+evg2000 Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 I haven't download as my adam and my carts, along with all my VG stuff is all boxed up for a move in less than two months. I'm looking forward to giving it a try. I also want to buy a new ide/compact flash card as I have one of the originals. (actually two but one doesn't work). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 You are assuming that people following this topic are doing so only because it applies to hardware they own. There isn't much reason for people who don't own an ADAM + an IDE interface + the Atarimax SD cart to download the new software. I have fond memories of the ADAM but no longer own one and do not see one gracing my home anytime in the immediate future. However, I still have interest in the system and modern developments. I suspect there are many like me who are interested in the topic but have no real world practical use for the software. I'm not assuming any such thing. I don't expect a very big active community but under 10 is even low for the ADAM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIAD Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Unfortunately, the ADAM doesn't get much love, even from a lot of the old-timers that are still around. Case in point are the beautiful ADAM 5 1/4" disk labels and custom disk sleeves that PBoland and I worked on together for all the commercially released and unreleased games in the ADAM lineup... there might have been a couple orders placed outside of my own and they were only being sold for $1.50 each. http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/195840-adam-game-disk-labels-disk-sleeves-interest-check/ Honestly, I'm starting to think that people are embarrased to admit that they have or even like the ADAM. Funny thing is that everytime an ADAM shows up on eBay, someone snatches it up especially when it's complete with a box that is in decent shape and the shipping isn't over the top expensive. So, ADAMs are indeed changing hands, but I think most are just being bought up to add to collections and not to actually be used and enjoyed. I guess the viability of the system solely lies with it being a ColecoVision at heart. What could help stir some further interest would be to finish off the large archive I made available a couple years ago with all the missing items... especially scans of books, newsletters and guides . BTW, I saw you won the auction for the minty Memory Console... congrats and I hope that it is in perfect working order. I had a hard time not throwing a bid in seeing how reasonable the price was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 Unfortunately, the ADAM doesn't get much love, even from a lot of the old-timers that are still around. Case in point are the beautiful ADAM 5 1/4" disk labels and custom disk sleeves that PBoland and I worked on together for all the commercially released and unreleased games in the ADAM lineup... there might have been a couple orders placed outside of my own and they were only being sold for $1.50 each. http://www.atariage....interest-check/ Well, one problem is the number of disk drives out there. Collectors snatch up most of the ones that show up on ebay. Honestly, I'm starting to think that people are embarrased to admit that they have or even like the ADAM. The ADAM was certainly rushed out the door before the software and hardware were fully debugged but it's definitely not something to be embarrassed about. Frankly, the machine was more capable than MSX machines. Funny thing is that everytime an ADAM shows up on eBay, someone snatches it up especially when it's complete with a box that is in decent shape and the shipping isn't over the top expensive. So, ADAMs are indeed changing hands, but I think most are just being bought up to add to collections and not to actually be used and enjoyed. I think this is part of the reason those disk labels didn't sell. Most of the disk drives are snatched up by collectors due to the rarity. I guess the viability of the system solely lies with it being a ColecoVision at heart. What could help stir some further interest would be to finish off the large archive I made available a couple years ago with all the missing items... especially scans of books, newsletters and guides . I think too many people see it as little more than a COLECOVISION+ and not many people are aware of the ADAM specific games. And let's face it, games are all most people seem to be interested in. BTW, I saw you won the auction for the minty Memory Console... congrats and I hope that it is in perfect working order. I had a hard time not throwing a bid in seeing how reasonable the price was. You would have won the auction because I wasn't bidding any higher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIAD Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 You would have won the auction because I wasn't bidding any higher. I take solace in knowing that it is going to a good home where it can be put to good use and maybe lead to further great developments down the road like you have already supplied with the IDE Boot Driver Cart! The ADAM could always use another champion, that's for sure. Maybe one day an ADAMnet SD Drive will see the light of day, similar to what AtariAge member Else developed a number of years back, but with a menu control program for mounting/unmounting Disk and DDP image files instead of this being a DIP Switch selection process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 (edited) I take solace in knowing that it is going to a good home where it can be put to good use and maybe lead to further great developments down the road like you have already supplied with the IDE Boot Driver Cart! The ADAM could always use another champion, that's for sure. Don't get your hopes real high. You never know when I'll encounter a squirrel and move on to something else. Maybe one day an ADAMnet SD Drive will see the light of day, similar to what AtariAge member Else developed a number of years back, but with a menu control program for mounting/unmounting Disk and DDP image files instead of this being a DIP Switch selection process. Well, the thought of making an SD drive based on a PIC microcontroller certainly crossed my mind but there is another possible alternative. Edited February 1, 2013 by JamesD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jblenkle Posted February 1, 2013 Author Share Posted February 1, 2013 Drool...drool...don't tease us... Well, the thought of making an SD drive based on a PIC microcontroller certainly crossed my mind but there is another possible alternative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 Drool...drool...don't tease us... I'm not trying to tease people, I need to see if my idea is even possible before I say more. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 (edited) Here is the code I wrote for the IDE boot cart image. It replaces the first 27 bytes in of the boot EPROM. Those 27 bytes from the eprom already copied code from the EPROM to 32K lower intrinsic RAM so it wasn't that difficult. I just needed to add a cart header, change the memory map (Cart + intrinsic RAM vs expansion ROM + intrinsic RAM), and the address of the code to be copied which is sits at a higher address due to the header. The remaining EPROM content was included as DCB statements with an ENDCODE: label and an end statement afterwards. Once in lower memory, the EPROM code copies itself to 32K higher intrinsic RAM. The tape was just a shortened version of the same code to fit in block 0 of a DDP. ;***************************************************************** ;* IDE Boot Cart.asm ;***************************************************************** ;* Loads the MICRO-INNOVATIONS boot EPROM from a game cart ;* and launches it from intrinsic RAM. ;***************************************************************** ; define standard assembler directives to work with TASM #define org .org #define end .end #define byte .byte #define word .word #define DCB .byte #define dcb .byte #define DCW .word #define dcw .word ;***************************************************************** ;* test cart header ;***************************************************************** org $8000 ; start of cart memory DCB $55,$AA ; test cart ID DCB 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 ; filler, we dont use this ; org 800AH ; location of cart start address DCW CARTSTART ; cart start address, used to execute cart code ;***************************************************************** ;***************************************************************** ;* the first code executed in the cart ;***************************************************************** CARTSTART: di ; interrupts would be bad durring this process ld a,%00001101 ; 32K lower intrinsic RAM + cartridge ROM out ($7F),a ; set memory map ld hl,$45ed ; interrupt handler ld ($0066),hl ; set interrupt vector ; copy code from cart into 32K intrinsic RAM ld hl,LOWRAMCODE ; start ld de,$0100 ; destination... low RAM ld bc,ENDCODE - LOWRAMCODE ; length ldir jp $0100 ; call code in 24K intrinsic RAM ; start of the eprom data ; we duplicate what this does but from cart ROM so we skip it ;EPROMBOOTCODE: ; dcb $66,$99,$F3,$3E,$05,$D3,$7F,$21,$ED,$45,$22,$66,$00,$21,$1B,$80 ; dcb $11,$00,$01,$01,$7B,$06,$ED,$B0,$C3,$00,$01 LOWRAMCODE: Edited February 2, 2013 by JamesD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIAD Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 JamesD, any updates on that Memory Console you won? Just interested to hear if it works as good as it looked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 JamesD, any updates on that Memory Console you won? Just interested to hear if it works as good as it looked. It hadn't shown up as of yesterday and I didn't check the mail today. Worst case it should be here by Friday. I will still need to fix the keyboard but this isn't the first keyboard I've had to repair. Too bad the one I have has issues... it looks like new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 The package showed up today. The unit itself is in pretty good shape. The ADAM label is peeled up a little and it has a couple small marks and dings but that's all I can see physically wrong. Not as nice physically as the first one but still pretty nice. The new one has the newest data drive where the first one I bought had the 2nd model. The drive makes a little noise in fast forward but it might just be the tape. It's definitely not like sound of the other drive. Functionally... it has similar video symptoms as the other unit but not as bad and the keyboard keys that didn't work before seem to work now. I may have a bad power supply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIAD Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 As far as the system case, you could always swap out the motherboards into the nicer looking case... it's a lot of screws to remove (IIRC a total of 33) but a small price to pay to have the nicest condition working system. There were three Data Drive revisions and I made a thread about this discussing the difference, just use the search function with the criteria of Data Drive. I think it was part of a maintenance thread that I started. As far as the video symptoms, definetly check the silver grounding band that screws into the top of the ColecoVision Delta Board heat shield and runs over to the video inputs. Sometimes this grounding band comes in contact with something else (a wire with exposed insulation) and causing video corruption. A shot in the dark, but it's worth a look-see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 (edited) As far as the system case, you could always swap out the motherboards into the nicer looking case... it's a lot of screws to remove (IIRC a total of 33) but a small price to pay to have the nicest condition working system. That's kinda what I had in mind. I figure the unit I just received has newer everything anyway so any firmware fixes would be more recent. I've already had the other one almost completely disassembled so it's no big deal. There were three Data Drive revisions and I made a thread about this discussing the difference, just use the search function with the criteria of Data Drive. I think it was part of a maintenance thread that I started. That's probably what I read so I knew what the drives were. The first one was Japanese but I wasn't sure where the adjustment screw was supposed to be... until I got this unit. Then it was obvious what versions I had. As far as the video symptoms, definetly check the silver grounding band that screws into the top of the ColecoVision Delta Board heat shield and runs over to the video inputs. Sometimes this grounding band comes in contact with something else (a wire with exposed insulation) and causing video corruption. A shot in the dark, but it's worth a look-see. After giving it some thought, I have 1 bit consistently zero on the video data buss on the new unit, and the text was totally messed up. I'm guessing the text issue is caused by the same bit so maybe there is a short. I hope I'm that lucky. I'm seriously thinking of trying a video chip upgrade mod on one of the machines. Then I can just bypass the existing video RAM and not worry about tracing down the problem. Edited February 8, 2013 by JamesD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIAD Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 I'm seriously thinking of trying a video chip upgrade mod on one of the machines. Then I can just bypass the existing video RAM and not worry about tracing down the problem. I'm not sure it's what you are considering, but the F18A Video board could be worth looking into. If you go this route, make sure you mention that it is for an ADAM Computer as there is an adapter board needed that does not come with the ColecoVision only setup. http://codehackcreate.com/archives/335 Tempest had this mod performed so you could check with him to see how he likes it and the VGA output. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 (edited) I'm not sure I'd choose the TMS9900 as a coprocessor if I had to pick one. I think I'd go with a blitter or an ARM CPU. <edit> I was actually thinking of the V9938 Edited February 8, 2013 by JamesD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Tempest had this mod performed so you could check with him to see how he likes it and the VGA output. Don't know how I missed this question, but I thought I'd chime in and say it looks VERY nice. That Adam's composite out was so-so, but the VGA output from the F18A is amazing. I have a nice flat screen monitor sitting on my Adam right now. I need to look into one of these as my floppy drive is being quite flaky. Can someone give me a quick rundown on how this device works? Can I just put dsk images on a card and use a program to boot them somehow or is it more complicated than that? I glanced through the posts and saw that there's a way to boot the card using a file on the AtariMax USB Flash cart, once you do this how do you go about loading programs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 I need to look into one of these as my floppy drive is being quite flaky. Can someone give me a quick rundown on how this device works? Can I just put dsk images on a card and use a program to boot them somehow or is it more complicated than that? I glanced through the posts and saw that there's a way to boot the card using a file on the AtariMax USB Flash cart, once you do this how do you go about loading programs? Well, since nobody else has chimed in I'll tell you what I can. The boot ROM patches the OS to support the IDE drive and then bootstraps a program off of the IDE drive or a CF card if you want. The program that gets booted is a menu from which you can launch installed applications, games, CP/M, or whatever. There are some utilities to set up the drive but I haven't used them. Since I don't actually have an IDE controller yet (even though I created the cart ROM) that's about all I can tell you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jblenkle Posted March 22, 2013 Author Share Posted March 22, 2013 (edited) While this is a neat device, don't get too excited. It can only run a limited number of ADAM programs and really isn't a suitable replacement for your disk drive. It does not run straight disk or ddp images like an emulator would. It can only run a handful of programs that you have to set up on the drive. Don't know how I missed this question, but I thought I'd chime in and say it looks VERY nice. That Adam's composite out was so-so, but the VGA output from the F18A is amazing. I have a nice flat screen monitor sitting on my Adam right now. I need to look into one of these as my floppy drive is being quite flaky. Can someone give me a quick rundown on how this device works? Can I just put dsk images on a card and use a program to boot them somehow or is it more complicated than that? I glanced through the posts and saw that there's a way to boot the card using a file on the AtariMax USB Flash cart, once you do this how do you go about loading programs? Edited March 22, 2013 by jblenkle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarshipUK Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 The Stand-Alone ADAM has three video outputs: RF jack - via Channel 3 or 4 7-PIN DIN Connector - provides both Composite Video as well as Audio Composite Video jack - provides only Composite Video output The ADAM was not modified for any other video output used in foreign countries. For instance, in France, only the Expansion Module #3 ADAM Computer was sold and therefore a ColecoVision would have to be attached to it. The ColecoVision in France, of course, was sold with the Scart output. Thank you for the reply. Did the ADAM come with the 7-PIN DIN cable which allowed output to Phono Connectors (which should work on a UK TV) or do you know if there is somewhere where I can buy one? I also own a French Colecovision which came with the Peritel Connector. The UK Colecovision only had UK RF Output. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIAD Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 Thank you for the reply. Did the ADAM come with the 7-PIN DIN cable which allowed output to Phono Connectors (which should work on a UK TV) or do you know if there is somewhere where I can buy one? I also own a French Colecovision which came with the Peritel Connector. The UK Colecovision only had UK RF Output. Coleco sold the 7-Pin DIN Monitor Cable separate and these Coleco packaged cables are very tough to come by, so just buy yourself a C=64 or TI99-4/A 5-Pin DIN Monitor Cable... they work GREAT! Just make sure you don't buy the C=64 Chroma/Luma style Monitor Cable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIAD Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 I need to look into one of these as my floppy drive is being quite flaky. Can someone give me a quick rundown on how this device works? Can I just put dsk images on a card and use a program to boot them somehow or is it more complicated than that? I glanced through the posts and saw that there's a way to boot the card using a file on the AtariMax USB Flash cart, once you do this how do you go about loading programs? As was mentioned by Joe and previously in this thread and the other IDE thread... you CAN NOT run Disk or DDP Image Files with the IDE Interface/Drive setup. Just read thru this thread, the other IDE thread started by ADAMcon and the PM conversation that we had last year and you will have all the pertinent information at hand to make a decision if this IDE setup is worthwhile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digress Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 So did you find out a way to convert/use the IDE CF drive image in The Virtual ADAM Emulator? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIAD Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 I was sent some info by Doug S. (he's worked on adding features to ADAMem on and off over the years) about using the Raw CF drive image file in ADAMem SDL (maintained by Geoff Oltmans), but I haven't had a chance to test things out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 I looked at the ADAMem SDL code when I created the cart ROM but it's been a while. I have a hunch the CF drive image contains all bytes from the CF card but the emulator only uses the bytes the ADAM reads and writes. So dump every other byte from the image? Just a guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.