kentsu@microsoft.UUCP (Kent Sullivan) (09/30/89)
I just bought a C-128D. I must say it is a very clean design and is working perfectly, hardware-wise. However, I am having woes with Fast Hackem v6 (C-128: 6.0, C-64: 6.03). I have done some detective work and thought I would post what I know so far. I'm sure everyone remembers the problems FH v3.x-4.1 had with the 1571 when the "new" ROM was released. Well, v6 seems to be displaying similar behavior with the drive in the C-128D. I tried Fred Bowen's "drive test" program that he made a few years ago, and it identified the drive ROM as a "1571CR". Not knowing what this was, I emailed Fred. Fred says that this ROM was created for the never-built 1571CR drive and is also used in the C-128Ds. CBM decided that the WD 1770 controller in the 1571 was too expensive, so they made their own controller. This necessitated a new ROM--my guess is all the MFM code had to be adjusted as (1) the WD/CBM controller is for that mode, and (2) I have heard that the CBM controller *may* not have all the functionality (or different) than the WD. Fred says that the CR ROM has all of the "new" ROM bug fixes as well. I also talked with Frank Prindle, who made those wonderful patches to FH way-back-when for the "new" ROM, and he said (a) that a friend of his with FH v3.0 (modified) has no problems on his C-128D, and (b) that he bets the problem may concern the drive ROM checksum byte being different in the CR ROM. I will dig into the FH code this weekend and report back what I learn. I also ordered JiffyDOS for the C-128D (v6, just out), and I will let everyone know if the ROM they are using fixes things. Finally, I called Basement Boys (the makers of FH) and listened to their answering machine message. They say they are shipping the same version as I (well, a friend actually) have now, and my friend bought it over a year ago. I left a message desribing the problem but have not heard back. So I don't know whether (a) a patch has been made or (b) they have not done any further development. Any C-128D owners out there, please comment on your experiences. For example, does Big Blue Reader work for you? Kent Sullivan Microsoft Corporation The opinions expressed in this article are mine and do not necessarily represent those of my employer.
dyson@lilac.cis.ohio-state.edu (mark l dyson) (10/05/89)
In article <7892@microsoft.UUCP> kentsu@microsoft.UUCP (Kent Sullivan) writes: > >I'm sure everyone remembers the problems FH v3.x-4.1 had with the 1571 when >the "new" ROM was released. Well, v6 seems to be displaying similar behavior >with the drive in the C-128D. I tried Fred Bowen's "drive test" program that >he made a few years ago, and it identified the drive ROM as a "1571CR". Not >knowing what this was, I emailed Fred. > My solution to the above problems (including FH support) was to purchase Maverick V2.0 (a Kracker Jax release) from Software Support International. Goodbye problems, hello great results, fabulous support, and cheap upgrades (up to V3.0, with 4.0 to come). -Mark- =========================================================================== Being paranoid doesn't mean they really aren't out to get you! ===========================================================================
kentsu@microsoft.UUCP (Kent Sullivan) (10/10/89)
In article <64906@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu>, dyson@lilac.cis.ohio-state.edu (mark l dyson) writes: > In article <7892@microsoft.UUCP> kentsu@microsoft.UUCP (Kent Sullivan) writes: > > > >I'm sure everyone remembers the problems FH v3.x-4.1 had with the 1571 when > >the "new" ROM was released. Well, v6 seems to be displaying similar behavior > >with the drive in the C-128D. I tried Fred Bowen's "drive test" program that > >he made a few years ago, and it identified the drive ROM as a "1571CR". Not > >knowing what this was, I emailed Fred. > > > > My solution to the above problems (including FH support) was to purchase > Maverick V2.0 (a Kracker Jax release) from Software Support International. > Goodbye problems, hello great results, fabulous support, and cheap upgrades > (up to V3.0, with 4.0 to come). > > -Mark- I have seen Maverick (now up to v3.0) and it is indeed very nice--it has support for 64K of VDC RAM as a copy buffer (C-128) OR a REU (allows single-pass fast copies of 1541 disks). But it doesn't feature full support for 1571 double-sided disks. So I called SSI to see if they might be working on a C-128 product. One of their representatives said they were in fact doing a C-128-specific package. There is no set release date, name, or price available yet, but it sounds as though it will have many of the features of Maverick v3.0. Thought y'all might be interested in this info... Kent Sullivan Microsoft Corporation The opinions expressed in this article are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.