A new update for the SymbiFace3 has been released by Hans. You can find it on the usual
TMTLogic page link on the Firmare update files drawer.
It brings some changes, lets start with the more inconvenient one.
-New Ram/Rom management.
Due to the lack of space for improvements on the CPLD chip, from now on the Ram enabled zones will be 256KB wide, X0-XF, except some special zones that will be smaller, 08-0F, F0-F7 and F8-FB.
The possible write protected(ROM) zones will be limited to a few ranges: 04-07, 08-0F,60-6F and 70-7F. This only limits the use of real Roms on the SF3, but the user still can put Roms on Ram zones, that will be found correctly by EXOS as emulated Roms.
This is not exactly a limitation, because we still will be able to use the SF3 in the same ways that we did before this update, but with less freedom. Now we need to be more aware of not putting Ram/Rom on zones that clash with the memory installed by other devices. For example, Saint's memory expansions usually put a 64KB memory chunk on its lower row, usually XC-XF. If we enable that entire 256KB row on the SF3, then the two memories will clash and the Enterprise will malfunction, nothing armful. So we must leave that 192KB zone disabled, (X0-XB).
But we still have a lot of Ram/Rom to assign if we need.
-New CPLD update inside this DFU file, due to the new memory management.
Once the SF3 updated, but with the SF3 still connected to the PC, select the down position on the switch near the big connector at the bottom of the SF3 and press the reset button, at the left side of the SF3. It will ask for a "Z80 update", so press the middle button under the little Oled screen. It will show "updated", and then you can disconnect it from the PC.
-Then, a great new: From now on you will be able to use the USB pen-drive as a massive storage on the Enterprise...
Thanks to the skills of Geco we are now able to manage the FAT32 formatted pen-drive on our old FAT12 system. He has implemented a tunnel like driver that talks directly with the SF3 and translates the orders between the two different systems. In fact, it is almost transparent to the user, because even multi-file programs can be used.
The trick has been programmed on a new version of the SF3Boot.Rom, that you can find on the same TMTLogic link on the Roms drawer.
The use is easy:
Geco has implemented a new command DEF_DEV_ that has to be executed at the start of a session.
:def_dev_XXXX
file - sf3 usb
disk - exdos
tape - tape loading
As the name implies, if you execute :def_dev_file, what it does is to assign the default path of Saving and Loading to the SF3, but the trick doesn't use the EXDOS.Rom...., so, if you execute a :Dir, it will produce an error on an only-Tape Enterprise, or will show you a different drive content on a SD, IDE or Floppy based Enterprise...
To solve this, Geco has implemented some simple file management commands inside the SF3Boot.Rom, that make the same actions as the known ones in the EXDOS.Rom:
:sf3 cd
:sf3 dir
:sf3 md
:sf3 rd
:sf3 del
Of course you don't loss the other massive storage units, because you still can redirect the action to them by only including the letter of the drive on the name file, for example:
load "f:example.bas", or the same with tape:.
As a beta-tester I have tried a lot of programs and files and the system is very reliable.... with an exception: SymbOS.
Symbos will load the same from the USB pen drive, but once loaded it doesn't manage it, only the usual SD or floppies. But this is not a fault of Geco's driver, it is only that the Enterprise SymbOS version still doesn't talks with the SF3 USB....
This was fixed on the CPC version long ago, so we are near to have it, but by now is only a matter of waiting for Prodatron to implement it.
Enjoy! Feel free to ask your doubts.
