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tmp

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Posts posted by tmp

  2. Posted

    1 hour ago, Atari_bbs_fan said:

    Tmp, is there a specific reason why you used a FET (less common) and not a more common NPN transistor? 

    i believe fets are being commonly used these days as switches but if you can do that more easier with bjt (without loading the driving signal too much), great, please share the circuit (i'm no electronics expert so i tend to choose the easier path that gives me lower chance to mess up something)

     

    also a question to anyone who uses avgcart with 800 (or 400), does it work without cart port modification (phi2 "fix")? i don't own one and i don't remember anyone complaining about it so i never realized i wasn't sure about the compatibility, thanks

  3. Posted

    you need a firmware update if you want the cart to indicate position during atr/atx cycling by blinking

     

    the rest is not avgcart specific, it's just transistor(s) switching led(s) based on state of DATAIN (and optionally DATAOUT) signal(s)

     

    i used something like this

     

     

     

    sioled.png

    • Like 1

  5. Posted

    if you're on windows, you can use contig.exe to verify that avf file is not fragmented ("contig -a file" should tell you it has 1 chain)

    i don't own any cards that do not work (even old crappy non-brand 2gb cards work for me) but i can't rule out that incompatible ones exist, what card is it?

  6. Posted

    1 hour ago, lopezpb said:

    I forgot to write that on db20 firmware atx file works fine.

    that most likely means cable detect isn't working (you need to connect red and white wires together)

     

     

  9. Posted

    55 minutes ago, Mr Robot said:

    I looked at it and never did it. I realised that it would be pretty involved given where the diode would have to go and wouldn't be reversible if it didn't work

    add the diode to the ftdi board? should be less painful to cut that

    (i also have a feeling that you have that diode reversed on that pic but i'll let someone else doublecheck that)

  10. Posted · Edited by tmp

    50 minutes ago, gs80065xe said:

    When I boot either SpartaDos ROM, it goes to D1. But a DIR of D1 says device not found. I don't currently have an SIO drive connected. I was able to format I. And can see that. But where are all the SpartaDosX files?

    as already mentioned, CAR:

    Quote

    When you boot from disk, there is the COM, and possibly a host of other files, like TDATE, TDLINE, ect. TDATE works, but I don't know where it is. Where does AutoExec.bat read from?

    SDX manual says

     

    "During the boot process, SDX will automatically execute a batch file in the main
    directory on D1: called 'AUTOEXEC.BAT', if exists. "

     

    so apparently you either need to have a sio device that will handle D1: or make any of your hdd partitions mount as D1: (DA:)

     

    i see two occurrences of "BOOT=A:" in .car file but i doubt it'd be that easy to modify to use a different drive (it could be possible to change that in CONFIG.SYS using sdx imaging tool, needs to be tested)

    Quote

    As for SIDE emulation and the SIDE loader, based on FlashJazzCat's doc, it looks like it supports XEX and ATR's. But not CAR or ROM files. I don't even see those on my SD card when using the SIDE loader. What are the benefits of using SIDE loader instead of the default AVG software?

    i believe some people used side loader CAR to be able to launch pdm.xex to play PDM audio files but that's not needed anymore

    Quote

     

    In addition, I using the stock composite video. And I've noticed the fonts of the AVG and SIDE loaders appears off, compared to the video's I've seen for both products. Is that expected with stock video on modern LED TV's.

    photo? (not that i would be able to tell but someone else might)

  11. Posted · Edited by tmp

    5 hours ago, Mclaneinc said:

    Sort of think I'm doing it right, if I turn the HDD of I get the AVG menu back but I still get the HSIO from the U1mb but it seems slower than the sideloader..is it?

     

    To answer that myself, yes its slower, via the Sideloader with HDD on its blistering...

     

    for some reason ATR emulation seems to be confusing to people so let's recap it once again (this is my understanding and view of the situation, please correct me if i'm wrong anywhere)

     

    three major ways to emulate floppy (using ATR files)

     

    1. softkicked patched OS

     

    OS ROM is disabled and patched OS is copied into RAM at the same region

    patch redirects requests to D devices to the cart

     

    + fast

    + doesn't need any HW modification/extra HW (besides multicart)

     

    - doesn't work if ATR uses its own SIO routines (bypasses OS)

    - doesn't work if ATR reenables OS ROM or overwrites RAM that holds patched OS (probably most common cause of failure)

    - lowest compatibility of the three methods

     

    used by: Uno Cart, AVGCART, SIDE 3 (not an official information)

     

    2. PBI

     

    uses an official way to extend OS via extra code that can be mapped via PBI

    this is what U1MB is doing, PBI BIOS (by fjc) is that extra code that is called by OS (no modification of OS needed unlike in method 1) and it handles the requests and reads/writes from/to ATR files stored on any compatible storage device (SIDE*, AVGCART with SIDE emulation enabled, maybe more)

    mapping of ATR files is normally done in U1MB's SIDE Loader, i believe it's possible to do that also programmatically so technically even AVGCART's menu (or any other SW) could directly mount them without having to go to the SIDE Loader

     

    + fast

    + compatible with most ATR

     

    +- in case of AVGCART, you currently (0020) need to do the mapping in SIDE Loader (SHIFT-S (to enable one-time SIDE emulation), HELP+RESET, L or by setting AVGCART to boot directly into SIDE emulation and set U1MB to start SIDE Loader automatically)

     

    - needs extra HW (internally mounted) compared to multicart only solutions

    - incompatible with some ATR that either talk directly to SIO (bypasses OS) or expect some behavior of real SIO communication (timings, interrupts?) but it's still order of magnitude more compatible than method 1 since this is likely not very common (i'm no expert here)

     

    used by: U1MB (+ compatible storage device)

     

    3. real SIO device

     

    any device with physical connection to SIO port (all SIO2*, SDrive*, AVGCART with SIO cable, ...)

    this is also the only method where HSIO matters

     

    + should be 100% compatible since there should be no technical limitation, if something doesn't work, it's probably just a bug that should be fixed

    + allows ATX and CAS emulation

     

    - slower than previous methods (limited by serial communication to around 126k baud (if HSIO is in use, 19200 baud otherwise) + some mandatory delays in the protocol)

    - in case of AVGCART, there's an ugly cable that connects AVGCART to SIO port and turns your Atari into Commodore

     

    used by: SIO2*, SDrive*, AVGCART with SIO cable, ...

    • Like 8
    • Thanks 1

  15. Posted · Edited by tmp

    28 minutes ago, flashjazzcat said:

    Eidolon appears to rely on serial IO IRQ. By plenty of RAM, I refer to U1MB. Do continue with the one-man show, though. I hope people will be queuing to buy equipment which requires such advertising methods.

    i didn't intend to take part in this silly discussion because i'm sure that in the end i'd end up looking like an idiot and make some enemies in the process which is really not worth it but since it's starting to take a turn i don't like, just a few words

     

    - i don't control what other people post so please do not connect that with me or my cart

    - as fjc correctly stated a few posts above, current capabilities of side3 are largely unknown, it's also unknown what it will be able to do once it's shipped or what it will be able to do in a year or two

    so for a fair comparison, i'd give it a year or so and then compare the current (at that time) features of both carts, both standalone and with help of extra hw like u1mb

     

    - and most importantly, i don't care, buy whatever you want SIDE3, just don't pull me into crap like this

     

    thanks for paying attention and keep on fighting ;-)

    • Like 9

  17. Posted

    1 minute ago, manterola said:

    BTW, what is the current of state regarding mailing AvgCarts to the world? I would like to know if it can be sent to USA and how much$$$?

    I already have one and I am thinking in another one for a friend which isn't convinced (yet) to get back to this hobby.

    it can be shipped and i'm 99% sure it will eventually arrive

    how much time it will take to arrive, i have no idea, i don't have current data (i've shipped one last monday so it's too soon to judge, those sent months ago took almost 2 months to arrive)

    europe seems to be mostly back to normal (although hiccups can probably occur)

    price is in the first post

  18. Posted

    11 minutes ago, candle said:

    from u1mb equipped machine user perspective, AVG's strongest feature is SIDE2 emulation - nothing else puts my intrest there

    SIO contraption with some kind of cables running to another port feels Commodore biased, and I simply don't like it

    sure, it has it advantages, if you're using stock machine, but then again, I don't find stock machine that usefull

    I don't play the games, its either sdx or some development - for this I need either a link to a PC, or doing it nativly on Atari, so SIO feature of AVG cart is gone - it would be useless if I had to put that SD card back and forth in PC and AVG, and for developing anything nativly on Atari, I would die for some extra RAM

    Anyways - if I was on a budged, and only games would spark my intrest, I would buy AVG, but in a long run, it might be I would have to buy yet another device

    Other than this - I belive SIDE3 is better choice in long term, especially for any die-hard Atari user

     

    ;-)

    • Like 3

  19. Posted

    32 minutes ago, Mclaneinc said:

    What was wrong?

    originally? apparently trying to open a file with rw access doesn't quite work with read-only files (quelle surprise)

    shame on me for such a stupid bug

  22. Posted · Edited by tmp

    E020 (0020 beta) is available

     

    notable changes

     

    - support for SIO cable (allows much better ATR support (including HSIO), adds support for ATX/CAS)

    - shortcuts/bookmarks

    - support for AUTORUN.* file in _AVGCART was removed, replaced by setting autorun dynamically via key shortcuts

    - template dir (_AVGTMPL) for easy creating empty disks, ...

    - support for file copy (ctrl-c) and delete (ctrl-d)

    - INV or Z will scroll filename that's too long to fit the screen

     

    OSXEX file was renamed to OSXEX2 (due to incompatible change), included in the zip with update

     

    and some more changes that i don't even remember, read the fine manual by @Mr Robot that is up to date with the latest changes

     

    as always, report any bugs encountered with as many details as possible to allow me to reproduce them, thanks

     

    • Like 5
    • Thanks 4

  23. Posted

    sure, there's no writing whatsoever

     

    the limitation of files not being fragmented comes from playing phaeron's videos, due to transfer speed needed, it was quite futile to try to handle fat cluster chains

     

    on the other hand, some time ago i tried to create a fragmented file and had quite a hard time (simply copying files, deleting some and then copying again wasn't working, i had to fill the card to the max, then delete some files and put some larger file in the remaining space), either fs drivers are intelligent these days and try to allocate single chain or i was extremely lucky

     

     

    • Like 1
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