Introducing: Dragon multi-cartridge for roms

Hardware Hacking, Programming and Game Solutions/Cheats
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Rolo
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Joined: Sun Feb 10, 2013 7:36 pm

Re: Introducing: Dragon multi-cartridge for roms

Post by Rolo »

Thanks, Alastair. Yes, the program can be started manually. I just wanted to say, that this is the only program I saw, that does not auto-start, like all of the the others.
And I noticed, many programs can be launched via "EXEC" without address! They start anyway.

I had not much time, but here is a picture of my little "multi-cartridge production line". As you can see, I ran out of components.
CIMG4931.JPG
CIMG4931.JPG (167.43 KiB) Viewed 8539 times
I still have to test the remaining rom images. And I want to try some 16k types. Not done yet.
Rink
Posts: 236
Joined: Mon Sep 05, 2011 7:01 pm

Re: Introducing: Dragon multi-cartridge for roms

Post by Rink »

Hahaha. Cool 8-)

I wish I was organised enough to build more than one thing at a time. :D
Rink
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Joined: Mon Sep 05, 2011 7:01 pm

Re: Introducing: Dragon multi-cartridge for roms

Post by Rink »

I'm sure Rolo won't mind me telling you all this, but we had a little project exchange and so I've been playing with one his multicarts this evening...

What a great bit of kit this is. 32 8k rom files on one cartridge barely any larger than a regular cart, and it works perfectly. Build quality is good - very sturdy; and I have no complaints about its ease of use - you turn the knob, insert the cart and power-up, the little displays confirms which slot you've got selected, and then an exec &hc000 loads your rom.

Some of his game choices are a little dubious but hey. ;) I'm going to get great use out of this, I can tell already.

Congratulations mate - project has turned out very well indeed.
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Rolo
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Re: Introducing: Dragon multi-cartridge for roms

Post by Rolo »

Thanks Rink :oops:
his game choices are a little dubious
Yes indeed. I'm not through, examining all available roms, so I simply put 32 "random" games on the eproms. I don't know the games, but I noticed, not all games are really, ahhmm, "great" games. I suggest, you simply reprogram the eproms someday (simply eight sequential 8k chunks per eprom).
Maybe it's the best way to adapt the multi-cart to one's personal needs and wishes.
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Rolo
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List of roms working on Dragon multi-cartridge

Post by Rolo »

Roms for use with the Dragon multi-cart and other Dragon cartridge devices
updated Aug-13-2014:

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I tested these roms on a Dragon 32 with the multi-cart. There are no special requirements for the multi-cart and these roms should work with any other cartridge device built for the Dragon computer. The "modDragon"-denoted CoCo-roms only were changed to make them compatible with the Dragon, not because of the use with multi-cart. The "modDragon-roms" can be found as attachments of several posts in the Uploads-section.

Dragon roms:
Astroblast .................. ok
Berserk ...................... ok
Cave Hunter ............... ok
Cosmic Invaders ......... ok
Cyrus Chess ............... ok
Doodle Bug ................ ok
Ghost Attack .............. ok
Meteoroids ................ ok (what's the difference of Meteoroids and Metioroids??? )
Rail Runner ................ ok
Starship Chameleon .... ok
Alldream .................... ok
Dasm Demon .............. ok
Diagnostic .................. ok (RAM test shows only @@@@@ on my computer)
DiagS21 ..................... ok (RAM address and data tests hanging)
DOS Dream ................ ok
Edit Plus .................... ok
Toolkit ....................... ok
Encoder 09.................. ok

Miscellaneous:
hdbdw3dgn.rom ............. seems to work, not confirmed yet
hdbdw4dgn.rom ............. seems to work, not confirmed yet
FlagonBird (Bosco) .......... ok (->uploads: FlagonBird thread)
Fahrfall beta3 ................. ok (->uploads (pad to 8k!))

Converted to cartridge-rom:
Chuckie Egg (16k) ........... ok
Bumpers (16k) ................ ok
Centipede (16k) .............. ok
Blockhead (8k) ................ ok

CoCo roms:
Androne ........................... ok
Art Gallery ........................ launching, but complaining about 16k RAM, which would be required(?)
Atom ................................ rom modified for Dragon, ok
Audio Spectrum Analyzer .. rom modified for Dragon, ok
Bingo Math ....................... ok
Bridge Tutor ..................... ok
Bustout (1981) .................. ok
Canyon Climber [a1] ......... ok
Castle Guard .................... rom modified for Dragon, ok
Checker King ................... ok, but bad keyboard response
Clowns & Balloons ............ rom modified for Dragon, ok
Color Backgammon .......... rom modified for Dragon, ok
Color Baseball .................. rom modified for Dragon, ok
Color Cubes ..................... ok
Color File ......................... ok
Color Logo ....................... running, but cassette routines unpatched, yet (anybody interested in logo?)
Color Scripsit ................... ok
Demolition Derby ............. ok
Diagnostics ...................... ok
Diagnostics v2.0 ............... ok
Dino Wars ........................ ok
Don-Pan .......................... ok
Downland 1.1 ................... ok
Doubleback ...................... rom modified for Dragon, ok
Dungeons of Daggorath ... ok
Facemaker ....................... ok
Football ........................... ok
Fraction Fever .................. rom modified for Dragon, ok
Galactic Attack ................. ok
Gin Champion .................. ok
Gomoku and Renju ........... ok
Handyman ....................... ok
Katerpillar ....................... rom modified for Dragon, ok
Kids on Keys ................... ok
Kindercomp .................... rom modified for Dragon, ok
Mega Bug ....................... ok
Micro Painter .................. not working, empty screen, a lot of jsr's to change ... probably nobody is interested in that program
Microbes ........................ rom modified for Dragon, ok (=Dragon Meteors)
Micro Chess .................... ok, but bad keyboard response/wrong keys
Monster Maze ................. ok
Panic Button ................... ok
Personal Finance II .......... rom modified for Dragon, ok
Polaris ............................ rom modified for Dragon, ok
Poltergeist ...................... rom modified for Dragon, ok
Popcorn .......................... rom modified for Dragon, ok
Project Nebula ................ rom modified for Dragon, ok
Quasar Commander ........ ok
Reactoid ......................... rom modified for Dragon, ok
Roman Checkers ............. rom modified for Dragon, ok
Robot Battle ................... not working
Robot Battle Color (The Programming Adventure) ... ok
Robot Battle Artefact ....... ok
Robot Battle Buff ............. ok
Robot Battle Green .......... ok
Shooting Gallery ............. rom modified for Dragon, ok
Skiing ............................. ok
Slay the Nereis ................ ok
Sound Synthesizer Extension ... running, but hardware missing (of course)
Space Assault .................. ok
Spidercide....................... ok
Star Blaze ....................... rom modified for Dragon, ok
Stellar Life Line ............... ok
Temple of ROM .............. rom modified for Dragon, ok
Tennis ........................... rom modified for Dragon, ok
Wildcatting ..................... rom modified for Dragon, ok
Video Pinball ................... ok
Videotex V1.2 ................. ok

CoCo roms 16k (tested with modified multi-cart v1.0 and with multi-cart v1.5 )
Arkanoid ....................... rom modified for Dragon, ok
Color Scripsit II ............. running, but wrong keys (keyboard matrix!)
Cyrus Chess ................. running, but wrong keys (keyboard matrix!)
Demon Attack (Imagic) .. rom modified for Dragon, ok
Doodle Bug 1 ................ ok*)
Dragon Fire ................... ok*)
Silpheed ........................ running, but wrong keys (keyboard matrix!)
Soko-Ban ...................... running, but wrong keys (keyboard matrix!)
Tetris ............................ rom modified for Dragon, ok

*) "wrong" file size: 16128 bytes. I padded with $00... to full 16k: 16384 bytes


:!: Some of the CoCo-programs have that joystick-dependent noise, since Dragon Color Basic does not, like CoCo, switch off audio, when it reads the joysticks' axis. In the meantime, I've changed most of them.
-------------------------------
:!: Many of the CoCo roms are NTSC versions. They appear black and white on PAL. Also cross-color is not working on PAL.
-------------------------------
:!: I closed the 8k-list. I modified almost all of the 2k/4k/8k Tandy rom images, where needed. Almost all programs are working. I leave some programs like painting applications, which probably nobody will ever use anymore, these days (If somebody absolutely wants to load one of those programs into the mulit-cart, I can have a look at it). I will check for new roms from time to time.
Last edited by Rolo on Fri Apr 22, 2016 5:39 pm, edited 14 times in total.
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Rolo
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Dragon multi-cartridge

Post by Rolo »

I uploaded two new patched Tandy roms and one Dragon rom. Check them out at the Upload section.
Have fun,
Rolo
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Rolo
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Dragon multi-cartridge modified for 16k-roms

Post by Rolo »

In the meantime I modified one my multi-cartridges for the use of 16k roms. This is quite easy to do. I marked the changes with red ovals on the photos below:
Dragon multi-cartridge 16kmod top
Dragon multi-cartridge 16kmod top
multicart16ktop.jpg (193.2 KiB) Viewed 8252 times
Dragon multi-cartridge 16kmod bottom
Dragon multi-cartridge 16kmod bottom
multicart16kbottom.jpg (223.8 KiB) Viewed 8252 times
One cartridge now can hold up to sixteen 16k-roms, using four 27C512 eproms. There are not many 16k-roms out there, so this is plenty!
Changes:
  • The switch is no longer needed.
    An extra address line must be connected to the cartridge port.
    The same address line must be disconnected from the multi-cart's selection circuit (notice the little drilled hole inside the IC3-socket).
    The jumpers must be set like it is shown on the photograph.
    One additional connection must be made, where the switch was (red wire).
I've already tried a few roms. They are working fine. Unfortunately there is that incompatibility of the keyboard connection of Dragon and CoCo, which is giving me headaches. Changing that in the game roms is quite some work to do and not exactly easy, but I don't want to modify my Dragon's hardware and to rearrange the "PIA lines" or make them switchable.
I appended the names of the tested 16k-roms to the big 8k-list of the other post.
All in all the experiment was a success (I just have to patch another few roms).
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