Minerva4Q68 v1.70 released

[Peter]

Hi Jan,

my shakiy QL is not suitable for repeated internal ROM changes. It's needed for QL60 development and I don't want to fully ruin it.
Maybe someone else is willing to test? Some people on the forum probably have equipment like external ROM adaptors or ROM switchers.

If nothing else helps, how about a QIMSI version that comes with the ROM emulation from SD card covering 0...$BFFF, but no SD driver ROM? That might still fit the small FPGA. To overcome the power-on race condition, one could do a manual reset, as long as it is only needed for testing. Note that I'd need to develop the FPGA first and probably won't be able to do that in the coming days.

Peter

[Peter]

Since GoldCard compatibility is a "must" for a QL Minerva release, older GoldCard ROM versions have become a problem.
Both Jan and me have spent considerable time, but couldn't get a Minerva with commandline history to work on my GoldCard 2.28 yet.
Sadly, my QL broke down in the process, repair becoming another item on my long to-do list.

To make debugging easier, I've created a QIMSI Gold variant with QL system ROM emulation (48 KB at $0) from SD card.
It comes with some restrictions, such as missing SD card driver ROM at $C000, so I didn't plan a public release.
However, if another QIMSI Gold QL owner wants to help with Minerva, or needs to debug other QL ROMs, I can email the FPGA logic.

[janbredenbeek]

To make debugging easier, I've created a QIMSI Gold variant with QL system ROM emulation (48 KB at $0) from SD card.
It comes with some restrictions, such as missing SD card driver ROM at $C000, so I didn't plan a public release.
However, if another QIMSI Gold QL owner wants to help with Minerva, or needs to debug other QL ROMs, I can email the FPGA logic.

Many thanks Peter for supplying this, it saved a lot of work burning EPROMs

I have created a fork of Marcel's 1.98a1 version with command history support, to distinguish from the Q68 version. This is marked as 1.98j3 and 1G98j3 for the German version.

I have done extensive tests with several GoldCard versions. v2.49 has been tested successfully (at least on GC). Unfortunately, older versions (2.24, 2.28, and 2.32) do not work with this Minerva version.

However, I have discovered that there is an easy way to boot the Gold Card with a different ROM version. The GC ROM images can be easily loaded into RESPR and CALLed, after which it copies itself to the memory area between $10000 and $1FFFF and boots the system with the loaded version. There is a POKE needed to switch the ROM on before calling this; thus the code will be something like this:

Code: Select all

a=RESPR(65536): REMark avoid ALCHP, a needs to be at least $50000
LBYTES win1_SGCandGC249_bin,a: REMark download from https://dilwyn.theqlforum.com/qlrom/SGCandGC249.zip
POKE HEX('1c064'),0
CALL a

Note: I have tested this on a Gold Card, not Super Gold Card. Since v2.49 is the same version used in both GC and SGC, it's likely that SGC's are already running this version.

The new Minerva repository is at https://github.com/SinclairQL/Minerva.

[Dave]

I will send one free SGC 2.49 ROM to anyone who sends me a pic of their gold card with a pre-2.49 ROM on it, and their forum username written on something in the same picture. I’ll program a new EPROM and send it anywhere in Europe. I’ll include a photo howto guide and list the package as a low value gift so there should be little or no customs fee impact.

There’s no reason people should be stuck with older versions. Let’s get everyone up to date.

Offer good until the end of 2025. Allow 3 weeks for international delivery.

Anyone who wants to buy one or get additional copies, £9 including shipping from USA. Additional ones £4 each

[Peter]

However, I have discovered that there is an easy way to boot the Gold Card with a different ROM version. The GC ROM images can be easily loaded into RESPR and CALLed, after which it copies itself to the memory area between $10000 and $1FFFF and boots the system with the loaded version.

The described procedure requires that the OS has successfully bootet - which is not the case for the targeted Minerva ROM with commandline history.

Personally, I have no problem updating my GoldCard ROM. The question remains whether it is tolerable that a new Minerva version depends on such a hardware update?

[janbredenbeek]

The described procedure requires that the OS has successfully bootet - which is not the case for the targeted Minerva ROM with commandline history.

Yes, that's a chicken-and-egg problem. But I've found another way to boot with both a 2.49 GC ROM and a new Minerva version:

Code: Select all

a=RESPR(114688)
LBYTES SGCandGC249_bin,a
LBYTES Minerva_bin,a+65536
POKE a+49201,30
POKE_L a+49234,a+65536
CALL a

This works with an Issue 5 QL with JM ROM and GC 2.24 ROM. It's not always succesful, not on my Issue 6 QL with QIMSI-provided Minerva ROM. It might have to do with the GC initialisation code running from RAM instead of ROM.

Personally, I have no problem updating my GoldCard ROM. The question remains whether it is tolerable that a new Minerva version depends on such a hardware update?

The patching process of the (S)GC is quite complex, and already described by Marcel here.
There's only a limited number of QL ROMs supported with version-specific patches.

Working around these limitations requires a deep delve into the patching code of older GC ROMs, which is a lot of work and probably not worth the effort.

[Peter]

Working around these limitations requires a deep delve into the patching code of older GC ROMs, which is a lot of work and probably not worth the effort.

Sounds reasonable. As long as it the dependency is easy to notice, I'd vote to just demand GoldCard ROM 2.49. Is there an "official" binary?

[janbredenbeek]

Sounds reasonable. As long as it the dependency is easy to notice, I'd vote to just demand GoldCard ROM 2.49. Is there an "official" binary?

https://dilwyn.theqlforum.com/qlrom/SGCandGC249.zip

[ql_freak]

After taking a look at the patching code, it could be (Marcel has a full disassembly of it).

Thanks for this link! I have immediately added it to my bookmarks.

p.s. (especially for me): Must backup them, too many for which I haven't a backup :‑(

[Peter]

Sounds reasonable. As long as it the dependency is easy to notice, I'd vote to just demand GoldCard ROM 2.49. Is there an "official" binary?

https://dilwyn.theqlforum.com/qlrom/SGCandGC249.zip

Many thanks. I can confirm that Minerva 198j3 and 1G98j3 work with GoldCard ROM version 2.49 downloaded from that link here.
An emphasized warning notice on https://github.com/SinclairQL/Minerva regarding the GoldCard ROM version dependency would be good.
Also maybe that the SuperGoldCard is not yet supported by 198j3 and 1G98j3. Just to keep people from burning Minerva ROMs which won't work.