TF330 NVram issue

[theq]

Try this one... I expect a slight speed slowdown...

tf330_2019_09_03_alpha.zip

EDIT: Speed hit isnt too rough... its more or less as it was before..

It works out of the box. No need to "Disable cache".
Only tested with Cannon Fodder so far.

Only other thing I've noticed, but doesn't have to be related to the firmware, is that the drive motor makes a funny noise every now and then while loading. Sounds like the reader head is being pushed "out of bounds" but recovers.

[go0se]

It works out of the box. No need to "Disable cache".
Only tested with Cannon Fodder so far.

Were you able to recreate the issue described in the original post before updating to the new firmware?

[Smyckers]

Here's a tool that might help debug some of this - it allows you to list the contents of nvram and also add a dummy title to nvram so you don't have to load up whdload or a game on cd to test.

https://github.com/gareth-smyth/nvman

It's just a simple wrapper on nonvolatile.library but I haven't tested it extensively.

[terriblefire]

Nice. I added a few things to the makefile to make it build on linux and sent you a pull request.

[Smyckers]

Thanks that's great, I've merged it in.

[terriblefire]

Any more updates/reports on this. There was a huge demand for me to do this and now nobody seems to care.

[go0se]

Hi TF,

I have tested this again with the aid of the NVMan tool by Smyckers.

Under the new firmware & with caches enabled the boot screen NVRAM list is populated correctly however when listing calling the nonvolatile.library using NVMan under workbench (without MUTools installed) an empty NVRAM list is returned.

When caches are disabled using the CDIS jumper on the card both the boot screen list and the call to nonvolatile.library under workbench (no MUTools) return correct information.

With MUTools installed, and following a call to MUFastRom the calls to nonvolatile.library using NVMan return correct information.

Was your expectation that the boot screen NVRAM list would not be populated with the caches enabled?

I am also currently running the updated firmware day to day to determine if it is generally stable outside the bug fix. I haven't seen any issues as of yet.

Cheers.

[terriblefire]

Hi TF,

I have tested this again with the aid of the NVMan tool by Smyckers.

Under the new firmware & with caches enabled the boot screen NVRAM list is populated correctly however when listing calling the nonvolatile.library using NVMan under workbench (without MUTools installed) an empty NVRAM list is returned.

When caches are disabled using the CDIS jumper on the card both the boot screen list and the call to nonvolatile.library under workbench (no MUTools) return correct information.

With MUTools installed, and following a call to MUFastRom the calls to nonvolatile.library using NVMan return correct information.

Was your expectation that the boot screen NVRAM list would not be populated with the caches enabled?

I am also currently running the updated firmware day to day to determine if it is generally stable outside the bug fix. I haven't seen any issues as of yet.

Cheers.

Thanks go0se...

This is the expected behaviour. I wasnt sure what the boot menu behaviour would be but it looks like its good

I'll maybe spend some time restoring the performance to full speed again then we'll have a release version 3 (product code 3 in the ESM).

[8 Bit Dreams]

finally was able to test new firmware. Reporting sucsess!
i am able to load Cannon Fodder from NVRAM with CDIS jumper closed and MMULib installed :2k2:

[Smaug]

Any more updates/reports on this. There was a huge demand for me to do this and now nobody seems to care.

Hi,
I really care about this!.. :-)
Thank you for all your efforts in pulling this off for us. Its an amazing product... A real gem...

Anecdote:
My first wishes of a card like this for my CD32 was when I got stuck at some of the last levels of "SubWar 2050" due to lag....
(some month after game release!..)
The goal is to finally beat the game..... Still got my NV-RAM save on a floppy somewhere, I had a communicator device then, which allowed me to transfer files through serial network between a A1200 and the CD32...…
Playing the CD32-games with CD-Audio effects is a big deal of the consoles beauty!... ..so saving CD-games to NV-RAM, somehow, chip or emulating is kind of necessary I believe.

Right Now:
I have just soldered the JTAG pins on my tf330 v.3b board and I thought about soldering pins to the jumper positions but how should they be positioned?...
The "Disable Speed" jumper is soldered against the PCB printed lines but a suppose the "MMUDIS" and "CDIS" should be soldered as printed (Within the lines)...

Could you please show me on a simple hand drawing or so, how to solder them....
Are those for disabling the MMU and Cache?....

I´ve got some saves in the NV-RAM chip that isn't available just now with my tf330 installed in the CD32

I don´t know which firmware version the Xilinx chip has right now but I think I have to upgrade it with this recent version and install the MMUlibs to get it to work.
I have an old MC68000RC50C somewhere but I cant find it so I had to order another one. Its on its way from China so I cant test the MMUlib setup until it arrives.


best regards,...
/Mikael