ARpiCADE 4.0 (experimental Pi 4 software)

Latest on ARpiCADE new releases, release notes, and history of previous versions.

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ARpiCADE 4.0 (experimental Pi 4 software)

Post by dee2eR » Wed Apr 15, 2020 12:49 pm

It's finally here and I'm not really happy with it yet but I expect lots of people would like something new to try (especially if stuck inside)... it's ARpiCADE 4.0 for Raspberry Pi 4!

This is a very early release (ironic, as it's taken ages I know...) and it is limited. If you want the best experience use a RPi3B+ and ARpiCADE 3.9. I haven't tested this on anything but RPi4, there's not much point...


What it has:
Emulation Station frontend

Retroarch with the following MAME cores: 2003plus (0.078), 2010 (0.139), 2016 (0.174) and the one the was current a little while back they just call lr-mame (0.215)
and also the Flycast core (dreamcast, naomi, atomiswave)

Dedicated MAME versions 0.106 (AdvMAME), 0.172 and 0.205 are also included


What it doesn't have (yet):
consoles
Daphne
Attract-Mode frontend
now loading screens
service menu


Limitations and bugs I know about (so far):
it is only really usable with default settings at the moment (boot in 480i & switch to 240p for most games). 240p only makes the menu unreadable, I'm guessing changing to a different theme may help there but I haven't tried yet and haven't included any themes.

I haven't tried vertical monitor so it's not set up yet, game wise it will work but a vertical theme for Emulation Station will be needed.

The Dreamcast/Naomi/Atomiswave emulator doesn't work with the hotkeys so you will need a keyboard to exit games on that platform.

All the non Retroarch emulators have issues with Pi4 res switching, I can't recommend using them as is. MAME 0.172 is great if you boot in 240p mode though... best avoided for now unfortunately.

You can see a little bit of boot text & the splash screen starts late

No preview images in the menu yet


Notes on overclocking (I'm no expert...):
Naomi performs better at stock speeds than when overclocked... only discovered this today, haven't investigated it further... prob heat related...

At 2.1Ghz Killer Instinct (0.078) and Deathsmiles (0.174) are very playable (not perfect) as long as you can keep the Pi4 from heat related throttling. Without the OC neither title is very playable.

Some bigger Pi4 heatsinks will interfere with the GPIO ribbon cable, I had to modify the heatsink mount and the ribbon cable for a fancy tower heatsink to fit...

Make sure your Pi4 has up to date firmware if you're going to overclock, also not a bad idea in general as the earliest firmware uses more power and runs hotter.


Otherwise, it works like ARpiCADE, copy some roms on and have fun. I haven't included any instructions.... needs at least an 8 gig SD card.
https://mega.nz/file/kkMmCY4L#3FTq8QxKh ... ziGw5LQ4sg

If you need help to resize for your SD card follow the wonderful Idaho Garagecade instructions: http://aha-forums.com/wp/2018/02/02/how ... ory-cards/

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Re: ARpiCADE 4.0 (experimental Pi 4 software)

Post by FrizzleFried » Thu Apr 16, 2020 5:50 am

Hmmm... trying to decide if it's time to get that Pi4 to play with... with everything else going on right now I may hold off until at least attract-mode is working... I'm no fan of emulation station.

Awesome to see some progress made. Are Naomi/DC games actually playable?
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Re: ARpiCADE 4.0 (experimental Pi 4 software)

Post by dee2eR » Thu Apr 16, 2020 11:30 am

I haven't actually tried DC yet but Naomi and Atomiswave games are very playable (they're not 100% perfect but they run full speed). Except for Trigger Heart Excelica (Naomi version, apparently the DC version of THE works fine) which is full of stuttering, everything else that I've got to run runs good. I'm not sure which version of the MAME roms the emulator uses so it's been trial and error to get things to run, plus some games need a CHD too...

EDIT:
The most ludicrous Pi heatsink I've had the pleasure of using:
big heatsink.JPG
big heatsink.JPG (126.08 KiB) Viewed 8305 times
haven't tried the fan yet...

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Re: ARpiCADE 4.0 (experimental Pi 4 software)

Post by Sk8ersublime » Fri Apr 17, 2020 3:19 am

Cool! I dont have a 4 at the moment to test, but how is the performance on TiT? In the latest MAME build in 3.9 is was extremely choppy during the intro music of the game. Just wondering if its any better running on the 4.

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Re: ARpiCADE 4.0 (experimental Pi 4 software)

Post by dee2eR » Fri Apr 17, 2020 4:23 am

Sorry, which game in which emulator? I'll have a look.

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Re: ARpiCADE 4.0 (experimental Pi 4 software)

Post by Hayaeti » Sat Apr 18, 2020 1:24 am

Dee2er, mate.

I'm going to order myself a Pi 4...
Am I safe connecting this to my Astro City? it won't output anything other than 15hz across that connection via the vga -> jamma, right?
Worried a 30hz signal will damage my monitor.

What else do I need? a heat sink, and mini hdmi -> hdmi adapter?

Also, how did you plug that heatsink in to the pi when the IO board is in use?

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Re: ARpiCADE 4.0 (experimental Pi 4 software)

Post by dee2eR » Sat Apr 18, 2020 3:22 am

It should be OK as long as you don't change the settings. I've only been using Pi4 in low res this year, via PVM, hasn't been an issue.

Stock speeds seem OK without a heatsink, you will need a bit of space around it for air to move though. A smaller heatsink that won't interfere with the GPIO ribbon cable would be better than the one I have.

Fitting that heatsink isn't easy... I don't really recommend it. I had to modify the mounting for the heatsink with tin snips (AKA aviation shears) and the GPIO ribbon cable (with a file and some super glue to try and keep it strong enough to remove) for them to work together. I left the fan unplugged originally but have now wired up a 5v header for it on the underside of the RaspberryJAMMA, will be trying it today... adapting the fan to USB would also probably work without having to solder to the RaspberryJAMMA.

Annoyingly for me I designed the first two variations of RaspberryJAMMA with a 5v header that was never used so I removed it for the V3 design... it would have been perfect for the fan.

Micro HDMI to full size HDMI adaptor will work, you may need to lift the Pi a little for some extra space.

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Re: ARpiCADE 4.0 (experimental Pi 4 software)

Post by Sk8ersublime » Tue Apr 21, 2020 3:40 am

dee2eR wrote:
Fri Apr 17, 2020 4:23 am
Sorry, which game in which emulator? I'll have a look.
Turtles in Time, In Mame 203

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Re: ARpiCADE 4.0 (experimental Pi 4 software)

Post by dee2eR » Thu Apr 23, 2020 2:08 am

Turtles in Time will run better in 172. The same rom from 203 should work if you move it over and rescan your roms.

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Re: ARpiCADE 4.0 (experimental Pi 4 software)

Post by Hayaeti » Wed Apr 29, 2020 2:43 am

Plugged in the Pi 4 and it's looking good.

One question though, I notice the brightness is a lot lower than my Mister FPGA or a real board when installed. Is there an overall system brightness level that can be changed? or do I just have to ramp the monitor brightness up?

Rotated it using the config.txt file and you're right, the picture is in the wrong part of the screen, but technically, I can see it working once updated.
Last edited by Hayaeti on Wed Apr 29, 2020 11:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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