fujinet #FujiNet - a WIP SIO Network Adapter for the Atari 8-bit

[chad5200]

Hello,

 

I just received my FujiNet and I am loving it!

 

Quick question... my Config screen shows that I am currently on Version 0.5.8934daff.  However, the fujinet-flasher program is saying the latest version is 0.5.72ebaec0.

 

Is it safe to assume that the version I am currently running is newer than the one that the fujinet-flasher program is offering?

 

Thanks,

Chad

 

[tschak909]

Since the firmware is still in active development, the last number is actually a git commit hash, you can type that number into the fujinet-platformio github repository page, and see what changes were folded in., which is not sequential, so a higher number doesn't mean newer.

 

It will stay like this, until we get all the major features ironed out and roll the version # over to 1.0

 

-Thom

[chad5200]

33 minutes ago, tschak909 said:

Since the firmware is still in active development, the last number is actually a git commit hash, you can type that number into the fujinet-platformio github repository page, and see what changes were folded in., which is not sequential, so a higher number doesn't mean newer.

 

It will stay like this, until we get all the major features ironed out and roll the version # over to 1.0

 

-Thom

Thanks for the quick response.  I have successfully flashed the latest firmware on my device.

 

[leech]

1 hour ago, tschak909 said:

Since the firmware is still in active development, the last number is actually a git commit hash, you can type that number into the fujinet-platformio github repository page, and see what changes were folded in., which is not sequential, so a higher number doesn't mean newer.

 

It will stay like this, until we get all the major features ironed out and roll the version # over to 1.0

 

-Thom

See, even old Atari uses Git.  New Atari with their CVS should git with the times!

 

(Someone on face book was calling it the Atari CVS instead of VCS, so the joke had to be made!)

[MrFSL]

My 800XL powers the fujinet. Can I connect it simultaneously to my computer USB or will power from both sources damage the unit?

[tschak909]

In that case, just let the computer power the fujinet.

-Thom

[MrFSL]

There is some conflicting documentation such as wiki pages speaking about systems "FujiNet doesn't come online fast enough" which suggests both can be used simultaneously. Some debugging posts in various threads speak about watching serial output during power-on for instance. So I guess the question remains. Is it destructive to use both power simultaneously and if not - what are these posts about?

[tschak909]

If you have a USB cable connected, the FujiNet will draw its power from the external source, and ignore the +5V power source from the Atari.

 

-THom

[MrFSL]

I have been living under a rock and not following this project... when I heard about it I ran right out to get a device and since then I have been trying to digest as much info as possible. So --- I do apologize if my questions have already been asked. I assure you I have read and search the forums, website, github, etc.

 

So, what is the status of running this alongside SDX carts? Is it on the roadmap? Is it supposed to work? Or is there any documentation regarding it?

[tschak909]

The bootstrap disk containing CONFIG can be read by SDX, it contains the fnc-tools, which are command line versions of all the functionality contained in the CONFIG program.

 

-Thom

[MrFSL]

Thanks Thom. --- Excellent project!

 

I have both an SDX cart as well as an IDE+ so I can do some testing if it would be useful. I just found the bug reporting thread this evening and I could post stuff over there?

 

Once again. Really cool piece of hardware and software.

[Lastic]

Had quite a lot of fun yesterday with my 800XE and 130XE Fujinet equpped Ataris.

Couldn't get MidiMaze to work on my LAN , might be the older firmware ? Although I have the setting on the webpage.

Setup a TNFSD on a GPD Micro PC running Win10 and added it to my firewall, @manterola was able to load disk images in the US from my machine in Belgium at amazing speeds !

To everyone involved in this project , my sincere thanks for making a network geek's dream come true on the 8bit.

[tschak909]

3 hours ago, Lastic said:

Had quite a lot of fun yesterday with my 800XE and 130XE Fujinet equpped Ataris.

Couldn't get MidiMaze to work on my LAN , might be the older firmware ? Although I have the setting on the webpage.

Setup a TNFSD on a GPD Micro PC running Win10 and added it to my firewall, @manterola was able to load disk images in the US from my machine in Belgium at amazing speeds !

To everyone involved in this project , my sincere thanks for making a network geek's dream come true on the 8bit.

You need to update your firmware as there was a regression preventing midimaze from working (changes in how the ledc clock has to be initialized)

-Thom

[+Philsan]

When I swap disks, SAM's voice is very low, I almost don't hear it, is it normal?

It's a very nice feature!

The same happens with SAM-Test.atr I found on fujinet.online

Is it possible to increase volume?

 

[Mr Robot]

Play around with your stereo settings I get half volume if stereo is enabled and mono is playing

[+Philsan]

2 hours ago, Philsan said:

When I swap disks, SAM's voice is very low, I almost don't hear it, is it normal?

It's a very nice feature!

The same happens with SAM-Test.atr I found on fujinet.online

Is it possible to increase volume?

 

 

1 hour ago, Mr Robot said:

Play around with your stereo settings I get half volume if stereo is enabled and mono is playing

 

I have double Pokey.

All the audio comes out from 2 stereo RCA connectors.

 

In fact audio comes out from standard video port too connected to my monitor but I turned off volume.

I increased monitor volume and now I hear SAM!

 

In other words, FujiNet audio comes out from video port and not from double Pokey RCA connectors.

Strange, usually all audio comes out from double Pokey RCA connectors.

[goldy/gmg aka lopez453]

4 hours ago, Philsan said:

In other words, FujiNet audio comes out from video port and not from double Pokey RCA connectors.

Strange, usually all audio comes out from double Pokey RCA connectors.

If you ever used atari tape data recorder, some games played normal music from cassete during loading. Left channel on the tape were actual data, optional right channel contained mono music track that was fed thru SIO CONNECTOR's AUDIO INPUT into computer, where it was mixed with pokey output and gtia BELL and sent to the video port.

 

Fujinet's implementation of SAM is similar. SAM sound is generated in fujinet itself and analog audio is passed to the sio port.

All Dual pokey mods i've seen had

left RCA = left (original) pokey output, right RCA = right pokey output

some had additionally mixed GTIA BELL to both RCA outputs too

some had 4 channel covox mixed to RCA's too (Covox CH1 and CH4 = left RCA, CH2 and CH3 = right RCA)

 

But none of them mixed SIO AUDIO INPUT signal to RCA's, so many people will need to use the monitor speaker as keyclick/tape/fujinet sounds, as You did.

 

If you use SAM program directly on atari, the sound will originate from pokey and come from corresponding RCA.

 

If it's the little SAM that lives in fujinet box speaking, You cannot hear him loud and clear thru DUAL POKEY RCA outputs.

Edited November 5, 2020 by goldy/gmg aka lopez453

[tschak909]

There will be other things that use the AUDIOIN line too. It's wide open.

-Thom

[+David_P]

Planning to order a FujiNet early in the new year(when my Atari budget can afford it).  As someone with multiple Atari computers (I can't reveal the actual number as I'm concerned my wife may read this) my only question is whether the hardware could support multiple Ataris at the same time, or will I have to save to buy multiple FujiNets?

[tschak909]

20 minutes ago, David_P said:

Planning to order a FujiNet early in the new year(when my Atari budget can afford it).  As someone with multiple Atari computers (I can't reveal the actual number as I'm concerned my wife may read this) my only question is whether the hardware could support multiple Ataris at the same time, or will I have to save to buy multiple FujiNets?

One fujinet per Atari, because there is no realistic way an SIO device can become a bus master.

 

-Thom

[+David_P]

17 minutes ago, tschak909 said:

One fujinet per Atari, because there is no realistic way an SIO device can become a bus master.

 

-Thom

Thanks - I was wondering if the underlying hardware could handle multiple device connections.

 

So I guess the 2021 Atari budget will have to be bumped up to acquire multiple Fujinets... but not one for each computer, I don't think I can afford seven (or is it eight - better go re-do the count...)

[gs80065xe]

I received my FUJINET this week. So far it has been working well. I watched Thomas' Youtube video on how to use FNC tools with SpartaDos X. I downloaded the tools from the site he showed. But the doc files were not in the folder like in the video. Found the tools on another site. But they lacked the help files. Can someone please point me to them?

 

I had trouble with FCD. For example, I would FCD N:TNFS://FUJINET.PL/. Then FPWD to verify I was there. But if I tried to FCD to a specific folder on that site, it would show I was there in FPWD. But FDIR would not show the files I know are in that folder. Is this normal. In addition, sometimes I would get SIO ERROR when I tried to FDIR. I've searched online and this thread for SIO ERROR. But failed to get a description. One more thing, are these paths case sensitive? FUJINET.PL has a networking folder. But I had trouble FCD N:NETWORKING. I think the combination that worked for me was FCD N:networking/. Do you need the trailing slash?

 

Oh, I'm about to search elsewhere, but I'll go ahead and ask here. Can FUJINET maintain current time in SpartaDos?

 

Thanks.

[+x=usr(1536)]

Has the FujiNet been tested in conjunction with an SIO2PC?  If the answer is 'no', no big deal, but there's a scenario I'm interested in building for which this combination of hardware would be useful.

 

Basically, I'm getting ready to move the BBS over from its Windows XP-based VM onto physical hardware.  If an SIO2PC were daisy-chained to the FujiNet, that would give me the ability to run the BBS directly off of a diskless A8, complete with modem.  Much more interesting than doing it from one of the RasPis sitting around.

 

If it's not doable, it's not doable, and no huge deal.

[tschak909]

43 minutes ago, gs80065xe said:

I received my FUJINET this week. So far it has been working well. I watched Thomas' Youtube video on how to use FNC tools with SpartaDos X. I downloaded the tools from the site he showed. But the doc files were not in the folder like in the video. Found the tools on another site. But they lacked the help files. Can someone please point me to them?

 

I had trouble with FCD. For example, I would FCD N:TNFS://FUJINET.PL/. Then FPWD to verify I was there. But if I tried to FCD to a specific folder on that site, it would show I was there in FPWD. But FDIR would not show the files I know are in that folder. Is this normal. In addition, sometimes I would get SIO ERROR when I tried to FDIR. I've searched online and this thread for SIO ERROR. But failed to get a description. One more thing, are these paths case sensitive? FUJINET.PL has a networking folder. But I had trouble FCD N:NETWORKING. I think the combination that worked for me was FCD N:networking/. Do you need the trailing slash?

 

Oh, I'm about to search elsewhere, but I'll go ahead and ask here. Can FUJINET maintain current time in SpartaDos?

 

Thanks.

The FCD tool is somewhat broken, and it's because I need to find a way to make it work that interacts cleanly with the existing firmware. I do not recommend using it at this time.

 

The documentation got to be too big (approaching 64 file limit), so it was split off into its own ATR fnc-tools-doc.atr, which you can find on the atari-apps.irata.online TNFS server.

 

Something to note, this entire project is evolving rapidly, so things like outdated documentation and some tools not working are a consequence. We are trying to get everything up to speed as best we can, and can always use some help. This is why everything is open source in this project.

 

Also, yes, the time.com tool in fnc-tools.atr uses the APE TIME protocol to send a time-stamp to the Atari, synchronized from NTP.

 

-Thom

[tschak909]

29 minutes ago, x=usr(1536) said:

Has the FujiNet been tested in conjunction with an SIO2PC?  If the answer is 'no', no big deal, but there's a scenario I'm interested in building for which this combination of hardware would be useful.

 

Basically, I'm getting ready to move the BBS over from its Windows XP-based VM onto physical hardware.  If an SIO2PC were daisy-chained to the FujiNet, that would give me the ability to run the BBS directly off of a diskless A8, complete with modem.  Much more interesting than doing it from one of the RasPis sitting around.

 

If it's not doable, it's not doable, and no huge deal.

I am genuinely confused, and I think you are very much making things 50 times harder than you should be. You have a FujiNet, Why do you need the SIO2PC at all in this scenario? Just move the images over to the SD card. done.

 

-Thom