*-----------------------------------------------------------------------* * Falcon MC68040 CPU ToolKit v5.00 * *-----------------------------------------------------------------------* Introduction: ------------- The MC68040 ToolKit is a selection of drivers, patches and tools designed to get the very best out of the Afterburner accelerator. It allows both the CPU caches and FastRAM to be used safely with software that normally would not be able to work properly, and can improve system performance quite significantly. TKROMDRV.PRG ------------ Please read this documentation properly before using! Description: ------------ This is the main ToolKit driver. It installs itself as a reset-resident patch, so that any changes made to the ROM remain semi-permanent until the next cold boot or power-off. The other ToolKit utilities will not function without this program installed. Configuration of this program is achieved via an external configuration tool. See documentation on this tool for more specific details. Features: --------- The TKROMDRV.PRG driver is responsible for the following enhancements: FastRAM features: * Locates all FastRAM memory plugged into the available SIMM banks. * Joins the memory chunks to create a single contiguous memory pool. * Announces new memory pool to the OS, for use by normal applications. * Installs '_FRB' FastRAM buffer + cookie to allow safe disk DMA. * FastRAM buffer made non-cacheable, allowing cache-friendly disk DMA. * Option to search both SIMM banks, or limit search to the first bank. * Optional supervisor stack space converted to FastRAM pages for speed. CPU Cache features: * Installs a CPU cache handler to maintain user cache configuration. * Enables CPU instruction and/or data caches in the auto folder. * Optional supervisor stack space converted to copyback cache mode. * Reset-resident feature enables instruction cache from a warm reset. * Optional patch temporarily disables instruction cache on 'Pexec'. * Option to select cacheable/noncacheable FastRAM. * Option to select cacheable/noncacheable ROM. * Option to select cacheable/noncacheable video on Videl and Nova. Miscellaneous features. * Nemesis 40MHz option from a warm reset. * GEMRAM emulation in FastRAM for WINX users. * Optional write-protected ROM space. * Optional FastRAM memory check. * Alternative boot-logo from a warm reset (scorpion). Installation: ------------- It is important to read all of the documentation before attempting to use this software. Having done this, you can install the drivers very easily by placing them in your auto folder as follows: The flags shown as F.P.M refer to (F)astload / TT-(P)rg / TT-(M)alloc. The values for the flags are 'y' (yes), 'n' (no) and 'x' (don't care). The order and flag settings for the programs described are only typical examples, and may not apply to your system. The most important part of the boot sequence is the very earliest part. Getting the order or flags wrong could lead to nasty problems. More detail on this will be given in other parts of the documentation if you are in doubt about the auto folder installation. Normal TOS 4.04 installation: ----------------------------- Program F.P.M --------------------- XBOOT.PRG y y y (optional - use any boot manager you like!) TKROMDRV.PRG y y y (must always come first - or a close second!) DMASNOOP.PRG y n x (optional - see DMASNOOP documentation) 68882.PRG y y y (you need this for 68881/2 based software!) HDDRIVER.PRG y y y (optional - and only if applicable) BCACHE40.PRG y y x (enables datacache *only* after HDDR logs SCSI!) ............ ..... (various device drivers / patches etc.) NVDI.PRG y y y (not optional - required to get around blitter!) TKBUBBLE.PRG y y y (optional - see TKBUBBLE documentation) ............ ..... (various device drivers / patches etc.) And if you use the TCache6x disk cache: TCACHE63.PRG y y y (cache pool kept in FastRAM - no DMASNOOP needed) (..or..) TCACHE63.PRG y y n (cache pool kept in ST-RAM - requires DMASNOOP!) MiNTOS/MiniXFS installation: ---------------------------- Program F.P.M --------------------- XBOOT.PRG y y y (optional - use any boot manager you like!) TKROMDRV.PRG y y y (must always come first - or a close second!) DMASNOOP.PRG y n x (optional - see DMASNOOP documentation) HDDRIVER.PRG y y y (optional - and only if applicable) BCACHE40.PRG y y x (enables datacache *only* after HDDR logs SCSI!) ............ ..... (various device drivers / patches etc.) NVDI.PRG y y y (not optional - required to get around blitter!) ............ ..... (various device drivers / patches etc.) MINTNP.PRG y y y (try to get the 68040 version - it's quicker) If you need FPU support, you must run the 68882.PRG from the MINT.CNF configuration file like this: exec C:\AUTO\68882.PRX Important details: ------------------ You will need at least 1MB of FastRAM installed to use the new driver, even if you don't use the ram for anything. This is required in order to patch the ROM and load it into a safe location in RAM for warm booting. This driver doesn't work with Magic, because of problems with the Magic fastram buffering technique. Hopefully, the developers will change Magic to allow Afterburner-compatible DMA. Until then, you must use v4.09 of this package which depends on complex disk patching to achieve the same level of reliability. Don't use the 'CBC/FAST system pages' options with anything except plain TOS, as it can be dangerous with other operating systems. You have been warned! Problems can arise with the harddisk driver when the 'CBC/FAST system pages' options are enabled. The solution is either to disable these options, or to run a second copy of the harddisk driver in the auto folder, where the software will be kept clear of the modified supervisor stack memory. The zone where the harddisk driver loads at boot time is very close to the affected stack memory, and this is why there can be occasional conflicts (The CBC/FAST marking ability is only accurate to the nearest 8k, so programs near that part of ST-RAM run a small risk of being adversely affected). Extra information: ------------------ If you must use a ramdisk or disk cache, and you have lots of ST-RAM free, it is wise to use ST-RAM for this purpose because it is not used for anything else. Your system may benefit more from an average->fast (but very large) ramdisk or disk cache (or even both!) than from a faster, but smaller and more resource-expensive FastRAM based version. Why waste a meg of good FastRAM when you have 8MB or more ST-RAM doing nothing better? (for 14MB ST-RAM users of course!) Sometimes it can help to re-run the harddisk driver in the auto folder, since some drivers (like HDDriver 6.3x) can run from FastRAM. It does mean a fractionally longer boot time, but it may speed up subsequent disk access, and can cure possible conflicts with the copyback feature. If you are using 68881/2 based FPU-intensive software (with plain TOS), you will find that enabling the 'CBC/FAST system pages' options can make a *big* difference to performance. Only enable this if you are sure you have read all the documentation because there are other factors involved beyond speed alone. You can accelerate GEM a little by making the screen non-cacheable with the ram 'mask' feature. Using DMASNOOP will have the same effect as enabling one of the mask buttons, so don't be surprised if you don't see any difference when it is installed during your experiments. By enabling 'gemram emulation', you can make WINX think that GEMRAM is resident and has already transferred ROM into RAM for editing. Make sure you don't enable 'write-protect ROM' when using WINX this way, or the ROM will not be writable and WINX will get very upset! Turning on the boot-logo may look nice, but it wastes memory. The ST-RAM ram-base pointer has to be raised above the driver so subsequent boot-ups don't corrupt the logo. This means quite a bit of ST-RAM goes missing and you may not be able to run demos and other super-hungry applications. I would have transferred the logo into FastRAM along with everything else, but the ROM tries to blit the logo, and the blitter can't use FastRAM, so this was the only way without adding a new logo-drawing routine. Needless to say, I couldn't be bothered! I'm sure there are other tips, but these are the important ones. Final message: -------------- Have fun with your Afterburner, and don't destroy anything. Always run a good disk checker / file comparison utility on your partitons and/or floppy disk to make sure disk access is consistent and reliable after making changes to the setup. The Afterburner is a complicated device and it can easily destroy your partitions if you are not careful about what options you choose, and how you set up your boot sequence. You can never be *too* careful. Incorrect installations *can* lead to lost data. I will not be held responsible for any damage sustained in this way. It is up to you to check you have done things correctly, and that things are working as required! If disk errors are going to occur due to a faulty configuration or lack of understanding in some area - then a disk checker will show these faults up before they get a chance to do harm. It is the user's responsibility to check for these faults, and to protect their own data! ToolKit driver v5.00 copyright Douglas Little, June 1997