Treo 650 and LJP SNES.

[sensei]

Hi folks, I'm new to the forum... but don't worry, I wouldn't post unless I'd spent a few days doing my homework first.

First and formost, Tinnus and Yoyofr, thank you very much for all your hard VOLUNTEER work. I'm reaping the benefits like a kid at xmas. I never thought I'd see 16-bit consoles in my phone, and you guys absolutely made it happen. I remember lusting after these consoles when I was young, never once thinking I might hold them in the palm of my hand. Great job, and as a retro gamer, thank you so much. Like everyone else, I look forward to LJR... but I hope you don't get bogged down with too many people demanding it NOW. I'm sure I'll appreciate it even more when you're comfortable releasing it.

I've been having a problem with my Verizon Treo 650 (latest firmware) and the SNES module in RC3 (and RC3, for that matter) that it might be helpful to know about. I have read every post in this forum, and have yet to come up with a useable solution.

In short, loading an SNES or SMS game under any circumstances causes a reset (GG roms work fine). Super Mario World and Super Metroid worked once each, but never again after that. I have tried what I think is every possible option. I have tried my ROMS under different emulators, and they are known to be good. Here are my details:

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10.8MB reported free by palmOS

UDMH reports 16MB free dynamic memory, with a max chunk size of 11.4MB. Because it's an NTVS Treo 650, the "clean up" uption is unavailable. I have 65,000k set for LJP. I've also tried 20,000k and 19,000k because I've heard of others having success with those figures. They are correctly reported in LJP's launcher, for what it's worth.

I have UnCache running in trial mode, and I have tried it with only UDMH running after a warm reset. No difference.

PXAClocker is speeding LJP up to 507mHz, where I have found great success and reliability with all of my other software, including KalemSoft's emulators. I have tried turning it off with no difference.

I have tried erasing the INI file on the card. This causes a new INI to be created (with the welcome message appearing at launch, and all options set to default), but makes no difference as far as running an SNES rom.

ASM core used to work for the Genesis module in RC2, it no longer works with RC3. Neither one will work for SNES, and Genesis will only run in C. Unfortunately, I can't remember which core I was using when the SNES module worked.

Occasionally, I get an "Out of memory" error immediately after I see the name of my .zip file. This is followed by "Error loading file '2:/PAL", which I assume goes on to list the ROM path. This applies to Genesis and SNES. UDMH seems to be functioning normally during this situation, and a warm reset makes no difference. The only thing that fixes it is a complete deletion/reinstall of LJP. I also get "Out of memory loading PNO" appearing as a palmOS window instead of a native LJP error, followed by "Error while loading PNO" and then "259." This happens only with Genesis and sometimes NES.

With RC2, these two errors would cause a reset. In RC3, they bring me back to the launcher. That's a plus.

Usually, these errors appear AFTER I have tried to unsuccessfully run an SNES ROM.

Also, I noticed a program called "Tinnus" occasionally appears in my application list.
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I hope I didn't miss anything important. Does anything stand out here? I'd hate to think I'm missing something obvious. As a side note, the launcher is MUCH more stable in RC3. No more crashes, but I still get memory leaks when I use the in-game menu too often.

Sorry for such a long-winded post... Tinnus and Yoyofr, thank you SO MUCH once again for making a product that has already brought lots of oldschool fun back into my daily life. Everyone else whom I always see on this forum, thanks for sharing your knowledge.

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. I'd love to run a few of my favorite SNES games. Thanks again!

[sensei]

I realize I said RC3 twice in my third paragraph... I meant for one of them to say RC2. Oops.

Also, I realize now that a few of the SMS roms I was trying do not seem to be compatible, and that other ones do work. So, really my only concern is the SNES module.

Thanks to all that bothered to read my whole tirade here.

[Tinnus]

ASM in Genesis is "supposed" to br broken in RC3

I think some people reported you can use the RC2 Genesis ZEM in RC3. I don't think you'll lose many features since most are implemented in the launcher (you'll lose custom paths though).

[beavis]

'Tis true. I use both the Genesis zem and SNES zem from RC2 to gain back the ASM core.
Happily I say, without any problems.

[sensei]

Hey Tinnus, thanks for the quick response.

Sorry, I forgot to mention that I have already tried the Genesis .zem file from RC2, as well as the SNES one (which wasn't recommended by anyone, but I tried it anyway). I got the same result with the C core... Genesis gives me the PNO error, and SNES causes a reset when I try to launch even a small rom (Super Mario World).

UDMH is doing its thing, reporting 65,000k free in LJP, and UnCache has cleared everything but UDMH after a warm reset.

FYI, in the GENS module, I also lost the ability to customize my controls. In the rare instance that I get a rom running, it goes back to default no matter what I chose in the launcher.

There's no "wah, wah, fix this for me, I need my gamez0rz..." You guys get enough of that. I just hope my input (and meager donation) helps a little.

[sensei]

Beavis,

Thanks for the reply. SNES and GENS are still a no-go with the ASM core, with the .zem from either RC2 or RC3. Would you mind posting your device specs and configuration, if you get a chance? I know I'm probably just missing some little thing...

[sensei]

By the way, ARE YOU THREATENING ME?!?! ;D

[beavis]

sensei said:

By the way, ARE YOU THREATENING ME?!?! ;D

I am from LAKE TITICACA ! I need TEEPEE for my BUNGHOLE !!

Seriously though, not all roms are going to be compatible with the ASM core anyway.
About the "Error loading file '2:/PAL" - if this is a PAL rom, do you have one that is NTSC to try?

As for the settings - our devices are quite different, as my Tungsten E does not have the NVFS. So much of my settings will not be effective for you. I do leave at least 12 MB free in my palm's internal memory at all times. For udmh, as Tinnus says, try the "auto" setting first before entering any numbers.

If you find yourself frequently deleting and reinstalling LJP, you may be able to get the same results by deleting LJP's preferences.

Some LJP users have gone back to running RC2, as it gives them less problems altogether than RC3. That may be an option worth considering.

[Tinnus]

I think the "PAL" is from "PALM" ie: part of the path.

[sensei]

Tinnus, that's what I assumed it was, just an error specifying the path of the file it couldn't load.

Beavis, RC2 caused many more problems for me than RC3 has, such as constant resets.

I tried the "auto" setting first in UDMH with the same result, crash while opening the rom. I do also frequently delete the ljp.ini file (I'm assuming that's how you delete the preferences), and even reset before starting LJP again to create a new one.

Frustrating stuff. Thanks again for the tips, though.

[beavis]

No, the preferences are different. Read here for procedural details:

yoyofr.proboards44.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=1138685615&page=1

This may or may not work for you, but it has solved problems with LJP for me before.

[sensei]

Great tip, guys, I hadn't yet done that.

I used FileZ to delete the preferences (the file was called LJPM). Did I miss another one in there somewhere?

Anyway, the end result is the same... I'm still getting PalmOS windows saying "Out of memory loading PNO" followed by "Error while loading PNO" followed by "259." That's for the Genesis module.

It did make a minor difference in the SNES module... Now, instead of crashing outright when I load a ROM, I get an "Out of memory" error first and then a reset. This error uses LJP's GUI instead of a PalmOS window.

Baby steps, I guess. Thanks for your ideas, guys.

[sensei]

Update... today I finally got SNES working!

The missing link seemed to be disabling my launcher, PetitLaunch... Installing DALauncher and DBCacheTool set me straight on this one! I was able to see a huge difference in my available "max" memory after turning off PetitLaunch.

Then I tried loading Super Mario World, ActRaiser, Super Metroid, Final Fight, and Star Fox. Star Fox crashed during gameplay, but everything else worked great.

Here's the kicker for me... I didn't see a single memory leak after exiting the emulator. I loaded all the roms listed above in order, without ever exiting LJP.

My relevant specs:

Verizon Treo 650
Just above 13mb available RAM on device
UDMH v5.3, set to show 19600k of dynamic memory for LJP
DALauncher installed, hosting DBCacheTool
When run from within DALauncher, DBCacheTool reports 10,106,352 free, 7,774,056 max.
PXA Clocker Lite (free) overclocking to 507mHz for LJP

The games are TOTALLY playable. My auto frameskip seems to be jumping between 0-2, and I can certainly live with that to play at top speed. The combination of SNES and PXA Clocker isn't the friendliest thing to a Treo battery (or the processor, I suppose)... but MAN is it great seeing these old games come alive again.

Here's to LJP... Thanks for your support, and for a great product.

[melcrose]

For what it's worth: I run my 650 with only 1 "hack" - No LED. (VERY very small)

I refuse to even run something from the internal memory if I can help it, to leave AS MUCH ROOM AS POSSIBLE for PalmMame and LJP.

Every hack you run is less processing power / memory for your emulator. As someone else said, it's up to you: What's more important, a hack of some sort or the ability to play Mario Kart with sound and a good framerate?

[Tinnus]

Remark: You can fill the internal storage of NVFS devices (Treo 650, TX, LD, E2) as much as you want--it will NOT interfere with LJP since it uses the 'real' RAM (DBCache) and not the storage flash memory.

[melcrose]

"Remark: You can fill the internal storage of NVFS devices (Treo 650, TX, LD, E2) as much as you want--it will NOT interfere with LJP since it uses the 'real' RAM (DBCache) and not the storage flash memory."

Forgive me, I don't quite get this:
"You can fill the INTERNAL storage of (the Treo 650) as much as you want.."

But I thought that DBCache used the internal storage? (Ram)

By "internal" storage, do you mean "external" (SD card) storage?

Forgive me, just want to be clear.

[Tinnus]

No, I *do* mean internal storage. The internal storage in NVFS devices is flash memory, not RAM. There's a "hidden" 32MB RAM chip that contains the OS, dynamic heap and DBCache.

Stuff can only run from "real" RAM so that's what it does

(pretty much like your PC. ie: copy from disk/flash to RAM and run it from there)

[_Em]

Just a word of warning: a couple of weeks ago, I was using my T|X to copy some photos between SD cards (using the internal NVFS memory) and accidentally filled it up. The end result was that I somehow overwrote the dynamic memory partition, and bricked the TX. I'm picking up the replacement today.

So, I'd suggest always leaving ~16MB free on the NVFS partition, just so that you don't end up in a low memory situation where the wrong bit of data gets overwritten.

As for me, I figure now that I've found both of the bugs built into the TX (low memory brick effect and the DB flush brick effect), I should have better luck holding on to my third TX

[Tinnus]

DBCache trouble most likely. Who knows what NVFS tried to do when it got full... maybe moving some DBs to the DBCache (semi-permanently) to free space in the flash area? And maybe in that same occasion DBCache got also full and for some reason it wrote a bigger-than-free-space data chunk which overwrote something it shouldn't...

[_Em]

That's pretty much my guess. It could also have been DM and DBCache overwriting each other, I guess. Whatever it is, it leads to a situation where you can't do a zero-out or hard reset, and the TX won't boot. I'm now on #3... the last one lasted exactly 1 month.
Nice thing is, my latest device goes up to 624MHz instead of 520MHz, and has virtually no white noise on the audio They've also made the power button more solid, and the screen seems more responsive.

[Tinnus]

My LD goes to 576 although 520 seems faster. Noise's worse at 520 than 416 too ;D