New software on ROM, but which kind do you have?

[TFM]

i put this to hardware because I want to ask you which kind of ROM expansion do you use. This is important for particular new software. Please vote and help this way. 

EDIT: If you own multiple solutions, please indicate the one which you use the most often.

[||C|-|E||]

I mostly work with the classical AMSDOS + ParaDOS and then I load CPM Plus. The second OS I use the most is FutureOS. About the flash, I am using the C4CPC 

[TFM]

1000 Likes for you!


Well, reason for me asking this is that I (today started to) compile source which checks which device is connected and then Flashes it. That's not only good for ROM burning, also imagine to save your High-Score of a ROM Game in a ROM (what I intend to do) or f.e. save some configuration or what ever in a ROM. And of course it shall work with all expansions.


@All: Which are the card you're using when not in the list?


If there is interest I can post source later. Depends which cards we have to serve 

[CraigsBar]

i put this to hardware because I want to ask you which kind of ROM expansion do you use. This is important for particular new software. Please vote and help this way. 

EDIT: If you own multiple solutions, please indicate the one which you use the most often.

Erm I have a symbiface2 and a c4cpc in one plus, and an xmem on the just CPC. The other machine has just a symbiface2 but that machine changes from plus to cpc6128 as needed. Oh and the gx4000 has a c4cpc.

[Bryce]

1000 Likes for you!


Well, reason for me asking this is that I (today started to) compile source which checks which device is connected and then Flashes it. That's not only good for ROM burning, also imagine to save your High-Score of a ROM Game in a ROM (what I intend to do) or f.e. save some configuration or what ever in a ROM. And of course it shall work with all expansions.


@All: Which are the card you're using when not in the list?


If there is interest I can post source later. Depends which cards we have to serve 

If you are going to use the Flash for regular saving such as high-scores, then you'll need to use some sort of memory management to ensure the data isn't always being written to the same cells.

Bryce.

[TFM]

Erm I have a symbiface2 and a c4cpc in one plus, and an xmem on the just CPC. The other machine has just a symbiface2 but that machine changes from plus to cpc6128 as needed. Oh and the gx4000 has a c4cpc.

Slowly I think we need a way to write from the CPC into the C4CPC!?!

[TFM]

If you are going to use the Flash for regular saving such as high-scores, then you'll need to use some sort of memory management to ensure the data isn't always being written to the same cells.

Bryce.

Why? A Flash can take 10.000 write cycles without a problem, right?


Now how often do you make it to a high-score list? Maybe 100 times and then you just won't get better.


I don't see a problem with that, or do I miss something? 

[Bryce]

Maybe for one game, but if all games are using the same cells to keep scores and the same cells are being written to every time you play the game, then you would be loading these cells to their limit.

Bryce.

[TFM]

Maybe for one game, but if all games are using the same cells to keep scores and the same cells are being written to every time you play the game, then you would be loading these cells to their limit.

Bryce.

How much game can you have, maximum is maybe 30. Ok 30 times 100 ist 3000. Even if it would be 10.000 it's not a percent of what a Flash can do.


But that's all crap.


Every game puts its high-score in his own ROM. There is not hot spot. Wait a bit and see. 

[CPC_Fan]

I have just the X-Mem. Would love to have a Rombo ROM Box for my 6128 as well, so that I could go back to my original set up as when I wànted to. Never seen one for sale though 

[Bryce]

Quite a few Rombo ROMBox here. I've fixed at least six of them Maybe someone might have a spare one?

Bryce.

[Guy0me]

I got C4CPC for my 6128+ and a X-Mem for 6128 Old..

[CPC_Fan]

Quite a few Rombo ROMBox here. I've fixed at least six of them Maybe someone might have a spare one?

Bryce.

Do you mean that there are quite a few of them in Germany, or was you speaking in general terms Bryce?


I was a subscriber to the UK fanzine WACCI back in the day. I also wrote some articles for it. This is the reason that I brought a ROM Box for my 6128. It was much easy and quicker for me to have Protext etc on ROM rather than on disc. I think that is the reason that I still have a hankering for one (for nostalger reasons), even though the X-Mem is a lot better.

[pelrun]

Writing Flash isn't the problem, it's the block erase. Write can only set 1 bits to 0, and a block erase is needed to change them back to 1 again.
 
Since the high score data is much smaller than the size of a block, you can be a bit smart and write the data at the next free location, and only erase the block when you run out of space. Reading the table in you scan through the block to find the last entry and ignore the earlier ones.

That means you only do one erase for every hundred or so table writes, and you're unlikely to ever hit the write limit on the flash block.

[Bryce]

@pelrun: That's exactly what I was talking about. Every erase needs to write an entire block.

@CPC_Fan: I was talking in General. At least two of the Rombos that I fixed lately came from the UK.

Bryce.

[TFM]

So far this poll is quite interesting, most use the X-MEM and the SF2. Also some other Flash cards. One EPROM. Interestingly no RRB.


Ok, so software should support all the variety. 

[CPC_Fan]

@pelrun: That's exactly what I was talking about. Every erase needs to write an entire block.

@CPC_Fan: I was talking in General. At least two of the Rombos that I fixed lately came from the UK.

Bryce.

Thought that might be the case Bryce. I think that I have only seen one for sale once here. It was part of an auction with some other stuff and the seller wouldn't offer it separately, so I couldn't buy it. I'm sure that I put a wanted advert for one on here, but I didn't get any response    Hence why I brought an X-Mem in the end.

[CraigsBar]

Thought that might be the case Bryce. I think that I have only seen one for sale once here. It was part of an auction with some other stuff and the seller wouldn't offer it separately, so I couldn't buy it. I'm sure that I put a wanted advert for one on here, but I didn't get any response    Hence why I brought an X-Mem in the end.

Since I got my first modern rom solution, my rombox never got used again, hence my rombo and campursoft boxes never got repaired.

Xmem/symbiface2/rrb/megaflash are definitely the way to go these days.

[Bryce]

Since I got my first modern rom solution, my rombox never got used again, hence my rombo and campursoft boxes never got repaired.

Xmem/symbiface2/rrb/megaflash are definitely the way to go these days.

Then sell it to CPC_fan

Bryce.

Gesendet von meinem Motorola DynaTEC 8000X mit Tapatalk 2.

[CPC_Fan]

Since I got my first modern rom solution, my rombox never got used again, hence my rombo and campursoft boxes never got repaired.

Xmem/symbiface2/rrb/megaflash are definitely the way to go these days.

Yes you are right Craig. Any of those are the way to go these days, which is why I brought a X-Mem. It's just that since I got back into CPC ownership, I have had a hankering for having a Rombo ROM Box again. Not really sure why, probably for nostalgic/sentimental reasons more than anything else.

[CPC_Fan]

Then sell it to CPC_fan

Bryce.

Gesendet von meinem Motorola DynaTEC 8000X mit Tapatalk 2.

Do you think that you would be able to repair it then Bryce, if Craig sold it to me?

[CraigsBar]

Do you think that you would be able to repair it then Bryce, if Craig sold it to me?

Well it is in a nasty state. Multiple traces are missing or broken. Several of the sockets have been removed and or replaced. And there is no case. Sell it lol, if I can find it you can have it for free I doubt it will ever work again.

[CPC_Fan]

Ok that's fair enough Craig. If you could find it, I would still be interested in it anyway. I would then send it to Bryce at some point in the future and see if he thinks that it's worth trying to repair or not.

[Bryce]

Still repairable

Bryce.

Gesendet von meinem Motorola DynaTEC 8000X mit Tapatalk 2.