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SDrive at 126kbit/sec - please help testing


HiassofT

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Hello Hias

 

IIRC the SuperSpeedy has a special command that will format a disk while the Atari is doing something else. Meaning the Atari doesn't wait until the SuperSpeedy is ready formatting. Maybe you could implement this command for blanking larger parts.

 

greetings

 

Mathy

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Hi Mathy!

 

IIRC the SuperSpeedy has a special command that will format a disk while the Atari is doing something else. Meaning the Atari doesn't wait until the SuperSpeedy is ready formatting. Maybe you could implement this command for blanking larger parts.

The Speedy 1050 also supports this command. It's mainly useful when using a sector copier and 2 drives so that the destination disk is formatted while the source disk is being read. The drawback is that you don't get a notification if the formatting fails. But this command won't help much here, as DOSes need to write a VTOC after formatting (and also it would be necessary to patch the DOS to use the special formatting command).

 

Yesterday I tried to implement a faster blanking routine, but I'm short by some 200-300 bytes of flash :-( So I guess we'll have to live with this minor bug.

 

I also implemented a fix for the wrong "enhanced density" flag in "get status", I'll do some testing the next days and then upload the new version.

 

so long,

 

Hias

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Here's the version with the get status/enhanced density fix:

http://www.horus.com/~hias/tmp/sdrive-hias-090705.zip

 

Bit 7 of DSTAT (enhanced density flag) is now only set if the ATR image contains exactly 1040 sectors.

 

A 5000 sectors SD image reports a status of $10 now (before: $90), a 5000 sectors DD image returns a status of $30 (before: $B0).

 

so long,

 

Hias

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  • 2 years later...

Here's the version with the get status/enhanced density fix:

http://www.horus.com...hias-090705.zip

 

Bit 7 of DSTAT (enhanced density flag) is now only set if the ATR image contains exactly 1040 sectors.

 

A 5000 sectors SD image reports a status of $10 now (before: $90), a 5000 sectors DD image returns a status of $30 (before: $B0).

 

so long,

 

Hias

 

...Folks. my apologies for this "necro-bump" post, here, but this thread seems like the only elaborate piece of information that I was able to find, related to hi-speed modes "supported" on SDrive.

 

However, and after reading all of it, I am still unsure why my SDrive-NUXX will not go beyond 88-89Kbps nominal speed, either with PicoDos or MyDos+HISIO patch (all this on 800XL NTSC).

 

Is it necessary to upgrade the SDrive controller to the above revised firmware, or are we dealing with a limitation on my 800XL's Pokey/chipset?

 

I am perfectly fine with 80+ Kbps (for my planned/intended use). But I just wanted to have clarity on this topic.

 

Thanks, in advance, for any guidance,

 

F.

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Is it necessary to upgrade the SDrive controller to the above revised firmware, or are we dealing with a limitation on my 800XL's Pokey/chipset?

Yes, you need this firmware to use the highest speed, the original firmware won't go faster than ~90kbit/sec.

 

If you are already using this firmware (better ask c0nsumer which firmware he programmed into the SDrive), make sure you don't have more than 1-2 other SIO devices connected, and that the caps on the SIO lines are removed in the Atari and also the floppy drives (1050s also have these nasty caps, for example).

 

so long,

 

Hias

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Is it necessary to upgrade the SDrive controller to the above revised firmware, or are we dealing with a limitation on my 800XL's Pokey/chipset?

Yes, you need this firmware to use the highest speed, the original firmware won't go faster than ~90kbit/sec.

 

If you are already using this firmware (better ask c0nsumer which firmware he programmed into the SDrive), make sure you don't have more than 1-2 other SIO devices connected, and that the caps on the SIO lines are removed in the Atari and also the floppy drives (1050s also have these nasty caps, for example).

 

so long,

 

Hias

 

Thx for the concise answer!

 

F.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Is it necessary to upgrade the SDrive controller to the above revised firmware, or are we dealing with a limitation on my 800XL's Pokey/chipset?

Yes, you need this firmware to use the highest speed, the original firmware won't go faster than ~90kbit/sec.

 

If you are already using this firmware (better ask c0nsumer which firmware he programmed into the SDrive), make sure you don't have more than 1-2 other SIO devices connected, and that the caps on the SIO lines are removed in the Atari and also the floppy drives (1050s also have these nasty caps, for example).

 

so long,

 

Hias

 

For what it's worth, the SDrive NUXX uses the straight-up stock SDrive firmware taken from the SDrive081012.zip or SDrive20090403.zip packages. More info here.

 

So yes, if you want to do something that requires new firmware you'll need to flash the AVR with whatever that new firmware is. This exact scenario is why there's a programmer built on to the PCB. Reprogramming the AVR in situ is covered here.

Edited by c0nsumer
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