MiSTer FPGA Forum

jca wrote: ↑Fri Nov 25, 2022 3:15 pm The core tries to boot from C and says that there is no operating system but does not boot from A and I cannot figure out how to make boot from A while C is mounted.
I also tried using a HD from AO465 but it says Booting C, no .............. and stays there.

Malor wrote: ↑Fri Nov 25, 2022 9:06 pm For booting from floppy when a C drive is present, at least on real PCs, the BIOS usually needs a setting toggled. An old BIOS like that is likely to have something very primitive, like a toggle between C,A and A,C.

venice wrote: ↑Fri Nov 25, 2022 1:45 pm Hi@all,
many many thanks for all the work you do to get this core

But here the system stops, the cursor is blinking but nothing more happens.
Any Idea why? Do I miss something .

Maybe someone can explain
Note 2: It is also important to update all ROMs based on the new XTIDE BIOS, and located in the folder "..\SW\ROMs"
to me. Do I have to update some ROM files manually?

Btw, there is a second "pcxt_micro8088.rom" within the ZIP of the freedos VHD which has another checksum.

Thanks again for this Cool-Core

jordi wrote: ↑Fri Nov 25, 2022 4:44 pm Hi! I did the quickstart! I'll try soon this freedos version and I'll come back to you . I hope it's not an incompatibility with free DOS

spark2k06 wrote: ↑Sat Nov 26, 2022 4:31 am

jordi wrote: ↑Fri Nov 25, 2022 4:44 pm Hi! I did the quickstart! I'll try soon this freedos version and I'll come back to you . I hope it's not an incompatibility with free DOS

Thank you for the pull request with the necessary change in the image to fit the new memory model, it would be available to everyone:

https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/PCXT_Mi ... games/PCXT

flynnsbit wrote: ↑Sat Nov 26, 2022 5:45 am Should that image be using A000 in LTEMM or C000? I've been battling with the Tandy bios specifically all day. It seems to overwrite the high memory space on certain situations when Tandy graphics are used. even using a basic program. I should have a good image to test with tomorrow. The Tandy 1000 bios is the only one with this weird behavior.

spark2k06 wrote: ↑Sat Nov 26, 2022 5:53 am

flynnsbit wrote: ↑Sat Nov 26, 2022 5:45 am Should that image be using A000 in LTEMM or C000? I've been battling with the Tandy bios specifically all day. It seems to overwrite the high memory space on certain situations when Tandy graphics are used. even using a basic program. I should have a good image to test with tomorrow. The Tandy 1000 bios is the only one with this weird behavior.

In the new release I have avoided the use of the A000 segment for EMS, because it is a memory area used by EGA/VGA, and some games can write there just to verify its existence... that's why now from the OSD, you can only select C000, D000 or E000 for EMS memory (this last one better avoid it because we will normally use it for XTIDE), and on the other hand, I leave the option to use A000 as UMB memory or disable it to avoid false EGA/VGA detection and data corruption due to overwriting.

In this case it is not a Tandy problem, from A000 onwards Tandy should not come into play at all.

flynnsbit wrote: ↑Sat Nov 26, 2022 6:30 am

spark2k06 wrote: ↑Sat Nov 26, 2022 5:53 am

flynnsbit wrote: ↑Sat Nov 26, 2022 5:45 am Should that image be using A000 in LTEMM or C000? I've been battling with the Tandy bios specifically all day. It seems to overwrite the high memory space on certain situations when Tandy graphics are used. even using a basic program. I should have a good image to test with tomorrow. The Tandy 1000 bios is the only one with this weird behavior.

In the new release I have avoided the use of the A000 segment for EMS, because it is a memory area used by EGA/VGA, and some games can write there just to verify its existence... that's why now from the OSD, you can only select C000, D000 or E000 for EMS memory (this last one better avoid it because we will normally use it for XTIDE), and on the other hand, I leave the option to use A000 as UMB memory or disable it to avoid false EGA/VGA detection and data corruption due to overwriting.

In this case it is not a Tandy problem, from A000 onwards Tandy should not come into play at all.

makes sense. I just wanted you to be aware that it was set to A000 in the VHD in the repo.

spark2k06 wrote: ↑Sat Nov 26, 2022 7:23 am

flynnsbit wrote: ↑Sat Nov 26, 2022 6:30 am

spark2k06 wrote: ↑Sat Nov 26, 2022 5:53 am

In the new release I have avoided the use of the A000 segment for EMS, because it is a memory area used by EGA/VGA, and some games can write there just to verify its existence... that's why now from the OSD, you can only select C000, D000 or E000 for EMS memory (this last one better avoid it because we will normally use it for XTIDE), and on the other hand, I leave the option to use A000 as UMB memory or disable it to avoid false EGA/VGA detection and data corruption due to overwriting.

In this case it is not a Tandy problem, from A000 onwards Tandy should not come into play at all.

makes sense. I just wanted you to be aware that it was set to A000 in the VHD in the repo.

Looks like @jordi forgot to update that, thanks for the warning... I've already changed it:

https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/PCXT_Mi ... games/PCXT

arromdee wrote: ↑Sat Nov 26, 2022 9:32 am What do I need to do to get ctmouse to work?

My config.sys is based on one from this thread:

Code: Select all

FILES=40
BUFFERS = 30
DOS = HIGH, UMB
DEVICE=C:\USE!UMBS.SYS A000-B000 D000-EC00
DEVICE=C:\DOSMAX\DOSMAX.EXE /R+ /N+ /P-
DEVICEHIGH=C:\LTEMM.EXE /p:C000 /x
DEVICEHIGH=C:\FREEDOS\NANSI.SYS
SHELL=C:\DOSMAX\SHELLMAX.COM C:\COMMAND.COM C:\ /E:256 /P

All the programs mentioned in the config.sys exist in the directories shown.

Autoexec.bat only sets a prompt. I am using Tandy, Lo-Tech 2MB EMS Enabled, EMS Frame:C000, A000 UMB: Enabled. MS-DOS 6.22. If I execute ctmouse from the command line (with or without LH), it runs but I get a lockup when I try to use edit or msd. If I use the MSDOS mouse driver, these work and the mouse functions. The ctmouse.exe is from freedos 1.3 and works with ao486 (although the mouse in that is emulated as PS/2, it's serial here).

jca wrote: ↑Sat Nov 26, 2022 2:03 pm ...
After seeing your post I tried with pcxt.rom which is 64K, I have no idea what is ide_xtl.rom so I did not do anything with it and I used the latest vhd image. It boots.
I don't really know what I am doing with these roms and what they are. I attach the 2 roms which are now missing from the hdd image zip.
At least you will be able to boot FreeDos. Use at your own risk

spark2k06 wrote: ↑Sat Nov 26, 2022 9:39 am If the MSDos mouse driver works better than ctmouse, definitely use that one...we'll keep it in mind to recommend it in the README in that case.

arromdee wrote: ↑Sun Nov 27, 2022 6:46 am

spark2k06 wrote: ↑Sat Nov 26, 2022 9:39 am If the MSDos mouse driver works better than ctmouse, definitely use that one...we'll keep it in mind to recommend it in the README in that case.

It turns out that ctmouse 1.9.1 and 2.0 alpha 4 work. It's the 2.1 beta 4 specifically which doesn't work.

I tested the new core, the newest official release. Had to update the MiSTer Main and the ROMs as well, but then it worked. It could not find the HDDs before I replaced the XTide bios. I got mouse and RAM working, ran Monkey Island with Tandy graphics, mouse and adlib audio.

I tried some other games as well, that did not work before, but none of those had begun working it seems. Still, it runs much better now. I changed the memory setup. I have not experienced it crashing, so I guess it works. I did have some trouble finding \ on the keyboard. Would probably help if I just used a full EU keyboard, this one is a small keyboard with the keypad hidden in FN keys like on a laptop and it seems to be a US keyboard, but not sure.

Its not a key that is used in games anyway, and I got around it by using copy paste in the editors.

Caldor wrote: ↑Thu Dec 01, 2022 8:12 am

I tested the new core, the newest official release. Had to update the MiSTer Main and the ROMs as well, but then it worked. It could not find the HDDs before I replaced the XTide bios. I got mouse and RAM working, ran Monkey Island with Tandy graphics, mouse and adlib audio.

I tried some other games as well, that did not work before, but none of those had begun working it seems. Still, it runs much better now. I changed the memory setup. I have not experienced it crashing, so I guess it works. I did have some trouble finding \ on the keyboard. Would probably help if I just used a full EU keyboard, this one is a small keyboard with the keypad hidden in FN keys like on a laptop and it seems to be a US keyboard, but not sure.

Its not a key that is used in games anyway, and I got around it by using copy paste in the editors.

Non working games are reported?

jordi wrote: ↑Thu Dec 01, 2022 8:48 am

Caldor wrote: ↑Thu Dec 01, 2022 8:12 am

I tested the new core, the newest official release. Had to update the MiSTer Main and the ROMs as well, but then it worked. It could not find the HDDs before I replaced the XTide bios. I got mouse and RAM working, ran Monkey Island with Tandy graphics, mouse and adlib audio.

I tried some other games as well, that did not work before, but none of those had begun working it seems. Still, it runs much better now. I changed the memory setup. I have not experienced it crashing, so I guess it works. I did have some trouble finding \ on the keyboard. Would probably help if I just used a full EU keyboard, this one is a small keyboard with the keypad hidden in FN keys like on a laptop and it seems to be a US keyboard, but not sure.

Its not a key that is used in games anyway, and I got around it by using copy paste in the editors.

Non working games are reported?

No, because I am not sure they are supposed to work on a PCXT computer in the first place. It was Adventures of Robin Hood and Shadoworld.

Caldor wrote: ↑Thu Dec 01, 2022 9:42 am

No, because I am not sure they are supposed to work on a PCXT computer in the first place. It was Adventures of Robin Hood and Shadoworld.

If you don't have a real PCXT, you can always use an emulator like PCem or 86Box, using the same configuration and HD image

spark2k06 wrote: ↑Thu Dec 01, 2022 10:33 am

Caldor wrote: ↑Thu Dec 01, 2022 9:42 am

No, because I am not sure they are supposed to work on a PCXT computer in the first place. It was Adventures of Robin Hood and Shadoworld.

If you don't have a real PCXT, you can always use an emulator like PCem or 86Box, using the same configuration and HD image

I am not sure the exact same image can run in PCem? I already did make a setup. I plan on trying to do that comparison when I have a few more games to test.