TF536 - Atari firmware - Rev2 TF536

[JezC]

My code isn't compatible with the original TF536 anyway. I stopped work on it all as like most things, just no interest.

Shame - though I fully understand. You work on the things that interest you most! Grateful for all your efforts to advance the STs & keep our platform supported & working into the future!

[agranlund]

Here is an experimental firmware for TF536r2
(the old TF536 - this firmware cannot be used on the new ST Editions)

I wasn't really planning on releasing it since I don't have the capacity to support it, so take it for what it is, it may or may not work well for your particular setup :)

The only change is enabling the 68030 L1 cache for the ST-RAM region.
It was already enabled for TT-RAM.

Firmware:

tf536_2022_04_12_ATARI_alpha.zip

You need the latest maprom from here:
https://github.com/agranlund/tftools

You want to use "maprom_c.prg"
The normal "maprom.prg" does not allow caching of st-ram. Use that if you're not having much luck with cache :)


This can boost performance, sometimes by quite a lot, for things that are running from ST-RAM:
https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/forum/viewt ... 318#p83155

The potential tradeoff is compatibility.
Especially so if you are using an OS that is not properly 68030 cache-aware (TOS206) instead of one that is (EmuTOS or TOS3 from PAK)

Using TOS206 on a 68030 is asking for trouble regardless of firmware but if you must, I think the correct recommendation has to be to turn off cache in the TOS menu option (and if that is not enough, use the CDIS jumper on the TF536 board itself)
That would make it slower of course, and this firmware update won't do anything for you either.

In practice, TOS206 may work fine for you depending on how badly you need DMA devices to work.
I really don't want to get dragged into a support nightmare for an incompatible OS but I did some tests with it here, both with and without having the cache option in Tos enabled.

My computer does not have a floppy drive but I doubt these things would be happy in TOS206 and caching..
The Ultrasatan appears to work fine, at least with HDDriver. Even so, I'm not sure I fully trust it with cache enabled :lol:
I ran a bunch of ST games, mostly from an internal IDE drive: some runs too fast with cache enabled, some didn't run, some benefited a lot.
You may want to disable the cache from the TOS menu if something is causing you issues.

Besides potential OS issues, some programs or games could be using self-modifying code without flushing the instruction cache.
Again, try disabling cache in the TOS menu and see if that helps for that particular game.

[stephen_usher]

I gave up using TOS 2.06 on the TF536 and only use EmuTOS in that mode. PAK3-3.06 requires a 512K ROM so it’s a bit inconvenient for my switcher as i can’t switch back to pure 68000+TOS1.04 for game compatibility.

However, for pure PP game compatibility the TF536+PAK3 is better as PP’s loader recognises the machine as a TT and enables the 68030 hacks to the game and because the rest of the system is an ST many games which hardly work on the TT work properly on the ST+TF536 in this mode.

It’s a pity that PP’s loader uses the OS to determine the CPU rather than looking at the cookie.

[agranlund]

I gave up using TOS 2.06 on the TF536 and only use EmuTOS in that mode.

Me too. I use it sometimes but only for the purpose of testing TOS compatibility for own applications, and then I basically have the cache option disabled from the Tos menu.

However, for pure PP game compatibility the TF536+PAK3 is better as PP’s loader recognises the machine as a TT and enables the 68030 hacks to the game and because the rest of the system is an ST many games which hardly work on the TT work properly on the ST+TF536 in this mode.

That's a really good point!
Hmmn.. I think it might be easy enough to make a program that fakes the OS header if that's what the PP loader looks at.
Provided it's not actually going to be attempting to use any TOS3-only thing :)
You probably never want something like that in the auto folder, but if it was something you ran just before launching the game perhaps... ?

I mostly use PP games too and it's a bit hit and miss with EmuTOS and TOS206 for sure.
A lot of them seem to work but certainly not all of them, and some seem to only work in one or the other Tos's.

It’s a pity that PP’s loader uses the OS to determine the CPU rather than looking at the cookie.

Yeah that would have been better for sure :)

[Steve]

Just flashed my regular tf536 with this firmware and sharing the results of frontbench and gembench:

PXL_20220514_182240423.jpg

PXL_20220514_183417878.jpg

[stephen_usher]

How different was it from before the update? Do you have before/after stats?

[Steve]

How different was it from before the update? Do you have before/after stats?

Sorry no, with all the stuff I've been doing tonight I forgot 'before' results. But according to https://github.com/dh219/FrontBench this is the fastest recorded Frontbench score on a regular tf536...

[stephen_usher]

I've just upgraded my TF536 with the full 64MB version of the firmware and the floppy doesn't work with EmuTOS 1.0

I tried turning off the cache in the OS and it made no difference.

I can't load maprom_c.prg or anything else as they are on the floppy!

[stephen_usher]

OK. Not quite true. The machine didn't like the floppy formatted on the TT.

However, it won't read a floppy with the cache on, but will with the cache off. (MAPROM_C.PRG)

The floppy half works with MAPROM.PRG

[stephen_usher]

OK, here are my benchmark results:

October 2020 firmware + MAPROM 1.8 (EmuTOS 1.0):

frontbench-st-tf-oct.jpg

May 2022 firmware + latest MAPROM (EmuTOS 1.0):

frontbench-st-tf-may-maprom.jpg

As you can see, there is a marginal speed increase (about 130 frames), which is about 4.5%.

P.S. MAPROM_C.PRG only gives about 10 extra frames but stops the floppy from working.