how the heck do you actually use APE with SIO2PC (USB)

[AlecRob]

It seems like i have EVERYTHING right in my settings, and i've followed all the guides online, yet when i try to start a game, i just get the self test screen. Does anyone have a fool-proof step by step guide for using this thing on USB so i know i'm not making some kind of dumb mistake somewhere?

 

I bought this one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/182445581662?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

 

it lights up green when i plug it into my computer, but the atari (65XE) seems to not read anything from it.

[Roydea6]

^{Try to set handshake to NONE or SOFTWARE.}

 

 

 

[firebottle]

Did you install the serial port driver for it? He has links on this page:

 

http://lotharek.pl/product.php?pid=98

[Kyle22]

^{Try to set handshake to NONE or SOFTWARE.}

 

^Capture.PNG

 

 

Why not DSR as Lotharek recommends?

[AlecRob]

Alright. I got aspeQt running when I set handshake to software.

 

(Thanks!!!)

 

 

Next thing to figure out is APE trial version, still seems to do nothing...

Edited March 3, 2017 by AlecRob

[Frankie]

With APE make sure you have the correct COM port set in the settings under RS232 adapter setup.

[Guest]

can APE work with that particular SIO2PC?

 

i thought APE was only for the Atarimax version? - perhaps not eh?

Edited March 3, 2017 by Guest

[+DrVenkman]

can APE work with that particular SIO2PC?

 

i thought APE was only for the Atarimax version? - perhaps not eh?

 

Nope. Not unless something has changed recently, anyway. A couple years ago, I used APE with one of Ray's devices to image my old floppy disks from the 80's. And I even did it on a Mac with APE running under CrossOver. Took some finagling to create a symlink to fool APE into thinking a ttyusb device as "COM2:" or something, but once I got it figured out it worked great.

[+Larry]

APE works with the Atarimax USB adapter. I was never successful in getting the registered nor the trial version of APE to function with the FTDI adapter nor Sloopy's.

-Larry

[Guest]

that's exactly what i thought.

which surely makes the first three replies redundant?

[Gunstar]

I've been using A.P.E. and upgrading to the most current, since the original MSDOS version with my home-made SIO2PC & 1050toPC and if it works with that, I think it will work with any SIO2PC. Of course my SIO2PC is an RS232 com version, but I have even used it with A.P.E with a com2USB adapter cable and PC software driver. It all just depends on the settings from my experience.

[ijor]

APE works with the Atarimax USB adapter. I was never successful in getting the registered nor the trial version of APE to function with the FTDI adapter nor Sloopy's.

-Larry

 

APE uses its own Windows kernel driver developed by Steven. That's one of the main advantages of APE. But the kernel driver probably expects either a standard serial port with the stock serial driver, or Atarimax USB hardware. It might be incompatible with other USB to serial adapters.

[+DrVenkman]

 

APE uses its own Windows kernel driver developed by Steven. That's one of the main advantages of APE. But the kernel driver probably expects either a standard serial port with the stock serial driver, or Atarimax USB hardware. It might be incompatible with other USB to serial adapters.

 

Am I speaking into a cave listening to echoes? I already said I used it - under CrossOver on a Mac no less! - and it worked fine to image floppies using an FTDI-based device from Atari8Warez. I haven't tried it on my new Windows laptop but now I think I ought to.

[lemiel]

Driver is for this device from Steven only. Digitally signed for Windows.

If I had understand correctly, Steven was thinking about possibility of creating 'VCP like' driver for his device but it did not appear.

In one of registered only versions of APE is built in possibility to use Virtual COM Port (VCP) ie. serial to USB devices like this based on FTDI232 chips.

[Frankie]

I use APE with the exact device he has on Windows 7. No problems at all. It accesses it as a serial port, not a USB connection.

[+Larry]

 

Am I speaking into a cave listening to echoes? I already said I used it - under CrossOver on a Mac no less! - and it worked fine to image floppies using an FTDI-based device from Atari8Warez. I haven't tried it on my new Windows laptop but now I think I ought to.

 

Well, I doubt the echoes, but clearly we have not all had the same experience. I know that this subject came up several times at the Atarimax forum, and I'm researching that now to see if Steve ever answered it from his perspective.

 

But, how about you getting it to work and then telling us exactly how you did it, so that we can hopefully confirm your results. Ray was the first person to tell me that it would work, and we (plural) tried numerous things to get it to work here -- with no success. I believe I remember him mentioning VCP drivers... And yes, I'll go back and revisit it also in case I missed something before, although it is a moot point since I have the Atarimax adapters.

 

I seem to remember Steve saying it would be a coincidence if it did work with generic USB converters.

 

-Larry

[+Larry]

I got out my FTDI adapter, and had another go using registered APE 3.0.11. Tried various settings without success.

 

If you go to the Atarimax SIO2PC sub-forum, then search on FTDI, you'll get several short threads that are relevant, but not totally revealing.

 

So I'll wait for your success...

 

-Larry

[Frankie]

When I start APE up and the adapter is connected I see the follow messages:

 

[serial Driver] Configuration forced software-only SIO2PC mode for COM5.

[serial Driver] SIO2PC may not work, or may work very poorly with "virtual" RS232 port

[serial Driver] Serial port COM5 opened sucessfully. APE is ready.

 

and despite the warnings it has worked perfectly.

Edited March 4, 2017 by Frankie

[lemiel]

VCP works starting from APE version 3.0.12. But it is only for registered users.

[Frankie]

I have 3.0.10 and it works. I need to get my upgrade if it's up to .12

[+Larry]

When I start APE up and the adapter is connected I see the follow messages:

 

[serial Driver] Configuration forced software-only SIO2PC mode for COM5.

[serial Driver] SIO2PC may not work, or may work very poorly with "virtual" RS232 port

[serial Driver] Serial port COM5 opened sucessfully. APE is ready.

 

and despite the warnings it has worked perfectly.

 

Can you be more specific about your equipment and settings? Which APE? I'm using XP-32 bit, with a Core 2 E7500 with APE 3.0.11. I would normally take a screen shot, but PAINT quit working quite some time ago when I updated something. (I think that is a common error with XP PAINT.) So I'll have to tell you my settings:

COM 3 (found and opened and works with the FTDI + AspeQt)

Serial Control CTS

Preferred Rate 1X SIO

RS232 Driver Software Only SIO2PC Mode

First Ack Margin 1

Framing Threshold 7

SIO Timings Cooperative

 

Hi Lemiel-

I have Registered 13, so I'll try it and also try this on my Win 7-64 computer.

 

-Larry

[+Larry]

No luck here (yet) with Win7-64 & 3.0.11. I did confirm that the trial version does not contain the VCP settings.

 

The device manager shows the FTDI on COM 3, but it is closed, and APE says USB mode only. I looked in the Program files and found USB drivers only. (?) I'm wondering if there are any RS232 drivers in my software version. May need to contact Steve since he knows that I do use the USB interface. That might explain the situation.

 

Flogged this enough for tonight, will try again tomorrow.

 

-Larry

[+Larry]

On a new day...

 

I got it to work with my XP machine using the FTDI adapter. It does not work well, halting and retrying frequently, but it does work. It may work better for me with Win7-64 and more cpu "horsepower". This may also relate to why we could not get this working several years ago. At that time, my XP computer had a significantly slower version of the Core 2 Duo.

 

So the answer to this seems to be that APE cannot work this way with the trial version for folks trying to do this "on the cheap", but it can work without the APE adapter using a registered version that has VCP in it.

 

-Larry

 

Edit: After playing with the Master Timing Schedule, setting it to +40 to +60, I got it to run smoothly. But I cannot get it faster than 1X SIO.

[Frankie]

 

Can you be more specific about your equipment and settings? Which APE? I'm using XP-32 bit, with a Core 2 E7500 with APE 3.0.11. I would normally take a screen shot, but PAINT quit working quite some time ago when I updated something. (I think that is a common error with XP PAINT.) So I'll have to tell you my settings:

COM 3 (found and opened and works with the FTDI + AspeQt)

Serial Control CTS

Preferred Rate 1X SIO

RS232 Driver Software Only SIO2PC Mode

First Ack Margin 1

Framing Threshold 7

SIO Timings Cooperative

 

Hi Lemiel-

I have Registered 13, so I'll try it and also try this on my Win 7-64 computer.

 

-Larry

 

APE Verison 3.0.10

Windows 7 - 64 bit, i7-3770 @ 3.4 GHz

 

[Gunstar]

Driver is for this device from Steven only. Digitally signed for Windows.

If I had understand correctly, Steven was thinking about possibility of creating 'VCP like' driver for his device but it did not appear.

In one of registered only versions of APE is built in possibility to use Virtual COM Port (VCP) ie. serial to USB devices like this based on FTDI232 chips.

Then that is how mine can work with the com-to-USB adapter cable and it's virtual com driver. I have the latest registered version with a virtual com driver. But my COM-to-USB cable came with it's own virtual com driver and I installed that too. I use this with my 1050toPC and I use a real serial com port for SIO2PC. Both work through A.P.E software. My SIO2PC RS232 with and without the USB adapter cable and driver also work fine with AspeQT.

Edited March 5, 2017 by Gunstar