Homebrew RetroArch Switch

[Clapmaster]

Sorry if this is an annoying question but I'm just wondering if the PSX core will ever render 720p+ resolutions at full speed?

 

[lordelan]

Is there a way to load roms from a network share?

For now only through Lakka I guess.

 

[Kaiosten]

vsync

VSync is on by default and I never turned it off to fix the problem. How would it be related?

To be clear, the stuttering was almost like frame skipping... A lot of frame skipping.

 

[Stremon]

Hey guys,

I got a weird issue with the switch version and Genesis/Sega CD cores.

Retroarch on my switch is working pretty well with all the other cores, but with Genesis Plus GX and Picodrive the sound is terrible, distorted, it doesn't sound right at all.

I tested on my PC with the exact same cores and settings, the sounds is amazing, but on the switch it's not at all.
Where can it come from? Is there a way to fix it?

Just to clarify, the games and sound aren't laggy nor crackling or anything like that, it just sounds bad, distorted, low quality, like if the sound frequency was not stable.
I use the mame (ym2612) FM, but tried all the others and even if they don't sound the same, they all have the weird sound distortion. I also increased the audio latency up to 256 to be sure that's not the cause, but no change. I don't use any shaders

For retroarch I have the last version and the last cores. I use the title replacement method in atmosphere to launch the Homebrew launcher and retroarch.

 

[solidsnake2]

Try 460MHz GPU (or docked), Smash is def. fullspeed for me

Mupen64plus-next core works for SX OS or not?

 

[Karones]

What's the PC engine called in the database? I've searched for Beetle, NEC and PC but no luck. Yes, it is updated, the N64 core is in the list

 

[xwizit]

Hey guys,

I got a weird issue with the switch version and Genesis/Sega CD cores.

Retroarch on my switch is working pretty well with all the other cores, but with Genesis Plus GX and Picodrive the sound is terrible, distorted, it doesn't sound right at all.

I tested on my PC with the exact same cores and settings, the sounds is amazing, but on the switch it's not at all.
Where can it come from? Is there a way to fix it?

Just to clarify, the games and sound aren't laggy nor crackling or anything like that, it just sounds bad, distorted, low quality, like if the sound frequency was not stable.
I use the mame (ym2612) FM, but tried all the others and even if they don't sound the same, they all have the weird sound distortion. I also increased the audio latency up to 256 to be sure that's not the cause, but no change. I don't use any shaders

For retroarch I have the last version and the last cores. I use the title replacement method in atmosphere to launch the Homebrew launcher and retroarch.

same issue here was about to post it. also there is a microsecond delay in audio noticable when grabbing items that have sound effects its slightly delayed

 

[Kaiosten]

Hey guys,

I got a weird issue with the switch version and Genesis/Sega CD cores.

Retroarch on my switch is working pretty well with all the other cores, but with Genesis Plus GX and Picodrive the sound is terrible, distorted, it doesn't sound right at all.

I tested on my PC with the exact same cores and settings, the sounds is amazing, but on the switch it's not at all.
Where can it come from? Is there a way to fix it?

Just to clarify, the games and sound aren't laggy nor crackling or anything like that, it just sounds bad, distorted, low quality, like if the sound frequency was not stable.
I use the mame (ym2612) FM, but tried all the others and even if they don't sound the same, they all have the weird sound distortion. I also increased the audio latency up to 256 to be sure that's not the cause, but no change. I don't use any shaders

For retroarch I have the last version and the last cores. I use the title replacement method in atmosphere to launch the Homebrew launcher and retroarch.

I experienced the distorted sound problem with Picodrive, but not with Genesis Plus GX. Nothing was delayed for me though.

I didn't change any options on either core and I left all sound settings within RetroArch at stock.

Maybe try stock settings and see what happens to narrow down the cause?

 

[Stremon]

same issue here was about to post it. also there is a microsecond delay in audio noticable when grabbing items that have sound effects its slightly delayed

The delay can be caused by the audio delay setting (in the latency or audio menu), in fact the Genesis cores don't work well on switch with low audio delay setting, so you will always have more delay than the other cores...

 

[Stremon]

Ok I found the probable cause of the bug, and it's incredibly stupid and infuriating.

Like Kaiosten suggested, I reverted the config files to default, and indeed the bug was gone.
So I tried changing the options one by one, but no matter what option I changed the bug seemed to appear out of nowhere, in a random manner.
And it won't go away unless I reset the config files to default, even if I change the options back one by one.

But then I realized something; it's not related to the options I changed, but to the menu I go to!
If I go inside the Audio menu, without changing any option, just scrolling through it, the bug will come back!!!
I tested it many times and scrolling through the audio menu always triggered the bug...

There is really something wrong with the way audio options are handled in Retroarch, I remember few years ago on the Android build, if I modified the audio delay to anything, the sound would completely cut and not coming back unless I reset the config files.
I would really like to know how those audio options are handled internally on a programming level, there is really something messed up.

Edit: I just installed the last nightly, restored the default settings, and the bug is still there after scrolling through the audio menu.

 

[clout]

VSync is on by default and I never turned it off to fix the problem. How would it be related?

To be clear, the stuttering was almost like frame skipping... A lot of frame skipping.

i have noticed exactly the same problem. It has nothing to do with vsync its like you say it feels more like frameskipping. Its the same with nes games. The only thing that solves this problem is when you turn the „threated video“option off or turn on integer scaling . But with threated video off you can not use fast forward. Its really annoying and i really hope someone can fix that. But ive given up hope cause i reported that bug a few months ago and the only answer i got was the same as yours „vsync“ ... –.–

 

[M7L7NK7]

I cant believe every psx game i throw at it works now, Im used to wii u wiisx games not even working its crazy

 

[Stremon]

-snip-
If anyone can do the same process, with the same game, then send me a video of it working without any sound issue, I would gladly see it.

So I tested the following around 30 times, on genesis_plus_gx core, with 3 different version of retroarch (mostly nightlies):
(I did most of my test in portable mode, but the bug is still present in docked mode)

• I open retroarch, reset the settings to default, launch a sega CD game (Snatcher US version to be precise), everything work as expected.
• Just to be sure I close the game, restart it, everything still work.
• Last, I close the game, go to the sound menu, scroll through it without changing anything, go back to the main menu, reload the game, and the sound is becoming distorted.

Now I don't ask for anybody to believe my words, just to try it by yourself on sega CD games, and see what it does.

My theory on what's happening is that when retroarch reads the current audio options to fill out the option menu with the correct parameters, it somehow corrupts them.

Edit:
Here I made a video of the bug, to show it happening in real time

You can hear the sound starting to bug around 1:17
Sorry for the shaking cam and the not so great quality, hard to hold my phone while pushing the buttons

 

[m4xw]

The heck are you telling me man?
I do understand that you don't believe me since I wouldn't believe it if I didn't found and verified this bug many time, but there is not reason of being a jerk and insulting me when you clearly even didn't care checking it by yourself.
I spent hours of methodical testing to find this bloody bug, it's not coming out of nowhere.

[...snip...]

Bug is nonsense, can't reproduce a single time. Going through the menu is irrelevant as RA as a whole is restarted when you launch a ROM.

 

[Stremon]

Bug is nonsense, can't reproduce a single time. Going through the menu is irrelevant as RA as a whole is restarted when you launch a ROM.

Yeah I already understood that retroarch is pretty much launching the different core .nro everytime you launch a rom, reason why the screen is changing the same way as between homebrews. I'm not a noob in retroarch, I've been using it since the very beginning on many different platforms.

So how do you explain the bug happening in the video I made? And the fact the audio is working perfectly UNTIL I go to the audio menu, no matter how many time I restart the game or retroarch? And always starts being distorted after it?
Did you test it with a Sega CD game?

No matter how retroarch restarts, it still HAS to load the current setting files every time. The bug stays once triggered until I reset the setting files, so I'm pretty sure it has to do with retroarch somehow corrupting the setting files.

Also worth mentioning, I had the bug from a fresh install of retroarch, with new blank folder and all. My SD card has no corruption. Every other core is working perfectly. So unless there is something I am missing, it can't come from my config or me messing it up.

 

[m4xw]

Yeah I already understood that retroarch is pretty much launching the different core .nro everytime you launch a rom, reason why the screen is changing the same way as between homebrews. I'm not a noob in retroarch, I've been using it since the very beginning on many different platforms.

So how do you explain the bug happening in the video I made? And the fact the audio is working perfectly UNTIL I go to the audio menu, no matter how many time I restart the game or retroarch? And always starts being distorted after it?
Did you test it with a Sega CD game?

No matter how retroarch restarts, it still HAS to load the current setting files every time. The bug stays once triggered until I reset the setting files, so I'm pretty sure it has to do with retroarch somehow corrupting the setting files.

Also worth mentioning, I had the bug from a fresh install of retroarch, with new blank folder and all. My SD card has no corruption. Every other core is working perfectly. So unless there is something I am missing, it can't come from my config or me messing it up.

Doesn't happen with the latest nightly for me.
You probably use a unsupported method of launching RA

 

[Stremon]

Doesn't happen with the latest nightly for me.
You probably use a unsupported method of launching RA

I use the hekate 4.6 cvs with the last atmosphere, and I use the recommended game title replacement method, to launch the homebrew launcher and retroarch with full access to the RAM.
I also use the last nightly, and it was doing the same on the few previous versions.
But it wasn't doing this before I updated retroarch few days ago, and started with a fresh new folder.
Which Sega CD game did you use to check if it does the same?

 

[m4xw]

I use the hekate 4.6 cvs with the last atmosphere, and I use game title replacement method recommend, to launch the homebrew launcher and retroarch with full access to the RAM.
I also use the last nightly, and it was doing the same on the few previous versions.
But it wasn't doing this before I updated retroarch few days ago, and started with a fresh new folder.
Which Sega CD game did you use to check if it does the same?

Sega CD or not should not matter. Tested using Sonic 3.
Try a different host title, also check FPS counter, it's likely some generic performance degredation happening to you.
If you think it corrupts your settings, just open them in notepad.
This is more likely related to the X'th launch, rather than opening the Audio menu.
Also check if your OC resets.

 

[Stremon]

Sega CD or not should not matter. Tested using Sonic 3.
Try a different host title, also check FPS counter, it's likely some generic performance degredation happening to you.
If you think it corrupts your settings, just open them in notepad.
This is more likely related to the X'th launch, rather than opening the Audio menu.
Also check if your OC resets.

Indeed, after testing it, it seems I have the same sound issue with Sonic 3 too, and any other game using this core.

No performance degradation, I got the same 59.9/60FPS with or without the issue, and everything is smooth, no lag or stutter.

For the X'th launch, I was thinking the same as you at the beginning, but after extensive tests it appears that the issue never comes back until I go to the audio menu, no matter how many times I launch a game, and the other parameters I change.

I will check the setting files to see what's changing exactly, and try deleting the whole retroarch folder again to see if it gets any better.

 

[m4xw]

Indeed, after testing it, it seems I have the same sound issue with Sonic 3 too, and any other game using this core.

No performance degradation, I got the same 59.9/60FPS with or without the issue, and everything is smooth, no lag or stutter.

For the X'th launch, I was thinking the same as you at the beginning, but after extensive tests it appears that the issue never comes back until I go to the audio menu, no matter how many times I launch a game, and the other parameters I change.

I will check the setting files to see what's changing exactly, and try deleting the whole retroarch folder again to see if it gets any better.

Horizon fw ver?