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Updated the custom firmware FAQ answer with the latest progress notes.
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@ -69,9 +69,9 @@ Some downsides to the device: it's mono only (you only get the left-channel audi
So is the "Data Frog" any good? Only you can answer that question for yourself. There are certainly more powerful devices out there, more fully featured devices, devices with better hardware, etc. - but almost all of those devices cost a lot more than the SF2000. At the end of the day, you have to look at the features offered at the given price-point, and only then can you decide if you're interested in the device or not.
### Is there any custom firmware?
As of July 30th 2023, **no**, not yet. However efforts are underway; an SDK for the CPU has been identified, and custom firmware is now in the very early stages of development. Most recently, folks working on the firmware have been focussing on their toolchain - both attempting to create a reliable way to capture hard-crashes of the SF2000 to aid in debugging, as well as simplifying the build environment (the SDK as downloaded is quite messy/complex). Previously, a limited build of Retroarch has been demonstrated to run, with two separate cores capable of loading ROM content compiled as separate firmwares (TGBDual, the same Game Boy/Game Boy Color emulator included in the stock firmware; and gpSP, the same Game Boy Advance emulator included in the stock firmware as well). Video and audio drivers for Retroarch are at very early stages of development and are therefore not optimised, and much audio "crackling" is present under both cores. Additionally, performance issues have been hinted at (TGBDual runs much faster when the audio subsystem is not engaged, and gpSP requires frame-skipping to be playable at all).
As of August 4th 2023, **no**, not yet. However efforts are underway; an SDK for the CPU has been identified, and custom firmware is now in the very early stages of development. Most recently, folks working on the firmware have been focussing on various aspects simultaneously; there have been efforts to get SDL support operational (SDL is a multimedia library that's used by several Retroarch cores), work is being done on the display driver to improve compatibility with various display formats requested by cores (e.g., XRGB8888) and to improve performance, and improvements to their toolchain - both attempting to create a reliable way to capture hard-crashes of the SF2000 to aid in debugging, as well as simplifying the build environment (the SDK as downloaded is quite messy/complex). Several individual cores have already been experimentally compiled; results thus far have varied. Some have functioned correctly, albeit at slow speeds; others have failed to run entirely. Most have crackly/broken audio due to running below correct speed, and some have no sound at all. Input problems with some cores have also been reported. The cores are individual cores, built as entire firmwares in their own right - there is currently no way to "switch" between cores without taking the microSD card out of the SF2000 and replacing the firmware with one built to contain a different core. Work on allowing the core to be switched by some mechanism is also an area of focus for future work by the devs.
[A GitLab repo](https://git.maschath.de/ignatz/hcrtos) has been set up by `ignatzdraconis` for the work, and you can follow along with discussion in the [`Retro Handhelds` Discord server](https://discord.gg/retrohandhelds) (specifically, in the `🐸data_frog_sf2000` channel there's a `SF2000 Dev` thread where most of the tech talk and details are posted first).
[A GitLab repo](https://git.maschath.de/ignatz/hcrtos) has been set up by `ignatzdraconis` for the work, and you can follow along with discussion in the [`Retro Handhelds` Discord server](https://discord.gg/retrohandhelds) (specifically, in the `🐸data_frog_sf2000` channel there's a `SF2000 Dev` thread where most of the tech talk and details are posted first). Note that any cores currently built should be considered highly experimental, and are not vetted to be "safe" to run (e.g., current builds may push the hardware of the SF2000 to its operational limits do to optimisation issues, and may incur thermal damage to the device if left running for too long, etc.).
### I just got my SF2000; what modding can I do with it?
In no particular order, some of the current customisation options available are:
@ -602,6 +602,8 @@ All of these are linked above already in their relevant sections, but just in ca
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## Version History
- `20230804 - 1.33`: Updated the custom firmware FAQ answer with the latest progress notes.
- `20230730 - 1.32`: Added a link to "ZFBTool" by `dteyn` in the "Tools and Links" section. Updated the custom firmware FAQ answer with the latest progress notes.
- `20230724 - 1.31`: Fixed Discord links (thanks `xdpirate`!). Added mention of Tadpole to FAQ about changing menu links.