Is there a way for SpartaDos X to run large programs with disk control?

[gs80065xe]

Is there a way for SpartaDos X to run large programs with disk control? I know I can run large programs like Bobterm and Antic Music Processor v2 by using the X command. But the programs require disk access. And they don’t have it when I run them with the X command.

[drac030]

X does not prevent disk access. Please specify, what you are doing to tell if there is a problem with disk access in these programs.

 

[+Nezgar]

Programs still have access to disks with the X command, it's just more limited functions readily available, but SDX will bank in and out the cartridge ROM as needed to still provide full I/O functionality, it just might be a little slower or cause momentary screen glitches.

 

If I'm wrong I'm sure this is covered in more detail in the SDX documentation.

[gs80065xe]

From SDX, I go to the hardisk and folder with AMP. Type X AMP.com. It loads. In AMP press L to load a file. Type a drive like D1:COMESAIL.AMP. The file is in the root of D1. The program hangs. In this case an ATR on Fujinet has D1. But I’ve seen the same thing on SDrive Max. Bobterm said there is no disk. My machine has 256K of RAM.

Edited November 15, 2020 by gs80065xe

[drac030]

Could you post the ATR here for inspection?

[gs80065xe]

Here are two ATR files I tried to access as D1 and D2 from my Fujinet SD card. I can read them fine from SpartaDosX. But when I use X.COM to boot AMP or Bobterm, they cannot be found.

SpartaDOS3_2_HD.zip

Edited November 15, 2020 by gs80065xe

[drac030]

@gs80065xe Thanks, but this is not the ATR I meant. I meant an ATR with the executables you are speaking of, i.e. AMP.COM and BobTerm. SDX itself does not have problems with finding files, if there is an issue, it must be triggered by the loaded program. Therefore I want to take a look what happens there.

[gs80065xe]

The programs are on SDX harddisk. Which is a small partition on the AVG cart's SD card. It was further partitioned into multiple SDX harddisks using FDisk.  Would this make a difference? If you just need the programs, I could copy them to the ATR I sent you.

[drac030]

Yes, I need the programs.

[gs80065xe]

Here you go.

 

SpartaDOS3_2_HD.zip

[drac030]

In BobTerm I see no problem - I was able to "View" a file from its menu and load one for sending. It has no visible problems with finding files.

 

As for AMP - the program says (c) 1989, so in 1989 its author does not know that 130XE exists and that RAM at $4000-$7FFF is banked memory. The program installs own VBL routine at $4002. When SDX switches RAM banks, that routine disappears, of course, and the system hangs.

 

The cure for that last is to reconfigure the DOS to use RAM under the ROM instead of the extended banks.

 

MKDIR $BOOT$SPARTA.DOS

TYPE CAR:CONFIG.SYS >>$BOOT$SPARTA.DOS>OSRAM.CFG

 

Now edit the file you created this way, using ED. Add "USE OSRAM" at the top. If there is any other line with "USE", remove it. Find line with DEVICE SPARTA and edit it so that it says DEVICE SPARTA OSRAM. Save the file. Reboot. Select the "OSRAM" option from the Config Selector menu. Press Return.

 

Edited November 15, 2020 by drac030

[gs80065xe]

Thanks. I followed the steps provided. The OSRAM.CFG file was created. But when I boot, I’m not presented with the config selector.

[drac030]

What build are you using, i.e. for what type of cartridge your copy of SDX was assembled? Some indeed require editing and reflashing the ROM to get the Config Selector invoked.

 

Anyways, whatever build this is, you may try another approach. Get this file:

 

vbfix.zip

 

Unpack. Out of the two *.SYS files, VBFIX.SYS is for stock 6502 CPU (the other is for 65C816). It is a resident patch which should allow to load AMP.COM (and such programs) without rebooting to OSRAM mode. I am not sure if it will always work, but here it does:

 

 

Edited November 16, 2020 by drac030

[gs80065xe]

Thanks.

 

I unpacked the zip file and added vbfix.sys to my 4.49 s2sdx3 rom file using the SDX imager. It executes as you show. In addition, I edited my car config.sys to remove the USE statement. I left the DEVICE statements. Still no config selector. The ROM is running on my AVG cart. D1 is running on my Fujinet.

 

But X AMP fails to load. All I get is a black screen with a thin graphics 8 size line with a horizontal mixed blue and white bar quickly scrolling vertically on the screen. Pressing reset brings up the standard Graphics 0 blue screen and hangs.

[drac030]

5 hours ago, gs80065xe said:

In addition, I edited my car config.sys to remove the USE statement. I left the DEVICE statements. Still no config selector.

If this is SIDE2 build, USE there is necessary. On how to tweak the default CONFIG.SYS to invoke the Config Selector on this build, you may want to take a look at the User's Manual (chapter VIII).