Some thoughts and questions after a week

[GreyAreaUK]

I've had my DE10 now for almost a week, and I'm absolutely loving it. Managed to muddle through installing the 'update-all' script, got the PSX unstable core running, the Archie core came as a very pleasant surprise. All good.

I'm connecting via wireless and my experience is mixed. It mostly works, but copying large files via SMB is almost guaranteed to fail, whereas using WinSCP to copy the same file will work every time. This isn't a question or complaint, merely an observation.

I do have a question about the secondary SD card slot: my impression is that it's VERY unwise to unplug the card from the primary SD slot while the unit is running, but does the same apply to the secondary or is it safe plug/unplug at will?

Also: does anyone know if the BBC Micro core supports analogue joysticks (ie a PS4 controller)? Many games (Elite, Aviator) were far better using an analogue joystick like a Voltmace, but I'm not sure if that functionality exists yet in the current core. Suspect I've missed reading something somewhere, so my apologies if that's a silly question.

Lastly: is there a preferred shutdown procedure? Yanking the power seems...risky.

Many thanks.

[Fallon]

Lastly: is there a preferred shutdown procedure? Yanking the power seems...risky.

I just use a switch on my power socket extension Mister's PSU is plugged into.

[GreyAreaUK]

Lastly: is there a preferred shutdown procedure? Yanking the power seems...risky.

I just use a switch on my power socket extension Mister's PSU is plugged into.

I can see how that would help (less wear and tear on the socket) but is yanking the power safe from the perspective of potentially corrupting the SD card?

[pac]

Doing so for 2 years now - zero issues here with the SD card.

[GreyAreaUK]

Doing so for 2 years now - zero issues here with the SD card.

Good to know - thank you. Although I think I'll invest in a switch to avoid the wear-and-tear aspect. Might be overthinking it, but hey.

[Xbytez]

Lastly: is there a preferred shutdown procedure? Yanking the power seems...risky.

To quote Sorgelig (Project Founder and Lead Developer)

It's not like raspberry pi. MiSTer normally loads with system mounted as read-only. Some computer cores open their hard file in read-write - this is the only file opened in write mode. Usually if this computer core doesn't write constantly (which is usually the case) then even in this condition it's safe to just power off as hard file opened in sync mode (buffers are flushed immediately upon write).

For the safest option i suggest quickly (no longer than 2 seconds!) press LSHIFT+LCTRL+LALT+RALT - this will reload Menu core and it will ensure that all files are closed.

Then you can simply power off.

[GreyAreaUK]

Lastly: is there a preferred shutdown procedure? Yanking the power seems...risky.

To quote Sorgelig (Project Founder and Lead Developer)

It's not like raspberry pi. MiSTer normally loads with system mounted as read-only. Some computer cores open their hard file in read-write - this is the only file opened in write mode. Usually if this computer core doesn't write constantly (which is usually the case) then even in this condition it's safe to just power off as hard file opened in sync mode (buffers are flushed immediately upon write).

For the safest option i suggest quickly (no longer than 2 seconds!) press LSHIFT+LCTRL+LALT+RALT - this will reload Menu core and it will ensure that all files are closed.

Then you can simply power off.

That's good to know, thank you.

[pac]

Doing so for 2 years now - zero issues here with the SD card.

Good to know - thank you. Although I think I'll invest in a switch to avoid the wear-and-tear aspect. Might be overthinking it, but hey.

I do use a switchable smart power outlet to avoid putting too much stress on the cable or the plug itself too, yes.

[Chris23235]

Doing so for 2 years now - zero issues here with the SD card.

Good to know - thank you. Although I think I'll invest in a switch to avoid the wear-and-tear aspect. Might be overthinking it, but hey.

Better use a switchable power supply instead of an inline switch, because some of these cables are known to mess with the voltages:

https://www.retrorgb.com/mister-power-s ... rning.html

[GreyAreaUK]

Doing so for 2 years now - zero issues here with the SD card.

Good to know - thank you. Although I think I'll invest in a switch to avoid the wear-and-tear aspect. Might be overthinking it, but hey.

Better use a switchable power supply instead of an inline switch, because some of these cables are known to mess with the voltages:

https://www.retrorgb.com/mister-power-s ... rning.html

Wow, that's rather worrying. Thanks for the info. As I already have a perfectly good power supply from RMC I'll look into a switched bar adaptor.

[Chris23235]

I use a power socket with a built in usb power. This way I can use a barrel plug to usb cable which makes unplugging from the power socket easy.