retrodev forum

[rlyeh]

Last official & documented build: RU Edition, download it here
Last build: f-day preview, download it here

• Name: fMSX32, (c) 2002-2003 rlyeh
  
• Latest version: 15/11/03 RU Edition (public)
  
• Emulated platform: MSX (8 bits)
  
• Based on: fMSX v2.6 by Marat Fayzullin and others
  
  
• What's fMSX32?
  
• Installing fMSX32
  
• Using fMSX32
  
  
• Credits
  
• Features
  
• To do
  
• History
  
• Known bugs
  
• Screenshots
  
• Source code
  
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
  
  
• MiniGuide: Meeting the MSX. Models around the world
  
• MiniGuide: Using the MSX. How-to's
  
• MiniGuide: Discovering the MSX. Its best games
  
  
• Resources: ROMs,tapes,disks,tools,game reviews,scanned magazines,scene websites...
  

What's fMSX32?

fMSX is a portable MSX computer emulator coded by Marat Fayzullin and others.
fMSX32 is a fMSX emulator port for the GP32 handheld console by rlyeh.

It was ported and modified from the original fMSX emulator for UNIX.




Installing fMSX32

Put your fMSX32.FXE into GPMM\
Put your ROM/DSK/IMG/DDI files uncompressed or zipped into GPMM\MSX

Note: Only first file from ZIP will be used at the moment. It will be fixed soon.
Note: I suggest using *ONLY* zipped files. It improves speed at loading and minimizes SMC space usage.




Using fMSX32

PAD is mapped as the MSX joystick and cursor keys.
A fires the joystick button 1 and Space key.
B fires the joystick button 2 and M key.

SELECT is mapped as F1 and STOP. This will pause most games nicely (like KnightMare).
START shows or hides a virtual keyboard where A/B pushes keys with/without Shift.
Press L+R to choose options while playing.

There are keyboard shortcuts for options in most games as well. They are mapped as following:

L+UP = F1 and 1 keys
L+DOWN = F2 and 2 keys
L+LEFT = F3 and 3 keys
L+RIGHT = F4 and 4 keys
L+SELECT = F5 and 5 keys




Credits

Marat Fayzullin and others, for the fMSX Unix emulator.

/*Mitsutaka Okazaki, for the YM2413 library.
Tatsuyuki Satoh, for the FM-OPL library.
(Accurate FM and AY sound are disabled for this release :-)*/

Christian Nowak, for the GP32 soundbuffer library.

Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler, for the ZLIB library.

TOSEC group, for the MSX DAT files.

Mr_Spiv, for the B2FXEC tool.

xns and _Anarchy_, for supporting fMSX32.

reliant77, for his one hundred snapshots.

Antiriad, for his cool icon.

anything else is from rlyeh.




Features

- full MSX1 and MSX2 support, partial MSX2+ support,
- full ROM/DSK/DDI/IMG/ZIP loading, (packed files using ZLib)
- full AY/SCC/SCC+/YM sound support,
- full cursor/joystick/mouse support,
- full working savestates and loadstates
- full working positionable virtual keyboard
- ability at loading big roms (up to 8 mbits)
- ability at loading two roms at once (konami cheats related)
- adjustable autofire for A and B buttons
- fast fileselector (able to scan 1,200 zipped roms per minute)
- game database through TOSEC (supporting 5,500 disks/roms/tapes)
- hardcoded pause for most games (through SELECT key)
- internal database to force using undetected rom mappers (Lupin, Aleste, Xevious Fardraut Saga...)
- preliminary support for tapes (CAS)
- preliminary support for overscan games like Matra ones (224 scanlines instead of 192/212)
- support for 160, 180, 320, 360, 640, 720, 1280 and 1440 kb disks (DSK,IMG or DDI format)
- support for multiple disks games
- preliminary RF multiplayer gaming (slow),
- crystal sound rendering output, using CHN's library,
- 99% of compatibility,
- saving screenshots to PNG format, using my own library,
- featuring extras: preliminary GUI, built-in menus.
- nice intro/credits splashscreen




To do
to be written...



History

15/11/03: fMSX32 "RU 2003 Edition" release (public)

- full working savestates and loadstates
- full working positionable virtual keyboard
- fixed a strange bug related to SMC health. No more clusters lost :-)
- fixed colours in disk loading image
- fixed some minor bugs related to stability
- fixed sound issue when resetting computer
- fixed stability issue when changing ROM Mapper in the fly
- fixed support for FMPAC through classic Marat's YM2413 sound core (internal slot)
- new ability at loading bigger roms (up to 8 mbits)
- new ability at loading two roms at once (konami cheats related)
- new ability at choosing MSX1, MSX2 or MSX2+ model
- new ability at choosing JAP or EUR regions
- new ability at choosing NTSC or PAL screen modes
- new adjustable autofire for A and B buttons
- new cool icon (thx Antiriad!)
- new exprimental RF multiplayer (through Black's RF libs. Thx! :)
- new fast fileselector (able to scan 1,200 zipped roms per minute)
- new game database through TOSEC (supporting 5,500 disks/roms/tapes)
- new hardcoded pause for most games (through SELECT key)
- new internal database to force using undetected rom mappers (Lupin, Aleste, Xevious Fardraut Saga...)
- new optimizations done (it stills working at 80 MHz)
- new preliminary support for tapes (CAS)
- new preliminary cheats searcher
- new preliminary support for overscan games like Matra ones (224 scanlines instead of 192/212)
- new support for 160, 180, 320, 360, 640, 720, 1280 and 1440 kb disks (DSK,IMG or DDI format)
- new support for MSX-DOS2 cartridge with original OS disk included
- new user interface (fSMS32 style)
- improved speed when grabing snapshots (PNG format)
- improved support for multiple disks games
- increased compatiblity by using universal poke when loading tapes
- increased compatiblity by using MSX1 mode when loading tapes
- increased compatiblity by disabling second diskdrive at boot sequence
- changed MSX2 bios to japanese version (60 Hz)
- changed keyboard shortcuts where L+{UP,DOWN,LEFT,RIGHT,SELECT} are {f1/1,f2/2,f3/3,f4/4,f5/5}
- some cosmetic changes done, and a new intro/credits


17/03/03: fMSX32 "GBAX.COM 2003 Contest" release (public)

- full MSX1 and MSX2 support, partial MSX2+ support,
- full ROM/DSK/DDI/IMG/ZIP/GZ loading, (packed files using ZLib)
- full AY/SCC/SCC+/YM sound support,
- full cursor/joystick/mouse support,
- preliminary RF multiplayer gaming (slow),
- crystal sound rendering output, using CHN's library,
- 99% of compatibility,
- saving screenshots to PNG format, using my own library,
- CRC32 ROM naming detection using GoodMSX by Cowering,
- featuring extras: preliminary GUI, built-in menus.


18/06/02: fMSX32 "first" release (private)

- preliminary MSX1/MSX2 support,
- preliminary ROM loading,
- preliminary AY sound,
- preliminary joystick/keyboard support,
- preliminary sound rendering output, using Groepaz's library,
- 30% of compatibility.




Known bugs

Visit the fMSX32 bug tracker




Screenshots


fMSX32 intro screenshot


fMSX32 ingame screenshots





Source code

You can download the original fMSX source code for UNIX from http://fms.komkon.org/fMSX

You cannot download the fMSX32 source code since I was explicitly told by Marat Fayzulling (the fMSX author) to not release it.




F.A.Q.

Q. The emulator freezes and it says there are only 4 games found, why?
A. The games folder has changed now to GPMM\MSX. Put your games there.

Q. The screen splits itself into 4 pieces sometimes, why?
A. It's a bug related to programming double buffering video without the SDK.
RobBrown is looking for a solution nowadays. Meanwhile press L+R and B to fix it.

Q. I added/deleted some games and the list is wrong now, why?
A. You have not forced to re-scan a new list. Press SELECT-SELECT at the file selector.

Q. I cannot set some of supposedly working options, why?
A. Check that your option is compatible with your selected game or system atm.
For example, there is no MSXDOS-2 OS support if you're loading a tape, so
Only loading disk would show that option in menu.

Q. I have some ROM/DSK games not working, why?
A. MSX games have been extensively hacked for years.
It could be a variant or a hacked version. Please use another one.

Q. I know my ROM game is not hacked but it's not working, why?
A. Please force the emulator to use another ROM mapper in the options.
Autodetection does not always work, but it should in most cases.
Btw, tell me the TOSEC game name to upgrade the autodetection database.

Q. Some keyboard keys as \ [ ] ' etc seems wrong when pushed, why?
A. The keyboard layout changes when using different bioses acording to different countries.
I'll add support for different keyboard layouts soon.

Q. The game is too fast/slow sometimes, why?
A. There is a strange issue with GamePark SDK related to timers when running at 80 MHz.
I will fix it soon. Meanwhile enable the frame limit option.

Q. The percentage speed in upper left corner seems wrong, why?
A. See previous answer.




MiniGuide: Meeting the MSX. Models around the world
to be written...




MiniGuide: Using the MSX. How-to's
to be written...




MiniGuide: Discovering the MSX. Its best games
to be written...




Resources

MSX standard at old-computers site
MSX related news
Downloadeable MSX stuff
Official MSX FAQ
Some cheats at Sean Young's page
MSX-DOS Info at Marat's page
more to come...

[wl]

[moz]

MSX rocks will go looking for bugs

[rlyeh]

[Segata]

Can we play games that are split in multidisk images? Is there anything similar to a disk swap option? Or the best option is to forget about disks and use that cool cartridges?

[rlyeh]

[Segata]

Okis gracias, justo iba a probar con el Snatcher. The problem was that I had all the disk images in one single zip.

Now I better do some betatesting lol (not fMSX32 but fGEN32) hehe

[rlyeh]

ok, feel free to submit any bug you find

[msx45]

Hello,
I'm a fan of MSX
I used MSX emulators on portable consoles (GBA, PSP, NDS, GP32, GP2X)

The best MSX emulator for portable console that I used is FMSX32
At the time I tested it with a GP32 NLU and GP32 FLU (that i sold)

I just buy one on EBAY ( GP32 BLU )
So I found the joys of this great emulator that you create in 2005

In 2009 the GP32 is not dead , Slaanesh has released a version of MAME for GP32 on 13/09/09:

http://dl.openhandhelds.org/cgi-bin/gp32.cgi?0,0,0,0,5,1070
http://www.slaanesh.net/

so perhaps.....


Some questions: about FMSX32:

1) Is there a way to have the screen in full screen
2) Is there a way to disable database (just display file names)
3) Is there a way to have a full keyboard (on screen)
4) is there a way to select the bios


BYE