Concerto firmware thread

[1strail]

1 hour ago, 1strail said:

Hi, just got my Concerto.  There was only the cartridge in the box.  Do I only need to load 7800 games and I'm good to go?  I also ordered a socketed Pokey chip, how would I test to see if it is installed or would I just not get any sound?

 

Thanks

I just tried ChopperLift 7800 on a formatted SD and it works fine.  There is the disclaimer which will hopefully disappear once the bugs are worked out in the firmware.  Just need to know where that is posted.

[1strail]

2 hours ago, groundtrooper said:

Go grab @Trebor's 7800 rom pack and drop it on your SD card. Then load up Ballblazer or Commando or the Diagnostic Card bin and you should be able to determine if the POKEY is working. Ballblazer and Commando have Pokey music that plays during the game. Ballblazer is probably the easiest way to tell. The Diagnostic ROM will just show that the POKEY is detected. 

Will do, thanks..  The archive.org dump leaves a lot to be desired.

[Trebor]

12 hours ago, groundtrooper said:

Ballblazer and Commando have Pokey music that plays during the game. Ballblazer is probably the easiest way to tell.

Absolutely.  Regarding Ballblazer, no sound at all if POKEY is not working. 

For Commando, sound effects are TIA, so a person may believe POKEY is fine, if they're unaware that only the background music is impacted by the presence of a working POKEY.

[1strail]

8 hours ago, Trebor said:

Absolutely.  Regarding Ballblazer, no sound at all if POKEY is not working. 

For Commando, sound effects are TIA, so a person may believe POKEY is fine, if they're unaware that only the background music is impacted by the presence of a working POKEY.

Thanks, I thought the easiest way was to take the case apart and just look to see if it's there, but getting the case apart proved to be impossible.  I have plastic edge tools and could not get it apart without fear of breaking it.  On the brighter side, Ballblazer audio works just fine.  I couldn't find the diagnostic file in Tebor's download.

[Trebor]

2 hours ago, 1strail said:

I couldn't find the diagnostic file in Tebor's download.

Under the Utilities folder "7800 Utility Cart (POKEY 4000) (20221220).a78". 

Select "Audio Test".

It will test TIA first, then POKEY.

[+splendidnut]

3 hours ago, 1strail said:

Thanks, I thought the easiest way was to take the case apart and just look to see if it's there, but getting the case apart proved to be impossible.  I have plastic edge tools and could not get it apart without fear of breaking it.  On the brighter side, Ballblazer audio works just fine.  I couldn't find the diagnostic file in Tebor's download.

The Concerto cartridges are typically recycled game cartridges (or new cases that are the same), so there's probably a screw under the label that you need to unscrew.

[1strail]

3 hours ago, Trebor said:

Under the Utilities folder "7800 Utility Cart (POKEY 4000) (20221220).a78". 

Select "Audio Test".

It will test TIA first, then POKEY.

Ok, is this a pass or fail?

 

 

Edited January 25, 2023 by 1strail
Choppy video

[Trebor]

3 minutes ago, 1strail said:

Ok, is this a pass or fail?

IMG_1574.MOVUnavailable  

 

It is "Unavailable".  No worries though...

6 hours ago, 1strail said:

On the brighter side, Ballblazer audio works just fine.

...with Ballblazer working fine, you're good to go.

[1strail]

8 minutes ago, 1strail said:

Ok, is this a pass or fail?

 

 

Sorry, I've uploaded this twice and it's very choppy for some reason.  Works fine in QuickTime on my pc.

[Trebor]

9 hours ago, 1strail said:

Sorry, I've uploaded this twice and it's very choppy for some reason.  Works fine in QuickTime on my pc.

It's a 240MB file, it was probably still uploading at the time.  I recommend taking it down though.  That's relatively a large file for one post hosting on this site.

 

Nonetheless, it only shows the TIA test running.  It may be prudent to double check that definitely...

 

7800 Utility Cart (POKEY 4000) (20221220).a78 

 

...is being loaded, and not...

 

7800 Utility Cart (20161210).a78

 

The latter, would run just the TIA sound test.  The former, should run both the TIA and POKEY test when present.

 

Having sound in Ballblazer though is the litmus test.  You should be fine.

 

After the "Audio Test" menu selection from "7800 Utility Cart (POKEY 4000) (20221220).a78 " completes running, the screen should look like the below with sound heard for every line that appeared:

 

[panamajoe]

just got my HOKEY chip and installed it in my socketed pre-production Concerto. 

Updated the firmware to 0.96

All the games run fine on my PAL-machine, but no POKEY sound...?

any ideas why?

[1strail]

10 hours ago, Trebor said:

It's a 240MB file, it was probably still uploading at the time.  I recommend taking it down though.  That's relatively a large file for one post hosting on this site.

 

Nonetheless, it only shows the TIA test running.  It may be prudent to double check that definitely...

 

7800 Utility Cart (POKEY 4000) (20221220).a78 

 

...is being loaded, and not...

 

7800 Utility Cart (20161210).a78

 

The latter, would run just the TIA sound test.  The former, should run both the TIA and POKEY test when present.

 

Having sound in Ballblazer though is the litmus test.  You should be fine.

 

After the "Audio Test" menu selection from "7800 Utility Cart (POKEY 4000) (20221220).a78 " completes running, the screen should look like the below with sound heard for every line that appeared:

 

Yep, it's definitely the right file.  I hear sounds after the TIA test, but no Pokey Channel lines. I bit the bullet and unscrewed the cartridge and it does have a chip, but it's a Hokey chip.  Would that be the reason why the lines aren't screen printing?  Like I said, Ballblazer works perfectly.  I also ran the console info and it doesn't see the Hokey as a Pokey.

[+x=usr(1536)]

16 hours ago, Trebor said:

Nonetheless, it only shows the TIA test running.  It may be prudent to double check that definitely...

 

7800 Utility Cart (POKEY 4000) (20221220).a78 

 

...is being loaded, and not...

 

7800 Utility Cart (20161210).a78

 

The latter, would run just the TIA sound test.  The former, should run both the TIA and POKEY test when present.

@1strail: Going to be intentionally vague for the moment about why I'm requesting you to do this, but can you give the audio test on the non-POKEY version of the Utility Cart a shot with the HOKEY installed and let us know what happens?  Also, some HOKEYs have been found to have low volume in comparison to the TIA, so you may need to turn up the volume a bit.

30 minutes ago, 1strail said:

Like I said, Ballblazer works perfectly.  I also ran the console info and it doesn't see the Hokey as a Pokey.

Depending on the method that the Utility Cart uses to identify the POKEY, it may not report the HOKEY as present even though it is.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

35 minutes ago, 1strail said:

Yep, it's definitely the right file.  I hear sounds after the TIA test, but no Pokey Channel lines. I bit the bullet and unscrewed the cartridge and it does have a chip, but it's a Hokey chip.  Would that be the reason why the lines aren't screen printing?  Like I said, Ballblazer works perfectly.  I also ran the console info and it doesn't see the Hokey as a Pokey.

My concerto shows the same results and I also have a HOKEY installed. @RevEng would need to verify, but I believe that utility is using the RNG to verify the presence of a POKEY or not and the HOKEY does not have the RNG implemented into it at this time. So I don't believe audio from the HOKEY works on the Utility cart from the Concerto. That said, I have a separate HOKEY installed into an older Mateos flash cartridge and the utility test will play the audio from the HOKEY, but it too reports the POKEY isn't present, and in fact on the audio test, it only shows the TIA channels but after they play, then the additional 4 from my HOKEY start to play the tones even though it doesn't display this on the screen.

 

So as @x=usr(1536) suggested, try turning up the volume on the TV just after the TIA channels to see if you can then sort hear the POKEY audio play through the HOKEY even though it isn't being detected or shown on the screen during the test.

 

[RevEng]

29 minutes ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

My concerto shows the same results and I also have a HOKEY installed. @RevEng would need to verify, but I believe that utility is using the RNG to verify the presence of a POKEY or not and the HOKEY does not have the RNG implemented into it at this time. So I don't believe audio from the HOKEY works on the Utility cart from the Concerto.

Yeah, that's correct.

 

Sadly I was the one that asked Trebor to create that @4000 header version of the utility cart, for exactly this purpose, but I forgot that Concerto didn't have the RNG yet.

[1strail]

3 hours ago, x=usr(1536) said:

@1strail: Going to be intentionally vague for the moment about why I'm requesting you to do this, but can you give the audio test on the non-POKEY version of the Utility Cart a shot with the HOKEY installed and let us know what happens?  Also, some HOKEYs have been found to have low volume in comparison to the TIA, so you may need to turn up the volume a bit.

Depending on the method that the Utility Cart uses to identify the POKEY, it may not report the HOKEY as present even though it is.

@x=usr(1536) Ok, so running the Audio Test under the 7800 Utility Cart.  Unlike the Pokey 4000 test where I get 3 sets of 3 tones for both channel 0 and 1, then it continues with 3 more sets of 3 tones at a lower pitch - with the utility cart, there is nothing audible past the two TIA beep sets.  After TIA channel 0 and 1, it just goes quite.

[1strail]

To be sure, I did it again with the volume jacked up.  Same result

[+x=usr(1536)]

38 minutes ago, 1strail said:

Unlike the Pokey 4000 test where I get 3 sets of 3 tones for both channel 0 and 1, then it continues with 3 more sets of 3 tones at a lower pitch

It sounds like the audio test is able to get the HOKEY to make sound even though it doesn't show as detected (which is the expected behaviour on both counts).  Couple of things to verify:

1. Are you certain that after TIA channels 0 and 1 are tested, there are three more sets of tones and not four?
2. After you hear the second set of tones, does the screen look like the following:

38 minutes ago, 1strail said:

with the utility cart, there is nothing audible past the two TIA beep sets.  After TIA channel 0 and 1, it just goes quite.

Yep, that's also the expected behaviour.  It seems as though your HOKEY is doing what it should, pending the answer to question 1. above.

[1strail]

1 hour ago, x=usr(1536) said:

It sounds like the audio test is able to get the HOKEY to make sound even though it doesn't show as detected (which is the expected behaviour on both counts).  Couple of things to verify:

1. Are you certain that after TIA channels 0 and 1 are tested, there are three more sets of tones and not four?
2. After you hear the second set of tones, does the screen look like the following:

Yep, that's also the expected behaviour.  It seems as though your HOKEY is doing what it should, pending the answer to question 1. above.

I stand corrected!  It is in fact 4 sound sets following the TIA sets.  Thank you for confirming.  Thanks to all for sticking with me through my escapade.  I had no idea there was even a community of folks devoted to such a deep understanding of the older Atari consoles and who share ideas and learnings.  Great bunch!

Edited January 26, 2023 by 1strail

[+Nathan Strum]

On 1/17/2023 at 7:31 PM, x=usr(1536) said:

@Nathan Strum: IIRC, Tower Toppler was one of the titles that didn't work correctly until one of the more recent firmware releases.

 

 

That post has the version of the firmware I'm using (which I believe is the most recent), and I can confirm that Tower Toppler does work under it.

Still a no-go here. After updating the Concerto's firmware to .96, Tower Toppler and Rampage both still crash. Fatal Run now recognizes joystick buttons, but it still crashes as well.

[opossumita]

Same with my pre-production Concerto and A1 NTSC 7800 UAV mod, both 0.95 and latest firmware build... Can't run TOWER TOPPLER Overdump rom after the title screen (Image gets garbled, console hangs), while with retail rom I just get black screen. I really hope this problem will be addressed as soon as possible.

Edited January 30, 2023 by opossumita

[tep392]

I just updated my Concerto to 0.96 and installed my new HOKEY.  Thanks Fred! The audio works as long as the game doesn't try to test for POKEY.  DK XM works fine but it just assumes POKEY is present.  Bently Bear works fine also.  Beefdrop and Froggie are only working with TIA.  Is this normal for HOKEY?  Also, does the Concerto currently respond to writes at $470 for enabling/disabling RAM/POKEY/HSC?

[Mattpsu03]

Same with me for Tower Toppler and the .96 firmware… The overdump rom crashes and the retail rom loads to a black screen.  Rampage and Fatal Run and everything else seems fine though…. 

[+batari]

Hello all,

 

I am working on a number of items with the firmware in parallel and there will be a larger update coming in the future.

 

But for now, I thought I would share a little update, which is two-fold. This version is the same as the last daily build with two important changes:

 

First, Concerto now natively supports Atari 2600 ARM-based games (no need to install Harmony firmware to play these anymore.)

 

Second, future firmware updates through the menu are now fully functional.

 

hbios_concerto_0.96_build_21423_NTSC.bin

 

You will need to use a USB cable to install this firmware, but afterwards you will not need a cable as long as you have a functional firmware of this version or later. The number is the build date - 2/14/23.

 

Next, this is the first version of the Concerto firmware updater that works through the menu. Just run this as if it were a game. It will look for the first "hbios" file it finds on the SD card, and update the firmware based on this file. Note that this firmware updater is for future updates, and cannot be used to install this firmware version on a Concerto with an older firmware. This firmware updater is based on the one for the Harmony cart.

 

Concerto BIOS Updater v1.cu

 

As always, please let me know how it works for you, particularly, regarding the compatibility with the Atari 2600 ARM games.

 

 

 

[+x=usr(1536)]

@batari: Thank you!  Looking forward to testing this.  Stream-of-consciousness observations follow:

 

POKEY still needs to be removed in order to flash successfully.  Once the flash is complete, it can be reinstalled.  No idea if this also affects HOKEY users or not.

 

Just as a reminder to macOS users: you may need to install the 2.0 Beta 2 version of the flasher depending on the version of macOS that you're using.  I'm on Monterey (12.6.3), and it was necessary on this machine.  There is a 2.0 Beta 3 out there, but it crashes at startup.

 

Apologies for the phone camera shots; the A/V setup is in the middle of being redone and the upscaler isn't plugged in right now, so can't do direct captures.

 

Going into the settings menu gives the following:

 

 

Each line is selectable.  Selecting the, "Don't turn off your Atari 7800" line goes to the settings menu.  Selecting any other line results in receiving the, "This function is will be implemented in a future version."  The "is" in bold is superfluous.

 

Savekey & AtariVox support appear to be OK on both the 7800 and 2600 sides.

 

ARM support is awesome 

 

 

Galagon works, but with graphics issues (the same slanting effect appears elsewhere in the demo):

 

 

Mappy seems to be fine, FWIW.

 

And on the 7800 side...

 

Tried running PentaGo (Demo) (20220929a).bin from Trebor's ROM ProPack.  IIRC, there were some graphical glitch issues with this game before the last firmware release.  This is what happens when starting it under the current version:

 

 

This happened regardless of difficulty switch position (I tried all 4 possible combinations).

 

FWIW, BallBlazer and Commando both run fine and generate POKEY sound without issue; ditto homebrews.  Commando still shows the dots in the score area.

 

The Small ROM version of 1942 has similar graphical corruption to the type that was seen in earlier firmware releases with Pengo/PentaGo:

 

 

These are just quick initial observations.  More if / when I find it.