Jump to content
IGNORED

Rana ROM images


MrMartian

Recommended Posts

So, started going through figuring out the Rana drive's firmware, and found that the one I have has a glaring bug that makes it unable to format either ED or DD disks (MFM mode is wrong, wrong, wrong!!!)

 

So, obviously I would rather start with a known working firmware before I do any work... What else does anyone have?

 

The one I have has this at the end:

 

00000fd0  00 00 00 00 43 4f 50 59  52 49 47 48 54 20 20 28  |....COPYRIGHT  (|
00000fe0  43 29 20 52 41 4e 41 20  53 59 53 54 45 4d 53 20  |C) RANA SYSTEMS |
00000ff0  49 4e 43 2e 52 45 56 20  53 31 31 30 32 33 30 00  |INC.REV S110230.|

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yup... I have two Rana 1000s (at least they aren't labelled any differently on the outside).. They are interestingly different on the inside. In one, the 8031 runs at 12MHz, and the rom only supports SD. The other runs at 8MHz, and supports SD, ED, and DD..

How do you read a RANA 1000 ROM? I guess take the EPROM out and put it in an EPROM reader?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So, thx to jer ;)

 

Hmmm... not a bad information site as well. I like the picture of the XMM801 with a cracked cover. Priceless, as you don't see many in the wild that either have one at all or aren't cracked -- that is of ones with a logo on the cover.

Edited by MrFish
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If people are willing to take their Rana(s) apart, I have a question.. Of the two drives I have, one has an 8MHz crystal, one a 12MHz.. What I would like to know is what other people have? I'm hoping the 12MHz is more command, as I'd like to target that speed..

 

It looks like the 8MHz versions can just have their crystal changed and everything still work, though...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If people are willing to take their Rana(s) apart, I have a question.. Of the two drives I have, one has an 8MHz crystal, one a 12MHz.. What I would like to know is what other people have? I'm hoping the 12MHz is more command, as I'd like to target that speed..

 

It looks like the 8MHz versions can just have their crystal changed and everything still work, though...

Mine has a FOX040A, 4.000 mhz.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

Okay - preliminary release here... I need some testing help..

 

If you have a Rana 1000 with an 8031 CPU, and a 12MHz crystal (you can see this in the front corner of the board), could you please test this ROM? Ultraspeed at 52400 (0x0A) works for reading and writing, but my drive doesn't seem to like writing double density.. I've gone over the code for DD, and I'm pretty sure I didn't do anything to screw it up, but if I could have independent confirmation one or the other, that would be great...

 

BTW, this has been, well, fun... The ROM I used as my basis still had many bugs that I've fixed (but it was the least buggy that I could find), and the fact that everything is done in software means there aren't a whole lot of cycles available to do anything..

 

rana.bin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

At one time, I had about six Ranas + extra boards, so I should have one of these 8031/12 MHZ combos. IIRC, only one was 6502 -- two at the very most. Very interested in this project. i've always liked the Rana, but it is dead slow. Hopefully you can fix that like you did in adding UltraSpeed to the Indus.

 

-Larry

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'll have to dig out my old rana. I always hated it because it was a slow, cheaply designed head banger that reminded me of a Commie design.

 

Now that I know there is a possibility for UltraSpeed, that opens up new possibilities. Hopefully a way to put a Track Zero sensor in to avoid that awful mis-aligning causing banging...

 

-K

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just opened up one of my Rana 1000s and found an 8031 with an 8MHz crystal. I also found a bunch of stuff messed with! There are five jumpered connections on the bottom of the circuit board, with a number of traces cut, and two jumpers on the top side, including a big resistor being bypassed and the collector of a transistor being rerouted (cut and jumpered). I've new clue of the purpose of these mods.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow, my Rana stock is quite depleted. I'm down to two good Rana's and no extra boards. One is 4 MHz and the other 8 MHz. The 8 MHz is definitely 8031 and the 4 probably is, but did not take the drive out to check the controller.

 

BTW, that is interesting -- never heard of a SD only Rana. But then they made a bunch of variations -- mechs, motors, controllers/cpu's, etc. so I'm not too surprised.

 

I'll have to wait until you (hopefully) get to the 8 MHz versions.

 

Edit: Anyone know of a good source for the 12 MHz crystal? What did 1050's use?

 

-Larry

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Crystals are pretty generic... Here's the first one at Digikey that matches: http://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en/MP120/CTX058-ND/67712

 

The 4MHz version is most likely the 6502 one,which I guess I'll have to tackle at some point. Since I don't have a drive that uses that board, is anyone willing to burn and test many iterations of tests?? :)

 

Oh, and I'm not even going to try to make this work at 8Mhz, sorry.. It took some optimizing to get it to work realiably at 12MHz, 2/3 that I just won't do...

Edited by MrMartian
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...