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XF551 3.5 Mod


SoulBuster

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That's a genuine mess over there and no denying it.

 

0E117428 is an early 720K Woolley because it has

Len Spencer's timing values and no density switcher

How can it be PAL? Because Philsan in #30 says he got

the eprom from classics and it works a treat. But in

#30 he also offers us a misnamed stock 360K XF-551

rom and calls it XF551.PAL.rom - it's not that at all.

 

38B97AE3 is the stock rom CRC-32 offered in #30. And

again in #12 correctly identified as such by JR>.

But before we get too carried away, he calls the

offerings in #9 the Woolley 360K and it's the same

as Steve's over at classics only this time there are

two of the same identical 720K early Woolley files.

 

I can say that because here is the comp.sys.8bit

post that tells of the last best version of the 720K

Woolley.

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.sys.atari.8bit/3pf7Z-aNjj0

 

And these numbers are different than the early

Len Spencer data (by text message) that is included

in the #9 JR> offering. So we seem to be missing the

360K Woolley with density switching so that it can

boot a DD disk eventually. A copy of my work follows.

 

xf360.zip

 

kheller2, that's the same old stock rom with the way

wrong name on it. CRC-32 says so. Several key areas

show no changes what so ever from the stock Atari

XF-551 rom.

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That's also 38B97AE3. describes it as a "Patched ROM" .. We need to differentiate if it is Atari's 2nd gen PAL compatible or Bob's PAL compatible 5.25 ROM...

 

I'll try to dump the ROM in my stock XF-551 to compare as well.

 

PS: I'm just using the CRC column in the 7zip file manager as a quick way to see the CRC32

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News flash for me Atari ever made a 2nd generation PAL

compatible XF-551 rom or released it. Would love to

know more about it when you have time. Which is code

speak for not the most important thing in the world to

get me up to speed when you've got a rats nest to

untangle.

 

Tying to find a XF-551 with original chip in it around

here would not be likely. Perhaps the Pool disks might

since their age alone provides some insulation from lousy

file keeping and/or creative renaming which ever is the

actual issue in the other thread? I've got those Pool

disks and I'll poke around for a while.

 

Even my offering in #26 here should have been presented

with perhaps xf360w file name to denote a Woolley derivative?

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Hmmm, in the past I simply collected every A8 ROM I could get and ermmm, I did not have CRC32 available then, so there are some doubles (and false entries) for sure.

 

Maybe someone could post XF551 ROMS here, complete with CRC32 checksums and short descriptions (for 360k or 720k; for PAL or NTSC or both; speeder-variant used is XF / US / Turbo /... ) or in one of the other XF threads, e.g.

 

a) original Atari XF551 ROM (360k) NTSC

b) changed Atari XF ROM (by Atari, 360k) PAL,

c) Bob Woolley XF ROM (360k) NTSC or PAL or both

d) Bob Woolley XF ROM (720k, latest version), NTSC or PAL or both

and of course all other XF ROM versions you may have

 

(Think, besides the Hyper-XF OS Vers. 1.0 A and 1.0 B, I also have a polish XF551 OS that lets the XF551 act like a Turbo 1050 drive)...

 

In the end we could maybe create a big package of all sorts of XF ROMS complete with CRC32 and descriptions...

Edited by CharlieChaplin
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News flash for me Atari ever made a 2nd generation PAL

compatible XF-551 rom or released it. Would love to

know more about it when you have time. Which is code

speak for not the most important thing in the world to

get me up to speed when you've got a rats nest to

untangle.

 

Tying to find a XF-551 with original chip in it around

here would not be likely. Perhaps the Pool disks might

since their age alone provides some insulation from lousy

file keeping and/or creative renaming which ever is the

actual issue in the other thread? I've got those Pool

disks and I'll poke around for a while.

 

Even my offering in #26 here should have been presented

with perhaps xf360w file name to denote a Woolley derivative?

 

Well,

 

if you try to use an XF551 with original (360k, NTSC) OS ROM here in Europe on a standard PAL system, the XF simply will not work! All PAL versions of the XF551 I have seen did have an Eprom instead of a ROM, some of these Eprom-OS versions did have a sticker on them which said something like version 7.0 or 7.7 ABCF or something similar. But not all Eprom OS versions did have that sticker and afair, there were also other PAL OS versions than version 7.x available. I do have four XF drives and they had two different OS versions on Eprom, but I did not keep the original OS Eproms, instead I replaced the OS in all four drives with Hyper-XF-OS (2x with version A for 5,25" drives and 2x with version B for 3,5" drives)...

 

If I do remember correctly, DOS XE supports up to 360k and the format option describes the formats/densities with the names of the Atari floppy drives, e.g. Atari 810 for 90k, Atari 1050 for 130k, SS/DD for 180k (since Atari never shipped 180k floppy drives) and XF551 for 360k. The strange thing was, that even with an XF551, I could only format 90k and 130k with DOS XE, whereas 180k and 360k never worked and gave an error. Someone told me, that this has to do with the fact that DOS XE did not detect my PAL XF551 as an XF floppy drive (XF highspeed also did not work with DOS XE) and therefore configured it as a standard 1050 with only 90k/130k. Maybe this was/is pure nonsense, but some of my XF551 drives (with original PAL Eprom OS, before I upgraded to Hyper-XF-OS) could not format 360k with DOS XE, while they formatted 360k with every other DOS that could do DSDD (e.g. Bibo-DOS, SuperDOS, Turbo-DOS, MyDOS, Sparta-DOS, Bewe-DOS, etc.)...

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Hmmm,

 

I created a ZIP file named XF551_OS_ROMS.zip and threw a dozen or so ROM and BIN files into it. It looks like there are only two CRC32 checksums: 0E117428 and 38B97AE3. Then I deleted all duplicates or better all files (except one) that had the same checksum and the same filelength compressed+uncompressed. The strange thing, if there are just two different versions, then all 360k and all 720k versions should be the same or not (concerning length and checksum) ?!?

 

1) I have two 360k OS versions, BOTH have the same checksum 38B97AE3, uncompressed size is 8192 Bytes, but compressed size differs: a) XF360*.BIN is 2372 Bytes, b) XF360*.ROM is 2359 bytes. If the files / images are one and the same, shouldn't the compressed/zipped size also be the same ?!? The difference here is 13 Bytes.

 

2) I have two 720k OS versions, BOTH have the same checksum 0E117428, uncompressed size is 8192 Bytes, but compressed size again differs: a) XF720*.BIN is 2377 Bytes, b) XF720*.ROM is 2364 Bytes, again a difference of 13 Bytes ?!?

 

Do the BIN versions have some kind of header or footer or extra data or what is it that makes them both 13 Bytes longer in ZIP compression ?!?

 

Alas, I cannot find the XF Turbo OS (or Turbo XF OS) atm, but I know this was created in Poland and made the XF compatible to Turbo 1050 / TOMS Turbo floppy drives... maybe someone else has it in his collection and can upload it here...

 

Would still like to get the latest version/update of the XF OS ROM for 720k drives by Bob Woolley (as mentioned in post 26).

XF551_OS_ROMS.zip

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Hmmm,

 

I created a ZIP file named XF551_OS_ROMS.zip and threw a dozen or so ROM and BIN files into it. It looks like there are only two CRC32 checksums: 0E117428 and 38B97AE3. Then I deleted all duplicates or better all files (except one) that had the same checksum and the same filelength compressed+uncompressed. The strange thing, if there are just two different versions, then all 360k and all 720k versions should be the same or not (concerning length and checksum) ?!?

 

1) I have two 360k OS versions, BOTH have the same checksum 38B97AE3, uncompressed size is 8192 Bytes, but compressed size differs: a) XF360*.BIN is 2372 Bytes, b) XF360*.ROM is 2359 bytes. If the files / images are one and the same, shouldn't the compressed/zipped size also be the same ?!? The difference here is 13 Bytes.

 

2) I have two 720k OS versions, BOTH have the same checksum 0E117428, uncompressed size is 8192 Bytes, but compressed size again differs: a) XF720*.BIN is 2377 Bytes, b) XF720*.ROM is 2364 Bytes, again a difference of 13 Bytes ?!?

 

Do the BIN versions have some kind of header or footer or extra data or what is it that makes them both 13 Bytes longer in ZIP compression ?!?

 

Alas, I cannot find the XF Turbo OS (or Turbo XF OS) atm, but I know this was created in Poland and made the XF compatible to Turbo 1050 / TOMS Turbo floppy drives... maybe someone else has it in his collection and can upload it here...

 

Would still like to get the latest version/update of the XF OS ROM for 720k drives by Bob Woolley (as mentioned in post 26).

 

well...

 

xf360LEE.bin Lee's modified version of stock (NTSC?) ROM for format spin up, density switch.

HYPROMA.COM Hyper XF for 5.25" not sure which version
HYPROMB.COM Hyper XF for 3.5" not sure which version.
XF720K.BIN same as xf551720
XF360K.BIN same as xf551360.rom
I don't see the elusive PAL ROM version 7.7
0e117428 XF720K.BIN
0e117428 xf551720.rom
38b97ae3 XF360K.BIN
38b97ae3 xf551360.rom
4a8d81dc HYPROMA.COM
817e9067 HYPROMB.COM
b72239a3 xf360LEE.bin
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well...

 

xf360LEE.bin Lee's modified version of stock (NTSC?) ROM for format spin up, density switch.

HYPROMA.COM Hyper XF for 5.25" not sure which version
HYPROMB.COM Hyper XF for 3.5" not sure which version.
[snip]

 

 

Errmmm welll,

 

HYPROMA = version 1.0 A (for 5,25" drives)

 

HYPROMB = version 1.0 B (for 3,5" drives).

 

(Only version 1.0 exists for Hyper-XF OS, afaik.)

 

 

Regarding the two XF360 and two XF720 Roms, I already mentioned above, that each of the two do have the same CRC32, but the thing I found strange is that XF360.ROM and XF360.BIN differ when zipped, exactly 13 Bytes. Similarly for XF720.ROM and XF720BIN, they have the same CRC32, but when zipped they have a difference of 13 Bytes. Thus I am not sure if ROM and BIN are exactly the same...

Edited by CharlieChaplin
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Errmmm welll,

 

HYPROMA = version 1.0 A (for 5,25" drives)

 

HYPROMB = version 1.0 B (for 3,5" drives).

 

(Only version 1.0 exists for Hyper-XF OS, afaik.)

 

 

Regarding the two XF360 and two XF720 Roms, I already mentioned above, that each of the two do have the same CRC32, but the thing I found strange is that XF360.ROM and XF360.BIN differ when zipped, exactly 13 Bytes. Similarly for XF720.ROM and XF720BIN, they have the same CRC32, but when zipped they have a difference of 13 Bytes. Thus I am not sure if ROM and BIN are exactly the same...

 

 

They are identical. Perhaps the zip tool is using a different compression method based upon the extension or is encoding some meta data.

 

Also, these HYPER COM's differ in checksum from the those available on the website, perhaps because of a header on the COM file.

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News flash for me Atari ever made a 2nd generation PAL compatible XF-551 rom or released it. Would love to know more about it when you have time. Which is code speak for not the most important thing in the world to get me up to speed when you've got a rats nest to untangle.

I presume 'ever' was a typo and you meant Atari 'never' released a fixed PAL XF551 ROM? So potentially, any XF551 sold in Europe that worked reliably out of the box might have had it's ROM replaced with someone's 3rd party patch by the retailer as a courtesy?

attachicon.gifXF551_C101696_REV_7.7.zip

 

Not sure where I got it but I saw you were talking about it so may be stock.

.....and surprise - it has CRC32 38B97AE3 as well :D

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Here's something to add. Gramblicka's website has a 4in1 XF551 OS rom. Since he is in Europe and it is working in his XF551 I would have to say at least some if not all 4 are PAL versions. All are 360 5.25 versions though

 

0000 - 0FFFh - Original OS XF551 / ver 7.7 / + patch B.Wooley

1000 - 1FFFh - OS Turbo XF551

2000 - 2FFFh - OS Hyper-XF

3000 - 3FFFh - OS XF551 / ver 7.7 /

Gramblicka.zip

Edited by Dropcheck
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ever is correct, and Atari did have a revised rom for pal...

 

crc is not foolproof else no one would ever have a virus make it's way on their computer... everything would be checked against name, crc, and length and the world would be secure. That is not how it is though.

 

https://www.scootersoftware.com/support.php?zz=kb_crc

 

I don't know how many things I've lost because the crc matched and I tossed the duplicate only to find it wasn't a duplicate at all. older checksum methods can be even worse.. just do a binary compare...

 

same length same name same bits in a different order or combination can be problematic, best to do a binary compare....

 

crc's are great integrity checkers but not so much for comparisons...

Edited by _The Doctor__
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So, here is the stand-alone Turbo-OS for the XF551 (also from Gramblicka's site)...

 

Still missing the Woolley "XF-720k OS" (patched XF-OS for 3.5" drives) with his latest changes as a ROM/BIN file...

XF551_Turbo_OS.zip

Edited by CharlieChaplin
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Alright,

 

contacted my friend (whom I gave my original XF Eproms, e.g. Rev. 7.7 OS and the other unknown one). He replied and attached all the XF ROMs and Eproms he has in his collection. Besides the well-known suspects (Hyper-XF-OS A and B, 0e117428 = B.W. XF720.rom and 38b97ae3 = Atari XF360.ROM), he also has an XF-ROM with some -as of yet- unknown CRC32:

5FE4CE29, named XF551_V2.ROM. (Not sure if this is garbage, redundant or something worth keeping.)
You can find it attached here, as well as my collection of XF-ROMs I have atm.

XF551_v2.ROM

XF551_OS_ROMS.zip

Edited by CharlieChaplin
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Sorry CharlieChaplin but your hoped for PAL version

XF551_v2.ROM is a bust. It's just a badly read file

with every lower nybble added too by two. If it was

a 00 in the original 38B97AE3 file then here it is

02 instead. And so on for every single byte of the

file. Don't really know how that becomes a reality

in a faulty eprom reader but this file is from that

faulty eprom reader.

 

Thanks for trying anyway, you continue to be our

collective best effort at gathering rare Atari files.

Well done sir.

 

In case people haven't seen this post before:

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/161319-disassembly-particularly-i8040-mcs48-architecture/

 

Nezgar, no typo.

Edited by 1050
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I'll give up what I can find on the XF551 hacks.

 

There are three issues or features when you alter the stock XF551 ROM:

 

DD in the first 3 sectors - the XF551 can't change density in the first 3 sectors. If the drive has been set to DD, it stays in DD. Boot a SD disk, set DD, and then try to boot an SD disk will not work. By the same token, powering on and trying to boot a DD disk also fails. I tweaked the code so that a read error in the first three sectors automatically switches density and re-tries.

 

Set the drive to 80 tracks - simple code change.

 

Spin-up - the XF551 waits two revolutions before it tries to write. Not necessary. Code tweak.

 

This all from memory and just has to be half wrong, but it's all I have at the moment. The XF359693 seems to have all the fixes. The others, who knows?

 

Bob

 

 

XF551ROM.zip

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