MiSTer FPGA Forum

The names.txt file provides proper system names in the OSD of MiSTer FPGA. The file needs to go into the root of the main microSD ("/media/fat" from Linux side), the same place where MiSTer.ini and the MiSTer binary are located.

When core date codes are disabled then the system names can have a maximum length of 28 characters before extending off screen and scrolling after a short delay. In MiSTer.ini set rbf_hide_datecode=1 to hide these core timestamps. F2 toggles the display of date codes in case they are required to be temporarily visible.

The aim of this names.txt is to keep all system names withing this 28 characters limit and if available preface the system with a manufacturer name or acronym for better sorting.

Download: https://github.com/ThreepwoodLeBrush/Names_MiSTer

This is awesome!

Thanks for sharing

Nice, it's working beautifully.

Note: we recently changed the core 'HT1080Z' to 'TRS-80', so you should update the entry for that core.

Nice! I didn't realize this was possible.

dshadoff wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2020 9:29 pm Note: we recently changed the core 'HT1080Z' to 'TRS-80', so you should update the entry for that core.

Done, thanks for the heads up

The latest names.txt is now always available on Github, which is way easier than editing this post:

https://github.com/ThreepwoodLeBrush/Na ... /names.txt

Great idea, thanks.

What happens if a core is not in the file or a core has another name than in the file. Will it still show up in the OSD and work?

lomdar67 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 18, 2020 10:28 am Great idea, thanks.

What happens if a core is not in the file or a core has another name than in the file. Will it still show up in the OSD and work?

In that case you will see the normal rbf-filename of the core missing in the names.txt like when you do not use the names.txt. There is no risk of not seeing a core, because of it and they all will work as usual.

MiSTer substitutes the rbf-filenames with the "proper" names from the list, only if there is a match. If there is a core that has no match in the list, then the name of the rbf-file will be displayed. Phrased differently: If there is an entry in the names.txt, that does not match an rbf-filename, then nothing will be substituted and that entry in the list gets ignored.

Threepwood wrote: ↑Thu Jun 18, 2020 10:40 am If there is an entry in the names.txt, that does not match an rbf-filename, then nothing will be substituted and that entry in the list gets ignored.

Great! Thanks for the file!

A question for any users of update_all.sh that could be reading here.

Would you like to see an option for pulling this file from Threepwood repo in the updater?

There could be different versions of this names.txt that could be curated for matching some criterias like country, sorting, etc...

Threepwood wrote: ↑Thu Jun 18, 2020 10:05 am The latest names.txt is now always available on Github, which is way easier than editing this post:

https://github.com/ThreepwoodLeBrush/Na ... /names.txt

Massive thanks for putting this together. I've added additional entries for a few beta and non-official cores that I have on my MiSTer. I'm sure I'm not alone. Would you prefer to have folks report missing/additional systems in this thread, send you pull requests, or ? Additional cores:

[Computers]
F68kMiSTer: Sharp X68000
mister_coco: Tandy TRS-80 Color Computer 3
release-MiSTerDemu: Nippon PC-8800 (PC-88)
SS: SparcStation (NeXT)

[Consoles]
C2650: Arcadia 2001 & VC 4000
Intv: Mattel Intellivision
Jaguar: Atari Jaguar

I really like this addition, was great that Sorg implemented it. I adapted my version to include unofficial cores and went with British namings when they differed, commenting out the North American entries. Here is what my file looks like, might be worth feeding some of the additions into the main file.


# Place this file in the root of your micro SD card.
# This changes how the non-arcade cores are displayed in your menu.
# It does NOT make changes to your existing files or folders.

# Names on the left need to match the name of the RBF (without the date).
# Names on the right can be modified as desired.
# Cores will be displayed alphabetically based on the modified names.
# Consider setting rbf_hide_datecode=1 in MiSTer.ini for best results.

# Comment/uncomment lines to match your preferred region, or add your own
# custom lines for existing systems or new ones as they become available.

# [RBF name]: [name that will be shown in the menu]

# Computer Cores

Altair8800: Altair 8800
Amstrad: Amstrad CPC 6128
ao486: IBM 386-Compatible
Apogee: Apogee BK-01
Apple-I: Apple I
Apple-II: Apple II+
Aquarius: Mattel Aquarius
Archie: Acorn Archimedes
Atari800: Atari 800XL/65XE/130XE
AtariST: Atari ST/STe
Atom: Acorn Atom
BBCMicro: BBC Micro B
BK0011M: Electronika BK-0011M
C16: Commodore Plus/4
C64: Commodore 64
CoCo3: TRS-80 Model III
EDSAC: EDSAC
Electron: Acorn Electron
Galaksija: Galaksija
ht1080z: TRS-80 Model I / HT1080Z
Jupiter: Jupiter Ace
MacPlus: Apple Macintosh Plus
Minimig: Commodore Amiga
MSX: MSX/MSX2/MSX2+/TurboR
MultiComp: MultiComp (Z80/6502/6809)
ORAO: Velebit Informatika Orao
Oric: Oric-1/Atmos
PDP1: DEC PDP-1
PET2001: Commodore PET 2001
QL: Sinclair QL
SAMCoupe: SAM Coupe
SharpMZ: Sharp MZ Series
Specialist: Specialist/MX
Ti994a: TI-99/4A
TRS-80: TRS-80 Model I
TSConf: ZX Evolution (TS-Config)
Vector-06C: Vector-06C
VIC20: Commodore VIC-20
X68000: Sharp X68000
ZX81: Sinclair ZX81
ZX-Spectrum: Sinclair ZX Spectrum

# Console Cores

Astrocade: Bally Astrocade
Atari2600: Atari 2600
Atari5200: Atari 5200
Atari7800: Atari 7800
AY-3-8500: GI Pong (AY-3-8500)
C2650: Arcadia 2001
ColecoVision: ColecoVision/SG-1000
#Gameboy: Nintendo Game Boy/Color
Gameboy: Nintendo Game Boy/Colour
GBA: Nintendo Game Boy Advance
#Genesis: Sega Genesis
Genesis: Sega Mega Drive
Intv: Mattel Intellivision
Jaguar: Atari Jaguar
#MegaCD: Sega CD
MegaCD: Sega Mega CD
NeoGeo: SNK Neo Geo MVS/AES
NES: Nintendo NES
#NES: Nintendo Famicom
Odyssey2: Magnavox Odyssey2
SMS: Sega Master System/Game Gear
SNES: Nintendo Super NES
#SNES: Nintendo Super Famicom
TurboGrafx16: NEC TurboGrafx-16/CD
#TurboGrafx16: NEC PC Engine/CD
Vectrex: GCE Vectrex

# LLAPI Cores

Gameboy_LLAPI: Nintendo GB/GBC (LLAPI)
GBA_LLAPI: Nintendo GBA (LLAPI)
#Genesis_LLAPI: Sega Genesis (LLAPI)
Genesis_LLAPI: Sega Mega Drive (LLAPI)
#MegaCD_LLAPI: Sega CD (LLAPI)
MegaCD_LLAPI: Sega Mega CD (LLAPI)
NeoGeo_LLAPI: SNK Neo Geo (LLAPI)
NES_LLAPI: Nintendo NES (LLAPI)
Pacman_LLAPI: Pac-Man (LLAPI)
SMS_LLAPI: Sega SMS/GG (LLAPI)
SNES_LLAPI: Nintendo SNES (LLAPI)
TurboGrafx16_LLAPI: NEC TurboGrafx-16/CD (LLAPI)

# Other Cores

Arduboy: Arduboy
Chip8: CHIP-8
GameOfLife: Game of Life
FlappyBird: Flappy Bird
Hack: Nand2Tetris Hack Computer

# Service Cores

memtest: SDRAM Test

steveskr wrote: ↑Sat Jun 20, 2020 3:15 pm [Computers]
F68kMiSTer: Sharp X68000
mister_coco: Tandy TRS-80 Color Computer 3
release-MiSTerDemu: Nippon PC-8800 (PC-88)
SS: SparcStation (NeXT)

[Consoles]
C2650: Arcadia 2001 & VC 4000
Intv: Mattel Intellivision
Jaguar: Atari Jaguar

Thank you! I will add them

steveskr wrote: ↑Sat Jun 20, 2020 3:15 pmWould you prefer to have folks report missing/additional systems in this thread, send you pull requests, or ?

I will monitor this thread, but I am thinking about the best way to attribute people without making that half the work. The files are "just" lists of core names, thus I made my repo content "Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal" aka. public domain and anybody could reupload the files, removing comments with attribution legally. Thus I would prefer pull requests from people who want their contribution documented and I will do my best to always name people in commit messages.

Moondandy wrote: ↑Sat Jun 20, 2020 3:50 pm I adapted my version to include unofficial cores and went with British namings when they differed, commenting out the North American entries. Here is what my file looks like, might be worth feeding some of the additions into the main file.

Many thanks, Moondandy, that is massive! I will include all your additions in due time.

PC-88 should be NEC PC-8801 (or NEC PC-8801mkIISR if you wish, as it is the line the core aims for) instead of Nippon PC-8800

So my technique of commenting out doesn't seem to actually work, it seems to ignore the hash and take the first one listed. So if you have:

#Genesis: Sega Genesis
Genesis: Sega Mega Drive

It will display Sega Genesis.

Another one you may want to add in advance is:
PICO: Sega Pico

Moondandy wrote: ↑Tue Jun 23, 2020 12:19 pm So my technique of commenting out doesn't seem to actually work, it seems to ignore the hash and take the first one listed. So if you have:

#Genesis: Sega Genesis
Genesis: Sega Mega Drive

It will display Sega Genesis.

Semicolon does not work either. I will leave the comments out for now.

@Sorgelig: Is it possible to leave comments in the names.txt?

I've started changing my file up a bit to take advantage of the new 2-line menu. It's just a matter of putting in the right amount of white space. You can even draw in "spacers" to help you line everything up correctly in Notepad, and the lines will be ignored.

@Sigismond0 What does the 2-line approach do to the vertical name bar on the left in the core OSD?

rhester72 wrote: ↑Wed Jun 24, 2020 5:21 pm @Sigismond0 What does the 2-line approach do to the vertical name bar on the left in the core OSD?

Nothing--that name comes from the core itself, and not the names.ini file. For example, the TurboGrafx core says "TGFX16". AFAIK, the only thing this affects is the actual list of cores in the menu.

Sigismond0 wrote: ↑Wed Jun 24, 2020 3:45 pm I've started changing my file up a bit to take advantage of the new 2-line menu. It's just a matter of putting in the right amount of white space. You can even draw in "spacers" to help you line everything up correctly in Notepad, and the lines will be ignored.

That's a really good idea, I was not aware the two line mode works for core names now. I will experiment with it and use it for the "full" type of names.txt that I want to make.

Yeah, it's really nice. While you can do this, it'll still do the thing where the first line scrolls if the entire name is longer than two. So it works well for things like "Nintendo Game Boy | Game Boy Color", but I really had to pare down on the TurboGrafX core to make it fit nicely on two lines. Listing out "PC Engine TurboGrafX 16 CD-ROM2 TurboGrafx-CD SuperGrafX" can work on two lines, but then the first line starts scrolling, shows the second line's contents redundantly, and then shows the third/fourth lines. Messy. And things like "General Consumer Electronics Vectrex" still don't fit on just a single line, and wrapping it to two lines gives you "General Consumer Electronics" as the visible portion when not highlighted, and you can see Vectrex when highlighted. So not a super perfect solution, but if you work around the limitations I think it looks great.

I just published a script that fetches from the repository from @Threepwood

https://github.com/theypsilon/Names_TXT_Updater_MiSTer/

It's extracted from another script of mine, so the functionality is exactly the same, but ths is the standalone version. It helps you to sync with your preferred names.txt from that repository ( https://github.com/ThreepwoodLeBrush/Names_MiSTer ).

One small unofficial one not in the names file, the Mandelbrot core:
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=2268&p=31202#p31202

Displays as "mandelbrot" probably just want to capitalise the M, but could call it "Mandelbrot Zoom".

Moondandy wrote: ↑Thu Aug 05, 2021 11:50 am One small unofficial one not in the names file, the Mandelbrot core:
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=2268&p=31202#p31202

Displays as "mandelbrot" probably just want to capitalise the M, but could call it "Mandelbrot Zoom".

Thank you, Moondandy, I will add that core

Nice one. Might want to add JT's SD Ram tests as well:

https://github.com/jotego/jtbin/blob/ma ... 210108.rbf
https://github.com/jotego/jtbin/blob/ma ... 210108.rbf

I wound up finding these after I posted.

I haven't gone back and checked the names file yet, but the Input Tester was displaying as one word so maybe not added yet either.

Keep up the good work, really nice having proper names for everything grabbed via script - and them not being the US names for someone in the UK.

A few more potentials spotted while updating my MiSTer manually:

2P-GBC Core: https://github.com/RobertPeip/Gameboy_M ... plitscreen
2P-GBA Core: https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/GBA_MiSTer/tree/GBA2P

SMS 3D: https://github.com/Grabulosaure/SMS3D_MiSTer
NES 3D: https://github.com/Grabulosaure/NES3D_MiSTer
Mega Drive 3D: https://github.com/Grabulosaure/Genesis3D_MiSTer

For sure, thanks a lot, Moondandy . I will add them all. Currently I am working on adding more columns to the CSV as well, to generate the so far missing common-names variants. That is a bit of work and I will do all that as soon as I get to it. These cores will be included then, too.

Nice one, good effort! It looks like the 3D cores have the same name as the main cores so that won't work. That's a shame, I wonder if those could get different name in the repo so we could have both in the same folder.

The 3D names may be an issue, but for now I will add them to the list with "3D" appended to the core name. It will be easy to change once they get a distinct name and in the meantime you can append the 3D manually.