Jump to content
IGNORED

Ultimate 1MB Woes


Mr Robot

Recommended Posts

I'm trying to upgrade the firmware of an Ultimate 1MB card that came installed in an 800XL I just bought to the latest one by FlashJazzCat. I was following along with the video on pigwa, enabled spartados, rebooted into uflash, updated the bios, updated the spartados and rebooted again. Now when I reboot I just get this...

 

post-44709-0-42981600-1506026648_thumb.jpg

 

I think this U1MB might be so old it still has v1 of the cpld code on it, the guy I bought it from had no idea. Have I bricked it? Can it be recovered?

 

Help!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you already have an EPROM burner, great. If not, I recommend the TL866CS: http://autoelectric.cn/EN/TL866_main.html

Buy the CS version, not the A version because it's cheaper.

Upgrade your CS to an A using the tool I posted here: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/246355-minipro-tl866-upgrade-instructions/?view=findpost&p=3403336&hl=%2Btl866cs

 

Edit: I posted using my phone, so of course there was an error. This should be the correct link to the first post in the upgrade thread: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/246355-minipro-tl866-upgrade-instructions/?do=findComment&comment=3383742

Edited by Kyle22
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The only person I have to blame is myself for thinking "I'll give it a shot, what could go wrong" when I didn't know what version I had.

 

I found a page here with lots of info about upgrading the cpld after screwing it all up and I've ordered a Xilinx programmer.

 

For future reference, (This is the bit I couldn't find anywhere)

 

This is CPLD JED v1

 

post-44709-0-81968600-1506043461.jpeg

 

This is CPLD JED v2

 

post-44709-0-71854700-1506043565.jpg

Edited by ChoccyHobNob
  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I will never upgrade mine. It works thats all I could ever want.

OMG seriously.......you miss SO much.....IMHO Jon's upgraded firmware pulls out the full potential out of the U1MB.....but this is also why there should be some check done by the flash tool .....people shouldn't be afraid to try it....but I have no clue if it's possible to let the flasher tool check that....

Edited by Level42
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Or purchase a Xilinx programming cable and update the CPLD. Search the forum for more info.

 

This is why there's a warning on the BIOS download page regarding the CPLD revision. If in doubt, enable "SIDE hardware" and poke $D1FF to see if the mathpack overlay appears.

 

Could you explain these steps a bit more?

 

This is interesting. I would like to know how to do these steps, so I can check which U1MB's are v1 (I am sure I have at least 3 of these)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would not say never. But when I did some programming I always built in the "user error" options....it's like designing a fuse into an electronic circuit....

You need not explain to me the importance of "user error" options; this is why the flashing tool signature checks the firmware components and will not allow the user to flash the wrong file to the wrong slot. Regarding the CPLD question specifically, however, circumventing user... oversight, shall we say... is not so easy. Firstly the extra IO RAM opened up by the v2 JED is completely inaccessible outside of the BIOS setup utility unless the PBI BIOS is enabled. With the PBI BIOS enabled, we can at least probe $D1FF (much the same as the manual method I suggest for checking the existence of the math pack overlay), although having the PBI BIOS enabled is in no way a pre-requisite for flashing the ROM.

 

The best I can offer here is a warning message when updating the BIOS from the legacy version to the alt version, along the lines of "Please go and figure out if you have the V2 JED first".

 

Could you explain these steps a bit more?

 

This is interesting. I would like to know how to do these steps, so I can check which U1MB's are v1 (I am sure I have at least 3 of these)

Remove any external PBI devices, enable "SIDE hardware" and "SpartaDOS X" using the original BIOS. Ensure the SIDE PBI ID is set to "1". Boot into SDX. Type:

 

SET PROMPT=

 

This clears the prompt and ensures no SIO activity while we're typing commands. Type:

 

PEEK $D800

 

Note the result. Type:

 

POKE $D1FF,1

 

PEEK $D800

 

Note the result (hopefully "U"). If the peeked value changed, you have the V2 JED (since we know the math pack overlay just appeared). We can go further and look for RAM at $D1xx and $D5xx too, but there should be no need.

 

Alternatively, one can just plug in SIDE, enable SIDE hardware, and see if the HDD works. But the above instructions are intended for non-SIDE owners. Note also that if the "SIDE hardware" option is present on a board with a V1 JED, it means the board has the wrong BIOS anyway. The difference is that alt BIOS requires the V2 JED to boot.

 

Generally, the existence of the "SIDE Hardware" option on the legacy BIOS menu is an indication that you're good to go.

Edited by flashjazzcat
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was never not going to do this upgrade so the bricking was inevitable. If I'd been lucky and the guy I bought from had got a newer U1MB it would have been no problem. The only downside is that I currently cant use the 800xl until the programmer arrives.

 

It'll give me time to fit a stereo pokey and give it a good clean and try to get the cigarette stench out of it.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

OK, so I followed the instructions here, the programmer took forever to get here from China, it's a slightly different model than the one tuf mentioned in the instructions. Here's mine.

 

post-44709-0-41486000-1508987229_thumb.jpg

 

I made my cable from the cable mentioned in tuf's step 3 and used a chunk of GPIO socket I had laying around for Raspberry Pi projects. Here it is. I have since covered the connector in hot glue to protect all the connections.

 

post-44709-0-63019200-1508987215_thumb.jpg

 

Everything else was exactly as tuf wrote and it all went according to plan. :thumbsup:

 

I noticed here that there is a v3 of the CPLD JED file, is that something I should be putting on my U1Meg now it's working and updated?

Edited by ChoccyHobNob
  • Like 1
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...