XRoar versions with Orchestra90

[pser1]

Hi Ciaran,
I have ended with three XRoar versions installed on different directories so that
I can compare them easily when things go wrong with the last one.
For instance, using this .bat script:

Code: Select all

cd..
copy ..\XRoar\ROMs\bas14.rom bas14.rom
copy ..\XRoar\ROMs\extbas11.rom extbas11.rom
xroar -machine cocous -bas bas14.rom -extbas extbas11.rom -machine-cart mpi -mpi-load-cart 3=rsdos -mpi-load-cart 0=or90S1T0 -mpi-slot 0 -force-crc-match -tape-fast -joy-left 0,0:1:0 -kbd-translate -lp-file ..\XRoar\sortida.txt 
del *.rom

This works flawslessly with version "2015-33312" but fails with the ones that came after that.
Curiously this one was the last that worked nicely with GDB, the others depend on a random factor
to start connection or fail, most of the times do connect but not always!
The definition of the Orchestra cartridge is this:

Code: Select all

cart or90S1T0
  	cart-desc Orchestra-90CC - S1T0
  	cart-type orch90
  	cart-rom or90s1t0
  	cart-autorun

In fact I have ended up using this cart instead of the default cart och90 because the standard one
shows big differences of volume where there should be very small volume differences.
The OR90S1T0 is a re-compilation of the original ORC90 with the sound mods made by Stewart Orchard
to redirect the sound to the internal DAC.

I don't know if there is other people using XRoar with Orch90, maybe someone could tell us how does it
work for them.

cheers
pere

[sixxie]

(MPI with DOS attached)

This works flawslessly with version "2015-33312" but fails with the ones that came after that.

Ah thanks - a missed bit of code! Internally the code changed such that DOS carts are attached to a drive interface rather than handling that themselves, and this wasn't covered by the MPI cartridge attaching code. Pushed out 0.34.4 with a fix (tested to the extent that it doesn't crash any more, and individually the carts work).

In fact I have ended up using this cart instead of the default cart och90 because the standard one
shows big differences of volume where there should be very small volume differences.

Well, the Orch90 audio is mixed with the normal sound bus audio for output. To prevent clipping, I either need to provide individual gain controls or scale down the individual sources. Adding extra GUI is hard (especially cross-platform: probably pretty easy to do in GTK+), so I just cheat and drop the volume overall.

I suppose the real fix is to leave enough headroom that it doesn't matter if multiple sources are mixed together, but then "normal" audio would sound quieter by default. Maybe that would be fine though: the perceived volume is already kinda dependent on what sort of thing the Dragon is playing. Pure tones using full scale are loud, mixed n-channel music already sounds quieter... I guess maybe expect some future release to sound quieter by default

[pser1]

Hi Ciaran,
thanks a lot, I will be testing this version along the weekend!

By the way, concerning the mpi implementation, I forgot to tell you
that XRoar still doesn't set the FF7F variable the way it should ....
I start with this script:

Code: Select all

cd..
copy ..\XRoar\ROMs\bas14.rom bas14.rom
copy ..\XRoar\ROMs\extbas11.rom extbas11.rom
xroar -machine cocous -bas bas14.rom -extbas extbas11.rom -machine-cart mpi -mpi-load-cart 3=rsdos -mpi-load-cart 0=orch90 -mpi-slot 0 -force-crc-match -tape-fast -joy-left 0,0:1:0 -kbd-translate -lp-file ..\XRoar\sortida.txt 
del *.rom

And I must issue this command to start:
POKE&HFF7F,0:EXEC&HC000
XRoar still starts pointing to the dos cartridge, so preventing ORC90 autostart!
Cheers
pere

[pser1]

Hi Ciaran,
I have misunderstood your answer ... I thought you had published a new snapshot
But I see that the last one is 2016-35997 (August) so, should I expect a new one?

Thanks beforehand
pere

[pser1]

HI,
I found it at
http://www.6809.org.uk/xroar/
I was looking only at this other page:
http://www.6809.org.uk/tmp/xroar/
which still points to the 2016-35997

Thanks a lot!
cheers
pere

[sixxie]

Oh yes sorry, proper actual bugfix release, not snapshot.

[pser1]

Hello Ciaran,
I have made just a fews tests, but by now the Orchestra doesn't hang XRoar
I need to POKE &HFF7F,0 despite I tell XRoar to start bank 0 that contains
the orc90.rom. I assume this is the expected behaviour.
It works well, reading disks without problems.

I will try to start some emulations with GDB to see if they do always connect
now.

cheers
pere

[sixxie]

Ok, another point release - passes FIRQ through the MPI in the same way as other signalling. Seems to autostart orch90 for me...

[pser1]

Hi Ciaran,
great, you nailed it!
I works perfect now, the Orchestra cartridge is started automatically!
Willl make some more tests along the weekend.

cheers
pere