[ATARI] Altirra x86 i x64 4.00 test XXIII 5/12/2020

Altirra 4.00 Beta XXIII 5/12/2020

changes

• nw

features added

• nw

bugs fixed

• nw

authors comment:

• Fix for an alignment bug in the stereo mixing code that manifested with VS2019 16.8 (these builds are using an older version).
• Fix for an uninitialized memory crash in the virtual DOS 2 image mounting code.

Altirra 4.00 Beta XXII 1/12/2020

changes

• nw

features added

• Debugger: Added .pagesums command.
• UI: Added /reset to load last profile without the device tree.

bugs fixed

• Debugger: Removed JSR (abs,X) and added RTL to list of opcodes that trigger a procedure separator.

authors comment:

• SIDE 3 fixes: red/green LEDs split apart, flash chip changed to MX29LV640ET to match production run, SD writes now supported, banking and cartridge hardware registers updated, many cartridge emulation bugs fixed, push button and SDX switch behavior fixed, SD writes are now supported, RTC month fixed, HD sector indicator hooked up.
• Added /reset:devices command-line switch to reset only the device tree.
• Virt-FAT32 device now handles empty directories, zero byte files, and symlinks to files.
• Fixed disassembler end-block flags for RTL and JSR (abs,X) opcodes.
• Added .pagesums command to aid in comparing memory states.

Altirra 4.00 Beta XXI 22/11/2020

changes

• nw

features added

• nw

bugs fixed

• AltirraOS: Fixed minor rounding error in ATN() constant from assembler.
• HLE: CRITIC is no longer zeroed from PBI-based SIO acceleration to fix key repeat issues with some versions of SpartaDOS X.

authors comment:

• Compatibility fixes to 6502 source for MADS 2.1.0. The .fl command is seriously bugged in 2.1.0 and is frequently wrong by 1ulp, so I've hardcoded all FP constants in the AltirraOS math pack as hex. There was also an ATN() constant that was incorrectly encoded by the assembler even in MADS 1.9.8b5, so the AltirraOS version has been bumped to 3.30. The fallback Ultimate1MB recovery ROM now also assembles with 2.1.0.
• Fixed a bug in the PBI-based SIO acceleration that manifested with some versions of SpartaDOS X where key repeat would stop working. This was caused by the PBI code clearing CRITIC, which interacted badly with SDX doing a DEC CRITIC afterward to balance its INC CRITIC. This then disabled stage-2 VBLANK processing.
• SIDE 3 emulation fixes: DMA source/destination pointer and count registers are now double-buffered, implemented activity LED and LED registers, implemented r/w bit 2 in write protect register, and SpartaDOS X switch is now implemented.

Bruce Lee Return of Fury (conversion, org. MegaStyle 2019 - C64, ???, 2021)

Altirra 4.00 Beta XLIII (43) 03/10/2021

changes

• nw

features added

• nw

bugs fixed

• nw

authors comment:

• Fixed typos in debugging help.
• Fixed minor bug in POKEY renderer save state loading.
• Fixed save states not loading when the system has a power-up delay active on cold reset.
• Minor improvement to syslink readability in dark mode.
• Added additional PERCOM disk drive firmware images to autodetect list.

This release also contains the source code for the RMT plugins.

Altirra 4.00 Beta XLII 18/09/2021

changes

• nw

features added

• Debugger: Added verifier options for detecting stack wrapping and stack in page zero.
  

bugs fixed

• POKEY: Fixed keys not being re-reported in raw non-full scan mode when enabling debounce with keyboard scan already enabled.

authors comment:

• Fixes held keys not being re-registered in raw key mode when keyboard debounce mode is re-enabled while keyboard scan is already enabled. This fixes the Rapidus menu being harder to enter with the Inverse key in raw key mode than it should have been (full scan mode was fine).
• Fixed a regression in the initial state of SKCTL bit 4 due to some cassette changes.
• Improved the output of the .pokey debugger command.
• Added verifier modes for detecting stack wrapping and the native 816 stack being placed into page zero.

Altirra 4.00 Beta XLI 12/09/2021

Fort Apocalypse (Synapse Software Corporation, 1982)

changes

• nw

features added

• Devices: Added parallel port buses to all devices that support printer output and file writer device to sink printer output to a file.
  

bugs fixed

• nw

authors comment:

• Fixed crash when opening Tape Control after loading a mono WAV file.
• Tape Control shows mono tapes as such again.
• Added support for XEP80 printer port.
• All devices that support printer ports now have an explicit device port for attaching parallel port devices.
• Added parallel port file writer device to spool parallel print data to a file.

Altirra 4.00 Beta XL 08/09/2021

Fire Power (1993, ASF). Świetna grafika i kompletnie skopany system sterowania... szkoda

changes

• nw

features added

• nw

bugs fixed

• Custom Devices: Fixed script compiler allowing async methods to be called from handler contexts that don't support async operations.
• Debugger: Fixed disassembly window repeatedly trying to scroll near the top of address space.
  
• UI: Full-screen file browser scrolls back to top when changing folders.
  

authors comment:

• Custom device: Fixed script compiler not checking async permissions on method calls; added logging when loop count is exceeded; improved behavior on forced call stack depth exceeded; fixed occasional crash when removing a custom device.
• Debugger: Disassembly window no longer repeatedly recenters itself near address 0.
• Debugger: Fixed erroneous emulation mode reporting in the .side3 command.
• Virtual FAT32: Added disk serial number so Windows recognizes the disk in read-only mode; improved layout similarity to Windows format; fixed 8.3 lowercase filenames not being preserved.
• VHD: Fixed bitmap corruption when writing multiple new sectors to a dynamic VHD image in a single IDE command.
• UI: Fixed full-screen mode file browser retaining scroll when switching folders, possibly scrolled off the bottom of the list.

Altirra 4.00 Beta XXXIX 29/08/2021

changes

• nw

features added

• nw

bugs fixed

• Debugger: Added .vbxe_pal command.
  
• POKEY: Fixed extra audio pulse when timer 1/2 underflow coincides with two-tone timer reset.

authors comment:

• Added 1050 rev. E to firmware detect list.
• Fixed lack of word wrap in update dialog.
• Audio monitor now dims channels that have been toggled off.
• Fixed extraneous audio pulses in two-tone mode when timer underflow occurred on the same cycle as the timer 1+2 resync.
• Added .vbxe_pal debugger command.
• Fixed a tiny amount of aliasing leakage in audio output (32-bit x86 only).

Regarding the two-tone audio issue -- I tested timer 1+2 two-tone timing against the actual hardware and 3.90+ is correct, with 3.20 being off by two cycles. The actual issue was a corner case in where a resync 1+2 tones signal on the same cycle where an underflow happens causes the output pulse to be suppressed, which wasn't happening and resulting in a pure tone instead of a complex tone. This case wasn't being hit in 3.20 for the pitches involved due to the two cycle difference in period.

As this is the first test release after the addition of the Check for Updates feature, it'll be interesting to see how well it works. The feed won't be updated until about 10 minutes after this post lands, since I have to update the feed with the link to this post.

Altirra 4.00 Beta XXXVIII 23/08/2021

changes

• nw

features added

• Cassette: Added feature to hold data line across VBI to increase reliability of OS C: reads.

bugs fixed

• Display: Fixed failure to switch to exclusive full-screen mode in D3D9 with bloom enabled.
  
• UI: Fixed a crash in dockable pane code with mixed DPI monitors.

authors comment:

• Fixed errors when switching to exclusive full screen mode in D3D9 mode with hardware accelerated bloom enabled. (There was a surface not being released on D3D reset, leading to D3DERR_INVALIDCALL.)
• Fixed a stack overflow crash that could occur when switching between pane layouts, such as entering or exiting the debugger, on a multi-mon system with different DPI scales on each monitor.
• Added a configvar for the target frame rate in warp mode, previously hardcoded at 1/15 frames displayed.
• The .basic_dumpline debugger command now adds the $ or ( suffix for string and array variables when it synthesizes variable names due to a corrupted VNT. That is, you will now see _V9C$ instead of _V9C.
• Added new experimental peak-to-peak and duty cycle balanced turbo tape decoding modes. The balanced duty cycle modes are intended to improve decoding for loaders that are highly sensitive to pulse widths, which is a problem when decoding tapes distorted by audio enhancement. However, it's a more heavy-handed in the changes that it makes to the tape signal, so YMMV.
• Added an option to hold the tape data line across the start of vertical blank. This is a workaround for a bug in the Atari OS C: handler that causes it to occasionally screw up when measuring the baud rate and blow the tape load -- the SKSTAT bit is held across the danger period where RTCLOK+VCOUNT is ambiguous.
• The Phoenix 8K cartridge type can now be used with 2K and 4K images, which are auto-mirrored to 8K like with the standard 8K type.

Also in this version is the main thing I've been working on, the ability to check for updates online. This is only a manual check for now as I haven't added the logic to auto-check on startup, but Help > Check for Updates will now fetch an update feed to check if there is a newer release (test or stable, depending on which type of build you are running). Quite a lot was involved here including signing certificates (yuck) and the Windows CryptAPI/CNG/WinINet APIs (double yuck), but hopefully once it's all working smoothing it'll be a more convenient way for people to find out about updates. Note that the update mechanism only shows when a new build is available, it doesn't download or install it.

The underlying notification mechanism uses a subset of RSS 2.0. I haven't decided how widely to publicize this, but you can subscribe to it in a regular feed reader:

https://www.virtualdub.org/feeds/altirra-update-dev.xml

Note that there is a chicken-and-egg problem in that for the test releases, the link in the update feed is the AtariAge post announcing the new release. This means that you'll always hear about it here first, because I can't get the link for the feed update until the post has been made!

Altirra 4.00 Beta XXXVII 14/07/2021

changes

• nw

features added

• nw

bugs fixed

• Audio: Improved aliasing rejection of output audio filter.

authors comment:

• Fixed a rounding problem in the PAL high artifacting engine that was causing excessive banding.
• Fixed an issue with the windowing on the audio low pass filter and added kernel interpolation to the resampler, for reduced aliasing from ultrasonic audio (which causes you to hear sounds that should be inaudible).
• The disk drives dialog now asks for a save path if saving a disk that doesn't have a image path set yet, and blocks saving of dynamic disks.
• Improved the performance of the raw turbo tape decoder.
• Turbo tape modes have a bit better descriptions.

The Tape Editor now has the ability to view and edit the turbo decoder side of the tape, as well as to show the waveform input to the decoder (if waveform caching is enabled on load, which is off by default). For the turbo signal, this shows the post-filter output. The analysis tool now also has rudimentary Turbo 2000 decoding capabilities:

You can also see the distortion in the source waveform due to high frequency attenuation, which is what the compensating HPF is for:

Altirra 4.00 Beta XXXVI 07/07/2021

changes

• nw

features added

• Cassette: Added FLAC decoding support.

bugs fixed

• Cassette: Motor and play/record/pause state is no longer reset when switching tapes.

authors comment:

• Builds are now hosted over HTTPS, so the links should work directly again. Older builds are also available over HTTPS, but they won't redirect due to annoying behavior in some browsers. I can't edit the old posts, but you can edit the links manually to https.
• Debugger: 65C816 BRL instruction is now treated as ending a block in the disassembly.
• Raw tape audio can now be loaded in FLAC format.
• Fixed regression in loading CAS format tapes with FSK blocks, and fixed the read error message also always reporting position 0.

Tape editor has also received a few upgrades. It now has commands to convert selected ranges between standard (decoded bytes) and raw FSK, and also to extract files stored in standard C: format.

It also has two analysis features. The first is an Analyze tool that, when dragged over a selection, decodes and displays bytes in that selection. The second is an option to capture bytes as decoded dynamically through POKEY. Together, these can be used to diagnose boot errors:

In this case, the problem is a poorly encoded CAS file containing a transition from a standard 'data' block (green) to an 'fsk ' block (blue). The gap in between (gray) is of the wrong polarity, causing a framing error from the start bit being shortened (red byte).

We can fix this by using the Draw tool to repair the start bit:

...only to run into a problem later in the tape:

Here the analyzer is able to successfully decode the block with a valid checksum (blue bytes), but the boot fails with a framing error. The cause is a slight difference in estimated baud rate that causes the analyzer to just barely squeak by, whereas the OS boot is just slightly off enough for the stop bit sampling position to spill over into the next start bit (gray ticks). This is caused by another data/fsk split within the block, which causes timing problems since 'data' blocks can only specify baud rates to the nearest integer:

...but since the analyzer can decode the block, we can have it rewrite the entire block as clean standard data to avoid the mid-block change in baud rate and the marginal bit sampling timing:

...and now that the tape boots properly, resave a repaired .cas file.

Silent Service (MicroProse Software, Inc., Oct, 1985)

Altirra 4.00 Beta XXXIV 18/04/2021

changes

• nw

features added

• nw

bugs fixed

• nw

authors comment:

• Implements Bit 3 transparent access timing and a fix for the VBLANK timing issue which caused periodic pauses.

Altirra 4.00 Beta XXXIII 12/04/2021

changes

• nw

features added

• Cassette: Added new level-based turbo decoding filter
• Debugger: Added debug link support to receive SDX symbol information from ATDEBUGX.SYS driver.
• Devices: Added 1090 80 Column Video Card and Bit 3 Full-View 80 emulation.
• XEP80: Added NS405 FIFO timing emulation.

bugs fixed

• Additions: BOOT850 no longer leaves CRITIC set on failure.
  
• Cassette: Turbo decoding/filtering settings now apply to the "Analyze tape decoding" command.

authors comment:

• Fixed a bug with BOOT850 on the Additions disk leaving CRITIC set on failure, which manifested as key repeat not working.
• New experimental debug link device and ATDEBUGX.SYS driver for SDX, which uploads SDX symbols to the debugger.
• Added XEP80 prefetch quirk emulation and fixed incorrect horizontal sync value.
• Added Atari 1090 80CVC and Bit 3 Full-View 80 emulation.
• Improved support for additional video outputs, which are now enumerated in the Video Outputs sub-menu. There is now also a command for switching to the previous video output.
• Added detection for 1050 rev. H firmware.
• Fixed a couple of issues with tape sample/second timestamping in the History view, and it now also works after the tape has been stopped.
• The cassette tape indicator now switches from Play to T-Play when KSO Turbo 2000 is activated.
• Added a new turbo tape decoder that is level-based instead of slope-based and uses a linear phase high pass filter. There is now also an advanced configuration variable for the cutoff of the old slope filter HPF.

Altirra 4.00 Beta XXXII 25/03/2021

changes

• nw

features added

• nw

bugs fixed

• nw
  

authors comment:

• Debugger: Added Step Over support for JSR (abs, X), JSL, and MVN/MVP instructions.
• Debugger: Added .loadstate and .savestate commands.
• Debugger: Added go cycle relative (gcr) command.
• You can now right-click on items in the menu to jump directly to the corresponding command in Keyboard Shortcuts to rebind it to a new key. This works for any menu item that has a command associated and is rebindable.
• Added an advanced configuration variable to allow d3d9.dll, d3d11.dll, and dxgi.dll to load from the application directory for ReShade compatibility. In Tools > Advanced Configuration, change engine.allow_display_library_overrides to 'true'.
• Fixed a couple of bugs in save state loading, including a bug in mid-instruction restore in the CPU and a crash with restoring the register queue list in GTIA. POKEY serial output state is also saved to fix some issues with disk reads stopping across a load.
• The Quick Load State menu option is now grayed out when there is no quick save state.
• Fixed a minor error in the DOS on the Additions disk where it printed the wrong message when using 'cart' with no cartridge.
• XEP80 handler updates: DSPFLG is now correctly handled; v0.91 has a fix for the bug that broke FastBasic. Changed LMARGN default to 0 to match the stock XEP80 handler.

Hans Kloss (1992, Avalon)

Altirra 4.00 Beta XXXI 14/03/2021

changes

• nw

features added

• nw

bugs fixed

• Disk: Fixed several broken/missing instructions in Z80 emulation.
  

authors comment:

• Debugger: Added Step Over support for JSR (abs, X), JSL, and MVN/MVP instructions.
• Debugger: Added .loadstate and .savestate commands.
• Debugger: Added go cycle relative (gcr) command.
• You can now right-click on items in the menu to jump directly to the corresponding command in Keyboard Shortcuts to rebind it to a new key. This works for any menu item that has a command associated and is rebindable.
• Added an advanced configuration variable to allow d3d9.dll, d3d11.dll, and dxgi.dll to load from the application directory for ReShade compatibility. In Tools > Advanced Configuration, change engine.allow_display_library_overrides to 'true'.
• Fixed a couple of bugs in save state loading, including a bug in mid-instruction restore in the CPU and a crash with restoring the register queue list in GTIA. POKEY serial output state is also saved to fix some issues with disk reads stopping across a load.
• The Quick Load State menu option is now grayed out when there is no quick save state.
• Fixed a minor error in the DOS on the Additions disk where it printed the wrong message when using 'cart' with no cartridge.
• XEP80 handler updates: DSPFLG is now correctly handled; v0.91 has a fix for the bug that broke FastBasic. Changed LMARGN default to 0 to match the stock XEP80 handler.

Altirra 4.00 Beta XXX 14/03/2021

changes

• nw

features added

• Debugger: .diskdumpsec now has invert (-i) option.
• UI: Right-clicking on a menu item now provides a direct path to open Keyboard Shortcuts to bind a key to that menu item.
   

bugs fixed

• Debugger: Step Over at disassembly level now handles JSR (abs,X), JSL, and MVN/MVP opcodes.
• SaveStates: Improved reliability of save states.
• UI: Added 5 second timeout when notifying an existing instance in single instance mode to prevent processes piling up if the instance is hung.
• XEP80: Printing a char at the right margin now only inserts a line when EOL is overwritten.
• XEP80: Delete line can now slice a multi-line logical line like the real XEP80 does.
  

authors comment:

• nw

Albert (KSKI, 2021) GFX Kaz AtariOnLine

Altirra 4.00 Beta XXIX 16/02/2021

changes

• nw

features added

• Debugger: .diskdumpsec now has invert (-i) option.
• Disk: Added support for reading from and writing to Indus GT CP/M 2.2 filesystems.

bugs fixed

• Disk: Fixed several broken/missing instructions in Z80 emulation.
  

authors comment:

• Fixed a crash when disabling instruction history while viewing coprocessor execution in the history window.
• .diskdumpsec debugger command now has -i option to invert the data.
• Added support for the Indus GT CP/M 2.2 file system in the Disk Explorer. This is lightly tested, extents may or may not work.
• Fixed a number of Z80 emulation bugs including some missing IX/IY based instructions, broken DAA, and miscellaneous flag bugs.
• Fixed Z80 disassembly of some instructions with extraneous prefixes, e.g. DD/FD with LD D,E instruction.

Altirra 4.00 Beta XXVIII 14/02/2021

changes

• nw

features added

• Debugger: Go frame (gf) command now has a quiet (-q) option.
  Debugger: 65C816 M/X mode handling can now be configured in the disassembly window.
• Firmware: Added autodetection of 1200XL rev. 11 OS.

bugs fixed

• AltirraOS: Fixed bugs with E: move left and delete char at column 0 with LMARGN=0.
• AltirraOS: Added workaround to SIO for devices sending two ACKs instead of ACK+Complete (fixes Indus GT diagnostics zero adjust).
  

authors comment:

• AltirraOS 3.31: Move Left and Delete char E: commands fixed at column 0 with LMARGN=0; SIO now accepts ACK for Complete in SIO commands for compatibility.
• Added autodetection of the 1200XL rev. 12 OS.
• Debugger: gf (go frame) now has a quiet option.
• Fixes for a couple of configurations where copying or recording frames would produce a low-contrast image due to the wrong range being used.
• Disassembly window now has options for overriding the M/X mode used when disassembling 65C816 code.
• Added missing names for SlightSID and SoundBoard layers in the debugger's .map output.

Adam is me (2020, Agenda)

Altirra 4.00 Beta XXVII 02/02/2021

changes

• nw

features added

• Display: Added high dynamic range (HDR) display support (requires Windows 10 / DXGI 1.6).
•  

bugs fixed

• POKEY: Fixed channels occasionally having their timing disrupted when toggling timer IRQs.
  

authors comment:

• Added debugger option to tag log channels with raw timestamp (lft -r).
• Fixes to POKEY emulation for corner cases where timer timing was disrupted by enabling or disabling IRQs, particularly with 16-bit linked channels.
• Initial HDR support.

HDR support makes it possible for the emulator to display NTSC colors that would otherwise be clamped and altered in sRGB, especially on displays that can handle wider color spaces. To enable it, you need an HDR-capable display and graphics card, Windows 10 1709+ with HDR enabled in Settings, and DirectX 11 and accelerated screen effects need to be enabled in the emulator. If everything is set up correctly, the HDR options will become available in View > Screen Effects and you will be able to enable HDR and just the SDR/HDR intensities. This is best done with a colormap so you can see the effect on the color palette -- you want the HDR white intensity to be set below the max brightness of your display to provide headroom for saturated colors. Highly saturated hot pink colors in particular reproduce much more accurately with HDR mode enabled -- if you compare the NTSC Contemporary (XL) profile in SDR and HDR, the $2F/3F/4F colors and artifacted purples are closer to a TV or CRT monitor. You don't need a great monitor to do this, even a garbage-tier HDR monitor at 350 nits can still work.

There was some significant rework in the display paths and there are a couple of combinations of display settings that occasionally give a washed out gray screen from the wrong color range being used, either on-screen or in copy/record; I'll be fixing these up before release once I find a better way of testing all of the different combinations. When things are working correctly you will still get an SDR image from the copy image or record commands since the clipboard and Media Foundation don't really support HDR yet. (Which is kind of annoying, as there isn't a reasonable way for me to post of picture of what it looks like.)

For those who don't have an HDR-capable setup, there are a couple of other options. A display capable of Adobe RGB will do fairly well if you switch both the monitor and emulator to that color space, since Adobe RGB is wider than sRGB and closer to NTSC in gamut. (DCI-P3, which is increasingly popular, is somewhere in between and I don't have a monitor supporting it to test against.) Alternatively, you can reduce Intensity Scale down to around 70% and boost the brightness of the display. The downside of these methods is that it will distort the display for everything else. I've experimented with automatically implementing psuedo-HDR this way, but it's complicated by inconsistent ways of changing the display brightness, including DDC/CI for monitors and IOCTL or WMI (ugh) for laptop displays.

Altirra 4.00 Beta XXVI 23/01/2021

changes

• nw

features added

• Devices: Added virtual hard disk device that translates a read-only host directory to a FAT16, FAT32, or SDFS partition image.
  
• Devices: Added temporary write filter hard disk device.

bugs fixed

• Display: Fixed intensity scale color setting not affecting saturation in NTSC high artifacting mode.
  Display: Fixed an issue in the NTSC high artifacting chroma filter that was causing some excessive banding.
  

authors comment:

• Removed support for old WDDM 1.0 drivers that only supported RGBA and not BGRA in Direct3D 10. This will only affect you if you are running old Vista drivers on Windows 7 and have D3D11 enabled (in which case you should update).
• Fixed a bug that caused XF551 emulator to intermittently break after about 10 minutes.
• Added two new hard disk devices: a temporary write filter, that buffers writes in-memory to a read-only device, and a virtual SDFS device. The latter provides an virtual APT partition created from loose files, like the virtual SpartaDOS disk.
• Fixed the Intensity Scale color setting working differently with the NTSC high artifacting engine, where it was not properly scaling chroma.
• Fixed a bug with the NTSC high artifacting chroma filter that was causing excessive banding, due to truncation of the filter response.
• The bloom effect engine now uses sRGB textures on D3D11 to reduce banding.

The work on the display code was prompted by a new monitor that I got that supports HDR/WCG and adaptive sync. HDR on Windows 10 is, frankly, a total mess -- the way it is integrated into the system is non-sensical, with it having to be enabled system-wide to use it at all. It would have some benefit in the emulator in being able to boost brightness higher than the desktop and encode to wider gamuts like DCI-P3, but there is some really bad compression going on at scRGB >1 on my system that makes it unusable since I can't tell what the transfer curve is. I could probably fix this in full-screen mode by bypassing to the NVIDIA or AMD APIs to enable HDR and outputting HDR10 directly, but that's too much work right now.

Adaptive sync / FreeSync / G-SYNC does mostly work, but there are still some gotchas. The primary benefit is that it allows the monitor to actually run at 49.86Hz or twice that for smooth PAL video. You will need to disable Vertical Sync in the emulator for this to work. On my system, it only works through DisplayPort and not HDMI, and can sometimes fail to activate when multiple monitors are active. For D3D9 it only works in full-screen mode; in D3D11 it will work windowed and borderless fullscreen as well as long as windowed mode G-SYNC is enabled in NVIDIA settings. When enabled correctly, it largely eliminates the PAL juddering.

Altirra 4.00 Beta XXV 01/01/2021

changes

• nw

features added

• Disk Explorer: Added options to import/export files with text (line ending) translation.
• IDE: VHD differencing mode images can now be mounted.

bugs fixed

• Disk: Generic disk emulation profile supports XF551 acceleration again.

authors comment:

• Fixed "disk already mounted" warning dialog being cut off vertically.
• Generic dialog now has traditional Windows message box sounds.
• The New Disk dialog no longer resets settings as frequently now, especially when changing disk formats.
• Disk Explorer has context menu options to import and export files with text (EOL) translation.
• SoundBoard 2.0 addressing range and word mode fixes. U1MB no longer controls SB2.0 devices.
• Some cleanup and consolidation of the way that the standard disk emulator handles the various profiles so the parameters are in nice tables. The default Generic profile now has XF551-style high speed enabled, which had inadvertently been disabled a long time ago.
• "CPU history not enabled" error in history window now follows dark mode.
• Added support for VHD differencing images, which store changed blocks from a base image. Note that the emulator currently does not have support for changing the parent path locator in the differencing image, so if you move the base image and neither the absolute or relative paths resolve then you won't be able to mount the differencing image.
• Fixed some errors in the virtual FAT32 device that caused the last file to be corrupted at certain volume sizes, and the MBR is no longer repeated.
• Added a virtual FAT16 device. It is currently locked to 4K clusters, so it will only work for file sets <256M.

Altirra 4.00 Beta XXIV 25/12/2020

changes

• nw

features added

• Debugger: lft -u option enables logging with microsecond timestamps.
• Debugger: "Auto-reload ROMs on cold reset" setting is now saved.
• Devices: Added preview SoundBoard 2.0 emulation.
• Input: Ctrl/Shift are now optionally blocked from virtual key mappings when used by input maps with the 'share' option off. (They are still processed for character mappings due to OS limitations.)
• PerfAnalyzer: Added trace channel for SIO command state.
• Simulator: Throttling code updated with waitable timers for better efficiency.

bugs fixed

• UI: ARM64 emulation dialog no longer allows saving "OK" response.
• PerfAnalyzer: Fixed timing error for bytes sent to the computer from a full disk drive emulator, which were shown starting at their actual end times.
  Disk: Motor off timer adjusted for 1050 timing and to not count down during disk operations.
• Disk: Accurate sector timing mode now waits for the full length of long sectors in 1050-based emulation modes.
• Disk: Fixed broken audio output from Indus GT disk drives.
• Devices: Rapidus fast RAM windows no longer have priority over ROM.
• Devices: Fixed Rapidus main RAM speed override sometimes being reverted; main RAM is now always at slow speed and extended RAM is also slow speed.
• Debugger: Fixed crash in 65C816 mode with access breakpoints with the same page address but different bank address.
• Audio: Changes to the default audio device are now tracked in WASAPI mode.

authors comment:

• ARM64 emulation warning now also displays when running the x64 build on the latest Windows 10 Insider Preview, and saving the 'Yes' response to show the website is no longer allowed.
• Fixed a display error in performance traces where SIO bytes coming from full drive emulators were shown with their ending offset at the actual start offset time.
• Improved accuracy of NAK timing in the standard disk emulator.
• Fixed disk timing errors in the standard disk emulator with sector reads after multi-second delays due to the motor off timer expiring during the disk read. The timer is now suspended during the read.
• Added performance trace channel for the SIO command signal line.
• Standard disk emulator now waits for the entirety of a long sector to be read when using a 1050-based emulation mode.
• Fixed a crash when ejecting a disk during a specific point in a Read Sector command.
• SIDE 3 recovery mode is now supported (powering on with the cartridge reset button pressed).
• Improved emulation of SIDE 3 RTC to centisecond precision and to include some miscellaneous oscillator bits.
• Changes to the default audio device in Windows are now tracked when WASAPI audio output mode is in use.
• Detach All now properly warns when D2: or higher is dirty.
• Fixed busted Indus GT audio output.
• Enabled SHA256 hardware acceleration for x86/x64.
• Fixed some confirmation dialogs that didn't nest properly with the Configure System dialog. "Auto-reload ROMs on cold reset" is now saved.
• Preliminary SoundBoard 2.0 emulation.
• Tweaked program icon and updated target cursors to use Vista+ alpha-blended cursors.
• Reverted Ctrl/Shift input map conflict behavior and changed it to an option that defaults to old behavior. The new behavior made it difficult to use the computer when the default joystick map was enabled as you couldn't type any Ctrl+X characters.
• Fixed a crash in the debugger when setting breakpoints within the same page separated by banks (e.g. $80 and $FF0081).
• Rapidus emulator no longer overlays OS/BASIC/self-test ROM with fast RAM windows. (Cartridges are still overlaid according to the hardware design.)
• Fixed a bug that was causing main RAM to revert to the fast bus after resets even with Rapidus enabled; it now stays on the chip bus as intended when Rapidus is active, as that memory is on the motherboard. Extended memory is now also included in this.

Altirra 4.00 Beta XXIII 5/12/2020

changes

• nw

features added

• nw

bugs fixed

• nw

authors comment:

• Fix for an alignment bug in the stereo mixing code that manifested with VS2019 16.8 (these builds are using an older version).
• Fix for an uninitialized memory crash in the virtual DOS 2 image mounting code.

Altirra 4.00 Beta XXII 1/12/2020

changes

• nw

features added

• Debugger: Added .pagesums command.
• UI: Added /reset to load last profile without the device tree.

bugs fixed

• Debugger: Removed JSR (abs,X) and added RTL to list of opcodes that trigger a procedure separator.

authors comment:

• SIDE 3 fixes: red/green LEDs split apart, flash chip changed to MX29LV640ET to match production run, SD writes now supported, banking and cartridge hardware registers updated, many cartridge emulation bugs fixed, push button and SDX switch behavior fixed, SD writes are now supported, RTC month fixed, HD sector indicator hooked up.
• Added /reset:devices command-line switch to reset only the device tree.
• Virt-FAT32 device now handles empty directories, zero byte files, and symlinks to files.
• Fixed disassembler end-block flags for RTL and JSR (abs,X) opcodes.
• Added .pagesums command to aid in comparing memory states.

Altirra 4.00 Beta XXI 22/11/2020

changes

• nw

features added

• nw

bugs fixed

• AltirraOS: Fixed minor rounding error in ATN() constant from assembler.
• HLE: CRITIC is no longer zeroed from PBI-based SIO acceleration to fix key repeat issues with some versions of SpartaDOS X.

authors comment:

• Compatibility fixes to 6502 source for MADS 2.1.0. The .fl command is seriously bugged in 2.1.0 and is frequently wrong by 1ulp, so I've hardcoded all FP constants in the AltirraOS math pack as hex. There was also an ATN() constant that was incorrectly encoded by the assembler even in MADS 1.9.8b5, so the AltirraOS version has been bumped to 3.30. The fallback Ultimate1MB recovery ROM now also assembles with 2.1.0.
• Fixed a bug in the PBI-based SIO acceleration that manifested with some versions of SpartaDOS X where key repeat would stop working. This was caused by the PBI code clearing CRITIC, which interacted badly with SDX doing a DEC CRITIC afterward to balance its INC CRITIC. This then disabled stage-2 VBLANK processing.
• SIDE 3 emulation fixes: DMA source/destination pointer and count registers are now double-buffered, implemented activity LED and LED registers, implemented r/w bit 2 in write protect register, and SpartaDOS X switch is now implemented.