Hmmm... something went wrong

[Uto]

Hello everybody,

I own a Divide Plus since a long time ago, but I have not used it too much basically cause I also own a normal DivIDE and didn't have much time to test DivIDE Plus features. But today I decided to test it, and well... something went wrong.

First, I noticed It was booting to FATWARE, so as I'm used to ESXDOS I searched for ways to install ESXDOS, and I found it on this forum (http://rwapadventures.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=75). So I downloaded the TAP file, put it in my CF card (the same one I use on the other DivIDE with ESXDOS), and followed the instructions. And that went OK, since that very moment the DiviDE plus was booting ESXDOS (though, to my surprise, it didn't show the ESXDOS boot screen anymore, only once, but the ESXDOS NMI features were there).

Then I remembered DivIDE plus could load different firmwares, so I readed a handwritten note I had together with the DivIDE plus that reads "OUT 23,x;PRINT USR 0 to switch fw". I didn't have the list of x values handy, so I started trying "OUT 23,1", "OUT 23,2", "OUT 23,3", followed by PRINT USR 0. Nothing but normal resets happened until I did OUT 23, 6, that MDOS3 loading screen showed up. Yes, maybe X=2 and X=4 did something, but as I expected a loading screen as with ESXDOS I didn't see anything special. I went on and tried X=8 and X=10, but I only got some vertical blue bars and computer freezed just after the OUT command.

Well, then I tried to switch back to ESXDOS, what I managed to do by doing OUT 23, 0:PRINT USR 0. And I used it a bit, loaded some games and it went fine.

But then I tried to enter -via NMI menu- in folder with a lot of files, and after some scrolling down through the files, suddenly all of them were the same one "ADDAMS.Z80", the whole list was the same file, again an again. I scrolled up and even the ".." folder was not there anymore (it was when I scrolled down) so I could not get back to previous folder. So I unplugged the Spectrum and rebooted.

But now ESXDOS doesn't load, that is, when I press NMI menu I get just a reset, and when I type a dot command, it resets too.

I have not fatware anymore, so I cannot use the TAP file to re-write ESXDOS firmare, and I have no Idea how to do it with MDOS3. Now OUT 23,2 makes a reset too, and I've tried to launch ResiDOS using the pokes in the manual plus the USR call, and it freezes.

I could try to fix it writing the ESXDOS firmware again vía the EAR connector, but before trying such vintage method, is there anything else I can do?

Thanks in advance

Update: I found that pressing space key while booting resets ESXDOS, and now ESXDOS boots again, and at least the NMI menu seems to work, but the dot coomands still freeze the computer. Maybe the dot commands were freezing the computer before as well, and I just didn't use them so I didn't notice.

By the way, same CF card works fine with the normal DivIDE (I can use dot commands and NMI menu in ESXDOS).

Update 2: I also tried to make the IDE connector master, and then connect the CF card via IDE2CF adapter. Results are basically the same, except that one of my tries to run .ls command lead me to TR-DOS !?? (i retried twice after that and only got Spectrum freezed again).

[RWAP]

Very peculiar - you may need to replace the EEPROM on board - but the first question has to be whether or not you have the upgraded GALs - if not, then it is a wonder that esxDOS worked at all...

All DivIDE Plus sold since January 2014 have the upgraded GALs fitted - but if you purchased yours before then, you would have had to purchase a set of the GAL chips from me.

[Uto]

Very peculiar - you may need to replace the EEPROM on board - but the first question has to be whether or not you have the upgraded GALs - if not, then it is a wonder that esxDOS worked at all...

All DivIDE Plus sold since January 2014 have the upgraded GALs fitted - but if you purchased yours before then, you would have had to purchase a set of the GAL chips from me.

I bought DivIDE plus long before 2014, probably around 2008, so it has not upgraded GALs. Despite of that, I was testing it again yesterday after cleaning edge connector again and opening DivIDE Plus box and pushing all ICs to make sure they were properly fitted, and well... it works fine, at least I could load a few TAPs and Z80s and it worked fine. I wonder how it could work, but it works

Anyway, maybe I was lucky with Z80/TAP selected, so I'm up for upgrading the GALs, but I have a few questions:

1) Where do I exactly buy them? I found them sold at sellmyretro.com, but I'm not 100% sure that is the set I need to buy
2) Are the current GALs I have rewritable? I also have a normal DivIDE with broken GALs, so I'm wondering if I can use the ones I will replace to fix the other DivIDE (I have a friend who has a GAL programmer)

[RWAP]

The GAL set you need is:

http://www.sellmyretro.com/offer/detail ... e-Set-2689

Yes, existing GALs can be re-programmed - if you send me your email address by pm, I will send you the code you need