Altirra 2.70 released

[mr-atari]

 

You are right. All MULE versions do not go beyond the mainmenu except for the HOMSOFT version, which crashes upon landing on planet.

mule4.png

 

It looks that the images are bad. I tested them under several Altirra vesions (2.5, 2.6 and 2.7) with same results.

I will search for a good image and upload it when I find it

madi

 

Hi :-)

 

This image is, for so far as I know, one of the good versions around on the internet.

Most hacked disks have scrambled graphics at some point in the game.

This one is perfect. I have this disk (pirate copy from Australia) and played it since my childhood.....

 

Later!

Sijmen.

 

P.S. Leave the disk as MD, when it's SD the copy-protection kicks in and it won't load.

[Madi]

 

This one is perfect. I have this disk (pirate copy from Australia) and played it since my childhood.....

 

Later!

Sijmen.

Hi mr-atari ;

I guess, serj is referring to the tape (.CAS) versions. None of the .CAS images run properly and he is correct. Maybe someone fix them for archival purposes.

madi

[Mclaneinc]

Hi Avery,

 

Sort of an old issue re-found..

 

I've used a wired Xbox360 pad for years but the pad became defective so I ordered a wireless joystick receiver for my wireless 360 pad as did a friend and immediately after setup with the latest MS download I noticed that when the pad was set to XBOX360 in INPUT you would get the pad randomly refusing movement, pausing the game and even screen corruption on Caverns of Mars, now my friend also got sticking issues, only being able to move right etc etc.

 

I then remembered I'd had this with the wired pad but it never got solved as you who also use an Xbox pad didn't get the problems, but with the wireless pad its even worse and yes I do realise you use a wireless pad your self but both of us on different Windows system (he's 8.1 X64 and I'm still 7 X64) are finding these issues but I found out that if you set the INPUT to GAMEPAD on port 1 then all this goes away, apart from the added code for the extra buttons on the pad being used ala the START is also mapped as F2 as well as the warp speed etc is that the only changes?

 

It just seems odd that set as a MS 360 pad in INPUT gives the pair of us weird issues but the second its just marked as choice 3, Gamepad on Port 1 all these problems stop.

Edited December 31, 2015 by Mclaneinc

[phaeron]

I actually use an Xbox 360 wired controller, modded so its D-pad is actually usable. I have a wireless controller, but it's stuck in a box somewhere with the Xbox 360 and I don't have the wireless receiver needed to use it with the PC. As far as I know the two act the same, though. The problem is probably the same as usual, switching modes with the thumbstick buttons. Need to just remove those alternate modes from the preset.

 

Regarding the MULE tape versions, two of them are hanging because they are attempting to read from disk. They look like bad disk-to-cassette conversions -- the original JSR DSKINV to read raw sectors was patched to a JMP to a low routine that read from DOS linked file sectors. Which, of course, does no good here because it needs to read from the cassette tape. The next blocks on the tape contain the correct data minus some unneeded comment text and substituting in an actual MULE disk does not work, so I assume this tape requires a modified OS that can redirect the disk loads to tape. The third tape looks like a plain EXE-to-CAS conversion, but it's broken in some subtle way because one of the needed code pages is empty. Couldn't track down why.

 

Update:

http://www.virtualdub.org/beta/Altirra-2.80-test7.zip

http://www.virtualdub.org/beta/Altirra-2.80-test7-src.zip

 

Pocket Modem emulation added, Corvus can be put on ports 1+2, fixed some regressions and tweaked fast pot mode some more, and tweaked ATBasic to work around a corrupted token in the Corvus SYSGEN utility.

 

[Mclaneinc]

Thanks for the unexpected reply considering the day, I know my friend has severe arthritis so he will be cluncky with the joysticks so accidentally pressing them in would be easy, me, although I do have arthritis I'm not that clunky (as yet) but just found the wireless started acting up within a minute but there's the possibility I pressed the joystick in but not sure.

 

Will you put a note on the release when you remove the presets so I can test again please.

[Madi]

When capturing Altirra window using Copy Frame to Clipboard with Scanline option or VBXE options enabled, the image size = 672 X 448 pixels (17.78 X 11.85 cm)

But when Scanline or VBXE options are disabled, the captured image size = 336 X 224 pixels (8.89 X 5.93 cm)

The case is valid for Altirra versions 2.5 upto 2.8

Captured images have different sizes. Is it meant to be this way?

madi

[flashjazzcat]

VBXE doubles the Atari's horizontal resolution, but I hadn't noticed before that scanlines have the same effect.

[atx4us]

I actually use an Xbox 360 wired controller, modded so its D-pad is actually usable. I have a wireless controller, but it's stuck in a box somewhere with the Xbox 360 and I don't have the wireless receiver needed to use it with the PC. As far as I know the two act the same, though. The problem is probably the same as usual, switching modes with the thumbstick buttons. Need to just remove those alternate modes from the preset.

Avery,

 

I agree that the D-pad on an unmodified Xbox 360 controller needs some serious improvements. Can you please give us some details on how you modified your controller? Some pictures would also be interesting. Thanks.

[phaeron]

 

When capturing Altirra window using Copy Frame to Clipboard with Scanline option or VBXE options enabled, the image size = 672 X 448 pixels (17.78 X 11.85 cm)

But when Scanline or VBXE options are disabled, the captured image size = 336 X 224 pixels (8.89 X 5.93 cm)

The case is valid for Altirra versions 2.5 upto 2.8

Captured images have different sizes. Is it meant to be this way?

 

Yes. As fjc noted, VBXE doubles the horizontal resolution, and scanlines double the vertical resolution. The Copy Frame command then doubles the other axis to match so you don't get an overly squished image.

 

 

I agree that the D-pad on an unmodified Xbox 360 controller needs some serious improvements. Can you please give us some details on how you modified your controller? Some pictures would also be interesting. Thanks.

 

Don't want to get into it too much here, but essentially, cut a thin plastic disc (~1/16") to use as a shim between the flexible rubber contact mat and the upper plastic stick, then shave the outer ring on the top shell with fine sandpaper. This reduces the travel needed to activate the contacts and prevents the D-pad from hitting the outer ring first, so presses make solid contact on the connection pads. You can find lots of websites with detailed directions. It's a major improvement (low bar).

[morelenmir]

 

Yes. As fjc noted, VBXE doubles the horizontal resolution, and scanlines double the vertical resolution. The Copy Frame command then doubles the other axis to match so you don't get an overly squished image.

 

 

 

Don't want to get into it too much here, but essentially, cut a thin plastic disc (~1/16") to use as a shim between the flexible rubber contact mat and the upper plastic stick, then shave the outer ring on the top shell with fine sandpaper. This reduces the travel needed to activate the contacts and prevents the D-pad from hitting the outer ring first, so presses make solid contact on the connection pads. You can find lots of websites with detailed directions. It's a major improvement (low bar).

 

You might look at buying one of the new 'transforming' D-Pad controllers also - I got an official Microsoft unit for £5.99 from Amazon, its price cut due to the Bone being released. This late revision of the controller works really, really well in my opinion and is a big improvement on the original. It also came with a free LIon battery pack and charger.

 

In regards the Wireless receiver; unless you are 100% certain the device is a genuine MS spare then it can cause a lot of problems. I wouldn't be surprized if that was behind your problems.

 

I have bought four in total from Amazon and all but the the last - for which I paid a sickening premium - was a cloned ripoff. The packaging looks pretty convincing and the device itself is nearly physically identical. The tell is in the way the drivers are shipped; all the far-east ripoffs had their drivers distributed on mini-CD's that when I examined them turned out to be mini-CDr's. The genuine article came with a real, pressed CD decorated with the proper MS holographic logos and so forth. You can also tell the difference when installing on the PC - the counterfeit drivers do not automatically identify the device and you have to select them manually from 'Device manager'. When buying on the Amazon side of things though it is almost impossible to know ahead of time what you are getting as you will have to deal with sellers since Amazon themselves no longer stock the thing. In the end I just plumped for the most expensive unit - stupid, as I could have been paying £60 for yet another Hong-Kong special!

[atx4us]

 

Yes. As fjc noted, VBXE doubles the horizontal resolution, and scanlines double the vertical resolution. The Copy Frame command then doubles the other axis to match so you don't get an overly squished image.

 

 

 

Don't want to get into it too much here, but essentially, cut a thin plastic disc (~1/16") to use as a shim between the flexible rubber contact mat and the upper plastic stick, then shave the outer ring on the top shell with fine sandpaper. This reduces the travel needed to activate the contacts and prevents the D-pad from hitting the outer ring first, so presses make solid contact on the connection pads. You can find lots of websites with detailed directions. It's a major improvement (low bar).

Thanks for the reply. I was thinking that you may have come up with an original "phaeron" mod using micro-switches, etc.

[Mclaneinc]

In regards the Wireless receiver; unless you are 100% certain the device is a genuine MS spare then it can cause a lot of problems. I wouldn't be surprized if that was behind your problems.

 

I have bought four in total from Amazon and all but the the last - for which I paid a sickening premium - was a cloned ripoff. The packaging looks pretty convincing and the device itself is nearly physically identical. The tell is in the way the drivers are shipped; all the far-east ripoffs had their drivers distributed on mini-CD's that when I examined them turned out to be mini-CDr's. The genuine article came with a real, pressed CD decorated with the proper MS holographic logos and so forth. You can also tell the difference when installing on the PC - the counterfeit drivers do not automatically identify the device and you have to select them manually from 'Device manager'. When buying on the Amazon side of things though it is almost impossible to know ahead of time what you are getting as you will have to deal with sellers since Amazon themselves no longer stock the thing. In the end I just plumped for the most expensive unit - stupid, as I could have been paying £60 for yet another Hong-Kong special!

 

The receiver is definitely NOT an MS item but the effects I get when its set to XBOX360 mode also happened with a 100% genuine wired XBOX360 pad that came with the console. Once set just as a gamepad the wireless and wired work flawlessly, its only when set to XBOX mode I get all the issues so basically I don't set it to Xbox mode

 

And yes, had to set up the receiver manually in device manager and pair it which I initially thought would happen via the Guide button, silly me, found the pairing little button and was good to go. The only thing I found weird was that with the wired controller the little hang ups etc happened every so on but with the wireless one they were within a minute every time it was set to XBOX mode., oh and I used the official Xbox drivers from the site although I'm sure the actual build quality of the receiver is shoddy.

 

Either way it works one way which is good enough for me and Avery thinks it may be an issue with the built in presets so whenever he adjusts them I'll have another go, the extra control features in Xbox mode are handy but I'll live in the meantime..

[phaeron]

I wasn't thinking of doing anything earth shattering, just basically stripping out the switchable modes. You can do that now for joystick mode just by deleting the Input State controller in the input map so it never switches to another mode.

[Kyle22]

After a little bit of poking around, I got an emulated Corvus working on emulated XL. Attached is a zip with the Corvus XL boot disk, and a vhd image to go with it.

 

All references to PORTB must be changed to PORTA, and PBCTL to PACTL. A SpartaDOS-X driver should be possible.

 

If you want to copy some files on this, D8: in Corvus DOS is mapped to physical floppy D1:

 

CorvusXL.zip

[Mclaneinc]

I wasn't thinking of doing anything earth shattering, just basically stripping out the switchable modes. You can do that now for joystick mode just by deleting the Input State controller in the input map so it never switches to another mode.

 

I know Avery, I was merely replying to morelenmir about what you had said, it wasn't meant in the slightest as a spur for you to act on.

 

Not everyone expects you to work 24/7 on Altirra

 

Paul.

[snicklin]

Potential bug here:

 

Windows 7 / Altirra 32 bit 2.80-test7

 

I run my program and then click "Debug -> Run/Break".

 

The console window appears and the "Altirra>" input area at the bottom is greyed out. If I then hit F8 to restart the game and then hit F8 once more, this area whites out and allows input.

[phaeron]

Update:

http://www.virtualdub.org/beta/Altirra-2.80-test8.zip

http://www.virtualdub.org/beta/Altirra-2.80-test8-src.zip

 

• The built-in EXE loader now issues warnings to the debug console if it sees init segments exiting with the kernel ROM disabled or the I-flag set, since these will fail with vanilla DOS.
• Fixed bug where mouse capture could drop if you moved the mouse fast enough. (The mouse was invisibly escaping the window.)
• The 5200 placeholder cart is now re-mounted if you cancel the cartridge mapper dialog or if the cart load fails. Previously it would remove the cart and then the OS would boot up without a cart and crash (not possible on real console).
• Rewrote motion calcs in input code. Relative bindings no longer run at different speeds between NTSC and PAL, and acceleration is now tunable independently from speed for digital-to-analog bindings, i.e. button to relative paddle. It's now also possible to slow down relative bindings more than before. This changes the meaning of the speed values, so existing input maps may have to be adjusted -- in particular, speed 0 is now actually 0. Note that acceleration only matters for D2A, not for analog-to-analog bindings like an analog stick -> paddle.
• Redid the default input map presets. The mega mode switching transformer Xbox 360 input map that was confusing everyone is now gone and has been replaced with individual mappings. Also, relative-mode 5200 controller maps have been added. They've been tuned so that Missile Command is playable. Since this is a change to presets, you won't see it unless you Reset all bindings or re-add the new ones through the Preset button.
• Fixed UI bug where the names for the D-pad inputs on XInput controllers were off by one.
• ST/Amiga mouse emulation rewritten, now dynamically changes pulse spacing as mouse speed varies. This makes the emulated mouse more reliable at higher speeds and removes the weird diamond movement artifacts caused by queuing.

Couldn't reproduce the focus issue, oddly.

 

[tschak909]

Awesome work on the Corvus emulation. It's a bit weird to see this after 33 some-odd years. (The Apple ][ corvus tools were just as bat-shit crazy. The Apple /// utilities could actually have hard disk sized volumes)...

 

Am I right to understand that currently the 6MB model B drive is what's emulated? no support for the 5, 10, or 20mb sizes?

 

-Thom

[phaeron]

6MB series H. 11MB/20MB are just head/LBA count changes, but I was going to wait for interest before considering those (the UI is actually the most work).

[flashjazzcat]

Mouse emulation seems really nice, and default settings feel pretty realistic now.

[mr-atari]

Hi Avery,

 

While I was working on tape-support in MyBIOS, found something with Altirra.

 

Bruce Lee (tape) does not load with the latest 2.80 beta. (2.70 it loads fine)

System set to all patches OFF, standard REV_2 Operating System.

File attached.

 

Regards,

Sijmen.

[Mclaneinc]

Loads here...Just played in for 10 mins...

 

Must be something in the Mybios support (I'm not using it here)

Edited January 14, 2016 by Mclaneinc

[Bob The Bug]

Is there something wrong with Debug>Disassembly in 2.7? I can't get it do display anything but it seems to work just fine in 2.6...?

[Bob The Bug]

hee hee... I clicked Run/Break and then it works... oops! Didn't have to do that in 2.6...

[phaeron]

Afraid I can't reproduce the Bruce Lee issue either -- started up a fresh config, hooked up the rev. 2 OS, disabled C: patch and Fast Boot, and it loaded.