electrotrains Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 (edited) Hi All, One thing I really wanted to add to the Ultimate Cart was an easy way to use XEX files on the cartridge. Thanks mainly to flashjazzcat, we've now added this as a feature to the firmware. XEX files present on the SD card can now be browsed and launched just like cartridge/ROM files. Loading is practically instantaneous. You can program the attached new firmware to your Ultimate Cart using the (free download) Quartus 15.1 programmer. You will also need a USB Blaster (<$10 on ebay). Consider it a beta - there may be the odd bug. This firmware also replaces my original menu with the improved version by flashjazzcat. Since this is now part of the firmware, you should remove any older version of it from the SD cart (i.e. remove _BOOT.ROM if you have it). This will become the current firmware, and I'll upload the source files to github once this has had a bit of a wider test. I'm sure this will be a very welcome addition to the cartridge firmware, and praise and thanks should be directed to flashjazzcat who wrote the XEX loader and the improved menu - tasks both way beyond my 6502 skills! Robin 10M08SAE144C8G.zip Edited February 6, 2016 by electrotrains 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 Thanks to Avery Lee for effortlessly diagnosing a bug I'd stared at for nearly two days. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
santosp Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 And before members who bought one U.C. from me, begin to ask with p.m. where to buy a programmer, I announce public cause I bought mine from this seller above. http://www.ebay.com/itm/161057457538?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT Also a big BRAVO, to the last Atari programmer of this world! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marius Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 JAC has a fabulous way of booting ATR from a cart. His THE!CART tool does analyze an ATR and patches it so common vectors etc. are redirected to some kind of bankswitching loader. This means that not the 'original' ATR is on the cart, but a patched version of the ATR so it can boot/run from cart. Works pretty well (This is interesting, since TheCart! does not start up a soft-version of an OS as some other known solutions do, and which is rather incompatible). I was able to put the disk games ECKN+ and Cropky on The!Cart. Perhaps you guys can work something out like this for this ultimate SD cartridge too? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electrotrains Posted February 6, 2016 Author Share Posted February 6, 2016 (edited) JAC has a fabulous way of booting ATR from a cart. His THE!CART tool does analyze an ATR and patches it so common vectors etc. are redirected to some kind of bankswitching loader. This means that not the 'original' ATR is on the cart, but a patched version of the ATR so it can boot/run from cart. Works pretty well (This is interesting, since TheCart! does not start up a soft-version of an OS as some other known solutions do, and which is rather incompatible). I was able to put the disk games ECKN+ and Cropky on The!Cart. Perhaps you guys can work something out like this for this ultimate SD cartridge too? In theory the cpu on the fpga could do this when it's loaded the ATR from the SD card. It would be quite a big job though, since currently the cpu runs code from the ram embedded on the fpga and there isn't much more space left. However, its technically possible to run code from the fpga flash of which there is loads left. Not an avenue I've explored yet, but there is plenty documentation on how to do this. Depends how reliable this auto conversion process is? Edit - if Jac's tool can produce an standard (e.g. Atarimax) rom as output, there's no reason why the file couldn't be used on the ultimate cart with the current firmware. Edited February 6, 2016 by electrotrains Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marius Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 I am not sure that the output is ready to use for AtariMax carts. I have been asking that myself months ago, and IIRC I tested it, but it did not work. I don't think the logical system in your cart needs a lot (if any) extra code. When the banking scheme is known, the only thing that needs to be adapted is the ATR (which is patched by JAC's software). I am sure about this, since I converted the output of JAC's tool (a few ATR's) for MyIDE 2, where I had to adapt the banking scheme only for MyIDE 2 so I was able to play Johny's Trouble, ECKN+, Cropky and a few more diskgames on MyIDE 2 on Stock Atari's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electrotrains Posted February 7, 2016 Author Share Posted February 7, 2016 Anyone tried the beta firmware yet? Some feedback good or bad would be useful. Santosp reports the keyboard doesn't respond on his 130XE, so we'll need to look into that. Robin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
santosp Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Santosp reports the keyboard doesn't respond on his 130XE, so we'll need to look into that. Robin Finally maybe something go wrong during the firmware update.... Now all work fine. My apologies... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electrotrains Posted February 8, 2016 Author Share Posted February 8, 2016 Beta 2 - fixes problem with some XEX files (e.g. dropzone). Hopefully this is the final version. Robin 10M08SAE144C8G.zip 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 I wish when the atr gets modified by the the cart tool that is would put a flag in the header and name it differently.... seeing how everything blend together and creeps about over the years.... it would be a good idea... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Modifying ATRs on the fly would be fun. Read the boot sectors, patch any SIO calls there with calls to ROM-disk sector reads, then resume execution at the boot address, patching as we go. Would have to be a simulated boot, though, since we can't just restart the OS. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roydea6 Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 And before members who bought one U.C. from me, begin to ask with p.m. where to buy a programmer, I announce public cause I bought mine from this seller above. http://www.ebay.com/itm/161057457538?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT Also a big BRAVO, to the last Atari programmer of this world! Now that my hardware is coming in the mail. I begin to wonder where I get the software to program my ultimate cart.. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariGeezer Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 Now that my hardware is coming in the mail. I begin to wonder where I get the software to program my ultimate cart.. https://dl.altera.com/14.0/?edition=web I downloaded the software, now just need to buy the Altera USB Blaster You'll have to register as a user to download... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morelenmir Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 https://dl.altera.com/14.0/?edition=web I downloaded the software, now just need to buy the Altera USB Blaster You'll have to register as a user to download... The registration process is a bit of a pain and a lot of intrusive with Altera I found - I do not understand why they need to know my inside-leg measurement and whether I dress to the left or right in order to download a piece of free software! Anyway the data input form is not especially well written and you can spoof it easily enough. I just filled each field with 'you do not need to know' and the thing seemed happy. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariGeezer Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 The registration process is a bit of a pain and a lot of intrusive with Altera I found - I do not understand why they need to know my inside-leg measurement and whether I dress to the left or right in order to download a piece of free software! Anyway the data input form is not especially well written and you can spoof it easily enough. I just filled each field with 'you do not need to know' and the thing seemed happy. Yep, same here except I used all bogus info I first tried with just a fake email as some sites just want an address to send spam to, but they had to have a valid email address to confirm a download... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electrotrains Posted February 16, 2016 Author Share Posted February 16, 2016 The final firmware (XEX loading) is now posted on the github site. https://github.com/robinhedwards/UltimateCart/tree/master/Programming%20Files/New%20Firmware%20%28XEX%20loading%29 Robin 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morelenmir Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 I can add my own report that the new firmware works perfectly! It is not difficult to load the *.POF file in to Quatus, although it is a shame they do not release the 'Programmer' tool separately! I used an old 4.9V 400mA mobile phone charger fitted with a dupont plug to power the cartridge while programming and the clone 'USB Blaster' performed as it should. Excellent!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
santosp Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 I used an old 4.9V 400mA mobile phone charger fitted with a dupont plug to power the cartridge while programming and the clone 'USB Blaster' performed as it should. Excellent!!! Not needed to use external adapter to program your device. You could do it with the cartridge plugged on your Atari computer, with the power switch ON. My advice is to remove also your SD card. On my pcb constructions, I have remove this 2 pin male DuPont connector. I did it because although I know why Robin place it there, for me is very dangerous to have 5 volt power supply on the air. If by mistake something metallic get in touch with it, will be catastrophic. I left untouched the pcb prints, in case who someone need to check the voltage with a electronic multimeter. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morelenmir Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 Not needed to use external adapter to program your device. You could do it with the cartridge plugged on your Atari computer, with the power switch ON. My advice is to remove also your SD card. On my pcb constructions, I have remove this 2 pin male DuPont connector. I did it because although I know why Robin place it there, for me is very dangerous to have 5 volt power supply on the air. If by mistake something metallic get in touch with it, will be catastrophic. I left untouched the pcb prints, in case who someone need to check the voltage with a electronic multimeter. Another reason I need to find a case that fits as soon as possible I guess!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electrotrains Posted February 21, 2016 Author Share Posted February 21, 2016 I guess its possible someone could accidentally create a short across these pins - I put them there to power it when re-programming, since my Atari is some distance away from my PC. There's no harm de-soldering the header if you don't want it. However, there's plenty of other places one could accidentally create a short on the PCB/components e.g. the voltage regulator. Just don't plug it bare into your Atari on a desk full of metal objects and you should be ok! Robin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electrotrains Posted February 21, 2016 Author Share Posted February 21, 2016 I guess I could install a female header there - that will reduce the short risk on one side of the board anyway. Robin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
santosp Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 (edited) Robin, I did not say cause this connector is the only point for a possible short circuit on PCB. I have read your construction guide on GitHub, and I know cause this is as use for anyone make the construction by himself, to check for a possible short circuit on the main voltage on PCB, before receiving power. For this reason I use the phrase "I did it because although I know why Robin place it there...." on my previous message. I from my side, I don't want to leave a male connector with power exposed. That was the reason who not included in. If its existence was crucial, (for example the only way to programming the board), then I will place a female one, as you mention on your last message. Edited February 21, 2016 by santosp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electrotrains Posted February 21, 2016 Author Share Posted February 21, 2016 (edited) Agreed, and thanks for making me think about it. I've just ordered a batch of 2x1 female headers from ebay for any future boards I make. Would a polyfuse on the cart provide additional protection to the atari in the event of a short? Robin Edited February 21, 2016 by electrotrains Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morelenmir Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 I guess its possible someone could accidentally create a short across these pins - I put them there to power it when re-programming, since my Atari is some distance away from my PC. There's no harm de-soldering the header if you don't want it. However, there's plenty of other places one could accidentally create a short on the PCB/components e.g. the voltage regulator. Just don't plug it bare into your Atari on a desk full of metal objects and you should be ok! Robin I found it useful for exactly the same reason Robin! It would be awkward for me to programme with the board plugged in otherwise. The header let me do it set on the desk in front of me. I certainly would rather it was there and I took care when using it than trying to jury rig my Atari up so the USB Blaster would stretch. If I get really paranoid about it I might put some shrink-wrap insulation around it and fold the top over to form a cover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenames99 Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 hi Robin, a polyfuse or any fule would hlp in case of a short. I would go for it if I were doing the board design and layout. Ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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