search

crystalct / GMagicODesk

Other
3 stars 0 forks source link

Flashing software compatibility #1

Open MalvareRJ opened 3 months ago

MalvareRJ commented 3 months ago

Dear Crystalct,

Thank you so much for working on the development of this cartridge! It looks awesome! I've ordered a few boards and the components and assembled one myself, but Im with high difficulty to find a way to flash the memory from the C64 itself? I'm mostly interested in having GMod2 and Magic Desk formats available, and have populated the board with all components, except for the eprom 93CxxA (still waiting for it to arrive in the mail). Changing the jumpers accordingly to either GMod2 or Magic Desk makes the cartridge visible and correctly identifiable to Daniël Mantione's flashing utility (please refer to his website here: https://www.freepascal.org/~daniel/gmod2/) It looks like in GMod mode the cart is correctly programed (no error messages - most of the time. Sometimes I get writting errors and the proccess stops), but I cant boot from the cart when the flassing proccess is succesfully. Already tried to change JBoot jumper and no change. Im wondering if it's possible to operate in GMod2 mode without the serial eprom? In Magic Desk mode I can't flash any cartridge, as the software will say it's unreliable and never even attempts to begin flashing. Is it possible to flash the cartridge in both modes from the C64 itself (my machine has the Aldi short board - 250469-RevA)? If so, can you, please, recommend what software to use? I cant flash it externally right now, as the flashrom is soldered to the cart board. Also, taking the opportunity, I was expecting being able to use a Hynix 8Mb FlashROM HY29F800 (have a few in my spare parts box) with a switch installed to the A18 line, to have a switchable dual 512kB cart, but the flasher from Daniël don`t recognize this chip. Any advice regarding this?

Thank you so much in advance for your help!

crystalct commented 3 months ago

To flash from c64 the card must be configured as GMod2 and the scheme is almost identical to that of D. Mantione. In any case, it would be best to mount the SMD PLCC32 socket to carry out comparative tests... writing from c64, removal of the flash and control via external reader/programmer. Serial eprom can be omitted.... Each flash of different brands have their own flash/writing algorithm. You can't expect D. Mantione's software to have all the algorithms of the known flashes in it... do you agree?

MalvareRJ commented 3 months ago

Hello,

Sorry for taking so long to provide this response. I was out of town. Thank you very much for your response! I have soldered a socket for the AM29040 flashrom, and after some tinkering I've succeeded on flashing a GMod cart image on the C64. I was using CRT files, and should be using BIN images instead. It works fine! I'm wainting an adapter for the TL866 so I can program my HY29F800 chips with custom Magic Desk Images I'm preparing. As I ordered 5 boards, I'll probably prepare 2 GMod carts and 3 "1MB" Magic Desk carts. This will be plenty of software to have fun with! Thanks again for your work on all your C64 projects, and also for your support!