Fully upgraded system and SIDE2 partitioning/ATR Swapping?

[leech]

Next on the list, U1MB firmware? So he had me load up Dropzone, hit reset, it still loaded. Push button, and hit reset again and it didn't load. So the button is working.

 

Then I enabled the PBI BIOS and tried the same experiment, and it failed (Dropzone still appeared after hitting the button then Reset).

 

Isn't that where you flashed the beta? Process of elimination...

PBI BIOS: Enabled
PBI device ID: 2
Hard disk: Enabled
Boot drive: D1:
Drive 1 swap: Disabled
CONFIG.SYS: D3:
HDD write lock: Disabled
HDD rescan key: Shift
PBI logo: Enabled
Z: CIO driver: Disabled

Those are the current PBI settings.

[flashjazzcat]

I took the beta stuff off before I sent the machine back. You have the firmware which was released last December.

 

BTW: that experiment isn't especially useful since the button no longer reinstates the cartridge ROM when the PBI is on. The behaviour you're seeing is by design.

Edited October 15, 2017 by flashjazzcat

[leech]

Ah, okay. Makes sense, but it does show that the button 'works' in some state. I was asking about the beta because I can't recall if that's what you tested when disk swapping worked. Map file should simply be;

D1:Pacem in Terris (s1,320).atr
D2:Pacem in Terris (s2,320).atr

I've tried with this, with just hitting tab to mark them, etc.

 

The most frustrating thing is, I watched you do it and it worked!

 

So I know it's not the hardware now, button is connected / functional. Which means it's got too be a firmware/configuration issue, right?

 

On the bright side, the only thing I've now noticed with usage of the Rapidus is that it does not play well with the SIO2SD. It works in 'Classic' and 'Sweet16' mode, but if I put it in Rapidus mode, it fails to boot anything off the SIO2SD. I'd have to check to see if the O2 mod causes this. I otherwise have only seen a slower 'refresh' of the Media when I randomly run into that (and it is random and now with the O2 mod, seems to go away after the system is on for a minute or two.)

 

Trying to think of what else I could test... Certainly has been too long since I've done anything besides load up something off the SIO2SD and played some random game. A while back my brother and I played through Realm of Impossibility, I'm positive it was one of those 'alt' versions because it was WAY easier than we remembered as a kid. Like have the enemies were missing or something... Ha, totally off topic, but I do love that game.

[leech]

I got my SIO2BT in the mail today and of course had to try it out. Unlike the SIO2SD I managed to get Gauntlet to load on it, and swap disks etc. Even with the Rapidus in 'Rapidus' mode. Gauntlet does NOT like that. Instead of making it really fast and smooth.. it makes it smooth going up and down, but as soon as you make the screen scroll right or left, it starts to hop all over the place. This one clearly is tied to the timing speeds of the CPU.

 

I've tried flashing the BIOS, but it looks like it's the exact same set you already had on there ( http://atari8.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Ultimate1MB_Firmware_Update_071216.zipfigured that's what you had put on there, but clearly it worked in your hands, not in mine) so onto the one piece of hardware that is different here. My SIDE2. So I flashed it with the BIOS in this zip file, same behavior.

 

I also attempted to flash it from my stock 130XE, though uflash.xex loaded up and said it didn't detect it, and asked to choose the device manually, so I chose the SIDE2 and it said it didn't exist!

 

So... definitely weirdness here. Couldn't get either of the .atr files to load from my SIO2SD there. Then again the one from lotharek's page (side2upgr.atr) says 'Error No Dos'.

 

So I think the only difference I can see is the Ultimate BIOS version (you've got 1.34 in the video where you work on my machine vs the stable release which is 1.25)

 

(on a side note that was weird, it said the VBXE core version was Cr FX 67a or some crap..powered off and on and now it's back to FX 1.26a, but that's off topic.)

 

The fun continues! At least I found a slow work around (SIO2BT).

[flashjazzcat]

Main BIOS version won't make a difference, since it's responsible only for booting the OS and handling setting changes. You need to disable the on-board SDX and PBI BIOS (if present) and boot from the SIDE2's SDX ROM in order for UFLASH to auto-detect the cartridge.

 

The sporadic misrepresentation of the VBXE FX core is a known issue on Rapidus machines. Nothing I can do about it, unfortunately.

[leech]

Woo hoo! I will apologize in advance, because this is probably going to be a LONG post....

 

After screwing the pooch, and bricking my machine by trying to force UFLASH to be naughty, I ordered an EPROM burner (The TL866CS). Okay, fine I ordered 3. First one I ordered from China, still haven't gotten it... Second one I ordered for Jon because he's been awesome, and I figure it'll benefit everyone in Atari land if he can burn all sorts of goodies! I think he said he had one, but it was kind of crap. Third one was from Amazon and I could get it in a few days and well, I found that I bought Jon the nicer one that had 6 adapters instead of 4! Also, I may have ordered a second Xilinx JTAG programmer, because I couldn't find mine...

 

Well, got the TL866CS today and after having one of those nasty bouts with working 12 hours, set some time aside to fix my 130XE. First attempt at programming the PLCC was not successful. I wanted to go ahead and use the minipro software in Linux, but got lazy and booted into windows for the nice GUI program. But wasn't sure if I needed to do HEX vs BIN for the rom straight off of his page. That didn't work, so instead I started digging up old threads and ran across this post: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/240034-new-alt-bios-for-ultimate-1mbincognito/page-3?do=findComment&comment=3271906Downloaded the ROM there, and programmed it in. Figuring I could just update it to the latest again through UFLASH.

 

After I flashed to the latest ultfull.rom, and then I had to add back in the ubiosrap.rom so that the Rapidus would show up correctly in the BIOS. Then I followed the instructions in the last post. Turn off PBI, disable SDX on the BIOS (which by the way is now 4.47 instead of the 4.49beta he had on there (Is this the difference for the refreshing CFcard?). I went straight for the Loader, so I'm not sure what the SpartaDOS X version was before, but now the SIDE2 with the newer ROM is running 4.48.

 

And with that, I now have the ability to push the button and switch between disks (at least I've tried with the .map file). I switched back on the PBI (of course it's required for loading ATR files), and loaded up and tested the two .map files I'd created, so a demo and Gauntlet. Both worked fine!

 

So now, for all appearances, I have a stable, fully upgraded 130XE!

[leech]

HA! I had to open my big mouth... the re-reading of the media issue seems to have come back. But it seems to come and go, it's odd. Fairly certain that is a timing issue with Rapidus in full speed mode.

Edited October 26, 2017 by leech

[flashjazzcat]

Yes: a big thank you for the programmer, which I'm very much looking forward to since the current model has no drivers for a modern OS and requires a dedicated Windows 7 32-bit installation just for those odd occasions when I actually need to use it. I'm hoping to use the new one for a flashing job for a forum member whom I've kept waiting for rather a long time.

 

Anyway: your account of highs and lows and misery and elation sounds fairly typical of this particular hardware combo. SDX has no impact on the card removal flag, BTW. I'm inclined to blame that on the very same Phi2 problem which would result in misreading the button and scrappy IO on the card.

[leech]

I am weird, when I have issues, I end up spending more time with the machine than if it is working perfectly. So this was very much an awesome learning experience. My Amiga was entertaining... until I got it working just how I wanted, and now I just fire it up occasionally. I need a real area I can set systems up so I can have fun all the time, instead of taking one down and putting up another!

[flashjazzcat]

Since I started cross-developing I hardly use the Ataris at all now in any productive sense. It's kind of a shame, but is probably why repairing and upgrading other people's stuff became appealing (it's then a never-ending cycle, without any worrying about what the stuff's actually going to be used for).

[_The Doctor__]

My upgrades can't be complete until I have FJC's graphical OS...