Neko Project II kai (PC-9801) core (different nekop2, meowPC98)

Having an issue where I get this error screen with most games now. They used to work until a crash. Gamees work with I use the neko2 core though but some games give other issues which is why I’m trying to figure this error out. Hope someone can help. Translation claims its a bad interrupt occured and to press reset 21H whatever that means.

I am not sure about Neko Project 2, which is not Kai, but this is a sign that there is a problem with the disk controller via PCI on the actual machine.

Please make sure that the core options are correct and that there are no mistakes in the PCI options or corrupted FD/HD/CD images.

Neko Project 2 Kai may overwrite uncompressed roms/images directly by the game. They can be corrupted if not done properly, especially when shutting down the core. This is also true for MSXs that use FDs.

Thanks for the reply. I didnt change anything in the core options. I scrolled through the options and the only PCI option I see is one called Enable PCI, which is set to off by default. The files that seem to be giving me this 21H error are hdi files. I have a few other issues but this one is the main one I’m trying to figure out for now. I’ve tried with image files that werent loaded before and still get the same problem.

You mentioned errors if the core isnt shut down properly. I usually just press escape twice to close retroarch. Should I be doing something different.

What is the timestamp on the HDI file?
If it is a recent date, then the HDI file is corrupt.
Try to restore the HDI to the original.

In the case of these FD/HDs, I recommend making a backup of the originals.

Exit the game and return to the DOS command screen, then use the ESC key to shut down the core.

Shutting down the core with the ESC key when not in the DOS command screen may cause a crash because the game is still running.

If there is no way to return to the DOS command screen, the only way is to use your intuition to determine if you are not accessing the system, use F1 to disk control, eject the disk, and then use the ESC key to shut down the core.

Some games may also have an end-of-game screen. In that case, exit the game and press the ESC key according to the screen.

Ok I’ll do eject disk from now on before I close it off. Regarding the time stamp, I did delete it and replace it with an older untouched hdi file but it still gave me the error. But like I mentioned before the game still loads if I use an alternate core like the neko core so I dont think the file has corruption issues. Something seems to be stuck. I tried deleting the kai core and replacing it with an older one I hadnt used but it didnt seem to fix anything.

I do not know. I can’t seem to help. This is because I am not using the “Neko2” core which is not Kai.

It is unlikely that the BIOS files are suddenly corrupted. Did the “Neko2” core update corrupt it in some way? Are you taking a Backup of the core? If so, would you try to restore the core, or what happens if you pull just the “Neko2” core from v1.16.0 of RetroArch?

Sorry, I guess I wasnt clear with my descriptions. I mean the games work with neko core. Its the kai core thats giving me issues with these errors.

Ah, I understand. So can you tell me which game title is causing the error?

Also, does Kai also solve the problem by reverting to v1.16.0 or earlier core?

Its a whole group of hdi images. Games like Farland story, Desire, Macross, Aktie, star cruiser 2, touhou etc. I havent tried reverting to 16.0 for the kai core. How do I do that? I cant seem to find any site that shows all older cores to manually download.

I just tried some HDI images (touhou, desire, farland story) they all work for me with 1.17 and neko 2 kai.

My suggestion is to try a fresh retroarch install and see if it works, then if it does (backup first) then renew the np2kai directory in the system folder with fresh new bios files.

Yes they worked for me before until retroarch did a weird freeze and I had to force close it. After that they wouldnt work again. I’m trying to find a way to not use a fresh retroarch since I have over a couple dozen other systems set up with it. I did try to put in fresh bois files in the kai folder but it didnt do anything. I had retroarch redownload the kay core and that didnt work. So I’d like to see if a previous older core would work like Ranmori mentioned. I just have no idea where to get them after trying to find some.

Go to

retroarch_main_folder/config/Neko Project II kai/

make a backup and then delete all the files in that directory, do the same for:

retroarch_main_folder/saves/Neko Project II kai/

retroarch_main_folder/states/Neko Project II kai/

https://buildbot.libretro.com/stable/

There are Core-only files in each platforum, along with the RetroArch itself.

ps
But from what you say about the whole RetroArch Freezed up I am beginning to wonder a bit if just replacing the cores is the cure.

Sadly the previous core didnt seem to fix it. As for the crash, it was more to do with a game not loading and just giving me a black screen, but I couldnt quit out of it for some reason. After pressing escape a few times and some other keys, I had to alt-ctrl-del and close it from task manager. Thats when I noticed I’d somehow managed to have it running 4 times during the freeze somehow. After I closed it all thats when the problems first started.

Sorry that didnt seem to do it. I find it strange that I cant find this issue mentioned anywhere else. I cant be the first. That would be so unlucky.

Success! Finally got it working. I first tried a new retroarch folder on a different drive. This gave me some problems as I wasnt sure about a few files and where to put them. I got it working in the end and then took that knowledge to my main retroarch folder. I decided to overwrite all the files in the np2kai with fresh ones and also put these in the system folder also. I’m sure the double up probably doesnt need to happen, but now everything is working so I’m good with my messy folder. Thanks for the help! Your suggestions got me there.

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