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Post by nonefornow on Sept 29, 2021 15:47:50 GMT
AFAIK the original GeoRam from Berkeley Softworks was used only with GEOS. I am not aware of any other applications or games that can use a GeoRam. As such to use it with GEOS64 or GEOS128 you will need a new Config file and to take advantage of the battery battery backup you also need a new Re-Boot file. For the C128 there is an updated GEOS128 here. commodore.software/downloads/download/823-c128-operating-systems/15755-geos-128-v2-0r-update. This GeoRam and the GEOS128 update could make a nice set-up for anyone who is a heavy GEOS user.
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Post by eslapion on Oct 2, 2021 1:44:13 GMT
AFAIK the original GeoRam from Berkeley Softworks was used only with GEOS. I am not aware of any other applications or games that can use a GeoRam. As such to use it with GEOS64 or GEOS128 you will need a new Config file and to take advantage of the battery battery backup you also need a new Re-Boot file. For the C128 there is an updated GEOS128 here. commodore.software/downloads/download/823-c128-operating-systems/15755-geos-128-v2-0r-update. This GeoRam and the GEOS128 update could make a nice set-up for anyone who is a heavy GEOS user. Things have evolved considerably. The battery backup was requested by a number of people and I honestly did not bother to verify anything on the software side that may be required to take advantage of it. I know NeoRAM Remix has it. This is all software that can take advantage of GeoRAM or larger versions of it. members.optusnet.com.au/spacetaxi64/CBM-REU-TOOLS/GEORAM-TOOLS.htmThese are all games that can take advantage of a GeoRAM of various capacities. members.optusnet.com.au/spacetaxi64/CBM-REU-GAMES/GEORAM-GAMES.htmHowever, very few software can take advantage of a 4MB GeoRAM and one of them is GEOS MP3. Me, I'm just the hardware guy. I was told "build it and they will come" and so I do.
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Post by robertb on Oct 7, 2021 9:17:36 GMT
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Post by robertb on Oct 7, 2021 9:30:24 GMT
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Post by c128old on Oct 7, 2021 19:48:53 GMT
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Post by eslapion on Oct 8, 2021 3:44:51 GMT
AFAIK, the control registers of GeoRAM don't allow for more than 4MB so maybe you have information I could use. All these additional software are all motivation to make this thing work! To robertb : I sent you a PM on Melon64 to thank you for this additional information.
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Post by robertb on Oct 8, 2021 23:08:37 GMT
Not only are there update Configs for GEOS 64 and GEOS 128 that make use of a 4 meg GeoRAM, there are also updated Toolboxes for Wheels 64 and Wheels 128 that make use of a 4 meg GeoRAM. Truly, Robert Bernardo Fresno Commodore User Group - www.dickestel.com/fcug.htmSouthern California Commodore & Amiga Network - www.portcommodore.com/sccanNov. 6-7 Commodore Los Angeles Super Show 2021 - www.portcommodore.com/class
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Post by c128old on Oct 9, 2021 13:39:14 GMT
AFAIK, the control registers of GeoRAM don't allow for more than 4MB so maybe you have information I could use. All these additional software are all motivation to make this thing work! To robertb : I sent you a PM on Melon64 to thank you for this additional information. You are right in that GeoRAM has a default (fixed) page size of 16k.
The Ultimate-II has a GeoRAM emulation that can be set between 128k and 16M but in order for that to work beyond 4Mb, the behavior of the paging register was changed. ---
In a nutshell, GEOram is accessed via $DFFE (write only 0 to 255 16k block select) and $DFFF (block page 0 to 63 mapped to $DE00-$DEFF) The 4Mb is 256 times 16k blocks, each block of 64 pages of 256 bytes. 256 * 64 * 256 = 4194304
In a (modern, retro-)implementation you can decide to implement more than 16k per block, thus DFFE still selects up to 256 banks but these may be 32k and even 64k, allowing DFFF to select any page of that 64k from 0 to 255: 256banks * 256pages * 256bytes = 16Mb ---
Such page-size-behavior shall be configurable because if an application does not correctly map the page selection in DFFF (e.g. trashing bit6 and 7) then you'd get the wrong page. Note that if an application does that consistently then it (still) wouldn't matter (but the 16M GEOram would have holes in it). In other words, your implementation ideally must be able to disregard bits in DFFE (for smaller size) or DFFF (for 16k/32k/64k page)
I tested the CP/M bios with z64k and ultimate-ii.
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Post by eslapion on Oct 9, 2021 18:46:28 GMT
You are right in that GeoRAM has a default (fixed) page size of 16k.
The Ultimate-II has a GeoRAM emulation that can be set between 128k and 16M but in order for that to work beyond 4Mb, the behavior of the paging register was changed. ---
In a nutshell, GEOram is accessed via $DFFE (write only 0 to 255 16k block select) and $DFFF (block page 0 to 63 mapped to $DE00-$DEFF) The 4Mb is 256 times 16k blocks, each block of 64 pages of 256 bytes. 256 * 64 * 256 = 4194304
In a (modern, retro-)implementation you can decide to implement more than 16k per block, thus DFFE still selects up to 256 banks but these may be 32k and even 64k, allowing DFFF to select any page of that 64k from 0 to 255: 256banks * 256pages * 256bytes = 16Mb ---
Such page-size-behavior shall be configurable because if an application does not correctly map the page selection in DFFF (e.g. trashing bit6 and 7) then you'd get the wrong page. Note that if an application does that consistently then it (still) wouldn't matter (but the 16M GEOram would have holes in it). In other words, your implementation ideally must be able to disregard bits in DFFE (for smaller size) or DFFF (for 16k/32k/64k page)
I tested the CP/M bios with z64k and ultimate-ii.
Reading the wiki and other sites detailing the registers of GeoRAM, it seems to me you have inverted the function of $DFFE and $DFFF. See: codebase64.org/doku.php?id=base:georam_registersAt the moment, my GeoRAM clones called CleoRAM are bound by the limits of the XC9536XL which have no more than 34 I/O pins and 36 macrocells. They won't allow to control more than 4MB. Still, knowing I could eventually use a XC9572XL of 64 pins to get up to 16MB is quite interesting.
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Post by eslapion on Oct 19, 2021 3:12:46 GMT
The 2MB version just passed all tests.
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