# openMSX User's Manual

## Contents

## 1. Introduction

### 1.1 New Versions of This Document

The latest version of the openMSX manual can be found on the openMSX home page:

http://openmsx.sourceforge.net/manual/

You can also use this URL to get up-to-date versions of the hyper links if you printed out this manual.

### 1.2 Purpose

This manual is about openMSX, the open source MSX emulator that tries to achieve near-perfect emulation by using a novel emulation model. You can find more information about openMSX on the openMSX home page. You can also download the emulator itself from there.

openMSX is in alpha state, which means that some things work but not all features are implemented yet. Many emulation features are implemented, but in terms of user interface it is rather bare bones, unless you use the optional Graphical User Interface dubbed openMSX Catapult, which has separate manuals for now. However, because the emulation is already pretty good, it would be nice if non-insiders would be able to play with it, too. For those people, we have written this guide. It explains how you can make use of the features of the emulator, once you have got it running.

This manual tells you how you can use openMSX, once it has been installed and properly set up. You should be able to use most of the features of openMSX if you have read it. If you are using using openMSX with Catapult, you don't have to pay attention to the exact command and setting names. However it is still useful to read this document to find out how openMSX works and learn its terminology.

Disclaimer: We do not claim this guide is complete or even correct. What you do with the information in it is entirely at your own risk. We just hope it helps you enjoy openMSX more.

### 1.3 Contributors

The following people contributed to this document in one way or another:

- Jorrith Schaap
- Manuel Bilderbeek
- Maarten ter Huurne
- other openMSX developers

Thanks to all of them!

### 1.4 Revision History

For the revision history, please refer to the SVN log.

## 2. Starting the Emulator

In this chapter we will tell you how to select MSX machines and how to use extension cartridges.

### 2.1 Machines

If you start openMSX without any command line parameters, you will get the default machine, which is stored in the `default_machine` setting, see the Setup Guide. If you did not change the default machine, you will get the C-BIOS MSX2+ machine.

To select a different MSX machine, you can use the `-machine` command line argument:

openmsx -machine Panasonic_FS-A1GT

But, you can also use the `machine` command to switch at run time in the console, which is explained in the next chapter.

The C-BIOS machines come with ROMs installed; for other machines you will have to install system ROMs yourself, see the Setup Guide for details.

### 2.2 Extensions

Extensions are simply MSX cartridges (extensions to the MSX system) that you can plug into the emulated MSX. openMSX ships with a lot of predefined extensions. Note that many of them require firmware ROMs to be installed in the `share/extensions/name/roms` directory or in `share/systemroms`.

We will use the FMPAC as an example. openMSX ships with a definition (XML file) for the FMPAC extension, but you will have to add the `fmpac.rom` firmware ROM yourself. When you have done so, you can insert an FMPAC into the emulated MSX machine with the following command line:

openmsx -ext fmpac

Similar to machines, you can also use the `ext` command in the console to do it at run time.

If you look in the `share/extensions` directory, you will see all the extensions known to openMSX. For example `-ext mbstereo` gives you the MoonBlaster stereo effect: FMPAC on the left speaker and MSX-AUDIO on the right speaker.

### 2.3 Other Command Line Options

Often used other command line options will be discussed later in this manual. For a complete list of them, type the following command:

openmsx -h

## 3. The Console and Settings

### 3.1 Console Introduction

openMSX has a built-in command interface called the console, which allows you to control almost all aspects of openMSX while it is running. You can access the console by pressing F10 (with default key mapping; Cmd+L on Mac) when the focus is on the emulator window. This will give you a command line in the openMSX window. Note that due to a known problem in SDL on Windows, the console won't come up if you went to fullscreen by using ALT-ENTER. Use F12 to go to fullscreen to work around this problem. (See also Settings and Keymapping.)

Typing `help` gives a list of commands. Using PageUp you can see all of them. If you type `help [command]` you will get help for the specified command. This manual describes a few important commands; a full list can be found in the Console Command Reference. The console can be used to change disk images, plug in joysticks or mice, change settings at run time and to change key bindings, among others. It actually gives you full control of openMSX: if it can't be done via the console, it's probably impossible!

One very practical feature of the console command line is that you can use "completion" features. Just try typing half a command and then press the TAB key; openMSX will then try to finish the word you were typing or show the possibilities in case of ambiguities. You can use it also for file names, connectors, pluggables and settings and even for machine and extension names.

### 3.2 Some Simple Console Commands

You can reset your MSX with the Console command `reset` and exit openMSX with the command `exit`. As is explained in the previous chapter, you can change machines with the `machine` command and you can insert extensions with the `ext` command. Remove extensions with the `remove_extension` command or list them with the `list_extensions` command. Other commands will be discussed later on in this manual.

### 3.3 Settings

An interesting console command is `set`. You can use it to change the various settings. E.g., you can use it to set the current renderers. If you issue set with only the setting (like `set renderer`), you will get the current value of that setting. Settings that have only two possible values can also be toggled with the `toggle` command (an example is the default key binding of F12 to `toggle fullscreen`, see also below). A complete list of settings can also be found in the Console Command Reference. Note that using the "tab completion" feature can help you a lot in getting an idea of what settings are possible, as it will only complete possible options. Just try that.

If the MSX goes too fast or too slow, adjust the emulation speed with the `speed` setting, which has the speed percentage as parameter. So, typing `set speed 120`, will let the emulated MSX run at 120% of normal MSX speed. This is useful for debugging purposes (slow down) or when you want to skip certain parts of a demo for example (speed up).

If you got the MSX sped up to maximum (`set throttle`), but openMSX is still not going fast enough for you, you can increase the `maxframeskip` setting: `set maxframeskip 10` will mean that openMSX may skip 10 screens to be displayed, just to get to the requested speed. Note that you can also force openMSX to skip frames, with the `minframeskip` setting. This sets the amount of frames that will be skipped always. Of course frame skipping makes emulation a lot less accurate.

Some MSX machines like the Panasonic FS-A1GT have built in software (called firmware), that can be switched on and off via a switch on the machine itself. In openMSX the internal software is switched off by default, but you can switch it on with the following setting: `set firmwareswitch on`.

If you're not really interested in how long a real MSX would take for loading from diskette or cassette, you could enable the full speed when loading feature: `set fullspeedwhenloading on`. It runs openMSX at maximum speed whenever it thinks that the MSX is loading. The drawbacks: it might detect a bit too late that the MSX isn't loading anymore, so sometimes the first notes of music played right after loading might be too fast. Also, when loading openMSX will use all CPU power it can get to get the maximum speed; the feature has no influence on the state of the MSX, of course.

You can save all your current settings with the `save_settings` command. If you specify a file name after this command, the settings will not be saved to the default settings file (`share/settings.xml`), but to the specified file. At start up, alternative settings files can be loaded by using the `-setting` command line option. You can also use the `load_settings` command to load settings at run time. Settings that are not mentioned in the saved settings file that you are loading will be untouched. If you want openMSX to automatically save your settings when it exits, issue the following setting: `set save_settings_on_exit true`.

### 3.4 Plug

The console command `plug` can be used to plug the so called pluggables (devices) into connectors on the MSX. Examples of connectors are the joystick ports, the printer port, the MIDI in and out connector, the cassette port, etc. Examples of pluggables are joysticks and mice, but also printers and MIDI equipment. The command `plug` without any parameters will show a list of connectors and what pluggables are plugged into them. Using `plug [connector]` will only show what is plugged into [connector]. You will not be surprised that the command `plug [connector] [pluggable]` will plug the [pluggable] into the [connector].

Note that using the "tab completion" feature can help you a lot in getting an idea of what plug commands are possible, as it will only complete possible connectors and their possible pluggables. Also just try this.

## 4. Running MSX Software and Using Media

With this information, you can run most of the existing MSX software.

### 4.1 Running ROM software

Suppose you want to run the ROM file `galious.rom`. Then you simply type:

openmsx galious.rom

and the emulated MSX will run the game. (Of course, in this case, the file `galious.rom` should be in the current directory or in one of the user directories you specified with the `user_directories` setting, see the Setup Guide.)

You can also explicitly indicate that the thing is a ROM image like this:

openmsx -cart galious.gam

This lets openMSX know that the file `galious.gam` is a ROM cartridge and that openMSX should insert it in the first available free cartridge slot. You can also use `-carta` to explicitly specify cartridge slot A.

Or, maybe openMSX didn't have the ROM in the ROM database and failed auto detection of the mapper type. You can specify the mapper to `Konami` (formerly known as `KONAMI4`) like this:

openmsx galious.rom -romtype Konami

Note that in practice you won't need this, because most ROM images are in the database or auto detected if they are not. The `-romtype` option should follow the ROM it applies to immediately on the command line.

If wanted, openMSX can apply IPS patches to ROM software before running it. IPS patches are files that describe a modification of the ROM you are applying it to, e.g. a translation or a cheat. This way you do not need to alter any files. To apply an IPS patch you have to provide the IPS filename like this:

openmsx -cart galious.rom -ips galiouspatch.ips

As with the `-romtype` option, the `-ips` option on the command line must follow the ROM file it applies to directly. You can also use multiple `-ips` options if you want to apply multiple patches.

If you already have openMSX running and want to insert cartridges at run time (maybe even when the MSX is powered on), you can use the `carta` command in the console as well, which is just as powerful.

### 4.2 Running Disk Software

#### 4.2.1 Using Disk Images

To run a disk image, you can type:

openmsx relax.dsk

for example. Or, if you use a disk image with an extension that is unknown to openMSX:

openmsx -diska relax.di

You can also change disks at run time of course. Just type

diska <diskimage>

in the console to put the specified disk image in drive A. To eject the disk from drive A, use:

diska eject

Note that inserting another disk image automatically ejects the previous one.

Disk images in XSA format are also supported, use them as regular disk images, but do note that they are read only. The same counts for (g)zipped disk images. Note that in zipped disk images the first file that is packed into the zip file will be used as disk image.

If wanted, openMSX can also apply IPS patches to disk software before running it. This way you do not need to alter any files. To apply an IPS patch you have to provide the IPS filename like this:

openmsx SDSNAT1C.DSK -ips sdsnat1-eng.ips

The `-ips` option must follow directly the disk image on the command line it applies to. You can also use multiple `-ips` options if you want to apply multiple patches.

You can also apply the patches when changing disks at run time. Just type something like

diska SDSNAT1C.DSK.gz sdsnat1-eng.ips sd-cheat.ips

in the console to put the specified gzipped disk image SDSNAT1C.DSK.gz in drive A, with both IPS patches applied.

#### 4.2.2 Using Directories as Disks

The DirAsDsk feature permits you to use a directory on your host computer's file system as a disk image for your emulated MSX. Note that this has nothing to do with harddisk emulation. It simply creates a virtual disk structure in memory from the files that are in the directory that you specified as if it were a disk image. So:

openmsx -diska .

will try to put all files of the current directory on a disk image in memory and start openMSX with it. The actual data is still read from/written to the files in your directory so that if you change the content of the files, these changes are immediately visible to the emulated MSX. This way you can for instance edit source files with your favourite text editor but compile them immediately in the emulated MSX.

Using the default value of the setting DirAsDSKmode (full), all changes to the directory on the host system and on the MSX system are performed, so that they are immediately visible to the other side. If this is not the desired behaviour, please check the documentation of that setting.

Be careful when writing to files from your emulated MSX. In the default 'full' mode, you can change/overwrite/delete/corrupt files on your host system, if you made them accessible for the emulated MSX! Still, this is the behaviour what most people want/expect and it's very useful if you know what you are doing.

Note that this feature is willfully kept very bare bones: it doesn't support sub directories and it skips all remaining files if the virtual disk is full. Its main purpose is to facilitate cross platform development.

#### 4.2.3 Using Real Disks

To use a real disk, just specify `/dev/fd0` as a disk image. This is of course a Linux (Unix, actually) specific feature, but for now it is usable. It may be a bit slow though, with the FDC emulation enabled. It should be just as slow as a real disk drive, however! Don't forget that you shouldn't have it mounted to be able to use it this way. We recommend to use only write-protected disks! It is possible that you damage the contents of your disk if you don't. Windows users can try real disks by using the DirAsDsk feature. Because we have not tried this before, we advise you to be careful and always use it with write protected disks. Only regular disks with normal files will work with it; specify A: as disk image to use it.

#### 4.2.4 Managing Disk Images

openMSX has a special command with functionality to perform file imports and exports, with support for harddisk images with partitions and normal disk images. Please see the separate manual for this, called Using diskmanipulator.

### 4.3 Running Tape Software

#### 4.3.1 Using WAV files

openMSX supports WAV files for tape emulation! Just use an MSX with a cassette port (at least any MSX1 or MSX2 machine will do) and it should be available.

Then type in the console:

cassetteplayer insert <file>.wav

And then in MSX Basic, type:

run"cas:"

(or another command to load the program on 'tape'.)

Note that in Linux, one should not use the special file `/dev/pcm` for tape input. openMSX will try to read the file until the end, which doesn't exist.

Other cassetteplayer related commands/settings you need to know of are:

- `cassetteplayer rewind`, to rewind the tape
- `cassetteplayer eject`, to eject the tape
- `cassetteplayer new <filename>`, to create a new WAV cassette image to record to; also sets the cassette player in record mode
- `cassetteplayer play`, to set the cassette player in play mode (when you've just recorded to the cassette)
- `cassetteplayer record`, to set the cassette player in record mode, to append to existing cassette images (NOT IMPLEMENTED YET)
- `set cassetteplayer_volume`, to set the volume of the cassette player sound (yeah, the screeching tape sounds!)

As you can see in this list, appending to existing cassette images (or (partially) overwriting them) is not supported (yet). If you want to save again, just insert a blank tape by using the `cassetteplayer new` command again.

#### 4.3.2 Using CAS files

You can also use the so-called CAS files. Use them exactly as you would use WAV files, described in the previous section.

We don't support using CAS files anymore by patching a BIOS, because it is not really something we want: we prefer a more authentic emulation without hacks like this. So, nowadays, the CAS files are automatically converted to WAV files, internally. Note that the loading time is drastically longer this way (but: doing a `set fullspeedwhenloading on` will help a lot). On the other hand, you will be able to hear the cassette sounds now also with the CAS files... What is using cassettes with an MSX without those characteristic sounds?

To make it even more comfortable to run software from CAS images, try the following experimental setting, that will attempt to type the loading instruction for you after the MSX has started up:

set autoruncassettes on

Note that saving to CAS files (new or existing ones) is not possible; one can only save to new cassette images in WAV format.

#### 4.3.3 Using Jack Audio Connection Kit

Using Jack is not the easiest option for running a tape-program, but it is an alternative way in which openMSX supports saving to cassette and it has the ability to use a 'live' source, like `/dev/pcm`. We are planning to use it for other purposes as well later. This feature is not available on Windows operating systems.

To be able to connect the openMSX cassetteport to other applications via Jack you will need:

- an openMSX build compiled with Jack-support
- an MSX hardware configuration with a cassette port (see above)
- a running Jack daemon

Type the following in the console to make the cassette port available to Jack:

plug cassetteport cassettejack

Now you need to start an external program to make actual connections. e.g.

qjackctl

The Jack-pluggable has been successfully tested with `timemachine` as recorder and `jack.play` as player. More convenient setups may become available as Jack is still being developed.

Note that openMSX can be compiled without Jack-support, use the normal cassetteplayer functions to save to tape in that case.

### 4.4 Emulating MSX Harddisks and CD-ROM

openMSX supports mostly the emulation of the Sunrise IDE interface, but there is also some experimental support for two types of SCSI interfaces: the Gouda/Novaxis SCSI interface and the MEGA-SCSI.

The extensions that enable this have a built in harddisk configuration, in the form of a 100MB sized disk image. This is the default size: if the harddisk image is not present, the file is created with this size. The image will end up in your openMSX user directory`/persistent/NAME/untitled1/IMAGENAME.dsk`, where NAME is the name of the extension used and IMAGENAME is a name that is configured in the extension's XML file.

When using these extensions for the first time, one has to treat them as if they are real interfaces with a blank harddisk connected. How to initialise them depends on the type, it is advisable to read the manuals. The sections below give some hints. The `diskmanipulator` may be helpful, but only supports the IDE extension at the moment.

For clarity: because the emulation is done on a big disk image, there can be no data corruption of your PC's harddisk. This does mean that you need free disk space for this image, which can be quite big (default 100MB). So, in other words, you can't really use your normal PC harddisk as an MSX harddisk for these extensions. (Maybe on UNIX systems it works if you choose a device like `/dev/hdb` as harddisk image file, but we have not tested it and do note that it can cause loss of data of that partition or disk!)

If you still want to use files from your real PC harddisk on the emulated MSX, you have to use the DirAsDsk feature. See the DirAsDsk section for more details.

Please read the following sections for details about the specific extensions.

#### 4.4.1 Sunrise IDE

The extension for this is called 'ide'. By default it has a harddisk connected to the master port and a CD-ROM player connected to the slave port.

If you don't want to use the default harddisk image as is described above, you can specify the harddisk image to be used on the command line:

openmsx -ext ide -hda symbos.dsk

This means that you're using the ide extension with symbos.dsk as harddisk image. You can also change the harddisk image at run time in the console (only when the MSX is powered off via the `power` setting). This works the same as the `diska` command:

hda <diskimage>

The 'ide' extension needs the BIOS that can be flashed into the Sunrise IDE interface. It can be downloaded from the Sunrise for MSX web site.

The initialisation of a Sunrise IDE harddisk is described in the text files that come with the FDISK program for IDE, downloadable from the Sunrise for MSX web site. There are also some threads on the MSX Resource Center forum that may give you valuable hints.

You can side step these procedures by using the `diskmanipulator` to create the initial hd image, and you can immediately put some files and subdirectories on it. For instance to create a hard disk with 3 partitions of 32 megabyte on it, and have each partition filled with files and subdirectories you can do the following:

Start openMSX with the ide extension, then type in the console:

set power off
diskmanipulator create /tmp/new-hd.dsk 32M 32M 32M
hda /tmp/new-hd.dsk
diskmanipulator import hda1 /home/david/msxdostools/
diskmanipulator import hda2 /home/david/msxdemos/
diskmanipulator import hda3 /home/david/msxdrawings/
set power on

As announced above, there is (limited) support for CD-ROM with the 'ide' extension. You can insert an ISO image in that virtual CD-ROM player with the `-cda` command line option and change it at run time with the `cda` console command, all similar to the aforementioned `hda` and `diska` commands and options.

#### 4.4.2 SCSI

First of all: the SCSI emulation is experimental! There is a lot bigger chance that you may lose data on your emulated harddisk images with SCSI than with IDE! When we tried it, everything seemed fine, but you are warned.

The SCSI extensions (currently Gouda_SCSI, ESE_MEGA-SCSI and ESE_WAVE-SCSI) have the default 100 MB harddisk image connected on target ID 1 and an (even more experimental) LS-120 device (basically a harddisk like media that can be changed/ejected when the power is on) on target ID 2.

You cannot yet specify SCSI devices on the command line. However, you can change the harddisk image at run time in the console (only when the MSX is powered off via the `power` setting), exactly as with the Sunrise IDE extension:

hda <diskimage>

To change the disk image of the LS-120 device, use the `lsa` (LS drive A) command, exactly the same as the hda command. Of course you do not need to have the power turned off to do this, as this is the whole point of the LS-120 device. You can also just eject it, with the `eject` subcommand. At the time of writing there seems to be a bug when doing this: the device isn't listed in the device list if there is no media inserted.

Initialisation for the ESE SCSI devices needs tools like `MGINST`, which can be found on Takamichi's web site. They include small manuals in English. This manual is not the place to explain the procedure, but the idea is as follows. First, install the MSX-DOS 2 kernel in the SRAM of the device, using the `MGINST` program (you might want to use `KSAVER` first to save the kernel of your DOS 2 cartridge). After this, the MSX will boot from the SRAM disk. Use the `SFORM-1` (for MSX-DOS) or the `SFORM-2` (for MSX-DOS 2) to format the drive (use a physical format, for now). Use `ESET` to assign drive letters to partitions.

For the Novaxis SCSI interface, you need the Novaxis ROM, see also Hans Otten's Page or The Ultimate MSX FAQ. Those sites also contain manuals for the Novaxis ROM. Initialisation is done with the `NFDISK` utility, which can be found on Marcel Delorme's site.

## 5. Input Devices

### 5.1 Keyboard

#### 5.1.1 Key Mapping

This subsection lists the default key mapping of openMSX. The mapping of the special MSX keys is hardcoded, but the mapping of the keys for emulator functions is fully customisable using the `bind` command in the console. Your customised key bindings are saved together with the settings.

The special MSX keys are mapped as follows, the first column for PCs (running Windows, Linux or BSD), the second column for Apple Macintosh computers:

MSX key | key (PC) | key (Mac)
--- | --- | ---
CTRL key | L-CTRL | L-CTRL
dead (accents) key | R-CTRL | R-CTRL
GRAPH key | L-ALT | L-ALT
CODE/KANA key | R-ALT | R-ALT
iee ('no') key | L-Windows |
hai ('yes') key | R-Windows |
SELECT key | F7 | F7
STOP key | F8 | F8

Several emulator functions are available under keys as well (which can be changed with the `bind` command):

keys (PC) | keys (Mac) | function
--- | --- | ---
Pause | Cmd+P (Pause) | Pause emulation
ALT+F4 | Cmd+Q (Quit) | Quit openMSX
CTRL+Pause (Break) |  | Quit openMSX (not in Windows)
PrtScr | Cmd+D (Dump) | Save current screen to a file (screen shot)
F9 | Cmd+T (Throttle) | Toggle full throttle (maximum speed)
F10 | Cmd+L (consoLe) | Toggle console display
F11 | Cmd+U (mUte) | Toggle audio mute
F12 or ALT+Enter | Cmd+F (Full) | Toggle full screen mode
ALT+F7 | Cmd+R (Restore) | Quick loadstate (from 'quicksave' slot)
ALT+F8 | Cmd+S (Save) | Quick savestate (to 'quicksave' slot)
MENU | Cmd+O (Open menu) | Show the On-Screen-Display menu (note: experimental feature!)

Note for Mac users: if you want to bind your custom keys on the console, use `META` as a modifier for the Command (Apple logo) key.

#### 5.1.2 Keyboard Layouts

This section is about how keyboard layouts from host computers are mapped to keyboard layouts of MSX computers. This is mostly interesting if those differ (a lot). For example, you have a US-English keyboard on your PC and you are emulating a Japanese MSX computer. Or, you have a Japanese Mac and you are emulating a Spanish MSX computer.

As of openMSX 0.7.0, there are facilities to make this as smooth as possible, so that you can use your own keyboard on any kind of MSX with as little surprises as possible. The trick is the new character-based mapping mode, which tries to convert any character you enter with your host computer's keyboard to an MSX key press. For this feature, all MSX hardware configuration files now have information about their keyboard layout. Anyway, this mapping mode is enabled by default, so you don't have to do anything to make this work!

However, there are always some nasty details. For those details we refer to the documentation of other keyboard settings, where they are explained in full detail: mapping mode (as mentioned before), kbd_numkeypad_always_enabled (use numerical keypad even when your MSX doesn't have one), kbd_code_kana_host_key (specify an alternative host key for CODE/KANA) and kbd_numkeypad_enter_key (specifies mapping of the ENTER key of the keypad).

### 5.2 Joystick

If you have a joystick connected to your PC, use the following command to connect it to the emulated MSX:

plug joyporta joystick1

To connect a fake joystick (emulated with the arrow keys), you can use this `plug` command:

plug joyporta keyjoystick1

will connect a fake joystick to joystick port A. Button A of the joystick is mapped to the space bar and Button B to M, when using the default configuration. There are two keyjoysticks, 1 and 2. If you like, you can change the bindings in the console and save the settings as usual. Examples: `set keyjoystick2.triga LCTRL` or `set keyjoystick1.up KP8`.

Most modern joysticks have more buttons then the 2 buttons that are allowed by the MSX standard. Therefore a lot of games uses extra keys on the keyboard for extra functionality. for instance, all most all Konami games use F1 to pause the game. You can assign these extra functionality to your joystick by using the `bind` command. As an example here is how to map button 4 of the first joystick to the F1-key, button 5 to F2,...

bind "joy1 button4 down" "keymatrixdown 6 0x20"
bind "joy1 button4 up" "keymatrixup 6 0x20"
bind "joy1 button5 down" "keymatrixdown 6 0x40"
bind "joy1 button5 up" "keymatrixup 6 0x40"
bind "joy1 button6 down" "keymatrixdown 6 0x80"
bind "joy1 button6 up" "keymatrixup 6 0x80"
bind "joy1 button7 down" "keymatrixdown 7 0x01"
bind "joy1 button7 up" "keymatrixup 7 0x01"
bind "joy1 button8 down" "keymatrixdown 7 0x02"
bind "joy1 button8 up" "keymatrixup 7 0x02"

For a more detailed explanation of this command see the Console Command Reference.

### 5.3 Mouse

To connect a mouse, you can also use the `plug` command:

plug joyporta mouse

will connect a mouse to joystick port A. If you want the joystick emulation feature that some mice (like the Philips SBC-3810 and the Sony MOS-1) have, keep the left mouse key pressed when plugging it in, just as on a real MSX.

If you are using openMSX in windowed mode, it might be tricky to use the mouse. For that you may want to use the following setting: `set grabinput on`. This makes sure all input goes to openMSX. Your cursor cannot leave the openMSX window with this setting. Just turn it back to off, if you want to disable this again. If you only want to escape the window briefly, use this command: `escape_grab`. It permits you to leave the window, but the next time you enter it, the cursor is grabbed again. It might be a good idea to bind this command to a key, using the `bind` command, which is mentioned above.

## 6. Video

### 6.1 Renderers

A renderer is a part of the emulator that generates the graphical part of the emulation: the MSX 'screen'. At the moment, there are three working renderers:

SDL
  This is the default renderer. This renderer is not using any hardware acceleration and has a steady CPU time consumption. The CPU load can be quite high though. It is about 50% on Manuel's Athlon XP 1600+, when emulating a 3.5MHz MSX and using no special graphical effects (see below). The CPU load is smaller if you use a 16 bit per pixel video mode or when you have a CPU with MMX and/or MMXext extensions.
SDLGL
  This renderer uses the OpenGL graphics library to optimise the rendering. Because part of the rendering is done by the graphics hardware, the CPU load can vary a lot. The SDLGL renderer is only useful if you have a hardware accelerated OpenGL library; a software GL implementation will be very slow. See the Setup Guide for OpenGL performance tips. Not everything is supported on this renderer, though. It is likely that it will disappear in the future.
SDLGL-PP
  This renderer uses the OpenGL graphics library for all post processing (hence the PP), which includes scalers and other effects. Because part of the rendering is done by the graphics hardware, the CPU load can vary a lot. As with SDLGL, the SDLGL-PP renderer is only useful if you have a hardware accelerated OpenGL library; a software GL implementation will be very slow. See the Setup Guide for OpenGL performance tips. If your card supports it, we recommend to use this renderer. Note that this renderer requires both your video card and video driver to support OpenGL 2.0. Sometimes you need to upgrade your driver to make it work. If your videocard or driver don't support OpenGL 2.0, openMSX will switch back to the SDL renderer if you try to select SDLGL-PP.

You can set the renderer with the `renderer` setting. You can set full screen mode with the `fullscreen` setting. Again, to make these settings permanent, use the `save_settings` command to save them.

Note that openMSX can be compiled without the SDLGL and SDLGL-PP renderer; if that is true for the build you're using, you will not be able to switch to the SDLGL and SDLGL-PP renderer.

### 6.2 Accuracy

The `accuracy` setting controls how often the renderer is synchronised with the MSX video processor (VDP). There are three options:

screen
  Synchronise once per screen (frame). Good enough for most MSX1 software, but will break most raster effects.
line
  Synchronise at the start of a line. This is good enough for most software. This setting hides imperfections in raster effects, which could be considered a useful feature.
pixel
  Synchronise at the exact pixel where a change occurs. This is the most realistic setting and therefore set as the default. To see demos like Unknown Reality (scope part) and Verti correctly, you should use this setting. Also, you will see any imperfections in raster effects just like they occur on a real MSX.

### 6.3 Scalers

Most MSX screen modes are only 256×212 pixels big. This is quite small for PC screen resolutions of today. That's why you have the possibility to scale up the image. Normally, there are three possible scaling factors: 1, 2 and 3. If you select 1, all MSX pixels are mapped to a 320×240 pixels PC window, for 2 to a 640×480 pixels window and for 3 to a (surprise!) 960×720 window. The setting which determines this is called `scale_factor`. In general, the higher the factor, the better the output image is; the downside: it takes a lot more CPU processing power.

Use `scale_factor` 1 only if you have a slow computer to run openmsx on, because it is very limited in possibilities and in the case of msx screen modes with more pixels than 256×212, you even lose pixels! in that case, the pixels are interpolated. however, when using it full screen, the low resolution is not a problem, especially because most MSX software uses a 256×212 mode.

There is also a number of scaling algorithms (setting `scale_algorithm`) that can be set. The scaling algorithm determines how exactly the mapping is done between the MSX input screen and the PC output screen. Especially for scaling factors bigger than 1, this allows for extra possibilities in the algorithms, like deinterlacing and adding scanlines, blur, anti-aliasing (rounding of blocky patters like stair cases) or even a Trinitron-like TV effect. When the factor is set to 1, you always get the `simple` algorithm, see below.

An exception to all of this is the SDLGL-PP renderer. With this renderer (when using a suitable video card and driver), scaling is done on the graphics card hardware and will not take extra CPU power. This renderer also gives you the possibility to use a `scale_factor` of 4. The down side is that not all scalers have been implemented for this renderer. See also below.

openMSX contains the following scaling algorithms:

simple
  This algorithm simply expands each MSX pixel to a square of (scale_factor)×(scale_factor) PC pixels. This is the default scaler and it is fast. The image looks blocky, especially diagonal edges, but it does support scanlines and blur for scale factors of 2 and higher. In combination with a scale factor of 1, you get what was previously the SDLLo renderer, which is the fastest scaling method available.
ScaleNx
  This scaler algorithm smoothes edges by using only original colours, so it will not give any blur. It is fast and its image is less blocky than that of the simple scaler. However, all corners are rounded, which does not look good on all graphics. This scaler has not been properly implemented for scaling factors of 4.
SaI
  This scaler algorithm smoothes edges by interpolating neighbouring pixels. It is heaver on the CPU than the simple and ScaleNx algorithms. It does a good job on most graphics, except for high-contrast edges; for example white fonts on a black background get some nasty gray lines around them. Also corners are rounded, similar to ScaleNx. This scaler is not available in the SDLGL-PP renderer.
hq
  This scaler algorithm looks somewhat similar to SaI, but its output is sharper. This complex algorithm is very heavy on the CPU; use this algorithm only on fast PCs. It does a good job on most graphics; it avoids excessive blurring and it keeps corners sharp. On some graphics, it does not identify edges correctly, making those edges blocky instead of smooth. Especially with high scaling factors, it can give a very smooth looking image.
hqlite
  This is a variant of hq: the resulting image is close to hq, but it is calculated a lot faster. It has a good quality per CPU usage ratio.
RGBTriplet
  This algorithm only works when a scaling factor of 3 is used. Also, it only works well for MSX screen modes of 256×212, which includes most games. The idea of the algorithm is that each input pixel is mapped on a triplet of pixels which represent the R(ed), G(reen) and B(lue) components of the input pixel. This arrangement of RGB components is also used in the Aperture Grille CRT's, also known as Trinitron and the modern TFT screens. You can control the effect with the `blur` setting. This algorithm also includes scan lines.
TV
  This algorithm is trying to emulate the fact that on a CRT brighter pixels look bigger than darker pixels. This scaler is only available in the SDLGL-PP renderer.

A small (somewhat outdated) demonstration of some of the algorithms can be found on the openMSX web site.

### 6.4 Gamma Correction

PC monitors can have different gamma values than MSX monitors. To compensate for this, openMSX has a gamma correction feature. It is controlled by the `gamma` setting. A value of 1.0 disables gamma correction; a lower value makes the image darker; a higher value makes it brighter.

If you want to know what gamma correction really means, read this page about monitor gamma. The gamma correction value you can set in openMSX should be the gamma of your PC screen divided by the gamma of the MSX screen. I measured the gamma of my PC screen (TFT) at 2.0 and the gamma of my MSX monitor at 2.5. That puts the gamma correction at 2.0 / 2.5 = 0.8. So if I enter that value, the openMSX image will have comparable brightness to the MSX image. However, 0.8 is not the value I'm actually using: I prefer a brighter image than my MSX monitor, so I chose to use a gamma correction of 1.1.

### 6.5 Special Effects

openMSX contains a couple of special effects settings that can be applied to the video output:

`deinterlace`
  Interlacing is a technique to double the vertical resolution by splitting the image into two frames: the first frame the even lines are displayed, the second frame the odd lines are displayed. The after glow on a TV and some processes in the human brain combine both frames into a single image. However, this process is not perfect and you can notice flickering, especially on horizontal lines. The deinterlace feature combines the even and the odd frames into a single output frame, thus eliminating the flicker. The `deinterlace` setting controls this feature: it can be on (enabled) or off (disabled); it is enabled by default. This feature needs a scaling factor of at least 2.
`scanline`
  On TV's and MSX monitors, you can see a small black space in between the display lines, especially when using NTSC. The scanlines feature simulates this by drawing some lines a bit darker. This feature is disabled when a scaling algorithm other than `simple` or `RGBTriplet` is used and needs a scaling factor of at least 2.
`blur`
  TV's and MSX monitors are less sharp than PC monitors: neighbouring pixels tend to blur into each other. The blur feature simulates this by interpolating neighbouring pixels. The `blur` settings control this: 0 means no blur (completely sharp), 50 means some blur (like a monitor), 100 means maximum blur (like a TV). All other values between 0 and 100 are also possible of course. This feature is disabled when a scaling algorithm other than `simple` or `RGBTriplet` is used and needs a scaling factor of at least 2.
after glow (`glow`)
  The after glow feature blends each frame with the frame before it. This results in moving objects leaving a trail (motion blur). The `glow` setting controls the amount of after glow: 0 means no after glow, 100 means maximum after glow. This feature works only in the `SDLGL` and `SDLGL-PP` renderers.
`noise`
  This setting controls the amount of pixel noise on the screen. The `noise` setting controls the amount: 0 means no noise, 100 means maximum noise. The value is actually the deviation of the color of the original pixel and non-integer values are also possible.
display deformation (`display_deform`)
  This feature makes it possible to change the shape of the MSX screen. Here are the possibilities:
  - `normal`: no deformation (default)
  - `3d`: emulates a 3D view on an arcade cabinet's screen
  This feature works only in the `SDLGL-PP` renderer. In openMSX versions prior to 0.7.0, there was also a `horizontal_stretch` option here, but that has been replaced by a `horizontal_stretch` setting.

### 6.6 GFX9000

openMSX has GFX9000 emulation. Note that it still quite new, so it is not as complete and functional as the video emulation of the classical MSX chips. It is also slower than the classical video chips and it does not work with the SDLGL renderer. Despite of all this, we thought you might wanted to play around with it anyway...

The real GFX9000 has an external video connector to which you can connect a second monitor. Because of limits of the SDL library we used to create openMSX, we cannot have more than one window for openMSX, so we cannot emulate a second monitor. To see the GFX9000 in action, you need to switch the videosource setting, which equals to a so-called SCART-switch in the real world: `set videosource GFX9000`. If you started openMSX without GFX9000 extension, this option is not available.

To get your normal MSX screen back, you should type `set videosource MSX`. If you want to toggle with a hot key between them, it might be useful to bind a key for it. E.g.: `bind F6 cycle videosource`.
`cycle` is a Tcl command that cycles through the options of the setting in the parameter.

### 6.7 Video Recording

The video recorder enables you to record the audio and video rendered by openMSX to an AVI file. The output video is in 320×240 resolution by default, or 640×480 when using the `-doublesize` flag. The video is compressed with the ZMBV codec, a fast lossless compression algorithm that works very well on 2D computer generated images. The FAQ contains more information about this codec. The audio is not compressed.

The recorded AVI file will not suffer from any hiccups, even if the emulation ran too slow when you recorded it. The current video source (see previous section) is recorded and the sound is recorded with the current `frequency` setting. If you change the `frequency` setting during recording, or, more importantly, if the software changes from PAL (50 Hz) to NTSC (60 Hz) during recording, the video will get out of sync with the audio. Any special effects will not be recorded.

Use the command `record start` to record to a default file name, or you can use an additional parameter to specify a file. The command `record stop` stops recording and `record toggle` toggles it. You can use the `-audioonly` or `-videoonly` option to record only sound or video.

If you want to put a recorded video on your web site, it is better to transcode the audio to MP3 or Vorbis format, as this makes the file a lot smaller. At the time of writing (April 2007), YouTube does not support the ZMBV codec, so if you want to upload your recording there you should transcode the video as well. Google Video does support the ZMBV codec. Transcoding videos can be done with programs such as Virtual Dub (Windows) or MPlayer's MEncoder (Linux/UNIX).

## 7. Audio

### 7.1 Audio Settings

There is a `master_volume` setting, which controls the overall output volume of openMSX (it applies to all sound devices). Volume 0 means no sound, volume 100 is maximum.

There is also a `mute` setting, to disable all sound from openMSX at once. It can be on (muted) or off (sound is audible). By default, mute is bound to the F11 key.

Each sound device in the MSX you are emulating also has its own volume setting. Volume 0 means no sound, volume 100 is maximum. For example: `set "MSX Music_volume" 50`.

The mode setting for sound devices which was present in previous versions of openMSX, has been replaced by a balance setting. For each sound device, you can control the distribution of the sound output of this chip over the left and right channel. This is very similar to the balance knob on (older?) hifi equipment. Example: `set PSG_balance -100`, which sets the PSG entirely to the left channel. Any sound device can also be individually (un)muted using the mute_channels command.

If you'd like to apply some special effects to the sound, you should take a look at the vibrato and detune (both percent and frequency) settings, which can be only applied to the PSG, for now.

For Windows users there is the choice to use DirectSound or SDL as an audio driver. By default, DirectSound is used, because it gives a better quality in most cases. Change it with the `sound_driver` setting, if you like.

### 7.2 MIDI

openMSX supports the MSX-MIDI interface of the MSXturboR GT. To use this feature, start openMSX with the machine `Panasonic_FS-A1GT` and plug in a MIDI device on the console. For example:

plug msx-midi-out midi-out-logger

This logs all MIDI commands to a file. Because there is no timing information logged, this is not very useful yet.

It's more interesting to connect MSX-MIDI to an actual PC MIDI device, such as a MIDI out port or the internal synthesizer of your sound card. On Linux, you can use the `midi-out-logger` and set a MIDI device node, for example `/dev/midi`, as its output file. This is done by default. To play with this setting, use `set midi-out-logfilename`. On Windows, real MIDI devices are separate pluggables.

On Linux, it might be useful to route the MIDI events to a software synthesizer as well. On MSX Resource Center there is a forum thread which describes how to do this.

### 7.3 Recording Audio to File

openMSX records the sound at the exact speed at which it should be produced, no matter the speed at which the emulation was running while recording. Note that recording sound to the uncompressed WAV format will take a lot of disk space: at 44.1 kHz it will take about 176 kB per second.

You can start the recording of sound by issuing the command `soundlog start`. It will automatically choose a file name and save it in the `soundlogs` directory in your personal openMSX folder. You can also add an extra parameter to specify the filename for the new WAV file. To stop recording, use `soundlog stop`. You can toggle the recording status using `soundlog toggle`, which is useful if you `bind` this command to a hot key.

As of openMSX 0.6.3 there is an advanced feature for recording audio to file: you can record individual channels of sound chips to individual files on disk. The sound is in the native frequency of the sound chip this time, which means that for chips like PSG or SCC (which run at very high frequencies), the files will be huge. (You are warned!) This feature is easiest to control with the `record_channels` command. Note that in contrast to the `soundlog` command, the output file of this command ends up in the current directory and not in a special directory. We hope you can use this command to study the fantastic compositions of MSX software and make great remakes of them.

## 8. Useful Extras

### 8.1 Saving/Loading the State of the Machine

A feature of emulators which is particularly useful is saving the state of the emulated machine to a file, in order to load it again later and continue exactly where you left off when saving. Not only useful for games, but also for debugging or testing. This feature is now also available in openMSX! And the best thing is, that it is designed in such way that it is able to cope with older save states in future releases. So, you don't have to be afraid to upgrade to a new version of openMSX: your save states will remain usable!

The easiest way to use it is by using the keyboard shortcuts for quickly saving and loading a state, see the key mapping section. These shortcuts basically use the savestate and loadstate commands, with the parameter `quicksave`, i.e. they use a savestate file with the name 'quicksave'. You can also use the commands directly yourself, with the argument as the name of the slot you save the state to (use TAB or the `list_savestates` command to see your previously saved states). Without having to browse the file system of your computer, you can also conveniently delete existing save games with the `delete_savestate` command.

Note that when saving the state of the machine, a screenshot will also be saved with it, so that those could be used for save state browsing. (Currently only used on the experimental On-Screen-Display and in a prototype version of a new Catapult.)

### 8.2 Game Trainer

As of version 0.6.2, openMSX comes with a completely reworked game trainer system. Although it has to be used from the console, it is very easy to use. As always, you could type: `help trainer`, for some basic help.

Suppose you want to cheat on Metal Gear. Then it would be useful to type: `trainer Metal[TAB]`, which will expand to: `trainer Metal\ Gear`. When you then press enter, you see which cheats are available in the Metal Gear trainer. You can active them by typing e.g.: `trainer Metal\ Gear 1 2 3 4`. This will activate (toggle) the first 4 cheats (as the list will tell you which is printed after the command: the crosses mean an active cheat). You can also use the descriptions instead of the numbers: `trainer Metal\ Gear "enemy 1 gone" "enemy 2 gone"`. Or, if you want to activate all cheats, as was default in the old cheat system, you could simply type: `trainer Metal\ Gear all`.

If this sounds a bit difficult for you, just try it out. It's really much easier when you actually work with it. As always in the console, using TAB to complete your commands and their options proves to be very useful!

### 8.3 Debug Device

This chapter describes how an MSX programmer can use the openMSX built-in debug device. This is an artificial MSX device that is connected to an MSX I/O port. It can be used to send debug messages to the host operating system.

Note that openMSX also contains built-in debugging functions, which can be accessed with the `debug` console command. With that debugger you can read and write all registers and memory of almost all devices that are supported in openMSX. It also supports break points, watch points and stepping.

#### 8.3.1 Enabling the Debug Device

To enable the debug device, insert the `debugdevice` extension. To do this when starting openMSX, simply add `-ext debugdevice` to the openMSX command line. If openMSX is already running, you can use the `ext` console command.

You can use the `debugoutput` setting to specify the file name to write the debug output to.

#### 8.3.2 Output Ports

Controlling the device is done from within an MSX program. For this purpose, the output ports 0x2E and 0x2F are used. The first port is the Mode Set Register. Bytes sent to this port have the following meaning.

bit(s) | meaning
--- | ---
7 | unused
6 | line feed mode (0 = line feed at mode change, 1 no line feed)
5-4 | output mode (0 = OFF, 1 = single byte, 2 = multi byte)
3-0 | mode-specific parameters (see below)

When using mode 1, single byte mode, the lower 4 bits each enable a particular output format:

bit(s) | meaning
--- | ---
3 | ASCII mode on/off
2 | decimal mode on/off
1 | binary mode on/off
0 | hexadecimal mode on/off

So, every parameter bit turns an output format on or off and more than one output format can be specified at the same time.

The parameters for mode 2 (multi byte mode) are as follows:

bit(s) | meaning
--- | ---
3-2 | unused
1-0 | mode (0 = hex, 1 = binary, 2 = decimal, 3 = ASCII mode)

#### 8.3.3 Single Byte Mode

In mode 1, any write to port 0x2F will result in output. This way, the programmer can see if a specific address is reached by adding a single `OUT` to the code. The output depends on the parameters set with the mode register. Each bit represents a specific format, and by turning the bits on and off, the programmer can decide which formats should be used.

Here is an example:

    LD  A,65
    OUT ($2f),A

This will give the following output:

    41h 01000001b 065 'A' emutime: 36407199578

(when all bits are on, mode register = 0x1F)
or

    41h 065 'A' emutime: 36407199578

(when the binary bit is off, mode register = 0x1D)
or

    41h emutime: 36407199578

(when only the hexbit is on, mode register = 0x11)
and so on.

The EmuTime part is a special number that keeps track of the openMSX emulation. The larger this number is, the later the event took place. This is a great way to get an idea of the timing of things.

If the character to print is a special character, like carriage return, linefeed, beep or tab, the character between the ' ' will be a dot (.) and the normal character is 'displayed' at the very end of the line, so it won't mess up the layout of the whole line.

#### 8.3.4 Multi Byte Mode

Unlike mode 1, the data in this mode is always shown in one mode only. It's either in hex mode, binary mode, decimal mode or ASCII mode, but never a combination. Also the EmuTime bit is left out.

Here is an example:

    LD  A,xx
    OUT ($2e),A
    LD  A,$41
    OUT ($2f),A
    OUT ($2f),A
    OUT ($2f),A

If we substitute `$20` for `xx`, we get:

    41h 41h 41h

and if we substitute `$22` for `xx`, we get:

    065 065 065

The extra zero is added to keep alignment. Finally, if we want ASCII output, all we need to do is change `xx` for `$23`:

    AAA

In this special case, the space in between the data is left out. Any special character like carriage return, linefeed, beep or tab will be printed as you would expect.

## 9. Contact Info

Because openMSX is still in heavy development, feedback and bug reports are very welcome!

If you encounter problems, you have several options:

1. If you're a regular user and want to discuss openMSX and possible problems, join our `openmsx-user` mailing list. More info on the openMSX mailing lists, including an archive of old messages, can be found at SourceForge.
2. Go to our IRC channel: `#openMSX` on `irc.freenode.net` and ask your question there. Also reachable via Mibbit!
3. If you want to address the openMSX developers directly, post a message to the `openmsx-devel` mailing list. More info on the openMSX mailing lists, including an archive of old messages, can be found at SourceForge.
4. Use one of the openMSX trackers at SourceForge. At the moment of writing, there are four trackers: Bugs, Support Requests, Patches and Feature Requests.
5. Post a message on the forum on www.openmsx.org or the openMSX forums at SourceForge.

In any case, try to give as much information as possible when you describe your bug or request.

$Id: user.html 8416 2008-12-26 23:10:08Z manuelbi $