Please test: FG99 firmware for both non-QI and QI

[+OLD CS1]

25 minutes ago, mvancopp said:

The version number in the title area does not change when using the new update, it remains 1.3.

@JJB Is there some way to query the AVR version to make sure the update has taken?  My FG99 is showing v1.Q.

[mvancopp]

11 minutes ago, OLD CS1 said:

@JJB Is there some way to query the AVR version to make sure the update has taken?  My FG99 is showing v1.Q.

Hi @OLD CS1,

Did your AVR update behave as @JJB described, light up for a short period and then off, or did it behave the way @dhe described (and I experience each try), flashes quickly seemingly without end?

 

Maybe the quick flashing is trying to indicate an update failure of some sort. There does not appear to be a pattern to the flashing. The flash interval appears consistent and without pause.

 

Thanks,

Mark

[JJB]

And it still shows the normal signs of updating the AVR code (LED is lit for a brief time, much quicker than updating the CPLD)? 

[JJB]

4 hours ago, OLD CS1 said:

@JJB Is there some way to query the AVR version to make sure the update has taken?  My FG99 is showing v1.Q.

Not that I can think off. The version is just a graphic but at the same it's confirmation that the update has succeeded. I'll have a look in the AVR source tomorrow, see what it could be. If the update doesn't work but the FG99 still does it may point to the bootloader. 

[JJB]

6 hours ago, mvancopp said:

Hi @OLD CS1,

Did your AVR update behave as @JJB described, light up for a short period and then off, or did it behave the way @dhe described (and I experience each try), flashes quickly seemingly without end?

 

Maybe the quick flashing is trying to indicate an update failure of some sort. There does not appear to be a pattern to the flashing. The flash interval appears consistent and without pause.

 

Thanks,

Mark

Just quickly looking through the source, if the LED just flashes on and off after trying to update the AVR without a further pattern, it can't open the SD card; 2 flashes mean either failing to open or read from the update file.

 

I'll see if I can put a short video together of what the update process for either CPLD or AVR looks like.

[+dhe]

>Just quickly looking through the source, if the LED just flashes on and off after trying to update the AVR without a further pattern, it can't open the SD card;

 

How does one fix this, as it all seemed to work with the first update, which was also on the same sd card?

[+OLD CS1]

11 hours ago, mvancopp said:

Did your AVR update behave as @JJB described, light up for a short period and then off, or did it behave the way @dhe described (and I experience each try), flashes quickly seemingly without end?

The former.  My updates all went without a hitch.  That said, initially I had problems because the original SD card I use is apparently not ready as quickly as the FG99, so it did, then, do the flashy-flashy thing.  Once I used a better SD card, all is well.

[mvancopp]

6 hours ago, OLD CS1 said:

The former.  My updates all went without a hitch.  That said, initially I had problems because the original SD card I use is apparently not ready as quickly as the FG99, so it did, then, do the flashy-flashy thing.  Once I used a better SD card, all is well.

@OLD CS1, thanks for the tip. I went back and tried a new SanDisk and Verbatim SD card (the original is a Gigastore) but they did not work either. Failed with the same symptom. ? 

 

Mark

 

[+OLD CS1]

Just now, mvancopp said:

@OLD CS1, thanks for the tip. I went back and tried a new SanDisk and Verbatim SD card (the original is a Gigastore) but they did not work either. Failed with the same symptom. ? 

 

Mark

I have had good luck with the smaller SanDisks, 1GB and under.  I have a bunch of 256MB SanDisk microSDs that I like to use.  Others can point you in the direction of larger ones that they know work well.  The 8GB I have problems with is a SanDisk Ultra SDHC Class 10.

[+dhe]

I'm in IT so I have a bunch of "small" 256MB SanDisk which is what I was using in my failed experiment.

 

 

[+OLD CS1]

1 minute ago, dhe said:

I'm in IT so I have a bunch of "small" 256MB SanDisk which is what I was using in my failed experiment.

Interesting.  Good luck, then.  I am fortunate enough to have everything work just fine.

[JJB]

2 hours ago, dhe said:

I'm in IT so I have a bunch of "small" 256MB SanDisk which is what I was using in my failed experiment.

 

 

Are they all the same brand/type and did you try any others? 

Edited June 23, 2022 by JJB
Clarity

[+dhe]

I used the same 256MB SanDisk. Formatted it clean to fat32 as @arcadeshoppersuggested.

[JJB]

I would suggest to try a complete different type of SD card if you can. I have tried several ranging from 1G to 32G and they all worked. 256MB sounds rather dated, they might be too slow maybe? 

[mvancopp]

On 6/22/2022 at 10:49 PM, JJB said:

I would suggest to try a complete different type of SD card if you can. I have tried several ranging from 1G to 32G and they all worked. 256MB sounds rather dated, they might be too slow maybe? 

I have obtained a 256MB Sandisk and Kodak SD card, both fail with the same symptom. I have tried 1GB, 4GB, 8GB, and 32GB SD cards from various manufacturers on two FinalGrom cartridges and all fail as described earlier. At this point I think we can rule out the SD cards as the culprit. It seems far more likely there is an issue in the design or in the bootloader/updating software. ? Please don't take offense, just pointing out where the likely resolution will come from. Thanks for your efforts @JJB, the QI owners have a path to use FG now (and I hope I can find a QI system someday myself).

 

Mark

 

[JJB]

He Mark, no offense taken whatsoever, I think it's great you go through the testing trouble; the TI community will benefit from it. 

 

Apologies you might have mentioned it, but is the CPLD update not working, the AVR not working or both? 

 

The QI update files are generated exactly as the originals and there is no checksum or something like that involved. If the QI updates are not working on your system, the originals shouldn't either.

 

I have 2 TI's (1 QI), randomly bought on Ebay and have 2 FG99 cartridges. I have updated each cartridge at least 50 times, used on both systems and literally not once it didn't work.

 

If you still feel like it, you could download an older version from Ralph's website, see if that works and then update to the largest again? 

 

Fully understand if you're done testing ?

Edited June 30, 2022 by JJB
Formatting

[mvancopp]

On 6/30/2022 at 4:48 AM, JJB said:

He Mark, no offense taken whatsoever, I think it's great you go through the testing trouble; the TI community will benefit from it. 

 

Apologies you might have mentioned it, but is the CPLD update not working, the AVR not working or both? 

 

The QI update files are generated exactly as the originals and there is no checksum or something like that involved. If the QI updates are not working on your system, the originals shouldn't either.

 

I have 2 TI's (1 QI), randomly bought on Ebay and have 2 FG99 cartridges. I have updated each cartridge at least 50 times, used on both systems and literally not once it didn't work.

 

If you still feel like it, you could download an older version from Ralph's website, see if that works and then update to the largest again? 

 

Fully understand if you're done testing ?

@JJB

The CPLD update appears to complete using your supplied steps and the behavior of the LEDs (I don't know how to verify the update truely worked).

 

I will carve out some time over the next couple days to download and test the original 1.3 code.

 

No problems with the continued testing. ?

 

Mark

 

[+dhe]

And as soon as it works for @mvancopp - I'll try again!

[mvancopp]

On 6/30/2022 at 4:48 AM, JJB said:

He Mark, no offense taken whatsoever, I think it's great you go through the testing trouble; the TI community will benefit from it. 

 

Apologies you might have mentioned it, but is the CPLD update not working, the AVR not working or both? 

 

The QI update files are generated exactly as the originals and there is no checksum or something like that involved. If the QI updates are not working on your system, the originals shouldn't either.

 

I have 2 TI's (1 QI), randomly bought on Ebay and have 2 FG99 cartridges. I have updated each cartridge at least 50 times, used on both systems and literally not once it didn't work.

 

If you still feel like it, you could download an older version from Ralph's website, see if that works and then update to the largest again? 

 

Fully understand if you're done testing ?

I downloaded v1.3 from Ralph's FG99 site and put it on the SD cards and the same failure and symptoms occur.

I opened the FG99 case and checked the components and the chips match the requirements in GitHub. Both FG99 I hv=ave were bought from the same place at the same time and use the SD socket and not the SD shield. Maybe yours uses the shield and this introduces a small timing difference???

Also, one of my FG99s is never ready when powered up, you must always press the FG reset. The other comes up nearly all the time on power-up (but not quite 100%). The 1.1 update added .5ms delay trying to correct this (happens on all SD cards). Just FYI in case the info helps.

 

Mark

 

[wierd_w]

I would suggest a 32mb one.

 

This could be an issue with trying to parse a very large fat, in a timing sensitive operation.

 

A very small fat may resolve the issue.

 

(Either alter the partition to make it real small on a larger card, or use the smaller card)

 

Other considerations: What does the partition table of the sdcard look like on the troubled units? Perhaps there is an issue with tables made with certain tools or OSes.

[mvancopp]

16 minutes ago, wierd_w said:

I would suggest a 32mb one.

 

This could be an issue with trying to parse a very large fat, in a timing sensitive operation.

 

A very small fat may resolve the issue.

 

(Either alter the partition to make it real small on a larger card, or use the smaller card)

 

Other considerations: What does the partition table of the sdcard look like on the troubled units? Perhaps there is an issue with tables made with certain tools or OSes.

Thanks for the suggestion. An 8MB partition with only the UPDATE.AVR file fails the same way with the same behavior. 256MB is the smallest SD I have.

 

Mark

 

[atrax27407]

Does anyone have an FG99 that is fully and consistently functional? There seems to be a series of problems reported lately.

[+arcadeshopper]

On 5/10/2022 at 3:03 PM, JJB said:

After a 10-month quest full of rabbit holes and red herrings see attached updated FinalGrom99 firmware to make it run on the QI as well as on the non-QI.

 

At this stage it has been tested by a couple of members with mostly positive results; one member was unable to get the update to run on either console. I suspect this could be a problem with the SD card, FG99 is quite finicky with these (Ralph mentions this on his website as well). Another member had the same problem initially but after switching to another SD all is well.

 

Anyway, if you can please test this firmware on either a QI, non-QI or (even better) on both and report back the results. FG99 is an awesome cartridge, the QI is a great console so the two should be finally able to meet ? 

 

Instructions:

 

- make sure SD card is either FAT or FAT32 formatted
- save update CPLD file as UPDATE.PLD file in / of the SD card
- stick SD card in FG99 and press reload button
- LED lights up for a while
- after LED turns off remove SD card
- delete UPDATE.PLD file
- reset FG99
- save update AVR file as UPDATE.AVR file in / of the SD card
- stick SD card in FG99 and press reload button
- LED lights up shortly
- after LED turns off remove SD card
- delete UPDATE.AVR file
- stick SD card back in FG99
- reset FG99

 

Cheers and thanks!

 

Jochen

JB_update.avr 17.39 kB · 31 downloads JB_UPDATE.PLD 79.06 kB · 29 downloads FG99ORG_update.avr 17.39 kB · 24 downloads ORG13_UPDATE.PLD 79.06 kB · 25 downloads

This worked fine following these instructions including the filename's 

 

just loaded pitfall on a 2.2qi console 

[+OLD CS1]

5 hours ago, atrax27407 said:

Does anyone have an FG99 that is fully and consistently functional? There seems to be a series of problems reported lately.

I have one which has never been flakey, and a second which is only flakey with a specific SD card.  This behavior is consistent across five consoles.

[+arcadeshopper]

This worked fine following these instructions including the filename's 
 
just loaded pitfall on a 2.2qi console 

Pacman has an interesting issue on the 2.2qi
Other games like defender don't have this issue so it must be something they're doing grabbing the font from a memory location maybe and it's off a little

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