11.10 - ZSNES doesn't run

[hopefulkayaker]

I'm running Ubuntu 11.10 32 bit, and ZSNES doesn't run. The screen flashes black as if it is launching the application...but then nothing.

Has anyone gotten it working?

[pengyou]

I just went and got a fresh install of zsnes from the "Ubuntu Software Center".
It worked fine for me.

Maybe you could try opening a terminal and typing:


sudo apt-get install --reinstall zsnes
and then


zsnes
and tell us what happens?

[hopefulkayaker]

I reinstalled from the terminal and tried to run it. This is what I got:


brian@AM:~$ zsnes
ZSNES v1.51, (c) 1997-2007, ZSNES Team
Be sure to check http://www.zsnes.com/ for the latest version.

ZSNES is written by the ZSNES Team (See AUTHORS.TXT)
ZSNES comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY. This is free software,
and you are welcome to redistribute it under certain conditions;
please read 'LICENSE.TXT' thoroughly before doing so.

Use ZSNES -? for command line definitions.

Starting Mouse detection.
Unable to poll /dev/input/event3. Make sure you have read permissions to it.
Unable to poll /dev/input/event2. Make sure you have read permissions to it.
Unable to poll /dev/input/event1. Make sure you have read permissions to it.
Unable to poll /dev/input/event0. Make sure you have read permissions to it.
ManyMouse: 0 mice detected.
Segmentation fault
brian@AM:~$

[pengyou]

googled "zsnes segmentation fault"
http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-811893-start-0.html
found the above.
In it, I found the words:

Curiously enough, ZSNES only seems to segfault when run manually from a terminal.But it seems like you were not running from the terminal in the first place.
But I also found this combination of words:

Snes9x has a better interface, better video and filter options, and, most importantly, better emulation (especially when it comes to sound.)And that's probably true.
Otherwise :/ Iunno

[donkyhotay]

Are you running 32 or 64 bit ubuntu? It's been awhile since I've used zsnes but the last time I did they didn't have a 64bit version and getting the 32bit to run on 64bit was a pain (and resulted in lots of errors). I'll admit that was about a year or so ago so things might have changed but at the time I just snes9x because it worked better with 64bit even though zsnes had more features.

[hopefulkayaker]

I'm 99% sure I'm running 32bit 11.10, and not 64-bit - since I have a 32-bit system. ZSNES ran without issue in 11.04.

Yes, you're right that I attmpted (at least three times) to launch the application from the desktop (SUPER, searched "ZSNES" at the Dash, clicked on the "ZSNES Emulator" icon which appeared there).

...so we really think that ZSNES just doesn't work in 11.10? That would be unfortunate. I appreciate the tip about Snes9x, but I prefer ZSNES. 9x doesn't have state saves, which in my opinion is incredibly useful and has legitimate uses (as opposed to game cheating uses I mean).

[DoktorSeven]

You might try removing the ZSNES configuration file (probably in ~/.zsnes) and see if that helps. You'll have to do your settings again but if it works, it'd be worth the effort.

And snes9x-gtk at least does have save states (File->Load state/Save state and can be bound to keys in the preferences), so there's that. I used to like zsnes but snes9x-gtk seems to work much better to me.

[hopefulkayaker]

I saw three .cfg files for ZSNES in ~/.zsnes (zinput, zmovie, and zsnesl), and removed them all. That got it working, but the sound was all screwy. After closing it I realized I should look at the sound settings and see if there's anything there I can tweak...but when I tried running it again, it did the same thing it was doing before removing the CFGs - flash a black screen, then nothing.

Perhaps I should check out their forums??

[jeliot]

Try "sudo zsnes" at the terminal. I was able to run it even though the menu icon still doesn't work. But you can make a launcher for whatever works. :3

[thatguruguy]

It seems that zsnes has been removed from the 64-bit repository for 11.10. At least, I can't install it from the standard Ubuntu repository.

That being said, I've had decent luck running BSNES in compatibility mode.

[BigSilly]

It seems that zsnes has been removed from the 64-bit repository for 11.10. At least, I can't install it from the standard Ubuntu repository.

That being said, I've had decent luck running BSNES in compatibility mode.

Zsnes has never been available for 64 bit. It's resolutely a 32 bit application. ;)

SNES9x-Gtk is a fantastic alternative and is still being actively maintained. The developer Bearoso has an Ubuntu PPA here (https://launchpad.net/~bearoso/+archive/ppa) for both 32 and 64 bit systems (just use the filter). If you absolutely have to have Zsnes I do have a 64 bit package I created using a script I found aaages ago. I'll try and upload it here. I'm pretty sure it'll still work, but for now I'd recommend SNES9x-Gtk until the mighty Zsnes gets an update.

EDIT: Just tried it on my 11.10 64 bit and it works, but the first time you run it you'll need to run it from a terminal with a change of audio driver, otherwise it segfaults. Just run:


zsnes -ad sdl

for example, and it should work. After that you can run it from the menu as normal. :)

[thatguruguy]

I used snes-9x for a long time, and just recently switched to bsnes. Although I agree that snes-9x is a good project, I'm having pretty good luck with bsnes right now (as noted previously). bsnes is also well-maintained; I think the latest revision came out within the past couple of weeks.

It's all a matter of preference, really.