Amiga P-UAE Core

RetroArch Android devices
#9

I’ve been able to get this core to work on my Shield TV and S8+ but I did need to download the core from diablodiab’s site not the most current one in the nightly repo. I suggest deleting the core if you already have it and move your core folder to something on the sdcard that you can edit/access with a file browser. Then ether edit your config to point to their cores repo or download it and extract it to the above mentioned core directory. After that I setup uae files as they mentioned pointing to my hdf files and kickstart files.

Also as a side their Hatari core is also the only one I’ve gotten to work.

#10

I’ve a new Nvidia Shield TV with a fresh version of Retroarch installed. For me, loading the P-UAE core through the menu doesn’t even bring up a main screen. I’ve checked multiple instructions to have the exact kick rom files with the right names and MD5 hashes.

When trying to load any content or start the emulator as it is, Retroarch crashes and closes.

I was hesitant to try out the instructions @diablodiab posted since it’s mostly about configuring the games if the emulator runs ok otherwise, but in my case it doesn’t even get to the menu nor the Amiga’s disk insertion screen. Nevertheless I did work out an identical setup with identical files, which only end up crashing Retroarch, like before.

I’ve successfully configured and run Amiga emulators since the early 2000s on multiple platforms, but this one … I just can’t figure out. Someone mentioned a possibility to download and replace the core with a stable one, but I couldn’t find any links to do this.

#11

To replace the P-UAE with the one on diablodiab edit the config file in /sdcard/android/data/com.retroarch/files/retroarch.cfg (remember to back it up) update the line core_updater_buildbot_url so it uses the address “http://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/android/latest/armeabi-v7a/”

after that open retroarch and when you goto update the core it will be the one on his server which I can confirm works on my shield tv and my Galaxy s8+

I would suggest after you download the core you rename the cfg file something else and replace it with your backup so you are able to update the other cores again if needed.

#12

Checked the configuration file and it already points to that URL by default. Maybe this was changed with the newer builds?

#13

I think he meant to say that you can point it to this URL: http://lindqvist.synology.me/shield/

This is where I store the core I refer to in the guide. Just remember to change the URL back when done, so you still get your other cores from the official site.

2 Likes
#14

Yes I did thank you, long day not enough coffee.

1 Like
#15

Works a treat. Cheers, both!

Edit: Right mouse button with the controller doesn’t seem to be supported, right?

1 Like
#16

None of the games I played use the mouse so I cant comment on that one.

#17

If I remember correctly, you switch to mouse mode by pressing the select button, which changes A/B buttons to left/right mouse buttons. Select then switches back again.

#18

Just use fs-uae. It has a online database that autoconfigures games (including whdloads, even though those have regular churn so sometimes games ‘disappear’ and ‘reappear’ from the collection if you update the whdloads regularly).

#19

Thanks. I didn’t even know fs-uae existed. But the OP was asking about emulation on Android and there doesn’t appear to be a fs-uae for Android.

#20

Had a bit of a play with P-UAE in RetroArch and generally for emulating games it works quite well after it is setup on a game by game basis.

A couple of points: -The current version of P-UAE that is used by the team working on UAE is 2.61 compiled from GnoStiC source (no longer on github) with an indication they are going to swap to the WinUAE version. See https://github.com/libretro/libretro-uae for details.

  • This version is heavily restricted in comparison to other UAE variant and the configuration options should be taken from the configuration.txt file noting some options like Z3 memory and Graphics card just don’t seem to work. -Some older games could not be loaded using WHDownload due to compatibility / memory issues with the emulated machine however using adf images solved the problem. The example here is Bards Tale noting it may have been ignorance that was the main issue.
  • Have got Classic WB 28 version working noting that the configuration will not support Picasso96, filesystem2 mapping (Created a HDF for Software), required a cfg file to remove all the Retroarch hotkey binds and the P-UAE emulator messes up some keybindings mainly q w a z (verified hdf against WinUAE). -Could not get the current android core to run on the nvidia shield however the same configuration file on Windows worked without an issues. -Emulator Menu did not show the CPU emulation correctly however the CPU type was verified within WB using Scout

As far as setup you need the following files for a WHDownload Game in addition to the WHDownload hdf file with the Kickstart images: .hdf (.slave file renamed to game.slave) in roms/Commodore - Amiga/hdf .uae in roms/Commodore - Amiga/config with the configuration for the emulator.

In addition the following files may or may not be required: .opt in config/PUAE - Contains PUAE RetroArch options (This file is created when saving the options from the RetroArch in game Options menu). .cfg in config/PUAE - Contains RetroArch options eg. hotkey binds

I used the cfg file to remove all the hotkey binds when running WB however I did notice options like viewport are ignored in preference of the configuration within the .uae file.

Anyway it was good fun trying to see what did work and definitely a challenge getting Classic WB running under P-UAE and would recommend using WinUAE etc for WB however for emulating games within a Single Interface across multiple games systems there is definitely enough within the current P-UAE core to support a nice Amiga playlist of the top 100 Amiga Games.

#21

I also did a test running a Classic WB HDD image configured with FS-UAE on the PC and running it with RetroArch P-UAE, and it runs pretty nicely as long as the system specs are kept modest (MC68020EC). The image is loaded with WHDLoad games which are fairly easy to launch through using the controller as a mouse, so no need to configure every game manually on the Retroarch side.

Like you mentioned, P96 will not work, but the normal screen modes including hires overscan work without fuss. Also saving back to HDD image is no go and every change made with settings, installing new software etc gets wiped out with a reset, which makes it a bit harder to tweak the image to my liking.

#22

I found the example HDD mount to be considered “legacy” in the master configuration file and used the following mounts in the .uae, the filesystem2 mounted but the file information was corrupt as i suspect the driver options don’t support windows.

  • use_gui=no
  • cpu_type=68040
  • cpu_speed=max
  • cachesize=8192
  • compfpu=true
  • chipset=aga
  • kickstart_rom_file=C:\Users\adria\AppData\Roaming\RetroArch\system\kick31.rom
  • chipmem_size=4
  • bogomem_size=2
  • fastmem_size=8
  • hardfile2=rw,DH0:C:\Users\adria\AppData\Roaming\RetroArch\roms\Commodore - Amiga\hdf\Amiga1200.hdf,32,1,2,512,1,uae
  • hardfile2=rw,DH1:C:\Users\adria\AppData\Roaming\RetroArch\roms\Commodore - Amiga\hdf\Software.hdf,32,1,2,512,-128,uae
  • filesystem2=rw,PC:PC:C:\Users\adria\AppData\Roaming\RetroArch\roms\Commodore - Amiga\hdf,0
  • gfx_framerate=1
  • gfx_width=720
  • gfx_height=568
  • gfx_center_horizontal=simple
  • gfx_center_vertical=simple
  • show_leds=true
  • joyport0=mouse
  • scsi=true
#23

Hi,

I’m having issue with getting the P-UAE core (2.6.1 a739e45) working in Retroarch (1.7.5) on an Android (4.4) tablet (GPD XD original).

I have put in the relevant roms (with correct MD5 checksum), and rom key, and WHDLoad.hdf (with the roms in Dev/Kickstart) - as suggested by the guides - in to the Retroarch system directory. However, when I load the core and launch the content (an ADF game file - R-Type.adf), I get a blank screen (with the Retroarch button overlays) and then Retroarch crashes/stops.

I’m able to get other cores working (like for NES, SNES cores) OK.

I’ve tried this with various Android devices (Nexus 5 running Android 6.0.1) and a One Plus One running Android 9 but all have the same issue when trying to use the P-UAE core.

On Windows, I can get it to work just fine - using ADF and using HDF files - so I don’t think it is the rom and WHDLOAD.hdf file I’m using.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

#24

Using a logcat viewer, I see that there is a crash just after RetroArch writes to a playlist file:

12-19 08:59:25.943 I/RetroArch(19520): Written to playlist file: /data/data/com.retroarch/content_history.lpl 12-19 08:59:25.943 F/libc (19520): Fatal signal 4 (SIGILL) at 0x7a15d6a8 (code=1), thread 19539 (com.retroarch)

This crash only occurs when trying to load a game using the P-UAE core. Other cores seem to be working OK.

Is it possible to download and try a previous version of the P-UAE core (for Android ARMv7)?

#25

If of any use to anybody, a pastebin of an example DEBUG logcat for the crash can be found at:

https://pastebin.com/PdwGVJdD

#26

Did you ever get it working? I’m having similar problems.

#27

Nope. Unfortunately, until there is a new version of the P-UAE core (for Android) that fixes this issue, then there will always be this issue.

#28

I got it working. I installed the 64bit version of Retroarch, and then it just worked.

Edit: Well sort of… It only works if my hdf files are in the retroarch dir/system. If I try to load a game from another folder I get system request asking for dh1. If I try to change the Retroarch system dir to say my Amiga hdf folder I just get the purple kickstart animation. Very weird.