batari

The software doesn't automatically detect the cart if it's already running and you plug in the cart. Either plug in the cart first, then start the software. Or if you run the software first before plugging in the cart, you'll need to select Device->Connect from the pull down menus for it to detect the cart. You may have already done these things, just mentioning this since it's something that has stifled others in the past.

I can't speak for Plaion, but they are already using HOKEY in other games (such as Tiger Heli) so I would imagine that POKEY music would be their preference since there is already a POKEY build. I think the most likely way we are going to see YM appear on actual game carts (commercial or homebrew) is if I add YM support to HOKEY. Not saying I won't ever do that, just have so much else to do. That all being said, on an earlier comment about a perceived lack of interest in this game, that isn't true at all. I think there would be an enormous interest for this game on a cart. I think the 7800 forum is just kind of quiet relative to the actual audience out there.

I asked and there is a 7800 RMT player that uses 173 bytes of ram. But even 173 is more than the 30 bytes free, I guess. I wonder if excising the YM support gets you 143 bytes? (probably not is my guess?)

Can you look in Device Manager and see what COM port was assigned? I think the software is not capable of finding COM ports above 255, and I've heard of Windows wanting to assign very high numbers in some cases. If this is the problem, the actual COM port number can be changed to something more sane. EDIT: I will comment about Mac and Linux later - I just wanted to post this about Windows as it sounds like the high COM port number issue might be what's happening here.

Well, autorom format on the 2600+ may appear to not be working at all, even if it is working. It depends on the 2600+ firmware version. So basically rename your game to autorom.bin, put on the SD card, and power on the 2600+. It may say "game loading failed" for as long as 30 seconds or so before the game appears. I think some of these issues were fixed in later 2600+ firmware versions (or at least we discussed the very long delay where it looks like the 2600+ loading has failed, before the game suddenly appears on the screen quite a while later!)

Did you try the AutoROM method for 128k Superbank on the 2600+? This is assuming the 2600+ supports superbanking. I am sure it does. Also, 128k Superbanking requires a Harmony Encore (and potentially a firmware update.)

I am slightly wrong, I see the build with POKEY OG music also has YM support. And that the author said there wasn't enough space for C64 music with YM AND Pokey with 256k+16k ram. But there was nothing about how much savings one might get from removing YM entirely. My guess is there is plenty of room for POKEY-only OG+C64 with YM removed. I looked in the ROM as well, there are two banks with nothing but $FF, so over 32k ROM free. So a normal 256k game with only POKEY OG+C64 music is my humble request I mean, Concerto technically can support 8 banks of BankRAM at $4000 but I think it's better to have a proper version as that will afford a lot more compatibility.

Yep, I found it. I also found the YM detection (seems to be a store of 0 vs 1 to $BB). One thing I don't quite understand is why, if there is a 256k+RAM version with POKEY OG music, somehow adding in the option for OG+C64 music needs another 16k RAM? That doesn't sound right. I am guessing that if the YM music is removed, it should be possible to make a normal, non-RAM banked version of the game with both kinds of POKEY music. Since the author generously posted builds for just about every other eventuality, what is one more?

The one I am using is the latest, which says "Extended Build | YM or POKEY (If YM not present):" and nothing about BankRAM, so I assume this version does not use it, especially since the CCII versions below specifically call out the use of BankRAM. Since it's apparently trying to use YM, and says POKEY (if YM not present), the YM detection must be getting a false positive. If there is no build with just the full POKEY c64+OG music, I will see if I can defeat the false positive YM detection so it uses POKEY instead.

Since the Concerto Plus supports 256k+RAM games, I am using builds from this thread for testing. There's a lot of builds, but I wonder if there is a standard 256k+RAM version with POKEY only, that supports both C64 and OG music (for those who prefer in-game music over the drums and whistles of the original)? I've tried some of the other versions (including the Dragonfly YM+POKEY version) and though it runs, it tries to play YM music through the HOKEY, which comes out as static (i.e., maybe there is a false positive YM detection) since the HOKEY does not (yet) support YM.

Generally, most games do not use anything between $297-$FFF so $800 is safe for bankswitch hotspots. There are caveats, such as the use of the BIT absolute trick to "skip" instructions, which might trigger an unintended bankswitch on Superbanking (and some of the below, depending on how they are designed). There are other schemes that allow use of the entire ROM space, though, including: - Tigervision (3F, but also 3E and variants) - Supercharger (in certain cases) - Econobanking (similar to Superbanking but just 8k) - UA limited - SCABS (also called FE) - Pink Panther - X07 (Stella's Stocking) There may be more, that is just off the top of my head. For an actual cart release, some of these have conventional hardware options available (X07, Econobanking, UA limited, 3F, 3E) and most of rest can be released as a homebrew cart using Melody boards, except some 3E variants (3E+, 3Ex), which may work on existing hardware options, but to my knowledge there has never been a need for it, so that hasn't been explored.

I appreciate your patience on this and sorry it's taking longer than expected. I have been tasked with building many of the games for AtariAge last chance orders and it's taken time away from things like this. I am still building games but I am back to focusing on Concerto Plus this week. The boards are here, the labels are done and printed. Hardware is ready to go. Just working on firmware. Theoretically I could assemble them and ship them now with the current build of firmware. But to fully take advantage of the hardware, I want to get the firmware closer to where I want it to be. However, if anyone can't wait any longer and doesn't mind updating the firmware when it's further along, let me know, I can certainly ship anyone's unit now if they want it!

OK, well after tracing the circuit, everything looks good, as long as there are no bad parts or bad solder joints, I didn't see any reason why it would not work. The Diode D1 could be bad, and that may prevent things from working properly. Also there could be a bad solder joint on some of the cart port lines. Aside from that it looks like a cart should work (provided the two ground connections are connected inside the cart). If they are not, you could wire a switch between the two ground points and close the switch to play carts that don't connect these two points properly.

These consoles detect a cart because most carts connect the two ground pins together. There must be something wrong with that detection (or you are using carts without these two points internally connected, but that is pretty uncommon.) I can see that one of the ground pins on the console connects to a pull-up resistor and then to a 2-in NAND gate (4011). Since you don't have the full picture of the top and bottom of the board, I can't trace the circuit any further than that. If you take pictures of the entire board front and back then I can possibly trace it further and suggest something.

Looks like the problem might be that there are instructions in hotspot locations. Even though all 4 banks have the same data there, this may or may not work on real hardware - it depends on the bankswitch hardware used, the EPROM speed and other factors.