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firebee/flasher/readme.txt

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+Flashing the FireBee
+--------------------
+
+The FireBee's system software - that includes the FPGA firmware, the BaS,
+FireTOS and EmuTOS - is stored in flash memory. The FireBee has 8MB of flash
+memory which can be updated from TOS or MiNT by software.
+
+Although there are no known problems when flashing the ROM under MiNT, we
+recommend to perform this operation in a clean FireTOS or EmuTOS environment,
+so the risk of "interferences" from other running tasks is kept to
+a minimum while flashing.
+
+The system software files can be downloaded from http://firebee.org.
+
+
+FLASH_CF.PRG/FLASH060.PRG
+-------------------------
+
+There are two versions of the flash tool; FLASH_CF.PRG is a native ColdFire
+compiled tool and can be used in both EmuTOS and FireTOS. The second,
+FLASH060.PRG, is for the FireTOS environment only.
+
+Flashing the "firmware" components is easy - start the program and click on
+the harddrive-icon to open the fileselector. Select which file to flash.
+You don't have to specify what kind of file it is (BaS, dBUG, FPGA, FireTOS,
+EmuTOS...) as Flash* program will automatically detect this.
+
+When you've selected a file, Flash program will load and verify it. This will
+take a few seconds. When it's finished loading, click on the "Program" button.
+The "LEDs" will light up one by one. When all are lit the programming has
+finished and you can reboot.
+
+NB! Don't flash the FireBee when it's running on battery power! If the
+battery runs low during flashing you might end up with a "dead" FireBee and
+external hardware is needed to reflash the flash memory!
+
+
+FPGA firmware
+-------------
+
+The FPGA firmware specifies the behaviour of the FPGA. Inside the FPGA all
+the Atari legacy components are implemented and most of the pins of most of
+the FireBee's connectors/ports are directly connected to it.
+
+
+BaS (Basis System) and dBUG
+---------------------------
+
+BaS or dBUG is the first thing that runs when the FireBee is switched on.
+It initializes the hardware, loads the FPGA firmware into the FPGA and then
+starts the operating system.
+You can not install dBUG and BaS at the same time, it´s only possible to
+use one of them.
+
+dBUG has some additional features which are very handy if you're a developer.
+First of all, it can boot an operating system (like TOS or Linux) from the
+network. It also has a monitor which is accessible via the serial port.
+
+BaS is written by Fredi Aschwanden.
+dBUG by Freescale, adapted to the FireBee by Didier Mequignon.
+
+
+EmuTOS
+------
+
+This is a version of EmuTOS built specifically for the FireBee and its
+Coldfire CPU. As it is a Coldfire native OS, it is not capable of running
+68k native programs, unless a 68K software emulator is used.
+With the 68K emulator running 68K programs depends on several factors. As a
+general rule, programs that do not break the Atari rules or relay on
+undocumented/old/unofficial/deprecated features should run.
+
+
+FireTOS
+-------
+
+FireTOS is the default Operating System for the FireBee and is derived
+directly from the TOS60 for the CT6x Falcon accelerator. The FireTOS OS is
+a heavily patched TOS 4.0.4 with the following additional key features:
+
+- Support of most of the 68k opcodes with the help of the
+  built-in CF68Klib (Freescale).
+- Extended video modes via the built-in VDI driver for the FireBee Videl and
+  ATI Radeon PCI graphics cards.
+- USB drivers for keyboard, mouse and mass storage devices (memory sticks,
+  USB harddrives...) that works under both TOS and FreeMiNT and also under
+  EmuTOS when started from FireTOS boot menu.
+- RAM-disk, TFTP-support, web-server, STiK compatible network stack.
+
+Both EmuTOS and FireTOS have built-in harddisk drivers for the SD and CF cards.
+They can access (and boot from) DOS-partitioned cards/drives.
+
+The partition size limit for SD/CF cards is 2GB in FireTOS and EmuTOS with
+the standard 8.3 Atari filenames.
+In FreeMiNT, thanks to the VFAT option (set as default in our Setup),
+disks/partitions of any size are possible and long filenames are supported.
+
+Both EmuTOS and FireTOS are installed by default in the FireBee ROM. You can
+select which one to start per default with setting the DIP switches on
+the motherboard.
+
+FireTOS: Switch #5 up, #6 up.
+EmuTOS: Switch #5 down, #6 up.
+
+EmuTOS started from switch is fully native and will access the Atari legacy
+components only. This means that USB devices will not available, including
+USB mice and keyboards.
+
+ACP, May 2019.
+http://firebee.org