pocket-updater-utility: A C# repository from mattpannella

A free utility for updating the openFPGA cores, firmware, and a bunch of other stuff on your Analogue Pocket.

A complete list of available cores can also be found here: https://openfpga-cores-inventory.github.io/analogue-pocket/

I can't (and don't want to) support old versions, so please make sure you download the latest release before submitting any issues.

Easy Mode

If you just want to use this utility, do not clone the source repository. Just download the latest release. Unzip it, put the executable file for your platform (windows, mac os, or linux) in the root of your sd card, and run the program.

At the main menu run Settings to have it walk through the available settings for you.

Important Menu Items

Update All

Install/Update all of your cores, plus a bunch of other stuff. It can basically be used as the "do everything I want" option. Everything marked with a * can be turned on/off via settings.

Checks for new firmware updates *
Installs/updates every core you have selected
Checks for missing required assets for each core you have selected *
Deletes cores that you do not have selected *
Runs the instance JSON generator for each core you have selected (currently, only PC Engine CD) *
Rename every Jotego core you have selected *

Update Firmware

Self explanatory. Just checks for firmware updates and exits.

Download Required Assets

Checks for missing required assets for each core you have selected (mainly arcade ROM files and BIOSes)

RTFM

Settings

The following settings are all available via the Settings menu item.


Download Firmware Updates	Check for firmware updates when running "Update All"
Download Missing Assets	Check for missing assets (ROMs, BIOS files, etc) when running "Update All"
Build game JSON Files	Run the Instance JSON builder during "Update All"
Delete untracked cores	Any core that is available, but you have not chosen in the "Core Selector" will be uninstalled, if found on your SD card when running "Update All"
Automatically rename Jotego cores	Jotego's cores will be renamed to the correct titles of the platforms they are emulating, when running "Update All". example: jtcontra is Contra
Use CRC check	Use CRC file hashes to verify Asset files, and re-download if needed. When running "Update All" or "Download Required Assets"
Preserve Platforms folder	Don't overwrite changes made to files in the Platforms folder when running "Update All"
Skip alternative ROMs	Ignore files if they are in a folder named "_altermatives" when checking for Assets (Note: this is on by default)
Use custom archive	Allows you to use a custom site for Asset file checking (there is a pre-configured site available). The actual URL of the custom site can be set manually by editing the settings file in an editor

Additional Settings

The following settings can be set by editing pocket_updater_settings.json in a text editor.


config.archive_name	The account on archive.org that the app will use to check for Assets
config.github_token	The app will use this when making API calls to GitHub
config.download_new_cores	This will be set automatically by the `Select Cores` menu item. It can be set to "yes", "no", or "ask"
config.custom_archive	You can set a custom URL here, if you don't want to use the default. `index` is a relative path to the index of your custom site's files. This is not required, but it's needed for CRC checking. If you have CRC checking enabled, the setting will be ignored unless this provides the necessary format. It must match the output of archive.org's json endpoint. https://archive.org/developers/md-read.html
coreSettings	This allows you to set a subset of settings on a per core basis. It contains a list of every core, with 3 options. `skip`, `download_assets`, and `platform_rename`. You can use these to override your global defaults

CLI Commands and Parameters


  menu                 (Default Verb) Interactive Main Menu
    -p, --path    	     Absolute path to install location

  fund                 List sponsor links. Lists all if no core is provided
    -c, --core               The core to check funding links for
    
  update               Run update all. (Can be configured via the settings menu)
    -p, --path               Absolute path to install location
    -c, --core               The core you want to update. Runs for all otherwise
    -f, --platformsfolder    Preserve the Platforms folder, so customizations aren't overwritten by updates.

  assets               Run the asset downloader
    -p, --path               Absolute path to install location
    -c, --core               The core you want to download assets for.

  firmware             Check for Pocket firmware updates
    -p, --path               Absolute path to install location

  images               Download image packs
    -p, --path               Absolute path to install location
    -o, --owner              Image pack repo username
    -i, --imagepack          Github repo name for image pack
    -v, --variant            The optional variant

  instancegenerator    Run the instance JSON generator
    -p, --path               Absolute path to install location

  help                 Display more information on a specific command.

  version              Display version information.

examples:

/path/to/pocket_updater -p /path/to/sdcard/

/path/to/pocket_updater update -c boogermann.bankpanic

/path/to/pocket_updater assets -c jotego.jtcontra

/path/to/pocket_updater images -i pocket-platform-images -o dyreschlock -v home

Core Selector

This will prompt you to ask if you want new cores installed by default, with 3 options:

Yes
- Selecting this automatically chooses all existing cores, and will continue to automatically install new cores as they are released.
No
- Selecting this means as new cores are released, they will not be installed automatically, nor will you be asked about them. Then you will be presented with a list of all currently available cores, to select from for yourself.
Ask
- Selecting this means as new cores are released, you will be notified each time you run the app and have the option to select them for installation. Then you will be presented with a list of all currently available cores, to select from for yourself.

Download Image Packs

This will present you with a list of available image packs and automatically download and extract it to the Platforms/_images directory for you

Generating Instance JSON Files

Only supported by PC Engine CD, currently
Put your games in /Assets/{platform}/common
Each game needs to be in its own directory (and be sure to name the directory the full title of the game)
Example: /Assets/pcecd/common/Rondo of Blood
/Assets/pcecd/common/Bonk
etc
All games (for PC Engine CD) must be in cue/bin format. The generated json file will be saved using the same filename as the cue file, so be sure to also name that with the full title of the game
When you run the Generate Instance JSON Files or Update All menu items, it will search through every directory in common and create a json file that can be launched by the core
You can disable this process in Update All by setting build_instance_jsons to false in your settings file, if you don't want it to run every time you update.

Jotego Beta Cores

Now that Jotego is releasing his beta cores publicly (and requiring a beta key to play them), you can just drop the jtbeta.zip file from patreon onto the root of your sd card and run Update All, and it will automatically copy the beta key to the correct folders for the cores that need it. It also will let you install the yhe cores directly from the updater, now. Make sure you don't rename the file, it's going to look for exactly jtbeta.zip

How to build game and watch roms that are compatible with the pocket

Create 2 new folders.

/Assets/gameandwatch/agg23.GameAndWatch/artwork and /Assets/gameandwatch/agg23.GameAndWatch/roms

Place your [artwork].zip files into the artwork folder and your [rom].zip files into the roms folder

Should look like this:


/Assets/gameandwatch/agg23.GameAndWatch/artwork/gnw_dkong.zip

/Assets/gameandwatch/agg23.GameAndWatch/roms/gnw_dkong.zip

Now just run the menu option in the updater and it will build your games

Troubleshooting

Slow asset downloads? Try toggling use_custom_archive to true, in your settings.
If you run the update process and get a message like Error in framework RS: bridge not responding when running a core, try to run the updater in a local folder on your pc, and then copy the files over to the sd card afterwards. I'm not entirely sure what the issue is, but I've seen it reported a bunch of times now and running the updater locally seems to help.
I keep getting a Missing ROM ID [1] message when trying to launch arcade games in the _alternatives folder.

Check your settings and make sure you have Skip Alternative ROMS turned off.

Submitting new cores

You can submit new cores here https://github.com/openfpga-cores-inventory/analogue-pocket

Credits

Thanks to neil-morrison44. This is a port built on top of the work originally done by him here https://gist.github.com/neil-morrison44/34fbb18de90cd9a32ca5bdafb2a812b8

Special thanks to RetroDriven for maintaining the arcade rom archive.

And dyreschlock for hosting the updated platform files for Jotego's cores

And if you're looking for something with a few more features and a user interface, check out this updater. https://github.com/RetroDriven/Pocket_Updater

Or if you want something cross platform that will run on a mac or linux: https://github.com/neil-morrison44/pocket-sync

mattpannella/pocket-updater-utility