It's been quite a while since the AVS got any significant updates.  Has the project been completed?

Anyone have an idea?

This reminds me that I should finally update my firmware and install my replacement cart slot... I've yet to apply a single update

You mean firmware? They should be working on something to improve on PAL games, but that's about it.

 

mmc5 please?

Do you have anything specific you're looking to see updated? Or are you just curious in general? Maybe if there are suggestions they might make an update, but it has been as you say quite a while - I believe RetroUSB tends to make and move on, more or less.

Yeah, I was talking about firmware updates!  I know they've mentioned wanting to update palettes to more modern ones created by FBX as well as work on making PAL games more compatible, but it's been well over a year and mostly radio silence since.  I mean it's perfectly fine if they are going to move on from the project, but it would be nice to have a definitive "final" firmware update (or at least an announcement) if you know what I mean.

I don't think there is much if any room to add more palettes. And "more modern palettes" is a bit of a misnomer, as there isn't a right or wrong palette. TVs back then never had uniform colors.

PAL compatibility is needed, though.

I am pretty sure that is not true at all.  

Yeah, I'm pretty sure there was briefly a ton of radio noise from a couple of palette enthusiasts but no actual commitment or interest from bunnyboy save to advise that there isn't really much room left to add any additional palettes.

PAL compatibility is at the top of the list, I messed up something in either the PPU or APU so some pal/ntsc detection is failing. Support guy has a good list of the games people have reported but I don't remember where that is. The next part is adding palette updating through the Scoreboard app so that small number of insane people don't complain anymore   But that means working on the app side which is definitely a weak point. Two of the three people who worked on that are out of the scene now! Other than that I don't think there are any more planned enhancements. Not sure there is anything that fits with my skills, my time, and the hardware available.

For why it has taken so long, any work time not stolen by my kids (you should never have any) is being used trying to avoid bilateral femoral proximal rotational osteotomy (you should never do an image search for that) or I will have to build a wheelchair ramp up into my office. When I do have time it hasn't been a solid chunk so it has been spent on other projects where 5 mins is useful or doesn't require being in the office. Haven't even started on the xmas 2019 game yet...

Heh.

 

Aha, I see!  My apologies for assuming! 
 
I looked it up.  Total yikes on that one, my man. 

Thank you however for responding to this thread!  Very appreciated.  I didn't mean to come off as a slight to the AVS -- just wanted to know if there was going to be a perceived end or final firmware to the project that would consider it complete.  It's been amazing watching the project take off and become what it is now over the last few years.

Also, I do admit I'm one of those insane palette people.  

Just signed up to say that this is really terrific stuff, and thanks so much for all the hard work. I love my AVS as is but being able to update palettes on my own is something I really hoped would happen. Hopefully you're able to keep in good health and spend time with the fam jam though--as much as I would love to have that feature I'm glad you're making time for what counts.  

MMC5 PLEASE! PLEASE. please? please!!!

Are you begging for independent MMC5 code being introduced into the system?  This confuses me, as it already handles MMC5 carts correctly.  If you want to be able to play ROMs which require MMC5 support, you should be lobbying in a PowerPak thread (or in an Everdrive thread, potentially on its home forum), not the AVS one.  There's no real reason for the system to emulate the MMC5 chip itself since it doesn't support loading ROMs natively (the way the NT Mini can) and handles talking to the real deal inside of carts just fine as it is.

Isn't that something the cart would be supplying? Or is there an incompatibility that I haven't read about?
 

The only thing I can think of is the fact that neither the PowerPak nor Everdrive get MMC5 emulation quite right and the NT Mini emulates the chip natively so that its onboard ROM loading (via SD card) can work.  Since the AVS doesn't allow for loading ROMs directly into the system, such an addition is both impractical and unnecessary.  If there's so little room left in the FPGA that it would be either difficult or impossible to add in a small number of additional palettes, how could emulation of an entire mapper chip be accomplished?  This request needs to be addressed in a PowerPak thread (or an Everdrive one, although the creator is apparently still working away on it), or, should it become a thing, an "AVS 2" thread if/when such a beast were announced and if it were to support onboard ROM loading like the NT Mini does.

yep. i'll just delete this thead because I've made a mistake...  

time to necromance the powerpak thread!
 

I'm grateful Bunnyboy is adding that palette option, but I don't think its insane to expect/want that feature. Its a pretty common feature in software emulators and NT Mini. AVS is a premium product at the end of the day, so premium features are to be expected. Thank You for listening though. I've wanted this for like 2 yrs now lol.   At this point I can't think of any dream features that wouldn't require brand new hardware, so this pretty much makes the AVS the best it possibly can with its hardware limitations.  Really happy.

He's just having a bit of fun.  

I would be patient, though. From the sound of it, the people who worked on the app are no longer available, so he may need to get new people to remake it from the ground up. I wouldn't count on it being an overnight fix.

No, I'm not expecting it anytime soon, but the fact he acknowledged it is enough to hold me over.  

 

Speaking of the XMAS game, will this new AVS firmware fix the problem with the 2018 8-BIT XMAS cart?





To reiterate,
The power light on the AVS will occasionally flicker, and the cart eventually freezes up after some glitching. Everything worked a year ago and the only change in my setup has been updating the firmware. I'm not having these issues with any other carts, including the 8 BIT XMAS 2011 game. I've only used this game for about an hour total, and then it went back into a safe spot on my shelf where it remained for the year.

Also, is there any chance of adding CopyNES functions to the AVS? I think this was brought up years ago, but I'm not sure there was a definitive answer.
It would be great to be able to dump cartridge roms.

Insane to want it? No. Insane to expect it? Yes.

You don't buy a product that doesn't offer something an then expect it to be offered.  
 

:: quietly whispers in the dark:: mmc... fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive

A couple of us have already gone over this--there wouldn't be room left in the sytem's FPGA to add onboard emulation of the chip and, since the system can't support playing ROMs on its own, there's zero reason to do so--especially since neither the PowerPak nor Everdrive are configured to be able to pull chip emulation from hardware outside of their own.  Is this trolling or did you forget since yesterday?