/wiihandy

WiiHandy is a port of the Handy Atari Lynx emulator to the Wii

Primary LanguageC++


WiiHandy v0.4 release README

Ported by raz0red [http://www.twitchasylum.com]

Video of WiiHandy


Overview

Handy is dedicated to emulating the Atari Lynx hardware on a standard PC. The software was originally developed by Keith Wilkins [http://handy.sf.net] and was released under the GPL on 14th April 2004.

Additional changes developed by the SDLEmu team [http://sdlemu.ngemu.com].


Installation

To install WiiHandy, simply extract the zip file directly to your SD card or USB device (retain the hierarchical structure exactly).

Cartridge images must be placed in the roms directory (/wiihandysdl/roms).

For the emulator to function, you must provide the "Atari Lynx boot rom" (lynxboot.img). This file must be obtained and placed in the WiiHandy directory (/wiihandysdl).


Cartridge Database

WiiHandy ships with a database that contains recommended settings for several cartridges. Specifically, it should contain the proper orientation (rotation) for any cartridges that don't use the typical horizontal orientation. This eliminates the need to modify cartridge header information to have a game rotate properly.

It should also be noted that if you look inside the database file, the hashes (MD5) being calculated do not include the 64-byte header for the purposes of increased compatibility. If you want to view the hash for a particular cartridge enable the "Debug mode" option under "Advanced". The hash will be displayed when the cartridge is playing.

To view/edit the settings applied for a particular cartridge perform the following steps:

  • Load the cartridge (via the "Load cartridge" menu item)
  • Return to the WiiHandy menu
  • Select "Cartridge settings (current cartridge)" menu item
  • Examine and modify settings for the cartridge

Cartridge/ROM Compatibility

It is worth noting that there are quite a number of bad Lynx ROM dumps floating around. In an attempt to reduce the incorrect reporting of incompatible games due to bad dumps, I have created the following page:

[http://www.wiibrew.org/wiki/WiiHandy/Cartridge_Compatbility]

This page lists each game that has been tested with WiiHandy along with its associated hash values (one for the full file, one that excludes the header information).

Enable the "Debug mode" option within the "Advanced" menu to view the hash (excluding header information) when a catridge is playing.


Controls

Wiimote:

    Move      : D-pad
    A         : 2
    B         : 1
    Option 1  : Plus
    Option 2  : Minus
    Pause     : A
    Exit      : Home
    Power     : Power off
    
Nunchuk:

    Move      : Analog
    A         : C
    B         : Z

Classic controller/Pro:

    Move      : D-pad/Analog
    A         : A
    B         : B
    Option 1  : Plus
    Option 2  : Minus
    Pause     : L/R
    Exit      : Home
            
Gamecube controller:

    Move      : D-pad/Analog
    A         : A
    B         : B
    Option 1  : R Trigger
    Option 2  : L Trigger
    Pause     : Start
    Exit      : Z Trigger

WiiHandy crashes, code dumps, etc.

If you are having issues with WiiHandy, please let me know about it via one of the following locations:

[http://www.wiibrew.org/wiki/Talk:WiiHandy] [http://www.twitchasylum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=510]


Special Thanks

  • DJ Dynamite : Testing
  • Murph74 : Testing
  • yossi : Testing
  • Wilsoff : Icon

Change Log

05/09/11 (0.4)

  • Pretty close to a full "re-port" based on the original Handy 0.95 sources.
  • Cartridge database for storing cart-specific settings (screen orientation, maximum frame rate).
  • Rewrite of display layer, GX based scaler
    • Ability to adjust horizontal and vertical screens to any size/dimensions via "Screen Size" options under "Display". If these are entered after loading a cartridge, the last frame will be displayed to assist in sizing.
  • Rewrite of sound layer
    • Audio skipping has been fixed
    • Audio plays at correct rate when the maximum frame rate is adjusted
  • Rewrite of timing loop
  • Support for Nunchuk and Classic Controller Pro
  • Analog stick support (Classic/Pro, Nunchuk)
  • USB support
  • SDHC support
  • Updated menu system

03/28/09 (0.3)

  • Ability to enable/disable vertical sync (NTSC/PAL60 only)
  • Ability to set the gamma level of the display
  • Added option to load Lynx boot ROM from the root directory
  • Gamecube controller support
  • Fixed a couple of buffer overflow issues causing periodic crashes
  • Refactor of the source code

01/28/09 (0.2)

  • Save/restore game snapshots
  • Resuming a game (after quitting with Home)
  • Resetting a game (after quitting with Home)
  • Fixed a bug causing homebrew games to crash on load (Lode Runner, etc.)
  • Fixed a bug where games would freeze if left idle for about an hour
  • Fixed a bug where games would not load after file error
  • Fixed minor glitches in frame rate (reworked game loop)
  • Ability to rotate controls w/ game screen
  • Ability to patch Lynx ROMs w/ rotation settings (not supported for .zip)
  • Advanced menu allowing for enabling debug mode, frame rate adjustments
  • Auto-chain detection
  • Reset/power functions (via Wii and Wiimote)
  • Ability to use a custom directory name for application files

01/18/09 (0.1)

  • Initial version
  • Sound support
  • Wiimote/Classic controller support