+Nathan Strum Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Yeah, I had to do what I did because I had already weeded out dupes and PAL games on my SD card, created directories, etc. What you could have done instead (for future reference) was drag the modified folders back off the SD card to the Mac, delete them from the card, then Copy/Paste them back over. At least, that "should" work. Any idea why my 'B' directory shows ._.trashes instead? Not at the moment, I'll try running some tests later. Also, without having the same version of cartware, troubleshooting is a little tricky. I did notice, however, that my Harmony cart menu booted straight into the ROMs directory I'd placed on the card, rather than the root. I would have thought it would have just shown the root with the single directory in it, first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cd-w Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Not at the moment, I'll try running some tests later. Also, without having the same version of cartware, troubleshooting is a little tricky. I did notice, however, that my Harmony cart menu booted straight into the ROMs directory I'd placed on the card, rather than the root. I would have thought it would have just shown the root with the single directory in it, first. This is a known issue (that will soon be fixed). If the cart has a single entry in the root firectory, then the cart ill attempt to load it. When there is a single directory, it will automatically be opened. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cd-w Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Without looking at the FAT code I don't know what else to suggest . When I last did a FAT driver on removable media like SD/MMC I tested it on about 30 different brands of card formatted in various makes of PDA, camera and windows. Are you clocking at 400kHz to start the power up sequence of 80 clocks and then chip select active, CMD00, CMD01 etc then accessing the CSD to check the clock rate? How are you determining the time allowed for a read to complete? The SD driver is based on some Atmel reference code - it does indeed start at 400kHz and then go through the SPI initialisation sequence. I tested it on about 20 different SD and SDHC cards, so I am reasonably confident about this part. The problem appears to be in the FAT filesystem. I suspect I have over-optimised the code, since the whole driver (SPI/SD/eeprom & FAT) has to fit into 6KB. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoyx Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Did you delete that folder? If yes, create it again with the camera and do not delete it. Didn't delete it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted September 30, 2009 Author Share Posted September 30, 2009 (edited) This is a known issue (that will soon be fixed). If the cart has a single entry in the root firectory, then the cart ill attempt to load it. When there is a single directory, it will automatically be opened. Chris The fact that MacOS puts a ".trashes" file (or any file with the period before it, as if it's some kind of extension) and other OS "necessary" stuff on the card (which you can't delete), must be messing with the bios or firmware on the Harmony then, huh? Edited September 30, 2009 by save2600 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroovyBee Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 The SD driver is based on some Atmel reference code - it does indeed start at 400kHz and then go through the SPI initialisation sequence. I tested it on about 20 different SD and SDHC cards, so I am reasonably confident about this part. The problem appears to be in the FAT filesystem. I suspect I have over-optimised the code, since the whole driver (SPI/SD/eeprom & FAT) has to fit into 6KB. A wise man (Knuth) once said "... premature optimisation is the root of all evil" . If you need another pair of eyes to look at the FAT code let me know. I've worked with ARM chips for over a decade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoyx Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Anything else? Is there a preferred SD card? When formatting, should I mess with the allocation unit size? Is there a different firmware for me to try? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cd-w Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 A wise man (Knuth) once said "... premature optimisation is the root of all evil" . If you need another pair of eyes to look at the FAT code let me know. I've worked with ARM chips for over a decade. A good quote, but unavoidable on the Harmony I'm afraid I think I've now found the root of the problem (a dumb bug in the FAT driver). I just need to confirm the fix and then we can push out a firmware update. For now, the workaround it that the card must have a DOS (8.3) directory as the first entry on the card. This is why cards formatted using a digital camera work fine (as they normally create a DCIM directory as the first entry). However, I'm not sure how to create a directory without a long filename under Windows or Mac? Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoyx Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Let me know when that firmware is out... my USB cable is at the ready. PM me or post to this thread. In the meantime, I think I will buy another SD card... something other than transcend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroovyBee Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 However, I'm not sure how to create a directory without a long filename under Windows or Mac? On Windows I found this :- http://support.microsoft.com/kb/116342 No idea if it works but the registry key still exists in Win Xp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted September 30, 2009 Author Share Posted September 30, 2009 I think I've now found the root of the problem (a dumb bug in the FAT driver). I just need to confirm the fix and then we can push out a firmware update. For now, the workaround it that the card must have a DOS (8.3) directory as the first entry on the card. This is why cards formatted using a digital camera work fine (as they normally create a DCIM directory as the first entry). However, I'm not sure how to create a directory without a long filename under Windows or Mac? Chris I have directories as single letters on my card. And after I formatted my SD card using a digital camera, I deleted that DCIM directory and all is good. 'Cept for that annoying .trashes bug... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Thag Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 In my experience (I own several homebrew projects that use SD cards), the card brand really seems to make a difference. Some of them just will not work right. As I help run the Portland Retrogaming Expo, I was there when batari brought in the limited early release of these harmony carts, and was lucky enough to be the first one to buy one (I have the #1 cart, yay!) I use a 512 mb PNY SD card, and it works fine. I have mine set up with three directories (ROMS, Homebreq, and HAcks), which I browse with the joystick. The cart works great, but the SD cards can be a bit fiddly. I occasionally have to turn it off and on, or re-seat the card. Mine is formatted as FAT16, if memory serves. Such an amazing product. Everything ever made on one cart, and it works as a dev cart to boot. Even plays supercharger ROMs like Commie Mutants, and oddball hardware like Pitfall II (with music!). batari has really done so much for the Atari community, and for aspiring programmers in particular. He's such a nice, unassuming guy too. Absolutely brilliant. He explained a few things to me about the hardware behind this cart too. I won't spoil it, but the tech involved in this thing is probably going to replace existing cart boards, and it will allow for some extraordinary things in homebrew carts that you can't do now. Think megabytes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 (edited) Let me know when that firmware is out... my USB cable is at the ready. PM me or post to this thread. In the meantime, I think I will buy another SD card... something other than transcend. I will test the new BIOS this evening as soon as I get home (~18:00 MEST, which is GMT+2). If everything works out fine, the new BIOS should be released very soon afterwards. Meanwhile make sure that you know how to flash Harmony. Edited October 1, 2009 by Thomas Jentzsch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted October 1, 2009 Author Share Posted October 1, 2009 (edited) Such an amazing product. Think megabytes Indeedy Lord Thag. That was a recurring sentiment time and time again as my GF and I played Atari tonight. I have a pretty good handle on what's all involved here hardware wise between the menu, BIOS, bankswitching, file recognition, et al to really appreciate just what it is we have in possession here. All of the posts thus far are meant to be constructive criticism and simple end user quandaries. This is a brilliant piece of kit to be sure. Having said that, I'm going to go to bed with a touch of sea sickness that could have only come from an entire evening of dealing with the colour cycling that is the menu system of version .33 (or whatever version it is) of the Harmony Cartridge I am in possession of as the #40 lucky winner. :-) Edited October 1, 2009 by save2600 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 (edited) Having said that, I'm going to go to bed with a touch of sea sickness that could have only come from an entire evening of dealing with the colour cycling that is the menu system You are the first one complaining. You think we should allow disabling the color cyclcing? By B/W switch maybe? Edited October 1, 2009 by Thomas Jentzsch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nathan Strum Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 You think we should allow disabling the color cyclcing? By B/W switch maybe? I'd vote "yes". The color cycling made things a bit harder to read on my old TV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 You think we should allow disabling the color cyclcing? By B/W switch maybe? I'd vote "yes". The color cycling made things a bit harder to read on my old TV. No problem. Should I disable all color cycling (including the logo) with the switch? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ovalbugmann Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 (edited) Got my pre-prod Harmony cart today! And I seem to be doing good so far; I have some Sandisk 2GB SD cards, that I haven't used, and haven't formated, so I connected one card to my computer via a card reader and just loaded it with some 2600 .bins straight on the SD card(not in any folder)which I assume is termed as the "main directory" and then I just created two regular folders in there labeling each, "dir1" & "dir2" put some bins in each and plugged it into the Harmony and H6er and everything showed up! in the menu; all the loose .bins not in any folder and the two directory folders I made also. I verfied the .bins that I put in each "dir" folder and they were there in each dir! Could not be easier!!!! Thanks Harmony Team!!! uumm....A little side question that's not related: I am in ntsc land with a ntsc h6er and I want to play the homebrew "Encaved" although the AA page says it's ntsc when I dl the rom zip it is a PAL bin and the tv rolls. Anybody know if the is a ntsc "Encaved" bin around? Edited October 1, 2009 by ovalbugmann Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IceCold Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Despite any issues people are having, I'm definitely looking forward to getting a Harmony cart. Plus I have a bunch of different SD cards as well as being able to format the card in any format needed I'm figuring the firmware updates will fix the filesystem issues, but even if it doesn't I'm willing to deal with a bit of file system hassle to get what the harmony provides Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
san-d-2000 Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Could someone post some pics of the cartridge? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Could someone post some pics of the cartridge? Pictures can be found e.g. here and here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nathan Strum Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 No problem. Should I disable all color cycling (including the logo) with the switch? Probably - since that will also prevent the page number from cycling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
san-d-2000 Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Thanks Thomas! Looks great, cant wait! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ovalbugmann Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 (edited) I like the color cycling in the menu/logo, it looks neat!! and I can read it all fine. So if you disable it in the new bios version, Please do it with the b/w switch for those of us who like the colors but still want the possible other benefits of a menu/bios system update. PLease leave a color "option" in so that were all not stuck with a monotone black and white menu. I see no need to disable the color cycling in the Harmony logo at all(unless the page number is affected too?)- it looks cool and is not needed to see the menu entries. Edited October 1, 2009 by ovalbugmann Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 I see no need to disable the color cycling in the Harmony logo at all(unless the page number is affected too?)- it looks cool and is not needed to see the menu entries. The page number shares the colors with the logo, so I can only disable color cycling for both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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