CRT Emudriver in AMD APU? (sorry if has been asked before)

[K-rnivoro]

Simple question: Is it possible to use any CRT-Emudriver with an AMD APU having 15KHz in the integrated VGA output? I've tried some A8 APU's with Dolphin and some other demading emulators (in a PC Monitor) and regardless Intel processors are recommended, those APUs do a great job!!

PS: Just point me in the right direction if this has been discussed before. 

[K-rnivoro]

Sorry if I insist...none have tried?

[buttersoft]

I'm hoping to do the same thing (i put up another thread without even realising this was here, d'oh)

If you look for APU drivers for Win 7, for example, AMD directs you to the legacy crimson 16.2.1 driver - the same as it does for any (outdated?) graphics product on Win 7. I reckon that's a good sign.

I'd say give it a go, if you have one. At worst, it won't install.

[prisonerofheaven]

Hi, I recently acquired an old laptop with an AMD A8 APU (AMD Radeon HD 6620G integrated), and I wanted to know if anyone tried to use CRT Emudriver with any of these APU's integrated graphics. I don't have a vga->SCART cable and I wanted to know if it's possible before buying one.

Thanks a lot.

[haynor666]

Should be in theory possible

- Download CRT Emudriver & CRT Tools 2.0 beta 11 (Crimson 16.2.1 non-GCN* cards) for Windows 7/8/10 64-bits - NEW!
                 Desktop: AMD Radeon™ HD 5000, HD 6000 Series, HD 7000-7600, HD 8000-8400 Series
                              AMD Radeon™ R5 235X, R5 235, R5 230, R5 220 Series
              All-in-One: AMD Radeon™ HD 6350A, HD 6600A, HD 7450A, HD 7600A Series
                      APU: AMD Radeon™ HD 6000D, HD 7000D, HD 8000D, HD 6000G, HD 7000G, HD 8000G Series
                 Mobility: AMD Radeon™ HD 5000M, HD 6000M Series

- Download CRT Emudriver & CRT Tools 2.0 beta 11 (Crimson 16.2.1 for GCN* cards) for Windows 7/8/10 64-bits - NEW!
                 Desktop: AMD Radeon™ HD 7700-7900, HD 8500-8900 Series
                              AMD Radeon™ R7 200, R7 300, R9 200, R9 300, R9 Nano, R9 Fury Series
                      APU: AMD A-Series APUs with Radeon™ R4, R5, R6, or R7 Graphics   
                             AMD Pro A-Series APUs with Radeon™ R5 or R7 Graphics   
                             AMD Athlon™ Series APUs with Radeon™ R3 Graphics   
                             AMD Sempron™ Series APUs with Radeon™ R3 Graphics   
                             AMD A-Series APUs with Radeon™ R3, R4, R5, R6, R7, or R8 Graphics
                             AMD Pro A-Series APUs with Radeon™ R5, R6, or R7 Graphics
                             AMD FX-Series APUs with Radeon™ R7 Graphics
                             AMD E-Series APUs with Radeon™ R2 Graphics
                             AMD Radeon™ HD 8180 - HD 8400 Series Graphics
                Mobility: AMD Radeon™ R9 M300, R7 M300, R9 M200, R7 M200, R5 M200 Series           
                             AMD Radeon™ HD 7700M-7900M, HD 8500M-8900M Series

[prisonerofheaven]

Thanks for the answer haynor666

Yeah, I too thought so after checking that compatibility list, but then I saw this post in Eiusdemmodi forum http://geedorah.com/eiusdemmodi/forum/viewtopic.php?id=332.

I searched the internet for days, but I can't find any more info about this subject, these APUs are old, but it seems like no one has tried CRT Emudrivers with them

[buttersoft]

The crt_emudriver install guides show you can install it and then use your current LCD with it.  It's the VMM step that switches over to low resolutions. So you can give crt_emudriver a go first, no need for the cable until you can see the driver is working with that APU (if it does). And you can always switch back and install regular drivers after that, though ideally you want to install crt_emudriver over a fresh copy of windows.

In fact, to test your APU properly, you'll then go through the same steps as the guy in the post you linked. I don't have VMM in front of me right now, but i think you could use the guide for the 5000 series cards and up on the same website you linked to, BUT once the driver is installed and you're up to the VMM step, make sure to try this:
-Make sure to pick the  arcade_15_31 monitor preset
-Copy the user_modes.ini file and call it what you want, edit it to make sure there's a mode in there called 640x480@60.0000 or whatever the format is, and not one for a 480 interlaced mode @30.0000. And also make sure there's modes like 320x240@60.0000. Then make sure to select this file as the list of modes to generate.
-Go through the VMM step of the guide steps of the guide to generate modes, and install them.

Now you should have some 15kHz modes installed, and some 31kHz modes so your LCD will still show up - i hope. Two things can go wrong, so pay attention. One, it doesn't work, and VMM can't install any 15kHZ modes - ok, you've lost nothing. Two, VMM switches to a weird mode your LCD can't handle and you can no longer boot into a visible desktop. I the latter case you might need to reinstall windows if you can't virtually get into the machine.

Hopefully Calamity can confirm that VMM would pick 640x480p as the default if you've generated it correctly. You could even try reducing the user modes file to two entries, one for 640x480@60.000 and one for 320x240@60.0000. Windows should always pick the larger, there.

If this works, you won't be able to test the 15kHz modes like 240p, but even installing them is a step further than the guy on your link got. And if they do install, i'd say it's safe to presume they work, everything else being equal - meaning i know nothing about your monitor or cable

Keen to hear how you get on.

EDIT: Remember that the above is only to test your APU using your LCD. To use a real 15kHz screen, at minimum you'll want to redo the VMM step from the guide and make sure you don't install anything over 15kHz (so, using the arcade_15 or generic_15 present, not the arcade_15_31 one). 480i is safe for an old SCART CRT, but 480p is not.

The other option is to just follow the crt_emudriver install guide as it's laid out, and if when you get to the VMM step the LCD goes out of range, you know it worked. Reinstall windows and look into your SCART cable

[prisonerofheaven]

Thank you so much for answering buttersoft, I finally decided to buy the cable and try, because at least the APU is recognized by the CRT Emudriver installer so I'm going to take a chance. It should arrive tomorrow or the day after, I'll keep you posted.

[prisonerofheaven]

Ok, so I tried today and it seems I can install Calamity CRT Emudriver, no problem at all following the guide...



But then, when I launch VMMaker...this happens



I installed "CRT Emudriver & CRT Tools 2.0 beta 11 (Crimson 16.2.1 non-GCN* cards) for Windows 7/8/10 64-bits", that I think it's the appropiate driver for my APU (Radeon HD 6620G), but the CRT Emudriver installer shows Radeon HD 7400M instead. Could that be the problem?

Any help is appreciated.

[Calamity]

VMMaker reports MS basic driver, this because CRT Emudriver is not being loaded. Check in device manager if the gpu appears with a yellow icon. Check if test mode is enabled too. Did you restart Windows after installing the driver?

[prisonerofheaven]

VMMaker reports MS basic driver, this because CRT Emudriver is not being loaded. Check in device manager if the gpu appears with a yellow icon. Check if test mode is enabled too. Did you restart Windows after installing the driver?

Yes, I restarted windows after installing the driver and test mode was enabled all the time. Today I tried making another clean installation of windows 10, and as you said it seems CRT Emudriver has some kind of problem with my computer, here you have some photos from the installation and the device manager after that





After this, the installer recognizes the graphics as AMD RADEON HD 7400M although my integrated graphics is an AMD RADEON HD 6620G, that could be the problem I think. Here you have the rest of the pics from the device manager with the yellow icon...



and from the device status



Thank you for answering Calamity , I hope you can guide me to solve the problem if there's a solution, if not I'll have to search for another pc with a compatible graphics card, I was very excited with the idea of running groovymame on my crt tv and this was a huge let down for me 

[Calamity]

Your card's pci id is not included in the driver .inf file. Have you tried with the Emudriver version based on Catalyst 12.6?

[prisonerofheaven]

Mmm nope, I had not tried that, I assumed that "Crimson 16.2.1 non-GCN* cards" was the one for my graphics card. I didn´t have much time today before going to work, but I have installed the version based on Catalyst 12.6 and it shows promise. I have taken some photos.

First of all, when I try to install Emudriver based on Catalyst 12.6, it seems the installation recognizes 2 devices:



If I check the first or both of the options this happens...



But then I tried with only the second option and...well, there's hope again 



When installed, one of  the found devices is my graphics card, and then, when I run VMMaker, it founds Crt Emudriver at last 



When I got to that step it was time for me to go to work  , so I couldn't follow the rest of the guide, but I have good vibrations this time, fingers crossed.

I'll update tomorrow and keep you posted, I hope this post will be of use to more people with AMD APUs like mine. Thanks again for the help Calamity , and sorry if my english is a bit rough, it's not my first language.

[Calamity]

Probably you didn't uninstall 16.2.1 before installing 12.6, did you?

[prisonerofheaven]

Yes, I did uninstall 16.2 before installing 12.6, and then the 16.2 installer only showed one "Microsoft Basic Display Adapter", then I restarted the laptop and proceeded to install 16.2, and that installer showed me the two display adapters, I don't know if it's because it's an APU  , after the instalation showed both the 6620G and the 7400M, but VMMaker only detects the 6620G display, so I hope it's good news. I'm typing this from work, and when I arrive home it will be very late, so I'll try tomorrow when I have some time. I have not received my VGA->SCART cable anyway, I expect it will arrive tomorrow, then I'll check for sure if it's working.

[buttersoft]

TBH if it works one way but not another, use the way that works Post up some more results when you can. Do you know if your cable will combine sync for you, or do you have another plan for that?

Cheers for stepping in regarding the drivers, Calamity.

[prisonerofheaven]

Ok, so I made another windows 10 clean installation this morning to install Calamity drivers properly, and I can confirm that the installation shows two MS Basic Display adapters, I suposse it's an APU thing. I chose the second one and the drivers installed fine.

Then I ran VMMaker, and followed the Calamity guide steps, with an exception, my graphics card has two outputs, hdmi and vga, so I thought I had to choose "Analog_0" because the card has 1 analog output, but it seems the laptop screen counts as another analog output and choosing Analog_0 doesn't work for me. I tried with Analog_1 and worked, but the laptop screen was still the primary in my case, I connected the tv and it showed the extended laptop, so I went into windows display configuration and chose to use only the second display, and followed the rest of the guide.



Then I generated the modelines, but when I tried to install them a error message appeared with each of them notifying that the modeline couldn't be installed because it was rejected by the driver, so I closed VMMaker and ran it again, this time as an administrator, and this time it worked fine.

The proof:









By the way, this is the cable I used http://retrocables.es/tienda/index.php?id_product=55&controller=product&id_lang=4 and It's working awesome for now.

I want to thank all of you guys for your help, and specially Calamity. I hope this thread will be of use in the future for people with AMD APUs, I searched the entire web and found almost nothing about this topic, so here it is at least.

Cheers!

[Calamity]

Glad to see it worked. So finally it was 12.6 the one that succeeded?

[prisonerofheaven]

Yes! 12.6 did the trick finally, I'm so happy right now 

[buttersoft]

GJ, glad you persisted. As Calamity has noted elsewhere, this was one of the first test-cases with an older APU.

[naoto.awai]

Hi

I'd like to report my successful experience with the following APU:
AMD A6 - 6400K (Radeon HD 8470D integrated)

connected to a TV PAL - RGB with a cable RGB-SCART VGA (from retrocables.es)

SO: windows 7 pro

Calamity drivers:
- Download CRT Emudriver & CRT Tools 2.0 beta 15 (Crimson 16.2.1 non-GCN* cards) for Windows 7/8/10 64-bits

Frontend:
Attract Mode 2.5.1
I had to use 640 x 486 @15 khz (instead of 640 x 480 @15 khz) as explained by calamity here:
http://geedorah.com/eiusdemmodi/forum/viewtopic.php?id=416

..sorry for necroing this thread...

[Calamity]

Thanks for reporting!

[naoto.awai]

I forgot to mention I used GroovyMAME 0.209

Thanks for reporting!

I personally wanna thank You for your huge work!

[mghty]

Hi could i have some advice please Calamity, or anyone else who's familiar with my query.....

I just bought a laptop (which should arrive in a day or two) and think i can use CRT Emudriver but not sure which download/version to attempt because the laptop specs are:
1.90GHz AMD A4-3300 DUAL CORE CPU & DUAL GRAPHICS: RADEON HD 6480G & RADEON HD 7400m (full details here: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DELL-INSPIRON-M5110-500gbHDD-WINDOWS-10-1-90GHz-AMD-A4-3300-8gb-RAM-USB-3-/274085022981)
....Could anyone advise which CRT Emudriver might be the one to try first. I appreciate i prob will have to do some muddling through but any initial help would be hugely appreciated. The fact that it's dual-graphics seems like i might be in for a tricky one here 

[buttersoft]

I think the Win 10 version of crt_emudriver 2.0 based on the 12.6 drivers is probably the best place to start.

[mghty]

Brilliant, thankyou very much buttersoft, i'll report the progress here as things go on

[mghty]

ok, long story short, i get to the 'generate modes' part in STEP-3 of the Calamity step-by-step guide and then i get lines of
'vmmaker rejected by driver'
......My plan is to start again and take more care but could someone answer this question if possible please...
In Calamity's guide he's using a pc monitor (LG brand) and a Sony BVM (target monitor), ..My question is, when following the guide (in my case using a laptop), do i treat my laptop screen as the 'pc monitor' or do i connect a seperate pc monitor to my laptop VGA port and use that as my pc monitor, while ignoring the laptop screen entirely?

...and yes, compared to me, 'noobs' look like experts lol 

[buttersoft]

TBH the fact you've not only said you're sticky to the guide, but that you've made me believe it, is S+ tier noobage though. An excellent start

You’re following the guide, and the driver says it installs fine, yes? The test would be to click the setup file again, and if you can now only uninstall it, you’re good. Leave it installed of course.

You cannot ditch the inbuilt laptop screen, though you can disable it later. A separate monitor plugged into the VGA port won’t hurt, and will let you open ArcadeOSD and see what that screen is numbered (//display1 or whatever.  This before you try to generate modes. You might try enabling EDID emulation for the VGA port alone (never enable it for the main laptop display, or you might have to reinstall windows – or at least reboot into safe mode and uninstall the driver).

When you generate the modes, do they generate? You get a list of modes without any errors? And then when you hit the install button that’s when things go wrong? Are you targeting the VGA port in the VMM options? This is not always easy to work out, as the naming isn’t clear.

If you’re not getting a list of modes, what monitor preset are you enabling? Generic_15 is a pretty safe starting point…

[mghty]

i genuinely had to look up what 'S+ tier' means lol

The deal with me is my brother is brilliant with all this stuff and always has helped me, but he's sick of it now so i'm 'on my own' ,as he puts it 

it's a bummer because i had previously got all the way to 'generate modes' (Step 3 of the guide), and then i got lines of
'vmmaker rejected by driver'.
I prob at that point could have done what prisonerofheaven did... (he simply ran VMM again  but as administator, and he got success), but i didn't learn that in time and instead i gave up, re-installed windows and am now set to try again.

So basically, i have a free day tomorrow, with no one at home all day except me, so i'm gonna have a proper take-my-time go at it, plus i now have a second pc to also try it on, (this one being an actual PC, not laptop), so am pretty confident now of getting success on the laptop, the PC, or both.
buttersoft, your help is so appreciated, and what you've said about initially finding out exactly what my vga port is being called, in order to recognize it later on, is definitely the way to go. Big thanks from me and will report back when i can.....
...and am considering forcing my grumpy brother to help me lol 


 

[mghty]

Ok i think i know what's going wrong....
In Calamity's guide, when he switches cables and views his Sony BVM display, it's displaying at 480p (unless i'm mistaken).
 My target is a PAL CRT TV so am assuming i need to be on 480i, in order to get the PC desktop showing on my CRT TV.

Is there something i can do/change so that when the above-mentioned step happens, i get a desktop display which works on my CRT TV?
 

[Calamity]

Hi mghty,

I gather you're using a laptop. The step of switching cabled doesn't make sense there. Just do the whole process with the CRT plugged to the VGA. Just turn it on once EDID emulation is started. You should point to the correct output in the display devices dropdown before generating and installing modes. The correct output should show "generic_15" once EDID emulation is enabled. If this is not the case, EDID emulation is not working and any further effort is worthless.

[mghty]

cool ok thankyou v much for the guidance Calamity, i'll report back tomorrow ..or possibly sooner!

additional: ok tbh i'm at a point now where i need to try a different cable and a different crt tv aswell, which should help to point me to where the issue is coming from. I'm getting through the set-up process in what seems to be the correct way, with everything now doing what's expected, but am just not getting a stable picture on the crt. It looks to me like it's sync or hertz related.
Will report back soon and thanks guys

[buttersoft]

What cable are you using? VGA to what on the other end?

[mghty]

i've been using a vga-to-scart cable but it's an old one and it was custom made, so i can't be absolutely sure it's working correctly.
So i've now bought the vga-to-scart cable from retrocables and it's on it's way.
I won't give up and it should only be a matter of time before things work out, plus i do have the fall-back of hounding my brother to help me/do it for me (though he's a three hour drive away unfortunately!)

[Substring]

Got the vga2scart cable from retrocable.es, works fine for me. Shipping was quite slow, but in the end, the cable does the job

[mghty]

Hi there Substring, yes i figured the vga2scart cable from retrocable.es was the one to get.
In the description of the cable on the website, what's the deal with the part where it says: 'USB connector or 9V battery terminal (used for RGB activation)'?
 Do you find you need to plug in the usb part of the cable to your PC to make RGB work properly?

[Substring]

Yes sir you must plug the USB cable, or the screen will be pretty dark. That's part of the scart specs.

Talking about the cable, the USB is the only flaw of this cable : the plastic surrounding the metal connector often slides off. It happens that when I want to unplug the USB connector, I simply slide the plastic part 

[mghty]

cool thanks for the info,
the custom vga-to-scart cable i've been using unsuccessfully may have not been working out because it doesn't have the USB thing.
 When the retrocables cable arrives i'll give it a go... maybe it's the one thing that sets everything right

[mghty]

SUCCESS!  ...and on friday the 13th of all days!

- - - - - - - - -
PC: HP Compaq Pro 6305 - AMD A4 5300B 3.4GHz - Radeon H7480D - Windows 10 Pro
CRT Emudriver: - 2.0 beta 15 (Crimson 16.2.1 non-GCN* cards)
CRT TV: Panasonic TX-G10
Connection: RetroCables (Spain) VGA-to-RGB(Scart) Cable
- - - - - - - - -

So seems the earlier problems i encountered were because,
1: I previously was using a custom vga-to-scart cable, which works fine on my arcade machine, but doesn't work with CRT Emudriver. (The retrocables cable solved this problem),

..and 2: My initial attempts to get CRT Emudriver working were done using a laptop with dual graphics, and things just wouldn't work out, so i stopped trying and switched to trying on the above mentioned Compaq PC instead.

I might try some more with the laptop, but am delighted to have it working on the PC, and i don't really care about the laptop any more. Huge thanks for your help guys! ...i'm moving on to the GroovyMAME part now. Hopefully GroovyMAME will be kind to me!
.....(safe to say, more questions coming soon) 

[pixel69]

Hi folks
Here my experience with 2 APU :

==> A6-1450 (Radeon HD 8250) : work fine but the APU (1GHz) is to slow to play games for machines >= 32bits

==> A10-9700E (Radeon R7) : working only with progressive resolution
The PC is a HP ELITEDESK 705 G3 DT MINI A10-9700E 8GB 256GB R7E
2 display port and 1 VGA
Until the last version of crtemudriver (beta 15), i was not able to install the driver, the installation stopped with the message saying there is no driver info
Now with beta 15 the installation work but i can't have interlaced resolution, only the progressives one