Chance of a new MAME version?

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Dieter

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Dec 27, 2020, 12:13:37 PM12/27/20
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A question to the compiler king @Al: Is there a chance of a newer MAME version in the near future? Franz Huber, berger and hap integrated the Novag Super Nova into MAME as a Christmas present a few days ago, which unfortunately does not work with the MESS version, that was kindly provided to us by Al. As the owner of the original Super Nova, I would be very happy about an update.

Thank you again for letting us play our old chess computers on the PI. :)

Regards
Dieter

Scally

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Dec 27, 2020, 12:36:57 PM12/27/20
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Hi Dieter,

Yes, as soon as the next MAME level is announced I’ll compile the mess module, v0.226 is still current. That will contain the relevant files required to match the new roms and lua files from Franz.


Cheers,

Al.

Dieter

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Dec 27, 2020, 1:17:38 PM12/27/20
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Thanks for the quick reply, Al. So we wait until the time comes. The corresponding files (ROM, LUA, UCI with level settings) are already installed ... * wink *

Scally

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Dec 27, 2020, 1:33:20 PM12/27/20
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Hi Dieter,

All 48 levels or some of them? (The manual is in French)

I’m currently trying a interim compile, call it mame0226a, to see if I can the get the files required.

Can you email me your nsnova.uci file to save me some time?


Thanks,

Al.

Dieter

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Dec 27, 2020, 2:17:46 PM12/27/20
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Hi Al,

I have only integrated 9 levels so far, like in all my MAME engines. In all my UCI settings I have specified the following 9 levels, if available:

1 = 1 or 5 seconds per move
2 = 10 seconds per move
3 = 15 seconds per move
4 = 30 seconds per move
5 = 1 minute per move
6 = 2 minutes per move
7 = 40 moves in 2 hours
8 = game in 5 minutes
9 = game in 15 minutes

I can support you in your work by defining all 48 levels for the Super Nova. It doesn't take too much work. I'll send you the file with the levels afterwards. At the same time I can also send you the Nova manual in English if you want.

Dieter

Dieter

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Dec 27, 2020, 2:27:19 PM12/27/20
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Sorry, I promised too much. Some levels cannot be translated into Picochess time levels. Enclosed the page with the levels as PDF ...
Levels Novag_SuperNova.pdf

Scally

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Dec 27, 2020, 2:44:33 PM12/27/20
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Hi Dieter,

No problem, I have created the same 9 levels as you, that’s plenty.

The mess compile has been running for 80 mins now, so if it works (sometimes there’s mistakes in their code and it fails) then it should finish in around 70mins time, then I’ll test it and if it works, put the mess file with instructions on my Dropbox. 


Cheers,

Al.

Scally

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Dec 27, 2020, 4:37:37 PM12/27/20
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Hi Dieter,

The compile finished and appeared to be ok, however when I try to run any MAME engine I get this error:

Error opening translation file English
[LUA ERROR] in run: plugins/boot.lua:27: attempt to call a sol.emu_options* value (method 'options')

I think we’re going to have to wait for an official MAME release of v0.227


Sorry,

Al.

Dieter

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Dec 27, 2020, 5:38:33 PM12/27/20
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No problem, Al.

I already noticed, that Picochess has a "languages" folder in mame-emulation, but not in CB Emu from Franz. Maybe something has changed with the languages in the new version.

Good night
Dieter

Scally

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Dec 30, 2020, 6:38:10 AM12/30/20
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Hi Dieter & all,

** This will add the Picochess files required to run nsnova on MAME, you will still need to find & add the ROM and LUA files yourself **

I have managed to add the Novag Super Nova Chess Machine to our MAME environment.

I’m still working on a way to include any new MAME additions into an “old” working framework that compiles and works on Picochess. This means that any future updates would still work regardless of the fact they have changed the way the LUA Interface code works. Obviously changing our LUA code would be a better way of doing this, but until we can get our heads round it, I’ll continue working on another solution.

Here’s a link to my Dropbox upload:

mess0226a.zip
https://www.dropbox.com/s/km4fhycnr4i1b2a/mess0226a.zip?dl=0

It’s best if you copy the zipped file to your raspberry pi, then unzip it on the RPi, then the mess and nsnova files will have the correct permissions, otherwise you will need to type  chmod a+x yyyyy  where yyyyy is mess and nsnova (sudo may be required).

There are 4 files:

mess - this needs to be moved to  ‘/opt/picochess/engines/mame_emulation’  (you may want to rename or move the old mess file)
              once moved, change directories to the above folder and type  ./mess-cc  this creates the required  .ini files

nsnova - this is the Novag Super Nova executable file. Move it to ‘opt/picochess/engines/armv7l/mame’

nsnova.uci - this gives a choice of 24 levels within nsnova once selected within Picochess (supplied by Dieter). Move as nsnova

nsnova.engines.ini - an example ini file that needs adding to  ‘/opt/picochess/engines/armv7l/engines.ini’  next to the other MAME engine entries.


That’s it, Enjoy

Al.

Luigi Vogliobene

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Dec 30, 2020, 7:53:37 AM12/30/20
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Hi Al, thank you very much.
We missed the 2 attached files (n_530.u5 & nsnova.svg) and the engine without them do not start.
Please would you like to upload also these two files ?
Thank you.
Have a nice day.
Luigi
missing files.jpg

Dieter

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Dec 30, 2020, 8:27:37 AM12/30/20
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Luigi, I have Super Nova running without any problems. I'm just playing against it with my Mephisto MM IV. I had this error with the two missing files before with the old version of Mess.

Al, as expected, it's been working perfectly so far. My big compliments again. :)

Regards
Dieter

Luigi Vogliobene

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Dec 30, 2020, 8:42:06 AM12/30/20
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Dieter, this sound so strange ... I tried twice and always the same exception : the DGTPi's stuck on "Engine Setup". I run the very new Al's Mess version for sure. Please would you like to post the 2 files so I can run this engine ?
Thank you.
Regards.
Luigi

Luigi Vogliobene

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Dec 30, 2020, 9:04:33 AM12/30/20
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Al, Dieter,
I literally follow the given instruction (the mess -cc command give me an error so I type it as "sudo mess -cc") but I got always the same exception.
My rom is the latest V3 DGTPi Lite version.
Regards.
Luigi

Dieter

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Dec 30, 2020, 9:19:03 AM12/30/20
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Luigi, you copied the ROM "nsnova.zip" in the folder "engines/mame_emulation/roms" and the file "nsnova.lua" in the directory "engines/mame_emulation/plugins/chessengine/interfaces"? The ROM is under copyright and may not be offered here.

Luigi Vogliobene

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Dec 30, 2020, 9:45:20 AM12/30/20
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Dieter, thank you I do not own this rom.
Sorry.
Have a nice day.
Luigi


Scally

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Dec 30, 2020, 10:00:13 AM12/30/20
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Hi Luigi,

I did warn that you will need the ROM and LUA files in my post:

** This will add the Picochess files required to run nsnova on MAME, you will still need to find & add the ROM and LUA files yourself **

Hi Dieter,

I’m glad it works, so you are playing Picochess Super Nova versus a real MM IV, they are graded close to each other, let us know the outcome

Al.

Luigi Vogliobene

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Dec 30, 2020, 10:02:36 AM12/30/20
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Al you right, I am sorry

Luigi

Scally

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Dec 30, 2020, 11:37:25 AM12/30/20
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Hi all,

I now have a working solution for future MAME upgrades that do not need the LUA rewrites, just in case we can’t solve them.


Cheers,

Al.

RandyR

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Dec 30, 2020, 11:41:00 AM12/30/20
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That's great news, Al.

Thanks!

Randy

Dieter

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Dec 30, 2020, 12:57:29 PM12/30/20
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Great news, Al. Probably not many ROM's will be added. Franz thinks here (in German, sorry), that only one chess computer is missing. But he just finished the Sphinx Commander (scmder). You could use it to check your solution ... ;)

Dieter

Scally

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Dec 30, 2020, 3:25:49 PM12/30/20
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Hi Dieter,

I can see Franz’s scmder entries, but Hap’s are not in the mame GitHub yet that I can see.

Once they’re there I can apply my new method and compile mess.


Al.

Scally

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Dec 31, 2020, 10:30:32 AM12/31/20
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Hi all,

MAME 0.227 was released early this morning, which I have compiled. 
As expected it doesn’t run because of the LUA changes, however there are no new engines that we haven’t already got in the 0.226a version that I provided the other day. 

Once the Sphinx Commander is added, I will compile a 0.227a version using my new solution.


Cheers,

Al.

Dirk

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Dec 31, 2020, 11:16:17 AM12/31/20
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Thanks, AL!


Dirk

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Dieter

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Dec 31, 2020, 11:56:40 AM12/31/20
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Thank you very much from me too, Al.

I wish all members of this community a happy new year. And stay healthy!

Scally

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Jan 2, 2021, 6:02:27 AM1/2/21
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Hi all,

I’ve been playing a few of the MAME engines over Christmas and noticed a few didn’t work, like arb and the ggm_* files amongst others.

It appears that when I took a snapshot of the MAME GitHub on the 23rd Dec to include nsnova, some of the engines had already been converted to use the new LUA code, which we haven’t managed to convert yet.

So I’ve copied the MAME0226 code and added nsnova using my new method and compiled it again.

It’s the same link as before on my Dropbox:


Those of you with only the allowed non-copyright versions should be fine, so there’s no need to update.
For those of you that have added more ROMs then just replace the mess file as described before earlier in this thread.
I have included the nsnova files as before.


Sorry about that,

Al.

Dieter

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Jan 2, 2021, 6:44:34 AM1/2/21
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I've already noticed that, Al. I just didn't want to stress you and have not reported it yet, because I wasn't sure, whether the engines weren't working properly in the previous Mame version.

The new version is now even 27 MB smaller. :)

As always, thank you.

Dieter

Henri

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Jan 2, 2021, 6:47:11 PM1/2/21
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Thanks for the new MESS Al!
Henri

Op zaterdag 2 januari 2021 om 12:02:27 UTC+1 schreef Scally:

Scally

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Jan 28, 2021, 6:54:25 AM1/28/21
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Hi all,

I’ve compiled mess0228a which you can grab from this folder in my Dropbox:


Also there are the scmder.uci and engines.ini files required for the new addition of CXG Sphinx Commander.

As usual you will need to add your own ROM & an scmder executable (similar to the others) and add any required permissions to the executable and unzipped mess file.

Instructions are as before earlier in this thread.


Cheers,

Al.

RandyR

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Jan 28, 2021, 8:29:20 AM1/28/21
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Thanks, Al!

Randy

Dieter

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Jan 28, 2021, 12:21:56 PM1/28/21
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Thank you very much Al.

In the meantime I've also dealt a little with compiling Mame/Mess 0.226. I have optimized the makefile, so that only the chess drivers are processed and was able to bring the build on the Raspi4 to about 40 minutes and the mess file is only 52 MB in size. I also integrated all the new drivers into version 0.226.

I also compiled the just released version 0.228 yesterday. However, I have difficulties converting the Lua files to the new Mame/Lua interface. May I ask, how you solved this? In your build the Lua files run as before ...

Dieter


RandyR schrieb am Donnerstag, 28. Januar 2021 um 14:29:20 UTC+1:
Thanks, Al!

Randy

Scally

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Jan 28, 2021, 1:56:04 PM1/28/21
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Hi Dieter,

I too have compiled mess0228 without making any changes, but until somebody can change every LUA file we use, it is unusable as was mess0226. I didn’t try mess0227 as nothing had changed for us.

I have tried to compile a mess tiny in the past with no success.

As to how I’ve got around the LUA changes, the explanation is simple, however the action is far from easy.

I took a copy of of MAME (v0226) just before the LUA changes were applied. Then as new machines were added like snova & scmder I have had to find all the entries and apply them to the correct libraries, change the version number and compile everything. It’s very hard to find everything needed, with at least 6 additions for each new machine. It took me most of the day on Tuesday to finally complete the compile of mess0228a after a lot of trial and error, but at least our current LUA files work.

It would make my life easier if I was only compiling our mess machines, so I’d like a copy of your optimised Makefile if I may?

We can continue this chat via email.


Cheers,

Al.

Dieter

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Jan 28, 2021, 2:43:25 PM1/28/21
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Hi Al,

I sent you my makefile and the mame.list file by email.

Dieter

Kiko Gomez

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Jan 29, 2021, 4:10:40 AM1/29/21
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Hi Dieter,
Im trying to build  the smallest system able to run picochess v3, actually running in Rpi 3A+ with only 512Mb RAM everything is running fine except MESS emulation because of high memory requirement, could be possible that you share your MESS 0.226 tiny compilation for testing?.

Thank you in advance

Kiko

Dieter

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Jan 29, 2021, 6:04:49 AM1/29/21
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Hi Kiko,

you can download the file here. I tested it on Raspi 3b and Raspi 4. I can't say whether it runs on a Raspi 3a +. All mess engines currently available should run with it, including the new ones.

Dieter

Kiko Gomez

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Jan 29, 2021, 6:45:24 AM1/29/21
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Many thanks Dieter

Scally

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Jan 30, 2021, 8:44:18 AM1/30/21
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Hi all,

Thanks to Dieter, I can now compile a smaller version of MESS, so in the same link as my post on Jan28 you can now download mem0228a-small.zip then unzip to mess and place in mame_emulation as before. This still includes the latest nsnova & scmder engines.

There you can enter commands:
./mess -h   for help on further commands and to get the version number
./mess -listmedia   to list the chess engines included etc.

I have also noticed that my MAME gui system using XRDP is now working with sound thanks to Randy’s sox sound changes.


Cheers,

Al.

RandyR

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Jan 30, 2021, 12:22:36 PM1/30/21
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Thanks, Al.

If you strip the mess file, you can get it down to 33 MB. :^)

Randy

Scally

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Jan 30, 2021, 1:16:35 PM1/30/21
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Hi Randy,

Yes indeed, I always strip my Engine compiles but forget the mess compiles 👍


Al.

Kiko Gomez

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Jan 31, 2021, 3:46:30 AM1/31/21
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Hi Scally,

there are two machines missed in your 0.228 compilation the Novag Presto & Novag Octo, there are some reason to not include that machines? they are running in 0.226 compilation by Dieter.

May be because they are clones?

BR

kiko

Scally

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Jan 31, 2021, 5:49:41 AM1/31/21
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Hi Kiko,

Those 2 were removed in the official version of Mame v0.222 and replaced with novag micro2 as it’s almost identical (info from Dieter)

However Dieter included them in his new source and gave me the drivers and layouts which I added. I can clearly see them compiling in my output:

Compiling src/mame/drivers/novag_octo.cpp...  <<<<
Compiling src/osd/modules/input/input_dinput.cpp...
Compiling src/osd/modules/input/input_mac.cpp...
Compiling src/osd/modules/input/input_none.cpp...
Compiling src/mame/drivers/novag_presto.cpp...  <<<<

I can see ROMs for them but no LUA files so maybe they need them?
I shall investigate further.

I’m sure there are emulations in Dieters mess image that I haven’t included and visa versa, you can always put both mess versions in mame_emulation (with slightly different names) and alter the engine file to point at the required file.

There are nearly 300 emulations (counting the ROMs) and I’m using 107 of them, a lot of them are very similar but I wasn’t using novag octo or presto so didn’t notice sorry.

However I did notice I was missing 3 of my usual emulations, intel02, slc1 & sc2. I added these to the new source file yesterday and recompiled and they are there and working. I replaced a zipped mess within Mess0228a-small.zip in my Dropbox yesterday, but I’m not sure if that was done before Randy included it in his new images.


Cheers,

Al.

Kiko Gomez

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Jan 31, 2021, 6:43:03 AM1/31/21
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Hi Al, 

i checked the -listmedia and both of you have the same except those two novag, about the lua files like they are clones of Novag micro2 only is needed copy nmicro2.lua as npresto.lua and nocto.lua.

I dont know that those was removed in 0.222 so I wil update my system.

Thank you for the info.

Kiko

Charles Declercq

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Jan 31, 2021, 6:53:44 AM1/31/21
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Hello everyone.

Thank you for the various updates.
A few beginner's questions!
1. Do I need to connect the DGTBoard in order to use the emulations?
2. If the emulations are in standalone mode, how do I start the application?
3. Depending on the answers to questions 1 and 2, can I put the Desktop SD card in a Raspberry PI4?

Thank you for your help.


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Kiko Gomez

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Jan 31, 2021, 7:03:24 AM1/31/21
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Hi Al,
sorry I checked the -listmedia before you last update of .228 small intel02, sc2, sc2a are there.

BR

Kiko

Kiko Gomez

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Jan 31, 2021, 7:07:49 AM1/31/21
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Hi Charles

I will try to answer you:

1.- if you are in a desktop image you can run mess directly, first stop picochess "sudo service picochess stop" and run /opt/picochess/engines/mame_emulation/mess
2.- Ok already answered in 1.
3.- Highly recommended, if you are running MESS with GUI

BR

Kiko

Charles Declercq

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Jan 31, 2021, 7:19:09 AM1/31/21
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Thank you Kiko.
I'm Macuser and know a bit about windows and not really Linux.
Is it possible to create a file that stops Picochess and automatically starts Mess?
Charles

Message has been deleted
Message has been deleted
Message has been deleted

Kiko Gomez

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Jan 31, 2021, 8:21:57 AM1/31/21
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Hi Charles,

easy, 

1.- open a terminal window in desktop
2.- type nano change_mess.sh
3.- inside nano type:
#!/bin/bash
sudo service picochess stop
cd /opt/picochess/engines/mame_emulation
./mess
4.- Pulse Ctrl+x and type Y to save the file
5.- from terminal run chmod +x change_mess.sh in order to make it executable
6.- now you can run it, type ./change_mess.sh or double click from file manager.

BR

Kiko

Charles Declercq

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Jan 31, 2021, 8:29:46 AM1/31/21
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Thank you Kiko.
I will test this at my leisure during the week.
I had done a test before your answer on the PI I use to watch videos on my Home Cinema.
I was able to stop Picochess.
But it was responding to an inline command with 
run /opt/picks/engines/mame_emulation/mess

I understand that I have to make mess executable.

But I have another problem, the sound of my usual videos had disappeared (hdmi connection to the audio/video amplifier).
I think the audio issue has been addressed elsewhere.
For the moment there is no urgency, it is first of all for the fun of an old man of 69 years old! :-)

Charles


Le 31 janv. 2021 à 14:21, Kiko Gomez <kinam...@gmail.com> a écrit :

run /opt/picochess/engines/mame_emulation/mess

Dieter

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Jan 31, 2021, 8:51:12 AM1/31/21
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as regards the missing engines Novag Presto and Novag Octo : the two engines were removed in mame version 0.222, as Al has already written, because they are practically identical to nmicro2, except for a different housing. If you compare the roms of the 3 Engines they are actually completely identical. Only the names of the roms differ.

I added them to my collection anyway, because they were sold as different chess computers. For this I simply duplicated the Lua file in /engines/mame_emulation/plugins/chessengine/interfaces from nmicro2.lua to npresto.lua and nocto.lua, because the control of the roms is identical. That works of course ...

Dieter

Kiko Gomez

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Jan 31, 2021, 8:55:11 AM1/31/21
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Hi Charles,
yes, if is not you must make it executable and also need to be is same folder than mess before run it.
to change folder
cd /opt/picochess/engines/mame_emulation
to make it executable
sudo chmod +x mess
to run it
./mess

BR
Kiko

Dieter

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Jan 31, 2021, 9:03:08 AM1/31/21
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Another addendum to Novag Octo, Presto and Micro2: Incidentally, Franz Huber did it that way in his famous CB-Emu. :)

Kiko Gomez

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Jan 31, 2021, 9:07:04 AM1/31/21
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Yes Dieter, 
thats is from where I take the idea of copy the nmicro2.lua as npresto.lua.

One question for you or Al, how to do the UCI files for new roms? could some one explain how to build it?

BR

Kiko

Dieter

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Jan 31, 2021, 9:27:44 AM1/31/21
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I'm sure, Al can answer that better. In the uci files mainly the level settings are defined, but also other things, if the engine allows this in the UCI settings. These settings are then interpreted by the Lua files and forwarded to the roms.

The correct level settings can be found in the manuals, for which there is a large selection here.

Scally

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Jan 31, 2021, 12:08:45 PM1/31/21
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Hi all,

As Dieter says, I look at the manual (most are on Alain’s site) then look at the associated LUA file to see how it’s coded.

Then hopefully I can select a few of the several levels available, I never chose all levels unless there are only a few.

I the case of npresto, the LUA file didn’t exist until you copied nmicro2.lua, it’s not that clear but it shows it has 8 levels.

Attached are the levels of novag presto in English, the Novag Micro2 in German and the Novag Micro in French. As you can see they are very similar if not the same, so we can copy the nmicro.uci file as npresto.uci.


Cheers,

Al.
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Scally

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Feb 25, 2021, 11:15:32 AM2/25/21
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Hi all,

mess for mame0229 is now available on the same link as before:


Just unzip mess0229a-small.zip, replace the mess file in /opt/picochess/engines/mame_emulation, make sure it has executable rights via  sudo chmod a+x mess  and type  ./mess -cc  to initialise it &  ./mess -h  for help.

The only addition is Novag Supremo
You can create a supremo engine by copying another and changing the last word to supremo
The uci file is a direct copy of nsnova.uci but will obviously need to be called supremo.uci
The engines.ini entry is a copy of the nsnova entry except the grade is 1695.

Obviously you will need the associated Rom and Lua files for this to work.


Cheers,

Al.

Kiko Gomez

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Feb 26, 2021, 4:16:27 PM2/26/21
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Hi Al,
Thank you for the update but Im having a small issue.

the new Novag Supremo running headless is fine but running with GUI the chess pieces doesnt appear in the board, and if run ./supremo directly have a message that is not able to find the pieces files, it is looking for .svg files instead of .png files that is what we have in artwork folder.

Is this new in 0.229 version? Where can we find the chess pieces in svg format.

BR

Kiko

RandyR

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Feb 26, 2021, 5:03:17 PM2/26/21
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Kiko,

These might help. I haven't tried v0.229 myself.

Randy

Scally

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Feb 26, 2021, 6:06:15 PM2/26/21
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Hi Kiko & Randy,

I had noticed that 3 of the Engines in mame0228 were missing their chess pieces in the GUI.

With mame0229 both nsnova and the new supremo are also missing their chess pieces, yet nsnova works in mame0228.
The nsnova .rom and .lua files haven’t changed so something else has.

I used to use the actual mame download as mame_emulation but quickly changed to using CB-Emu as mame_emulation, however CB-Emu still has .png files for all the engines chess pieces.

So I tried copying the .svg files that Randy suggested from MAME into  /opt/picochess/engines/mame_emulation/artwork/chess  but I got several error messages.

So I had a thought and copied all the .png files as .svg files and it worked!
The solution is to cd into  /opt/picochess/engines/mame_emulation/artwork/chess
Create a little bash file called copy.sh,  give it executable rights via  sudo chmod a+x copy.sh and run it via  ./copy.sh:

# Copy all *.png to *.svg
for f in *.png; do 
    cp -- "$f" "${f%.png}.svg"
done

Then nsnova and supremo works. I can’t remember the other 3 that failed but I’m willing to bet they will work too, I will try all MAME engines over the weekend in GUI mode.


Cheers,

Al.

Randy Reade

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Feb 26, 2021, 6:35:50 PM2/26/21
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Hi Al.

I believe it's the .lay files that determine which image to use for the pieces. Also, I think CB-Emu is based on v0.225 or earlier.

Thanks for the solution.

Randy

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Kiko Gomez

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Feb 27, 2021, 2:23:25 AM2/27/21
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Hi,
thank you both, I also think the same solution than you Al but I discard it quickly because svg is vector image format and png bitmap image format, but I forget that normally the easy solution is the good one ;)

Thank you again

Scally

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Feb 27, 2021, 3:35:14 AM2/27/21
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Hi all,

Yes the problem started just before the release of mame0226 where the LUA code changed in mame but not in CB-Emu.
That’s when I took a copy of the mame code and have been manually adding any new machines to it, calling the compiled mess file mess0226a, mess0228a/b & mess0229a (there were no changes in mess0227). Each engine change is referenced in at least 5 places, so whereas I’ve managed to get the Engines running it appears some of the pieces for the gui now require new new libraries or files.

My “fix” applied late last night works when the engines are started manually via  ./nsnova, as we no longer get the .svg error messages.

It remains to be seen wether this works in the gui, but I will be testing that today. If it doesn’t work then I’ll dig deeper.I did have a quick look into .lay files as suggested by Randy, but didn’t find anything obvious.


Cheers,

Al.

Scally

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Feb 27, 2021, 7:15:27 AM2/27/21
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Hi all,

O.K. Before I applied my suggested fix ^^^^^ only 4 Engines failed to show the pieces in GUI mode, these were:

nsnova - Super Nova (Novag, v1.05) (mess 0.229a)
regence - La Régence (mess 0.229a)
renaissa - Kasparov Renaissance (set 1) (mess 0.229a)
supremo - Supremo (mess 0.229a)

After I applied my fix, nsnova & supremo now show the pieces in GUI mode.

regence & renaisssa should use the old .png files ….

I’m looking into them now …


Al.

Scally

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Feb 27, 2021, 8:16:07 AM2/27/21
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Hi all,

Ok, all fixed.

My mame_emulation is copy of the latest CB-Emu, there were a few old zip files in the artwork folder. This folder contains the chess folder which has the .png files needed for the chess pieces. 

So if any of you have any .zip files in the  /opt/picochess/engines/mame_emulation/artwork/  folder, remove them

Mine included renaissa.zip and regence.zip which contained windows file references which were overriding the .png files in the chess folder and preventing my pieces from showing.


Cheers,

Al.

RandyR

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Feb 27, 2021, 9:42:57 AM2/27/21
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Hi Al,

Here's an excerpt from src/mame/layout/novag_supremo.lay:

<element name="piece" defstate="0">
<image file="chess/wp.svg" state="1"/>
<image file="chess/wn.svg" state="2"/>
<image file="chess/wb.svg" state="3"/>
<image file="chess/wr.svg" state="4"/>
<image file="chess/wq.svg" state="5"/>
<image file="chess/wk.svg" state="6"/>

<image file="chess/bp.svg" state="7"/>
<image file="chess/bn.svg" state="8"/>
<image file="chess/bb.svg" state="9"/>
<image file="chess/br.svg" state="10"/>
<image file="chess/bq.svg" state="11"/>
<image file="chess/bk.svg" state="12"/>

Randy

Scally

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Feb 27, 2021, 10:05:49 AM2/27/21
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Hi Randy,

Yes it looks as though newly converted are going to use .svg files instead of .png files for the pieces.

Unfortunately we can’t use the .svg files from MAME because of the way they are called within CB-Emu.
However my copy of .png to .svg works.

To be honest I don’t think there’s many more old machines to convert.


Cheers,

Al.

RandyR

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Feb 27, 2021, 10:43:25 AM2/27/21
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It's becoming a bit of a nightmare. I had a closer look at CB-Emu and it looks like it is using v0.220. Do you think it would be easier to stick with that version and just recompile for the new machines? Or is that even possible now? I guess what I'm asking is are there any obvious benefits to updating to later versions of MAME?

Yes, there's already more than enough engines to play against. :^)

Randy

Scally

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Feb 27, 2021, 11:20:54 AM2/27/21
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Hi Randy,

I’m happy to carry on as now. If any other engines are converted I have a working process to add them.

Al.

Randy Reade

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Feb 27, 2021, 11:22:41 AM2/27/21
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Thanks for your continuing efforts, Al.

It's very much appreciated.

Cheers!

Randy

clarke baxter

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Mar 2, 2021, 4:02:36 PM3/2/21
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A question re MAME. Running v3 (latest update with Mame) on Pi 4. I do hope this is not as stupid a question as my last!

I want to play Fidelity Voice Chess Challenger (because I know I can win) with PicoChess. I do have an original machine.

I have found the Roms and added them to the correct folder. I can run mess on the Desktop from the command line ie ./mess. I can choose VCC and it all works with the graphical representation of the Challenger keypad and display and that lovely voice.

What do I need to do to make it work with PicoChess and my DGT Smartboard? I don't really need to see the Challenger gui.

Thanks

cb

RandyR

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Mar 2, 2021, 4:39:07 PM3/2/21
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Clarke, the basic process is in this thread. But, everything is mostly ready to go in my images.

Edit the /opt/picochess/armv7l/engines.ini file and make a new entry down where the other mame entries are. If you look at /opt/picochess/armv7l/engines_ini/all_mame.ini you should be able to find the block of text to put into the engines.ini file. Make sure the heading includes the mame folder as that's where the shell script and uci files are, e.g. [mame/vcc].

Randy.

clarke baxter

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Mar 2, 2021, 4:46:44 PM3/2/21
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S'OK. I've got it!

clarke baxter

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Mar 2, 2021, 4:47:25 PM3/2/21
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I was editing the wrong engines.ini.

Thanks Randy

Scally

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Apr 7, 2021, 8:41:26 AM4/7/21
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Hi all,

mess0230a-small.zip is available on the same link as normal, actions as before.

Tandy / RadioShack Chess Champion 2150 is new, I’ve also included an engines.ini & uci example. The main engine file is the same as the others with just the engine name changed at the end of the line in the code.

There was also new code for cc7a, mephisto3a & mephisto3c, which I haven’t added to my collection but they are in the mess file.


Cheers,

Al.

RandyR

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Apr 7, 2021, 9:00:34 AM4/7/21
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Thanks, Al!

Randy

RandyR

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Apr 7, 2021, 9:04:35 AM4/7/21
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Here's the link to save searching:


Randy

On Wednesday, April 7, 2021 at 7:41:26 AM UTC-5 Scally wrote:

Dirk

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Apr 8, 2021, 9:24:49 AM4/8/21
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Thanks you Al for compiling % sharing!
Dirk

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