Carnivore2 announcements

Guardian (3651)

02-05-2018, 18:22

This topic was created to inform you about the releases for Carnivore2 cartridge's project. Please don't submit bug reports or comment anything in this topic.

Release 02.05.2018:

Added Z80/R800 mode toggle for Turbo-R machines with 'T' button
Added Turbo mode toggle for Panasonic MSX2+ machines with 'T' button
Added indication of Z80/Turbo/R800 mode to the status screen
The CF card's clock speed is now independent from the CPU's clock speed. So the IDE will work correctly even if the CPU speed is above normal. Also a few minor errors in the firmware were fixed
The selected VDP frequency and/or Turbo/R800 mode is preserved for ROMs after system restart
Corrections were made into the documentation regarding the PosSiz register and the Turbo/R800 modes
When an RCP file with the same name as ROM file is found, the C2MAN, C2MAN40 and C2RAMLDR utilities are asking whether to load the RCP data. In autoloading mode the RCP data is loaded automatically
The C2RAMLDR utility can now reset the computer on-demand or automatically after loading the ROM file if the /r command line option is used; the restart option has been added into the menu
After writing IDE or FMPAC BIOS into the cartridge there's no longer a problem with directory editing. In the past the directory was shown as corrupted because of incorrect configuration after BIOS flashing.
A few RCP files have been added
Added files for supporting the emulation of Carnivore2 in OpenMSX (starting from version 14 build 200)

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Van Wierzbowsky

Guardian (3651)

06-05-2018, 18:37

Today we made a small update for all tools. Please get the new tools from our repository.

Van Wierzbowsky

Guardian (3651)

07-05-2018, 00:20

The utilities were modified to work correctly with Daewoo computers.

Van Wierzbowsky

Guardian (3651)

10-05-2018, 15:32

Another small release today:

The tools and the boot block now work on Daewoo and Arabic MSX computers
The new tool is available - C2BACKUP: it allows to read and write the contents of the entire FlashROM chip

The boot block for Daewoo and Arabic machines can be found in the \bootblock\special\ folder of the repository.

Van Wierzbowsky

Guardian (3651)

14-06-2018, 23:51

Hey! Today we are doing the major release for the Carnivore2 cartridge! Here's what we have achieved:

The PSG emulation was re-worked, not it sounds very close to the original chip's output
All tools now work correctly under MSX-DOS version 1.xx; The C2MAN_40.COM utility has been renamed to C2MAN40.COM for compatibility with older DOS versions
The code of C2MAN and C2MAN40 utilities was merged and can be now compiled from one file, the VDP and MSX generation detection allows to set correct mode depending on the platform; the user interface has been improved, the code was optimized
In the \Util\special subfolder there are special versions of the C2MAN and C2MAN40 utilities, whose directory editor works correctly on Korean and Arabic MSX computers
The C2BACKUP tool is now writing to FlashROM 35% faster, the counter bug is fixed
The SCC and PSG filters were optimized in the firmware, the sound quality is much improved
The Altera's firmware now has the hardware-based interceptor for starting ROM images, but this feature is not yet used in the boot block
The /r restart option is now supported by C2BACKUP and C2SRAM utilities

Get the newest files from our repository:
https://github.com/RBSC/Carnivore2

We strongly recommend to update the firmware.

Please don't comment in this thread, use the dedicated Carnivore2 discussion thread instead:
https://www.msx.org/forum/msx-talk/hardware/carnivore2-first...

Van Wierzbowsky

Guardian (3651)

12-09-2018, 23:03

We have found the solution for the problem of an incomplete Carnivore2 initialization on some MSX computers after power-on. This solution requires installing one SMD diode, soldering one wire and updating the firmware. More information can be found here:

https://github.com/RBSC/Carnivore2/tree/master/PowerUp_Fix

This is not the obligatory fix. If the cartridge works fine on your MSX, you don't need this modification.

Van Wierzbowsky

Guardian (3651)

22-09-2018, 21:00

Today we have a small release for Carnivore2:

The boot block now supports joypads and joysticks connected to any of the 2 joystick ports. They allow to control the cursor in the main menu, start the games and configuration entries and also to stop the autostart of the selected entry
Added the second help screen with the description of joystick's actions into the boot block. The autostart message now mentions joystick's action as well

The files are in the usual place.

Van Wierzbowsky

Guardian (3651)

30-09-2018, 23:18

A tiny release was done today. The boot block now supports the built-in trigger buttons, for example those on Casio PV models. They now allow to interrupt autostart.

Van Wierzbowsky

Guardian (3651)

18-03-2019, 00:52

We are currently testing the beta version of the new boot block.

After a few wishes from our users, we've added the UI settings screen that can be called with "S" button into the boot block. A user can now enable sorting of the menu entries, enable/disable fade in/out effects, set the speed of the keyboard/joystick and customize the font and the background colors of all boot block's screens (on MSX2 and later computers). A user can also restore the default settings with just one button. The UI settings are stored in the configuration EEPROM.

We will let you know once the new boot block is released. :)

Van Wierzbowsky

Guardian (3651)

31-03-2019, 16:42

We have a big release for Carnivore2 today. The list of changes can be found below.

Added UI settings screen that can be called with "S" button into the boot block. A user can now enable sorting of the menu entries, enable/disable fade in/out effects, set the speed of the keyboard/joystick and customize the font and the background colors of all boot block's screens (on MSX2 and later computers). A user can also restore the default settings with just one button. The UI settings are stored in the configuration EEPROM
The F3 key loads the UI defaults on startup, but it doesn't clear the settings in the EEPROM. This function may be used to bypass bad configuration settings
The C2MAN, C2MAN40, C2RAMLDR, C2SRAM and C2BACKUP utilities now assume the default extension for their data files and ROM images if a user doesn't input the extension himself
The C2MAN, C2MAN40 and C2RAMLDR utilities got a bugfix to better identify the free directory entries in order to re-use them. The directory optimization now works better
The C2MAN and C2MAN40 utilities were optimized in size to better fit into RAM under MSX-DOS2
The new utility C2CFGBCK allows to backup and restore the data in the configuration EEPROM
The C2BACKUP utility asks a user whether he wants to preserve the existing boot block on the cartridge and in case of a positive answer it doesn't overwrite the existing boot block with the one stored in the backup file
Added C2IDETST utility to test IDE controller's functionality. The utility performs 16384 read/write operations and shows the status for each of them. In the end the utility shows the total/success/failed counters

The repository can be found here: https://github.com/RBSC/Carnivore2

I would like to thank Carmeloco, Pencioner and 8bits4ever for their help during the testing phase and for the new improvement ideas.

Van Wierzbowsky

Guardian (3651)

24-10-2019, 21:36

The new batch is on its way:

https://www.msx.org/news/hardware/en/new-carnivore2-batch-pr...

And yes, the latest boot block supports entry sorting. If you already have Carnivore2 - it's time to download the latest boot block and tools.

We are now working on the proper file manager for Carnivore2. We may present it at Nijmegen 2020 already.