Best 'Bang for Buck' upgrade

[nama]

I'm curious what people would consider the 'best bang for buck' upgrade (for the financially challenged) for the 520STfm?

 

Already have a Gotek/HxC, but was thinking what simple and cheap upgrade would eek out some good performance improvements.

 

Cheers

 

Phil

[juansolo]

If it's a stock 520 with a Gotek, up it to 1024k of memory.

[ParanoidLittleMan]

RAM upgrade and IDE adapter are very useful, cheap expansions, performance enhancers. But only for those who are skilled in soldering.

[nama]

Great!

I'll look into more RAM then.

 

Also, I guess I could burn some new TOS ROMs.

I'm on 1.02 with the 6 EPROM layout...Can I upgrade to 2.06?

I'm assuming I'd need to split the image into 6 parts.

 

Cheers

 

Phil

[+SoulBuster]

A Quote from Exxos Web site

 

"I would recommend TOS1.04 be installed in all STFM machines. While other TOS versions can be made to work, it is not a simple ROM chip change as for example, TOS2.06 needs some address decoding as its ROM address is different than TOS1.04. Also generally I would advise against upgrading TOS higher than TOS1.04 if you want to keep compatibility with games and older software in general."

 

This page also shows how to take a 6 chip OS to a 2 chip OS.

 

http://www.exxoshost.co.uk/atari/last/tos/index.htm

Edited May 4, 2017 by SoulBuster

[Greenious]

Great!

I'll look into more RAM then.

 

Also, I guess I could burn some new TOS ROMs.

I'm on 1.02 with the 6 EPROM layout...Can I upgrade to 2.06?

I'm assuming I'd need to split the image into 6 parts.

 

Cheers

 

Phil

No, you can only go 1.04 that way.

 

TOS 2.06 requires bigger roms (2 27C010 or 8 27C256), and it also needs relocating the ROMs hardware adress... It's fairly easy to hack together though, but requires soldering and a few logic chips. If you decide to go for TOS 2, I recommend a dualTOS solution, with both TOS 2.06 and TOS 1.04 that you can switch between, since some old games and such isn't compatible with TOS 2.06.

 

For full enjoyment of internal IDE, TOS 2.06 is recommended, since it has native support for it, unlike TOS 1.xx.

 

I also would recommend all ST-owners to consider hardware overscan. requires soldering aswell, but it is fairly easy... (I recommend the lacescan mod)

 

You can find instructions for the mods at http://atari4ever.free.fr/ if you got soldering skills.

Edited May 4, 2017 by Greenious

[nama]

Thanks guys, thats info is great to know. I'm sure I would have gone ahed with burning 2.06 ROMs and it would have been a huge waste of time.

TOS 1.04 it is.

 

Cheers

 

Phil

[ParanoidLittleMan]

Here are some solutions for TOS upgrades, and more - switchable TOS, in-circuit programmable TOS:

http://atari.8bitchip.info/flashest.php

[nama]

Thanks guys,

The 520STfm is now upgraded to TOS 1.04.

It's amazing how much smoother, faster and more refined the OS feels.

 

I'll upgrade the RAM when I can find some cheap enough. The stuff on eBay seems pricey.

 

Thanks again

 

Phil

[juansolo]

Where abouts in the world are you? Exxos has some memory chips for £15 last time I looked if you've got that type of main board. If you're in the UK, I'd be happy to solder them in for you if you're not up for it.

[nama]

Hi juansolo,

Yes, I saw those, but I'm actually in New Zealand, and freight was 18 pounds!!!...more than the RAM itself!

 

Thanks for the offer to solder in the RAM, but I have a pretty good solder station, and in general I am relatively good at the soldering part. Knowing how the thing that I'm soldering actually works is usually the problem.

 

Cheers again.

 

Phil