Re: JWASM: Error A2189: Constant or relocatable label expected

Posted on 2022-10-24, 20:14

by

by vstrakh

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

Your issue with EQ might be related to data types expected by this operator. TASM manual say the EQ treats its arguments as unsigned numbers. I'd guess the same applies to MASM, so EQ should not be used for texts comparison.

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Re: JWASM: Error A2189: Constant or relocatable label expected

Posted on 2022-10-24, 20:07

by

by vstrakh

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

I'm not sure what are you doing, because it works exactly the same as in TASM, which in turn follows the MASM rules. Here's with case-insensitive IF comparison: .model small .stack 256 upc macro Reg8 ifidni , mov Reg8, 35h else mov Reg8, 39h endif endm .code UPC bh UPC ax UPC bl end Compiling it …

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Re: JWASM: Error A2189: Constant or relocatable label expected

Posted on 2022-10-24, 19:11

by

by vstrakh

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

The " quotes should not be used, it will mean you're comparing two constant string literals, sure the result will be static.

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Re: JWASM: Error A2189: Constant or relocatable label expected

Posted on 2022-10-24, 17:59

by

by vstrakh

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

Looking at my old TASM code, it's just could be possible that you need to wrap Reg8 parameter name in some brackets in the IF statement, but only within that statement. You did wrap BL already in round brackets, same could be required for Reg8 too. TASM required angle brackets, the macro did look …

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Re: Game Sound/Video Stuttering in pure DOS, but running fine in Win98. Is it a driver / software configuration issue?

Posted on 2022-10-23, 14:08

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by vstrakh

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

I don't know if I have combine cache mode enabled in DOS. I've never had to manually enable anything like this before The Write Combine mode appeared starting with Pentium Pro CPU, it's related to Memory Type Range Registers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_type_range_register . This is not …

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Re: Game Sound/Video Stuttering in pure DOS, but running fine in Win98. Is it a driver / software configuration issue?

Posted on 2022-10-23, 08:05

by

by vstrakh

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

Another hint. Do you have write combine cache mode enabled for the framebuffer while playing in DOS? I don't know if your card's bios enables it when entering VESA modes in DOS, Windows drivers did that for sure. I remember UNIVBE did enable write combining for my i740, the frame rate becomes …

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Re: Why does the order how Object files are added to a library with wlib change the performance of the executable?

Posted on 2022-10-21, 18:46

by

by vstrakh

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

The disassembly code of each object file/code is the same. Thus there is only the linker as variable option. Don't look into object files, look at the whole executable, after the linker did its job. The wait function should be everywhere the same, only the position in the EXE might be different. …

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Re: Why does the order how Object files are added to a library with wlib change the performance of the executable?

Posted on 2022-10-21, 17:16

by

by vstrakh

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

What's the platform you're running it on? It could be anything - different alignment, or cache-friendly layout of the code. It would be good if you looked into the disassembly of the final executable to see the difference. Linker does not know the external conditions, so has no information on how to …

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Re: What era of computers do you draw the line at collecting and/or using?

Posted on 2022-10-21, 13:44

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by vstrakh

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Sticking to the range of PCs which could be fully comprehended, and not requiring man-years to reproduce using original components or alternative technologies (FPGA/CPLD/etc), to tinker with the fine details of implementation, or to make new expansion boards. Thus the upper limit would be around ( …

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Re: Help with identifying capacitor of 286 motherboard

Posted on 2022-10-17, 15:01

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by vstrakh

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I wonder what 10nF 50V could do around the crystal, being put so symmetrically. It's not the load caps, too high value

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Re: Commander X16 of The 8-Bit Guy, can it be considered as the most nonsense neo-retro computer of all times?

Posted on 2022-10-17, 10:45

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by vstrakh

in Milliways

in Milliways

I think it should be treated the same way as steampunk, in a good sense. It's not really about practical applications or compatibility, it's about retrofuturism - reimagining the the possible future of early micros if we had our current knowledge back then. As such it's only great for recreational …

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Re: 486 replacing fake L2 cache chips

Posted on 2022-10-16, 21:03

by

by vstrakh

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

The final assembly: assembled.jpg And finally the result - 256KB cache size, as it should be :) cache_256k_ok.jpg I did test all desoldered chips, they all pass tests as 8K x 8 sram, and none could pass the test as 32K x 8. The date code at the top of the chips is the same on all 9 chips, but there …

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Re: 486 replacing fake L2 cache chips

Posted on 2022-10-16, 21:01

by

by vstrakh

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Now cleaning the holes from the solder with solder wick - that's a tedious process. The most time was wasted in this step: Filename holes1.jpg File size 1.92 MiB Views 672 views Filename holes2.jpg File size 1.83 MiB Views 672 views Filename holes3.jpg File size 1.8 MiB Views 672 views Now solder …

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486 replacing fake L2 cache chips

Posted on 2022-10-16, 20:58

by

by vstrakh

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

The story begins here https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=89025 I found that the actual cache size is 64KB, while the motherboard has soldered SRAM chips that should give 256KB of cache, and the bios was altered to misreport cache size as 256KB. I've finally received the Renesas chips I've …

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Re: WLINK ERROR! E2028 undefined reference when using USES directive in ASM code

Posted on 2022-10-13, 14:51

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by vstrakh

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

I don't have experience with JWasm, but with TASM declaring model's language affects the generated names of the procedures, the C language implicitly adds underscore in front of the function, so it's important that the calling side knows that - either being also compiled as C model, or explicitly …

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Re: A small black resist0r fell of my Voodoo 3 3500

Posted on 2022-10-12, 18:03

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by vstrakh

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

That's an inductor, not resistor. Power goes through it, so unless it's feeding some external connector, it's a required component.

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Re: Debug an 8086 that won't power up

Posted on 2022-09-22, 10:43

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by vstrakh

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

There are clear signs of bus contention visible on the oscilloscope waveforms. Not necessarily. While CMOS drives 5V for a logic '1', the 74xx series TTL has weak logic '1' levels and can only get the output up to 3.6V-3.8V or so. It's possible, but those short spikes up and down - those are too …

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Re: Debug an 8086 that won't power up

Posted on 2022-09-22, 08:58

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by vstrakh

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

There are clear signs of bus contention visible on the oscilloscope waveforms. At some moment you'll have to start pulling out the chips to find the one which messes with the bus. In best case it would be some dead/damaged 74ls244/245, or some generic 74lsXX that produces control signals for them, …

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Re: Debug an 8086 that won't power up

Posted on 2022-09-21, 07:00

by

by vstrakh

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Also there seems to be activity on the data bus too. Looks very much like a bus contention to me. Those "steps" of intermediate level, short spikes/glitches. Something gets to drive the bus when it's not supposed to, some buffer IC is likely misbehaving, or its control pins are being driven by …

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Re: WIN95 16/32MB performance difference much?

Posted on 2022-09-17, 08:53

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by vstrakh

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

32mb is Better. 64mb would be considered Ultimate. I had a period when my friend temporarily borrowed my 32MB stick for the reasons I didn't get back then, and he gave me 64MB stick instead. I didn't feel any considerable improvements from this temporary upgrade. But oh boy I felt it when I got my …

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