Missing LPT Drivers after update to ROMWBW 3.5.0-beta.10

[Tom Plano]

Hi all and I suppose especially Wayne,

I have in the past had a working LPT card connected to an NEC printer.  However, after updating to 3.5 beta.10 the driver appears to not load up correctly? It possible Ive damaged my card (misaligned cards crossing 5v/gnd) but I don't think Ive killed it. Historically drivers have loaded even if no card was found but when I boot now, I don't see an entry for the LPT driver at all, which was surprising  to me.

I'm including build logs that show LPT driver in the ROM map as well as a boot log that shows no LPT driver, as well as my custom .asm that extends the skz config to help with diagnostics.

Maybe the best, first question is, did LPT support ever come out of the dev branch and into the master?

Thanks,

Tom P

[Wayne Warthen]

Hi Tom,

During the  preparation for final v3.5, I did some work to try and reduce unneeded driver storage by default.  I think I changed the LPT driver to be disabled by default.  Can you try setting LPTENABLE to TRUE in your config?  Sorry for the trouble.  It is a constant battle between convenience and storage constraints these days.

By the way, I am in China for another week with no computer access and limited internet, so my ability to help right now is limited.

Thanks, Wayne

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[Wayne Warthen]

Sorry, I was able to look at the build log and see that the LPT driver is enabled.  This is odd.  At a minimum, the driver should show up in the boot log.

I may need to try and reproduce this when I am back home in a week.

Thanks, Wayne

[Wayne Warthen]

So, the LPT driver will NOT show anything in the boot log if no hardware is detected.  It appears that the hardware is not being detected.

This could be a bug I introduced recently or an actual hardware problem.  I will try to reproduce this when I return home.  Not much more I can do until then.

Thanks, Wayne

[Tom Plano]

Thanks for the quick response. In the meantime I'll try and flash an older rom version and see if I can access the card, or if I blew it up.

-Tom

[Fernando Carolo]

You can use the .COM version of another RomWBW to just confirm if it's detecting your hardware. If it works, you can then flash the full version normally. I do this whenever I build a new release to quickly check if it suits my hardware.

Fernando Carolo

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[Tom Plano]

Wait this is so much smarter and safer than just my full send of reflashing my rom and hoping it works. What a good tip!

[Tom Plano]

Ok update, I think I killed the 82c55 on my card. I tested roms 3.4.1 and 3.2 and neither detected the card or showed the driver loaded at boot. Furthermore, when the printer is on and plugged into the card, my whole system stays powered regardless of the power switch orientation, so something has gone wrong there for sure. The system turns off if I unplug the printer, which is ominous. 

-Tom 

[Fernando Carolo]

Do you have access to a XGecu programmer, such as a TL866II or a T48? Their logic IC test function can test the 8255. I have used my T48 to test the 82C55s I got from AliExpress and they all pass, so I guess this is a valid way to confirm if they work.

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Fernando Carolo

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[Tom Plano]

I dont have one yet, but it might be time.