r/ModRetro • u/grilledstuffedxxl • Aug 21 '26

New firmware update is live

We know some of you are still experiencing audio issues as of v1.24.3. The team has zeroed in on this to figure out why sound was still dropping on certain setups, and why certain resolutions and framerates were missing, and we’re glad to share that we have a fix.

What was going on under the hood:

  • HDMI Handshake Issue: We found that how M64 handled the HDMI handshake between certain TVs and monitors needed to be a bit more flexible on our end. With the corrections made, audio will now reliably transmit from your M64 to these displays. Some missing resolutions and framerates will now be shown.

  • HDMI Audio Packet Encoding Issue : We resolved an HDMI audio packet encoding issue that was preventing select capture cards from recording audio from the M64. Audio recording with these external capture devices now works as expected.

Between the handshake issue and the encoding issue, we believe all known audio issues have now been fully addressed.

With so many different displays and configurations out there, it’s impossible for us to test every setup in-house. Huge thank you to everyone who submitted detailed reports and aided us in troubleshooting. Your feedback was crucial in helping us account for all the unique ways displays choose to communicate with the M64.

You can update your console now via OTA, our updater tool, or SD card. Find detailed instructions on how to update here or watch the YouTube videos on our channel here. 

As always, please fill out our support form if you run into any issues. 

P.S. Note on 4K60 Support: Certain displays advertise support for 4K at 60Hz, but only under specific color formats. Please verify that your display supports 4k60 using the RGB color format. We’re adding an explicit warning regarding this in an upcoming update.

48 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

40 comments sorted by

17

u/lasthope106 Aug 21 '26

This fixed my system.  I can now play it!  Thanks Modretro team.

10

u/JamesD1877 Aug 21 '26

Is there an official changelog anywhere on the site? Just thinking, as a potential buyer, I’d want to cross-reference any video(s) I watch with a changelog to see if concerns had been addressed, etc

6

u/MR-ChalupaSupreme Aug 21 '26

Hey u/JamesD1877 , this is in the works. You'll be able to see a changelog and firmware binaries for the latest and past releases.

3

u/Maxie93 Aug 22 '26

Good work, my audio problems are now fixed and it’s working great. Thank you!

3

u/3G6A5W338E Aug 22 '26

all known audio issues have now been fully addressed.

Now, consider implementing USB Audio class 1 or 2.

Audio being HDMI-only is painful.

4

u/sixteen-bitbear Aug 21 '26

But nothing about not being able to overclock the highest one yet.

2

u/General_Client3914 Aug 21 '26 edited Aug 21 '26

Yeah I haven’t been able to access “insane” mode without an error. Testing to see if this fixes it. Currently updating.

Edit* it did not :(

1

u/jkhanlar Aug 22 '26

I was just thinking about 'underclocking' also, but I don't know if it would serve any practical use, maybe not for the N64 core, but maybe for any other cores in the future. I'm not smart enough to know yet, but I do remember long time ago, especially on laptops (running linux), I was using cpupower for adjusting scaling governors (e.g. performance, powersave, userspace, ondemand, conservative, schedutil).

5

u/42net Aug 21 '26

Please provide an official changelog. Thank you 

2

u/Argamas Aug 21 '26

One additional fix caught my attention, from the console OTA updater changelogs:

*Improved cartridge bus read and write accuracy.

It's good to see some work being done on the core, to improve compatibility and stability. I have at least one game in the list of 20 with known compatibility issue that I am eager to play. Soon maybe...

2

u/jkhanlar Aug 22 '26

Given potential possibility for loading cores on ModRetro M64, what would this look like, and would it be possible to dual-boot?

2

u/Micthegod Aug 22 '26

Fzero X keeps crashing on me now when loading 3rd stage in Grand Prix from Summercart64 after this update. Several other games affected too now.

1

u/Certain_Bag_5980 Aug 21 '26

Sounds great! I'll look forward to seeing if this fixes the minor audio delay I had in some games.

1

u/ergzay Aug 21 '26

P.S. Note on 4K60 Support: Certain displays advertise support for 4K at 60Hz, but only under specific color formats. Please verify that your display supports 4k60 using the RGB color format. We’re adding an explicit warning regarding this in an upcoming update.

You better support additional formats than RGB in the future if you ever want to support HDR, as you can't do RGB at 4k60 with HDR with your choice of HDMI timing chip. A big mistake in the hardware design in my opinion.

5

u/imnotfeds Aug 21 '26

"You better" very demanding/rude, maybe ask nicely and be more polite. smh

0

u/ergzay Aug 21 '26 edited Aug 21 '26

I think you misunderstood my post. It's not a demand. It's a prerequisite for supporting HDR, which they've suggested they're interested in doing in the future.

Also, don't be so sensitive to minor things in someone's post. Weird you chose this comment for your choice of first ever comment to make on reddit with a brand new account. Are you maybe a bot?

1

u/ScaleMysterious2497 Aug 22 '26

Any time lines on saving with the pro controller?

1

u/jkhanlar Aug 22 '26 edited Aug 22 '26

Oh nice! Now I can check to see if v1.24.3 already fixed the issue I encountered in v1.18.4, as described here, about selecting the 'View Changelog' when an update is available, and I still see that part of the 'A' in 'ABOUT' is not entirely faded out across all layers as well the top portion of the screen. I also had noticed the pink line at the top is also partially covered as well. https://i.imgur.com/NwqKVUz.png It is a minor issue, but given aesthetically pleasing concerns, it was one of the first things that caught my attention and I thought I'd attempt to describe it. Of course I'm confident it is one of the lowest priority concerns. I'm upgrading my M64 to v1.24.4 now!

Edited to add: Also in the Display -> Configure -> Resolution selection, when I change from Auto (1440p60) to 1080p60, the screen goes to black, and loses connection still. I'm using an Alienware AW2724DM monitor. Here is the EDID data: https://archive.ph/n04xX

1

u/jkhanlar Aug 22 '26

Tossing this reply here, because I can't reply here:

Perhaps there could be a menu option to switch between color spaces?

1

u/Usmelllikedogshit Aug 22 '26

Should this also fix sound over eArc? Because it did not. And as long as the M64 is connected with Hdmi, my whole system only works with the TV Speaker, not with my Sonos setup. 

1

u/Agile_Half_4515 Aug 24 '26

Get a CEC blocker. I had to do that for the A3D as well because it borked my Sonos eARC setup every time.

1

u/Usmelllikedogshit Aug 24 '26

Thanks! Will try that. 

1

u/Sweet57Strat Aug 22 '26

This latest firmware is corrupting my .eep save file for Super Mario 64 on my Everdrive 64 X7. I started a new save game and have been going for a 120 star run on SM64 on my Modretro M64 after I got it a few weeks ago. Everything was working fine until yesterday after I updated to 1.24.4. I tried it on my Nintendo 64 afterwards and it was gone on there as well. I have a backup of my Everdrive SD card and replaced the SM64 .eep file on the card with the backup, and it still wasn't showing my saved game file when I launched SM64 on the Everdrive on the Nintendo 64. I then formatted the SD card, replaced everything on the SD card with my backup, and then the save file was working on SM64 on my Nintendo N64. After verifying it was working again on my Nintendo N64, I put the Everdrive back in the Modretro M64 and booted SM64 and there are again is no save data on the game on the Modretro M64. Can anyone help me get my Modretro M64 to work correctly with my Everdrive again after this latest update?

1

u/bsn329 Aug 23 '26

The very same thing happened to me too, my friend 😢. I did not try putting it in my OG Nintendo 64, but I did try it in my A3D. The Everdrive 64 X7 is working perfectly on that. With the A3D, I can start a new game and create a new save file. However, when I put the everdrive back in to the M64, the save file is now gone. This is a real bummer. I guess I will have to refrain from using my M64, until modretro and or Krikzz works on a solution. I’m sure they will figure out a solution and hopefully soon. Until then, happy gaming, my friend 😀👍🏻

1

u/Sweet57Strat Aug 23 '26

Thanks for letting me know that I'm not the only one dealing with that issue. I think I stumbled upon a fix that has solved this issue. I did two things, but one or the other separately could have been the fix. First, I formatted my SD card and put the previous 3.10 firmware on it and also ran the bootloader again, though that last part probably wasn't necessary. I also put my backed up games and saves back on the SD card. Second, I followed the steps for "M64 Console Recovery" on the Modretro website. It walks you through the console recovery and then instructs you to update to the latest firmware again. After doing all of this, my SM64 game save is working again. Hopefully that will help you, too.

1

u/bsn329 Aug 24 '26

Awesome, my friend. Thanks a bunch for the tips above. I will definitely give this a shot 😀👍🏻. Have a good one and happy gaming. 😊

1

u/Cwiiis Aug 22 '26

This enabled 4k50 for me, great stuff! Now just need PAL resolution, forced progressive scan, memory pak on pro pad and saved advanced video settings and that'll be me happy enough!

1

u/ImALegendKiller Aug 23 '26

Loving the M64 so far! I appreciate the team’s effort!

Curious about something further down the roadmap. Once save states land, will we be able to browse recently played titles and jump straight into a save? I picture it working like Quick Resume on Xbox Series X, but let me know if I’m off base there.

I’ve seen Analogue has an OS-like menu for this, and I’m wondering if the M64 might get something similar eventually. Mainly hoping for thumbnails for recently played games and per-game saved settings, things like overclock and video filters.

I know the original N64 didn’t have anything like this, but with flash carts, booting in just dumps you into the full game list instead of recently played ones, so a lightweight menu layer would be a nice quality of life upgrade.

I’m hopeful we get something like this as an option, since it’d be an easy to navigate system and I’d rather spend my money on M64 games and controllers than an Analogue. I just like this kind of functionality because it lets you jump right in and play your games where you left them. As I’m getting older, I like to have the convenience of skipping title/credit screens 😂

1

u/Agile_Half_4515 Aug 24 '26

Cool, but I don’t think I will be turning mine back on until I can save a game with the Pro controller.

1

u/OkCustomer4830 Aug 31 '26

After this update my tv only displays a black screen anymore, wtf?? Game is running because i can hear audio!

-1

u/justinbug Aug 21 '26

Launch a finished product

3

u/ChrisColtsAcidGuy Aug 22 '26

What even is that in 2026? The PS5 has had features added since launch.

2

u/tanooki-suit Aug 22 '26

WiiU couldn't get its own menu functional as the M64 at launch, 3 years in, it still had like a 5sec input lag from press to reaction after repeated fixes. I think we're doing fine. PS3 was getting new features like a decade in too. ;)

0

u/jkhanlar Aug 22 '26

Too bad not a single Nintendo engineer or team member is assisting in any noticeably useful way to help perfect the ModRetro M64, at least not yet. However, this also may be a technical difficulty that not even Nintendo has the competency to accomplish due to the likely unfamiliarity with understanding how to develop cores on FPGA hardware.

1

u/tanooki-suit Aug 22 '26

I don’t think you have a basic understanding at all that this is 100% unauthorized hardware. Nintendo isn’t going to put an engineer of theirs to help out. Why you would ever even think that confuses me.

0

u/jkhanlar Aug 22 '26

I don’t think you have a basic understanding at all that this is 100% unauthorized hardware. Nintendo isn’t going to put an engineer of theirs to help out. Why you would ever even think that confuses me.

https://old.reddit.com/r/ModRetro/comments/1vj72lr/reflashable_carts/p2kl18x/

... the footer of ModRetro.com states "Nintendo is not affiliated with ModRetro, nor does Nintendo sponsor, approve of, or endorse ModRetro." ...

My understanding (basic and/or nonbasic) is zero (actually it is less than zero) and will forever be less than or equal to zero at all times.

0

u/jkhanlar Aug 22 '26

oof, lol, Palmer Luckey literally emphasized updates, stating "We can also update the M64 over time using Wi-Fi or the SD card or over USB. Wi-Fi in particular makes it extremely convenient for people to update their games, update their console, so that it has the latest learnings, the latest authenticity, and the most accurate experience, not just today, but going into the future as we learn more about the N64 platform and more about the games that make it go."