AtariMax 8Mbit Flash cart with SDX 4.49c and all OSS languages

[ebiguy]

5 hours ago, Faicuai said:

No, no prob. With Incognito's changes, as (at the end of the day) the scope of your SIDE 1/2/AtariMax packaging is your prerogative. 

 

However, I wanted to warn you that BasicXE comes in several flavors (4.1, 4.1p and 4.2) and there are (at least) two variants of extensions (4.00 and 4.11)

 

In the case of Incognito, I will be supporting Basic XE 4.1p (because it handles "D:" reference correctly for SDX) and Extensions v4.00 and v4.11 (pretty good well tested here, so far). Have not found yet extensions that properly run with 4.2, though.

 

Cheers!

 

That's very interesting !!!

I was not aware that there were several variants of extensions (4.00 and 4.11).

Arg, I patched the wrong one because I have version 4.00.

But it is working fine with Basic XE 4.1 so I will stay on this version.

 

Do you know the differences between 4.00 and 4.11 ? Are there any more features of is it just bug fixes ?

 

I started from the modified BasicXE that has the DIR command working correctly (I guess this is 4.1p).

[ebiguy]

1 minute ago, flashjazzcat said:

Looks like it's actually overflow ZP usage (TLW uses $80-$FF... in fact $80-$0100!) since only $0100 is used. Can't see this getting fixed any time soon since TLW is fairly low on the list of priorities (next update will require a lot of work), and the bug doesn't appear to cause trouble anywhere else.

 

 

Hi Jon,

It seems that we have a territory conflict with this $100 address.

Do not change anything ! It's easier for me to change it in the next build !

[flashjazzcat]

4 minutes ago, ebiguy said:

It seems that we have a territory conflict with this $100 address.

Do not change anything ! It's easier for me to change it in the next build !

I appreciate it - thanks! Once upon a time it didn't seem to matter what was at the bottom of the stack.

 

Version control was non-existent here when I compiled the last release version of TLW, so if I make one change to release a new build, I don't really know what else changed when last I worked on it. I will be sure to fix this when I do produce a new version, though.

[ebiguy]

3 hours ago, rdea6 said:

Okay I ran Turbobasic and loaded a few programs and all was ok but crashed while trying to ENTER a program.  And I tried @drac030  basic program called UBI also using RAM under the OS.  and entering a basic listing caused the cart to crash need a power off/on.

 

 

 

I need to make some test to see what is happening.

when you say that you loaded a few programs, did you run them also and everything was fine ?

 

And is UBI an Atari Basic program or a Turbobasic basic program ? Interpreted or compiled one ?

[flashjazzcat]

1 hour ago, ebiguy said:

And is UBI an Atari Basic program or a Turbobasic basic program ?

http://drac030.krap.pl/en-ub-info.php

 

A slightly faster version of standard Atari BASIC which lives under the OS ROM.

[ebiguy]

17 minutes ago, flashjazzcat said:

http://drac030.krap.pl/en-ub-info.php

 

A slightly faster version of standard Atari BASIC which lives under the OS ROM.

Thank you, I will have a look at it next week-end.

I guess all these non working programs are using the stack (bad news if confirmed - will see)

[Marius]

Won't CAR /I also re-init the code on the bottom of the STACK -Area?

[ebiguy]

1 hour ago, Marius said:

Won't CAR /I also re-init the code on the bottom of the STACK -Area?

No, I don't think so.

I made the test and the stack is intact.

[ebiguy]

Is there a way to change my first post at the start of this thread?

I wish I could put a new version but it is in read-only now.

[flashjazzcat]

5 minutes ago, ebiguy said:

Is there a way to change my first post at the start of this thread?

I wish I could put a new version but it is in read-only now.

Just PM an admin or place an edit request in the feedback sub-forum or similar.

[Roydea6]

9 hours ago, ebiguy said:

change my first post

Why not just drop the new version here at bottom of the thread?  Only 29 downloads so I am sure we few will find the newer version.

 

[BillC]

20 hours ago, ebiguy said:

Is there a way to change my first post at the start of this thread?

I wish I could put a new version but it is in read-only now.

The standard edit window is 1 hour, one of the benefits for subscribers is that it is upgraded to 30 days.

[ebiguy]

subscribers ?!!?

I am a forum member for many years but I was not aware that there was a subscription.

Now I see the link at the bottom of the page.

 

[ebiguy]

Here is an update.

The zip file still contains the MaxFlash 8Mbit image file and the Basic XE extension disk (this one has not changed since the first release).

Changes are:

- It should be compatible with The Last Word ($0100 is not used anymore)

- The default boot drive is now D5:

- A ramdisk has been developed and is active only if the MaxFlash 8Mbit image is embedded in The!Cart. Thanks to @Gunstar for the idea.

 

To use the ramdisk, remember to run the MaxFlash 8Mbit image with SHIFT-fire or SHIFT-return when you are in The!Cart menu.

Otherwise, the RAM won't be accessible and the ramdisk will be disabled. But a warning is displayed in such a situation.

The ramdisk is 470KByte only to keep some RAM space for other drivers if they need it. But it should be enough.

It creates a drive O:

I added an I/O sound when the ramdisk is accessed, thanks to @flashjazzcat.

 

Again, as a small (updated) documentation and a reminder, I write again what I said on the initial post:

 

SDX has been setup to boot from drive E (D5:) so that you can have 4 real floppies as D1:...D4: and have a 16MB ATR file as D5: for SDX.

On D5: you can have 2 files to load your own drivers named CONFGI.CFG and CONFIG.CFG:

- When SDX is in BANKED mode, CONFIG.SYS ends up merging with D5:>CONFGI.CFG (NOTE the swapped letters I and G - GI like GIant config)

- When SDX is in OSRAM mode, CONFIG.SYS ends up merging with D5:>CONFIG.CFG (this time letters are not swapped)

It means that you can easily load additional drivers depending on the memory configuration.

 

Here is the content of CONFGI.SYS inside SDX (the BANKED configuration):

 

And here is the content of CONFIG.SYS (the OSRAM configuration):

 

These 2 screenshots allow me to explain the way to customize (a little bit) the bin file.

The offset to change the boot drive have changed.

So the best way to change something in both CONFGI.SYS and CONFIG.SYS is to use an Hexadecimal editor and search for the ASCII string 'DEVICE SETDEV'.

Then you can change the boot drive in both configurations to whatever you want.

You can also disable the ramdisk sound if you don't want it by replacing /N by two spaces.

And you can remove any driver you don't want to load by replacing the command name by spaces.

 

Technical note 1: OSS languages need some code placed at the bottom of the stack (starting at $0101 and ending at $187). This code is overwritten by the FORMAT command. If you use FORMAT, you must turn the machine off and on again to reinstall the code at the bottom of the stack.

Technical note 2: The content of the bin file has been hand-crafted so do not try to change the content with SDXImageUser.exe. It would destroy the OSS images and some patches.

Technical note 3: To use the Basic XE Extension, you need to run SDX in BANKED mode and have more than 128Kb so that SDX and Basic XE won't use the same memory banks.

 

My8MbitFlash_SDX449c_OSS.zip

Edited November 3, 2019 by ebiguy
typo

[Gunstar]

Fantastic! Now my friend can use The!Cart for roms and .xex's and have a 16MB HDD with SDX and OSS languages, which he will love! And also SDrive-max which he will also love! He doesn't join in the online community, so he has NO IDEA about these advance peripherals and cartridges, which will blow him away! He'll be getting a note book filled with my instructions on how to use it all too, so he's not lost and overwhelmed with the new tech! (lots of upgrade goodies are going into the 800XL I'm rebuilding/upgrading for him as well, and a Syscheck 2.2 with a case I made for it as well too!)

 

Many thanks @ebiguy for all the work making it work with The!Cart! ???

Edited November 3, 2019 by Gunstar

[ebiguy]

10 minutes ago, Gunstar said:

Fantastic! Now my friend can use The!Cart for roms and .xex's and have a 16MB HDD with SDX and OSS languages, which he will love! And also SDrive-max which he will also love! He doesn't join in the online community, so he has NO IDEA about these advance peripherals and cartridges, which will blow him away! He'll be getting a note book filled with my instructions on how to use it all too, so he's not lost and overwhelmed with the new tech! (lots of upgrade goodies are going into the 800XL I'm rebuilding/upgrading for him as well, and a Syscheck 2.2 with a case I made for it as well too!)

 

Many thanks @ebiguy for all the work making it work with The!Cart! ???

Thank you. This was a good idea.

But still, your friend needs a drive (real or Sdrive-max) to keep his work on persitent device.

So, if he's going to use The!Cart with SDrive-max, then I think it would be a good idea to configure MaxFlash to boot from drive D3: so that SDrive-max contains at least 2 16MB ATR files on D3: and D4:.

I may be wrong but I think it is not possible to mount an ATR file on D5: with SDrive-max.

That's different with RespeQt or APE where you can have D1:...D4 reserved for real floppies and maybe D8: setup with a big ATR file for SDX to boot on it for example.

[Gunstar]

16 minutes ago, ebiguy said:

Thank you. This was a good idea.

But still, your friend needs a drive (real or Sdrive-max) to keep his work on persitent device.

So, if he's going to use The!Cart with SDrive-max, then I think it would be a good idea to configure MaxFlash to boot from drive D3: so that SDrive-max contains at least 2 16MB ATR files on D3: and D4:.

I may be wrong but I think it is not possible to mount an ATR file on D5: with SDrive-max.

That's different with RespeQt or APE where you can have D1:...D4 reserved for real floppies and maybe D8: setup with a big ATR file for SDX to boot on it for example.

Well now you have me confused, because I though D5: was a 16MB ATR image on The!Cart, and D1:-D4: would be on the SDrive-max. Won't it boot from D5: on The!Cart with SDX? And SDrive-max D1:-D4: would just be 4 other 16MB ATR partitions to have access too?

Edited November 3, 2019 by Gunstar

[ebiguy]

43 minutes ago, Gunstar said:

Well now you have me confused, because I though D5: was a 16MB ATR image on The!Cart, and D1:-D4: would be on the SDrive-max. Won't it boot from D5: on The!Cart with SDX? And SDrive-max D1:-D4: would just be 4 other 16MB ATR partitions to have access too?

With all the devices you will give away, let me explain, IMHO, what would be the optimal setup.

- To play CAR or EXE, The!Cart is the way to go as everything can be put inside and the search feature is great.

- To play ATR or ATX, SDrive-max should be attached to the computer and ATR/ATX files mounted as D1: and D2: if needed (but usually D1: is enough even for multiple disk games).

- To "work" or do programing, a 16MB ATR should be mounted as D3: (and another one as D4: to get more space) on SDrive-max

 

To prepare this setup, do this:

- Change DEVICE SETENV 5 into DEVICE SETENV 3 in both locations inside the bin file

- Prepare a workbook for The!Cart and put the image provided in the previous post. Add all games (cartridges or executables) to the workbook.

- Flash your The!Cart.

- In SDrive-max, put 2 16MB ATR and mount them as D3: and D4:

 

The ramdisk I added is to speed-up things for example when entering or exiting OSS cartridges, the memory is loaded or saved from the ramdisk which is faster than I/O with SDrive-max.

Temporary files are also written in the ramdisk.

 

This is not a bad setup. Of course, it does not offer the same comfort as a cartridge embedding an SD card or a CF card but combining The!Cart and SDrive-max is definitely a good idea !

And this combo is the best if your friend is more playing games than "working" with SDX because:

- it offers an immediate and lightning fast load of ALL games

- it offers a way to load ALL disk games (protected or not)

 

So don't be disappointed. I would be glad to be your friend to receive such a gift !!!

Edited November 3, 2019 by ebiguy

[Gunstar]

34 minutes ago, ebiguy said:

With all the devices you will give away, let me explain, IMHO, what would be the optimal setup.

- To play CAR or EXE, The!Cart is the way to go as everything can be put inside and the search feature is great.

- To play ATR or ATX, SDrive-max should be attached to the computer and ATR/ATX files mounted as D1: and D2: if needed (but usually D1: is enough even for multiple disk games).

- To "work" or do programing, a 16MB ATR should be mounted as D3: (and another one as D4: to get more space) on SDrive-max

 

To prepare this setup, do this:

- Change DEVICE SETENV 5 into DEVICE SETENV 3 in both locations inside the bin file

- Prepare a workbook for The!Cart and put the image provided in the previous post. Add all games (cartridges or executables) to the workbook.

- Flash your The!Cart.

- In SDrive-max, put 2 16MB ATR and mount them as D3: and D4:

 

The ramdisk I added is to speed-up things for example when entering or exiting OSS cartridges, the memory is loaded or saved from the ramdisk which is faster than I/O with SDrive-max.

Temporary files are also written in the ramdisk.

 

This is not a bad setup. Of course, it does not offer the same comfort as a cartridge embedding an SD card or a CF card but combining The!Cart and SDrive-max is definitely a good idea !

And this combo is the best if your friend is more playing games than "working" with SDX because:

- it offers an immediate and lightning fast load of ALL games

- it offers a way to load ALL disk games (protected or not)

 

So don't be disappointed. I would be glad to be your friend to receive such a gift !!!

Thanks, I will set it up as you suggest. I was just looking at it from the point of view that he's not going to be using ATR/ATX's games/programs while he's using SDX and OSS languages for programming, so D5: on The!Cart would be fine and then when he's using SDX he could just mount 4 16MB ATR's on SDrive-max, as well as D5: 16MB ATR on The!Cart, and when he's not using SDX, he can use all 4 drives on the SDrive-max for ATR/ATX's (there are a few programs and games that can use more than 2 drives, like AR:The Dungeon can use all 4, etc.)

 

But when not using SDX, he can still mount up to 4 ATR/ATX images on SDrive-max anyway setting it up your way too I guess, so your way is better in the long run.

 

As to it being such a great gift, you are right, but I already need to repay him in a big way, since he gave me his Atari Falcon! A loaded/upgraded 800XL, even with Syscheck 2, The!Cart and SDrive-max still doesn't match his gift to me! Even though I already gave him an Ultra SATANdisk for his Mega ST too, and still feel I have a long way to go considering the value of the Falcon!

Edited November 3, 2019 by Gunstar

[Roydea6]

regarding the!cart,

This is really a good idea and I like it a lot.  I used SETDEV 3 only because I am comfortable with how my U1M is set up.  @ebiguy if this would be possible to do with the MyIDE II SpartaDos X rom then all my bases would be loaded with BasicXE & other OSS carts and would not need to use SIO to mount atr's because of the CF cards partitions ..

 

Plus 4 for OSS cartridges.

 

[ebiguy]

3 hours ago, Roydea6 said:

regarding the!cart,

This is really a good idea and I like it a lot.  I used SETDEV 3 only because I am comfortable with how my U1M is set up.  @ebiguy if this would be possible to do with the MyIDE II SpartaDos X rom then all my bases would be loaded with BasicXE & other OSS carts and would not need to use SIO to mount atr's because of the CF cards partitions ..

 

Plus 4 for OSS cartridges.

 

You're right, I thing SETDEV 3 is the most common setup and, if there is another build, I will revert to 3 instead of 5.

 

About MyIDE II, sometimes the dream comes true...

But this is another story (in fact another thread).

 

[Gunstar]

5 hours ago, Roydea6 said:

regarding the!cart,

This is really a good idea and I like it a lot.  I used SETDEV 3 only because I am comfortable with how my U1M is set up.  @ebiguy if this would be possible to do with the MyIDE II SpartaDos X rom then all my bases would be loaded with BasicXE & other OSS carts and would not need to use SIO to mount atr's because of the CF cards partitions ..

 

Plus 4 for OSS cartridges.

 

If you have a way to cold-reset your computer (alternate OS) and SSDX cart (from Dropcheck)you can do it with the MyIDE II cart piggy-backed and then between Jon's SDX loader and APT partions set up on MyIDE II CF card, and Mr. Atari's fixed OSS languages, it works. It may work with an original SDX cartridge that's been updated to 4.47-4.49 (that's all I've tested it with) if they had/have buttons to turn the SDX cartridge on and off. I never had one so I don't know. Anyway, you start out with the SDX cartridge off, load the OSS cart from FAT32 loader menu, then cold reset so you don't lose power so the OSS language is still in flash/sram (which to the carts run from?) when you reboot. But a soft-reset won't work, you need an OS with a cold-reset key combo. Here is a video I made of how it works for a friend.

 

MyIDE II needs Mr. Atari's patched versions of the OSS language though, currently, @ebiguy's versions for Side 2 probably won't work. Of course if he (ebiguy) makes this for MyIDE II he can path them for it himself or maybe use the Mr. Atari patched versions.

 

(As seen in the video) I have my system set-up to boot from D1: floppy so I can easily edit the config.sys on it, instead of having the config.sys on the SDX car: where I would have to reflash every time I wanted to edit it. You can boot from a partition, of course.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R08oXFk_FLo

 

 

[Gunstar]

I forgot to mention that if you have one of @Dropcheck 's newer Super SDX cartridges that don't have the reset button on the cartridge (power on/off only) it will probably work with it too, I have always pushed the carts power switch and then the reset on it "just in case." I've never actually tried booting with out using the cart reset though, but I don't think it's necessary, but since it's there I've always just played it safe and pushed it too.

 

I am saying "MyIDE" in the video, but after a few brewskies I was slightly slurring so it sounds like I am saying "My I.D." with the D and E running together.

Edited November 5, 2019 by Gunstar

[ebiguy]

OK, so no more mystery.

 

6 hours ago, Gunstar said:

MyIDE II needs Mr. Atari's patched versions of the OSS language though, currently, @ebiguy's versions for Side 2 probably won't work. Of course if he (ebiguy) makes this for MyIDE II he can path them for it himself or maybe use the Mr. Atari patched versions.

 

I made a MyIDE II rom file that includes everything. And of course OSS cartridges with Basic XE extension compatibility (and this time, no more code in the stack like in MaxFlash 8Mb).

No need for such complex setup with piggy-packed cartridges. No more cold reset to get the OSS cartridges.

All you need is the MyIDE II cartridge with this new rom.

 

Just to tease a little bit, the MyIDE II packaging is (IMHO) the best ever because of the clever hardware that Steven designed (I am talking about the Keyhole).

Of course there are OSS languages but I've put much more in it...

 

I will release it soon but I was waiting for permissions as I have patched several tools or drivers to use SRAM from the cartridge.

Right now @flashjazzcat and Steven Tucker have answered my request.

I am still waiting for @trub from the DLT team as I patched several other SDX tools to use.

I don't know if there are any copyright on SDX but I think the minimum is to tell the original authors that I will be releasing a patched version of their creation.
 

So be patient...

[Gunstar]

@ebiguy Well I will definitely check it out and see what surprises you have in store, maybe I will use it instead, But I can't guarantee that it will sway me to use it instead of my SSDX & MyIDE II cart combo, because it still has an important feature, to me, that you can't compensate for with your rom image; a real-time clock w/battery, like Incognito and U1MB/Side 2 have. And I really don't mind doing a cold reset to be honest. And TBH, I have noticed no issues with Basic XE extensions disk version I have with my set-up and Mr. Atari's patched OSS BASIC XE rom. But maybe your features will make sway me.

 

I will of course use your SiDE 2 version in my Incognito and in my second 1200XL once I get an U1MB/SiDE 2 installed in it. 

Edited November 5, 2019 by Gunstar