GnGeo - v20210814 with *.gno support!

[Apaczer]

GnGeo 2021-8-14 changelog: (deprecated due to lack of src and unwise/unclear BIOS inclusion, use ver. from d/l section)

• use GNO format ROMset for faster load-times

• show FPS/CPU usage

• added default V-SYNC for video render

• no need for BIOS & game_data (already compiled within binary itself)

• new BIOS menu option to pick between 29 different versions

• support for per-game configs (e.g. button mapping & bios)

D/L link: in Emulators section on main page

Introduction:

The GnGeo is an AES/MVS Neo Geo emulator (without NG-CD support) based of MAME ROMsets.

This emulator natively supported GNO files, but that function was somehow oversight by our community, so now it was brought to light by @steward-fu with his detailed work

What is *.gno ROMset file?
It is a combination of decrypted ROMs' files and BIOSes (partly encrypted). In short they are fast cache files, compering to *.ZIP ROMsets.

Why would you want to use GNO files instead of ZIP?
GNOs loading time is 5÷10 times faster in GnGeo emulator and thus it can easily handle larger ROMsets (thanks to lower RAM usage).
The emu is trying to fit the entire unzipped ROM in memory while executing the game (decrypting the encrypted data), which explain the long load times with ZIP files and why anything larger than ~40Mb is prone to crashes on Miyoo devices (in that case use *.gno ROMs)

What is directly built-in BIOS feature?,

You can set now different BIOS for each game and pick it directly from emulator's menu.

There are 29 BIOSes in total (for full list, refer to the FBA-a320 emulator). Remember to save settings after selecting and restart the GnGeo before the new BIOS can be applied.

How do I acquire *.gno ROMsets?

You need to convert original ziped files to .gno using GnGeo build for windows/linux/osx system (any platform with more RAM available). Just add "--dump" to your executable parameters in CLI.
Example: ./gngeo -i /my_roms_folder --dump mslug3
Thorough explanation down bellow.

Compile GnGeo on Unix and create GNO files:

1. Download src from links below
2. Pass commands

make clean
./configure
make

3. Grab gngeo binary from /src/ folder and move it to /gngeo.dat
4. Create "roms" folder in /gngeo.dat/ and put ziped ROMsets there
5. Open terminal and cd to ./gngeo.dat directory
6. Launch gngeo (test if it works) and exit

chmod +x ./gngeo  
gngeo

5. Create *.gno dump:
   gngeo --dump [romset_name]
6. Grab new romset_name.gno file from /gngeo.dat/ folder and copy to your handheld (it will only work with gngeo v20210728 revision or later!)
7. BENEFIT faster loading times with new ROMset format on your Miyoo!

GnGeo build under x86_64 Unix systems: gngeo_Linux.zip

You might need some additional libraries to compile properly gngeo. For running binary libsdl1.2-dev should suffice on Debian distros.

List of working GNO dumps (by steward-fu)

Button mapping

The button remapping feature support all kind of different combinations of inputs, for now you have to set those manually in config files - /mnt/.gngeo/gngeorc globally or per-game in /mnt/.gngeo/romset_name.cf for e.g. a_btn 1; b_btn 2; x_btn 3; y_btn 4; l_btn 5; r_btn 6, where number correspond to arcade's one or set of inputs as below:

---

ISSUES:

1. The remapping feature is broken via menu. Please set these manually through config files (thanks Rezzy)
2. With UNIBOS 1.3 (and newer versions) all SNK arcade games can be launched only in CONSOLE mode (thanks Sakitoshi)

NOTES:

To acces individual BIOS menu, after game launch press B+A+Y (on V90) when you see splash screen.
The default config sets to Universe BIOS v1.3 with CONSOLE / EUROPE mode. To simulate ARCADE machine with coins, use any other working BIOS (excluding UNIBIOS 1.3 and its later revisions).

If you are loading the game from GnGeo's LOAD GAME feature instead of gmenu2x , you will also need to add to romlist [] = {"/romset_name.zip", "/romset_name2.zip",..}

src miyoo - v20210731 (final code not available, use this instead)
src master 1 - https://github.com/linuxlinks/gngeo
src master 2 - https://github.com/sflores12/gngeo
other src:
https://github.com/pepone42/gngeo/
https://github.com/yoyofr/iNEOGEO/

GnGeo coding log - https://steward-fu.github.io/website/handheld/trimui/gngeo_gno.htm

[Rezzy-dev]

Grab new romset_name.gno file from /gngeo.dat/ folder and copy to your handheld (it will only work with gngeo v20210728 revision or later!)

Where are we to copy the GNO files on the device? The instructions are currently unclear.

Edit:

Oh! The GNO files are used in place of the ZIP ROM files. They're not a complementary cache, they are the ROM. Now I get it. So they go in "/mnt/roms/NEOGEO/".

[Rezzy-dev]

When trying to change/configure the buttons, the emulator currently crashes. What are the config text file settings to set the controls (so we can still customise them by editing the config file directly)?

Edit:

Never mind, figured that out, too: 😉

a_btn 2
b_btn 1
x_btn 4
y_btn 3
l_btn 0
r_btn 0

0=nothing, 1=A, 2=B, 3=C, 4=D

By editing the config file (either the main config file, "gngeorc", or the game-specific one) directly, you can set the controls.

[Sakitoshi]

is there a way to assign the coin button?
arcade mode is unusable because you can't put any coins.

[Rezzy-dev]

Select is the coin button, @Sakitoshi. You press Select then Start to start a game.

[Rezzy-dev]

Also, only home/console mode is supported. Arcade mode won't work.

Is there any benefit to running arcade mode for Neo Geo games?

[Sakitoshi]

that's the thing. it doesn't work for me on the 20210814 version. the 20210731 version is fine.
i only tested with unibios, maybe with a regular bios it's fine.
the benefit is unlimited continues.

[Rezzy-dev]

i only tested with unibios, maybe with a regular bios it's fine.

Yep, that's the case -- it's BIOS specific -- see below. 👍 👇

the benefit is unlimited continues.

Ah, I see! :o Don't forget that GnGeo also allows you to save the game's state at any point, and load from it. So this is another way to have unlimited continues (that wasn't present on the original console/arcade machines). ;)

[Apaczer]

The issue with only "Console" mode is related to UNIBIOS, every other flavor of purely Arcade BIOSes should play normally like MVS machine. This bug has long history dating back to when it was ported by original author of GnGeo (@pepone42) to GCW0.
I don't think there is yet a solution to this, it was also mentioned in this disscussion:#192 (smb describes how to set up UNIBIOS under stock GnGeo).
Sorry for the confusion, the newest 20210814 version will turn Universe BIOS v1.3 by default for every game thus switching to CONSOLE / EUROPE mode every time. I'm not sure anyway if other BIOS'es allow playing under CONSOLE mode with Neo Geo.

[Rezzy-dev]

I'm using the first BIOS in the list, the "MVS Asia/Europe v6 (SP-S3)", and I've had no problems playing the games. I must admit, I'm confused now what constitutes as the "console mode", and what the "arcade mode". Have I been playing arcade mode without knowing of the existence of the console mode? If so, then this emulator/build works fine with arcade mode, too. It all depends on the BIOS used. 🤔

[Rezzy-dev]

Oh, the console-only support/problem is exclusive to UNIBIOS! Now I get you! :D So it's not that the new build doesn't support arcade mode, it's that the UNIBIOS doesn't. Nods.

Switching away from UNIBIOS allows arcade mode play.

[Sakitoshi]

yes, i've been investigating the issue and arrived at the same conclusion. unibios doesn't like gngeo coin button.
for what i've investigated in reality there is a coin and a select button (finalburn neo has them separated). select isn't implemented on gngeo (at least i don't see any mention of it in the source code), so there is work to be done there.
select is used to pause the game in console mode and if you press select+start you can get to the unibios in-game menu to use cheats and some other features.
for what i've tested:
gngeo included with miyoocfw supports all bios but needs editing the config file by hand or use the parameter "system=unibios".
20210731 couldn't get it to use unibios. the parameter was removed and doesn't seem to care if the config file has the option.
20210814 supports all bios.
and as we already know, unibios doesn't recognize select as coin or select in any cases.
i'll stick to the 20210814 version with regular bios for now. the unibios is nice, but if you can't use its features then it doesn't make a difference.

[Sakitoshi]

little update: with unibios 1.2 and below the coin button works.
i think it was to do with unibios 1.2 not supporting neogeo aes (home console), while 1.3 onwards supports it and expects the coin button to not exist and use the select button instead. since i've observed that gngeo identifies as an aes system to the unibios.

[MiyanoOsu]

I found link almost *.gno rom have been converted by Steward-Fu.
https://github.com/steward-fu/website/releases/tag/neogeo

[klaken91]

How do I convert my roms to the .gno format in windows?

[rogerioronin]

How do I convert my roms to the .gno format in windows?

https://github.com/steward-fu/neogeo/releases/tag/v1.1

[MiyanoOsu]

You can create live usb linux. Need not to install on hardware, version client debian will boot faster and smaller size iso.

[Apaczer]

Here is a build for Windows users: https://github.com/Apaczer/gngeo/releases/tag/gngeo-win32_0.1

[Apaczer]

Unfortunately, the source for gngeo_20210814.zip has been lost, we're left with part of src in v20210731 - the latter has less games decrypted, what following table may suggest:

Additionaly there is a modded GnGeo emulator - called RK (also without src) with even more games supported with GNO and COMBO hotkey for fighting games, the main menu is in Chinese. Download link - rk_20210903.zip and compatibility table:

[Rezzy-dev]

It's fortunate that GnGeo is one of the least troublesome emulators on the platform. But this is terrible news if things change in the future, and we need to update GnGeo.

[cleitonnroll]

Does anyone have a .GNO rom pack or the converter?

[ysahmed]

The whole gngeo repository seems to be deleted. I have managed to download the releases from archive though.

Also can anyone help me compile gngeo from source. I have tried compiling on Arch but failed. I need it to convert roms to .gno file.

[cricri-pingouin]

Very nice, thanks @Apaczer!