MiSTer FPGA Forum

Just tried this and there is some garbled text at the bottom that when you walk over it, you fall through the floor and proceed to level 2. If you try it on level 2, you fall through the floor and to the top next to the girl and die.
The walking sound is missing samples (I only have one). I used the update_all script, and it appears it doesn't get everything that is needed.

Hm, the samples are in the MRA, maybe install it manually? It's here: https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/Distrib ... t%201).mra

pgimeno wrote: ↑Tue Nov 30, 2021 11:50 pm Hm, the samples are in the MRA, maybe install it manually? It's here: https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/Distrib ... t%201).mra

Thanks for the help. This is pretty weird. The Donkey Kong I am selecting is called "Donkey Kong". However, I downloaded the above mra and overwrote a file called "Donkey Kong (US, Set 1).mra". The mra for "Donkey Kong" is dated 4/25/2021. When I select "Donkey Kong" it works but is screwed up as previously described and is missing samples. When I select "Donkey Kong (US, Set 1)" it says it can't find an rbf file for it. It seems like the update_all script isn't working correctly, at least in my case.

I’ve tried both a manual install and a fresh install. I didn’t work for me in either case :/

@Robgus I'm sorry, I really have no idea what may be going on. I've had weird issues that no one else seemed to have with some cores too.

Is it possible that you have two DonkeyKong cores in the cores folder? In that case there's the possibility that the wrong one is being picked.

@thorr Yes, the `Donkey Kong.mra` file is outdated but the updater apparently does not remove old files. It is no longer in the MRA list: https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/Distrib ... in/_Arcade. It seems to have been renamed to conform to MAME naming. I have no idea why the new MRA doesn't find the core though. I always do my updates by hand, so it's possible that the updater has issues, but without a proper diagnostic of what's going on, it's hard to tell.

pgimeno wrote: ↑Wed Dec 01, 2021 11:29 am @Robgus I'm sorry, I really have no idea what may be going on. I've had weird issues that no one else seemed to have with some cores too.

Is it possible that you have two DonkeyKong cores in the cores folder? In that case there's the possibility that the wrong one is being picked.

No need to say sorry, I’m really happy you had a go at this to begin with!

That can’t be the case I believe. As I said, I got the glitches after fresh install also :/

Robgus wrote: ↑Wed Dec 01, 2021 12:07 pm

pgimeno wrote: ↑Wed Dec 01, 2021 11:29 am @Robgus I'm sorry, I really have no idea what may be going on. I've had weird issues that no one else seemed to have with some cores too.

Is it possible that you have two DonkeyKong cores in the cores folder? In that case there's the possibility that the wrong one is being picked.

No need to say sorry, I’m really happy you had a go at this to begin with!

That can’t be the case I believe. As I said, I got the glitches after fresh install also :/

I think I have the fix for this..
make sure you delete the current nvram file
then edit the .mra and at the bottom replace what is there under </rom>
with this..

</rom>
<rom index="2"></rom>
<rom index="3" md5="none">
<part>
00 00 00 00 00 FF 00 02 00 02 00 01 00 FF 02 00
00 00 61 00 00 AA 94 76
00 00 60 B8 00 03 50 00
00 00 76 41 00 01 00 00
00 00 76 21 00 01 00 00
00 00 76 01 00 01 07 07
00 00 75 E1 00 01 06 06
00 00 75 C1 00 01 05 05
00 00 75 A1 00 01 00 00
</part>
</rom>
<rom index="4"></rom>

<nvram index="4" size="179"></nvram>

<remark></remark>

<mratimestamp>20210430005030</mratimestamp>
</misterromdescription>

This fixed the issue for me, I could 100% recreate the issue your having where odd character come up and mario falls thru them, but only when you play the game a 2nd time after a save file was created.. This hack fixed it for me.. I DID not like magically come up with this, I am not a programmer at all, I just took the nvram part of an older .mra file that worked before and added replaced what was sent down from Update_All and got lucky, I hope you have similar results

-Zeosstud

It looks like the PR removed one line from the MRA that is part of the high score saving system, so it's probably saving and restoring to bunk addresses.
I don't know if it was removed by accident, but it needs to be there. Restoring it should fix things

It did for me for sure.. my ears are not good enough to really appreciate the sound difference but when you mess with saving high scores, well that certainly gets my attention!! Hope this is sorted for everyone soon..

Zeosstud

Thanks everyone, you are all amazing. How do we get the update_all script to fix all this? I would rather have it automated than have a screwed up system by editing things. I am ok with deleting some files and having it re-download them if needed.

That was indeed the issue. I apologize. It seems that the MRA I modified was an old one without that line. Please test the attached MRA and if it works, would someone (can I abuse you once more neurorulez?) submit a PR?

thorr wrote: ↑Wed Dec 01, 2021 9:17 pm Thanks everyone, you are all amazing. How do we get the update_all script to fix all this? I would rather have it automated than have a screwed up system by editing things. I am ok with deleting some files and having it re-download them if needed.

I totally agree - you are all amazing!

pgimeno wrote: ↑Wed Dec 01, 2021 10:27 pm That was indeed the issue. I apologize. It seems that the MRA I modified was an old one without that line. Please test the attached MRA and if it works, would someone (can I abuse you once more neurorulez?) submit a PR?

I deleted my "Donkey Kong" (without the US) mra file and replaced the US one with this new one, and everything seems to be working perfectly! Thanks!!

thorr wrote: ↑Thu Dec 02, 2021 7:40 am

pgimeno wrote: ↑Wed Dec 01, 2021 10:27 pm That was indeed the issue. I apologize. It seems that the MRA I modified was an old one without that line. Please test the attached MRA and if it works, would someone (can I abuse you once more neurorulez?) submit a PR?

I deleted my "Donkey Kong" (without the US) mra file and replaced the US one with this new one, and everything seems to be working perfectly! Thanks!!

I tried it too and it works perfectly here also - Happy days!!! Thank you!

pgimeno wrote: ↑Wed Dec 01, 2021 10:27 pm That was indeed the issue. I apologize. It seems that the MRA I modified was an old one without that line. Please test the attached MRA and if it works, would someone (can I abuse you once more neurorulez?) submit a PR?

Merged.

SteelRush wrote: ↑Thu Nov 18, 2021 4:52 am You are looking for the analog equivalent of an FPGA, which is an FPAA to handle this properly. They do exist but would need someone with the technical chops to interface with a DE10-Nano.

I saw one for sale but it’s a bit pricey and has been in “restocking” status forever.

https://zrna.org/shop

I am sure there are other FPAAs that actually can be found. I am in the same boat that I want arcade perfect sounds because only the sounds really hold the MiSTer back on arcade games that ran analog sound components.

I would pay $100 for an add-on board (either FPAA or actual analog hw circuits) that provides accurate reproductions of the sounds for arcade games that used analog sound circuitry.

...and Jotego's day job happens to be as an analog circuit engineer.

retrodroid wrote: ↑Wed Dec 29, 2021 8:18 pm

SteelRush wrote: ↑Thu Nov 18, 2021 4:52 am You are looking for the analog equivalent of an FPGA, which is an FPAA to handle this properly. They do exist but would need someone with the technical chops to interface with a DE10-Nano.

I saw one for sale but it’s a bit pricey and has been in “restocking” status forever.

https://zrna.org/shop

I am sure there are other FPAAs that actually can be found. I am in the same boat that I want arcade perfect sounds because only the sounds really hold the MiSTer back on arcade games that ran analog sound components.

I would pay $100 for an add-on board (either FPAA or actual analog hw circuits) that provides accurate reproductions of the sounds for arcade games that used analog sound circuitry.

...and Jotego's day job happens to be as an analog circuit engineer.

Me too!

neurorulez wrote: ↑Sat Dec 04, 2021 10:08 am

pgimeno wrote: ↑Wed Dec 01, 2021 10:27 pm That was indeed the issue. I apologize. It seems that the MRA I modified was an old one without that line. Please test the attached MRA and if it works, would someone (can I abuse you once more neurorulez?) submit a PR?

Merged.

Has this improvement been released? If so, which core should I use to access it?

retrodroid wrote: ↑Wed Jan 05, 2022 3:44 pm Has this improvement been released? If so, which core should I use to access it?

Yes it has been released.

If your MRAs and your cores are up to date, then selecting this MRA in the Arcade menu should get you the updated sounds: Donkey Kong (US, Set 1)

From what I have seen, however, it seems that the MRAs may not get properly updated when using certain updaters. I don't use any so I can't tell which one is to blame and why. So, one option is to update the MRA manually. If that doesn't work, then update the core too. The core is DonkeyKong_20211126.rbf.

retrodroid wrote: ↑Wed Jan 05, 2022 3:44 pm

neurorulez wrote: ↑Sat Dec 04, 2021 10:08 am

pgimeno wrote: ↑Wed Dec 01, 2021 10:27 pm That was indeed the issue. I apologize. It seems that the MRA I modified was an old one without that line. Please test the attached MRA and if it works, would someone (can I abuse you once more neurorulez?) submit a PR?

Merged.

Has this improvement been released? If so, which core should I use to access it?

Yes. The oficial one.
https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/Arcade- ... r/releases

Ran the update and seems the walking sound is fixed.

Now if can just fix the "how high can you get?" and saving pauline jingle, that would be epic.

Anyone know if the sound fix has made it into the alternative versions, Donkey Kong (Japan, Set 1) for instance..

shertz wrote: ↑Sun Jan 09, 2022 7:29 am Ran the update and seems the walking sound is fixed.

Now if can just fix the "how high can you get?" and saving pauline jingle, that would be epic.

I totally agree!

If someone could explain what's different between the original and the core, it would probably attract more developer interest. I was able to make the walking patch based on the explanation given by @callanabrown.

I believe MAME's implementation is considered to be pretty accurate (but it would be nice if somebody with real hardware could verify that), so it should be a safe comparison.

The audio in MAME has a distinctly muffled and smooth sound, while MiSTer's is rather shrill and gravelly. Maybe a filter is all that's required, but maybe it's something more significant. But when flicking between the two implementations, it's pretty obvious that not even the colours match between the two.

As with many of the other Golden Age arcade cores, it's been ported over from code originally written almost twenty years ago. Does it really need rebuilding from the ground up with modern methodology?

I’m really exposing my lack of knowledge, but here goes… could one record the sounds from an original machine and after that, have the samples coded in to the core?

I will share my lack of knowledge / limited knowledge as a response. I believe that is what is happening already with the walking sound, and maybe all of the other sounds already. The upside to using samples is they could potentially sound nearly perfect with proper recordings, but it might be hard to record them if they are blended with other sounds all the time while the game is playing. The downside is it may not be accurate in other ways such as timing, and if the sounds are somewhat random, they may be less or not at all random with samples. Reproducing the sound hardware accurately would be the best solution rather than using samples. This is totally doable theoretically. Personally I am a perfectionist and hate samples, but will take them instead of nothing.

thorr wrote: ↑Fri Feb 04, 2022 11:00 pm I will share my lack of knowledge / limited knowledge as a response. I believe that is what is happening already with the walking sound, and maybe all of the other sounds already. The upside to using samples is they could potentially sound nearly perfect with proper recordings, but it might be hard to record them if they are blended with other sounds all the time while the game is playing. The downside is it may not be accurate in other ways such as timing, and if the sounds are somewhat random, they may be less or not at all random with samples. Reproducing the sound hardware accurately would be the best solution rather than using samples. This is totally doable theoretically. Personally I am a perfectionist and hate samples, but will take them instead of nothing.

Thanks! I agree.

I fired up my Mame machine and the sounds are definitely closer to the original (as far as I can tell). I also noticed a sound somewhat missing from the Mister core that is present in Mame. When Kong stomps on the second stage for example.

I'm a bit one-sided here I know, but it was the DK core that got me in to the Mister from the beginning

I wonder if we put together a GoFundMe and raised XXX dollars, if we could convince Jotego to have a run at making a new core.. Clearly he is one of if not the most talented people working with this project and an accurate Donkey Kong core would clearly be one heck of an accomplishment, I mean the Mame folks have been at it for 25 years as of today and it is still not perfect..

Count me in for $20 if this is an option..

Zeosstud