Diagrom on ACA500plus

[Larky]

Hi all,

I was wondering if someone tried flashing Diagrom into their ACA500plus. Which image did you use and did you get it working. I tried flashing the 16bit version, but it will not boot into diagrom.

[demolition]

Yeah, I tried it and it worked fine for me. You need to use the non-byteswapped version, i.e. the one meant for WinUAE usage. That would be the 'DiagROM' file in the downloaded archive.

[honx]

would like to try this also but i'm too scared about breaking something...
is there an exact link to that "non-byteswapped" version needed?

[demolition]

Originally Posted by honx

would like to try this also but i'm too scared about breaking something...

You can't break anything by trying the wrong ROM, so don't be scared.

[Larky]

Originally Posted by demolition

Yeah, I tried it and it worked fine for me. You need to use the non-byteswapped version, i.e. the one meant for WinUAE usage. That would be the 'DiagROM' file in the downloaded archive.

Thanks. Worked like a charm indeed.

[honx]

i don't get it. do i upload 16bit.bin (a500...) or diagrom (winuae) to aca500plus?
and can i also use logica dialoga from amiga forever to aca500plus? will it work?

[demolition]

Originally Posted by honx

i don't get it. do i upload 16bit.bin (a500...) or diagrom (winuae) to aca500plus?

Read this again:

Originally Posted by demolition

You need to use the non-byteswapped version, i.e. the one meant for WinUAE usage. That would be the 'DiagROM' file in the downloaded archive.

Any ROM that works in a real ROM chip or in WinUAE should also work in ACA500plus so I guess the Logica ROM should also work fine.

[honx]

so i have to take diagrom for winuae for aca500plus usage? just double checking...
i'm really NOT able to break anything on aca500plus if logica dialoga not working?

[Toni Wilen]

Why would it break anything? ACA500plus user flashed roms don't overwrite anything and don't load unless selected in menu.

[honx]

i'm asking this because i'm not sure what happens if i try to load a "wrong" rom which is not working.
a bit scared, 130€ is not that cheap and aca500plus is no longer available if something goes wrong.

[demolition]

Originally Posted by honx

so i have to take diagrom for winuae for aca500plus usage? just double checking...
i'm really NOT able to break anything on aca500plus if logica dialoga not working?

1. diagrom -> check
2. can't break anything -> nothing is 100% impossible but it is extremely unlikely that you can break any hardware by loading a custom ROM.

Originally Posted by honx

i'm asking this because i'm not sure what happens if i try to load a "wrong" rom which is not working.
a bit scared, €130,- is not that cheap and aca500plus is no longer available if something goes wrong.

There is a difference between flashing a user kick ROM (which is safe) and updating the firmware of the ACA500plus itself. The latter could potentially brick the ACA if something goes wrong (power turned off at the wrong time etc), but even then it should still be recoverable. And if it is not, the ACA is covered by a 2-year warranty, at least in EU.

[honx]

can't flash, in cli if i type "acaflashrom program 1 512 cf_share:DiagROM"
i get following output and then error:

Loading... DiagROM
Warning: ROM image checksum error.
Warning: ROM image embedded size field is invalid.
Erasing...
Programming...
Programmed.

same, if i try to flash logica-dialoga:

Loading... logica-dialoga-200.rom
Warning: ROM image checksum error.
Warning: ROM image embedded size field is invalid.
Erasing...
Programming...
Programmed.

[demolition]

Originally Posted by honx

can't flash, in cli if i type "acaflashrom program 1 512 cf_shareiagROM"
i get following output and then error:

I don't see any error, just a warning that the checksum is invalid (which is irrelevant since it is not checked by the rom code). I get the same warning but it still flashes the ROM.

[honx]

logica-dialoga is not working at all. won't boot, screen flashing with red/blue lines, power led flashing.

diagrom is booting but not working correctly. there are some really weird issues when using diagrom.
for example audiowavetest: turning on channels 2, 3 or 4 causes garbage on screen. have to reboot.

so i erased both roms again and freed all slots.

[demolition]

Originally Posted by honx

logica-dialoga is not working at all. won't boot, screen flashing with red/blue lines, power led flashing.

diagrom is booting but not working correctly. there are some really weird issues when using diagrom.
for example audiowavetest: turning on channels 2, 3 or 4 causes garbage on screen. have to reboot.

so i erased both roms again and freed all slots.

Sure they are not supposed to work like this? It could also just have something to do with your hardware config, i.e. how you have set up the ACA500plus. They could have compatibility issues with 14MHz CPU etc.

[honx]

for audiowavetest i can sure tell that is supposed to play some kind of sound. nothing should change on display.
but if selected channel 2/3/4, garbage is displayed and no way to exit this garbage. reboot remains only option.

as for logica-dialoga, there isn't even any menu, only flashing lines. so either rom or anything else incompatible.

[Larky]

I noticed the garbage you mention also. With “works like a charm” I meant that the flashing and starting worked indeed with the uae rom. I also had several tests that did not give 100% success, butdid not give it proper attention.

[Toni Wilen]

Dialogica: I think I tested this few months ago and noticed it gets confused with aca500plus special address spaces when it tries to detect PCMCIA etc..

If I remember correctly, it worked if early tests are aborted (key press, mouse or joystick, I don't remember anymore) or using aca500plus "cloaking device mode" which hides all extra features.