I got the Atari 800 and 5200 cores running
Following on from the Vectrex post where I mentioned I had a bit of trouble getting the Atari 800 and 5200 cores running properly through Internet Archive Games Launcher, I finally got them working this morning. Here’s how…
Assuming you already have all of your BIOS files setup in the correct locations and have an “.atari800.cfg” file in your RetroArch folder you may still be experiencing the same issues I had. The Atari 800 boots to either the Test Screen or to Memo Pad while the Atari 5200 just crashes Retroarch and KODI completely.
Atari 800
First off the Atari 800 because it’s closer to working than the 5200.
- Navigate to %appdata%\Kodi\userdata\addon_data\plugin.program.iagl\dat_files and scroll down to the Atari_800_ZachMorris.xml file.
- Open the file in Notepad (or Notepad++ or whatever XML editor you prefer)
- Look for the line “<emu_postdlaction>unzip_and_rename_rom</emu_postdlaction>” and change it to “<emu_postdlaction>unzip_rom</emu_postdlaction>”
- Save the file.
Now when you launch an Atari 800 game from the IAGL menu it should load into a black screen. Press the fire button on your controller and the game should run. NOTE: Not all of the games actually work. I’m not sure if this is due to issues with core configuration or the games just simply don’t work.
If you need to configure your joystick you can do this by pressing F1, scrolling down to Controllers and selecting Atari Joystick from the options menu.
Atari 5200
Now the Atari 5200. Here we change things vice versa.
- Navigate to %appdata%\Kodi\userdata\addon_data\plugin.program.iagl\dat_files and scroll down to the Atari_5200_ZachMorris.xml file.
- Open the file in Notepad (or Notepad++ or whatever XML editor you prefer)
- Look for the line “<emu_postdlaction>unzip_rom</emu_postdlaction>” and change it to “<emu_postdlaction>unzip_and_rename_rom</emu_postdlaction>”
- Save the file.
If you now load an Atari 5200 game and it loads to Memo Pad you need to go and change System Type.
- Press F1 to go to the RetroArch menu.
- Scroll down to Options and select it.
- Click Atari System and select 5200.
- Press F1 to leave the RetroArch menu.
- Press ESC twice to return to KODI.
- Load a game as normal.
You should now be able to play Atari 5200 games but emulating the monstrosity of a controller is down to you. I ain’t touching that.
Doing things in this order (800 then 5200) seems to allow Atari 800 games to run as well, without having to go in and change System Type every time you load a game from each system. At least it does on my set up anyway.
Hopefully anyone having the same issues I’ve been having can now, subsequently, setup and play these systems.
