a8rawconv, a new raw disk conversion utility

[a8rawconv, a new raw disk conversion utility]

Hello @phaeron!

 

First, thank you very much for this great utility.

 

I'm mostly imaging Apple II disks with my SCP these days. I understand that the main target is for Atari disk.

 

However I'm trying to backup my original Test Drive for Apple II and it doesn't work 100%

The disk boots, but at some point it stops after the intro.

 

If you have any idea or hints...

 

Thank you very much.

 

Pitou!

[32k expansion for the side port - released]

Well, @Stuart, thanks very very much. The Alliance chip was the issue.

 

I replaced it with another bigger 128k x8 Alliance chip and all is fine now. I did a small socket adaptor to keep high address lines high.

 

I tried some other Alliance 32k x8 that I have and it's the same issue. Same batch maybe.

 

I will order some Cypress.

 

Thanks again!

 

Pitou!

 

[32k expansion for the side port - released]

Yes I'm using Alliance RAM. Ok I will try other chips.

 

Thanks!

 

Pitou!

[32k expansion for the side port - released]

Hello,

 

I did a lot of tests and it works 100% when using cartridge games (or Flashrom99 using rom file requiring 32k).

 

However with BASIC it's very unstable

 

I'm gonna build the buffered version based on this http://www.nouspikel.com/ti99/titechpages.htm

as mentioned in Matt's first post and try again.

 

I'm open to all suggestions and/or tests if someone has any.

 

Thank you.

 

Pitou!

[32k expansion for the side port - released]

I understand what you mean and yes, I did all tests with the right TI standard/extended Basic cartridge.

 

I also tried both on some games just to make sure.

 

Just as a simple test, can someone try let's say "Jungle Hunt" from the "favorite ti programs" here...

 

 

Look for Post #3 for the cass24k2 games explanation.

In the meantime, I will also do some more test on my side.

 

Also, it works fine in the classic99 and v9t9 emulators.

 

I'm pretty sure the ram exp. is good, just a matter of finding what's going on.

 

Thanks for your support Matt!

 

Pitou!

 

 

[32k expansion for the side port - released]

@Torrax,

 

I just looked at that and it seems ok.

 

I'm not sure it's a contact issue, since I just did 100 passes memory test and all is fine.

 

Thanks for your suggestions!

 

Pitou!

[32k expansion for the side port - released]

Yes, Matt's memory test. You can see it if you look at the 2nd picture.

 

I get all sorts of bug/instability when trying to run a program loaded from cassette.

Sometimes it can run then fails a bit later. Sometimes it freezes, other time I get garbled characters when doing a LIST and errors when doing RUN obviously.

 

Thanks!

 

Pitou!

[32k expansion for the side port - released]

Hi Matt and everyone!

 

I just did a homemade version of this 32k ram expansion based on Matt's design. (I basically just removed the LED)

 

I tried it with and without external power and am having the same issue, which is that it works fine for the memory test but fails when loading a game from cassette. I tried some 32k games dumped from cartridge. I'm using the cass24k2 program.

 

I derived the external power from the video port using a simple 7805 regulator.

So far, I'm still usinf 74LS chips instead of the HCT version.

 

I can also connect the Speech synth on the right side and it works fine.

 

Games from cassette work fine using the PEB with the 32k inside.

 

Please refer to pictures to get an idea of what I did.

 

Any idea?

 

Happy holidays and Thank you!

 

Pitou!