+batari Posted June 27, 2014 Share Posted June 27, 2014 It's time to post the beta version of the 1.06 Harmony BIOS. To update the BIOS, using the USB cable is no longer necessary (provided your Harmony is loaded with 1.05 BIOS or later.) Instructions: 1. Make sure there are no existing BIOS files on the SD card (filename starts with "hbios"). If they exist, delete them first. 2. The zip file contains two files - copy both to the root directory of your SD card. 3. Boot your Harmony in your 2600. 4. In the Harmony menu, run the "bios_updater_NTSC.cu" (select and run it as you would to play a game.) 5. The Harmony will take about 5 seconds to update the BIOS. Harmony_Bios_106_beta.zip You can also use the USB cable method to update the BIOS if you prefer. This is the NTSC BIOS. A PAL BIOS will be built and posted in a few days. Changes since 1.05 include: MMC card supportImproved E7 auto detectionChanged AUTORUN to AUTOROM to avoid problems with Windows autorun filesConsole switches bugfix in Menu 7800 detection preserved Harmony Encore support, new bankswitching types: 3E (e.g. Boulderdash) F0 (e.g. Megaboy) X07 (e.g. Stella's Stocking) EF (64k) EFSC (64k+SARA) DF (128k) DFSC (128k+SARA) BF (256k) BFSC (256k+SARA) ... more coming soon. Feedback is welcome. If you find any issues, please let us know! 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex_79 Posted June 27, 2014 Share Posted June 27, 2014 Tried the new bios on my Harmony (ordered Feb 2010).Navigation using console switches now works, but filenames are truncated to 9 characters (the first 8 are from the filename, the 9th seems to be random). I switched back to 1.05 for now.Here is a pic (colors are wrong because my console is PAL)Here the same directory viewed with the 1.05 PAL firmware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebor Posted June 27, 2014 Share Posted June 27, 2014 Tried the new bios on my Harmony (ordered Feb 2010). Navigation using console switches now works, but filenames are truncated to 9 characters (the first 8 are from the filename, the 9th seems to be random). I switched back to 1.05 for now. Here is a pic (colors are wrong because my console is PAL) This is the NTSC BIOS. A PAL BIOS will be built and posted in a few days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex_79 Posted June 27, 2014 Share Posted June 27, 2014 (edited) This is the NTSC BIOS. A PAL BIOS will be built and posted in a few days. I know, but the only effect of using a NTSC bios on a PAL machine is that the menu is at 60Hz and with different colors because of the different palette. Most PAL tv handle a 60Hz signal and in fact there was also a PAL60 version of the 1.05 bios, which just differs from the NTSC one for the colors. So apart from the colors, there's no difference. It is even impossible to write a program which autodetects the region of the console, because they work in the exact same way. Edited June 27, 2014 by alex_79 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+batari Posted June 27, 2014 Author Share Posted June 27, 2014 That file name issue is weird, I don't experience that. What size card? What format (FAT, FAT32) are you using? What OS are you using to format and copy files? Let me know and I will try to replicate it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted June 27, 2014 Share Posted June 27, 2014 Same problem here. It appears to be related to traversing the directory structure. When first powered up all the filenames in the root directory were fine. If I went into a subdirectory, the filenames in it were truncated. Returned to the root directory and they were now truncated as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex_79 Posted June 27, 2014 Share Posted June 27, 2014 That file name issue is weird, I don't experience that. What size card? What format (FAT, FAT32) are you using? What OS are you using to format and copy files? Let me know and I will try to replicate it.I use a 2gb SD with a single primary FAT32 partition, Linux OS ('fdisk' for partitions, 'mkfs.vfat' for filesystem, 'fatsort' to sort the files). I did some more tests: The partition type was 'b' "W95 FAT32" and it worked fine with the previous bios. I dont know what the difference is, but I changed it into type 'c' "W95 FAT32 (LBA)" and reformatted. Tested again with firmware 1.06 and I get the correct filenames while browsing the first couple of pages (doesn't matter in which directory I start), after that I only get garbled text (4 or 5 characters usually), even if I return to the previous pages, until I power-cycle the console. Sometimes I can see some 8.3 filenames (those generated by Windows from Long File Names, with the tilde and a number at the end) mixed with the garbled ones. Moreover I can't see the full filename by keeping the firebutton pressed, even in the first pages when the text is correctly displayed. Reflashed bios 1.05 and everything works fine again. Tomorrow I'll try with different SD cards and report back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 Bug confirmed here too. Also the long fire press for displaying the full filename doesn't work for me anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Iacovelli Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 is the bug fixed on the bios wanted update my bios for harmony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianC Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 (edited) I had the same issue, as well. I used drivesort after updating, but that didn't fix the issue. I'm using an older 1GB card. Edited July 20, 2014 by BrianC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianC Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 I tried the bios on the 7800 after reflashing the eeprom. Still have the same name issues. 7800 support seems a bit glitchy. Hack 'em says 2600 mode, but detects the pause switch and acts somewhat glitchy. Ms 'Hack acts similar, but says it's in 7800 mode. The sound occansionally cut out on Ms. 'Hack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+batari Posted September 6, 2014 Author Share Posted September 6, 2014 Here is the latest BIOS that should fix the bugs encountered with the version posted above. Just NTSC for now. Please try it out (follow instructions in the first post to update BIOS) and let me know! Thanks, Fred hbios_106_NTSC_beta_2.bin 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianC Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 (edited) I tried it and it seems to be working great. No more filename issue. I'm still having the same odd behavior from Hack 'em and Ms. Hack, but I think it has to do with the games themselves and not the harmony cart. Edited September 8, 2014 by BrianC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Iacovelli Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 will update my cart after cge,since I'm having it upgraded to encore at cge since batari said he'll be there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 I tried the bios on the 7800 after reflashing the eeprom. Still have the same name issues. 7800 support seems a bit glitchy. Hack 'em says 2600 mode, but detects the pause switch and acts somewhat glitchy. Ms 'Hack acts similar, but says it's in 7800 mode. The sound occansionally cut out on Ms. 'Hack.No idea about the sound. Can't be Harmony related. Regarding 7800 detection, probably the hacks use a different algorithm to detect the 7800. We only restore two bytes, the ones which are usually used for 7800 detection. Maybe we should ask Nukey about this. I am sure if what I suppose is the case, he can easily adapt his hacks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iesposta Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 Flashing was difficult. Followed instructions. Reported success. Info screen still said 1.05. Used the computer to run the Harmony program on the mounted SD card. Put back in Atari. Info screen still said 1.05. Third I selected and ran the .cu program for the second time. Reported success. Info screen says 1.06. Also when paging the display takes a moment to stabilize each page whereas before it would flip smoothly (on LCD). I haven't ever seen those games say "7800 mode" when playing on the 7800, however it must be detecting the 7800 as the pause works. Thank you for all your work and Atari products! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 Also when paging the display takes a moment to stabilize each page whereas before it would flip smoothly (on LCD).Maybe I am loosing a scan line and your TV is very sensitive. I will look into this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 I was able to reproduce the stability issue. But only directly after flashing the new BIOS. After restarting the console, the problem was gone forever. Does it stay for you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LS_Dracon Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 Don't know if it's right place to ask, but any chance to add support for genesis 3 button controller auto detection? And what happened with that idea for load and display text file on screen? That will be very useful for homebrew w.i.p. manuals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iesposta Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 I was able to reproduce the stability issue. But only directly after flashing the new BIOS. After restarting the console, the problem was gone forever.Does it stay for you? Still there when going into folders, and backing out of folders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianC Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 I still had to use the .cu file for Star Castle Arcade. The bin file did the same thing it did on 1.05. Info screen displays 1.06. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky Man Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 This beta obviously still needs some more work, but I tried it out and noticed the Snow White proto still isn't working when it did using the 1.03 bios. Does anyone know what happened that caused that game not to work in 1.05 or what can be done now to get it to work properly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omegamatrix Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 This beta obviously still needs some more work, but I tried it out and noticed the Snow White proto still isn't working when it did using the 1.03 bios. Does anyone know what happened that caused that game not to work in 1.05 or what can be done now to get it to work properly? Without digging to deeply I would say it is the game rom and not the bios at all. It looks like the reset vector is missing in one bank so you have a 50-50 chance of the game working. I made a rom fix... Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (02-09-1983) (Vector Fix).zip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky Man Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 Thanks Omega, but I was talking about the other more complete Snow White proto here. http://atariage.com/software_page.html?SoftwareLabelID=903 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omegamatrix Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 I see. Looks like the same issue. Here's a fix for that one too... Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (11-09-1982) (Vector Fix).zip 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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