Breakthrough for the ao486 core announced - Cache

[Schyz]

Glad to see I'm not the only person with monitor sync issues.

I'm using a PC CRT monitor with my MiSTer, and these are my findings:
- VGA Scaler set to "on" solves a lot of my problems
- Changes on speed will cause issues unless I restart the core, so every time I want a different speed I set it to that speed, save settings as default, exit the core back to the main menu and then start the core again.
- 15 MHz still causes the monitor to report wrong frequencies, but 30, 56 and 90 work fine.
- As a rule of thumb, I would recommend to restart the core as described above for any config change, not only speed, for stability.

[NightShadowPT]

Where have you guys downloaded the compiled core from? I'm looking forward to try the new improvements, but don't have the tools to compile the core myself...

[SuperBabyHix]

Where have you guys downloaded the compiled core from? I'm looking forward to try the new improvements, but don't have the tools to compile the core myself...

First page of this thread. viewtopic.php?p=5058#p5058

[NightShadowPT]

First page of this thread. viewtopic.php?p=5058#p5058

Didn't notice the post was being updated ... silly me. Thanks

[tontonkaloun]

the newest:

[Caldor]

the newest:

Ahh... you beat me to it. Did you build the new MiSTer main as well?

cache43b.7z

(2.05 MiB) Downloaded 229 times

[NightShadowPT]

the newest:

Ahh... you beat me to it. Did you build the new MiSTer main as well?
cache43b.7z

It seems I'm having trouble having this core version to recognize my VHDs (keeps telling me the boot failed as it could not read the boot disk),

Do I also need a new MiSTer core? (mine is up to date from the update script, but it may not be enough)

[tontonkaloun]

the newest:

Ahh... you beat me to it. Did you build the new MiSTer main as well?
cache43b.7z

no, I didn't have time !!

[breiztiger]

@NightShadowPT : yes you must have last beta main MiSTer also

[Caldor]

the newest:

Ahh... you beat me to it. Did you build the new MiSTer main as well?
cache43b.7z

no, I didn't have time !!

I added the latest MiSTer main as well in the 7zip file I linked.

[Juri]

the newest:

Ahh... you beat me to it. Did you build the new MiSTer main as well?
cache43b.7z

hello, do you know "what's new" in cache 43?

[Chris23235]

Ladies and Gentleman, there is an official release Congratulations and many thanks to Sorgelig, FPGAzumSpass and everybody else who helped to make this core such a fantastic experience.

[sofakng]

I want to say thank you again for all of the hard work with this core!

Do we need to use the drivers from this thread? (ie. ET4000 BIOS, etc)

[SuperBabyHix]

Yes, thanks you very much to everyone involved. This is a really amazing accomplishment. I can finally clean out my old computer closet.

[Caldor]

Ladies and Gentleman, there is an official release Congratulations and many thanks to Sorgelig, FPGAzumSpass and everybody else who helped to make this core such a fantastic experience.

That is great news, thanks

the newest:

Ahh... you beat me to it. Did you build the new MiSTer main as well?
cache43b.7z

hello, do you know "what's new" in cache 43?

You can read the full changelogs here:
https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/ao486_M ... ommits/dev

So its some stuff with how the video works. Not sure what it actually does.

Here is the log with all the changes added to MiSTer main:
https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/Main_Mi ... its/master

[tlaloc]

I guess I wait for the official update.

Beeble (and/or ppl), get ready...

...after three (3) months of ironing out residual bugs from the many (many) various improvements - the wait is finally over.

Looking forward for the official update.

Beeble, Behold:
https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/ao486_M ... 200814.rbf

[thorr]

LOL, I didn't want to officially say it in my post a few hours ago, but I was also waiting for an official release before trying it. If only I had waited a few more hours... I am looking forward to trying the official release now! Thanks so much.

[NightShadowPT]

HOLY MOLLY!!!!

The new core is crazy fast
Midi to my SC-88 Pro works flawlessly (i.e.: DOOM)
And an unexpected gift... Scanlines are working perfectly!!!!! YEAH BABY!

Thank you to all the developers that have been hammering at this core for the past weeks. You guys are truly amazing.

Just one note, unlike in the past, when I load the core I am always greeted with a blank screen (need to press the core reboot button for it to work). Minor annoyance but thought I'd share.

Wow... just wow

[punnyandfunny]

Thanks all for your hard work. Managed to install Windows 95 with zero problems. I need help to transfer the MisterFS exe - can't get a secondary HDD to mount unfortunately. Any other ways? Thanks

[zomgugoff]

The new video seems to be less useful than the old video. I can't get my monitor to sync (it does support 70hz) at all now with variable vsync. Direct video to OSSC doesn't work at all. VGA to the OSSC has a lot of noise, although that was the case before. VGA to a 31Khz CRT is not working at all either.

[NML32]

Thanks all for your hard work. Managed to install Windows 95 with zero problems. I need help to transfer the MisterFS exe - can't get a secondary HDD to mount unfortunately. Any other ways? Thanks

I added it to a Floppy image.

MiSTerFS.zip

(527.69 KiB) Downloaded 238 times

[Shaneus]

I hate to be one to complain, but there's a difference in how joysticks are seen (I think) between the Cache41 build and the final build. For example, a USB joypad calibrates and works perfectly with Tempest 2000 with the older build, but with the new main one I don't think it registers inputs properly.

[thorr]

Just tried the new official core, and my SVGA monitor connected via direct video on the HDMI port with a VGA adapter complains about the signal being outside of sync range when I try to run Doom and the sound is choppy in the menu that I can't see. I also tried second reality and it just does nothing with a black screen. I am using the ET4000 bios. I am not sure if that matters. When I switch to Cache 43, it works fine, but only with variable refresh rate. With 60Hz, I get an outside of sync range error on my monitor. Edit, just tried Second Reality on Cache 43 and it is also blank, until I selected No Sound during the startup. I then tried it with No Sound on the official core and it also worked with no sound. This was working yesterday with Cache 43 but not anymore.

[cursedverses]

I've been reading through the patches, and something caught my eye that I don't understand in the independent clock for VGA patch.

In ao486.sv, the VGA clock seems to be assigned to outclk_0 (in place of sys, which is moved to three) but everything else refers to outclk_3...?

Don't quote me on this. I absolutely don't know the code and relying on diffs.

[pgimeno]

I need help. I've updated Main and the ao486 core to try the new features, but it doesn't work at all for me:

- The monitor goes to sleep mode.
- On the MiSTer, all three LEDs go off and the Reset (or any other) button does nothing. Pressing Ctrl+Shift+Alt+AltGr does nothing either.
- I can however still access the MiSTer via SSH, so I can type in 'reboot' and regain control.

Some settings (I can give more if necessary, I just didn't want to make the post too big):

Code: Select all

forced_scandoubler=1
composite_sync=0
vga_scaler=1
vscale_mode=0
dvi_mode=0
video_mode=8
vsync_adjust=1
video_mode_ntsc=8
video_mode_pal=9

Edit: Actually the previous ao486 core (from May 10) is not working either, so this isn't really new. I have to go back to the April 21 release.

My MiSTer OS is from April 29, I didn't dare to update it for fear of bricking it. Is an OS update required?

Update: Both images were corrupted. I've re-downloaded them and now it's running.

[NightShadowPT]

My MiSTer OS is from April 29, I didn't dare to update it for fear of bricking it. Is an OS update required?

Yes, you need to update.

[IAmParadox]

I need help. I've updated Main and the ao486 core to try the new features, but it doesn't work at all for me:

- The monitor goes to sleep mode.
- On the MiSTer, all three LEDs go off and the Reset (or any other) button does nothing. Pressing Ctrl+Shift+Alt+AltGr does nothing either.
- I can however still access the MiSTer via SSH, so I can type in 'reboot' and regain control.

Some settings (I can give more if necessary, I just didn't want to make the post too big):

Code: Select all

forced_scandoubler=1
composite_sync=0
vga_scaler=1
vscale_mode=0
dvi_mode=0
video_mode=8
vsync_adjust=1
video_mode_ntsc=8
video_mode_pal=9

Edit: Actually the previous ao486 core (from May 10) is not working either, so this isn't really new. I have to go back to the April 21 release.

My MiSTer OS is from April 29, I didn't dare to update it for fear of bricking it. Is an OS update required?

I don't know if this will fix all of your problems, but, for me, to fix the out of sync issues, I had to change
vsync_adjust=1
to
vsync_adjust=0
I have one HDMI TV that worked, no problem, but, the second one, had issues with 70Hz mode, and, changing this value, fixed it, here, and some other places that were having sync issues.

[pgimeno]

Updating the OS didn't help. I'm now on OS v200618 and main v200814 and the same is still happening.

After more digging, I've realized that Main is terminating (crashing, most likely). That explains the symptoms.

Before executing ao486:

Code: Select all

/root# pidof MiSTer
1208
/root# 

After executing ao486:

Code: Select all

/root# pidof MiSTer
/root# 

As I noted in an edit to the previous post, this is happening in the previous version too (ao486_200511.rbf) so it's not really a new issue. It works fine with ao486_200421.rbf.

Any clue as to what could be making Main crash?

Update: Both images were corrupted. I re-downloaded them and it started to work. Sorry for the noise.

[thorr]

After trying to make the new core work with my SVGA monitor, I found the trick was to set direct_video=0. Then, I put these in my .ini:
[ao486]
direct_video=0
vga_scaler=0
vsync_adjust=2
vscale_mode=0
video_mode=1600,64,192,304,1200,1,3,46 ; 1600x1200x60Hz

Doom works with these settings, but the sound still breaks up and when holding the right mouse button to move around (after changing it to move forward in the setup.exe), the gun fires off on its own occasionally (left mouse button).

Second Reality still doesn't work.

Cache 43 worked much better for me (probably along with a slightly older MiSTer main file than the official latest one). It works with Direct Video and I don't have the sound and other problems.

EDIT: Changing my config.sys to this fixed Second Reality:
DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS /TESTMEM:OFF
DOS=HIGH,UMB
LASTDRIVE=Z
DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE 28000 RAM D=64 X=A000=C7FF FRAME=C800 I=D000-EFFF

After more testing with Cache43, I also have choppy sound in Doom (shareware version) and my left mouse occasionally fires when I don't tell it to. I don't know if it is a crappy mouse or a bug. So basically, the major difference between 43 and the official core, is the official core doesn't work with direct video in Doom Shareware. The official core does work with Second Reality with directvideo.

[dano]

Any of the sega titles able to run on DOS?

VF1/2,HotD, OR VR?