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Firmwareupdate for the Sdrive Max


BigBen

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Still confused but by reason of deduction I have determined that SDrive-32X.eep is the eeprom writer file I need to install FIRST.

But still not sure which one to install.  Like I posted, I have the BEST Duino for this project and it has the Atmel 328p microchip on board.  Still don't know which of the two .eep files to install.

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13 minutes ago, Fred Olivas said:

Still confused but by reason of deduction I have determined that SDrive-32X.eep is the eeprom writer file I need to install FIRST.

But still not sure which one to install.  Like I posted, I have the BEST Duino for this project and it has the Atmel 328p microchip on board.  Still don't know which of the two .eep files to install.

Um, what? You write the hex files to the SDrive-MAX.  From the Readme file included with the firmware downloads from Gitghub:

 



Firmware programming:

First use the eeprom-writer.hex to set the correct values to the EEPROM!
Wait until the writer has done, then programm the SDrive.hex into the flash.
That's it!

 

 

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55 minutes ago, Fred Olivas said:

Now I understand your confusion.  There are 2 versions of .eep from which to choose: SDrive32.eep or SDrive328.eep.  Not sure which one to choose. There is no eeprom-writer.hex file to be found anywhere.  Not even GitHub.  Thank you for your response.

@Fred Olivas - I think @DrVenkman's confusion is because, in the released firmware, there are no *.eep files. You do not make clear what version of the firmware is running on your Sdrive Max. Here are my thoughts:

 

1. If you have version 1.2, you have the latest released version of the firmware. Kbr is working on 1.3, but it has not been released yet. You would have to compile that version manually in order to use it. It only has a few fixes so it probably is not essential for you right now. I am sure simply using xloader will not be enough for you to use firmware version 1.3.

 

2. If you have built your Sdrive Max yourself and need the 1.2 firmware, the Github link for that firmware version is in the first post of this thread. From that link, if you click the link for "Assets", you'll see a zip file that contains the 1.2 firmware for every supported screen.

 

You probably went to the main Github page which now points to version 1.3 (also known as master). That version does not have a compiled version you can simply load onto your Sdrive Max.

 

I do not want to go through all of the steps of installing the 1.2 firmware since there is a great page (https://atari8bit.net/everything-sdrive-max/) that explains the process very well.

 

Bob C

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Hi, I don't have any firmware on my SDrive Max yet.  Just a new Arduino waiting to be loaded. But before I load latest firmware I must upload the eeprom-writer.hex file (according to what I've read) which doesn't seem to be available anywhere that is why I was wondering if SDrive32.eep or SDrive328.eep was what I was looking for and which one of these two do I select?  I don't know what the difference is as no one has offered an explaination  as to which file is the correct file.

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36 minutes ago, Fred Olivas said:

Hi, I don't have any firmware on my SDrive Max yet.  Just a new Arduino waiting to be loaded. But before I load latest firmware I must upload the eeprom-writer.hex file (according to what I've read) which doesn't seem to be available anywhere that is why I was wondering if SDrive32.eep or SDrive328.eep was what I was looking for and which one of these two do I select?  I don't know what the difference is as no one has offered an explaination  as to which file is the correct file.

I do not know where you downloaded your file, but if you go here, you will find the files you need:

 

https://github.com/kbr-net/sdrive-max/releases/tag/V1.2

 

The *.eep files are probably source files which will not help you. 
 

Bob C

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interestingly I had the touch screen working quite well with version 1.1 and then I bricked the Arduino and had to purchase a new one.  I have tried every other sdrive.hex file listed with some surprising results ranging from weird colors to being reversed.  What doesn't happen is the configure crosses don't appear, it just jumps to the screen which never goes into sleep mode and does not respond to any touch whatsoever.  Now that I've installed eeprom-writer.eep I thought that I could try any sdrive.hex file I desired.  Sadly this is not the case.  XLoader just states Upload Failed.  Have others found a solution for the Elegoo (Amazon) touch screen?

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Hello all,

Finally figured it out.  I have a Elegoo LCD screen attached to an Arduino UNO and the ONLY firmware I am able to load and function properly is version 1.0.  No other updates work with this screen and I've tried them all, many with strange consequences.

To those of you using this combination, have you been able to update your firmware and if so, how?

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26 minutes ago, Fred Olivas said:

Hello all,

Finally figured it out.  I have a Elegoo LCD screen attached to an Arduino UNO and the ONLY firmware I am able to load and function properly is version 1.0.  No other updates work with this screen and I've tried them all, many with strange consequences.

To those of you using this combination, have you been able to update your firmware and if so, how?

Yes, I have the same combination of an Elegoo screen and Uno, built myself a couple years ago with components purchased from Amazon. I have upgraded it routinely since I built it all the way up to the current 1.2 without a problem.

 

However, the name brand name of the screen doesn’t indicate what type of chipset it uses. Manufacturers can and do change parts without necessarily changing their public documentation or product listings.  The original public firmware was something like 0.6 or 0.7; at the time, the unit required an ili9341-based screen. Since then, a number of other screen chipsets have been supported. 

 

If you download the firmware from Github expand the zip file structure, you will see that there are several folders inside, one for each possible supported screen chipset. Inside these folders you will find appropriate .hex files to correspond to that particular screen chipset.

 

It might help if you posted some photos of your screen and perhaps someone can help ID what chipset you’ve got.

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Okay gonna try and upload my screen photo. But out of curiosity, which .hex or .bin file did you use?  I understand that once the eeprom-writer.hex file is uploaded, it can't be uploaded again with bricking the Arduino UNO.  I took a photo of my screen and sent myself the photo in my Gmail account.  The problem is that I don't know how to add the photo to this site nor can I figure out how to save the photo elsewhere on my computer.  Sorry.

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8 minutes ago, Fred Olivas said:

Okay gonna try and upload my screen photo. But out of curiosity, which .hex or .bin file did you use? 

My screen is in fact an ili9341-based screen. So whenever I update my unit as new firmware versions are released, I make sure I’ve got the .hex files I need from that particular folder. I write the eeprom-writer.hex; then per the instructions wait for the Arduino to reset itself. Then I write SDrvie.hex. 

 

Every time you update from one version of firmware to the next, you must use both .hex files.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 4 weeks later...

Hey there!

 

I'm just a recent user of the SDrive Max (coming from/still using several SIO2SDs) with firmware V1.2. It's all working great, except for the TURBO tape option, which just crashes the SDrive Max when enabled - it's "Sync Wait..." forever. No "Baud", "Length" or "Gap" numbers.

 

PXL_20201203_194335803.thumb.jpg.b2897be2dc6dcb81d9ac90bc6a28c08d.jpg

 

Regular Tape-Emu (600 Baud) works fine, except that you cannot "Exit" a loading tape file properly - the display gets garbled and the SDrive gets unresponsive, while still loading the "tape". (Note the "DA:<empty>" prompt).

 

PXL_20201203_200325477.thumb.jpg.83b802d6f5f1d65eee4ba476292f66da.jpg

 

Can somebody reproduce this with V1.2 and is does this actually work with lower firmware versions?

 

Cheers,

Frank

 

 

 

Edited by Zzalg_Repus
typo
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Hi just bought my first sd drive-max for my atari 8bits and using the XLOADER to upgrade firmware is really easy and very comvenient for future upgrading :) What i'd like to know is whats with the scrolling feature in the cfg setting in the drive ? Is it mean't to scroll using the pen on the drive screen to scroll through quickly to all the games/files on the sd card? I am having to use the NEXT and PREVIOUS buttons on the drive max screen? Can someone please confirm if the scroll is for this or not? Otherwise i think these drives are excellent for the atari. nice case designs only draw back would be theres no on and off switch on the drive so when atari is off the drive remains on via usb power so unplugging the usb power is ok but nice for a proper on and off switch? Also i think the SIO cable could be longer. I have four 1050 drives one 810 and atari 850 interface then the APE cable all connected up so adding in the sd drive-max the SIO is a bit short as you have to hold the sd drive-max at times to start poking the screen LOL The usb cable i got was wayyyyy too short so luckily i had a new white usb cable that i bought for my printers back in the late 90's to early 20's for printers that i had. At least the usb cable i got with the sd drive-max is good for flashing ;)

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  • 1 year later...

I'm not sure if this is an issue only associated with firmware version V1.2, but I'm seeing the drive go to sleep after sitting idle for at least 2 minutes. I haven't verified this to be the same on previous firmware versions. Anyway I posted a video showing this 'falling asleep' issue on my recently upgraded SDrive-Max over on my SDrive-Simple thread.

 

 

BTW, this issue is not determined by the SDrive.atr in use, and also equally applies to any DOS boot disk that has been renamed SDrive.atr on the SD Card. So for instance I have a BW-DOS 1.3 atr that I use for program development renamed as SDrive.atr on the SD card so that the SDrive-max will automatically boot it when the Atari is powered-up. With this disk, if the SDrive falls asleep after sitting idle for 2 minutes or more, then a subsequent write to that disk (e.g., Save"D:SAMPLE.BAS or Enter"D:SAMPLE.LST) will likely get corrupted as the drive wakes back up.

 

The wake-up doesn't seem to affect reading in a disk file, only adding a bit of a delay doing so. Because of this, and considering that many people probably predominately use there SDrives for loading programs and games, this issue has perhaps not been apparent.

 

I've only been testing my Max with the Atari 576NUC+, so a bit later today I'll also see if this happens on my 600XL as well, and then report back on the results.

 

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I just checked out the SDrive-Max connected to a stock 600XL with the 2 chip 64K upgrade and it does the same thing - drive falls asleep after 2 minutes. So I think this confirms that it is an SDrive firmware issue, or perhaps it's just the way it's suppose to be.

 

Anyone else seeing this, or if there is someone in the know, would you care to comment about why it does this?

 

Edited by mytek
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@mytek - I haven’t been able to reproduce the problem on my Sdrive Max. I have a 64K XEGS. However, I just upgraded my firmware to 1.3b since someone here compiled it. I thought the changes were very small, but it might make a difference. 
 

I let the Sdrive Max sit so long that the attract mode appeared on screen. I tried it twice and both times the files in the directory appeared immediately. 
 

I didn’t build the device myself.

 

Bob C

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13 minutes ago, darwinmac said:

I haven’t been able to reproduce the problem on my Sdrive Max. I have a 64K XEGS. However, I just upgraded my firmware to 1.3b since someone here compiled it. I thought the changes were very small, but it might make a difference.

When I get a chance I'll update my Max to V1.3 and see if that fixes it. Where can I download that?

 

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