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SNES PowerPak firmware v3.00 »MUFASA« released

Whew, finally. ;-)

Download:
Download SNES PowerPak firmware v3.00 »MUFASA« (source included)

Note that the first-time installation procedure of v3.00 has changed a bit since the previous »SIMBA« firmwares. Please check the SNES PowerPak firmware page for details.

Have fun, and long live the SNES PowerPak! :-D

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Eidis am :

Eidis Dear ManuLöwe,

Thank you once again for your hard work, efforts and bringing new life in the wonderful SNES PowerPak. The Mufasa release feels more responsive and its SPC player is the first real SNES player that is usable and actually works. Could it be possible to add the following features to the GUI in order to expand its functionality ?

1) In the file browser: When exiting a subdirectory, automatically place cursor at the name of subdirectory from which the browser has exited;
2) In the SPC player: Right shoulder button = next SPC file, Left shoulder button = previous SPC file.

Thank you once again !
Eidis

ManuLöwe am :

ManuLöwe Hey, Eidis, thank you for your feedback and suggestions. :-)

1) That would require a full backup of the previous screen, plus all cursor/entry parameters. While it could theoretically be done, it would definitely slow down directory changes, and is therefore unlikely to happen – unless I manage to devise some clever way to implement such a "backup", much like I did with the SPC player (which simply uses the "upper" part of the 64×32 tilemap).

2) This has been on my To-do list and will most likely be implemented in a future release. :-D

Thanks again!

YerFatha am :

YerFatha OOOOOH YEEEEA !!! HAIL TO THE LION !!!
MAD SKILLS !!!
keep up the good work ;D
-HADOOKEN STYLE, BABY !!!

Iceman am :

Iceman Oink! Oink! ...sach mal, kannst du bei SOE den sram richtig speichern bzw laden? hat glaub ich nix mit deiner firmware zu tun. +pilotwings geht nur mit diesem DMA dings ausgeschaltet...!?! das sind die einzigen games die ich in all den jahren finden konnte, die nicht richtig auf meinem PPak laufen! Hast du die gleichen bugs, oder hast du eine lösung für das problem? Ich kann erst ruhig schlafen wenn ALLE games perfekt laufen... oh mighty manu, please send some help! -und danke nochmal für deine grandiose arbeit!!!

ManuLöwe am :

ManuLöwe Danke für das pralle Lob, und oink, oink zurück! :-D Secret of Evermore hab ich eben getestet, speichern und laden funktioniert. Könnte es ein Problem mit der CF-Karte sein?

Pilotwings hat bei mir noch nie funktioniert (Lade- bzw. Mapping-Fehler), vermutlich da in meinem PowerPak ein inkompatibler DSP-Chip verbaut ist. Ganz sicher bin ich allerdings auch nicht, woran es wirklich liegt ... :-|

falconsfan am :

falconsfan Hi, first let me say nice job with v3.0 but I have a couple questions.

1. I can't seem to get my theme to save after selecting it do I need to do anything specific to save it.

2. Next can you work on a method to re-flash stock firmware back to the cart?

Nice job again!

falconsfan am :

falconsfan Thanks for the response ManuLowe, I've tried searching for downgrade info, but I must be blind because I can't seem to find the information, would you mind explaining the process or directing me to the information, as I also can't find your email address either? Also, on a seperate note, I can't for the life of me get Pilotwings(U) rom to load... I know I have the extra chip but every version I've tried just hangs... do you have any issues? I know you aren't support for the PowerPak, but obviously you know more about this device than most, so I thought I would ask incase its user error. :-) Thanks for your time.

ManuLöwe am :

ManuLöwe Hey, falconsfan,

I can't get Pilotwings to work either – the PowerPak simply throws up some kind of mapping error. I suspect this is because the DSP1-A chip that RetroUSB soldered into my cart is incompatible with the game, which AFAIK requires a DSP1 (non-A/B). :-| But then again, I seem to remember actually playing Pilotwings on the PowerPak one particular time, though using another CF card. Not sure if this is really true, so I'm afraid Pilotwings should be considered as one of the incompatible games.

Downgrading from an installed working v3.00 to the stock firmware works as follows. Please be sure to read through the instructions at least once to make sure you understand them completely. ;-)

1. Unzip Retrousb's latest firmware package (available at http://www.retrousb.com/downloads/POWERPAK134105.zip) and merge the contents of the POWERPAK subfolder with the /POWERPAK folder on your CF card.
2. Unzip POWERPAK/snespowerpakboot102.zip from Retrousb's archive. Rename the snespowerpakboot102.bin file you unzipped to UPDATE.ROM, and copy it to the /POWERPAK folder on your CF card, overwriting the existing UPDATE.ROM file.
3. Power up your SNES PowerPak, go to the settings menu and place the cursor on "Check for firmware update".
4. Press and hold L+R+X, then press A (while still holding the 3 other buttons).
5. The v3.00 update flasher should launch. Press A to proceed.
6. After reflashing, the PowerPak will start up with its stock firmware again.

Please keep in mind that I cannot, and will not, provide support for the stock firmware in any way, so use that at your own risk. :-P

Thanks!

OnlyIceMaine am :

OnlyIceMaine Geilon!
Mit der 3.00 Firmware läuft Pilotwings (U) ohne Probleme (mit DMA eingeschaltet oder ausgeschaltet :-D) das ist voll verrückt mit dem PPak...vielleicht liegts an der CFcard aber die hat immer noch die "Factory-Formatierung" (2gb Hama@Saturn) und ich trau mich nicht die selbst zu formatieren sonst wird die am ende nicht mehr gelesen...hatte ich schon!!! Pilotwings einfach mal mit DMA-OFF ausprobieren...Danke nochmals, ich hab sooo spaß =.D Oink,Oink!

Samuel Johansson am :

Samuel Johansson Pilotwings (E) works fine here. If you need some more info to troubleshoot I'd gladly provide it, though I don't know what that would be...

Lionheart am :

Lionheart Thank you for your hard work! The 3.00 firmware is amazing. Unfortunately I have also the problem with the themes. I can change them, but when I reset my console the powerpak goes back to the standard theme. It looks like this affects also the DMA settings...

Any solution for this?

The SPC player is really nice, shoulder buttons for skipping songs would be great for a later project!

Thanks again for this hard work!

ManuLöwe am :

ManuLöwe Thanks, guys! 8-) Don't forget to return to the settings menu after selecting a theme. Then hit Start to save your configuration. Let me know if that helps. :-)

@falconsfan, an option to downgrade is already implemented. :-) Please E-Mail me for instructions, or have a look at The Sourcecode™. ;-)

Eidis am :

Eidis Dear ManuLöwe,

Thank you once again for the amazing Mufasa release. Here are a few things which came to my mind.

1) Let's suppose that the user chooses to enter directory Nr.7 from the root of the CF card, then subdirectory Nr.3 and then subdirectory Nr.5 which lies even deeper in the tree. The PowerPak saves the cursor position for each entered subdirectory as 1 byte (aka: 7, 3, 5) . The directory and file listings of the card do not change so the PowerPak firmware reads the saved 1 byte cursor position when returning from a subdirectory and places the cursor there.

2) When pressing START button at the Mufasa logo, the firmware let's us quickly select the last played game. Would it be possible to allow the user to select up to 10 previously played games by using the left and right buttons, kind of like history function in the internet browser ?

Thank you once again!
Eidis

ManuLöwe am :

ManuLöwe Hey, Eidis!

1) Unfortunately, things are not that straightforward, but I'll see what I can do.

2) This might indeed be a future feature as well. :-)

Thanks!

ManuLöwe am :

ManuLöwe Hey, Eidis,

it's been a long time (and a lot of work), but I thought I'd let you know that I finally managed to implement no. #1 of your suggestions (automatically place cursor on last subdirectory). Please head over to https://github.com/Ramsis-SNES/snes-powerpak-firmware-v3/blob/master/src/out/POWERPAK/UPDATE.ROM and click on the "Raw" button to download the update ROM. Put it in the /POWERPAK folder on your CF card (overwriting the existing file), then go to the PowerPak's settings menu, and select "Check for firmware update". After reflashing is complete, please check out the new file browser and let me know if you encounter any issues. :-)

Thanks!
ManuLöwe

Tom38 am :

Tom38 Found a strange bug, but i dont know if this is a problem of your custom-firmware or a general problem of the PowerPak hardware. I use the C3.00 Mufasa firmware.

First of all i must explain that my PAL-SNES console had a mod and can manually be switched between NTSC and PAL Mode. This means, that all different rom-versions of a game works (japan/european/american).

To run into the bug, i did this and i can be reproduce this every time here:

- i played the NTSC-ROM of "DR. MARIO" on my PAL-SNES a little bit

- then i go back to the PowerPak-Menü with a double-klick on Reset-button (i dont turn-off the console)

- now i insert the game "BUST A MOVE (Puzzle Bobble)" and strangly now i only get a blackscreen when the game starts. nothing happens now and i can not play the game.

- after turning-off the SNES with the ON/OFF button and then turning-on again, i tried "Bust a Move" again and now it works normally

- then i wanted to know, if other games than "Dr Mario" also causes this problem in "Bust a Move" when they are played before, but i could NOT find another game which causes this. i tried about 20 different games and only "Dr Mario" makes this problem. seems like, when i play any other game before "Bust a Move", no problem comes and the game starts normally

- next i wanted to know, if "DR Mario" brings problems also to other games, when it is played before and the SNES is not turned off. But i tried about 10 different other games AFTER "Dr Mario" and they all worked normally

Strange hm? Only this combination - "Dr Mario" and then "Bust a Move" without turning-off SNES ends in a blackscreen. Seems like "Dr Mario" uses certain areas in memory which were not cleaned correctly after a Reset on SNES and this memory-areas then causes the blackscreen in "Bust a Move".

I can not say, if this also happens with original firmware, because i dont wanted to change back now, only to test this. But i believe, that this problem also happens in original firmware.

Maybe other users can write here, if they can reproduce this bug? Would interest me, if this prolem is only here on my SNES or if others can repriduce it. But i think, it could be reproduced on other SNES-consoles also.

Regards and happy christmas. Your custom-firmware is superb, MANU. Good work.

Regards,
Tom

ManuLöwe am :

ManuLöwe Hi, Tom,

thanks a lot! :-)

The issue with (Tetris &) Dr. Mario and Bust-a-Move/Puzzle Bobble has been known for some time. I think I've found and fixed the issue though. :-D Please go to https://github.com/Ramsis-SNES/snes-powerpak-firmware-v3/blob/master/src/out/POWERPAK/UPDATE.ROM, and click on "Raw" to download the file. Put it in the /POWERPAK folder on your CF card (overwriting the existing UPDATE.ROM), then go to the PowerPak's settings menu, and select "Check for firmware update". After reflashing is complete, please try the game sequence that caused the issue with Bust-a-Move again and let me know if it works.

Thanks again! :-)

Tom38 am :

Tom38 Hello ManuLöwe. Sorry for the long time (about 3 years *lol*) that i needed, to write this answer here, but i simply forgot to react here on the side and write the result. :-)

Yes, your newer "update.rom" seems to solve the issue with "Bust a Move" game, when "Dr. Mario" is played before. Since this update until now, i never had this issue again.

Thanks for fixing this thing, your firmware is great and also looks great. Menues are very clear and i also like the used fonts and graphics of Mufasa theme alot.

Best regards

ManuLöwe am :

ManuLöwe Hey Tom, great, thanks! :-D BTW sorry for the late reply, my CMS has mysteriously stopped sending me e-mail notifications about new comments lately ...

Khan am :

Khan Strange issue here: Can't use joypad at all in the menus..it works in-game after the powerpak menu but not in the powerpak ui..I've tried several firmwares..I'm willing to pay if there's a way you can map it so I can move around the interface using buttons as I think my powerpak cart is damaged somehow..

Khan am :

Khan Re: unable to use the directional pad in the powerpak menu: I found out It's to do with joysticks or 3rd party controllers: Only the buttons work so humbly requesting a way to move through menus using buttons or a way to remap direction pad to buttons for the powerpak user interface.

Tom38 am :

Tom38 Hy again ManuLöwe.

In my last entry which i made about 1 hour ago, i forgot to ask one thing.

Is there a chance for a function in future firmware-versions, that the PowerPak can not only autoloading existing srm-files (SRAM saves) but also CREATE such files? This would be a big improvement in my opinion, because when user have, for example the GoodTool-Romset on their card, then all roms have extremely long filenames and when the users manually must rename all srm-files exactly in the same long names it's a very nervy thing. I remember, that i did this for about 200 srm-files some years ago, but now with all those new romhacks, i have again hundreds of new roms which all have no srm-file until now.

Don't understand me wrong, it's no problem to copy 10 or 20 srm-files and rename them in the name of the respective roms. Don't think i am lazy *lol*. But doing this for hundreds and hundreds of roms, for example the ones in the GoodTool Romset, is really annoying. Therefore the question, if there is a chance for a "creating SRAM files" function in future PowerPak firmwares or is this simply not possible?

Or and this would be an alternative way, exists any kind of a "tool" on the PC, which could automatically rename srm-files in the same names of some tagged roms from a list? Sadly i am not capable by myself to write such a batch-file or tool. Do you know such a program or is it possible for you to create it?

Best regards

ManuLöwe am :

ManuLöwe Hey Tom, it would be indeed a nifty feature if the PowerPak automagically created SRM files when needed. I was actually working on this some time ago but unfortunately didn't get very far. Unlike e.g. the SD2SNES, the PowerPak leaves all FAT I/O handling to the SNES CPU, i.e., it all has to be programmed in SNES assembly from scratch instead of relying on some existing library (FatFs in the case of SD2SNES). That's not saying it won't ever happen, I just can't really promise anything just yet. PS. Sorry for the late reply, my CMS has mysteriously stopped sending me e-mail notifications about new comments lately ...

Jay Dee am :

Jay Dee Just load em all once in a row with zsnes and all games have their correct sram file added!! But it would be a nice feature, as a 10 Year anniversary Powerpak user I know what you mean!
Greetings! ;-)

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