I released an update to beta 6 because of two new bugs (*) and two other fixes. Please report, if there is a problem with the fix for NVFS devices (**), because I can't test it.
4.1c Beta 6a:
- Wrong back color in ECM mode of C64 fixed (*)
- Fixed error handling if expansion card removed and a disk was attached from this card to a snapshot (*)
- After using menu item 'Swap joystick', new settings stored in preferences
- Added DmSyncDatabase after each write operation on devices with NVFS, so prefs should be stored on those devices (**)
Regards,
Tom
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Thanks a lot ! I have tested 6a, and I can confirm that the two bugs I mentionned are gone, great ! but as far as preferences go, they still do not survive a soft reset on TE2... any clue ? and the "buffered 256 (most compatible)" mode still diplays wrong colors...
Cheers,
Vincent
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I added a new file (beta 6b) to the download section. Can you please check the problem with the loosing preferences? You may also have a look at the file manager dialog...
Regards,
Tom
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Thanks a lot !
My experience with 6b started initially as a disaster - instead of one C64 screen filling the screen, I had 2 C64 screens on top of the screen, each filling 1/4 of the space, with wrong colors, and black below ! I guess my palm TE2 did not like the switch from 6a to 6b :) After a few program exit/starts, it started working fine...
And yes, the prefs now survive the soft reset ! great !
Also, the run/load option is great and works fine ! :)
One "bug" still there, is that if you did not have a disk inserted, the next time you start Frodo it would complain about not finding the disk with a cryptic name... worse, if the program expects the disk to be inserted and it is not there, the program would complety hang and you need a soft reset; however I only witnessed this when trying to use "old" snapshots (without disk images stored). I guess that the situation is impossible with new snapshots ?
The only thing now that works on 'older' models (T5, TE) and not on 'newer' models (TX, TE2) is the 'Buffered 256 (most compatible)' option. Any clue ? Is this option useful for compatibility ? I never had a case where a game that would not work with "Direct 256" would work any better with "Buffered 256"...
Also, I would love to have Frodo handle a very large number of D64 files (like 10,000). I put 2-3,000 and it complains about memory. What is the limit ?
If you have time to adress the other points I mentionned (sound lag, GEOS, etc.) that would be great !
One very very small thing, the 'about' dialogs still says '6a', not '6b'. Who cares ? :)
Keep up the good work, cheers,
Vincent
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the "Buffered 256" mode is required for devices with less than 320 pixel resolution (i.e. Treo 600).
I did one or two tests with old snapshots and have no problmes, but I will do some more testing and I hope to figure out, what's going wrong.
The problem with the wrong colors in "Buffered 256" mode on newer models: no idea.
Next things to do:
- Fix bug with loading of old snapshots/snapshots without disk inserted
- Check memory requirements for large list of D64 files and give better feedback if limit reached
- Search the internet for information about the used PalmOS-calls for "Buffered 256" mode, if there are known problems
- Sound lag: on PalmOS, you have to use double buffering for sound output. If your buffer is too large, you have lagging of sound. If your buffer is too small, you have buffer underruns and clicking sound. I try to offer an option for the buffersize, so the user can choose what he prefers (lagging or clicking or perfect size for the specific device)
After that, it would be no more a Beta, it becomes a release candidate.
GEOS is the old problem, that we need the single cycle version of Frodo. After I finished my work on the release candidate, I try to get the version running on Palm. But I think, we only get few frames per second...
Regards,
Tom
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Thanks Tom for all this info & work !
Just one thing - when you say that "buffered 256" is required for device with less than 320 pixel resolution, do you mean that it is useless on devices *with* 320 pixels resolution ? In that case, I would not worry too much about this option - newer devices like TX and TE2, and Treo 650/680, all have 320 pixel resolution ! :)
Thanks and cheers,
Vincent
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I released an update to beta 6 because of two new bugs (*) and two other fixes. Please report, if there is a problem with the fix for NVFS devices (**), because I can't test it.
4.1c Beta 6a:
- Wrong back color in ECM mode of C64 fixed (*)
- Fixed error handling if expansion card removed and a disk was attached from this card to a snapshot (*)
- After using menu item 'Swap joystick', new settings stored in preferences
- Added DmSyncDatabase after each write operation on devices with NVFS, so prefs should be stored on those devices (**)
Regards,
Tom
Hi Tom,
Thanks a lot ! I have tested 6a, and I can confirm that the two bugs I mentionned are gone, great ! but as far as preferences go, they still do not survive a soft reset on TE2... any clue ? and the "buffered 256 (most compatible)" mode still diplays wrong colors...
Cheers,
Vincent
Hi Vincent,
I added a new file (beta 6b) to the download section. Can you please check the problem with the loosing preferences? You may also have a look at the file manager dialog...
Regards,
Tom
Hi Tom,
Thanks a lot !
My experience with 6b started initially as a disaster - instead of one C64 screen filling the screen, I had 2 C64 screens on top of the screen, each filling 1/4 of the space, with wrong colors, and black below ! I guess my palm TE2 did not like the switch from 6a to 6b :) After a few program exit/starts, it started working fine...
And yes, the prefs now survive the soft reset ! great !
Also, the run/load option is great and works fine ! :)
One "bug" still there, is that if you did not have a disk inserted, the next time you start Frodo it would complain about not finding the disk with a cryptic name... worse, if the program expects the disk to be inserted and it is not there, the program would complety hang and you need a soft reset; however I only witnessed this when trying to use "old" snapshots (without disk images stored). I guess that the situation is impossible with new snapshots ?
The only thing now that works on 'older' models (T5, TE) and not on 'newer' models (TX, TE2) is the 'Buffered 256 (most compatible)' option. Any clue ? Is this option useful for compatibility ? I never had a case where a game that would not work with "Direct 256" would work any better with "Buffered 256"...
Also, I would love to have Frodo handle a very large number of D64 files (like 10,000). I put 2-3,000 and it complains about memory. What is the limit ?
If you have time to adress the other points I mentionned (sound lag, GEOS, etc.) that would be great !
One very very small thing, the 'about' dialogs still says '6a', not '6b'. Who cares ? :)
Keep up the good work, cheers,
Vincent
Hello Vincent,
the "Buffered 256" mode is required for devices with less than 320 pixel resolution (i.e. Treo 600).
I did one or two tests with old snapshots and have no problmes, but I will do some more testing and I hope to figure out, what's going wrong.
The problem with the wrong colors in "Buffered 256" mode on newer models: no idea.
Next things to do:
- Fix bug with loading of old snapshots/snapshots without disk inserted
- Check memory requirements for large list of D64 files and give better feedback if limit reached
- Search the internet for information about the used PalmOS-calls for "Buffered 256" mode, if there are known problems
- Sound lag: on PalmOS, you have to use double buffering for sound output. If your buffer is too large, you have lagging of sound. If your buffer is too small, you have buffer underruns and clicking sound. I try to offer an option for the buffersize, so the user can choose what he prefers (lagging or clicking or perfect size for the specific device)
After that, it would be no more a Beta, it becomes a release candidate.
GEOS is the old problem, that we need the single cycle version of Frodo. After I finished my work on the release candidate, I try to get the version running on Palm. But I think, we only get few frames per second...
Regards,
Tom
Thanks Tom for all this info & work !
Just one thing - when you say that "buffered 256" is required for device with less than 320 pixel resolution, do you mean that it is useless on devices *with* 320 pixels resolution ? In that case, I would not worry too much about this option - newer devices like TX and TE2, and Treo 650/680, all have 320 pixel resolution ! :)
Thanks and cheers,
Vincent