Sold KS MASTER - USB Programmable ROM with Auto-Switch/KickSwitch (1MB)
- Thread starter pc13589
- Start date
- Replies 128
- Views 14587
Shipped a few more roms today, hopefully everyone receives them soon 
I now have just 1 rom left, @dargrz1977 is next in line for 2 roms as soon as they are available, probably in a couple of weeks since I just ordered more components to make another small batch
I now have just 1 rom left, @dargrz1977 is next in line for 2 roms as soon as they are available, probably in a couple of weeks since I just ordered more components to make another small batch
Sent PM, I'll give you an experimental firmware with some extra debugging features. If there's a compatibility issue with the wireless autoswitch on the A600 I can probably make some changes to the firmware to make it work more reliably
Version 2.0 of KS Programmer is finally ready, with a lot of small improvements and a big one: an integrated ROM builder
No more messing around with external tools to merge multiple rom files or opening an hex editor to figure out what the correct byte order is, you can now build your own rom and flash it in one go directly from KS Programmer.
You could already do pretty much everything with third party tools, or if you're on Linux you could have used "dd" from the command line instead, but if you've never done it before it can be somewhat confusing.
To make things easier for everyone I decided to redesign the UI and add the necessary tools to make custom ROMs, now it's all in one software.
---
With previous versions you had to use an external tool to join 2x 512KB files to make a single 1MB rom image with 2 Kickstarts, and you had to make sure the byte order was the same on both files
Now you can add multiple files and even mix and match .rom and .bin files.
KS Programmer automatically recognizes Kickstart ROMs and picks the correct byte order for you.
I also noticed some people had issues trying to put a 256KB Kickstart in the lower bank + a 512KB Kickstart in the upper bank, because if you simply join the 2 files you end up with a misaligned ROM.
Now you can add a padding section (a block of memory filled with 0x00 bytes) and correctly align Kickstart images with a single button press, and you get a reminder if any of the files are not aligned.
The rom builder is supposed to be very flexible, it gives you a lot of options and provides some hints when it thinks you're making a mistake
Some of the other improvements and fixes:
This new version is still compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux. I provide an .exe for Windows but it can easily run on Mac and Linux since it's written in Python.
You can use it with or without the GUI, the command line version is especially useful if you want to run it from a custom script or use it in a Makefile to automatically flash a custom Kickstart build.
If you're using an older version and want to give v2.0 a try just send me a pm and I'll give you the download link
---
4 KS Master units available
No more messing around with external tools to merge multiple rom files or opening an hex editor to figure out what the correct byte order is, you can now build your own rom and flash it in one go directly from KS Programmer.
You could already do pretty much everything with third party tools, or if you're on Linux you could have used "dd" from the command line instead, but if you've never done it before it can be somewhat confusing.
To make things easier for everyone I decided to redesign the UI and add the necessary tools to make custom ROMs, now it's all in one software.
---
With previous versions you had to use an external tool to join 2x 512KB files to make a single 1MB rom image with 2 Kickstarts, and you had to make sure the byte order was the same on both files
Now you can add multiple files and even mix and match .rom and .bin files.
KS Programmer automatically recognizes Kickstart ROMs and picks the correct byte order for you.
I also noticed some people had issues trying to put a 256KB Kickstart in the lower bank + a 512KB Kickstart in the upper bank, because if you simply join the 2 files you end up with a misaligned ROM.
Now you can add a padding section (a block of memory filled with 0x00 bytes) and correctly align Kickstart images with a single button press, and you get a reminder if any of the files are not aligned.
The rom builder is supposed to be very flexible, it gives you a lot of options and provides some hints when it thinks you're making a mistake
Some of the other improvements and fixes:
- Automatic port detection (if you have a KS Master connected the correct port is selected automatically)
- Automatic erase before programming
- Fixed an issue that caused the verification to fail after programming a file that was not exactly 1MB in size
- Built-in firmware updater (the external tool is no longer required, firmware can now be updated in just 3 clicks directly from KS Programmer)
- Improved command line script
- New UI that doesn't look like it's from the year 2000
This new version is still compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux. I provide an .exe for Windows but it can easily run on Mac and Linux since it's written in Python.
You can use it with or without the GUI, the command line version is especially useful if you want to run it from a custom script or use it in a Makefile to automatically flash a custom Kickstart build.
If you're using an older version and want to give v2.0 a try just send me a pm and I'll give you the download link
---
4 KS Master units available
Last edited:
I would recommend/use -1. Almost all, if not all, Flash chips read out all bits as 1 on erased pages/blocks - so you do not even need to program/write the padding 'section'.
ps: 256K ROMs should be in the upper half of the 512K block by default (or duplicated).
I picked 0x00 by default just to differentiate the explicit padding from the default 0xFF you get where the flash is "blank", but there's actually an option to customize the padding section and you can choose between 0x00 or 0xFF
True, I completely forgot when I was taking those screenshots, I'll update them
Padding can be added anywhere, even at the start of a bank so this is not a problem, but I will probably change some of the warnings so it's clear that 256KB Kickstarts have to be aligned in the upper half
Interest Queue
- nikos.rizos
- grosi
- Neztik
- PRS
- dargrz1977
- Picard
- AwakeningStar
- ChrisHammond
- dargrz1977
- grosi
- Isense
- highpuff
- nicoppc
- dayowalker
- Wrangler
- erique
- Reborn
- abundantmussel
- St233t
- McTrinsic
- Dindi
- bedrock
- McTrinsic
- bedrock
- neocdtv
- St233t
- botfixer
- nicode
- fpmpaolo
- dargrz1977
- polarstar
- Leoncjo
- neffets22
- mr.spiv
- veper
- gnyx
- jym
- ElectroBlaster
- dargrz1977
- PPow
- EagleRacing
- Czig
- atomontage
- II-IRON
- Thirty-Thirty
- Romel
