Would anyone like any tips on Jag coding?

[Gorf]

It seems like it's rather desolate here in the jag coding sections so maybe

I can start a little interest by answering SERIOUS (please) questions.

 

Let me be clear, I will not even respond to 'this vs that' crap or anything other than

coding questions that pertain to someone actually interested in coding the Jaguar.

 

Im really rather tired of repeating myself with that silliness so maybe something that

is actually useful might be good.

 

I love helping folks learn how to code and it keeps me sharp.

It also moves me to learn more to pass on to you the askers.

Im no super duper coding god by any means but I can get you

all up and running if you have even a small understanding.

Novices, i'll do my best.

 

Any takers?

[andym00]

How to get the RISCs to jump successfully when running from main ram when there's other bus activity would be handy.. I have a few ideas, but you've stated in other posts that it doesn't involve the 68k, which was my first guess..

Sharing this info would be very handy..

[JagChris]

How to get the RISCs to jump successfully when running from main ram when there's other bus activity would be handy.. I have a few ideas, but you've stated in other posts that it doesn't involve the 68k, which was my first guess..

Sharing this info would be very handy..

 

LOL! You asked for takers Frog! Good luck buddy!

 

 

 

Fribbit!

[BuddyBuddies]

It seems like it's rather desolate here in the jag coding sections so maybe

I can start a little interest by answering SERIOUS (please) questions.

 

Let me be clear, I will not even respond to 'this vs that' crap or anything other than

coding questions that pertain to someone actually interested in coding the Jaguar.

 

Im really rather tired of repeating myself with that silliness so maybe something that

is actually useful might be good.

 

I love helping folks learn how to code and it keeps me sharp.

It also moves me to learn more to pass on to you the askers.

Im no super duper coding god by any means but I can get you

all up and running if you have even a small understanding.

Novices, i'll do my best.

 

Any takers?

humm,i got a Jag dev system and 2mb alpine board,flash cart.......what else will i need? old computer with some windows 95" ill slowly take the plunge,i really want to dev for the Jag,but i got so much shit going on right now.......

[NightSprinter]

What would be the easiest way to connect the Jag to a PC for a first-time dev?

[Gorf]

How to get the RISCs to jump successfully when running from main ram when there's other bus activity would be handy.. I have a few ideas, but you've stated in other posts that it doesn't involve the 68k, which was my first guess..

Sharing this info would be very handy..

 

 

I not yet ready to share this.....I'll give you a hint...it's the pipeline.

[Gorf]

What would be the easiest way to connect the Jag to a PC for a first-time dev?

 

 

You can actually buy an adapter that uses a parallel printer cable.

Jag Chris bought one of these.

[Tursi]

What would be the easiest way to connect the Jag to a PC for a first-time dev?

 

You can also build the parallel "BJL" cable.

 

Notes on the software here: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Byte/4242/jaguar/

Nice how-to here: http://www.a8maestro.com/sites/bjl/how-to-use/use.htm

How to install a BJL ROM if you can burn EPROMS (also includes BJL pinout): http://www.a8maestro.com/sites/bjl/index.htm

 

The PC side software is DOS based and though it should work in 95 and 98, has trouble in 2000 and XP (and I've no data on Vista). Someone (sorry, not sure who!!) released a 2000/XP version of the BJL software that included the necessary driver code to open the parallel port - that works well for me under XP but it may take a hunt to find it! (Unless the author reads this and can link it).

 

Some people have had trouble using a home built cable - make sure you use a good quality shielded cable. I used a shielded VGA extension cable - one of the needed ground pins was not wired in that but I used the shell successfully.

 

If you can't burn the ROM, some Jaguar games (Protector is mentioned a lot) have it built-in. Also if you have the Jaguar CD you can just burn a CDROM of the code (not sure where you can download that - I did the EPROM).

[NightSprinter]

Nice. I'm slowly going to be starting out with programming on my 8-bit systems (finally managed to snag a complete set of "Invitation to Programming" on tape), and eventually graduate to C and higher-level languages. This information "will" help though.

[Zerosquare]

Someone (sorry, not sure who!!) released a 2000/XP version of the BJL software that included the necessary driver code to open the parallel port - that works well for me under XP but it may take a hunt to find it! (Unless the author reads this and can link it).

I'm not sure you're talking about my version, but here it is anyway : http://www.jagware.org/index.php?s=&sh...post&p=4919

[Tursi]

I think that's it, Zerosquare, thanks for linking it again!

[Gorf]

Nice. I'm slowly going to be starting out with programming on my 8-bit systems (finally managed to snag a complete set of "Invitation to Programming" on tape), and eventually graduate to C and higher-level languages. This information "will" help though.

 

 

If you are going to bother coding the JAguar and really want to use its power, LEARN ASSEMBLER.

Well....at least until one of us get a highly optimized RISC compiler completed.

[JagChris]

How to get the RISCs to jump successfully when running from main ram when there's other bus activity would be handy.. I have a few ideas, but you've stated in other posts that it doesn't involve the 68k, which was my first guess..

Sharing this info would be very handy..

 

 

I not yet ready to share this.....I'll give you a hint...it's the pipeline.

 

Are you ready to share this now over here?

[Atari_Owl]

How to get the RISCs to jump successfully when running from main ram when there's other bus activity would be handy.. I have a few ideas, but you've stated in other posts that it doesn't involve the 68k, which was my first guess..

Sharing this info would be very handy..

 

 

I not yet ready to share this.....I'll give you a hint...it's the pipeline.

 

Are you ready to share this now over here?

 

*Ahem*

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/146926-main-code-revealed-sort-of/

 

I'm also going to talk about it in my dev-blog before too long.

Edited October 5, 2009 by Atari_Owl

[JagChris]

How to get the RISCs to jump successfully when running from main ram when there's other bus activity would be handy.. I have a few ideas, but you've stated in other posts that it doesn't involve the 68k, which was my first guess..

Sharing this info would be very handy..

 

 

I not yet ready to share this.....I'll give you a hint...it's the pipeline.

 

Are you ready to share this now over here?

 

*Ahem*

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/146926-main-code-revealed-sort-of/

 

I'm also going to talk about it in my dev-blog before too long.

 

Sorry I had been out of the loop for a while.

[55five66six]

It seems like it's rather desolate here in the jag coding sections so maybe

I can start a little interest by answering SERIOUS (please) questions.

 

Let me be clear, I will not even respond to 'this vs that' crap or anything other than

coding questions that pertain to someone actually interested in coding the Jaguar.

 

Im really rather tired of repeating myself with that silliness so maybe something that

is actually useful might be good.

 

I love helping folks learn how to code and it keeps me sharp.

It also moves me to learn more to pass on to you the askers.

Im no super duper coding god by any means but I can get you

all up and running if you have even a small understanding.

Novices, i'll do my best.

 

Any takers?

 

 

Hi,

 

I used to own a Jaguar, thinking about getting another one in the near future.

 

When I had one, I always wanted to develop for this system, except.. I never quite got around to it,

due to college and having a life. What was weird was that it was one of the things that kept me going through college.

Now that I don't have either and I have a bit of time on my hands.. I've been thinking about going and giving it a shot.

 

I was wondering, what would be the best and most feasible development set up that a guy can

get his hands on. I don't necessarily care how much it costs as I'll buy it one piece at a time

if I have to.

 

I hear some people using falcons or ST's.. I've heard of the dev kit being for PC's..

 

I would like the best possible devkit.. What would I want?

 

 

Thanks in advance!

[Atari_Owl]

It seems like it's rather desolate here in the jag coding sections so maybe

I can start a little interest by answering SERIOUS (please) questions.

 

Let me be clear, I will not even respond to 'this vs that' crap or anything other than

coding questions that pertain to someone actually interested in coding the Jaguar.

 

Im really rather tired of repeating myself with that silliness so maybe something that

is actually useful might be good.

 

I love helping folks learn how to code and it keeps me sharp.

It also moves me to learn more to pass on to you the askers.

Im no super duper coding god by any means but I can get you

all up and running if you have even a small understanding.

Novices, i'll do my best.

 

Any takers?

 

 

Hi,

 

I used to own a Jaguar, thinking about getting another one in the near future.

 

When I had one, I always wanted to develop for this system, except.. I never quite got around to it,

due to college and having a life. What was weird was that it was one of the things that kept me going through college.

Now that I don't have either and I have a bit of time on my hands.. I've been thinking about going and giving it a shot.

 

I was wondering, what would be the best and most feasible development set up that a guy can

get his hands on. I don't necessarily care how much it costs as I'll buy it one piece at a time

if I have to.

 

I hear some people using falcons or ST's.. I've heard of the dev kit being for PC's..

 

I would like the best possible devkit.. What would I want?

 

 

Thanks in advance!

 

I'm fond of my alpine (the official Jaguar devkit) - its fast and convenient and good for debugging.

Its most convenient with a PC (with Win98 or earlier for preference)

Its good also with a Falcon or TT - and in fact i have more success at reading the RISC registers with Falcon than i do with the PC

 

The other prime alternative is the skunkboard - a usb device (make sure its a powered USB otherwiseits VERY slow) this allows data to be sent back from the Jag using the skunkboard bios

Unfortunately these are not being produced any more.

 

You really need one or otherof these.

[55five66six]

Thanks for the reply..

 

Would there be any place to get an alpine board? Do they ever come available?

 

How much do they normally run?

[Zerosquare]

If you can't afford a Skunkboard or an Alpine (both are quite expensive, especially the Alpine), there are also cheaper options. Check this topic.

[Atari_Owl]

RE: Alpines

I believe BEST Electronics have alpines still

http://www.best-electronics-ca.com/jaguar.htm

 

Bear in mind a 'Stubulated' Developer Jag would also be needed (essentially a jag with a special BIOS - these can be made up in teh same way a BJL Jag would be though)

Best and B&C have these.

http://www.myatari.com/atarijag.txt

 

 

Here's what BEST has to say:

 

Atari Alpine II Jaguar " T " shaped Developers card! Plugs right into the Jaguar cartridge connector! Has on board clock with battery back up, On LED, 3 switches-Stop-Reset-Write Disable Write Enable, 16 Megs of on board RAM, Interface connector to Developer Jaguar console and a DB25 Female connector to transfer Program codes. Used to debug and program New Jaguar Cartridges and CD's! $495.00

 

Atari Jaguar Developer Console w/interface cable to Jag Alpine II Developer interface card already installed, with one Jag controller, 110V Power Supply, Auto Switching Switch box. $99.00

 

Atari Jaguar Developer Manual (around 1" 3/8" Thick) 547 pages! Sections covered: Getting Started, Technical Overview, Jaguar Software Reference Manual Tom & Jerry, Technical Reference, Hardware Bugs & Warnings, Jaguar CD-ROM, Jaguar Voice Modem, Jaguar Workshop, Jaguar Sample Programs, Libraries, Cinepak for Jaguar, QSound for Jaguar, Tool, Madmac Macro Assembler, ALN Linker, DB-The Atari Debugger and Appendices $85.00 (Only Sold with Complete Jaguar Developer System)

 

You DON'T need a Dev CD - they're really only collector's items now.

 

In addition the manual was made available several years ago by Starcat, and can now be downloaded from several sources, including JSII and Belboz' website. These also have all the developer software available for download

 

 

Alternatives

 

Whilst Skunkboard and Alpine are the best solutions currently available, as Zerosquare says they are both quite expensive options.

Zerosquare is also quite right to direct you to that thread, BJL IS certainly a much cheaper option and very useful particularly as a place to start if you're not sure you want to invest so much money into coding. BJL's main failing is that it lacks the debugging capabilities of the more expensive options - i understand its possible to send data back to an ST line computer using BJL but i've never tried.

Edited January 13, 2010 by Atari_Owl