Diagnostic version error on Falcon

[mikro]

It took some time but I could finally try all the products I had ordered nearly two years ago. So after unpacking everything I'm happy to report everything (RTC module, RAM card, diagnostic cartridge) works however the cart gives me a curious error message when reaching RAM test:

MVIMG_20180618_204631.jpg

Any idea what that means? Jumpers should be set correctly for the Falcon.

[mikro]

Just to extend my description: this message appears before I can set any individual test -- i.e. during the initialisation part. When it's reaches testing how much memory is available, it gives me this.

[Administrator]

I have seen it before myself. My guess was that during EOL test Atari stored the version of the diag software somewhere in NVRAM.
But removing the battery did not help at all. Soures for an older version of diag software exist (IIRC 1.21) but I haven't looked into the problem yet.

[mikro]

But removing the battery did not help at all. Soures for an older version of diag software exist (IIRC 1.21) but I haven't looked into the problem yet.

I have. Your guess was right. There's a check for 'BRS' at index 26. If it's valid, the version at index 21 represents version number of cartrige used for preburn.

There are two ways to work around it:
- clear NVRAM: don't use tools which reset only known fields, a complete NVRAM reset is needed (CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+UNDO during memory test)
- update NVRAM: there's a secret key 'u' which can be pressed during the check -- that way the test will be skipped and new (current) value written to NVRAM

So fortunately it's easy to fix and cartridge now works as it should. Phew.