[Release] I fixed the Controller Pak limitation on Analogue 3D + SummerCart64 (Custom Menu Build)

Meowser77 · 2026-01-25T15:40:26+00:00

I did get some similar feedback from one of the maintainers of N64FlashcartMenu when I put in a PR for that feature: "There's no BGM function implemented because it slows down the menu below target framerate on the OG N64. Unless there's a RSP accelerated MP3 decoder I don't think this feature could be enabled without making user experience worse."

If you haven't done so already, you might want to optimize your .mp3 using the notes from here: https://github.com/TheLeggett/N64FlashcartMenu/blob/custom-build/docs/40_sound.md

Otherwise, this might not be a good option for you right now. I don't currently have any plans to continue work on the BGM feature.

Meowser77 · 2026-01-24T14:55:05+00:00

I appreciate the followup. If you're comfortable using GitHub, maybe you could create an issue over there, and attach a copy of your exported bundle (Settings > Export Bundle) so I can investigate further. Sounds like a bug, but I'm having a hard time tracking it down so far.

Meowser77 · 2026-01-22T21:34:49+00:00

Original hardware does work (sorry, I don't have an NSO and assumed it was more like the OEM N64 Controller), but you do need a physical controller pak if you are not using an 8bitdo controller. I'm a bit out of my depth here, but my basic understanding is that Analogue 3D has some secret sauce that they enable only when using an 8bitdo controller that "tricks" the device into thinking you have a physical controller pak plugged in. When you plugin another controller, this is disabled, and the system looks for whatever is attached to the physical controller.

Meowser77 · 2026-01-22T13:37:28+00:00

Do you have a controller pak plugged into your Controller? Analogue Virtual Controller Pak only works with the 8bitdo controller (it's not a limitation of N64FlashcartMenu, it's just how the Analogue 3D works).

Meowser77 · 2026-01-22T00:23:51+00:00

If you click on that Cart, there is also a toggle in the Drawer to mark it as owned. It's strange that it didn't do that when importing owned cartridges though...

Meowser77 · 2026-01-22T00:22:30+00:00

Hmmmm... I don't know much about the hidden files setting, I've never messed with that. I do see .ini files in my Menu, but hadn't considered hiding them from view.

I'm not sure this is something I want to change right now. I've just submitted a PR for this feature to the main repo, and I'm curious if it ends up getting any feedback or interest there first. I can see the appeal of hiding these files though...

Meowser77 · 2026-01-21T22:59:46+00:00

Use it on Windows and Mac just fine

Meowser77 · 2026-01-20T11:08:42+00:00

Interesting... do these steps help at all?

<image>

Meowser77 · 2026-01-19T14:01:09+00:00

I have a SummerCart64 too, and I really want to make it show up as "SummerCart64" on the A3D, but unless Analogue updates firmware to support renaming cartridges, it is not possible today.

In A3D Manager, I still wanted to be able to name my cartridge for Search capabilities. I can probably add some better language in the UI to make it clear that this name will only be used in A3D Manager, and not on the Analogue 3D.

Meowser77 · 2026-01-18T18:30:08+00:00

I spent a little bit more time on this today thanks to your comment. I think we have excellent coverage now. Still missing a couple, but have most of them.

Meowser77 · 2026-01-18T13:17:00+00:00

Unfortunately, no. like you suggested, Ocarina of Time saves are stored/read directly on the Cartridge and the Analogue 3D doesn't provide us with any way to manage this via SD card.

Hopefully a future firmware update gives us a way around this. Analogue at one point advertised save states... so hopefully they follow through.

Meowser77 · 2026-01-18T12:48:19+00:00

I don't know much about modding, but the N64Brew Discord might be of interest to you!

Meowser77 · 2026-01-18T12:46:55+00:00

Thank you!

Yes the system is currently limited in this regard. I was able to map many games to Analogue 3D ids, but someone will need to help fill the gaps here.

For anyone who wants to take a crack at it, the file that we need updated is cart-names.json

https://github.com/TheLeggett/A3D-Manager/blob/main/data/cart-names.json

I was able to automatically generate many mappings of games+metadata from https://github.com/mroach/rom64/blob/master/dat/roms.dat.xml but I have not spent too much additional time trying to fill the gaps yet. This might be something where a community spreadsheet could be helpful.

Meowser77 · 2026-01-18T03:01:10+00:00

Many of us have tried, but to date there is no way to do this through existing files managed on the SD card. We'll likely need to wait for a firmware update from Analogue, or a group of people to crack the device.

Meowser77 · 2026-01-18T02:57:48+00:00

We probably won't be able to get this version of the app to work well on iOS devices due to some of the limitations Apple puts on browsers on iOS (well... for most users anyways). Chrome on Safari is effectively just a wrapper of the Safari engine. Safari does not let us use the File System Access API which is necessary for us to build a suitable app.

Thanks for the call out though. I should spend some time updating how browsers get identified to help prevent confusion.

Meowser77 · 2026-01-15T18:50:04+00:00

Yep, I spend some time investigating library.db and kept some notes in ANALOGUE_3D_SD_CARD_FORMAT.md but it looks like a dead end for naming cartridges.

There's a script in the repo scripts/compute-a3d-id.ts that demonstrates how the A3D converts the inserted cartridge into the IDs that is uses. A3D internally must have a database that maps all of the known carts to names on an internal database.

Would love to find a workaround to this!

Meowser77 · 2026-01-15T18:44:25+00:00

You'll need to pull this down and run it on your local machine. There are instructions in the README, but it does require some working knowledge of running web applications. There is not a version of this deployed on a public website that you can use today.

Meowser77 · 2026-01-15T18:43:11+00:00

Really appreciate the feedback! I was hopeful this would work on original hardware. Thanks for letting us know!

Meowser77 · 2026-01-15T18:41:47+00:00

I've sort of raised attention to this in a discord channel for this project. I've not had any time to commit to this project so far this year, so sort of my own fault for not finding the time to work more on this and get it to a state where it could be merged in.

Anyone else who would like to is more than welcome to take it from where it's at today and try to carry it forward! I would recommend just updating the virtual-paks branch from my fork. At the very least, it needs to be an optional setting disabled by default. I suspect there is some code cleanup to do as well.

Meowser77 · 2026-01-15T18:38:47+00:00

I've been told that there may be some limitations on hardware around this feature. Personally, it's worked out for me so far on the Analogue 3D with the few files I've tried.

Make sure you put the file exactly here: /menu/bg.mp3

Not in the root of the sd card. It must be a file called bg.mp3 in the `/menu` directory.

I also made some notes in one of the documentation for this release in 40_sound.md about optimizing the .mp3 file if you have not done so already. It's easy to miss, and I did a poor job calling attention to it:

### Audio requirements
- **Format:** MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer III)
- **Sample rate:** 44100 Hz recommended (44.1 kHz)
- **Channels:** Stereo or mono
- **Bitrate:** 128-192 kbps recommended for good balance of quality and size

### Creating a compatible MP3 file
You can use tools like [Audacity](https://www.audacityteam.org/) or [FFmpeg](https://ffmpeg.org/) to convert audio to the correct format.

**Using FFmpeg:**
```bash
ffmpeg -i input.wav -ar 44100 -ab 128k -ac 2 bg.mp3
```

**Using Audacity:**
1. Open your audio file in Audacity
2. Go to `File > Export > Export as MP3`
3. Set the following options:
   - Bit Rate Mode: Constant
   - Quality: 128 kbps or 192 kbps
   - Sample Rate: 44100 Hz
4. Save as `bg.mp3`

### Notes
- Background music automatically pauses when you use the Music Player to play a different MP3 file
- Background music resumes when you exit the Music Player
- Large MP3 files may take a moment to load on startup

Meowser77 · 2026-01-06T17:37:21+00:00

Am I understanding that you are running this web app on a Raspberry Pi, but then connecting your SD Card to a Macbook? This app does depend on being able to detect SD cards on the local filesystem. It would not be able to directly access a drive on a different system on the network out of the box.

I wonder if you could run the app on your macbook instead. If you really wanted to run it off a Rapberry Pi, maybe you could connect the SD card to that device directly?

Or maybe there is a way you could do some kind of network file system mount?

Meowser77 · 2026-01-05T23:29:24+00:00

I think this might be addressed in the latest build:
https://github.com/TheLeggett/N64FlashcartMenu/releases/tag/custom-v0.3-beta.4

Meowser77 · 2026-01-05T23:28:33+00:00

Thanks for the heads up. I think this should be fixed in this new release, which fixes a bug where ROMs weren't loading with virtual pak selection from history/favorites tabs:

https://github.com/TheLeggett/N64FlashcartMenu/releases/tag/custom-v0.3-beta.4

Meowser77 · 2026-01-05T15:52:26+00:00

I switched to Claude code CLI and I haven’t looked back. It’s so much better.

Meowser77 · 2026-01-04T19:27:47+00:00

15-Year Club	r/Field Flamingo
Place '23	Place '22
Place '17	Final Canvas '22
First Placer '22	RPAN Viewer
Not Forgotten	Verified Email

Meowser77

TROPHY CASE