New IDE/Compact Flash interface for ADAM

[Shannon]

I'll look at them again but they did not make much sense.

 

No matter which partition I choose the boot software menu always shows the same entries.

 

Edit.......

 

By instructions do you mean the doc files included in the CF/IDE image?

 

Or the Adam IDE readme files?

 

Oh nevermind.. lol... don't know how I missed that .rft file.

 

Sorry about that. I'll get back later on this once I get a chance to read through those.

Edited October 16, 2014 by Shannon

[NIAD]

Yeah, that ole' RTF file. I gotta stop doing that already and use TXT or DOC extensions.

 

If you still have problems, let me know and I'll give you some step-by-step instructions and picture examples.

[Shannon]

Thanks but I got it all figured out now and did some tinkering around today with it.

[+eebuckeye]

I'm going to purchase the 100MB CF setup shortly..

 

I understand they come preloaded but using this would have many more files?

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Dual CF Card Backup Images: http://www.mediafire...ups_by_NIAD.zip

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By using these images I must erase what comes shipped installed on the CFs, correct?

 

Are most/all of these files incorporated on the Niad images?

 

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My huge CV & ADAM ROM, DDP and DISK IMAGE collection: http://www.mediafire...O.S._&_CP-M.zip

-----------------

 

Thanks!

Edited December 29, 2014 by eebuckeye

[NIAD]

I am not sure if ADAMcon (Bob S.) is using my software configuration on the IDE CF packages that he sells, so you will have to compare what is on the CF Cards you receive to my setup which is listed in it's entirety in a previous post. Rest assured that everything that Bob includes on his setup is also included in my setup, I just rearranged some things and added a TON of stuff.... unless Bob added more to his since I bought mine. Bob also provides a CD which has a backup image of his setup, so you are covered and can always restore whatever backup image (his or mine) that you want to your CF Cards.

 

Yes, by restoring the NIAD image files you will overwrite what is originally supplied on the CF Cards. With that said, I would ask Bob what exactly he supplies because if he added to his setup since I bought mine, then I won't have his additions on my image files.

 

As far as what is included compared to ALL the ADAM disk and ddp image files that are available, No, everything is not on there due to numerous reasons such as space, incompatible, not worthy, etc., etc. Again, checkout my list in a previous post to see what I have included and the readme file included in the NIAD CF Cards image file zip for further details. BTW, I have not added any CP/M or T-DOS content to what Bob has already supplied.

[+eebuckeye]

Great info file! Looks terrific! Thanks!

[adamcon]

Great info file! Looks terrific! Thanks!

OK PILGRIMS............I am IN Florida, nice and warm. AS Jim says, the MicroFox setup is on the cf cards; Jim's bunch of files is on the included cd along with instructions, etc. You can buy 2 more cf cards and program your own cf cards and save the originals. As I told you, a lot of software is included and Jim has more; only the supergames won't run on the cf system - they don't have a directory structure to use.

[NIAD]

OK PILGRIMS............I am IN Florida, nice and warm.

Hiding out from the winter cold again in sunny Florida... lucky guy!

[adamcon]

Hiding out from the winter cold again in sunny Florida... lucky guy!

Darn straight son.................middle age has it's perks! Took 3 days to get here, but we are here until warm weather comes back north

[Pixelboy]

Darn straight son.................middle age has it's perks! Took 3 days to get here, but we are here until warm weather comes back north

In Quebec, we call guys like you "snowbirds". Is that also a term used in the States?

[NIAD]

In Quebec, we call guys like you "snowbirds". Is that also a term used in the States?

We call'em WIMPS!

 

It is a sign of old age when people from the North start migrating to the warmer climates of the South usually right after Christmas... like my parents are doing tomorrow. I don't blame them, just envious as I have 8 1/2 more years of working outside through it all before I can call it quits and become one of those Snowbirds, err Wimps, err Lucky Ones!

[Rey]

In Quebec, we call guys like you "snowbirds". Is that also a term used in the States?

Yes that's one of the terms we use Bob is now in my neck of the woods so you all let me know if there's something you'd like me to do,and I'll take care of it!!!

[NIAD]

Here is my updated documentation for the 100Mb IDE Dual CF Card images files. Included are all of the pertinent instructions provided by MicroFox Technologies in case you do not own an actual ADAM Computer and are using ADAMem to access the image files, the latest versions of ADAMem that are maintained by Doug Slopsema which include IDE device support and three versions of the IDE Boot Driver.

 

The CF Card image files are still available on my file sharer via the links provided in a previous post.

 

ADAM 100Mb IDE Dual CF Card Instruction by NIAD.zip

[Rey]

Thank you for always being on top of this stuff Jim.

[soviet]

Very nice updated images NIAD work like charm, lots of coleco games i see. Some roms don't seem to work but theres a lot of games/

Thanks

[NIAD]

Glad you like the CF Card images files as I spent a lot of time on these and want to see it put to good use by everyone... even if you are just using an emulator. As far as the cartridge rom images, there are indeed a number that do not work thru CopyCart and they are mentioned in the software listings. I included them for completeness sake as well as the fact that they could be transferred back to a PC or Mac and then used via an emulator. If you do transfer them back to PC format, you can copy them to the AtariMax Ultimate SD Cart and MOST of them will now work.

 

Make sure to get the lastest instructions that are available a couple posts up.

[soviet]

Just running them from the microfox ide controller i got from bob, when i got some spare cash i have to purchase the memory expansion card, i love to try the game adambomb 2 game you included on the images.

[NIAD]

Just running them from the microfox ide controller i got from bob, when i got some spare cash i have to purchase the memory expansion card, i love to try the game adambomb 2 game you included on the images.

Adam Bomb II is reason enough to warrant the purchase of a Memory Expander! It is without a doubt the most impressive 3rd Party game title released.

 

All you need is a 64K Memory Expander, but Microfox's 256K ME is reasoanbly priced especially compared to what they cost in the 80s due to high RAM chip prices.

[Bill Loguidice]

Adam Bomb II is reason enough to warrant the purchase of a Memory Expander! It is without a doubt the most impressive 3rd Party game title released.

 

 

Not to diminish Adam Bomb II, but it's a shame that that's right up there as the Adam's best titles, particularly since it requires 128K. It really was all but ignored as a platform, which I suppose is not surprising considering its short time on the market. What's a particular crime is that more MSX software wasn't ported over to it, even on a modern homebrew basis like we have with the ColecoVision.

[Rey]

Another vote here for ADAM Bomb II . Never played it until putting in the CF cards. Very entertaining.

[NIAD]

First off... Adam Bomb II requires at least a 64K Memory Expander (never mind... I understand what you meant about 128K). There weren't any programs released that required more than a 64K ME although there were numerous that could put to good use one.

 

It is a shame that more quality 3rd Party entertainment software wasn't developed/ported especially considering the Adam's similarity to the MSX standard. Nonetheless, there was still a good amount (Diablo, E.G.P. I & II, Temple of the Snow Dragon, Vase of Turr, etc., etc) made that don't get the fanfare that AB II receives.

 

I think people still have this opinion of the Adam that is really unwarranted, even with so much more known and available for it today than ever before.

Edited February 11, 2015 by NIAD

[Bill Loguidice]

I love the Adam, but I'm not afraid to say that the Adam's top 10 third party titles (post commercial life) like Diablo, Temple of the Snow Dragon, Adam Bomb II, etc., would barely rate as average on most other platforms. This is not surprising because the talent pool of Adam developers was vanishingly small.

 

You also seemed to misunderstand my comment about Adam Bomb II requiring 128K. I was counting the base 64K and the 64K expansion. I'm honestly not sure of the technical reason why a game like that would require the extra memory other than perhaps for use as a type of RAM disk for speed purposes.

[NIAD]

Yeah, I caught what you meant about 128K after the fact and edited my post.

 

The talent poll indeed was very small as most either ignored the system or moved on to other systems fairly quickly. This was even the case for CV game development as it took until 1996 for someone to release a new game... Kevtris.

[Bill Loguidice]

Yeah, I caught what you meant about 128K after the fact and edited my post.

 

The talent poll indeed was very small as most either ignored the system or moved on to other systems fairly quickly. This was even the case for CV game development as it took until 1996 for someone to release a new game... Kevtris.

 

The Adam is not alone in this regard, of course. Other notable computer platforms with a dearth of third party support post retail includes the CoCo, which originally lasted nearly a decade on the market. This used to also be the case with the TI-99/4a, with similar, but far greater numbers of the type of software that the Adam saw post retail, but recently that platform has gotten some top tier homebrews. I'm just surprised that this has befallen the Adam because again, relatively speaking, converting MSX, SG-1000/SC-3000, and MTX titles over to the ColecoVision seems relatively trivial (for those talented individuals with the right skillset) considering the amazing volume of titles from those platforms we now have.

 

Perhaps the Adam's greatest "flaw" is that it's also a ColecoVision, meaning it's far more interesting to support the console portion than the computer portion because 100% of software will work on the former, while only a relatively small percentage of us own the latter. Nevertheless, I'd still like to see an "epic" title or two released someday for the Adam that both takes good advantage of its capabilities as well as is a title that wouldn't seem out of place (quality/depth-wise) on something like a Commodore 64. Obviously, that's an extreme long shot, but that might be what brings renewed interest in the Adam as a platform.

[Tempest]

I'd like to see a more compatible CP/M (with 40 or 80 columns) get released so more text adventures could be converted. For some reason I get a kick out of playing Infocom games on the ADAM (even though they're SLOOOOOOW).

 

Perhaps more people would make homebrews for the ADAM if it had a larger user base. The ADAM user base is pretty small compared to most other systems (how many ADAM users are there on AA? 20? 30?). It would be nice to see some more 'Super Game' games made. There are a bunch of Coleco titles that could be enhanced that way.