Physical Carts not loading

[LoudScotsBloke]

I can confirm that my .ROM files are now working from the SD card... however.... the physical cartridge versions when plugged in, only display a gray blank screen. I have tried the original Mattel carts and they seem fine, however Aquariworm, BCII (standard), BCII (enhanced) and indeed Turmoil, do not load and just display a gray screen. Currently running V0.23

[RevCurtisP]

Updated cartridge start code to fix suspected issue. aquarius_rom_v0_20a.zip

[LoudScotsBloke]

Updated cartridge start code to fix suspected issue. aquarius_rom_v0_20a.zip

How do I update just BASIC to this version?

[RevCurtisP]

At the command line, in the directory the updated rom is in, issue command curl --data-binary aquarius.rom http://aqplus/sysrom

Do this after the cartridge is inserted and the Aq+ turned on, as the ROM reverts to default when the Aq+ is powered off and on.

[RevCurtisP]

v0.20a is crashing the system, use v0.20b instead aquarius_rom_v0_20b.zip

[LoudScotsBloke]

20b didnt work. Filled the screen with 9s... see screen shot..

[fvdhoef]

What does your cartridge have inside? Is it only a 16KB EPROM or is there anything else? The Aquarius+ runs a cartridge by decrypting it and storing it in a RAM bank. So the cartridge isn't used after this.

[LoudScotsBloke]

What does your cartridge have inside? Is it only a 16KB EPROM or is there anything else? The Aquarius+ runs a cartridge by decrypting it and storing it in a RAM bank. So the cartridge isn't used after this.

Just an EPROM (m27c128a)

[rickyelqasem]

That cart is a 5-way dip switch; however, only switches 4-5 are used in aqua. 4 sets the address map to C000 which is where carts are mapped to and switch 5 sets whether the chips is 16KB or 32KB and in this case its 16KB

[RevCurtisP]

Diagnostic tools and instructions: memdump.zip

• Copy memdump.bas to the Aquarius+ SD card.
• Turn on Aquarius+ with the cartridge inserted,
• After corrupted screen appears, send sysrom file to Aquarius+ using command curl --data-binary aquarius.rom http://aqplus/sysrom
• The Aquarius+ should reboot to the BASIC start screen. Press enter to enter the BASIC interpeter.
• Run memdump.bas from the BASIC prompt.
• Copy pageXX.bin files from SD card into zip file and upload to this issue,

[LoudScotsBloke]

Only just seen this, so sorry for the delay (thanks to Ricky for pointing it out!). I'll do the above and let you know when it's done.

[LoudScotsBloke]

Sorry, but the Aquarius crashed on reboot after the ROM upload.

[rickyelqasem]

I can confirm the carts Roy is having trouble with are working with my AQ+ but I'm running older firmware and never got around to updating plusBasic.

[RevCurtisP]

Ricky, what version are you running on your Aq+?

On Fri, Jan 12, 2024, 2:47 AM rickyelqasem @.***> wrote:

I can confirm the carts Roy is having trouble with are working with my AQ+ but I'm running older firmware and never got around to updating plusBasic.

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/fvdhoef/aquarius-plus/issues/65#issuecomment-1888581043, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ABXJAGLNLTYTPBJZJSZL4MDYODTAJAVCNFSM6AAAAABAYUL7TOVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMYTQOBYGU4DCMBUGM . You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: @.***>

[rickyelqasem]

[RevCurtisP]

Sorry, but the Aquarius crashed on reboot after the ROM upload.

Now that's a puzzler.

[LoudScotsBloke]

Thanks to @rickyelqasem for trying my cart on an earlier version of the OS and pB. I downgraded to the same version as Ricky and my carts WORKED. I started upgrading one version at a time.... until...

The cart crashing starts at OS V0.21 pB V0.18

[LoudScotsBloke]

Any update on this guys?

[fvdhoef]

I am currently working on a new booting structure. This will 'soft'-load the system rom from the esp: filesystem. The main reason for this is that we no longer have to resynthesize the FPGA everytime the system ROM updates, but a second advantage is that I have implemented that physical cartridges no longer use plusBASIC as system ROM, but use the original S2 ROM instead. This will give maximum compatibility. This will be released in the coming weeks.

[LoudScotsBloke]

Sorry guys, but I have upgraded to the latest OS and pB, and it has made NO difference at all. If I insert the cart and power on, all I get is a blank gray screen.

[LoudScotsBloke]

Any update on this guy's??