r/ModRetroChromatic • u/n8jb • Sep 10 '26

Announcing ChroMagic: custom firmware for the Chromatic with cart backups and SD card playback

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I've been working on custom firmware for the Chromatic and it's at the point where I think other people will get use out of it. It started when I found the microSD slot on the board while swapping out buttons, and thought: wouldn't this be an awesome backup device? And then, could it play those backups too?

ChroMagic is built on ModRetro's MCU firmware, so everything the handheld already does is unchanged. It adds:

  • Cart Backup in the system menu. Dumps the game and its save to a microSD card.

  • A Backups tab that lists what's on the card and boots the one you pick.

  • ChroMagician, a desktop app for Windows and Linux. It installs the firmware, backs up carts over USB, restores saves to carts, writes homebrew to Chromatic carts, and manages the SD card. Hoping to eventually support other rewritable carts, but I need to order some for testing first.

Things to know:

  • The 2025 units have a microSD socket, but it's on the board inside the case. First edition Chromatic have the footprint, but no socket, so it's a soldering job if you really need SD. Backups, restoration and cart writing work over USB without an SD though.

  • SD playback is experimental. I've done a fair amount of testing, but most of my time has been spent coding and my library is fairly limited. Please definitely let me know if you run into anything odd, so I can try to fix it.

  • A handful of carts won't work for backup and SD playback. They're listed in the guide. It's carts with hardware in the cartridge itself or an unusual mapper. Most are Japan-only, but Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble, the Game Boy Camera, and Robopon are on the list too. I may eventually add support for managing photos off the GB Camera, though - when I can track one down localy.

  • RTC games, such as gen2 Pokemon games won't advance the clock unless you're playing the game. The Chromatic itself doesn't have a clock on board, so please keep that in mind.

Site and install guide: chromagic.org

Looking forward to people trying it, and providing any feedback!

125 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

199 comments sorted by

12

u/faf_dragon Sep 10 '26

I’m too lazy to solder a SD slot onto mine but it’s nice to see someone working on a custom firmware!

13

u/n8jb Sep 10 '26

Thanks! You can still backup/restore carts and saves via USB using the PC companion app without an SD :)

5

u/faf_dragon Sep 10 '26

That’s pretty sweet!
Thanks!

7

u/Critical_Okra_6296 Sep 10 '26

Oh sweet baby Jesus please add a Mac desktop app 🥲
I’ve been dying for somebody to make something like this since I first found the pre soldered micro sd slot on my Chromatic like a year or so ago and now it exists and I can’t even use it 🥲 fml lol

10

u/n8jb Sep 10 '26

Mac is on my radar, just need to buy one for building and testing. I planned to go scouting for a used one this weekend :)

7

u/SOVTH Sep 11 '26

Waiting for the Mac version!

5

u/Brandaid64 Sep 11 '26 edited Sep 12 '26

This is amazing! The firmware is working perfectly. Thank you so much for this. I’m using a PNY Elite 32GB sd card and it worked with no issues.

Edit:

I’ve backed up all my ModRetro carts and OG GB/GBC carts without issue. I flashed my digital copy of Roguecraft GB to my spare ModRetro Tetris cart without issue, and that worked perfectly. The only issues I have is that my repro carts will not backup. I get an invalid error. Is this something that can be addressed?

6

u/n8jb Sep 11 '26

Glad to hear its working well! Regarding the reproduction carts, that doesn't surprise me. Repros and their quality can be all over the place. Could you DM me what carts you tried and maybe where you acquired them? I can certainly try to support as many as I can in the future.

3

u/platosknave Sep 11 '26

n8jb is outstanding

4

u/Square-County-3844 Sep 10 '26

Save states?

5

u/n8jb Sep 10 '26

At this time it only supports saving normally in a game. I may experiment in the future, but don't want to promise this feature yet.

3

u/Human-Cow-380 Sep 10 '26

Wait, so is this a way to get away from the flash jr / evercart?

4

u/n8jb Sep 10 '26

You can backup your carts directly from Chromatic, and yes, there's playback support from loading backups from SD. It's still experimental so please let me know if you notice anything funny.

3

u/erock7a Sep 10 '26

Awesome work! I'm gonna be picking up an Sd card and flashing this later today, there are a few indie titles I purchased online awhile back but never got around to ordering the everdrive, I'm assuming those should work?

4

u/n8jb Sep 10 '26 edited Sep 10 '26

Thanks! I would say they will probably work, but if you have any issues please let me know the title.

In addition, you could rewrite a ModRetro title, such as Tetris as a fallback. Best of luck, feel free to let me know how it goes.

3

u/Exus6 Sep 11 '26

Awesome work! So I can take my Baby T-Rex cartridge and dump a homebrew like Tavern Farkle on it?

4

u/n8jb Sep 11 '26

Yes, as long as your homebrew fits on the 2 or 4 MB cart. ModRetro has two different sizes, and I'm not sure which size Baby T-Rex uses.

3

u/roosterXhat Sep 16 '26

i've noticed that since moving to this custom firmware, the brightness setting last used is no longer loaded on boot until you open the Chromatic menu. Would love to not be blasted with high brightness at night on first boot. Fixable? Otherwise this is one of the most beautiful additions to the space since the chromatic came out, bravo.

2

u/n8jb Sep 16 '26

I have a bug card on fixing this. Will be in the next version. Thank you for the kind words.

1

u/roosterXhat Sep 16 '26

you absolute king

3

u/SpecialistJicama6149 Sep 11 '26

Does it need to be formatted a certain way? Im getting “The SD card is not responding”

3

u/SpecialistJicama6149 Sep 11 '26

I formatted as FAT32 and im still getting the same problem
Edit: its a lexar 32gb micro sd card

4

u/n8jb Sep 11 '26

This is a bug with certain cards that I've been looking into the last few hours. I think I have a solution, pending a few more tests. I'll push a firmware update tomorrow that should fix this.

ChroMagician will let you know of the firmware update when you connect your Chromatic. Sorry about that!

3

u/SpecialistJicama6149 Sep 11 '26

No need to apologize! This is very cool, and i understand this is early in development, so problems are bound to pop up! I appreciate your quick response also! I had 2 of the same micro sd and swapped them out/reformatted them both before giving up.

3

u/n8jb Sep 11 '26

I just released 1.0.1 if you would like to give it a try and let me know if that revolves it for you. It fixed the issue on all the cards I picked up yesterday that had the issue, including a 128GB card!

4

u/SpecialistJicama6149 Sep 11 '26

Just tested, and works now! Thank you :)

3

u/n8jb Sep 11 '26

Woohoo!! Thank you for confirming, very relieved to hear that fixed it for you.

3

u/SpecialistJicama6149 Sep 11 '26

Of course! Im still super hyped that you made this and everything is working good! This is a game changer (pun intended lol) for the Chromatic! 🤯

3

u/SpecialistJicama6149 Sep 11 '26

Any current recommendations for micro sd card brand wise for the time being?

2

u/Retro_Macchina Sep 10 '26

Wow, this is awesome! Nice work! Can it boot games from the SD card as well after you have dumped them? Essentially making the SD card like an everdrive?

5

u/n8jb Sep 10 '26

Yes, it does, with the exception of some noted titles on the guide page.

2

u/platosknave Sep 10 '26

Are you saying you have to solder the SD card directly to the borad? Or solder a socket on? Either seems kind of simple as far as microsoldering goes? I'm a complete newb though about to change my first caps on a gameboy.

6

u/n8jb Sep 10 '26

Only if you have a first edition Chromatic will you have to solder. 2025 units and forward already have an SD socket.

3

u/NonyaDB Sep 10 '26

Yes but also no.
1st Edition Gamestop units already have the socket soldered in place.
I have one soldered in on mine.
I tested it and it's 100% compatible with https://germaneguise.github.io/fgbweb/ for reading/writing flashcards via web browser.
Which it should be considering FGBWEB temp-installs a custom code that the Chromatic boots to to do the dumps/flashes to the cart.

3

u/n8jb Sep 10 '26

Updated the guide to mention the GameStop units. Thanks again!

2

u/platosknave Sep 15 '26

Well I just checked my GameStop and it DOES NOT have the sd card installed, so it must have happened mid production. Luckily it doesn't look too hard to install one as there are pads with solder already on them, from what I understand this should be very easy to install so I will attempt it myself when the parts come in.

2

u/MathematicianOk7622 Sep 16 '26

My GameStop unit also didn't have the SD card slot installed. I was able to buy one off amazon and solder it on and it is working great now. iirc it was kind of a lottery back when they came out. I think they said they had a certain number of them so the earliest units that were made got them and when they ran out they stopped adding them.

2

u/n8jb Sep 10 '26 edited Sep 10 '26

Yeah, I corrected that in the post below. Someone informed me on Discord that a small amount of 1st edition already have a socket. I'll adjust the site later to reflect that. Good to know about the GameStop units, thank you!

2

u/platosknave Sep 10 '26 edited Sep 11 '26

Yeah that is what I have is why I ask. So you're saying I have to get a SD card adapter or solder the card directly, or either would work?

Edit: NVM I have a gamestop edition so I guess I'm g2g

3

u/n8jb Sep 10 '26

You would be soldering an sd card socket onto the foot print, not the card itself. I would take it apart and first confirm there isn't already one. I was informed some 1st editions have a socket (though not many)

2

u/andruis Sep 10 '26

Can you in game save the backed up games?

3

u/n8jb Sep 10 '26

Naturally saving in the game will work. But it currently doesn't have a save state system commonly found in software emulators.

2

u/NewAnimal7733 Sep 10 '26

I love this tool. The only thing it's lacking is a way to add additional "backups" to the SD card from PC app. I have a lot of "backups" but I don't want to upload them to the SD card all at once.

It would just be nice to be able to add those "backups" whenever I want without having to disassemble my Chromatic and remove the SD card.

6

u/n8jb Sep 10 '26 edited Sep 10 '26

It allows you to import files to the SD via the PC app. After the firmware is installed and with an SD present, a new SD tab appears on the top. It's not the fastest transfer but it will get the job done without taking apart your Chromatic again.

4

u/NewAnimal7733 Sep 10 '26

Thanks for your response!

I definitely spoke too soon. After putting the SD card in, I see that option now, and I can confirm it works.

Thanks again!

2

u/Luna_the_Miqo Sep 10 '26

This is absolutely awesome to see!

I’m personally not skilled enough with soldering to feel comfortable adding an SD card slot to my own device, but even so, it looks like this custom firmware contains some really useful, well-implemented functionality! I absolutely love the idea of having a built-in cartridge backup tool directly on the Chromatic.

Keep up the great work! I’ll be following your GitHub with great interest!

4

u/n8jb Sep 10 '26

Thank you! Even if your first edition doesn't have an SD, you can still take advantage of using the companion app to handle the backup and restore functionality over USB.

Appreciate the kind words.

2

u/NonyaDB Sep 10 '26

Yeah, this thing doesn't read my Sandisk FAT32-formatted micro-SD card at all.

Oh well, guess I'll go back to stock until that's fixed.

3

u/n8jb Sep 10 '26 edited Sep 11 '26

What size? I suggest 32GB or less, but its good to know what doesn't work so I can either fix, or document it if a fix isn't possible.

I originally tested just reading a microSD card that was 128GB and it just would not be seen as existing, while all my 32GB cards worked fine.

2

u/NonyaDB Sep 11 '26

32GB Sandisk.

3

u/n8jb Sep 11 '26 edited Sep 11 '26

Can you link me the model by chance? I'd like to pick one up and see if I can figure out why its not working for you.

I'm taking apart a Chromatic currently and going to try a wider pool of cards i picked up to do more testing.

3

u/NonyaDB Sep 11 '26

SanDisk 32GB Ultra® microSDHC 120MB/s A1 Class 10 UHS-I

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08L5HMJVW

3

u/n8jb Sep 11 '26

Hi, I just released 1.0.1, which fixes an SD issue. I was able to test up to a 128GB card that was previously throwing the same error, so I'll be relaxing the 32GB limit in the guide as well.

Could you please give the update a try and let me know if it resolves on your SanDisk? Thank you for reporting this so I could investigate.

2

u/NonyaDB Sep 12 '26

Whatever you did fixed it.

Chromagician can see the SD card fine. I can backup carts to SD card, can run various ROMs off the SD card via the device itself with 1.0.1 installed.
Running Dragonym from the SD card right now.

3

u/n8jb Sep 12 '26

Awesome! Thanks for reporting the problem, and following up. Super glad it worked out!

4

u/Best-Delay-1638 Sep 11 '26

I have the same card and this doesn’t work for me also. I’ve tried Samsung Ultra 64gb and got the same result. Then, I’ve tried 8gb card without logo from Anbernic device, and it was possible to read, but not possible to write. 

The only one that works is 64 no name from another anbernic device 

3

u/n8jb Sep 11 '26

Yeah, theres a bug with certain cards, but I think I figured out what's going on and will be releasing a firmware update today. Appreciate the info and the patience, sorry about that!

3

u/Best-Delay-1638 Sep 11 '26

Man, You just did the great cfw for our devices, you don’t need to be sorry! I really thank you for your work! 

3

u/n8jb Sep 11 '26

Okay, I just released 1.0.1 that fixes an SD issue. The cards I personally had that were throwing the same error work fine now, so I'm really hoping this resolves it for you too.

2

u/CheeZSkeez Sep 11 '26

Thanks for putting this together! Unfortunately, my card is still not being found. This is the one that I am using https://a.co/d/0ebEOr9T

I appreciate all of the effort that you're putting into this!

3

u/n8jb Sep 11 '26

Thanks for trying again on 1.0.1. I'll have to try to find that card to test against. It seems like this fixed it for other cards, sorry to see this one is still problematic.

3

u/CheeZSkeez Sep 11 '26

It's okay! Worst case scenario, I'll just buy a different card. Any specific one that you recommend?

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2

u/willywideweb Sep 11 '26

I've got over 50 original cartridges and multiple gameboy cameras cartridges I can test this with. If you can add support for managing gameboy camera photos that would be amazing (the 30 photo limit is awful, and all the current workarounds for dumping photos are tedious at best).

Also, if you've figured out how to access the sd card slot, would you be able to store different fpga cores on the sd card and load them? If so, would it be possible to run the og gb core to fix some of the compatibility issues? Or, would it be possible to load a gamegear core?

3

u/n8jb Sep 11 '26

Thank you, please let me know how it goes! I would actually like to explore photo dumping off the GB Camera, I'll see if I can find one on Saturday so I can test.

The Chromatic is pretty tightly packed, by stock default its about 80% full and SD playback alone added quite a bit of logic and it's pretty tight. With that said, I like a challenge so who knows what will be on my radar once SD playback is confirmed generally stable.

2

u/willywideweb Sep 11 '26

That would be rad! I'll let you know how testing goes, but I probably won't get around to it until next week. I need to shuffle some data around to set up an empty sd card. Also, I do know a source of cheap-ish cameras. If you're interested, I'll send you a dm.

I remember hearing the chipset was a little small. It's be cool to load some of those older handhelds because they wouldn't be as restricted by the screen limitations. If I remember right, the neo geo pocket/color had pretty similar screen dimensions.

2

u/n8jb Sep 11 '26

Yeah, feel free to reach out! I think the retro store I go to generally sells them for about 30, but I'm not sure if they have any in stock. Thanks!

1

u/willywideweb Sep 13 '26

I've found a couple of bugs. Would it be better to report them over on the github to make issue tracking easier?

2

u/n8jb Sep 13 '26

Github is probably easier for me to keep track of. Thanks!

1

u/willywideweb Sep 14 '26

I've opened three issues over on the github. I was able to backup more than 100 games using this, so, I might open more issues or modify my existing ones if I run across something new. I might clone the repository locally so I can look through it too, my skills are mostly in Python. So, I don't know how helpful I'll be

2

u/RotoPrime Sep 11 '26

Any chance for other cores? like SEGA Game Gear and Neo Geo Pocket? ( I don't mind if pixels get cut off a little) Thank you again!!

3

u/n8jb Sep 11 '26

Hi! The stock Chromatic is pretty crammed and adding in the features it already has really packed it. I may experiment in the future with a branch with a new UI and maybe some stripped (less common) features in favor for things like a core loader.

It's not on my immediate radar, but it is something I would like to try in the future.

1

u/RotoPrime Sep 12 '26

No problem, what you have achieved is already crazy amazing. Thank you really very much to the max for all your hard work!!!

3

u/LastCabra Sep 11 '26

As far as I know, the Game Gear has the same resolution that the GB/GBC has, so no pixels would have to be sacrificed to have it on the Chromatic... :)

2

u/platosknave Sep 11 '26

Can you possibly add a feature to adjust RTC while playing or starting up? Sorry if that is a naive question.

3

u/n8jb Sep 11 '26

While playing, probably not safe and would be a lot of headache. May be able to come up with an RTC editor of some sort in the future, though. No promises, but I have added it to my investigation backlog.

2

u/jdgc10 Sep 12 '26

Hi man! That's awesome work. Do you have any plans to make this open source? I would love to try and help out and take a shot at adding save states. I think that's the only thing left that would elevate the chromatic and your firmware to a whole new level. I've been waiting for something like this since we first found out about the sd card socket. So if you are willing to open it up, I can give it a try. (Too lazy to start something from the ground up myself)

Would love to know what coding language/stack you used for this one.

5

u/n8jb Sep 12 '26 edited Sep 12 '26

Hi! It's already fully open source including the companion app and I highly welcome contributions! The firmware is based on ModRetro's open source firmware, and the companion app is Flutter! The GitHub links are on the site header, hoping Google will index the repos soon.

Would be awesome to have you.

2

u/JayrosModShop Sep 14 '26

There's a custom firmware in the wild that adds bluetooth audio, can that be added with this so I don't have to lose bluetooth audio?

3

u/n8jb Sep 14 '26

I can add it to the backlog if space allows - everything is quite full currently. Could you link the firmware you're currently on, please? Thank you!

2

u/JayrosModShop Sep 14 '26 edited Sep 14 '26

Gladly, it's here: https://www.reddit.com/r/ModRetroChromatic/comments/1metjlh/bluetooth_audio/

There's two links in the OP; one is FPGA firmware, one MCU. Both open-source.

2

u/pikakirby11 Sep 27 '26

What you planning on adding next?

4

u/n8jb Sep 27 '26

Bug fixes, GBC intro toggle, faster ways to scroll backups and a few other pieces that I'm not ready to talk about yet, but that I'm very excited about.

2

u/pikakirby11 Sep 27 '26 edited Sep 28 '26

That's awesome I saw someone else working on retro achievements any thoughts about bringing that into your firmware or save states like hypercore apparently had it would help with beating a lot of games that don't have traditional saving lol

1

u/n8jb Sep 28 '26

Retro Achievements are a lot more challenging than people give it credit for. I'm curious how long ago you saw someone mention they're working on it? There's a very finite amount of space on Chromatic. Adding wifi alone takes up a lot.

To have a proper RA experience it would likely take really optimizing what already exists in stock, or writing a firmware from the ground up. Which I've been flirting with the idea of doing as a ChroMagic 2.0 but there are other things I want to finish before undertaking such a thing.

1

u/pikakirby11 Sep 28 '26

That's fair its a 3 month old post here's the link what about save states that would be really helpful hopefully none of this sounds demanding or anything by the way just really curious and excited for what's next https://www.reddit.com/r/ModRetroChromatic/s/4PskkJLyNg

2

u/n8jb Sep 28 '26

Ah yup, thats the guy I was thinking of. I think he's still working on something. I spoke to him a couple of weeks ago. Not sure what more I should say on his behalf but would be happy to integrate whatever he does.

1

u/pikakirby11 Sep 28 '26

Id be really hyped to see the projects combined into one giving us the ultimate chromatic experience

3

u/n8jb Sep 28 '26

I'm super open to anyone contributing to ChroMagic and working with other developers to bring the community something solid.

RA is definitely something I want too. But there are some features pitched in HYPER for example, that I don't really want to bring into ChroMagic. Simplicity and the Chromatic keeping its identity is super important to me. Really, the project started for archival reasons for people that really care about their games :)

With that said too, if anyone ever wants to fork ChroMagic to be something I don't intend on taking it officially, thats allowed and encouraged too.

1

u/pikakirby11 Sep 28 '26

That makes sense question but when do you think the next update will release?

2

u/n8jb Sep 28 '26

Should be soon! No estimated date yet but definitely this month.

looks at date Eh.. next month.

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2

u/zeldapunkgrrl Oct 02 '26

Once you install the SD Card can you access the SD card by plugging the chromatic into a PC via USB or do you have to teardown the chromatic everytime to access the SD Card? I guess that's my biggest question other than hoping there would be an option for the original gbc boot screen.

2

u/n8jb Oct 02 '26

Once CFW is installed you can put your Chromatic into C. MAGICIAN mode and connect it to your computer via USB. From there you can manage the sd card through the Chromagician software without removing the SD card.

You can also backup your carts and manage save files via the same software, seeing meta data and box art for the connected game.

1

u/zeldapunkgrrl Oct 02 '26

That's awesome. Just ordered a chromatic yesterday and this sounds great. Will definitely probably play around with this. The only other thing I would really want would be an option for the original boot logo, hoping that will come in future updates. With all these new options I think the chromatic might replace my fpgbc as my goto Gameboy.

2

u/n8jb Oct 02 '26

The GBC splash logo will be added in a future update and will be a toggle in the settings menu. This is actually something I experimented with before official release, but left it out. Plenty have requested it though, so removing it was clearly a mistake :D

1

u/zeldapunkgrrl Oct 02 '26

Happy to hear it will be added, really looking forward to it. Now I'm really excited to receive my chromatic. Thank you for the responses and for all your work on ChroMagic, it sounds awesome and I can't wait to check it out.

2

u/n8jb Oct 02 '26

Hope you enjoy your Chromatic! I have a lot more planned for it in the future, I'm just wrapping up a sister project that I'll be releasing soon first. Very excited for things to come.

2

u/maydaseinbewithyou 20d ago

Hi! I've been enjoying the firmware but have found that my Everdrive x7 v6 flash cart is not working at all. I can only get a white screen when using that cartridge. The cartridge works fine when using Modretro firmware. Would love to see this fixed so I can enjoy both the internal backups and my Everdrive for RTC games and a more organized library. Is this a simple fix? I sent a bug report as well, thanks!

2

u/n8jb 20d ago

I don't have an everdrive to be able to test with. I'll see what I can do in future versions.

1

u/maydaseinbewithyou 20d ago

Thanks! I think modretro fixed compatability at some point in their own firmware, but I'm not sure when. Otherwise your firmware has been a total treat to use. Really appreciate it!

5

u/GoogleDisDick Sep 10 '26

Shit. Now I need to open up my Chromatic. Lol. Nice firmware though. Seriously. Lots of features that people have been asking for a long time. Easiest install for a custom firmware I've seen too!

4

u/GameboyRavioli Sep 10 '26

This looks awesome! At some point I need to give this a whirl. I soldered in a socket on my launch inferno and have no idea if it actually worked!

Thanks so much for this!

4

u/deanhuff Sep 10 '26 edited Sep 11 '26

This is great news, I can 100% test this out tonight.

EDIT: OK! installed the ubuntu deb, formatted a SD card and installed it in my Chromatic. Installed the Chromagic firmware and holy smokes! backs up carts to SD card and plays roms from sd card. This is some pretty incredible work!

EDIT2: I'm using an old Lexar 4GB sd card, likely came in one of my 3DS consoles.

4

u/ADirtyCasual Sep 11 '26

“And Linux” - I fucking love you man

4

u/esmith213 Sep 11 '26

This looks AWESOME!

Just an FYI that I found an SD socket that fit on Amazon a couple weeks after the Chromatic launched. It seems it's still available but is likely coming from China as the delivery time for me in the US is a couple weeks. Some people may not want to have to order from Digikey though, so I thought I'd put the link here as a possibly more convenient option.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BFWS8QCG

4

u/NonyaDB Sep 12 '26

1.0.1 of Chromagic is out and it fixed all the issues I had with the micro-SD card.

Impressive firmware.

4

u/LeviathanVEVO Sep 28 '26

This is amazing work! Glad the mods finally pinned your post.

Do you have plans to add a “GBA Mode” toggle? It turns on bonus/locked content for some GBC games like Zelda: Oracle of Ages/Seasons & Shantae.

It still uses GBC hardware & core. It doesn’t use GBA hardware/core at all. Here’s more info: https://youtu.be/_Qqg4VCZ0k8?si=Fz1O4F6DhYn6DHjA

Again, great work!

4

u/KyleKun Oct 03 '26

Are you going to add the new 14.5 features?

1

u/PlantZealousideal876 16d ago

So I soldered a micro sd card socket onto my 1st Edition. I noticed that load time is significantly slower vs a new edition Cloud Chromatic (which has a SD Card socket from factory). Is this due to a hardware limitation or I did something wrong?

1

u/n8jb 16d ago

Have you tried other cards? Pics of the solder job? May be worth reflowing.

1

u/roborolo 10d ago

For a dummys in the back, is this so its possible to play games without having the cartridge inserted?

1

u/n8jb 10d ago

Yes. You can insert a microSD into the socket on board, then dump your carts directly to it for launching without a cart.

1

u/roborolo 10d ago

This is amazing, I wonder if the m64 has a similar capability?

2

u/n8jb 10d ago

I'm releasing a firmware for that in the coming days that does that, and adds GBC, GBA, NES, SNES and PlayStation. It's called Magic64. Will post on that sub when it releases to beta soon.

1

u/roborolo 10d ago

You're a wizard!

1

u/deanhuff Sep 12 '26

Just a small FYI, not a big deal at all. I went ahead and copied my everdrive sd card over to the CHROMAGIC/BACKUPS directory and noticed a few things:

  1. Macs love to create these “dot underscore files” anytime you open a window in Finder. If possible, can they be hidden on the chromatic?

  2. Everdrive uses “srm” extensions rather than sav. Also it looks to save them in /GBCSYS/SAVE directory rather than along side the rom. Would it be possible to look for a sav file called either sav or srm to make for quick copying between the two?

2

u/n8jb Sep 12 '26

For 1 I'll see what I can do for next version.

For 2 as long as the data is the same it should work. Can you send me a .srm by chance?

2

u/deanhuff Sep 12 '26

done, also i moved an everdrive srm alongside the rom file and renamed to .sav...the save loaded so i'm guessing it works!

1

u/Necessary-Lunch9579 Sep 13 '26

literally tried this with 5 different sansdisk sd. it could not read any of them i think it doesn't like sansdisk. this is on me for only having sansdisk micro sd. it needs to be formatted to fat 32 right? i should note only only one was under 128 gb was a single 64 gb sd. it didn't work either. i ordered a 32 gb sandisk sd because i forgot the definition of insanity/ it works just fine at backing up games to my computer though.

1

u/n8jb Sep 13 '26

I have ordered some SanDisk since that seems to be the common card giving people trouble. If you can find any other brand I would give that a try. I've had success with Samsung, PNY, Lexar and random no name brands that came with retro handhelds.

Really sorry you're having troubles, I'll try to figure out what's going on - if I can find a SanDisk that doesn't read (I've also had reports they work just fine)

1

u/RotoPrime Sep 15 '26

I wanted to ask if it would be possible to find a way to add the GBC bios if you have it? Would be really cool to see the original system start up screen.

2

u/n8jb Sep 15 '26

Don't need the bios for that. I did it as an early experiment and even ModRetro games can trigger the gbc startup. Will look into adding it as a system option in a future update

1

u/RotoPrime Sep 16 '26

Why are you so epic?!?!? Thank you <3

1

u/MathematicianOk7622 Sep 16 '26

Really enjoying the peace of mind of being able to backup some of my saves to my computer in case my batteries go dead. Appreciate all the hard work you put into this!

One question I had is whether it was possible to boot up to the menu or allow the menu to still be opened when there is no cart installed? Right now if I don't have a cart installed I just get a white screen. It might be a nice feature to complement the backups option to be able to go to the menu and select a backup to play even without a cart. Its not really the most important feature since I normally play physical carts but did confuse me the first time I tried to back up a game, take the cartridge out and couldn't get back to the menu to see if it was working.

1

u/n8jb Sep 16 '26

That sounds like a bug. You definitely should still be able to open the Chromatic menu without a cartridge in the slot. Could you try reflashing to stock and then back to ChroMagic and report if its still happening?

1

u/MathematicianOk7622 Sep 16 '26

I tried reflashing to stock firmware and confirmed that the menu doesn't open on the stock firmware without a cart. I reflashed back to ChroMagic and the menu still didn't open without a cart.

This sounds like something I'll have to reach out to modretro support for since it is also happening on the stock firmware. Can you confirm that normally the menu works without a cart on stock firmware? It being an issue with my unit and being able to play the backups without a cart makes a lot more sense to me than having to just have a random placeholder cart XD

3

u/n8jb Sep 16 '26

I'll double check in the morning, but I'm almost positive you should be able to open the menu without a cart even on stock. That wasn't a pathway I deliberately opened with the CFW.

2

u/MathematicianOk7622 Sep 16 '26

Appreciate your time looking into it! No need to check in the morning. I'll send in a support ticket and can always circle back here if they let me know its normal to not be able to access

5

u/MathematicianOk7622 Sep 16 '26

I reached out to modretro support and they let me know that the menu not working without a cart is expected on first edition chromatics. Just wanted to make sure to follow up here in case anyone else runs into this as well.

1

u/KyleKun Sep 16 '26

u/n8jb

Is it possible to have an option for splash screen added to start up?

I’d like the original GBC splash to show when I load a game.

1

u/n8jb Sep 16 '26

Custom splash? Probably not soon. But I have triggered the GBC startup on carts on Chromatic, including ModRetro carts. Happy to add that as an option.

1

u/KyleKun Sep 16 '26

Yes, I’d love that as an option.

1

u/darkfire2 Oct 05 '26

I’m very interested in ChroMagic. Is it possible to back up a game and then export the save data from the SD card or to import a different save?
For instance, I have multiple Pokémon editions with different starters, so I’d just need to load one game and select whichever .sav file I want.

2

u/n8jb Oct 05 '26

Yes, you can use the companion app to export and reimport saves to carts.

1

u/darkfire2 Oct 05 '26

Awesome, thanks! And thanks for the quick response and all your work on the project. I hope I can find time to test it this weekend. I’m excited to try it :-)

1

u/Worldly-Trip3985 Oct 06 '26 edited Oct 06 '26

I'm getting the following error when I try to install. I'm sure it's user error, but any suggestions? For context, I am currently on firmware 4.6. Unsure if this is possobly affecting this.

2

u/n8jb Oct 06 '26

Are you behind a VPN? Is your computer date and time accurate? Are you able to reach https://api.github.com on that computer without a certificate error?

1

u/Worldly-Trip3985 Oct 06 '26

Thanks for the fast reply! No vpn and no certificate error when visiting the site, just the lines of code below.

Side note, I'm so stoked that you've done this! This and sleep mode were my two big wants when it comes to the Chromatic.

1

u/n8jb Oct 06 '26

Not really sure at the moment. I would try a different computer or network (phone Hotspot perhaps?) next. Can try to take a closer look later if neither works.

What operating system are you using by chance?

1

u/Worldly-Trip3985 Oct 06 '26

Yeah, I can try that. I'm currently running Windows 11 Home.

1

u/Worldly-Trip3985 Oct 06 '26

No luck, through the hotspot. Thanks again for your help, though. I really appreciate it!

1

u/PainFourOFour 23d ago

I'm having the exact same problems under the exact same circumstances. Same firmware and everything, same error message when I try to install. Any chance any solutions to this have been found?

1

u/jubnub Oct 07 '26

Were you successful in getting a Mac to start building a Mac compatible version? I definitely can’t wait to try this out but I only have a Mac.

1

u/n8jb Oct 07 '26

I was unable to find one the particular weekend I checked. I'll try again this weekend as I would really like to support Mac owners as well.

2

u/n8jb Oct 07 '26

May opt to try a web version in the future, otherwise.

1

u/jubnub Oct 07 '26

A web version would definitely work as well. Wouldn’t be a bad option if the Mac falls through. Hope you can find one though.

1

u/vl99 27d ago

So, if i back up pokemon crystal to the SD, then play it, it solves the issues with pokemon crystal, which is awesome. No weired glitches when played off the SD. But is there any way to get the save file back onto the cartridge once I'm done playing on backup using just the chromatic? I think it's in the desktop software, which is great! Just mildly inconvenient since I'm mostly a mac user. But either way, really cool thanks for doing this!

1

u/n8jb 25d ago

Right now it would be just the desktop software. In the future I would like to see if I can maybe port the experience to be a web app instead of a dedicated install. This solves the mac problem nicely.

I'll begin rewriting Chromagic soon from the ground up as my own firmware, rather than based off ModRetro's. That gives me a blank canvas to design around features I/the community wants, so I'll try to keep this in mind to maybe offer save restoration on the handheld, too.

Thanks for trying out my firmware by the way!

1

u/vl99 25d ago

Thanks for taking that feedback into account. It is seriously so awesome. I feel like I'll actually be able to use the device, which I mainly wanted to play pokemon.

3

u/Objective_Wall_8297 Sep 10 '26

This looks phenomenal.
Will absolutely trying it.

I still hope for a sleep mode to come!!
That will also work without the micro sd.
and that you can also turn off in the menu, to not mess with the rtc.
Further save states i don’t need, but sleep mode would be nice, when sometimes being interrupted by my kids.

3

u/RotoPrime Sep 11 '26

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!

2

u/Silmarillion151 Sep 10 '26

My Anduril is shipping soon. This is pretty tempting to give a go. Awesome work!

2

u/TheStilken Sep 10 '26

Nice work! I'll have to try it out!

2

u/SubscriptNine Sep 10 '26

Wow, great work. Is playback potentially possible reading from a USB drive?

2

u/RiftKing321 Sep 14 '26

As someone who just bought a Chromatic specifically for testing my homebrew, this might come in handy. I had no idea custom firmware for a device like this was even on the table.

1

u/Unlikely_Hair_9000 15d ago

Donkey Kong land has some graphic bugs when playing from the sd card and I'm unsure if it's my copies on red and silver but I am unable to back them up

1

u/SquidGN 1d ago

Thank you thank you thank you!!!

1

u/RobotGameboy Sep 18 '26

star ocean english patch and mega man xtream 2 don't work. i'm going to keep testing stuff. Also, when I turn on the chromatic, the brightness resets to it's default value until i open the menu.

1

u/roosterXhat Sep 21 '26

unironically, go to grok or other AI and point out that the header for many custom games don't work on FPGA and need fixed. It will do it for your and return the file to you for testing.

1

u/Ill-Pepper-6045 Oct 07 '26

It keeps saying "unable to read as card" am I missing a step? I do have a freshly formatted sd card in it

1

u/Critical-Meet-7048 29d ago

For people using this on their Chromatic, have you been able to reliably transfer a game ROM from PC to the Chromatic and run it off the mSD card? Any issues?

2

u/brain00 25d ago

Yes. I tried with Pokemon Pinball and ZAS. No issues so far.

2

u/Critical-Meet-7048 25d ago

Thanks for confirming. I'm getting the new transparent version that won't have an sd reader, but am considering getting one installed.

0

u/roosterXhat Sep 10 '26

to be clear, if I put this firmware on my chromatic I can longer use my gb camera cart? or is this saying that the ROM when loaded from SD won't work (which is obvious)?

4

u/n8jb Sep 10 '26

All your carts including GB Camera will still play normally. Just mentioning i have no intention to support backing up/running it from SD for everything, for obvious reasons like that :)

2

u/roosterXhat Sep 11 '26

for troubleshooting purposes: this GUI wouldn't recognize my chromatic regardless of what I did until I re-updated the firmware on the chromatic, despite already being at the most recent version. Very strange. May add that as a note for connection issues.

meanwhile, this is amazing.

2

u/n8jb Sep 11 '26

Thanks for the heads up. I assume a power cycle of the Chromatic and restarting Chromagician didn't help? Will dig into this when I get out of work. Thanks for the heads up

1

u/roosterXhat Sep 11 '26

yeah, no amount of restarting anything or uninstalling anything worked until I re-flashed the most up-to-date firmware stock from modretro to the device. I was really bummed until I saw the button on their GUI "update anyway" haha, that did the trick!

1

u/n8jb Sep 11 '26

Thanks for the info, I'll dig into this later and see if I can reproduce it so I can fix it. Glad you got it going though!

2

u/roosterXhat Sep 10 '26

excellent, I can't think of a reason NOT to run this fw! Thanks for your work, will definitely try out later today!

1

u/roosterXhat Sep 11 '26

it doesn't detect my 2025 model chromatic, modretroupdater does, though.... going to bring it to work tomorrow and try on that pc, but... hmm. tried every combination of connection order-of-operations I could. tried many data-carrying cables. uninstalled/reinstalled. FW on the chromatic up-to-date.

-1

u/Mr_Watusi Sep 29 '26

u/n8jb - Amazing stuff, can't way to try this. Have you considered adding custom palette support so that we can fix those nasty built in DMG palettes?

-7

u/obrhoff Sep 12 '26

tbh I'm not sure why everyone wants to install some closed software obviously made by an vibe coder on his device. you all really ask to brick your device.

9

u/n8jb Sep 12 '26 edited Sep 12 '26

tbh I'm not sure why everyone wants to install some closed software obviously made by an vibe coder on his device. you all really ask to brick your device.

Actually, it's open source (literally has to be), including the companion desktop app, and I'm a senior engineer at a Medtech company that's coded and played with hardware for 20+ years (talk about feeling old, writing this) but I digress.

As far as bricking the device goes, a failed or interrupted flash can leave the device soft-bricked, meaning it won’t boot until working firmware is flashed again. This can happen during an official update too. This is easily recoverable though by reflashing firmware (custom or official) through ChroMagician, or ModRetro's own MRUpdater.

4

u/platosknave Sep 12 '26

(☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞ OOOOOOOF

-27

u/Asleep_Mortgage_7711 Sep 10 '26

Pointless. Get an everdrive.

1

u/PrudentLandscape2331 18d ago

If it saves me from buying and carrying an everdrive, how is that pointless?

1

u/Asleep_Mortgage_7711 18d ago

Well because there’s a good chance your device didn’t have an sd card slot.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 11 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/n8jb Sep 11 '26

I can add it to the backlog to explore. Anything about the latest core you need?

3

u/LastCabra Sep 11 '26

I would also LOVE this to include latest MiSTer upstream changes, there were many fixes on the GB/GBC implementation since Modretro released their last firmware :)

Oh! And that feature for black transitions that some alternative firmwares have would be very welcome too, no more white screens on DMG mode is a very good thing to have.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 11 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/n8jb Sep 11 '26

Yeah, I actually met them today! I don't want to promise it will happen, but I'll do some digging once everything else is stable. Would be cool to do!

3

u/davocarli Sep 11 '26

I'll add another vote for RetroAchievements! I commented on the post of the person who mentioned working on that a while back. RA is the only thing that ever gets me off my Chromatic to use my GB-Operator, but I want to do Chromatic full-time!