Jump to content
IGNORED

Horizon RAMdisk ROS and CFG Development


Recommended Posts

Operating Manual

 

HORIZON RAMDISK USER OPERATING MANUAL 9-12-2023.pdf

 

Distribution:

ROSCFG842C 3-27-2020.zip

ros842c_20200327.dsk

  •     Replaced CFG with 3.27.2020 version
  •     CFG: Powerup setting now saved and restored properly when re-loading ROS
  •     CFG: Removed Myarc floppy controller detection; CorComp w/MG EPROM was incorrectly identified as Myarc
  •     Added disk image 11Nov2020 (thanks @mizapf !)

 

Basic Instructions:

Wiki:  https://github.com/horizonramdisk/Horizon-Ramdisk-ti994a/wiki/CFG

 

 

Older release notes and files:

 

 

HORIZON RAMDISK USER OPERATING MANUAL 5-3-2020.pdf

 


CFG8 ROS v838.dsk - stable release

- ROS v8.38 - bugfixes, 3200 sector OS support, ubergrom cartridge compatibility, VDP bugfixes

- CFG v8.38 - adds additional device recognition support and supports 3200 sector drives, CRC error checking

 

ROS841.zip - testing/beta

1/12/2020 - ROS 8.41 fixes to allocation routine (appending files)

 

ROS CFG 842-TEST.zip  Test. See post 256 and prior for additional details.

1/25.2020 - ROS 8.42a and CFG 8.42. 

- ROS 8.42a - all known allocation fixes implemented. Powerup changes.  VDP-based boot tracking removed. 

- CFG 8.42 - Changed load address. Safety confirmation before deleting/formatting a drive.  TIPI device detection (8.38a). Forced size to 8192 bytes to overcome TI Disk Controller load opcode bug.

 

ROSCFG842c.zip  - 16 Feb 2020

 

  • Latest changes include the new format/delete warnings, CRC message indicators, character set/font fix, and RAMBO pagemap corrections. When you update ROS, saving the drive info will also save the CALLs, color, and powerup status.
  • Earlier ROS 8.42x versions can co-exist with 8.42c though I do not recommend mixing and matching.  Retain your original files for v8.38 and v8.42 in case you need to revert to a prior test release.
  • CFG is -two- files (CFG1, CFG2). 
  • ROS842 does not contain an embedded CRC as I will only place that into the release version. 
  • I have attached the 40 column MENU 7.39 as modified by OPA; it is now patched to work with ROS842c.  Unlike BOOT, this menu must be on the first drive and associated with the first CALL to autostart. You cannot run this from EA5 or any other loader (I may remove this restriction in the future).  (Typically, the file is renamed to MENU on your ramdisk)  [Atrax Note:  MENU WILL run from the second of two RAMdisks provided that you have it turned off on the first HRD and it is called MENU on the second HRD and turned on.]
  • If you have a device in your PEB that CFG will not recognize, let me know and I'll look into adding it to the inspection routine.

 

ROSCFG842C 3-14-2020-fixed.zip 3.14.2020

  • Distribution files now include programs and source originally found on ROS8.14F distribution disk
  • Embedded CRC validation code has been written into ROS
  • Some minor code cleanup
  • User manual nearly complete
  • Source code cleanup nearly complete
  • Re-uploaded to fix CFG1/CFG2 oversight.

ROSCFG842C 3-27-2020.zip    ros842c_20200327.dsk

  • Replaced CFG with 3.27.2020 version
  • CFG: Powerup setting now saved and restored properly when re-loading ROS
  • CFG: Removed Myarc floppy controller detection; CorComp w/MG EPROM was incorrectly identified as Myarc
  • Added disk image 11Nov2020 (thanks @mizapf !)

 

Basic Instructions:

See wiki  -- https://github.com/horizonramdisk/Horizon-Ramdisk-ti994a/wiki/CFG

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Instead of cluttering up another thread :) here's one for RAMDisk related info.

 

Last night I was experiencing file corruption when saving Extended BASIC files to my Horizon RAMdisk. The filename was getting copied into the file I was saving, trashing code at seemingly random spots.

 

As I was putting together an email to Gazoo, it dawned on me that I had removed my Myarc floppy controller from the system. Without the FDC, the VDP memory pointer at 0x8370 was not modified, because there was no need for any floppy buffers.

 

Well... ROS uses the 0x8370 pointer to determine where to copy its last used filename and corresponding drive number into VDP memory. ( I believe this is primarily for boot tracking purposes but may also be for convenience). Without a floppy controller in the system, we had extra VDP RAM up to 0x3fff available for system use. ROS was dumping the filename directly into VDP where my program was located!

 

The "corruption" is not limited to XB since the ROS routine is executed for all file IO. Had I not been testing file transfers between systems, requiring me to inspect the files for changes, I might have missed out on finding this dependency.

 

Therefore, for anyone out there using a RAMdisk, it is good practice to keep a floppy controller in the system :) I do not know if the Myarc hard/floppy controller sets VDP similar to the floppy controllers, that is a test for another day.

 

 

 

 

Email has been answered. :) Part of the answer is copied below.

 

There is a version of ROS that works without a floppy controller. Look through Micropendium for the

article where the guy made a portable TI than ran off a 12v battery. He built a ramdisk along with 32k

into it and ran an 8 bank supercart with it. I don't have the article in front of me, but I think Barry Boone

modified ROS for him so it would work without a floppy controller. Maybe Barry will remember doing this.

If it was Barry, we know where to find him, if it wasn't, I'm sorry for remembering the wrong person.

 

Gazoo

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It was Barry. I just looked at the articles. June, July, and August 1989. Fun and informative reading again!

 

(edit) Oh, and the HFDC works fine with a Ramdisk. Use the Myarc version of the ROS.

 

 

Gazoo

Edited by Gazoo
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It was Barry. I just looked at the articles. June, July, and August 1989. Fun and informative reading again!

 

(edit) Oh, and the HFDC works fine with a Ramdisk. Use the Myarc version of the ROS.

 

 

Gazoo

I just read the three articles - definitely a fun trip down memory lane. And the diagnosis from Lou was spot on ;) Nice find, sir!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just one of minor bugs in 8.14F with its messy usage of management of resources available, it was designed thinking there was a another drive controller in the box.

 

I corrected this bug in ROS9, and if Tim is kind enough to past me on his 8.32 source, I can quickly help fix this error up along with other improvements in the future.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just one of minor bugs in 8.14F with its messy usage of management of resources available, it was designed thinking there was a another drive controller in the box.

 

I corrected this bug in ROS9, and if Tim is kind enough to past me on his 8.32 source, I can quickly help fix this error up along with other improvements in the future.

 

Pulling together the source is on my list. When I last moved, things got a bit jumbled. I'm still recovering from that... I kept records of my ROS/CFG comparisons as well. It will just take me some time...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Pulling together the source is on my list. When I last moved, things got a bit jumbled. I'm still recovering from that... I kept records of my ROS/CFG comparisons as well. It will just take me some time...

Yep, I can understand, I still messed up with my move from Canada to this tropical island, and that was almost 5 years ago, with before that 8 month planning trip and 2 year gap afterwards, so really messed up.

 

I still have whole cargo shipload I need moved from Canada to here once I can afford the transport, as I spending over $100 a month keeping lot of stuff in Canada in cold storage, so I am finding myself missing key pieces I need here, and should have packed in many planeloads down here instead, you never really know what you need or use until you don't have it handy in front of you, you take it for grant as it was always there incase you needed it.

 

Anyhow getting off-topic here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My HFDC suddenly went "flaky" and, not having the time or interest to troubleshoot it, I replaced it with a 1 Meg Horizon. F'WEB will not access alpha drives and I have been using DSK9 as my workspace. I used CFG832 to initialize the 1 Meg into a large 3200 sector disk and an 888 sector disk. I renamed the old DSK9 to DSKG and the 3200 sector drive became DSK9 (workspace). Neither the HRD16 nor the Horizon seemed to mind the change. Except for the minor computation error by CFG832 in the number of free sectors (it shows the true number with DISK UTILITIES and other managers), everything worked flawlessly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My HFDC suddenly went "flaky" and, not having the time or interest to troubleshoot it, I replaced it with a 1 Meg Horizon. F'WEB will not access alpha drives and I have been using DSK9 as my workspace. I used CFG832 to initialize the 1 Meg into a large 3200 sector disk and an 888 sector disk. I renamed the old DSK9 to DSKG and the 3200 sector drive became DSK9 (workspace). Neither the HRD16 nor the Horizon seemed to mind the change. Except for the minor computation error by CFG832 in the number of free sectors (it shows the true number with DISK UTILITIES and other managers), everything worked flawlessly.

 

Something to keep in mind is that DSKU copies each file's FDR twice to preserve the comments field. If I recall correctly, this has the side effect of preserving the Myarc backup bit that would otherwise be stripped by ROS832. I'll hunt around for that info when I have time. Until then, you may still need BITREMOVER in your arsenal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I already have it in my arsenal. I don't have any Myarc Cards in my system so that shoudn't be a problem.

 

Alas, files transferred by many terminal emulators will retain these bits from Myarc systems. I seem to recall suggesting that Fred mask these bits in DM2K and TIDIR and his DSRs, though I don't know if he did. I do not recall if Michael's utility masks the bits, I suppose he can chime in if he reads this message. :)

 

Many years ago I made it a point to mask the backup bit during level 2 file copying or modem transfers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have done a bit of experimenting with CFG/ROS832. I found out that it is very particular about which disk manager you use with it. Or, rather, some disk managers just can't deal with a 3200-sector RAMdisk. Even though 3200 sectors is beyond quad density (2880 sectors), DISKREVIEW from the F'WEB package handles it quite nicely and all functions are completely supported. The same is true with DISK UTILITIES - at least in Vn 4.12.

DM2K Vn 2.5 is another matter entirely. Cataloging a 3200 sector disk gives you all sorts of strange results. I didn't want to press my luck and see if the functions worked.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Alas, files transferred by many terminal emulators will retain these bits from Myarc systems. I seem to recall suggesting that Fred mask these bits in DM2K and TIDIR and his DSRs, though I don't know if he did. I do not recall if Michael's utility masks the bits, I suppose he can chime in if he reads this message. :)

 

Many years ago I made it a point to mask the backup bit during level 2 file copying or modem transfers.

I actually did not remember, but my code says:

 

// We remove the modified flag because older disk controllers may
// get into trouble (in particular the TI FDC)
abyTFContent[10] = (byte)(file.getFlags() & ~ti.files.File.MODIFIED); 
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have done a bit of experimenting with CFG/ROS832. I found out that it is very particular about which disk manager you use with it. Or, rather, some disk managers just can't deal with a 3200-sector RAMdisk. Even though 3200 sectors is beyond quad density (2880 sectors), DISKREVIEW from the F'WEB package handles it quite nicely and all functions are completely supported. The same is true with DISK UTILITIES - at least in Vn 4.12.

DM2K Vn 2.5 is another matter entirely. Cataloging a 3200 sector disk gives you all sorts of strange results. I didn't want to press my luck and see if the functions worked.

 

Can you send a screenshot or two to me? DSKU and Disk Review calculate the free/used space from the bitmap. DM2K uses the DSR. It is very possible that I did not update the calculation for the latter.

 

You can compare by going into BASIC and opening the catalog file as follows:

OPEN #1:"DSK5.",internal,fixed,input

INPUT #1:A$,a,b,c

CLOSE #1

PRINT A$,A,B,C

 

compare these numbers to what DM2K reports. I'll try to at least test DM2K this weekend. I have used DM2K with ROS832 installed and either haven't noticed the problem or we have something else going on here.

 

[edit: removed the relative clause]

Edited by InsaneMultitasker
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Just one of minor bugs in 8.14F with its messy usage of management of resources available, it was designed thinking there was a another drive controller in the box.

 

I corrected this bug in ROS9, and if Tim is kind enough to past me on his 8.32 source, I can quickly help fix this error up along with other improvements in the future.

 

I read through the source code printout this past weekend. RAMBO page usage and allocation is a bit fuzzy to me. There is a pagemap which stores the CRU setting for each page, but the pagemap consists of all available memory. It isn't clear to me how the RAMBO opcode determines which RAM is available and where it can start. I do not know of any programs that actually use RAMBO beyond the included demo....

 

Also, the pagemap is only large enough for 260 pages, which equates to just over 2MB. My Horizon 3000 is built up to 8MB using 16x512K chips. Depending on how RAMBO is allocated, either the pagemap must be extended or the memory usage mechanism changed to hold only the open pages. Did you address this limitation in ROS 9?

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...