How do I access DIP switches using FP Alpha core?

RetroArch General
#1

Using the MAME core, I know you can get to them by accessing MAME’s menu by hitting tab. From there you can enter service mode and whatnot.

I prefer MAME, but most Capcom games I’ve tried only work on FB Alpha with CPS2 support and I haven’t been able to find the switches using this core, either through the quick menu or the core’s menu. Actually, I haven’t figured out how to access the core menu at all for FB Alpha. So far my searches online haven’t been fruitful. The only answer I’ve seen referencing the issue says that there is an “Enable Diagnostics” option in the quick menu that’s supposed to put it into service mode, but that option does not appear to be available.

#2

when using FB-Alpha core in retroarch, going into diagnostic or service menu depends on what system is its(cps2,neogeo,cps1,gpm, cave etc). e.g. CPS2 roms has “Diagnostic Input”-set this to whatever you want the hotkey to be for cps2 based-like i usually set it “Hold Start” to go into diagnostics.

CPS1 based do not have service menu but change game settings from options

NeoGeo is the same sa CPS2 - “Diagnostic Input”, and so are Sega based, other non CPS type Capcom games does not have service menu but in Options can set game settings etc etc… just explore the quick Menu more.

an

#3

Thank you for the reply,

Unfortunately I’m unable to find Diagnostic Input anywhere in the quick menu. Is this supposed to be a button map? I don’t see it under controls in the quick menu or in the global button map settings.

If it helps at all, the two CPS2 games I’m working with are Super Street Fighter Turbo and Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors. The core is 1.3.6 FB Alpha 2012 CPS2 v0.2.97.28

#4

[QUOTE=Phastor;50769]Thank you for the reply,

Unfortunately I’m unable to find Diagnostic Input anywhere in the quick menu. Is this supposed to be a button map? I don’t see it under controls in the quick menu or in the global button map settings.

If it helps at all, the two CPS2 games I’m working with are Super Street Fighter Turbo and Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors. The core is 1.3.6 FB Alpha 2012 CPS2 v0.2.97.28[/QUOTE]

i dont seem to have problems with those games… look for Diagnostic Input in “Options” not Controls of quick menu…

#5

Weird. You have a lot more under options than I do.

All I have are CPU Speed Overclock and Control Scheme

#6

[QUOTE=Phastor;50771]Weird. You have a lot more under options than I do.

All I have are CPU Speed Overclock and Control Scheme[/QUOTE]

im using the latest core, which is based on 0.2.97.39 romsets. you are using a different fba core-specifically cps2 only of fbalpha2012 which is based on 0.2.97.28 romset which doesnt seem to have a lot of options. you can try running your cps2 roms using the fbalpha2012 core without the cps1/cps2/neogeo tag it does seem to have the Diagnostic Input option but sadly it is based in newer 0.2.97.30 romset you may or may not have issues since arcade roms keeps updated on each version.

#7

Well I loaded them with the fbalpha2012 core and that seems to have worked. Diagnostics shows up in options and I can get into service mode that way. I could have swore I tried this core before, but I guess I went straight to the CPS2 tagged one after the latest version didn’t work. Thanks for the help!

I can’t load them with the latest core like you because it just closes Retroarch without any indication to why. So you are saying each time the core is updated, new updated roms need to be acquired? That just doesn’t seem right, but it explains also why my Primal Rage will only run with the Mame2003 core. I was just always under the impression that the roms were supposed to remain constant and unchanged while the emulators change and improve to run them.

#8

Well I loaded them with the fbalpha2012 core and that seems to have worked. Diagnostics shows up in options and I can get into service mode that way. I could have swore I tried this core before, but I guess I went straight to the CPS2 tagged one after the latest version didn’t work. Thanks for the help!

I can’t load them with the latest core like you because it just closes Retroarch without any indication to why. So you are saying each time the core is updated, new updated ROMs need to be acquired? That just doesn’t seem right, but it explains also why my Primal Rage will only run with the Mame2003 core. I was just always under the impression that the ROMs were supposed to remain constant and unchanged while the emulators change and improve to run them.

#9

That’s how most console emulators work but MAME (and FBA, since it’s largely based on MAME) have ever-changing ROMsets that match the version number of the emulator. Not all ROMs change all the time (for example, CPS1 games haven’t changed much since the early '00s and will usually work wherever, while CPS2 games started requiring a Q-Sound BIOS a while back) but you can’t be sure a ROM will work unless it’s from the proper ROMset.

#10

Wow that seems like a lot of maintenance if you want to keep up with the latest cores.

So in the case of Darkstalkers and SSF2T, that must mean I have ROMs from an older ROMset since I had to use the older cores, but Wertz has newer ones since he’s able to run on the latest FBA core.

How does one know when they have a ROM from the latest ROMset? Is there a place someone can go to compare what they have against what’s most current?

#11

There are some utilities, like clrmamepro, that can compare your ROMs with DATs from the current set. I for one don’t keep up with the absolute latest, since the games I want to play have been supported forever and most of the new ROMs they’re including are cash registers and slot machines. That’s why we do the snapshot cores in addition to having the mostly-up-to-date-with-upstream cores. If MAME2003 plays the games you like, just stick with it (it’s not going anywhere) and use the ROMs from that 078 set.

#12

That’s what I was hoping to hear. I wouldn’t want to hunt down new ROMs every time there was an update.

My main strategy has been just trial and error loading a ROM until I find a core that it works with. In the case of this post, I found a working core, but wasn’t getting all the features. Was hoping there was a tool that I could point at a ROM and have it tell me which set it’s from so I could choose the right core off the bat.

A little off topic, but I didn’t think this would warrant a new post. I noticed that there is no data stored in saves for most of my arcade roms. There are subfolders generated by cores in there, but there is no data for most of the games I’ve been playing. Because of this, I assumed that any changes made in the service menus of these games would be lost on exit. However it does in fact retain my changes, so I know it must be stored somewhere. What am I missing?

#13

MAME romsets have release based on updates, like there is full romset for version 1.60, then different updates for up to the latest 179 version. but you have to hunt for those since rom sources are not allowed. i currently have full romset based on latest fba0.2.97.39, which are the games i usually want to play and it need lesser download and storage space.

#14

Dipswitches are not handled by any of fbalpha2012 cores (except in some cases through the diagnostic menu), use fbalpha core if you want full dipswitches support. Search “fba 0.2.97.39 romset” on your favorite search engine if you need valid roms.

#15

Every fbalpha2012 cores uses (part of) the same romset, which seems to be a mix of different romset between release 0.2.97.24 and 0.2.97.30 .

#16

I think I’m getting a better picture of how this all works.

I found a source that actually shows the versions of the packs their ROMs come from and grabbed an up-to-date version of the Darkstalkers ROM. Latest FBA core runs it.

I’d use up most of my data cap if I grabbed a full ROMset, so I think I’ll just grab the latest versions of the games I want from there. Too bad there’s no quick way for me to keep them updated by going that route. Those incremental pack updates look convenient. I’ll just replace games manually as they break or use hunterk’s advise on just using the core snapshots.

#17

Is the FP Alpha - Arcade Games database in Retroarch (Windows) not updated to 0.2.97.39? It’s not picking up any of the new roms I’ve gotten from that set. Strange thing is my Linux netbook does and puts them into playlists just fine. I used the online updater on both machines to update databases.

#18

the issue there is retroarch’s method of scrapping for romsets like mame or finalburnalpha is based on the CRC of the zip, so if you try to fix a romset by adding updates the crc will change and it will not reflect what was in RA’s own db-even if the romsets are verified complete using clrmame or romcenter. i even have complete romsets for fba_0.2.9.97.39-verified, and half of then are not detected by RA’s scan method usually newer romsets like cps2(the inclusion of .key file), cp3, pgm, cave games etc.

most are using manual method or separate method like using autohotkey script to add the roms to playlist - we have sucj method here -> http://libretro.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6618

#19

I think rezipping with torrentzip would also work for auto-detection.

#20

[QUOTE=wertz;50838]the issue there is retroarch’s method of scrapping for romsets like mame or finalburnalpha is based on the CRC of the zip, so if you try to fix a romset by adding updates the crc will change and it will not reflect what was in RA’s own db-even if the romsets are verified complete using clrmame or romcenter. i even have complete romsets for fba_0.2.9.97.39-verified, and half of then are not detected by RA’s scan method usually newer romsets like cps2(the inclusion of .key file), cp3, pgm, cave games etc.

most are using manual method or separate method like using autohotkey script to add the roms to playlist - we have sucj method here -> http://libretro.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6618[/QUOTE]

I haven’t been making any chages to them, so either my source has or I’ve just won the lottery on getting all titles that RA won’t hit. I was previously letting RA pick up what it could and then fleshing out the list manually, so I have no problem with doing that again. I’ll also take a look at those scripts.

I think rezipping with torrentzip would also work for auto-detection.

I’ve noticed that the older ROMs I have, most of which RA actually picked up are all commented with “TORRENTZIPPED-*” where I’m assuming * is the CRC. None of the new ones have this comment. Could I assume this means these might have been rezipped by someone else, or is this an irrelevant detail? I’ll take a look at some other sources and compare.

Thanks again for being patient with me. I’ve been jumping around from topic to topic and appreciate all the help.