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 Post subject: Re: Mr. Do - Differences in 1MBit vs 8MBit?
PostPosted: Sun Nov 06, 2005 1:01 am 

Joined: Sun Aug 31, 2003 9:50 am
Posts: 52
Location: Lansing MI
Is there a difference between how the 1 MB and 8 MB carts hold and run data?

Okay, here's the thing...

I tried to make an 8MBit multicart with the version of Mr. Do I found on the Atarimax site. It shows "-altptr required" so here are the switches I used:
-8mb -exepacker -cheese -altptr -flasher -cart

the file won't run on either the 800 or XEGS, but the .bin file runs in the emulator.

Next, I ran a 1MBit cart with Mr. Do and a few other random games, with the same switches except for -8mb, of course.

This one runs on the 800, XEGS and emulator.

Why do you suppose this happened? Can Mr. Do be made to run on an 8MBit?

Thanks,
Smeg


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PostPosted: Sun Nov 06, 2005 2:21 am 
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Joined: Tue Aug 05, 2003 9:55 am
Posts: 1042
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Youre not the first person to point this out to me and it foiled me last time I tried to figure it out.

I even went as far as to rebuild the entire Mr. Do EXE file, write a new loader, etc, but it still freaks out.

I checked it at one point to see if it was somehow triggering the bank switching logic on the cartridge, but in the emulator it never exibits any strange behavior.

Steve


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PostPosted: Sun Nov 06, 2005 8:53 pm 
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Joined: Tue Aug 05, 2003 9:55 am
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Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Another interesting bit about the Mr. Do EXE file is that it installs a small bit of code at $100.

As far as I can tell this code is never called, but if its missing, the game will malfunction as soon as you try to drop an apple.


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PostPosted: Mon Nov 07, 2005 8:01 pm 
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Joined: Tue Aug 05, 2003 9:55 am
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Location: Cleveland, Ohio
I looked at this some more last night.

Here is the rebuilt mr. do file I'm using:

Checking segments in T:\test\Mr. Do (FLAT).exe

Header marker 0xFFFF at 0x0000
Valid segment [0x0009 - 0x0009] at 0x0002
Valid segment [0x0244 - 0x0244] at 0x0007
Valid segment [0x0100 - 0x0114] at 0x000C
Valid segment [0x0700 - 0x3FFF] at 0x0025
Valid segment [0x4800 - 0x4AFF] at 0x3929
Valid segment [0x5B00 - 0xB97F] at 0x3C2D
Valid segment [0x02E0 - 0x02E1] at 0x9AB1
Segment sets RUN address of 0x0700

It appears the the actual loading process is locking up when it tries to load the 5b00-b97F segment, but only on real hardware.

When loading from the emulator the code works perfectly. :x

I'm still not sure whats causing the bug, but I figured I would share in case someone else has seen this. More eyes could probably help since I dont see anything actually wrong with the loader. :D


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PostPosted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 2:41 pm 
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Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Looks like there is a oversight in the unpacker code that exposes a bug in Atari800Win.

I'm going to update my Atari800Win sources to take this behavior of the real Atari into account and once the bug is fixed I will post a new kit.

Steve


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 5:46 pm 
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Location: Cleveland, Ohio
This should be fixed with the new kit. Try using -altptr3 if you use the exe labelled (FLAT).

I'm also attaching a newly packed version that should load without any -altptr setting.

Steve


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Nov 10, 2005 10:21 pm 

Joined: Sun Aug 31, 2003 9:50 am
Posts: 52
Location: Lansing MI
Steve,

I really appreciate the effort put forth! I'm going to try the new Maxflash as well as this file and I'll let you know how it works.

But first... I must continue to celebrate my impending birthday (11/11), which is why I've had no time to check any of this out sooner. Maybe I'll have time Saturday, but probably Sunday or next week.

Again, thanks!

Randy


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