SIO2BT

[greblus]

Hi.

 

Are you using latest version? When you go to higher dir ".." a few times it'll finally go back to /storage/emulated/0. That's how it works on my LG with Android 6.0.

 

W.

[manterola]

Great! You are right. I can confirm that in aspeqt for android if you continue to press back when you are already in the root / it goes back to /storage/emulated/0 directory.

Thanks

Mauricio

[TheMontezuma]

It is nice to see that things work together

 

 

[TheMontezuma]

After a long break in development I released one convienient feature.

 

The background story:

My my favourite website with the collection of the Atari games offers a link "Download All".

If you unzip the content, the games are copied to directories named after the first letter of game names.

Until now, after mounting a game in the SIO2BT app, you couldn't easily just mount the next one,

because the file list view was always showing the first items in the directory at the top of the screen.

For directories with many games (as this is the case with Homesoft collection) it meant scrolling, scrolling, scrolling...

Now comes the change, the file list view will automatically scroll to the previously mounted game,

so you can easily mount the next one

 

You will find the vers.2.85 of the SIO2BT app as always at Google Play.

 

I'm also going to add handling of the favourite games and a search function in the next weeks.

 

P.S.

Google has "motivated" me to revisit the app, because of the deadline they set for the existing apps at Google Play.

Due to security reasons, Google wants all apps to target the current Android API version.

I will be able to provide updates (via Google Play) to the SIO2BT app only until November 2018.

This is because my app is targeting a very old Android API (API Level 7 = Android 2.1).

After this date, the updates of the SIO2BT app will only be possible through the *.apk files (which is not that bad, but less convienient).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kyle22]

That sounds good. One request: Can you post the .apk here for those of us who use Android devices without being signed in to the Evil Goo (and therefore are unable to use the Play Store)?

 

Thanks.

 

Edit: grammar.

Edited May 29, 2018 by Kyle22

[Diskwiz]

Trying to keep up with Google is a full time job. I hope people can appreciate that. I have just given out APKs in the past myself because of this!

[TheMontezuma]

Attached is the apk file:

Sio2Bt_App_ver_2.85.zip

[lemiel]

Don't you plan to target never API version?

Old Java or something other?

[TheMontezuma]

I don't know yet.

My concern was not to break support for old Android devices.

 

Some apps at Google Play are branched at one point of time (for example: MyFRITZ!App and MyFRITZ!App 2)

The older version is frozen and the owners of the older devices can still install and use that version,

while a new (re-written) app (with a new name) is added to Google Play, which targets the latest API.

 

I hope to be ready with all new features (including "internet modem") until November

[Kyle22]

Attached is the apk file:

Sio2Bt_App_ver_2.85.zip

Thanks!

[TheMontezuma]

I have some updates about the SIO2BT app.

 

The new version 3.00 of the app was just released:

- it has improvements related to the file selection (a filter to narrow down the number of displayed matching files, useful when dealing with huge number of files)

- it does not have a Bluetooth MAC address database anymore and allows connections to any BT SPP devices (like HC-06) with names starting with "SIO2BT" or "ATARI"

- the app source code is released under GPL license: https://github.com/TheMontezuma/SIO2BT

- the apk file is also uploaded to the Github: https://github.com/TheMontezuma/SIO2BT/releases/download/3.00/Sio2Bt.apk

 

I would like to thank you guys again for your support over the last years.

Four years ago SIO2BT was submitted to the ABBUC contest and won the first price

And now I decided to release the source code and to remove MAC address database protection.

 

To be honest my decision was accelerated by a new Google security policy.

Starting 1 Nov 2018, there will be no updates allowed to the apps targeting older smartphones.

This means, the version 3.00 will probably be the last version available via Google Play.

 

I tested it on various Android devices:

- LG with Android 2.3

- Huawei with Android 4.0

- Nexus 5 with Android 6.0.1

- Pixel XL with Android 9

and I hope it will continue to work properly on your Android phones/tablets.

 

I also recommend a great Android port of the AspeQt (with Bluetooth support) from Greblus:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.qtproject.example.AspeQt

 

and the PC RespeQt software:

https://github.com/jzatarski/RespeQt/releases

 

Have fun!

 

P.S.

Although you can use now any BT transceiver with the SIO2BT app, I still have a limited number of devices in the 3D printed cases.

[Donlupi]

Hi Montezuma I buy your app years ago when it wasn't networking support. My question is. ¿Could my ATARI 800XL connect to internet to use BBS service or IRATA using networkig feature of the SIO2BT? If it is possible ¿Any documentation of that?

Greetings

Edited April 12, 2019 by Donlupi

[TheMontezuma]

Hi Montezuma I buy your app years ago when it wasn't networking support. My question is. ¿Could my ATARI 800XL connect to internet to use BBS service or IRATA using networkig feature of the SIO2BT? If it is possible ¿Any documentation of that?

 

Greetings

 

Hi Donlupi,

 

Networking in the SIO2BT app is something different.

It is about TCP/IP socket communication over a SIO protocol.

More details in a pdf:

http://abbuc.de/~montezuma/SIO2BT.zip

 

Regards

Montezuma

[Donlupi]

Oh!.... I understand,

But be able to use the cell phone like modem would have been a nice function

[Kyle22]

Could this ever evolve into a device that will BT for SIO disk use, R: (internet) use, and BT Audio use? Remember the SIO port has an audio line. Is there a way to create an 'All in One' BT SIO device?

[TheMontezuma]

R: (internet) - is possible and on my TO DO list

BT AUDIO - is not possible - the BT transceiver I used in the project does not support A2DP (only SPP - Serial Port Profile)

 

I can imagine that one could provide access to all services running on the android over SIO protocol (for example trigger your smartphone to play music, etc.).

[mr-atari]

I just bought a new HC-06 for some experimental device for testing of Aliexpress.

Had a hard time in getting it to work.....

First you need to connect STATE to ground to get it into AT-mode.

Then you need to add CR + LF to get it to communicate with you.

Default setting I found is this.

Name = HC-06

Password = 1234

9600 baud.

AT+VERSION gives you VERSION: 3.0-20170609, so not "linvorV1.8"

AT (Test communication, gives OK)

AT + NAME: ATARI-HC06 (Change name for SIO2BT to understand)

(AT + PSWD: 1234 Change password if needed)

AT + UART: 19200,0,0 (Set baud-rate to 19200)

Done, remove STATE from ground and it works.

Grtz,

Sijmen.

[TheMontezuma]

 

I just bought a new HC-06 for some experimental device for testing of Aliexpress.

Had a hard time in getting it to work.....

First you need to connect STATE to ground to get it into AT-mode.

Then you need to add CR + LF to get it to communicate with you.

Default setting I found is this.

Name = HC-06

Password = 1234

9600 baud.

AT+VERSION gives you VERSION: 3.0-20170609, so not "linvorV1.8"

AT (Test communication, gives OK)

AT + NAME: ATARI-HC06 (Change name for SIO2BT to understand)

(AT + PSWD: 1234 Change password if needed)

AT + UART: 19200,0,0 (Set baud-rate to 19200)

Done, remove STATE from ground and it works.

Grtz,

Sijmen.

 

 

Could you please post a picture of this BT module?

[mr-atari]

Yes, sure.

 

Here is the link to Aliexpress:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/hc-06-HC-06-RF-Wireless-Bluetooth-Transceiver-Slave-Module-RS232-TTL-to-UART-converter-and/32901343936.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.31494c4dktyTXb

 

 

[TheMontezuma]

Thanks. I also have tried this module, but as you realized, it is not that easy to change the baudrate, etc., as it is with the original HC-06 (used in SIO2BT) and with your config tool

[Donlupi]

Some times the chips are equals but the new firmware is the diference.

The most new firmwares requires an arduino like programmer. That is a little more dificult but it can do

The AT command are different too

Edited May 25, 2019 by Donlupi

[mr-atari]

Yes, different firmware, that is what I said.

Apparently VERSION: 3.0-20170609 is the new standard.

 

You can easily configure a BT-dongle with BOBTerm with the correct settings.

No need for other computers or so.

 

The main problem is to connect STATE to ground to enter AT-mode.

That has no pin soldered out, nor is there a push-button in place (Like on the HC-05) so you need to make this connection yourself.

 

This device is standard in transparent mode.

Normally that is not a problem, but when you want to re-configure it, yes this is a PITA....

 

Grtz!

Sijmen.

Edited May 26, 2019 by mr-atari

[TheMontezuma]

If you use SIO2BT with the Ultimate 1MB (FJC firmware), you can stop reading now ?

...one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind...

OK. Maybe I exaggerated a little bit

I finally created a patch for a patch (metapatch?) for the Atari OS, but let's start from the beginning...

With the U1MB (which is a PBI device) you can enable the Hi-Speed SIO Driver and configure it for using with SIO2BT (with 57600 or 19200 baud).
U1MB intercepts all SIO calls so that the original OS procedures are not used at all.
But what if you don't have U1MB?

You can still use:
- Sparta Dos X cart
- MyIDE II cart
- internal or external OS switch with MyBios OS from Mr.Atari

What was missing until today was: the original XL OS with a high speed patch for SIO2BT.
This gap is filled now gentlemen
https://github.com/TheMontezuma/highspeed-sio/releases

The above link points to a fork of the original Highspeed code written by Hias.
During U1MB firmware development I had a pleasure to join a discussion related to Hi-Speed SIO Driver integration and configuration.
It was very interesting and I learned much out of it. FJC provided me even a relevant code snippet.

I also studied the Hi-Speed code published by Hias. It is very well documented and it was a great challenge to extend it with SIO2BT support.

The command to patch standard Atari ROM for SIO2BT is:

patchrom -b XL.ROM XLHIBT.ROM

XLHIBT.ROM supports SIO2BT with 57600 or 19200, other high-speed devices (SIO2SD, SDRIVE, RespeQt over SIO2PC, etc.) and highspeed floppies (speedy, happy, etc.). It works like U1MB with enabled SIO driver, configured for HSIO+SIO2BT for all devices.




 

[tuf]

3 minutes ago, TheMontezuma said:

What was missing until today was: the original XL OS with a high speed patch for SIO2BT.
This gap is filled now gentlemen 

Fantastic!!!  Thank you!

[TheMontezuma]

I'm aware that setting up the environment to compile the highspeed-sio patcher from the source code may be cumbersome, so I released a new version of the java based SIO2BT_OS_Patcher tool:

 

 

Besides changes related specifically to SIO2BT, you can decide if BASIC should be enabled or disabled per default,

force a coldstart with shift+reset and even reset the memory bank of Atarimax multicarts as a side action (you always land in the cart menu in that case) .

Last but not least you can apply a modified HIAS's High Speed patch, which supports all emulated SIO devices (not only disk drives) and properly detects SIO2BT baudrate.

 

This time the tool comes with a comprehensive readme file:

https://github.com/TheMontezuma/SIO2BT_OS_Patcher/releases

 

SIO2BT_OS_Patcher detects most common versions of the ATARI OS and let you patch them according to your needs.
Depending on the OS, only some of the parameters will be adjustable (the rest is grayed out in such case).

Timeout
-------
The SIO timeout is the only "MUST HAVE" change if you want to use your patched OS with SIO2BT.
Default OS value (16ms for NTSC / 20ms for PAL) is too small for communication over Bluetooth.
The average answer time over Bluetooth is ~40ms, so you should be fine with 100ms,
but I recommend to select the largest timeout (240ms for NTSC / 300ms for PAL) to be on the safe side.

Retry count
-----------
Retry count can be decreased to minimize waiting time, when ATARI starts without a disk drive.
You can compensate bigger timeouts with a smaller number of re-tries.
Default OS value is 13 and the recommended value for SIO2BT is 5.

Disable poll for new devices
----------------------------
ATARI XL/XE tries (at start-up) to detect "new devices" with so called "3F" poll.
This procedure is explained in the XL Addendum to the Operating System Manual.
However no such device exists and the "3F" poll delays startup when ATARI is powered on without a disk drive.
I recommend to disable the poll.

Enable Coldstart with Shift+Reset
---------------------------------
It is a convenience feature to force a coldstart when the shift+reset button combination is pressed.
When SIO2BT is powered from the ATARI, you can use it to load new games without a need to re-establish Bluetooth connection every time.

Select Atarimax Bank 0 at Coldstart
-----------------------------------
Optionally the shift+reset button combination may also reset Atarimax multicart cartridges.
Writing at $D500 activates bank 0, where a cart menu is located.
As a result pressing shift+reset would not only trigger the ATARI coldstart, but also reset the Atarimax cart.
This option is available only together with the previous one and it has no relation to SIO2BT.

Default Basic Off
-----------------
You may invert the logic and make BASIC disabled per default.
In that case you have to keep OPTION key pressed at start-up to activate BASIC.

Enable HiSpeed
--------------
You can patch XL and XE OS ROMs with a modified HighSpeed patch from HIAS (https://www.horus.com/~hias/atari/#hipatch).
The original HIAS's patch applies only to Disk Drives and does not support SIO2BT.
I created a fork of the source code repository: https://github.com/TheMontezuma/highspeed-sio and added support for all SIO devices (SIO2BT emulates also SmartDevice and NetworkingDevice) and adapted baudrate detection to support SIO2BT.

 

 

 

Edited November 3, 2019 by TheMontezuma