Differences

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--- fm_towns:sdscsi [2023/10/09 11:57] – leonk
+++ fm_towns:sdscsi [2023/10/09 12:09] (current) – leonk
@@ Line 21: / Line 21: @@
   * FM Towns keeps its boot order in SRAM
-  * Unlike any other computer, mapping between drive partitions and drive letters are also kept in SRAM (Imagine C: and D: partitions you defined in FDisk on a PC had to keep the mapping in BIOS; i.e. Drive 0, partition 0 is C:, drive 0, partition 1 is D:, etc.) If this information is lost, the OS will not boot! Hence, when you download a drive image from the Internet, and try to use it on FM Towns, you must define the partition map in SRAM for it work.
+  * Unlike any other computer, mapping between drive partitions and drive letters are also kept in SRAM (Imagine C: and D: partitions you defined in FDisk on a PC had to keep the mapping in BIOS; i.e. Drive 0, partition 0 is C:, drive 0, partition 1 is D:, etc.) If this information is lost, the computer will not boot! So, when you download a drive image from the Internet, and try to use it on FM Towns, you must define the partition map in SRAM for it work.
   * If your SRAM battery (CR2032) is dead; this mapping is lost after each reboot and needs to be recreated
@@ Line 30: / Line 30: @@
   * rename the image file **HD3.hda**
-Note: The filename specifies the boot disk image is a hard drive with SCSI ID 3. If you have an internal SCSI hard drive, it has SCSI ID 0. You can disconnect the internal drive and set this to ID 0 (You don't have to worry about SCSI termination with the FM Towns internal drive disconnected) For the rest of this document, we assume that your HD is SCSI ID 3. If it's something else, change accordingly the instructions.
+Note: The filename specifies the boot disk image is a hard drive with SCSI ID 3. If you have an internal SCSI hard drive, it has SCSI ID 0. You can disconnect the internal drive and set this file to ID 0 (You don't have to worry about SCSI termination with the FM Towns internal drive disconnected) For the rest of this document, we assume that your HD is SCSI ID 3. If it's something else, change accordingly the instructions.
   * Download FM Towns 2.1 install CD image. I downloaded **[OS] Towns System Software v2.1 L51 [CD].7z** from (https://archive.org/details/neo_kobe_fujitsu_fm_towns_2016-02-25-repack_20200803)
-  * Rename the CUE file to **CD1.cue** and IMG file **CD1.img**. Edit the CD1.cue file and make sure the first line is updated to read:
+  * Rename the CUE file to **CD1.cue** and IMG file **CD1.bin**. Edit the CD1.cue file and make sure the first line is updated to read:
 <file>
@@ Line 39: / Line 39: @@
 </file>
-This will make the SCSI device also define a SCSI attached CD-ROM drive at SCSI ID 1 with the FM Towns 2.1 install CD loaded in it. Next, we need a way to kick off the SCSI CD-ROM boot. Ideally, you hold A and B buttons on the joystick controller and press the reset button to get a boot menu selector. You select Hard Drive with ID 1 (navigate with A/B buttons in the boot loader). Press exit and it should boot.
+This will make the SCSI device also define a SCSI attached CD-ROM drive at SCSI ID 1 with the FM Towns OS 2.1 install CD loaded in it. Next, we need a way to kick off the SCSI CD-ROM boot. Ideally, you hold A and B buttons on the joystick controller and press the reset button to get a boot menu selector. You select SCSI device with ID 1 (navigate with A/B buttons in the boot loader). Then select exit and it should boot.
 This did not work for me. I had to use an alternative boot loader to force the external CD-ROM to boot. The process is as following:
-   * Download the SCSI boot loader (**HDIMAGE.BIN**) from here (http://ysflight.in.coocan.jp/FM/towns/bootloader/emergency_hd_e.html)
+   * Download the SCSI boot loader **HDIMAGE.BIN** from here (http://ysflight.in.coocan.jp/FM/towns/bootloader/emergency_hd_e.html)
    * Rename HDIMAGE.BIN to **HD4.bin**
-   * Use the joystick method described above to force SCSI ID 4 to boot
-(Ain't it wild? You now have 3 SCSI devices attached to the machine! CD-ROM on SCSI ID 1, Drive Image on SCSI ID 3, and Boot loader on SCSI ID 4)
+__**Modifying the SRAM:**__
+Ain't it wild? You now have 3 SCSI devices attached to the computer! CD-ROM on SCSI ID 1, Hard drive image on SCSI ID 3, and boot loader on SCSI ID 4. We need to boot the install CD.
+   * Use the joystick method described above to force SCSI ID 4 to boot
    * When the boot loader menu comes up, select Boot from CD-ROM to have it load the FM Towns OS install CD.
+   * Alternatively, you can burn the CUE/BIN file to a CD-R and boot that.
    * Follow these instructions to update your SRAM partitions and default boot device (https://monochromeeffect.org/JVCC/2020/03/23/towns-os-hdd-installation/)
-Note: There's a utility in the root of the CD that gives you the command prompt. You than cd into the EXE directory and run setup.exe as described in the above website. The drive image you downloaded above has 10 partitions. So you need to define drive D: to drive M: and then set the default boot drive to #3 (it's the menu item under the RS-232 option)
+Note: There's a utility in the root of the CD that gives you the command prompt. You than cd into the **EXE** directory and run **setup.exe** as described in the above website. The drive image you downloaded has 10 partitions. So you need to define drive **D:** to drive **M:** and then set the default boot drive to ID 3 (it's the next menu item under the RS-232 option)
 When you get out of the tool, reboot and the computer should boot FM Towns OS 2.1 from the hard drive image found at SCSI ID 3.