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SDK Documentation
Confidential & Proprietary
to VM Labs Inc. |
Copyright © 1997-2001
VM Labs, Inc.
All Rights Reserved |
February 23, 2001 |
Updating Your Development System's Firmware
WARNING: These instructions are for revision 5.x
systems only!
There is a sample program in the SDK that can print out information
regarding the BIOS version that is currently installed. Go to the
directory:
\VMLABS\SAMPLE\DIAGNOSTIC\SYSINFO
And enter the command "gmake load". If
your system is configured correctly, the program will be built if needed, and
then it will execute. If everything works right, you'll get a display on
your TV screen with text showing the current BIOS version.
If you have difficulty building or running the sysinfo
program, please make sure that your system is properly configured. Refer
to the Hitchhiker's Guide To NUON
document for information.
Before you update anything, please make sure you understand the
difference between the two parts of your NUON development system which use FLASH
ROM. They are:
- Boot ROM / BIOS ROM -- The NUON development system has a 4mb Flash
ROM built into the motherboard. The motherboard also has a socket for
a ROM or EPROM. A jumper (labeled "Flash" and
"ROM") selects which one of these is active. (Normally it's
set to FLASH).
This is what we usually mean when we refer to the "Flash", the
"Flash ROM", the "Boot ROM" or "firmware".
This Flash ROM contains the BIOS (if a ROM BIOS is installed) as well as
whatever startup code is installed. Older versions of the NUON startup
code displayed color bars or a NUON logo graphic. Some more recent
versions would draw an animated fractal image. The current version
shows a NUON logo and text prompts that allow you to go to a system
configuration menu or the DVD player.
The boot code does not really interact with the stub. The BIOS only
interacts to the degree that the stub may occasionally download a small
piece of code to do some debugging function or to speed up a data transfer.
- Debug / Ethernet Interface Card -- The debug card in your development
system uses a flash ROM so that the debugging stub may be updated when
needed. However, as a general rule, the NUON documentation does not
refer to this as "flash ROM". Instead, we normally refer to
this simply as the "stub". We would say "update your
stub" instead of "update your debug card flash ROM".
The debug card contains a PowerPC 860 processor, and most of the code on the
stub's ROM is intended for that processor, not the NUON chip on the
motherboard. This code does not have anything to do with the BIOS or
the startup code, except that it must safely co-exist on those occasions
when it must ask one of the NUON processor's MPEs to do something. In
those cases, it may download a small piece of code to an MPE to facilitate
some debugging function, or to speed up transfers over the Ethernet
interface.
Please see "Updating Your Stub"
for information on how to update your stub.
NOTE: These
instructions only apply to updates dated February 13, 2001 or later.
The ROM-based BIOS and startup boot code for your Revision 5.x system may be
updated by following the instructions below. Please note that if you have
just received a NUON development system, it is probably not necessary for you to
update it right away.
- Make sure your SDK is properly installed and that your MD_PORT environment variable
is set correctly.
- Change to the VMLABS\BIOS Update directory.
- Reset your development system and wait for the reset process to complete.
- For NTSC-based systems, execute the UPDATE-NTSC.BAT
batch file.
- For PAL-based systems, execute the UPDATE-PAL.BAT batch
file.
These steps will result in a program being downloaded to your development system,
followed by the data to be programmed into the FLASH ROM. Your development system's
display will indicate the current status of the update through a progress
bar. Once the update is completed, a message will be shown and you can
then reset your system.
- This version of the NUON BIOS no longer supports the
original-style prototype game controllers. These are the Nintendo 64
shells with a DB-25 cable that connect to a small black interface box, which
in turn connects to the NUON development system using a DB-9 cable.
It is now required that you use a production controller. Using a small
adapter cable, this type of controller connects to the USB-style ports on
the back of the NUON development system. (Note that these are not
actually USB ports... it's just the same kind of connector.)
If you do not have an actual production-style game controller, we recommend
that you do not update your BIOS until you obtain one.
- If you're using PAL mode, there are some known problems:
- DVD movies will not play, although the menu still says to "Press
'A' For DVD Player"
- If you run the update procedure again, the display may not be
configured properly while the update is in progress. However, this
will not affect the update. This will be fixed in a future
release.
Synth Wavetable Data
Revision 5.x machines are equipped with a Flash ROM. In the past,
it was common practice to download the
wavetable data used by the NUON SYNTH library to this Flash ROM, where it would be
available at all times.
This was done largely because the
original plan was to include the wavetable data in the ROM of production
machines. However, this plan changed because we determined that the
majority of games will not use MIDI. Rather they will use streaming audio
from disc for music. This fact made it hard to justify devoting so much
ROM space to the SYNTH wavetable data when that space could be used by other
things. Plus, since that original plan was made, the minimum RAM size of a
NUON player has increased from 4mb to 16mb, so it just seemed like a better idea
to RAM-load the data when necessary.