Pokeymax v2

[foft]

The dev guide obviously has a lot of details for the developers, but it does explain quite a lot:

http://www.64kib.com/pokeymax_files/pokeymax_dev_126.pdf

 

This diagram might help too, though it is somewhat out of date:

 

pokeymax_block.pdf

[foft]

4 hours ago, Jacques said:

On IK or Draconus music I've expierienced signifficant distortion, before I proceed with next steps, I'd like to sort this one first. Did someone experience similiar issue, please?

The thing is, the most options of PokeyCfg seem rather misterious

Pretty sure post divide is meant to be 2 on the channel 1 (Atari internal output) on the Pokeymax v3. IIRC I corrected that default on a second edition of core 1.23, perhaps this was flashed with the original one.

 

Probably worth upgrading to 1.27. Also connect up the stereo output, its much better.

[Jacques]

Thanks Guys! 

 

@TheMontezuma

The video helped a lot!

 

@foft

Yes, I've read it (dev doc. ) briefly before, but it wasn't too intuitive at first, now with more knowledge it may get better

And changing post divide setting fixed the distortion (obviously), great! 

 

@MADRAFi

Your configurator is really useful as well with clean menu system, good job! 

 

@Duddie

Last but not least, Retronics! What an excellent piece of hardware PokeyMax is, to have that many capabilities in one device 🏆👍

[spookt]

Hey Folks

 

I finally got my hands on a PokeyMax V 2 from RetroLemon. I'm waiting on some right angle headers to come in to hook up audio out etc, but obviously couldn't wait to try the thing out. The Pokey in my daily driver 800XL is already socketed so I whipped the Pokey out, replaced the 10uF cap below it so I could lie it down out of the way and dropped in PokeyMax.

 

At this point I was expecting the system to behave as if it had a stock single Pokey. I haven't made any other connections and in fact the installation instructions suggest testing the system for keyboard, SIO etc function at this point. 

 

I'm seeing some pretty random SIO behaviour in the system right now. I've tested with two FujiNet devices and a real stock 1050 and I'm getting random timeouts and hangs when booting disks or images. SIO polling noise (the Atari Fart (tm)) etc. 

 

I managed to get the config tool to load by mounting it on FujiNet and repeatedly hitting break when the timeouts occur and I get random characters instead of a core version so I guess something weird is going on. Corrupted flash? Do I need to USB Blast the thing? 

 

Screen shot of config tool running:

 

EDIT - Machine has U1Mb and VBXE installed too.

Edited October 12, 2023 by spookt

[+scorpio_ny]

Hi @spookt,

 

Congrats on getting the Pokeymax. I have a version 2 (in an XE  remake)and version 3 (800XL with U1MB, Side 3 verion1 and Sophia 2).

A couple of things:

1. When you load the config utility, it is recommended to put it on a bootable dos disk/atr image. Do not make any config changes using the xex standalone file or you will risk bricking your Pokeymax.

 

2. The config utility will not work properly until you wire up the other connections for for your Pokeymax to tour computer. It needs access to the CPU lines to make the changes and also to make firmware updates. I can tell by your screenshot that is wired yet since it is not displaying the correct firmware of your Pokeymax (it is showing random characters where it says “Core” because the computer has no access to poll the PokeyMax).  I am assuming you are using PAL system and I believe the Pokeymax is sent with PAL timing. In my case, some issues because I was using an NTSC machine and I had to switch to NTSC on my Pokeymax.

 

3. With all of the different hardware in your machine, you may need to make some more adjustments. You try turning off HSIO if you have it enabled as a first test.
 

Edited October 12, 2023 by scorpio_ny
corrections and additions

[woj]

7 hours ago, scorpio_ny said:

1. When you load the config utility, it is recommended to put it on a bootable dos disk/atr image. Do not make any config changes using the xex standalone file or you will risk bricking your Pokeymax.

I am not (yet) an owner of PokeyMax in any version, but I'd really like to know why?

[foft]

For Fujinet you need the latest firmware. It should be on it but can’t be sure until you connect up the address lines.

 

For the 1050, did you remove the SIO filter caps on data out and data in?

 

Re loading xex without DOS. DOS is needed to load files, for example a new core. I’d expect the file access to just fail to read anything though rather than bricking the pokeymax. Though I did get a report of bricking so perhaps there is a bug in the error handling.

 

The PAL/NTSC setting is only a detail of how it synthesises an approximate 1MHz or 2MHz clock from the Atari clock. It shouldn’t break anything just the sid/psg frequencies will be slightly off.

Edited October 13, 2023 by foft

[spookt]

This is an 800XL. I thought only the XE line has the SIO filter caps?

 

I'm pretty sure the my FujiNets have the latest firmware but I'll check.

 

As far as the config tool goes I haven't tried to flash the core because of the SIO problems. I'll make up a DOS disk and load the flash from there and see if there are any different results identifying the version.

 

My headers should come in tomorrow so I can wire the thing properly, but I really expected basic SIO to work without that. That's definitely implied in the instructions.

EDIT - It might be work clarifying that I can’t boot ANYTHING reliably with the PokeyMax installed from a physical or virtual drive. 

 

 

Edited October 13, 2023 by spookt
Spelling

[spookt]

OK. So I made up a physical floppy with DOS 2.5 and the pokeycfg_1.3_xex file and there's no difference in behaviour. (I've takn everything off the SIO chain except a stock 1050 and put the system into stock mode in the U1Mb BIOS) I'm going to wait for my headers to come in so I can wire things up properly but I'm not particularly hopeful.

 

Can anyone confirm that once the PokeyMax is installed in place of the original chip, before making other connections, the system should behave normally? Eg. should I be able to boot DOS 2.5 from a physical floppy?

[foft]

Yes it should just work.

[spookt]

4 minutes ago, foft said:

Yes it should just work.

It doesn’t 🤪

 

However I’ve just dropped it into a stock 800XL board which was already socketed and SIO seems to work fine. Sigh. Why is nothing ever straightforward?
 

I don’t think there’s much point doing the full install in my U1mb machine until I can see good SIO and so I need to understand what the issue with that machine is. it works perfectly fine with a stock Pokey. I can run high speed SIO, Side 2, SpartaDOS and real or virtual floppies, games etc with no issue at all. It my daily driver and has been rock solid. It apparently just doesn’t like PokeyMax!
 

 

[foft]

4 hours ago, spookt said:

This is an 800XL. I thought only the XE line has the SIO filter caps?

I thought all 800XLs have them, is that not the case?

 

See the pics here:

http://blog.3b2.sk/igi/post/Vysokorychlostny-prenos-dat-High-speed-transfer.aspx

Edited October 13, 2023 by foft
Found picture

[spookt]

21 minutes ago, foft said:

I thought all 800XLs have them, is that not the case?

 

See the pics here:

http://blog.3b2.sk/igi/post/Vysokorychlostny-prenos-dat-High-speed-transfer.aspx

Yes. I was mistaken, apologies. I’ll try lifting them and see if it makes a difference. Not sure why it should when I’ve been successfully running up to the highest speeds with a stock Pokey?

[+scorpio_ny]

5 hours ago, spookt said:

As far as the config tool goes I haven't tried to flash the core because of the SIO problems. I'll make up a DOS disk and load the flash from there and see if there are any different results identifying the version.

Jus a reminder: It will not work until you wire up the Pokeymax. It does not matter if you load it from DOS.

[spookt]

edit: duplicate post

Edited October 13, 2023 by spookt
Dup

[foft]

Slow rising edges and a much more modern process node. I think anyway, not really experimented much with this to be honest.

[spookt]

34 minutes ago, spookt said:

Yes. I was mistaken, apologies. I’ll try lifting them and see if it makes a difference. Not sure why it should when I’ve been successfully running up to the highest speeds with a stock Pokey?

I’ve lifted the caps and it’s made no difference. 
 

22 minutes ago, scorpio_ny said:

Jus a reminder: It will not work until you wire up the Pokeymax. It does not matter if you load it from DOS.

Yeah. I’m ignoring the config program for now and just concentrating on getting basic SIO working reliably. 

[foft]

There is this, but it shouldn’t impact the 1050:

http://www.64kib.com/pokeymax_files/pokeymax_600xl_improvement.pdf
 

Is the 800xl otherwise stock?

[spookt]

26 minutes ago, foft said:

There is this, but it shouldn’t impact the 1050:

http://www.64kib.com/pokeymax_files/pokeymax_600xl_improvement.pdf
 

Is the 800xl otherwise stock?

Nope. It has U1mb and VBXE

[foft]

I’d suggest connecting up the address lines and checking its the latest core. There have been a few bad ones in the past. The minimal  connection is A4 with the other address inputs (if any) grounded.

Edited October 13, 2023 by foft

[+scorpio_ny]

Here is another suggestion to try Which may or may not work. @flashjazzcat had an issue with Fujinet in one case even when it worked with another peripheral and he replaced the PIA chip. Here is a link to the video.

 

Maybe it could be a marginal PIA? Could you try swapping the PIA to see if it resolves the issue? Hopefully it is socketed.

 

[spookt]

On 10/13/2023 at 4:30 PM, scorpio_ny said:

Here is another suggestion to try Which may or may not work. @flashjazzcat had an issue with Fujinet in one case even when it worked with another peripheral and he replaced the PIA chip. Here is a link to the video.

 

Maybe it could be a marginal PIA? Could you try swapping the PIA to see if it resolves the issue? Hopefully it is socketed.

 

I finally had some time to connect up the address lines. Also identified that this is the Quad Auto version. It has core 127M04QA which looks like its the latest?

 

I tried 3 spare PIAs but without much improvement. Still bad SIO which feels very much like a timing issue (hitting break will resume the SIO operation and things eventually load, which is how I can boot the config program).

 

I have installed it in a spare stock 800XL where it seems to behave normally so there must be something about my main machine it doesn't like. I'm guessing other folks are using PokeyMAX in conjunction with VBXE and U1Mb?

 

Oh and by the way - if and when I get it running is the hardware the same across these devices? Can you flash a different core to get different functionality? (COVOX vs Quad Pokey etc)?

[+scorpio_ny]

1 hour ago, spookt said:

I finally had some time to connect up the address lines. Also identified that this is the Quad Auto version. It has core 127M04QA which looks like its the latest?

That sound much better!

1 hour ago, spookt said:

I tried 3 spare PIAs but without much improvement. Still bad SIO which feels very much like a timing issue (hitting break will resume the SIO operation and things eventually load, which is how I can boot the config program).

Possibly. I will see if there are anything else to try. It seems there is some variance of behavior between machines. Another thing: What power supply are you using?

1 hour ago, spookt said:

I have installed it in a spare stock 800XL where it seems to behave normally so there must be something about my main machine it doesn't like. I'm guessing other folks are using PokeyMAX in conjunction with VBXE and U1Mb?

I do not have VBXE, but I have a Pokeymax 3 on an 800XL with U1MB and Sophia 2 and works fine.

1 hour ago, spookt said:

Oh and by the way - if and when I get it running is the hardware the same across these devices? Can you flash a different core to get different functionality? (COVOX vs Quad Pokey etc)?

I believe the answer is no. Some of the additional functionality requires the correct version of the FPGA matched firmware. @foft would be able to offer the definitive answer to this question.

[foft]

There are four board versions:

pokeymax v1: abbuc contest entry

pokeymax v2: 3 spare inputs, improvised audio out

pokeymax v2b: added audio out capacitors

pokeymax v3: op amp audio output with mixing, lots of spare inputs

 

Then there are the fpga sizes used:

M02: original one used for v1 and early v2. No flash support, fits up to stereo.

M04: Flash support, fits up to stereo+ Covox or quad.

M08: Flash support, fits up to quad pokey + dual psg or dual sid

M16: Flash support, fits everything: quad pokey, dual sid, dual psg and ‘Paula’ like sample engine.

 

So for flashing you need to match fpga size and board version. The rest can be changed, but the inputs are used differently so you might need to require the address inputs etc.

[foft]

As for this sio problem, not sure what is going on if you tried the capacitors and resistors and have the latest core. Do you have an oscilloscope?