AtariMax?

[+DrVenkman]

 

It shouldn't and everybody is free to chose their meal... having said that, APE is no longer actively developed or enhanced unlike Aspeqt/Respeqt. It is also proprietary technology and only works with MS Windows, ..speqt however can be used with Windows, Linux, Mac OSX and Android. They can be run on smart phones, Arduinos, and PCs. APE may seem to be more complete because it has modem and graphics printer emulation but free software is also catching up on those features. On the other hand ..speqt have some other options APE lacks. Given all that I personaly see no compelling reason to use APE.

 

That's true, and while I am a dedicated user of RespeQt (hell, I helped get the ball rolling with fixing the awful CPU usage and timeout issues with OS X and annoyed real coders with my ham-fisted hacks until they figured out and addressed the issues properly), I also know it's NOT as fully-featured as APE/ProSystem, especially ProSystem's ability to image ATR's directly from a properly-designed SIO2USB device connected straight to an Atari disk drive, and it's support for some copy-protected .atx images. And of course, RespeQt's current support for printers is minimal (but Josch is working on it!) and there is as yet no modem emulation.

 

But aside from that, Steve makes some interesting things available such as professionally-produced repros of hard-to-find and expensive OSS carts, his AtariMAx carts and cart reader/programmer, and Happy board repros. He's been a valuable contributor to the Atari community for a long time and it's ridiculous for someone to hijack a thread by crapping all over the brand name (AtariMax) in a drive-by troll post.

[Tillek]

 

It shouldn't and everybody is free to chose their meal... having said that, APE is no longer actively developed or enhanced unlike Aspeqt/Respeqt. It is also proprietary technology and only works with MS Windows, ..speqt however can be used with Windows, Linux, Mac OSX and Android. They can be run on smart phones, Arduinos, and PCs. APE may seem to be more complete because it has modem and graphics printer emulation but free software is also catching up on those features. On the other hand ..speqt have some other options APE lacks. Given all that I personaly see no compelling reason to use APE.

It wasn't that long ago that I got the latest update to APE. I mean, there might be more active development if people thought of new features that they needed, or bugs that needed fixing.

 

I have nothing against the free software, but to me, APE has what I need right now. The other programs are still "in active development" because "they aren't finished yet"... by that, I mean the authors still have things they want to add to their apps. Some of those "enhancements" they are working on are already in APE. Some are features APE doesn't have. Someday those apps will have all those features and more and on that day sure... going with the free software will be a no-brainer.

 

But if I want certain functionality today, right now, this very minute... I have a choice. Pay the fee or wait. I chose to pay the money. That was the right decision for me. Maybe not the right one for you and that's cool. It doesn't mean that I'm smart or you're dumb (or vice versa) it just means that we have different priorities. I personally have helped quite a few new "late in life Atari fanatics" lately, and I recommend both options with the pros/cons for each.

[Tillek]

Heh yes believe me I realized the irony a while after posting but by that time my window to edit / delete had passed..........LIFE GOES ON...........

It's all good man..... I was just keeping up my smart aleck quota for the day. (Been posting too many somewhat-productive messages... I could get my web license revoked).

[Tillek]

And thanks to Dr. V for pointing out something I forgot to mention... The part of the APE package I use the most is the ProSystem. Frankly, I prefer real disks. Most of what I use APE's disk drive images for is backing up the Carina BBS system hard drive. I also use it for the modem functionality... and a little for the printer... but mostly, it's ProSystem. It makes churning out real disks easy.

[DavidMil]

 

It shouldn't and everybody is free to chose their meal... having said that, APE is no longer actively developed or enhanced unlike Aspeqt/Respeqt. It is also proprietary technology and only works with MS Windows, ..speqt however can be used with Windows, Linux, Mac OSX and Android. They can be run on smart phones, Arduinos, and PCs. APE may seem to be more complete because it has modem and graphics printer emulation but free software is also catching up on those features. On the other hand ..speqt have some other options APE lacks. Given all that I personaly see no compelling reason to use APE.

 

On the other hand how long (if at all) do you think it would take if you were to call them and ask for new drives for USB or Windows updates.

Steve has always sent them to me as soon as he gets them ready. Yes, sometimes he can be a little slow, but he always gets them to me.

Besides, (in my opinion) if you live in the Atari era world, why do you want to worry about always get faster and better stuff and 'hybriding' your

Atari into some kind of mutant computer?

 

David

[scotty]

Steve is fine. Just talked to him the other day. He is working a lot of hours at his real life job.

[Nebulon]

atarimax is oldschool project.. no good

 

As if !

 

AtariMax is an excellent product and totally relevant today. It also has one of the best and most refined interfaces I've seen for an image to cartridge system.

 

It works brilliantly on both the original Atari 800 as well as the Atari 800XL.

[Marius]

I have very good experience with Atarimax products and Steve's aftersales support.

 

I have a giant stack of MyIDE 1 and 2 interfaces, sio2PC, Sio2PC USB, Ape for Dos, Ape for Windows and a huge collection of 1Mbit and 8Mbit flashcarts.

It's amazing stuff.

 

The build-quality of the MyIDE 2 interfaces is superb, and his 'cartridge' case is (except for Atari Original) by far the best seen.

 

It's a pity that it seems that he is not inventing new stuff, but even without new development his products are still going strong.

[+Stephen]

I wish he would offer his cart cases and SIO plugs for sale!!! I've been using Registered APE for longer than I can remember, and have 2 1Mb, 2 8Mb, MyIDE +Flash carts, a serial and a USB version of his SIO2PC. Don't regret spending any of that money.

[gargoyle]

 

He's been a valuable contributor to the Atari community for a long time and it's ridiculous for someone to hijack a thread by crapping all over the brand name (AtariMax) in a drive-by troll post.

 

Wow!, calm down dude i hope the above comment isn't for me, but if it is, nobody is crapping all over any brand name. I am talking about a piece of software here. If the comment is about the earlier post by w1k, i guess he's entitled to his opinion just like you are to your own.

Edited April 7, 2017 by gargoyle

[gargoyle]

But if I want certain functionality today, right now, this very minute... I have a choice. Pay the fee or wait. I chose to pay the money.

 

i just didn't know Steve instantly adds new features to APE by request just because you paid for the software. I doubt things work that way whether the software is paid for or not, but in any case it is of course your choice.

 

 

I recommend both options with the pros/cons for each.

 

Sure..., I personally don't see any pros of using APE because i don't call BBSes or print from my Atari, I do however use SIO2PC functionality a lot, and Aspeqt/Respeqt are way ahead of APE in that respect and don't require purchase of proprietary hardware, they also support wireless connectivity.

[gargoyle]

And thanks to Dr. V for pointing out something I forgot to mention... The part of the APE package I use the most is the ProSystem. Frankly, I prefer real disks. Most of what I use APE's disk drive images for is backing up the Carina BBS system hard drive. I also use it for the modem functionality... and a little for the printer... but mostly, it's ProSystem. It makes churning out real disks easy.

 

You can make copies of your personal disks or create real disks from then using Aspeqt/Respeqt, you don't really need Prosystem.

[gargoyle]

why do you want to worry about always get faster and better stuff and 'hybriding' your

Atari into some kind of mutant computer?

 

David

 

I don't always want the better stuff, almost all of my Ataris are stock with the exception of S-Video mods to some of them and that's because i no longer have a dedicated Atari monitor. I do however appreciate SIO2PC (and i now have an Ultimate SD cart) for ease of storage and faster access to my files. These additions don't make my Ataris mutant, they just provide faster and better storage solutions. However I agree that after some of the modern upgrades people put in their Ataris they do create some real mutants, but that's their choice, it is just not for me.

Edited April 7, 2017 by gargoyle

[tep392]

I wish he would offer his cart cases and SIO plugs for sale!!! I've been using Registered APE for longer than I can remember, and have 2 1Mb, 2 8Mb, MyIDE +Flash carts, a serial and a USB version of his SIO2PC. Don't regret spending any of that money.

Santosp managed to get a bunch of Atarimax shells for the Ultimate Cart run he did.

[ijor]

 

You can make copies of your personal disks or create real disks from then using Aspeqt/Respeqt, you don't really need Prosystem.

 

I think it is great we have both alternatives. It is great to have a free open source solution. And it is great to have a commercial one with each own custom hardware. Prosystem is really good. It is true that you don't need it. That doesn't mean it is not great.

Edited April 7, 2017 by ijor

[gargoyle]

That doesn't mean it is great.

 

I suppose you meant to say "That doesn't mean it is NOT great"..... in any case, I never said anything bad about Prosystem, I just said it's not really needed.

Why does everybody feel that they need to defend someone or something when I don't even criticize them

[+DrVenkman]

 

Wow!, calm down dude i hope the above comment isn't for me, but if it is, nobody is crapping all over any brand name. I am talking about a piece of software here. If the comment is about the earlier post by w1k, i guess he's entitled to his opinion just like you are to your own.

 

 

 

You can make copies of your personal disks or create real disks from then using Aspeqt/Respeqt, you don't really need Prosystem.

 

 

 

I suppose you meant to say "That doesn't mean it is NOT great"..... in any case, I never said anything bad about Prosystem, I just said it's not really needed.

Why does everybody feel that they need to defend someone or something when I don't even criticize them

 

1. What makes you think I was responding to you?

 

2. I can't, not with my adapter. Unless there's been changes in the code, RespeQt can't emulate an Atari computer as such, only serve as an SIO peripheral emulator. That means there still needs to be an Atari on the SIO chain. So if your SIO2USB device lets you connect physical drives to the Atari at the same time the SIO2USB is connected, then you can't use RespeQt. In my case, my device cannot work with disk drives on the chain with the Atari - it's either/or. In other words, I can connect to the disk drive and run straight into my computer (or usually, Raspberry Pi) -OR- I can connect to the Atari and then to the computer/RPi. Perhaps your device is different.

 

3. See #1.

[gargoyle]

 

1. What makes you think I was responding to you?

 

2. I can't, not with my adapter. Unless there's been changes in the code, RespeQt can't emulate an Atari computer as such, only serve as an SIO peripheral emulator. That means there still needs to be an Atari on the SIO chain. So if your SIO2USB device lets you connect physical drives to the Atari at the same time the SIO2USB is connected, then you can't use RespeQt. In my case, my device cannot work with disk drives on the chain with the Atari - it's either/or. In other words, I can connect to the disk drive and run straight into my computer (or usually, Raspberry Pi) -OR- I can connect to the Atari and then to the computer/RPi. Perhaps your device is different.

 

3. See #1.

 

1. You quoted me so, I thought just in case

 

2. Yes, to make real disk copies with Aspeqt/Respeqt you need an Atari computer. But i wonder who really owns an Atari drive yet no Atari computer to go with it, the other way around is much more likely . If you have the right SIO2PC connector you can have real disk drives as well as the SIO2PC on the SIO chain. SIO2PCs made of cheap Chinese breakout boards won't cut there.

 

3. What makes you think I was responding to you?

[+DrVenkman]

 

1. You quoted me so, I thought just in case

 

2. Yes, to make real disk copies with Aspeqt/Respeqt you need an Atari computer. But i wonder who really owns an Atari drive yet no Atari computer to go with it, the other way around is much more likely . If you have the right SIO2PC connector you can have real disk drives as well as the SIO2PC on the SIO chain. SIO2PCs made of cheap Chinese breakout boards won't cut there.

 

3. What makes you think I was responding to you?

 

1. That's on me - I *was* quoting you initially to address your point, but the second paragraph was a more general remark about the drive-by trolling from 'wrk1' or whatever his username is. Not directed at you at all. Apologies for the confusion.

 

2. Well, I have an FTDI-based device, not a cheap Chinese breakout board. However, it does NOT work with an actual Atari drive as well as a computer on the chain, it's either/or. RespeQt cannot (yet anyway) simulate the "host device" for the SIO chain, only a peripheral. Maybe someday - it's been talked about but there are several other things that would be much better to improve or add first - better printer support (which is being worked on), an R: device driver/emulation for Telnet BBS, and so on. As I said, this is device-specific. APE/ProSystem's free trial version will still work, albeit with a nag screen. I used it - even with CrossOver on my Mac - to image all my childhood disks.

 

3. Oops. My bad.

[ijor]

I suppose you meant to say "That doesn't mean it is NOT great"

Yes, of course, sorry about the typo.

 

Yes, to make real disk copies with Aspeqt/Respeqt you need an Atari computer. But i wonder who really owns an Atari drive yet no Atari computer to go with it, the other way around is much more likely ..

But even if you do have an Atari computer, it is faster and more convenient to read and write disks directly with the drive.

[gargoyle]

 

1. That's on me - I *was* quoting you initially to address your point, but the second paragraph was a more general remark about the drive-by trolling from 'wrk1' or whatever his username is. Not directed at you at all. Apologies for the confusion.

 

2. Well, I have an FTDI-based device, not a cheap Chinese breakout board. However, it does NOT work with an actual Atari drive as well as a computer on the chain, it's either/or. RespeQt cannot (yet anyway) simulate the "host device" for the SIO chain, only a peripheral. Maybe someday - it's been talked about but there are several other things that would be much better to improve or add first - better printer support (which is being worked on), an R: device driver/emulation for Telnet BBS, and so on. As I said, this is device-specific. APE/ProSystem's free trial version will still work, albeit with a nag screen. I used it - even with CrossOver on my Mac - to image all my childhood disks.

 

3. Oops. My bad.

 

No problems.....If you're handy with a soldering iron and the SIO2PC PCB allows a small modification, just add a small signal diode between the sio3 connection pin and the transmit pin of the FTDI chip to allow real drives in the SIO chain. Make sure the diode's cathode (-) end is facing the FTDI pin.

[Gunstar]

atarimax is oldschool project.. no good

This is one of the most ridiculous statements I've ever heard on these "old school" forums with us who use our "old school" computers. You won the prize w1k, of moronic statement of the year in regards to Atari 8-bits.

[w1k]

This is one of the most ridiculous statements I've ever heard on these "old school" forums with us who use our "old school" computers. You won the prize w1k, of moronic statement of the year in regards to Atari 8-bits.

 

u dont understand.. look other (modern sites) - http://atari8.co.uk/, lotharek page, etc etc - and compare with atarimax.......

 

atarimax - 0% support, 0% replies to emails, etc, etc..

 

nothing happened.. dont stress:)

[gargoyle]

 

u dont understand.. look other (modern sites) - http://atari8.co.uk/, lotharek page, etc etc - and compare with atarimax.......

 

atarimax - 0% support, 0% replies to emails, etc, etc..

 

nothing happened.. dont stress:)

 

I think he's (you) got a point here. For instance the APE for Windows documentation page is "In construction" ever since I became aware that Atarimax existed: https://www.atarimax.com/construction.html.

His Maxflash cartridge page has a never ending weekend sale, at the top of the page it says "Now Shipping - Sale Pricing Ends 03/31/2017", the date changes every week perhaps automatically but the sale never ends The website has not been updated for ages... etc...etc, so it is hard to call it a modern and active website.

 

All these, and the fact that the software and hardware are also proprietary and not up to date with current enhancements to the 8 bit Atari realm was a determining factor in my SIO2PC purchase.

 

So unfortunately, calling someone's comment moronic doesn't change any of the above facts.

Edited April 8, 2017 by gargoyle

[kiwilove]

I don't blame the website for not being updated - that he simply doesn't have the spare time to do so?

 

That he stands by his products and will replace anything faulty - that he guarantees - that he does this - is what is wanted.

 

You can see he is supported in the forums at his site. He markets a number of devices of which I only use one.

So I don't blame him for not regularly updating his site info.

 

He should be thanked for what he has done for the Atari/etc community over the years for making very useful hardware.

 

Harvey