Issues with emulators for Linux

[Sweevo]

I am having a hard time finding a decent emulator for Linux. I started with Fuse but the main issue with that is it didn't do full screen. I then found Fuse SDL which does do full screen but messes up my desktop resolution after I exit. I tried FBZX but the cursor keys refuse to work which means as I mainly want to emulate a Spectrum 128 I cannot select menu items. I also tried ZEsarUX but his just crashes.

Can anyone recommend a Spectrum emulator for Linux that does fullscreen, doesn't mess with the desktop resolution and is fully working (i.e. keyboard fully works etc).

[dfzx]

Can anyone recommend a Spectrum emulator for Linux that does fullscreen, doesn't mess with the desktop resolution and is fully working (i.e. keyboard fully works etc).

What Linux distro (and version) are you using? What version of Fuse have you tried?

[PeterJ]

What distro are you using @Sweevo,

I tend to use Ubuntu or Mint and haven't experienced those issues. The author of ZEsarUX is here so may be able to help. @chernandezba.

It's probably a bit of overkill, but you can install RetroPie on Debian based distro. That includes quite a few Spectrum emulators.

https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Debian/

[Sweevo]

I am using Linux Mint 21.3 Cinnamon.

fuse-emulator-sdl
1.6.0+dfsg1-2

fuse
2.9.9-5ubuntu3

fuse flatpak
net.sf.fuse_emulator 1.6.0

(only the sdl version of the above has a fullscreen option)

fbzx
4.8.0-1

ZEsarUX
Version X

I was under the impression RetroPie can only run games rather than give you the full OS experience of the Spectrum.

[PeterJ]

It was under the impression RetroPie can only run games rather than give you the full OS experience of the Spectrum.

It certainly is game focused, but you can run any of the emulators at full screen and program as normal.

[SamC]

Did you try this one? https://www.retrovirtualmachine.org/download/

I personally prefer another enhanced (windows) emulator: https://www.ilnx.cz/lnxsp/
but it does not make perfectly some fine distinctions of several "tricky" software
in Linux Mint XFCE or MX Linux, running with WINE, it needs DOTNET and XNA libraries (in the installation package)
if there is a problem with an installation, this command will solve it:

Code: Select all

winetricks --force -q xna40

[dfzx]

I am using Linux Mint 21.3 Cinnamon.

Are you using X or Wayland?

It's odd that an application like Fuse is disturbing your system's graphics settings. That really shouldn't be possible.

[Mcoder2]

I then found Fuse SDL which does do full screen but messes up my desktop resolution after I exit.

You can use a script that resets the desktop resolution to your needs using "xrandr".
Without options "xrandr" shows the possible resolutions. For example

Code: Select all

xrandr -s 800x600

sets the resolution to the mentioned value.

By the way: fuse in fullscreen mode doesn't mess up my resolution settings after exiting.

[lister_of_smeg]

You also have Clock Signal and MAME which can do Speccy emulation.

[jamesh]

Well, it may be an unpopular opinion, but I went down this road and I'd say a Speccy emulator and contemporary wide screens are inherently not compatible. Read is as "I keep my FUSE with TV3X filter in a window"

Speaking of the FUSE SDL, the trick is to use --sdl-fullscreen-mode and pick the one that matches your setup (can be easily automated if you switch your desktop resolution often for whatever reason). Or just restore preferred resolution with xrandr.

[Sweevo]

Well, it may be an unpopular opinion, but I went down this road and I'd say a Speccy emulator and contemporary wide screens are inherently not compatible. Read is as "I keep my FUSE with TV3X filter in a window"

Speaking of the FUSE SDL, the trick is to use --sdl-fullscreen-mode and pick the one that matches your setup (can be easily automated if you switch your desktop resolution often for whatever reason). Or just restore preferred resolution with xrandr.

Do you mean you can set the Fuse SDL fullscreen resolution to the same as the desktop resolution? If so, could you expand on how? I tried Google with "--sdl-fullscreen-mode" but it didn't have any useful results.

Edit:
@dfzx I am using X11

@SamC I only use software from the official repos. I don't download other files or add other sources to the repo list. So that emulator isn't available. It looks a bit overly flashy and complex for me anyway.

[jamesh]

Do you mean you can set the Fuse SDL fullscreen resolution to the same as the desktop resolution? If so, could you expand on how? I tried Google with "--sdl-fullscreen-mode" but it didn't have any useful results.

man page usually helps. Long story short: use "--sdl-fullscreen-mode list" and pick the one that matches. Hope it helps.

[C.Born]

https://retrovirtualmachine.org/

tape and real realtime

[PeterJ]

I had forgotten RVM had a Linux port @C.Born. Good call!

[Sweevo]

Yes but as previously stated it is not in the repositories of Linux Mint and I have a policy of not installing software from outside the Mint repos.

[firelord]

Yes but as previously stated it is not in the repositories of Linux Mint and I have a policy of not installing software from outside the Mint repos.

RetroVirtualMachine exists as appimage also that runs everywhere (https://retrovirtualmachine.org/download/ download a ZIP file).

In general I'm not happy with linux emulators.
The emulators I use in linux mostly are : x123 (running from dosemu+SGD) and QAOP (running from a local server). They are not the best but they cover my main needs.
RetroVirtualMachine seemed to run well.
I don't know how good the new MAME are.

[TheMartian]

Hi,

I understand that an emulator for Linux that you have to compile yourself is out of the question, right? Or one that has no GUI.

[firelord]

Hi,

I understand that an emulator for Linux that you have to compile yourself is out of the question, right? Or one that has no GUI.

Usually you do not need to compile- unless you have a specific reason.

Spoiler

(btw, if someone want to compile -instead of setting up a whole dev envoroment he could compile using conty.sh - it has one of the latest gcc . The catch is that you you might need to run it using conty.sh if you have an old system)

[TheMartian]

Usually you do not need to compile- unless you have a specific reason.

I meant, I wrote an emulator (here) but I am only providing binaries for Windows. But it's mainly for Linux (I almost only use it in Linux), it's got a nice self-detecting fullscreen mode, works nicely with joysticks etc, emulates very very precisely all official ZX Spectrum models, the Pentagon, and all the old Amstrad CPCs (these not so precisely), and it is quite solid (not changing your resolution, etc, as far as I've tested).

But.

It has no GUI, you mostly use it from command line parameters. And you'll have to compile.

I guess it's not what you're looking for, but I guess it was worth mentioning.

[chernandezba]

Thanks @PeterJ

What video driver are you using on ZEsarUX? SDL? X11? fbdev? Can you run it with --verbose 3 and tell me which messages are shown before it crashes going to full screen?

Cheers

[Sweevo]

Thanks @PeterJ

What video driver are you using on ZEsarUX? SDL? X11? fbdev? Can you run it with --verbose 3 and tell me which messages are shown before it crashes going to full screen?

Cheers

I am using X11. It seems to get stuck in a loop from what I can tell so I haven't pasted the full output just the last few seconds of it. It actually seems to hang for a long time and the display is not properly fullscreen either and cut off. (I'll include a screenshot to show what I mean). Also, just like Fuse, my desktop resolution is then messed up when I return to the desktop.

Code: Select all

Info:     init_footer
Debug:    Clearing Footer
Debug:    Showing ZEsarUX footer message
Debug:    Clearing layer menu
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Debug:    Redrawing window General Settings
Info:     XWindows event ConfigureNotify width: 1024 height: 768
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Info:     Xwindows resize
Info:     Calling XResizeWindow on fullscreen
Info:     Using X11 Shared memory
Debug:    Allocating memory for menu layers 1024 X 768
Debug:    Returning reallocate layers as the current size is the same as the new (1024 X 768)
Info:     init_footer
Debug:    Clearing Footer
Debug:    Showing ZEsarUX footer message
Debug:    Clearing layer menu
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Debug:    Redrawing window General Settings
Info:     XWindows event ConfigureNotify width: 1024 height: 768
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Info:     Xwindows resize
Info:     Calling XResizeWindow on fullscreen
Info:     Using X11 Shared memory
Debug:    Allocating memory for menu layers 1024 X 768
Debug:    Returning reallocate layers as the current size is the same as the new (1024 X 768)
Info:     init_footer
Debug:    Clearing Footer
Debug:    Showing ZEsarUX footer message
Debug:    Clearing layer menu
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Debug:    Redrawing window General Settings
Info:     XWindows event ConfigureNotify width: 1024 height: 768
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Info:     Xwindows resize
Info:     Calling XResizeWindow on fullscreen
Info:     Using X11 Shared memory
Debug:    Allocating memory for menu layers 1024 X 768
Debug:    Returning reallocate layers as the current size is the same as the new (1024 X 768)
Info:     init_footer
Debug:    Clearing Footer
Debug:    Showing ZEsarUX footer message
Debug:    Clearing layer menu
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Debug:    Redrawing window General Settings
Info:     XWindows event ConfigureNotify width: 1024 height: 768
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Info:     Xwindows resize
Info:     Calling XResizeWindow on fullscreen
Info:     Using X11 Shared memory
Debug:    Allocating memory for menu layers 1024 X 768
Debug:    Returning reallocate layers as the current size is the same as the new (1024 X 768)
Info:     init_footer
Debug:    Clearing Footer
Debug:    Showing ZEsarUX footer message
Debug:    Clearing layer menu
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Debug:    Redrawing window General Settings
Info:     XWindows event ConfigureNotify width: 1024 height: 768
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Info:     Xwindows resize
Info:     Calling XResizeWindow on fullscreen
Info:     Using X11 Shared memory
Debug:    Allocating memory for menu layers 1024 X 768
Debug:    Returning reallocate layers as the current size is the same as the new (1024 X 768)
Info:     init_footer
Debug:    Clearing Footer
Debug:    Showing ZEsarUX footer message
Debug:    Clearing layer menu
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Debug:    Redrawing window General Settings
Info:     XWindows event ConfigureNotify width: 1024 height: 768
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Info:     Xwindows resize
Info:     Calling XResizeWindow on fullscreen
Info:     Using X11 Shared memory
Debug:    Allocating memory for menu layers 1024 X 768
Debug:    Returning reallocate layers as the current size is the same as the new (1024 X 768)
Info:     init_footer
Debug:    Clearing Footer
Debug:    Showing ZEsarUX footer message
Debug:    Clearing layer menu
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Debug:    Redrawing window General Settings
Info:     XWindows event ConfigureNotify width: 1024 height: 768
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Info:     Xwindows resize
Info:     Calling XResizeWindow on fullscreen
Info:     Using X11 Shared memory
Debug:    Allocating memory for menu layers 1024 X 768
Debug:    Returning reallocate layers as the current size is the same as the new (1024 X 768)
Info:     init_footer
Debug:    Clearing Footer
Debug:    Showing ZEsarUX footer message
Debug:    Clearing layer menu
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Debug:    Redrawing window General Settings
Info:     XWindows event ConfigureNotify width: 1024 height: 768
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Info:     Xwindows resize
Info:     Calling XResizeWindow on fullscreen
Info:     Using X11 Shared memory
Debug:    Allocating memory for menu layers 1024 X 768
Debug:    Returning reallocate layers as the current size is the same as the new (1024 X 768)
Info:     init_footer
Debug:    Clearing Footer
Debug:    Showing ZEsarUX footer message
Debug:    Clearing layer menu
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Debug:    Redrawing window General Settings
Info:     XWindows event ConfigureNotify width: 1024 height: 768
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Info:     Xwindows resize
Info:     Calling XResizeWindow on fullscreen
Info:     Using X11 Shared memory
Debug:    Allocating memory for menu layers 1024 X 768
Debug:    Returning reallocate layers as the current size is the same as the new (1024 X 768)
Info:     init_footer
Debug:    Clearing Footer
Debug:    Showing ZEsarUX footer message
Debug:    Clearing layer menu
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Debug:    Redrawing window General Settings
Info:     XWindows event ConfigureNotify width: 1024 height: 768
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Info:     Xwindows resize
Info:     Calling XResizeWindow on fullscreen
Info:     Using X11 Shared memory
Debug:    Allocating memory for menu layers 1024 X 768
Debug:    Returning reallocate layers as the current size is the same as the new (1024 X 768)
Info:     init_footer
Debug:    Clearing Footer
Debug:    Showing ZEsarUX footer message
Debug:    Clearing layer menu
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Debug:    Redrawing window General Settings
Info:     XWindows event ConfigureNotify width: 1024 height: 768
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Info:     Xwindows resize
Info:     Calling XResizeWindow on fullscreen
Info:     Using X11 Shared memory
Debug:    Allocating memory for menu layers 1024 X 768
Debug:    Returning reallocate layers as the current size is the same as the new (1024 X 768)
Info:     init_footer
Debug:    Clearing Footer
Debug:    Showing ZEsarUX footer message
Debug:    Clearing layer menu
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Debug:    Redrawing window General Settings
Info:     XWindows event ConfigureNotify width: 1024 height: 768
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Info:     Xwindows resize
Info:     Calling XResizeWindow on fullscreen
Info:     Using X11 Shared memory
Debug:    Allocating memory for menu layers 1024 X 768
Debug:    Returning reallocate layers as the current size is the same as the new (1024 X 768)
Info:     init_footer
Debug:    Clearing Footer
Debug:    Showing ZEsarUX footer message
Debug:    Clearing layer menu
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Debug:    Redrawing window General Settings
Info:     XWindows event ConfigureNotify width: 1024 height: 768
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Info:     Xwindows resize
Info:     Calling XResizeWindow on fullscreen
Info:     Using X11 Shared memory
Debug:    Allocating memory for menu layers 1024 X 768
Debug:    Returning reallocate layers as the current size is the same as the new (1024 X 768)
Info:     init_footer
Debug:    Clearing Footer
Debug:    Showing ZEsarUX footer message
Debug:    Clearing layer menu
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Debug:    Redrawing window General Settings
^CInfo:     Sigint (CTRL+C) received
Info:     End emulator
Debug:    Clearing layer menu
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Debug:    Clearing layer menu
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Info:     Closing aofile. But already closed
Info:     Closing vofile. But already closed
Info:     Closing zx printer bitmap file. But already closed
Info:     Closing zx printer OCR file. But already closed
Debug:    Ending audiopulse thread
Info:     XWindows event ConfigureNotify width: 1024 height: 768
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Info:     Xwindows resize
Info:     Calling XResizeWindow on fullscreen
Info:     Using X11 Shared memory
Debug:    Allocating memory for menu layers 1024 X 768
Debug:    Returning reallocate layers as there are no active menu
Info:     init_footer
Debug:    Clearing Footer
Debug:    Showing ZEsarUX footer message
Info:     XWindows event ConfigureNotify width: 1024 height: 768
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Info:     Xwindows resize
Info:     Calling XResizeWindow on fullscreen
Info:     Using X11 Shared memory
Debug:    Allocating memory for menu layers 1024 X 768
Debug:    Returning reallocate layers as there are no active menu
Info:     init_footer
Debug:    Clearing Footer
Debug:    Showing ZEsarUX footer message
Debug:    Creating audiopulse pthread
Info:     XWindows event ConfigureNotify width: 1024 height: 768
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Info:     Xwindows resize
Info:     Calling XResizeWindow on fullscreen
Info:     Using X11 Shared memory
Debug:    Allocating memory for menu layers 1024 X 768
Debug:    Returning reallocate layers as there are no active menu
Info:     init_footer
Debug:    Clearing Footer
Debug:    Showing ZEsarUX footer message
Info:     XWindows event ConfigureNotify width: 1024 height: 768
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Info:     Xwindows resize
Info:     Calling XResizeWindow on fullscreen
Info:     Using X11 Shared memory
Debug:    Allocating memory for menu layers 1024 X 768
Debug:    Returning reallocate layers as there are no active menu
Info:     init_footer
Debug:    Clearing Footer
Debug:    Showing ZEsarUX footer message
Info:     XWindows event ConfigureNotify width: 1024 height: 768
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Info:     Xwindows resize
Info:     Calling XResizeWindow on fullscreen
Info:     Using X11 Shared memory
Debug:    Allocating memory for menu layers 1024 X 768
Debug:    Returning reallocate layers as there are no active menu
Info:     init_footer
Debug:    Clearing Footer
Debug:    Showing ZEsarUX footer message
Info:     Ending pulse audio driver
Debug:    Ending audiopulse thread
Info:     XWindows event ConfigureNotify width: 1024 height: 768
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Info:     Xwindows resize
Info:     Calling XResizeWindow on fullscreen
Info:     Using X11 Shared memory
Debug:    Allocating memory for menu layers 1024 X 768
Debug:    Returning reallocate layers as there are no active menu
Info:     init_footer
Debug:    Clearing Footer
Debug:    Showing ZEsarUX footer message
Info:     XWindows event ConfigureNotify width: 1024 height: 768
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Info:     Xwindows resize
Info:     Calling XResizeWindow on fullscreen
Info:     Using X11 Shared memory
Debug:    Allocating memory for menu layers 1024 X 768
Debug:    Returning reallocate layers as there are no active menu
Info:     init_footer
Debug:    Clearing Footer
Debug:    Showing ZEsarUX footer message
Debug:    Creating audiopulse pthread
Info:     XWindows event ConfigureNotify width: 1024 height: 768
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Info:     Xwindows resize
Info:     Calling XResizeWindow on fullscreen
Info:     Using X11 Shared memory
Debug:    Allocating memory for menu layers 1024 X 768
Debug:    Returning reallocate layers as there are no active menu
Info:     init_footer
Debug:    Clearing Footer
Debug:    Showing ZEsarUX footer message
Info:     XWindows event ConfigureNotify width: 1024 height: 768
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Info:     Xwindows resize
Info:     Calling XResizeWindow on fullscreen
Info:     Using X11 Shared memory
Debug:    Allocating memory for menu layers 1024 X 768
Debug:    Returning reallocate layers as there are no active menu
Info:     init_footer
Debug:    Clearing Footer
Debug:    Showing ZEsarUX footer message
Info:     XWindows event ConfigureNotify width: 1024 height: 768
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Info:     Xwindows resize
Info:     Calling XResizeWindow on fullscreen
Info:     Using X11 Shared memory
Debug:    Allocating memory for menu layers 1024 X 768
Debug:    Returning reallocate layers as there are no active menu
Info:     init_footer
Debug:    Clearing Footer
Debug:    Showing ZEsarUX footer message
Info:     Closing xwindows video driver
Info:     Resetting fullscreen
Info:     XWindows event ConfigureNotify width: 1024 height: 768
Info:     Clearing putpixel cache
Info:     Xwindows resize
Info:     width: 1024 get_window_width: 352 height: 768 get_window_height: 328
Info:     zoom_x: 2 zoom_y: 2 zoom_x_calculated: 2 zoom_y_calculated: 2
Debug:    Allocating memory for menu layers 1024 X 768
Debug:    Returning reallocate layers as there are no active menu
Info:     init_footer
Debug:    Clearing Footer


 ZEsarUX kernel panic: Segmentation fault 
PC=0038 SP=ff48 AF=005c BC=ffff HL=5cb6 DE=5cb9 IX=ffff IY=5c3a AF'=0044 BC'=174b HL'=107f DE'=0006 I=3f R=46  F=-Z-H3P-- F'=-Z---P-- MEMPTR=5c52 IM1 IFF-- VPS: 0 MMU=00000000000000000000000000000000
./zesarux(+0xbe788)[0x5c9bbead7788]
./zesarux(+0xbebe0)[0x5c9bbead7be0]
/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6(+0x42520)[0x7c8d58e42520]
./zesarux(+0x5b4b4)[0x5c9bbea744b4]
./zesarux(+0x10cfb2)[0x5c9bbeb25fb2]
./zesarux(+0x10da25)[0x5c9bbeb26a25]
./zesarux(+0x5d454)[0x5c9bbea76454]
./zesarux(+0x1b957d)[0x5c9bbebd257d]
./zesarux(+0x13198e)[0x5c9bbeb4a98e]
./zesarux(+0x19b7b0)[0x5c9bbebb47b0]
./zesarux(+0x1a50a6)[0x5c9bbebbe0a6]
./zesarux(+0x179e4a)[0x5c9bbeb92e4a]
./zesarux(+0x12e4fd)[0x5c9bbeb474fd]
./zesarux(+0x1351ff)[0x5c9bbeb4e1ff]
./zesarux(+0x55b35)[0x5c9bbea6eb35]
./zesarux(+0x55b4f)[0x5c9bbea6eb4f]
/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6(+0x94ac3)[0x7c8d58e94ac3]
/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6(+0x126850)[0x7c8d58f26850]
Segmentation fault (core dumped)

Screenshot - https://ibb.co/rf1gRdn

[chernandezba]

Thanks for the tests.
I'd need a compilation with debug options enabled so I could see exactly which functions are those related to the last segmentation fault trace.
But seems to be something related with the footer; could you try starting ZEsarUX with footer disabled? Using setting: --disablefooter

[Sweevo]

With --disablefooter it starts correctly in fullscreen. However, it still messes up my desktop after I exit. My native desktop is 2560x1440 but after exiting ZEsarUX it is set to 1280x720. Also there seems to be a slight audio delay compared to Fuse. I noticed this in 128K mode when switching menu option. I didn't notice this issue in Fuse. Also the audio quality isn't great either. Comparing audio in Booty with ZEsarUX and Fuse and ZEsarUX is noticeably worse.

Also, is it possible to use screen filters/shaders with ZEsarUX?

To be honest, I have now resolved the fullscreen issue in Fuse and I prefer the UI of it. The only thing is even with fullscreen it only does 4x scaling rather than fit the full height of the monitor. However, ZEsarUX does the same in fullscreen so I assume it is some limitation of Spectrum emulation.

For anyone else interested in Fuse fullscreen, the solution was to run Fuse from the command line with the command "fuse --sdl-fullscreen-mode list". This will list the available fullscreen resolutions (these will be numbered 1,2,3......). In my case the first one was my desktop resolution so I now always run Fuse with the command "fuse --sdl-fullscreen-mode 1". This doesn't give full height full screen. It will be a 4x scaled image centred in the screen with black borders all around it. On my 27" monitor this gives the equivalent of about a 14 inch 4:3 display which is what I was probably using with my Spectrum back in the day so I can live with that.

[TheMartian]

Well, it may be an unpopular opinion, but I went down this road and I'd say a Speccy emulator and contemporary wide screens are inherently not compatible. Read is as "I keep my FUSE with TV3X filter in a window"

But the problem happens because people (or emulator authors) don't scale the pixels, and assume that they are square. Using a texture and adjusting the aspect ratio is the key:



(No disrespect to other emulators!)

[hikoki]

Emuzwin does full screen on Linux under wine if I remember well