Problems with running the i800 core directly from Retroarch??

[ModerateNOOB]

Hi guys.

I'm trying to setup and configure the i800 core on Retroarch to boot Atari 5200 games directly from Retroarch itself.

I have all the correct bios files, And they are all placed in Retroarch's system directory.

 

i boot up retroarch.

i select the i800 core.

i chose load content.

i select the 5200 rom i want to play.

then this screen pops up.

i press F1 and gets the menu screen.

I select system rom settings.

Locate the bios roms in Retroarch system folder and press space to select them. 

After selecting the directory, i go to system settings/Machine and choose Atari 5200. (Save on exit emulator is also set to "YES")

After doing this the game will boot when i exit the emulator, But each time i want to load a game from Retroarch i have to go through the console again and re-select Atari 5200 under system settings/machine.

Are you supposed to through the console every time?, Are there some settings i need to configure on Retroarch as well?.

Sorry!! still in learning process and could have completely misunderstood everything. All i want is to boot 5200 roms directly from Retroarch and then set it up on launchbox

 

 

[sundogak]

The Atari800 core should auto load the game without having to go into the emulated 800 menus.  It sounds like the 5200 isn't selected.  I have attached a couple snaps of a working install of 5200 in Retroarch with the Atari800 core.  Might double check the Atari 5200 system is getting saved as default in options window and verify in the core options file (snap below).  Lastly check that your ".atari800.cfg" file that is located in the root of the Retroarch directory is present and has correct paths.  I have attached a copy of my cfg file so you can look at. It has the ROM paths to the System directory so you should be good there but good to verify it is pointing to where expected.  It typically is auto-generated but my recollection is that it was "fiddly" when setup.  If all else fails I think it was the Atari systems that were picky about the ROMs being same case in titles as expected (may be mixing up Altirra but doesn't hurt to verify).    In my Retroarch core options this is what is saved for the 5200 emulatorThis is the .atari800.cfg file location. I have attached my copy of working file but you will have to adjust the paths to the roms according to your install.  

 

.atari800.cfg

[ModerateNOOB]

6 hours ago, sundogak said:

The Atari800 core should auto load the game without having to go into the emulated 800 menus.  It sounds like the 5200 isn't selected.  I have attached a couple snaps of a working install of 5200 in Retroarch with the Atari800 core.  Might double check the Atari 5200 system is getting saved as default in options window and verify in the core options file (snap below).  Lastly check that your ".atari800.cfg" file that is located in the root of the Retroarch directory is present and has correct paths.  I have attached a copy of my cfg file so you can look at. It has the ROM paths to the System directory so you should be good there but good to verify it is pointing to where expected.  It typically is auto-generated but my recollection is that it was "fiddly" when setup.  If all else fails I think it was the Atari systems that were picky about the ROMs being same case in titles as expected (may be mixing up Altirra but doesn't hurt to verify).    In my Retroarch core options this is what is saved for the 5200 emulatorThis is the .atari800.cfg file location. I have attached my copy of working file but you will have to adjust the paths to the roms according to your install.  

 

.atari800.cfg

Thank's for trying to help, That was really nice of you :).

I also came to that conclusion that it must have a problem saving the configuration in the i800 emu itself after selecting the Atari 5200 machine, But for some reason it wouldn't save the config after exiting the emu.

Gave up and am now using MESS instead.

 

Have a good day

[an531]

@sundogak Your instructions helped me a lot, thanks. As I explained in this thread, all my Atari 5200 and RetroArch Atari - 5200 (Atari800) core problems ended when I manually edited the .atari800.cfg file to make sure that the absolute/full paths there (to bioses etc.) are correct. 

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

[Pineappleking]

Hello,

I´m trying to emulate "some" Atari-systems and woud like to use retroarch.

I use the atari800 core, for the emulaion. And It works! But....
When I set the core-settings to machine:atari800, the atari800 roms will work, but not them of the atari5200.
When I set the core-settings to machine:atari5200, the atari5200 roms will work, but not them, of the atari800 ?
I´ve not seen an option, that retroarch automaticly changed the system. So is there any command-line, to do it, in launchbox? Or are there any other options? I tried to clone the atari800 core, renamed it to atari5200. Retroarch found it, but the config-file is the same ?

[sundogak]

You have to setup two RA CFG files and folders. One that was setup for the 5200 and one for the 8-bit.  Then in your LB install you point to the specific CFG file within the "Extra Command Line Parameters" field like below:

-c "config\Atari800_XL\atari800_libretro.cfg"

When you point to a different folder then that folder contains the unique CFG and options and you don't overwrite them.  So in my case above I setup the "normal" install folder with a 5200 option set.  Then the second instance points to a separate folder for the 8-bit CFG.  If you set RA up to save *.OPT files uniquely then you will see an Atari800.opt file in each folder and the key item within the option file being set to tell it which system to run:

atari800_system = "5200"

and in 8-bit folder Atari800.opt file has this:

atari800_system = "800XL (64K)"

 

Edited July 14, 2021 by sundogak

[Pineappleking]

13 hours ago, sundogak said:

You have to setup two RA CFG files and folders. One that was setup for the 5200 and one for the 8-bit.  Then in your LB install you point to the specific CFG file within the "Extra Command Line Parameters" field like below:

-c "config\Atari800_XL\atari800_libretro.cfg"

When you point to a different folder then that folder contains the unique CFG and options and you don't overwrite them.  So in my case above I setup the "normal" install folder with a 5200 option set.  Then the second instance points to a separate folder for the 8-bit CFG.  If you set RA up to save *.OPT files uniquely then you will see an Atari800.opt file in each folder and the key item within the option file being set to tell it which system to run:

atari800_system = "5200"

and in 8-bit folder Atari800.opt file has this:

atari800_system = "800XL (64K)"

 

You are a genius! Thanks a lot!
Edit: Sorry... After a few tries, it didn´t work for me.

Can you explain a bit more steps? The command-line seems to work. When I start retroarch I´ll get the message, that RA used another configuration file. But it always uses the congif, I did before.
In my root-folder is a cfg-file called ".atari800.cfg". What I did; I copied this file in the self-created folder /config/Atari800. There was a text-line called "MACHINE_TYPE=Atari 800XL".

I did the same with a folder /config/Atari5200, but I changed the machine-type line to "5200". So when I start retroarch it will completely change these both cfg-files and then the machine-type lines will complete missed.

Can you tell me, what did I wrong?

Edited July 14, 2021 by Pineappleking
I was to fast....

[sundogak]

A cfg file should be in the folder Atari800 and in your case Atari5200.  In LB you point via command line path to the cfg in 5200 folder.  The emulator default folder is Atari800 so that is then your 8-bit cfg location. You should not have any cfg for the emulator in the root like you indicated.     @Pineappleking Edit the file that is here (see snap) is a completely separate CFG file (don't mix it up with the others), that points to the BIOS/ROMs for the Atari800 emulator. So don't move/delete/copy to other CFGs.  The CFGs I am referring to above are within the ..\RetroArch\config  path.   If you point correctly in LB to CFG within ...\Retroarch\config\ (see snaps above) then just set up the emulator within the RA interface vs trying to type in mods.  If the CFG is set up correctly then when you do this it will only edit the one it is pointing to in LB command line path.  

Edit: also make sure in your "non-standard" folder (i.e., the non-Atari800 cfg folder) that your CFG has an entry pointing to the path for the option file in the non-standard cfg folder.  So for example in your Atari5200 folder the CFG file has entry like (adapt path to your situation): 

core_options_path = "G:\Emulators\Retroarch\config\Atari800_XL\atari800_libretro.opt"

 

Edited July 16, 2021 by sundogak
Edit to add don't mess with the .Atari800.cfg

[Pineappleking]

15 hours ago, sundogak said:

A cfg file should be in the folder Atari800 and in your case Atari5200.  In LB you point via command line path to the cfg in 5200 folder.  The emulator default folder is Atari800 so that is then your 8-bit cfg location. You should not have any cfg for the emulator in the root like you indicated.     @Pineappleking Edit the file that is here (see snap) is a completely separate CFG file (don't mix it up with the others), that points to the BIOS/ROMs for the Atari800 emulator. So don't move/delete/copy to other CFGs.  The CFGs I am referring to above are within the ..\RetroArch\config  path.   If you point correctly in LB to CFG within ...\Retroarch\config\ (see snaps above) then just set up the emulator within the RA interface vs trying to type in mods.  If the CFG is set up correctly then when you do this it will only edit the one it is pointing to in LB command line path.  

Edit: also make sure in your "non-standard" folder (i.e., the non-Atari800 cfg folder) that your CFG has an entry pointing to the path for the option file in the non-standard cfg folder.  So for example in your Atari5200 folder the CFG file has entry like (adapt path to your situation): 

core_options_path = "G:\Emulators\Retroarch\config\Atari800_XL\atari800_libretro.opt"

 

Thank you very much. It worked, for me, now. I don´t know, what I did wrong. I started again and with your help it works

 

[PurpleTentacle]

On 10/8/2018 at 10:25 PM, sundogak said:

.atari800.cfg

This config worked for me after I replaced your file paths with my own, so I greatly appreciate it!

 

Is there any way to point the file paths to in a way that keeps it portable? I.E. instead of "ROM_OS_A_PAL=H:\LaunchBox\Emulators\RetroArch\system\ATARIOSA.ROM" it would be more like, "ROM_OS_A_PAL=\system\ATARIOSA.ROM", similar to how RetroArch does in their config files...

[sundogak]

@PurpleTentacle Not to my knowledge. It isn’t something supported in upstream emulator. So would be something the RA core developer would have to add. 

Edited July 23, 2021 by sundogak

[PurpleTentacle]

Thanks for the reply. That's kind of a shame as I really enjoy keeping everything as portable as possible, but sometimes you just gotta live with hard limitations.

[sundogak]

3 hours ago, PurpleTentacle said:

Thanks for the reply. That's kind of a shame as I really enjoy keeping everything as portable as possible, but sometimes you just gotta live with hard limitations.

Agreed.  The next best solution is mapping a consistent drive across installs.  For those few setups that are not relative path then doesn't break them.  Annoyingly, pinball emulation (FP/VP) is still the primary holdout that loves to stick stuff in Windows registry.