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classics

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classics last won the day on August 6 2010

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  • Birthday 10/28/1971

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    So many projects, so little time.
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  1. Program the shipping workbook on the cartridge and use the diagnostic program to do the read sector/write sector test. If there are no failures reading or writing to the card with the routines there, its more likely a problem with the implementation of the CF read/write code than a hardware problem. The diagnostic program pretty much uses the example routines that were provided for low level CF access. The SDX image I have here was provided by Trub and was designed to run from ram on the cartridge. It works for me when loaded from the menu using Sijmen's ROM loader, or when loaded directly via the FAT32 loader. I'm just guessing here, but I'd suspect if it works fine in RAM but crashes when flashed to ROM, the program itself (SDX) is programming the memory mode register to RAM mode for the 'left cartridge' and pulling the rug out from under itself as its running, since it expect itself to be in the RAM banks, not the flash banks. The default is flash for left cartridge, page zero. These default should be listed in the hardware text document I posted and I believe they are accurate. If you find any errors please send me a message and I will update it, or fix the core so it is consistant with those values. Steve
  2. All I know about it is that Sijmen forwarded it to me, but I never really looked at it on MyIDE-I either. I've removed the program from the demonstration workbook I posted. Steve
  3. If you want to make your own custom workbooks to modify the boot menu, you can use the Maxflash Studio software, which is free. The USB programmer is an optional add-on that allows you to program the boot flash very quickly by just attaching the cartridge and pressing 'Synchronize'. There are other means to transfer the images to the Atari though, including using SIO2PC. The only function that actually requires the USB programmer would be JTAG programming the hardware core, which you shouldn't ever have to do anyway, unless there is a major update or bug fix to the hardware. In that case I'd also offer a send-in programming service for no charge to people without the USB programmer. The TLDR version is, you don't really need the USB programmer, but it can make things easier if you plan on doing customization of the boot menu. Steve
  4. Hi Ken, You can access the SRAM from any mappable page (right, left, keyhole), either as read/write or read-only. There is programming information posted in the forum here: http://www.atarimax.com/flashcart/forum/ There are also complete reference CF access routines that include media change detection, if you want to write CF aware software. These are the same routines that I use in the hardware diagnostic. If you want your software to run under Sijmen's MyBIOS, you need to avoid the areas in use by MyBIOS. If you want to just use the raw hardware, you can follow the register specification and do whatever you want with the RAM. Steve
  5. You would need a 27256 eprom ( 32kbit x 8 ). I don't have any instructions for modifying ROM boards though. I know Albert used to sell a 5200 PCB that just needed the eprom soldered in and you were ready to go.
  6. Bad RAM chips are probably the most common 5200 failure. Here is a small program that will run on a console even if you take out all the RAM chips and show which chip or chips are not working. This will only identify bad DRAM that are fully non-functional, though most DRAM do fail that way. Bad/missing DRAM will show a red bar, working ones a green bar. The u# shown on the screen are for the 4-port 5200. I don't have a schematic of the 2-port model handy to see if they have different PCB markings. The ROM attached is a standard 32K binary. You can use any type of reproduction board to make a cart. If you can't make a cart yourself Albert may still make them, or you can PM me and I will try to find time to make a few. You can load this from the Ultimate SD menu, but the Ultimate SD already requires working RAM, so running it from there is not possible on a system with bad ram. For those cases I have attached a specially packed core_boot.rom that can be used to replace the Ultimate SD standard boot rom. This requires re-flashing your SD cart back to the standard boot rom after use. More information is in the "readme_first.txt" file in the archive about this procedure. If this program fails to run on the non-working 5200 console then the problem is probably bigger than just a bad RAM IC and you can start looking more deeply for other issues. Steve ZeroRAM.zip
  7. I don't think so. They need to start up like a regular program to run the diag software. Mitch Ok, I threw together a RAM tester that will run with bad RAM chips installed (or even no ram chips at all). I'll post it in a separate thread so people can find it more easily when they are searching for a program to test RAM. Steve
  8. Do any of the 5200 diagnostic roms include an option to test the basic system functionality without RAM present?
  9. Looks like the sort of supply you might find at a surplus electronics place on the right day. What's the new price like?
  10. The .BIN image is a full cartridge image, already ready to use. Attach the programmer and target cartridge, then go to the top menu Cartridge->Program->8mbit Flash Cartridge When prompted, select the cartridge .BIN image from the posting above. That should be all that's required. :-) Steve
  11. I built this from the sources on Chris's web site with ATASM 1.07. The only changes are to bank000.asm and bank127.asm, which are also attached. It seems to start fine from bank 0 or bank 127, but should be play tested. The build command was "atasm -f255 -r" Steve Space Harrier (Bank 0 Start Patch).zip
  12. Just checked it on one of the carts that's going to get reprogrammed, works perfectly! :-) Steve
  13. Ok, I am rebuilding all of the 8mbit cartridges I have in stock before any more go out. There are a few recently manufactured 8mbit carts out now that will start in bank 0x00 instead of 0x7F. This is not an issue with programs/menus created with the Maxflash Studio software, as it will handle start in either bank 0x00 or 0x7F. However, programs that expect bank 0x7F at startup will not work and crash on startup. Those cartridges will need to be exchanged for new ones, or the programs patched to work with startup in bank 0x00. I have tracked down the problem to a change in the 22V10 used. I didn't notice it in FQA because the carts work perfectly fine with Maxflash Studio generated software. Sorry guys. Once I have rebuilt all the carts in stock and those still boxed up waiting for the post office I will report back again as I will be testing all of them with SH to make sure the issue does not crop back up. If you are holding one or more of these carts and want them exchanged, please contact me at classics@atarimax.com and I will arrange it for you. Thanks, Steve
  14. There were some old stock and some new stock sent out in the last couple days. Since the cart I'm holding is new stock and has the behavior of starting in bank zero, I'm guessing you have the old stock carts. I'm going to open up a few momentarily and check the hardware. If there is an issue I'll rebuild them all before any more go out. If someone can rebuild the SH sources to include a startup stub in bank 0 as well as bank 127, it will work fine on these carts. Steve
  15. Looks like the cartridges start in bank zero, but Space Harrier is expecting it to start in 7F. The Maxflash Studio software will start normally in bank 0 or 7F, which is why the carts work fine but not with Space Harrier. It can probably be worked around easily by just placing a JMP to the startup code in Space Harrier bank 0 code, however I will go through a couple of carts and see if there is a hardware issue. Steve
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