EPG Jr. Hardware

Discuss the reverse engineering and emulation (as opposed to simulation) of any sort of Prevue hardware, including Atari-based and Amiga-based EPG channels and the Amiga-based Prevue/TV Guide channels.
AriX
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EPG Jr. Hardware

Post by AriX »

My new hardware, a 130XE and a 65XE arrived today, but alas, I have no power supply! :(
These are generic units, not actual UVSG-owned EPG Jrs, but I know someone who is hopefully going to sell me all of the rest of the stuff that made up an EPG Jr (cables, power supply, data demodulator, blue rack-mount case, Prevue cart, etc.)
AriX
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Re: Hardware

Post by AriX »

Finally got my EPG Jr. Machine! It's _REALLY_ cool, but it turns out my 130XE is dead/broken. Will post pics and more info soon!
tin
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Re: Hardware

Post by tin »

oh yeah, pics definitely required :)
AriX
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Re: Hardware

Post by AriX »

tin wrote:oh yeah, pics definitely required :)
Well, it could be a bit, since I'm away now without my EPG box, but I'll be sure to upload some when I get back!
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Re: Hardware

Post by AriX »

Pictures!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/arixr/sets ... 894758998/

For pictures of another machine, see here. Sadly, my machine doesn't have one of those more recent, cooler Prevue Networks asset tags that they apparently still use (viewtopic.php?f=2&t=43). (The other machine seems to have this newer kind over top of the older type of label mine has.)
Mine is also missing a backup battery, and one extra sticker that the other unit seems to have on its rear, which is a sticker that can also be found on pictures of both Amiga-based and Windows-based Prevue/TV Guide machines.
tin
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Re: Hardware

Post by tin »

Jealous! Unfortunately I reckon I might never see such a thing over here....
AriX
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Re: Hardware

Post by AriX »

tin wrote:Jealous! Unfortunately I reckon I might never see such a thing over here....
If you can get yourself a 130XE, I *MAY* at some point in the near future have a surprise for you (don't get your hopes up, we'll see).


One thing I just realized - The other unit's select code is NJJR6... The cartridge is labeled JR6 - which I think means EPG Jr. software revision 6. So... the only unique identifier on there is NJ. New Jersey? Or just a randomly assigned two-letter code?

I don't yet know what select code my cartridge has because my 130XE seems to be broken and the cart doesn't fit in the 65XE. Perhaps it's DKJR6?
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Re: Hardware

Post by AriX »

More select code speculation - if the select code did in fact have the version of the unit in it, perhaps the G in front of some Amiga select codes means Grid? Every GA2* select code I've seen has been for a Prevue Grid (a2-blue?) setup, while every A2* code I've seen has been for a Prevue List machine.
tin
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Re: Hardware

Post by tin »

AriX wrote:
tin wrote:Jealous! Unfortunately I reckon I might never see such a thing over here....
If you can get yourself a 130XE, I *MAY* at some point in the near future have a surprise for you (don't get your hopes up, we'll see).


One thing I just realized - The other unit's select code is NJJR6... The cartridge is labeled JR6 - which I think means EPG Jr. software revision 6. So... the only unique identifier on there is NJ. New Jersey? Or just a randomly assigned two-letter code?

I don't yet know what select code my cartridge has because my 130XE seems to be broken and the cart doesn't fit in the 65XE. Perhaps it's DKJR6?
I will keep my eye out for a 130XE - TBH I was already going to get one, and burn ROMS if I need to.. I'm sure atariage or something will sell me a board that will work :)

I'm really confused about the select codes as they must have some way of customising the channel list per box at the very least, so it must be unique. It's possible the version could be in there though, so that older versions ignore new codes. But then newer versions would ignore them too.. Hmm I dunno...

The code (that we have at least) needs a 128K machine (all of the program details are held in bankswitch RAM, with the tables pointing at that data held in bank 0) so I am certain it won't work on the 65XE. I wouldn't think there is a version that works on it either, unless there is a much older version that stores a lot less data.
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Re: Hardware

Post by AriX »

tin wrote: I'm really confused about the select codes as they must have some way of customising the channel list per box at the very least, so it must be unique. It's possible the version could be in there though, so that older versions ignore new codes. But then newer versions would ignore them too.. Hmm I dunno...
Yeah, I don't quite understand the select code logic - I don't know why it would include the version number, because that would require every machine to change its select code when new software comes out. I'm quite confused - hopefully my new ROM will shed some light on that.
tin wrote: The code (that we have at least) needs a 128K machine (all of the program details are held in bankswitch RAM, with the tables pointing at that data held in bank 0) so I am certain it won't work on the 65XE. I wouldn't think there is a version that works on it either, unless there is a much older version that stores a lot less data.
Yeah, I'm aware that it won't actually work on the 65XE, but it's the best I can do right now :p
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