Acorn Archimedes

[Zarchos]

People who want to play Archie games with the MiST could consider this.
Since it appears that the Archie core runs at about 9x% of an original 8 Mhz Archie, you could find it interesting to replace the soundtrack player routine by the fastest available.
Most good games (and demos) used the QTM soundtracker.
It can be a good idea to replace the QTM player module in the games and démos by the latest one.(V1.45)
It's been continously improved and made faster over the years.
You could gain the few CPU % needed for your games or demos not to slow down.
You can download QTM from :
http://www.phlamethrower.co.uk/riscos/qtm.php
Download the file, unpack it on the Archie, and find the QTMTracker module.
Now in the games you want to play, double click on their icons with SHIFT pressed to open the main folder, and double click on the various folders to see if you've got a QTM module.
If so replace it with the latest edition (rename it if necessary).
You can also edit the boot file or run file to directly check if the game will load the QTM tracker.

In the thread I see sbdy wanted to play Xenon II (awful, to me, again one of this poor rushed-in conversions from the Amiga).
There are 2 versions : the original one with 4 channels sound and music (it doesn't use QTM IIRC)
The second edition, distributed freely on an Acorn User diskette, with the ability to use the 8 channels of the Archies, to get 4 channels for the tune and 4 channels for the sound effects (it is intended for machines with an ARM250 or ARM3).
You can select either 4 channels or 8 channels by editing the boot file.
I recommend you use this version, with 4 channels selected, and again with the latest QTM V1.45

Hope this helps,

Xavier.

[Higgy]

@DrOG - well done on the continued testing. I was involved in a GitHub conversation some weeks back with the author and others but we did not really get anywhere.

I tested your suggestion and I get it to boot!
If I wait for say 10sec on the 'red screen' then it continues to boot so you don't need to reset. Although it still has an error so you need to reboot.

I have not got any games to play. I tried SWIV and Starfighter(?) 3000. The screen res does seem strange when the games are trying to load

[Zarchos]

About Xenon 2 I have just made a video.
Pardon my Frenglish
https://youtu.be/Rj8vqeB-0Ks
If you need some more explanations, just ask.

Xavier.

[wongck]

Nice, Thanks for sharing.

[DrOG]

@Zarchos:
Actually this core is very unstable, after some seconds/minutes is freezes (my mist has Hynix memory module, and that caused incompatibilities with other core [MSX] also). It was a miracle that I could start Dune II despite the frequent disc swapping. And it was the furthest I got, i.e. Zarch stopped to work 3 seconds after beginning. Usually during startup I got the well-known error message, see picture #2 hereinafter. As far as I have trouble with booting, QTM replacement is my smallest problem.

@Higgy:
Yes, this core has several resolutions, and most of them are non-standard:

First, the messy red screen is 720x288@75Hz:



The "desktop" is standard 640x480@60Hz:



And during games it's 720x400@70Hz:



Tried the mono mode, which is 1600x900@65Hz:

[Zarchos]

Are you using a true multisync monitor or an SVGA ?
You could try this module, LCDGamemodes, it modifies the frequency used by the VIDC to output screenmode more compliant with today's technology :
http://www.retro-kit.co.uk/LCDGameModes/
And, of course, it was designed by Steve Harrison, the author of QTM, and RasterMan

I very well understand the MiST has his own frequencies, but anyway try it.
I don't own a MiST yet ... I'm waiting for the next version, to get at least an alpha A5000 ARM3 35 Mhz equivalent.(with Gold ColourCard implementation).

[DrOG]

I'm using the core's default settings, as I remember, SVGA, with two displays: a (picky) Samsung LE40B650 TV, and a BenQ BL912 monitor with undocumented multisync features.

[hubersn]

Try to configure multisync monitortype instead of svga if your monitor supports 15kHz. I also have a BenQ BL912 which works fine for some 15 kHz modes on an original A3000.

*configure monitortype 1

The core does not support the usual scandoubling of the MIST, but directly routes the screen signal through. Combined with the flexibility of the VIDC of the Archimedes, expect a lot of problems with today's monitors. Especially Game and Demo programmers were very fond of providing their own screenmodes instead of using standard ones.

From the state of Gehstock's git repo, I could not find out what was changed in the core. I will try on an "old" MIST to find out if the reported instabilities are core or MIST related.

[DrOG]

That would be nice! Thanks in advance!
The original, unmodified core does not boot at all, so whatever Gehstock made improved functionality/compatibility with my MIST!

[caver99]

I know this is an old thread but I am trying to test the core but unsure how to set it up.
I have it on an sd card renamed to core.rbf and downloaded what I think is riscos rom 3.11 and 3.5 but still get no pic how does the rom rile naming go for the core is it like emulators rom or riscos.rom etc?

Thanks

[DrOG]

Here is how to do it:

https://github.com/mist-devel/mist-boar ... Archimedes

Yes, ROM should be renamed to RISCOS.ROM, the recommended one is linked in an earlier post of this topic. If the core doesn't boot, try the modded one from Gehstock's repository (linked earlier as well).

[hubersn]

I have it on an sd card renamed to core.rbf and downloaded what I think is riscos rom 3.11 and 3.5 but still get no pic how does the rom rile naming go for the core is it like emulators rom or riscos.rom etc?

RISCOS.ROM is correct, it needs to be a single file (some emulators need it as four files). The core emulates classic Archimedes hardware, so the only compatible RISC OS versions are 2.00, 2.01, 3.10, 3.11 and 3.19.

Have fun
hubersn

[Zarchos]

IIRC there is also RISC OS 3.00 as found in the early A5000s ... (but avoid it, it has many bugs).
EDIT : Yes, confirmed here : http://www.riscos.com/riscos/310/index.php

It is also the place where you can buy RISC OS for the emulators ... GBP10 is really cheap, so please avoid piracy.
Yes this material is still copyrighted.

[hubersn]

Yes, there is RISC OS 3.00, but it does not support classic Archimedes hardware, only the "new style" A5000. So it won't work with the MIST Archimedes Core.

Have fun
hubersn

[caver99]

so for this core what version or risc os is compatible for test purposes?
and yes I have no problems in buying the images from the site once I know its running as no pointy if I cant run it, literally once I get a boot screen I will shell out on the roms and support the scene like I do with the c64, amiga and sts

[Zarchos]

Take RISC OS 3.11 it is the best if you want it in English or RISC OS 3.19 in German. (Only difference between them is the language).

[Zarchos]

I didn't exactly know where to post it.
I found the story of the OP very nice and well you can see JM Jarre.
Maybe you can spot an ST ?
I'm not sure.
Reminds me reading the Archimedes was 'an anecdot in the history of computers' on Gamopat. So hilarious.
http://www.stardot.org.uk/forums/viewto ... e30da24446

[nightshadowpt]

Is this core still being developed, or has it been abandoned?

As I understand it, the core will run at aprox. 90% of the speed of a real Archimedes. Is this a limitation of the MiST, or can it ever be fixed?

Thanks

[Zarchos]

I believe so, but not on this FPGA ... in order to reach a level of power a real order of magnitude superior

[Estrayk]

Take RISC OS 3.11 it is the best if you want it in English or RISC OS 3.19 in German. (Only difference between them is the language).

Hello Zarchos, as we seem that you have enough knowledge on this platform, allow me some questions:

Did Acorn never launch versions from his roms in languages ​​other than English or German? for example? French? Spanish? Italian?
A3010 (Seems the more famous model) havent HD interface ? or this core isnt implemented HD?
Wikipedia said that was launched DESCENT I and II, "Alone in the dark" games. That information is correct?

Thx

[DrOG]

As far as I know, this core doesn't have HDD implementation.

I let Zarchos to answer the other questions...

[Zarchos]

Acorn was never interested by distribution outside the UK, except maybe in New Zealand or Australia, and it seems even over there, if it was a small success, in a way it is thanks to the CEOs of the companies importing and promoting the machines there.
RISC OS and the accompanying RISC OS documentation existed only in English and very lately in German.

You are right, officially the A3010 has no built-in IDE capability.
But it shares the same multi IO controller the A3020 and A4000 have too (and I believe the A5000) ... and this chip has an integrated IDE controller.
So, you can mod your A3010 to get fully working IDE.
It proves how 'mean' Acorn was, when for a couple of sterling pounds even the entry machine could have had this feature (like the Amiga 600).
Acorn really used their position in the niche market and the 'love of the brand' by the Acorn enthousiasts to earn maximum of revenues : in a way the exact opposite strategy adopted by Atari and Commodore.

Details of the mod can be found here :
http://www.stardot.org.uk/forums/viewto ... it=ide+mod

For the games the Descent series it is not for the Archimedes series but for the RISC PCs.
http://www.arsvcs.demon.co.uk/leisure/index.html

Alone in the dark, yes, it is for all RISC OS machines.
You can get it legally from JASPP : http://jaspp.huber-net.de/viewtopic.php ... a8a18c7a6f

[Estrayk]

Thanks Zarchos, what machine so interesting and so unknown unfortunately for the rest of the World outside of U.K..

[Zarchos]

Thanks Zarchos, what machine so interesting and so unknown unfortunately for the rest of the World outside of U.K..

Which is why it is mybeloved machine.
Under rated, almost hated in its own country because of the educational bit, and high price (but hey ! high performances too) so 'for the posh people), and never fully exploited with really 'hard fetched' routines as on the other machines, for the games or demos.
See this, by me, I do not think anybody produced sthing similar except the clever guys who coded Scorpius :
https://youtu.be/K44V7ps_tfY
with a MOD played (that takes about 12% of the available cycles per frame) :
https://youtu.be/xfc3Z2x6H9s

This also : https://youtu.be/SAIdCUAr2xM

And with hardware features never used at the time, only recently uncovered (indirectly thanks to me, again, as I asked Steve to come back to the Archie after so many years, to see if he could complete writing that, and he did !) :
https://youtu.be/2gr2YhaXYsk

It has also been discovered that ARM code can execute faster if the ordering of the instructions follows some rules, and I have used that for some segment filling routines :
https://youtu.be/Pjev7O7fKjA
Speed gain can reach near 5% in this example.

In many ways the Archie has some similarities with the ST.
Coders on both systems don't get much help from coprocessors, and have to tune in their CPU codes, and imagine fancy algos to get great results.
I very much like the ST for this reason.

[Cyprian]

And with hardware features never used at the time, only recently uncovered (indirectly thanks to me, again, as I asked Steve to come back to the Archie after so many years, to see if he could complete writing that, and he did !) :
https://youtu.be/2gr2YhaXYsk

where I can find a presentation from that meeting?