2.14b

It's very experimental version. There are many things need to do from the scratch since I discovered new data transfer method on NES Mini. But I don't want you to wait so long. I added new transfer method but left the old interface. Also I'm not sure that many people want new versions since hype train is gone :)

Warning: If you updating from previous version hakchi2 will ask you to reinstall custom kernel. It's normal :)

Warning 2: If you used clovershell mod before, update it to the last version for correct work: https://github.com/ClusterM/clovershell-daemon/releases
Or delete it from "user_mods" folder before custom kernel flashing. Elsewhere old buggy version will be installed instead new one.

So, what's new

• Main modification - new transfer method. It's very fast. You can upload 300 MBytes of games in ~1.5-2 minutes. Also you don't need to hold reset and switch your NES Mini on/off. Just connect it to PC and turn on as usual.
• It's possible to change settings without re-uploading games.
• New driver installer should work on all Windows versions since XP. Please report me about any problems.
• Also better compatibility with Windows XP.
• You can drag'n'drop box art to main window now.
• Also it's possible to drag'n'drop module files.
• Automatic NES Mini/Famicom Mini detection.
• New hacked clovercon driver allows to use most (or all?) 3rd party classic controllers now.
• Autofire working for X/Y buttons too now (enable in menu and hold select+X or select+Y for a second).
• USB library changed to LibWinUsb, it's more portable.
• New game consoles, new images (thanks to NeoRame!)
• Many minor bugfixes and improvements.

P.S. Don't forget to update RetroArch mod: https://github.com/ClusterM/retroarch-clover/releases :)
P.P.S. Write me if you want to translate hakchi2 to your language: [email protected]

2.13e

Version 2.13e has fix for "forever-on-LED" bug. If you are using 2.13, 2.13b, 2.13c or 2.13d it's recommended to update. Sorry for buggy versions :(

What's new

• Finally hakchi2 shows size of all selected games in main window. Why I have not done it before?
• One font to rule them all. New font contains HUGE amount of characters now. Including Latin supplement, Cyrillic, Hiragana, Katakana, etc. So NES Mini and Famicom Mini uses the same font now and you can create folders with very unusual characters (in Russian, for example).
• The main idea to separate hakchi2 from non-NES games failed, so it's optimized for 3rd path emulators now (i.e. RetroArch).
• Added presets for Sega 32x and Game Gear games, without images yet.
• "/bin/path-to-your-app" replaced by "/bin/ext" for unknown extensions.
• Compression support! Since RetroArch can run games directly from archives it's possible now to compress non-NES games using 7-Zip. This feature enabled by default but you can disable it in the settings menu. Also you can add the whole archive (required by MAME games).
• Fixed huge bug in folder manager when new folders were missed after first sync.
• Some minor bugfixes.

Some important news

RetroArch mod has separate repository: https://github.com/ClusterM/retroarch-clover
I created only buggy sketch of this mod and granted full access to pcm720. And he did a really great job with tuning, optimization and core modules. Please update to the latest version:
https://github.com/ClusterM/retroarch-clover/releases
And send bugreports to https://github.com/ClusterM/retroarch-clover/issues

And some other very good news. I discovered a way to access NES Mini's shell and memory directly without any soldering. It was the main problem: with current version of hakchi2 we can't read anything from NES Mini, we can only create script for writing and execute it. That's why hakchi2 has not any ability to check which games are installed, how many space left, backup save-states, upload only new games (without reuploading everything). It is surprising that we have not noticed this method before. So feature versions will be much better. But it requires a lot of work.

TODO List

• Translation tool
• Update FAQ
• Rewrite hakchi for using new methods

2.12 finally released!

Sorry guys, I have not answered you messages for a while. I was really inspired by this project and totally lose my grip on reality. Finally there is new version.

There are many internal changes. Madmonkey and me updated hakchi scripts, so it's possible to install mods now. Everybody can create, share and download different mods like additional software, themes, e.g. it's possible to add and replace any files inside NES Classic Mini. You can even create mod to turn your NES Mini in Famicom Mini or translate Famicom Mini to English.

You need to put mods to "user_mods" folder and you can install and uninstall them via menu. Mods distributed as directory with files or ".hmod" file which is just ".tar.gz" archive. For this reason some features (like music disable feature) moved to user mods, you can use it as example. More detail documentation will be later, I hope. We need to relax a bit.

And our first downloadable mod is...

https://github.com/ClusterM/retroarch-clover/releases/

It's madmonkey's port of RetroArch emulator with my scripts for NES Mini integration. It will automatically detect unsupported NES games and launch them instead of default emulator. Exit to menu, save-states, etc. will work as usual. Also it can emulate SNES, Genesis, GBA and even Nintendo 64 (with Classic Controller, of course). It's weird to play N64 and Genesis games on NES, I know. That's why I made it as optional downloadable mod.

Since it's possible to install additional apps to NES Classic Mini hakchi2 can add not only ".nes" files. You can also add external ".desktop" files with all content and... any other file. Absolutely any file. But you'll need to enter full path to executable, so it's more like expert feature.
But there are bunch of predefined settings for formats like ".gbc", ".gba", ".gen", ".n64", etc. So you don't need to care about it if you wanna play other systems.

Additional changes:

• Total folder control. You can use folder tree constructor now to create folders, select images, rename and move everything as you want. Or just select predefined automatic algorithm. Thanks to NeoRame for images!
• Autofire feature updated a bit, since X and Y will be used often now.
• Optimization for large amount of games.
• Box art images will be load automatically if PNG or JPEG file with same name is available.
• English font updated, many characters added, so games like "720°" or "Alien³" will be shown without problems. Japanese font updated too, thanks to snakex!
• Game Genie database (thanks to Nhakin!), hakchi2 already contains database with many GG codes and you can import more from Nestopia.
• Box art images are with correct aspect ration now.
• Asiansteev fixed my terrible English :) Thanks!
• Many other improvements.
• Many fixes.

I hope that there are not so much bugs and you'll like it :)

TODO:

• Update FAQ
• Translation tool
• Maybe some feature to upload only changed/new games, not all games

2.11

• Folders/pages support! No more games limit. hakchi2 will automatically create folders and sort games alphabetically. Tested with 600+ ROMs. Everything working fine including savestates. You can select maximum games per page/folder but it's recommended to limit it to 30-35.
• Multistep uploading. NES Mini can't handle huge kernel with hundreds of ROMs. So hakchi2 will split it up and upload in sequence. Just follow onscreen instructions.
• Mass cover downloading. You can download covers for all games at once using first image on Google. You can find this feature in "File" menu.
• IPS patcher can enlarge ROMs now ("index out of bounds" bug fixed).
• New patches for problem games.
• New confirmed mapper - 86. Also games with mappers 88, 95 and 206 will be patched automatically.
• Global command line arguments. You can add some argument(s) for all games at once, including original ones. For example: add "--ppu-palette=2" to make all games black and white.
• Support for ZIP, 7z and RAR archives. You don't need unpack every ROM now.
• Support for some bad ROMs with invalid size.
• Full Famicom Mini support: Japanese font and customizable original games list (thanks to xsnake!)
• Autofire! Enable it via menu, hold Select+A/B for a second to enable autofire on A/B. Also X/Y buttons on classic controller will act as autofire A/B.
• Start button simulation for second controller. Hold Up+A+B to press Start. It's workaround for some USA games on Famicom Mini. Don't forget to enable it via menu.
• Option to disable menu music.
• Minor design fixes.
• Other minor improvements.

2.10

Tiny update based on recent user requests:

• Press Shift+F5 to update all your ROMs library info using database.
• Extended font working on Famicom Mini again.
• Now you can select button combination for reset.
• Some FDS improvements: correct cover size, automatic header fix, "--fds-auto-disk-side-switch-on-keypress" argument by default.
• 8bit PNG compression is optional now since image quality is not so good.
• Now you can remove thumbnails at the bottom of screen (via settings menu).
• Japanese font by xsnake.
• Bugfixes.

2.09

• 'Can't repack ramdisk' error on some systems should be gone now.
• Device detection bug fixed (thanks to David Winter!)
• Automatic file attributes fix (e.g. "WinRAR" bug fixed).
• Game selection presets. Now you can create presets for favorite games, party games, etc. It's useful since NES Mini don't like huge amount of games at once.
• Search by first letters of game, just press Ctrl+F.
• Much better PNG compression for covers, x4 more disk space.
• NES carts database with release dates, publishers, etc. Just add game and all fields will be filled automatically if it exists in database.
• Automatic IPS patches. Now you don't need other application to patch problem games. Patch files stored in "patch" folder. Problem game will be detected automatically by CRC32 checksum. Release already contains patches for "Battletoads", "Robocop 3", "Snow Bros.", "Bill & Ted's Excellent Video Game Adventure" and "Startropics II". You can add and your own patches too.
• Game Genie support. Just enter your codes (comma/spaces/semicolon separated) in special field and sync. Cheats will be activated automatically.
• Mapper #87 added to list of confirmed mappers.
• Epilepsy protection settings - you can disable epilepsy protection for original 30 games or for all games at once.
• Clovercon hack! Now you can exit to menu using "Down+Select" combination. All you need now is controller cable extension...
• Some interface improvements - you can delete games using del key, etc.
• Many minor bugfixes.

There is also debug version. It's only for users with some problems, for debugging.

2.08

• Fixed unhandled exception bug when game with unsupported mapper selected.
• Fixed bug when NES Mini is not detected on some computers.
• Select all/unselect all feature, just right click on games list.
• Uninstall feature just in case you want to remove all hakchi traces.
• Four-screen check (it's not supported by NES Mini).
• Mapper #71 games automatically patched to mapper #2 , so you can play Camerica/Codemasters games: Micro * * Machines, Bee 52, Dizzy series, etc. One exception: Fire Hawk.
• Fix for Google search (thanks to Bin4ry!). This feature should work for all now.
• Added Drag&Drop support. You can just drag&drop .nes file to list of games.
  Help menu with links to FAQ and GitHub.

2.07

• Now you can hide selected default games (NES Mini only, will not work on Famicom Mini) and install extended font with all missed characters.
• Also some minor fixes.
• hakchi2 is distributing as SFX (.exe file) archive now since some versions of WinRAR can corrupt file attributes required by mkbootfs.exe for symlinks. To update just replace files of old version.