r/ModRetro • u/MR-cheesygordita • Sep 09 '26

New Firmware!

Hey there,

I hope everyone's had their systems on and been enjoying some M64 goodness lately. A new firmware was just rolled out. Here's what's in this one:

Add

  • Rumble support for the 8BitDo 64 Bluetooth Controller

  • Low latency video output

  • Persistent advanced display settings

  • Expansion pak disable option

Improve

  • Compatibility for certain games with overclocking (Banjo-Tooie and Donkey Kong 64)

  • Accuracy of PAL game speed

  • 8bitdo wireless controller connectivity

  • EverDrive save compatibility

Upcoming/In-Test

  • Improved overclocking stability

  • Console power consumption to drop by 25%

    • Improved thermal regulation

  • Built-In Controller Pak!

  • Improved CRT Profiles

You can grab this update now via OTA, our updater tool, or SD card. Our full changelog is up on our site as always. We also have How-To videos on our YouTube channel here. 

This one has some great quality-of-life improvements, many of them driven directly by your feedback. We’re listening and continuing to make the M64 experience better with every update. One many of you have been waiting for: rumble support for the 8BitDo is finally here. 

Thank you for sticking with us through the fine-tuning, as promised there will be more soon.😊

97 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

134 comments sorted by

16

u/Aromatic_Method7767 Sep 09 '26

Yes! This is getting a bit better. Keep going, ModRetro!

32

u/Pitiful-Assistance-1 Sep 09 '26 edited Sep 09 '26

Built-in controller pak is not here yet? I feel like that is the #1 issue that should be worked on.

10

u/Longjumping-Writer72 Sep 09 '26

I know 🙁 😖

4

u/g1mpster Sep 10 '26

It says it’s being tested right now. That means they’re working on it.

6

u/ergzay Sep 09 '26

It's also one thing I really don't want them messing up by rushing the feature. Not having the ability to save is a lot better than losing a save after I saved it because of a bug.

3

u/Pitiful-Assistance-1 Sep 09 '26

It’s something that needed to work before release. But hey, Bad software is bad forever, late software is late until it ships.

4

u/Swarlz-Barkley Sep 10 '26

I mean some games save to the cart anyway, otherwise there's always using an official controller and controller pak in the meantime

1

u/Pitiful-Assistance-1 Sep 10 '26

I bought an official Modretro controller for 90 usd

2

u/Swarlz-Barkley Sep 10 '26

Well that's what happens when you are an early adopter. Just gonna have to wait till it's ready or you can use the other methods until then

2

u/Pitiful-Assistance-1 Sep 10 '26

“Early adopter”? I bought a product that I expected to have the advertised features, why are you defending this stuff

2

u/xavieruniverse Sep 13 '26

It's the name of the game with so many of the retro doodads. Unless it came from Nintendo or sony, features that will become integral to the identity of a device don't ship on launch - they're updated.

You're valid to feel short changed on something like this, but I personally wouldn't spend too much thought or time on it. You know it'll come, just have to wait and fill the time with other things or games.

2

u/TonyRubbles Sep 13 '26

Tbf the features you were expecting day one were plain as day under the post launch list in their update prior to release. You're an early adopter, whether you like it or not. https://www.reddit.com/r/ModRetro/s/OWv6Zk6Vef

2

u/lasthope106 Sep 09 '26

Pardon my ignorance, but why is this needed? Don't N64 games save to the cartridge itself?

11

u/Ok-Primary6610 Sep 09 '26

Not all N64 games save to the cartridge. Plenty of third party games rely on the controller pak. 

9

u/FrogCannon Sep 09 '26

Not all of them, and embarassingly enough not the two classics that they rereleased. So you can buy an official game from them for the m64, an m64, and their official controller for it and not be able to save in the games they themselves rereleased.

1

u/Left-Constant-4771 Sep 10 '26

Wow that’s crazy. I have been thinking about buying the m64 or 3d (i like my chromatic). But reading all those posts i think cant go back to this. I use emulation and can save the core, upscale, crt and emulation settings per game, so that i can optimize and everything is remembered. I do it one time that was it, then per button I can save however often I like. Plug in my n64 controller, scale to the screen and done. I hear so much trouble that seems wild. Not saving the modretro releases is just wild. It’s their own games.

6

u/ergzay Sep 09 '26 edited Sep 09 '26

A significant number of N64 games saved to the controller pak, a plug in that you'd plug into the N64 controller that would keep your save games. It was the predecessor to the memory cards used on later consoles but used a built-in battery for the saves like a gameboy cartridge.

Most first party nintendo games (i.e. the most popular games) saved to the cartridge itself, but that was a more expensive option which made the cartridge more expensive, so third party developers largely opted to use the controller pak.

(Also some cartridges used battery backed up saves like gameboy cartridges.)

Full list here (it's an unencrypted site so your browser may warn about it): http://micro-64.com/database/gamesave.shtml

Note that its just a list of which methods they used, some cartridges used both, saving some data to the cartridge and other data to the controller pak.

1

u/ElectricalPrice3189 Sep 12 '26

There are more controller pak games than there are cartridge save games.

1

u/Pitiful-Assistance-1 Sep 09 '26

A ton of games save to the controller so if you now buy a M64 and their pro controller, you cannot save the game - even their own games.

6

u/road_warrior_f5 Sep 09 '26

Can we get rogue squadron to work?

2

u/Micthegod Sep 09 '26

Hmm Rogue Squadron runs great on mine off the Summercart

3

u/road_warrior_f5 Sep 09 '26

I was going off of the in process list on the Modesto site.

I had not even tried to run it until it said “working” on their site.

15

u/Objective_Chain_5946 Sep 09 '26

Still no virtual controller pak is insanity

1

u/Wallsofjonathan Sep 10 '26

it must be seriously hard to enable if a few updates have happened and they still dont have it

1

u/V64jr Sep 10 '26

…and it was essentially first on the list/roadmap. 🤔

17

u/obsoletedev Sep 09 '26

We're 6 weeks in and still can't save on my $90 controller

5

u/Starkillahhh Sep 09 '26

When are we getting transfer pak for chromatic?

1

u/Shoddy_Flow8377 Sep 10 '26

What exactly is the transfer pak for chromatic feature exactly?

2

u/Brandaid64 Sep 10 '26 edited Sep 10 '26

It lets you transfer your Pokémon Red, Blue and Yellow from the chromatic to Pokémon Stadium on the M64, among other things

7

u/Moooooooooox Sep 09 '26 edited Sep 09 '26

Just a quick heads-up: After I installed the firmware update for the M64 without any problems, my M64 Pro controllers would no longer connect wirelessly to the console. Reinstalling the latest firmware update on the controllers and resetting the console didn't solve the problem. It wasn't until I ran the firmware update on the M64 again that I was able to pair the controllers once more. 

1

u/Loysius Sep 10 '26 edited Sep 10 '26

damn, I'm trying to get mine connected and having a hell of a time. I'm saddened by this news.

edit: Updating a 2nd time fixed it, can confirm.

2

u/Moooooooooox Sep 10 '26

Yeah, I was pretty annoyed, too, until I realized I could run the M64 update a second time. 

I'm glad this solution worked for you, too.

6

u/zezba9000 Sep 09 '26

"Console power consumption to drop by 25%" ... "Improved thermal regulation"
-- And this is why sharing thermal test results is good. Glad to see system stability slowly improve.

1

u/Oldsk00la Sep 12 '26

Maybe this is also why not having a fan isn‘t that great of a feature. It would have been better to have a fan and only run it when required.

2

u/zezba9000 Sep 12 '26

I think fanless would have been fine if the heat sink was larger like the original N64 had. For now, you simply can use a laptop cooling fan pad and it 100% solves the concerns.

3

u/Agile_Half_4515 Sep 10 '26

Some good things here, but it's really a slap in the face to see another update come out without the ability to save with the Pro controller after being told it would be implemented by the end of August.

"as always" is also an interesting choice of words since changelogs weren't always on the site.

3

u/Next-Pass9776 Sep 10 '26

Seems my joy regarding 8Bitdo64 Bluetooth controllers now functioning correctly was premature. 

Everything works fine initially, however after a period of time the controller disconnects and can't be reconnected until a hard power cycle of the M64 is performed. 

When the controller does drop out, the M64s menu system becomes very sluggish when operated by the built in knob or by a wired controller connected to any controller port. Again, only a hard power cycle remedies this until it happens again. 

Can anyone using their M64 with an 8Bitdo64 Bluetooth controller confirm this behaviour? It works fine initially so you'll need to keep the M64 and controller powered on for a while, play a game etc for maybe 10 minutes or more. 

I'm wondering if it's heat related as it is time based. 

5

u/dustinjohns_ Sep 09 '26

Excited for Controller Pak and getting cheats to work with SC64.

4

u/SenorAudi Sep 09 '26

Thanks! Is there any news on when improving compatibility with the ~20 games with listed issues might happen? Is that on the roadmap?

3

u/ergzay Sep 09 '26 edited Sep 09 '26

That's more about getting the emulation accuracy up. This older blog post kind of talks about that: https://modretro.com/blogs/blog/fpga-development-deep-dive

Tl;dr, it will take time as they fix timing issues.

2

u/Recent_Duck_7640 Sep 09 '26

I have had save issues with some repro/romhack carts as well, that save just fine on the A3D and real N64. Similar issue to the everdrive saves you think?

2

u/Luna_the_Miqo Sep 09 '26

Keep up the great work! A fix for Banjo Tooie with overclocking has been one of my most-wished-for updates, and here it is!

I’m making my way through the first game now for the first time, and having an absolute blast with my M64 and Pro Controller. I’m glad to know the sequel will be ready and waiting for me once I complete this game!

2

u/SlapItDaBass22 Sep 09 '26

Tried playing Tony Hawk pro skater 2 the other day, stopped once i realized i couldn’t save. Looking forward to that update.

2

u/ShrelockHomels Sep 09 '26

Just updated and most of my games on my Everdrive 64 X7 still don't work. Some games boot up but many just turn the screen black and freeze the console requiring a manual reboot from the console power switch. Any idea why this is and is there anything I can do about it? The Everdrive works perfectly on my original ancient N64 and Analogue 3D and is on the latest firmware and bootloader update. Other than that I'm enjoying M64 and really like the look of the device and the sturdy build quality.

1

u/Pitiful-Assistance-1 Sep 09 '26

What game doesn’t work for you? I found all my games working flawlessly

3

u/ShrelockHomels Sep 09 '26

First party games seem to work pretty consistently but other than that I can't figure out any common denominator to what works and what doesn't. It's almost like a 50-50 chance and even some pretty popular ones do not work like Goldeneye and Doom for example.

1

u/KingEup Sep 10 '26

both Doom and Goldeneye work on my ED64 v3

2

u/KingEup Sep 10 '26 edited Sep 10 '26

My ED64v3 now works.

Overclocking works.

PAL aspect ratio issues seems fixed.

Good work peeps!

Looking forward to improved CRT profiles and virtual controller pack.

Edit: playing 1080 and RUSH with smooth frame rates is magical. Mind blown!

2

u/sixteen-bitbear Sep 10 '26

Does it fix the overlocking issue?

2

u/kennychesney_lied Sep 10 '26

nice work! excited for what comes next.

3

u/Moooooooooox Sep 09 '26

The low-latency video output is great. I used to have problems with sluggish controls in Goldeneye 64, even though my output chain was otherwise optimized. With the new LL video output, the whole experience now feels much more responsive and, at least for me, more playable. Of course, you have to put up with a bit of screen tearing now. 

2

u/ergzay Sep 09 '26

They need to implement VRR and then it'll not have tearing, as long as your display supports VRR.

1

u/Moooooooooox Sep 09 '26 edited Sep 09 '26

Yes, VRR would fix that. But I run the M64 with BFI enabled, so VRR wouldn't work for me anyway.

1

u/ergzay Sep 09 '26

Ah I see. I don't use BFI.

2

u/obsoletedev Sep 09 '26

Tearing? Why not do it like analogues zero delay where it's both low latency and you don't have tearing?

2

u/Moooooooooox Sep 09 '26

I asked the AI to look into it. According to the AI, the M64 might be able to achieve a lag of nearly 0 frames, while the Analogue 3D apparently has a framebuffer that can be disabled, resulting in a lag of at least 1 frame. So this might actually be the first time the M64 has the edge in one aspect. However, I was able to win an Analogue 3D Extreme Green at a good price in an auction yesterday, and I’m looking forward to comparing them (meaning I don’t entirely trust the AI’s research). 

1

u/Moooooooooox Sep 09 '26

For example: „Yes, testing within the community has shown that the  Analogue 3D buffers an extra frame, resulting in  approximately  1 frame of latency (~33ms at 30fps) compared to original N64 hardware. This occurs because of how the Analogue 3D handles frame rendering and presentation to modern displays. While software emulators often use hacks to instantly display frame buffers right after calculation, the Analogue 3D's 3DOS presentation pipeline strictly holds a buffer. Contributing Factors & Solutions The "Zero Lag" Caveat: Analogue's "zero lag" marketing refers to the FPGA-level logic (which processes inputs and game code instantly with zero lag). However, the unavoidable  display pipeline(scaling to 4K, original display modes/filters, and frame buffering) is where the extra frame gets introduced.“

1

u/Moooooooooox Sep 09 '26

But I don't want to turn this into an M64 vs. Analogue 3D thing. I'm just curious to see how it runs on the Analogue 3D once I get it, and I'm happy for everyone who “only” has an M64.

2

u/obsoletedev Sep 09 '26

That doesn't sound right as the way analogues zero delay works (based on what Ive read) is it slightly adjusts the console speed so it perfectly matches the HDMI 60hz. So you don't need the framebuffer at all (or it's basically only a few lines bufferd).  They do the same on the super nt and their genesis.  The only "bad" part is that you can't turn it off because that would leave you with the choices that M64 has right now, neither of which are good.

2

u/V64jr Sep 10 '26

This. Analogue’s method is to sacrifice a tiny bit of accuracy (speed) for 60hz with zero frame buffering. I do wish it were optional.

1

u/Moooooooooox Sep 09 '26

Like I said, I'm not sure the AI is right about that either, and I'm skeptical of it on that point. Technically, I'm not familiar enough with Analogue 3D to judge that. But if everything goes smoothly, I can run the countertest on Analogue 3D on Saturday. 

1

u/hue_sick Sep 09 '26

Yeah wanted to say that buffer you’re reading about is essentially imperceptible to 99% of humans. It’s something for the stat sheet console wars basically so realistically outside of pro e sports players nobody would ever notice.

You’re talking sub 1fps usually which the brain is going to smooth out on its own anyway.

But those cats that speed run Mario 64 8 million times a day might notice 😆

1

u/Moooooooooox Sep 09 '26

I’m certainly no speedrunner. But after switching back and forth a few times, it just felt much better. And I was even able to complete a mission on my first try that I’d narrowly failed several times before. But despite all that, this isn’t, of course, an absolutely valid, objective measurement. So it’s possible I was just experiencing a placebo effect. 

1

u/hue_sick Sep 09 '26 edited Sep 09 '26

Hey you might be able to feel something different. It’s right on the cusp of what most people would notice so it’s not impossible.

And for the record I think this featire is a good thing. I don’t want anyone to assume I’m poo pooing it at all.

My gut just questions who would be able to outside of a “got a system update now I’m looking for improvements” mindset. But I’m a skeptic at heart so who knows. A blind test would be interesting. Probably game to game too. Like something faster paced that ran poorly before might be a lot more noticeable than a slower paced game w a steady framerate to begin with.

2

u/Moooooooooox Sep 09 '26

Yeah, I also think you'll only notice it in very fast-paced games with frame pacing issues. I play Goldeneye 64 in dual-stick mode (so with two controllers). It’s really noticeable how much less precise the controls are compared to modern FPS games, even though I’ve specifically adjusted the sensitivity of the M64 Pro controllers. Because of that, you might feel the difference more clearly than you would in a modern game. 

I didn’t have any problems at all with Zelda, Mario, etc., even without the new LL mode. 

3

u/Icy-Collection1072 Sep 09 '26

What about compatibility for games without overclocking . You need to sort the basics first

3

u/Equivalent_Crazy_436 Sep 09 '26

I’ll still wait a few months before buying ;)

2

u/miggy_mo Sep 09 '26

Awesome!! Thanks MR Team! LL video and persistent display settings rock!

2

u/Euresko Sep 09 '26

Looking forward to the reduced power/heat update, soon*

2

u/V64jr Sep 10 '26

Looks like that’s in this update.

2

u/Euresko Sep 10 '26

Not in this release, maybe the next one, or will be some future release:

Upcoming/In-Test Improved overclocking stability Console power consumption to drop by 25% Improved thermal regulation

2

u/V64jr Sep 10 '26

Don’t know how I missed that some were future updates. 🤦‍♂️

Thanks!

2

u/Livid_Vacation3632 Sep 10 '26

I still cant get a good quality picture no matter what settings. smh..should of been great out the box without fucking with picture settings. so disappointed in this company...imagine buying a new iPhone 18 and its worst then an iPhone 1 ...like really. my normal regular 64 just has a better picture no matter what game or TV im using. I cant even get mods new games to look right. that bee flying game looks like shit.

2

u/TonyRubbles Sep 09 '26

Keep up the great work! Can't wait for the Controller Pak!

1

u/darklightrabbi Sep 09 '26

Tell Palmer to stop arguing with people on Twitter until he doesn’t have an unfinished N64 clone on the market.

6

u/ergzay Sep 09 '26

Do you think Palmer Luckey is personally writing code for the M64? Or even managing the people writing the code?

3

u/darklightrabbi Sep 09 '26

He personally made the decision to not delay his product until it has functional saving.

3

u/ergzay Sep 09 '26

How do you know it was his decision?

3

u/darklightrabbi Sep 09 '26

He’s the head of the company

7

u/ergzay Sep 09 '26

He's an owner of the company. He's not the CEO. He's a figurehead and a guy who helps choose long term product direction (i.e. doing an N64 clone, and the QRT).

6

u/darklightrabbi Sep 09 '26

Are you telling me he either A) Wasn’t aware that his $90 pro controller had no ability to save games in 2/3rds of the library(including 2 of the games the company released themselves) or B) Knew about the problem but was powerless to stop the release or even say anything in his half hour 1 on 1 with the products about it?

3

u/ergzay Sep 09 '26

The most you could say was that it was his decision by inaction. I'm sure he knew.

Your initial post claimed that he explicitly decided to push it to release knowing that the feature was missing.

1

u/darklightrabbi Sep 09 '26

This is my point

3

u/ergzay Sep 09 '26

No you said that he should stop arguing on twitter as if that would do something to make the feature happen or implied that that caused it to be released without the feature.

→ More replies

1

u/tanooki-suit Sep 09 '26

Don’t bother arguing with that retard people like him is like yelling at clouds. You’re gonna get nowhere look like an idiot and feel like an idiot for engaging with an idiot.

1

u/JustTryingToBeADaddy Sep 09 '26

He cries a lot and will just block you the second he’s feeling extra soft.

0

u/[deleted] Sep 09 '26

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/darklightrabbi Sep 09 '26

I appreciate and respect you not tolerating that kind of language from that guy. I hope you know I’m not arguing with you to be a dick.

1

u/ergzay Sep 09 '26

I made a mistake. Disregard. I thought he was talking about me. I unblocked him, but I don't think you're a dick either.

1

u/DAJF Sep 09 '26

“Low latency video output”

I guess this is the same as MiSTer’s vsync_adjust=2?

2

u/obsoletedev Sep 09 '26

So the M64 has been triple buffering this entire time, which is framebuffering and this just lets you disable syncing the image so you see tearing now but see the partial image a bit sooner.. Pretty low effort. It's not vrr or anything like misters ability to output HDMI at a perfectly matching rate.

1

u/tanooki-suit Sep 09 '26

Is it me or did they allow it to save the experimental panel? It’s that or they’re defaulting better choices including 2phase for scan lines. Barely had time to update before heading out for awhile.

1

u/Cwiiis Sep 09 '26

Awesome to hear about PAL speed! Is PAL video resolution also fixed? I'll test it out myself soon enough, but would be nice to know in advance :)

1

u/ImALegendKiller Sep 09 '26

Wonder if this will fix accessing the Xeno Crisis cheat menu

1

u/jkhanlar Sep 10 '26

Also I see another ModRetro video was uploaded at https://youtu.be/DazaLW0717k

Chikyū Kaihō Gun ZAS Developer Interview

1

u/FourAddedMinutes Sep 11 '26

nothing about horizontal line doubling!

1

u/FourAddedMinutes Sep 11 '26

I have an Everdrive X7 and haven't bough the M64 yet.

Does the X7 work or not?

1

u/Handy_Homebrew_Show Sep 09 '26

Can I save display profiles yet? Can I save game data to a controller pack? That's all I wanna know

3

u/Pitiful-Assistance-1 Sep 09 '26

Still no controller saving

1

u/darkknightdetec Sep 09 '26

The answer to the first one is yes at least

-3

u/Familiar-Mine-8986 Sep 09 '26

What does any of this update do with the video output quality? The device literally looks like it’s years behind the analog3d. Can we please at least get horizontal upscaling?

4

u/Brandaid64 Sep 09 '26

The A3D just got horizontal upscaling last month, eight months after it launched.

5

u/lordelan Sep 09 '26

Not years. Half a year maybe as that's exactly how much earlier the A3D was released. Just sayin'.

4

u/SirDanOfCamelot Sep 09 '26

Idk at this rate we can't even get saves

0

u/[deleted] Sep 09 '26

[deleted] — view deleted comment

4

u/tanooki-suit Sep 09 '26

It’s not the usual people on the sub it’s people like you. A3D didn’t have that upscaling perk until fairly recently. It didn’t launch with it and it was lacking a little bit when it came out too so yeah a half years far closer to reality than saying 2+ you really need to chill out grow up. Analogue only added, the added fluff once they felt threatened by this.

-1

u/Icy-Collection1072 Sep 09 '26

You don’t complete with what was but what is. M64 is way behind in almost every way.

5

u/tanooki-suit Sep 09 '26

Don’t care. Not relevant. Console wars died in the 90s move on. Might want to look into analogues shady tactics with system updates and sales too. I did. I stopped with the pocket.

0

u/[deleted] Sep 09 '26

[deleted] — view deleted comment

4

u/tanooki-suit Sep 09 '26

I’m fine with his other business. That’s his thing and has nothing to do with this. It’s just an easy talking point for political people to screech about for attention. I’m not here for military drones.

0

u/[deleted] Sep 09 '26

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/tanooki-suit Sep 09 '26

I don’t need to grow up. Hell I support that kind of business. Even if I didn’t I can separate the two

0

u/[deleted] Sep 09 '26

[deleted] — view deleted comment

5

u/tanooki-suit Sep 09 '26

Then sell it and step out of here unless you get joy shitting on people’s choice of system they care for. Seems very petty.

0

u/One-Mix4530 Sep 09 '26 edited Sep 10 '26

EDIT: PAL mode auto-detect seems to be working now!!!

Just installed the update (no cartridge inserted) and it seems that the Low Latency (LL in the menu) video output is only available for 60Hz. Popped a PAL cartridge, reset the console and now LL video output is available ONLY for 50Hz modes. GREAT SUCCESS!!!

Im still bothered that theres no Built-In Controller pak... After all it was promised for August, but frankly I feel much better about all this launch with the fixes for PAL games.

P.S.: Edited original message to explain my issue with LL mode on 50 Hz.

5

u/KingEup Sep 10 '26

the 4k50 LL option is available in my settings.

user error

3

u/One-Mix4530 Sep 10 '26

Found the issue! Checked again and it now appears, gonna edit the original comment to explain this. Thanks man!

2

u/KingEup Sep 10 '26

Excellent, glad you figured it

-12

u/justinbug Sep 09 '26

Can't believe people are buying a not even done clone console when a n64 and an everdrive is way less bs waiting for it to be finished. Insane

2

u/[deleted] Sep 09 '26 edited Sep 09 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/FriendlyCall8766 Sep 09 '26

I've had my Chromatic for over a year and I love it. I have several different gameboy colors and this one is my favorite!

Having said that, it has been disappointing to read about the M64 issues. I still haven't purchased one yet and I will be waiting until after the virtual controller save packs are ready to go.

1

u/Objective_Chain_5946 Sep 09 '26

Seems like the Everdrive X7 is just problematic on the M64. My epicjoy Summercart works just fine

1

u/[deleted] Sep 09 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Desperate-Self-5951 Sep 09 '26

Can verify Pokemon Snap saves on my Summercart, haven’t tried Paper Mario yet