+batari Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 This is the second release of Harmony software and BIOS. Software is at version 1.0 and BIOS is at version 1.02. All users should update BIOS even if your Harmony is working fine, as some essential features are added, including: - Fixed bug with slow load times on some SD cards - Menu colors updated - Two PAL versions for 50Hz and 60Hz - Three EEPROM loaders for NTSC, PAL50 and PAL60 - Fixed various menu bugs If there is anything I forgot to mention, someone can follow up. Where to get the software: Harmony programming tool for Windows Harmony programming tool for OS X Harmony programming tool for 64-bit Linux Harmony programming tool for 32-bit Linux Also, since the programming software is licensed under the GPL, we are posting source: Harmony programming tool source code To use the software, plug your Harmony cart into your computer. The drivers should already be on your computer as the Harmony is detected as a USB-to-serial port. If the drivers do not install automatically, you may download them for your operating system here. Make sure you download drivers for the FT232R chip. Linux users may also need to install Qt4 libraries. If you're using KDE4 in Linux, you already have Qt4. Otherwise, you can simply install it from your distro repository. Using the software: Before you start the software, plug your Harmony into your computer. It will automatically detect your Harmony upon startup. Next, tell the software the location of the EEPROM loader. This is in the "arm" folder. There is a separate version for NTSC and PAL50/PAL60, and called eeloader_ntsc.bin, eeloader_pal50.bin, or eeloader_pal60.bin. After it is selected, click the "Download EEPROM" button. Next, make sure your SD card is plugged into a card reader. Select the BIOS image depending on your TV type: NTSC or PAL (50 or 60 Hz). BIOS version 1.02 is included, and will be named hbios_102_ntsc.bin, hbios_102_pal50.bin, or hbios_102_pal60.bin. Then select the location of your SD card, and click "Copy HBIOS." You may now safely eject your card, insert in the Harmony, and boot. You should get a spinning yin-yang for about 10-20 seconds then a message indicating success. Development: The development tab is for homebrewers or others wishing to load the Harmony with a single game. This will overwrite the multicart BIOS, but your Harmony will play the game without requiring an SD card at all. You can restore the multicart BIOS at any time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+remowilliams Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 Updated the cart without issue. Used one of the cards that was acting extremely slow before (in the minutes range) and has been untouched since. Card is now booting within 2-3 seconds or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerG Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 Works great!! Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 Extremely slick software bundle guys! All I had to do was download the appropriate usb<>serial driver for my Mac and was able to flash her but good. The glitch with the 'B' directory and the ._.trashes file has been solved, menu colours have changed a little as to not be so drastic when cycling and looks as if you can disable the cycling now on a real 2600, but with the way a 7800 pulses the B/W switch, doesn't stay off on that system :-( Oh - and I thought Thomas mentioned something about the whole filename being displayed. May we look forward to that in a future bios update? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+batari Posted October 7, 2009 Author Share Posted October 7, 2009 To display the whole filename, hold down the button for a second or so. I forgot to mention that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 looks as if you can disable the cycling now on a real 2600, but with the way a 7800 pulses the B/W switch, doesn't stay off on that system :-( Oops, forgot the incompatibility of the 7800 here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cd-w Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 For anyone using the linux version, the binaries are stored in /usr/share/harmonycart (took me a bit to figure this out). Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ovalbugmann Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 (edited) menu colours have changed a little as to not be so drastic when cycling Menu colors updated No big deal but: I thought color cycling was just going to be put on the BW/Color switch, that should have been satisfactory for people who don't like it/can't read it, etc. I didn't know you'd be cutting the effect some. Could you explain what was done -specifically to the color cycling display attributes, so I can decide if I want to update. Because if I don't like it as much as the old colorful menu, I won't be able to go back to the old bios. Edited October 7, 2009 by ovalbugmann Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 Could you explain what was done -specifically to the color cycling display attributes, so I can decide if I want to update. Because if I don't like it as much as the old colorful menu, I won't be able to go back to the old bios. We added the ability to disable the color cycling with the B/W switch and we changed the colors of the menu entries from blue/orange to green/white to match the label coloring. BTW: AFAIK you can go back any time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cd-w Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 BTW: AFAIK you can go back any time. You can downgrade to older bios versions, but naturally you won't get the bug fixes from the newer versions. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ovalbugmann Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 (edited) You can downgrade to older bios versions BTW: AFAIK you can go back any time. Ok, that's good! Thanks. I would need the older bios on hand to change back with(I think?), if I preferred the blue/orange colors. Where would I get that older version to go back with? if I wanted. edit: oh, I forgot the previous posted bios update a few days ago didn't have any menu colors changes, just put the BW/colors choice in. Edited October 7, 2009 by ovalbugmann Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerG Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 To display the whole filename, hold down the button for a second or so. I forgot to mention that. Great feature, thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 To display the whole filename, hold down the button for a second or so. I forgot to mention that. Wow - awesome. I was wondering how that was going to be implemented since Nathan said those two rather long title pointers had nothing to do with the text field. This is great. When you say the entire file name is to be displayed, you guys weren't kidding! lol Quite handy. Excellent job, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disjaukifa Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 Thanks Batari, I will try this out when I get home tonight -Disjaukifa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cd-w Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 Wow - awesome. I was wondering how that was going to be implemented since Nathan said those two rather long title pointers had nothing to do with the text field. This is great. When you say the entire file name is to be displayed, you guys weren't kidding! lol Quite handy. Excellent job, thanks! It only displays 240 out of the possible 255 characters, but I doubt there are too many file names that use all of those Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disjaukifa Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 (edited) Wow - awesome. I was wondering how that was going to be implemented since Nathan said those two rather long title pointers had nothing to do with the text field. This is great. When you say the entire file name is to be displayed, you guys weren't kidding! lol Quite handy. Excellent job, thanks! It only displays 240 out of the possible 255 characters, but I doubt there are too many file names that use all of those Chris What if I wanted to name my new game "Disjaukifa's Totally Realistic and Terifing Atomic Meltdown at the Legendary Three Mile Island Nuclear Reactor which you must help to prevent Nuclear Destruction of the Eastern Cost of the United States and the deaths of millions due to radiation sickness" Sorry I just couldn't help myself with that one. Anyways, thanks for releasing the developers tab as well, I have to connect my SD card to a camera to transfer files onto at the moment which is getting rather cumbersome . . . especially when the batteries are dead -Disjaukifa Edited October 7, 2009 by disjaukifa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 It only displays 240 out of the possible 255 characters, but I doubt there are too many file names that use all of those Chris As a good friend once said: "it's close enough for the women we go out with". lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 To display the whole filename, hold down the button for a second or so. I forgot to mention that. 1/2 second to be precise. I wonder if that's too short as it interferes with fast paging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 (edited) I wonder if that's too short as it interferes with fast paging. Seems fine on my 7800, but I count one full second to get the long filename. Sure it's not .75 seconds? lol Edited October 7, 2009 by save2600 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 Seems fine on my 7800, but I count one full second to get the long filename. Sure it's not .75 seconds? lol No, it is exactly 30 frames (= 0.5s). That's when the load gets triggered. It does take some time until it is finished, maybe that's what you are calculating? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+stephena Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 (edited) It might be just me, but the download links above are mangled for some reason. EDIT: And as soon as I posted this message and reloaded the page, they're working again Edited October 7, 2009 by stephena Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzbard Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 (edited) There seems to be some inconsistency in displaying file names and folder names, for instance: I have a folder named Company, in that folder I have the roms separated into company folders such as: 20th Century Fox Absolute Entertainment American Videogames etc... But the display on the television is like this: [20th Century Fo..] [Absolute Entertainmen..] [American Videogame..] It seems as though any filename from 13 to 21 characters long will have the last letter truncated. BTW: I'm using the latest BIOS v1.02 Edited October 8, 2009 by Buzbard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cd-w Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 It seems as though any filename from 13 to 21 characters long will have the last letter truncated. BTW: I'm using the latest BIOS v1.02 Thanks for the bug report - I have found the problem and it will be fixed in the next bios update. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Why is it always 13? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cd-w Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Why is it always 13? The long filenames (LFN) are stored as blocks of 13 characters (max 20 blocks). Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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