Making a file/rom image for 27512 eprom?

[Gunstar]

I've never used an eprom burner before. I've had the Ralph David burner for about a year, and am finally getting around to using it with some eproms I finally picked up. Anyway, the manual seems pretty straight forward and understandable on the adjustment and burning process, so I think I should be good there. What I don't know is how to get 4 16K OS roms into a single 64K file/rom to load and burn on a 27512 eprom. The manual just tells to select a .rom file for burning, but not how to create a 64K rom file combining the 4 OS's I'd like to burn on it for my 4-in-1 OS I bought from Dropcheck. If there is already a thread on this subject, or another site with this information, a link would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

Is it just a matter of loading them all into a hex editor (I have HxD) one after another and joining them that way into one file? 

Edited August 16, 2019 by Gunstar

[manterola]

I guess in windows cmd line you can do

copy /b osrom1+osrom2+osrom3+osrom4 osromcombined

 

In linux (and mac I guess):

cat osrom1 osrom2 osrom3 osrom4 > osromcombined

Edited August 16, 2019 by manterola

[+Nezgar]

Using windows command prompt, it's as easy as concatenating 4 16KB files together to make a 5th file that is 64KB:

copy /b 16Kfile1.rom + 16Kfile2.rom + 16Kfile3.rom + 16Kfile4.rom Output_64KB.rom

And then program the resulting "Output_64KB.rom" to a 27c512 EPROM.

 

With Atari DOS 2.0/2.5 it's a bit more roundabout, as you can only append 1 at a time:

C
D:16KFILE1.ROM,D:OUTFILE.ROM   (OUTFILE.ROM is 16KB)
C
D:16KFILE2.ROM,D:OUTFILE.ROM/A (OUTFILE.ROM is now 32KB)
C
D:16KFILE3.ROM,D:OUTFILE.ROM/A  (OUTFILE.ROM is now 48KB)
C
D:16KFILE4.ROM,D:OUTFILE.ROM/A  (OUTFILE.ROM is now 64KB)

With SpartaDOS 2.x, 3.x, and X:

COPY D:16KFILE1.ROM D:OUTFILE.ROM
COPY D:16KFILE2.ROM D:OUTFILE.ROM/A
COPY D:16KFILE3.ROM D:OUTFILE.ROM/A
COPY D:16KFILE4.ROM D:OUTFILE.ROM/A

 

[JR>]

HxD works great for manipulating ROM images. Yes just append the 4 images and save as one file.

[Gunstar]

Thanks guys! I have a plethora of ways apparently! I almost can't decide which way to try first! Since the rom images are on my PC, I'll probably just try the command line way first. In the future, since I plan to move all my Atari files to my HDD using SDX eventually, I'll just use the SDX command line, since the burner software and burner are compatible with SDX. 

 

While HxD was my first choice, and thanks to @JR> , who confirmed my suspicions with it (I've only used HxD twice for deleting the cart header to make straight bin files) I'm just not familiar enough with MS-DOS or SDX (yet) to have remembered how to combine them that way, though now that it was mentioned, I do remember reading that in the SDX manual. But I think command line is the most natural way for me.

[Kyle22]

HxD is a lovely tool that I use with Windows XP. I really appreciate its usefulness.

 

[Gunstar]

I finally found time to do this, and have successfully combined 4 roms into 1, but one of the OS roms is OSB at 10K, so the rom image is 58K. Do I need to pad that in some way to a full 64K? Or put the 10K rom at the end of the appended rom?

Edited September 1, 2019 by Gunstar

[+Nezgar]

To make a 16KB 800 OSA/B for an XL ROM, you need 4KB of blank space, then append the 2KB Floating point ROM, and then append the 10KB ROM for a total of 16KB, and then some minor patches...

 

But I'll save you the work.

https://atariage.com/forums/topic/251315-sys-check-v22-ready-to-use-batch-available/?do=findComment&comment=4272984

 

[Gunstar]

12 minutes ago, Nezgar said:

To make a 16KB 800 OSA/B for an XL ROM, you need 4KB of blank space, then append the 2KB Floating point ROM, and then append the 10KB ROM for a total of 16KB, and then some minor patches...

 

But I'll save you the work.

https://atariage.com/forums/topic/251315-sys-check-v22-ready-to-use-batch-available/?do=findComment&comment=4272984

 

Thank you very much! I was going to do 4 16K roms and then decided later the person I'm giving the computer to would appreciate an OS-B rom on it.

Edited September 1, 2019 by Gunstar
typo

[+Nezgar]

Just thinking, instead of (or in addition to) a plain OSB ROM, consider BOSS XL, as it has other nifty features like RAM based OS mode for 52K usable RAM, a coldstart key combo, and internal BASIC is still usable with OPTION key held on startup. (BASIC is inaccessible without using an external cart with a plain OSB ROM)

 

[Gunstar]

@Nezgar Thankyou! I think I will use BossXL. I've never tried it. Isn't that the name of a Desktop GOS too? I think if I've ever seen that rom image in lists I thought it was for use with that desktop, if you use it, or something!

 

This may be a dumb question, but does it make a difference if I'm combining OS images that have .rom and .bin extensions? Do I need to change the .bin files to .rom?

 

I still haven't burned an eprom yet, because I am having error issues when I attempt it, and I'm not yet sure if it's a user-error issue, an issue with my burner, a bad file issue (hence question above) or the software and my system set-up. I'd like to eliminate or confirm if the file I'm trying to burn is the issue due to .bin/.rom files combined. The burn process does not get to the point of actually burning to the eproms, but before that, if my "empty" eprom test result is correct in the burner program when I check. I keep getting $00 or $FF errors which are not covered in the burner software manual.

Edited September 2, 2019 by Gunstar

[+Nezgar]

Another highly 800 compatible OS is OmniView XE... Also has a 52K RAM Based OS mode (hold select on powerup), marslett math pack (I think), BASIC off by default (option enables), HELP replaces CTRL-1 (pause E: output), and of course the 80 column capability. (Ctrl-A + reset)

 

 

Use the one with CRC32 CEC9CA43.

[Gunstar]

16 minutes ago, Nezgar said:

Another highly 800 compatible OS is OmniView XE... Also has a 52K RAM Based OS mode (hold select on powerup), marslett math pack (I think), BASIC off by default (option enables), HELP replaces CTRL-1 (pause E: output), and of course the 80 column capability. (Ctrl-A + reset)

 

 

Use the one with CRC32 CEC9CA43.

OmniView V6 for 256K is one of the OS's I have selected for the eprom. Does it have the same features as OmniView XE? I had just forgotten that OmniView offered 800 compatibility too. All I have is the manual for OmniView XL/XE, which I have not yet read anyway.

 

Also, I was adding some more to my post above while your reply came through, if you could have another look at it please.

Edited September 2, 2019 by Gunstar

[JR>]

29 minutes ago, Gunstar said:

@Nezgar Thankyou! I think I will use BossXL. I've never tried it. Isn't that the name of a Desktop GOS too? I think if I've ever seen that rom image in lists I thought it was for use with that desktop, if you use it, or something!

 

This may be a dumb question, but does it make a difference if I'm combining OS images that have .rom and .bin extensions? Do I need to change the .bin files to .rom?

 

I still haven't burned an eprom yet, because I am having error issues when I attempt it, and I'm not yet sure if it's a user-error issue, an issue with my burner, a bad file issue (hence question above) or the software and my system set-up. I'd like to eliminate or confirm if the file I'm trying to burn is the issue due to .bin/.rom files combined. The burn process does not get to the point of actually burning to the eproms, but before that, if my "empty" eprom test result is correct in the burner program when I check. I keep getting $00 or $FF errors which are not covered in the burner software manual.

Files sometimes have a header on them.  Just load them into a hex editor and make sure they are exactly 16K in length. If they go a few bytes longer, just remove that many bytes from the start of the file and save it.

[+Nezgar]

File extensions don't matter. As long as each OS image is exactly 16384 bytes and the combined image is exactly 65536 bytes it should be fine.

 

I've seen those errors with the Ralf-David burner, and just attributed them to an incompatibility with the type of EPROMs I was using.. I think the errors might mean something like the particular byte tried to program a $00, but verification read back a $FF which indicates the byte didn't program at all. Hard to know for sure if the chip was actually written to unless you can read it in something else to determine if it actually needs erasing again.

 

You could try the 'slow' mode option. It seemed to be very picky with the types/brands of chips it worked with.. But personally I cant help too much since I moved on from that programmer after getting the TL866...

[Gunstar]

Thanks again @Nezgar , it probably is an incompatible chip then. I'll have to try another brand or type of 27512. I guess I'll move on, for now, to the 2764 eprom and see if it's compatible to program for 8K Basic on the 1200XL I'm working on.