fujidude Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 TRG reports a BIOS ROM File Signature Mismatch due to FJC's new layout. This will be updated soon in the next release of "The ROM Generator"... Cool, I like TRG best so I'm glad to hear it will probably be fixed first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle22 Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 I use UFLASH for everything, it is the most convenient. I have used TRG, but don't like it, and the other Windows one really sucks, and caused me a bad flash. Can't remember the name of it right now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariGeezer Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 (edited) I use UFLASH for everything, it is the most convenient. I have used TRG, but don't like it, and the other Windows one really sucks, and caused me a bad flash. Can't remember the name of it right now... Because it's PC based or something else? What would you like to see changed? Edited July 3, 2015 by AtariGeezer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle22 Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 Because it's PC based or something else? What would you have like to see changed with it? I just don't use anything like that. That's all, period. I download OS files directly to my Atari available folder and either run them or unARC them from there to de-compress them onto my Atari drive. Then I UFLASH them into the computer. No offense, but I would rather manipulate Atari files on the real Atari. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fujidude Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 I use UFLASH for everything, it is the most convenient. I have used TRG, but don't like it, and the other Windows one really sucks, and caused me a bad flash. Can't remember the name of it right now... I have no doubt that you find it most convenient, but I do not. I use emulation exclusively (Altirra). I use my PC to download and organize various sub ROMs which become part of the over-all ROM for my emulated U1MB. I run my Altirra in portable mode so I can easily switch to different configurations or take my Atari on the go with me (it's on a flash drive). However, Windows does not allow me to mount the .vhd I use for the simulated CF card in a SIDE2, if the .vhd is on removable media (which it is). This means, I have to gather the various files I want to flash in and get them in floppy image, or onto the APT partitions of the "HDD." It saves me time and effort to use a Windows tool because all the support files are already available in my Windows file system to begin with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fujidude Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 I just don't use anything like that. That's all, period. I download OS files directly to my Atari available folder and either run them or unARC them from there to de-compress them onto my Atari drive. Then I UFLASH them into the computer. No offense, but I would rather manipulate Atari files on the real Atari. To summarize then... the answer fits the "because it is PC based?" question. I gather you're running the real hardware Kyle. I don't blame you for wanting to do the business on the Atari. I probably would too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariGeezer Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 I just don't use anything like that. That's all, period. I download OS files directly to my Atari available folder and either run them or unARC them from there to de-compress them onto my Atari drive. Then I UFLASH them into the computer. No offense, but I would rather manipulate Atari files on the real Atari. Totally understandable A friend of mine is a pure hard core A8 user, no ST's and only uses an old 486 laptop... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle22 Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 (edited) I use an hp Thin client board housed in a Corvus OmniDrive box. The thin Client runs APE Pro, and its shared folder is networked to my main Windows XP box. I simply download a file in Firefox, right click, save file as right to my shared Network folder on the Corvus box. Corvus box has an SIO2PC SIO jack mounted on the back of it. Works great. That's why I download everything to my Atari and don't mess with too much PC stuff (while doing Atari work). Edit: Yes, I prefer *REAL* hardware. Edited July 3, 2015 by Kyle22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marius Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 Same here. I never understand why people emulate u1mb when the emulator itself has all those features too. I appreciate all the a8 related tools since they support my so beloved atari. But modifying a8 hardware goes simply the best on real a8, so u Flash is my ultimate choice. I think most of the people who are stuck so much to pc tools never got at the point of setting up a good and smooth working a8 setup and file system. I have -on my a8- everything in reach and trust me nothing is easier than start up the atari and pick one of the roms from my roms folder and flash it. Much more convenient than the need of a pc in reach and the always slow experienced speed of sio. And I might be wrong but is it possible to flash just one 8k rom with TRY? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spookt Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 Amazing! Really looking forward to the Incognito version. My only u1mb machine is packed away at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariGeezer Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 And I might be wrong but is it possible to flash just one 8k rom with TRY? If you mean TRG? then not with the current release, that's why I'm updating it. I'll make an update to reflect the beta Bios' changes, then finish the new version which can flash the individual segments, 8k included Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted July 3, 2015 Author Share Posted July 3, 2015 Amazing! Really looking forward to the Incognito version. My only u1mb machine is packed away at the moment. I'll try and get that rolled out at the weekend. Although the two platforms are very similar, differences exist and all the Incognito development has to be done on real hardware. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marius Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 If you mean TRG? then not with the current release, that's why I'm updating it. I'll make an update to reflect the beta Bios' changes, then finish the new version which can flash the individual segments, 8k included Yes TRG... My Android Samsung autocorrect changed it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted July 3, 2015 Author Share Posted July 3, 2015 (edited) About the High-Speed SIO...I have a XF551 on D1, SIO2SD on D2 and my SIDE2 cart on the rest. My question is should I turn off HiSIO for the XF551 and/or the SIO2SD? I think you should leave it enabled, unless you're running SDX which has its own high-speed driver. You can force SDX to use the HiSIO in the PBI with the "SIO" command, however (see SDX manual). What are the differences between the 192kb SDX and the 320kb SDX? Nothing except the size of the CAR: ROM-disk. I thought it opportune to allow the use of a larger (as well as a smaller) SDX since not only is the GOS not yet usable in a productive way, but there are those who simply won't be interested in it at all and would prefer to devote the extra space to SDX. If I do the proper KEY presses with the XEGS rom selected I get the first XEGS game rom to boot even though the BIOS option for XEGS is greyed out. I just can't figure out how to select one of the other XEGS game slots. I'm a little puzzled at how you got the highlight cursor onto a dimmed menu option in the first place. Can you supply a screenshot of this for me? Just to be clear, I can use uFlash to back up the original U1MB ROM and reflash to go back to the original, correct? Yes: dumping the whole ROM and re-flashing it later should work. UFlash has become rather complex internally, and I haven't yet tried using it revert to the original BIOS, so a full ROM flash if reverting to the original may be the safest bet. It saves me time and effort to use a Windows tool because all the support files are already available in my Windows file system to begin with. Windows tools will doubtless find an application when it comes to emulation. I can only describe my own working process if it's of illustrative interest: I've used Altirra heavily for firmware development with both Ultimate and Incognito since the inception of the hardware (initially the PBI BIOS, latterly PBI and main BIOS) as well as real hardware connected to the PC via SIO2PC. The target folder ("HardDisk") of the MADS compiler is simultaneously mirrored using SIO2PC (for the real hardware), and in Altirra (as D2:, in SDFS format). When I compile the BIOS, the binary is sitting in the "Hard Disk" folder, ready to be flashed to the emulated/actual ROM. UFLASH.XEX is also sitting in the mirrored folder. So, at the SDX prompt - both emulated and on the real machine - I type "UFLASH.XEX", cursor to the BIOS slot, use the file selector to navigate to "BIOS.ROM", and hit Return. The alternative, I guess, would be to launch a Windows-based editor following BIOS assembly, load up the 512KB ROM, inject the new BIOS, save the ROM, and reboot Altirra, ensuring that firmware is set to be re-loaded on an emulator restart (although this isn't always desirable, so one would have to open the firmware dialog, navigate to the edited ROM, and invoke an emulator restart). This procedure wouldn't help the real machine sitting on the desk, meanwhile. Obviously if you're not actually developing firmware and consequently doing umpteen updates per day on a small part of the ROM, your needs will vary. I simply describe the working process above to illustrate why I use the particular piece of software: namely, because it's the most efficient method of accomplishing what I need to do. Should another piece of software come along after the fact which copies the functionality of uFlash, then I suppose we'll be even more spoiled for choice. In any case: the thread is primarily intended as a platform for the testing of the new BIOS rather than an opportunity to debate (or advertise) the relative merits of one flashing tool over another. Edited July 3, 2015 by flashjazzcat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fujidude Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 Okay, I'm trying to update the U1MB ROM from FJC so it has different BASIC slot options. See this post for what I have tried already. Now I am using UFLASH from within the Altirra emulated Atari and it didn't go as expected. I am attaching a video I recorded of what I saw (quicker and more accurate than trying to descibe it I think). I zipped up the .AVI file with 7Zip and chose standard zip style. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted July 3, 2015 Author Share Posted July 3, 2015 Okay, I'm trying to update the U1MB ROM from FJC so it has different BASIC slot options. See this post for what I have tried already. Now I am using UFLASH from within the Altirra emulated Atari and it didn't go as expected. I am attaching a video I recorded of what I saw (quicker and more accurate than trying to descibe it I think). I zipped up the .AVI file with 7Zip and chose standard zip style. new uflash issue under Altirra.zip Thanks! Do you have an emulated SIDE cart connected by any chance? If so, you need to enable the PBI BIOS in settings, since it's the PBI BIOS which forcibly unmaps the SIDE's external cartridge, and if that isn't done, the external cart obscures Ultimate's flash window. I probably suggest removing all carts if you're not flashing direct from the HDD in the documentation, but doubtless I forgot to mention the mapping issue. Still in two minds whether to force SIDE's ROM off in the flasher, since that has other repercussions. Meanwhile, work on the Geordie BIOS translation is going well: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fujidude Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 (edited) I'm not sure what you mean by have the emulated SIDE cart enabled. In the video I went through each of the setting screens so that it would be known how the configuration is set. Just replay the video and pause where needed. I have PBI BIOS and Hard Disk enabled in the U1MB BIOS setup. In Altirra, I have HDD enabled and the hardware type I set for it is SIDE2. See the attached picture in this post. But as I said, PBI BIOS is enabled in the U1MB setup. Any other ideas/thoughts? Oh yeah, and the C: drive that I am trying to do the flashing from is a "large" "floppy" disk, not a HDD. Well at least it's an SIO floppy. And no, I don't have high speed SIo enabled in U1MB because I let Altirra and/or SDX handle that for now. Edited July 3, 2015 by fujidude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted July 3, 2015 Author Share Posted July 3, 2015 Yes, sorry: I now see you have the PBI BIOS enabled, but also a 23MHz 65C816 CPU (gotta be sharp-eyed to catch that). Is there anything else unusual about the machine configuration that I need to know about before I go about trying to emulate it accurately? What about the 4MB of linear RAM? Do I need to purchase accelerator hardware in order to test this scenario properly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fujidude Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 (edited) Yes, sorry: I now see you have the PBI BIOS enabled, but also a 23MHz 65C816 CPU (gotta be sharp-eyed to catch that). Is there anything else unusual about the machine configuration that I need to know about before I go about trying to emulate it accurately? What about the 4MB of linear RAM? Do I need to purchase accelerator hardware in order to test this scenario properly? I'm doing this on Altirra FJC. All you have to do to replicate my setup is run Altirra as well and enable. I'll post my Altirra .ini file if that helps. Or I can just check how I have something set if you have a particular setting in mind. I can certainly change out the CPU for a stock one and try again, but even if it works I assumed you would want to know about what doesn't work too. I didn't even think of that being a potential problem since it works so well generally. BRB after gathering .INI file and trying stock CPU. Ok. Back. Changing to stock 6502 made no difference. Here is the INI file I use: Edited July 3, 2015 by fujidude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted July 3, 2015 Author Share Posted July 3, 2015 I'm doing this on Altirra FJC. I'm aware you're doing this in emulation, but I was just touching on the notion that nothing is ever 100 per cent tested until it's tested on real hardware, and it's real hardware I don't have. All you have to do to replicate my setup is run Altirra as well and enable. Enable what? I'll post my Altirra .ini file if that helps. Or I can just check how I have something set if you have a particular setting in mind. CPU type and main memory config would probably have been a good start, but INI file would be fine too. I can certainly change out the CPU for a stock one and try again, but even if it works I assumed you would want to know about what doesn't work too. I didn't even think of that being a potential problem since it works so well generally. Certainly I want to know about what doesn't work, but I need to know the type of CPU being used and anything else which constitutes an atypical scenario. Written details are preferable to videos in this respect, for future reference. BRB after gathering .INMI file and trying stock CPU. Great - thanks. I'll be clocking off soon though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted July 3, 2015 Author Share Posted July 3, 2015 Oh... I see you edited the post and uploaded the INI file to it. Thanks. Too late for me, but if anyone else can unravel this configuration, have at it. CPU is not the source of the issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fujidude Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 Updated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted July 3, 2015 Author Share Posted July 3, 2015 Annyloyingly the video is completely unwatchable on my phone, but now I'm downstairs I wonder if you have flash writes enabled in the BIOS settings? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fujidude Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 Yes, flash writes are enabled. Sorry didn;t realize you were coming to this from a phone and would have a video issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fujidude Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 I figured it out! I had everything set to go on my C: "floppy" disk, including the new revision of UFLASH that is needed for the new U1MB BIOS structure. The problem, is that I launched UFLASH or X UFLASH.EXE. That ended up running the past version of UFLASH (UFLASH.EXE) which was located in my path. What I should have done, was load the UFLASH.XEX that was the correct one that I had on my C: floppy. As Ted says... "Mystery solved." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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