v2.1.4

Changes in this release

• Fix key scanning for disk change on floppy emulation mode (#161)

• Fix the calculation of the root directory size (#158)

Changed files

The following files have been changed from v2.1.3:

• All the kernel ROM files

You can get the files that haven't changed from the previous releases:

• NEXTOR.SYS from v2.1.3

• The command line tools and mknexrom.exe from v2.1.0

v2.1.3

Changes in this release

• Fix "map to device sector 0" option in CALL MAPDRV (#151)

• Modify ZAP_ALL to skip drives assigned to device-based drivers (#147)

• Fix crash on sector buffer invalidation after writing to device (#148)

• Fix _GETCLUS copying 64 bytes of data instead of 16 (in NEXTOR.SYS) (#149)

• [UPDATED 2025-06-08] Activate support for long integers in the printf routine (#155)

Changed files

The following files have been changed from v2.1.2:

• All the kernel ROM files
• NEXTOR.SYS

You can get the files that haven't changed from the previous releases:

• The command line tools and mknexrom.exe from v2.1.0

v2.1.2

Changes in this release

• Small fixes in printf.c and crt0_msxdos_advanced for the C programs (#135).

• The MegaFlashROM SCC+ SD ROMs now restores the saved screen setting at boot time in MSX2 and higher(#132).

• The _DOSVER function now keeps register C unchanged in MSX-DOS 1 mode (#128).

• Renamed the SunriseIDE.emulators.ROM file to SunriseIDE.blueMSX.ROM (#129).

• Fixed a bug in MAPDRV and a bug in the MegaFlashROM SCC+ SD driver regarding the DEV_STATUS routine (#119).

• Added support for recognizing partition type code 15 ("extended LBA") as "extended partition" in the kernel and in MAPDRV.COM, also FDISK will now create extended partitions with partition type code 15, and a command line tool is provided to fix existing partitions (#121).

• Fixed the DSKIO driver error check in MSX-DOS 1, page 1 transfers (#134).

Changed files

The following files have been changed from v2.1.1:

• All the kernel ROM files.
• MAPDRV.COM
• EPTCFT.COM (added)

You can get the files that haven't changed from the previous releases:

• NEXTOR.SYS from v2.1.1 beta 1
• The command line tools and mknexrom.exe from v2.1.0

v2.1.1

Changes in this release

• Fixed a bug that caused FDISK to crash on Korean MSX computers (#106).

• Fixed a bug in slot management during EXTBIO handling that caused COMMAND2.COM to crash when two Nextor kernels and a RAM mapper were present with a certain combination of slot/subslot (#103).

  • This fix was contributed by @uniabis, many thanks!

• Fix wrongly implemented interrupt handling in MSX-DOS 1 mode that resulted in the interrupt handler for MSX-DOS kernels to not run in some cases, causing e.g. disk drive motors to never stop (#107).

• Added a new flavour to the Sunrise IDE ROMs family: "Master device only" (the files having .MasterOnly. as part of their names). This will be useful for owners of the Carnivore2 and similar devices that handle one single IDE device (#105).

Changed files

The following files have been changed from v2.1.1 beta 2:

• All the kernel ROM files.

You can get the files that haven't changed from the previous releases:

• NEXTOR.SYS from v2.1.1 beta 1
• The command line tools and mknexrom.exe from v2.1.0

v2.1.1 beta 2

Changes in this release

• Changed the mechanism to access mounted files from file-based to sector-based. This implies that a disk image file now needs to be stored across consecutive disk clusters in order to be mountable to a drive. (#93)

  • This also adds a new BASIC error code: "Invalid cluster sequence", with code 82.

• Fixed incorrect setting of UD_ACLU when freeing a FAT chain, this caused computer crashes after files having small initial cluster numbers were created and deleted after files with higher cluster numbers had been accessed (#96).

• Added a new CALL SYSTEM2 command in BASIC. This one works the same way as CALL SYSTEM, but it will always load MSXDOS2.SYS, even when NEXTOR.SYS is available. (#97)

• Added a new KILLDSKIO environment variable. If it exists with a value of on, 512 extra free bytes will be available in BASIC, at the expense of disabling the DSKI$ and DSKO$ commands. (#98)

Changed files

The following files have been changed from v2.1.1 alpha 2:

• All the kernel ROM files.

v2.1.1 beta 1

Changes in this release

• Fix: the DE register pair was corrupted by extended BIOS handling code, now it's going to be always preserved, even if a driver corrupts it in its own EXTBIO hook handling code. (#88)

• Fix: the _GPART function call was returning incorrect information in registers IX and IY when called via the 0005h entry point (it worked fine when using the F37Dh entry point). The fix is in NEXTOR.SYS. (#89, but the issue was originally reported by vipoo in #84).

• There's a new kernel ROM file: Nextor-2.1.1-beta1.OCM.ROM. This one is for the 1chipMSX and compatible devices such as the SX|2. The driver is basically the same as the one for the MegaFlashROM SCC+ SD, but with the DiskROM related code removed. (#91)

Changed files

The following files have been changed from v2.1.1 alpha 2:

• All the kernel ROM files.
• NEXTOR.SYS

v2.1.1 alpha 2

Changes in this release

The improvement of the cluster chain allocation process performance (v2.1.1 alpha 1) introduced a critical bug that sometimes caused severe problems (weird errors, computer crashes, even data corruption) when writing data to disk. This release fixes that bug.

See the fix pull request for the technical details.

Changed files

The following files have been changed from v2.1.1 alpha 1:

• All the kernel ROM files.

Note

The same as v2.1.1 alpha 1: This release makes significant changes in the way data is written to filesystems. It's recommended to make a backup of your data before trying this release, or to try it with test data.

v2.1.1 alpha 1

Changes in this release

• Improve the performance of cluster chain allocation

Writing to a FAT16 partition that is almost full is now much faster thanks to the new per-drive caching of the last cluster number allocated.

• Fix calculation of cluster amount for FAT16 filesystems in FDISK

FAT16 filesystems created with FDISK on previous versions of Nextor has a cluster count in the boot sector that is higher than the actual size of the filesystem, due to a bug in the routine that calculates the cluster count in FDISK. This is fixed in this version.

Changed files

The following files have been changed from v2.1.0:

• All the kernel ROM files.

Note

This release makes significant changes in the way data is written to filesystems. It's recommended to make a backup of your data before trying this release, or to try it with test data.

v2.1.0

NOTES

• The .SunriseIDE.ROM version won't recognize the master device on emulators. Use it with real hardware for better compatibility, use .SunriseIDE.emulators.ROM version with emulators.

  • If you use a Carnivore2 controller you may need to use one or the other depending on which card do you use - see #60 for context.

• If you are a driver developer please take note of the BREAKING CHANGE included in the changelog.

Update - 2020-08-05

The kernel with the driver for Flahsjacks has been updated, it has now the driver v1.7.1.

Changes and new features

NOTE: The changes listed are relative to v2.1.0 beta 2.

For users

• Added a new tool, CONCLUS.COM, that uses the new _GETCLUS function to tell if stored across consecutive sectors in the disk.

• New version of the EMUFILE.COM tool, it uses the new _GETCLUS function to check if the disk image files are stored across consecutive sectors in the disk.

• The EMUFILE.COM tool now accepts a directory as the parameter for the SET command: EMUFILE SET \DSKS\GAME is equivalent to EMUFILE SET \DSKS\GAME\GAME.EMU if \DSKS\GAME is a directory.

• Added a new boot key: pressing N at boot time disables all the Nextor kernels present.

• NEXBOOT.COM tool updated to allow emulating the N key at boot time.

• NEXTOR.SYS steps up to v2.11, to support the new _GETCLUS function call.

For developers

• Added a new function call to get information about a cluster in a FAT12 or FAT16 volume (#35).

• Added UNAPI RAM Helper compatible mapper support routines for accessing mapped RAM by specifying both a segment number and a slot number (#34).

• A new flag returned by LUN_INFO allows to instruct Nextor to ignore devices when searching devices for automatic device to drive mapping (#54).

• Default DPB gets a fixed address of 7BAAh in banks 0 and 3, so it can be customized reliably.

• PROMPT routine made available to drivers at address 41E8h (#42).

• All the tools written in C compile again (#36).

• BREAKING CHANGE for application developers: the ALL_BK and FRE_BK routines aren't available anymore.

Bug fixes

• Fix: disk errors for old MSX-DOS 1 file functions in BASIC crash the computer (#59).

• Fix: files can't have 3 or 4 in their names in DOS 1 mode (#55).

• Fix: after booting directly to BASIC by pressing 3, CALL SYSTEM doesn't work.

• Fix: the DOS 1 variables "data buffer changed" and "redirect console output to printer" were not zeroed when switching to DOS 1 mode at boot time.

• Fix: can't change volume name when there are long filename entries in the root directory (#57).

• Fix: absolute sector read/write functions not working properly when a file is mounted to a drive (#43).

• Fix: bad sector buffer management when writing to a mounted file causing data corruption on the mounted file (#58).

• Fix: drive parameters not updated on first access to a drive after a media change if the driver provides drive mapping via DRV_CONFIG, causing bad data read (#45).

• Fix: using bad address of emulation work area in disk emulation mode causes boot errors in some games.

Changed files

The following files have been changed from v2.1.0 beta 2:

• All the kernel ROM files.

• NEXTOR.SYS, version bumped to v2.11, it supports the new _GETCLUS function call.

• EMUFILE.COM

• NEXBOOT.COM

• CONCLUS.COM (new tool)

Note that CONCLUS.COM and the updated EMUFILE.COM require NEXTOR.SYS v2.11.

v2.1.0 RC 1

Changelog:

• Added UNAPI RAM Helper compatible mapper support routines for accessing mapped RAM by specifying both a segment number and a slot number.

• Added a new function call to get information about a cluster in a FAT12 or FAT16 volume.

  • Also: added a new tool, CONCLUS, that uses that function to tell if stored across consecutive sectors in the disk.
  • Also: new version of the EMUFILE tool that checks if the disk image files are stored across consecutive sectors in the disk.

• The EMUFILE tool now accepts a directory as the parameter for the SET command: EMUFILE SET \DSKS\GAME is equivalent to EMUFILE SET \DSKS\GAME\GAME.EMU if \DSKS\GAME is a directory.

• All the tools written in C compile again.

• BREAKING CHANGE for application developers: the ALL_BK and FRE_BK routines aren't available anymore.

NEXTOR.SYS steps up to v2.11, to support the new _GETCLUS function call.