Common code base with UnoCart

[+Andrew Davie]

Can you resist "Pharaoh Cart" - king of all cartridges?

TutanCARTmun... The shell could have a CARTouche on the side.

I'm printing a azure/gold one right now

 

 

[+Al_Nafuur]

5 hours ago, Andrew Davie said:

Can you resist "Pharaoh Cart" - king of all cartridges?

TutanCARTmun... The shell could have a CARTouche on the side.

I'm printing a azure/gold one right now

nice ?

 

But we are not looking for a new name for the PlusCart (or the UnoCart). We are looking for a name for the common code base project.

[+Al_Nafuur]

• Pharaoh Firmware (Tomb)
• Pandora Firmware (Box)
• Hydra Firmware Base
• Trinity Firmware Collection
• 2600 MultiCart Firmware Builder

?

 

[+Al_Nafuur]

New draft build v2.0.15 for UnoCart hardware with:

• Search function (Entries can not be started, because the path is wrong/missing for the file loader)
• Text file reader (hard wrapped at 32 chars)
• SD-Card format function

 

 

no changes to v2.0.14 for the PlusCart build.

 

UnoCart_2.0.15.bin UnoCart_2.0.15.elf

Edited March 7, 2021 by Al_Nafuur

[+splendidnut]

Any chance of getting a load-from-SD version of the firmware for the UnoCart?

[+Al_Nafuur]

3 minutes ago, splendidnut said:

Any chance of getting a load-from-SD version of the firmware for the UnoCart?

You mean flash from SD ? (UnoCart v17 to draft v2.0.15)?

Edited March 8, 2021 by Al_Nafuur

[+splendidnut]

Yup.  My UnoCart is currently at v17.... and I'd like to try out this common firmware on it.  But I don't have a ST-link programmer, so my only option would be to Load/Flash from the SD card.

[+Al_Nafuur]

1 minute ago, splendidnut said:

Yup.  My UnoCart is currently at v17.... and I'd like to try out this common firmware on it.  But I don't have a ST-link programmer, so my only option would be to Load/Flash from the SD card.

I don't recommend that.

 

The firmware flash of the current UnoCart firmware works via ACE bankswitching, it is doable to build a firmware update file to update to v2.0.15. But there will be no (easy) way back to v17, because the firmware flasher of the PlusCart is skipping a certain area in the flash ROM where the user settings are stored (eeprom emulation). So if you switch to v2.0.15 you only can flash from SD the new firmware.

[Wizzard]

There was a question on FB if Pluscart works on Atari Flashback 2 with cart slot. I think it should work, shouldnt it?

 

edit: sorry, I thought I wrote it to the general PlusCart thread, not this one

Edited March 10, 2021 by Wizzard

[+Al_Nafuur]

47 minutes ago, Wizzard said:

There was a question on FB if Pluscart works on Atari Flashback 2 with cart slot. I think it should work, shouldnt it?

 

edit: sorry, I thought I wrote it to the general PlusCart thread, not this one

The FlashBack 2 is (as far as I know) hardware compatible to the 2600 so multicarts (like the PlusCart) should work. But I haven't tested !

[Fierodoug5]

I have a flashback 2 with cart slot. I will try it when I get home.

[+Andrew Davie]

1 hour ago, Al_Nafuur said:

The FlashBack 2 is (as far as I know) hardware compatible to the 2600 so multicarts (like the PlusCart) should work. But I haven't tested !

The only thing I'd be concerned about/interested in would be if the timing on the 32-char kernel is OK.

No flicker, and all characters there/legible, I hope!

 

[Fierodoug5]

I seem to recall the UnoCart and harmony not working on the flashback 2, but I will find out tonight

[+Al_Nafuur]

New draft build v2.0.16 for UnoCart hardware with:

• Search function (Entries can now be started)

Limitations:

• Filenames and folder names must not be longer than 32 characters (they will be displayed but can not be started!)
• Path name and filename must not be longer than 255 characters.
• The SD-Card must not contain a "System" folder at its root dir.
• The search is case insensitive and the match will start at a word boundary. (e.g. search for "PAC" will find "Pacman.bin" but not "space game.bin")

 

again no changes to v2.0.14 for the PlusCart build.

UnoCart_2.0.16.bin UnoCart_2.0.16.elf

[Fierodoug5]

Ok Tested with Flashback 2 with cartridge port mod

The PlusCart Does NOT work

The UnoCart Does NOT work

The Harmony Cart Does work

[Fierodoug5]

2 hours ago, Al_Nafuur said:

New draft build v2.0.16 for UnoCart hardware with

 

Put it on my cart. The search function seems a little hit or miss depending on what you search for, but it is much better than last version

[Wizzard]

4 hours ago, Fierodoug5 said:

Ok Tested with Flashback 2 with cartridge port mod

The PlusCart Does NOT work

The UnoCart Does NOT work

The Harmony Cart Does work

So I do not wonder it does not work on cheap Atari clones either.

[+Al_Nafuur]

New draft build v2.0.17 for UnoCart hardware with:

• Loading Supercharger ROMs from SD-Card
• Loading DF and SB banking ROMs from SD-Card (only up to 160 KiB size)
• bugfix for loading SC ROMs from offline flash

 

bugfix for SC offline ROMs also applies to the PlusCart build.

 

UnoCart_2.0.17.bin UnoCart_2.0.17.elf

[+Al_Nafuur]

New draft build v2.0.18 for UnoCart hardware with:

• Workaround for file/foldernames longer than 32 chars

 

The UnoCart uses two char arrays in the DIR_ENTRY struct to store the filename. One with 32 characters for the display in the menu and one with 12 characters and NULL termination for the 8.3 DOS name for loading from the FAT file system.
Since the UnoCart only allows 80 directory entries, 3680 bytes of memory are reserved for this.

 

The PlusCart however allows 1024 menu entries and therefore needs 48 KiB memory for this struct. Adding the 8.3 DOS names (which are not necessary for loading over the Internet) to this struct would push the required memory over the 60 KiB limit of the CCMRAM. So the workaround is to use the DOS 8.3 names for the menu and for loading if a filename is longer than 32 chars.

 

 

UnoCart_2.0.18.bin UnoCart_2.0.18.elf

[Fierodoug5]

updated mine using the Bin. Working fine

[+Al_Nafuur]

New build v2.3.1 for the UnoCart hardware with:

• Support for new ACE bankswitching provided by @MarcoJ 
• New firmware updater (SD-Card file "firmware.bin") that supports files greater than 112 KiB

 

UnoCart_2.3.1.elf

UnoCart_2.3.1.bin

[Fierodoug5]

Updated my UnoCart(PlusCart hardware) from the SD card, All is well! Thanx 

[alfredtdk]

I'm using Unocar on v.17, I don't have this ST-Link programmer.
My doubt is, would it be too risky to update directly from the bin file?
Has anyone done this and it went well or lost the cart because of it?
If the firmware update has a crash, with corrupted data, is there a way to recover Unocart? Thanks

[+Al_Nafuur]

15 hours ago, alfredtdk said:

I'm using Unocar on v.17, I don't have this ST-Link programmer.
My doubt is, would it be too risky to update directly from the bin file?
Has anyone done this and it went well or lost the cart because of it?

It will not work.

The firmware file generated by the unified codebase only contains the firmware and not the firmware updater. The original UnoCart firmware doesn't has a internal firmware update function, so a new firmware has to be included into a ACE bankswitching file which includes the firmware update function.

 

15 hours ago, alfredtdk said:

If the firmware update has a crash, with corrupted data, is there a way to recover Unocart? Thanks

For the UnoCart the firmware bin file is just a normal ROM, but the detection will not match a bankswitching so you will get an error after loading the bin file.

 

 

[+Al_Nafuur]

To step forward with the development of the firmware and to support new MCUs and new consoles (7800) @ZackAttack and I want to move the unified code base to a project on Github.

 

Therefor we are looking for a name for the project. We thought of collecting some proposals here and making a poll afterwards.