Bryan Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 Bryan I hope you are planning to be around and making these for a while to come . So in a nutshell, what does RevE bring with it that RevD doesn't? I do plan on continuing. If I ever stop, I'll release everything. I'll probably release all the Rev D stuff when I finish Rev E anyway. I don't want to list the features yet because I don't know how much will make it in there, but a big one is to implement an optional chroma boost that things like the 1200XL and early 2600's had. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mytek Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 one very important question I have !eft. Will the Rev E be a drop in replacement for the Rev D? Or in other words, will it plug straight into a 1088XEL? BTW, glad to hear you will be doing this for a while more . 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Firedawg Posted March 12, 2018 Author Share Posted March 12, 2018 Ok, getting sometime to complete my board and do a test run!!! Oh, goody it boots but not with the expectation that I had. I boots directly to the U1MB menu then all three LED on the keyboard flash in unison. I flashed all pics to Michael's current firmware xel_pic_firmware_1-21-2018. Dang I was close on this one;--) Any ideas? grn1088xel-2.mp4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MacRorie Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 Ok, getting sometime to complete my board and do a test run!!! Oh, goody it boots but not with the expectation that I had. I boots directly to the U1MB menu then all three LED on the keyboard flash in unison. I flashed all pics to Michael's current firmware xel_pic_firmware_1-21-2018. Dang I was close on this one;--) Any ideas? Do the lights on the keyboard continue to flash at a regular interval? If so, try replacing the PIC chip with a new one. Not saying the flash was bad, I am saying the pic chip itself is marginal. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Firedawg Posted March 12, 2018 Author Share Posted March 12, 2018 Thx Mac, I flashed the TK-II chip twice, but did not use another, so I'll do that when I'm home later. I do not see a boot screen menu as it goes directly to the U1MB menu, not sure that behavior is due to a bad PIC chip. We see....Mike UPDATE: Mac was spot on with his advise as the PIC was the culprit!! Flashed it twice and apparently it was defective. Thanks Mac!! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_q_atari Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 (edited) I have been playing around with my 1088XEL over the weekend. It's been over 30 years since I've messed with a computer of this vintage so please kindly tolerate my ignorance and forgive any perceived stupidity. This post might ramble a bit but my focus is on scrambled graphics. The background: I managed to flash the U1MB with a february version of fjc's 1088XEL bios. (.atr file mounted in respeQT connected through USB cable from my PC to the 1088XEL.) This is the only successful respeQT/.atr -> 1088XEL interaction I was able to achieve so far. At some point in my tinkering with the 1088XEL (I have no idea how) a memory test screen came up. I left it alone to do its thing, only to come back later and the graphics (screen display) was all scrambled. (All usage to date has been through UAV svideo connection.) The only way to recover was to leave the battery of the U1MB out for a while with the 1088XEL disconnected from all cables. (I have not yet attempted a re-flash of the U1MB.) Also, I started playing around with the XEL-CF and the CF/sdcard adapter with a microsd/sdcard adapter plugged into it, with a 16Gig samsung microsd card plugged into that. I was able to see files on the card but only within the XEL loader in the BIOS screen. Any attempt to load anything failed, I think it may have locked the machine and I think scrambled the graphics a few times while trying to read the CF card. (I'm working from memory right now.) Again the only way to unscramble graphics was to leave 1088XEL disconnected with U1MB battery removed.) As I understand it, it is not uncommon for a card to be seen in the loader and not actually work properly, so I have some Sandisk 30MB/sec 4gig/8gig/16gig refurb CF cards on order to test with later this week.) When I disabled the MPBI in the BIOS and brought up the XEL loader the graphics display scrambled a bit, but this time simply pressing F12 got me back to 1088XEL bios, and graphics was normal and I could reboot through the BIOS to a normal startup screen. My questions are: Is the scrambled video I have described normal and expected? Is it likely there is a flakey component somewhere in the system? Is there some other test I should do or do I need to re-flash the U1MB? I welcome any thoughts or experiences anyone has had before I continue with my tinkering tonight. Thanks. Edited March 12, 2018 by john_q_atari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_q_atari Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 (edited) Hmm, I set basic to "CAR1" enabled Hard disk, set boot disk to D1: disabled SIO for D1: and now the loader reads my microSD card and executes the Homesoft XEX files. Cool. I still dont see anything in DOS though. But atleast the loader is working. Hmm.. now video is wonky again... going to try reflashing... Edited March 13, 2018 by john_q_atari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MacRorie Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 Hmm, I set basic to "CAR1" enabled Hard disk, set boot disk to D1: disabled SIO for D1: and now the loader reads my microSD card and executes the Homesoft XEX files. Cool. I still dont see anything in DOS though. But atleast the loader is working. Hmm.. now video is wonky again... going to try reflashing... What do you mean by wonky video? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_q_atari Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 What do you mean by wonky video? Inverted color (or pale ghosted amorphous video), blobs of pixels over everything, no text, just illegible pixel blobs where text would be, a giant white vertical bar over the 1088XEL bios screen. If I still get it tomorrow I will post a picture. For now I removed Sophia, swapped GTIA to a new chip, put in a brand new U1MB that I will try flashing tomorrow. If I still get issues then obviously something else in my motherboard is bad... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tickled_Pink Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 I am now seriously tempted to build one of these. Do you need to get the add-ons from the outset or can you just build a stock machine? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Firedawg Posted March 13, 2018 Author Share Posted March 13, 2018 Inverted color (or pale ghosted amorphous video), blobs of pixels over everything, no text, just illegible pixel blobs where text would be, a giant white vertical bar over the 1088XEL bios screen. If I still get it tomorrow I will post a picture. For now I removed Sophia, swapped GTIA to a new chip, put in a brand new U1MB that I will try flashing tomorrow. If I still get issues then obviously something else in my motherboard is bad... jer - make sure all your ICs are seated well. I've noticed when I was inserting a lot of carts that the PCB would flex some causing the ICs to loosen from their sockets which resulted in some screen garbage. Not sure if this is your issue but it would not hurt to check it out. Mike 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 I am now seriously tempted to build one of these. Do you need to get the add-ons from the outset or can you just build a stock machine? UAV and U1MB are mandatory. Sophia/VBXE are optional video upgrades. The stereo pokey is built into the machine, I am not sure if you can just run it with a single pokey chip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mytek Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 UAV and U1MB are mandatory. Sophia/VBXE are optional video upgrades. The stereo pokey is built into the machine, I am not sure if you can just run it with a single pokey chip. I believe a single Pokey should work (the one over the TK-II chip), but I'll test this to be certain. I've been kicking around the idea of making a simple plug-in board to take the place of the U1MB that would just bring the standard MMU, BASIC and OS sockets, and maybe a place for a 2nd 64K SRAM and logic so that you have what is essentially a stock 130XE for people that don't need all the bells and whistles of the U1MB. It would also have provision for a Stereo and V-Gate 'manual' switch and/or shorting jumper block, since the U1MB would no longer be present to control that aspect. Of course you would lose the ability to run the internal CF card interface board, but a patched OS might remedy that. This is all pie in the sky thinking for the moment, so not something that I can be counted on to do. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 Forget using a patched OS to run the CF card, at least in a manner compatible with existing partitioning tools. The U1MB has 8K of code driving the IDE adapter and nearly 1KB if RAM dedicated to the partition table and internal sector buffer. The amount of damage inflicted by omitting U1MB does not seem appealing, and you lose a lot of functionality not even related to the HDD. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Spaced Cowboy Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 Forget using a patched OS to run the CF card, at least in a manner compatible with existing partitioning tools. The U1MB has 8K of code driving the IDE adapter and nearly 1KB if RAM dedicated to the partition table and internal sector buffer. The amount of damage inflicted by omitting U1MB does not seem appealing, and you lose a lot of functionality not even related to the HDD. Plus it fragments the userbase. Whether that's important to Michael is another issue, but having a standard set of can-be-relied-on abilities is a good thing, IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Spaced Cowboy Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 Quick question: Does anyone know what signals the SIO2PC port uses on the back of the 1088XEL ? I can't get SIO2OSX to work at all, and it's offering me 3 different cable-connect types (RI, RTS and DSR). It'd be great if I could narrow down the combinations while trying to get it to work... Or if anyone has got SIO2OSX to work, please let me know how you did it Looks like the serial i/o is working, because if I just link up minicom to the terminal and type "DIR D7:" I get: Welcome to minicom 2.7 OPTIONS: I18n Compiled on Jan 31 2016, 02:47:59. Port /dev/tty.usbserial-AH05K4I1, 15:20:07 Press CTRL-A Z for help on special keys 7S?7S?7S?7S?7S?7S? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MacRorie Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 Quick question: Does anyone know what signals the SIO2PC port uses on the back of the 1088XEL ? I can't get SIO2OSX to work at all, and it's offering me 3 different cable-connect types (RI, RTS and DSR). It'd be great if I could narrow down the combinations while trying to get it to work... Or if anyone has got SIO2OSX to work, please let me know how you did it Looks like the serial i/o is working, because if I just link up minicom to the terminal and type "DIR D7:" I get: Welcome to minicom 2.7 OPTIONS: I18n Compiled on Jan 31 2016, 02:47:59. Port /dev/tty.usbserial-AH05K4I1, 15:20:07 Press CTRL-A Z for help on special keys 7S?7S?7S?7S?7S?7S? If you look just below the SIO2PC board, you should see J4. There are three sets of jumpers, each is labeled. I usually ship with DSR jumpered. I have not tried SIO2SX. You would probably be better off with RespeQt. There is an OS X build. Honestly, however, I find the best thing to do is run the Windows version of RespeQt under Parallels. Works like a charm. EDIT: Also, you should treat it as an RS232 connection (Virtual port) as opposed to a USB port. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mytek Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 Forget using a patched OS to run the CF card, at least in a manner compatible with existing partitioning tools. The U1MB has 8K of code driving the IDE adapter and nearly 1KB if RAM dedicated to the partition table and internal sector buffer. The amount of damage inflicted by omitting U1MB does not seem appealing, and you lose a lot of functionality not even related to the HDD. As I said "pie in the sky ideas" . I sometimes like to toss stuff out there just to see what comes back. So it sounds like that would be a no, for anything other than a test board to just see if the main aspects of a board are working, and to rule out the U1MB as the problem when it's not. Think of it as a diagnostic tool for my own use. In fact I would probably keep it super simple and just have the bare essentials on board (MMU, BASIC and OS ROMs), making it into a 64K system. Quick question: Does anyone know what signals the SIO2PC port uses on the back of the 1088XEL ? I can't get SIO2OSX to work at all, and it's offering me 3 different cable-connect types (RI, RTS and DSR). It'd be great if I could narrow down the combinations while trying to get it to work... Or if anyone has got SIO2OSX to work, please let me know how you did it Looks like the serial i/o is working, because if I just link up minicom to the terminal and type "DIR D7:" I get: Welcome to minicom 2.7 OPTIONS: I18n Compiled on Jan 31 2016, 02:47:59. Port /dev/tty.usbserial-AH05K4I1, 15:20:07 Press CTRL-A Z for help on special keys 7S?7S?7S?7S?7S?7S? You do realize those 3 handshake signals are selectable? Below the BOB FTDI board is a 3x2 header marked from top to bottom DSR, RI, CTS. Using a shorting jumper block across horizontal pins let's you enable a given command line handshake. Just match that up with your program. I just saw MacRorie post the same info . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Spaced Cowboy Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 Thanks MacRorie - I'll take the CF card reader off and have a look. I've just tried RespeQt, and it works fine if I set to NONE as the handshaking mode, but only in 38k mode. I don't expect to use it much, so that'll probably do as a fall-back, but I'll see if I can get the right handshaking working. Cheers Simon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Spaced Cowboy Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 Well, I've got DSR set, and neither RespeQt nor SIOTOOSX were responding to that. I've also got a switch on the FTDI board that's set to 3.3v rather than VCC. Is that correct ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MacRorie Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 Well, I've got DSR set, and neither RespeQt nor SIOTOOSX were responding to that. I've also got a switch on the FTDI board that's set to 3.3v rather than VCC. Is that correct ? Yes, that is correct. I know it works with RespeQt at 19200 at DSR. I have video Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Spaced Cowboy Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 ooooh. Well *I* have video too Maybe it's my cable... Although the data seems to be coming through ok. I was using the tty device, maybe I ought to switch to the cu device and see if that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MacRorie Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 ooooh. Well *I* have video too Maybe it's my cable... Although the data seems to be coming through ok. I was using the tty device, maybe I ought to switch to the cu device and see if that helps. It took me three different cables to find one that worked. AT the time, I cited XKCD. I think it is appropriate here. EDITL: Okay, I am going to stop avoiding the work I have in front of me and close the window. Good luck! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 As I said "pie in the sky ideas" . I sometimes like to toss stuff out there just to see what comes back. So it sounds like that would be a no, for anything other than a test board to just see if the main aspects of a board are working, and to rule out the U1MB as the problem when it's not. Think of it as a diagnostic tool for my own use. In fact I would probably keep it super simple and just have the bare essentials on board (MMU, BASIC and OS ROMs), making it into a 64K system. Understood, although a spare or second U1MB is most useful in those circumstances (I commonly have to eliminate Ultimate as a potential cause of issues when troubleshooting upgraded machines), and you should have one very soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariGeezer Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 (edited) My first board is 99% done, I'll solder in the LED's and crystal after I check for shorts... After I check for shorts and no problem are found, I'll pop in the 555 and do a board power up and check all points for +5 Volts, then pop in the rest and post the results Edit: Fogot to mention that I need to rob a U1MB from a 130xe or 800xl. Which one would you all keep? Edited March 13, 2018 by AtariGeezer 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.