Bodyshots Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Sometimes its a thankless job, so I just wanted to say THANK YOU to all involved. I've been waiting patiently and quietly since I first put my hand up for one on the 1st or 2nd page of this topic. It appears there is light at the end of the tunnel… (rubs hands together excitedly) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intvnut Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Meanwhile, at my end, I'm rocking a much more recent firmware. From my textual UI: . >> Primary Revision: 1129 (primary) >> Secondary Revision: 1133+ (secondary) >> Current Revision: 1133+ (secondary) . The "+" at the end indicates a version that has changes that aren't checked in yet. So, about 40 check-ins after what intvsteve's running above. I've been cranking away... Primary vs. Secondary refers to the fact that LTO Flash! actually can store two copies of the firmware on the die. The primary is whatever shipped in the box. This won't change for a given LTO Flash! unit, unless you ship it back to me for re-flashing. The secondary is the field-upgrade image. You can erase the secondary at any time and it'll fall back to the primary. Also, if the secondary crashes (heaven forbid), it should fall back to the primary. None of us wants a bricked unit in the field. :-) Oh, and the observant will notice the baud rate is a "paltry" 230400. This will increase before we ship. Target is 1Mbit/sec, over 4x that speed. For reference, the Intellicart serial topped out at 57600, and the CC3 topped out at 115200. Well, the field upgrade API has certainly proved to be stable... I'm still running the same 'primary' as a week ago (and thus no updates to the field-upgrade code), but the secondary is much newer: . >> Primary Revision: 1129 (primary) >> Secondary Revision: 1183 (secondary) >> Current Revision: 1183 (secondary) . Now to make the rest of the API that stable. Actually, the rest of the API is pretty stable. I have a rather evil stress tester that likes to push the filesystem into all sorts of weird corner conditions that would never happen in real life, and so far it's only turned up a couple things. What's neat is when a command fails unexpectedly, the transactional nature of the filesystem rolls things back to the way they were before the errant command, in much the same way it would if you'd yanked out the USB cable during a request. That's pretty dang handy. Just about any change to the file system is Copy-On-Write with corresponding journal entries in the transaction log. If a transaction fails, you just abort the transaction, and the filesystem keeps looking at the original. The discarded, modified copy gets garbage-collected automagically. I may be retro, but I'm not going back to the FAT days of crosslinked sectors, corrupted directory entries, etc. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freewheel Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Pf. I bet you won't include support for parallel port transfer either. I should ask a serious question though - is this going to be a "limited release" kinda thing, where I need to get my name on a list or something? Or can you easily crank out more copies on demand once the initial run sells out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intvnut Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 (edited) Pf. I bet you won't include support for parallel port transfer either. I should ask a serious question though - is this going to be a "limited release" kinda thing, where I need to get my name on a list or something? Or can you easily crank out more copies on demand once the initial run sells out? After the initial run sells out, I may make an additional batch if there's enough demand. The board shop has minimum quantities and charges setup fees, so if there is demand beyond the initial batch, I'd probably start a waiting list to gauge demand. This board costs significantly more to manufacture than a JLP04 board (around 4x), due to the larger component count, larger size and smaller runs. If I somehow get deluged with orders and the initial batch sells out very quickly, I'll get another batch started straight away. I doubt it'll sell out that quickly. For that to happen, I'd need all the fence sitters to jump off the fence and buy a copy right away, instead of hoping it'll still be available after 2 years. Oh, on parallel port transfer: Edited January 7, 2015 by intvnut 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freewheel Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Cool, thanks You may have even mentioned this before - my brain is slipping tonight. Now's also your chance to upsell a little - I've been wondering if there's any reason to have a spare on hand. I .. did a little experimentation with my Harmony cart and ended up toasting it for a time. Not sure of the LTO Flash will have any other uses that would lend to risk-taking like that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intvnut Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Cool, thanks You may have even mentioned this before - my brain is slipping tonight. Now's also your chance to upsell a little - I've been wondering if there's any reason to have a spare on hand. I .. did a little experimentation with my Harmony cart and ended up toasting it for a time. Not sure of the LTO Flash will have any other uses that would lend to risk-taking like that Well, on this rev of the board, I didn't break out any GPIOs for... extracurricular activities. I'm kinda kicking myself on that one. I'm guessing your experimentation involved hooking additional hardware up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freewheel Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Well, on this rev of the board, I didn't break out any GPIOs for... extracurricular activities. I'm kinda kicking myself on that one. I'm guessing your experimentation involved hooking additional hardware up? Yuppers. However I don't believe it has any GPIO pins; it was just using the existing A/D lines (only mostly sure about this, it's been a while). It DID require some additional firmware to be loaded. No idea what kind of added functionality could be added to the LTO Flash from a software perspective but I'm sure people will come up with ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Tarzilla Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Oh, on parallel port transfer: Great! (Even though I still have functioning PC's with Parallel and Serial ports...) Now hurry up and put those of us that need Flashcarts (to test games we are creating on real hardware) out of our misery. I'm in for two of your first batch, ASAP. I'm tired of being at the mercy of others... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intvnut Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Great! (Even though I still have functioning PC's with Parallel and Serial ports...) Now hurry up and put those of us that need Flashcarts (to test games we are creating on real hardware) out of our misery. I'm in for two of your first batch, ASAP. I'm tired of being at the mercy of others... It'll put me out of my misery too. I've been chained to this desk the last few weeks and am not as far as I'd like. :-P I mean, I love building this kind of stuff, but as many authors have said, they hate writing, but love having written. Same idea here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Lathe26 Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 After the initial run sells out, I may make an additional batch if there's enough demand. The board shop has minimum quantities and charges setup fees, so if there is demand beyond the initial batch, I'd probably start a waiting list to gauge demand. This board costs significantly more to manufacture than a JLP04 board (around 4x), due to the larger component count, larger size and smaller runs. If I somehow get deluged with orders and the initial batch sells out very quickly, I'll get another batch started straight away. I doubt it'll sell out that quickly. For that to happen, I'd need all the fence sitters to jump off the fence and buy a copy right away, instead of hoping it'll still be available after 2 years. Oh, on parallel port transfer: I can bearly wait for the LTO Flash! to come out. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey Bouchard Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 I agree. Hope I'm able to have one soon. I would hate to have to wait for a second run. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Tarzilla Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 It'll put me out of my misery too. I've been chained to this desk the last few weeks and am not as far as I'd like. :-P I mean, I love building this kind of stuff, but as many authors have said, they hate writing, but love having written. Same idea here. I for one would be OK with disabling your AA account so you can't read or post until you are done... I know it is hard not to visit here regularily (its like crack,) but I forced myself to not respond to things for two weeks, I got a hell of a lot of progress done on my games when I wasn't getting distracted replying to posts here...posting to your level of technical detail is greatly appreciated (or at least it had better be by the newbies you are helping bootstrap their skills and knowledge) but it must take a shit load of time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n5x Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 I'm looking forward to it 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intvnut Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 I for one would be OK with disabling your AA account so you can't read or post until you are done... I know it is hard not to visit here regularily (its like crack,) but I forced myself to not respond to things for two weeks, I got a hell of a lot of progress done on my games when I wasn't getting distracted replying to posts here...posting to your level of technical detail is greatly appreciated (or at least it had better be by the newbies you are helping bootstrap their skills and knowledge) but it must take a shit load of time. *chuckle* I've thought about blocking myself from AA. Is there an AtariAge Anonymous support group (AAA?) to help keep me away from reading and posting? ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pimpmaul69 Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 (edited) I for one would be OK with disabling your AA account so you can't read or post until you are done... I know it is hard not to visit here regularily (its like crack,) if people only knew how many times a day i check back for new posts in the intv section here....i woke up an hour ago and i have checked back probably 15 times already. I do this until about 2:30 in the morning. I need an intervention. (Or an interferance. ie: disabling my account... ) Edited January 7, 2015 by pimpmaul69 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+nanochess Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Well, the field upgrade API has certainly proved to be stable... I'm still running the same 'primary' as a week ago (and thus no updates to the field-upgrade code), but the secondary is much newer: . >> Primary Revision: 1129 (primary) >> Secondary Revision: 1183 (secondary) >> Current Revision: 1183 (secondary) . Now to make the rest of the API that stable. Actually, the rest of the API is pretty stable. I have a rather evil stress tester that likes to push the filesystem into all sorts of weird corner conditions that would never happen in real life, and so far it's only turned up a couple things. What's neat is when a command fails unexpectedly, the transactional nature of the filesystem rolls things back to the way they were before the errant command, in much the same way it would if you'd yanked out the USB cable during a request. That's pretty dang handy. Just about any change to the file system is Copy-On-Write with corresponding journal entries in the transaction log. If a transaction fails, you just abort the transaction, and the filesystem keeps looking at the original. The discarded, modified copy gets garbage-collected automagically. I may be retro, but I'm not going back to the FAT days of crosslinked sectors, corrupted directory entries, etc. Just I've discovered I'm not normal, I understood everything you said BTW, once you have ready the LTO-Flash for selling, please send me a PM to order first than anyone else. *runs and hides from cmart* 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intvnut Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Just I've discovered I'm not normal, I understood everything you said Well, you did bring us IntyBASIC, among other things. I mean, who programs in BASIC any more? ;) Oh, wait, that's where all the latest neat developments in Inty games are! BTW, once you have ready the LTO-Flash for selling, please send me a PM to order first than anyone else. *runs and hides from cmart* I'll let you know first, at the same time as everyone else I let know first. You're all tied for first. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pimpmaul69 Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Just I've discovered I'm not normal, I understood everything you said BTW, once you have ready the LTO-Flash for selling, please send me a PM to order first than anyone else. *runs and hides from cmart* and you think you can hide from the wrath of cmart.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+HatNJ Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 1st post in this thread read all 10 pages and really like this project I hope to be in for 1 or 2 when finally ready for orders 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+nanochess Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 and you think you can hide from the wrath of cmart.... What? Isn't possible? I've a rev and I can use it!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cmart604 Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 What? Isn't possible? I've a rev and I can use it!!! Rev is no defence from my wrath! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pimpmaul69 Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 What? Isn't possible? I've a rev and I can use it!!! all rev is, is a troll that cmart can never catch. More of an annoyance the a real threat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+BBWW Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 I just hope I have money in my Paypal account when it's done. I keep buying sealed games. As I get down to the last few they get expensive. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iesposta Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 After the initial run sells out, I may make an additional batch if there's enough demand. The board shop has minimum quantities and charges setup fees, so if there is demand beyond the initial batch, I'd probably start a waiting list to gauge demand. ..: ] You could start a Poll thread. Unless a lot of sales will come from those not members here. You can only vote one option. Have options for "I will buy one" ..two ...three ...four or more... In the coming year... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+BBWW Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 I know I'm going to buy 3. If I do them all at once or 1 at a time will depend on final price and what I have. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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