Raven. A homemade Atari-like computer

[luciodra]

You are great!

[luciodra]

I'm trying to program the ATF1508AS with the ATDH1150USB programming cable and I've never done it before. But does the Raven need to be connected to the power supply? Are there any jumpers to place?

[agranlund]

I'm trying to program the ATF1508AS with the ATDH1150USB programming cable and I've never done it before. But does the Raven need to be connected to the power supply? Are there any jumpers to place?

Yes, it needs to be powered on during programming.

Connect ATDH1150USB to Raven, while Raven is powered off.

If you're using the "Atmel ISP" software, it goes something like this:
- In the main window, verify that Cable Type says "ATDH1150USB".
- Select menu File->New
In the popup window:
- Number of devices should say 1 then click ok
"Device property" window:
- Device name: ATF1508AS
- Jtag instruction: Program/Verify
- Jedec File: click browse and select "nessi_240901.jed"
- Click ok
Back in the main window again:
- Power on Raven if it was off
- Click "Run" button to program it
- Reset or power cycle Raven


I never had very good success in saving and reloading device chain description file so I usually just do the above procedure again if I closed and opened ATMisp.

I also had a few too many cases not programming an updated .jed after I recompiled it, if I just hit the "Run" button again after recompiling.
So I've ended up in the habit of double clicking the line that says "Jedec: file <filename>" , hit browse, select the file again, click ok, and then "Run" to be sure it's programming the latest version as it is on disk and not something it has perhaps cached in memory..

[luciodra]

Yes, it needs to be powered on during programming.

Connect ATDH1150USB to Raven, while Raven is powered off.

If you're using the "Atmel ISP" software, it goes something like this:
- In the main window, verify that Cable Type says "ATDH1150USB".
- Select menu File->New
In the popup window:
- Number of devices should say 1 then click ok
"Device property" window:
- Device name: ATF1508AS
- Jtag instruction: Program/Verify
- Jedec File: click browse and select "nessi_240901.jed"
- Click ok
Back in the main window again:
- Power on Raven if it was off
- Click "Run" button to program it
- Reset or power cycle Raven


I never had very good success in saving and reloading device chain description file so I usually just do the above procedure again if I closed and opened ATMisp.

I also had a few too many cases not programming an updated .jed after I recompiled it, if I just hit the "Run" button again after recompiling.
So I've ended up in the habit of double clicking the line that says "Jedec: file <filename>" , hit browse, select the file again, click ok, and then "Run" to be sure it's programming the latest version as it is on disk and not something it has perhaps cached in memory..

Do you think it can work if I connect Raven to the power supply even if not all the components are present in the sockets ?

[agranlund]

Do you think it can work if I connect Raven to the power supply even if not all the components are present in the sockets ?

To program the ATF1508 you need the related power, passives etc in place and the picture you posted looked like it had all the stuff soldered on.

This is how my rev.A0 board looked during some early bring-up tests:

IMG_2070.jpg

(I think I was proving that the CPU is able to run 'code' from ROM here by having it execute a ROM that was filled with all 0's -- the UART appears to be soldered on so it's probably just before I had it run real code for the first time which said hello on the serial port)

Todays boot-rom does a bunch of things and will probably not be happy when you're missing chips on the board. But you'll still get log messages out of the serial port even with very few chips in place. The first few messages comes extremely early and you don't even need RAM in the machine for those.

[agranlund]

Not much time for play lately but Bios setup is slowly starting to turn out quite neat.

Nova configuration (and driver selection) is part of it now too, mainly to make it easy for me to switch driver when I swap card in the machine.
As well as very easily test with Nova on/off, or Nova on but using EmuTOS VDI instead of Nova VDI. Things like that.

The idea is that all the different drivers are supplied in a future minimal Raven software package, and the executables are launched from the correct folder for the selected card.
Any 1bpp resolution that you have in sta_vdi.bib can be selected as the post-bios boot resolution. The selected mode is automatically written to emulator.bib. It's nice to have a larger resolution there to see more of the log messages during Mint startup.

The whole thing is really just a simple wrapper/launcher for the normal nova executables and config files but the end result makes it feel nice and integrated.

The boot message and logo is a bit temporary and I may want to replace the logo with something of my own..

IMG_3136.jpg

IMG_3134.jpg

IMG_3132.jpg

IMG_3133.jpg

[Oldskool]

That looks nice. Really looking forward to try this out.

[mikro]

I bet Patrice would have never dreamed that his "BIOS" is going to end up ported to another hardware one day! :) Great job.

[luciodra]

Yes, it needs to be powered on during programming.

Connect ATDH1150USB to Raven, while Raven is powered off.

If you're using the "Atmel ISP" software, it goes something like this:
- In the main window, verify that Cable Type says "ATDH1150USB".
- Select menu File->New
In the popup window:
- Number of devices should say 1 then click ok
"Device property" window:
- Device name: ATF1508AS
- Jtag instruction: Program/Verify
- Jedec File: click browse and select "nessi_240901.jed"
- Click ok
Back in the main window again:
- Power on Raven if it was off
- Click "Run" button to program it
- Reset or power cycle Raven


I never had very good success in saving and reloading device chain description file so I usually just do the above procedure again if I closed and opened ATMisp.

I also had a few too many cases not programming an updated .jed after I recompiled it, if I just hit the "Run" button again after recompiling.
So I've ended up in the habit of double clicking the line that says "Jedec: file <filename>" , hit browse, select the file again, click ok, and then "Run" to be sure it's programming the latest version as it is on disk and not something it has perhaps cached in memory..

I followed your instructions step by step but when I choose the file nessi_240901.jedand click OK, it gives me the error "JEDEC file is not valid for this device.
Please select a valid JEDEC file!" :?

[agranlund]

I bet Patrice would have never dreamed that his "BIOS" is going to end up ported to another hardware one day! :) Great job.

So much of this thing is standing on the shoulders of giants and it all feels very thematically correct :)

"Common ravens are known to steal and cache shiny objects such as pebbles, pieces of metal, and golf balls."