3rd screen under STS

There was nothing to do, and 29 Dec 98 at 01:24:00
Dmitry Lomov wrote a letter for Kirill Frolov
I saw this and decided to answer.

KF>> I know for sure that there is such a thing! How to turn it on?
DL> Hardware modification is needed. I saw an improvement from DIGITAL -
DL> port #B6 is responsible for memory 512 and additional. screens.

Tell us in more detail about the 3rd screen, and DIGITAL.

For this, let me bow out. Sincerely, Andrey Khoroshilov.

··· The mind is stronger than the chest. Hippies are people too.
··· What were you going to see there? Glass fabric? And thought from electrons?

Here is what I have about this:

-----===== Cut line for the file shadow .C =====-----

Hello Everyone!

My patience has been filled by reading,
it seems, in the ZX-review a letter from “Mr.” Zonov with
an offer to everyone (!) to remake their ZX in
"Scorpios".
How long!!!
Stop fooling the gullible user.

Part 1 (theoretical)

In order not to be unfounded, I will give a comparative
table of "Pentagon" and "Scorpio" according to the main
parameters:

┌─────────────┬─────── ────┬─────────────┐
│ Parameter │ Pentagon │ Scorpio │
├─────────────┼─────── ────┼─────────────┤
│Maximum │ │ │
│volume of RAM │ 512 k │ 256 k │
├─────────────┼─────── ────┼──────┬──────┤
│ Speed: │ │ │ * │
│ │ │ │ │
│ ORMAL │ │ │ │
│ ROM │ 100% │ 95% │ 100% │
│ RAM │ 100% │ 93% │ 97% │
│ │ │ │ │
│ TURBO │ │ │ │
│ ROM │ 200% │ 195% │ 204% │
│ RAM │ 153-155% │ 143% │ 148% │
└─────────────┴───────────┴ ──────┴──────┘
Notes :
column with * - from hardwaremodification;
the speed was measured by the ZX-BENCH program

You can list the glitches of "ZS" for a long time, but they are known to everyone, and whoever doesn't know - let him buy and be convinced
(while "Pent" is recognized as the standard for
"Enlight").
Let's focus on the advantages:
1) Slot connectors
Firstly, there are few of them, secondly, they are similar to connectors
on the "Delta" and will never provide a flexible architecture
2) Shadow ROM with a service monitor
It would be more correct to say - with a poor monitor, a glitchy
stack for a dozen bytes, not extinguishing the music, etc. etc. (though I don’t know how things are in the new version), and with subroutines that the user will not use, and the programmer will not use due to the non-standard nature of the equipment.

However, why not agree to Zonov’s proposal, but instead of blindly copying
cons, let’s better borrow practical ideas...

Part 2. Practical

BATMAN SOFT has the honor to offer you

TE EVOY MO ITOR A OS OVE STS 5.1

We apologize to Stalker for not being able
to contact him to obtain his consent and
we hope for understanding.

So, why STS 5.1?
Because this is the latest version of the
best monitor in our area.
Since we did not have the sources, it is possible that not
all the benefits of the shadow ROM were taken advantage of,and
The expert had to show hacker skills
to make the necessary changes.

Do you still doubt the need for this
DEVIC? Then I will suggest several ways to use it:

PROGRAMMERS will receive a powerful debugger, access to which is possible at any time by pressing the OD OP
button and without any downloads

HACKERS will receive a tool for hacking any program
even the most secure one, using all 128K and both
screens, since it is impossible to protect against it (unlike Scorpionovsky, for example)

GAMERS will be able to save on disk at any time
even the entire program, even a picture from it, and also
change any parameters

Even if you don’t need a shadow, you will
have 512K RAM, which will make copying
disks very easy

are you convinced? Then read on...

So, here is a description of THAT MOTOR for
PENTAGON - 512 only. The shadow monitor consists of:

1) the STS 5.1 monitor itself, which must
be flashed into the zero page of the ROM
the firmware file is located on this disk under the name
str0.C; in case someone wants to reflash the entire ROM, there is file 1+2+3.C with the contents of the remaining pages, but you will have to glue it together with str0.c yourself

2) hardware support - the formation of a third
screen, etc. (diagram - screen file called Shadow)

Of coursethe shadow unit can be installed on another
ZX-compatible one, but, firstly, the circuit was created taking into account minimal alterations on the Pentagone (otherwise
the circuit may have to be redone)
secondly, the RAM must be expanded and
necessarily up to 512k according to the circuit published in
Spectrofon N17
However, the following changes must be made in the expansion circuit :
1) on the 10th leg of KP12(2) apply A* (instead of ground) from the
shadow circuit
2) instead of the switch, diode and resistor, apply
B*, since the above parts are used in
Shadow (see diagram)

, and now an explanation about the Tenevik circuit:

a KP12 multiplexer is installed if you have address multiplexers KP11 and, KP17 is installed if on the board
KP14

R2' and R3' are supplied instead of R2 and R3 coming from video multiplexers

C* goes to the 20th leg of the ROM instead of the ground

//RD is taken from the 10th leg DD1

from the Penta board remove R13 and remove the NMI from the 12th leg DD78,
2nd leg DD78 is cut off from the track and fed to leg D*

cut off the signals going to legs 27 and 1 of the ROM and fed
them to A14' and A15'. And instead of them, apply to ROM A14''
and A15''

Notes:

numbers of legs and microsemes are given for Pentagon-128

chips used:
RAM KR573RU10
triggers 1533TM2
logic 1533LA3, LI1, LE1, LL1, 555LI6
register 1533IR23

all 10kOhm resistors, diodesKD521 or 522

if the device is assembled on the “second floor”, then you can use unused logical elements
boards

instead of inverters you can use elements
OR-E or I-E, connecting the inputs

a circuit correctly assembled from serviceable parts does not need
adjustment and does not in any way affect the operation
of the computer, but a partially assembled circuit can prevent the normal operation of ZX

the numbers of the m/skh-m legs in Tenevik’s diagram are not indicated
intentionally, because those who are friends with a soldering iron have
the necessary reference books, and those who are not friends better
not get into the computer

* * *

IN IMA IE!

this device was developed by BATMAN SOFT,
By the way, work is currently underway on the second
version of Tenevik, in parallel work has begun on
the first computer magazine in Nizhny Ovgorod,
at the moment there is already something, the name of the magazine
is being discussed.
At the same time, BATMAN HARD is conducting research on the possibility of connecting a hard drive to the ZX IDE with compatibility with TR-DOS, and in connection with this, a new operating system looms in the future - WINDOWS, however, we still have to wait until then, but you can express your wishes now to S.T.SAM, i.e. a guy
who sells programs for ZX on the radio market.

For questions about HARD, you can call tel. 69-70-90
from 10until 15 o'clock, please provide assistance with the screw, but
do not call for SOFT questions (ask Mikhail)

* * *

And now the details for those who are interested

Operation of soft'a

When you click on "Magic" you enter the monitor, while
all processor modes, the current
memory bank and the return address are remembered, while only 2 bytes of the stack are spoiled (it is not the shadow server that spoils it, but the NMI process), then, if you launch the shadow program for the first time after turning on the computer, you will see the proprietary splash screen - do not be alarmed. It will not appear on subsequent logins to the shadowbox.
When entering the shadowbox, 512K is connected (even if
it is disabled by the toggle switch), STS 5.1 is rewritten into pages 31 and 30 from ROM and starts with the current
settings (the 30th page is used for extra
functions).
STS still uses resident, but he now has the opportunity to work in his own screen,
with the support of HARD. this screen is located on 31
pages, so standard SP-128 screens do not get damaged.
The monitor uses port 1F for recording as
service: D5 - lock ( 1 - locked )
D3 - screen (0 - standard, 1 - in 31 pages)
D4 - ROM ( 0 - shadow, 1 - standard pages )

Shadow is completely inaccessible programmatically, therefore it is impossible toprotect yourself.

Exiting the STS is possible in one of two ways:

1) Full - by pressing the Q button - in this case the STS settings are saved, the resident and labels are erased, 7FFD reading and writing to 1F are blocked, 512K is restored to its previous position, the processor modes are restored and the program continues

2) partial - by J;C;SS+K;SS+J - in this case, STS remains on page 31 and the program, having reached the
mark, will successfully return to STS.

Note:

if you hold SS while pressing "Magic", then the music will not be extinguished (this can be useful when
entering a program with digitized music)

if you hold CS - then Magik will throw in 128K

if you try to enter the shadow room in the 48th mode, then
Magikom will throw in 48K

while the processor is in ROM, entering the shadow
is impossible

you should make sure that when you fully exit, the PC is in RAM (4000#...FFFF#) otherwise the computer. will reset
or hang.

and that's all, good luck!

-----===== Cut line for file shadow .C =====-----

---───══════════════╡ Best regards, Andrey ╞══════════════────--

AK> Tell us more about the 3rd screen, and DIGITAL.

hehe, there is such a group - DIGITAL REALITY :)
I saw a computer (Pentagon), which one person in St. Petersburg
got from them, complete with modifications and (sort of) a converted STS hardwired into ROM. everything additional is via port #B6, I don’t know the layout, but there is a third screen, i.e. STS does not spoil anything at all.
I have never heard of this anywhere else - and concluded that this is
their (DIGITAL) modification. done correctly, however -
a port with the most crooked address and full addressing.

All the best.
Dmitry.

..LD..X-TRADE..

[skip]

AI> When entering the shadow box, 512K is connected (even if
AI> it is disabled by the toggle switch), STS 5.1 is rewritten
AI> into pages 31 and 30 from ROM and runs with the current
AI> settings (the 30th page is used for extra
AI> functions).

The topic is this, and if the program tested the presence of 512 Penta
and uses these (30&31) pages for its own purposes, and all the rest are
filled with something and constantly controls its integrity.

In general, it turns out to be an endless competition between the projectile and the armor.

[skip]

+-All the best, Andrey
|I was with you
|Valentin Pimenov aka Valker/Style_Group
+---------------

So this is an even port. The result of the appeal is equivalent to FEh

DL> Good luck.
DL> Dmitry.

DL> ..LD..X-TRADE..

Sincerely, Eagle/CRG
... _/***\_ Mess with the best, Die like the rest!!! _/***\_

04 Jan 99 Andrey Isaev write to Kirill Frolov about "3rd screen for STS":

[skip]

AI> So, why STS 5.1?
AI> Because this is the latest version of the
AI> best monitor in our area.
AI> Since we did not have the source code, perhaps not
AI> all the advantages of the shadow The ROMs were used, and the
AI> Expert had to show his hacking skills
AI> to make the necessary changes.

AI> Are you still doubtful about the need for this
AI> DEVIC? Then I will suggest several ways to use it:
[skip about the fact that their modification is the most useful]

AI> So, here is a description of THAT MOTOR for
AI> PENTAGON - 512 only. The shadow monitor consists of:

AI> 1) the STS 5.1 monitor itself, which needs to
AI> be flashed into the zero page of the ROM
AI> the firmware file is located on this disk under the name
AI> str0.C; in case someone changes
AI> the entire ROM, there is file 1+2+3.C with the contents of the remaining
AI> pages, but you will have to glue it together with str0.c
AI> yourself

AI> 2) hardware support - the formation of a third
AI> screen, etc. (scheme - screen file called Shadow)

[skip about hard schemes]

AI> numbers of legs and microsemes are given for Pentagon-128

AI>chips used:
AI> RAM KR573RU10
AI> triggers 1533TM2
AI> logic 1533LA3, LI1, LE1, LL1, 555LI6
AI> register 1533IR23
As far as I remember, the cache circuit at the Pentagon has existed for a long time (c) V.M.G.
requires the long-term installation of only the cache chip

AI> a correctly assembled circuit from serviceable parts does not require
AI> adjustment and does not in any way affect the operation of the
AI> computer, but a partially assembled circuit may interfere with the normal operation of ZX

[skip about advertising]

AI> Operation of soft'a

AI> When you click on "Magic" You enter the monitor, while
AI> all processor modes, the current
AI> memory bank and the return address are remembered, while only 2 bytes of the stack are spoiled
AI> (it is not the shadow that spoils it, but the
AI> NMI process), then, if you launched the shadow for the 1st
AI> time after turning on the computer, you will see a proprietary
AI> splash screen - not be scared. On subsequent
AI> entries into the shadow community, it will not appear.
AI> When entering the shadow site, 512K is connected (even if
AI> it is turned off with a toggle switch), STS 5.1 is rewritten
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ but it doesn’t hurt, that’s what you need
AI> to pages 31 and 30 from ROM and starts with the current
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ and this begs for the use of
protectionfrom hacking
AI> STS is still used by the resident, but he-
AI> now has the opportunity to work in his own screen,
AI> with the support of HARD. this screen is located in the 31
AI> page, so standard SP-128 screens do not get damaged.
AI> The monitor uses port 1F for recording as a
AI> service: D5 - lock (1 - locked)
AI> D3 - screen (0 - standard, 1 - in 31 pages)
AI> D4 - ROM (0 - shadow, 1 - standard pages )
Yes, of course, this is all cool, but let me
This has all been written a long time ago in the program "MAGIC+" by Evil Genius/UNICUM/XPJ

... Write letters (c) Ostap Ibrahimovich Bender

ON> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ and this begs to be used
ON> burglary protection
How? see above

ON> Yes, of course it’s all cool, but let me
ON> This has all been written a long time ago in the program “MAGIC+” by Evil Genius/UNICUM/XPJ
Yes, I don’t pretend to have any positive reviews because I have nothing to do with this
development, just a person asked about the subject, and I
answered.