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zx-81
July 23rd, 2006, 22:01
http://zx81.zx81.free.fr/images/pspvba-snap-121.jpg

Hi All,

As always, a release push another one :D
(this one is mainly for bug fix ...)

Here is a new version of PSPVBA the GameBoy Advance Emulator for PSP.

* This version doesn't work for +2.0 FW ! *

What's new in version 1.2.1 :

- New feature to save and load a distinct setting file for each games
- Add option to enable/disable the cache with the Graphical Unit
- Emulator menus reorganisation (new menu for settings)

- Bug fix: Emulator menu is now launched on startup
- Bug fix: no more freeze when exiting the emulator
(but HOME button still doesn't work !)
- Bug fix: bad refresh of the emulator menu/screen

How to use it ?

Have a look to the README.txt file !

One binary version for 1.5 FW and sources are included in the zip archive.

This package is under GPL Copyright, read COPYING file for more information about it.


Enjoy, :D

Zx.

Download and Give Feedback Via Comments

PSP VBA Compatability List (http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=29918) (Please Submit)

Edit: For german people take the version translated by XazZ (pspvba-v1.2.1-de.zip)

Dementia7
July 23rd, 2006, 22:05
FRIGGEN SWEET. thanks Zx, as always, your great.

BL4Z3D247
July 23rd, 2006, 22:07
dman zx another one!!! lol thanx for fixin the exit out of emu problem :D

The_Ultimate_Eggman
July 23rd, 2006, 22:08
not long i hope until full speed great work/

zx-81
July 23rd, 2006, 22:09
dman zx another one!!! lol thanx for fixin the exit out of emu problem :D

Yes it was quite annoying :o :o :o :o

MedievalManIII
July 23rd, 2006, 22:10
Any news on when 32MB roms will be supported?

123
July 23rd, 2006, 22:10
So it just keeps on getting better.

BL4Z3D247
July 23rd, 2006, 22:12
Yes it was quite annoying :o :o :o :o
just a little lol :D

Dementia7
July 23rd, 2006, 22:15
i just put down my psp from testing the last release, i get up 20 mins later, and BAM, another one.

BL4Z3D247
July 23rd, 2006, 22:17
i'm likin the new menu, its alot less crampped lol

Kaiser
July 23rd, 2006, 22:17
Nice work again ZX. Your a machine :D

MedievalManIII
July 23rd, 2006, 22:19
What does disabling the gpu cache do in terms of performance? I observe that enabling the option results in a slight increase in speed, but I want to clarify whether this is true or not.

EDIT:
In some games, this option does not increase the performance at all. ;c

BL4Z3D247
July 23rd, 2006, 22:21
i just put down my psp from testing the last release, i get up 20 mins later, and BAM, another one.
same here lol :D

Dementia7
July 23rd, 2006, 22:22
haha, nice. seriously i didn't expect a new release for a couple days.

zx-81
July 23rd, 2006, 22:24
What does disabling the gpu cache do in terms of performance? I observe that enabling the gpu cache results in a slight increase in speed, but I want to clarify whether this is true or not.

That's it ... In fact the VBA emulator write all graphics in a screen buffer that's also used by the Graphic Unit of the PSP. So when you disable the cache it's going faster, but it results in some graphical artefacts ...

zx-81
July 23rd, 2006, 22:25
haha, nice. seriously i didn't expect a new release for a couple days.

Lool ! Sorry, but the exit issue force me to release only few hours after the first ME version. :o

zx-81
July 23rd, 2006, 22:25
Nice work again ZX. Your a machine :D

Lol ! good to read you :) :) :)

tedou
July 23rd, 2006, 22:28
yeahhhhhhhh thanks zx-81

felonyr301
July 23rd, 2006, 22:30
oh my god thank you zx-81 your the best i just check right now and not one but 2 releases are out and i check this website more than once per day (its like crack lol) well im gonna try out mega man zero and zelda minish cap hope its better.

mavsman4457
July 23rd, 2006, 22:32
So ZX, do you have any idea of how many more releases you expect to have, what new features you expect to add, how much faster you plan on making this? It is great so far and I can't wait for the next release.

Dementia7
July 23rd, 2006, 22:32
Lool ! Sorry, but the exit issue force me to release only few hours after the first ME version. :o

I agree, it was driving me a little insane.:)

Airtoof
July 23rd, 2006, 22:50
Merci pour tout Zx

compoman386
July 23rd, 2006, 22:53
being able to save settings for individual roms is the icing on the cake


GO GO zx-81!!!!

felonyr301
July 23rd, 2006, 22:56
mega man zero is still almost the same maybe a lil speed improvement but the sound is horrible still but the speed hast dropped cause of sound so thats ok but ill go try some others.

zx-81
July 23rd, 2006, 23:04
mega man zero is still almost the same maybe a lil speed improvement but the sound is horrible still but the speed hast dropped cause of sound so thats ok but ill go try some others.

sound is good only for car games, when GBA plays "wroom wroom" samples :D :D :D :D

mavsman4457
July 23rd, 2006, 23:13
ZX, what game is that a screenshot of? It looks like Gran Turismo :) Just kidding.

zx-81
July 23rd, 2006, 23:14
yes it's GT4 mobile for GBA http://zx81.dcemu.co.uk/images/smilies/w103.gif

mavsman4457
July 23rd, 2006, 23:24
Hahaha, but seriously what game is it?

Dementia7
July 23rd, 2006, 23:25
Hey Zx, i dunno if its due to the new release or what, but i have Metroid Fusion running at what seems, and im not kidding, FULL SPEED. its beyond playable. i think im gonna play it through, no slow downs what so ever.

zx-81
July 23rd, 2006, 23:25
@mavsman4457 : need for speed ... (as PSPVBA ;))

Dementia7
July 23rd, 2006, 23:27
Is that your fav. game or the only one u test with ur EMU?

zx-81
July 23rd, 2006, 23:28
Is that your fav. game or the only one u test with ur EMU?

I'm not a pokemon game addict, so i try mainly car games :)

edit: but to answer your question, it's for testing purpose only, because i prefer Gran Turismo and V-Rally games :D

Dementia7
July 23rd, 2006, 23:33
ooohh okay i see. i never found racing games on the GBA fun..just couldn't get into them.

but hey, you've definetly made Metroid a more than enjoyable game now, ima play it tonight, all night.:eek: :D

Uruz 6
July 23rd, 2006, 23:48
You say metroid is doing better? I've placed the new emu on the psp but it's kinda late now..
I'll try it tomorrow.
By the way I'm sure it's a great job :)

O-bake
July 23rd, 2006, 23:51
Thank you once again :)
This one keeps getting better and better.

Zephyroth_drgs
July 23rd, 2006, 23:52
gj zx-81 keep it going

ACID
July 23rd, 2006, 23:53
This is great thanks ZX you rule.

felonyr301
July 24th, 2006, 00:00
ohh i see so you a car game fan (me too) but havent found any on the gba to get into and i see what you mean about the sound lol but in your take is it something that is time consuming to fix the sound problem i mean now that you got ME running and all but regardless other games seem to be running very good with sound off so keep up the great job and ill be starting college very soon and gonna try my luck and asked if i can use the psp as a calculator ( your work) hope they say yes.

disturbed19
July 24th, 2006, 00:01
hey zx. just one question. are u going to try fix the sound completly? like how a real GBA would sound?

ACID
July 24th, 2006, 00:02
felonyr301 try yu-gi-ho it works very good for me

zx-81
July 24th, 2006, 00:04
ohh i see so you a car game fan (me too) but havent found any on the gba to get into and i see what you mean about the sound lol

V-rally 3 is running at nearly 90-100% with the sound and frameskip 1 ... that's good enough for me, and i enjoy it :)



but in your take is it something that is time consuming to fix the sound problem i mean now that you got ME running and all but regardless other games seem to be running very good with sound off so keep up the great job and ill be starting college very soon and gonna try my luck and asked if i can use the psp as a calculator ( your work) hope they say yes.

Lol ... but take the latest version of my PSPXTI, previous one are buggy and do computation errors (i won't sleep well if i know you failed your exams due to bugs on my calculator port :o ).

vettacossx
July 24th, 2006, 01:39
i want a kindom hearts version :( please please please im beggin ya here ;) lol

gr8 work thanks for trying to go full speed for us zx-81 ....i mean you....not the emulator ;)...lol...seems everytime i turn around you have a gr8 new emu up your sleeve for us .....have you ever consider tagging up with NJ to do a cps2 so we could play
MARVEL VS CAPCOM!!!???

tsurumaru
July 24th, 2006, 01:40
Hi Zx-81,

Good job on this emulator, a couple of quick questions for you;

Would you be able to incorporate rom streaming into this emu a la Daedalus so that the larger sized roms would work?

What sort of process is at the heart of this emulator? Does it have a dynamic recompiler or does it ustilise JIT? If not would there be any benefit in pursuing either of these routes?

Thanks and keep up the good work. :)

disturbed19
July 24th, 2006, 01:55
just a thought, u know wat would be really cool? if all the great coders such as ZX-81, strmnmnn, yoyofr,laxer3a, and psmonkey all worked together on a N64 emulator. this would be a huge impact on the homebrew seen haha i get excited thinkin about it, we would have a working n64 emulator in no time.

RetroGoth
July 24th, 2006, 03:34
that's great now I need 1.5 since you decided to stop 2.0...goodjob anyways

Dementia7
July 24th, 2006, 03:37
just a thought, u know wat would be really cool? if all the great coders such as ZX-81, strmnmnn, yoyofr,laxer3a, and psmonkey all worked together on a N64 emulator. this would be a huge impact on the homebrew seen haha i get excited thinkin about it, we would have a working n64 emulator in no time.

that would be great, but i doubt it would happen. no offense..i just dont realy see it happening. BUT, if it does, that would be great.:D

BL4Z3D247
July 24th, 2006, 03:44
that would be great, but i doubt it would happen. no offense..i just dont realy see it happening. BUT, if it does, that would be great.:D
ditto, but if they did all decide to join forces they'd be known as *hits the bong* "The Fantastic 4" lol :D

jwilds73
July 24th, 2006, 04:04
I saw the first release this morning before leaving for work so I didn't get home till now to test it and now I find this minor bug fix version. I am really impressed with the sound improvement. I could actually understand the voice in Mario when it asked me to "choose a player". I noticed in the other thread you said you could emulate the gfx processor or such on the Media Engine. So I wonder what kinda performance gain could be seen if you threw sound emulation completely out and moved the graphic's emulation to the ME? Doesn't the PSP have GPU, CPU and ME processors? Anyway's your a miracle worker ZX. I know you know what your doing and I can't wait to see how much further this can progress.

XioN980
July 24th, 2006, 04:05
Seriously you are the very meaning of the word dedicated!:D

tophead420
July 24th, 2006, 04:18
lol ok another one ZX u just released one dood and it showed a really good improvement over the others well imma download this one later and give it a try but good job man you are way to fast at this lol just kidden keep the releases coming

Dementia7
July 24th, 2006, 04:21
ditto, but if they did all decide to join forces they'd be known as *hits the bong* "The Fantastic 4" lol :D

haha, yea, or "the Super Best Devs" :eek: :D


(mean while, back at the super best devs..., Zx has finished a fully working GBA emu with speed and sound, and a N64 and PSone emu have been finished) :D :D :D

kahnartizt07
July 24th, 2006, 04:40
do u think it will ever be possible to get the emulator to work at least nearly as good as a real gba?

kpaul_nyc
July 24th, 2006, 04:45
haha, yea, or "the Super Best Devs" :eek: :D


(mean while, back at the super best devs..., Zx has finished a fully working GBA emu with speed and sound, and a N64 and PSone emu have been finished) :D :D :D
LMAO... Or the.... Super Homebrewing Machines!!!...
( The super homebrewing machines have ported the ps2and it is running at full speed with decent sound, Perfect sound is promised in 10 seconds, the next release

Dementia7
July 24th, 2006, 05:00
do u think it will ever be possible to get the emulator to work at least nearly as good as a real gba?

well Zx has stated a few times before that he's nearing the end of the GBA emu's limits. simply becouse (from what i heard) GBA needs 400 mhz..psp-333 or somthing close along those lines.

some clear it up for me cuz im half awake here.

Dementia7
July 24th, 2006, 05:02
LMAO... Or the.... Super Homebrewing Machines!!!...
( The super homebrewing machines have ported the ps2and it is running at full speed with decent sound, Perfect sound is promised in 10 seconds, the next release


aaaahhh yes, those would be the days...:rolleyes:

jwilds73
July 24th, 2006, 05:06
do u think it will ever be possible to get the emulator to work at least nearly as good as a real gba?

From the prior release's thread....

GBA -> 32-bit 16.8-MHz ARM
NeoGeo -> 16 bits 12 MHz 68000
Snes -> 16-bits 4 MHz

The PSP is max 333Mhz.

Generally to emulate properly a processor you need multiply the frequency by 25, and it gives you the required frequency for the host processor. Here, 12 * 25 > 300 Mhz, so we can emulate a SNES or NeoGeo.

But for GBA : 16 * 25 > 400 Mhz, so we can see that it will be theoretically very hard to emulate a 32 bits / 16 Mhz ARM processor on a PSP ...


So it will be hard but "nearly" might be possible.....

Dementia7
July 24th, 2006, 05:11
yea there you go, thats what I read. thanks.

........so is it basicly like putting a quarter in a straw??

Lagnus
July 24th, 2006, 05:33
Damn:eek: another release in the same day. Hats off and bow for zx please.

Isnt the GE handling all the GFX, maybe the code for that area needs to be looked at again, or maybe PSPGL can be used?

Also since the program has been ported from the PC, could there be max volume setting or something simple like that causing the cracks and pops.
It keeps reminding me of when speakers are pushed to the end and over their frequency range. ( They start to under perform and the music becomes distorted)

I can play Golden Sun well when it comes to graphics, only that it hisses and seems to slow the rest of the system down inorder to syncrhonize the sound to the graphics during battle scenes.

I feel it could be this is because the game slows down alot when the battle scenes appear, with loads of action( coupled with the graphics slowing to the sound effects speed), but when im just in exploring mode and the sound is not as intricate, the game plays much better.

Even though the fps may be shown around the same, it cound still mean their being held back to sychronize.

-So maybe the sychronization coding can be optimized.
-Maybe there can just be sound compensation settings which dictate whether to speed up the sound to match the graphics.

- Pls check to see if the speakers are actually being pushed too far by your settings.

Lol my longest post so far.:D

Lagnus
July 24th, 2006, 05:46
Also you can put a quarter through a straw if you change its shape:p

Kvonx
July 24th, 2006, 05:48
u jus keep them comin ..............gud job we all luv them

Lagnus
July 24th, 2006, 06:07
Upon further inspection I think a low pass filter might be needed.

disturbed19
July 24th, 2006, 06:12
hey zx. just one question. are u going to try fix the sound completly? like how a real GBA would sound?

ACID
July 24th, 2006, 06:29
Hey ZX did you check out the new emu Based on your great emu aren't the add ons nice. Are you thinking about keeping them on your next version.

Dementia7
July 24th, 2006, 06:34
Also you can put a quarter through a straw if you change its shape:p

...damn good answer. meaning..THE POSSIBILITIES are somewhat endless. :eek:

jOeBrO
July 24th, 2006, 07:18
I believe the GBA emu would need the same JIT technique as the N64 emu is using if you want to get it really fast.

Regards.


whats "JIT Technique" :confused:

zx-81
July 24th, 2006, 09:28
that's great now I need 1.5 since you decided to stop 2.0...goodjob anyways

Tommydanger is still working on the 2.x version (but mainly on the UI).

zx-81
July 24th, 2006, 09:29
Hi Zx-81,

Good job on this emulator, a couple of quick questions for you;

Would you be able to incorporate rom streaming into this emu a la Daedalus so that the larger sized roms would work?

Of course it's possible, but i think it will slow down the emulator that is already too slow on many games ...



What sort of process is at the heart of this emulator? Does it have a dynamic recompiler or does it ustilise JIT? If not would there be any benefit in pursuing either of these routes?

Thanks and keep up the good work. :)

It's classical software emulation ...

zx-81
July 24th, 2006, 09:43
Hey ZX did you check out the new emu Based on your great emu aren't the add ons nice. Are you thinking about keeping them on your next version.

I'm in good contact with tommy, but he is working on the UI and for now i'm working only to speed improvements, so may be at the end we will merge our works ... i don't know.

mameuser
July 24th, 2006, 09:44
Question:
GBA game are 60fps or 30fps?
if answer is 60fps.

why when frameskip -2 only show 30 fps?

LAMPRO
July 24th, 2006, 09:53
so i loaded v rally and mariokart and they were both considerably improved. lots of slow spots but neither crashed, some grafical glitches but the fps is much better. keep it up zx, i see the light at the end of the tunnel.

tsurumaru
July 24th, 2006, 10:43
Of course it's possible, but i think it will slow down the emulator that is already too slow on many games ...

It's classical software emulation ...

Thanks Zx-81, I know its not completely relevant and that the PSP has a MIPS chipset but MS have just released their source for ARM to x86 JIT emulation and I thought there maybe something of interest there for you. (thanks to Strmnnrmn for highlighting this).

http://microsoft.wagalulu.com/2006/07/17/shared-source-code-for-device-emulator-10/

They also flagged some optimisations which gave a 40% increase in performance for their emulator which I also thought you might want to cast your eye over.

http://blogs.msdn.com/barrybo/archive/2006/05/23/605314.aspx

Keep up the great work.

zx-81
July 24th, 2006, 11:38
...

Thanks for the links, i will have look on it :).

mr_nick666
July 24th, 2006, 11:50
ZX - The Man, The Legend! :D Im away for 24 hours and suddenly there's two updates! :eek: Great work! :) Think I'll have to try Metroid at lunch... :p

D0N
July 24th, 2006, 12:56
Great work zx! Keep it up!

tophead420
July 24th, 2006, 13:21
ok iv tryed this out and my roms still run at 7 to 10 fps (tony hawks pro skater games) but they actually run fastetr there alot faster i can actually keep a combo going lol good job and i love the new menu 2

Airtoof
July 24th, 2006, 16:05
Salut Zx, tu as certainement vu que Tommy a sorti un emulateur GBA, qui résulte de ton travail, il y a une chose très différente entre les deux, lorsque je joue avec l'émulateur de Tommy a pokémon, lorsque je rentre dans un combat le jeu est émulé a 90% tout comme en plein jeu alors que sur le tiens, les combats son émulé à 75% et dans le jeu je tourne a 90% également, pk cette différence??

Airtoof
July 24th, 2006, 16:06
Il y a également une grosse différence de fluidité de jeu

QueadlunnRau
July 24th, 2006, 16:28
ZX-81 ... seriously ... I lub eu ... O.o

Thank you ^_^

Basil Zero
July 24th, 2006, 18:56
Amazing Speed Improvement of this emulator, and i love the menu now even more...however for some reason, i found the sound of the 1.10 version to be better, but the speed is WAY better in this version.

oh, and why is it that Frames Per Second never go beyond 10?

zx-81
July 24th, 2006, 19:01
Amazing Speed Improvement of this emulator, and i love the menu now even more...however for some reason, i found the sound of the 1.10 version to be better,

Previous versions were using SDL, which is better (less glitch and more accurate).



but the speed is WAY better in this version.

oh, and why is it that Frames Per Second never go beyond 10?

If you want more than 10, you have to put the frameskip value to -2 ;) ..

zx-81
July 24th, 2006, 20:44
http://zx81.zx81.free.fr/images/germany.gif

Thanks to XazZ, we have now a german version ... see in the head of this topic for download :)

Shiesty
July 24th, 2006, 23:41
not to poop on the glory of this emu, but why is this tolerated and not iso discussion?

i really dont have any morals towards piracy or anything, just mostly curious why some things are acceptable and not others

(ps: i have never played an illegal iso before)

mr_nick666
July 24th, 2006, 23:58
not to poop on the glory of this emu, but why is this tolerated and not iso discussion?

i really dont have any morals towards piracy or anything, just mostly curious why some things are acceptable and not others

(ps: i have never played an illegal iso before)

Theres loads of homebrew games avaiable for the Advance whereas I$Os are just pirated games - one can be used for good the other is only used for EVIL! :mad:

Dementia7
July 24th, 2006, 23:59
Well homebrew is not illegal since its a selfmade program and he/she is not selling it. Roms on the other hand can be illegel and usualy are. (a.k.a, download only if you own the original)

And even though YOU've never played an illegal ISO, 95 % of all the people here and everywhere else don't realy care. everyone has theyre reasons for doing everything. ..i dont mean to Flame on you or anything, im just stating the obviouse.

mr_nick666
July 25th, 2006, 00:08
Just out of interest... How come this isnt on the regular news forum??? :confused:

Dementia7
July 25th, 2006, 00:26
cuz these forums are made SPECIALY for ZX's GBAemu.

disturbed19
July 25th, 2006, 01:16
ya i have a bug to report, i was playin a dbz game for a few hours, i had to do something so i went to the menu and put it on sleep mode, but sleep mode doesnt work with this version :( haha and i didnt save so i have to start all over. would u be able to fix this?

Exoskeletor
July 25th, 2006, 02:20
From the prior release's thread....

GBA -> 32-bit 16.8-MHz ARM
NeoGeo -> 16 bits 12 MHz 68000
Snes -> 16-bits 4 MHz

The PSP is max 333Mhz.

Generally to emulate properly a processor you need multiply the frequency by 25, and it gives you the required frequency for the host processor. Here, 12 * 25 > 300 Mhz, so we can emulate a SNES or NeoGeo.

But for GBA : 16 * 25 > 400 Mhz, so we can see that it will be theoretically very hard to emulate a 32 bits / 16 Mhz ARM processor on a PSP ...


So it will be hard but "nearly" might be possible.....

So in order to play an ps2 emulator in our pcs we will need a cpu that runs at 7500?

Dudette
July 25th, 2006, 02:35
Hmmmmm. I noticed that Nancy Drew played in 1.7 but not this latest release. Has anyone else noticed what used to work with an older version doesn't work now?

Exoskeletor
July 25th, 2006, 02:40
yes, fifa 2005 doesnt work

Kvonx
July 25th, 2006, 03:29
Hmmmmm. I noticed that Nancy Drew played in 1.7 but not this latest release. Has anyone else noticed what used to work with an older version doesn't work now?

Yeah my yugioh worldwide edition used to play well but now cant!!!!:( it worked in verion 1.01-1.05

disturbed19
July 25th, 2006, 08:30
Hey ZX

i was just thinking.......would it be possible to emulate the ARM7 on the media engine? like for example, the main cpu would emulate the sound and and everthing else while the media engine would emulate the ARM7....would that be possible?

zx-81
July 25th, 2006, 09:16
Hey ZX

i was just thinking.......would it be possible to emulate the ARM7 on the media engine? like for example, the main cpu would emulate the sound and and everthing else while the media engine would emulate the ARM7....would that be possible?

Of course it's possible, but all the emulator has to be rewritten, and performance would be worse ;) ... (due to cache problem).

LazerTag
July 25th, 2006, 14:13
Does PSPVBA use the GBA bios if it's available?

If so where should it be placed and what is the proper file name for the BIOS itself?

Also, any workarounds to get the NES Classic series working? (other then using NesterJ to run the real NES version :P )


This one just gets better! :)

Lagnus
July 25th, 2006, 15:45
Zx, Are the arm ticks in the pspvba the same as the sound clock ticks in vba?

zx-81
July 25th, 2006, 16:32
Does PSPVBA use the GBA bios if it's available?

If so where should it be placed and what is the proper file name for the BIOS itself?


Unfortunatelly not ...

zx-81
July 25th, 2006, 16:34
Zx, Are the arm ticks in the pspvba the same as the sound clock ticks in vba?

the arm tick in pspvba is the average number of ticks for each executed ARM instructions.

Normally, in the initial source code of VBA, there is a complex computation of the real ticks (depending of the instruction that is executed, the type of memory etc ...). But i've removed this stuff and put the average value instead. This improve the speed, but it's less realistic than the original emulator.

ACID
July 25th, 2006, 16:46
ZX you rule. Now for mi ?? Is there a way to implement the addtions of your counter parts emulator to your future releases

Lagnus
July 25th, 2006, 16:47
Could you put in some options to run the sound with different settings pls, as I feel 22khz would be fine, and sacrifices have to be made in certain areas in order to bring emulation requirements down to work with the 333mhz processor rather than needing a 400mhz one.

Note: Havent people been reporting that they had better sound on ver 1.1.0 which only ran at 22Khz.

LazerTag
July 25th, 2006, 20:12
Unfortunatelly not ...


That sounds like there are no plans to use the BIOS in the future?

ACID
July 25th, 2006, 20:13
What ever ZX does im sure will be find for he knows his stuff

disturbed19
July 25th, 2006, 21:23
i noticed that when u turn the sound off there is a speed increase in the game, why is that? is the sound moved over to the media engine a 100% complete?

zx-81
July 25th, 2006, 22:27
i noticed that when u turn the sound off there is a speed increase in the game, why is that? is the sound moved over to the media engine a 100% complete?

We can't put totally the sound emulation on the ME ... I've done it as it is done in snes9x, with a dedicated thread (running on the main CPU) to play the sound samples, and on the other part, the ME emulates, computes and mix to fill the sample buffer.

Now, i've just finish to modify the ME, to make it compute also some part of the GFX. It's worse, i loose 20% of CPU and there are many many graphical artefacts (mainly due to bad synchronisation / cache ...) :mad: :mad: :mad:

Then, i've begin to rewrite some instruction in ASM, but i don't think we will win something ... Gcc is better than me, to find the best ASM instructions.

On Intel platform (CISC instruction set) it has may be an interest to rewrite some part of the code in ASM, but with a MIPS, with a such reduced instruction set, and the pipeline depth that must be taken into account, it's a nightmare, and i'm not sure we gonna win something :(

Exoskeletor
July 25th, 2006, 23:12
Zx do you know why fifa 2005 doesnt work on the latest version?

zx-81
July 25th, 2006, 23:22
Zx do you know why fifa 2005 doesnt work on the latest version?

I've no idea ... but i will investigate :)

tsurumaru
July 26th, 2006, 20:00
Now, i've just finish to modify the ME, to make it compute also some part of the GFX. It's worse, i loose 20% of CPU and there are many many graphical artefacts (mainly due to bad synchronisation / cache ...) :mad: :mad: :mad:

Then, i've begin to rewrite some instruction in ASM, but i don't think we will win something ... Gcc is better than me, to find the best ASM instructions.

On Intel platform (CISC instruction set) it has may be an interest to rewrite some part of the code in ASM, but with a MIPS, with a such reduced instruction set, and the pipeline depth that must be taken into account, it's a nightmare, and i'm not sure we gonna win something :(

Hi ZX-81, Sorry to keep giving you links but Laxer3a has posted his thoughts on ARM/GBA emulation on the SNESTYL forums, I thought you might want to check them out as they are essentially what you are saying with some additional thoughts:

This ones mixed in with a Daedalus discussion:

http://yoyofr.proboards44.com/index.cgi?board=snes9xtyl&action=display&thread=1144352305&page=3

This one's an ME thread:

http://yoyofr.proboards44.com/index.cgi?board=snes9xtyl&action=display&thread=1153500524

Kind regards.

zx-81
July 26th, 2006, 20:17
@tsurumaru: Thanks for the link ... i've read it carefully :).

BL4Z3D247
July 26th, 2006, 20:34
Zx do you know why fifa 2005 doesnt work on the latest version?
try turnin "Disable SFX" in the settings to "no" i have Fifa 06 runnin a little slow but it runs :D

pillsbdouboy
July 27th, 2006, 03:37
good job but y dont u get the source codes from super nintendo and convert them or something to work on gba so it can be better

mameuser
July 27th, 2006, 06:27
Setting are SFX both on and off
and Graphics Cache on and off

all The Ant Bully graphics error.

Man007
July 27th, 2006, 17:57
This is a great emulator for the gba it works great!! :D

Great Job ZX!!

.:}<3\/!}\{:.
July 27th, 2006, 20:09
nice!!!

michael chan
July 27th, 2006, 22:41
anyone know when the next update will be?nice job on the gba emu to!

zx-81
July 27th, 2006, 22:48
anyone know when the next update will be?nice job on the gba emu to!

I'm still working on it to improve the speed ... I've tried many many experiences, but unfortunatelly none of them give me better results :mad: :o

kpaul_nyc
July 27th, 2006, 22:54
I don't understand half off all this ARM gcc improvement stuff but in the end I hope it all positively impacts this emu. GOOD LUCK ZX!!!!!:)

Dementia7
July 28th, 2006, 03:19
ahhh the hectic speed issue..dont worry, you'll figure somthing out. When there's a Zx-81, theres a way.:D

repuken2
July 28th, 2006, 03:55
Hi, great emulator, i'm playing Castlevania HOD at almost full speed with and wo/sound wich leads me to think that having the sound turned on or off is the same thing since both things seems to have no effect on performance one onto the other.

One request i would like to do is to make a version without sound and focusing 100% on graphics using even the power of the ME.

That would be cool to have one full speed emu w.o /sound and another bit slow on gfx and w/sound.

Anyway, thanks a lot Zx for the best GBA emu on the PSP.

Dementia7
July 28th, 2006, 04:26
Yea, Zx what would happen if you took the sound out comletely? honestly, speed is more better than sound. would it increase it by any chance? i doubt any of us even use the Enable sound option anyway. i dont. but i guese its alright for car games. ..i dunno, just wondering.

daibo
July 28th, 2006, 14:02
Hi zx-81, any plans on implementing an ARM7 dynarec?
It requires much effort but isn't it the only feasible option to achieve fullspeed ?

zx-81
July 28th, 2006, 15:52
Yea, Zx what would happen if you took the sound out comletely? honestly, speed is more better than sound. would it increase it by any chance? i doubt any of us even use the Enable sound option anyway. i dont. but i guese its alright for car games. ..i dunno, just wondering.

I can release a "no-sound" version, but you won't win anything (only 1 or 2% of CPU speed) ;).

zx-81
July 28th, 2006, 15:53
Hi zx-81, any plans on implementing an ARM7 dynarec?
It requires much effort but isn't it the only feasible option to achieve fullspeed ?

Sorry, i haven't enough spare time to develop an emulator/recompiler from scratch ;) ..

daibo
July 28th, 2006, 17:03
Sorry, i haven't enough spare time to develop an emulator/recompiler from scratch ;) ..

Would Tarmac be of any help? It's a ARM3 dynarec'ing emulator made by David Sharp, with source available.
http://www.davidsharp.com/tarmac/

.:}<3\/!}\{:.
July 28th, 2006, 18:18
Nice!!!!!!! full speed emu on the way!!!!!!

Video_freak
July 28th, 2006, 18:45
Nice!!!!!!! full speed emu on the way!!!!!!
really? that would be the best!!! :D

ACID
July 28th, 2006, 19:07
I can release a "no-sound" version, but you won't win anything (only 1 or 2% of CPU speed) ;).
NOOOOOOO keep the sound of thats part of the game. By the way great job ZX i dont think i have sayd that before. LOL:D

Dementia7
July 28th, 2006, 20:43
yea..okay 1-2 itsn't very much. okay never mind then, keep the sound.

kpaul_nyc
July 28th, 2006, 20:56
ahhh the hectic speed issue..dont worry, you'll figure somthing out. When there's a Zx-81, theres a way.:D Is it ok if i put that in my sig?:D

zx-81
July 28th, 2006, 20:58
@kpaul_nyc: lol

Dementia7
July 29th, 2006, 01:15
Is it ok if i put that in my sig?:D

Sure but it'll cost ya. :D j.k, ya sure go ahead.

kpaul_nyc
July 29th, 2006, 04:28
@kpaul_nyc: lol Done..... now time to open up the ol' photoshop and make a cool pic that says that.:p

mameuser
July 29th, 2006, 04:31
How the W.I.P ??????

Dementia7
July 29th, 2006, 04:40
yea, ima re-do my sig, its getting old, and it was never finished. but thats off topic.

zx-81
July 29th, 2006, 12:28
A new version is available :).