looking for Retron 5 hack to play Roms

I figured out what I was doing wrong and got it working. I wasn't using a .bin ROM, and had to download a converter to change from .smd to .bin. So, if anyone else is stuck, be sure you've converted the ROMs to .bin files before making the ips patch.

Thank you all for the help and the work to figure this out. Now off to play a few rounds of Herzog Zwei...

 

Now that we can play roms on the Retron5 I would love to see a wireless Power On function.

 

Sega SG 1000 Zaxxon rom works fine !!!! Another System to the list !!!

 

To speed things up I created a batch file (several actually). I'll post the contents of the NES one below.
Prerequisites first.
Create a folder called ip-op, copy your .nes roms in there.
Get a copy of flips.exe (a command line ips patch creator)
Get a .nes rom of the source NES cartridge you are using. rename it to be nesip.nes

here's the batch file

cd ip-op
FOR %%f IN (*.nes) DO (
..\flips.exe ..\nesip.nes "%%f" "%%f".ips
)
del *.nes
cd ..

Note this will delete the .nes roms you have put in the ip-op folder and just leave you the .ips files.

You can adapt this for snes easily, I think I might have to rename megadrive/genesis files so will come up with something for that soon. I haven't tried gb yet.

I hope this helps.

 

Due to all of the mess thats happened lately, Hopefully in the near future a Retroarch update can be installed on the Retron 5 , instead of this jailed junk.

 

adb install retroarch.apk

installing is not the problem

 

Oh crap, Well I tried to understand Retronlabo's Instructions (maybe cuz of the bad english translation), but could you post a step by step in dummy terms for me.

 

I've tried to use the batch file but I get "Couldn't read this rom. What exactly are you doing?"

 

make a folder call it for example NES
in this folder, copy the batch file above, flips.exe, and the source nes rom you are using but renamed to be nesip.nes
cd into the NES folder and create another folder in there called ip-op
copy your nes roms that want to be turned into .ips files into the ip-op folder
open a command prompt
cd to the NES folder
type the name of your batch file (whatever you saved it as eg convert.bat)

 

well, just running retro arch in general is unrelated to retronLabo's hack (which I think basically just changes the Action/Intent which is called when you select start in the r5gui)

note: you may not have any data after this(in particular if you chose the factory data wipe option) you might void your warranty i'm not responsible etc etc

1. download the root image from chromableedstudios.com
2. download rk unpacker tool (see coolerKing post earlier in the thread)
3. unpack the update.img from chromableedstudios.com
4. unpack the boot image
5. unpack the ramdisk from the boot image
6. comment out(add # to beginning) the line 'ro.kernel.qemu=1' from default.prop (ie it should look like #ro.kernel.qemu=1 ) with something like notepad++
7. repack everything
8. replace the update.img by placing it on the Sd card prepared by the hyperkin factory reset process (replace the existing one)
9. flash the update.img from the stock hyperkin recovery (that is, just put the sd card in with your modified update.img and follow normal recovery directions)
10. download adb drivers for r5
11. adb install [package name]
12. adb am start [package name/Activity name]

(you might have to adb shell then top the kill [process number] to get back to r5 home in some situations)

 

Really appreciate that Chroma.
Yeah I believe that the original video of him loading the roms of the SD is what I was hoping is released by Retrolabo or another, both my genesis and famicom slots broke.
But since my slots are broken anyway, I might as well try your guide.

THX AGAIN!!

 

np.

maybe try this one,

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1bJZ5TZD0_oQ0ZsSXQyQTRDZ1k/

if I uploaded the right file you can skip all the pack/unpack stuff and go right to adb drivers and what not (the other steps were to fix the emulators for stock which also fixes retroarch, when it thinks its running in qemu opengl barfs which they both use) you will still have to install a hyperkin application update if you want to use the stock emulators but it shouldnt be required to run retroarch nesoid mupen64 etc... I haven't quite figured out to control them yet but I only made a half-hearted attempt at connecting a wiimote and I dont have a ps3 controller to try (although theoretically I think they should both work, if not stock then with a bit of tinkering in the bluetooth stack)

edit: here is retro arch start/stop more specifically

adb shell am start com.retroarch/com.retroarch.browser.mainmenu.MainMenuActivity
adb shell am force-stop com.retroarch

if I remember right you can send keypresses something like:


adb shell sendevent /dev/input/event2 1 102 1 #home key down
adb shell sendevent /dev/input/event2 1 102 0 #home key up

also, a mario paint mouse is really handy in some android apps

now if I could get turning adb on and off worked out(or borrow this from retronlabo), the OTG port could probably be used for wifi adapter to do video streaming apps, app stores, usb drives, maybe usb controllers etc

 

I am missing something here?
edit: here is retro arch start/stop more specifically
adb shell am start com.retroarch/com.retroarch.browser.mainmenu.MainMenuActivity

I try to load a core and a rom off the sd card and it goes back to the R5 interface. What am I doing wrong?

 

Do the normal retron emulators still work? I didn't try every retroarch core but if I remember right at least the nes ones worked

If the normal emulators don't work you probably still have ro.kernel.qemu =1 which you could verify by adb get prop

 

I get hounded by the nag screen about needing an application update

but if i run adb shell am start com.retroarch/com.retroarch.browser.mainmenu.MainMenuActivity loads the main menu. Def doing something wrong here it does not like adb get prop

back to your guide ;-)

 

You can go ahead and do the update request.dat thing and get the update to test it or the full command would be like

adb shell getprop ro.kernel.qemu

edit(oops! just checked and i did not post the right file in the earlier post! that one still has the ro.kernel.qemu=1 so if you do the unpack repack mentioned above and comment that out it should work)

 

Thanks again for the help. adb shell getprop ro.kernel.qemu gets me a device not found from a windows 7 command prompt. Going to follow your directions with pack and unpack.

 

Assuming you have a rooted update.img, good usb cable, adb drivers and it shows up in the device manager the r5 should show up and work in adb like any other android device

Nesoid, mupen and some other emulators should still work even with the qemu if I remember right

 

I tested the IPS PATCH MENTIONED it does indeed work, but its alot of work just to get a game you would like to play that you don't own, its not lots of work, but I mean, you have to go on download a rom that you really do own, then download a rom you want to play, then use an ips patcher, it's alot of SD CARD SWITCHING in and out of the retron 5, and of course... for example if you try play a GBC game, with a GBA game in the cart slot in the system, it doesn't work. so basically you need to own carts from the system ( as far as I have tested anyway) I have tested a sega game in the cart slot.. while playing a sega genesis games, that did work... all though I have only tested a few things... it's good for what it is, and hopefully a better method will come out, where you can basically just put roms all on an SD CARD, AND BAM YOU CAN PLAY, none of this patcher nonsense, don't get me wrong its better than nothing of course, and does the job, even if its time consuming.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EkwpEXx7g8

Hes coming along nicely... Can't wait for more!