A new version of the firmware for the Ultimate-64 / U2+ by Gideon is released.

This release has again some significant changes and improvements over 1.34 / 3.8. The following bullet list gives an overview of the features and fixes. Below the items, a short explanation is added.

Ultimate II+ Firmware see description of U64 updates. All non-U64 specific things are also available in the U2+

• exFAT support.
• Cartridge Port compatibility improvements.
• Hyperspeed file system access through UCI.
• Extended CBM file system support (D71, D81 and DNP)
• Full REL file support from SoftwareIEC.
• REL file copy between file systems, including FAT with preservation of record length property.
• Consistent filename convention for storing CBM files on FAT with proper conversions.
• Free block count added to IEC directory listing.
• F5 menu restructuring.
• Configuration menu key mapping made more consistent with file browser.
• RAM Disk addition.
• ACIA (6551 emulation) improvements.
• Added fast serial / burst mode wire patches in U64 (optional connections between CIA and SRQ / DATA line.)
• Addition of additional analog video modes: PAL60 and NTSC50.
• Slightly improved key mapping for USB keyboards.
• Fixed double keypress in non-overlay menu, when using USB keyboard.
• Implemented key repeat for USB keyboards.
• Many, many bugfixes.

exFAT support: Until earlier firmware versions, it was only possible to use FAT16/FAT32 formatted USB disks. Version 3.9 adds the support for the newer exFAT. Many, if not all newer USB sticks are factory formatted with this file system. This brings the maximum disk size to 2TB. Note that 64-bit LBA is not supported.

Hyperspeed file system access through UCI? What does this mean? It means that the virtual file system can now be accessed using a driver that talks to the Ultimate in I/O space, in a CBM compatible way. [UCI stands for Ultimate Command Interface] In order to unleash this hyperspeed, a customized C64 kernal is available. This kernal includes the driver to map one of the device IDs to the virtual file system of the Ultimate. Loading speeds in excess of 200+ blocks per second are feasible. As long as kernal calls are used to access the ‘drive’, this is fully compatible with existing software. Note that this kernal also supports the @ and $ commands, to give drive commands and show the directory of any drive, including the device-ID that routes to the UCI.

Extended CBM file system support means that all (D64, D71, D81 and DNP) images can now be created and are fully writable. Although there is no hardware emulation yet of the 1571 and 1581 drives, the support for the file systems is there. In combination with the hyperspeed kernal driver, this is already very useful, even without hardware emulation of the drives.

REL file support has been added, and in such a way that works regardless of the underlying file system. Thus, it does not matter if the REL file is located on a FAT filesystem, or inside of a CBM disk image. The way the REL file is stored is dependent on the file system, including the side sectors and super side sector for CBM systems. Copying REL files between these file systems is therefore also possible, and the side sectors are created as needed.

Block Access (U1, U2 and B-P commands) have been added. When the current directory is (inside) a CBM disk image, these block commands can be used to read / write random sectors of the disk.

A new file naming convention has been introduced, which makes lossless conversion between CBM and FAT filesystems possible, up to 16 chars. It may not always give pretty results, but it is consistent.

The F5 menu (Task Menu) had grown into an unorganized mess. This has now been restructured and categorized, so it has become a lot easier to find the item and is thus quicker to use. Similarly, the key mapping of the configuration menu has been made more consistent. The cursor keys now always navigate through the menus. Use ‘+’ and ‘-’ to change the value. (I have to get used to this myself!)

In addition to the support for USB disks, an additional RAM disk was added. This is very useful for storing temporary disk images, updater files and so on. It can also be used for an even better file system performance. The size of this temporary disk is 16 MB and does not conflict with REU memory. It is truly additional. In a future version, this temporary storage will be used to implement remote commands that require data to be uploaded, such that remote commands will be more consistent with actions from the file browser, since all actions will be based on the file system.

Cartridge port compatibility improvements. Since the introduction of the turbo mode, the cartridge compatibility of the U64 was flawed. This is simply due to the necessary changes in system architecture to make the turbo mode even possible. In this system core version (1.37), some of the compatibility issues have been solved. In particular, cartridges that toggle the EXROM# / GAME# lines per cycle or even during a cycle are now handled correctly again. This affects also the IDE64 module. In order to get this to work, the cartridge bus mode should be set to “Dynamic”, which basically means that the U64 will carefully ‘probe’ the cycles on the cartridge bus to see how the cycle completes. By cleverly caching these results, turbo mode is applied automatically in memory regions that do not need to run at 1 MHz. This does not mean that cartridge compatibility is now guaranteed for all modules, but it is a good step.

The additional analog video modes can be used to run PAL software on analog monitors, such as the 1702, or run 60 Hz software on PAL only screens. In addition to this, the cyan color was adjusted in the analog signal, as it was too green.

The ACIA improvements fix the problem that occurs when an NMI interrupt is missed. In addition, the DCD and DSR lines can now generate interrupts, like on a real 6551. The modem emulation supports pulsing these lines when an incoming connection occurs.

The list of bugfixes is too long to describe here. Some of them were minor; others would eventually hang up the ultimate application; memory leaks… Many thanks to Bart van Leeuwen, who thoroughly tested repeated file system access through UCI.

Download:

• U64/Ultimate-64 - U2+ v3.9 (Core: v1.37) (996)
• U64/Ultimate-64 v3.9 (Core: v1.37) RGB Fix Unofficial (934)

Changes since official release (3.9 / 1.37):

• Fixed RGB mode.
• Fixed block read command.
• Fixed access of files with special chars in CBM disk images, accessed from IEC.

source: ultimate64.com github.com