Life, the universe & everything...Atari (well, mostly)

[JezC]

And again, lots of unplanned interruptions plague my retro hobby!

As reported on my H4 build thread, #1 now has a TF536 installed...but I need to create a suitable pen drive with various disc images for the Gotek before I can properly exploit this.

In the meantime, the Mega ST4 & Megafile from @exxos have arrived!
Even better, I managed to connect them up and power them up over the last couple of days. Both seem to work just fine

Need to get back to the second H4 build soon...

[JezC]

Well, as detailed in another topic (https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/forum/viewt ... 100#p52963), I'm struggling to sort out a working CF card with my TF536 (on top of learning EmuTOS and all the differences in using an 030 in an ST compared to my Falcon)...

One of the bigger issues is to understand why it's sometimes booting into EmuCON rather than EmuTOS...but I think this is most likely related to when a CF card is connected into the TF536 IDE (or was connected before powering off, removing the CF card & powering on again).

After a few hours without the CF card inserted, the system booted EmuTOS off floppy without issue as usual, so with a bit of luck, nothing has been permanently affected.

Now I need to try and find any other CF cards to see how they might fare with the TF536.

I might also try to get at least one of them working on my Falcon (with TOS 4.04 or EmuTOS) so that I have more confidence in at least some level of functionality.

[PhilC]

@JezC have you updated the firmware on the TF536? Later versions are more compatible from my experience but then I look at cards around 2gb to 4gb typically.

[JezC]

@PhilC No, it's still got the original f/w in it that you programmed...I've not yet had chance to try and set up a RasPi to do the updates...one more job for adding to the retro list...

I think I have a 2GB CF card somewhere, so will try that next (or find some kind soul to provide a known working card to give confidence in at least one part of the setup... )

Back to WFH for a day or two as a colleague tested positive...now waiting on my own test results (apparently I'm a "key worker" so can get a test so I can return to work once tested negative)...

[PhilC]

@JezC yep, keyworker here too.

If you can't get it to work i can possibly send you a card to try but won't be qyick as really busy the next two weeks.

[JezC]

@PhilC OK, thanks for the offer - I'll post here with updates but would appreciate it as/when you can manage it (pessimism ruling the day in light of the latest developments at work)...

[PhilC]

@PhilC OK, thanks for the offer - I'll post here with updates but would appreciate it as/when you can manage it (pessimism ruling the day in light of the latest developments at work)...

Yeah no worries, I have a few spare 4gb ones, ill burn an image and send you it. Pm me your address again please.

[stephen_usher]

I've tried a 128MB CF card and a Hitachi 1GB "Microdrive" (Not Sinclair. ) and neither are seen by HDDUTIL. When I scan the bus I get four devices with names of a strange character (all the same). I see the access light on the adapter light up. Without a CF card in there I see 8 of these instead.

I wonder if the buffers really are necessary to work reliably and it's only by luck that it works without them.

Similarly, I'm on the original firmware, so this is under TOS 2.06 as EmuTOS 1.0 won't boot on the TF536 at the moment. (It tries to start but crashes pretty quickly after accessing the drives.)

[agranlund]

I've tried a 128MB CF card and a Hitachi 1GB "Microdrive" (Not Sinclair. ) and neither are seen by HDDUTIL. When I scan the bus I get four devices with names of a strange character (all the same). I see the access light on the adapter light up. Without a CF card in there I see 8 of these instead.

I wonder if the buffers really are necessary to work reliably and it's only by luck that it works without them.

Similarly, I'm on the original firmware, so this is under TOS 2.06 as EmuTOS 1.0 won't boot on the TF536 at the moment. (It tries to start but crashes pretty quickly after accessing the drives.)

The latest firmware should fix that "duplicate device" issue you're seeing

I never needed buffers on the TF534, TF536 or the interface on my own blitter board. The Amiga doesn't have them and nor does Atari Falcon so I think it's fine without unless you're using some pretty long cables?

You'll need a twisted cable/adapter for it to work with Atari TOS.
EmuTOS is able to work with the Amiga/PC style IDE interface though (the byte order is different compared to Atari IDE interface)

[stephen_usher]

The latest firmware should fix that "duplicate device" issue you're seeing

I never needed buffers on the TF534, TF536 or the interface on my own blitter board. The Amiga doesn't have them and nor does Atari Falcon so I think it's fine without unless you're using some pretty long cables?

You'll need a twisted cable/adapter for it to work with Atari TOS.
EmuTOS is able to work with the Amiga/PC style IDE interface though (the byte order is different compared to Atari IDE interface)

Once I got a device which will allow me to upgrade the firmware I can test again. (Trying to program with a RaspPi fails saying that programming already in progress and the Xilinx programmer clone sees the device and then an infinite number of ghost devices, causing iMPACT to error. The manufacturer is sending a replacement... from China.)

It's not really seeing the CF card at all at the moment. The Microdrive doesn't seem to be spinning up at all, so maybe not enough power. Neither CF card is Atari formatted. The adapter is the one sold by Exxos.

The cable's about 10cm, if that.