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Kroko

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Posts posted by Kroko

  2. Posted

    ¿the recording process is similar to eprom?  

    NO !

     

    ¿how erase flash ROM?  

    ¿what range of voltage to burn data?  

    ¿what range of voltage to erase data?  

     

    Everything you do with a flash eprom or a flash perom is done at its normal supply voltage (e.g. 5V) I didn't come across devices which require a special programming voltage.

     

    Read access is identical to EEPROMs.

     

    Writing is a bit more complicated. Flash memory is sector based and you can only write a complete sector. Different devices have different sector sizes.

     

    AM29F040 has a sector size of 64K. That means you can't program less than 64 K at once. And you have to erase each sector before you can overwrite it. That could be a problem for you ;-)

     

    AT29C040 has a sector size of 256 bytes and you can just overwrite a sector without erasing it. That is why I have chosen this one for my device.

     

    There may be lots of other devices which all have different characteristics. You really have to look inside the datasheet to make a decision.

     

    Writing a sector is not really simple. Each device has its own "protocol" to write a sector. In some devices you have some timing constraints, which means you have to finish the sector programming within a certain time limit.

     

    The lines that have to be controlled during a sector write are OE,WE and CE. The datasheet will tell you exactly how you have to set these lines to make a successful write :D

  3. Posted

    As Albert said, I was investigating if it is possible to mix different

    cartridge sizes on the multicarts.

     

    There is some good news and some bad news:

     

    1K,2K and 4K games can be loaded into ANY multicart. But you can only choose one bankswitching mode for the multicart.

     

    That means:

     

    if you compile a non switched multicart, you can select 1K,2K and 4K ROMs

    if you compile a F8 switched multicart, you can select 1K,2K,4K and 8K ROMs

    if you compile a F6 switched multicart, you can select 1K,2K,4K and 16K ROMs

    if you compile a F4 switched multicart, you can select 1K,2K,4K and 32K ROMs

     

    But you can NOT mix 8K,16K and 32K ROMs

  4. Posted

    Is there any way to pay a little extra and add space to the cartridge? all the 2k and 4k games on the cartridge would be nice

    Sorry, the cart is in already in production. It is too late now to make changes to the design. I think 127 games on one multicart image should be ok. And you only need one minute to exchange the complete 512K image with a second multicart image that can hold another 127 games :)

  5. Posted

    ... mostly.  

     

    The Krokodile Commander can verify, if your download was successful. It reads the content of the cart and compares it to the currently selected binary. But why would you want to store what you just downloaded ?

     

    You don't want to use the Krokodile Cart as a 512K memory stick, right ? :D

  7. Posted

    You mean it would tell you if a ROM was not valid?  

    If so that would be cool.  

     

    If it doesn't have the correct size you can not select it, because

    the file selection dialog simply doesn't show it.

     

    Hmm... I think in the next version I will look up the bankswitching

    mode of a selected ROM in the database and display a warning if

    the mode does not fit.

     

    Are the pre-orders still expected to ship first of January?  

    I just pre-ordered today and already I'm getting antsy

     

    Maybe it will be a little later, also because shipping is slow during christmas time. But I am sure it will be in January :D

  8. Posted

    Does the Win software help in the process of determining the bankswitch method / size of each ROM or does the user have to do that first before compiling a multicart of a specific bankswitch/ size?  

     

    The Krokodile Commander comes with a database that contains the

    bankswitching methods for all known ROMs. If you select a ROM, the

    bankswitching method is displayed.

     

    If you compile a multicart, the Krokodile Commander only lets you select ROMs that have the correct size. So ...

     

    if you compile a non switched multicart, you can select 1K,2K and 4K ROMs

    if you compile a F8 switched multicart, you can select 1K,2K,4K and 8K ROMs

    if you compile a F6 switched multicart, you can select 1K,2K,4K and 16K ROMs

    if you compile a F4 switched multicart, you can select 1K,2K,4K and 32K ROMs

     

    The Commander does currently not check the bankswitching mode, only the size. So in theory you could select an 8K superchip ROM into an F8 multicart. But this game wouldn't work then. If you think the Commander should check the mode too, then I can easily implement it :-)

  9. Posted

    Hi Vern !

     

    Anyone know if 3.3V is enough to trigger high on the VCS data lines?

     

    I am not sure, but I would say yes. In theory anything above 2.4 V should be high. I only fear that a 3.3V design is less noise tolerant than a 5V design.

  11. Posted

    So what is the difference between it and the krok? who plays more games?

     

    I think the cuttle cart plays more games.

     

    Differences are:

     

    * KC is a multicart CC is not

    * KC will be available CC is no more (or are you selling yours ?)

    * KC downloads games much faster

    * KC plays 3F games up to 512K CC up to (damn i don't know but less than 512K)

    * KC plays EF , CC does not (=> Homestar RPG)

    * CC plays E0,E7,FE and Starpath KC does not (and maybe another bs mode I forgot)

     

    They are just a bit different :-)

     

    Kroko.

  13. Posted

    Try using the same opcode after the bank switching in both banks.  

     

    I still think its a problem that only occurs at startup. A wrong initialisation of something. I don't think the bankswitching itself has a problem, or it would crash all the time. So its most likely that some timing issues of the console or the cratridge that can sometimes happen at startup are the problem. I think using the same vectors in both banks (like described above) is something that could help, in case the VCS is fetching the reset vector from different banks during startup of the cartridge.

     

    Look through the source for LD instructions that are missing the # sign.

    But why should that lead to problems that occur only 5% of the time during startup ?

  18. Posted

    Last night I doubled up the 4K Haunted House .bin. I burned that into a 2764 and put it into a 2600 8K PCB I bought from the AA store awhile back. This PCB is the older one (it is yellow in color, not red) and I specified the EPROM to be 8K when ordering. It worked fine!! I would assume quadrupling 2K .bins would also work, but I ran out of 2764s to test that. Once I test that, I will report back.  

     

    I think as long as you start at the beginning and double everything until the rom is full, you can use 2K,4K,8K,16K and 32K boards and they should work fine :-)

    At least I can't imagine why they shouldn't work ...

  20. Posted

    Any chance of this working with Mac OS X

     

    Currently Only Windows 2000 and Windows XP are supported. But if anybody is willing to port the commander to the Mac, I will make a description of how to talk to the cart ... I don't have a mac ...

  21. Posted

    How easy would it be for a non-technically-minded individual (such as myself) to use this as a multicart?

     

    1. Start the Krokodile Comander (Some Windows Software)

    2. Click on the "Multicart" Tab

    3. Select The Multicart Type and the Games that should be on the multicart

    4. Press a button to create the ROM-File

    5. Download that ROM to the Cartridge (another button)

    6. DONE !

     

    Is that easy enough ?

  22. Posted

    Will this be one of those limited run things that I will never be able to get my hands on if I don't pre-order. Or will you produce them as required.  

     

    Well, the main problem is the prize. If you only order one, then its extremely expensive. The PCB and some of the chips on the design are much cheaper in quantities. I don't need lots of chips and pcbs for my hobby and if I order them, I have to be sure that they are sold sooner or later. An order of 25 is in the 2000$ region you know ...

     

    I will make a list of people who are interested. And If I have the feeling that 25 could be sold, they will be available (most likely in the AtariAge store if Albert agrees)

     

    I am going to make new ones as soon as there seems to be enough interest. In theory I can make a single device any time if you are willing to pay a prototype price :D

  23. Posted

    It would be swell to see them housed in some fancy colored cartridges too (green ???).

     

    Hehe ... I think this might be a cool Option 8)

     

     

    I'd be interested in seeing a label contest for this one

     

    Me, too :D

     

    But I am not sure if I can offer a free Krokodile cart to the winner, because I am not a big company and the material is quite expensive ...

  25. Posted

    It works? Good...that means that I can only use F8 bankswitching when both banks' start vector is identical (in the lower 13 bits).  

     

    No, not Good. The First version worked on my cart, too.

    It worked though the vectors were not identical.

     

    I have no idea, why it makes problems on Thomas' device ...

    I think your binary still makes problems on his system ...

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