Altirra 3.90 released

[Mclaneinc]

1 hour ago, patjomki said:

Does altirra already support PokeyMax?

Not Pokeymax as yet (if at all) but it does Stereo pokey, SlightSID and soundboard and covox..

[patjomki]

1 hour ago, Mclaneinc said:

Not Pokeymax as yet (if at all) but it does Stereo pokey, SlightSID and soundboard and covox..

 

Ah, got it. Thanks.

[Suppawer]

By the way:
"Altirra Source Code" -> firmwaredetect.cpp:
{ 0x371F6973,  6144, kATFirmwareType_Happy810, L"Happy 810 firmware (v7, 6K functional ROM, modified)" }

 

I'm looking for this file-> CRC32 371F6973

 

 

[.mad.]

Please can someone share knowledge on this compacted version of LodeRunner.

the resulting XEX is running way too fast to be playable.

 

What i would like to know...

Is the speed problem due to the emulator and unpack code used.

*Altirra running in hidden warp mode.

 

or has it been re-compiled with special tools.

 

Is it possible to do a simple byte patch so it runs at the correct speed.

*as there are many games packed in this way which run too fast.

or maybe what Windows tools to use to unpack and reverse the compile.

 

... and i don't mean turn down the emulator speed to 60%.

 

here are two versions to compare

Correct slow speed & enhanced but running way too fast

 

thanks!

Lode Runner.xex Lode Runner (fast).xex

[Mclaneinc]

 

Nothing to do with Altirra, its running fast on my real XL...Looks like some form of hack..

[ggn]

In the Lode Runner version I had BITD I remember there was a key combo that you could change the game speed. Memory says it was ctrl and + or -. I did try the "fast version" and fumbled with keys a bit - eventually I managed to slow that version down too. So, my take is that the "fast" version is binary patched so that it starts with max speed instead of normal.

[.mad.]

Many thanks,

I totally forgot about that key combo!

 

i did remember add extra lives and skip levels though. ;)

ctrl F

ctrl U

 

[phaeron]

On 7/16/2021 at 7:06 AM, suppawer said:

By the way:
"Altirra Source Code" -> firmwaredetect.cpp:
{ 0x371F6973,  6144, kATFirmwareType_Happy810, L"Happy 810 firmware (v7, 6K functional ROM, modified)" }

 

I'm looking for this file-> CRC32 371F6973

 

 

https://atariage.com/forums/topic/257578-happy-810-resources/?do=findComment&comment=3622330

 

It is a v7 ROM that has had the copyright notices zeroed out (which is odd, as it was found on an actual Happy PCB).

[Heaven/TQA]

btw. did something changed in terms of debugger and printing out dumps from MADS source?

 

;##TRACE or ;##ASSERT?

 

haven't used that feature since Arsantica 2 but wanted to use it resently and havent managed to get it in Altirra 3.9?

 

 

[phaeron]

1 hour ago, Heaven/TQA said:

btw. did something changed in terms of debugger and printing out dumps from MADS source?

 

;##TRACE or ;##ASSERT?

 

haven't used that feature since Arsantica 2 but wanted to use it resently and havent managed to get it in Altirra 3.9?

It still works, but in 3.90 I changed the debugger to defer symbol loading by default for performance and security reasons, so if you are not launching with the debugger open from the start it will not load the listing file to get the traces. There's a notice about it in the console window on start and an option to always load symbols.

[Heaven/TQA]

On 7/20/2021 at 9:04 PM, phaeron said:

It still works, but in 3.90 I changed the debugger to defer symbol loading by default for performance and security reasons, so if you are not launching with the debugger open from the start it will not load the listing file to get the traces. There's a notice about it in the console window on start and an option to always load symbols.

Thanks. I double checked now all settings. all ok. then I double checked MADS which created a small file not a complete LST file... then lucky morning coffee brain fuck... I spotted the "opt l-" in my source (wtf and why did I that???)

now it generates a correct LST file. 

thanks. sometimes simple things getting complicated and the bug sits in front of the keyboard.

 

[Mclaneinc]

3 hours ago, Heaven/TQA said:

and the bug sits in front of the keyboard

 

The story of my life

[GoodByteXL]

While testing SpartaDOS X beta parallel on real hardware and the mirrored setup in Altirra I came across a stepping stone:

 

When in the configuration of Altirra the acceleration is set to 'Fast Boot', the config menu in the subdirectory SPARTA.DOS is bypassed.

Setup is 800XL, 256 KiB Compy Shop memory extension, IDE+ Rev C.

 

As long is it will stay that way there will be a note in the user guide.

 

Edited July 25, 2021 by GoodByteXL

[Mclaneinc]

I'm not sure that many people use fast boot?

 

It's such a minor hack I have never seen the use to have it on, what does it save, a second or two. I turn off anything that makes the machine boot up other than a real Atari with the exception of devices like the U1M etc.

 

The hover over in the config does say it may not work with other OS's.

[+MrFish]

1 hour ago, Mclaneinc said:

I'm not sure that many people use fast boot?

 

It's such a minor hack I have never seen the use to have it on, what does it save, a second or two.

 

We need every second we can get in life. @ 2 seconds, after 6,000,000 boots, that's 139 days.

 

[Mclaneinc]

If you put it like that

[GoodByteXL]

3 hours ago, Mclaneinc said:

I'm not sure that many people use fast boot?

 

It's such a minor hack I have never seen the use to have it on, what does it save, a second or two. I turn off anything that makes the machine boot up other than a real Atari with the exception of devices like the U1M etc.

 

The hover over in the config does say it may not work with other OS's.

At least it is a flaw to be known for users of SDX.

 

And no, of course nobody uses the speed adjustment up to 500%  ?

[Mclaneinc]

No one human

 

I'm happy with F1 for those overly boring cassette loads..

[+DjayBee]

1 hour ago, GoodByteXL said:

And no, of course nobody uses the speed adjustment up to 500%  ?

Me nearly all the time.

Otherwise it would not have been possible to crack these many titles and also do dump analysis on a larger scale.

[+Stephen]

4 hours ago, MrFish said:

 

We need every second we can get in life. @ 2 seconds, after 6,000,000 boots, that's 139 days.

 

Just disable screen DMA and voila!  You get 33% of your life back and as an added bonus, a nice black screen to stare at.  You can even "win" benchmarks.

[+MrFish]

2 hours ago, Stephen said:

Just disable screen DMA and voila!  You get 33% of your life back and as an added bonus, a nice black screen to stare at.  You can even "win" benchmarks.

Wasn't there a hardware mod to disable screen DMA with a switch, or is that not possible?

 

[phaeron]

10 hours ago, GoodByteXL said:

While testing SpartaDOS X beta parallel on real hardware and the mirrored setup in Altirra I came across a stepping stone:

 

When in the configuration of Altirra the acceleration is set to 'Fast Boot', the config menu in the subdirectory SPARTA.DOS is bypassed.

Setup is 800XL, 256 KiB Compy Shop memory extension, IDE+ Rev C.

 

As long is it will stay that way there will be a note in the user guide.

Enable the "SIO override detection" option.

[drac030]

17 minutes ago, phaeron said:

Enable the "SIO override detection" option.

Just out of curiosity: when I enable "Fast boot", what do I get over not having enabled it?

[+Stephen]

55 minutes ago, MrFish said:

Wasn't there a hardware mod to disable screen DMA with a switch, or is that not possible?

 

I'm not aware of that, but there is of course, the 1200XL F keys which while not physically wired in later machines, the OS still has code to handle them.  One of the key combos toggles screen DMA.

[+MrFish]

7 minutes ago, Stephen said:

I'm not aware of that, but there is of course, the 1200XL F keys which while not physically wired in later machines, the OS still has code to handle them.  One of the key combos toggles screen DMA.

That must be what I'm thinking about.