Version 2.0.0 Beta 2

[TriForceX]

This is the second beta update which is aimed at improving and fixing issues/requests reported after the first 2.0.0-beta release, theres also several improvements to RetroArch, so many thanks to the developement team and the people who took their time to report and test the latest builds.

Remember we are still on beta phase, that means some parts has to be installed and configured manually. Please read the setup & install instructions below and notes from first 2.0.0-beta release.

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Full Changelog

• Main Modules:
  • Use miyoo_video driver instead uEnv.txt file to get the proper settings for LCD
  • Add target ARM specific optimizations for all modules
  • Update with fixed folder creation name (UMTPRD)
  • Remove obsolete uboot miyoo logo format (Board)
  • Add screen program (Package)
  • Add PYGAME along side with new pkg PYGAME_MENU (Python)
  • Fix for linux and android devices (USB-HID)
  • Fix brightness setting lost at low battery screen blinking (Daemon)
• GMenu2X:
  • Add generic gamepad input configuration
  • Add UNICODE chars support with GNU Unifont
  • Update code to read 3rd analog movement
  • Refactor themes (Skins), add new skinMenu settings
  • Updated languages translations and added new OFL fonts
  • Fix sound level not being saved
  • Make about.txt available for translation
  • Remove skin and remove fonts voliating license restrictions
• RetroArch:
  • Update retroarch to commit 35e140a
  • Add fix patch for sdl input driver
  • Reduce audio latency to 64ms to fix frame pacing
  • Revert video sync option G-sync option as it disables ff function
  • Update picodrive, gpsp cores to latest
  • Change input driver from "sdl_dingux" to "sdl"
  • Add generic gamepad auto configuration
  • Optimize & disable BLARGG_APU for libretro-snes9x2005 core
  • Optimized cores: fceumm, mame2000, snes9x2002, tyrquake, gpsp, pcsx_rearmed, prboom
  • Use unai_old gpu for pcsx_rearmed libretro core (See notes)

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Setup & Install

• This update requires a full SD card reflash
• Remember to backup your apps & configs from main partition (Except gmenu2x, but you can keep your custom sections)
• For proper setup please read the instructions and notes from the first 2.0 Beta Pre-Release here

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This discussion was created from the release Version 2.0.0 Beta 2.

[cricri-pingouin]

Thanks!
Last build, uClibc was recommended if compatibility was a priority.
is it still the case, or has musl compatibility improved?
My understanding is that retorach cores performance have been improved/optimised a bit, in which case if I don't need old apps, I might try the musl (Muesli?) build this time.

[Apaczer]

Hi @cricri-pingouin, tks for taking interest in MiyooCFW. Compatibility stays unchanged and frankly we're discovering more issues with musl libC impelementation day by day - broken SDL_Joy reading (also in joymapper), thread stacking on ARM, and more... For those reasons it is more safe to use uClibc version, which is far more stable and it's not going to change in any near future.

[RickGames]

Question, could the system that miyoo cfw uses to transfer files from the computer to the console be improved? I haven't downloaded 2.0 because the rom transfer is too slow

[jeffbzrr]

The new features are incredible! Congratulations to everyone involved.

[creeperlv]

Hey guys, I compiled the SDK for Arm64 devices!

You can find it here

Currently, I only compiled MUSL version. I might compile uClibc version later this week.

UPDATE: uClibc version have been uploaded.

[Apaczer]

@creeperlv always happy to see smb writing their own code for Miyoo 👍 ! There is a segfault in sdlman with large text files after buffering a few pages, also it would convenient to run *.txt file from CLI with 1 argument (https://stackoverflow.com/a/3024202)

[creeperlv]

also it would convenient to run *.txt file from CLI with 1 argument (https://stackoverflow.com/a/3024202)

It would be easy to implement. I'll add it after a period of time (about 2 weeks). Being a student is quite busy after all. :-P

There is a segfault in sdlman with large text files after buffering a few pages,

I believe I do not buffer any content outside of a fixed size buffer. I believe this happens because I didn't cache non-ASCII characters and any char >=128 will cause a segfault. I might implement a simple fix first.

In the future I might properly implement UTF-8 support but I am not familiar with SDL_ttf. (Not familiar with SDL in general.) So no guarantee for that.

[creeperlv]

@Apaczer Segfault fixed. (Still a ASCII only reader now.)

[Apaczer]

for UTF8 you could lookup FontHelper in gmemu2x src.

[creeperlv]

I will definitely look into it later.

[jeffbzrr]

Should TV out work for the Q90?

[TriForceX]

it works on all consoles, you have to enable/disable manually from main menu

[roo1234]

sorry for the trouble, but I dont seem to be able to add my roms folder from the old firmware 'main' partition. The new image partition was expanded automatically but it's not named 'main', nor formatted in a windows recognizable way, so I cannot access it.
Tried to reformat this large partition to FAT32, but then the system hangs at black screeen after initialization.
First boot was OK in my bittboy3.5, just flipped image. The only problem now is how to access the large partition on windows.
Thanks

[TriForceX]

As we said on 2nd beta (and futher ones) is very important to read the setup & install notes from first 2.0.0 beta, there we explain how to read main partition from SD card in case you dont want to use usb cable you have to install this driver (instructions are on the readme): https://github.com/maharmstone/btrfs

[cricri-pingouin]

For me, connecting the Bittboy v3.5 to a PC running Windows 11 let me access the main partition, but on another PC running Windows 8.1, I cannot. I haven't got a PC with Windows 10 to test.

[Apaczer]

@cricri-pingouin, no issue on my end with Win 8.1 - check in "Device Manager" if there's drivers conflict.

[cricri-pingouin]

Interesting, thanks @Apaczer, I'll check on my end now that I know Win8.1 isn't at fault.

[cricri-pingouin]

Ok, so I just noticed that my phone won't connect on this PC either, so it must be an issue with the driver. I tried to uninstall adb/mtp drivers and install them again, but I still get the yellow exclamation mark in the device manager :( Not sure how to fix those drivers.

EDIT OMG, I fixed it, you'd never guess the problem: back in February when I decided that Windows 11 was getting on my toots (I had installed it over Christmas) and there was reconciliation path, I reverted to Windows 8.1, but since I never use Windows Media Player, I installed the european "N" flavour. I now downloaded and installed the standalone media package, and now everything works o_O Lesson learnt, do not install the N version, it's just not worth the hassle. MPC-BE doesn't work either with N, so I had switched to MPC-HC, but I'll stick with this as I'm not too bothered between BE and HC.

[carloseltopoqgira]

After the musl I'm testing now the uClibc variant. It has better compatibility with emulators as mentioned, but I noticed in both of then maybe a penalty performance for Snes9x4d v2020.10.24 with same settings. With frameskip (auto max 3) it got max of 60/60 in old release. CFW 2.0.0 beta 2 a max of only 40/60. I though it could be only numbers since this emulator when lowering the max option for 0 shows 60/60 even when with heavy slow down, but indeed the game is more visual fluid with max 3 with the old CFW when at 60/60 than the new one when with 40/60, meanwhile when in struggle levels the newer CFW shows a higher fps, but visually both feels same performance. Again, I don't know if I can trust 100% these numbers. About PS1 emulation, the last ReARMed release, I got by testing Tomb Raider 2 EUR exactly same performance (very poor as it always was with this emulator) at my first comparison, so no penalty here.

Unit used: Q20

The battery icon indication for full charge as in version 1.3.3 don't show the icon full in GMenu2x default skin. Custom skin show full though. Retroarch as always reporting only 70% with full charge.

[cricri-pingouin]

Is it just me or is the "official" Miyoo Retroarch build much slower than the one built into MiyooCFW v2b2?
I grabbed it from here:
https://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/dingux/miyoo-arm32/

I tried both gpsp amd mGBA and they have significant slowdowwns which I don't recall seeing yesterday after imaging the card.
Is there a way to go back to the one bundled in MiyooCFW v2b2? I don't want to have to re-image the card again :(

EDIT oupsy, I had used the latest nightly build, but once I used the latest stable, performance is back to normal:
https://buildbot.libretro.com/stable/1.17.0/dingux/miyoo-arm32/
So lesson learnt, don't try bleeding edge!

[alexrwatts]

What a triumph, gba and snes on the right core now run aswell on retroach as the stand alone emulators, so you get auto load states and rewind features. Will PS1 ever be full speed on retroarch or is that just not a possibility?

[carloseltopoqgira]

In theory I think it would be possible since PSP can run with only 333mhz. It's MIPS like the PS1 and emulator is from Sony, but I think the ARM from these devices would be enough for full speed if proper emulator was made. Which I hope but don't expect this to happen. It would be a good challenge for some dev with spare time.

[itchyd]

Loving the latest build. Can you explain how hotkeys work on the v90? It says in the wiki to hold the reset button, but to my knowledge there isn't one!

Edit: I figured out it is actually the R2 button. Might be better if it was the home button!!!

[itchyd]

I notice that pico8 crashes with most roms.

There's also a frequent crash when changing video filters in retroarch.

[raspael6]

Issue with Text Rendering and Screen Scaling in Game Boy and Game Boy Color Emulation on RetroArch with Gambatte Core

Hello,

I am experiencing an issue with the Gambatte core in RetroArch while emulating Game Boy and Game Boy Color games, specifically on a q90 or v90 (320 x 240 display). I believe that the best approach would be to default to the "Original Aspect Ratio" setting because it represents the native aspect ratio of Game Boy and Game Boy Color games, which in my opinion, offers the most authentic emulation experience. Perhaps it would be a good idea to keep this option enabled in the next image release.

My suggestion: if you find it appropriate, it would be wise to keep the option to maintain the default aspect ratio enabled in the next image.

Although this is not the main problem, while playing Game Boy and Game Boy Color games, I am encountering an issue where the text (and other elements, which is very noticeable at the beginning of Pokémon Crystal with all its text) does not render uniformly—some parts of letters may appear thicker than others, creating inconsistent visual quality on the screen, not just with the text but also with artifacts. There is also a "wavy" effect when scrolling, which is quite bothersome... This can be observed well by having the Game Boy and Game Boy Color emulator on one console with image version 1.3.3 and another console with the latest beta 2.0.0.

As I mentioned, this did not occur with the emulators included in version 1.3.3 (without Retroarch emulation in that image).

To address this, I activated the "Integer Scale" option, which successfully prevents graphics from distorting and maintains the original proportions of the games. The downside is that this makes the display output rather small on my screen. The main issue now is how to enlarge this properly proportioned image to fill more of my screen without losing the quality improvements gained from using Integer Scale.

I almost solved it by using a video filter (1.5x upscaler), which, along with the previous settings I mentioned, fixes almost everything. However, the screen does not fit completely (it leaves very small bars at the top and bottom)... (Maybe an 1.67X upscaler could fix it better in v90 and q90).

Although the solution I have found is optimal, it is still not perfect and I do not know if it compromises the device's performance in emulation. However, what is certain in my opinion is that the default settings of this emulator could detract from the experience of users trying to emulate Game Boy and Game Boy Color. This could be an inconvenience when playing GB/GBC games.

Please consider reviewing this point to offer the best experience in GB/GBC emulation on this image.

Thank you very much for the fantastic work on this image, you all are amazing!

[RickGames]

Has the problem of slowness when transferring files from a PC to the console been solved?

Would it be possible to port this game to CFW?:

https://youtu.be/gY15MtFDM2E?si=b2Ii-QeeACDoWbX5

[nfriedly]

[Moving my comments from the other thread to here, because I think this location makes more sense.]

On a windows pc, you can install https://github.com/maharmstone/btrfs and then you can read and write to the microSD directly instead of using the USB transfer mode.

Honestly, I wonder if we could just include a copy of the windows btrfs driver in the boot partition? (Isn't it still fat32?)

[nfriedly]

As for porting RE4: no, it's almost certainly not possible.

[aeiadreams]

i gor blue screen of death while tranfering files using this driver on my windows 11

[TriForceX]

Could you please specify what is the error you are getting at the time of the blue screen?