Experimental 2600+ Firmware and Dumper

[Thran]

15 hours ago, raz0red said:

Hold both buttons and push up for 5 seconds to enter debug screen on 7800.

 

Chris.

Thanks for the info. Here's the Possible Mission cart info.  I hope it helps to debug.

I also own a copy of Cave In.   I will test it when I get home from work. 

Edited February 22 by Thran
Added name of cartridge for reference.

[raz0red]

1 hour ago, Thran said:

Thanks for the info. Here's the Possible Mission cart info.  I hope it helps to debug.

I also own a copy of Cave In.   I will test it when I get home from work. 

Yeah, size is wrong and type is incorrect.

 

Just to confirm, you are using the latest dumper version (1.1.0.9)?

 

Thanks a lot for the info, really appreciate it.

Chris.

 

Edited February 22 by raz0red

[Thran]

7 minutes ago, raz0red said:

Yeah, size is wrong and type is incorrect.

 

Just to confirm, you are using the latest dumper version (1.1.0.9)?

 

Thanks a lot for the info, really appreciate it.

Chris.

 

Yes. I am using version 1.1.0.9

[Thran]

4 hours ago, Thran said:

 

I also own a copy of Cave In.   I will test it when I get home from work. 

 

I just tried my copy of Cave In.  See pic.

[Spanner]

Delete Please wrong place...

Edited February 23 by Spanner

[Pac-Man Senior]

Thanks for this experimental firmware. I recently installed it and tested a few PAL carts. It's a lot better than version 1.0 for these games. And I didn't notice any new problems with a few ntsc games I own (for example Space Invaders). I don't own any special carts with 8, 16 or 32K, or these special sound chips. But I want to report some things I noticed:

 

1. My TV says "60p" when I power on and when the game is dumped it says "60p" again. When I turn on for example my C64 mini (atgames) which is set on PAL output the same TV says "50p".

 

2. In Bowling the ball is a bit stuttering shortly after releasing it. A few moments later it rolls smoothly. And it rolls smoothly on the way back. 

 

3. In Frogger the trees, cars and other platforms move smoothly but there is the same problem as on version 1.0: The line the frog is staying on is flickering and has some graphical issues. And the frog sometimes disappears for a very short moment. I saw this for example multiple times on the first road line after starting a game.

 

4. In Pac-Man sometimes a ghost is invisible for a very short time. 

 

5. I tested Circus Atari with paddles and it's very jumpy. But I think this was also the case in 1.0. The rest of the game is absolutely smooth.

 

All in all, this firmware is a good "bridge" for the time a PAL guy like me has to wait for an official patch of the 50hz problem. Thanks again!

Edited February 24 by Pac-Man Senior
"flickering" instead of "flickerung" :)

[raz0red]

1 hour ago, Pac-Man Senior said:

Thanks for this experimental firmware. I recently installed it and tested a few PAL carts. It's a lot better than version 1.0 for these games. And I didn't notice any new problems with a few ntsc games I own (for example Space Invaders). I don't own any special carts with 8, 16 or 32K, or these special sound chips. But I want to report some things I noticed:

 

1. My TV says "60p" when I power on and when the game is dumped it says "60p" again. When I turn on for example my C64 mini (atgames) which is set on PAL output the same TV says "50p".

 

2. In Bowling the ball is a bit stuttering shortly after releasing it. A few moments later it rolls smoothly. And it rolls smoothly on the way back. 

 

3. In Frogger the trees, cars and other platforms move smoothly but there is the same problem as on version 1.0: The line the frog is staying on is flickering and has some graphical issues. And the frog sometimes disappears for a very short moment. I saw this for example multiple times on the first road line after starting a game.

 

4. In Pac-Man sometimes a ghost is invisible for a very short time. 

 

5. I tested Circus Atari with paddles and it's very jumpy. But I think this was also the case in 1.0. The rest of the game is absolutely smooth.

 

All in all, this firmware is a good "bridge" for the time a PAL guy like me has to wait for an official patch of the 50hz problem. Thanks again!

What version is being displayed in the lower right during the loading screen?

[Pac-Man Senior]

1 hour ago, raz0red said:

What version is being displayed in the lower right during the loading screen?

1.1x-r1 I took the file from this thread.

[Pac-Man Senior]

The moment I checked the version I noticed the following: I switched hdmi source to my pc in order to write my answer. And then I switched back to the 2600+ and my TV says "50p"! The 2600+ was in the game Bowling in standby mode. Obviously the TV handles out the correct frame rate. But it's interesting to see: Power on -> "60p" Dumping the game -> "60p" After some seconds in the game -> "50p"

[DEANJIMMY]

58 minutes ago, Pac-Man Senior said:

The moment I checked the version I noticed the following: I switched hdmi source to my pc in order to write my answer. And then I switched back to the 2600+ and my TV says "50p"! The 2600+ was in the game Bowling in standby mode. Obviously the TV handles out the correct frame rate. But it's interesting to see: Power on -> "60p" Dumping the game -> "60p" After some seconds in the game -> "50p"

That is normal and was the same in 1.1 beta rev1.

It changes right after game start.

 

If you load a 7800 game you can even force it into PAL with A+B and down on the pad/joystick right in that moment.

This is only necessary for some PAL homebrews if the md5 hash is not listed in a conf file yet.

[Pac-Man Senior]

I checked the games from the included 10in1 cartridge. These games seem to run as they should in 60hz. But there is one exception: Maze Craze is in 50p. I have no idea why. I thought all these 10 games were NTSC. I tried it several times. Always 50p for Maze Craze and it seems to run properly.

[raz0red]

21 minutes ago, Pac-Man Senior said:

I checked the games from the included 10in1 cartridge. These games seem to run as they should in 60hz. But there is one exception: Maze Craze is in 50p. I have no idea why. I thought all these 10 games were NTSC. I tried it several times. Always 50p for Maze Craze and it seems to run properly.

Yeah, it will be fixed in the next update.

 

Thanks,

Chris.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

BTW: Why is this called "experimental"?

[raz0red]

3 hours ago, Thomas Jentzsch said:

BTW: Why is this called "experimental"?

Good question, there are a several reasons, but primarily (copied from the first post):

 

Quote

Instead of making this firmware the next beta release, it seemed to make more sense to create a new thread due to how significant the changes are in this version. For example, the video output portion has been rewritten to optimize its performance. Thus, it is very possible that there may be regressions. But, the hope is that this experimental firmware will evolve into an upcoming beta release. 

And

Quote

This is an experimental build, not an official Atari/Plaion release, so please use at your own risk.

 

At this point, we haven't seen a lot (none that I know of) regressions with this firmware vs. the beta one, so referring to it as experimental may not make as much sense as it did initially. A better way to think about  this thread is that it is sort of an equivalent of a nightly build which may have regressions, issues, etc. But, once we have a stable version, it would be promoted to the main Beta thread and an official build would be created (by Atari/Plaion). The issue we wanted to avoid was people installing this firmware and not being prepared to have breaking changes, etc. as we try to push it forward.

 

Hopefully that makes sense,

Chris.

Edited February 24 by raz0red

[+LS650]

We have seen firmware Beta 1.1 Rev 1, Beta 1.1 Rev 2, and this version which folks just seem to call 'experimental'.

Do I have that right..?  

[RevEng]

9 minutes ago, LS650 said:

We have seen firmware Beta 1.1 Rev 1, Beta 1.1 Rev 2, and this version which folks just seem to call 'experimental'.

Do I have that right..?  

Correct

[Thomas Jentzsch]

47 minutes ago, raz0red said:

Hopefully that makes sense,

 

Absolutely!

[GabeShack]

Not sure if this was asked, has anyone tried the 7800GD with the 2600+ and any version of the firmware beta or not?

[RevEng]

30 minutes ago, GabeShack said:

Not sure if this was asked, has anyone tried the 7800GD with the 2600+ and any version of the firmware beta or not?

SainT advised to not bother. 7800GD interacts with the 7800 console boot, and won't work in any capacity in a dumper.

[Trebor]

All aboard the 2600+ train!  Here are the testing results with my 7800 cartridges.

 

Environment and miscellaneous info:

TV Model: Samsung UN50TU7000FXZA
Software Version: T-KTSU2AKUC-2501.1 (Software up to date)

 

Controllers leveraged: Proline CX24, Paddles CX30+

 

Typical experience: Power up console, white Atari logo shows, screen then goes to "Detecting Device", need to press "Return" or "Exit" on remote to see Atari logo again and/or "Loading Game..." screen.

 

Afterwards, absolutely perfect.  No tearing, stuttering, or delays.

 

I updated the dumper with the software provided from the other thread as well.   So, the complete 2600+ configuration for this testing is Dumper 01.01.00.02 & update-021724-1.1x-r1-debug.  This is indicated on the attached spreadsheet as well.

 

A few cartridges* with a loading game or blank screen issue was also tested under an original NTSC Atari 7800 console without an issue experienced.  Cartridges cleaned with 91% Isopropyl Alcohol and Q-tip, tested again under the original 7800 console, then again to the 2600+, and ran perfectly under both.

 

Overall, extremely pleased.  The cartridges which did not work were expected to not function (Multi-carts, Attack of the PETSCII Robots, Diagnostic Cart, Rikki & Vikki), and quite a few surprises of protos working, including some limited release homebrews and hacks as well.  Even the 1024k Frankie demo performed flawlessly.  TIA speech was spot on for the games that use it.  Awesome stuff!

 

Carts that currently did not work for me, though I anticipate will definitely work with a future update, are the Activision games, Double Dragon and Rampage.^

 

Would love to have Paddles working on the 7800 games that support them.  The new paddles are GREAT!  Not 7800 related, but Kaboom! hasn't brought me that much joy and excitement in a long time.  

 

Hopefully, some other surprises down the road to make PETSCII and Rikki work.  Nonetheless, quite the impressive showing.  Standing-o to @raz0red, @RevEng, and @Ben from Plaion.  Outstanding work to turn the initial firmware around, quite incredibly, for 7800 compatibility.

 

Discovered my Worm cart no longer works.  Blank screen for both original 7800 console hardware and the 2600+.

 

*Cartridges that needed cleaning: Ace of Aces, Asteroids Deluxe, Fight Night, RobotFindsKitten, Super Cobra, Xevious.

 

New motto: Your cartridges may be cleaned, but are they 2600+ working clean?  

 

2600+ Testing by Trebor.xlsx

 

^EDIT: For posterity, the issues utilizing Double Dragon and Rampage completely resolved with standalone cartridges working perfectly, after updating the Dumper from version 01.01.00.02 to 01.01.00.09 from the file provided in another thread.

[+sramirez2008]

2 minutes ago, Trebor said:

Nonetheless, quite the impressive showing.  Standing-o to @raz0red, @RevEng, and @Ben from Plaion.  Outstanding work to turn the initial firmware around, quite incredibly, for 7800 compatibility.

+1. Hats off to you gentlemen.

[DEANJIMMY]

45 minutes ago, Trebor said:

All aboard the 2600+ train!  Here are the testing results with my 7800 cartridges.

 

Environment and miscellaneous info:

TV Model: Samsung UN50TU7000FXZA
Software Version: T-KTSU2AKUC-2501.1 (Software up to date)

 

Controllers leveraged: Proline CX24, Paddles CX30+

 

Typical experience: Power up console, white Atari logo shows, screen then goes to "Detecting Device", need to press "Return" or "Exit" on remote to see Atari logo again and/or "Loading Game..." screen.

 

Afterwards, absolutely perfect.  No tearing, stuttering, or delays.

 

I updated the dumper with the software provided from the other thread as well.   So, the complete 2600+ configuration for this testing is Dumper 01.01.00.02 & update-021724-1.1x-r1-debug.  This is indicated on the attached spreadsheet as well.

 

A few cartridges* with a loading game or blank screen issue was also tested under an original NTSC Atari 7800 console without an issue experienced.  Cartridges cleaned with 91% Isopropyl Alcohol and Q-tip, tested again under the original 7800 console, then again to the 2600+, and ran perfectly under both.

 

Overall, extremely pleased.  The cartridges which did not work were expected to not function (Multi-carts, Attack of the PETSCII Robots, Diagnostic Cart, Rikki & Vikki), and quite a few surprises of protos working, including some limited release homebrews and hacks as well.  Even the 1024k Frankie demo performed flawlessly.  TIA speech was spot on for the games that use it.  Awesome stuff!

 

Carts that currently did not work for me, though I anticipate will definitely work with a future update, are the Activision games, Double Dragon and Rampage.  Would love to have Paddles working on the 7800 games that support them.  The new paddles are GREAT!  Not 7800 related, but Kaboom! hasn't brought me that much joy and excitement in a long time.  

 

Hopefully, some other surprises down the road to make PETSCII and Rikki work.  Nonetheless, quite the impressive showing.  Standing-o to @raz0red, @RevEng, and @Ben from Plaion.  Outstanding work to turn the initial firmware around, quite incredibly, for 7800 compatibility.

 

Discovered my Worm cart no longer works.  Blank screen for both original 7800 console hardware and the 2600+.

 

*Cartridges that needed cleaning: Ace of Aces, Asteroids Deluxe, Fight Night, RobotFindsKitten, Super Cobra, Xevious.

 

New motto: Your cartridges may be cleaned, but are they 2600+ working clean?  

 

2600+ Testing by Trebor.xlsx 13.85 kB · 2 downloads

 

Yeah, Paddles AND Trakball suport for 7800 games please🤙

[+sramirez2008]

1 hour ago, Trebor said:

All aboard the 2600+ train!  Here are the testing results with my 7800 cartridges.

 

Environment and miscellaneous info:

TV Model: Samsung UN50TU7000FXZA
Software Version: T-KTSU2AKUC-2501.1 (Software up to date)

 

Controllers leveraged: Proline CX24, Paddles CX30+

 

Typical experience: Power up console, white Atari logo shows, screen then goes to "Detecting Device", need to press "Return" or "Exit" on remote to see Atari logo again and/or "Loading Game..." screen.

 

Afterwards, absolutely perfect.  No tearing, stuttering, or delays.

 

I updated the dumper with the software provided from the other thread as well.   So, the complete 2600+ configuration for this testing is Dumper 01.01.00.02 & update-021724-1.1x-r1-debug.  This is indicated on the attached spreadsheet as well.

 

A few cartridges* with a loading game or blank screen issue was also tested under an original NTSC Atari 7800 console without an issue experienced.  Cartridges cleaned with 91% Isopropyl Alcohol and Q-tip, tested again under the original 7800 console, then again to the 2600+, and ran perfectly under both.

 

Overall, extremely pleased.  The cartridges which did not work were expected to not function (Multi-carts, Attack of the PETSCII Robots, Diagnostic Cart, Rikki & Vikki), and quite a few surprises of protos working, including some limited release homebrews and hacks as well.  Even the 1024k Frankie demo performed flawlessly.  TIA speech was spot on for the games that use it.  Awesome stuff!

 

Carts that currently did not work for me, though I anticipate will definitely work with a future update, are the Activision games, Double Dragon and Rampage.  Would love to have Paddles working on the 7800 games that support them.  The new paddles are GREAT!  Not 7800 related, but Kaboom! hasn't brought me that much joy and excitement in a long time.  

 

Hopefully, some other surprises down the road to make PETSCII and Rikki work.  Nonetheless, quite the impressive showing.  Standing-o to @raz0red, @RevEng, and @Ben from Plaion.  Outstanding work to turn the initial firmware around, quite incredibly, for 7800 compatibility.

2600+ Testing by Trebor.xlsx 13.85 kB · 4 downloads

 

@Trebor Thanks for providing your test results. Btw, I agree that Astro Blaster sounds perfect. @PacManPlus Is it just TIA? My AA supplied box mentions that it’s XM enhanced. It’s amazing if this is just TIA. It’s sounds like the coin-Op over my SONOS system. Another excellent port from BITD.👍

 

[Trebor]

25 minutes ago, sramirez2008 said:

Is it just TIA? My AA supplied box mentions that it’s XM enhanced.

 

Just TIA.  XM enhanced = HSC saving support.

[Albert]

27 minutes ago, sramirez2008 said:

Is it just TIA?

Yes, it's just TIA audio. 

 

 ..Al