flashjazzcat Posted April 24, 2020 Share Posted April 24, 2020 (edited) I am pleased to announce the release of version 3.10 of the Ultimate 1MB, Incognito and SIDE firmware, incorporating the recently released SpartaDOS X 4.49, and version 4.0 of the SDX 'soft-driver' for SIDE, MYIDE, and Colleen. Updated APT tools and user documentation are also provided. What's New As well as several minor bug fixes, this release brings with it numerous performance, stability and usability improvements. Some highlights: Loader's recursive search speed improved by 25 per cent. Optional keyboard/joystick acceleration feature in loader speeds up navigation of long directories Long filename extensions now remain on-screen even while filename is scrolling left to right Card hot-swap reliability improved Card compatibilty improved ATR swap button now works in loader Loader issue with SD/CF adapters fixed Stereo POKEY detection now compatible with SimpleStereo v3 ATR swap button can now be disabled on the Incognito Better boot drive handling (fixes issues with some boot loaders run from FAT-hosted ATRs) Improved DCB error checking in PBI BIOS and support for immediate-mode IO XF551 high-speed SIO bug fixed Regression regarding CONFIG.SYS boot drive setting fixed FDISK large volume/disk bug fixed Please see the changelogs for the main BIOS, PBI BIOS and SIDE Loader for a complete list of changes. To download the updates, please visit the atari8 firmware page. SDX 4.49 Thanks to DLT, we have the welcome release of SpartaDOS X 4.49. Unfortunately the ROMs hosted on the official SDX site were put together before I released the updated APT tools and SDX soft-drivers. As ever, however, SDX ROMs for all platforms are included in the new firmware release, with the extra tools I like to provide (notably the LSDEV and LSDSK utilities on the CAR: volume). Note the plethora of ATR disk images I provided in prior updates has been done away with; all ROMs for U1MB and Incognito are included on the corresponding 'FIRMWARE.ATR' disk image. This makes the preparation of subsequent updates a little less labour intensive. Please look at the updated README files in the ZIP archives for complete descriptions of the archive contents. I hope you enjoy the updated firmware and tools, and as always I welcome feedback including bug reports and feature suggestions (although we are rapidly reaching the end of the road when it comes to available code space on the existing hardware). Donations are likewise welcomed and appreciated, although they are by no means obligatory. Special thanks to Lotharek at lotharek.pl for his continued provision of Candle O'Sin's fabulous U1MB, SIDE2 and Incognito devices, and for offering my firmware pre-installed at the point of sale. Please continue to support his invaluable efforts and accept no substitute. As usual, please use this thread to discuss any issues so I can address them as efficiently as possible. Since there is barely any code space left, the idea here is to have a milestone release with no known bugs. All issues known about since version 3.02 have been addressed, but since there have been a fair amount of changes and additions, there's always the possibility of another minor point release. We shall see. Edited April 29, 2020 by flashjazzcat 11 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfollowell Posted April 24, 2020 Share Posted April 24, 2020 Sounds awesome! Thanks for all of the work you continue to do on this! I think I'll wait until I get the rest of the issues with my XEL ironed out before I upgrade, but it sounds like a lot of improvements. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted April 24, 2020 Author Share Posted April 24, 2020 (edited) 40 minutes ago, bfollowell said: but it sounds like a lot of improvements I was surprised the list wasn't longer given the amount of time spent working on it, but quite a lot of the effort was focused on improving existing functionality rather than implementing a lot of new features. Hias' recommendations regarding DCB buffer length checks prompted quite a lot of changes and were most useful in exposing some sloppy DSTATS management in one or two of the tools. Thereafter came the news that the stereo POKEY test didn't work with SimpleStereo v3, and a few issues I ran into while doing my own tests or (as usual) making videos intended to show off the firmware. Edited April 24, 2020 by flashjazzcat 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamm Posted April 24, 2020 Share Posted April 24, 2020 Fantastic - thanks for all the effort! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted April 24, 2020 Author Share Posted April 24, 2020 The 256K SDX ROM in the U1MB package is bogus (version 4.49c). Thanks to Eyvind Bernhardsen for pointing that out. It's not really used anyway, but I'll replace it with the correct version in the morning. There was no 256K U1MB ROM in the official SDX package and I clearly made an error when cooking one up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 Donation incoming for the freely provided digital download. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Philsan Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 Succesfully updated, thank you Jon! I think I didn't have latest version installed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 1088XEL/XLD and U1MB archives now have corrected 256KB SDX ROMs and as a result have a date code of 250420. No need to re-download unless you somehow have a use for said ROM. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 14 minutes ago, flashjazzcat said: 1088XEL/XLD and U1MB archives now have corrected 256KB SDX ROMs So as it happens, I had just finally gotten around to updating my Incognito 800 and 1088XLD to the SDX 4.49 final version just about two days ago. I had forgotten the fact until it came time to update, but my 1088XLD was indeed using a 256KB version of SDX, I guess because I have your GOS work in progress installed as well. Going from memory here, If I decide to put the larger SDX installation into my machine, UFLASH will require me to set a larger size for the SDX slot, correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 24 minutes ago, DrVenkman said: I had forgotten the fact until it came time to update, but my 1088XLD was indeed using a 256KB version of SDX, I guess because I have your GOS work in progress installed as well. The GOS takes 128K of ROM space, so if the 256K version of SDX is also installed, either the back-end of SDX got wiped out, or the first half of the GOS. In general, use the 192K SDX (if you want the GOS present) or the 320K SDX (if you don't). 25 minutes ago, DrVenkman said: Going from memory here, If I decide to put the larger SDX installation into my machine, UFLASH will require me to set a larger size for the SDX slot, correct? Correct. Options->Set SDX Size. You can pick 256K there if you want and the GOS slot will be deactivated, just as per the 320K option. Stand by for a re-upload, however, as I just discovered a purely cosmetic but f***ing unbelievably exasperating error. Details to follow when everything is ready. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 (edited) OK: typo fixed on the loader's Options menu. Must have hit the delete key when editing the source code or something and never noticed till today. I beseech everyone to update (Incognito users need only reflash the loader ROM)! I didn't bump the version number but the date stamps on the ROMs in the ATRs are 25-04-20 and the revision date in the loader binary has also been bumped. Edited April 25, 2020 by flashjazzcat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGB1718 Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 I have downloaded the files for SIDE2, Incognito and U1M, on my 130XE I've flashed U1M however I don't seem to be able to flash the SIDE2, I select Device->Open and change device to SIDE2 and it says Device not present. I tried with PBI disabled and SDX disabled in U1M, then booted from SIDE2 SDX, loaded uflash.xex from D1: but it still says Device Not Present. I looked at the Doc's but it just says use UFLASH.XEX, nothing specific for SIDE2. How can I flash the SIDE2 ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 3 minutes ago, TGB1718 said: How can I flash the SIDE2 ? You should definitely disable the PBI HDD and SDX on the U1MB first and boot SDX from the SIDE2, so you did the right thing there. UFLASH should detect the SIDE2 automatically (and indeed does so here when I tested one of the ATRs I just re-uploaded). Which disk image are you actually using? I recommend side2_full.atr or side2_full_oss_carts.atr (the latter if you want to use ebiguy's patched OSS cart ROMs), since the full flash will update SDX and the loader in one fell swoop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGB1718 Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 (edited) I am using side2_full.atr, I just tried again and still get Device not Present, however, I tried a second time but select SIDE instead of SIDE2 and this time it accepts it and shows the following:- ST395F040 (512 KB) |-Spartados X |-External Cartridge I have not flashed, thought I would wait for your reply Edit: Just tried in Altirra and it does the same. SIDE2 Device not Present, SIDE shows: Device Slot Options Help SIDE |A29040 (512 KB) | | SpartaDOS X | | External Cartridge | Edited April 25, 2020 by TGB1718 Update Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roydea6 Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 43 minutes ago, flashjazzcat said: I beseech everyone to update If all functions work properly then I will live with a spelling error. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 (edited) 36 minutes ago, TGB1718 said: but select SIDE instead of SIDE2 and this time it accepts it and shows the following Most odd. Are you sure this is a SIDE2 and not an original SIDE? SIDE1 has a banking register clash with U1MB, so it's better not to flash the older cart on an U1MB machine. Assuming this is a SIDE2, the only reason the flasher won't find the cartridge is if there's some other ROM in the way (usually U1MB's SDX ROM). Either that, or the PBI HDD is enabled. 28 minutes ago, Roydea6 said: If all functions work properly then I will live with a spelling error. The fact the misspelling exists on your machine will cause me insomnia. Please update! Edited April 25, 2020 by flashjazzcat 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGB1718 Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 (edited) Bought this from Lotherik last year:- Will start over again tomorrow and see what happens Edited April 25, 2020 by TGB1718 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 5 minutes ago, TGB1718 said: Bought this from Lotherik last year:- Will start over again tomorrow and see what happens Make sure the switch is in the opposite position, otherwise there'll be no hope of success (nor of booting SDX from the cartridge). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGB1718 Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 (edited) Will do, thanks Edit: decided to do it now, moving the switch solved it (silly me ? ) Many thanks, you always provide excellent advice. How do I make a donation ? Edited April 25, 2020 by TGB1718 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 1 hour ago, TGB1718 said: Many thanks, you always provide excellent advice. How do I make a donation ? I try! There's a big orange button on my website. Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 Isn't that note in the instructions? or have I just heard it enough times on Atari Age that it's as if I read it somewhere official... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Eyvind Bernhardsen Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 Now... I don't want to be that guy (again), but the new 256 kB image shows an error when it boots with the built-in CONFIG.SYS: Config error (144): DEVICE COLLEEN It looks like it's meant for Incognito not U1MB. For the record: I use the full SDX image on my XEGS and am only playing with the 256 kB version in Altirra to see what the differences are between the three sizes. Personally, I'd just get rid of it 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Philsan Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 A FB friend has an U1MB bought from Lotharek (he's not sure) with that menu. How can he know if it has v.1 CPLD code from Candle’s first run of boards? Can he update? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Eyvind Bernhardsen Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 (edited) It looks like his firmware has PBI support, so he should be fine. Edit: IIRC all U1MBs bought from Lotharek have the PBI-capable CPLD code. Only Candle's first run of boards needs a CPLD upgrade to be compatible. Edited April 25, 2020 by Eyvind Bernhardsen CPLD not BIOS 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 23 minutes ago, Eyvind Bernhardsen said: It looks like it's meant for Incognito not U1MB. God no! I forgot to change CONFIG.SYS (it's based on the Incognito ROM).? Off we go again... maybe I should delete that POS. Thanks again for keeping me right... or trying to. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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