PicoChess V3.2: Retro edition

[Dirk]

PicoChess V3.2: Retro edition

Quick update for V3.2 (artwork, positions setup and info display support)

Big thanks to Franz and his CBEmu project and his ongoing help, Guido and his „Mysticum“ plugins and Dieter for converting Franz/Guidos plugins to PicoChess.

I just made some necessary additional adjustments for picochess to support the position set up function in PicoChess and to reduce the performance loss because of the retro-information display.

Main task for me was to support the display of the artwork by implementing a practical mechanism for enjoying the internal/external artworks of the old chess computers so that we still can operate the PicoChess GUI.

The wonderful external artworks -as far as I know- have been created by Luis (from Spanish chess forum https://foro.chesscc.com) - big thanks to him!

Furthermore Randy was helping supporting/testing these features- thanks!

This is how it looks like playing with retro engines in artwork mode:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/f1dmsgrhzvroref/picochess_retro_artwork.mov?dl=0

The two main problems with the artwork display in PicoChessWeb are the chromium browser running in kiosk mode and the far too less space in order to show the artwork window.

If you touch the chromium browser an artwork window will go in background and if you have a fullscreen artwork window you wouldn’t be able to switch back to the GUI (because of a missing toggle button).

I didn’t want to change the fullscreen browser GUI mode so we need a way to easily switch between the „GUI mode“ or „artwork mode“.

These are the new retro-settings:

Engines menu -> Retro Engine Settings ->…

• Toggle and switch Fullscreen/Window mode (will be stored in picochess.ini)
• Retro-Speed
• Retro-Sound
• Display of artwork
• Display of Retro-Engine Features  (at the moment: position setup and info display). This information is also shown in the WebGUI behind the engine name

Switch between PicoChess GUI and artwork display: Lift up piece and put it back  

If you don’t need the artwork (or don’t use desktop OS): Set artwork option to OFF

I like to have the artwork in fullscreen mode and switch to the GUI by lifting and putting back a piece but you can of course show the artwork in window mode and arrange it on the GUI as you like, eg. if the engine artwork has…

• … no integrated sensor board, small retro window: window mode on the right so you have th visual board as a help

• … an integrated sensor board, small display: window mode on the left, so you have the additional info form Picochess n(moves, stockfish evaluation etc.)

No idea if we can save and keep the window position for each engine!?

Even if one does not have a PicochessWeb device one can enjoy the artwork with just a tablet if you are running the Desktop version of RaspianOS (what I would recommend anyway) and use a VNC app to connect to your PI.

This is really cool together with the Revelation II: Operating PicoChess via the RevII keyboard and enjoying the artwork without the need of switching…

Drawbacks/limitations:

Not all artwork overlays offer easy key control via touch especially not in fullscreen mode.

You could try the internal artwork by changing the mame video option if it works better but I think it is not a big deal because most settings are predefined by our uci level config files. Maybe it is just a setting for the touch usage missing!?

Artwort is performance intensive so it probably only makes sense on a PI4 but I haven’t checked a PI3. Even on a PI4 the emulation speed for some engines only reaches 150% when showing the artwork. 

For best performance frameskip for visualizing the artwork is already set to 10.

New PLUGINs for position setup and info display

For retro engine supporting these features (check vie retro engine settings menu or in WebGUI „(pos+info)“ ) you can now setup a position or see depth/eval/current move if supplied by the retro engine (updated during the engine’s thinking time)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/983ti0kkvseuivi/picochess_retro_pos_setup.mov?dl=0

What do you need for the new features?

1. Updated picochess V3.2 sources from my github repo (https://github.com/tosca07/picochess)
2. External artworks files (obviously) 
3. New retro engine scripts (supporting artwork)
4. New plugins adopted for picochess (for position setup and info display)

We are still testing and cleaning up the scripts so please be patient…

Best thing you can do I think is to wait for an updated image from Randy ;-)

Dirk

[Dirk]

Necessary Files for PicoChess V3.2

(Don’t care if you want to start and use Randy’s later image for V3.2)

This is for PicoChess users who want to test (feedback welcome) and set up the new artwork and plugins features themselves or don’t want to wait for an image from Randy.

Here are the necessary files you must add to your system:

1. Make sure you have a back a backup! There might be some serious bugs at the beginning so you could easily switch back
2. Update to the V3.2 sources as mentioned above

3

3. External artworks files from Luis - thanks for your wonderful (art) work, Luis! Unfortunately the artwork files must be unzipped. We had to replace windows path syntax by raspian/linux syntax.

Replace your artwork folder in /opt/picochess/engines/mame_emulation with that one:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=13_jEaYNa7MGX_qWP8l6z182zsajo-OVW&authuser=dirk.mollmann%40googlemail.com&usp=drive_fs

4. New plugins:  Replace the plugin folder in /opt/picochess/engines/mame_emulation with these new plugins from Franz/Dieter with some additional adjustments for PicoChess:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=13WBwpxCno6U0PKTBylh25NrVHpRGBsFx&authuser=dirk.mollmann%40googlemail.com&usp=drive_fs

5. New retro engine start scripts

For starting the engines with graphic output we need new scripts (ending on _art):

Put these into your mame engines folder in /opt/picochess/engines/armv7l/mame

https://drive.google.com/open?id=13l4-2wdxUr8385gqntNgxwZnykOeewmJ&authuser=dirk.mollmann%40googlemail.com&usp=drive_fs

Or just wait for a new image from Randy…. 

By the way:

The TascR30 (eg King 2.5) unit can be operated via touch controls (at the moment this is unfortunately not possible for all retro engines for some reason)...

Happy testing...

Enjoy

Dirk

[RandyR]

Hi everyone,

I have uploaded a new Desktop image (v3.2) for anyone who wants to check out the improvements made by Dirk. It should probably be considered a beta version as there may be some bugs in there with all the modifications. The publically available roms are included as usual. If you want to add your own into the /opt/picochess/engines/mame_emulation/roms folder, you will need to add corresponding entries into the /opt/picochess/engines/armv7l/retro.ini file (see the /opt/picochess/engines/armv7l/engines_ini/all_retro.ini file for examples).

I will update the Lite image shortly but this update is mainly for those using a stand-alone GUI setup with a Pi4.

If you find issues, make a post on the forum.

Here is the link to the updated image:

Desktop (4.3 GB)

Randy

[RandyR]

Better hold off on the download. There seems to be an issue...

Will advise when ready.

Randy

[RandyR]

I found the issue. The Mephisto MM IV  and MM V scripts are looking for an addon module. I'll upload a new version and advise. In the meantime don't select mm4 or mm5.

Randy

[RandyR]

Corrected version is now uploaded.

Desktop (4.3 GB)

Randy

[Ironman]

Hi Dir, hi Randy,

thanks for this perfect work !! Ine question/Problem with the Artworks i have......

Could you say, how i switch back from fullscreen Mode Retro Artwork to the normal mode?? I have made the Fullscreen Mode on my "7" Display but can not back to normal mode ?? it should good if there is an option to select back to the "normal" screen mode .

sorry for my bad englisch.

Best Regards

Frank

[Dirk]

Hi Frank,

what to you mean with normal screen mode?

If you want to just switch Bach to the Picochess GUI when you see the artwork screen in fullscreen mode: just lift a piece and put it back.

If you want to switch from fullscreen to window mode for the artwork: just switch to the Picochess GUI and select the toggle fullscreen button again in engine retro settings: then artwork will be displayed in window mode again (that’s what a toggle button does ;-)

Have fun!

Dirk

Von meinem iPad gesendet

Am 16.05.2023 um 13:51 schrieb Ironman <fherz...@gmail.com>:

Hi Dir, hi Randy,

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[Ironman]

Thank You Dirk,

is it possible to change the button so that the funktion is toogle on / toogle off fuulscreen mode....? 

Best Regards

Frank 

[Nacho Ros]

Thanks Randy, Dirk and the rest of the developers. I'm going to try it right now!

[Tahir Hafiz]

Thanks Randy. Is there a Lite image available? I only have a Raspberry Pi 3 B model, I guess the Lite image would work best on that.

[Randy Reade]

I'll update the Lite image soon.

Randy

[Tahir Hafiz]

Randy, can the Desktop image work headless and with a lowly RasPi 3 Model B with just a 16GB micro SD card ??

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[Randy Reade]

Yes. I didn't test it in my DGTPi, which has a Pi3b, but I usually do. But there will be a performance drop. You can view the Desktop using VNC (read the enclosed docs for info) if running headless and with modifications can even see the MAME artwork, if desired. But, the Desktop image is meant for an attached monitor.

Randy

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[RandyR]

Hi everyone,

I have uploaded a new Lite image (v3.2). As it is set up and primarily for the DGTPi, and there is no Desktop GUI installed, there are some caveats to be aware of when using the retro (MAME) engines. Do NOT enable the Retro-Artwork Display in the engine/retro engine settings menu. This will cause PicoChess to crash and also fail on reboot. If this happens, the only way to fix it is to edit the /opt/picochess/picochess.ini file and reset the rdisplay setting to False. If you stay away from this option you should be fine. You can also re-flash your SD card back to default.

Another consideration is if you add your own roms and make appropriate entries in the /opt/picochess/engines/armv7l/retro.ini file, you whould also check the corresponding .uci file in the /opt/picochess/engines/armv7l/mame folder to confirm the level entries (enclosed in [] brackets) match your display capabilities (e.g. DGTPi/DGT3000 is limited to 11 characters, or 8 when plugged into the DGT board as a clock). Many of the .uci files are set for using the web interface and may have in excess of 11 characters. They will still work, you just may not see the full level text.

Finally, there may be performance issues with some (MAME) engines, even on an RPi4b. This is true with the Desktop version as well.

If you find issues, make a post on the forum.

Here are the links to both images:

Lite (3.8 GB)

Desktop (4.3 GB)

Randy

P.S. A huge thank you to Dirk for the considerable work put into these latest enhancements. His tireless efforts building on the work of previous contributors are what has allowed this open-source project to easily compete with commercial offerings at a fraction of the cost to the end-user. Enjoy.

[Dirk]

Thanks Randy for the images - a really valuable help for many users!

Regrading the artwort and non desktopOS problem:

Does anybody know how ewe can detect this in python?

If we were able to determine if picochess is running with installed desktop (or desktop like) then I could avoid the crash...

Thanks

Dirk

[Dirk]

Ok I answer myself after having ChatGPT consulted ;-)

import os def is_desktop_environment_available(): display = os.environ.get('DISPLAY') return display is not None if is_desktop_environment_available(): print("Desktop environment is available.") else: print("Headless environment detected.")

[Dirk]

I have added the desktop check when trying to use the artwork display. You will now get a message:

and this is for Frank ;-)

By the way: You can change (almost) every text output to your likings by changing the translation file translate.py in /opt/picochess/dgt folder

Just grab the updated menu.py and translate.py form my repo or wait for next image update by Randy...

Enjoy

Dirk

[Dirk]

Forgot to mention: I no longer have any lite images in use (even in my headless PI for my Rev2 and in MolliPI are running RaspianOS desktop releases so I can't test this feature.

Would be good if someone with a lite image (no desktop installed) could check this...

Thanks

Dirk 

[Tahir Hafiz]

Hi Dirk,

I'm running picochess lite (thanks Randy for the latest image). Great chess computer by the way - an amazing range of features.

I've done a wget for menu.py and translate.py from your repo and replaced those two files:
https://github.com/tosca07/picochess/tree/master/dgt

But I'm seeing an error (image attached).

Kind regards,

Tahir

[Dirk]

Hi Tahir,

don't know about  your files- looks like they are corrupted somehow or they don't fit to your light image.  There is no syntax error in line 8 in translate.py and I double checked on my system and compared them- they run without problems.

I would suggest just to wait for a new image from Randy - you won't miss anything until then.

Dirk

[Tahir Hafiz]

Thanks Dirk, I will revert back to Randy's stock V3.2 image. Cheers!

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[Randy Reade]

Looks like a bad wget. Might be easier to copy and paste the translate.py text from the github site into nano over ssh.

Randy

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[Tahir Hafiz]

Actually I wasn't doing a wget on the raw file but on the whole of the github page :-)

Anyway, picochess is operable now, but not sure where to look for the menu option to test the display if/else  for my Lite image.

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[Tahir Hafiz]

Found it! And if/else for Desktop is working on Lite image (proof attached).

[Randy Reade]

Probably easier to clone on the Pi:

cd ~

git clone https://github.com/tosca07/picochess.git

Then copy (only!) the files you want from the ~/picochess folder to /opt/picochess.

To update in the future from github:

cd ~/picochess

git pull

Then copy over updates.

Randy

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[Tahir Hafiz]

Thanks, will do! For the picochess software project, how often are there minor (i.e point) releases?

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[Randy Reade]

I would not say there are regular updates. :^)

But when they happen, they are special. 😃

Randy

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[RandyR]

Hi everyone,

I have uploaded new Desktop and Lite images. They include Dirk's fix for retro-artwork causing a crash when no desktop GUI is present. There are also some imrovements to the MAME chessengine plugin, also from Dirk. I have converted Dieter's German MAME engine .uci entries to English. There may still be some that slipped through the cracks. If you find any, let me know. Also, the Lite image MAME .uci files are now limited to 11 characters for the level displays. In the Lite image you can find a .7z archive in /opt/picochess/engines/armv7l/mame containing the web versions (longer text) if you want to swap them. The Desktop image has the web versions of the MAME .uci files as default. As with the Lite image, there is a .7z archive in the /opt/picochess/engines/armv7l/mame folder containing the shorter versions.

If you find issues, make a post on the forum. When I first tested the Desktop image I had a crash when switching to the retro-artwork using MM IV (or it might have been MM V). The log mentioned something about error shutting down the engine. It could have been because it was the first boot of the card - I rebooted and it worked OK after that.

One other caveat - if you are using the retro-artwork, do not close the artwork window. It will hang PicoChess and you'll need to log in to reboot.

Finally, I have made a slight modification to the translate.py English text for the retro window toggle. Perhaps Dirk will like it and translate the German entries to match, if desired.

[Sophia D]

hello all,

I downloaded the image from Randy. In general it works quite well but now I have only a very limited choice of retro engines available compared to version 3.1.

There is Mephisto Amsterdam, Dallas 1986, Roma, MMIV, MMV,Rebel 5 and that's it. Do I have to install other retro engines myself? Or is this just a test version?

Thanks

[Nacho Ros]

I also miss some more ROMs. In the /opt/picochess/build folder there are some scripts to add new engines. I have added some ROMs to the /opt/picochess/engines/mame_emulation/ folder. I have run engines.py but it returns an error. I have no knowledge to solve the problem.

On the other hand, adding books to the books folder and running books.py works perfectly. This 3.2 version looks great, with the artwork of the old machines it looks spectacular.

Cheers.

[waldomiro dias machado junior]

Hello everybody!

I would also really like to have these roms but unfortunately I don't know how to do it.

Knowledge is everything!

Waldomiro

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[Randy Reade]

The only roms included in my images are those for which we have permission to use (see http://rebel13.nl/dedicated/dedicated%20as%20uci.html).

The process to add others is as follows:

1. Place rom in /opt/picochess/engines/mame_emulation/roms

2. Edit retro.ini file and create an entry for the new machine. Many of these entries can be found in /opt/picochess/engines/armv7l/engines_ini/all_retro.ini

Randy

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[Nacho Ros]

Thank you Randy (again and again)

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[RandyR]

Hi everyone,

I have uploaded new Desktop and Lite images. They include some bug fixes from Dirk, including a fix for moves not showing on the web server chess board display (in the browser) when replaying a game using the PGN Replay & Analysis engine. Also, I have cleaned up the display size of the engine names (found in .ini files) and levels (found in the <engine>.uci files) for both the Desktop and Lite images so they should fit on one line. As mentioned before, in the Lite image you can find a .7z archive in /opt/picochess/engines/armv7l/mame containing the web versions (longer text) of the mame levels if you want to swap them. The Desktop image has the web versions of the MAME .uci files as default. As with the Lite image, there is a .7z archive in the /opt/picochess/engines/armv7l/mame folder containing the shorter versions if you want to use them.

A note to those adding their own retro roms, the images contain v0.254 of MAME so require roms compatible with that version. Most don't change, but some do. If you've made the requisite changes and added the rom and it doesn't work, run it from the terminal and you should see why. E.g., to run mm5 you would enter (assuming ssh):

sudo service picochess stop
cd /opt/picochess/engines/mame_emulation
./mess -verbose -video none mm5

or if using a display:

DISPLAY=:0 ./mess -verbose mm5