Kroko

I think that could be in January, but I can't promise anything ... Yes I added E7. But nothing else. No, that is not possible. It would require to destroy the label, open the cart case and reprogram the logic chip.

What Thomas and therealred5 are writing is correct. It is 99$ + Shipping. The next batch will be available in the AtariAge store as soon as I have finished it. I am sure that Albert is shipping to Europe.

Your Krokodile Cartridge comes with a database. If you select a ROM that is stored in the database, the correct bankswitching mode is auto selected by the Krokodile Commander. You Can create Multicarts on the "Multicart" Tab of the Krokodile Commander. Please read through the manual for a description of how it is done.

Too many other projects, etc. I really should get back on the 4A50, particularly with making a decent programmer for the thing. Running a parallel port from DOS is a real pain. Forget the programmer. Why don't you just get rid of the flash chip and put a simple EPROM socket on the board instead ? Albert can program EPROMs. No need for a programmer. Then 4A50 would be available and usable for anybody with an EPROM burner.

This should only be a rough estimation. 1$ is a good guess for the 36XL but I was assuming that i would need a 72XL. Maybe I am wrong, but I think the community does not want flash. The design should be based on standard EPROMS. So that everybody who was able to build carts before can still do it with the new boards. If you can show me the circuit that can replace the oscillator with cheaper parts, I will be really happy. I am searching for a solution to that for quite some time now, but spending the 1.50$ is still the best solution. Only one part and all solutions I have seen so far have lots of discrete parts and ar not much below. And here is the next problem. Either you need to do the surface mount stuff yourself, probably 1000 times, because you really like soldering, or you need to let it assemble by a company. You can let stuff assemble for a big device where these costs are not really significant, but for a device below 20$ you need to do it by hand or increase its price. (or lose money ) That would be great. On the other hand I can't imagine how this could be done without a clock. Have you had success with magic writes without a high resolution clock ? Maybe John can tell us what his estimation was regarding 4A50. how much more would a standalone 4A50 cost, if it was just a plain board with everything in place except for the EPROM (but maybe a socket). It would be really great if you or somebody else found a solution that is only 1$ above an 8K board and has RAM with magic writes on it. I only fear it could be an illusion I just noticed that this stuff is a little (?) bit off topic, I hope you don't mind

The chip is about 1$, but you can't do it without a oscillator thats another $1.50 and and you can't use the oscillator without a CPLD, thats another X$ depending on the chip you use. Now that you have the chip, you can also support bankswitching, but the designs I have in mind would need a part that is about 2$ more expensive than what is on current 8K boards. In addition, the board has to be larger which increases costs, I would say about 50ct. and finally somebody has to assemble much more parts than before. So my best guess is, that the material alone is +5$ and now the question is if you find somebody who is willing to assemble hundreds of devices just for fun. I really doubt that you can make all of the above stuff for 1$. Maybe I am missing something and you have an idea how one could avoid the costs I have mentioned above. That would probably bring us much nearer to a design with RAM.

I don't think it would be a big problem to make a board that can support all kinds of RAM schemes including 4A50, E7,3E, SC etc. On the other hand I am not convinced that a lot of people would be willing to pay 5-10$ more per game. I think thats the biggest problem with the complicated schemes with RAM. Its not that they are complicated, the problem is, that the boards would be more expensive.

Stupid question: How can you control the SpeakJet I/O Lines ? When I read through the Users Guide of the SpeakJet, my first impression was, that these I/O Lines are controlled by writing to a EEPROM register. Is there a different way to control these lines ? I mean you wouldn't want to write to the SpeakJet EEPROM each time you want to change the value of the I/O port. I didn't spend much time to find out if there is a different way to control these I/Os via serial port commands. Have you found out, how this can be done ?

Asteroids ?

As I understand it, You jump to one bank by JSR $FXXX and you Jump to the other bank by JSR $DXXX.With RTS you just return to where you came from. So if you came from the D bank you return to the D bank and if you came from the F bank you return to the F bank. AFAIK, one of the two FE roms jumps both within the same bank and to the other bank. You need to monitor the databus to get it. Both during RTS and JSR the relevant data can be found on the databus. At least that is how I understood it during some longer discussions with Eckhard

Since the database is relying on the Stella.pro file, this is almost for sure. Yes, the database is based on the stella.pro file. You can update it to the correct value on the database tab of the Krokodile Commander or import a valid .pro file which contains the correct bs mode.

I think there is a 5 pixels delay for the players and a 4 pixels delay for ball and missiles EDIT: http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?s...st&p=894475 And if you really want to know the reason, read this: http://www.bjars.com/resources/tia_hw_notes.doc

Imagine how life would have been without CBM and without the C64. And how would it have been without the Atari 600/800XL. I vote for Saint. I can't call him a sinner, no matter what happened later ...

Please let me know what the problem was, and what you did to (at least somewhat) solve it.

If you activate this, you can not manually select the bankswitching scheme (but you have to in read only mode, or the game may not run correctly). So actually this option should not be available if the database is read only(or like in your case, not available at all). Try to disable it and select the correct bankswitching mode before you press download. I will disable this option in the next revision, if there is something wrong with the database. I understand that you dont like this I have never tested this button with a faulty database. I will try to fix this in the next revision if I can reconstruct the problem. It will not work until you select the correct multicart bankswitching on the download tab or have the database running correctly.

Hi ! What operating system are you using ? If it is Windows 98 you need to install a Software package from Microsoft (Microsoft Jet Engine Service Pack) in order to get access to the database. You can get it here: http://www.arminvogl.de/KrokodileCartridge/Jet40SP8_9xNT.exe Have you copied the files from your CD to a folder on your computer ? As long as you get database errors, you are not able to easily use the Krokodile Commander. A lots of its features are disabled. So you need to try and get rid of these errors first. If you want the multicart to work and don't have the database properly working, you need to specify its bankswitching scheme manually before you download. For example if you make a 4K Multicart you need to select "4K Multicart" from the bankswitching dropdown box on the download tab. If you need more support, it is best to PM me so I can better help you. You can also contact me on ICQ then we can try to solve the problem online.

Yes, its region free ... You can combine 1K/2K/4K and one bankswitching mode. But you can not mix two different bankswitching modes. That means: 1K/2K/4K (127 games) 1K/2K/4K + F8 (63 games) 1K/2K/4K + F6 (31 games) 1K/2K/4K + F4 (15 games)

Hi ! there will not be a waiting list for the next batch. Instead, we are going to put it directly to the store when the next batch is available. I don't think a list is necessary anymore, because with the next batch we should have enough devices. Well, at least that is my feeling ...

I think Albert has 2 devices left, but the waiting list is not empty, yet ... I will need a few month for the next batch ...

AFAIK, TIM64T is decremented IMMEDIATELY after it was written, thats why you need to add 1

I started a couple Supercharger games, but found it hard to get excited about coding for a platform that requires exotic hardware but can't use it to anything near its capabilities. Something like 4A50 seems much more interesting, though I'm wondering whether I should have included "magic writes". They're rather nice, but they mean that 4A50 games won't be supportable on the Krokodile Cart. The magic writes are not the only reason why 4A50 can't be supported. The chip is full and I simply can't support anything new with the current design. So it would make very little sense to modify your design. If I had space, the next thing I would add is F0, E0, AR or FE (because I think the original bs modes have highest priority). And If I should ever make a modification to the Krokodiles design, then I can support 4A50 no matter how it would finally look like.

Ok, I agree. DIP is easier and faster to solder. Less pins and greater dimensions mean you need less time for production and more people feel able to solder it. On the other hand, PLCC is really not much more difficult to solder with a standard soldering iron than DIP. But most people are afraid, and that is what probably counts (especially for your design and for boards that need to be produced by Albert or are not pre-assembled) Its still this design we discusse a few weeks ago .... http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=88799

What CPLDs are available in DIP form? I think PLCC is easy enough to solder. Do you think that DIP is an advantage ? Wait I have tried to fit some of this stuff onto a board a few month ago. It was close, but I think it could work ...

I think John did not want to make a new design, but use what already existed. I also can't think of any good reason to still use a PLD in a new design.

Why would that be necessary and how do you plan to make sure it powers up in bank 0 ? Would it be possible to make it work in case it starts in one of the other banks, too ?