

Make sure you aren't using MAME software list roms. Also, make sure your 5200 roms have header information. See this URL for info: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/16556/cartridge-type-code-list-for-atari-5200-games

Thank you for that info. I manually edited my cfg to MACHINE_TYPE=Atari 5200 and I added the header info to my zipped ROM, I tried it zipped and unzipped with the zip and actual ROM file with header info but no go unfortunately. This still is a puzzle for me but I will come back to it in between other stuff I am doing on my set up, thanks again.

[Gloktar]

On 3/16/2020 at 11:19 AM, flatuswalrus said:

Thank you for that info. I manually edited my cfg to MACHINE_TYPE=Atari 5200 and I added the header info to my zipped ROM, I tried it zipped and unzipped with the zip and actual ROM file with header info but no go unfortunately. This still is a puzzle for me but I will come back to it in between other stuff I am doing on my set up, thanks again.

You should also set this in your "retroarch-core-options.cfg" file :

atari800_system = "5200"

 

[slizzap]

On 4/18/2020 at 12:10 PM, Gloktar said:

You should also set this in your "retroarch-core-options.cfg" file :

atari800_system = "5200"

 

This right here. Thanks so much for this. I beat my head against the wall for way too long trying to figure out why I couldn't permanently save this setting. I found this in the file you mentioned but assumed the entry would've been "Atari 5200" like the .atari800.cfg file. Changed it to "5200" and it finally properly launches the games.

Cheers.