STorm ST/Cloudy decoder with RTC...

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Darklord
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Re: STorm ST/Cloudy decoder with RTC...

Post by Darklord »

Okay, I've been instructed by Matthias to remove the original TOS v1.4 ROMS from
my Mega ST4. Apparently, you are supposed to do that but somehow, someway,
I missed that in the instructions.

I can't get to that right now but I'll report the results back here when I do.

I'm betting you pulled the TOS 1.4 ROMs from your STacy as part of your upgrade
process?

Thanks.
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derkom
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Re: STorm ST/Cloudy decoder with RTC...

Post by derkom »

Darklord wrote: Mon Jun 28, 2021 9:47 pm Okay, I've been instructed by Matthias to remove the original TOS v1.4 ROMS from
my Mega ST4. [...] I'm betting you pulled the TOS 1.4 ROMs from your STacy as part of your upgrade
process?
Yes and no, actually. :) I initially did pull the ROMs, but then during various parts of my testing and moving hardware about, I accidentally discovered that the system would boot the Cloudy ROM if it's present and the original ROM if it's not, so for a while I did actually leave the original ROMs installed, just to make testing simpler. I didn't notice any problems resulting from this, but admittedly didn't test software operation a whole lot, since I was working primarily on getting the hardware working.

Once I got to the point of knowing that the Cloudy wasn't coming back out, I did pull the original ROM for good.
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Darklord
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Re: STorm ST/Cloudy decoder with RTC...

Post by Darklord »

I've still got to try this but the STorm ST crowd are now leaning towards
the AdSpeed accelerator being incompatible.

Apparently, I'm the only person in the whole Atari universe trying to use
an AdSpeed with a STorm ST board. :(
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Darklord
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Re: STorm ST/Cloudy decoder with RTC...

Post by Darklord »

Okay, I didn't have to remove the original TOS v1.04 ROMs.

I had to go through and set the flags on various ACC's and
AUTO folder programs to get them all to co-operate together.

I'm talking about the <fastload, TT-RAM, TT-PRG> flags.

I also had to remove EXTENDOS.PRG from the AUTO folder,
set its flags, and then auto-start it from the TOS v2.06
desktop using the install application option.

Finally, after all of that, I think I've finally got things
working together. I'm going to watch it for a few days
and see...

In case anyone is wondering what the problem I was
having was...well, it's a real head-scratcher. Never seen
anything like it before. I could do file copies up to around
20-25k. Anything larger than that resulted in a 5-9 bomb
hard crash. Disabling some of my ACC's and AUTO folder
programs increased that size, but then the strangeness
continued - the slot where Xcontrol sits would simply
disappear or have scrambled characters there. Clicking
on it in this state resulted in another hard crash. Ugh.

It's all good now though, apparently. :)

Just wanted to thank Matthias and Cziets for all their
help - they have been extremely helpful and supportive
through all of this.

Thanks guys! :)
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derkom
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Re: STorm ST/Cloudy decoder with RTC...

Post by derkom »

Glad you got that sorted. I got back home as planned, but hadn't yet gotten a chance to power up the Stacy. Too much catching up on real life to have any tinkering time yet. :)
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Darklord
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Re: STorm ST/Cloudy decoder with RTC...

Post by Darklord »

Yeah, this was a real puzzler for me (and Matthias) for a while.

If I hadn't got the AUTO folder programs and ACC's/CPX's issue
sorted out with the the flag settings, I was going to pull the
AdSpeed next, to see if that was it. If not, I was going to
pull the STorm ST and put in another one I bought (that I'm
planning on using with my STacy the next time I have it
apart), just to rule that out.

I never seriously thought it was the STorm ST though, because
I had EmuTOS flashed in the 2nd position on the Cloudy decoder
card and booting up from it resulted in the problem going away.

I just don't like the EmuTOS desktop as much as TOS v2.06. :)

Another really odd thing about those file copy crashes...the
file copy actually went through. The origin file would wind up
at its destination intact - the crash was happening immediately
after!

Tell me that's not weird... :)
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czietz
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Re: STorm ST/Cloudy decoder with RTC...

Post by czietz »

Darklord wrote: Sat Jul 03, 2021 4:23 pm I just don't like the EmuTOS desktop as much as TOS v2.06. :)
Out of curiosity: Why?
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Darklord
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Re: STorm ST/Cloudy decoder with RTC...

Post by Darklord »

czietz wrote: Sat Jul 03, 2021 4:33 pm
Darklord wrote: Sat Jul 03, 2021 4:23 pm I just don't like the EmuTOS desktop as much as TOS v2.06. :)
Out of curiosity: Why?
I like the appearance of TOS v2.06 better and I just love those
keyboard shortcuts.

EmuTOS seems to have taken the NeoDesk approach to keyboard
shortcuts. <some key first> followed by a <second key>. Nothing
wrong with that, but I'm used to creating a folder just by pushing
"F". Or selecting everything by hitting "E", or closing the top open
window by hitting "C"... See what I mean? :)

Don't get me wrong, I think EmuTOS is just awesome and since
it's still being seriously developed and supported, I can see it
becoming the de-facto standard (or close, anyway). It's obvious
that "under the hood", EmuTOS has a lot more going for it. I
just wish there was an option to set the TOS v2.06 desktop
on top of it...

I know a lot of very talented people work on it and I think
they are great. Can't compliment them enough. :)
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