Custom Firmware for Atgames Legends Flashback with support for Arcade games

[admin]

​

Hi,

I'd like to share my first custom firmware for the Atgames Legends Flashback 2018. This CFW doesn't work with the Legends Flashback 2019 (the one with 100/110 games).

It removes the file extension filter from the SD Card and include support to load arcade games from the SD Card using Final Burn Alpha or MAME 2000.

I did not test it extensively, and it may brick the console (as every software update). Since it doesn't affect the base OS or the recovery partition, if it doesn't work for you, or you don't like it, just install the update from the Atgames website again and it will remove all changes.

Please keep in mind this console is more like a Raspberry Pi Zero/Raspberry Pi 2 than a SNES Classic or Super Retro-cade. It's a Dual-Core processor with 128MB NAND/128MB RAM, so a lot of games will run slow or do not run at all. MAME 2000 is the preferred emulator, as it runs everything pretty fast. The extensions for arcade games are weird due to technical limitation, you can read the technical info if you want to know
why.

If anyone find an issue that may affect the console let me know so I will remove the download link.

Instructions:
+ Copy arcade_update.img to the SD Card
+ Insert the SD Card with the console powered off
+ Power on and follow the instructions
+ After the console is updated, remove the SD Card and rename or delete .img file
+ Read the additional readme file for additional features

Release Notes:
This is the same update as the one released by Atgames in Dec-03, but it includes the following changes:
+ Support for FBA games in 7-zip format (last character in the file name will be dropped in Menu). CPS1, CPS2 and some Neo Geo games work fine with this core (any game larger than Samurai Showdown 4 will fail to load) and you need to press DOWN + Start to insert coins (the menu option is not available)
+ Added MAME 2000 core, so there are 2 options of emulator. MAME games must be renamed from .zip to .zim. Vertical games will be displayed in 4:3 and some games will have display issues (like Mortal Kombat)
+ The insert coin for the MAME 2000 and FBA cores is partially broken in CFW 2.8.4. The only way to add coins is pressing the "MENU" button in the console twice, or press the "Mode" button twice if you have a Genesis controller.
+ Master System and Game Gear games can be run from SD Card (.sms/.gg format)
+ SNES support (.fig)
+ Some settings can be customized in retroplayer.ini
+ Removed texture filter from Capcom games
+ Save states will be deleted when you apply the update. Save them to the SD Card before applying the update

Technical Info:
+ Most of these changes were done using a hex editor and playing with the original Menu.
+ This device has MAME 2003 Plus (inside emulator partition) and FBA (inside rom partition), but both cores seem to be locked to the built-in games. MAME has only 4.3MB, which partially confirm this idea.
+ FBA core is being used only for Ghouls 'n' Ghosts. Other games use MAME, MOO or some proprietary core
+ No cores were modified in the emulator partition, so the gameplay from the built-in games will not be affected
+ FBA support was added by including the FBA core for SNES Classic. Ghouls 'n' Ghosts still running with this core
+ MAME 2000 core was added by removing one ROM that was not being used in the rom partition (Street Fighter II CE). The core is also for SNES Classic
+ FBA and MAME 2000 were added by editing 2 extensions/emulators assigned to Stella (.a26) and a Colecovision (.cv) in retromenu. It's a quick and dirty mod, so I needed to keep the same number of characters for each extension
+ FBA core supports 7-zip out-of-box, but you will need to re-compress your ROMS to use it
+ MAME 2000 extension '.zim' was chosen because '.zip' is already assigned to the built-in MAME 2003 Plus. I edited the core to replace .zip with .zim
+ Last character for 7-zip games is dropped because the menu is expecting a 3-digit extension. I couldn't find a way to fix it, and some games will be difficult to identify. It doesn't affect internally, as the games are properly loaded (with correct file name)
+ Larger Neo Geo games will fail load due to the available space to expand the games (the whole NAND has 128MB) and also likely due to the total memory (128MB)
+ The "full v2.6 update" released by Atgames (and which this mod is based), has 3 partitions that are fully replaced when you run it:
1) emulator (10MB) -> It's a read-only compressed partition (SquashFS) containing the launcher (retromenu), emulator (retroplayer), and most of the cores. There is also a retroplayer_ro.ini with settings for the emulator
2) rom (48MB) -> Contains the ROMs, game list file and FBA core in a compressed partition (SquashFS)
3) data (4MB) -> retroplayer.ini (game settings/this file is writable and store custom controller layouts among other settings), sdcard_config.ini and save states

UPDATE 1[Jan-24]:
A couple of users reported that Williams games doesn't work with this core. This is caused by the core working without RetroArch, and trying to create the .nv files inside the read-only partition. While I did not fix the core, I've created an update with a workaround for these games. It's the same update as above but the Williams games will also work.

UPDATE 2 [Jan-30]:
I've updated the download link with the definitive fix for Arcade Games that require reading files from nvram (Williams games). You will see a folder 'mame2000' under GAME folder with the cfg and .nv files.

UPDATE 3 [Dec-04]:
New CFW based on the Atgames update 2.8.4 (20191203). The insert coin for the MAME 2000 and FBA cores is partially broken. The only way to add coins is pressing the "MENU" button in the console twice, or press the "Mode" button twice if you have a Genesis controller.

Download link - Update with FBA, MAME 2000 and Williams games support
Download link - Update v2.8.4 with overlock enabled

The following games are now supported:

* Defender
* Defense Command
* Mayday Mai'dez
* Colony 7
* Stargate
* Robotron
* Joust
* Bubbles
* Splat
* Sinistar
* Blaster
* Mystic Marathon
* Turkey Shoot
* Inferno
* Joust 2