Licensing Kickstart ROMs for Raspberry Pi

[Art]

Hi Guys, First post!!

Baffles me why people just don't grab them  off a torrent site like the rest of the free world does.

That's all  good until you want to include it in a free legitimate distribution.

It's  discouraging to see this wasn't resolved
I have approached Colanto via  email regarding a license for Kickstart v1.3
for an App Store (iOS)  distribution of UAE bound to a single licensed game disk.

There is an app  in there now called "Defender Of The Crown",
which initially got me excited,  but further investigation reveals
that it's bundled Kickstart image has been  modified to remove some
Commodore copyright information, suggesting there is  no agreement in place to use it.

Unfortunately, I put too much work into  the project before looking into this.
An App Store distribution is really the  only way any contribution from me can
be demonstrated to the wider Amiga  community, since iOS is my weapon of choice.
It looks like it will be a long time, if ever AROS can run a 68000 Amiga,
and today's mobile platforms are still limited in the type of Amiga they can emulate at speed.

I still have my original  Kickstart chip too Pity about the rest of the Amiga it came from !
Cheers, Art.

[Art]

That is good news, and thanks for the replies.

as I assume your game will take over the "hardware" once everything is up.

Do you mean the difference between a filesystem and track loading disk?
Forgive me, but it's been a while.
The game I had in mind runs from a filesystem disk, but if that's a problem
there are plenty of other games out there. I don't think aquiring license to use
one of them is going to be a problem.

there is no longer any legal reason not to include the AROS m68k ROM with your for-pay game bundle

It's a free distribution if it happens, and any contribution from me is open source.
A paid app would (ethically for me) would have to be largely my own work.

AROS m68k *does* support 68000 Amigas.
Who led you to believe it doesn't?

Well I've read a bit, and also tried a few AROS boot images,
but none so far have worked. I got the last one directly from the AROS site.
(AROS Vision) I think it was the latest package. How much chip RAM does it want from the Amiga?
Maybe it's problem that the UAE for mobile devices floating about doesn't have a CD-ROM op system,
but I suspect the emulated Amiga is too old looking at the specs on the AROS site.
I have no fast RAM, and There's no way I'll have 8Mb chip RAM.

It's the same UAE that has been ported to Sony PSP, Dreamcast, GP2x, etc.
and has all of the source for those platforms still present.

I'll have another dig around for an appropriate boot image.

[Art]

You will need to use both ROM images for AROS to boot:

kickstart_rom_file=aros-amiga-m68k-rom.bin
kickstart_ext_rom_file=aros-amiga-m68k-ext.bin

Thanks,
it seems I can have up to 2Mb chip RAM, no fast RAM.

Two ROMS? Has that been done with an A500?

[Art]

A500: I'm still playing around with 74LSxxx logic to correctly decode my 27C800 EEPROM in my A500, but it works fine in E-UAE/WinUAE with a 68000 CPU.

I am aware it works in WinUAE.
I think the source getting around for mobile devices is more limited than that.
I don't see any options for anything other than 68000, or A500.
It looks stripped down, because there is an option for up to 8Mb chip RAM,
but the A500 (Agnus, or whomever is responsible) won't support it.

[Art]

I did find this in the project... is the AROS ROM supposed to be on a disk.adf file?

It could just be referring to the old Kickstart disk supplied with early Amigas.

Code: [Select]

/*
  * UAE - The Un*x Amiga Emulator
  *
  * A "replacement" for a missing Kickstart
  * Warning! Q&D
  *
  * (c) 1995 Bernd Schmidt
  */

Then later,,,

Code: [Select]

void init_ersatz_rom (uae_u8 *data)
{
    write_log ("Trying to use Kickstart replacement.\n");

…


Code: [Select]

write_log ("You need to have a diskfile in DF0 to use the Kickstart replacement!\n");
….
/* a kickstart disk was found in drive 0! */
write_log ("Loading Kickstart rom image from Kickstart disk\n");
/* print some notes... */
write_log ("NOTE: if UAE crashes set CPU to 68000 and/or chipmem size to 512KB!\n");

…
Cheers, Art.

[Art]

Don't tell me that :O I've had a busy day!

I installed WinUAE, and verified that AROS does boot some track loading
disks with a stock Amiga, as long as it has some RAM other than chip RAM.

Soooooo... I've just had success implementing slow RAM using some other
UAE source from the net, and the existence of the new RAM is verified by
Workbench.
It seems the source used for mobile devices IS indeed stripped down.

It shouldn't be too difficult to load the extended ROM to the new address.
I'm going to have to at least try now...

[Art]

I totally missed some of the content of some replies here.
Thanks, particulary Ezrec and deadwood. I am a little less dumb now

If there's a world shortage of 42 pin sockets a broken Capcom system board
of the right family would ensure you never need one again.
Not sure which system, but it is driven by 68000, looks like an Amiga,
and ran Street Fighter II. Unfortunately, I gave up the remains of mine
so that someone could revive their board.

42 pin EPROMs I do have, but I think they are mask EPROPMs of the same nature
as a real Kickstart chip, and of no use to anyone for Amiga projects.
I actually still own Street Fighter II ROMS, and can say OK in MAME when it asks!

Are Amiga chips of use to anyone? Or can at least identify them?
I can't identify a 40 pin one, I thought it was a Kick, but it's dated 1991.
which makes little sense???

COMMODORE - AMIGA
390979-01
(c)1991 V2-04 37-175
9141XD001

I know that I have an A500 or A500+ Denise.

One curious one is a 20 pin DIL IC with Commodore's logo on it dated 1989.

Another one has some unremarkable numbers, and the "PROTO" printed on a line
of it's own. You'd love that to be an Amiga, but I really think that's from Arcade board.

Can a chip marked with "CIG" instead of "CBM" be commodore?
Because then a few of them 1984, 1996.

[Art]

It can be done
If it's an old UAE, it needs a new Kickstart slot, serial port, and floppy drive, in that order.

[Art]

I hate to bring this thread back on track but surely the answer for Eben is this:
 
http://www.amigaforever.com/news-events/af-essentials-android/
 
If they can release kickstart ROMs then either they have the right, they know someone who gives them the right or they are doing it anyway?:argue:

It appears they do, but I don't see how the distribution method would work for the Raspberry Pi
Selling it the way they are for Android is a very tidy approach for them,
but not every platform makes it possible to regulate that way.

iOS is one of them.
They say they are working on a distribution method for iOS,
but the dist method for Android won't work because iOS programs can't share each other's files.
(not that I don't have ideas)...

The problem I see with Raspberry Pi distribution is how do they restrict the
files they provide to the user they are intended for?

I guess the usual Windows distribution makes no allowance for this anyway..
the ROMs are encrypted with a rather simple routine that can be decoded
by just about any version of UAE nowadays...