AVGCART

[mimo]

Is there any way to get hold of an eci cable?

[tmp]

you're from uk, right? retrolemon had some although only one longer (for older carts), not sure if he still has it

[lewiS]

Hi,

Yes, we still have it: https://retrolemon.co.uk/atari-8bit-accessories/173-eci-cable-for-avgcart.html

 

Send a message to indicate that you want longer version.

[zeropolis79]

1 hour ago, lewiS said:

Hi,

Yes, we still have it: https://retrolemon.co.uk/atari-8bit-accessories/173-eci-cable-for-avgcart.html

 

Send a message to indicate that you want longer version.

Where would such a lead be plugged in? I have a lead in my AVG cart that plugs into (I presume) the SIO port to emulate tape and disc.. (I'm using a 65XE)

[mimo]

2 hours ago, lewiS said:

Hi,

Yes, we still have it: https://retrolemon.co.uk/atari-8bit-accessories/173-eci-cable-for-avgcart.html

 

Send a message to indicate that you want longer version.

Cool, order placed.

[lewiS]

Thanks. Will be dispatched on 4th Jan.

[lewiS]

1 hour ago, zeropolis79 said:

Where would such a lead be plugged in? I have a lead in my AVG cart that plugs into (I presume) the SIO port to emulate tape and disc.. (I'm using a 65XE)

You connect it to second connector on the left hand side of the cart. If you do not have it, you need to get it modded: https://avgcart.tmp.sk/ecimod/

[Mclaneinc]

@tmp Thanks for the new beta, the fix to not need files in the same directory is superb, not sure what the meaning of the ENTER on cas, atr and car files is for, will flash it and play..

[zeropolis79]

8 minutes ago, lewiS said:

You connect it to second connector on the left hand side of the cart. If you do not have it, you need to get it modded: https://avgcart.tmp.sk/ecimod/

Thanks - I'll have to ask someone to do it for me.. 

[Mclaneinc]

@tmp small question.. At the moment it's not possible to do the trick of loading a BASIC cart with an ATX for items which need a basic on an old OS. Is this just impossible to do or just something that may come later?

 

I have a real BASIC cart so it's not the end of the world, but it means I have to unplug the AVG (BST) cart, I have no idea if a multi cart adaptor PCB with connectors would even work, pretty sure there would be conflicts otherwise I would have presumed you would have made the AVG with a pass thru (or was it price related?)

[mimo]

50 minutes ago, zeropolis79 said:

Thanks - I'll have to ask someone to do it for me.. 

I've just placed an order for the connectors, should be with me by the end of the month.

I could send you one if you need it 

[Mclaneinc]

3 minutes ago, mimo said:

I've just placed an order for the connectors, should be with me by the end of the month.

I could send you one if you need it 

I got up this morn, no late nights, no spirit alcohol to see in the new year, well 2 glasses of Chardonnay with my dinner, and looked at the forum, seeing the new AVG beta. Yay I thought, nice new years present but then saw posts about this ECI cable. I looked at the posts with a quizzical gaze thinking "what's that". Imagine my surprise when I found the bits in the thread and there's me asking questions about it like would it play ok with my U1MB back in 2019. I sat there for a sec and thought, blimey, what is my memory like these days

 

Once I saw the posts it did flood back but boy did I feel odd for a sec..I joke about my memory, but that was the first time I thought "eh". It's odd, I watch shows like the Chase with my wife and apart from some old historical questions I'm pretty on the ball and score well, same thing with Millionaire.. (not that I want to go on the shows, I know I'd freeze straight away).

 

My wife says I get too stressed and that's the cause of stuff like that but in this mad world how do you not be stressed

[+CharlieChaplin]

11 hours ago, tmp said:

new beta - ab24, please report what i broke

 

Thanks a lot for the new firmware!

 

Are you gonna support PDS (pdm-stereo), COV (covox-mono) and COS (covox-stereo) besides PDM also ?!?

 

FujiConvert already creates files with such extenders, so it would be nice if @Xuel and you could come up with a player and firmware that automatically plays those sounds with the right settings. (Currently all those files have to be named .PDM and one has to go to the player setup to choose mono/stereo and PDM/Covox manually.)

 

[zeropolis79]

1 hour ago, mimo said:

I've just placed an order for the connectors, should be with me by the end of the month.

I could send you one if you need it 

Thanks but my hands are too unstable for soldering.. (last time I tried, I burnt one of my fingers and it took two months to heal fully). 

[mimo]

10 minutes ago, zeropolis79 said:

Thanks but my hands are too unstable for soldering.. (last time I tried, I burnt one of my fingers and it took two months to heal fully). 

Well, if whoever does the mod for you needs it, you know where I am.

I'll see how mine goes and then may offer to do it for you 

[zeropolis79]

14 minutes ago, mimo said:

Well, if whoever does the mod for you needs it, you know where I am.

I'll see how mine goes and then may offer to do it for you 

Thanks! 

[tmp]

2 hours ago, Mclaneinc said:

@tmp small question.. At the moment it's not possible to do the trick of loading a BASIC cart with an ATX for items which need a basic on an old OS. Is this just impossible to do or just something that may come later?

 

I have a real BASIC cart so it's not the end of the world, but it means I have to unplug the AVG (BST) cart, I have no idea if a multi cart adaptor PCB with connectors would even work, pretty sure there would be conflicts otherwise I would have presumed you would have made the AVG with a pass thru (or was it price related?)

post the files

[tmp]

1 hour ago, CharlieChaplin said:

 

Thanks a lot for the new firmware!

 

Are you gonna support PDS (pdm-stereo), COV (covox-mono) and COS (covox-stereo) besides PDM also ?!?

 

FujiConvert already creates files with such extenders, so it would be nice if @Xuel and you could come up with a player and firmware that automatically plays those sounds with the right settings. (Currently all those files have to be named .PDM and one has to go to the player setup to choose mono/stereo and PDM/Covox manually.)

 

unfortunately those files have no header so player can't figure out the type by itself (and it has no access to filename either)

i'll probably just add support for separate player for each of those extensions

 

[+CharlieChaplin]

17 minutes ago, tmp said:

unfortunately those files have no header so player can't figure out the type by itself (and it has no access to filename either)

i'll probably just add support for separate player for each of those extensions

 

 

That's also a good idea!

 

Here are some example files...   Once upon a time (in the West).

 

Once_upon_a_time.zip

[Mclaneinc]

28 minutes ago, tmp said:

post the files

I must have picked 2 of the only 3 files I could find when I was testing stuff, I only found out after doing a proper search how few it was... Here's the file but I'd not waste precious space on 3 items..

 

PS, flashed the cart, all ok as expected, still can't work out the Enter on Cas, atr or Car thing, where it adds a space?

 

Please put my pea brain out of its misery and give me a brief explanation (if you want to), other than that it all seems perfect...Thank you!

 

Paul..

Crush Crumble and Chomp (1981)(Epyx)(US)[req OSb][BASIC].zip

[tmp]

24 minutes ago, Mclaneinc said:

I must have picked 2 of the only 3 files I could find when I was testing stuff, I only found out after doing a proper search how few it was... Here's the file but I'd not waste precious space on 3 items..

i have a feeling that this is something that was discussed before but i can't find it and i don't remember the specifics

seeing that it's osb game, i assume you're using u1mb to force osb, u1mb don't provide basic in this configuration?

if so, if you run both basic CAR and that ATX, it doesn't work? what does it do?

 

24 minutes ago, Mclaneinc said:

PS, flashed the cart, all ok as expected, still can't work out the Enter on Cas, atr or Car thing, where it adds a space?

previously if D1 had ATR assigned and you hit enter on an unrelated ATR file, that unrelated ATR would be ignored so you could do 2x shift-tab on 2 disc game, land on unrelated atr file and still be able to run it using return without having to go back with cursor

now it will overwrite d1 assignment so you can hit space instead of return (which should just run with stuff that's assigned ignoring current entry under cursor)

 

 

[Mclaneinc]

46 minutes ago, tmp said:

i have a feeling that this is something that was discussed before but i can't find it and i don't remember the specifics

seeing that it's osb game, i assume you're using u1mb to force osb, u1mb don't provide basic in this configuration?

if so, if you run both basic CAR and that ATX, it doesn't work? what does it do?

 

previously if D1 had ATR assigned and you hit enter on an unrelated ATR file, that unrelated ATR would be ignored so you could do 2x shift-tab on 2 disc game, land on unrelated atr file and still be able to run it using return without having to go back with cursor

now it will overwrite d1 assignment so you can hit space instead of return (which should just run with stuff that's assigned ignoring current entry under cursor)

 

 

Thank you for the explanation, as for the ATX, OSB and Basic, it just boot errors..Seems to discard the ATX file but the drive is still active so boot errors.

[tmp]

i just realized that atx unlike atr is loaded into cart ram so it cannot coexist with car (it could be rewritten but frankly there's not much motivation because it's not that useful)

if that game doesn't have a protection, try to convert it to atr

[Mclaneinc]

Hi tmp, as said, I never realised there were so few OSB + BASIC Atx's, there's a million and one cracked atr's that work perfectly, had there been many I'd have felt better about asking. I'd not worry about it, it is almost pointless (so wish I'd done a search first).

 

@tmp How do you reverse the white on black ath file, ran it to see what it did but want it back to the old black on white. I looked at the file in a hex ed but could not see a value for black or white (looked at the palette codes)

 

Thanks..

 

Ignore, deleted it and it went back to normal..

Edited January 1, 2022 by Mclaneinc

[tmp]

atx support is broken in this beta, it's already fixed but i'll wait for more bug reports before making a new one