Concerto firmware thread

[+x=usr(1536)]

2 hours ago, CharChar2001 said:

I'm using hbios .94, copied over the Harmony software, which seem to rename it to hbios.bin 

Definitely upgrade to 0.95; it fixes a number of issues and also updates the bootloader.  See this post for details.

2 hours ago, CharChar2001 said:

Anyone have any thoughts? Do I need to open the cart and maybe remove a chip and reinsert it? 

It's been a while since I had mine open, but my recollection is that the only thing in there that's removable is POKEY, if you've installed one.

[+batari]

On 3/26/2021 at 2:00 PM, CharChar2001 said:

I get the same green bars, or a blue screen.

Yes, I'm sure it's inserted correctly.  It only fits in one way too. 

After around 50 different insertions it finally came up and said the bios was updated successfully, then had a spinning disc forever.  I gave it 15 min. and finally powered off and on and still the green lines. 

Not sure what else to try here.  My Dragonfly cart is fine, and all original 7800 carts I have work fine too.

I'm using hbios .94, copied over the Harmony software, which seem to rename it to hbios.bin 

 

Anyone have any thoughts? Do I need to open the cart and maybe remove a chip and reinsert it? 

If you bought a new cart, it already has the latest firmware when it arrives and there’s no need to update before you use it.

 

However, it sounds like you attempted to update it and something went wrong. You’ll need to do the entire update again. Refer to post 105: https://atariage.com/forums/topic/314640-concerto-firmware-thread/?do=findComment&comment=4705962

 

It sounds like you got as far as downloading the eeloader file through USB and that this part was done right. 
 

It sounds like you used the software to copy the HBIOS file to the card. This isn’t necessary and it’s not clear from your posts if this was done right. Really all you need to do is copy the file from post 105 to the card. 

 

 

I suggest using a newly formatted card with just the hbios file from post 105. Just copy the file from post 105 directly to SD root. Insert the SD and power on the Concerto and the update should take place. 
 

NOW... this is important. When it says that the update was successful and to press fire to continue, ignore this and just reboot the console instead. When you reboot, the new firmware should be installed. 

 

 

 

[CharChar2001]

7 hours ago, batari said:

If you bought a new cart, it already has the latest firmware when it arrives and there’s no need to update before you use it.

 

However, it sounds like you attempted to update it and something went wrong. You’ll need to do the entire update again. Refer to post 105: https://atariage.com/forums/topic/314640-concerto-firmware-thread/?do=findComment&comment=4705962

 

It sounds like you got as far as downloading the eeloader file through USB and that this part was done right. 
 

It sounds like you used the software to copy the HBIOS file to the card. This isn’t necessary and it’s not clear from your posts if this was done right. Really all you need to do is copy the file from post 105 to the card. 

 

 

I suggest using a newly formatted card with just the hbios file from post 105. Just copy the file from post 105 directly to SD root. Insert the SD and power on the Concerto and the update should take place. 
 

NOW... this is important. When it says that the update was successful and to press fire to continue, ignore this and just reboot the console instead. When you reboot, the new firmware should be installed. 

 

 

 

Thank you very much. Will give this a try today/tonight. 

[CharChar2001]

So after doing this, the update to 95 from post 105 took successful. Upon reboot it went back to those green bars. I have 2 memory cards with folders of .a78 roms, and some outside the folder at the root too. 
San disk 32GB and Kingston 4 GB. 
same green bars. No menu. 
 

I did reboot after the bios update too. 

[garycimera1968]

Not quite sure where to put this. I just had a quick question about the HOKEY chip. Whet it becomes available, I'd like to place an order for one. I "need" it! lol

Edited March 30, 2021 by garycimera1968

[livingonwheels]

On 3/30/2021 at 11:31 AM, garycimera1968 said:

Not quite sure where to put this. I just had a quick question about the HOKEY chip. Whet it becomes available, I'd like to place an order for one. I "need" it! lol

He had mentioned that those of us who ordered his Concerto cart will get an email when the HOKEY chips become available for purchase. I not going to bother applying the Concerto's included label until I install the HOKEY chip, otherwise I'll have to remove it to access the cart's innards. 

On an unrelated note, does the Concerto cart have "save state" functionality for 2600 and 7800 games?

[mimo]

12 minutes ago, livingonwheels said:

 I not going to bother applying the Concerto's included label until I install the HOKEY chip, otherwise I'll have to remove it to access the cart's innards.

Just don't use the screw 

[bikeguychicago]

I just got the Concerto and I am able to play the Pokey music in games like Popeye, Donkey Kong PK and Pac Man Collection. However, I get no music when I play Commando. I am running firmware .95.

Is this a known issue and is there a fix?

Thanks!

Sent from my moto z4 using Tapatalk

[+groundtrooper]

He had mentioned that those of us who ordered his Concerto cart will get an email when the HOKEY chips become available for purchase. I not going to bother applying the Concerto's included label until I install the HOKEY chip, otherwise I'll have to remove it to access the cart's innards. 
On an unrelated note, does the Concerto cart have "save state" functionality for 2600 and 7800 games?

No save states. Stella is the only way to use save states.


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[+x=usr(1536)]

8 minutes ago, bikeguychicago said:

I just got the Concerto and I am able to play the Pokey music in games like Popeye, Donkey Kong PK and Pac Man Collection. However, I get no music when I play Commando. I am running firmware .95.

Is this a known issue and is there a fix?

Working here for me on both Ballblazer and Commando.  Are you using .a78 images from Trebor's 7800 ROM Pack?

Edited April 2, 2021 by x=usr(1536)

[+groundtrooper]

Working here for me on both Ballblazer and Commando.  Are you using .a78 images from Trebor's ROM Pack?

Same here is was doing some testing with my cart a couple of nights ago. Ballblazer and Commando both had Pokey sound working.


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[bikeguychicago]

Working here for me on both Ballblazer and Commando.  Are you using .a78 images from Trebor's 7800 ROM Pack?

I am using the one from the games list on AA.

Sent from my moto z4 using Tapatalk

[Trebor]

11 minutes ago, bikeguychicago said:

I am using the one from the games list on AA.

Bad header - no POKEY bit set.

 

Here's the correct one:  Commando (NTSC) (Atari) (1989).a78

 

From the (as mentioned) Trebors 7800 ROM PROPack.

[bikeguychicago]

21 hours ago, Trebor said:

Bad header - no POKEY bit set.

 

Here's the correct one:  Commando (NTSC) (Atari) (1989).a78

 

From the (as mentioned) Trebors 7800 ROM PROPack.

The Pokey games from the Trebor pack are working as expected. Thanks!

[funknflow5200]

can anyone point me to a .a78 of Bentley Bear that will work correctly with Pokey audio on the concerto?

[Trebor]

25 minutes ago, funknflow5200 said:

can anyone point me to a .a78 of Bentley Bear that will work correctly with Pokey audio on the concerto?

Bentley Bear's Crystal Quest (20151220).a78

 

From the same source.

[+x=usr(1536)]

7 minutes ago, Trebor said:

From the same source.

Things that need to be stickied: use images from Trebor's 7800 ROM PROPack before reporting issues.  If you're still having problems after doing so, let us know.  Thanks.  

[+groundtrooper]

Things that need to be stickied: use images from Trebor's 7800 ROM PROPack before reporting issues.  If you're still having problems after doing so, let us know.  Thanks.  

Right? I have lost track of how many people in different FB groups were having problems with ROMs. I asked if they were using Trebor’s Rom pack. Nope. They were downloading ROMs from AA other EMU sites and Archive. Ugh. [emoji849]


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[bikeguychicago]

9 hours ago, x=usr(1536) said:

Things that need to be stickied: use images from Trebor's 7800 ROM PROPack before reporting issues.  If you're still having problems after doing so, let us know.  Thanks.  

I did find that the BonQ ROM in Trebor's Pack did not work for me on the Concerto ROM .95. It's garbled and freezes almost as soon as I start the game. 

[+x=usr(1536)]

2 hours ago, bikeguychicago said:

I did find that the BonQ ROM in Trebor's Pack did not work for me on the Concerto ROM .95. It's garbled and freezes almost as soon as I start the game. 

Yep, there are some that are known to have issues, either down to incompatible headers or they just don't like the hardware (yet).  Alien Brigade is a good example of this.

[RevEng]

Despite not using pokey, it looks like BonQ writes to a "pokey" at $4000. This destroys the rom at $4000, if it's actually a ram cart.

 

Does this one work any better?

 

BonQ (Final AtariAge) No Pokey Init Hack.a78

 

The game still has a bug where it tries to write to $FFFF, but even if it does that it would just mess up the IRQ vector, and there's no source of IRQ.

 

[Trebor]

6 hours ago, RevEng said:

Despite not using pokey, it looks like BonQ writes to a "pokey" at $4000. This destroys the rom at $4000, if it's actually a ram cart.

 

Does this one work any better?

 

BonQ (Final AtariAge) No Pokey Init Hack.a78 48.13 kB · 1 download

 

The game still has a bug where it tries to write to $FFFF, but even if it does that it would just mess up the IRQ vector, and there's no source of IRQ.

 

That fixes it.  Thank you!

[funknflow5200]

On 4/2/2021 at 8:36 PM, x=usr(1536) said:

Things that need to be stickied: use images from Trebor's 7800 ROM PROPack before reporting issues.  If you're still having problems after doing so, let us know.  Thanks.  

Yeah thanks for that, but i've been using the files from this very same pack, just like with the Commando mentioned earlier in this thread. COmmando launches with white screen, Bentley launches with graphical errors. This is all new since i sent the cart to Batari to get updated. I'm a longtime user of the cart. I'll reach out to him.

[bikeguychicago]

On 4/3/2021 at 11:28 AM, RevEng said:

Despite not using pokey, it looks like BonQ writes to a "pokey" at $4000. This destroys the rom at $4000, if it's actually a ram cart.

 

Does this one work any better?

 

BonQ (Final AtariAge) No Pokey Init Hack.a78 48.13 kB · 10 downloads

 

The game still has a bug where it tries to write to $FFFF, but even if it does that it would just mess up the IRQ vector, and there's no source of IRQ.

 

Works perfectly. Thank you, sir!

[bikeguychicago]

On 4/2/2021 at 10:26 PM, Trebor said:

Bentley Bear's Crystal Quest (20151220).a78 144.13 kB · 3 downloads

 

From the same source.

Trebor, can you please add a 'last updated' value to the ROM collection download page? It would help me keep track of whether I have the most-current version of the pack or not.

 

Thanks!