+Larry Posted November 25, 2017 Share Posted November 25, 2017 I spent a good part of yesterday trying to get my SIO2SD to work, without much success. I not only could not get it to work correctly, I couldn't get it to repeat from the controls. This is a V2.1 upgraded to V2.3. I know that it worked good in the past, although I haven't had it out in a couple of years. So this morning, I decided to direct-connect the SIO2SD to the computer. I was using an Antonia upgraded 600XL, and originally thought it was some type of issue with it, but the culprit appears to be my Quintopus. Maybe voltage drop? This is the first issue that I've seen that I could trace to the Quintopus. I get things to repeat now, and they more-or-less follow the "docs". So I'm happy with that. Has anyone else seen odd behavior from their SIO2SD and traced the issues to a root cause? Also, I can't get SIO2SD.XEX to work on my system. Is there more than one version of this and/or some docs? I always get "SIO ERROR" when I select a drive. Once upon a time, I remember this working. Maybe when I upgraded the firmware things went awry? Are older firmware versions kept somewhere? Edit: found older software at this page: http://sio2sd.gucio.pl/wiki/SoftwareAVR_en The only other thing that I now really find annoying is the operation of those itty-bitty tactile switches. Way too close for my fingers. And this is a pet peeve of mine -- for probably another $1 (or less), the pcb could have been slightly larger to spread out the buttons so that they would be easier to press (especially when you need Shift + another key. For you folks with Lotharek's SIO2SD, do you find the operation of the switches acceptable? And since I am considering replacing this beast with one from Lotharek, are there any other issues that you see with his device? -Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roydea6 Posted November 25, 2017 Share Posted November 25, 2017 sio2sd.zip Larry try these two SIO2PC. files the both work good with my two SIO2SD the older SIO2SD has no case, and I need to re flash the Chip every several years. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted November 25, 2017 Author Share Posted November 25, 2017 Hi Roy- Thanks! The first of the files appears to be the same as the one I already had. What is the 2nd file -- do you know what the "fb" in the filename is? The "Atari Software" page from the link above has the matching .xex files, so I downloaded the V2.2 xex file and it works fine. So now I'm just down to the tactile switches! -Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Philsan Posted November 25, 2017 Share Posted November 25, 2017 Thanks to on-screen selection menu, you don't need to always use tiny switches, only if you have to chage disks images. There are SIO2SD with larger keys (and dispays), unfortunately not "mass" produced. by flashjazzcat 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted November 25, 2017 Author Share Posted November 25, 2017 Well, that cased unit by FJC is really nice! It would look odd, but I could imagine adding switches on a daughter board above and left on the pcb. If I'd continue to use this, then I need to do something. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted November 25, 2017 Share Posted November 25, 2017 Well, that cased unit by KFC is really nice! Yep. Their fried chicken isn't bad either. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted November 26, 2017 Author Share Posted November 26, 2017 ☺ The auto spell corrector strikes again! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted November 27, 2017 Share Posted November 27, 2017 ☺ The auto spell corrector strikes again! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuf Posted November 27, 2017 Share Posted November 27, 2017 FWIW, my SIO2USB flickers badly (the built in screen) when connected to my Quintopus. I stopped using it for fear it was going to blow up or something. I'd say there's a lack of voltage going on. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted November 28, 2017 Author Share Posted November 28, 2017 FWIW, my SIO2USB flickers badly (the built in screen) when connected to my Quintopus. I stopped using it for fear it was going to blow up or something. I'd say there's a lack of voltage going on. Good to see I'm not the only one. I really like the Q, so I'll probably end up powering the SIO2SD separately. Has anyone else here used a separate +5V line to the SIO2SD? -Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roydea6 Posted November 29, 2017 Share Posted November 29, 2017 Good to see I'm not the only one. I really like the Q, so I'll probably end up powering the SIO2SD separately. Has anyone else here used a separate +5V line to the SIO2SD? -Larry Larry, If you have not got 8 drives to show up with your SIO2SD, can you try this file to see what it does for you.. sio225.xex Good luck I get 8 drives with this file.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted November 29, 2017 Author Share Posted November 29, 2017 Thanks, Roy! That would be really neat! Do you have one of the "early" models from Pigula? Must have been around 2010 or so for mine. Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roydea6 Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 Yes my old one is by Pigula? I upgraded to version 2.5 so I could get 8 SIO drives. Never was able to upgrade to any of the version 3.x Flashing never took. Seems like I have had it for 8 or 9 years. I quit using it after I got the Sdrive NUXX and the mini SIO2SD By Panos. I will post a picture tomorrow. Hopefully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemiel Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 Fuse bits probably must be set properly. Maybe that's the reason which blocks upgrade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted November 30, 2017 Author Share Posted November 30, 2017 This SIO225.XEX mostly works, but not quite correctly. Looks to have been written for PAL, so not all of the screen lines are visible. And puts spurious characters on the screen. But it actually is functional. Does anyone know what these were written in? I would think assembler, but I noticed that one of the 2.5 versions (Mad Team, IIRC) says "rewritten in assembler." That seems to imply that the original was something other than assembler. So if it is compiled, it might be fixable by me -- maybe. I will look on the internet about reprogramming the Atmega. Has anyone done it or can add anything about the process with the SIO2SD? And is the "....all.bin" file used for the complete program? I have a programmer that will do the Atmega32, so if that "...all.bin" file is used, I should be able to reprogram it. -Larry 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roydea6 Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 This SIO225.XEX mostly works, but not quite correctly. Looks to have been written for PAL, so not all of the screen lines are visible. And puts spurious characters on the screen. But it actually is functional. Does anyone know what these were written in? I would think assembler, but I noticed that one of the 2.5 versions (Mad Team, IIRC) says "rewritten in assembler." That seems to imply that the original was something other than assembler. So if it is compiled, it might be fixable by me -- maybe. I will look on the internet about reprogramming the Atmega. Has anyone done it or can add anything about the process with the SIO2SD? And is the "....all.bin" file used for the complete program? I have a programmer that will do the Atmega32, so if that "...all.bin" file is used, I should be able to reprogram it. -Larry I don't see this with my SIO2SD and 800XL. Mostly clean screen and I see all the viewable. My Sio2sd and the small thing to the side is a avrusb500 flasher for atmega32. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted November 30, 2017 Author Share Posted November 30, 2017 Mine is a little different. I don't have the 20-pin IC anywhere on my pcb. What is that chip on yours? I've seen pictures of several like yours. My Atmega is an Atmega32 16PU 0641B. You indicated that you couldn't update yours past 2.5 -- did you use your programmer and wouldn't update or did you use the internal? I'm going to plan on somehow updating mine to 2.5 for the next step. -Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 (edited) This is part of why I asked about the crystals on the pcb... to upgrade... If your SIO2SD doesn't already have a 14.31318 MHz crystal, you will need to replace the crystal and update the firmware. Otherwise you're stuck with "D1:-D4:" and a maximum speed of 51000 bps. please understand there were 2 complete versions with revisions, to upgrade you had to make small mod and replace the crystal. If memory serves, and there was a step by step to do it. http://sio2sd.gucio.pl/wiki/Hardware_en is the only 3 versions (3rd a work in progress) and some revisions I am seeing at the moment, the changes might have been on wolfram fischer site. mghz http://www.mega-hz.de/Angebote/angebote.html I haven't looked lately but somewhere are the instructions to update and upgrade the sio2sd's and some notes to use different transistors to help lower the power consumption could have sworn there was english versions but I can't find them, wolfram really moved the ball on a lot of projects, I don't think he got much credit. If you wander about his site... some links that are dead in one place work in another http://www.mega-hz.de/Angebote/ some other sio2 stuff https://sourceforge.net/projects/sio2sd/ choose another atmega http://www.kernelcrash.com/blog/sio2sd-with-an-atmega328p/2016/10/16/ another that's arduino and this and that all rolled into a microsd version (early) https://diskwiz.wordpress.com/sio2microsd/ Edited November 30, 2017 by _The Doctor__ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted November 30, 2017 Author Share Posted November 30, 2017 Thanks for all the links -- will check them out! Yes, I have the 14.3xxx crystal on mine. It's default is at Pokey 6 -- 68Kbs. IIRC. Thanks again for the info. Every bit helps! -Larry Edit: Looking at the pcb layouts, looks like mine is a V1, but with the crystal upgraded to 14.3 MHz instead of 7.32. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roydea6 Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 @Larry asked? What is that chip on yours? I've seen pictures of several like yours. My 20 pin chip IC is 74HC245. Originally with 74LS245 but problems with it and seller suggested I put in the 74HC245 because it is a faster chip. I always tried upgrading with button selection except for when I flashed to get the correct fuse setting....BROWN OUT failures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted December 1, 2017 Share Posted December 1, 2017 Trash on the screen edge not on any of mine.... somethings funky, not to be silly but do the normal make sure the wires a good the solder joints are good, try a different SD card. make sure it's the correct fat system...try another Atari.. etc etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted December 1, 2017 Author Share Posted December 1, 2017 I'll keep that in mind, but I'm running firmware 2.2/2.3. If I use the xex file that corresponds, everything looks normal. It is when I use 2.5 xex with 2.2/2.3 firmware that the screen issues show up. And when I use the "alt 2.5P" the screen is fine, but the keyboard doesn't respond. What firmware are you running and what xex paired with it? BTW, the auto spell corrector insists that an xex file is a sex file. Gotta love these things... Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted December 1, 2017 Share Posted December 1, 2017 I'm using the selectable boot image on the one... You just pick from the list... and run the one you want at that moment. works fine. I have updated to each one in the full course of time....to whatever the latest flavor was. I even put on the alternative firmware at on point so I could have the full range of drives... not even sure the computer I downloaded those on even works or hasn't been recycled yet, the wife has a funny way of cleaning up x86 machines and toasted lcd monitors. When they run the free household hazardous waste drive the strangest things poof disappear. I have two left that still need a re-flashing though, They work fully but won't update via the SD card... the bar grows but nothing happens... I have to use pony prog and a parallel cable hack to do it. That's all on AA somewhere. The two being silly didn't have the correct Fuse bits set, and had crappy wiring, a recurring theme for these things. Don't know how many have needed to redone but it's too many... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted December 1, 2017 Author Share Posted December 1, 2017 Found a promising search term -- "sio2sd firmware". I kept trying "update....", and that didn't produce useful results. I've got a programmer, so hopefully that will solve my update problem and that in turn take care of the screen issues. Edit: Progress! Got it updated to V2.5 firmware. Operator Error -- I had left an extra "." in the BIN filename. Fixed that and it updated just fine from the config menu. Display. Tried a bunch of things, and neither of the 2.5 XEX files display properly. Interestingly, in addition to the display discrepancies, each key must be pressed twice to get a response. I've never seen that one before. But... I found that the 2.2/2.3 XEX which displays properly (it doesn't try to use too many scan lines for my display) can display drives 5-8. By default, it displays 1-4, but if I press 5, then it displays 5-8. I think I can live with that. It looks like from the Source Forge files that the regular 2.5 XEX and it's brother 2.25 are written in C, so fixing it may be possible for me. But in the meantime, the 2.2/2.3 XEX is usable. BTW, the 2.5 & 2.25 XEX files display 28 lines of what appears to be regular Gr.0 text. That's a lot of lines for NTSC and appears at least one too many for my ATI AIW capture display. Kind of the same issue as the XEP80. Thanks for the help and suggestions -- I do appreciate it! -Larry 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted December 2, 2017 Author Share Posted December 2, 2017 Here's a case for the original 2+3 button versions if anyone is interested: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Case-for-Atari-SIO2SD-2-3-button-rear-SD-version/172862827191?hash=item283f6d6ab7:g:9FkAAOSwRFdZuDPA $25 + modest shipping, for a 3D printed case. I'll post about my results when I get the one I just ordered. I asked for what I thought were the critical dimensions of the case, and a few were off by .5 - 1 mm, but everything looked like it would fit. -Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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