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Altirra 2.80 released


phaeron

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Two updates.

 

First 2.81 is out, with backported fixes for three critical bugs in the 2.80 release (XEGS cart crash, PBIDisk debugger read crash, and SIDE 1 firmware save).

 

Second, 2.90 test-5:

http://www.virtualdub.org/beta/Altirra-2.90-test5.zip

http://www.virtualdub.org/beta/Altirra-2.90-test5-src.zip

  • Workaround for Intel graphics driver bug causing XEP-80 rendering issues in D3D 11 mode. Direct3D 11 constant buffer updating is such a mess....
  • Added /nocartchecksum flag to allow .CAR files to be loaded from the command line while ignoring the checksum in the header. This allows the .CAR format to be used during development without having to run a separate program during the build to set the checksum.
  • Experimental rework of cassette tape handling. The bit decoding algorithm now uses a sliding DFT, the byte decoding PLL has been rewritten to be more standard (reset on start bit transition instead of every bit transition), the data sampling rate has been increased from 4KHz to 16KHz, and the bit timing has sub-sample jitter added to it. This should help break up patterns that were causing deterministic failures due to the cassette baud rate bug in the OS.
  • Fixed the cassette tape randomize start position setting not saving and not actually being random....
  • Fixed a crash in the cassette tape code that sometimes occurred when re-recording over a part of an existing tape.
  • The tape loader no longer enforces a 20 second leader in front of FSK data, only in front of decoded data. This avoids issues with decoded noise in the leader.
  • Added .tracesio command to the debugger. This is like .tracecio, except it logs SIOV calls instead of CIOV calls.
  • Modified the boot block for SDFS formatted and virtual disks to be recognized by the IDE+2 loader.
  • Fixed PALNTS in AltirraOS.
  • Fixed Disk Explorer sometimes not allowing zero-byte files to be dragged into a disk image.
  • Fixed writes from the .diskwritesec debugger command sometimes not being flushed to the disk image.
  • Added command in the Tools menu to export the internal ROM set for use with other emulators or actual hardware.
  • Added very basic support for Happy 810 emulation. Currently this is just memory read/write commands until we can get more info on it.

 

There is only one minor gripe that prevents me from using any versions newer than 2.6 test 12 - scanline emulation. Scanlines were perfectly emulated up until Altirra 2.6 as sharp visible lines, but in later versions they became blurry and generic and look nothing like the real CRT (when compared to picture on my Sony WEGA 27")

 

Please see the attached screenshot for comparison. Just curious - would it be possible to bring back the old scanlines or have an option to switch ?

 

Funny, I actually changed it because someone complained that too dark was unrealistic....

 

I could make it configurable. Carving out a place to put the setting is the trickiest part.

 

I've tried Altirra 2.80, recently, but I've noticed a flaw in the audio that wasn't there at all in 2.70, namely random clicking every now and then. What could be the cause of that?

 

This is probably due to audio underflows. 2.80 has improvements to the display code that reduces the load on the CPU from the vsync code; one of the side effects is that this can cause the CPU to sleep more often and slightly increase latency, affecting audio timing. Typically this can be cured by increasing the buffer parameters in audio settings. You want the lowest possible buffer that avoids underflows -- raising it too high will increase the audio delay. At some point I need to try an XAudio2 or WASAPI audio path as detecting underflows reliably with waveOut or DirectSound seems impossible.

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  • Workaround for Intel graphics driver bug causing XEP-80 rendering issues in D3D 11 mode. Direct3D 11 constant buffer updating is such a mess....

Fixed .. Thanx

 

 

I didn't notice that you mentioned Copy Frame to Clipboard... that's always copying the ANTIC/GTIA output. That I can fix. [entry #53]

Not fixed.

 

Thank you phaeron

In our Atari community, there are quiet few people that share their time, efforts and own money without bountiful attitudes to keep our beloved Atari alive.

Yet, there are really fewer people that have the vision of preserving Atari even after all of its hardware equipment are either turned into dust or only found in Museums.

They work very hard so future generations will be able to enjoy yesterday's technology. They seek eternity for Atari.

I believe you are one of really few.

madi

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Avery, I noted that you updated "altirra basic" to version 1.52.

it is possible to learn about changes and to receive it separately from the emulator?

 

No functional changes in 1.52, just some code reorganization.

 

Currently, no plans to release ATBasic separately. Change rate is not high enough.

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Funny, I actually changed it because someone complained that too dark was unrealistic....

 

I could make it configurable. Carving out a place to put the setting is the trickiest part.

 

-------

 

Thanks Avery - it would be great if you made it configurable - I can assure you that old scanlines look identical too the picture on 27"+ CRT

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First 2.81 is out, with backported fixes for three critical bugs in the 2.80 release (XEGS cart crash, PBIDisk debugger read crash, and SIDE 1 firmware save).

 

I've just tried the 2.81 with Wine and it seems that this version runs to fast?! Sounds/feels a bit like NTSC speed while PAL should be active. Reset of the configuration didn't help.

The former used 2.7... or the latest 2.90-test5 are ok. If desired, I could track down the version more precisely...

Edited by Irgendwer
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Time to try something a bit wacky:

http://www.virtualdub.org/beta/Altirra-2.90-test6.zip

http://www.virtualdub.org/beta/Altirra-2.90-test6-src.zip

 

Adds first pass on full 810 and Happy 810 disk drive emulation. To enable this, add the required firmware in Firmware Options and then add the drive in the Device tree (NOT Disk Drives). This will replace the normal D1: emulation with the full drive emulator. This will disable acceleration for that drive and also run a second CPU in the background, so the standard drive emulation is still recommended for regular use cases. The accurate disk timing option still affects the drive, but it will only control rotational latency, as seek latency is under firmware control. Stock 810 firmware (2048 bytes) should be almost fully functional with the exception of the disk format command; Happy 810 firmware (3072 bytes) will currently have some trouble with track buffering on disks with bad/missing sectors and will be unable to complete diagnostics due to Write Track not being supported yet. The coprocessor emulation is based on the system I put in for Veronica, so it supports stepping and breakpoints (~0s and ~1s to switch threads), but execution control is currently imprecise and the emulated CPU is a 65802 right now instead of 6502/6507.

 

Copy frame is also fixed for XEP-80 and there are new commands to save the screen with true aspect ratio correction instead of just integer aspect ratio correction.

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Time to try something a bit wacky:

.

.

Copy frame is also fixed for XEP-80 and there are new commands to save the screen with true aspect ratio correction instead of just integer aspect ratio correction.

 

Under XEP-80, text in AtariWord 80:

The copy/save frames works. Thank you phaeron. There is a minor point you might consider it as an info..

 

The Save frame / Copy frame with Aspect ratio yields pictures with less contrast compared to screen shots of Altirra window or a normal Save/Copy frame.

madi

Edited by Madi
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Amazing. Could you please add "The Chip" support? Hardware wise, the only difference is just a banked ROM. Banking is performed with RIOT PORTA bit 3.

 

Doesn't sound hard, but I don't think I have a firmware image to test with and might have to implement this blind. The Chip is the same as the 810 Archiver, right?

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Under XEP-80, text in AtariWord 80:

The copy/save frames works. Thank you phaeron. There is a minor point you might consider it as an info..

 

The Save frame / Copy frame with Aspect ratio yields pictures with less contrast compared to screen shots of Altirra window or a normal Save/Copy frame.

madi

 

Yes, because of the fractional scale. I'm not going to do window screenshot for now -- too much trouble to read that back from the display code, and you can always use the uncorrected screenshot in an image editor.

 

Not seen a 3K rom file in the Happy 810 thread, the dumps have been 6K and the posted rom is 4K, I did see the 2K 810 standard firmware Rev E post but as said, the happy rom with that is 4K.

 

The 6K dump is just the actual 3K image duplicated twice, before we realized that particular Happy version wasn't bank switched. You can just use that for now and the second 3K will be ignored.

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Thanks! Got it working, at least with the Archiver's unlock and copy commands:

http://www.virtualdub.org/beta/Altirra-2.90-test7.zip

http://www.virtualdub.org/beta/Altirra-2.90-test7-src.zip

 

Adds 810 Archiver / The Chip support, adds support for the correct 4K ROM layout for the Happy 810 (thanks to ebiguy for determining this), adds 810 rev. C and 810 rev. E firmware image signatures to the firmware autodetector, fixes step, timestamp, and st/.dumpdsm issues on the drive emulator in the debugger, and fixes a crash in the FDC emulator with short disk images.

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Phaeron,

 

Been playing with the profiles and have read the manual a few times, could there be a way to lock the profile from change?

 

I was playing around with the U1mb and changed profile to another machine type but when I went back to my XL profile it still had the U1mb. I've not tested if just changing the machine type in hardware bypasses this but my hope is to have a list of machine variations that are as is which if I want I can boot exactly the same way every time unless I unlock it and edit.

 

Could this be done at some point?

 

I was just looking at the 4MB ram upgrade by Simulus here

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/249405-new-4mb-ram-expansion/?do=findComment&comment=3446340

 

Seems an interesting upgrade, I noticed there a banked 4MB memory config in Altirra but I don't think they work in the same fashion. Do you considering the Antonia upgrade as being a worthwhile emulation or simply just sort of get around it by switching in the 65C816 in CPU options and just use the U1mb emulation for the flashable multi slots part?

 

The profile thing is the only actual request here, the 4MB question is simply that, just interested in what you thought.

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Pressed the "Scan" and the file is still not determined.

Incorrect file type * .epr

need *.rom file.

 

Manually add the firmware in Happy 810 rom firmware, change file type to all files and pick the epr, set it as the default Happy 810 firmware and its good to go (as long as you have added the Happy 810 in the device list..

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