Atari ST core

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Don't Panic. Please wash hands.
  • After a few tests, I have now succeeded in loading my vhd-file as hard file 0. :-))

    But there is obviously a problem with saving the configurations.


    When I load the saved STEHDD.cfg file after a restart, the HDD is no longer loaded. In the menu I can now see "Hard disks: Unit 1". But "Unit 0" should have been written there.


    I also tried to save a configuration as Blank.cfg in which the game disk of "Lotus STE Enhanced" is loaded. When loading the configuration, the game was not loaded by autobooting. That only works if I load the disk manually myself and do a reset.


    The other settings are all saved correctly, only the settings under "Strorage" apparently not.


    I have a TC64V1.


    Cheers

    SID-6581

  • Looks like I have problems with hard disk -support. If I delete something inside HD-image (3 Gb file, 6 x 512 Mb partitions), that file comes back after reboot. Tried same image with Hatari-emulator and there copying and deleting works. Has anybody else had such problems?

  • Looks like I have problems with hard disk -support. If I delete something inside HD-image (3 Gb file, 6 x 512 Mb partitions), that file comes back after reboot. Tried same image with Hatari-emulator and there copying and deleting works. Has anybody else had such problems?

    Thanks for the report - I'll look into it. I haven't forgotten about your config file either. Your HDF is in a subdirectory, I think?

  • Looks like I have problems with hard disk -support. If I delete something inside HD-image (3 Gb file, 6 x 512 Mb partitions), that file comes back after reboot. Tried same image with Hatari-emulator and there copying and deleting works. Has anybody else had such problems?

    Yes me too on TC64V1.

  • I've just released a new version which should fix the hard drive writing issues:

    http://retroramblings.net/?page_id=1705

    I'm not sure about the config file problems - I found and fixed two oddities but they don't completely explain the symptoms SID-6581 was seeing.

    After I tested the core version 10/10/2021 I report the following:


    1. The writing problem on the HDD is solved on my TC64V1. Thank you!


    2. The STEHDD.cfg problem is different now.


    After I was able to start a Hardfile 0 very well manually, the configuration displayed "Hard Disk: Unit 0".

    At this point in time the STEHDD.cfg was saved. After restarting and loading the STEHDD.cfg
    Hardfile 0 was no longer loaded. "Hard Disk: NONE" is now displayed in the configuration.

    In the core from October 2nd, 2021 there was "Hard Disk: Unit 1" displayed.


    Thanks Alastair at least an improvement. ;-)

    Now you just have to still manage that there "Hard Disk: Unit 0" after loading the STEHDD.cfg is displayed.


    Cheers

    SID-6581

  • After I was able to start a Hardfile 0 very well manually, the configuration displayed "Hard Disk: Unit 0".

    At this point in time the STEHDD.cfg was saved. After restarting and loading the STEHDD.cfg
    Hardfile 0 was no longer loaded. "Hard Disk: NONE" is now displayed in the configuration.

    In the core from October 2nd, 2021 there was "Hard Disk: Unit 1" displayed

    Thanks for testing. If it says "Hard Disk: NONE" it means either the core failed to find the hardfile, or wasn't able to validate the directory it's in. It's in a subdirectory, yes?

  • Thanks for testing. If it says "Hard Disk: NONE" it means either the core failed to find the hardfile, or wasn't able to validate the directory it's in. It's in a subdirectory, yes?

    Yes the harddiskfile is in the folder HDD.

    STEHDD.cfg works correct if the harddiskfile is in the root folder.

  • Yes the harddiskfile is in the folder HDD.

    STEHDD.cfg works correct if the harddiskfile is in the root folder.

    Great, that's what I thought - it's a variant of the same bug which was screwing up writes to HDFs. Could you try this version, please, and let me know if it fixes the problem?

    (The zip contains a build for both V1 and V2 hardware.)

  • I noticed from the start that the sound wasn't reproduced properly by the Atari ST Core. Since I had never owned a real Atari ST, I thought that an Atari ST really sounds that bad ... ;-)


    Yesterday I listened to it more closely and tested it. I especially noticed with Test Drive 2 that I started from my HDD. The whole time there was an annoying noise (rush) that was clearly audible. The new Lotus STE Versions doesn't sound good either.


    The Atari Core was configured as STE with TOS 2.06US and stereo sound. The American TOS version has the advantage that the white borders are significantly smaller than with the German version.


    After switching from stereo to mono, the noise had become significantly quieter, but was still audible. What could be the reason?


  • The Atari Core was configured as STE with TOS 2.06US and stereo sound. The American TOS version has the advantage that the white borders are significantly smaller than with the German version.


    After switching from stereo to mono, the noise had become significantly quieter, but was still audible. What could be the reason?

    I don't know a great deal about the Atari ST, but as I understand it, the Stereo mode imitates a non-standard modification which some people performed on their STs, which places the three YM2149 channels to the left, centre and right of the stereo image. Digital playback is done under the assumption that the three channels are wired together - like they are on a standard ST - so even on real hardware the stereo mod messes up sample playback.


    (Note, this only affects software which uses the YM chip for sample playback, and not the STE digital audio outputs.)


    In the core, I think the stereo mode feeds the middle YM channel to both stereo channels with no attenuation, so that channel will be louder than the other two (which are each only fed to one stereo channel) - I need to figure out whether the same's true of the real hardware mod.


    With stereo mode disabled, I think the noise level's consistent with mixing sounds at relatively low frequencies - but it might be possible to add a some output filtering to mimic the sound of a real ST more closely.


    Switching the core to use a better audio DAC might help, too - the one it uses at the moment will be quite noisy in its current configuration.