Nathan Strum
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Posts posted by Nathan Strum
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21 hours ago, -^CrossBow^- said:
Those look awesome but would be too large for where I mount the jacks in 7800 consoles along the bottom section of the shell where RF cord wraps up. Too large overall and I can tell it is too deep to fit and wire in properly as well. And Yikes...that is some cost too at $18 each for low quantity orders?! I use the ones that were linked too from Console5 for most installs including the 7800, but I've also starting using the ones that Crayon King provides in his RGB kits in some situations as they might fit better even though I have to epoxy them in since they have no way to secure them in place.
Admittedly, I've only been using these in 2600s, where there are bucketloads of space. And I don't mind the cost, because they're cool.
For 7800s, I'm using pigtail cables so I don't have to install any jacks in the case.
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7 hours ago, darryl1970 said:
My one catch is wondering if it will ever be able to update my unit's firmware without pulling the POKEY chip. I almost broker a pin the last time I inserted it back into the cart. I hate to take such a chance with such a rare beast.
In a worst-case scenario, they can be repaired. But it would be far better to not have to remove/reinstall the chip with each firmware update. I'm not inclined to update mine again, until I'm certain I don't have to do that, and as of the last time I tried it, the latest beta of the Harmony software (which is supposed to address that) was still crashing on my M1 Mac.
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On 2/23/2023 at 8:36 PM, ZeroPage Homebrew said:
He was told to eject.
He ignored it.
Of course, then he would've probably been stuck on the surface of the Death Star when it exploded anyway.
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25 minutes ago, batari said:
Another attempt at the newer Mac software.
I used Monterey with a new built environment with fresh install of brew and Qt6, and tried to link to the frameworks in the app at compile time.
Nope. I've PM'd you the full crash log.
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1 hour ago, batari said:
OK, with some google searching on the problem, I attempted to update the search path in the app like so (this is based on information from a full debug report Nathan sent me):
install_name_tool -change /usr/local/opt/qt/lib/QtWidgets.framework/Versions/A/QtWidgets /opt/local/libexec/qt5/lib/QtWidgets.framework ~/HarmonyCart.app/Contents/MacOS/HarmonyCart
Here is the changed app. No idea if this will work for you guys as changing the path broke it on my older Macbook.
harmonycart_beta3a.dmg 582.42 kB · 1 download
Still no luck.
------------------------------------- Translated Report (Full Report Below) ------------------------------------- Process: HarmonyCart [85421] Path: /private/var/folders/*/HarmonyCart.app/Contents/MacOS/HarmonyCart Identifier: com.yourcompany.HarmonyCart Version: ??? Code Type: X86-64 (Translated) Parent Process: launchd [1] User ID: 501 Date/Time: 2023-02-16 14:33:20.0138 -0800 OS Version: macOS 13.0.1 (22A400) Report Version: 12 Anonymous UUID: Sleep/Wake UUID: Time Awake Since Boot: 650000 seconds Time Since Wake: 2145 seconds System Integrity Protection: enabled Crashed Thread: 0 Exception Type: EXC_CRASH (SIGABRT) Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000000, 0x0000000000000000 Termination Reason: Namespace DYLD, Code 1 Library missing Library not loaded: /opt/local/libexec/*/QtWidgets.framework Referenced from: <753D4536-5ABD-3EAC-8B59-EAAEC4E3FD9A> /private/var/folders/*/HarmonyCart.app/Contents/MacOS/HarmonyCart Reason: tried: '/opt/local/libexec/*/QtWidgets.framework' (no such file), '/System/Volumes/Preboot/Cryptexes/OS/opt/local/libexec/*/QtWidgets.framework' (no such file), '/opt/local/libexec/*/QtWidgets.framework' (no such file), '/usr/local/lib/QtWidgets.framework' (no such file), '/usr/lib/QtWidgets.framework' (no such file, not in dyld cache) (terminated at launch; ignore backtrace) -
1 hour ago, groundtrooper said:
When I try to update it, the 2.0 Beta programming tool recognizes it when it is plugged in. (I also get no errors in Device Manager)
It ID's it as: Harmony 'LPC2103, 32 kiB FLASH / 8kiB SRAM' @ 'COM4' with a green light.
Try 2.0 beta 3: https://forums.atariage.com/topic/314640-concerto-firmware-thread/page/37/#comment-5088479
(I can run beta 2, but beta 3 crashes on my Mac Studio.)
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2 hours ago, ZeroPage Homebrew said:
That would be nice! I might let me soldering skills increase before attempting that, we don't want a repeat of what happened to that poor POKEY chip I "removed" from a Ballblazer cart.
No soldering required - your TIA is socketed. Just get a new one from Best, or a donor that's also socketed.
You only need to:
- Open the case
- Unplug the two Molex connectors (there's a release tab on them)
- Remove the screws holding the RF shield to the case
- Unplug the connector from the switch board
- Remove the two screws connecting the switch board to the RF shield (optional - but it's easier to work with if you remove the switch board)
- Remove the bottom of the RF shield
- Slide out the main board
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Flip it over, GENTLY
pry out the old TIA from the mod board using a chip lifter
- Carefully seat the new TIA, and squeeze it into place
- Reroute the cables so they clear the shield
- Reinstall the shield
- Reconnect the switch board
- Reconnect the Molex connectors
- Test!!
- Reassemble
Actually... what you should do first, is find a TIA without that issue.
Then do the above steps.
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I had Pop! on my Mac at the time. But as with many vintage Mac games, it long ago stopped working. Beside the cute graphics, Pop! was a genuinely fun puzzle game.
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Wow! Absolutely beautiful animation and incredibly charming too! Terrific use of color as well - the trees look gorgeous.
There was a game (many years ago) called "Pop!" about a balloon dog that hopped around various puzzles. Your animation reminds me very much of that.
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2 hours ago, kheller2 said:
Hah, you beat me by 50 minutes to posting. I can't believe this is $1000.
Wow... $1000?!
I can think of so many other things I'd rather spend $1000 on. Like... 50 pizzas.
Maybe if these were new games (not in a million years - Atari is a logo and a handful of IPs, not a developer)... but even so - it takes a lot of Audacity to ask for that kind of money.
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HDMI cables are notoriously fragile. At the college I work for, we keep spares on hand because we know they're just going to fail (particularly with faculty plugging laptops into projectors and monitors). It doesn't take much either - the wires inside are incredibly thin, and the connectors are susceptible to getting bent. Intermittent problems are not uncommon. It's likely not the length - just the fact that you changed cables. (Unless you're using a ridiculously long HDMI cable.)
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2 minutes ago, Albert said:
I thought you were doing the art for that?
I think I am. We ran out of Daves.
I could really go for a burger right about now.
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Possibly not helpful, but I've been recently running into an issue where much of the internet would simply disappear. I'd get "server no longer responding" or "site unreachable" errors, but not for everything, and only once in awhile. Flushing the DNS cache did nothing. Restarting always fixed it, but that was really annoying. Ultimately, I tracked it down to the VPN software I use to remote in to my office computer at work - it was switching over to my work's DNS server rather than my ISP's. As soon as I disconnected from the VPN - bam! The DNS went back to my ISP and the internet reappeared. Maybe you're seeing a similarly-weird DNS-related issue.
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On 1/17/2023 at 7:31 PM, x=usr(1536) said:
@Nathan Strum: IIRC, Tower Toppler was one of the titles that didn't work correctly until one of the more recent firmware releases.
That post has the version of the firmware I'm using (which I believe is the most recent), and I can confirm that Tower Toppler does work under it.
Still a no-go here. After updating the Concerto's firmware to .96, Tower Toppler and Rampage both still crash. Fatal Run now recognizes joystick buttons, but it still crashes as well.
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On 1/19/2023 at 11:31 PM, Lord_of_Sipan said:
If you don’t mind, can you test rampage on your concerto? That is the only other game I get similar behavior on.
The "AB" dump would load, sometimes play a little, but then crash:
Or get stuck at the player select screen:
The "OB" dump would never get past 90% loading:
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4 hours ago, Trebor said:
I'm strongly leaning towards Concerto as the issue, since the dump in itself is not a 'good' one, but an overdump with the data duplicated to expand the 64k cart to 128k cart, for the sake of Concerto compatibility.
Below is a list of original 'true' 78SG cartridge type games. If available (as I know an original Tower Toppler currently is not), and these cartridges work fine on the console, then even more definitive, the Concerto is the issue:
7800 78SG 0 128 KB NTSC Ace of Aces 7800 78SG 0 128 KB NTSC Barnyard Blaster 7800 78SG 0 128 KB NTSC Basketbrawl 7800 78SG 0 128 KB NTSC Crack'ed 7800 78SG 0 128 KB NTSC Dark Chambers 7800 78SG 0 128 KB NTSC Fatal Run 7800 78SG 0 128 KB NTSC Fight Night 7800 78SG 0 128 KB NTSC Ikari Warriors 7800 78SG 0 128 KB NTSC Mat Mania Challenge 7800 78SG 0 128 KB NTSC Mean 18 Ultimate Golf 7800 78SG 0 128 KB NTSC Meltdown 7800 78SG 0 128 KB NTSC Midnight Mutants 7800 78SG 0 128 KB NTSC Motor Psycho 7800 78SG 0 128 KB NTSC Ninja Golf 7800 78SG 0 128 KB NTSC Planet Smashers 7800 78SG 0 128 KB NTSC Scrapyard Dog 7800 78SG 0 128 KB NTSC Touchdown Football 7800 78SG 0 128 KB NTSC XenophobeIf any of the above cartridges have problems, then the console is the issue.
Well, I tried the lot on the Concerto. I don't have a light gun, so I couldn't test Barnyard Blaster or Meltdown. But they loaded for whatever that's worth.
Man though... the 7800 had some absolute stinkers in its library.
Anyway...
Everything worked on the modded console, except Fatal Run: it wouldn't recognize joystick button presses (but does recognize directional input). I could start a game using Reset and move the car around, but that was it. A couple of times, the game froze:
However - Fatal Run also refused to recognize joystick buttons on my RF 7800, which is an early model (AT84 serial number w/expansion port). The modded 7800 is a late-model "X" serial number. So that likely points to the Concerto. (I don't have original cartridges of either game to test against.)
Debating whether or not it's worth updating the firmware on the off-chance it might fix the games. Kind of hoping to see something a little more ready-for-primetime than the daily builds.
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On 12/24/2022 at 5:15 AM, Trebor said:
This build: Tower Toppler (NTSC) (Overdump 78SG Hack) (20210124).a78for Tower Toppler should work fine. If the experience is the levels keep cycling, check the difficulty switches in front of the console as they impact game behavior. A feature of the game is being able to skip levels.
While that dump of Tower Toppler does work with my RF 7800 and Concerto cart:
It does not in the 7800 I just repaired and added a UAV mod to:
This is running the firmware the cart shipped with (0.95). Is this likely a Concerto issue, or a Tower Toppler issue? (In other words, if I bought an original Tower Toppler cart, would that likely work?)
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3 minutes ago, Karl G said:
Thanks for the bug report. I was unaware of that one. If I pick this one back up, I may well rewrite a large portion of it since there are a number of bugs that I think ultimately stem from RAM starvation. My kernel uses too much RAM leading me to reuse the same RAM for many different things.
The good news for me at least is that I have the source, since I posted it on here seeing help with the stats issue that Nathan experienced, so I wouldn't have to start completely from scratch if I pick it up again.
I hope you pick it up again - it's a terrific game. I've been playing the iPad version, but I prefer it on the 2600.
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1 hour ago, johnnywc said:
I would definitely want to see if we could acquire licensing for Archon - does any body know who holds the rights? I think is was Freefall back in the day (I remember the animated logo at start up
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Probably still Free Fall. There's contact info here, and they openly encourage licensees (for "contemporary platforms" anyway). But that site hasn't been updated since 2008.
The last ones (listed) to have licensed Archon were React Games. But they don't claim to own it - they're a development studio. The link for their version Archon goes nowhere.
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On 12/24/2022 at 5:15 AM, Trebor said:
This build: Tower Toppler (NTSC) (Overdump 78SG Hack) (20210124).a78for Tower Toppler should work fine. If the experience is the levels keep cycling, check the difficulty switches in front of the console as they impact game behavior. A feature of the game is being able to skip levels.
All the above aforementioned dumps are in the PROPack.
Thanks! I was trying to get Tower Toppler to run, to no avail. This did the trick. Much appreciated!
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1 hour ago, Thomas Jentzsch said:
How about a reversed color option for us people who are very sensitive to flicker? And maybe something like a reverse luma boost would help too (display brighter when not flickering).
Hmmm... maybe we could do a "film noir" version in black and white?
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2 hours ago, ZeroPage Homebrew said:
Thank you so much! I found that great witch graphic and did some modifications to it for the cart art. Hopefully you can stay up for the show, we have something special planned for your game! 🙂
Aerlan is going to dress up as Elvira?
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On 12/22/2022 at 5:54 PM, ZeroPage Homebrew said:
4) I was taking a look at Task Manager (Win10) and WOW does the Chrome browser ever LOVE to eat up my CPU resources. I had a fair number of tabs open, but still it was chewing up like 20%+ of my processing power for some reason.
Chrome has always been a resource pig. It got so bad for awhile, we had to tell students to stop using Photoshop and Chrome at the same time.
pry out the old TIA from the mod board using a chip lifter
).
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