************ Topic 6 Tue May 19, 1987 JOEBROWN [Joe Brown] at 21:56 EDT Sub: C-128 and 1571 ROM Upgrade Chips Here is information on ordering the C-128 and C-1571 ROM Upgrade chips. I ordered both upgrades on April 26, and received them on May 18. 1 message(s) total. ************ ------------ Category 14, Topic 6 Message 1 Tue May 19, 1987 JOEBROWN [Joe Brown] at 22:08 EDT ============================================================================= To order the 1571 Disk Drive ROM Upgrade Chip, write a short note requesting Part # 310654-05, and send your check or money order for $9.65 to: Commodore Service Department 1200 Wilson Drive West Chester, PA 19380 Attn: 1571 Update ROM Order ============================================================================ To order the C-128 ROM Upgrade Chip, write a short note requesting Part # 314972-01, and send your check or money order for $24.65 (note this is for 3 chips), to: Commodore Service Department 1200 Wilson Drive West Chester, PA 19380 Attn: C- 128 Upgrade ROM Kit Order ============================================================================ ------------ ************ Topic 8 Thu Jan 29, 1987 D.MURRAY [OBTUSE ONE] at 22:55 EST Sub: C-128, 1571 Rom upgrade This topic hopefully will give us information on the status of the new upgrade rom chips for the 128 & 1571. 56 message(s) total. ************ ------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 1 Thu Jan 29, 1987 D.MURRAY [OBTUSE ONE] at 23:11 EST I have spent the last two weeks trying to get in touch with CBM and find out the status of the new Rom chips. Every time I call, I am told to call back at a differant time and a differant number. I am hoping that someone will let me know if the new chips are available, and how to go about getting them.. I have called the (215) 431-9100, and been told to call (215) 431-9105. I have called that number and end up reaching the same lady I spoke to on the 9100 # with her telling me to call back at a differant hour. The run around that CBM has given me on their customer support line is begining to tick me off. Any current information from some of you in the know, would greatly be appreciatd. Thanks, Don ------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 2 Fri Jan 30, 1987 SPARROW.J at 00:50 EST Calling CBM can be pretty frustrating at times...especially if you don't have any NAMES to ask for. Here is my suggestion: Call Pete Baczor at 1-215-431-9264 He won't know anything about the status of the ROMS, but he is the Customer Support manager (as well as a few other titles) and you can complain to him about your inability to reach anybody at CBM. Not that this will do you any good, but it might make you feel a little better. The best I can tell you is, they do exist..they have been sent off to MOS (at least twice) and engineering types keep telling me: "Soon, very soon" (take that to mean anywhere from six weeks to six months, although I think we are getting pretty close..really) again, I am trying to arrange to have Fred Bowen (software/firmware) engineering type on here very soon. (He has been very busy, and he has a family to attend to..but he has told me he would be willing to donate sometime to us, very soon!) And always, as soon as we know, we will let you know here on the FLAGSHIP! --Sparrow James (Managing Editor, Twin Cities 128) ------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 3 Fri Jan 30, 1987 DEB [*SysOp*] at 11:01 EST I can assure anyone trying to call CBM that you might as well save your money!! The ROMS are not ready yet, and as soon as they are, we'll let everyone know. Even when you DO know the name/extension number of the person in charge at CBM...its murder getting a hold of them. They are swamped with work and legit business...imagine how they feel being barraged with a lot of calls about something which isn't ready yet? **deb!* ------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 4 Mon Feb 02, 1987 GBARRETT [VISION100] at 19:17 CST Ditto to what Deb says... Pete right now is wearing at LEAST two hats (they keep adding them on a daily basis) and it would probably yield little to call him right now. -Best way to find out: stay tuned right here! -GaryB ------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 5 Tue Feb 03, 1987 SPARROW.J at 06:53 EST I agree, it would not do much good to call him, (at least for information on the ROM upgrades) but he has always impressed me was someone who could sooth the spirits of angry souls and help explain some of the difficulties of running a computer company etc. For that reason I did not think it was bad advice to suggest giving Pete a call. After all as "Customer Support Manager" (I think one of his hats say that) it is part of his job to field questions and complaints from the masses. --Sparrow James (I bet he'd be cussing me out right now if he read this...snicker..or maybe he'd laugh...who knows?) ------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 6 Tue Feb 03, 1987 MICHAEL.M [-:SysOp:-] at 20:05 EST Interesting to note that Tom Brown has already come up with a fix for the weak 1571 ROMS and has released programs which allow the 'fix'. All you need is an EPROM burner and away you go. Second-side disaster is a thing of the past. Now, all *I* need to know is...howintheheck do you use an Eprom burner? [smile]------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 9 Sun Mar 01, 1987 S.LEWIS at 05:41 MST Get me the source and I'll burn you a chip... er, maybe not source (comments are wunnnnderful, tho) but the actual 8 or 16K worth of code... Steve ------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 10 Sat Mar 28, 1987 T.MENEGATOS [Tom] at 01:16 EST Well, IT'S HERE!! I just saw a message from Fred Bowen on USENET, and the C- 128 ROM's are available from CBM NOW! And, the price has been reduced to $21.65 + $3.00 shipping. So, send your $24.65 to: Service Dpartment CBM 1200 Wilson Drive. West Chester, PA. 19380 The way I figure it, if you send the money in NOW, you'll get the ROM's just as a hot new program comes out that expects the old ROM's! If interested, the text of the USENET message will be in the next message. ------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 11 Sat Mar 28, 1987 T.MENEGATOS [Tom] at 01:17 EST Article 298 in comp.sys.cbm: From: fred@cbmvax.cbm.UUCP (Fred Bowen) Subject: C128 upgrade ROMs Message-ID: <1588@cbmvax.cbmvax.cbm.UUCP> Date: 26 Mar 87 20:30:27 GMT Organization: Commodore Technology, West Chester, PA Lines: 24 -- MORE--(24%) The upgrade ROMs are finally available. Dealers and service centers can perform the simple upgrade for you, or you can order parts directly from Commodore and Do It Yourself (and kiss your warranty farewell). For the DIYers, the ROMs are socketed; I suspect the most trouble you will have is assulting the RF shield. Good luck. The wait was worth it, though- we got the customer price down to $21.65 (plus $3.00 shipping) for the 3-ROM set. Send a check in the amount of $24.65 and made out to Commodore Business Machines to: Service Department CBM 1200 Wilson Drive West Chester, PA 19380 Ask for the "C128 upgrade ROM kit" and include your name and address. - - -- Fred Bowen uucp: {ihnp4|seismo|caip}!cbmvax!fred arpa: cbmvax!fred@seismo.css.GOV tele: 215 431-9100 --MORE--(93%) Commodore Electronics, Ltd., 1200 Wilson Drive, West Chester, PA, 19380 End of article 298 (of 298)--what next? [npq] ------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 13 Wed Apr 08, 1987 ALLEN.II at 23:57 EDT Has anyone seen these little jewels yet? And if you have do they work! Since Commodore has seen fit to supply these as a three chip set... ??? 2 for the 128... 1 for the 1571 ??? what to do if ya have 2 1571's.... And!!! If a person is out to buy another machine... how can you tell if the unit on a dealers shelf has new or old ROM's... same with the drives. Another question... What happens if you use a 128 with new upgrade ROM's with a drive that does not... and visa vis... Will it work... or DIE! Seems like this story is only now unfolding. Looks like yet another debacle to unravel. ------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 15 Thu Apr 09, 1987 MICHAEL.M [-:SysOp:-] at 01:32 EDT Seems like you're right, Allen! I havent recieved my ROM's yet, but if Loren doesnt fess-up and give us the details, I'll give Bowen a call and find out. (Another good question needing an answer: How much will the Service Centers charge to do the upgrade for those not electronically-inclined?) ------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 16 Fri Apr 10, 1987 SPARROW.J at 02:28 EDT Okay, I'll fess up! I've had my ROM upgrades for a week now, and I am very pleased. CBM is selling the C-128 set, (3 ROMS, 318020-05, 318019-04, 318018-04) for $21.65 plus $3.00 shipping. CBM is selling the 1571 set, (1 ROM, 310654-05) for $6.65 plus $3.00 shipping. The 1571 ROM is in my mind A MUST! This upgrade is cheap and makes the 1571 into the drive you always thought it was! The drive now does not hiss and cough in confusion when reading single sided or flippy disks nor does it barf up on relative files which span the front/back border and the writing of sequential files on the backside of the disk has been speeded up by awesome amount. The C-128 ROM upgrades make more subtle changes to the machine that may not be as important to most people. However one comforting discovery has been that I have yet to find a piece of commercial or public domain software which was incompatible with the upgrade. I have tested over one hundred programs and none have any problems with either the C-128 or the 1571 upgrades. (THANKS FRED!!!!!) Installation of these ROMS is fairly easy. It took me about 20 minutes to do the 1571 upgrade and about 40 minutes to do the C-128. All ROMS covered in this upgrade are socketed. Complete instructions and insights (including diagrams) will be in ISSUE #15 of Twin Cities 128. Fred told me that CBM is taking orders in WRITING only now. So don't call. Two weeks ago CBM sent flyers out to all certified Commodore repair sites on the upgrades and many service centers have the ROMS on order. As for current production C-128s, only the C-128D has the ROM upgrade in it as factory standard. The next batch of flat C-128s (the cost reduced board units) will have the upgrade ROMs as standard equipment. As of this writing, CBM has flat C-128s in warehouses and it is not known when/if another run of "flat" C-128s will take place in the near future. It is really easy to tell the difference between an upgraded C-128 and a non-upgraded C-128. A non- upgraded C-128's power-up message features a 1985 copyright message, while an upgraded C-128 features a 1986 copyright message. (Also the CAPS Q bug is fixed on the upgrades as well) As for the 1571 ROM, I don't know of any external way of telling, but all you have to do is put in a "flippy" and you will know the difference immediately. CBM claims that the ROMS are shipping now, though I am the only person I know that has them outside of software developers and folks who work at West Chester. Well...if you have any other questions..just ask away and I'll try my best to give you the scoop! --Sparrow James (sorry about the length of this message) ------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 17 Tue Apr 14, 1987 MAYSMITCHELL [SounDesign] at 06:24 EDT as far as loren has mentioned, yes the 1571 is perfectico! it took about 5 minutes to change the roms. while i was doing it i noticed the wd1770 sitting in one of the ports and also the gigantic 6526 (and 6502b-a 2mhz cpu) but while i was pondeirng this i noticed both the 6526 and the 1571 chip(rom) was socketed! hmm..any upgrades to the 6526? (heh-heh) anyhow, i didn't have another chip for my second drive but i hardly use anyhow so could care less. ------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 18 Wed Apr 15, 1987 DEB [*SysOp*] at 08:26 EDT Hit a bump, gang...those of us with QuickSilver 128's won't be ABLE to use the 128 roms! I'm assuming it would be a real dumb move to change 2 out of the 3 things that need switching...?! ** ------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 19 Wed Apr 15, 1987 MICHAEL.M [-:SysOp:-] at 20:36 EDT Let's see here. Wonder if Skyles will now offer 'upgrade' QuickSilvers for use with the new ROM's, for a nominal fee? Say, $80? ------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 20 Thu Apr 16, 1987 SPARROW.J at 01:20 EDT Well the Quicksilver should not preclude you from doing the 1571 upgrade which is the most important anyway. As I have said, the 1571 upgrade is an absolute must if yo u want drive you trust! (nice pun eh?) --Sparrow James ------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 21 Wed Apr 22, 1987 LYLEG at 21:37 CDT I just received my 1571 upgrade roms yesterday. I am in agreement with Sparrow , this upgrade is a mus MS UST!! It really makes a difference. The side 2 slow down is gone! It does not cough up at fi lippies! I am impressed! However then y BackOrdered the C-128 upgrades. Rats! Lyle ------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 25 Sat Apr 25, 1987 SPARROW.J at 01:47 EDT Actually I have been quite impressed with CBM on this one. From a random (and totally unscientific) sampling of owners of C-128s and 1571s who ordered and have received their ROMs from CBM it seems the typical turn around is 2 1/2 to 3 weeks which pretty good considering they are waiting for the checks to clear before they ship your order. Let's hope this update program from CBM is a trend that continues! --Sparrow James ------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 26 Fri May 15, 1987 LYLEG at 21:49 CDT Michael, I have not been on-line here for a couple of days(weeks??). I don't have ANY 1571 ROMs! I have more on order, but don't expect them for a couple of days to a week or two yet. Sorry! ------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 27 Sun May 17, 1987 GARYW at 20:37 CDT Lyle. Who are you ordering them from and what price are you paying. Ihave been getting them from EWC but would like to know more sources. ------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 28 Tue May 19, 1987 JOEBROWN [Joe Brown] at 20:30 EDT I have sent for and RECEIVE both the upgrade chips for the C-128, and the 1571 disk drive. It took about two weeks. I will place in a separate message information for ordering them direct from Commodore. I would have though that someone here had this information already, since I got it off of CI$ CBM-2000 two weeks ago. There are three chips for the C-128 labeled BASIC LO - BASIC HI and KERNAL. They fixed the caps Q problem, as well as some other stuff. The ROM chip for the 1571 (one chip), fixes a number of things, the slow writing to the other side, the long search when you place a single sided disk in the drive after previously using a double sided one, it also is supposed to fix the problem of trashing the BAM with you write to the second side. One strange thing though, none of my nibbler copy programs work anymore with the new ROM, Fast Hack 'em and a few others I tried. Well, you can't have everything I guess. ------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 30 Tue May 19, 1987 MAYSMITCHELL [SounDesign] (Forwarded) Ops- I decided to write this in the wrong topic area but anyhow I just had a tip that if you have the new 1571 ROMs then what I have done is put the new ROM in drive 8 and leave Drive 9 with the old ROM. That way, certain program that work only with the old drive I use with Drive 9 and all new software/hardware for the New ROMs I use for Drive 8. Makes life a bit easier (serious users usually get that -SECOND- drive!) ------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 31 Wed May 20, 1987 DEB [*SysOp*] at 01:58 EDT Joe: I have CLOSED the topic with the specific ordering info in it. I'm sure it has already been here, but was in a LIBRARY file. Thanks for including it here too! Anyone wanting to reference it from here, its category 14, topic 6. *deb!* ------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 32 Wed May 20, 1987 KEVIN.S at 17:04 EDT And, the information is also listed in this topic, messages #10 and 11. Are we confused yet? I just received my 1571 ROM today, and for those of you a bit trepidant about leaping for the innards of your drive, I am uploading a text file describing the procedure. It IS very easy, never fear. KeS ------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 43 Sat Jun 20, 1987 MICHAEL.M [-:SysOp:-] at 16:27 EDT Note that some of you may have newer/different C-128's. These may have 'star' type screws holding the case together, instead of the standard Phillips head. If you plan to do the ROM upgrade yourselves, be sure to check the screws and acquire the correct screwdriver. ------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 44 Sun Jul 26, 1987 K.PALMER (Forwarded) does anyone know the numbers of the rom chips that update the 1571 and the 128 - (to elimiate the bugs inherent in each!)? -- I have tried to find the numbers locally but to no avail. Reply to K.Palmer. Thanx!! ------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 45 Sun Jul 26, 1987 MICHAEL.M [-:SysOp:-] at 21:26 EDT K.Palmer - The chip numbers are the same, but the version numbers are different. Here is the list: OLD NEW --- --- 1571 310654-03 310654-04 C-128 318018-02 318018-04 318019-02 318018-04 318018-03 318018-05 (ONE replacement ROM for the 1571, and THREE replacement ROMS for the C-128) For more info on the ROMS, see file numbers 4101 and 4126 in software library #1. - Mike ------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 46 Sat Sep 12, 1987 DWIGHTS at 09:24 CDT I've finally acquired my 1571 ROM upgrades.... had a service center install one in one of my drives, and I put the other one in myself. Both chips were stamped with the correct upgrade number, but when I check the error channel upon power-up, I get a message that this is still CBM DOS v.3, not v.5. Did I get ripped off, or did Commodore not change the message.....? ------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 47 Sat Sep 12, 1987 SPARROW.J at 13:09 EDT No you are just fine. The DOS version number is still 3, but the ROM version number is 5. You can tell by looking at the serial number on the chip. The version number is denoted by as follows: xxxxxxxx-xx ^^^^^^^^ ^^ Part no. ^^ ^^ version number I believe the correct version number on all 1571 upgrade ROMs is either 04 or 05 (I forgot whether they begin numbering at 00 or 01). But anyway, this does not matter much anyway, as the real determining factor as to whether or not your 1571 has the upgrade ROM is drive performance anyway. --Sparrow James ------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 48 Sat Sep 12, 1987 KEVIN.S [-Sysop-] at 14:57 EDT As a matter of curiosity, how much did the service center nick you for the chip installation? KeS ------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 49 Mon Sep 14, 1987 DWIGHTS at 07:42 CDT I think this is indeed the upgrade.... my drives are running much smoother, particularly with GEOS 128! By the way, I got "nicked" $15 by the service center for each chip... they know me over there, so they did not charge for installation. That's how much they sell their chips. (I installed one myself.) ------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 50 Sat Sep 26, 1987 DAN.DAVIDSON at 11:28 EDT Is RETURN one of the commands the "upgrade" I ordered for my C128 supposed to fix? In one of my basic programs I added another subroutine. It GOES SUB alright, but on RETURN I keep getting a "return without gosub" error. Of course there's a GOSUB (I'm not a novice, and this is this is the first time I've had any trouble with a subroutine) s *s ------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 51 Sun Sep 27, 1987 C.LAVIN at 06:26 EDT Are you SURE of the subroutine logic? I don't know of any GOSUB/RETURN problems with the C-128. I have run into that pesky problem before with my 64, though. It can always be traced to a gprogram flaw. Check again. Maybe there's a GOSUB inside that subroutine that isn't returning correctly, or sometihing is messing up the stack. Sorry I can't be of more help, CL ------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 52 Sun Sep 27, 1987 LEROSENMAN [Larry R.] at 21:35 EDT Or Mayhaps you are falling through into the subroutine and hitting the return without being under the control of a GOSUB? Larry ------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 53 Mon Sep 28, 1987 DAN.DAVIDSON at 19:28 EDT There're only 2 gosubs in that short pgm. I added the first days ago to shorten the routine, and it's been working fine. Then I added a second ------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 55 Mon Sep 28, 1987 KEVINHISEL at 19:20 CDT Are you using any FOR/NEXT loops? Please post your program and I'm sure someone here will spot the problem. It almost must be in the logic. ------------ Category 14, Topic 8 Message 56 Sat Oct 03, 1987 SPARROW.J at 09:08 EDT Yes please post your SHORT program..it is very likely it is your logic. Please don't take it personally, we all make programming mistakes and we are most happy to help you. --Sparrow James ************ Topic 9 Fri Jun 05, 1987 DEB [*SysOp*] at 18:55 EDT Sub: Software incompatible with new ROMS In search of programs that are NOT working with the new roms.... 27 message(s) total. ************ ------------ Category 14, Topic 9 Message 1 Mon Jun 01, 1987 GARYW (Forwarded) Well, I just found another jprogram that will not work with the new ROMS. , croll, uit ?s It seems ARC128 will not work right. I keep comming up with an error 70, NO CHANNEL. I just wish I knew why. Oh well, back to the old ROM for now. Maybe Chris can fix this by the end of the week. (The ROM is in the mail Chris.) I am getting pretty good at changing them out. I am down to less than 15 minutes for 1 C128 with 1 1571. ------------ Category 14, Topic 9 Message 2 Mon Jun 01, 1987 SPARROW.J (Forwarded) Chris should not have any problems provided he uses the jump tables in the 1571 manual, and adheres to the rules about open channels. The jump table caveat is where Mike Henry blows it with Fast hackem 4.1. So far his is the only commercial program I know of that will not function with the new ROMs. --Sparrow James ------------ Category 14, Topic 9 Message 3 Mon Jun 01, 1987 GARYW (Forwarded) Well, I talked to Chris today and he is just as confused as I am. He does not know why it does not work. I sent him a new ROM, so maybe by this week-end he can tell us what is wrong. Has anyone else had this problem? ------------ Category 14, Topic 9 Message 4 Mon Jun 01, 1987 RA.86NAV [Richard] (Forwarded) I haven't had any probs worth mentioning with ARC128 but then my new ROMS haven't arrived yet. I do know of two other people who are having troubles using ARC128 with the new 1571 ROM's. ------------ Category 14, Topic 9 Message 6 Tue Jun 02, 1987 GARYW (Forwarded) I think I found another one. Has anyone used Big Blue reader-CP/M? It seems this version does not like the new C128 ROMS. I would like input on this. ------------ Category 14, Topic 9 Message 7 Wed Jun 03, 1987 SPARROW.J (Forwarded) Yes, Gary BBR CP/M does not work with the new C-128 ROMS because the author decided to take upon himself fixing some of the DMA routines that were originally flawed...his fixes it seems are not compatible with Fred Bowen's fixes and thus we have the problem. If the author had confined his/her programming efforts to the use of documented kernal routines a problem would not have occurred but there are those folks that just *have* to use ROM routines that occasionally get changed. Mike J, Henry is learning this lesson the hard way as well. --Sparrow James .s ------------ Category 14, Topic 9 Message 8 Wed Jun 03, 1987 DEB [*SysOp*] (Forwarded) Yo...."lesson"?! I don't believe that either Mike Henry nor the BBR folks should be chastised for making their products available and USABLE to the 128 community long before CBM bothered to make the fixed ROMs available! When these products were being written, there was precious little hope that CBM would fix the roms. With NO developer support team at CBM, its rather odd that now specific little "rules" are being tossed out as being "broken" because some software hasn't worked. New versions of the ROMs should have been tested by ALL the software companies, not just Berkeley Softworks and Precision, or whomever else was the major guys. Then again, with no developer support team at work at CBM for our guys writing software on a much smaller scale than the biggies, I guess CBM never knew they had been supporting the 128?! No, Loren, I beg to differ on this one...its NOT the software authors' fault. Its not CBM's fault either...except in their lack of trying to ascertain and inform the people that DO support the 128 in advance...! *deb!* ------------ Category 14, Topic 9 Message 9 Fri Jun 05, 1987 MICHAEL.M [-:SysOp:-] at 22:36 EDT Apparently, there is yet another program that coughs up due to the new ROMs. World Tour Golf (Electronic Arts) was tested on a non-upgraded 128 and 1571 in C-64 mode, and it loaded fine in 64-mode as well as autobooted from 128-mode. It hangs up every time on my upgraded machine. Anyone else have the same problem? Electronic Arts programs have always been finicky, and with the addition of their new fastload installation you cannot even have a cartridge plugged *in* much less *on*. ------------ Category 14, Topic 9 Message 10 Fri Jun 05, 1987 SPARROW.J at 23:18 EDT I asked Fred about this a few weeks ago, and his reply is that they have told professional software developers all along to stick to the documented kernal routines and proper jump tables, period. He also stated that he has been and always will be willing to help those developers out that have a question about internal stuff. He is just a phone call away, and he unlike others at CBM always answers his phone. It even states in the Programmer's Reference manual (public) as well as the C- 128 Technical Notes (not so public) that users and developers are advised not to rely upon unofficially documented ROM routines because they are subject to change at a later date, and that CBM shall be in no way liable or responsible for problems that arise as a result of not heeding this warning. Frankly I don't know how much more plain it has to be stated. I'm sorry, Deb, but the way I see it developers who failed to heed this kind of warning are asking for trouble, especially since this whole thing has happened before...remember how many ROM revisions there have been in the C-64? But anyway...this too shall pass, Henry will figure out a clever way around his problems, the folks from BBR already have the fixes in the can, and I am sure that Chris too will be able to solve his problems. I guess the bottom line is that I believe this in no way should be construed as discouraging people from getting the ROM upgrades since especially on the 1571 side the improvements are well worth it, and 99% or more of the available C-128 software functions perfectly with them. --Sparrow James ------------ Category 14, Topic 9 Message 11 Mon Jun 08, 1987 RA.86NAV [Richard] at 18:20 PDT Got a note from Chris Smeets yesterday. The problem with ARC128 appears to be with the BURST read routine (1571 manual p.109). Sometimes the following works and sometimes not: bit serial ;$0a1c - check drive speed bvc noburst ;fast serial not allowed He suggests changing the bvc to bpl. Says that might be the problem with other software too. He also says that he has used only the standard routines outlined in the 1571 manual. ------------ Category 14, Topic 9 Message 12 Tue Jun 09, 1987 SPARROW.J at 01:22 EDT Hmm...I don't have a copy of ARC 128, so I can't speak for that problem but the two products mentioned above fail because of non-standard routines. ARC 128 users out there, please let me know what you find. I will forward this info to both users via Twin Cities 128, as well as Fred at CBM. --Sparrow James ------------ Category 14, Topic 9 Message 13 Wed Jun 10, 1987 GARYW at 01:54 CDT Well, ARC 128 is fixed and works just fine. It seems CBM did change some things that they SAID would work. ------------ Category 14, Topic 9 Message 14 Thu Jun 11, 1987 SPARROW.J at 00:42 EDT Gary, or anybody privy to this ARC128 development, care to let me know what the problem and the fix was..I will relay it to Fred and Hedley in an effort to get the straight scoop. --Sparrow James ------------ Category 14, Topic 9 Message 15 Fri Jun 12, 1987 GARYW at 00:15 CDT Something to do with the fast serial flag. The code was 2C 1C 0A 50 and Chris changed it to 2C 1C 0A 10. He took the first part right from the 1571 manual routines on page 91, 92. I hope this helps. ------------ Category 14, Topic 9 Message 16 Wed Jul 01, 1987 GARYW at 19:17 CDT I talked to Mike at SOGWAP today and he had some good news for me. He has installed the new ROMs I sent him and fixed BBR to work with them. It seems Commodore changed some things in the Banking of the Ram Expansin so when you used the REM, BBR would not work. So, the bottom line is... even when you do what Commodore says, there is no guarentee that software will work when they change the ROMs. And I was ready to yell at Mike for doing a No-No. Look for a patch to be posted here in the next couple of days to make BBR work with the new ROMs. ------------ Category 14, Topic 9 Message 17 Thu Jul 02, 1987 J.FOLSOM [PRIDES XING] at 23:02 PDT I've found that Copy II 64/128 doesn't work with the new 1571 ROM either. I understand, though, that 128 Cannon does without problems. Since a fast whole- disk back-up copier is essential to maintaining a BBS, I'd appreciate hearing about any others that have been found to work. ------------ Category 14, Topic 9 Message 18 Sun Oct 04, 1987 JDCLARK at 23:59 EDT It appears that Crosslink will not work with the new ROMs. Does anyone know whether Mr. Garamszeghy has a new version that will? JDCLARK ------------ Category 14, Topic 9 Message 19 Mon Oct 05, 1987 SPARROW.J at 02:28 EDT Hold on a sec JD... Let's not get the new upgrade ROMs confused with the new cost reduced versions of the 1571. THEY ARE TOTALLY DIFFERENT. Crosslink does function with the upgrade ROMs (those you purchase from Commodore to fix the nasty bugs in your old 1571 & C-128). The jury is still out as to whether it functions with built in drive in the 128D and the soon to be available "cost reduced" 1571 units that do not have the WD 1770 controller. It is important that we don't mislead people into believing they should not get the 1571 upgrade ROM, because of what won't work with the cost-reduced versions of the 1571 that have only appeared so far as I know in the C-128D. --Sparrow James ------------ Category 14, Topic 9 Message 20 Mon Oct 05, 1987 J.ADAMS at 22:40 EDT Well fellow computerists, here's another one... SuperKit 1541 doesnt seem to like the roms when running in C64 mode. Sure looks like calls to *other* (read "floating") entry points inside the Kernal. I'm using the 1571 upgrade ROM only. ------------ Category 14, Topic 9 Message 21 Tue Oct 06, 1987 JDCLARK at 23:43 EDT Sparrow, You're right. In my stand-alone 1571 I had the new ROMs (wouldn't have it any other way). However, with the new built in 1571 in the 128D, Crosslink seems to lock up when it trys to read the FAT of the MS-DOS format. JDCLARK ------------ Category 14, Topic 9 Message 22 Wed Oct 14, 1987 JDCLARK at 01:04 EDT Oops! Was wrong about Crosslink! When the MS-DOS disk has a lot of files on it the program says "Reading FAT...", the drive light goes out, and there is a long pause--it is easy to think that the program has locked up. Anyway, works fine! ------------ Category 14, Topic 9 Message 23 Sat Feb 06, 1988 F.FAGAN at 15:36 EST There is a patch for Fast Hackum which makes it compatible with the new 1571 roms. It is currently in public domain on Q-link. I quit Q-link without downloading this patch. If anyone else has access to Q-link it would help me and others if you downloaded the patch and uploaded it here. Thanks. ------------ Category 14, Topic 9 Message 25 Sun Feb 07, 1988 F.FAGAN at 18:22 EST F.Morris just sent me a sequential file that has the fix for Fast Hackum. He downloaded from Q-Link but was unable to get the self- running patch that is to be release on Q-Link shortly. C128 Toolkit Library, file #5546. Before it is available it must be reviewed and approved. To follow this tutorial you must be able to use a machine language monitor and sector editor. If you cann't then wait for the self-running patch to be uploaded to Genie. (I'm sure F.Morris or some other kind sole will get it and upload it). A special thanks to F.Morris for the trouble he went to in getting the file and sending it to me. ------------ Category 14, Topic 9 Message 26 Sun Feb 07, 1988 F.FAGAN at 18:47 EST Sorry for my partially jumbled message. The jist of the message is there except that I uploaded the patch to the C128 Toolkit Library, File # 5546. This should be available after review/approval. ------------ Category 14, Topic 9 Message 27 Mon Feb 08, 1988 F.FAGAN at 18:27 EST I've gotten a copy of the self-running patch and will upload it to the C128 Toolkit Library today. It seems to work great. Its filename will be "fh auto patch". Use it only on a backup, just in case. ------------ =END=