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New (alt) BIOS for Ultimate 1MB/Incognito


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No. I'm pretty sure what rdea6 is saying is partially the opposite - when shorted and with the right XEGM OS you can start via "SELECT+RESET" whichever game you have flashed to the first 'GAME' slot, but inside the "Ultimate1MB" BIOS setup the 'XEGM slot' item is still disabled so you cannot choose a different game from among your three other flashed options.

 

This is the situation in "Altirra" as well - although there the key-combination is "Shift+System Reset" for a cold reset and then quickly hold "Select" down. If you are using SDX its actually easier to type 'COLD' while holding in 'SELECT' and then pressing return.

 

In both cases the 'XEGM Slot' is still disabled.

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Here is a different question.

 

Is it safe to flash the "Ultimate1MB" using 'uFlash.XEX' and ROMs that reside on an *.ATR image mounted from the FAT32 partition with 'MATR'?

 

Update:

 

Which I can say - yes it is! Therefore I have now flashed my hardware with the new BIOSes.

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Under what circumstances was it closed, and under what circumstances did it "open up"? I'm assuming you have the board jumpered for XEGS functionality? I'm a little unclear about the problems you were having, and would welcome more information.

 

Not having any problems.. Just stating that with My Atari 800XL [REAL HARDWARE] the new BIOS24 the XEGS game slot is greyed out and It has never opened up. Yes board jumped with jumper on the XEGS pins. And with the XEGS rom selected, then from the first bios tab I can hold down the SELECT KEY and press 'C' on the key board and my first slot XEGS game comes up and I am able to play it.

 

If I want to Play a different game I place it in one of the BASIC slots or use UFLASH.XEX v.1.2 Test 8 and re-flash the first slot of the XEGS game slots..

 

But I have not been able to duplicate this with Altirra [EMU].

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Having now flashed my real machine I can further replicate the same problem rdea6 is encountering.

 

I have an 800XL with "Ultimate1MB" installed, its 'XEGS mode' jumper shorted and the newest version of your BIOSes flashed. Among others, I have a genuine XEGM ROM flashed to an 'OS ROM' slot and when I select this in the BIOS menu as the chosen OS the machine will reboot as normal. So, while running with this XEGM OS if I enter 'COLD' at the SDX command line and hold in the 'SELECT' key the game flashed to the first of my 'GAME' slots on the "Ultimate1MB" will start - which happens to be "Star Raiders", although that is irrelevant. However, if I go in to the "Ultimate1MB" BIOS menu I find the 'XEGS Slot' entry is disabled therefore I am unable to select one of the other games to be started in similar fashion. I cannot for instance choose slot 2 which would then with "COLD" and 'SELECT' boot in to "PAC-MAN". On the old BIOS firmware it was possible to select the currently active GAME slot at all times.

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I'm pretty sure what rdea6 is saying is partially the opposite - when shorted and with the right XEGM OS you can start via "SELECT+RESET" whichever game you have flashed to the first 'GAME' slot, but inside the "Ultimate1MB" BIOS setup the 'XEGM slot' item is still disabled so you cannot choose a different game from among your three other flashed options.

Great - thanks. I've been trying to get to the bottom of this for a while.

 

It turned out to be a reversal of the bit logic in the XEGS test. Sorry about that. Roy - try this:

 

bios27.zip

 

Is it safe to flash the "Ultimate1MB" using 'uFlash.XEX' and ROMs that reside on an *.ATR image mounted from the FAT32 partition with 'MATR'?

It should be. I do it. The thing to watch out for would be if you update the PBI BIOS. That will immediately break any existing ATR mount, so it would be wise to reboot immediately after a PBI BIOS flash if using mounted ATRs.

 

EDIT: Thanks Roy for the additional information (just noticed it). Note the above Ultimate 1MB build follows the addition of lots of assembly conditionals for Incognito, so do let me know if I broke something. Aside from the XEGS fix, nothing else should have changed.

Edited by flashjazzcat
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Odd... not on mine it doesn't.

 

Nor mine... "System->Hardware->XEGS", BIOS set to 'XEGM OS' and 'XEGS Slot' becomes enabled and correctly steps through my GAME slot labels/choices. Once I select one of the other GAMES it started properly after "COLD" and 'SELECT'.

 

Once I change "System->Hardware->800XL", regardless of which OS slot I have chose the 'XEGS Slot' once again disables - as it should.

 

I'll update my real hardware and test there.

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If XEGS slots work in non-XEGS machines, why not delete the test and have them always enabled? Is there a way to detect only the position of the jumper on the U1M board?

Fair question. I used to see Missile Command appear now and again when using the original BIOS and was never quite sure how this was possible without the jumper. I think the supposition was (when the XEGS test was suggested) that it effectively was testing for the presence of the jumper. I can't personally see much point in having the XEGS ROM available on an XL/XE unless it can be invoked in a seemly manner (and not randomly when coming out of the Self-Test as I had sometimes experienced in the past), but I'll have a chat with Phaeron about it. Maybe the VHDL will offer enlightenment.

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I can confirm this works on a real 800XL piece of hardware. In fact the 'XEGS slot' is enabled and available whether or not you have chosen a XEGM OS as your OS ROM.

 

Na'then. Back to me supper...

 

And 'Oddity Archive' I am extremely pleased to see has made a return to YouTube as well!

 

Graydly!

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In fact the 'XEGS slot' is enabled and available whether or not you have chosen a XEGM OS as your OS ROM.

Right - so you have the XEGS jumper shorted, so all is good? Note the choice of OS has no impact: the XL/XE OS will simply not attempt to boot the game ROM.

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Well, we seem to have verified it works in Altirra now, but I don't have an XEGS with Ultimate here so I'm afraid I'm entirely dependent on other people testing this facility until I can get hold of another board.

 

I see I left the IDEa plugin in this build. :)

UPDATE: After turning off the Atari XL and turning power back on my XEGS slot are now working with BIOS27. Thanks for your efforts.

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So as someone with a U1MB en route to me from Poland as we speak, can I ask what is the significance of the XEGS jumper? Does that have to be set only if the board is installed in an XEGS?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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UPDATE: After turning off the Atari XL and turning power back on my XEGS slot are now working with BIOS27. Thanks for your efforts.

Thanks Roy. :) A virtual beer to you for spotting the issue in the first place!

 

So as someone with a U1MB en route to me from Poland as we speak, can I ask what is the significance of the XEGS jumper? Does that have to be set only if the board is installed in an XEGS?

The XEGS jumper is commonly used to tell the Ultimate board that it's in an XEGS and that it should react to the clearing of PORTB bit 6 by mapping in the Game ROM (usually Missile Command). Using the XEGS OS, behaviour should ape that of a standard XEGS. You set the jumper on an XL/XE as well, though.

 

BTW: Here's build 27 with the standard (Covox/Stereo Pokey) device plug-in:

 

bios27-standard-plugin.zip

Edited by flashjazzcat
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So as someone with a U1MB en route to me from Poland as we speak, can I ask what is the significance of the XEGS jumper? Does that have to be set only if the board is installed in an XEGS?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Nay lad... Ah, okay. I've returned from my pastoral interlude with Fat Rascals and black tea. Try again,

 

No. You can use it in an 800XL and with a XEGM OS it will boot in to your current active GAME slot choice after initiating a 'COLD' boot from SDX or just power-cycling the system and in either case holding in 'SELECT'..

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Thanks Roy. :) A virtual beer to you for spotting the issue in the first place!

 

 

The XEGS jumper is commonly used to tell the Ultimate board that it's in an XEGS and that it should react to the clearing of PORTB bit 6 by mapping in the Game ROM (usually Missile Command). Using the XEGS OS, behaviour should ape that of a standard XEGS. You set the jumper on an XL/XE as well, though.

 

BTW: Here's build 27 with the standard (Covox/Stereo Pokey) device plug-in:

 

attachicon.gifbios27-standard-plugin.zip

 

I am only getting left channel audio in "Altirra" when I have the dual pokey stereo enabled... Its my understanding the 'SimpleStereo' gives balanced mono if it is not being used explicitly for left and right channel sound, at least mine did for the brief time I had it working!

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So... the dual pokey is not "simplestereo" compatible?

I'm not sure how you mean. Candle's SimpleStereo is controlled directly by P4/M0 on the Ultimate board. Lotharek's Dual Pokey requires a U-Switch board to turn logic 0/1 into a substitute for a mechanical switch. The effect is identical: turning the second Pokey on and off.

Edited by flashjazzcat
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