06723: einstein [hustler, starq]: Keyboard is not responding!

ID	Category [?]	Severity [?]	Reproducibility	Date Submitted	Last Update
06723	DIP/Input	Major	Always	Oct 19, 2017, 19:23	Oct 25, 2017, 15:00

Tester	demotester	View Status	Public	Platform	MAME (Official Binary)
Assigned To	Duke	Resolution	Fixed	OS	Other
Status [?]	Resolved			Driver	tatung/einstein.cpp
Version	0.190	Fixed in Version	0.191	Build	32-bit
		Fixed in Git Commit		Github Pull Request #

Summary	06723: einstein [hustler, starq]: Keyboard is not responding!
Description	According to pictures on Einstein Reborn site, the 3 games seem to have been working in mame/mess before: - Hustler ...................... www.tatungeinstein.co.uk/games/hustler.htm - Les Flicks .................. www.tatungeinstein.co.uk/games/lesflics.htm - Starquake ................... www.tatungeinstein.co.uk/games/starquake.htm In the current mame/mess is not possible to get into pictures shown on above links, as the keyboard is not responding!
Steps To Reproduce	mame -einstein hustler (or starq), type DIR if needed and then game name to run!
Additional Information	Summary of problems find in the einstein driver: 1) In the swlist marked as working but has a "keyboard not responding" problem! - Husler ...............................(fixed in 0.191) - Les Flicks .........................(fixed in 0.191) - Starquake .........................(fixed in 0.191) - Southern Belle ...................(fixed in 0.191) - Tournament Snooker ..........(fixed in 0.191) 2) In the swlist marked as not supported + has a "keyboard not responding" problem! - Cluedo .............................(fixed in 0.191) - Deadzone .........................(fixed in 0.191) - Elite .................................(fixed in 0.191) - Monopoly .........................(fixed in 0.191) - Scrabble ..........................(fixed in 0.191) - Starbase ..........................(fixed in 0.191) 3) In the swlist marked as not supported + on Einstein Reborn site all mentioned as not supported in mess! - Buzz Off / Shark Hunter - Druid - House of Usher ...................(fixed in 0.191) - Konami 4 Game Arcade - Le Mans - Norseman / Backgammon - The Wreck - Theatre Europe - Time Bandits .......................(fixed in 0.191) - Turbo Chess / Draughts 4) In the swlist marked as working but the mouse not responding! (is the joystick/mouse emulated?) - Mouse Art ...... EDIT: According to manual it can work also w/o mouse, i.e. w/ keyboard! 5) In the emu Xtal Basic PRINT TI$ always gives "000000" !? (opened in new MT06728) ..........(fixed in 0.191) NOTE: An updated swlist can be found on the Einsten Reboren site! PS. The Tatung Einstein has characteristics very close those of the MSX computers and the Einstein Reborn site seem to have all the needed hw-sch/docs, and because as it is the only available emulator of Tatung Einstein, mame/mess driver maybe should deserve to get more love/attention! (IMHO)
Github Commit

Flags
Regression Version
Affected Sets / Systems	einstein [hustler, starq]

Attached Files

No.14310 demotester Tester Oct 21, 2017, 15:36 edited on: Oct 21, 2017, 16:09	Tested with an older messui 0.129 from Einstein Reborn site and all 3 mentioned games works fine here. Now, someone should investigate from what version it becomes broken. Ps. Also for info, the game Attack of the killer tomatoes (not in swlits) works fine in newer 0.190 but fails in 0.129. BTW. The Highway game size in swlist = 1722368?, while "normal" size is 215296. Checking the file in HexEd shows that contains 8 equal 215296 files in one file ?
No.14312 demotester Tester Oct 21, 2017, 19:18 edited on: Oct 21, 2017, 19:33	Hmm, it seems that PRINT TI$ does not work in Xtal Basic? (updated in Additional information and opened new MT06728) mame -einstein xtaldos then in DOS type: XBAS EINSTEIN (enter) and choose automatic mode... it will wait forever as TI$ doss not work in the emu! In the emu Xtal Basic PRINT TI$ always gives "000000" !?
No.14327 demotester Tester Oct 25, 2017, 14:56 edited on: Oct 25, 2017, 21:45	Thanks for fixing the problem in most mention cases, only a few left to still not working! (see in updated Additional Information) BTW. I noticed a big drop in performance in new 0.191 version with einsten driver! Max I get now in xdos is 45%-50%... on 0.190 I get 100% and with fast >200%. If the big drop in performance is the price for the driver improvement, I guess it says: is time for a modern PC. :( (Hopefully there is still left some place for driver speed optimization.) EDIT: Some of still not booting is possible to start from XtalDOS by typing DIR and game name! (except: 4game, druid, theatre)