MegaFlash ROManager as single 16 KB ROM

[TFM]

Hi there,

Here you can download it:

http://www.colorado-boys-muenchen.de/users/futureos/files/MF_ROManager.zip

Enjoy!

[Gryzor]

Oooh great! At last

[SyX]

Great News!!!

I will test when i return to home

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Tested every function and all work GREAT 

Fanstatic Work TFM!!! 

[TFM]

Hey SyX, Thank's a lot for testing :-DDD

Guess next step will be some smaller updates and the 464 version (which means a major change).

[Gryzor]

I used it a bit (erase some ROMs, install new ones), seems to be working perfectly

[nurgle]

Works fine! I still have free slots, so the shrink was not that important to me. But still nice!

[norecess]

I did not try it yet, but congrats : using 2 ROMs like previously was clearly a no-go to me!
Good job!


PS. What did you do to reduce ROM size ?

[TFM]

@Nurgle & NoRecess: Thank's guys!!!

I did not try it yet, but congrats : using 2 ROMs like previously was clearly a no-go to me!
Good job!


PS. What did you do to reduce ROM size ?

It's called CPCT. Used it because I met Madram 2001 at the CPC Klassentreffen and we had a great chat, so I know he codes faithfully / precisely. Just for curiosity I tried the cheese cruncher too. But CPCT is far better in compression rate.

[TFM]

And now my 9 cents ...

You can download the ROManage for the MegaFlash now as a single 16 KB ROM which includes the famous Inicron ROM Booster.

The ROM (installed at position 15) allows you the usage of all 32 ROMs of the MegaFlash. All 32 ROMs get initialized throug the CPC firmware. Also the ROM contains the ROManager for the management of the MegaFlash. You can start it by typing !RMA.

Download at www.futureos.de (download section)


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[Bryce]

Very nice solution I'm impressed.

Bryce.

[redbox]

You can download the ROManage for the MegaFlash now as a single 16 KB ROM which includes the famous Inicron ROM Booster.

Very nice TFM, well done.

Such a shame you didn't feel you could share your disassembly of the Booster ROM because then we could have all learnt from it.

[norecess]

It's nice to get BOOSTER (where its primary functionality is to deal with ROMs) integrated in ROMManager (where it's primary functionality is also to deal with ROMs).


Cool !

[TFM]

Thank you guys! My pleasure :-DDD

Such a shame you didn't feel you could share your disassembly of the Booster ROM because then we could have all learnt from it.

Ha-ha, the typical misunderstanding between you and me   I'm very lucky to share - as soon as I find it

It's nice to get BOOSTER (where its primary functionality is to deal with ROMs) integrated in ROMManager (where it's primary functionality is also to deal with ROMs).
Cool !

Yes, and &500 bytes of the ROM are still free

[redbox]

That would be great.

I assumed you would have needed the disassembly to incorporate it into your ROM? Or how did you do it?

[TFM]

That would be great.

I assumed you would have needed the disassembly to incorporate it into your ROM? Or how did you do it?

When I find that files - I promise - you get them first.

I used Softbrenner to create that ROM.

[redbox]

Ahhh, I see now... you added your ROM manager to the existing Booster ROM. Good idea that!

Apologies for the misunderstanding on my part.

[norecess]

you added your ROM manager to the existing Booster ROM

So,.. to sum up, there are 6 versions of the ROMManager and now, you also introduced a "hack" on top of BOOSTER ROM ? Damn, I don't envy you at all


More seriously, I hope you have some kind of batch file to manage your release (cf. "DoBuild.bat") otherwise all new versions are going to be a nightmare for you to manage.

[TFM]

So,.. to sum up, there are 6 versions of the ROMManager and now, you also introduced a "hack" on top of BOOSTER ROM ? Damn, I don't envy you at all

Well, I'm a lazy person, so I keep things easy (for me at least). Without SyX help and Madrams CPCT there would be only dust ;-) And not to forget your kind words, that's motivating much :-)

More seriously, I hope you have some kind of batch file to manage your release (cf. "DoBuild.bat") otherwise all new versions are going to be a nightmare for you to manage.

Well, something more primitive, way more primitive. But I don't even need a PC for it. I can do it all with a CPC (ok, it's emulated at the moment...). However it works fine without a PC (Don't ask me for logic here, that's a philosophical point ;-) )

[norecess]

BTW - I just tested last released version, it works very well ! Sincerely, good job! You progressed. 


The only thing that I dislike is the fact that the ROM init message is shown 2 times at startup - is that normal and intended ? If yes (because of BOOSTER) then perhaps you could detect you are called a second time and then, skip the init message?


Otherwise, once again - congratulations, the ROM Manager starts to be really useful now

[redbox]

The double init is a 'feature' of the Booster ROM. I'm not sure yet if it's because of an error in the code or if it finds itself again during the walk from 31 to 1 and does it then.

[norecess]

Do you have an idea why UTOPIA's |HELP does not work anymore when using BOOSTER ?

[TFM]

The only thing that I dislike is the fact that the ROM init message is shown 2 times at startup - is that normal and intended ? If yes (because of BOOSTER) then perhaps you could detect you are called a second time and then, skip the init message?

Well, I know, that's a "feature" of the Booster part of the ROM, but it occupies RAM only once. So it's just nasty, but doesn't harm or shrink memory. It's due to technical reasons (Initialize ROMs 31, 30, 29... 3, 1, 1, 0). If I ever have time I'll care about this, but probably Redpoint will come over with some advanced code before.

The double init is a 'feature' of the Booster ROM. I'm not sure yet if it's because of an error in the code or if it finds itself again during the walk from 31 to 1 and does it then.

You're right with the latter one.

[redbox]

You're right with the latter one.

Makes sense - I'm pretty sure I've seen the routine that stops the Booster getting stuck in an infinite loop (i.e. starting all over again when it finds itself during the walk).

So this routine should be quite easy to modify so that it skips ROM position 15 (because Booster should be in this position) during the walk.  Maybe it wasn't included in this version because the author intended Booster to work in positions other than 15 as well?

I'm getting there unraveling the rest of the ROM code, but not been finding it easy.  I've isolated the main routines, but it has some funny stuff going on which copies into RAM conditionally that I haven't got the bottom of yet...

[norecess]

Actually, I tend to think I don't like this "BOOSTER" thing.


It's like a black box that everybody is afraid of ; I mean, nobody here seems to exactly understand what it does for real.


I guess it's time to really understand this piece of code or write our own implementation.

[TFM]

So this routine should be quite easy to modify so that it skips ROM position 15 (because Booster should be in this position) during the walk. Maybe it wasn't included in this version because the author intended Booster to work in positions other than 15 as well?

Well, it must scan for a position which contains the Booster ROM (better than a static number). But this would exclude modifications of the ROM (mostlikely).

So, therefore Ingo (ZAQ) decided to have to double initialisation, but the init-routine of the Booster checks if it has been already initialized, and then it just does not initialize a second time. I think this is a quite good idea. Nevertheless 2 line on the screen are wasted ;-)

Actually, I tend to think I don't like this "BOOSTER" thing.
It's like a black box that everybody is afraid of ; I mean, nobody here seems to exactly understand what it does for real.
I guess it's time to really understand this piece of code or write our own implementation.

Most demos are black boxes and people tend to like some of them :-)

The Booster works reliable since the 90ies (at least in may case) and I never had problems with it. Used it with ROM-RAM-Box, SF2 also. There were never problems. That's all I can say.

However, better solutions would be appreciated