AVGCART

[tschak909]

me too, I want one!

-Thom

[tmp]

I tried several ones and none worked for me. Maybe I did something wrong. I'll upload a video of what I got. But it is basically corrupted images and sound with a band (pm?) moving slowly from top to bottom.

list of things that could be causing problems

 

- using pal encoded videos on ntsc machines and vice versa

- files (avf) not contiguous (defragmented) on the sd card (use contig.exe on windows/filefrag on linux to check)

- there could be sd cards that don't work well for this purpose - TBD

- i might have broken some timings in player for ntsc (i can't test that) - TBD, i think rdea6 said ntsc videos worked for him, need more confirmations

 

also there could be a bug that is not obvious but could lead to video/audio quality issues, a/b testing with side2 would be needed but i don't own one so i can't tell whether it's working as it's supposed to (i especially didn't like that high pitched noise in philsan's video but can't tell if it's the same with side2)

Edited May 19, 2019 by tmp

[+Philsan]

also there could be a bug that is not obvious but could lead to video/audio quality issues, a/b testing with side2 would be needed but i don't own one so i can't tell whether it's working as it's supposed to (i especially didn't like that high pitched noise in philsan's video but can't tell if it's the same with side2)

Yes, there's a similar noise with SIDE2 too.

Hear near the end.

 

In the other thread Phaeron just explained:

 

It is the 15KHz carrier from the PWM technique used to generate the audio. Standard 4-bit volume encoding can be used instead, but the sound would be muffled at the high end instead.

PDM would have better quality, but there are currently not enough cycles in horizontal blank. Volume-only is LDA + STA, PWM is LDA + STA x 2, PDM requires LDA x 2 + STA x 2.

[Savetz]

I'd like 2 please.

 

-Kevin

[Mathy]

Hello Kevin

 

I'd like 2 please.

 

You have to PM tmp.

 

Sincerely

 

Mathy

[_The Doctor__]

Hi everyone,

Would this configuration of stick controls with the TAB rotation drive slots joystick assignable be more intuitive? or?

 

stick up/down move up/down one entry on the list

 

stick held up/down then button move a page of the list at a time up/down

 

stick right/forward go in a directory

 

stick left/back go out/back a directory

 

button selects the image

 

stick right/forward and button assigns a rotate slot like tab does for atr's.

Edited May 25, 2019 by _The Doctor__

[russ02j30]

AVG CART-WHERE CAN I ORDER ONE CART

[Wrathchild]

AVG CART-WHERE CAN I ORDER ONE CART

 

 

Er, this was in the post 2 before yours?

Send a personal message to the AVG Cart's creator, username 'tmp'

[Mclaneinc]

And Russ, no need to do all caps, its considering 'shouting' in text circles which is again considered a bit rude unless there's a reason for it

 

Here's a direct link to where you can private message (PM) him.

 

http://atariage.com/forums/user/52749-tmp/

[NuY]

My AVGcart arrived today, thanks very much tmp!

[NuY]

So I've been having lots of fun with the cart, but I have an issue which I'm assuming won't be able to be resolved, just looking for confirmation really.

 

The machine I'm using it in is a Frankenstein 65XE I picked up on eBay almost a decade ago, and all still works fine. It has 1mb RAM (unknown type), inbuilt SpartaDOS X (4.42 I believe), stereo Pokey, Aki keyboard interface, and a 4 in 1 OS which has two versions of QMEG installed, and the 400/800 OS as well as regular XE.

 

The issue with AVGcart is when XL/XE OS is active and intSDX is also active, the machine boots to blue screen and cursor and nothing further. With intSDX inactive AVGcart boots fine. Clearly there's a conflict but I've no clue what it is! AVGCart has the latest firmware on it (r15?)

 

I've never had this machine to bits so at the moment can't provide any further detail on the hardware mods; but has anyone come across this previously?

 

IIRC my Mac65 cart exhibits the same behaviour.

 

ta

 

PS. I should add that all the hardware mods have hardware toggle switches to switch them in or out - no software toggles. I do have one switch that I have no clue what it does but that's for another thread

Edited July 9, 2019 by NuY

[tmp]

hard to tell, never seen intsdx, i can't even tell what should be the expected behavior when you basically have 2 carts (sdx and avg) trying to start at once

 

anyone, is intsdx + cart technically the same thing as having sdx cart with that another cart plugged into its passthrough slot? does avgcart work in this configuration?

[_The Doctor__]

if you are using the avg as your ide drive and want to use it with other cart, with computer set in a mode that works with the avg, set the ide mode and such and leave then switch on the other stuff that conflicts... do you have storage device now? I used that method for a few things...

 

I have posted pictures of the AVG working with about 5 carts at a time... You do also realize you can put sparta on the avg...

 

I further tested the concept by carefully hot swapping a problem cart in and that also worked....   the only caveat being no cart can trample the control method of the other.... even that can be mitigated slightly if using a controlled pass thru type cart to filter a problem line out of the equation. If this sound like an concept from MARS or some distant planet, it might be... but worked. Might even be part of the old mars8 conceptually

Edited July 9, 2019 by _The Doctor__

[NuY]

23 minutes ago, _The Doctor__ said:

if you are using the avg as your ide drive and want to use it with other cart, with computer set in a mode that works with the avg, set the ide mode and such and leave then switch on the other stuff that conflicts... do you have storage device now? I used that method for a few things...

 

I have posted pictures of the AVG working with about 5 carts at a time... You do also realize you can put sparta on the avg...

 

I further tested the concept by carefully hot swapping a problem cart in and that also worked....   the only caveat being no cart can trample the control method of the other.... even that can be mitigated slightly if using a controlled pass thru type cart to filter a problem line out of the equation. If this sound like an concept from MARS or some distant planet, it might be... but worked. Might even be part of the old mars8 conceptually

No IDE configured at all. As mentioned, this is not a physical SDX cart, it is intSDX inside the case and when it's activated by the toggle switch and the AVGcart is plugged in the regular cart port, on switching the XE on I get the regular blue display with cursor at top left and nothing else. If intSDX is toggled off, then AVGCart boots to its regular grey screen with the contents of the SD card displayed.

[_The Doctor__]

internal SDX is more than likely seizing the cartridge control lines.... if you are using it for spartados, the AVG will happily run the larger SD X images and provide IDE storage at the same time....

 

Try this, turn off intsdx select a cartridge you want to use ie Express! etc... flip the switch... exit the express cart using the exit function... if you still don't have sparta try sparta on or xon.exe etc.... you could even try typing bye then reset or just press reset..

 

remember also depending on the version of sparta turning using basic off or car off can affect a particular cartridge. Be aware of what you have in your startup, autoexec, config.sys etc...   I had an issue where basic off and key off was killing a cartridges access... I had to remove them from the rom image and keep it on disk instead. expecting the disk to take over for a cart that polls for dos first can allow the rom to assert it's copy of those files.

sometimes the default are at fault...

[_The Doctor__]

http://trub.atari8.info/index.php?ref=intsdx_128kb_en

 

for those who want or NEED to know what it uses and does...

[Mr Robot]

This arrived today, thank you @tmp that was very generous of you!

 

[+Philsan]

This arrived today, thank you [mention=52749]tmp[/mention] that was very generous of you!
 

Apart ATRs (it loads/writes them but obviously the compatibility is limited being a cart and not a SIO device), AVGCart quickly loads everything!
Loader's menu is well designed.

[Defender II]

On 4/30/2018 at 3:47 AM, Defender II said:

I'll take 2 at that price. PM me when they are ready.

Are you making any of these carts yet? I still would like two and haven't received a PM with payment information yet.

[_The Doctor__]

you will want to put side loader on first thing,

what ever avg does not load, side loader normally will load.

there is also an sdx pre rolled with side support for you... you can roll your own so fat drivers etc would be readily available though some folks leave them on the side drive and load them from there.

grab the pdm player after all that

I like launching it from the side loader, it facilitates a better experience as you can continue loading and doing things after the pdm finishes and you decide to leave for some other thing.

Edited August 2, 2019 by _The Doctor__

[flashjazzcat]

New AVG SDX and SIDE loader ROMs should be uploaded tomorrow.

[tmp]

thanks to @Mr Robot, AVGCART finally has a good looking sticker

 

if you want to print one yourself, the image is linked in the first post

 

[flashjazzcat]

New SIDE Loader and SDX/Loader CAR files for AVG are out now:

 

https://atari8.co.uk/firmware/avg/

[+CharlieChaplin]

Find attached "Power Overhelming" (overwhelming?) by MotionRide, used in the A8 trailer of "The Rescue Expedition" - converted into PDM (mono and stereo). Can be played on A8 with AVG or SIDE/SIDE-2 or UNO cart. and FJC's PDM player...

 

Power_Overhelming.zip

[NuY]

So after further fiddling I figured I'd try out SDX and SIDE Loader as it seems my intSDX and AVG won't co-exist, running into further issues, probably down to my lack of knowledge Now I'm not sure where these questions should go as some are likely not AVG specific, but for the sake of continuity I'll chuck it in this thread.

 

Chain of events as follows:

 

- Unzip @flashjazzcat's SIDE/SDX roms to working SD card

- Load SIDE Loader car with no issues, and it can also see the SD card and its contents with no issues

- Load SDX car with no issues, SIDE driver loaded message at top of screen before D1: prompt

- Cycle through A: to O: and only D1: (A) responds with DIR, all rest come back "device doesn't respond" (paraphrased)

- Try Shift-S at AVG menu, only thing that happens is a reboot and then booting from D1

- Hold right AVG button down at power on, get grey blank screen and nothing else or response to any keypresses, pressing reset boots from D1 again

- Upgrade AVG successfully to R16 and behaviour above replicates

 

Now I fully expect that this will be a combination of a lack of knowledge of mass storage access on an Atari along with me probably doing something wrong, but I really can't see the wood for the trees!

 

At the risk of conflating contributory yet potentially distinct problems, my questions are thusly:

 

1. Do I need to use Shift-S/Boot with AVG right button for SDX to see the SD card?

2. Is the hang at grey screen holding right AVG button expected behaviour on my hardware? Only stuff active out of the hardware addons is 1MB of unknown vendorage, but behaviour is same with this disabled

3. Is having the SIDE driver active in SDX all that is required to see the SD card?

4. How does one access the SIDE loader from SDX? There only appears to be side.sys related on CAR:, and typing CAR at the prompt locks up the screen

5. Similarly, how does one access the OSS carts that are referred to on the download page for AVG SIDE roms?

 

Disclaimer: I have literally no experience in using mass storage on Atari - I'm aware of MYIDE/Black Box/SIDE and so on and so forth, but I've never had the pleasure of using any of them at all (even under emulation), so apologies if I'm doing something wrong unintentionally.

 

Ta