+warerat Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 It's hit or miss with some EPROMs. The Intels that came with it seem to work but I'm also using some GI 27C128-150 that are OK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 It's hit or miss with some EPROMs. The Intels that came with it seem to work but I'm also using some GI 27C128-150 that are OK. I've had good look with GI CMOS parts (especially their 27C256 parts) where others have not worked properly in finicky installations. ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEtalGuy66 Posted January 19, 2009 Author Share Posted January 19, 2009 Yeah those will definitely work... I'm sorry about this, I should have said something last week when he posted that Firmware release.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+warerat Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 EDIT: Will this work on a ST157N or do I need a newer drive? I have a Barracuda ST32550W but no cable - I'll have to try to get that somewhere tomorrow. This is the exact same model drive I'm using. eBay Auction -- Item Number: 140270096744 I'm not saying this is the only drive that will work, but I have several of these that are working fine. Don't know if it's working because maybe EMC has custom firmware. I don't have a large varied collection of different drives to test out with. Making this (or future revisions) to work with older drives is not what I'm trying to do here. If it happens to work with that ST157N, then super. But it you will lose half the capacity. I've got multiple partitions and there is so much room to burn on it I'm not even worried about not using all of the capacity with 128/256 byte sectors. As soon as I finish the fixes for 32-bit sector addressing to the drive and 24-bit sector addressing to DOS then I can use every sector on the disk. A 256-byte formatted capacity may have been in the norm in 1987, but most any drive since the 90's defines the *minimum* formatted block size to be 512 (and can vary up to 4096 depending on the vendor and firmware). The ancient formatters (HDFMTPH.COM and its ilk) try to format with a block size to 256, but new drives will not recognize that density. Formatting made sense when there were dumb controllers that needed to be told where the bad sectors were, but thank goodness we've progressed beyond that. For the drives that don't work, I've clearly described in an earlier post what the deficiency is that keeps everything from working with the MIO. Some will work, some will not. If the drive doesn't respond to commands, it is most likely because of the arbitration/selection issue-- and the story ends there. There isn't anything I can do in software that can fix that. I can most certainly fix that with some solder and a few IC's but I bet most would rather prefer a drop-in IC to gain some compatibility instead of soldering and chips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEtalGuy66 Posted January 19, 2009 Author Share Posted January 19, 2009 (edited) And the nice thing here is that you have a choice.. If you are going for the total "vintage" setup, you can run the ICD production V1.1 firmware, and use whatever ancient drives were actually supported back in "the golden days".. -or- You can pop in an EPROM containing this new firmware and utilize much cheaper, larger, and more commonly available drives. As WareRat explained, the range of compatability depends on particular features supported by the drive's firmware. We should start a "compatability list" as soon as the SCSI portion of the MIO V1.4 firmware is finalized. WE do not intend to change, enhance, or "fix" the hardware of the MIO where the SCSI interface is concerned. The decision not to do so is based on our desire to make ONLY ONE VERSION of the new firmware.. It is also very important to us to continue to fully support the original MIO hardware spec. (and thus all of the owners of original ICD MIOs out there). Theres just not enough room in the EPROM to put two versions of the SCSI code, or a version of the code that works differently based on "detected" hardware features. We DO plan to build in "hardware detection" for 256k/1meg/16meg MIO RAM configurations. Edited January 19, 2009 by MEtalGuy66 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Defender II Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 MIO diagnostic cart Where can I cet one? Does someone have the program to install on a flash cart or burn on an EPROM? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEtalGuy66 Posted January 21, 2009 Author Share Posted January 21, 2009 MIO diagnostic cart Where can I cet one? Does someone have the program to install on a flash cart or burn on an EPROM? Download the REALDOS distro from http://www.tcpipexpress.com Theres a program called MIODIAG.COM Its a command line executable version of the diagnostic program. On the firmware test, you want to check banks 3 - 6 closely to make sure no bytes are "flipping"... It usually happens in the 7th or 8th page of each of these banks.. (where the padding is) The rest of the banks are not actually the MIO rom.. And any pages after page 7 are just repetitions of the first 8.. In other words, if you can go through pages 0-7 of banks 3-6 with zero ERROR COUNT on all pages, then the EPROM is stable on the mio.. if you get errors at all, then it's not.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bf2k+ Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Will the 1.4b2 firmware still work with the Adaptec 4000 controller or do I have to put my old ROM back in the MIO to use my 'vintage' setup? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEtalGuy66 Posted January 22, 2009 Author Share Posted January 22, 2009 Will the 1.4b2 firmware still work with the Adaptec 4000 controller or do I have to put my old ROM back in the MIO to use my 'vintage' setup? Your gonna have to put your old rom back in.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Defender II Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Theres a program called MIODIAG.COM Thanks will do. It would be nice to have it on cart tho, maybe put it on a flashcart. oh well, otherwise I'll just have to hook up a floppy to my MIO system again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEtalGuy66 Posted January 22, 2009 Author Share Posted January 22, 2009 (edited) Theres a program called MIODIAG.COM Thanks will do. It would be nice to have it on cart tho, maybe put it on a flashcart. oh well, otherwise I'll just have to hook up a floppy to my MIO system again. Most people use SIO2PC.. There is a rom for it, but it requires an actual ICD "Spartados X" style Cart.. If you have an original SPartados X cart, you could "piggyback" the MIO DIAGNOSTIC rom on the rom in that cart and put a switch on the rom select signal. Then youd have both in one cart.. Its not really a very useful program unless you think there is something WRONG with your MIO on the hardware level.. And really, it barely "fits the bill" for that.. Its not a very well thought-out or well-written diagnostic program. Hardly worth wasting an original Spartados X cart on.. But MIODIAG.COM is the exact same thing.. Edited January 22, 2009 by MEtalGuy66 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Defender II Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 There is a rom for it, but it requires an actual ICD "Spartados X" style Cart.. If you have an original SPartados X cart, you could "piggyback" the MIO Will an old Action! cart work? I wouldn't ruin a SpartaDOS cart. Where can I get the rom? Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+David_P Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 Has there been any thought to replace the EPROM with an EEPROM? Easier to reprogram in the field for those without access to a reliable EPROM burner. Mind you, you'd probably want a jumper to disable writes, just in case... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEtalGuy66 Posted January 23, 2009 Author Share Posted January 23, 2009 No.. OSS carts wont work.. Has to be a spartados X cart.. remember, ICD had tons of these laying around.. So what cart banking scheme did they use for a diagnostic cart? yep. you guessed it.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEtalGuy66 Posted January 23, 2009 Author Share Posted January 23, 2009 Has there been any thought to replace the EPROM with an EEPROM? Easier to reprogram in the field for those without access to a reliable EPROM burner. Mind you, you'd probably want a jumper to disable writes, just in case... no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bob1200xl Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 no? No jumper? Not easier? Not thought about it? Just a teeny PCB with a flash ROM on it? Bob You know -- this isn't such a bad idea! Not just for the MIO, but all the other EPROMs we use. The 'target' socket doesn't have to be modified (add a write line and such). You could designate something easy, like a 1200XL, to do the programming. Then you plug it into your MIO. Or, you could use the cartridge port for programming. Plug the U-ROM PCB into the cartridge PCB, plug the cartridge PCB into any Atari, **program**, remove from cartridge PCB, plug it into your whatever. A poor man's EPROM burner. Has there been any thought to replace the EPROM with an EEPROM? Easier to reprogram in the field for those without access to a reliable EPROM burner. Mind you, you'd probably want a jumper to disable writes, just in case... no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEtalGuy66 Posted January 23, 2009 Author Share Posted January 23, 2009 no? No jumper? Not easier? Not thought about it? Just a teeny PCB with a flash ROM on it? Bob You know -- this isn't such a bad idea! Not just for the MIO, but all the other EPROMs we use. The 'target' socket doesn't have to be modified (add a write line and such). You could designate something easy, like a 1200XL, to do the programming. Then you plug it into your MIO. Or, you could use the cartridge port for programming. Plug the U-ROM PCB into the cartridge PCB, plug the cartridge PCB into any Atari, **program**, remove from cartridge PCB, plug it into your whatever. A poor man's EPROM burner. Has there been any thought to replace the EPROM with an EEPROM? Easier to reprogram in the field for those without access to a reliable EPROM burner. Mind you, you'd probably want a jumper to disable writes, just in case... no. I didnt say it wasnt feasible.. And certainly, anyone could build a flash-module that takes the place of the Eprom. And it does make sense from a development standpoint, but I have no plans of changing the hardware spec of the device to directly support this.. Its easy enough to adapt the existing device, should you (or anyone else) desire it.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bf2k+ Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 Tried HDFMTPH.COM - same result. Error = "Could not configure drive. Error stats are A=20 Y=8A UPDATE: The lack of terminators was causing the above errors. I got 3 resistor packs in mail today and plugged them in. Drive is formatting now... stay tuned. I am using the original MIO firmware 1.1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bf2k+ Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 Tried HDFMTPH.COM - same result. Error = "Could not configure drive. Error stats are A=20 Y=8A UPDATE: The lack of terminators was causing the above errors. I got 3 resistor packs in mail today and plugged them in. Drive is formatting now... stay tuned. I am using the original MIO firmware 1.1 Well... 1 hour later, the drive is still formatting.... it says 'Formatting unit 0,0 ..." The drive activity LED and MIO activity LED are both lit up. I think something is wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtm Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 Well... 1 hour later, the drive is still formatting.... it says 'Formatting unit 0,0 ..." The drive activity LED and MIO activity LED are both lit up. I think something is wrong. That seems to be what happens often if things aren't working. The key seems to be seeing no activity from the drive. The MIO activity LED goes on whenever the ROM is selected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 Tried HDFMTPH.COM - same result. Error = "Could not configure drive. Error stats are A=20 Y=8A UPDATE: The lack of terminators was causing the above errors. I got 3 resistor packs in mail today and plugged them in. Drive is formatting now... stay tuned. I am using the original MIO firmware 1.1 Well... 1 hour later, the drive is still formatting.... it says 'Formatting unit 0,0 ..." The drive activity LED and MIO activity LED are both lit up. I think something is wrong. This is your ST-157N drive? -Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bf2k+ Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 This is your ST-157N drive? -Larry yep! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bf2k+ Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Tried HDFMTPH.COM - same result. Error = "Could not configure drive. Error stats are A=20 Y=8A UPDATE: The lack of terminators was causing the above errors. I got 3 resistor packs in mail today and plugged them in. Drive is formatting now... stay tuned. I am using the original MIO firmware 1.1 Well... 1 hour later, the drive is still formatting.... it says 'Formatting unit 0,0 ..." The drive activity LED and MIO activity LED are both lit up. I think something is wrong. It was... Put a new ribbon cable on it and away it went - verifying now. I wonder what will f*** up next... HDFMTDIR? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bf2k+ Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 I have one of Al's here - TMM27128AD-15 I decided to test this Toshiba EPROM this morning while I had the MIO open. Sure enough, MIODIAG displayed the bytes changing at certain addresses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEtalGuy66 Posted January 24, 2009 Author Share Posted January 24, 2009 Glad to hear you finally got the ST-157N working. You should be able to get 1 16meg partition (sectors 1-65535) and one 8meg partition (sectors 65536-98302) out of that drive.. Also glad to hear that you figured out how to identify the unstable EPROMs.. Hopefully, your bad-luck is over with this thing, and you won't run into any more problems.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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