Announcing Zgrom 0.1, a gaming rom for C1000/3x00 models Options

[Dromede]

ZGrom is a gaming oriented distribution for Sharp Zaurus C1000/C3x00 devices.
It's a console based distribution built around the Gmenu2X SDL GUI.
ZGrom has a wide selection of quality emulators, game engines and apps.

More information and downloads can be found on the ZGrom project site:

http://code.google.com/p/zgrom/

[ToneBlind]

What a pleasant surprise. I just found this post, promptly went to your site, and I couldn't believe it. We can run GP2X binaries now? So how is the MAME4All emulator running? I'll be installing this soon. Thank you for your efforts!

[Dromede]

What a pleasant surprise. I just found this post, promptly went to your site, and I couldn't believe it. We can run GP2X binaries now? So how is the MAME4All emulator running? I'll be installing this soon. Thank you for your efforts!

Yes, you can run GP2X binaries with GINGE. However, not all of them will work. Unfortunately, MAME4ALL runs a bit slow. It works quite well if you disable sound.

[ToneBlind]

Yes, you can run GP2X binaries with GINGE. However, not all of them will work. Unfortunately, MAME4ALL runs a bit slow. It works quite well if you disable sound.

I'll install Zgrom this weekend. Can't wait for it. The fact that Mame is useable at all is great, as, so far, there wasn't a useable Mame for the Akita.

Is there any chance to run Amstrad games in Zgrom through the CapriceGP2X emulator? That was my first computer.

[Dromede]

Yes, you can run GP2X binaries with GINGE. However, not all of them will work. Unfortunately, MAME4ALL runs a bit slow. It works quite well if you disable sound.

I'll install Zgrom this weekend. Can't wait for it. The fact that Mame is useable at all is great, as, so far, there wasn't a useable Mame for the Akita.

Is there any chance to run Amstrad games in Zgrom through the CapriceGP2X emulator? That was my first computer.

I never tried running CapriceGP2X before. I tried it just now and it seems to work. There's just one important thing you have to do before you run it:

echo 0 > /proc/cpu/alignment

Certain GP2X binaries will cause a lot of alignment faults that can slow your system to a crawl if they are not ignored. On the GP2X, alignment faults are ignored by default. The above line will do the same on your Z.

MAME4ALL would be a lot faster if it were a native Zaurus port. Probably close to full speed.

[ToneBlind]

I never tried running CapriceGP2X before. I tried it just now and it seems to work. There's just one important thing you have to do before you run it:

echo 0 > /proc/cpu/alignment

Certain GP2X binaries will cause a lot of alignment faults that can slow your system to a crawl if they are not ignored. On the GP2X, alignment faults are ignored by default. The above line will do the same on your Z.

MAME4ALL would be a lot faster if it were a native Zaurus port. Probably close to full speed.

Thank you, that is great news! The alignment fix conflicts with anything else? And, does it hold until the next system reboot? If so, maybe adding that line in one of the initialization scripts might be a good idea, and I might just do that.

I remember a lot of discussions about MAME. There were a lot attempts to port MAME to the Zaurus and nobody was successful. Which is strange, since the architecture is nothing esoteric.

I personally am happy if your rom can run MAME games like anything up to circa 1986 with near full speed. I'm talking stuff like Galaxian, Pacman, X-Rally, etc.

[Dromede]

Thank you, that is great news! The alignment fix conflicts with anything else? And, does it hold until the next system reboot? If so, maybe adding that line in one of the initialization scripts might be a good idea, and I might just do that.

I remember a lot of discussions about MAME. There were a lot attempts to port MAME to the Zaurus and nobody was successful. Which is strange, since the architecture is nothing esoteric.

I personally am happy if your rom can run MAME games like anything up to circa 1986 with near full speed. I'm talking stuff like Galaxian, Pacman, X-Rally, etc.

The kernel that comes with ZGrom will by default fix unaligned accesses and warn the user through dmesg that such an access happened. So no, the alignment fixup has to be manually turned off each time you reboot.
I suggest you write a gmenu2x launcher for caprice. You can also wrap caprice invocation in a shell script, that way you can disable alignment fixup just for caprice. Certain emulators that come with
ZGrom do just that, take a look at DrPocketSnes for example.

I have also started a native zaurus port of MAME but i have abandoned it due to a lack of motivation. There are very few people who use Zaurus machines these days and even fewer people who use ZGrom. But you should be fine with GP2X MAME that comes with ZGrom. Games that you mentioned should work fullspeed with sound.