ADFFS 2.34 beta

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JonAbbott
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Re: ADFFS 2.34 beta

Post by JonAbbott »

Rockhawk wrote:I've just been trying PACMANIA on a Raspberry Pi and get the same error as Vanfanel: abort on data transfer
Could you please confirm:

1. SparkFS is loaded
2. You're using "Boot floppy" to run the game
3. If your monitor type is set to Auto in Configuration/Screen (I'm not sure if a bug in Configuration/Screen has been fixed yet, hence the requirement for it to be set to Auto)
4. If Configuration\CPU is set to ARMv5 compatibility mode
5. You're using the Pac-mania floppy image from this site and downloaded it in binary mode

I've just upgraded my dev Pi to the 31-01-14 beta and confirmed Pac-mania is working correctly. If you could tell me the specific details of the Abort, that would be useful.
steve3000
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Re: ADFFS 2.34 beta

Post by steve3000 »

JonAbbott wrote:Today's Pi RISC OS beta (31-01-14) finally resolves the sound randomly cutting out.

I've not had a chance to personally check, but have had a few eMail today confirming it has definitely fixed the problem. A big thanks to Jeffrey Lee for tracking that bug down.
That *is* great news! :D

I'll be checking this tomorrow.

Big thanks to Jeffrey.
Rockhawk
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Re: ADFFS 2.34 beta

Post by Rockhawk »

JonAbbott wrote: Could you please confirm:

1. SparkFS is loaded
2. You're using "Boot floppy" to run the game
3. If your monitor type is set to Auto in Configuration/Screen (I'm not sure if a bug in Configuration/Screen has been fixed yet, hence the requirement for it to be set to Auto)
4. If Configuration\CPU is set to ARMv5 compatibility mode
5. You're using the Pac-mania floppy image from this site and downloaded it in binary mode

I've just upgraded my dev Pi to the 31-01-14 beta and confirmed Pac-mania is working correctly. If you could tell me the specific details of the Abort, that would be useful.
Thanks for your help - it's now working!

I'm not exactly sure what fixed it - either fixing up my !Boot folder (I noticed I didn't have a CPU item in configuration, because I'd just replace the !Boot folder with the one from the latest image instead of merging it into the original one), or setting the screen mode to Auto. Probably both helped :)
JonAbbott
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Re: ADFFS 2.34 beta

Post by JonAbbott »

Rockhawk wrote:Thanks for your help - it's now working!

I'm not exactly sure what fixed it - either fixing up my !Boot folder (I noticed I didn't have a CPU item in configuration, because I'd just replace the !Boot folder with the one from the latest image instead of merging it into the original one), or setting the screen mode to Auto. Probably both helped :)
Thanks for confirming, I was beginning to worry there was a wider issue going on as the only reports I've had are all concerning Aborts when trying to run the game. It would be nice to see at least a few people reporting it's working for them.

I'll look at adding a check for the CPU mode and get it to report an error when trying to boot a game. That should cover that issue. I suppose it could even force the CPU into the correct faulting mode.

Regards the "screen set to Auto" issue, it will get resolved in RO5.22 as it stems from a bug that was highlighted in Configuration\Screen when GraphicsV was updated in Dec. I don't think changes to !Boot are documented, so it's not clear at this stage if/when it was fixed - I'm fairly certain it was fixed in the beta !Boot when it was discovered.
Vanfanel
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Re: ADFFS 2.34 beta

Post by Vanfanel »

PAC-MANIA is working here, too! This is what I had to do:
-Re-install the 07-2013 Risc OS version to SD
-Replace the boot partition contents with the latest versions
-Replace the !Boot text file inside !Boot with the one from the latest Hardisc4

IF I replacen the whole !Boot folder, Risc OS would boot in a non-compatible mode and PacMania wouldn't work.

HOWEVER, I still get micro-stutter in graphics: the CheckVsync Jon sent me reports 50, 50, 50... but still my monitor is NOT in 50Hz mode, as it still reports 60Hz.
Of course, I added the IGNORE_EDID and the HDMI group and mode lines in the config.txt file, choosing group 1 mode 19.
I use this group and mode in Linux with no problems at all (for perfectly smooth PAL Atari 800 emulation), and in Linux I get ACTUAL 50Hz mode... There's something Risc OS isn't still doing well regarding 50Hz video mode. But I'm sure Jon and the Risc OS team will fix it :D
JonAbbott
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Re: ADFFS 2.34 beta

Post by JonAbbott »

Vanfanel wrote:If I replace the whole !Boot folder, Risc OS would boot in a non-compatible mode and PacMania wouldn't work.
Glad you got Pac-mania working.

I checked the beta !Boot earlier today and the CPU configure utility has been removed, I'm not sure if that is simply an oversight or if they're intending to force ARMv7 mode in RISC OS.

Regards your monitor reporting 60Hz - will your monitor run at 50Hz? It obviously accepts a 50Hz feed, but may be converting it to 60Hz for display. Quite a few modern LCD monitors only support 60Hz internally as that's the accepted norm on PC's. HDMI to a PAL TV might get you 50Hz - if you have one you can try.

You could also try a 100Hz resolution on the Pi, if your LCD will go that high.
JonAbbott
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Re: ADFFS 2.34 beta

Post by JonAbbott »

Moved to this thread.
Vanfanel
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Re: ADFFS 2.34 beta

Post by Vanfanel »

Tested the PAL SDTV mode 2. It works fine, and it produces a 50Hz picture (reported by my monitor).
This monitor is also used for Minimig and Amiga 1200, where PAL demos and games are totally smooth, using the same RCA connector.

However, PacMania still shows "jumps" every 1-2 seconds. It's PHYSICALLY in 50Hz mode, Jon, I'm sure of that.
PAL isn't exactly 50.0000Hz, so maybe the game's refresh isn't phisically synced to the vsync. Weren't you generating you own fake vysnc signal inside ADFFS or something? Maybe there's a small discrepancy between the internal ADFFS vsync interrupt and the real Rpi vsync interrupt.
JonAbbott
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Re: ADFFS 2.34 beta

Post by JonAbbott »

Vanfanel wrote:Weren't you generating you own fake vsync signal inside ADFFS or something? Maybe there's a small discrepancy between the internal ADFFS vsync interrupt and the real Rpi vsync interrupt.
In the next beta it stops producing the fake VSync if the actual VSync is 50Hz, which will resolve the issue if it's caused by the real and fake falling out of sync.
steve3000
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Re: ADFFS 2.34 beta

Post by steve3000 »

Hi Jon, been playing PacMania with 2.34b as it is from the archive (no modifications to any settings), and 'boot floppy'. Results as follows:

A4000, 4mb, LCD screen - very good, everything runs pretty much as I expect it to, the 50Hz frame pace must be active because sound is correct speed, although just occasionally a note is lost.

Raspberry Pi, RISC OS 5.21 (31st Jan) - first I kept getting internal errors, then realised I hadn't set CPU to ARMv5 (can this be set on demand, or does it require a reboot of the OS?). After that, game appeared to run perfectly - I was getting quite a way into it (level 4?) and having fun munching ghosts, then all of a sudden the keyboard died. Num lock light went out and all keyboard input failed (including Ctrl-break). Shame, because I'd not got that far in PacMania in years... Is this a known problem? I'm trying to reproduce it now...
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