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Happy New Year... XM shipping this month


Curt Vendel

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We are edging closer and close to completion.... here is a full blown test of the XEGS keyboard port. Michael St. Pierre (MYTEK) was super nice to send me one of his VERY COOL XEGS to PS/2 keyboard adapters... so I first powered up to make sure there were no issues with the fully connect Keyboard port, then I plugged in his adapter, connected an IBM PS/2 keyboard to the Adapter and powered up the 7800XM and did a full test. Michael will have to let me and every know what the keyboard mapping limitations are - some keys just brought up a question mark, but all of the alpha and numeric keys worked great.

 

So here is the testing video:

 

attachicon.gif7800XM-XEGStest.mp4

Hi Curt :)

 

That is odd behaviour that you are seeing with some of those key presses (SHIFT and back space especially). The TK-II should be doing a full translation of those keys to the Atari key map. So in other words I would expect back space to actually work, and not produce a question mark which I assume is a function of your BIOS when it doesn't recognize a key, but does acknowledge that one was indeed pressed. So bottom line any symbol or function equivalent to the same on the stock Atari keyboard, should be working. It'll be very interesting and informative to see if the stock XEGS keyboard works correctly. If it does, then we might be seeing a timing and/or de-bounce issue that is just a bit too close to the edge for the TK-II but perfectly ok for for stock keyboard. However with that said, keep in mind that the TK-II in this latest iteration works on all of the 8-bit computer series systems.

 

Anxiously waiting to see stock XEGS keyboard test results.

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I spoke with Mark quite a bit last night. The keyboard test is very basic, only doing the alpha and number keys. Everything else it doesnt map it defaults to a ? So in fact, all the keys are talking to the XM, the keyboard test just doesnt map anything beyond the bare essentials.

 

Mark offered to make it more comprehensive but I told him to hold off, weve got plenty on our plate, progress has been very steady over the last 2 months and I dont want to let up till everything is fully tested and functioning.

 

Im hoping perhaps flashjazzcat might consider porting his word processor over to the XM and putting in the printing functionality and we could get a new XM Productivity Series of cartridges done for the XM... now that would be cool.

 

But I agree on getting the text adventure brought over and Reveng mentioned his 7800basic has save Command.

 

Okay I just gave my XEGS Mylar a first pass cleaning, a lot of keys arent working so I think I need to hunker down with a pencil eraser and alcohol wipes and get it back and running again.

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Get a Z3 interpreter over and almost all the Infocom games will run. ;)

 

With the XM's feature set, it kinda begs to do enhancements to them. Like add static graphics screens and audio for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Digitized from the BBC mini-series instead of Disney's cinematic version since it would be time period correct plus also not having to potentially deal with a Mushroom Cloud Laying Mutha Ukkah like the House of Mouse over it...

 

Douglas Adams would be proud...

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I'm excited that this is coming closer to completion. What is the website for buyers to put in their updated address information?

 

It will be 7800xm.com The domain is acquired, I will put up the form code this weekend and make it live Monday or Tuesday and post up when its ready to go.

I checked to see if the site was up, but it looks like there must have been a delay in taking it live. Do you know when you might be ready to have the site go live?

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I checked to see if the site was up, but it looks like there must have been a delay in taking it live. Do you know when you might be ready to have the site go live?

We are getting very close to completing the hardware shake out, I've been focusing my free time on the 7800XM and on my arcade controller projects, once the New Year starts, like around Jan 15th, www.7800xm.com will go live with a form for people to fill out that Pre-Ordered so that things can get squared away and I can start preparing things. Still a bit to do, the final production BIOS needs to be completed as the one being used now is a heavy duty one that is really beating the crap out of the hardware so that it can be shaken out and corrected for final production. Mitch Orman has helped me out substantially letting me borrow several of his versions of 7800 for hw compatibility testing. Still need to go through games some more and also to complete some internal house keeping tasks, but things are getting closer than ever. Developers will get the first runs of the XM's and I'm sure everyone can totally understand why, they need these first because they are the ones who are going to be exploring its capabilities and exploiting them, to start putting together a whole new line of games that when plugged into an XM, they will sense the available features and enabled the enhancements.

 

I can't tell developers what to do, but it is my hope, that with many of the new games, unless it is some such as the need for the extended memory, that they will code their games to work with and without the XM's so everyone can enjoy them.

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Curt I was just thinking about something when you talk about fulfilling the preorders for the XM. Based on an earlier post I believe all that money went towards the tooling and manufacture of the plastics (i.e, case). Seems like you'll be taking a pretty big personal financial hit to make good on these first orders. I just hope people realize that, and perhaps think about making an additional donation. I know you haven't been asking for anything more, but you also shouldn't have to eat that additional outlay on your part.

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Developers will get the first runs of the XM's and I'm sure everyone can totally understand why, they need these first because they are the ones who are going to be exploring its capabilities and exploiting them, to start putting together a whole new line of games that when plugged into an XM, they will sense the available features and enabled the enhancements.

 

With regards to this, when devs start getting their XMs can you make sure all the final details on how to program for it is public for everyone? Some of us are wannabe programmers who may not be worth getting an XM first but would really like to plan ahead so to speak. ;)

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Can't wait for this.

Now that my wife knows I paid for this 10 years ago and it isn't something new, I've been able to negotiate my Christmas allocation fund (what she would spend on me) for this year on some XM games. I won't even have to have them shipped to the office! :D

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We are getting very close to completing the hardware shake out, I've been focusing my free time on the 7800XM and on my arcade controller projects, once the New Year starts, like around Jan 15th, www.7800xm.com will go live with a form for people to fill out that Pre-Ordered so that things can get squared away and I can start preparing things. Still a bit to do, the final production BIOS needs to be completed as the one being used now is a heavy duty one that is really beating the crap out of the hardware so that it can be shaken out and corrected for final production. Mitch Orman has helped me out substantially letting me borrow several of his versions of 7800 for hw compatibility testing. Still need to go through games some more and also to complete some internal house keeping tasks, but things are getting closer than ever. Developers will get the first runs of the XM's and I'm sure everyone can totally understand why, they need these first because they are the ones who are going to be exploring its capabilities and exploiting them, to start putting together a whole new line of games that when plugged into an XM, they will sense the available features and enabled the enhancements.

 

I can't tell developers what to do, but it is my hope, that with many of the new games, unless it is some such as the need for the extended memory, that they will code their games to work with and without the XM's so everyone can enjoy them.

I totally get this. We've been working on a RPi powered touchscreen to replace some membrane keys and an obsolete 4 line fluorescent display on old machines powered by 1980's CPU tech. FK sake, this shit takes a lot of work and the little gotcha's can kill you.

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With regards to this, when devs start getting their XMs can you make sure all the final details on how to program for it is public for everyone? Some of us are wannabe programmers who may not be worth getting an XM first but would really like to plan ahead so to speak. ;)

 

Absolutely- everything will be posted up onto 7800xm.com and here on Atariage and the 7800 Expansion Module page on FB. The information will be spread far and wide so everyone can take full advantage of trying out using the features of the XM

 

I would suggest coding support for High Score first as its one of the easier things to do and then look to try out POKEY and the other features as you go along.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi...

 

Okay, so I have been using a 10k pot hooked up to the reset circuit on the atf1508 pld... found the sweet spot to get things totally stabilized with the memory and the pld scratch routines. So now I've applied the needed resistor into place. I'm applying the modifications Mark and I have discussed on the Yamaha circuit and he is preparing a custom testing cartridge that just completed fab'ing....

 

Some final to do's are testing the flashing of the BIOS from the CC2 and/or Mateos, so I need to get a Mateos to try out. We just want to make sure, that if in the event there is ever a need to update the BIOS out in the field, that it can be done without people having to ship their XM's back.

 

Mark is then going to clean up the BIOS menu and finalize it more for consumer use, the way it is now it is running a lot of deep testing routines which aren't going to be needed by users. Plus he is embedding a built in game into the BIOS, so that'll be need.

 

This weekend I am posting up the Entry page for all Pre-order people to send their updating mailing information so that I can prepare with the XM's ship out to everyone. I'll post of a separate thread with the announcement when the page is fully ready.

 

Have a great weekend.

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Hi...

 

Okay, so I have been using a 10k pot hooked up to the reset circuit on the atf1508 pld... found the sweet spot to get things totally stabilized with the memory and the pld scratch routines. So now I've applied the needed resistor into place. I'm applying the modifications Mark and I have discussed on the Yamaha circuit and he is preparing a custom testing cartridge that just completed fab'ing....

 

Some final to do's are testing the flashing of the BIOS from the CC2 and/or Mateos, so I need to get a Mateos to try out. We just want to make sure, that if in the event there is ever a need to update the BIOS out in the field, that it can be done without people having to ship their XM's back.

 

Mark is then going to clean up the BIOS menu and finalize it more for consumer use, the way it is now it is running a lot of deep testing routines which aren't going to be needed by users. Plus he is embedding a built in game into the BIOS, so that'll be need.

 

This weekend I am posting up the Entry page for all Pre-order people to send their updating mailing information so that I can prepare with the XM's ship out to everyone. I'll post of a separate thread with the announcement when the page is fully ready.

 

Have a great weekend.

Only one additional year delay compared to the OP's January 2018 prediction (not bad in the grand scheme of things), but so glad these are shipping in 2019.

 

I plan to purchase one whenever it is available through the AtariAge store. I am so glad you stuck to the course and never abandoned the race. This was a marathon, not a sprint after all. Take care... 8) :thumbsup:

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Hi...

 

Okay, so I have been using a 10k pot hooked up to the reset circuit on the atf1508 pld... found the sweet spot to get things totally stabilized with the memory and the pld scratch routines. So now I've applied the needed resistor into place. I'm applying the modifications Mark and I have discussed on the Yamaha circuit and he is preparing a custom testing cartridge that just completed fab'ing....

 

Some final to do's are testing the flashing of the BIOS from the CC2 and/or Mateos, so I need to get a Mateos to try out. We just want to make sure, that if in the event there is ever a need to update the BIOS out in the field, that it can be done without people having to ship their XM's back.

 

Mark is then going to clean up the BIOS menu and finalize it more for consumer use, the way it is now it is running a lot of deep testing routines which aren't going to be needed by users. Plus he is embedding a built in game into the BIOS, so that'll be need.

 

This weekend I am posting up the Entry page for all Pre-order people to send their updating mailing information so that I can prepare with the XM's ship out to everyone. I'll post of a separate thread with the announcement when the page is fully ready.

 

Have a great weekend.

Oh SNAP! Wife & I have committed to VCFMW (mid September). Sounds like there's a good chance I can be demoing this out there. I'll have to get one of my 7800s outputting S-Video as I have no CRTs with a tuner.

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