MiSTer FPGA Forum

Caldor wrote: ↑Thu Sep 08, 2022 6:33 pm A game I have been having trouble with is Castle Master on the PCXT core. I have tried with several different settings. Without EMS or high memory, with EMS and high memory, with PCXT, with Tandy 1000, with Tandy graphics and with CGA graphics.

But Castle Master always freezes on the first screen. I tried using Putty to remove into the MiSTer, kill the MiSTer process and start it in the Putty console so I could try to debug it, but there are no errors thrown on the MiSTer Main side when the game freezes.

But when I try it on 86Box running as a PCXT, it seems to have no problem getting into the game.

Maybe I should try to see if this is a problem for all the Freescape games.

Caldor wrote: ↑Fri Sep 09, 2022 10:56 pm I still encounter that Tandy games remember the graphics from the last Tandy game you played if you play more than one, but with the latest version of the core, its usually just an image that lingers for a few seconds and then the graphics of the new game replaces them.

Caldor wrote: ↑Fri Sep 09, 2022 10:56 pm There is still also a problem with lines going through all Ascii. Its most noticeable when running Norton Commander or Volkov commander... I am guessing anything with Ascii graphics that changes the color of the full... char I guess it must be, so its not black, will have a black line at the bottom I am thinking it is. Because you see one line going through each char when looking at Volkov Commander or Norton Commander. Another example is Time Bandit where the boot sequence has some ascii graphics and even some animation done with ascii characters. But with Tandy mode enabled there are lines through everything. I guess it might be a problem with a part of the core that is 3rd party and might a problem to fix, but I am reporting it either way in case it might help.

https://www.dosdays.co.uk/computers/Tan ... dy1000.php

The Tandy 1000 can switch between 80-column text mode and 40-column text mode by simply pressing the F12 key. The default 80-column text mode on the Tandy annoyingly uses 225 lines. IBM uses a 200 line text mode. All graphics modes in these machines use 200 lines. In order to get a proper aspect ratio with the graphics modes, the monitor's vertical size control has to be set almost to the point where the graphics are almost hidden by the monitor bezel. When you return to the text mode, this winds up cutting off either the top, bottom or both lines of the display. Use Tandy MS-DOS 3.2 mode.com command: mode 200, to fix this. This does not work in the TL machines.

Swainy wrote: ↑Sun Sep 11, 2022 6:08 pm Ok, someone has been very kind and sent me scripts that made the roms up for me.

I’ve currently got it set like this in my PCXT games folder:


However, after the splash screen I get the following message:

640 KB OK
601
ERROR. (RESUME = “F1” KEY)

How do I stop getting this error?

Thanks!

Swainy wrote: ↑Sun Sep 11, 2022 6:08 pm Ok, someone has been very kind and sent me scripts that made the roms up for me.

I’ve currently got it set like this in my PCXT games folder:

However, after the splash screen I get the following message:

640 KB OK
601
ERROR. (RESUME = “F1” KEY)

How do I stop getting this error?

Thanks!

kitune-san wrote:

spark2k06 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 12, 2022 9:31 am I have made two updates, but I have not been able to get them to work properly... I have created two branches with what has been implemented so far:

1. Upgrade of the UART module, from 16550 to 16750, available in OpenCores.org:

https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/PCXT_Mi ... -uart16750

I have instantiated the module in the same way as the 16550 we are using so far, but it does not recognise the HDD images... with this new module I was hoping that the problems regarding access to them would improve, especially at the maximum speed of the UART (921.6Kbps).

2. Mouse support over the COM2 port, based on the great work Antonio has done with the PS/2 to Serial wrapper he has developed:

https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/PCXT_Mi ... com2-mouse

For now, I am using a 1.844262 MHz clock via PLL for clk_uart for both ports, so that it is compatible with the 1200 baudrate required by the serial port. So, the disk image must be set to 115.2Kbps for it to be recognised.

The serial port is working correctly, the problem here seems to be the handling of the PS/2 signal coming from the MiSTer mouse emulator:

mouse_com2.jpg

Although mouse events are detected and generated, the results are not correct because it performs random movements and records mouse button presses when they are not actually taking place.

kitune-san wrote:

@kitune-san, maybe you could give us a clue on this, I would appreciate it... I am stuck on these points.

Bas wrote: ↑Mon Sep 12, 2022 4:30 pm Completely unrelated question. How does the OS that runs inside the core determine the CHS-layout of the hard drive image that's attached to it?

Caldor wrote: ↑Mon Sep 12, 2022 5:26 pm Any news about a PCXT specific forum?

Xbytez wrote:
Yes this is possible in the next couple of days I will create a new forum section for the core.

Thanks

Xbytez

spark2k06 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 12, 2022 5:44 pm Let's give him time to create a specific forum

I have instantiated the module in the same way as the 16550 we are using so far, but it does not recognise the HDD images... with this new module I was hoping that the problems regarding access to them would improve, especially at the maximum speed of the UART (921.6Kbps).

MicroCoreLabs wrote: ↑Tue Sep 13, 2022 3:09 am Was there any progress on the UART flow control signals? They may be needed to reliably run at higher bit-rates.

Can I ask which direction the errors are most seen? From the HPS to the core or the other way?

Maybe increasing the size of the UART RX FIFOs may make a significant difference?

state.c_cflag |= CRTSCTS | CLOCAL;

spark2k06 wrote: ↑Tue Sep 13, 2022 4:16 am However, I will try to see if I can increase the size of the FIFO queue. The ultimate goal is to see if we can make the 921.6Kbps speed more reliable, because at 460.8Kbps it generally works very well.

I'm not sure, but I think the errors occur from the HPS to the core, because they are usually image reading errors. So yes, maybe increasing the FIFO queue will improve the issue.

breiztiger wrote: ↑Mon Sep 12, 2022 5:41 pm Here isn’t already pcxt specific ?

riblad_om wrote: ↑Thu Sep 15, 2022 1:38 am The TL/2 was my first PC as a child, how close is this core to that in terms of graphics and sound? From reading comments my guess is that later 1000s had sound chips that this core doesn't implement yet, but I'm not sure.

spark2k06 wrote: ↑Thu Sep 15, 2022 6:38 am

riblad_om wrote: ↑Thu Sep 15, 2022 1:38 am The TL/2 was my first PC as a child, how close is this core to that in terms of graphics and sound? From reading comments my guess is that later 1000s had sound chips that this core doesn't implement yet, but I'm not sure.

In terms of sound, it has an SN76489AN Compatible Implementation (Tandy Sound), and Adlib is also available through the JTOPL2 module.

On the graphics side, only the 640x200x4 and 160x200x16 modes are missing. In Tandy, these are less used modes than 320x200x16, which is available.

spark2k06 wrote: ↑Thu Sep 15, 2022 6:38 am

riblad_om wrote: ↑Thu Sep 15, 2022 1:38 am The TL/2 was my first PC as a child, how close is this core to that in terms of graphics and sound? From reading comments my guess is that later 1000s had sound chips that this core doesn't implement yet, but I'm not sure.

In terms of sound, it has an SN76489AN Compatible Implementation (Tandy Sound), and Adlib is also available through the JTOPL2 module.

riblad_om wrote: ↑Thu Sep 15, 2022 2:59 pm I apologize, I'm ignorant on sound chip names. I found a video of the Space Quest III intro playing on a TL/2, and the sound is the same except the digitized samples are missing. I'm guessing I will have to wait if/until later sound chip revisions are supported by the core?

suww37 wrote: ↑Sun Jul 24, 2022 1:42 pm Is there any solution for bending the top row of the screen in the 15khz sony pvm monitor? I can't use any method. It's no use adjusting the mister.ini settings. Does anyone know why this screen is coming out?