flashjazzcat Posted February 24, 2016 Author Share Posted February 24, 2016 (edited) Update (Main BIOS and PBI BIOS changed this time): Ultimate 1MB Main BIOS 0.51, PBI 1.59, Loader 0.40.zip Fixed bug in ATR-swap button handling and check for button-down on reset (which launches the XEX loader). Both blighted by newish bug which set bit 6 of SIDE's external bank register at $D5E4, causing 16KB of ROM to become mapped at $8000-$BFFF. I'll hold my hands up about that one in as much as the Altirra Hardware reference manual describes the function of bit 6 on SIDE2, but Altirra itself acts differently to real hardware. The issue only showed up when ProWizard turned off SDX and tried out some less common configurations. That is probably because some people someone thinks that a version on cart is a safe copy protection! What a smooth, smooth, smooth thought. Well, quite. It took all of thirty seconds to figure out why the first crashing ROM didn't work in RAM, so a bit of further study would probably allow the protection code to be removed unless it's especially obfuscated. These copy protection measures are a rather quaint reminder of a bygone age when such techniques might actually thwart the casual pirate. Edited February 24, 2016 by flashjazzcat 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Z Posted February 24, 2016 Share Posted February 24, 2016 Well, quite. It took all of thirty seconds to figure out why the first crashing ROM didn't work in RAM, so a bit of further study would probably allow the protection code to be removed unless it's especially obfuscated. These copy protection measures are a rather quaint reminder of a bygone age when such techniques might actually thwart the casual pirate. Yeah, that's what I thought when I was fixing wavy navy to boot off a real disk (SIO2nnn worked because timing was not accurate). Turned out the game hashed itself... twice! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemiel Posted February 24, 2016 Share Posted February 24, 2016 (edited) I had U1MB with original BIOS. I flashed with these newest files (from Voy's prepared atrs) and now have problem - I can't exit from setup. I am choosing options (only Return works, Control not needed, no remember reading about it). Pressing S - saved profile 1. Esc to quit not work, shows lose setting question. Y 'reboots' to setup again. Pressing X or B shows message about lose setting. N - nothing happens, Y - reboot required but after a "second" setup with defaults and "profile reset" comes again. As with Esc. No exiting to SDX or simple boot from D1. Info shows something about NTSC XEGS - I think because I can't see option Disabled with XEGS slot, some crap here but I think this crap is because old memory organisation. Soundboard is enabled (do not have one of course ) - in possible future this Soundboard could be used to on/off another device (eg. Evie)? Do I need to reflash full memory with external programmer? Edit: Tried what I can except this external programmer. After pressing L and Y it boots, but uflash (test 11) is not recognising U1MB. It sees SIDE2 and SIDE1 but default 320kB is to small to flash SIDE2, SIDE1 goes forward bot hadn't proper file in sio2sd. Maybe 1088kB as default for fresh/reset config would be better? Edited February 24, 2016 by lemiel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted February 24, 2016 Author Share Posted February 24, 2016 (edited) Perhaps NVRAM isn't working properly. If the config checksum doesn't match (which it will once the new config has been written out, which you've done), the machine will keep jumping back into setup because the settings are clearly corrupt. If you experience that, you experience one of two things: a flat battery, or an unstable machine. The new BIOS reaches parts of NVRAM that old BIOS does not, so don't think because things worked before that this eliminates the possibility of undiscovered problems. Hopefully now you understand why setup keeps reappearing, the inability to perform the "simple" boot from D1: is understandable. Original BIOS also insisted on jumping into setup repeatedly until config checksum was correct, so nothing new there. The only way SoundBoard's presence would be reported is if the hardware signature is found in ROM, so look again: there must be one there. Spare pins on P2 header can be used to control other devices via plug-in code. Try a new battery first. Edited February 24, 2016 by flashjazzcat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemiel Posted February 24, 2016 Share Posted February 24, 2016 Old BIOS had remembered settings. With battery was good catch - I even soldered battery holder back because it "escaped" from one side, and changed battery to accidentally available at home one fresh Energizer. Only date and time is remembered after setting reset. But why UFLASH is not recognising U1MB now - NVRAM is checked too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted February 24, 2016 Author Share Posted February 24, 2016 (edited) Just saw your prior edit, so we know you're using the correct version of UFLASH. Remove SIDE cartridges if the PBI BIOS is not enabled, since the cartridge ROMs will mask Ultimate. Agreed about default RAM size. Although "Stock" (64KB) equates to "00" memory configuration, this is one case where a non-zero default might be better. Edited February 24, 2016 by flashjazzcat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted February 24, 2016 Author Share Posted February 24, 2016 Yet another rapid update: Ultimate 1MB BIOS 0.52, PBI BIOS 1.59, Loader 0.41.zip No change to PBI BIOS - just main BIOS and Loader. I removed the main BIOS check for the SIDE button on reset (intended to quick-launch the loader), since this was causing all kinds of nasty issues when SDX was disabled (including a lock-up when SpartaDOS 3.x was booted with BASIC disabled). I may have another, less problematic use for the button on reset. CPU speed test is now only run when the setup menu is entered, since the test caused problems with "MrDo", which displayed garbage PMGs following system reset. "MrDo" also prompted a change to the loader: as well as GTIA, Antic registers are now cleared prior to an XEX or ROM load. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panther Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 Thank you for the progress! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted February 25, 2016 Author Share Posted February 25, 2016 Turns out that that SIDE2 can bank in 8KB of ROM at $8000 even if the upper bank at $A000 is disabled. Not being aware of this caused a lot of problems on real hardware which weren't reproducible in emulation. Thanks to Phaeron for confirming. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+remowilliams Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 Yet another rapid update: Ultimate 1MB BIOS 0.52, PBI BIOS 1.59, Loader 0.41.zip Thank you for not only the incredible continued support, but also releasing nice complete version stated packages like this. It makes things very handy 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fujidude Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 Using the latest versions without issue. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted February 25, 2016 Author Share Posted February 25, 2016 Great. Just need McRorie to test with his U-Switch when he gets time lemiel to get to the root of his troubles. Are many people using this with SDX disabled - i.e. booting MyDOS or SpartaDOS 3.x from APT partitions? Some problems related to SIDE2 banking only showed up because ProWizard had SDX disabled much of the time. The XEX loader can also run BASIC (or Altirra BASIC) programs. Anyone tried this or had issues with it? Anyone miss the keyclick sound? Anyone try "Drive 1 swap" in the PBI menu (this swaps references in software from D1: to the boot drive if the boot drive is not D1:, supposedly as a quick means of switching to a different OS partition)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MacRorie Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 Sorry meant to do this last night, got distracted by BBS. Will do it now (ish Great. Just need McRorie to test with his U-Switch when he gets time lemiel to get to the root of his troubles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted February 25, 2016 Author Share Posted February 25, 2016 Great - thanks. For some reason I do not expect a positive result, however. Note: please insert the word "and" between "time" and "lemiel" in my previous post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MacRorie Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 Great - thanks. For some reason I do not expect a positive result, however. Note: please insert the word "and" between "time" and "lemiel" in my previous post. As you suspected, no joy. I will, however, remove it and solder the VCC and GND as they are in your pic to see if that changes things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted February 25, 2016 Author Share Posted February 25, 2016 As you suspected, no joy. I will, however, remove it and solder the VCC and GND as they are in your pic to see if that changes things. Thanks for testing. If rewiring doesn't change things, I'll remove the single frame switching delay and detective work will have to take a different path. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panther Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 As you suspected, no joy. I will, however, remove it and solder the VCC and GND as they are in your pic to see if that changes things. Does your U-Switch not work at all? Have you tried manually grounding the Bin input to see if it switches? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted February 26, 2016 Author Share Posted February 26, 2016 A couple of pages back, MacRorie says the old BIOS turned stereo on and off successfully, but since the old BIOS simply writes 0 or 1 to the relevant bit of the control register without knowing or caring whether the corresponding pin is even wired to anything, I assume the actual state of the stereo hardware was subsequently verified using other software or by a visual check of the LED on the U-Switch board. In any case, whether the second Pokey is still addressable could not in that case be established until some moments after leaving BIOS setup (at which point the chosen stereo state is written to the configuration register) and running Yoomp! or some other program which tests for stereo audio. As written before, new BIOS's stereo plugin uses a simple logical test to establish whether stereo hardware is present and then whether it is under the control of the M0 pin. Stereo detection itself - regardless of switching mechanism - is guaranteed to work with Lotharek Stereo board, so unless U-Switch is faulted or not working as per spec, it's difficult to imagine what can go wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemiel Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 I see in tracking SST39SF040 delivered to home. Will check at evening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MacRorie Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 Thanks for testing. If rewiring doesn't change things, I'll remove the single frame switching delay and detective work will have to take a different path. No worries. I am *pretty sure* I have another USWITCH, so I will fit it in brand spanking new and go from there if the rewire doesn't work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted February 26, 2016 Author Share Posted February 26, 2016 OK, sounds good. I'm simply intrigued about getting to the bottom of this now. We might have to get really hands-on with a special plug-in build with a built-in stereo switching test which provides on-screen feedback of what's actually going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemiel Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 This works, remembers settings: http://ftp.pigwa.net/stuff/projects/Ultimate1MB/ROMimages/old/Ultimate1MBv2_with_pbi_v04_and_loader and SDX446 (by Voy).rom This - current as described earlier - saves settings but not remembering it. http://ftp.pigwa.net/stuff/projects/Ultimate1MB/ROMimages/Ultimate 1MB (AIO image).atr And UFLASH is not recognizing U1MB. Not detecting on start and when manually selected shows Device not present. SIC/SIDEs aren't connected. I bought U1MB from Candle in December 2011. Maybe I should update CPLD? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted February 26, 2016 Author Share Posted February 26, 2016 Well, I finally feel justified in shouting "hardware issue" at this stage. I've installed many U1MB boards of all vintages (initial Candle run to current Lotharek stock), and some can require a little fiddling. Choice of PLCC flash ROM (Amic, AMD, SST) can have an impact, and MMU/OS ROM ribbon cables are common points of failure, resulting in erratic behaviour. 74LS logic chips can change behaviour, as can the choice of CPU. CPLD update (AFAIK) only retro-fitted PBI functionality, and if PBI previously worked at any time, you already have the more recent VHDL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemiel Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 Is there any way to check CPLD version? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted February 26, 2016 Author Share Posted February 26, 2016 (edited) If you can get the SIDE HDD working, you have the newer code. EDIT: enable PBI in old or new BIOS, boot SDX, and you should see PBI BIOS version number at the top of the screen. With new BIOS, you have to also enable PBI BIOS notice in advanced settings (it's disabled by default). Edited February 26, 2016 by flashjazzcat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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