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ultimate 1mb flashing with programmer *URGENT*


Kernal

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unless something is funky about the adapter you've got the chip inserted 180 degrees in the wrong direction...

spin it half way... if I am correct... unless it's protected in some way it might be dead...

not the adapter... the chip in the socket...

Edited by _The Doctor__
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so now i have to update the side2 to get the GOS available correct? i flashed over ultimate.rom i still dont see the option to enable GOS In the side loader

The information for the GOS is all on Jon’s website. Typically it is run from the U1MB, though it still doesn’t really do much yet. Mouse input work, you can open and move windows around and stuff, but that’s about it.

 

Anyway, downloads and documentation for all of that is at http://atari8.co.uk

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so now i have to update the side2 to get the GOS available correct? i flashed over ultimate.rom i still dont see the option to enable GOS In the side loader

ULTIMATE.ROM includes the GOS but you're looking in the wrong place: you enable it in the main BIOS setup menu. This is all described in the manual, as is the firmware update procedure. A USB flash ROM programmer is also recommended as a disaster recovery method in the same manual.

 

The information for the GOS is all on Jon’s website. Typically it is run from the U1MB, though it still doesn’t really do much yet. Mouse input work, you can open and move windows around and stuff, but that’s about it.

Aside from the window manager and drop-down menus, the main 'proof of concept', if you like, is the 'Profiler' app, of which multiple instances may be launched. The Profiler provides various system stats, and two scrolling graphs of CPU and memory usage. The 'Application' and 'Processes' tabs, meanwhile, display scrolling lists of applications and processes respectively. The lists may be re-ordered by clicking on the appropriate column. As you close down instances of the Profiler and the 'Jotter', system resources are dynamically released.

 

Someone really needs to write a manual on the flashing procedure for this device.. prehaps i will do it once i figure out everything that can or needs to be done..

Be sure to include a part about the PLCC flash ROM being keyed to ensure you place it in the adapter the right way around. ;)

 

In all seriousness, the aforementioned manual includes a large section on the update procedure (a section I'm going to update so that the cited filenames exactly match what's in the archive), as well as the aforementioned USB programmer recommendation. If the complaint is that specific instructions do not exist for the TL866 USB programmer, then I suppose some kind of cheat sheet would not go amiss. But there are so many USB programmers on the market, all of which use proprietary software and drivers, I think the documentation for a given USB programmer is probably the best reference when it comes to reprogramming a PLCC flash ROM.

 

Regarding documentation: I was reminded recently that I did not provide a README for the SIDE/SIDE2 update package. Admittedly, all the instructions need to say is the following:

 

1. Disable SDX and PBI HDD on any Ultimate 1MB present

2. Mount SIDE*.ATR using SIO2xxx

2. Put SIDE/SIDE2 switch in lower (SDX) position and boot SDX from the cartridge

3. Type 'SIDE' or 'SIDE2' (depending on the hardware) at the SDX prompt and answer a few questions

 

The fact people are looking for the GOS inside of the SIDE loader demonstrates that the existing documentation - the latest versions of which took a month to put together for the July firmware release - were not consulted. So on the one hand I'm keen to produce the most lavish and unambiguous documentation possible, but on the other hand, half the time it feels like wasted effort when people ask 'Why are there no instructions?'.

 

It seems that were it not for a) a power cut during flashing and b) inserting the chip the wrong way around in the adapter, things would have proceeded fairly smoothly. I have no objections whatsoever to answering questions via email and PM (within reason: even those who have clicked the donate button are not guaranteed 24/7 rapid response, a lifetime SLA, nor one-on-one personal tuition) and acting on constructive criticism of the existing documentation. But the existing documentation cannot simultaneously be an U1MB manual, hardware installation manual, TL866 manual, SpartaDOS X manual, etc. Consulting the contents page seems intimidating enough for many users, so making the manual four times bigger probably isn't the best idea. And there are already four fairly large PDFs concerning APT and related firmware on my website.

 

EDIT: And after all that, I see that the TL866 wasn't used anyway, but some other USB programmer. ;)

Edited by flashjazzcat
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