Flashback 2 Firmware Update

[Kym Wash]

@atarimonster I think you may need to pry open the console and possibly do some electronics modifications to access some USB port and hook to Windows to read the firmware, like on other AtGames consoles (e.g. older Atari 2600 Anniversary Edition) but we have no information on what this FB8660B model is, what hardware, flash, storage... Not sure if this info is floating around ?

I suspect there is no bug-fix firmware available due to a) lackluster sales, low interest b) discontinued model, no internal support, or c) they won't update the firmware openly as someone may be able to open/hack it...

I think you may need to pry open the console and possibly do some electronics modifications to access some USB port and hook to Windows to read the firmware, like on other AtGames consoles (e.g. older Atari 2600 Anniversary Edition) but we have no information on what this FB8660B model is, what hardware, flash, storage... Not sure if this info is floating around

Unfortunately, dumping FW on the Legends flashback does take disassembling the unit (remove the rubber pads over screws, remove the four screws, then remove the 4 screws for the main PCBA). AND apparently some soldering would be required which is referenced here:

@Teoburger Have you tried loading a "legends ultimate" build to an SD and just see if it works? The reason I suggest it is because when you boot that build from the SD most of the parts are coming striaght off the SD and so if you can start it up thatway, what's in your on-device flash won't matter too much.

Don't ask me how I got it, it's the real-deal; the idea is to share here and ask forum members like you @rocketfan or @atarimonster or @Flojomojo or even @TPR could perhaps know the ideal person to check what's inside, and perhaps add some nice stuff (incl. emulator support) that were found in the original FB8660 console?

There exist 2 flavours, one normal IMG file and one "PLL" version, not sure what could be the difference -- one perhaps to only use as USB update, the other for flashing the chipset on-board? In any case, the image files have the same size (184.791.512 bytes) but when comparing them visually, they report a 12.150 differences, e.g. via Total Commander compare feature.

Hi @N0mi no I have not had free time at all to investigate tools to open the IMG and see what is inside, unfortunately. The learning curve would be expected to be long, I was hoping someone who already did that on the 2018 console image would help, to be honest.

To add ROMs, it's like how the Flashback Portable worked. Make a GAME folder in the root of your SD card. You may need to rename your ROMs and avoid any special characters. Both .bin and .a26 files should be recognized.

I'm using the same SD card I did with the portable. I didn't have to change the file names for the games. The console recognized them. The save slots also work with the roms in the SD card, which is really neat.

Yes, I was. Very friendly people. They couldn't replicate my problem but said they would keep looking into it. Their suggestions (rebooting console, using P2 port) didn't help. My unit may be defective and I should probably look into replacing it. Another poster on here said his friend also encountered the same problem though. Hmmm.

Your last statement is fantastic to hear, your earlier statement not so much. If at all possible, you should definitely try to do an exchange at the store. This way we can try and eliminate more possible failure points. Sorry for the inconvenience!

(BTW I was Atariboy's friend with the button issue. Mine seems to be the joystick itself, I put the the P2 stick in the P1 port and didn't have any more problems with the fire button, while plugging the P1 stick in the P2 port they still showed up playing in 2P . As I don't play 2P, I don't really care, but unfortunately, the menu function doesn't seem to work with the 1p stick in the 2p port)

As with Hyperkin, the issue was hardware support for the emulator. Apparently Stella 4.0 and up require a different confirguration. On the plus side, it sounds like there will be more compatible games with the AtGames product than then Hyperkin, so that part of it is a win!

Many thank you's to Flojomojo! Since you have not answered the question "are you the firmware fairy?", I'm going to take a guess and say it might have been someone else who didn't want to be named and gave you the file to upload. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

After reading your post this morning I decided to try playing a game using the P2 controller, and thankfully it worked properly. I played a game of Missile Command and then Pitfall and it worked perfectly. All button presses registered. I don't know why that's the case but whatever, I'm happy.

I know how to do that but if we can't have spaces then I'm going to want some other naming convention like removing extra detail. Does upper or lower case matter? Does special characters like underscores matter? Can the filenames be longer than 8 characters?

It started flashing the firmware, but then wound up in a boot loop, after letting it do this for a few minutes to ensure it was a boot loop, I shut off power, waited a few seconds, and turned the power back on to be greeted by the 4.6.2 firmware installed and running.

"If you want to revert back to stable firmware, please follow the instructions in the handbook. In short: place the stable firmware version on a USB drive, insert it into the printer and during the startup (when the logo is shown), press and hold the knob to force a firmware installation screen. Flash the stable firmware and perform a full factory reset."

Your post on Github says to follow the manual, which I did, and it did not work because the manual does not tell you to double tap the button. Maybe update the post there to tell people to double tap for the rollback instead of "follow manual" which does not work.

If you want to revert back to stable firmware, please follow the instructions in the handbook. In short: place the stable firmware version on a USB drive, insert it into the printer and during the startup (when the logo is shown), press and hold the knob to force a firmware installation screen. Flash the stable firmware and perform a full factory reset.

I have had the standard Atari Flashback X sitting around here for a few weeks and finally got around to creating a custom firmware to allow you to load additional roms with boxart from USB (using USB OTG hub/cable and a USB drive of your choice).

Attached here you will find a CFW version for the standard Atari Flashback X, and also one for the Atari Flashback X Deluxe. The standard firmware has been tested a little, but I don't have a Deluxe model to test. However it's the exact same hack, so I think it should work for those who need it. If it does work for you then feel free to report back, or I can tweak as needed.

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