idun-project / idun-cartridge

Hardware and software project for the Commodore 128.
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Idun Cartridge Testing Results for 2B and 4B #10

Closed paulhocker closed 11 months ago

paulhocker commented 12 months ago

I FINALLY got around to building my board. No issues with the build, although I was curious if the "arcade" switch was supposed to come with the kit or if I was supposed to get that myself. Not a big deal, actually.

At any rate, I did not have a Pi Zero 2 (on order, short supply) so I used a Model 4B I had spare, and a Model 2B as well. I do have a model 3B+ I will try as well.

At any rate, I had zero issues with the 2B, but the model 4 gave me all kinds of trouble. I have included 2 video links for you to view.

The first link, is me running with the Model 2B, pretty boring but of interest is that I continually kept using the C128 reset button expecting it to boot to idun. Is it supposed to, or will that only happen when using the reset button on the CART?

https://youtu.be/jbOK3jEa3vY

The next link is me using the 4B. The video shows a couple of times where running hello.app actually crashed the cartridge, and then something weird near the end I reset the cartridge and it loaded the arcade.app. I had to shutdown and reboot the cartridge to return to regular mode.

https://youtu.be/ft0YlNeRaXc

Anyway, it is not all bad, and I hope to do some more testing over the holidays.

This is a very exciting project.

paulhocker commented 12 months ago

I have done some additional testing with a 3A+ using an adapter so that I can mount it on top, versus underneath.

I find this model to be more stable than the 4B. That said, it dawned on me at some point during my testing, that for all the tests I have done so far that JiffyDOS was enabled.

I am not sure if that can cause problems or not?

On a side note -- I was looking in the docs to figure out how to break out of programs like hello.app without having to reset the entire cartridge. Is that possible?

I tried pressing run/stop, but that seems to occasionally reset the cartridge.

paulhocker commented 12 months ago

I found the docs in the base repo that state most apps can be exited using the run/stop key or pressing the c= + back arrow

neither of these work for me

using run/stop on any pi results in a crash -- c= + back arrow does nothing as well

I am testing using the hello.app

idun-project commented 12 months ago

Hi Paul. Thanks for all the feedback. A few quick thoughts before diving in deeper on any of the issues you are seeing:

idun-project commented 12 months ago

I see I shipped your kit back in mid-April. The little switch for the arcade mode was not included at that time because the feature came a few months later. The new kits have this part: https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/te-connectivity-alcoswitch-switches/1825232-1/4021554

The most mysterious of your issues is that you obviously invoked arcade mode without the switch and without modifying your idunrc configuration file. This was with the Pi 4B? It smacks of an electrical contact being made on the PCB where the switch is normally installed... acting as a "ghost switch". Something to be on the look out for if you don't install a switch.

paulhocker commented 12 months ago

See answers below:

The C128's built-in reset button will not reset the cartridge. If you are in the idun shell, then it will return you to BASIC with a fully reset machine and the cartridge "invisible". This is the same as typing the "exit" command in the shell. The "big red button" resets the cart+C128.

interesting -- at one point i was able to use the c128 reset switch and it went back idun select screen -- at any rate it looks like using the big red button is the main way to go here

I run my test machines with JiffyDOS enabled. It's not a problem.

good to know -- thanks

I'm curious to know if you have the latest v1.1.3 idun software installed.

i do -- thinking of going to the previous release to see if it is more stable with the 4B

Try holding down "STOP" for a second or two to exit the .app sample programs.

whenever i hold stop it ends up restarting the idun -- sometimes it crashes and I have to reset the whole thing -- i am planning to hook up a second monitor for the pi so that i can see what is happening and see if it is a hard crash

My own testing with the RPi 4 has been very limited so far. I've done a little bit with a 4B many months ago. I'm currently waiting on a Compute Module 4 with an adapter to test more vigorously, with an eye toward eventually releasing 64-bit (ARMv8) versions alongside the ARMv7 I'm doing now.

so are you saying I should not use it and stick with my 2b or 3a+ right now? I am fine with that.

The most mysterious of your issues is that you obviously invoked arcade mode without the switch and without modifying your idunrc configuration file. This was with the Pi 4B? It smacks of an electrical contact being made on the PCB where the switch is normally installed... acting as a "ghost switch". Something to be on the look out for if you don't install a switch.

yeah, I do not have anything near the board, but it is entirely possible that happened. I just checked the back of the board and it is clean. I will look for a switch.

Thanks.

idun-project commented 12 months ago

It seems I'm able to reproduce your issues with hello.app. It's especially problematic in 40-column mode, which is weird - but freezing during the re-launch of the shell that is suppose to happen. Anyway, it's a bug and needs fixin'. I suspect the sieve.app sample program has the same problem too.

I wouldn't / won't steer you away from using any version of the RPi you like, including the Pi 4. My earlier testing was stable with it and others have also used it without issues. You should add either a case (described in #2 ) or 15mm M2 standoffs to support the cart and Pi if you go with any B Model long-term.

paulhocker commented 12 months ago

Not that I am glad, but relieved that you can reproduce the problem so that I can rule out that my construction job was bad. I have a pie zero 2 on the way -- i like having the carts exposed, but perhaps with this one I might actually print a case. thanks.

do you want to close this or keep it open until it is fixed?

idun-project commented 12 months ago

Hi. I put in a fix for the hello.app freezing. It is commit aec4dd6. If you want to try the new binary, it is in idun-base/apps too.

I think we can close this issue. Thanks for the feedback.