Old Slot 0 Flashing process (pre Release 0.96)

Owned by Gurce Isikyildiz
Last updated: Jan 24, 2024 by Oliver Graf

NOTE: there is a dedicated page for the procedure here https://mega65.atlassian.net/l/cp/UsC119bL

 

I’m still a little foggy on this, so will jot down what I understand so far, and this page can be updated to repair my understanding and reflect the current state of play better.

Lydon’s README.md

I will copy/paste the steps I saw in Lydon’s readme and flesh them out more on this page.

# UPGRADE Slot 0 Test This is a testpackage intended for people that **own a Xilinx JTAG and can resurrect their MEGA65 using it!** If you don't have a JTAG, **stop now**. Note: there is a live video where I do this: [Slot 0 Flasher](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmJzJX8upsI) ## Process Read this first completly, than start doing it! 1) Put UPGRADE0.COR onto your SD card and put it into the internal SD Slot. 2) Make sure your slot 1 contains a MEGA65 core that boots when selected 3) Enable DIP SW 3 4) Power on MEGA65, press RUN/STOP if asked to do it, exit monitor with x 5) Push upgrade0.prg using m65: `m65 -4 -r upgrade0.prg` 6) Follow the instructions until it starts flashing, when it is halfway through: **POWER OFF!** 7) now your Slot 0 is *broken*! 8) Power on, watch the Ambulance lights for 20-30 seconds, until slot 1 starts 9) repeat the process from 4 - RUN/STOP... but this time let the flash process finish 10) enjoy your new slot 0 starting (no ambulance...) your slot 1 ## Testing After you have done this: go wild! Use external SD. Use HDMI with backpower, globber the keyboard while booting and/or flashing. Do things I can't imagine. And most importantly: write down what you did and if your system breaks, report what has happened and what you did to make it break. But if you just broke slot 0 and slot 1 still did boot after while, everything is good. And then resurrect your system with your JTAG (remember that I told you to not do this if you don't have one?)

 

Lydon pointed me to builds on his 683-cartflash branch here and said to grab the latest .7z from there:

You will then need to:

  • open your MEGA65 case

  • Find the dip switch labeled SW3 on the PCB and turn switch 3 to on

  • While switch 3 is on, upon every power up, you will see this screen in the hypervisor telling you that you should either:

    • Turn switch 3 off

    • or press RUN/STOP to continue
      - For our present needs, we will always be pressing RUN/STOP

    • You may find yourself in the MEGA65 MONITOR afterwards, if so, just type X and then RETURN key

Push Lydon’s newer 683-cartflash bitstream via m65

I believe this new flashing technique only works on Lydon’s 683-cartflash bitstream for now. So you’d need to upload this bitstream temporarily via:

m65 --bitonly mega65r3-20230507.11-683-ca-cbe9bc9.bit

 

From here, there are two paths you can choose.

Path 1: Upgrade Slot 0 only

  • Rename the .cor file from your .7z to UPGRADE0.COR

  • Copy it to your sd-card

  • Use m65 tool to push upgrade0.prg

m65 --device COM7 --c64mode --run upgrade0.prg

Path 2: Upgrade any slot

  • Use m65 tool to push mflash200.prg

m65 --device COM7 --c64mode --run mflash200.prg