Omnimaga

Omnimaga => News => Topic started by: critor on August 02, 2012, 08:16:49 pm

Title: Game Boy Advance emulation reaches TI-Nspire CX
Post by: critor on August 02, 2012, 08:16:49 pm
Calc84maniac has posted today in this Omnimaga topic (http://ourl.ca/16676) a first alpha build of his Game Boy Advance emulator for the TI-Nspire CX.





Yes, no support for older Nspire models but they are limited by their 32MB RAM chip filled by the OS and I had allready found out that you couldn't malloc more than 4MB on those. Allmost no commercial GBA ROM is going to fit in that. And anyway, you woudn't have been able to see anything on the crappy screen! :P

On TI-Nspire CX with the 64MB RAM chip you can malloc up to 33-34MB, so even 32MB GBA ROMs should fit! ;D(http://www.omnimaga.org/Themes/default/images/gpbp_arrow_up.gif)





Named gpSP-Nspire, the emulator is a port of a GBA emulator for the Sony PSP, one of the rare GBA emulators written in C Ansi (as Ndless doesn't currently support C++).





The TI-Nspire CX screen is so awesome to render GBA games, much better than the Game Boy Advance SP one! ;D(http://www.omnimaga.org/Themes/default/images/gpbp_arrow_up.gif)

(http://tiplanet.org/forum/gallery/image.php?mode=medium&album_id=13&image_id=1221)





Now about speed, as you can see in the following video tests, GBA games are perfectly playable but slightly slower than the real hardware.

But the emulator can run allmost on par with a real Game Boy Advance if you give your TI-Nspire CX a little overclocking boost with Nover (http://tiplanet.org/forum/archives_voir.php?id=3890).




You can check a french tutorial about how to safely search and reach the best config for your TI-Nspire CX with Nover there:
http://tiplanet.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=9014




Have a nice summer with gpSP-Nspire! :love:
Title: Re: Game Boy Advance emulation reaches TI-Nspire CX
Post by: Scipi on August 02, 2012, 08:25:04 pm
One more thing to waste my time with :P jk

Now I can replay FE: Sacred Stones :D

Oh wait, will this be able to play Omni Emblem when it's finished?
Title: Re: Game Boy Advance emulation reaches TI-Nspire CX
Post by: TheNlightenedOne on August 02, 2012, 10:48:30 pm
This looks awesome! Side note: critor, what game is that?
Title: Re: Game Boy Advance emulation reaches TI-Nspire CX
Post by: KoolKai on August 03, 2012, 12:41:09 am
Sorry, I'm not a programmer or anything and I'm not good at this stuff... somehow I've gotten most things to work but whenever I press 'Q' to quit the emulator, my calculator (TI Nspire CX) reboots. Same thing with Nover except it reboots on startup. I followed the instructions for both and I can't figure out the problem. Could someone please help me. That would be really great. Thanks.
Title: Re: Game Boy Advance emulation reaches TI-Nspire CX
Post by: calc84maniac on August 03, 2012, 12:45:39 am
What did you say happened with Nover? And what settings are you using with Nover?
Title: Re: Game Boy Advance emulation reaches TI-Nspire CX
Post by: KoolKai on August 03, 2012, 12:47:55 am
Well I try to run Nover and I followed the instructions (put it in the startup folder inside the \ndless) but after I ran it, the screen instantly goes to the reboot screen. gpsp-nspire works fine but my calculator reboots after I quit.
Title: Re: Game Boy Advance emulation reaches TI-Nspire CX
Post by: calc84maniac on August 03, 2012, 12:52:55 am
Using the startup folder for Nover is advanced usage only. Can you tell me which Ndless version you're using? You should have the newest one from http://www.unsads.com/projects/nsptools/downloader/download/release/1 (http://www.unsads.com/projects/nsptools/downloader/download/release/1)
Title: Re: Game Boy Advance emulation reaches TI-Nspire CX
Post by: KoolKai on August 03, 2012, 12:54:40 am
I'm using ndless-​​v3.​​1-​​beta-​​r643.​zip. I believe it's the latest one... Where should I put Nover then if not in the /startup folder?
Title: Re: Game Boy Advance emulation reaches TI-Nspire CX
Post by: calc84maniac on August 03, 2012, 12:57:35 am
Yes, that's the latest. Instead of the startup folder, you can just put Nover anywhere and run it like a normal program.
Title: Re: Game Boy Advance emulation reaches TI-Nspire CX
Post by: KoolKai on August 03, 2012, 01:02:46 am
Thanks. It still doesn't seem to work... but it's okay I guess. Do you have any idea why the gpsp-nspire emulator would reboot the calculator after pressing 'Q' though?
Title: Re: Game Boy Advance emulation reaches TI-Nspire CX
Post by: calc84maniac on August 03, 2012, 01:03:31 am
Thanks. It still doesn't seem to work... but it's okay I guess. Do you have any idea why the gpsp-nspire emulator would reboot the calculator after pressing 'Q' though?
Well, Q is the "save state and quit" button. What game were you using? Does this happen with every game?
Title: Re: Game Boy Advance emulation reaches TI-Nspire CX
Post by: KoolKai on August 03, 2012, 01:06:07 am
I used Super Mario World 2 and Pokémon Emerald and both of them rebooted the system when I quitted. I also used menu->exit rather than 'Q' and the same thing happened.
Title: Re: Game Boy Advance emulation reaches TI-Nspire CX
Post by: calc84maniac on August 03, 2012, 01:09:13 am
Hmm, I can't really understand why this is only happening to you. Is there anything else you might have installed, or anything special that comes to mind? Come to think of it, are you using any really long folder names or file names?
Title: Re: Game Boy Advance emulation reaches TI-Nspire CX
Post by: KoolKai on August 03, 2012, 01:20:48 am
Sorry ignore the email I sent you... (I'm new to the forum and it logged me out. I couldn't find the reply button so I emailed) The longest name I can think of is "Super Mario World 2.gba.tns"
Title: Re: Game Boy Advance emulation reaches TI-Nspire CX
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on August 03, 2012, 04:10:11 am
Can gpSP-Nspire run PocketNES? O.O

Oh wait...

(By the way, welcome to the forums KoolKai :D)
Title: Re: Game Boy Advance emulation reaches TI-Nspire CX
Post by: apcalc on August 03, 2012, 07:49:28 am
This is incredible!  Great job calc84! :)
Title: Re: Game Boy Advance emulation reaches TI-Nspire CX
Post by: critor on August 03, 2012, 08:32:04 am
This looks awesome! Side note: critor, what game is that?

The game from the 1st video is based on the Inu Yasha japanese anime from Rumiko Takahashi, who has created other mangas which might tell you something like Ranma ½, Maison Ikkoku, or Urusei Yatsura (Lamu in french).
Title: Re: Game Boy Advance emulation reaches TI-Nspire CX
Post by: KoolKai on August 03, 2012, 10:16:46 am
Thanks DJ_O!! :) Can anyone help me with my problem though?
Title: Re: Game Boy Advance emulation reaches TI-Nspire CX
Post by: calc84maniac on August 03, 2012, 10:45:10 am
Maybe you should try backing up everything important to you and then do a factory reset? That might solve any strange problems you have (since this doesn't seem to be happening to anybody else). Official instructions by TI on how to do this are here (http://epsstore.ti.com/OA_HTML/csksxvm.jsp?nSetId=109888)
Title: Re: Game Boy Advance emulation reaches TI-Nspire CX
Post by: ElementCoder on August 04, 2012, 11:37:49 am
This is awesome! More time going to waste with all my favorite games with me on my calc :P Guess the time has come to reinstall ndless again :D

P.S. Does anyone have an english version of the guide to safely search for overclock frequencies with nover? My french is not what it used to be :/
Title: Re: Game Boy Advance emulation reaches TI-Nspire CX
Post by: Lionel Debroux on August 04, 2012, 11:43:55 am
Quote
P.S. Does anyone have an english version of the guide to safely search for overclock frequencies with nover?
Basically:
* do not change the AHB frequency from the default of 66 MHz, otherwise you're likely to face data corruption;
* as some calculators fail to run in a stable manner at a CPU frequency of 222 MHz, you should not overclock past 210 MHz, probably even 200 MHz (10% margin from known instability).
Title: Re: Game Boy Advance emulation reaches TI-Nspire CX
Post by: calc84maniac on August 04, 2012, 02:59:18 pm
Quote
P.S. Does anyone have an english version of the guide to safely search for overclock frequencies with nover?
Basically:
* do not change the AHB frequency from the default of 66 MHz, otherwise you're likely to face data corruption;
* as some calculators fail to run in a stable manner at a CPU frequency of 222 MHz, you should not overclock past 210 MHz, probably even 200 MHz (10% margin from known instability).
I think CPU speeds don't need as much caution, because typically you get an instant reboot if it's too high. If you're at the speed level directly below instant reboot, you might occasionally get a random reboot in some programs (maybe due to certain CPU instructions being used). For example, I ran at 246MHz for 17 hours straight in gbc4nspire, but 246MHz occasionally crashes in gpSP-Nspire. 240MHz has never caused problems in any program for me.
Title: Re: Game Boy Advance emulation reaches TI-Nspire CX
Post by: Yeong on August 04, 2012, 07:45:13 pm
This is great for me XD It never crashed until few minutes ago. :3
Title: Re: Game Boy Advance emulation reaches TI-Nspire CX
Post by: ElementCoder on August 05, 2012, 08:08:40 am
Quote
P.S. Does anyone have an english version of the guide to safely search for overclock frequencies with nover?
Basically:
* do not change the AHB frequency from the default of 66 MHz, otherwise you're likely to face data corruption;
* as some calculators fail to run in a stable manner at a CPU frequency of 222 MHz, you should not overclock past 210 MHz, probably even 200 MHz (10% margin from known instability).
I think CPU speeds don't need as much caution, because typically you get an instant reboot if it's too high. If you're at the speed level directly below instant reboot, you might occasionally get a random reboot in some programs (maybe due to certain CPU instructions being used). For example, I ran at 246MHz for 17 hours straight in gbc4nspire, but 246MHz occasionally crashes in gpSP-Nspire. 240MHz has never caused problems in any program for me.

Ok, thanks for the tips. But for now I think I'll first see how it runs without overclocking, just to be safe :)
Title: Re: Game Boy Advance emulation reaches TI-Nspire CX
Post by: AzNg0d1030 on August 05, 2012, 05:33:08 pm
calc84 is your danger level above 240 or is it at 220?
Title: Re: Game Boy Advance emulation reaches TI-Nspire CX
Post by: critor on August 05, 2012, 06:08:15 pm
Some CX don't run fine above 220 MHz.
But some run fine at 252 MHz too ;)

Setting the CPU too high may just get you a freeze or a reboot.
Title: Re: Game Boy Advance emulation reaches TI-Nspire CX
Post by: calc84maniac on August 05, 2012, 06:28:45 pm
252MHz is an instant reboot for me. 246MHz sometimes reboots. 240MHz has never rebooted.
Title: Re: Game Boy Advance emulation reaches TI-Nspire CX
Post by: AzNg0d1030 on August 06, 2012, 10:27:17 pm
Some CX don't run fine above 220 MHz.
But some run fine at 252 MHz too ;)

Setting the CPU too high may just get you a freeze or a reboot.
252MHz is an instant reboot for me. 246MHz sometimes reboots. 240MHz has never rebooted.
Thanks for the info
Title: Re: Game Boy Advance emulation reaches TI-Nspire CX
Post by: ElementCoder on August 08, 2012, 10:13:17 am
What does gpSP do when you exit. My nspire 'freezes' for a few seconds and then becomes usable again. Is it saving or writing to files or something like that? Or am I having something weird going on. Other than that, it works great  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Game Boy Advance emulation reaches TI-Nspire CX
Post by: calc84maniac on August 08, 2012, 10:16:18 am
What does gpSP do when you exit. My nspire 'freezes' for a few seconds and then becomes usable again. Is it saving or writing to files or something like that? Or am I having something weird going on. Other than that, it works great  ;D(http://www.omnimaga.org/Themes/default/images/gpbp_arrow_up.gif)
Do you have the new version released on ticalc? The old one refreshed the documents screen upon exit (thus showing any new files created), but I removed that feature due to the exact problem you're talking about.
Title: Re: Game Boy Advance emulation reaches TI-Nspire CX
Post by: ElementCoder on August 08, 2012, 11:01:27 am
What does gpSP do when you exit. My nspire 'freezes' for a few seconds and then becomes usable again. Is it saving or writing to files or something like that? Or am I having something weird going on. Other than that, it works great  ;D(http://www.omnimaga.org/Themes/default/images/gpbp_arrow_up.gif)
Do you have the new version released on ticalc? The old one refreshed the documents screen upon exit (thus showing any new files created), but I removed that feature due to the exact problem you're talking about.
Oh no, I didn't see the new version on ticalc (usually check it every day  :-[), I'll download it instantly :)
Title: Re: Game Boy Advance emulation reaches TI-Nspire CX
Post by: Ti-DkS on August 08, 2012, 04:46:55 pm
Lol :) Before I leave the city for hollidays I was working exactly on the same app, based also on the powerful gPSP code I found on the web (I've a psp so I can say that the emu is very good). But it seems that you're a lot better than me in coding that ^^ (mine weights 14Mb and isn't able to run a rom, just load it into memory and initialize the emu, because of the hours spent trying to obtain a compiled TNS file ><).
So I wanted to say you that this is great job, congrats ! GBA emulation is exactly what NspireCx needs (also because there are two beautiful metroid games for GBA ^^)
Title: Re: Game Boy Advance emulation reaches TI-Nspire CX
Post by: Darl181 on August 08, 2012, 04:55:15 pm
http://tiplanet.org/forum/gallery/image.php?mode=medium&album_id=13&image_id=1220

Is it supposed to look like this? I've tried two different bios files and both just give a black screen before going to the game.
Title: Re: Game Boy Advance emulation reaches TI-Nspire CX
Post by: critor on August 08, 2012, 05:05:10 pm
The BIOS screen is usually not shown on the TI-Nspire.

It is shown on the 1st run of your emulator if you launch the BIOS directly and not a ROM.