+DrVenkman Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 27 minutes ago, flashjazzcat said: No, just the 4GB version, which I purchased in a camera shop second hand for 3GBP. Ah, rats. My 8GB version worked great too until it died in a tragic bit of PEBCAK last year. My replacement silver label 16GB doesn't. (The 8GB version is the card that got utterly fried dead when I stupidly plugged a nearby Atari 9VAC PSU lead into my 1088XEL, rather than the 9VDC the machine expected - interestingly the only things damaged were in the XEL-CF-2 interface card and the CF card itself. The Atari ICs and the rest of the system chips were fine). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 5 minutes ago, DrVenkman said: My replacement silver label 16GB doesn't. Have you or would you like to test the 16GB card in SIDE2 using the updated firmware which runs the device in PIO Mode 3? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 2 minutes ago, flashjazzcat said: Have you or would you like to test the 16GB card in SIDE2 using the updated firmware which runs the device in PIO Mode 3? I have not but I'd like to. It will probably be tomorrow before I get to flashing the SIDE2, however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpicyChronos Posted February 21, 2020 Author Share Posted February 21, 2020 All, I was able to get everything working. I have used several 1GB Sandisk Compact Flash cards, and they all work. I think my problems was with a bad PHI2 signal from the CPU. I swapped it with another from a working machine and it works. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blacka013 Posted April 14, 2020 Share Posted April 14, 2020 I have a problem with my SIDE2. All has been working well this evening using it for Spartados (switch down) or as the SIDE LOADER (switch up). The computer was switched off during the changes. When I put the switch in the upper position for the last time of use, it went to the SIDE loader as selected, but the display showing the contents flashed for a few seconds (LED flashing and contents shown during this time) and then displays No Entries. The card is a Sandisk 512MB. This happened in my 65XE upgraded to 128MB and when fitted to my 800xl with the Ultimate 1MB fitted. Anything I need to look for? Regards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted April 14, 2020 Share Posted April 14, 2020 8 minutes ago, blacka013 said: The computer was switched off during the changes. What changes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted April 14, 2020 Share Posted April 14, 2020 (edited) I'd back up the CF card in an x86i whatever computer... do the same in side2 with sparta up and running... I'd take the CF card and check it in an X86 computer and see if the file system needs repair, deleting any configuration saves that might have been in play during the failure... do the same in sparts reboot if all is well great.. if not you have should have a back up to whatever you use, respeqt ape etc. and in fat through the PC reformat and copy it all back if you were doing some sort of flash update... you might try again... Edited April 14, 2020 by _The Doctor__ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blacka013 Posted April 15, 2020 Share Posted April 15, 2020 Hi FJC, the change between using in Spartados and the Side loader. Regards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted April 15, 2020 Share Posted April 15, 2020 3 hours ago, blacka013 said: Hi FJC, the change between using in Spartados and the Side loader. Which SIDE loader version? Which SIDE driver version in SDX? Are you using the PBI BIOS on the U1MB machine, and which U1MB firmware version are you using? I can't speculate on whether the problem could be software related until I have some idea what firmware and drivers you are using. One thing to be aware of is that the loaders (both generations) do not have the IO error detection/retry logic present in the PBI BIOS. This is just because of the way the loaders work. So: the U1MB PBI BIOS may obfuscate some IO errors providing they are not too severe (the odd dropped or doubly read byte). At the end of the day, though, if corrected transfer errors are happening in DOS, things aren't working stably full stop and you will eventually encounter issues. You get a better picture of system stability, therefore, from the loader. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blacka013 Posted April 15, 2020 Share Posted April 15, 2020 (edited) OK, slight embarrassment here, I've found the problem. For some reason the joystick I'd had plugged in had the autofire enabled. This didn't cause any problem when SpartaDos loaded, but it did cause the problem when the SIDE loader was used. Everything ok with the autofire disabled. For your info FJC, I can't see an entry for the PBI on the setup page on my Ultimate 1MB machine. Is this an older version of the Ultimate? SIDE Loader V1.29 (c) 2016 FJC SIDE2 Driver 3.2 (c) 2014 FJC Thanks for all the help you have given. Regards Edited April 15, 2020 by blacka013 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted April 15, 2020 Share Posted April 15, 2020 5 minutes ago, blacka013 said: OK, slight embarrassment here, I've found the problem. For some reason the joystick I'd had plugged in had the autofire enabled. This didn't cause any problem when SpartaDos loaded, but it did cause the problem when the SIDE loader was used. Everything ok with the autofire disabled. Ack... there's no need to be embarrassed. Such things happen to us all at some point in time. I'm glad you figured out the problem. 6 minutes ago, blacka013 said: I can't see an entry for the PBI on the setup page on my Ultimate 1MB machine. Is this an older version of the Ultimate? SIDE Loader V1.29 (c) 2016 FJC SIDE2 Driver 3.2 (c) 2014 FJC Yes: that's an older version of my firmware, but there will still be a 'PBI HDD' menu or similar (the wording changed subtly over the years). Here's the current layout: When you use SIDE2 on the U1MB machine, you should enable the HDD in the U1MB settings, and put the cartridge switch into the 'Loader' position. If you need SDX, use the one built into U1MB. Then, when you boot the machine, you'll see the PBI notice at the top of the screen: Note these screenshots are from the firmware update I'm about to release (all I have left to do is upload it to the website and write some blurb). 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted April 15, 2020 Share Posted April 15, 2020 that's one for the trouble shooting section of the blurb! you aren't and won't be the only one to do this... trust me! Glad you got it licked... Now comes the fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted April 15, 2020 Share Posted April 15, 2020 Just now, _The Doctor__ said: that's one for the trouble shooting section of the blurb! I'll probably refrain from burdening the manual's FAQ with this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted April 15, 2020 Share Posted April 15, 2020 I don't know, I have a feeling it will happen again, they're selling lots of auto fire stick and devices on ebay again, most people don't disconnect them after each use these days... had us all going for a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted April 15, 2020 Share Posted April 15, 2020 1 minute ago, _The Doctor__ said: I don't know, I have a feeling it will happen again Auto-fire will cause problems with any software which uses the joystick trigger as an input. The problem is not that the user needs to be warned not to enable auto-fire when using the SIDE Loader. The issue is that the user simply didn't know he had auto-fire switched on. The problem is solved... done... finished. End of story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blacka013 Posted April 16, 2020 Share Posted April 16, 2020 Hi FJC, my Ultimate 1MB is certainly behind the times as the setup screen looks nothing like the screen above. My screen has the following options. extended memory System SpartaDos X VBXE base Stereo sound COVOX The title at the top of my screen is rather colourful to say the least. Regards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted April 16, 2020 Share Posted April 16, 2020 18 minutes ago, blacka013 said: my Ultimate 1MB is certainly behind the times as the setup screen looks nothing like the screen above. My screen has the following options. If there is no 'SIDE Hardware' setting, your U1MB may not even have the PBI code required to run my firmware. I assume the PCB is black? How old is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blacka013 Posted April 16, 2020 Share Posted April 16, 2020 It's black with Candle O Sin, Spiflash.org on it. Sorry don't know how old it is. Regards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted April 16, 2020 Share Posted April 16, 2020 1 hour ago, blacka013 said: It's black with Candle O Sin, Spiflash.org on it. Sorry don't know how old it is. It will probably need a CPLD update if you ever want to flash my firmware to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted April 16, 2020 Share Posted April 16, 2020 and possibly 2 resistors need be added, iirc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted April 16, 2020 Share Posted April 16, 2020 1 hour ago, _The Doctor__ said: and possibly 2 resistors need be added, iirc. No: not in order to run my firmware. If you're talking about the current limiting resistors in the MMU cable (which were missing from the original boards, allowing some carts to send 5V direct to the CPLD and blow it up), these resistors should have been installed regardless of which firmware the user wants to run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted April 16, 2020 Share Posted April 16, 2020 (edited) it always good to check that it is done as blowing up the cpld is a disaster. I no longer assume anything is done if there aren't any pictures for us to look at. Edited April 16, 2020 by _The Doctor__ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blacka013 Posted April 17, 2020 Share Posted April 17, 2020 Hi FJC, have you done a video of flashing the CPLD on the Ultimate 1MB? It would certainly be useful to know how this is done. Regards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted April 17, 2020 Share Posted April 17, 2020 1 hour ago, blacka013 said: have you done a video of flashing the CPLD on the Ultimate 1MB? I haven't, but yes: it would be a good idea. I think there are some topics on the forum covering this, however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+orpheuswaking Posted April 17, 2020 Share Posted April 17, 2020 1 hour ago, blacka013 said: Hi FJC, have you done a video of flashing the CPLD on the Ultimate 1MB? It would certainly be useful to know how this is done. Regards 34 minutes ago, flashjazzcat said: I haven't, but yes: it would be a good idea. I think there are some topics on the forum covering this, however. I used this post to update mine - note that the Newegg link is no longer valid for the correct programmer but if you search for "Xilinx Platform Cable USB Model DLC9G" you will get plenty of links. Note 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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