bug fixes Ultimate 1MB, Incognito, 1088XEL/XLD and SIDE/SIDE2 Firmware Version 3.02 Released

[+DrVenkman]

Okay, first thing - .CAR files are cartridge ROMs and won’t work on a SIDE2 cartridge. They are used in a cartridge emulator, which is NOT what the SIDE2 is. 
 

As for updating the firmware, you might need a memory-expanded machine to do it properly - I’ve never done it on a stock 64K Atari. Try running UFLASH with the X prefix attribute. Type ‘X UFLASH.XEX’ (without the quotes obviously). 

[Colleton]

I've also downloaded just the side update and have tried to flash it with the same result.

 

Just tried 'X UFLASH.XEX' (no quotes) and got the same '179 memory conflict' message.

Edited August 21, 2019 by Colleton

[flashjazzcat]

When you find yourself lost and frustrated, having a look at the README files supplied with the firmware often helps.

Quote

Users without 1MB of extended RAM may use the DLT flasher to update the entire ROM, the SDX ROM, or the loader ROM. These flashers - which work on 64K machines - target either the SDX ROM/entire flash ROM (SIDE.COM/SIDE2.COM) or the 'external cart' segment/loader (FLASH_SE.COM/FLASH_S2.COM). Simply type the name of the flasher and it will flash the first '*.ROM' file it finds.

Forget about using UFLASH on a machine with less than 512KB of extended RAM. There is no need.

 

The loader will run many 8K .CAR files, since these are just flat ROMs with a 16 byte header which is discarded. As Herb points out, though, SIDE and SIDE2 have no general purpose banked cartridge emulation capabilities.

[Colleton]

Okay, thanks.  Downloaded the side update ('SIDE_Loader_v.3.02_010819') and the 'side2_full.atr' image had the DLT loader in it ('side2.com').  That's working, the cart is flashing right now.  Hopefully it will read my CF card after the flash.

 

The U1MB mod should arrive tomorrow, I'll get it installed this weekend.

 

Thanks for your help and patience.

 

Edit: It updated properly, but still refuses to read the CF card.  I get a no media message.  It must just not like this card.  I dunno.  I have more coming, we'll see.

Edited August 21, 2019 by Colleton

[flashjazzcat]

1 hour ago, Colleton said:

It updated properly, but still refuses to read the CF card

'No media' when the media is inserted means the card failed to become ready after being placed into 8-bit mode, or the card removal flag is stuck on. What happens if you try to remove and reinsert the card while the loader is running? If nothing at all happens, something needs replaced.

[Colleton]

When you remove the CF card with power applied the 'SIDE2: NO MEDIA' display goes away and you get a 'Waiting for media' message with a spinning dial.

 

So it's seeing the card go in and out, but it doesn't recognize it.

[flashjazzcat]

Yes: the card isn't initialising. Do you have a link to the exact CF card?

[Colleton]

It's a SanDisk Ultra 16GB card:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GHBBK82/

 

I ordered it through amazon and it was fulfilled by Amazon, so I doubt it's a fake.  It was their 'Amazon's Choice' for CF cards.

 

Interestingly enough, I stopped by Staples on the way home from dinner this evening and they had one last CF card, a 32GB PNY.  It works like a champ, so at least I know it's not the cart.

Edited August 22, 2019 by Colleton

[_The Doctor__]

reformat the sandisk using different fat sizes, toss some files, needed or not, and see if it gets recognized. Had a couple like that... not sure what the factory format was.

Edited August 22, 2019 by _The Doctor__

[+DrVenkman]

7 minutes ago, Colleton said:

It's a SanDisk Ultra 16GB card:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GHBBK82/

 

I ordered it through amazon and it was fulfilled by Amazon, so I doubt it's a fake.  It was their 'Amazon's Choice' for CF cards.

 

Interestingly enough, I stopped by Staples on the way home from dinner this evening and they had one last CF card, a 32GB PNY.  It works like a champ, so at least I know it's not the cart.

I wish I’d paid closer attention when you posted this. I could’ve maybe saved you some grief. I have two of that same exact card. Neither of them work in my SIDE2 cart, but they both work great in the CF card interfaces on my 1088XEL and 1088XLD machines.

 

I used to have the 8GB version of that card, which DID work in my SIDE2 cart. However, I killed that card when it was inserted in my 1088XEL and I accidentally plugged a 9VAC power supply into the board (instead of the 9VDC supply it expected). The only damage to the machine was that it damaged at least one logic chip on the CF card interface board, and it killed the CF card itself.  When I bought a newer, cheaper 16GB card to replace it, I found it didn’t work in the SIDE2 cart. So I’ve got an even older 512GB Sandisk card in my SIDE2 cart instead. 

[Colleton]

Hey __The Doctor__, I did try that earlier today.  Multiple partitions of different sizes with different numbers of file, etc...  It just does not work.

 

DrVenkman:  Well, good to know.   I have some used 4GB Transcend cards coming from ebay.  They're cheaper and will hopefully work.  Between my not reading the firmware upgrade readme as closely as I should have and this card, it's been an extra special super happy fun day.  My sincere thanks to you and FJC for the help.

[_The Doctor__]

Let' put the perpetrators mug shot up so we know not to entertain it's ilk for future card buyers!

 

[Sugarland]

13 hours ago, Colleton said:

Okay, I give up.

 

Received the SanDisk Ultra 16GB CF card today, connected it to my windows PC, ensured that it was formatted with FAT32 and then loaded some .car files on it. 

 

FAT32? Try FAT16. Per the APT Software manual 6th ed FAT32 is not supported yet. FAT16 offers plenty of space.

 

[flashjazzcat]

2 minutes ago, Sugarland said:

 

FAT32? Try FAT16. Per the APT Software manual 6th ed FAT32 is not supported yet. FAT16 offers plenty of space.

 

Only the FATFS.SYS SDX file system driver doesn't support FAT32 yet. You only need to worry about that if you want read-only access to the FAT partition direct from the SDX command prompt, and this in itself requires an 'external' APT entry to be set up via FDISK. The SIDE Loader and PBI BIOS have always been capable of reading FAT32 volumes.

[Colleton]

Got the U1MB kit installed last night into my 800XL, and flashed it with the 3.02 update.  Everything is working great, it's pretty spiffy!

[+DrVenkman]

21 minutes ago, Colleton said:

Got the U1MB kit installed last night into my 800XL, and flashed it with the 3.02 update.  Everything is working great, it's pretty spiffy!

Fantastic! 

 

Now if you've got some space left over on you CF card, launch FDISK from the SpartaDOS X prompt with the SIDE2 inserted. You can format the empty space to create APT hard disk partitions for use with SpartaDOS X, in addition to or in conjunction with the ATR files you have stored on the FAT32 partition.

 

Jon's BIOS is amazing.  

[Colleton]

Okay, nice.  I'll try that, thanks!

[+DrVenkman]

I realized tonight that I never did update the BIOS in my 1200XL, so I took care of that and then decided to play a little bit. 
 

This is using the new patched OSS SIDE cart rom files, and the little test code here resides on an APT hard disk partition on the CF card. Lovely.  

 

 

[Kyle22]

On 8/21/2019 at 9:40 PM, _The Doctor__ said:

Let' put the perpetrators mug shot up so we know not to entertain it's ilk for future card buyers!

 

 

Doc, you should have PhotoShopped a big "Do NOT Buy" on this image. Someone who is not paying attention may not see your message about the perpetrator and only see the picture (and take it as a recommendation).

This happened to me when I posted a ROM that clearly stated in the message that it was a problem ROM image. Someone downloaded it and flashed it and bricked his machine.

Thankfully, he didn't blame me after I told him to re-read my original post.

 

Edit: Grammar.

Edited August 27, 2019 by Kyle22

[flashjazzcat]

Cool! Just ordered one. Thanks for the recommendation!

[TGB1718]

When I bought my U1M and Side2, I read somewhere (probably this forum) to try to use Sandisk cards, however I think it mentioned

4Gb, I bought (Ebay, Used), a 1Gb and a 4Gb card, they both worked fined.

The 1Gb is just an ordinary card, the 4Gb is a SanDisk Extreme.

[rosapoP]

Does anyone know if its possible to flash a SIDE2 cartridge that wont boot SDX?

(i do have an EPROM programmer if that is needed)

[+DrVenkman]

33 minutes ago, rosapoP said:

Does anyone know if its possible to flash a SIDE2 cartridge that wont boot SDX?

(i do have an EPROM programmer if that is needed)

Check the latest SIDE2 firmware download from Jon’s site and read the README file included. I believe there is a stand-alone updater you can run after booting any DOS which will flash the entire SIDE2 ROM. I have never done it myself but there is also discussion of this in this thread from a just week or so ago I think. 
 

EDIT: See post 54 above from a week ago, and the posts which precede it. 
 

 

[rosapoP]

1 hour ago, DrVenkman said:

Check the latest SIDE2 firmware download from Jon’s site and read the README file included. I believe there is a stand-alone updater you can run after booting any DOS which will flash the entire SIDE2 ROM. I have never done it myself but there is also discussion of this in this thread from a just week or so ago I think. 
 

EDIT: See post 54 above from a week ago, and the posts which precede it. 
 

 

how do i boot a DOS with with the SIDE2 in the machine?
if the SIDE2 is in the machine the SDX option just boots the atari selftest. ?

[+DrVenkman]

Like I said, I've never done this, but have you tried booting DOS (Say, SpartaDOS 3.something) from a floppy or SIO2PC device and then run the flasher program from there?