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CPC Plus cartridge replacement : one more

Started by gerald, 16:39, 01 November 14

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Are you interested in buying a 3D-printed case for the cartridge? Hoe many units? (only vote if you want one or more!)

1
178 (85.2%)
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25 (12%)
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2 (1%)
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0 (0%)
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0 (0%)
more
4 (1.9%)

Total Members Voted: 209

TFM

Well, I only have laptop (and neither tablet nor smart phone is needed), but I also do my data transfer with an SD card. It's in the HxC floppy emulator. Works like a charm.  :)

TFM of FutureSoft
Also visit the CPC and Plus users favorite OS: FutureOS - The Revolution on CPC6128 and 6128Plus

KaosOverride

#501
I have tried another way
http://mega.co.nz/#!mUsyBIiS!gclWw1kejDlMus1UmWirqynESmUjayD7pp3sWam8yi4

Roms are from here ROM List - CPCWiki

I have patched the rom so it autoboots when replacing the Basic, and changed the boot colours to black. Maybe 2-rom games can be used replacing the amsdos rom.

To fill the blocks 2 and 3 (amsdos) I have used a dummy rom fill of zero.

Do they boot ok at GX? At 464+ should....
KaosOverride · GitHub
MEGA Amstrad Public Amstrad folder

arnoldemu

#502
Quote from: KaosOverride on 11:50, 06 April 15
I have tried another way
http://mega.co.nz/#!mUsyBIiS!gclWw1kejDlMus1UmWirqynESmUjayD7pp3sWam8yi4

Roms are from here ROM List - CPCWiki

I have patched the rom so it autoboots when replacing the Basic, and changed the boot colours to black. Maybe 2-rom games can be used replacing the amsdos rom.

To fill the blocks 2 and 3 (amsdos) I have used a dummy rom fill of zero.

Do they boot ok at GX? At 464+ should....
Confirmed both boot on gx4000.

As before, Donkey Kong has the same graphical corruption at the top where the mode split is incorrect.

NOTE: AMSDOS rom is a problem selecting rom 7 doesn't select page 3 on GX4000. So avoid AMSDOS rom and put dummy here as you have done OR, select it with &83.

EDIT: I didn't have time to see if there is a way to correct the ROM to fix the issue.
My games. My Games
My website with coding examples: Unofficial Amstrad WWW Resource

KaosOverride

Good to see that. Fortunately we have the basic rom usable to use custom code and access the other roms at its "native" location.

A "new gen" no$cart can use the basic rom slot for a new "amsdos +loader" and work at every plus machine.
KaosOverride · GitHub
MEGA Amstrad Public Amstrad folder

arnoldemu

Quote from: KaosOverride on 22:52, 06 April 15
Good to see that. Fortunately we have the basic rom usable to use custom code and access the other roms at its "native" location.

A "new gen" no$cart can use the basic rom slot for a new "amsdos +loader" and work at every plus machine.
Nice idea.

Yes I plan to make a "new gen" no$cart tool.
I am working out how the original worked so I can re-make carts, but with a tool that can run under linux, mac and windows.
My games. My Games
My website with coding examples: Unofficial Amstrad WWW Resource

KaosOverride

What about patching the firmware to initialize roms &81 to &83 instead of 0 to 7. Sure that Basic is needed to run the basic loaders for many games. But not sure if it can be run at &81, but looks as at GX4000 is mirrored to 0 too. But, is amsdos fixed to 7?

So the new no$cart could be  &80 firmware, &81 basic, &82 patched amsdos, &83+ storage emulation
KaosOverride · GitHub
MEGA Amstrad Public Amstrad folder

TotO


Users are incredible...  :laugh:
Need a ROM board to play patched cartridge games and cartridge board to run patched ROM programs.  :-\

"You make one mistake in your life and the internet will never let you live it down" (Keith Goodyer)

arnoldemu

Quote from: KaosOverride on 10:32, 07 April 15
What about patching the firmware to initialize roms &81 to &83 instead of 0 to 7. Sure that Basic is needed to run the basic loaders for many games. But not sure if it can be run at &81, but looks as at GX4000 is mirrored to 0 too. But, is amsdos fixed to 7?

So the new no$cart could be  &80 firmware, &81 basic, &82 patched amsdos, &83+ storage emulation
Yes I was planning to patch the firmware to initialise the roms from pages in the cart using &81-&91.

For no$cart you only need basic and amsdos, the rest is disk image.

I do know that some loaders will try to access 7 directly; so I wanted to support this. My plan plan was to look at the rom id sent to the firmware and re-map it to the cartridge page.

So firmware tries 0-15, but pages are &81-&91. This is fine for ROM based carts, for no$cart fix, I checked for 7, and mapped it to &83, all others are mapped to &81.

The following are my OS patches to no$cart. I did need to patch the disc rom to stop it sending specify:


org &0000
incbin "os.rom"

org &533

;; replace LDIR to copy high kernal jumpblock, we want to do more.
org &0051
call here
defs 11-3

;; replacing this:
;; 0480 06df      ld      b,$df            ; ROM select I/O port
;; 0482 ed79      out     (c),a            ; select upper rom

org &480
call bae4b-bae4+&bae4
nop

;; replacing this:
;;04b1 06df      ld      b,$df            ; ROM select I/O port
;;04b3 ed79      out     (c),a            ; restore upper rom selection

org &4b1
call bae4b-bae4+&bae4
nop

;; in no$cart modified OS; changes df07 to df83
org &681
defb &83

;; replace this:
;;0535 06df      ld      b,$df            ;; ROM select I/O port
;;0537 ed49      out     (c),c            ;; select upper rom
org &535
call &bae4
nop

;; no$cart performs a jump into dos rom, change df07 to df83.
org &67d
call &b900   ;; enable upper rom
ld bc,&df83  ;; select upper rom (7 - normally DOS/AMSDOS)
out (c),c
jp &dc03     ;; call into DOS/AMSDOS rom

;; this is placed over the copyright message; the message is no longer displayed so it's free to use
here:
ld      hl,&03a6            ; copy high kernel jumpblock
ld      de,&b900
ld      bc,&01e4
ldir
;; copy our extra code.
ld hl,bae4
ld de,&bae4
ld bc,end_bae4-bae4
ldir
ret

;; this code is located at bae4 in ram and fits in a small area.
;; replaces the ld b,&df: out (c),a code.

bae4:
;; C = rom
push af
ld a,c
call bae4b-bae4+&bae4
pop af
ret

;; replaces the ld b,&df: out (c),c
bae4b:
push bc
ld c,&83   ;; if disc rom use this page
cp &7      ;; disc rom selected?
jr z,sel_disc_rom
ld c,&81 ;; choose basic page
sel_disc_rom:
ld b,&df
out (c),c ;; select page
pop bc
ret
end_bae4:


in amsdos rom I put a c9/ret at c615 in the patched no$cart rom.

And that was it.

I haven't finished a new no$cart yet, so i can't post a link to the code yet.

If you wanted a cart with roms in it, change the bae4 code to:


;; replaces the ld b,&df: out (c),c
bae4b:
push bc
add a,&81 ;; page offset; 0 = basic, 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 etc map to slots 1,2,3,4,5,6,7. Move amsdos into &81+7 in your modified cart. So it's accessible through 07 from firmware.
ld b,&df
out (c),a
pop bc
ret
end_bae4:


My games. My Games
My website with coding examples: Unofficial Amstrad WWW Resource

CraigsBar

#508
@Prodatron is there any way that SymbOS could be made into a Plus Cartridge image.


I acknowledge that this will only be of use to 6128plus owners (Or people with extended RAM in a 464+)


It woudl however open up Symbos to people with an X-Mass but no X-Mem. or free up some of those all important slots in the X-Mem for those of us with both.


A CPR to boot Symbos automatically when selected in a C4CPC selector, and that would still read the config from an X-Mass so enable the use of that file system would be a great boon. Imagine the benefit to 464plus owners, they could have Symbos with no need of a floppy drive so long as they had the extra RAM chips fitted and a C4CPC


If this release is possible, woudl it also be possible to re-enable the Plus Palette in the colour selector? I know I ask a lot but the C4CPC stands to be one of the most exciting plus expansions going, not jus because it brings games to those poor neglected GX4000 owners who are tired of Burning Rubber, but also because of the possibilities it offers to the plus owner.


I see @TFM made a CPR of FutureOS, assuming most people (like me) have both F-OS and SymbOS installed in their X-Mem these days, that is 8 rom slots used. tha could be freed up for games, Protext, Maxam, whatever.


Just a thought. Let me know what you think.


Craig


Edit: @TFM I just tested the 0.8 CPR and it seems to not play nice on my expanded 464plus. will investigate futher tomorrow night.

IRC:  #Retro4All on Freenode

TotO

#509
Quote from: CraigsBar on 23:36, 07 April 15It woudl however open up Symbos to people with an X-Mass but no X-Mem. or free up some of those all important slots in the X-Mem for those of us with both.
That is sadly wrong, because in all cases you will need an extra RAM board to properly use it.
It's why the X-MEM embedded ROM and RAM, to allow all to work by using only one slot on the MotherX4, to not waste them!

Last but not less, the idea of the MX4 boards was to made all CPC/PLUS range of computers usable in the same way in a unification worries.
If you start to make custom things for the PLUS, you will definitively assume that is not a CPC and have not to be compatible.
(and I have wasted my time to ensure that all my MX4 boards was compatible with it)

"You make one mistake in your life and the internet will never let you live it down" (Keith Goodyer)

TFM

Quote from: CraigsBar on 23:36, 07 April 15
I see @TFM made a CPR of FutureOS, assuming most people (like me) have both F-OS and SymbOS installed in their X-Mem these days, that is 8 rom slots used. that could be freed up for games, Protext, Maxam, whatever.

Edit: @TFM I just tested the 0.8 CPR and it seems to not play nice on my expanded 464plus. will investigate futher tomorrow night.

Well, it needs 128 KB of RAM of course. If you see a smear on the screen, then this means the computer can't work with RAM config &C3 (usually happening with 64 KB machines).

If there would just be a little more interest I would make an English version of it. But honestly I think that you are the second person ever using the FutureOS Cartridge at all.  :laugh:
TFM of FutureSoft
Also visit the CPC and Plus users favorite OS: FutureOS - The Revolution on CPC6128 and 6128Plus

CraigsBar

Quote from: TFM on 15:48, 08 April 15
Well, it needs 128 KB of RAM of course. If you see a smear on the screen, then this means the computer can't work with RAM config &C3 (usually happening with 64 KB machines).

If there would just be a little more interest I would make an English version of it. But honestly I think that you are the second person ever using the FutureOS Cartridge at all.  :laugh:
now we all have c4cpc, I hope that the number will rise sharply.
IRC:  #Retro4All on Freenode

Kris

Quote from: CraigsBar on 17:36, 08 April 15
now we all have c4cpc, I hope that the number will rise sharply.
Obviously, it can be helpful for CPCPlus users to have FutureOS directly in the C4CPC.....For your information, I'm also a futureOS user since I got my X-Mass device ;)

TFM

Ok, guys! Thanks for showing so much support! Now since we got already 3 persons willing to use the Plus version I have to make an English Plus version and then make a cart out of it! Just give me a little time. It's not as easy as one may thing because it's more complex than simply translate, and Plus version is different to CPC version. But it's not as bad as it could be.  :) :) :)
TFM of FutureSoft
Also visit the CPC and Plus users favorite OS: FutureOS - The Revolution on CPC6128 and 6128Plus

arnoldemu

Quote from: TFM on 17:09, 09 April 15
Ok, guys! Thanks for showing so much support! Now since we got already 3 persons willing to use the Plus version I have to make an English Plus version and then make a cart out of it! Just give me a little time. It's not as easy as one may thing because it's more complex than simply translate, and Plus version is different to CPC version. But it's not as bad as it could be.  :) :) :)
Will there be a GX4000 cartridge version of FutureOS?  ;D











My games. My Games
My website with coding examples: Unofficial Amstrad WWW Resource

CraigsBar

Quote from: arnoldemu on 17:40, 09 April 15
Will there be a GX4000 cartridge version of FutureOS?  ;D
when the gx grows 128k ram or more LOL.
IRC:  #Retro4All on Freenode

TFM

Quote from: arnoldemu on 17:40, 09 April 15
Will there be a GX4000 cartridge version of FutureOS?  ;D

No, 64 KB only CPC's are not planned to be supported. FutureOS gains it's speed from using a lot of RAM buffers (f.e. DIRectories). It may even run if you can use a keypad, but I wouldn't suggest. Since there is no storage media on the GX4000 it's kind of pointless anyway. The only thing you could do is to move the mouse arrow around. Really boring imho.  ;)  [nb]Well, ok, you can uses the Porting System and the monitor to play around with Plus features and I/O ports and so. But in your case... you already know everything about it anyway.  ;) [/nb]
TFM of FutureSoft
Also visit the CPC and Plus users favorite OS: FutureOS - The Revolution on CPC6128 and 6128Plus

Kris

Quote from: TFM on 17:09, 09 April 15
Ok, guys! Thanks for showing so much support! Now since we got already 3 persons willing to use the Plus version I have to make an English Plus version and then make a cart out of it! Just give me a little time. It's not as easy as one may thing because it's more complex than simply translate, and Plus version is different to CPC version. But it's not as bad as it could be.  :) :) :)


If you want to start a French version then just let me know, I'm OK to help you with translation ;)


KaosOverride

 Lol, my GX4000 has 128mb, cpc plus patches and keyboard lines fitted, but not connected (jet)  :laugh:
KaosOverride · GitHub
MEGA Amstrad Public Amstrad folder

CraigsBar

Quote from: KaosOverride on 19:41, 09 April 15
Lol, my GX4000 has 128mb, cpc plus patches and keyboard lines fitted, but not connected (jet)  :laugh:
so I guess the gx4000 is needed lol.
IRC:  #Retro4All on Freenode

TFM

Quote from: Kris on 19:23, 09 April 15

If you want to start a French version then just let me know, I'm OK to help you with translation ;)


Hi! The CPC version has already French texts. So I will move ENG / FRA in one block over to the Plus version.  :)
TFM of FutureSoft
Also visit the CPC and Plus users favorite OS: FutureOS - The Revolution on CPC6128 and 6128Plus

arnoldemu

#521
Quote from: KaosOverride on 19:41, 09 April 15
Lol, my GX4000 has 128mb, cpc plus patches and keyboard lines fitted, but not connected (jet)  :laugh:

My original post was meant as a joke and I am happy TFM saw it that way.

I know TFM doesn't love 64KB only or GX4000  ;)
My games. My Games
My website with coding examples: Unofficial Amstrad WWW Resource

radu14m

mine arrived today, just in time for Easter !!!
It"s amazing :)


Thanks Gerald :)

geppy-x

Hello to everyone!

I'm new to this comunity and i would want to get my hands on one of this fantastic kits. So i have just sent a PM to Gerald.

Regards.




CraigsBar

Quote from: geppy-x on 19:55, 10 April 15
Hello to everyone!

I'm new to this comunity and i would want to get my hands on one of this fantastic kits. So i have just sent a PM to Gerald.

Regards.
hi @geppy-x, first of all welcome to the wiki. Indeed you should want one of these wonderful carts. I can wholeheartedly recommend them. So far, as well as the excellent ROM collection Gerald provides I have installed the following carts and no$cart conversions on mine.

Pacman emulator, amstrad classics, Titus the fox, groops, spy vs spy trilogy.

I am sure many more can and will be added in time, I cannot rate these carts highly enough. They are up there with the x-mem and x-mass for must have accessories.

Craig
IRC:  #Retro4All on Freenode

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