Configuring Zorro III devices under Kickstart 1.3

[mark_k]

Would it be possible to have the UAE expansion ROM configure Zorro III expansion devices? That way, you could have emulated Z3 RAM be automatically available to the system before boot time. No need to run a special Z3-configuring program first (which is a pain since you'd need to add it to the startup-sequence of each floppy you boot from).

In the Denver 1991 Devcon docs there's source for a program to run under 1.3 which does exactly that. It configures Z3 boards and adds Z3 RAM to the system free list. Does anyone have a copy of the 1991 Devcon disks? I assume the program would be on there. If not, I could take pics of the few pages the source covers and upload them.

I guess Z3 configuration could also be useful if you're running under V37+ A500/600/2000 Kickstarts which don't support Zorro III in their expansion.library. (Could maybe allow Z3 RTG to be used with ReKick-type Kickstarts?)

Or would there be some tricky issues if the simulated UAE Z2 expansion isn't the last Z2 expansion, so the boot ROM trying to configure Z3 boards might screw things up?

[Toni Wilen]

No. I don't see any point at all.

Just update the ROM or add some reset proof module. (same for other features like IDE or FFS etc..)

[mark_k]

The Z3 configuring program source is on the last 4 pages of http://www.thule.no/haynie/zorroiii/...cs/bigram1.pdf

At the moment, as far as I know the maximum contiguous RAM possible with Kickstart 1.3 at boot time is 8MB. To get more you have to run an AddMem-like utility, assuming the RAM is present in the address space (which Z3 RAM isn't before the board is configured). I guess A3000/A4000 motherboard RAM is non-AutoConfig so always present?

(It might be possible to use A3000 emulation with the original 1.4 boot ROMs, which load the special 1.3 SuperKickstart from hard disk, to get Z3 RAM recognised. But that's a lot of hassle if you just want to boot some old application disk under 1.3 and have a lot of RAM available.)

[Toni Wilen]

Ok, if you only need some extra ram under 1.3: configure Z3 fast or A3000/A4000 MB RAM and then use any addmem command to add the memory to exec lists.

Above memory types are always mapped to memory space, including Z3 fast without autoconfig. (By design, makes it usable for reset proof stuff. Z2 fast disappears as expected)

[mark_k]

That's some help, but there are still problems compared to having the memory automatically added:

- If you change the amount of, or disable Z3/A3000/A4000 RAM in WinUAE config, you have to change AddMem command arguments in the startup-sequence otherwise get a crash. Repeat for every floppy you want to boot from.

- Having memory automatically added removes the need for AddMem in the startup-sequence, allowing (potentially) the same HDF to be used in WinUAE and a real Amiga.

I can't think of a simple way to automatically add memory, particularly A3000/A4000 motherboard RAM, where the size can vary from boot to boot (depending on the WinUAE config). A program to do that would need to have memory testing/sizing code. Which would be quite tricky to write, since if a real Amiga has no RAM in those regions you might get bus errors on accessing them. The WinUAE boot ROM would be best placed to add the memory, since it (probably) knows exactly how much RAM is present.

(One possible kind-of solution would be to have a "winuae.resource" which programs could query. So in your startup-sequence you might have version >NIL: winuae.resource to check the return code, and run different commands if running under WinUAE. And perhaps winuae.resource could be queried somehow to determine which non-AutoConfig RAM regions are present.)

[thomas]

Why would you want to use floppies if you can have a harddrive?

Why is 8 MB RAM not enough?

[Toni Wilen]

uae-configuration can be used to query any existing config parameter, also uae.resource exists but it is currently not used for anything interesting. (Note that it only exists when uae boot rom is enabled, it does not exists in compatible configurations)

I don't want to automagicconfigure any memory region because it can and will cause side-effects in some situations (custom roms, some reset proof programs etc..), it needs to be optional but I still think it isn't good idea..