HOW TO: Play games on your COWON A2

[doniago]

Works for me MCS, and thanks for the support.

[MCSmarties]

Anytime .

[godmoney]

I just used the guide step-by-step and its great.
thank a lot.
a few questions:

1. why do you need the ROMS folder in a addition to the Bootloader\.apps\SMS\ folder?
I'm talking about this:

(temporary directory)
Bootloader\.apps\sms_emulator.a2
Bootloader\.apps\SMS\(all your game ROMs, without extensions)
ROMS\(a copy of all your renamed game ROMs, ready to be archived somewhere)

2. The first time I turned on the A2 after completing this manual it showed me the picture that I always see when it loads, but nothing happened. Then I saw a pic of the cowon with a red X and it got stuck. I turned it off, then on again and it works fine...

3. you don't have to leave the C pressed while you are turning on the cowon. you have like a 4 seconds window (kind of annoying actually to be having this every time I run the A2) for doing so. I think that 2 seconds is more then enough

4. is there a Save Game option?

5. no way when I finish a game to go back to the games menu right? I have to turn it off and then on again.

6. All of you guys have to press the off button for like at least 15 seconds in order to close the cowon while in game or is it just me?

Thanks again for your great work on this manual and thanks for the bootloader. the new version looks amazing!

[MCSmarties]

Originally Posted by godmoney

1. why do you need the ROMS folder in a addition to the Bootloader\.apps\SMS\ folder?

This is simply where you download/store your ROMS on your computer. Has nothing to do with the A2 (there's not need to copy that folder).

Originally Posted by godmoney

2. The first time I turned on the A2 after completing this manual it showed me the picture that I always see when it loads, but nothing happened. Then I saw a pic of the cowon with a red X and it got stuck. I turned it off, then on again and it works fine...

Did you install the new firmware and rebooted the A2 BEFORE you started messing with the emulator files?

Originally Posted by godmoney

3. you don't have to leave the C pressed while you are turning on the cowon.

It seemed to me that you had to keep it pressed for a little bit with version 1.8. The bootloader version 2.0 seems to start immediately.

Originally Posted by godmoney

I think that 2 seconds is more then enough

I agree. Iscran?

Originally Posted by godmoney

Is there a Save Game option? (...)
No way when I finish a game to go back to the games menu (...) ?

Please read the tutorial again (answer: no on both counts)

Originally Posted by godmoney

All of you guys have to press the off button for like at least 15 seconds in order to close the cowon while in game or is it just me?

I noticed that too. Actually, I'm not sure what exactly triggers it. Sometimes you need to keep it pressed, sometimes press it repeatedly.

From what I understand, the problem is that the creator of the sms emulator is not very communicative (in the korean pmptune.net forum) and has unfortunately chosen not to release his source code. Kinda makes things hard for our developer friends...

[mahesh_sriniv]

I also had the same problem that godmoney had - i had upgraded to 1.85e already and when I installed bootloader, sms and roms - restarted - it gave me the same problem that godmoney explained (cowon with red cross picture appearing)

But it worked fine when I restarted it again.

Another question that I have is that installing these files (particularly the bootloader and sms) - does it slow down the A2??

I felt that the cowon's response after playing music or movie and trying to go back or even switch off the LCD - the response has been pretty slow - slower than normal.

[godmoney]

Did you install the new firmware and rebooted the A2 BEFORE you started messing with the emulator files?

I installed the firmware the day after I got the a2 - about a month ago. but like I said - its working fine now. it was just weird and I thought you would like to know.

mahesh_sriniv, I haven't noticed any slow down in the a2 work speed...

By the way - I remember that a NES emulator came out with the SMS emulator. anyone knows what happened to it? I would sure like to play mario games on my cowon - that will be a dream...
And when when will someone takes it on himself and put out an emulator for 16 and 32 bit systems ?!

[Iscran]

hmm, As for the red X popping up I can't say I know why that's happening to be honest. I think mabye because from MCsmarties instructions it's trying to update the firmware like it normally does. I never did it this way when developing it. I'm sneaky and just copy the A2_player file into the .system when I'm testing it. Doesn't seem to have any ill effects so you can do it either way.

Responsiveness shouldn't be an issue when running the main OS as the bootloader sits idle in the background. I haven't noticed any slowdown on my A2. In the future I guess I'll optimize it so the bootloader is killed when you load the main OS, currently it just sits there idle not doing anything and not really using any resources.

2 seconds - Yeah yeah I hear ya Will add a config menu so you can set a few options yourself which can be saved. For example how long you'll have to press C.

Sadly pretty much anything to do with the game play itself of the ROMs cannot be changed by myself or others as the creator over at pmptune.net has not released the source code. So for the time being no save games and no pausing of games ect, also sadly no sound

I haven't done much work with graphical programming so my skills in porting a working emulator (like SNES or NES) are slim. Will get better as time goes. I must say I'm enjoying this project as I haven't done any programming for a year so getting back into the scene has been fun.

On my A2 when I want to shutdown I have to press and hold the power button for around 3 seconds then leave it, it shuts itself down after about another 6 or so. My guess is in this period it's closing files and memory internally and turning off. Normally the shutdown logo would be displayed like in the A2 OS but not for the moment.

The bootloader shouldn't be Dependant on what firmware version you're running but I do all my testing on the latest firmware version so my recommendation is you use that too.

The check for C being pressed happens just before and after a second ticks over :

Check if C is being held?
Wait 1 second
Check if C is being held?
wait 1 second.
ect ect...

So as long as you're holding it when that tick occurs then it will enter the bootloader. You can also hold it before the bootloader starts and it will go straight in.


Finally, in answer to going back to the game menu : This is still being developed and tested. Perhaps in the future you will be able to jump back to the rom selection screen but at the moment no. Hold on tight for the next release. If things go well it will probably be out in a couple of days, but no promises

[MCSmarties]

Iscran, thanks for that post. You rule!

[centus]

Iscran, execl() without the fork() should do it, that's what I have on my bootloader and it looks like the system behaves the same as without the bootloader in normal mode.

[godmoney]

Iscran,
If I haven't told yet how much I thank you yet - then I am .

now, lets talk about other emulators .
if we can get the source code in C you will able to work with it - no?

[Iscran]

I can definitely try.

If you could get the source code from the guys over at PMPtune for their SMS and Snes emulator it would be even better.

[centus]

I've been trying to do just that, through that guy who originally sent me the instructions on how to use it... no luck yet... will update when there's anything to update about.

[Nogmor]

So, any updates on the game development area? :-)

Any luck in running sound in game-mode?

[Hess]

Is it possible to use the AV Out cable and hook your cowon up too the TV and play the games through the TV, using the A2 as the controller?

[B_Lizzard]

Originally Posted by MCSmarties

From what I understand, the problem is that the creator of the sms emulator is not very communicative (in the korean pmptune.net forum) and has unfortunately chosen not to release his source code. Kinda makes things hard for our developer friends...

Um, since the emulator is statically linked against libSDL, what he's doing (not releasing his code) is illegal. Someone should take it up to him and make him release the code. Where did the whole spirit of free software go anyways?