GVP gvpscsi.device ROM Updates

[TjLaZer]

I downloaded the ROM files from Ralph Babel's site, babel.org, and am trying to update my GVP series II SCSI card.  I burned the GVP V4.15 ROM onto a 27C256 and it does not work.  Any ideas?  It is a Intel HEX format file.  Anything special needed to be done?

[Doobrey]

 I was gonna suggest checking the byte order of the programmer, but the 27c256 is an 8 bit chip, so that shouldn't matter.
 Are you able to read the old ROM then write it onto the new chip to see if the chip and programmer are OK?

[patrik]

@TjLaZer:

If I recall correctly, the rom-image is 16kB large, whilst the 27C256 is 32kB. As you dont know if the GVP card will use the upper or lower 16kB part of the 27C256, burn the rom-image to both parts.

That atleast did the trick with my GVP HD8+ and HC+8.

Other than that, the software you are using must ofcourse know how to decode Intel HEX so it just doesnt burn it as raw data.


/Patrik

[TjLaZer]

Hmm OK let me get this straight.  Does that mean I have to read the 44k Hex file into my Willem programmer as a 27C128 (16kb) then save it as a BIN file, and then double the file (to 32kb)?  Then i can burn it as a 27C256, am I on the right track here?  

[DamageX]

Yes that sounds correct. Just make sure that what you burn has the same content in bytes 0-$3FFF as in $4000-$7FFF

I have a GVP SCSI card also (don't know the ROM version offhand). Is it possible (and helpful?) to map this ROM image into fastRAM using the setcpu program?

[patrik]

@TjLaZer:

That should do the trick.

The amount of "real data" inside that 44kB Intel HEX file is 16044Bytes. Your software should pad the rest up to 16384Bytes with 0x00 or 0xFF.


@DamageX:

All expansion card drivers will end up in the highest priority ram, which should be fastram if you have any. They are never executed from the ROM on the expansion card directly.


/Patrik

[TjLaZer]

OK that should work, I did find some 27C128 EPROMs and burned it to them and it works!  My Fusion Forty behaves with the GVP Series II and it runs faster now (HD's)