Jump to content
IGNORED

Horizon RAMdisk ROS and CFG Development


Recommended Posts

I am not ambitious enough to program CFG to identify every piece of TI gear.  We have these things called "eyes" and "hands" to help us with that. ;)

 

For cards that have unique DSR entries, I will add dedicated detection when the details are shared with me.  I am also not interested in determining every different flavor, e.g., does it really matter if  the card is WHT SCSI or ASCSI.  :)   

Hsgpl, SCSI, SAMS are detected.   Some devices are not CRU-based which is what CFG is looking at, though I can add non-CRU devices if needed.  I don't think there is a way to detect the SID-Master cards from my discussions with Hull.  Is there a routine that would identify speech? 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, InsaneMultitasker said:

I am not ambitious enough to program CFG to identify every piece of TI gear.  We have these things called "eyes" and "hands" to help us with that. ;)

This is what I also had in mind some time ago, when I proposed a new boot EPROM. Auto-detection is a kind of luxury that one must be able to afford. My idea of "drivers" for cards would be a unified way of loading specific drivers, and making use of the user's intelligence to provide the correct one. ;)

 

You can identify speech by trying to load vocabulary bytes. See Editor/Assembler manual, "Chcking to see if the speech synthesizer is attached" (22.1.6).

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, InsaneMultitasker said:

I am not ambitious enough to program CFG to identify every piece of TI gear.  We have these things called "eyes" and "hands" to help us with that. ;)

 

For cards that have unique DSR entries, I will add dedicated detection when the details are shared with me.  I am also not interested in determining every different flavor, e.g., does it really matter if  the card is WHT SCSI or ASCSI.  :)   

Hsgpl, SCSI, SAMS are detected.   Some devices are not CRU-based which is what CFG is looking at, though I can add non-CRU devices if needed.  I don't think there is a way to detect the SID-Master cards from my discussions with Hull.  Is there a routine that would identify speech? 

The original idea of CFG and list of devices, was for the noobie to know what CRU slots were free on his/her PEB system before setting the dip switches to a FREE address for their Horizon card.

 

So CFG only detected devices that replied to normal >1000 to >1F00 CRU banks that is scanned by default for DSR at >4000 with devices.

 

Of course you could have even more devices listed like for example my POP-CART is at >0B00 CRU and has a CART. device in it (yes, you can have grom-based DSR's also, like CS1, etc), but for normal PEB scan >10 to >1F and cards that appear in DSR space there is enough so the user knows where and how many Horizon cards he can install and at what free CRU slots.

 

As for devices that should be labelled and missing from your list that can cause issues as it takes up a CRU slot, would be the Official TI99 Thermal Printer sidecar! :)

Edited by Gary from OPA
missing device
  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Gary from OPA said:

no problem, now we just need the person that won the 'dial-up modem sidecar' prototype from ebay to dump the DSR and find out also the CRU base, and we can add that to the CFG. :)

I'm working through the schematic for that one now, Gary. Once I'm done with that reconstruction, I'll start looking at the DSR. ;) I've seen a list of TI-reserved PEB card addresses that includes the MODEM though, so some of the data is already out there.

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Update:

  • CFG842 and ROS842 appear to be stable and ready for package distribution
  • Files from 8.14F/8.34/8.38/8.42 releases have been compiled into one place for final selection
  • File names containing characters unfriendly to non-TI file systems have been renamed and respective calling programs adjusted
  • "Readme" file has been updated:
    • Shortened and simplified - users are directed to the Horizon software manual
    • Removed all registration-related requirements; added explicit permission for free (re-)distribution
  • Updates to the manual are nearly complete. 
    • File list incorporated into manual
    • Original look and feel retained with some minor formatting 'enhancements' e.g., italicizing and bolding
    • Table of Contents updates are in progress
    • MENU documentation may be removed from future document distributions

 

  • Like 5
  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/24/2020 at 11:08 AM, mizapf said:

You can identify speech by trying to load vocabulary bytes. See Editor/Assembler manual, "Chcking to see if the speech synthesizer is attached" (22.1.6).

Thank you. I implemented the routine but it didn't work consistently for me.  Perhaps I can revisit it for a future release.  My goal is to wrap up work on 8.42 so that I can shift my attention to the Geneve OS for a while.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok.. for those who asked about my revision/date in the screenshot, I was a math major long ago and seeing as today is March 14... it seems like a nice change of pace.

 

So here's a site I was poking around earlier today checking out some food discount deals for the day.  The main link describes a bit about PI and PIday.

 

https://www.piday.org/

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

ROS/CFG 8.42C distribution files have also been uploaded to the first post.  Manual to follow in the near future.

 

Please report bugs and/or mistakes in this topic.

 

One known issue: with two RAMdisks in the system, if the first ramdisk has a defined call in user slot 1, and that file doesn't exist on the ramdisk, the system may lock if you try to launch the nonexistent file from BASIC/XB.  This is a special use case error that I will look into as time permits.

 

 

ROSCFG842C 3-14-2020-fixed.zip

Edited by InsaneMultitasker
Replaced ZIP file with correct CFG1/CFG2
  • Like 5
  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Problem - the above version of CFG incorrectly identifies my AMS card (>1E00) as a TI Thermal printer. The version with the previous release (2/25/20) correctly identifies it as an AMS/Super AMS card.

 

Also, is the ROS842C  file in this release identical to the 2/25/20 release?

Edited by atrax27407
  • Thanks 1
  • Sad 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ah, I forgot SAMS had a CRU address when I added the thermal printer into the mix. I don't have my SAMS installed at present otherwise I would have caught that.  Such is the peril of change.  I'll add that to the bug list and re-upload the package when fixed.  Edit:  SAMS, Geneve, and undefined are impacted. It isn't the CRU address that tripped things up; it is new code I added to simplify updating things when a new device is added to the list.  I forgot to update the new table as it wasn't in my list of steps from prior versions. 

 

You can use either CFG 2/25 or the one in the package as there is no real functional difference.  Edit: I sent you the corrected CFG files for testing.

 

the ROS842C in the package dated 3.14.2020 is nearly identical and has the CRC embedded.  I think I tweaked one routine between 2/25 and 3/14. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Since there are a few people who received or will receive a HRD4000B ramdisk, attached is the most current draft of the operating manual. 

 

The table of contents and a few other changes are pending completion.  Please share your feedback corrections etc here or via PM.  The final version will be released as time permits.

 

 HORIZON RAMDISK USER OPERATING MANUAL final draft.pdf

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Atrax found a problem that didn't come up during testing.  The snip of code used to save and restore the powerup status is not coded properly.  There are pointers to pointers and I made a mistake in how that value is derived.  Until the fix is posted, you should not "save disk information" if you load a different version of ROS than what is already in the system.  I need to look at this carefully because fixing this problem could impact the existing ROS and disrupt the powerup routine, and I don't yet know if it will be necessary to reload ROS and reformat the drives to correct the issue.

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, InsaneMultitasker said:

Post #1 has been updated with a new distribution zip.  CFG (CFG1/CFG2) has been updated to fix the powerup save/restore problem.  Thank you, Atrax, for identifying the problem and testing the fix.

 

 

 

Hi,

 

maybe a dumb question, but does this also work with the Snug HRD16 card,

or do I, the beginner, need some snug software ? ?

 

cheers

Dr. Snuggles

 

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...