thanks Peter, I appreciate the feedback.
I'll give that a try.  It's the kind of thing that does not work well in VT
- only real world.
Steve

On Tue, Aug 27, 2019 at 6:17 PM Peter Noeth <[email protected]> wrote:

> Steve,
>   See my inline responses below:
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Sun, 25 Aug 2019 20:35:34 -0400
> From: Stephen Adolph <[email protected]>
> To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
> Cc: Model 100 Discussion <[email protected]>
> Subject: Re: [M100] Serious REX Problem
> Message-ID:
>         <CAMCMnV5y+Dz5wyoL6OAWqxAF=
> [email protected]>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> Hi Peter ,
>
> Setting aside why it failed for the  moment,
>
> If all you did was hit the reset button then REX manager would not start up
> on CALL63012.
>
> I suggest that you
> 1) power  cycle + cold restart in one move.   Or cold reset, power cycle,
> cold reset. This will reset REX.
> 2) then call 63012..rex mgr should start up.
>
> I tried the second suggestion of #1 and REXMGR restarted, and was able to
> access the saved images.
>
> Not saying rex software doe not have issues .. just that a reset does
> nothing to rex.
>
> I wasn't sure if there were any parameters held in REX that required
> running REXMGR to clear.
>
> It is normal that rex presents an option rom to the t102 after cold reset.
>  If an option rom was configured before the reset it will remain configured
> after reset.  Only a power cycle resets REX.  There is no reset signal on
> the option to  socket.
>
> Understand. Option ROM loaded was ROMII+Cleusaeu
>
> Was Rom2 configured to be present on REX at the ti e?
>
> No, only running the standard OS in the T102 itself.
>
> Why do you think it needs to be reflashed?  Btw what load is installed?
> Checksum = ?  Do you have the latest?
>
> I wasn't sure if there were any parameters held in REX that required
> running REXMGR to clear. And when REXMGR disappeared I was expecting a
> re-flash may be required. REX version is 4.9
>
> You can certainly do that it you want to but normally the only reason to
> reflash rex is when the directory is corrupted.  Not sure this is that...
>
> REX directory and function appears to be undamaged.
>
> Prior to the incident, what option rom  was rex configured to set?
>
> ROMII+Cleuseau
>
> Debugging a failure on a system that is not in ones hands and does not
> repeat, is challenging.
>
> Understand. I was an embedded firmware OS programmer for 30 years.
>
> You should try a simple test to see what happens to you:
> 1) With REX hooks enabled, start BASIC
> 2) Load a program about 2-3K in size
> 3) Type "edit" to start the TEXT editor to edit the program
> 4) Wait 15-20 minutes, to be sure that the system idle timer fires (be
> sure to externally power the computer)
> 5) Try to type to add or change a line.
> 6) If the computer locks up, ONLY press the reset button.
>
> Thx
> Steve
>
> Thanks for the help. REX seems to be back under control. I will add your
> instructions to my documentation (I find that the published docs are a bit
> outdated)
>
> Peter
>
>
>
> On Sunday, August 25, 2019, Peter Noeth <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >   I was doing some BASIC programming on my T102 using the Text editor. I
> > put it down to attend to the laundry, and came back 15 or 20 minutes
> later
> > to continue on with the T102, where I found that typing on the computer
> > produced garbage characters on the screen and then the computer locked
> up.
> > REX was enabled at the time.
> >
> >   I pressed the Reset button and the computer restarted like doing a cold
> > boot (date back to 1900).  Going into BASIC and typing 'CALL 63012' did
> not
> > re-initialize REX, but instead initialized "Cleuseau", which is the
> Option
> > ROM image I had loaded into REX.
> >
> >   I believe there is a problem in REX when using the TEXT program (at
> > least while editing a BASIC program) and the computer's 'Power Down
> Timer'
> > triggers.
> >
> >   Had anyone else experience this?
> >
> >   Fortunately, all my files (except the one I was editing) are backed up
> > on my desktop computer, but it looks like the REX may need to be
> > re-flashed. I don't have the equipment to re-flash it (nor do I want to
> buy
> > yet another programming interface to do so), so will probably send it to
> > Josh Malone (I bought it from him at Tandy Assembly) for checkout.
> >
> >   The point here is that the REX firmware needs to be debugged for these
> > conditions, and hopefully fixed.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Peter
> >
>
>
>
>
>

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