Retro5.net

Hello. I finally got to pick up a Retron 5, proceeded to download the latest firmware, and have come up with a particular issue in Sonic 3 (it also happens with Sonic & Knuckles locked on). Whenever I get to the midboss of Angel Island zone and the fire wall appears, the game freezes and goes back to the menu to reload the game. It's the only game that does that for me. I've also provided footage of it happening too. Thanks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pblYMxmPSE

Hmm. I've tested on mine. It's an older model Retron 5 and on firmware 2.1 and it works good on mine, both locked on and not. It might be worth downgrading to firmware 2.1 and seeing if the problem still persists (downgrading is done the same way upgrading is). Also it might be worth trying Sonic 3 with the Sonic 3 Complete patch and see how it does as well. Here's the link if you need it:

http://www.mediafire.com/download/pb64f ... c+3%29.ips

If you use that make sure you turn on the "use seperate saves" option on the game specific settings, other wise you'll wipe out your seemingly perfect save off your Retron 5 and will have to import it from the cartridge again.

I think the problem is probably a firmware issue like R9Delta said, or (this is far fetched), a problem with the Retron 5 where you need to reset it to the default settings. I wouldn't do this unless all else fails, but I have heard of someone having issues like this (Zelda 1, the game would stutter a lot), and once he reset it, it all worked.

One of the first things I did when I got my Retron 5 was play Sonic 3 & K after I downloaded the update to allow lock on, and I had no trouble at all with the game.

R9delta wrote:Hmm. I've tested on mine. It's an older model Retron 5 and on firmware 2.1 and it works good on mine, both locked on and not. It might be worth downgrading to firmware 2.1 and seeing if the problem still persists (downgrading is done the same way upgrading is). Also it might be worth trying Sonic 3 with the Sonic 3 Complete patch and see how it does as well. Here's the link if you need it:

http://www.mediafire.com/download/pb64f ... c+3%29.ips

If you use that make sure you turn on the "use seperate saves" option on the game specific settings, other wise you'll wipe out your seemingly perfect save off your Retron 5 and will have to import it from the cartridge again.

Funny you mention that, because I actually did test out Sonic 3 Complete on the Retron 5, and it still ended up freezing at the same spot.

Should I contact Hyperkin to do a factory reset?

izmaster244 wrote:

R9delta wrote:Hmm. I've tested on mine. It's an older model Retron 5 and on firmware 2.1 and it works good on mine, both locked on and not. It might be worth downgrading to firmware 2.1 and seeing if the problem still persists (downgrading is done the same way upgrading is). Also it might be worth trying Sonic 3 with the Sonic 3 Complete patch and see how it does as well. Here's the link if you need it:

http://www.mediafire.com/download/pb64f ... c+3%29.ips

If you use that make sure you turn on the "use seperate saves" option on the game specific settings, other wise you'll wipe out your seemingly perfect save off your Retron 5 and will have to import it from the cartridge again.

Funny you mention that, because I actually did test out Sonic 3 Complete on the Retron 5, and it still ended up freezing at the same spot.

Should I contact Hyperkin to do a factory reset?

Send a facebook message to Retron Tech. He can verify if the rom is dumping correctly from your cartridge and give you some guidance on any next steps.

Okay, so I tried contacting Hyperkin and Retron Tech through their Facebook pages and I've gotten no response. How do I downgrade to a different firmware?

You just have to follow the same exact steps you did when you upgraded. There's no hoops to jump through or no limitations when downgrading. Same process.

Edit: It seems the link for 2.1 shares the same page as version 2.2, making 2.1 unavailable for download at this time. Here's a link to 2.0 beta 6 instead:

http://retron5.in/?src=17e62166fc8586dfa4d1bc0e1742c08b

The only thing i think 2.1 changed from 2.0 beta 6 is that they took out an optional feature called "fast load" because it was broken and failed to load the cartridge when using patches. Fast loading broke Genesis games from loading as well sometimes if I remember. Other than that, there was nothing that 2.1 added that I can recall. Just keep "fast loading" off if you're going to downgrade to this one.

Glad I made archives of the various updates for my local Retron 5. O.o
Sadly since they're linked to a key for each individual unit my copies won't help anyone. D:

I can't believe they took down 2.1 but not Beta 6.

R9delta wrote:You just have to follow the same exact steps you did when you upgraded. There's no hoops to jump through or no limitations when downgrading. Same process.

Edit: It seems the link for 2.1 shares the same page as version 2.2, making 2.1 unavailable for download at this time. Here's a link to 2.0 beta 6 instead:

http://retron5.in/?src=17e62166fc8586dfa4d1bc0e1742c08b

The only thing i think 2.1 changed from 2.0 beta 6 is that they took out an optional feature called "fast load" because it was broken and failed to load the cartridge when using patches. Fast loading broke Genesis games from loading as well sometimes if I remember. Other than that, there was nothing that 2.1 added that I can recall. Just keep "fast loading" off if you're going to downgrade to this one.

Well, after downgrading to 2.0 beta 6, I can happily say Sonic 3 works fine now! Thanks for the help!

Thanks for reporting this issue, we'll look into a fix for the next release