flashjazzcat

Ah: that clarifies things, then.

Looks like the CF card is not being identified at all, or the FDISK binary is somehow corrupted. I guess all you could try is reflashing SDX on the cart.

How much RAM is on the host machine?

I'm just trying to establish for sure whether the ROM on the cartridge was corrupted or whether it simply failed to work on one machine but worked with a different one. If you have eliminated this as a possibility, then OK: it was a bad ROM. Presumably the newly flashed cartridge now works on the previously problematic machine. This is very important if we are to understand and address stability issues, etc.

Yes: it's persistent and completely system-wide. The effect is exactly the same as physically changing the palette in the VBXE firmware; it's applied at power-on and lasts until power-off. It also works with the GTIA emulaton core (as well as the FX core). Release is imminent. I have ended up with a queue of recently upgraded machines on the desk which all require the new firmware, and consequently owners waiting for their stuff back. I'm thankful for their patience, since I still don't have a Sophia 2 of my own, and thus cannot develop some of the plugins once the Sophia 2 machine is sent back (until my board turns up).

Did the 'completely corrupted' loader work on the 130XE before upgrading, out of interest?

Magic is the correct word.

I'll include the Rapidus core enable/disable for anyone for whom its absence creates problems. I'm just not going to advertise it on the website any more or develop Rapidus drivers, etc.

Incognito allows the connection of PBI devices to the 800 (an XL/XE machine architecture is required for PBI functionality). The XEGS can also be modified for PBI connectivity, but if all you want to put in the cartridge port is another cartridge, there are now a couple of cartridge-slot HDD adapters which are simultaneously capable of emulating almost every available cartridge type.

Here you go: I'd show it on real hardware but I need to clear the desk. Will be available when the firmware is released, hopefully in a few days.

It should work with any compatible display.

You don't need the RF modulator to get composite out of the UAV. If you overcome the installation problems, the VBXE machine will do everything you want.

You'll have to remind me of the initial motivation for putting VBXE in the machine in the first place. I assume it's an XE which loses composite when the RF modulator is removed, as it must reasonably be to make room for an additional monitor jack... unless you completely replace the legacy monitor jack, in which case you lose s-video and composite both. Note: UAV is a good way of getting composite and better s-video into the bargain.

My apologies. Wanting artifacting and VBXE on the same machine still seems to me something of an oxymoron.

OK: I'll use that until informed otherwise.

This is why you keep your composite video out. Is there a palette linked in this thread so I can get to work on this? EDIT: Have we settled on Herb's contemporary palette, at least to be getting on with?

I could probably implement a solution for U1MB users soon involving a soft loaded palette at boot time since the new U1MB firmware supports 2KB plugins. I guess there's enough room for 768 bytes of data there.

I've been using the cheaper ZD-915 for a year or more now and have found it to perform well. I reviewed it on YouTube a while back. My 'clogging' issues were eventually traced to improperly sealed tubing and a crack in the iron tip.

Anything which outputs to the screen using the OS CIO display handler or the S_VBXE driver's "S2:" device. TLW uses its own internal driver, but an example of software which uses "S2:" is the APT FDISK partitioning tool. Fast BASIC works with the VBXE 80 column driver, but most word processors do not because they write directly to the display RAM. The Action! editor completely bypasses the 80 column display for this reason, for example.

I guess email, or PM @MEtalGuy66.

Is that really necessary in a thread which began by asking if there was an 'appropriate forum' for VCS-related material, or if one would ever exist, and which elicited two polite suggestions, one of which included directions to a sub-forum explicitly specialising the very subject under discussion? And now the suggestions offered are churlishly rejected because - apparently - the intention was to post the material in the wrong forum regardless (which at least seems more plausible)? And the observers are somehow supposed to be easily offended?

Yeah: that only works for me with a forced 4:3 AR. With Sophia 2 (tested on a client machine since mine has yet to arrive), there are several resolutions which look spot-on with the same TV set to 16:9.

Perhaps you could try a different resolution when applying any future update concerning player alignment.

This is why Sophia 2 has a number of software-selectable digital resolutions, although the resolution on prior versions of the board can be changed by flashing the core. Many displays provide a 'just scan' or '4:3' setting on the DVI input; this, coupled with the selection of an appropriate resolution (catering even for displays with a fixed 16:9 aspect ratio) should allow the proper AR. With Sophia Rev. C, 1280x1024 resolution, my TV/Monitor displays the picture with the correct geometry when '4:3' is selected in the picture settings.

http://www.rasterline.com/mio.html