Can't get Pi1541 to work on Pi 0 (2017) - stuck on the rainbow screen

[rhpk]

Hi! I'm trying to setup Pi1541 on a Pi0 from 2017 but to no avail. I tried to download the kernel from the webpage and tried to compile it myself, first using a cross-compiler then on a real Pi0 with Raspberry Pi OS. Nothing changes, still getting the rainbow screen.

I'm using 1.24. Any clues? Anything that works for sure that I can try, to check if it's my problem or Pi1541 problem.

[slesinger]

According to https://youtu.be/mO0iTIXjYAA it is expected to have a rainbow screen. Pi Zero and Pi 1 is not powerful enough to have HDMI output while emulating 1541 drive. Having said that, Pi1541 will operate normally while displaying the rainbow screen, This applies to Pi Zero and 1 only.

[rhpk]

I don' t think power is a problem. I get the same SD card and it works on a PI3 or PIZero2W when it' s detached from the PI1541. No rainbow screen. I suspect it's compilation issue, I'm trying to figure out the correct toolchain I have to use to make it work.

[rarabian]

@rhpk Did you ever figure this out? I am having the same problem. I even build the kernel from source, no difference.

[rhpk]

Nope. My Pi0 is now getting dust.

[john-clark]

I was having the same problem and was having a difficult time debugging. The issue ended up being having all the correct files and the naming of the files.

I used a pi 3b to debug the sd card and display. Once I had everything working as expected I switched the card over to a pi zero and changed the kernel.zip.

[john-clark]

From the results of my testing the pi0/1 kernel 1.24 has issues on the 1a+. There seems to be some indication of different models in the source code but I do not do enough c programming to determine the differences. I have tried compiling the kernel from github but can not get it to work. Some searching on the internet says v1.25 is available but the code has not been updated for 3 years. It seems this project may be dead.

[poorhackerman]

Hi.

I have same problem!

My raspberry is Pi zero W and I suspect this to be an issue. I won't give up this issue because I really need pi1541 hat operational.

So I have checked:

1. SD CARD ok - tested several cards
2. Raspberry power supply - works fine with same raspberry and REGULAR OS
3. Lcd screen is OK - tested with arduino
4. No shortcuts, my pi1541 comes from pcbway but many people replied it's working!
5. Tested different kernels, vice versions, drive filenames - no changes.
6. Also figured out that green Led is OFF what for PI zero mean it's dead (Yes - if it can't boot in proper way, power led is dead). You thing power Led should be operational in pi1541?

Next what I wanna try - different raspberry, this time I would like to test Pi Zero (not W) - maybe that's an issue... Stay tuned

[poorhackerman]

So my pi1541 is seems to be operational (WITH PI ZERO 2) but unfortunatelly my C64 is dead and waiting for some new components :D
Here's fix:

1. Build SD card as usually, instruction here in setup section: https://cbm-pi1541.firebaseapp.com/
2. USE RPI3 KETNEL IMAGE! https://cbm-pi1541.firebaseapp.com/kernel.zip
3. Use firmware-master updated with PI zero 2: https://github.com/raspberrypi/firmware/archive/refs/heads/master.zip
4. You need to use the updated bootcode.bin, fixup.dat and start.elf (found in firmware-master\boot) - archive from point 3
5. Tune config.txt with:

kernel_address=0x1f00000
force_turbo=1
arm_freq=1300
over_voltage=4

6. I left only this 4 settings in my config.txt file.
7. Make sure to use proper names for Vice components (chargen and dos1541 - no file extension for this names must me used! or read instrucion - point1)
8. Power LED is ON when RPI is working properly.
9. Don't forget to use proper LCD display size (options.txt)
10. Finished SD card should contain: 8 files + 1 folder (1541 which has fb64 file inside and optionally test game)

Cheers

[kennyevo]

So my pi1541 is seems to be operational (WITH PI ZERO 2) but unfortunatelly my C64 is dead and waiting for some new components :D Here's fix:

1. Build SD card as usually, instruction here in setup section: https://cbm-pi1541.firebaseapp.com/

2. **USE RPI3 KETNEL IMAGE!** https://cbm-pi1541.firebaseapp.com/kernel.zip

3. Use firmware-master updated with PI zero 2: https://github.com/raspberrypi/firmware/archive/refs/heads/master.zip

4. You need to use the updated bootcode.bin, fixup.dat and start.elf (found in firmware-master\boot) - archive from point 3

5. Tune config.txt with:

kernel_address=0x1f00000 force_turbo=1 arm_freq=1300 over_voltage=4

6. I left only this 4 settings in my config.txt file.

7. Make sure to use proper names for Vice components (chargen and dos1541 - no file extension for this names must me used! or read instrucion - point1)

8. Power LED is ON when RPI is working properly.

9. Don't forget to use proper LCD display size (options.txt)

10. Finished SD card should contain: 8 files + 1 folder (1541 which has  fb64 file inside and optionally test game)

Cheers

You just saved me from hours of debugging :D