Concerto firmware thread

[+DrVenkman]

11 minutes ago, Tempest said:

Is the Sally on the 5200 socketed?

Both of my 5200 boards are socketed, but I’m not sure if all of them are. @-^CrossBow^- has no doubt seen the insides of far more 5200’s than I have and might know.

 

EDIT: I should add that the SALLY’s in both my 7800’s are NCRs. The one in my AT84 has a date of 8410, the one in my daily-driver A1 has a date of 8507. Both of them load Alien Brigade from Concerto but the game is corrupted and won’t progress through the full title screen animation without stuttering and restarting the animation over and over again.

[Tempest]

Will swapping the 5200 and 7800 Sally chips cause problems for the 5200?

[+DrVenkman]

30 minutes ago, Tempest said:

Will swapping the 5200 and 7800 Sally chips cause problems for the 5200?

Shouldn’t. SALLY’s are supposed to be interchangeable regardless of the fab house and date codes but who knows? I do know that no other SALLY-based system manipulates the clock and bus the way they get manipulated in the 7800 sharing the bus with MARIA and TIA at the same time. 

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Never used the 6502 from a 7800 in a 5200, but I have used the 6502 dating from 1982 from a 5200 into a 7800. Just ask @Trebor if he has had any issues with his 7800?

 

Near as I can tell, the Sallys from the 8-bit and 7800 are identical aside from when they were made as far as function goes, so they are totally interchangeable.

 

I don't think I have NOT seen a socketed main IC in the 5200. I have seen plenty of 5200s that didn't have the 4013 or the 4050 in a socket. But I believe all of them have the larger ICs, BIOS, and the VRAM all in sockets.

 

[+x=usr(1536)]

Has anyone given The Byte Attic's Sally Adapter a shot in a 7800?  Not certain how compatible it would be in terms of software, but the idea of being able to use an off-the-shelf modern 6502 is an interesting one.

[Goochman]

Just a personal request - not sure if others are bothered by this, but it would be great if in the next firmware release change the startup color cycling to something less visual.  As I have been trying to get my console to work Ive had to restart my machine a number of times and the color cycling is starting to give me a headache.  I am running my 7800 on a 42" LED screen so my whole room lights up with the strobe effect.

 

Not sure if over time this is bothering others?

[Tempest]

1 hour ago, Goochman said:

Not sure if over time this is bothering others?

Yes, I have to close my eyes every time I start it up.

[tep392]

Another option is to slow down the cycling to be more gradual.

[mimo]

3 hours ago, Goochman said:

Just a personal request - not sure if others are bothered by this, but it would be great if in the next firmware release change the startup color cycling to something less visual.  As I have been trying to get my console to work Ive had to restart my machine a number of times and the color cycling is starting to give me a headache.  I am running my 7800 on a 42" LED screen so my whole room lights up with the strobe effect.

 

Not sure if over time this is bothering others?

Try it on a CRT, mine screams at me ☹️

[Goochman]

2 hours ago, tep392 said:

Another option is to slow down the cycling to be more gradual.

 

The muted colors during cart load dont bother me.  I think a big part of the problem is the brightness in addition to the rapid changing.

[John Stamos Mullet]

13 hours ago, Goochman said:

Just a personal request - not sure if others are bothered by this, but it would be great if in the next firmware release change the startup color cycling to something less visual.  As I have been trying to get my console to work Ive had to restart my machine a number of times and the color cycling is starting to give me a headache.  I am running my 7800 on a 42" LED screen so my whole room lights up with the strobe effect.

 

Not sure if over time this is bothering others?

It's migraine triggering. I play tested all my roms and made a spreadsheet I posted here a while back. I'm not touching my concerto again until that thing is removed.

[+x=usr(1536)]

I have to agree that the pulsing colours at boot are bothersome.  If I'm doing a lot of reboots in a short space of time, I need to turn the TV off at each reboot or I end up with headaches in fairly short order.

 

A couple of friends of ours who have played on the 7800 with the Concerto inserted at reboot had worse reactions to it.  One refuses to touch the system at all due to the discomfort it would induce.

[+x=usr(1536)]

10 hours ago, Goochman said:

The muted colors during cart load dont bother me.  I think a big part of the problem is the brightness in addition to the rapid changing.

Bright light and I do not get along, and this has been a lifelong problem for me.  As a result, TV brightness is kept low.  On either the CRT TV or any of the LCDs we have here, the Concerto is extremely bright on startup even at those relatively low settings.  At what most people would consider a normal brightness, I can find it almost painful to have to watch at times.

[+batari]

The screen flashing has been changed in the firmware in development.

 

This firmware is not ready for the public yet. However, if the flashing bothers people that much, I went ahead yanked the new splash screen out of the WIP version and put it into the May 26 version. There are no other changes to this version today vs. the one posted on May 26: Only the flashing screen is changed.

 

hbios_concerto_0.95noflash.bin

 

Since this changes the bootloader, you need to load the new firmware with a USB cable. Here are instructions if you need them. NOTE: After the firmware update is complete, do a power cycle on the console to use the new firmware. Although the screen says to press the joystick button when complete, that doesn't work at the moment, but a power cycle does work.

[+x=usr(1536)]

19 minutes ago, batari said:

The screen flashing has been changed in the firmware in development.

 

This firmware is not ready for the public yet. However, if the flashing bothers people that much, I went ahead yanked the new splash screen out of the WIP version and put it into the May 26 version. There are no other changes to this version today vs. the one posted on May 26: Only the flashing screen is changed.

THANK YOU.

 

I can't say that enough.  This change is massively appreciated.  Thank you, thank you, thank you

[Goochman]

Anyone have some suggestions on getting the Harmony Cart recognized on Windows 10?  I installed the CH341 drivers and upon connecting the cart to my PC it recognizes it as "USB-SERIAL CH340 (COM3)" in the Devices screen.  When I run the Harmony software is says it cant detect it.  I installed the FTDI drivers as well but upon connecting the cart to my PC it goes right to the CH340 driver.

 

Edited September 9, 2021 by Goochman

[Goochman]

Ignore my question above - it seems a reboot solved the cart recognition issue.

[Goochman]

On 9/8/2021 at 12:40 AM, batari said:

The screen flashing has been changed in the firmware in development.

 

This firmware is not ready for the public yet. However, if the flashing bothers people that much, I went ahead yanked the new splash screen out of the WIP version and put it into the May 26 version. There are no other changes to this version today vs. the one posted on May 26: Only the flashing screen is changed.

 

hbios_concerto_0.95noflash.bin 333 kB · 10 downloads

 

Since this changes the bootloader, you need to load the new firmware with a USB cable. Here are instructions if you need them. NOTE: After the firmware update is complete, do a power cycle on the console to use the new firmware. Although the screen says to press the joystick button when complete, that doesn't work at the moment, but a power cycle does work.

Im new to this and a little slow - below is a screenshot of what I did with no change.  Im assuming I need to use the eeprom section to update the BIOS not sure what file goes where.  See my screenshot below.  I ran section 2 first and it generated an HBIOS.bin file on my SD card.  I tried to running that and the firmware didnt update (still flashing).  I tried using that HBIOS file in Section 1 - but still no change.  What am I missing trying to perform this update?

 

 

[+batari]

40 minutes ago, Goochman said:

Im new to this and a little slow - below is a screenshot of what I did with no change.  Im assuming I need to use the eeprom section to update the BIOS not sure what file goes where.  See my screenshot below.  I ran section 2 first and it generated an HBIOS.bin file on my SD card.  I tried to running that and the firmware didnt update (still flashing).  I tried using that HBIOS file in Section 1 - but still no change.  What am I missing trying to perform this update?

 

 

In the EEPROM loader box, use "eeloader_NTSC.bin" (or similar) located in a subdirectory in the install folder of the software (typically something like \Program Files\HarmonyCart\arm\) then click "Download EEPROM."

[+DrVenkman]

Okay, I hate to be that guy ...

 

I tried programming my Concerto using the instructions above, and when I then tried the cart in my 7800, all I get is a black screen. So I tried programming the cart a second time with the Auto-Verify and Show Log options enabled and this is the error I get:

 

 

Here are the options I used:

 

 

So now my Concerto appears bricked. Can this be recovered somehow? 

[vitoco]

I'm not sure what is going on here...

 

I guess I could skip the Step 1 (eeloader_ntsc.bin), but I did the download anyway. Is this a must? Does this trigger the load of the HBIOS.BIN file from the SD card? Could this file be removed from the SD card after the update?

 

Then, I selected the updated BIOS (hbios_concerto_0.95noflash.bin) and copied it to SD card. I went to the 7800 and turned it on with the cartridge and the SD card. After an update message, I got the message to press the joystick button and the system halted as expected.

 

So I finally turned the 7800 off and on again (power cycle). Instead of a flashing screen, it slowly cycles using some colors. I guess that the change of the bright was omitted from the cycle, so no strobo effect.

 

Now, the firmware says it is 0.94a, not 0.95 as the filename states.

 

I was previously using a 0.95 BIOS (hbios_concerto_0.95_SDcardfix.bin). Was this also a downgrade?

 

Thanks!

 

[+batari]

3 hours ago, DrVenkman said:

Okay, I hate to be that guy ...

 

I tried programming my Concerto using the instructions above, and when I then tried the cart in my 7800, all I get is a black screen. So I tried programming the cart a second time with the Auto-Verify and Show Log options enabled and this is the error I get:

 

 

Here are the options I used:

 

 

So now my Concerto appears bricked. Can this be recovered somehow? 

It shouldn't be bricked. The EEPROM loader download didn't succeed but you can try downloading it again until it does succeed.

 

If you have to, unplug the Concerto, plug it in again and wait a moment before pressing "download EEPROM."

 

If the software keeps giving similar errors in the download, PM me as there is a WIP version of the software that fixes this issue, but is not quite ready for release yet.

[+batari]

2 hours ago, vitoco said:

I'm not sure what is going on here...

 

I guess I could skip the Step 1 (eeloader_ntsc.bin), but I did the download anyway. Is this a must? Does this trigger the load of the HBIOS.BIN file from the SD card? Could this file be removed from the SD card after the update?

 

Then, I selected the updated BIOS (hbios_concerto_0.95noflash.bin) and copied it to SD card. I went to the 7800 and turned it on with the cartridge and the SD card. After an update message, I got the message to press the joystick button and the system halted as expected.

 

So I finally turned the 7800 off and on again (power cycle). Instead of a flashing screen, it slowly cycles using some colors. I guess that the change of the bright was omitted from the cycle, so no strobo effect.

 

Now, the firmware says it is 0.94a, not 0.95 as the filename states.

 

I was previously using a 0.95 BIOS (hbios_concerto_0.95_SDcardfix.bin). Was this also a downgrade?

 

Thanks!

 

It isn't a downgrade, I just forgot to change the version text in the menu for this version.

[Goochman]

4 hours ago, batari said:

In the EEPROM loader box, use "eeloader_NTSC.bin" (or similar) located in a subdirectory in the install folder of the software (typically something like \Program Files\HarmonyCart\arm\) then click "Download EEPROM."

Fred,

 

IM trying to install the no flash BIOS in the message above:  

hbios_concerto_0.95noflash.bin333 kB · 10 downloads

 

Do I rename this file eeloader+NTSC.bin?

 

I dont really see a complete list of steps to install the noflash bios through the Harmony Micro USB connection.

[+batari]

Just now, Goochman said:

Fred,

 

IM trying to install the no flash BIOS in the message above:  

hbios_concerto_0.95noflash.bin333 kB · 10 downloads

 

Do I rename this file eeloader+NTSC.bin?

 

I dont really see a complete list of steps to install the noflash bios through the Harmony Micro USB connection.

No, that file (hbios_concerto_0.95noflash.bin) goes in the root directory of your SD card.

 

The eeloader_NTSC.bin file is included with the programming software. If you can't find it, you can use this one I am posting here.

 

eeloader_104e_NTSC.bin