DragonMMC
Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2015 10:45 am
Hi all,
I recently took delivery of the prototype boards for the DragonMMC Mk2.0, one of these has been built and tested and works correctly with the current firmware.
Currently this firmware supports :
Loading a CAS** file from the SD card as if loading from tape, though obviously it loads much quicker.
Loading a ROM file into the RAM on the card at $C000, and optionally auto-starting it, this allows cartridge images to be loaded.
Loading and saving Basic / machine code direct to files on the FAT filesystem, these are save in the same format that DragonDOS uses.
Optional SuperDOS emulation is currently partially working I need to shake out some of the bugs in this.
** CAS files have to be corectly bit / byte aligned for the patched Basic ROM to be able to read them correctly.
So is there anything else people would like adding to the firmware?
A short description of the hardware may be in order as this will help people know what it is capable of....
The cartridge currently has a Flash ROM, 32K static RAM, a CPLD programable logic chip and an AVR Microcontroller that does the interface to the SD card.
The reason for the RAM is that the logic in the CPLD can be used to disable the onboard ROM (having first copied them into the RAM), this allows patches to the ROMs to be made without having to have a whole copy of the ROM on the card. It also enables the loading of CART ROMS.
I may also be looking for a couple of people to act as testers for the interface, Ideally someone who will try using the device and give feedback on what is / is not working and help me shake out some of the bugs
Whilst we are on the Subject of DOS emulation I know there have been some fixes done to DragonDOS recently, if this is the case, have these now made DragonDOS more reliable / bugfixed than SuperDOS ?
Cheers.
Phill.
I recently took delivery of the prototype boards for the DragonMMC Mk2.0, one of these has been built and tested and works correctly with the current firmware.
Currently this firmware supports :
Loading a CAS** file from the SD card as if loading from tape, though obviously it loads much quicker.
Loading a ROM file into the RAM on the card at $C000, and optionally auto-starting it, this allows cartridge images to be loaded.
Loading and saving Basic / machine code direct to files on the FAT filesystem, these are save in the same format that DragonDOS uses.
Optional SuperDOS emulation is currently partially working I need to shake out some of the bugs in this.
** CAS files have to be corectly bit / byte aligned for the patched Basic ROM to be able to read them correctly.
So is there anything else people would like adding to the firmware?
A short description of the hardware may be in order as this will help people know what it is capable of....
The cartridge currently has a Flash ROM, 32K static RAM, a CPLD programable logic chip and an AVR Microcontroller that does the interface to the SD card.
The reason for the RAM is that the logic in the CPLD can be used to disable the onboard ROM (having first copied them into the RAM), this allows patches to the ROMs to be made without having to have a whole copy of the ROM on the card. It also enables the loading of CART ROMS.
I may also be looking for a couple of people to act as testers for the interface, Ideally someone who will try using the device and give feedback on what is / is not working and help me shake out some of the bugs
Whilst we are on the Subject of DOS emulation I know there have been some fixes done to DragonDOS recently, if this is the case, have these now made DragonDOS more reliable / bugfixed than SuperDOS ?
Cheers.
Phill.