What would a re-flashable OS module look like?

[+Larry]

Maybe with 4 OS only -- no ram expansion, etc. What would it take in the way of connecting points to re-flash it? I presume this would greatly reduce the need for the big ribbon cables and fairly large board over the Ultimate?

 

-Larry

[+Roydea6]

Larry,

 

Have you ever seen this site::: http://abbuc.de/~hardwaredoc/projekte/hardware/bios4config/bios4config.html

 

Hardware Doc did this some time ago.. I have no Idea if it is for sale or not..

[Rybags]

Atarimax 32in1 is fairly compact and uses the same flash chip as his 8 Mbit cart though can't be flashed in place.

IIRC, the myIDE internal from Atarimax has a 4in1 OS included.

 

In the old days, many people used larger capacity Eproms to run multi-OS setups, external DIP or toggle switches needed to select which one is active.

 

A reflashable OS module for the 800 - yes, could be done without need for extra cables etc. With Ultimate 1 Meg this is largely due to the fact it's also providing the various Ram banking configurations.

It'd not really need to be limited to 4. Realistically, it could be done in less board space than the 8 Mbit flashcart.

 

Alternatively, an Atarimax 32in1 could probably be modified to work on an 800. The next toughest part might well be actually finding 32 OS variants out there for the 800.

 

Re extra cabling - actually some probably would be needed. Many of the alternate 800 OSes have Rom code for the 4K at $C000 and I don't think the OS module slot has provision for that, so modification of the machine probably necessary.

Edited December 5, 2014 by Rybags

[Bryan]

I would probably tie the flash module to SIO with a tiny micro. Then a Flash utility would work like this:

 

1. Load OS file from disk

2. Disable OS ROM

3. Issue SIO commands to put Flash in programming mode

4. Send blocks of new image

5. Enable OS ROM and verify image

6. Done!

[+Larry]

Atarimax 32in1 is fairly compact and uses the same flash chip as his 8 Mbit cart though can't be flashed in place.

IIRC, the myIDE internal from Atarimax has a 4in1 OS included.

 

In the old days, many people used larger capacity Eproms to run multi-OS setups, external DIP or toggle switches needed to select which one is active.

 

A reflashable OS module for the 800 - yes, could be done without need for extra cables etc. With Ultimate 1 Meg this is largely due to the fact it's also providing the various Ram banking configurations.

It'd not really need to be limited to 4. Realistically, it could be done in less board space than the 8 Mbit flashcart.

 

Alternatively, an Atarimax 32in1 could probably be modified to work on an 800. The next toughest part might well be actually finding 32 OS variants out there for the 800.

 

Re extra cabling - actually some probably would be needed. Many of the alternate 800 OSes have Rom code for the 4K at $C000 and I don't think the OS module slot has provision for that, so modification of the machine probably necessary.

Yes, the 32-in-1 must be re-flashed in an 8Mbit flash cart. Doable, but not very convenient. Internal MyIDE is 2-in-1 -- one OS of your choice + the XE/XL "failsafe" OS. This does work pretty well. Once you have made several OS flashers with Steve's Internal Flash Utility, then it is simply a matter of using the APE loader to load and then flash the module. This is very handy if you are beta testing a new OS such as MyIDE or -II.

This requires a three-wire hook-up. But again, I think it would be more convenient if there were several OS in the module, so you would not have to keep re-flashing in order to use something like Omnimon XL. I was even thinking of the possibility of using eeproms.

 

-Larry

[Rybags]

Another idea might be battery backed SRam with switch to select normal OS or SRam and switch for R/W or protect.

[+Larry]

Larry,

 

Have you ever seen this site::: http://abbuc.de/~hardwaredoc/projekte/hardware/bios4config/bios4config.html

 

Hardware Doc did this some time ago.. I have no Idea if it is for sale or not..

Hi Roy-

 

I had not seen this -- thanks!

 

-Larry

[+Larry]

I ran across this thread with some added info today while looking for something else:

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/174529-atari-os-rom-must-be-an-eprom-or-not/?hl=%2Bbibomon&do=findComment&comment=2172196

 

-Larry