+swlovinist Posted May 2, 2016 Share Posted May 2, 2016 (edited) Greetings 8 bit enthusiasts, I need some info. I recently scored an oddball cart. Attached is a pic. Just wanted to know the history of this particular cart and anything anyone has to add to what I have found. I have never came across something like this in my decades of collecting. Most appreciated and thank you. Edited May 2, 2016 by swlovinist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www.atarimania.com Posted May 2, 2016 Share Posted May 2, 2016 Wow, another unknown program! Made by OSS? I couldn't retrieve the text, even with a subscription, but maybe this could be of interest: http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/818224.pdf -- Atari Frog http://www.atarimania.com 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tschak909 Posted May 2, 2016 Share Posted May 2, 2016 Can we get a dump of this, for analysis? -Thom 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www.atarimania.com Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 Could retrieve an ad for this -- Atari Frog http://www.atarimania.com 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serpentor Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 I recently obtained one of these. Has anyone ever seen one of the foreign language packs or any other educational software that works with the master cart? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serpentor Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 (edited) I just took this picture to show what the cart looks like when in operation. This is all it does. Edited February 26, 2017 by Serpentor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle22 Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 I just took this picture to show what the cart looks like when in operation. This is all it does. That looks like a BXL cart, but why Ind. instead of Inc. and no Ready prompt? I don't have BXL 1.00 and couldn't find it quickly, so if anyone has BXL 1.00, does yours say OSS, Ind. instead of OSS, Inc.? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariGeezer Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 (edited) My BXL 1.00 cart shows Inc... Edited February 26, 2017 by AtariGeezer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serpentor Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 (edited) That looks like a BXL cart, but why Ind. instead of Inc. and no Ready prompt? I don't have BXL 1.00 and couldn't find it quickly, so if anyone has BXL 1.00, does yours say OSS, Ind. instead of OSS, Inc.? I think this cart is designed to enable the operation of additional software in the floppy drive, serving as a validation tool to prevent the use of pirated copies of the floppy software. Perhaps it is programmed to look for the floppy and autorun it when it finds it? This might explain why it never gives a ready prompt. I am working on obtaining a means of dumping a cart without opening it. It might be awhile, but I will be happy to post the rom when I am able. Edited February 26, 2017 by Serpentor 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+David_P Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 Atarimax has a PC USB device for just that purpose, which supports the range of banking techniques. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 clean the cartridge port on the computer carefully and the card edge on the cartridge top and bottom. blow on both then insert and retry... leave on for 15 minutes then press reset... always used the cartridge with a disk.. disk did not work without the cartridge... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serpentor Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 Atarimax has a PC USB device for just that purpose, which supports the range of banking techniques. Thanks, I ordered one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 The software required basicxl, oss os/a+ or oss dosxl at the time to run. The different programs and pack were on disk.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serpentor Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 I am unsure if this is an 8k, 16k Type A, or 16k Type B OSS cart. I dumped it using all three variations. If anyone wants to have a look at these, enjoy. CEMC.bin CEMC2.bin CEMC3.bin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariGeezer Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 I looked at these today and see that CEMC2.BIN and CEMC3.BIN are exactly the same and all 4 4k blocks are the same too. CEMC.BIN has 8k of different bytes altogether. So there are Three (3) of 4 4k blocks that are good, bad news is One (1) 4k block never got copied. I would clean the contacts on the cartridge and try copying the two OSS 16k types again. You might also try rocking the cartridge back-and-forth in the AtariMax reader so that it gets a better seat... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serpentor Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 I looked at these today and see that CEMC2.BIN and CEMC3.BIN are exactly the same and all 4 4k blocks are the same too. CEMC.BIN has 8k of different bytes altogether. So there are Three (3) of 4 4k blocks that are good, bad news is One (1) 4k block never got copied. I would clean the contacts on the cartridge and try copying the two OSS 16k types again. You might also try rocking the cartridge back-and-forth in the AtariMax reader so that it gets a better seat... I have done as you suggested and re-dumped. CEMC2 (Type A).bin CEMC3 (Type B).bin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle22 Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 This .car file of Type 15 M091 works in Altirra, but freezes with constant disk access. More research required. CEMC3 (Type B).zip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariGeezer Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 CEMC.BIN 8k image is a good dump. This cart doesn't use Banking as there isn't any use of $D500 in the code. After booting with a DOS 2.0 ATR, this cart reads sector 361 constantly looking for a particular file or data. Just started looking at it with Dis6502... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 So, a DOS-less force loader for BASIC XL programs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tschak909 Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 Boy, that sure is wonky. -Thom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serpentor Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 My knowledge is still infantile compared to many here. Is this cart of any true use to the community? Perhaps its code is of use in creating a flashcart or something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariGeezer Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 The cart is trying to load a file called AUTORUN.NTA, but a bunch of the code in the cart isn't even used... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+David_P Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 Or maybe is routines that the files loaded can call when they want? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle22 Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 (edited) Is it calling CIO in the normal way so it should work with any DOS, or have you found it to be DOS specific? I'm going to investigate this autorun.nta. Edit: Well, it's not a BASIC program. I wrote: 10 ? "Hello" 20 G.10 SAVE"D:AUTORUN.NTA" on a DOS2 format disk (virtual, in Altirra), and it didn't do anything except keep hammering the drive by continuously accessing D1: Edited March 14, 2017 by Kyle22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tschak909 Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 is...anyone actually going to disassemble the cart? -Thom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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