Summary of Contents for Rasmus Althoff CT800
- Page 1 Manual CT800 a dedicated chess computer (c) 2016-2017 by Rasmus Althoff althoff@ct800.net document version: v1.32...
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Page 2: Table Of Contents
Table of Contents 1 Initial Operation........................4 1.1 Batteries........................4 1.2 Wall Power........................5 1.3 Overvoltage........................5 2 Technical Data........................6 2.1 Hardware........................6 2.2 Software........................7 3 Playing..........................8 3.1 User Moves........................8 3.2 Computer Moves......................9 3.2.1 Move Output......................9 3.2.2 Quick Replies......................9 3.2.3 Status Information....................10 3.2.4 Resign.........................11 3.3 Changing Sides......................11 3.4 Cancel Computing.....................11 3.5 Undo...........................11 3.6 Redo...........................11... - Page 3 5.6.4 Disp........................27 5.6.5 Light........................27 5.6.6 Beep........................28 5.7 Info..........................28 6 Software Update.......................29 7 Troubleshooting.........................30 7.1 Power-on Self Test.....................30 7.2 Auto-Save Info......................31 7.3 Reset Diagnostics......................31 7.4 System Crash......................32 7.5 General Handling.......................32 3 / 32...
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Page 4: Initial Operation
• never mix rechargeable and disposable batteries. • switch off the CT800 when it tells you to do so, or change to external power. • remove empty batteries from the CT800. •... -
Page 5: Wall Power
1.2 Wall Power Use a mains-to-USB adaptor that delivers 200 mA at 5 V DC. The CT800 offers a USB type B socket at the backside. Though it is not strictly guaranteed, most computers and laptops will also be suitable to deliver the necessary power from a USB port. -
Page 6: Technical Data
2 Technical Data 2.1 Hardware CPU: ARM Cortex M4 (STM32F405RG in Olimex STM32-H405). • Speed: 168 MHz while computing, 8 MHz while waiting for user input. • Overclocking: a 200 MHz turbo and a 240 MHz hypercharge can be configured. •... -
Page 7: Software
Operating system: none / bare metal. • Programming language: mostly C, and some assembly. • Compiler: GCC 6.3 Q1/2017 ARM none-eabi. • Author of the ARM-port: Rasmus Althoff. • Base program: NG-Play v9.86. • Author of NG-Play v9.86: George Georgopoulos. •... -
Page 8: Playing
Ng1-f3, you enter G7 A1 F6 C3 Taking a piece does not require a special markup. The CT800 knows that the destination square is occupied so that the move is automatically recognised as capture. This holds also for taking a pawn "en passant". -
Page 9: Computer Moves
After entering your move, the CT800 will think about its answer move. While it is thinking, the display in its move line will be “...”. If you play in “time per move” mode, the CT800 occasionally may take additional time when “soft time per move” is configured. Then the thinking display will change to “.oO”. -
Page 10: Status Information
: The CT800 thinks it is up by at least 3.0 pawns, which is a decisive • advantage. “--” : The CT800 thinks it is down by at least 3.0 pawns, so it is likely to loose the • game. “+m” : The CT800 sees a forced mate and will win. -
Page 11: Resign
3.2.4 Resign The CT800 resigns if it is down by more than 9.5 pawns. It will do so using a dialogue box. You can either confirm the capitulation with or decline it with if you want to play until mate. In the latter case, the CT800 will not resign anymore in this game. -
Page 12: Position Display
5.3.1. Load Game. The CT800 is able to keep a saved game for about one week without being powered. For power-on auto-save diagnostics, see also chapter 7.2. Auto-Save Info. -
Page 13: Dialogue System
There is enough margin to actual deep discharge that the batteries will not suffer damage as long as you switch off the CT800 when it requests so. However, letting it run long- lastingly in flash/beep shutdown mode will finally damage the batteries. -
Page 14: Power-On Self Test
The acceptable minimum battery voltage (1.10 V per cell) is higher than during the game. If the batteries are unlikely to make it throughout the new game, the CT800 will require changing the batteries beforehand as to avoid this hassle during the game. -
Page 15: Menu System
5 Menu System The configuration of the CT800 is done via the menu system. You can access it by pressing the ≡ key if it is your turn. The main menu will open. It is organised as a menu tree, and you can select the different options by pressing the corresponding square keys. It is the file letter that counts. -
Page 16: Menu Tree
5.1 Menu Tree Here is an overview on the whole menu structure, starting at the main menu: a: new game b: file a: load b: save c: erase d: book e: reset c: position a: view position b: enter position c: view notation d: time a: mode... -
Page 17: File
5.3 File This menu part contains the load / save features, controls the opening book and offers a device reset. 5.3.1 Load Game Loads the currently saved game from the backup memory. This part of the memory is buffered against loss of power for up to one week. There is only enough space for exactly one saved game. -
Page 18: Book
This is rooted in the time management which does not include this first white ply. 5.3.5 Reset Resets the CT800 to factory settings and erases any saved game. Afterwards, the CT800 will restart. The factory settings are as follows: Book: on. -
Page 19: Position
For moving back and forth through the pieces types, use During entering, the CT800 keeps track of how many promoted pieces have been entered. E.g. if you enter three white rooks, then one of them must be a promoted piece. This means that you can only enter up to seven white pawns. -
Page 20: View Notation
The CT800 will check the validity of the entered position; e.g. a position is not allowed when it has a king being in check, but the other side is to move. -
Page 21: Time
5.5.1 Time Mode Use the keys to select a time control mode: TPM: time per move. The CT800 will limit its thinking time for each move to this • time. See also chapter 5.5.3. Soft TPM. There is no constraint on the user's thinking time in this mode. - Page 22 If you confirm, the CT800 will try to find a mate that does not involve the solution moves that have already been found. You may repeat this as long as there are different solution moves.
- Page 23 To give an impression of what the CT800 can do, here is a nice composition by Aron Nimzowitsch. The CT800 takes less than a second to solve this puzzle (non-overclocked at 168 MHz). The re-search for other solution moves fails because there is only one. This re-search takes 41 minutes, which is an example of the re-search taking much longer.
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Page 24: Time Details
5.5.3 Soft TPM In the game mode “time per move”, the CT800 may occasionally take more time if “soft TPM” is active. However, it will never take more than three times the configured time. For configured move times of 120 seconds or more, the additional time will be limited to 60 seconds. -
Page 25: Boni
15. Note: this option is independent from the Fischer delay. Both can be used together, in which case the CT800 will receive the Fischer delay while the user will receive both the Fischer delay and the player bonus. -
Page 26: Misc
The difference to entering a position and continuing from thereon is that all game phase dependent features will also work when you enter the game move by move. When you have reached a position from where the CT800 shall take over one of the sides, press to get the CT800 going. -
Page 27: Disp
If the turbo or hypercharge modes are selected, the CT800 will perform a firmware image check at overclocked speed. If the system should crash, then the overclocking obviously does not work. The worst case, however, is when the system does not crash, but produces wrong results. -
Page 28: Beep
“off” means silent operation. • “click” will only have the keyboard click active. • “computer” will the CT800 make announce its moves and activate error signals, but • no keyboard click. “on” means combining the options “click” and “computer”. •... -
Page 29: Software Update
6 Software Update In order to update the software of the CT800, you first need to generate a firmware image. Following the build instructions in the source directory will yield the firmware image as binary (ct800fw_crc.bin) as well as hex file (ct800fw_crc.hex). Which one you will have to use depends on your toolchain for flashing the firmware. -
Page 30: Troubleshooting
7 Troubleshooting In case of problems with the CT800, there are several ways of diagnosis and possible remedy. 7.1 Power-on Self Test During power-on, the CT800 checks some hardware functionalities that might fail. A dialogue box will tell about one or more system faults if any are detected: ROM: the checksum of the firmware is wrong, so stable operation is not •... -
Page 31: Auto-Save Info
Using menu file erase is the way to re-enable the auto-save. 7.3 Reset Diagnostics When the CT800 starts, it analyses why it has been reset. A normal power-on or an → → intentional system reset (via menu file reset, see also chapter 5.3.5. -
Page 32: System Crash
7.5 General Handling The CT800 does not run: check that it has power. If it is powered externally, the • main switch must be in position “1”. If it shall run on batteries, the main switch must be in position “2”, and charged batteries must be in the battery holder.
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