need help finding a 128 test rom

boulderdash · Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2011 7:23 pm Post subject: need help finding a 128 test rom

I have hunted for 3 days now and every forum talks about the 128 test cart or rom
2 sites posted dead links to download the rom
and 1 place had a 128 test rom that wont load in any emulator or the easyflash
3 people are selling a remake of the cartridge on ebay
but i have yet to find it for download
the 64 one was easy to find ...it was on many sites
can someone please point me in the correct direction of that elusive critter
I have the test harness but no cart to use it ;(

c64web · Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 12:06 am Post subject:

Can you give me more information on the dead links. links please. Smile

Do you have a link too the 128 test rom that wont load in any emulator.
I might have it already only finding it requires more information.

ftp://cbm8bit.com/archives/unr...diagnostic cart.rom
from http://search.cbm8bit.com/?query=Diagnostic+128

Found this but still would like those dead links.

Shane.
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boulderdash · Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 2:56 am Post subject:

ill try and find the link again ...it leads to freenet site i think
as for the program that i cant get to work ..its called C128DIAG.BIN

honestly dont rember the site....i have clicked so many links in the last 2 days ...lol

crock · Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 10:25 pm Post subject:

Was it this one?

http://inchocks.co.uk/c64/C128DIAG.zip

It's possible as the filename's identical. If so, it's a dump of my C128 diagnostic eprom which I got from Commodore's Corby factory many years ago. It's designed to be run from a cartridge and run with a bunch of hardware dongles to test the various I/O ports so you won't achieve much trying to run it from anything but a cartridge.

I have a task which is way down my priority list do disassemble the code and make up the dongles, like I've done with the 64/Vic/264.

Rob
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c64web · Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 11:07 pm Post subject:

crock sounds like a winner.

Could i get a picture of the inside of the cartridge. Too keep with the .bin file.

If you build a c128 harness and sell it i will grab one, if you can modify the harness so it works with both c64 and c128 all the better.

Shane.
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crock · Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 11:17 pm Post subject:

Here's a link to a very unexciting picture of the eprom:

http://inchocks.co.uk/c64/C-128Diag.jpg

It's not currently in a cart but it was just in a standard C64 cartridge blank like these C64 ones I made. In fact it may have actually been one of these.

http://inchocks.co.uk/c64/DiagSetup.jpg

I'm still finishing the 264 series diag cart at the moment but I'll disassemble the C128 one over the winter. A set of the dongles for the 128 version went on ebay about 9 months ago but they went for > 100$ - crazy!

rob
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sidvicious · Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2011 12:24 am Post subject:

the 64 and 128 "dongles" are the same. I had the original commodore harness and it worked perfectly fine on 64 and 128...
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crock · Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2011 6:31 am Post subject:

That's certainly what I had hoped. The ones on ebay were certainly 128D specific as they had a small pcb on a 25pin dsub for the keyboard although it probably implements the same loopbacks.
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boulderdash · Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2011 3:51 pm Post subject:

according to the commodore 128 test software manual ..the harness is the same but the keyboard dongle and the serial port dongle is different
only going by what c= has printed in the book

and on a side note the harness with just dongles ...the one where the joystick port is its own and the cassette port is its own ......well a side by side compare on a bad c64 board showed me that the dongle only one did not catch all the problems and would pass a c64 with problems
and the harness setup would fail the same exact board till it was repaired
only going with what i seen here wile useing both harnesses

i guess i could also point out wile useing doc`64 2.2 it fails on the (JMP $xxff) test wile useing the dongle only setup
but sofar i have not found the info on what harness is needed for that setup

by the time im done searching the world over i will have the working 128 setup and the vic20 setup
but for now im happy with building the 64 harnesses

crock · Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2011 4:37 pm Post subject:

I have both setups - the only difference is that the cassette motor line is used to switch a pair of 4066's to loop back the keyboard rows and columns programatically. This is just a convenience that allows the 64 keyboard to be used while still having the dongles attached - it makes no difference to what is tested. If you think you've found otherwise, I'd be very curious to know what the actual problem with that board was.

Do you have the schematics for the vic diags? I can provide them if you need them.

rob
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Overdoc · Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 5:45 pm Post subject:

I have found that cartridges like these are only helpful if the computer is still powering up. It could be helpfl in some caess of ram problems.

Otherwiese I would recommend to us a simple as possible ultimax cartridge, if you havea C64 with black screen. These cartridges don't need kernal, basic, charrom and even only one CIA to work! Most of the time you can get at least something on the screen, which can help diagnosing what could be wrong.
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crock · Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 6:06 pm Post subject:

Overdoc wrote:

I have found that cartridges like these are only helpful if the computer is still powering up. It could be helpfl in some caess of ram problems.

Otherwiese I would recommend to us a simple as possible ultimax cartridge, if you havea C64 with black screen. These cartridges don't need kernal, basic, charrom and even only one CIA to work! Most of the time you can get at least something on the screen, which can help diagnosing what could be wrong.

That's exactly what the dead test cart is for. It runs in ultimax mode and performs a ram test without making any use of either the ZP or stack, something that most ultimax carts will not do.
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boulderdash · Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 8:13 pm Post subject:

ahhh well i found a C128/40 DIAGNOSTIC REV 588121 that works
just havent found the 128/128d one that works for me
ill keep searching the web and i will find it

Overdoc · Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2011 4:26 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the info, Crock!
So there is an important difference between
-) dead-test cartridge
-) diagniostic cartridge

The second one in most cases is only useful if the computer can at least startup somehow!
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c64web · Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 12:35 am Post subject:

boulderdash wrote:

ahhh well i found a C128/40 DIAGNOSTIC REV 588121 that works
just havent found the 128/128d one that works for me
ill keep searching the web and i will find it

Did you find a physical unit c128/40 cartridge or link too download.

More info on the other one your looking for. Your looking for a C128
diagnostic cartridge for a c128d that has the keyboard diagnostic
option. Is this the only difference between the c128 and the c128d
cartridge / harness.

Shane.
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boulderdash · Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 3:32 am Post subject:

i got the eprom image for C128/40 DIAGNOSTIC REV 588121
and as per the commodore manual its the same harness as the c64 but the keyboard dongle is different ....as it should be 64 single row 128 2 row
and the serial dongle and id expect cause it tests burst mode or something
yah the 64 serial dongle works but why does commodore call for a different one?
i also got the ver 1.1 image working but it looks a bit laim
the other eprom image i got uses a board that "looks" like a REU but the board itsself clearly shows it is not a reu
and i found a image that works in the REU ...but i cant find mine here to test it
so all im missing is the dongle scmatics for the 128 and the 128/128d eprom image
most all the good info is on overseas sites and is hard for me to translate
but ill get what im looking for Wink

i did find a lot of other cool stuff to make wile searching for the 128 eprom image

crock · Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 12:38 pm Post subject:

Overdoc wrote:

Thanks for the info, Crock!
So there is an important difference between
-) dead-test cartridge
-) diagniostic cartridge

The second one in most cases is only useful if the computer can at least startup somehow!

Exactly. The deadtest is a diagnostic aid if the 64 shows you a black screen on booting. It still will not help you if the cpu, pla, vic-ii or certain logic chips are toast.

It will however work without the SID, both CIA's, *ALL* the colour and system ram and the mux's. This is because the first test is a rather clever low-ram test which make no use of *any* ram, meaning no use of zero-page locations or the stack (which it manages by using the stack pointer as a 4th register).

The normal diagnostic harness is primarily for testing I/O ports and needs at least the ram from $0000 -> $01ff to be functional so is of limited use for diagnosing a dead 64.
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Overdoc · Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 3:13 pm Post subject:

Thanks again for this info, Crock!

I have so far always used some Ultimax carts if I get a black screen and have no other clues.
But, I think such a dead-test cartridge would be quite useful for me, because I do lots of C64 and Commodore in general repairs.

Do you have any idea where I can get one that works like you described ?
I thik there is some guy on Ebay.uk who's name is Tim, but I cannot remember his Ebay nick and if the deadtest cart he sells is really one of the sort you are describing ?

Thanx !!
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crock · Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 4:04 pm Post subject:

It's an official commodore part - 781220

I have no idea if the ones on the web are the genuine article or not. The rom image is available all over the place, including from me. I'm assuming that if you fix c= stuff you are able to burn yourself an eprom and just use a standard cartridge blank configured for ultimax mode.

Here's the rom image and manual.
http://inchocks.co.uk/c64/C64_...tridge.zip
http://inchocks.co.uk/c64/C64_...88-Jan.pdf
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boulderdash · Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 11:37 pm Post subject:

so does any one have a link to the 128 128D test rom?

crock · Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 11:44 pm Post subject:

boulderdash wrote:

so does any one have a link to the 128 128D test rom?

My web server got trashed this afternoon (nut loose behind the keyboard.)

Gimme 20 mins and it'll be back up...
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crock · Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2011 12:14 am Post subject:

OK, http://inchocks.co.uk/c64/C128DIAG.zip is back again...
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boulderdash · Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2011 12:43 am Post subject:

thanks
yah thats ver 1.1
i also have 588121 but it only does 40 col
just trying to find a good 40/80 test one

i see a 789010 for sale but have not found a copy yet
i also got some strange ones that ive no clue what to do with them...lol

crock · Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2011 12:48 am Post subject:

ahh, yes. I should have re-read the thread.

Please let me know if you do source one. I have a pile of 4 128D's sitting in my study waiting for me to get the time to attack them.

As I said before, I have built all the dongles if you need any assistance.

rob
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boulderdash · Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2011 1:18 am Post subject:

i have built a lot of them for the c64
and i know its the same main unit for the 64 and the 128
the only thing that is different is the serial dongle and the keyboard dongle
it should not be to hard to reverse enginere the dongles by looking at whats being tested
but if you already have that info ...i would be greatufll for the info
i see the 128 rom will pass serial test with the 64 dongle but i think its not testing everything that it should
just strange c= would say you need a 128 dongle if it is truly the same as the 64