Kroko

What would be gained by reprogramming it? We're talking about a cart from the last batch that you made, if that makes a difference. Just curious. Michael The new firmware supports 0840 bankswitching. But that is not really useful right now, because no ROMs are available. I added it because it needs almost no resources and I thought it might be useful for development in case more people decide to use it.

Hm ... I can't think of anything of interest. I have more practise in cart case modding now Yeah, if you add anything that makes the new carts better than the old carts, let us know, because we might want to get a new one! Or would we be able to upgrade our old ones? Michael I can update old cartridges, but I need to destroy the label. If you send the device to me, I can reprogram it. The design of the Krokodile is fixed and can not really change significantly. I can add very little things here and there but nothing that makes a real difference.

Hm ... I can't think of anything of interest. I have more practise in cart case modding now

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I have come quite far with cart case modification. They are almost finished now. I still need to discuss the details with Albert on how and when we will sell them. This depends on a lot of things including if Albert will have time to print manuals, make CDs and so on. It never hurts to send Albert a PM so he knows that you are interested. Unfortunately it currently looks like I can not keep this promise. The next batch is most likely the last batch for a very long time. So if you want a new device, try to get one now. I fear it could very well be preorder for this batch. Even if they would be sold in the shop, I am not confident that they would be available for a very long time. But as I said, I have not yet discussed this with Albert. We will do that as soon as the devices are really 100% finished.

Which version of the Tigervision 3F bankswitching does the Tron Man Picture Cart use? There is one version where the last 2K in the binary are used for the fixed bank at $f800-$ffff, because this is how a normal 3F cart would work. But z26 also supports a 3F mode where the 4th 2K page in the binary is used for the fixed bank at $f800-$ffff. This was added because it's how the original Cuttle Cart works with Tigervision games up to 64K. I think Stella only supports the first 3F bankswitching method but not the second one. And IIRC Andrew Davie's ChronoColour picture demos were developed on a Cuttle Cart using 3F bankswitching. So if the Tron Man Picture Cart is based on this code, it might be the reason why it doesn't work in Stella. Ciao, Eckhard Stolberg Yes, only the first method is supported in Stella. So if someone could provide a ROM that demonstrates this second scenario, I'm sure it could be easily fixed. I could provide a ROM that will display a different screen color based on which 2K bank is fixed at $F800-$FFFF. I'll make one and post it later. Michael Stella is using $00-$3F as hotspot for 3F bankswitching. Could you try to compile a version of stella that only uses $3F and not the complete range downto $00. Maybe the TronMan cart uses the addresses below 3F instead of the mirror. The Krokodile Cart runs this Rom fine and it is using last bank fixed and only $3F as hotspot.

Delicon tried this and it didn't work. AFAIK, he used interrputs, not polling. Polling for F4/F6/F8 in a tight loop should be fast enough, and should be possible for a simple bankswitching scheme. The entire bankswitching program in the ARM would likely be < 10 instructions, maybe even less, with a single branch (for the loop back.) The ARM instruction set supports predication on any instruction, which is really nice. Delicon offered to send me a board so I could try this, but I haven't heard from him in about a year. The fast clock is also a challenge. You would most likely need a very fast clock and fast clocks can have negative influence on the picture quality. It is quite easy to bild a nice antenna on your PCB. Especially on the 4 switch consoles you can quickly get a real bad picture.

Are you sure that the power supply is working ? Can you notice at least a change of the pattern if you switch the Atari on ? Some sort of reaction on the TV ? What carts did you try ? All or just one ?

Why do you want to do this ? I mean if you want something more powerful than the 2600, you have a lot of options. I am not sure if it can be done at all, but I am quite sure there would not be many people who would modify their console. Most people like to 2600 exactly as it is

I am sure some people who are eagerly waiting for a Kroko Cart might be able and willing to help you to speed up the process. Maybe you could let your customers (or others) do some pre- or post-processing? I would really have to find sombody who is willing and able to modify 50 cart cases, or we have to wait until I have the time.

I have currently almost no time to continue the cart case modification. I have no idea when this will get better, sorry ...

Very nice

Some of them are here :

I am not familiar with the Kroko Cart compatability issues with the 7800, however if anyone in this forum can describe the issues then perhaps I can devise a fix. Mike There are two different sorts of compatibility issues. There are certain 7800 consoles that have an additional chip on the board that pulls down the adress lines in the middle of the cycle. That does confuse the Krokodile Cartridges RAM timing. This issue does only exist on some PAL consoles and I think very few NTSC consoles (if any). On such consoles, the Krokodile Cartridge does still work with standard ROMs, but it does not work with extra RAM schemes or schemes that depend on the databus content (like 3F tigervision). The second issue does only affect the multicart mode of the Krokodile Cartridge. The startup Code of the 7800 OS does access the Krokodile Cartridges Multicart Hotspot and immediately switches to one of the games. Maybe I can fix this in a later Krokodile Commander revision, but I am not 100% sure. I have not heard of any other issues. Please note that the problem is actually that the 7800 is not fully compatible to the 2600, because a lot of crap happens on the bus, before a 2600 game is actually started. The Krokodile Cartridge is currently a "2600 only" device

I made 50. (20 are for prototypes of other bs schemes that these boards can support).

I have designed the boards and I can assure you that I have not ripped off anybody.

I am glad you still like the Krokodile Cart and thanks for the review

..Al What was the bankswitching scheme for that beast? It is called EF: $FFE0 to $FFEF select the 16 4K banks

I made the 3E board for Andrew Davies "notBD"

I posted a similar question before Christmas and didn't get a response so I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you. The devices are soldered and programmed, but I still need to do the cartridge case modification. I have very little time at the moment but I really hope to finish them within the next 2 months. Unfortunately there are more important things right now ...

Very nice icon !

Firmware Revision 1.0 does not support M-Network. You would need 1.1 or 1.2 PM me if you want your device upgraded.

I guess it wouldn't be hard to include 0840 in the next revision. Is the Toyshop Trouble ROM available so I could try if it fits in ? This scheme should require very little resources, so it may be possible to support it.

You could also have a look at CBM4WIN if you don't want to use plain DOS. You will need a XA1541, XM1541, XAP1541 or XMP1541 cable in order to connect the drive with your PC. http://www.trikaliotis.net/cbm4win.shtml

Good Idea, but I do currently not have the time to make modifications to the hardware. If that should change in the near future, USB is first on my list of modifications. And I do really need to get rid of the massive cart case modification that is necessary for the current PCB layout. It is a real pain ...