aftyde Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 (edited) Hi All, Ordered a cart a while back - finally got the system built up enough to try it out. There seems to be a diagnostic you access by pressing FCTN-6 that verifies the GROM and ROM. GROM fails, ROM verifies. The message is "Do not use the Cartridge until the problem is resolved!" Do I care about this message? It seems to be working fine - but who knows... Please advise! Cheers, Arthur... Edited October 31, 2015 by aftyde Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asmusr Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 Hi All, Ordered a cart a while back - finally got the system built up enough to try it out. There seems to be a diagnostic you access by pressing FCTN-6 that verifies the GROM and ROM. GROM fails, ROM verifies. The message is "Do not use the Cartridge until the problem is resolved!" Do I care about this message? It seems to be working fine - but who knows... Please advise! Cheers, Arthur... I also had problems with my cart, turned out it was an issue with an early batch. But that doesn't mean the issue you have is the same. Does the Dec-2-Hex program work? Can you call up other programs from BASIC, e.g CALL EA? Did you at any point try to update the cart? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aftyde Posted October 31, 2015 Author Share Posted October 31, 2015 I haven't tried to update it - and all the functions you mention seem to work. I am waiting on floppy emulators for my PEB - is there an easy way to update the cart? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asmusr Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 Then it's not the same problem I had. I think this is the latest update: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/238904-extended-basic-27-she-never-calls/page-3?do=findComment&comment=3250432 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 imho that crc test is flakey.. it works some days and doesn't others on the same exact hardware.. if you can load extended basic and call dm2 or the other utilities, the grom is fine Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shift838 Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 I agree with Greg. I had the same issue testing it on the hardware. Sometimes it would work and sometimes it would not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+InsaneMultitasker Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 Gazoo and I had a conversation about his validation* routine. There did not appear to be anything flaky in the code. The routine simply accesses each memory bank, adds the values of each bank to an accumulator, then compares the final result with a known value. What I suggested was to modify the program to compute a value for each bank and do a "stress" test to determine whether or not certain bank was the culprit. In this manner, a pattern may have shown itself with certain hardware. From what I could tell the problem seemed to be hardware timing related though I don't believe Gazoo had a chance to test (or attempt) the stress test before his untimely passing. *The ROm/GROM validation routine computes a checksum, not a CRC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Gazoo and I had a conversation about his validation* routine. There did not appear to be anything flaky in the code. The routine simply accesses each memory bank, adds the values of each bank to an accumulator, then compares the final result with a known value. What I suggested was to modify the program to compute a value for each bank and do a "stress" test to determine whether or not certain bank was the culprit. In this manner, a pattern may have shown itself with certain hardware. From what I could tell the problem seemed to be hardware timing related though I don't believe Gazoo had a chance to test (or attempt) the stress test before his untimely passing. *The ROm/GROM validation routine computes a checksum, not a CRC. nod.. it just doesn't make sense that it will work tuesday and next week i try it and it fails on exactly the same hardware Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 I believe part of the issue is how heavily it taxes the 32K memory during the test. The "fire hose" is getting quite a workout, if it's getting marginal due to age, that may be part of the flaky results. Just for kicks, try a different fire hose... if you have one. See if that changes your results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+InsaneMultitasker Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Perhaps after the new year we can play around with the test program to track down the problem. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aftyde Posted November 4, 2015 Author Share Posted November 4, 2015 Hi Kevan - will give that a try. I have a spare... Also, I notice the update is 40 track, and Gazoo asks if you need 80 track to request one... Ahem... Can I just copy the file on the 40 track image to an 80 track image? If it's not the hose - when I might try to run the cart update. Unless, for F18A reasons I should wait... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 Yeah, no problem, just make a new 80 track DSSD image with Ti99Dir, copy the files from the 40 track image and you'll be good to go... after turning it into .HFE format of course. It's what I did. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwantgames:) Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 Yeah, no problem, just make a new 80 track DSSD image with Ti99Dir, copy the files from the 40 track image and you'll be good to go... after turning it into .HFE format of course. It's what I did. This is what I did as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 I have the test flake on a nanopeb outside a speech synth.. then it works.. then it doesnt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+InsaneMultitasker Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 1. When verifying on systems that seem to work properly, is it consistent, i.e., multiple tests produce no failures? 2. Is the failure always on the GROM side, never the ROM side? 3. What is the approximate failure rate? e.g., 1 failure every xxx times. 4. From what program or cartridge is the verifier loaded? I have two possible software-related theories that may be worth exploring depending on the answers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 1. When verifying on systems that seem to work properly, is it consistent, i.e., multiple tests produce no failures? 2. Is the failure always on the GROM side, never the ROM side? 3. What is the approximate failure rate? e.g., 1 failure every xxx times. 4. From what program or cartridge is the verifier loaded? I have two possible software-related theories that may be worth exploring depending on the answers. 1 yes 2 yes grom only 3 it fails all day the next time i try it it works (another day) i've tried cold power down on the nano and ti and no change 4 ftn 6 in the cartridge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Schmitzi Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 . . Arthur, are you using a NanoPEB ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aftyde Posted November 14, 2015 Author Share Posted November 14, 2015 Nope - and I ran the update to get it to the latest revision - same problem. I am using PEB, 32K, TI w 80 track mod and P-Code. Stock console. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.