U1MB flasher - timeout error.

[Kyle22]

Which bank registers in SpartaDOS-X are you referring to?

the $D5xx ones. Is there a difference between U1MB and Incognito? I know I had to modify the $D50x to $D52x for the MyIDE cart. My question is: Do the Incognito and the U1MB use the same SDX image? May I use the same file from DLT for both? The ROM Generator (in Windows) should handle the other differences.

 

-K

[trub]

U1MB and Incognito use the same SDX images.

 

What was the chip type SST or AMD?

The one flasher doesn't flash both chips.

The U1MB flasher on the SDX site now supports SST 39SF040 as well.

Edited November 30, 2013 by trub

[atari8warez]

I want back and did 'Create ATR' again, loaded it into Altirra, and it booted... I am almost stumped at this point.

Here's my own test with Altirra (just skip the legthy flasing section of the video). One note is that Astroids Rom doesn't seem to work. I will post a real Atari flashing result later.

 

 

[flashjazzcat]

The U1MB flasher on the SDX site now supports SST 39SF040 as well.

 

OT, but I can't seem to get answers through the usual channels: Is there any reliable source code around which I can adapt to make stand-alone PBI ROM flashers for Incognito and U1MB? I realize that depending on the PLCC sector size it may be necessary to read (say) the BIOS menu code and re-flash that as well as the PBI ROM, but nevertheless I think this would be a useful way to perform PBI ROM updates (of which there will be some soon) without having to erase and flash the entire 512KB.

 

I've got (rather rough) code which handles one of the U1MB PLCCs, but with so much bricking going on I'd prefer to use something tried, tested, and safe.

Edited November 30, 2013 by flashjazzcat

[AtariGeezer]

I think parts of the Incognito flasher would suit that well. The code that Candle posted in the Beta Testers list is another alternative...

[flashjazzcat]

I think parts of the Incognito flasher would suit that well. The code that Candle posted in the Beta Testers list is another alternative...

 

Thanks. I'll check it out.

[AtariGeezer]

the $D5xx ones. Is there a difference between U1MB and Incognito? I know I had to modify the $D50x to $D52x for the MyIDE cart. My question is: Do the Incognito and the U1MB use the same SDX image? May I use the same file from DLT for both? The ROM Generator (in Windows) should handle the other differences.

 

-K

Yes, the Incognito and the U1MB use the same SDX image.

 

As far as the $D5xx bank registers go, Candle would have to answer that one to be certain...

[Kyle22]

Yes, the Incognito and the U1MB use the same SDX image.

 

As far as the $D5xx bank registers go, Candle would have to answer that one to be certain...

Thanks. That answers my question. If they use the same image, then the $D5xx registers must be the same.

 

-K

[AtariGeezer]

I think parts of the Incognito flasher would suit that well. The code that Candle posted in the Beta Testers list is another alternative...

 

 

 

Thanks. I'll check it out.

I'm starting on a flasher that will work with Incognito & Ulimate1MB (Both Versions), allowing a user to flash each section in a single file...

No more long flashing times to deal with

 

The ROM Generator will support the new flasher by creating an ATR or XEX file(s)...

 

Look for it in the next few weeks

[flashjazzcat]

The code that Candle posted in the Beta Testers list is another alternative...

 

Just looked: that's the exact code my current U1MB PBI/BIOS flasher is based on.

[phoenixdownita]

 

 

I'm starting on a flasher that will work with Incognito & Ulimate1MB (Both Versions), allowing a user to flash each section in a single file...

No more long flashing times to deal with

 

The ROM Generator will support the new flasher by creating an ATR or XEX file(s)...

 

Look for it in the next few weeks

 

Please have it support XEX, I'm still stuck with no ATR support despite my direct flashing with OS replacement, if I had XEX support I could reflash without having to take the chip out.

Small victory but I'm kind of tired of opening and closing the XEGS, also although PLCC sockets are meant for swaps I am not sure how many they can take before causing issues with loose contacts.

[flashjazzcat]

 

Please have it support XEX, I'm still stuck with no ATR support despite my direct flashing with OS replacement, if I had XEX support I could reflash without having to take the chip out.

Small victory but I'm kind of tired of opening and closing the XEGS, also although PLCC sockets are meant for swaps I am not sure how many they can take before causing issues with loose contacts.

 

Looking at the other thread, I thought you'd already done a complete reflash with the v2 ROM? You complain of no ATR support, but I'm not sure what's to be achieved by flashing the exact same content to the ROM, but via a different method (i.e. via an XEX instead of a burner). Just leave the chip where it is... some procedural factor has to be at fault here, and no amount of levering the PLCC in and out of the board is going to solve that.

[phoenixdownita]

 

Looking at the other thread, I thought you'd already done a complete reflash with the v2 ROM? You complain of no ATR support, but I'm not sure what's to be achieved by flashing the exact same content to the ROM, but via a different method (i.e. via an XEX instead of a burner). Just leave the chip where it is... some procedural factor has to be at fault here, and no amount of levering the PLCC in and out of the board is going to solve that.

 

If XEX was supported I could have reprogrammed with the chip mounted rather than have to go the burner way, I bought the burner for this purpose.

 

The fact that it doesn't work still it's a different issue, Lotharek suspects that I may have an old CPLD core (he sent me a JED file) and for that I'm pretty sure I need JTAG/SPI support which my burner does not have, so that is a totally different type of disappointment.

 

XEX support could be used to reprogram U1MB from MyIDE2, as I am assuming no SDX needed, ATR can only mounted thru SIDE2 so XEX could help U1MB owners that have other way of running it.

[flashjazzcat]

Well, this much vaunted XEX flasher should be an interesting prospect, since as I see it, it would have to be a multi-stage binary file which successively loads chunks of itself into extended RAM banks. That would mean 32 init segments to bump PORTB, so you couldn't just paste the U1MB ROM image onto the end of an executable. This is why the SDX flasher - for example - uses an ATR: so that the ROM can be included verbatim as a separate file on the disk image, and loaded in stages by the flasher.

 

I'm sure a self-contained XEX flasher is a logical proposition if you possess no serial peripherals and ATR mounting is the only way of accessing ATRs, but there are probably a number of good reasons why it doesn't exist yet. Of course, an XEX which runs right from the FAT partition and actually pulls the ROM file from the FAT is another possibility, but again quite an undertaking and the circumstances under which such a thing would be required seem to me quite exceptional. I've just put together an ATR-based flasher for 64KB sector PLCCs which reads the entire ROM into extended RAM and then flashes from there. The main advantage of this is that it's fast if you're able to mount the ATR using U1MB / SIDE, but beyond that something SIO-based is just as good.

 

Some kind of inexpensive SIO2PC connection which can be used with Aspeqt is a really sound investment if you need some alternative means to access the content of ATRs in emergency situations.

Edited December 3, 2013 by flashjazzcat

[AtariGeezer]

 

Please have it support XEX, I'm still stuck with no ATR support despite my direct flashing with OS replacement, if I had XEX support I could reflash without having to take the chip out.

Small victory but I'm kind of tired of opening and closing the XEGS, also although PLCC sockets are meant for swaps I am not sure how many they can take before causing issues with loose contacts.

Yep, a user will be able to select the creation of an ATR or individual XEX file(s)

[phoenixdownita]

Well, this much vaunted XEX flasher should be an interesting prospect, since as I see it, it would have to be a multi-stage binary file which successively loads chunks of itself into extended RAM banks. That would mean 32 init segments to bump PORTB, so you couldn't just paste the U1MB ROM image onto the end of an executable. This is why the SDX flasher - for example - uses an ATR: so that the ROM can be included verbatim as a separate file on the disk image, and loaded in stages by the flasher.

 

I'm sure a self-contained XEX flasher is a logical proposition if you possess no serial peripherals and ATR mounting is the only way of accessing ATRs, but there are probably a number of good reasons why it doesn't exist yet. Of course, an XEX which runs right from the FAT partition and actually pulls the ROM file from the FAT is another possibility, but again quite an undertaking and the circumstances under which such a thing would be required seem to me quite exceptional. I've just put together an ATR-based flasher for 64KB sector PLCCs which reads the entire ROM into extended RAM and then flashes from there. The main advantage of this is that it's fast if you're able to mount the ATR using U1MB / SIDE, but beyond that something SIO-based is just as good.

 

Some kind of inexpensive SIO2PC connection which can be used with Aspeqt is a really sound investment if you need some alternative means to access the content of ATRs in emergency situations.

everything you say makes sense but I have seen a 320K version of Commando, so somehow it should be possible to pack code and data together.

The XEX can just be hardcoded to contain the 512K of the ROM and just load everything in RAM (maybe CompyShop 576 mode don't know), at which point all 8K pages with the exception of what's needed to flash are data pages.

 

I'm not saying it's an easy feature just something I would have appreciated, MyIDE2 allows flashing thru its FAT32Loader by pressing CTRL-F over a properly prepared ROM file (it's 512K of flash as well, with 512K of SRAM [likely mapped very differently]), that is why I suggested maybe the feature could be part of SIDE loader on U1MB, CTRL-F over a prepared bin/hex or whatever we need could activate the flasher routines and load from FAT32.

 

I do understand if it is hard and eventually it won't work but it would be a very nice feature indeed.

Edited December 3, 2013 by phoenixdownita

[flashjazzcat]

Yeah the only extra step with the XEX is that you'll need some kind of tool to pack the ROM image into executable segments which then load themselves into extended memory. There are a couple of ways to go about it.

 

The real shame is the usual PLCC on the U1MB has 64KB sectors, so every time you flash the PBI, you also have to erase and reflash the BIOS, thus injecting a small but perceptible element of risk.

[Kyle22]

OK Guys, I received my TL866CS programmer today. It came complete with PLCC adapters, and a (crappy but usable) puller tool. The software installed fine (using Windows XP, Of course). I re-programmed my bricked U1M in my 1200XL on the first try. That little programmer is great!

 

If anyone needs their chip re-programmed, and is near Pittsburgh, PA, USA, send me a small postage paid SELF addressed padded envelope (NOT SEALED) with the chip inside, and put this into a larger postage paid padded envelope with MY address on it. I'll do it for no charge.

 

Kyle Dain

1103 Stowe Ave.

McKees Rocks, PA 15136

 

send me a PM here first so I can be looking for your envelope.

 

-K

[phoenixdownita]

Yep, TL866CS is pretty good, and I can tell you its software runs on win8.1 64bit (I believe I only had to run by hand the 64bit driver installer because they were launching the 32bit instead although the 64bit was right there).

Unfortunately even the TL866A [which support SPI, the CS does not] does not support Xilinx, so I have to meet a friend that presumably has a Xilinx USB programmer that I can borrow, then I have to build a custom cable because the U1MB JTAG is not std pinout ... apparently Xilinx has a std 14 pin header that they suggest to adopt but that didn't happen here ... oh well I guess I'm a little frustrated given my U1MB was supposed to be "fully" tested and I bought it in bundle with SIDE2 .and what doesn't work is exactly the only feature that involves both .

[flashjazzcat]

Well, you were never going to find eight totally redundant header pins on a board this size, to be fair. Parallel JTAG cables are easy to make and all you need is and old PC or a PCI parallel card for a few quid. Personally I'd have sent the item back for repair if all this is too much, just as you would with any other defective item. Costly postage, etc, is just one of those unavoidable circumstantial factors.

[phoenixdownita]

Well, you were never going to find eight totally redundant header pins on a board this size, to be fair. Parallel JTAG cables are easy to make and all you need is and old PC or a PCI parallel card for a few quid. Personally I'd have sent the item back for repair if all this is too much, just as you would with any other defective item. Costly postage, etc, is just one of those unavoidable circumstantial factors.

Well, if instead of 10 pin header it would have been the 14 pin header (same 2mm pitch) it would have worked, but that's beside the point.

I got a Xilinx USB programmer from a friend and it didn't help.

 

But this is what I managed to do:

 

set OS as MyBIOS R2, no SDX, no SIDE PBI, then boot a SDX rom prepared with MyIDE2 driver from FAT32Loader, all OK.

On MyIDE2 I had prepared an ATR partition with the flasher and set MyBIOS to have it as D1.... eventually it booted but at flash time it complains that it was waiting for SDX card.

Enter U1MB bios, activate SDX, reset, see SDX that almost starts, press reset again and see SDX starting and "restoring" RAM drive then booting the flasher out of MyIDE2.

Then let the flasher go, it says erasing 128x4K, then flashes 64blocks, it asks at the end (no errors) if I want to restart the program, I simply reset and check and I didn't brick my U1MB flash ....so I guess it kind of worked ... given I need MyBIOS R2 to start the process (and mount D1 as the SDX flasher ATR) I couldn't have done without the physical burner given my situation, nonetheless a bizarre set of coincidences have allowed me to see the flasher running from ATR at least once [i used the ROM generator but I replaced the flasher with the one that allegedly supports SST39SF040 ].

 

Regarding my U1MB + SIDE2 I am still baffled, it may be my NTSC XEGS that is weird, or something within U1MB or SIDE2, I hope to find someone with the same setup I have to prove to me that it works so I can start ruling out pieces until I find what's wrong.

I guess I was trying to rule out the obvious first (old flash content or old CPLD core of U1MB) , now a trip back to Poland to Lotharek seems to be inevitable, alas with no guarantees that it'll work in the end.

Edited December 5, 2013 by phoenixdownita

[Aking]

Well, if instead of 10 pin header it would have been the 14 pin header (same 2mm pitch) it would have worked, but that's beside the point.

I got a Xilinx USB programmer from a friend and it didn't help.

 

But this is what I managed to do:

 

set OS as MyBIOS R2, no SDX, no SIDE PBI, then boot a SDX rom prepared with MyIDE2 driver from FAT32Loader, all OK.

On MyIDE2 I had prepared an ATR partition with the flasher and set MyBIOS to have it as D1.... eventually it booted but at flash time it complains that it was waiting for SDX card.

Enter U1MB bios, activate SDX, reset, see SDX that almost starts, press reset again and see SDX starting and "restoring" RAM drive then booting the flasher out of MyIDE2.

Then let the flasher go, it says erasing 128x4K, then flashes 64blocks, it asks at the end (no errors) if I want to restart the program, I simply reset and check and I didn't brick my U1MB flash ....so I guess it kind of worked ... given I need MyBIOS R2 to start the process (and mount D1 as the SDX flasher ATR) I couldn't have done without the physical burner given my situation, nonetheless a bizarre set of coincidences have allowed me to see the flasher running from ATR at least once [i used the ROM generator but I replaced the flasher with the one that allegedly supports SST39SF040 ].

 

Regarding my U1MB + SIDE2 I am still baffled, it may be my NTSC XEGS that is weird, or something within U1MB or SIDE2, I hope to find someone with the same setup I have to prove to me that it works so I can start ruling out pieces until I find what's wrong.

I guess I was trying to rule out the obvious first (old flash content or old CPLD core of U1MB) , now a trip back to Poland to Lotharek seems to be inevitable, alas with no guarantees that it'll work in the end.

 

 

just use rom generator and burn this

"L" will work

Edited December 5, 2013 by Aking

[phoenixdownita]

What exactly is the fix?

 

And more importantly which piece of the ROM can I replace without undoing the fix?

In specific I'd like to be able to put my OSes (XEGS stock and MyBIOS R2) and be able to take whatever upgrade happens down the road.

 

I'll surely test it. If it works whatever you fix should find its way back to the official images so nobody has to go thru my same hiccups.

[phoenixdownita]

 

 

just use rom generator and burn this

"L" will work

Nope. Same issue, when I start an ATR it goes to basic.

[flashjazzcat]

Do APT partitions work at all?... you may have said already but I forget. By this I mean does any aspect of SIDE Hardware work at all? Both the PBI hard disk and ATR mounting are managed by the same code. It'll either work or (for some unknown hardware related reason) it won't. And how did you prepare the CF card? Does it have an MBR (master boot record) on it? Surely it's a confounding issue, but there must be a determinable cause.