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PaultheRoman

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Posts posted by PaultheRoman


  1. If money is an issue, because I see here people worrying that ROM purchases would kill carts, just make the ROM cost the same as the physical counterpart, that way the option exists. As long as my living space doesn't get cluttered with things I don't want, I'm down with paying a pretty sizable amount, I just want the option.


  2. Hey there, friends, I wanted to ask something:
    Where can I find here a list of games and/or homebrews that detail what type of expansion chips or additional cart hardware do they use? I want to see things like, at least on the homebrew side, which games use additional hardware like, like the Activision DPC, or what other additional hardware exists now that is being used, now that we have so much technology at our fingertips.


  3. 20 minutes ago, hizzy said:

    I like having roms for everything in my collection. I know purchase-able roms are on the way. Looking forward to it!

    I can't wait for it, personally. I do not like having a massive physical collection for something that can take less than a 100 MB on my Google Drive. Plus, having a ROM version of a game futureproofs it. If not for ROMs, I feel like a lot of these cool homebrews may not be playable in the future, when they're not being produced.

    • Like 2

  4. Okay, so I took the advice and located the macro.h and vcs.h files into the same directory as demo.asm. I also united the -l and -o switches to their directed file/filename. It's still not working however in PowerShell though. Anything else that I need to fix?

    PS C:\Users\pablo\Google Drive\ATARI_2600\projects> ls
    
        Directory: C:\Users\pablo\Google Drive\ATARI_2600\projects
    
    Mode                LastWriteTime         Length Name
    ----                -------------         ------ ----
    -a----        3/10/2021   8:45 PM           1829 demo.asm
    -a----         9/8/2020   3:04 AM           5955 macro.h
    -a----         9/8/2020   3:04 AM           9364 vcs.h
    
    PS C:\Users\pablo\Google Drive\ATARI_2600\projects> ..\dasm_assembler\dasm-2.20.14-win-x64\dasm.exe .\demo.asm -ldemo.txt -f3 -v5 -okernel.bin
    DASM 2.20.14
    Copyright (c) 1988-2020 by the DASM team.
    License GPLv2+: GNU GPL version 2 or later (see file LICENSE).
    DASM is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
    There is ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
    
    Usage: dasm sourcefile [options]
    
    -f#      output format 1-3 (default 1)
    -oname   output file name (else a.out)
    -lname   list file name (else none generated)
    -Lname   list file, containing all passes
    -sname   symbol dump file name (else none generated)
    -v#      verboseness 0-4 (default 0)
    -d       debug mode (for developers)
    -Dsymbol              define symbol, set to 0
    -Dsymbol=expression   define symbol, set to expression
    -Msymbol=expression   define symbol using EQM (same as -D)
    -Idir    search directory for INCLUDE and INCBIN
    -p#      maximum number of passes
    -P#      maximum number of passes, with fewer checks
    -T#      symbol table sorting (default 0 = alphabetical, 1 = address/value)
    -E#      error format (default 0 = MS, 1 = Dillon, 2 = GNU)
    -S       strict syntax checking
    -R       remove binary output-file in case of errors
    -m#      safety barrier to abort on recursions, max. allowed file-size in kB
    
    Report bugs on https://github.com/dasm-assembler/dasm please!
    
    Fatal assembly error: Check command-line format.
    PS C:\Users\pablo\Google Drive\ATARI_2600\projects>

    That's the bad news. The good news, is that in the Command Prompt it seemed to be that it worked:
     

    C:\Users\pablo\Google Drive\ATARI_2600\projects>..\dasm_assembler\dasm-2.20.14-win-x64\dasm.exe .\demo.asm -ldemo.txt -f3 -v5 -okernel.bin
    
    START OF PASS: 1
    back to: .\demo.asm
    back to: .\demo.asm
    
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------
    SEGMENT NAME                 INIT PC  INIT RPC FINAL PC FINAL RPC
                                 f000                            f000
    RIOT                     [u] 0280                            0280
    TIA_REGISTERS_READ       [u] 0000                            0000
    TIA_REGISTERS_WRITE      [u] 0000                            0000
    INITIAL CODE SEGMENT         0000 ????                       0000 ????
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------
    4 references to unknown symbols.
    0 events requiring another assembler pass.
    
    --- Symbol List (sorted by symbol)
    0.FREE_BYTES             0000
    1.CLEAR_STACK            f005              (R )
    AUDC0                    0015
    AUDC1                    0016
    AUDF0                    0017
    AUDF1                    0018
    AUDV0                    0019
    AUDV1                    001a
    BGColor                  0081              (R )
    COLUBK                   0009              (R )
    COLUP0                   0006
    COLUP1                   0007
    COLUPF                   0008
    CTRLPF                   000a
    CXBLPF                   0006
    CXCLR                    002c
    CXM0FB                   0004
    CXM0P                    0000
    CXM1FB                   0005
    CXM1P                    0001
    CXP0FB                   0002
    CXP1FB                   0003
    CXPPMM                   0007
    ENABL                    001f
    ENAM0                    001d
    ENAM1                    001e
    GRP0                     001b
    GRP1                     001c
    HMBL                     0024
    HMCLR                    002b
    HMM0                     0022
    HMM1                     0023
    HMOVE                    002a
    HMP0                     0020
    HMP1                     0021
    INPT0                    0008
    INPT1                    0009
    INPT2                    000a
    INPT3                    000b
    INPT4                    000c
    INPT5                    000d
    INTIM                    0284
    LVBlank                  f01e              (R )
    LVOver                   f03a              (R )
    NextFrame                f00a              (R )
    NO_ILLEGAL_OPCODES       0000 ????         (R )
    NUSIZ0                   0004
    NUSIZ1                   0005
    PF0                      000d
    PF1                      000e
    PF2                      000f
    REFP0                    000b
    REFP1                    000c
    RESBL                    0014
    RESM0                    0012
    RESM1                    0013
    RESMP0                   0028
    RESMP1                   0029
    RESP0                    0010
    RESP1                    0011
    RSYNC                    0003
    ScanLoop                 f02b              (R )
    Start                    f000              (R )
    SWACNT                   0281
    SWBCNT                   0283
    SWCHA                    0280
    SWCHB                    0282
    T1024T                   0297
    TIA_BASE_ADDRESS         0000              (R )
    TIA_BASE_READ_ADDRESS    0000              (R )
    TIA_BASE_WRITE_ADDRESS   0000              (R )
    TIM1T                    0294
    TIM64T                   0296
    TIM8T                    0295
    TIMINT                   0285
    VBLANK                   0001              (R )
    VDELBL                   0027
    VDELP0                   0025
    VDELP1                   0026
    VERSION_MACRO            006d
    VERSION_VCS              006a
    VSYNC                    0000              (R )
    WSYNC                    0002              (R )
    --- End of Symbol List.
    --- Unresolved Symbol List
    NO_ILLEGAL_OPCODES       0000 ????         (R )
    --- 1 Unresolved Symbol
    
    
    Complete. (0)
    
    C:\Users\pablo\Google Drive\ATARI_2600\projects>

    Is this output what I'm looking for, guys?


  5. 9 hours ago, Andrew Davie said:

    Nothing immediately obvious.  The ".\" is not needed for Windows, but that's not the problem.

    I see you're using PowerShell, which apparently does need the ./

    Probably 20 years since I've actively used Windows.  Is "cmd" command line still available? Have you tried that?

    Do you have the file "kernel.asm" in that directory?

    Might be useful to post that for us to check assembly too.

     

     

     

    So, thing was that I didn't know whether I needed to set a path in my computer to the dasm.exe executable. Apparently, as long as I'm in the folder when calling it, or I'm entering the the folder it's in through

    ..\..\dasm_assembler\dasm-2.20.14-win-x64\dasm.exe

    , it seems to work. Question now though, is that I don't know if I'm writing the command correctly:

    PS C:\Users\pablo\Google Drive\ATARI_2600\dasm_assembler\dasm-2.20.14-win-x64> .\dasm.exe kernel.asm -l kernel.txt -f3 -v5 -o kernel.bin
    -o Switch requires file name.
    PS C:\Users\pablo\Google Drive\ATARI_2600\dasm_assembler\dasm-2.20.14-win-x64> .\dasm.exe kernel.asm -l kernel.txt -f3 -v5 -okernel.bin
    -o Switch requires file name.
    PS C:\Users\pablo\Google Drive\ATARI_2600\dasm_assembler\dasm-2.20.14-win-x64> .\dasm.exe kernel.asm -l kernel.txt -f3 -v5 -o kernel.bin
    -o Switch requires file name.
    PS C:\Users\pablo\Google Drive\ATARI_2600\dasm_assembler\dasm-2.20.14-win-x64> .\dasm.exe ..\..\projects\demo.asm -l kernel.txt -f3 -v5 -o kernel.bin
    -o Switch requires file name.
    PS C:\Users\pablo\Google Drive\ATARI_2600\dasm_assembler\dasm-2.20.14-win-x64> .\dasm.exe ..\..\projects\ -l demo.asm -f3 -v5 -o kernel.bin
    -o Switch requires file name.
    PS C:\Users\pablo\Google Drive\ATARI_2600\dasm_assembler\dasm-2.20.14-win-x64> .\dasm.exe ..\..\projects\ -l ..\..\projects\demo.asm -f3 -v5 -o ..\..\projects\kernel.bin
    -o Switch requires file name.
    PS C:\Users\pablo\Google Drive\ATARI_2600\dasm_assembler\dasm-2.20.14-win-x64> .\dasm.exe ..\..\projects\ -l ..\..\projects\demo.asm -f3 -v5 ..\..\projects\kernel.bin
    -o Switch requires file name.
    PS C:\Users\pablo\Google Drive\ATARI_2600\dasm_assembler\dasm-2.20.14-win-x64> .\dasm.exe ..\..\projects\ -l ..\..\projects\demo.asm -f3 -v5 -o ..\..\projects\kernel.bin
    -o Switch requires file name.

    As for what's in the folder I have my file in:

    PS C:\Users\pablo\Google Drive\ATARI_2600\projects> ls
    
    
        Directory: C:\Users\pablo\Google Drive\ATARI_2600\projects
    
    
    Mode                LastWriteTime         Length Name
    ----                -------------         ------ ----
    -a----        3/10/2021   8:45 PM           1829 demo.asm
    

    And as for what's inside the file, it's not what's in Andrew's book. I took this code from 8bitworkshop IDE [vcs] - examples/vsync.a , as I just currently want to get something assembling before anything else. I've always have had problems with command line assemblers and compilers. They seem really hard to understand and use.
    The code in that link is:
     

    	processor 6502
    	include "vcs.h"
    	include "macro.h"
    
    	org  $f000
    
    ; Now we're going to drive the TV signal properly.
    ; Assuming NTSC standards, we need the following:
    ; - 3 scanlines of VSYNC
    ; - 37 blank lines
    ; - 192 visible scanlines
    ; - 30 blank lines
    
    ; We'll use the VSYNC register to generate the VSYNC signal,
    ; and the VBLANK register to force a blank screen above
    ; and below the visible frame (it'll look letterboxed on
    ; the emulator, but not on a real TV)
    
    ; Let's define a variable to hold the starting color
    ; at memory address $81
    BGColor	equ $81
    
    ; The CLEAN_START macro zeroes RAM and registers
    Start	CLEAN_START
    
    NextFrame
    ; Enable VBLANK (disable output)
    	lda #2
            sta VBLANK
    ; At the beginning of the frame we set the VSYNC bit...
    	lda #2
    	sta VSYNC
    ; And hold it on for 3 scanlines...
    	sta WSYNC
    	sta WSYNC
    	sta WSYNC
    ; Now we turn VSYNC off.
    	lda #0
    	sta VSYNC
    
    ; Now we need 37 lines of VBLANK...
    	ldx #37
    LVBlank	sta WSYNC	; accessing WSYNC stops the CPU until next scanline
    	dex		; decrement X
    	bne LVBlank	; loop until X == 0
    
    ; Re-enable output (disable VBLANK)
    	lda #0
            sta VBLANK
    ; 192 scanlines are visible
    ; We'll draw some rainbows
    	ldx #192
    	lda BGColor	; load the background color out of RAM
    ScanLoop
    	adc #1		; add 1 to the current background color in A
    	sta COLUBK	; set the background color
    	sta WSYNC	; WSYNC doesn't care what value is stored
    	dex
    	bne ScanLoop
    
    ; Enable VBLANK again
    	lda #2
            sta VBLANK
    ; 30 lines of overscan to complete the frame
    	ldx #30
    LVOver	sta WSYNC
    	dex
    	bne LVOver
    	
    ; The next frame will start with current color value - 1
    ; to get a downwards scrolling effect
    	dec BGColor
    
    ; Go back and do another frame
    	jmp NextFrame
    	
    	org $fffc
    	.word Start
    	.word Start
    

    Let me know if you need anything else, please. Really just want to assemble something so I know I am able to actually program and try things out.

     


  6. Hey, guys, I'm trying to follow the instructions on Andrew Davie's "Atari 2600 Programming for Newbies", in chapter 9 where he starts teaching how to use DASM. Thing is, I'm having troubles trying to get it to work. Can anyone please help?
    image.thumb.png.2020e10824c4def3705e200456a5f4a1.png


  7. On 12/6/2006 at 5:10 PM, alex_79 said:

    The 4050 buffer was removed in 4-switch models (woody and vader), but was restored in the junior design.

     

    Schematics for pal jr. are on Atariage archive, while here you can find schematics for NTSC version.

    The link for the NTSC version isn't working anymore. What difference is there between the NTSC version and the PAL version?


  8. So I'm very new to this community, and I can't really find much information concerning this, so here goes:
    When will Gradius be available to buy again? Also, will it every be possible to buy the Rom (or pack of roms) the same way that CollectorVision does? Again, just a question, not trying to enrage anyone here. From what I've been able to see, roms are a no no here, but I can't really find out why. Thank you for your patience.


  9. On 10/23/2018 at 10:51 PM, Albert said:

    I will be creating an official AtariAge Discord channel once I get the forum upgraded (which isn't going to happen until early next year). I will be able to at least partially integrate the Discord channel with the forum.

     

    ..Al

    bump bump


  10. Dare I mention cartridge dumpers which are a complete waste of time?

     

    What do you mean? Why do you say that?

     

    Further thoughts on this. There are FPGA examples/cores out there for the VCS, which are pretty good, but I don't know how complete they are. Do they output control signals on controller connectors? So that AtariVOX and Sega controllers can be used?

     

    Can you link me to some of the FPGA cores? That sounds interesting. As for whether they output control signals, I don't know, haven't heard much about Atari VCS FPGA clones.

     

     

    And then we have the weird desire to package these replicas in non-standard cases which make operating the system non-intuitive compared to the original.

     

    What do you mean by that? I'm pretty sure that the case is not at fault here, if anything it's the lack of a manual, whether printed or in PDF form. Can you show me what it is that your referring to when you wrote this?

     

     

    I don't think it has anything to do with missing information. But, instead, cost and time. And motivation to implement every last detail in a way that makes it compatible with the original.

     

    If all the information is available, then it shouldn't really be so hard to make a perfect clone of it. Manufacturing aside, it would just be a matter of how much time your willing to spend in gathering all the information needed.


  11. What exactly is missing from our knowledge of the Atari VCS/2600's hardware that prevents us from making a perfect hardware clone of it? I've looked around, and apparently there's already a lot of information, and even hand-drawn schematics, on the TIA custom chip. What else is there missing?

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