borntorun Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 I live in the US, and I stupidly ordered a PAL copy of Star Wars for the ST, without realizing that is one of the few region-protected games. Anybody know if there is any way I can fix this issue- some sort of program or utility I could use to adjust the hertz, or something? I am a novice who has pretty muich only utilized an ST for gaming and word processing, so assume so I have zero technical ability. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_ Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 There are programs that can switch your ST from 60 to 50 hz (or the other way) but mostly games will switch the Hz themselves. I don't remember any ST game not running because of the video refresh rate, I have seen some game perform not as well in 60Hz when they are written for 50hz (pacmania). Klaz did a great patch of Starwars here: http://dbug.kicks-ass.net/klaz/Old_Games.html#Star_Wars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
borntorun Posted December 30, 2012 Author Share Posted December 30, 2012 Thanks for the reply - I bet that's a useful site for those with more technical knowledge/ability than me. I don't have any way to get a program from my PC to my ST. I believe my Star Wars disk is actually region-protected against NTSC ST machines, so it won't run maybe due to the TOS in my US machine? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+CyranoJ Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 AFAIR it just checks the screen refresh rate. If you set it to 50Hz (there are many utils around for this) it'll run just fine. Or use the patched version mentioned above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
borntorun Posted December 30, 2012 Author Share Posted December 30, 2012 When I load the game, it gets to the start screen and freezes one second later. Is there a way to use the Disk Doctor program to create a quick fix? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+CyranoJ Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 You should be able to inject a boot sector into the disk to set 50hz, which will run before the AUTO - from what I recall there's no direct disk access on Star Wars, it's all files. Just don't tell ijor you'll be modifying an original Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
borntorun Posted December 30, 2012 Author Share Posted December 30, 2012 Thanks Cyrano- I think you're right. I think I could do this using the Disk Doctor. The only problem is, I have no idea how. The boot sector is zero, I think. How would I add a sector before that, and what would I need to do. Remember, I have almost zero technical ability, so don't be afraid to dumb it down and include even the most basic step. Thank you again for your replies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroovyBee Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 If you have a PC that can write 3.5" disks you could try the Klapauzius version which has a built in 50/60 Hz switch and a trainer too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
borntorun Posted December 30, 2012 Author Share Posted December 30, 2012 Unfortunately, I don't have that option. I would love to be able to transfer files from my PC to my ST, but I currently lack both the means and knowhow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sh3-rg Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 If you have a PC that can write 3.5" disks you could try the Klapauzius version which has a built in 50/60 Hz switch and a trainer too. Or for a more generic solution there's the kinds of tools CJ mentions in this thread at atari forum. If you really have no way of getting any files at all from your PC to your ST you're going to struggle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroovyBee Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 A quick look on ebay.com for "USB floppy drive" shows plenty of them that are pretty cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+wood_jl Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 A quick look on ebay.com for "USB floppy drive" shows plenty of them that are pretty cheap. Unfortunately, the excellent floimg program won't work with a USB floppy drive. It must be a built-in floppy drive, as it probably directs the on-board floppy controller - or some such technical thing that I know nothing about. I was bummed when I found this out. But it inspired me to assemble a PC with a floppy drive in it! Writing ST disk images with a PC is SO EASY that I'd probably buy an old PC (or notebook) with a floppy drive in it, just for doing this, if I didn't assemble this off-the-shelf one. Here's a guy selling one for $45 that even comes with a spare floppy drive, for when the 1st one breaks! I did a quick search on Ebay and there are really cheap used keyboards available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sh3-rg Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 He doesn't want to write disk images, he only needs to transfer a single program that will install a 50Hz boot block. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atarian1 Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 After reading this thread, I finally got Star Wars for the ST from Klaz' site. I really thought it would be arcade perfect, since the 8-bit versions were pretty darn good given the CPU power they had. With the increased CPU of the ST, I thought it would be better, but it's missing two features that bug me and are both related to sound. I am one of those people who strongly believes that sound/music are just as important to a game as the graphics and gameplay. When you start the game and enter the "shoot the tie fighters" phase, the arcade game plays the Star Wars theme. That Star Wars theme always pumped me up to get ready to shoot those tie fighters. However, when I started the game on the ST version, it was missing. It just feels lackluster without it. All the programmers had to do was repeat the title screen music, but nooooo. All I hear is nothing. :sleep:Where's the suspense and the drive to save the universe? The other sound that bugs me is the Death Star explosion. LAME!!!! Come on. I know that ST sound chip is not great, but I know it could do better than that! After going through all that, all I get is the sound of a tin can dropping to the ground. Blah. I am glad that they included a lot of the digitized voices, so that is some salvation. Otherwise, everything else is pretty spot on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
borntorun Posted April 13, 2013 Author Share Posted April 13, 2013 I've tried running a program that switches between 50-60 htz and that didn't seem to work either. Somehow, I think the program detects for NTSC vs. PAL machines, maybe via the TOS? Man ,I wish I could get this game working... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GadgetUK Posted April 13, 2013 Share Posted April 13, 2013 The simplest solution is to get a HxC from Lotharek, replace the internal drive with one of those. Then you can use SD card to get files to and from the ST and play all the games directly from SD card. It costs a little, but its the best option imo. Alternatively if you want an easier but similarly powerful option - get one of Lothareks new UltraSatans (external, + cable), then you can play from HDD, and again swap the SD card between PC and ST to get games and programs onto the ST - if you want to get the UltraSatan, check which TOS revision you have first, I think 1.02 is the lowest support by PP HDD driver, 1.04 is better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
borntorun Posted April 13, 2013 Author Share Posted April 13, 2013 Than reply. I am a complete novice- how do you check the TOS version? What else would a complete novice with zero technical expertise need to know to use an UltraSatan? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GadgetUK Posted April 13, 2013 Share Posted April 13, 2013 (edited) It's a no win situation at the moment... What you need to do is get a USB floppy (this should allow you to copy .prg files etc do and from the ST, but you wont be able to put floppy images onto disks that way, at least not anything other than standard 80 tracks etc), format a disk to standard 720Kb on your PC, and copy some of the .prg files people have mentioned above to that floppy. If you want to check TOS version you need sysinfo:- https://sites.google...al/system-tools Edited April 13, 2013 by GadgetUK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParanoidLittleMan Posted April 13, 2013 Share Posted April 13, 2013 I've tried running a program that switches between 50-60 htz and that didn't seem to work either. Somehow, I think the program detects for NTSC vs. PAL machines, maybe via the TOS? Man ,I wish I could get this game working... Yes, there are few programs checking TOS version language, and not refresh rate. Spacola for instance works only with German TOS. Of course, that can be removed, but it is not for average user. "What else would a complete novice with zero technical expertise need to know to use an UltraSatan?" - Now, it is for average user. Really not hard. What you need is money to buy it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
borntorun Posted April 13, 2013 Author Share Posted April 13, 2013 "Than reply" Oops, I meant, "Thanks for the reply", but somehow my computer erased most of what I typed. ParanoidLittleMan, I may use some of my next bonus on an UltraSatan, that is, if I get clearance from my wife... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zogging Hell Posted April 14, 2013 Share Posted April 14, 2013 It may well be your TOS version that is stopping it running. Some games don't like TOS 1.04 (very early ones). You can kind of work it out from the Desk info. TOS 1.0 is 1985, 1.02 is 1987 and 1.04 is 1989 iirc. It could also be the amount of memory you have. Some games like 512k. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParanoidLittleMan Posted April 14, 2013 Share Posted April 14, 2013 I checked what is available at Atarimania: org. US Broderboubd edition will fail on everything above TOS 1.04, so STE for instance (dummy mouse code). European Domark edition works with any TOS version, but refresh rate must be 50 Hz - so no language check, and can be solved with setting 50Hz before game start. 4MB is not problem for Star Wars All above stays for originals, mentioend versions. How is with cracks is another story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjlazer Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 (edited) Unfortunately, I don't have that option. I would love to be able to transfer files from my PC to my ST, but I currently lack both the means and knowhow. Thats unfortunate for you as the Atari ST is the single most easy platform for transferring data from PC to it. You just need to get an older PC with a built in floppy drive and download the Floppy Image program. Can't get any easier. You download ST files, use the easy to use program to load the image file in, and then write it to the disk. Done. Or you can simply format a disk to 720K in MS-DOS format, and copy *.PRG and data files to it if you have a ZIP archive instead of a disk image. Edited April 19, 2013 by tjlazer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwiliteZoner Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 I had the Domark version and I think the only thing that I needed to do was adjust the horizontal scroll on my monitor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
borntorun Posted May 4, 2013 Author Share Posted May 4, 2013 How do you adjust the Horizontal scroll on the standard SC1224 monitors? There's no dial/switch that I could find, although there appears to a screwhole or something on the back of the monitor that;s labeled "horizontal scroll". Do you need to use a screwdriver? If so, how much do you need to turn it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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