If the graphics glitches look like the attached image, then you didn't press OPTION to disable the BASIC when booting the Atari. Boot with START+OPTION and it will be OK.
In next version of TS, I'll update the binary loader to disable BASIC automatically by default.
It don't look like this on picture. I never pressed option, when I turn on atari with my attached cardridge. Just turn it on, turbo rom program appears and then option - loader starts.
I've focused on the binary file itself for a while.
At the beginning, there is a routine that clears a block of memory which never gets executed, because there is a RUN segment instead of an INIT segment pointing at that routine.
The emulator sets all memory to zeros after power-on, but on real machine, the memory holds just random values.
I attach a fixed version (copyright or not). Please try it.
In that case, I suggest that you try Electrician (v2).xex obtained from the same source. it will load also load much faster, as it has fewer segments.
The Electrician (v5).xex is simply a broken binary file that may not always work. By the way, two RUN segments in one binary file usually (but not always) result in trouble.
Well, being limited to an emulator only, there is nothing I can do at the moment. And I don't want to bother you asking you for testing that should be done by me.
Good news is that in two or three weeks, I will have a real 130XE available and then I will continue diagnosis and debugging.
My tests on real hardware (XC-12 with turbo upgrade and cassette adapter connected to a PC) indicate that the pulse durations used by Turgen System for Turbo ROM are not good. Longer files are not loaded. I'll try to correct.
I've been testing Turgen System 8.4.5 with real hardware for a while with the following conclusion:
With pulse corrections for Turbo ROM set to the following values: Pilot: 0, Wide: 0, Narrow: -2, Sync: 0, Stop: 0 I was able to load both Turbo ROM compatible binary files and also general binary files without any problems:
Regarding the Electrician game: (v7) loads perfectly (v5) loads without errors, but displays artifacts. When the RUN segment is changed to INIT segment (as it should be), works perfectly.
Next version of TS will have the pulses.list file updated, so no pulse corrections will be necessary.
Depending on the game, it can turn out to be very difficult hacking (that's why I tried to make a binary loader for Turbo ROM). Only games distributed as boot files can be converted easily.
You will have to take the game binary file and restructure it to have one DATA segment and at most one RUN segment and at most one INIT segment (assuming you are familiar with the format of the binary files).
You can try to do it using Turgen System, it contains a tool for merging segments of binary files which can create monolithic binary files (these files are Turbo ROM compatible files) from segmented ones - please refer to the appropriate section of product documentation for more information.
Another possibility is to use some program that can manipulate segments of the binary files (Windows version of Super Packer, DTX Manager for example)
Well I just tried to use Turgen and merge segments and I failed. Maybe I am doing something wrong? But most files I tried just don't work in emulator or causing crash. For example "Cavernia".
It is probably not your fault. If TS does not display a message that says the segments cannot be merged, the only mistake you can do is to set the "Replacement code & RUN address" badly. And it may turn out to be diffucult to set that address. The general rule is to choose address that is not covered by any of the segments, but it still may not be enough (especially if the file contains INIT segments).
It is unfortunate but also inevitabe - you are chaning a structure of a binary code you don't know how it works - that many merged binaries do not work.
When the Czechoslovak Turbo 2000 system (almost the same file format as Turbo ROM) emerged in late 80's , the Czechoslovak Atari community spent countless days restructuring (in fact hacking) binary files to a single segment.
Several posts above (previous page) is a list of turbo rom compatible binary files available from atarionline.pl (tromcompatible.txt). The Cavernia game is in the list.
