MiSTer Super Attract Mode (SAM) is now available - the first game screensaver for your MiSTer!

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Mellified
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Re: MiSTer Super Attract Mode (SAM) is now available - the first game screensaver for your MiSTer!

Unread post by Mellified »

hipsofjw wrote: Mon May 17, 2021 2:25 am Two different keyboards and two different controllers. All 4 are regularly used with the MiSTer and have their inputs defined.
Thought of one more thing... you are pushing up on the controller D-pad - not the stick? And up on the keyboard arrow keys? No special keyboard modes or functions on?

I assume you are trying from the Scripts menu. Does it work from ssh?

Worst case you can access it from ssh with the command:

Code: Select all

/media/fat/Scripts/MiSTer_SAM_on.sh menu
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Re: MiSTer Super Attract Mode (SAM) is now available - the first game screensaver for your MiSTer!

Unread post by crabfists »

Been using this script quite a bit as some eye candy to have on in the background. I love it. Thanks for making it!

On the gitgub page I've noticed you have a web frontend that tells you which games are coming up. Is that an actual feature or a mockup?
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Re: MiSTer Super Attract Mode (SAM) is now available - the first game screensaver for your MiSTer!

Unread post by Mellified »

crabfists wrote: Thu May 20, 2021 2:04 pm Been using this script quite a bit as some eye candy to have on in the background. I love it. Thanks for making it!

On the gitgub page I've noticed you have a web frontend that tells you which games are coming up. Is that an actual feature or a mockup?
Thanks for the kind words! Glad you're enjoying it.

The list of games is available two ways.
  • ssh: When SAM is running connect via ssh and run this command to see the output:

    Code: Select all

    /media/fat/Scripts/MiSTer_SAM_on.sh monitor
    You can also start SAM from ssh to see the output:

    Code: Select all

    /media/fat/Scripts/MiSTer_SAM_on.sh start
  • text: The current game is stored in a text file. You can view it from ssh with this command:

    Code: Select all

    cat /tmp/SAM_Game.txt
  • text: A log of the games shown in the last SAM run is available as well. You can view it pressing "F9" from the main MiSTer menu or ssh with:

    Code: Select all

    cat /tmp/SAM_Games.log
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Re: MiSTer Super Attract Mode (SAM) is now available - the first game screensaver for your MiSTer!

Unread post by Mellified »

Recently the tty2oled project added support for arbitrary text and different font sizes. I'm testing support for Super Attract Mode!

I could use testers if anyone has the tty2oled setup!
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Re: MiSTer Super Attract Mode (SAM) is now available - the first game screensaver for your MiSTer!

Unread post by Mellified »

tty2oled support has been added to Super Attract Mode! You can update by running MiSTer_SAM_on.sh and waiting.

You will need to enable support for tty2oled in the MiSTer_SAM.ini - it is not on by default. Of course, tty2oled will display the corename as usual if you don't enable this support.

Please post any issues here.
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Re: MiSTer Super Attract Mode (SAM) is now available - the first game screensaver for your MiSTer!

Unread post by venice »

Mellified wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 1:55 pm tty2oled support has been added to Super Attract Mode! You can update by running MiSTer_SAM_on.sh and waiting.
...
It works great :D thanks for your project.

I don't know how it looks like at your end but on my setup (actually updated) it seems to me that on the top line
some pixels on top of the characters are cropped (not to see) and there is one space (too much?) in front of the text.
Photo-2021-06-21-19-16-24_7056.jpg
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After I changed line 644 from

Code: Select all

echo "000,9,1, ${1}" > "${ttydevice}"
to

Code: Select all

echo "000,10,1,${1}" > "${ttydevice}"
or

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echo "000,11,1,${1}" > "${ttydevice}"
it looks better to me.

Photo-2021-06-21-19-19-16_7057.jpg
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Btw, I don't know if you saw it but the latest Version of the tty2oled Arduino Program got enhancements
for Geometric Figures which allows you to clean up display areas.
Photo-2021-06-19-15-11-43_7046.jpg
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Photo-2021-06-19-16-38-33_7048.jpg
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Go to viewtopic.php?p=28267#p28267 for more details.

My MiSTer Add-On-Projects tty2oled, i2c2oled, SNAC2IEC
You can donate by sending a Postcard to me.

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Re: MiSTer Super Attract Mode (SAM) is now available - the first game screensaver for your MiSTer!

Unread post by Mellified »

venice wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 6:11 pm It works great :D thanks for your project.
I improved SAM today with a more consistent handling of the s60tty2oled daemon. I added a fix so SAM doesn't inadvertently kill the inotifywait daemon tty2oled is using. I also included the fix you suggested for the top line of text. I'd noticed it but forgot to go back and investigate.

I did see the new commands and capabilities. I haven't had time to dig in and figure out how to use it yet, but I have some ideas!

Thanks for your hard work on tty2oled!

P.S. Please remove the protective shipping cover sticker from your screen! :lol:
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Re: MiSTer Super Attract Mode (SAM) is now available - the first game screensaver for your MiSTer!

Unread post by venice »

Mellified wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 7:59 pm P.S. Please remove the protective shipping cover sticker from your screen! :lol:
Done ;)

Would you like to test an new Arduino Program Version?
The new Command Format makes the "att" obsolete and Text or Geo Commands need only one line.
The new Version is actually still compatible with the old "att" Command's and the new ones.

Examples

Code: Select all

"CMDCLS"               Clear Screeen
"CMDTXT,[Parameter]"   Text-Ouput,       Parameter-Format = "f,c,x,y,[Text]
"CMDGEO,[Parmeter]"    Geometric-Output, Parameter-Format = "g,c,x,y,i,j,k"
And the new Version add the Possibility to Update the ESP32 Over The Air (Wireless).

My MiSTer Add-On-Projects tty2oled, i2c2oled, SNAC2IEC
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Re: MiSTer Super Attract Mode (SAM) is now available - the first game screensaver for your MiSTer!

Unread post by Mellified »

venice wrote: Tue Jun 22, 2021 10:16 am Would you like to test an new Arduino Program Version?
Sounds great! Happy to help test.
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Re: MiSTer Super Attract Mode (SAM) is now available - the first game screensaver for your MiSTer!

Unread post by venice »

Mellified wrote: Wed Jun 23, 2021 4:23 am Sounds great! Happy to help test.
Thx, Great!
Goto https://github.com/venice1200/MiSTer_tt ... SB_Testing
and follow the Readme.

Ask Questions and Report Issues in the tty2oled Thread viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1887

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Re: MiSTer Super Attract Mode (SAM) is now available - the first game screensaver for your MiSTer!

Unread post by venice »

My MiSTer Add-On-Projects tty2oled, i2c2oled, SNAC2IEC
You can donate by sending a Postcard to me.

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Re: MiSTer Super Attract Mode (SAM) is now available - the first game screensaver for your MiSTer!

Unread post by MrKai »

Hi. I made a mod to this to work with my Pixelcade marquee...thanks for making this!
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Re: MiSTer Super Attract Mode (SAM) is now available - the first game screensaver for your MiSTer!

Unread post by rhester72 »

Quick stupid question - any chance Pier Solar can be special-cased somehow? What I'm thinking is that as you're loading up the MegaCD ISO into the temp directory, _always_ copy a neighboring cart.rom (if it exists at all)...if it isn't needed, it'll be ignored.
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Re: MiSTer Super Attract Mode (SAM) is now available - the first game screensaver for your MiSTer!

Unread post by Mellified »

rhester72 wrote: Thu Jun 24, 2021 2:38 pm Quick stupid question - any chance Pier Solar can be special-cased somehow? What I'm thinking is that as you're loading up the MegaCD ISO into the temp directory, _always_ copy a neighboring cart.rom (if it exists at all)...if it isn't needed, it'll be ignored.
I don't think so unfortunately. The tool we use to load the games - mbc by pocomane - doesn't know anything about dual media games.
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Re: MiSTer Super Attract Mode (SAM) is now available - the first game screensaver for your MiSTer!

Unread post by Mellified »

MrKai wrote: Wed Jun 23, 2021 6:22 pm Hi. I made a mod to this to work with my Pixelcade marquee...thanks for making this!
I don't have one to test, but if you submit a PR to our Github we may be able to release it.
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Re: MiSTer Super Attract Mode (SAM) is now available - the first game screensaver for your MiSTer!

Unread post by Captain FPGA »

Is there a way to get PC Engine CD games to autostart? It runs decent on every other platform including Arcade, cart-based consoles, and Sega CD. However every time I get to the NEC CD I get the boot screen with a prompt to press start. I checked all over the menus but couldn't find the auto launch function. Sure, if I press start manually the games load but that defeats the point of SAM.
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Re: MiSTer Super Attract Mode (SAM) is now available - the first game screensaver for your MiSTer!

Unread post by rhester72 »

@Captain FPGA if you use the update all script, check your /media/fat/BIOS/TurboGrafx16 folder...you'll find some autoboot versions in there that can replace your normal cd_bios.rom.
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Re: MiSTer Super Attract Mode (SAM) is now available - the first game screensaver for your MiSTer!

Unread post by Captain FPGA »

rhester72 wrote: Mon Jun 28, 2021 12:08 am @Captain FPGA if you use the update all script, check your /media/fat/BIOS/TurboGrafx16 folder...you'll find some autoboot versions in there that can replace your normal cd_bios.rom.
Worked like a charm!
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Re: MiSTer Super Attract Mode (SAM) is now available - the first game screensaver for your MiSTer!

Unread post by ANARCHY_MIKE »

When SAM turns on and loads up the NeoGeo core, it just hangs on the menu and doesn't boot a ROM. Is there something I have to configure to get it working?
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Re: MiSTer Super Attract Mode (SAM) is now available - the first game screensaver for your MiSTer!

Unread post by Captain FPGA »

ANARCHY_MIKE wrote: Mon Jun 28, 2021 6:46 am When SAM turns on and loads up the NeoGeo core, it just hangs on the menu and doesn't boot a ROM. Is there something I have to configure to get it working?
Have you tried update all? Make sure the roms are in the proper games folder along with neo geo bios. Should be 3 files.
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Re: MiSTer Super Attract Mode (SAM) is now available - the first game screensaver for your MiSTer!

Unread post by ANARCHY_MIKE »

Captain FPGA wrote: Mon Jun 28, 2021 7:24 am
ANARCHY_MIKE wrote: Mon Jun 28, 2021 6:46 am When SAM turns on and loads up the NeoGeo core, it just hangs on the menu and doesn't boot a ROM. Is there something I have to configure to get it working?
Have you tried update all? Make sure the roms are in the proper games folder along with neo geo bios. Should be 3 files.
Yep, I did.

This is basically what my folder looks like in fat\games\NeoGeo
EcV8Fpj.png
EcV8Fpj.png (65.44 KiB) Viewed 9209 times
The ROMs are in their individual folders.

Each folder has the files like so
ZM3Sxcr.png
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Re: MiSTer Super Attract Mode (SAM) is now available - the first game screensaver for your MiSTer!

Unread post by Mellified »

NeoGeo is unfortunately picky. I can't get it working at all via CIFS for example. There is a pre-made pack out there that works for most people though.
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Re: MiSTer Super Attract Mode (SAM) is now available - the first game screensaver for your MiSTer!

Unread post by Sigismond0 »

Small feature request--currently, it looks like the script only supports RBF files in the _Consoles directory. So any of us who keep RBFs in the root or custom folders can't use this. It'd be nice if there was a place to specify the RBF location in the ini file, just like you can with the games directory.

Examples:

gbarbfpath="/media/fat/Portables"
megacdrbfpath="/media/fat/games/CD"
nesrbfpath="/media/fat"

Otherwise I'm loving it. Thanks for the hard work! Neo Geo isn't working at all for me, which seems relatively common. I believe I'm on the same romset as the other commenter who provided screenshots. Can't get TGFX-CD or Sega CD to work either. For all three it just errors out and says there are no ROMs in the directory, despite being in the correct default location and working just fine when loaded manually.
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Re: MiSTer Super Attract Mode (SAM) is now available - the first game screensaver for your MiSTer!

Unread post by Mellified »

Sigismond0 wrote: Wed Jul 07, 2021 4:29 pm Small feature request--currently, it looks like the script only supports RBF files in the _Consoles directory. So any of us who keep RBFs in the root or custom folders can't use this. It'd be nice if there was a place to specify the RBF location in the ini file, just like you can with the games directory.
This is unlikely to be added. We consider the layout used by update_all to be standard.
Sigismond0 wrote: Wed Jul 07, 2021 4:29 pm Otherwise I'm loving it. Thanks for the hard work! Neo Geo isn't working at all for me, which seems relatively common. I believe I'm on the same romset as the other commenter who provided screenshots. Can't get TGFX-CD or Sega CD to work either. For all three it just errors out and says there are no ROMs in the directory, despite being in the correct default location and working just fine when loaded manually.
Only CHD format for the TGFX-CD and Sega CD is supported.
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Re: MiSTer Super Attract Mode (SAM) is now available - the first game screensaver for your MiSTer!

Unread post by Sigismond0 »

Ahh yeah, I'm on cue/bin for the CD systems, so that explains it. Out of curiosity, is it a technical limitation with what MiSTer allows you to load up through the backend, or just something that would be needlessly difficult to implement? I assume a similar situation for NeoGeo .neo vs the recommended Darksoft format?

Bummer about the directories, especially since the update_all lets you set custom directories other than the default. But as is, 99% probably don't care, and I can't fault anyone for not catering to niche users--especially on free software!

Anyway, keep up the great work! I've left it running in the background all day while I worked, and it's a real treat.
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Re: MiSTer Super Attract Mode (SAM) is now available - the first game screensaver for your MiSTer!

Unread post by Mellified »

Super Attract Mode uses a third party tool to copy the selected ROM to a known location, then uses emulated keystrokes to select that ROM. It's a huge kludge because MiSTer lacks a standard method for telling a core to load a ROM. You can check out the tool we use here:
https://github.com/pocomane/MiSTer_Batch_Control
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Re: MiSTer Super Attract Mode (SAM) is now available - the first game screensaver for your MiSTer!

Unread post by Duffygag »

In two hours I have seen the same game I think 10 times, that randomizer needs to be changed :)

Also for Snes core loads up opens to load rom and remain stuck until following cycle
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Re: MiSTer Super Attract Mode (SAM) is now available - the first game screensaver for your MiSTer!

Unread post by Sigismond0 »

ANARCHY_MIKE wrote: Tue Jun 29, 2021 2:15 amYep, I did.

This is basically what my folder looks like in fat\games\NeoGeo
EcV8Fpj.png
The ROMs are in their individual folders.

Each folder has the files like so
ZM3Sxcr.png
NeoGeo also failed for me, and I had the same setup as you. But after switching from the Darksoft format to .neo format, it works just fine. I assume this is the same limitation as why you need CHD disc games instead of bin/cue. You can just run the NeoBuilderUI tool on your current romset, or find one already in the TerraOnion format.
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Re: MiSTer Super Attract Mode (SAM) is now available - the first game screensaver for your MiSTer!

Unread post by ash2fpga »

Duffygag wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 2:58 pm In two hours I have seen the same game I think 10 times, that randomizer needs to be changed :)

Also for Snes core loads up opens to load rom and remain stuck until following cycle
One "weird trick" I have been able to use to get "better" (more deviating) initial RNG results, in Lua script at least, was to iterate the RNG, say, 100 times, during initialization. Not sure if anything like that would help here.
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Re: MiSTer Super Attract Mode (SAM) is now available - the first game screensaver for your MiSTer!

Unread post by Reg »

Mellified, thank you for this screen saver mode - finally got it running.

May I ask for a new option or at least info on what to change please for my screen. The current view is this...
Current View.png
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As shown, the display on m7 case is actually setback a littler behind the bezel, this is fine and down to me - outside of the bezel the view is fine.

Could we please change the view to something like this ( by a manual adjustment of the code or a swithable option )...
NewView.png
NewView.png (1.53 MiB) Viewed 10019 times
This means that when you're sat near the MiSTer you can see the system that it's on as well by dropping that to the bottom.

Also... :)

...is there any chance of making it log to a text file what games it loads in attact mode ?

The purpose of this would be for those that don't have the screen or miss the title of the screen when it shows up a new game that looks interesting what the file name was, system and perhaps time and date it showed ?

Thank you !
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