Building the KLyball 600D

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BillO
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Re: Building the KLyball 600D

Post by BillO »

A question for anyone that has experience with both the 600B and the 600D.

On my 600D, the first column of video seems to start 3 columns over from where the same first column does on the 600B. Like below:

Code: Select all

600B:
D/C/W/M?

600D:
   D/C/W/M?
Is this normal?
Box stock Superboard II Rev. B
KLyball replica 600D, replica 610 & KLyball Data Separator
OMS SBME and SBME+ memory cards
OMS Digi-Mule expansion bus
KLyball memory card
bxdanny
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Location: Bronx, NY USA

Re: Building the KLyball 600D

Post by bxdanny »

A quick question for anyone with working 600D: If the board is in 48-character mode, and you press the reset button/Break key, does it switch back to 24-character mode? I seem to remember that it does, but I'm not sure.
No current OSI hardware
Former programmer for Dwo Quong Fok Lok Sow and Orion Software Associates
Former owner of C1P MF (original version) and C2-8P DF (502-based)
BillO
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Re: Building the KLyball 600D

Post by BillO »

If I recall correctly, 48 char mode will survive a reset, but not a cold start.
Box stock Superboard II Rev. B
KLyball replica 600D, replica 610 & KLyball Data Separator
OMS SBME and SBME+ memory cards
OMS Digi-Mule expansion bus
KLyball memory card
bxdanny
Posts: 313
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Location: Bronx, NY USA

Re: Building the KLyball 600D

Post by bxdanny »

If I recall correctly, 48 char mode will survive a reset, but not a cold start.
No, that doesn't sound right. The ROM was the same as on the 600B, so there is nothing in the code that would change the screen mode.
No current OSI hardware
Former programmer for Dwo Quong Fok Lok Sow and Orion Software Associates
Former owner of C1P MF (original version) and C2-8P DF (502-based)
BillO
Posts: 216
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Re: Building the KLyball 600D

Post by BillO »

When you do a cold start, some code and vectors (locations of I/O and other routines) are written to RAM memory. The "switch" code for the 48 char mode modifies these vectors and loads up some of it's own code. If you do a reset and a cold start, all the changes will be over-written. If you do a warm start, or enter the monitor, none of that code is touched so the changes placed into memory should not be affected. Not sure what booting from disk would do as I never had a FD system back in the day.

I could do a test to very this but I don't have a copy of the "switch" code. If someone can give me a copy I'd be glad to try it out.
Box stock Superboard II Rev. B
KLyball replica 600D, replica 610 & KLyball Data Separator
OMS SBME and SBME+ memory cards
OMS Digi-Mule expansion bus
KLyball memory card
bxdanny
Posts: 313
Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2015 2:27 pm
Location: Bronx, NY USA

Re: Building the KLyball 600D

Post by bxdanny »

When OSI sold the C1P Series II systems, using the 600 Rev. D board, they had the same SYN600 ROM that the earlier C1P systems had, which means there was no support of any kind in ROM for 48-character mode, or for writing to the port (at $D800) that controlled which mode the system was in. You should be able to switch the hardware into 48-character mode with the command POKE 55296,1 and then see if it switches back on reset; I'm pretty sure now that it will. Probably the reset line is routed to a flip-flop or similar circuit that controls which mode the screen is in.

Regarding your earlier question about the video seeming to be shifted right, if I did the math right 3 character widths in 24-character mode represent 6 microseconds of horizontal scan. That's way too much to be due to the extra logic the video signal must pass through due to the existence of the two screen modes, I would think. As I said, the ROMs were the same, and the "D" of D/C/W/M should represent location $D365 on either version of the board. I never did a direct A/B comparison of the two Superboard versions on the same monitor, but I do remember that the horizontal hold usually had to be adjusted when switching a monitor between a C1 and a C4 (and of course, between either and broadcast TV). Since the resistors and capacitors (especially the latter) used in the RC circuits for sync pulse widths and such had wide tolerances (up to 20%), my guess would be that the difference you are seeing is simply due to variations in those component values. But I'm only guessing.
No current OSI hardware
Former programmer for Dwo Quong Fok Lok Sow and Orion Software Associates
Former owner of C1P MF (original version) and C2-8P DF (502-based)
BillO
Posts: 216
Joined: Tue Jul 08, 2014 4:03 pm
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Re: Building the KLyball 600D

Post by BillO »

bxdanny wrote:When OSI sold the C1P Series II systems, using the 600 Rev. D board, they had the same SYN600 ROM that the earlier C1P systems had, which means there was no support of any kind in ROM for 48-character mode, or for writing to the port (at $D800) that controlled which mode the system was in. You should be able to switch the hardware into 48-character mode with the command POKE 55296,1 and then see if it switches back on reset; I'm pretty sure now that it will. Probably the reset line is routed to a flip-flop or similar circuit that controls which mode the screen is in.
Ah, okay. I think I see where we are not on the same page. Yes, a reset will change the the POKE back to the 24 char mode. However, just doing the poke by itself will not make the 48-char mode work right. The lines will not fill with characters in a normal fashion. You also need the driver code to be loaded otherwise there will be gaps in the text lines and the sides of the screen will 'flip' around as the lines scroll. That code will be wiped out with a cold start.
Box stock Superboard II Rev. B
KLyball replica 600D, replica 610 & KLyball Data Separator
OMS SBME and SBME+ memory cards
OMS Digi-Mule expansion bus
KLyball memory card
Jeff
Posts: 370
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2014 4:44 am
Location: British Columbia, Canada

Re: Building the KLyball 600D

Post by Jeff »

Hey Bill,

How did your board turn out? Can you post some pics of the final assembly?

/Jeff
Image
waltermixxx
Posts: 129
Joined: Sun Feb 03, 2019 10:31 pm

Re: Building the KLyball 600D

Post by waltermixxx »

I'm just bumping this so I can more easily access it during my 600 REV D final setup.
I have all the sockets, resisters, diodes, capacitors crystals etc soldered in.
Populating the video section first to see if we get fire, then I will populate the rest
based on the Superboard II construction manual which was created with the D in mind.

wish me luck :)
Turning into quite an OSI Junkie (HTFDTH?) Superboard II REV B-40K, 9600b, HC-05 Bluetooth, Superboard II Rev D, C4P rebuild- 502, 542c, 540B. :)
waltermixxx
Posts: 129
Joined: Sun Feb 03, 2019 10:31 pm

Re: Building the KLyball 600D

Post by waltermixxx »

I think i know this, but is the 600 REV D pre wired for 2716's? so no jumbers have to be set?
please advise. I'm stuffing sockets this evening ;)
Turning into quite an OSI Junkie (HTFDTH?) Superboard II REV B-40K, 9600b, HC-05 Bluetooth, Superboard II Rev D, C4P rebuild- 502, 542c, 540B. :)
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