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Ramdisk overview...


CharlieChaplin

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Hello folks,

here is a little Atari Ramdisk / extra RAM overview (still incomplete) and some examples,, what programs support or require a Ramdisk / extra RAM:

 

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Subject 8.10: Atari 800/XL/XE extra RAM / Ramdisk Overview:

(Version 3.3 from November 2004 by A.M.)

 

A) Atari 400/800 Ramdisks:

 

- Size: 64k XRAM (+ 32k RAM)

Banks: 0 thru 3 (total memory = 96k RAM)

Types: Axlon (=Atari) and compatibles;

 

- Size: 128k XRAM (+ 32k RAM)

Banks: 0 thru 7 (total memory = 160k RAM)

Types: Axlon (= Atari) and compatibles;

 

- Size: 256k XRAM (+ 32k RAM)

Banks: 0 thru 15 (total memory = 288k RAM)

Types: D. Byrd and other selfmade / Axlon-compatible RDs;

 

- Size: 512k XRAM (+ 32k RAM)

Banks: 0 thru 31 (total memory = 544k RAM)

Types: selfmade / Axlon-compatible Ramdisks;

 

- Size: 1024k XRAM (+ 32k RAM)

Banks: 0 thru 63 (total memory = 1056k RAM)

Types: selfmade / Axlon-compatible Ramdisks;

 

- Size: 2048k XRAM (+ 32k RAM)

Banks: 0 thru 127 (total memory = 2080k RAM)

Types: selfmade / Axlon-compatible Ramdisks;

 

- Size: 4096k XRAM (+32k RAM)

Banks: 0 thru 255 (total memory = 4128k RAM)

Types: selfmade / Axlon-compatible Ramdisks;

 

=> Note that all so-called Axlon "compatible" (256k-4096k) Ramdisks

normally do not homebank when RESET is pressed (a fix should be

available somewhere), whereas original Axlon Ramdisks do homebank

properly !! (Special thanks to Lee Barnes for this note !!)

 

B) XL/XE - 64k base RAM plus XRAM:

 

- Size: 64k (total = 128k RAM, 4 banks)

- Banks: E3, E7, EB, EF (block E = 1 block * 4 banks)

- Types: 130XE-Ramdisk, Turbo-Freezer-XL + 64k, selfmade-ramdisks...

 

- Size: 128k (total = 192k RAM, 8 banks)

- Banks: A3,A7,AB,AF,E3,E7,EB,EF

(blocks AE = 2 blocks * 4 banks)

- Types: Compyshop 600XL with 192k, Turbo-Freezer-XL + 128k,

selfmade-RDs...

 

- Size: 256k / 26AE (total = 320k RAM, 16 banks)

- Banks: 23,27,2B,2F,63,67,6B,6F,A3,A7,AB,AF,E3,E7,EB,EF

(blocks 26AE, = 4 blocks * 4 banks)

- Types: Compyshop 800XL RD., Compyshop 130XE RD.,

Peters/David Megaram 1, Peters/David Megaram 2,

Peters/David Megaram 3 with 256k, selfmade RDs...

 

- Size: 256k / 8ACE (total = 320k RAM, 16 banks)

- Banks: 83,87,8B,8F,A3,A7,AB,AF,C3,C7,CB,CF,E3,E7,EB,EF

(blocks 8ACE = 4 blocks * 4 banks)

- Types: Newell, Rambo-XL, Scott Peterson, Atari Magazin,

TOMS, selfmade-RDs...

 

- Size: 512k / 26AE (total = 576k RAM, 32 banks)

- Banks: 21,23,25,27,29,2B,2D,2F,61,63,65,67,69,6B,6D,6F,

A1,A3,A5,A7,A9,AB,AD,AF,E1,E3,E5,E7,E9,EB,ED,EF

(blocks 26AE = 4 blocks * 8 banks)

- Types: none (that I know of) at the moment - but possible!

 

- Size: 512k / 8ACE (total = 576k RAM, 32 banks)

- Banks: 81,83,85,87,89,8B,8D,8F,A1,A3,A5,A7,A9,AB,AD,AF,

C1,C3,C5,C7,C9,CB,CD,CF,E1,E3,E5,E7,E9,EB,ED,EF

(blocks 8ACE = 4 blocks * 8 banks)

- Types: Scott Peterson, TOMS, selfmade-RDs...

 

- Size: 512k / 02468ACE (total = 576k RAM, 32 banks)

- Banks: 03,07,0B,0F,23,27,2B,2F,43,47,4B,4F,63,67,6B,6F,

83,87,8B,8F,A3,A7,AB,AF,C3,C7,CB,CF,E3,E7,EB,EF;

(blocks 02468ACE = 8 blocks * 4 banks)

- Types: 1) upgrade / combination of 26AE and 8ACE ramdisk

types to 512k RAM or to *one* 02468ACE ramdisk;

idea by me, built by Bernhard Pahl (see his homepage

at http://www.b-pahl.de/atari8bit/ramdisk)

2) Upgrade of the Rambo XL to 512k by Dan Schmid

(see Pooldisk Too, Subdir ACE/ Acec202a.ATR and

Acec202b.ATR) and of course 3) selfmade ramdisks...

 

- Size: 1024k / 02468ACE (total = 1088k RAM, 64 banks)

- Banks: 01,03,05,07,09,0B,0D,0F,21,23,25,27,29,2B,2D,2F

41,43,45,47,49,4B,4D,4F,61,63,65,67,69,6B,6D,6F

81,83,85,87,89,8B,8D,8F,A1,A3,A5,A7,A9,AB,AD,AF

C1,C3,C5,C7,C9,CB,CD,CF,E1,E3,E5,E7,E9,EB,ED,EF

(blocks 02468ACE = 8 blocks * 8 banks)

- Types: Newell, Scott Peterson, TOMS, Satantronic`s 1MB-

PC-SIMM-RD, selfmade-RDs...

 

- Size: 1024k / 26AE (total = 1088k RAM, 64 banks)

- Banks: EF,EE,ED,EC,EB,EA,E9,E8,E7,E6,E5,E4,E3,E2,E1,E0

AF,AE,AD,AC,AB,AA,A9,A8,A7,A6,A5,A4,A3,A2,A1,A0

6F,6E,6D,6C,6B,6A,69,68,67,66,65,64,63,62,61,60

2F,2E,2D,2C,2B,2A,29,28,27,26,25,24,23,22,21,20

(blocks 26AE = 4 blocks * 16 banks)

- Types: Mathy van Nisselroy`s 1024k XEGS-PC-SIMM-Upgrade!

(with some changes probably also usable for XL and XE,

see also: http://www.mathy-van-nisselroy.nl)

 

- Size: 1024k / 8ACE (total = 1088k RAM, 64 banks)

- Banks: EF,EE,ED,EC,EB,EA,E9,E8,E7,E6,E5,E4,E3,E2,E1,E0

CF,CE,CD,CC,CB,CA,C9,C8,C7,C6,C5,C4,C3,C2,C1,C0

AF,AE,AD,AC,AB,AA,A9,A8,A7,A6,A5,A4,A3,A2,A1,A0

8F,8E,8D,8C,8B,8A,89,88,87,86,85,84,83,88,81,80

(blocks 8ACE = 4 blocks * 16 banks)

- Types: none (that I know of) at the moment - but possible!

 

- Size: 1024k / 0123456789ABCDE (total = 1088k RAM, 64 banks)

- Banks: blocks 0123456789ABCDE each with 4 banks

= 16 blocks * 4 banks (does not make much sense, but...)

- Types: luckily, none at the moment...

 

- Size: 1024k / ??? (max. memory = 1088k, 64 banks)

- Port-Bits / Control-Bits: $D301 = 2,3,6,7

$D600 = 0,1 (or switches);

- Banks: $D301: 23,27,2B,2F,63,67,6B,6F,A3,A7,AB,AF,E3,E7,EB,EF

$D600: F3,F7,FB,FF...

- Types: David/Peters Megaram 3 with 1024k RAM (and the switches

positioned to 1 x 1024k)

 

- Size: 2048k / 02468ACE (total = 2112k, 128 banks)

- Banks: 00,01,02,03,04,05,06,07,08,09,0A,0B,0C,0D,0E,0F

20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,2A,2B,2C,2D,2E,2F

40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,4A,4B,4C,4D,4E,4F

60,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,6A,6B,6C,6D,6E,6F

80,81,82,83,84,85,86,87,88,89,8A,8B,8C,8D,8E,8F

A0,A1,A2,A3,A4,A5,A6,A7,A8,A9,AA,AB,AC,AD,AE,AF

C0,C1,C2,C3,C4,C5,C6,C7,C8,C9,CA,CB,CC,CD,CE,CF

E0,E1,E2,E3,E4,E5,E6,E7,E8,E9,EA,EB,EC,ED,EE,EF

(blocks 02468ACE = 8 blocks * 16 banks)

- Types: selfmade-Ramdisks...

 

- Size: 2048k / 0123456789ABCDEF (total = 2112k, 128 banks)

- Banks: 01,03,05,07,09,0B,0D,0F,11,13,15,17,19,1B,1D,1F,

21,23,25,27,29,2B,2D,2F,31,33,35,37,39,3B,3D,3F,

41,43,45,47,49,4B,4D,4F,51,53,55,57,59,5B,5D,5F,

61,63,65,67,69,6B,6D,6F,71,73,75,77,79,7B,7D,7F,

81,83,85,87,89,8B,8D,8F,91,93,95,97,99,9B,9D,9F,

A1,A3,A5,A7,A9,AB,AD,AF,B1,B3,B5,B7,B9,BB,BD,BF,

C1,C3,C5,C7,C9,CB,CD,CF,D1,D3,D5,D7,D9,DB,DD,DF,

E1,E3,E5,E7,E9,EB,ED,EF,F1,F3,F5,F7,F9,FB,FD,FF;

(blocks 0123456789ABCDEF = 16 blocks * 8 banks)

- Types: selfmade-Ramdisks...

 

- Size: 4096k / 0123456789ABCDEF (total = 4160k, 256 banks)

- Banks: 00,01,02,03,04,05,06,07,08,09,0A,0B,0C,0D,0E,0F

10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,1A,1B,1C,1D,1E,1F

20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,2A,2B,2C,2D,2E,2F

30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,3A,3B,3C,3D,3E,3F

40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,4A,4B,4C,4D,4E,4F

50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59,5A,5B,5C,5D,5E,5F

60,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,6A,6B,6C,6D,6E,6F

70,71,72,73,74,75,76,77,78,79,7A,7B,7C,7D,7E,7F

80,81,82,83,84,85,86,87,88,89,8A,8B,8C,8D,8E,8F

90,91,92,93,94,95,96,97,98,99,9A,9B,9C,9D,9E,9F

A0,A1,A2,A3,A4,A5,A6,A7,A8,A9,AA,AB,AC,AD,AE,AF

B0,B1,B2,B3,B4,B5,B6,B7,B8,B9,BA,BB,BC,BD,BE,BF

C0,C1,C2,C3,C4,C5,C6,C7,C8,C9,CA,CB,CC,CD,CE,CF

D0,D1,D2,D3,D4,D5,D6,D7,D8,D9,DA,DB,DC,DD,DE,DF

E0,E1,E2,E3,E4,E5,E6,E7,E8,E9,EA,EB,EC,ED,EE,EF

F0,F1,F2,F3,F4,F5,F6,F7,F8,F9,FA,FB,FC,FD,FE,FF

(blocks 0123456789ABCDEF = 16 blocks * 16 banks)

- Types: Newell, FTE, selfmade-Ramdisks...

 

Well, I will not go into details with the disadvantages and

software-problems with ramdisks beyond 512k RAM (Selftest, XL/XE Basic,

RAM under the OS, separate Antic access, etc.). These problems mostly

occur with 1 Megabyte or bigger ramdisks and there are several hardware

and software solutions for them, alas not working correct with every

software or program. With 4 Megabyte extra RAM / Ramdisk, the PIA is

fully used/adressed, so that normally the base RAM at 4000-7FFF is not

available any longer. But again, there are tricks and solutions to solve

this problem. Installing a second PIA for example makes it possible to

adress up to 256 Megabytes of extra RAM / Ramdisk - but who needs so much

RAM on the Atari 8Bit computer ???

 

C) XL/XE - XRAM minus 64k Base-RAM:

 

- Size: 192k / 8AE (total = 256k RAM, usable = 12 banks)

- Banks: 83,87,8B,8F,A3,A7,AB,AF,E3,E7,EB,EF

(8AE = 3 blocks * 4 banks)

- Types: older Newell ramdisks (replace 64k by 256k);

 

- Size: 192k / ACE (total = 256k RAM, usable = 12 banks)

- Banks: A3,A7,AB,AF,C3,C7,CB,CF,E3,E7,EB,EF

(ACE = 3 blocks * 4 banks)

- Types: newer Newell RDs, newer Buchholz-RDs, Rambo-XL,

selfmade Ramdisks (replace 64k by 256k)...

 

- Size: 448k / 2468ACE (total = 512k, usable = 28 banks)

- Banks: EF,EB,E7,E3,CF,CB,C7,C3,AF,AB,A7,A3,8F,8B,87,83

6F,6B,67,63,4F,4B,47,43,2F,2B,27,23

(2468ACE = 7 blocks * 4 banks)

- Types: selfmade-RDs (replace 64k by 512k)...

 

- Size: 896k? / 0248ACE (total = 1024k, usable = 56 banks)

- Banks: EF,ED,EB,E9,E7,E5,E3,E1,CF,CD,CB,C9,C7,C5,C3,C1,

AF,AD,AB,A9,A7,A5,A3,A1,8F,8D,8B,89,87,85,83,81,

4F,4D,4B,49,47,45,43,41,2F,2D,2B,29,27,25,23,21,

0F,0D,0B,09,07,05,03,01 (0248ACE = 7 blocks * 8 banks)

- Types: Bob Woolley`s 1200XL 1MB Upgrade, selfmade-RDs

(replace 64k by 1024k)...

 

Allthough these RAM upgrades are relatively easy to build

(and to install into the computer), they make problems with

quite some software. Some programs tend to use the base RAM

as extra RAM / Ramdisk with these upgrades, which will most

often result in a crash of the computer. Next, most extra RAM

testers will show more extra RAM (or a bigger Ramdisk) than

there is really available (e.g. with a 256k upgrade you will

see 240k extra RAM, but there is only 64k base RAM + 192k

extra RAM). Alas, this is a typical hardware problem for these

upgrades and it cannot be solved or avoided with software...

 

D) XL/XE: Parallel-Bus-Devices:

(600XL/800XL = Parallel Bus, XE = Cart.-Port + ECI)

 

- Size: 128k / AE (total = 192k RAM, 8 banks)

- Banks: A3,A7,AB,AF,E3,E7,EB,EF (blocks AE = 2 blocks * 4 banks)

- Types: Turbo-Freezer-XL by Bernhard Engl with 128k XRAM

 

- Size: 256k / 9ABE (total = 320k RAM, 16 banks)

- Banks: 93,97,9B,9F,A3,A7,AB,AF,B3,B7,BB,BF,E3,E7,EB,EF

(blocks 9ABE = 4 blocks * 4 banks)

- Types: Turbo-Freezer-XL by Bernhard Engl with 256k XRAM

 

- Size: 256k / ??? (total = 320k RAM, 16 banks)

- Banks: unknown !!

- Types: Yorky-XL by Richard Gore / Derek Fern (from

GB/UK) with 256k XRAM

 

- Size: 256k / ??? (total = 320k RAM, 16 banks)

- Banks: unknown !!

- Types: Multi-Input-Output-Harddisk-Interface (MIO) with 256k

XRAM by ICD

 

- Size: 1024k / ??? (total = 1088k RAM, 64 banks)

- Banks: unknown !!

- Types: Multi-Input-Output-Harddisk-Interface (MIO) with 1024k

XRAM by ICD

 

E) XL/XE: RAM/Flash-ROM/... Cartridges:

 

- Rambox II with 256k RAM by JRC (Czech Republic; with special

Ramdisk drivers for TT-DOS and Bewe-DOS!)

- Ramcart 128k by ??? (Poland or Czech Republic)

- Ramcart 256k by ??? (Poland or Czech Republic)

(for some hints and pics see: www2.asw.cz/~kubecj/acarts.htm)

- Flash-ROM cart. 512k by Stefan Dorndorf (Never released! But I do own

a non-functional prototype-pcb; it should have used 64k for the OS

and the remaining 448k as user-memory; the chip was organized in 64k

blocks, thus the min. program space would always have been 64kbytes!)

- Flash-ROM cart 128k / 1Mbit "Atarimax" by Stephen Tucker

(allthough they are not usable as extra RAM / Ramdisk at the moment,

I am quite sure that it is possible to write some drivers and thus

use the Atarimax Flash-ROM carts as extremely fast floppy drives!)

- Flash-ROM cart 1024k / 8Mbit "Atarimax" by Stephen Tucker

(for information and complete documentation plus software see:

www.atarimax.com/flashcart/documentation/index.html )

- and many others I do not know and I do not have any info about;

 

Even cartridges can be used as Ramdisks (= fast floppy drives),

especially RAM-carts or Flash-RAM carts. But they function like

most other Super- or Mega-Carts, meaning the bank-switching

techniques are also used there. Since the subject carts and

bank-switching carts is quite enormous, I will not discuss it or

present any information here. Just try to find a large description

by John K. Picken ("RAM/ROM Control on an XL/XE") if interested in that

subject (e.g. at Jindrich Kubec`s homepage: www2.asw.cz/kubecj/... ).

 

Finally thanks and credits for this subject and lots of (used /

borrowed) information therefore go to: Lee Barnes, Russ Gilbert,

Mathy van Nisselroy, Erhard Puetz, Mathias Reichl, Ron Hamilton,

Wes Newell, Guy Ferrante, XI of Satantronic, Bernhard Pahl and

Walter Lojek. Also thanks to John K. Picken who wrote an excellent

article about A8 extra RAM / Ramdisks and A8 cartridges and their

technique of bank-switching. Well, if you still find errors, bugs,

mistakes, etc. in this list, then tell me *nicely* or in a friendly

way. Any updates and corrections can be send to: amp@abbuc.de

-Andreas Magenheimer

 

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8.11 Ramdisk-supporting Software:

(This is version 3.3 from November 2004 by A.M.)

 

a) support for 64k Ramdisks (RD-block E):

 

DOS 2.5 (Atari), Bewe-DOS 1.x (Bewesoft), Bibo-DOS 5.x (Compyshop),

Bibo-DOS 6.x (Compyshop), DOS II+D Version 6.x (Stefan Dorndorf), DOS XE

1.x (Atari), DOS XF (Reitershan), My-DOS 3.x (Wordmark), My-DOS 4.x

(Wordmark), Sparta DOS 2.x (ICD), Sparta DOS 3.x (ICD/FTE), Sparta DOS

3.3x (Stephen J. Carden), Sparta DOS 4.x (cart., John Hardie? or John

Harris?), Super DOS 2.x (Paul Nichols), Super DOS 5.x (Paul Nichols), Top

DOS 1.x (R.K. Bennett), Turbo DOS 1.x (Reitershan), Turbo-DOS 2.x

(Reitershan), X-DOS 2.x (Stefan Dorndorf), A-Base (???), ABBUC-Magazine

Intro 52 (Karolij N./Heaven), ABBUC Magazine Intro 55 (Karolij N./Heaven),

Adalmar (Falk Buettner/PPP), Alphasys-Sound-Sampler-Software (Mirage/ANG),

A.R. The Dungeon (Philipp Price/Datasoft), A-Text (???), Atari Writer 80

(Atari), Atari Writer Plus (Atari), Basic-XE (OSS/ICD/FTE), Bop N'Wrestle

(Mindscape), The Brundles (KE-Soft), Datei 4.x (Norbert Schlia), Desktop

Atari (HBSF), Diskcomm. 3.x (by Bob Puff, under Sparta or MyDOS answer

"use 130XE RAM?" with "N" and use your XRAM as Ramdisk D8: or D9: when

formatted previously with a RD-driver!),

 

Diskworker (Petsoft), Extended Atari Basic (???), Extended Turbo Basic

(???), Fampy 2.3 (Wolfgang Freitag/Friday), Fampy 6.1 (Wolfgang Freitag/

Friday), Grafik+Sound Demo (Peter Sabath), Howfen DOS 3.x (???), Howfen

DOS 4.x (???), Howfen Tape to Disk (???), Human Torch & the Thing

(Questprobe/Saga+Marvel), Inertia 2.9 (MadTeam), I.K. Plus Demo (???),

Megablast 1 (Thorsten Karwoth), Mental Age (???), Midi Mate II (Hybrid

Arts), Midi Pattern Editor (Radek Sterba/Raster), Midi-Player (Ireneusz

Kuczek), Midi Recorder (Ireneusz Kuczek), Midi Sequencer (Maciej Sygit),

MSC-IDE Software (M. Belitz, S. Birrmanns), The Muppet Movie (MadTeam),

Page-Designer (XLent), Paperclip II (Batteries Included), Spiderman

(Questprobe/Saga+Marvel), Sweet Fantasy (Tight), The Browser (Tom Hunt /

CTH), Theta Music Composer 2.x (Jaskier/Taquart), The Top 3 Demo (dancing

girl part "Veronika" by WFMH), Typesetter (XLent), The X-Files [Picture]

Demo (Shpoon) and most Text-Editors (e.g. Speedscript, Antic Writer,

T-Edit, Page 6 Writer, Compyshop-Editor, Textpro, etc.) as long as they

are running under a DOS 2.x (DOS 2 derivative) or Sparta / Bewe DOS and

the appropriate Ramdisk-driver;

 

b) support for 128k Ramdisks (ramdisk blocks AE):

 

DOS 2.5 (Atari), Bewe-DOS 1.x (Bewesoft), Bibo-DOS 5.x (Compyshop),

Bibo-DOS 6.x (Compyshop), DOS II+D Version 6.x (Stefan Dorndorf),

DOS XF (Reitershan), My-DOS 3.x (Wordmark), My-DOS 4.x (Wordmark), Sparta

DOS 2.x (ICD), Sparta DOS 3.x (ICD/FTE), Sparta DOS 3.3x (Stephen J.

Carden), Sparta DOS 4.x (cart., John Hardie? or John Harris?), Super DOS

2.x (Paul Nichols), Super DOS 5.x (Paul Nichols), Top DOS 1.x (R. K.

Bennett), Turbo DOS 1.x (Reitershan), Turbo-DOS 2.x (Reitershan), X-DOS

2.x (Stefan Dorndorf), The Brundles (KE-Soft), Datei 4.x (Norbert Schlia),

Fampy 2.3 (Wolfgang Freitag/Friday), Fampy 6.1 (Wolfgang Freitag/Friday),

Inertia 2.9 (MadTeam), Midi Pattern Editor (Radek Sterba/Raster), Midi

Player (I. Kuczek), Midi Recorder (I. Kuczek), Midi Sequencer (M. Sygit),

The Browser (Tom Hunt/CTH), Diskcom. 3.x (By bob Puff, under Sparta or

MyDOS answer "use 130XE RAM?" with "N" and use your XRAM as Ramdisk D8: or

d9: when formatted previously with a RD driver!) and most Text-Editors

(e.g. Speedscript, Antic Writer, T-Edit, Page 6 Writer, Compyshop-Editor,

Textpro, etc.) as long as they are running under a DOS 2.x (any DOS 2

derivative) or Sparta / Bewe DOS and (formatted previously with) the

appropriate Ramdisk-driver;

 

c) support for 192k Ramdisks (ramdisk blocks ACE):

 

Bewe-DOS 1.x (Bewesoft), Bibo-DOS 5.x (Compyshop), Bibo-DOS 6.x

(Compyshop), DOS II+D Version 6.x (Stefan Dorndorf), DOS XF (Reitershan),

My-DOS 4.x (Wordmark), Sparta DOS 2.x (ICD), Sparta DOS 3.x (ICD/FTE),

Sparta DOS 3.3x (Stephen J. Carden), Sparta DOS 4.x (cart., John Hardie?

or John Harris?), Super DOS 5.x (Paul Nichols), Turbo DOS 1.x (Reitershan),

Turbo-DOS 2.x (Reitershan), X-DOS 2.x (Stefan Dorndorf), Diskcom. 3.x (by

Bob Puff, under Sparta or MyDOS, answer "use 130XE RAM" with "N" and use

your XRAM as Ramdisk D8: or D9: when formatted previously with a Ramdisk

driver!), The Browser (Tom Hunt/CTH, Sparta DOS only!) and most Text-

Editors (e.g. Speedscript, Antic Writer, T-Edit, Page 6 Writer, Compyshop-

Editor, Textpro, etc.) as long as they are running under a DOS 2.x (DOS 2

derivative) or Sparta / Bewe DOS and (formatted previously with) the

appropriate Ramdisk driver;

 

d) support for 256k Ramdisks (blocks 8ACE and/or 26AE):

 

Bewe-DOS 1.x (Bewesoft, 8ACE and 26AE), Bibo-DOS 5.x (Compyshop, 8ACE and

26AE), Bibo-DOS 6.x (Compyshop, 8ACE and 26AE), DOS II+D Version 6.x

(Stefan Dorndorf, 8ACE and 26AE), DOS XF (Reitershan, 8ACE and 26AE),

My-DOS 4.x (Wordmark, 8ACE and 26AE), Sparta DOS 2.x (ICD, 8ACE and 26AE),

Sparta DOS 3.x (ICD/FTE, 8ACE and 26AE), Sparta DOS 3.3x (Stephen J.

Carden, 8ACE and 26AE), Sparta DOS 4.x (cart., John Hardie? or John

Harris?, 8ACE and 26AE), Super DOS 5.x (Paul Nichols, 8ACE and 26AE),

Turbo DOS 1.x (Reitershan, 8ACE and 26AE), Turbo DOS 2.x (Reitershan, 8ACE

and 26AE), X-DOS 2.x (Stefan Dorndorf, 8ACE and 26AE), Anime 4ever (Sente

Software Group, 8ACE), The Brundles (KE-Soft, 26AE), Datei 4.x (Norbert

Schlia, 26AE), The Browser (Tom Hunt/CTH), Diskcommunicator 3.x (by Bob

Puff, under Sparta or MyDOS, answer "use 130XE RAM" with "N" and use your

XRAM as Ramdisk D8: or D9: when formatted previously with a RD driver!)

and most Text-Editors (e.g. Speedscript, Antic Writer, T-Edit, Page 6

Writer, Compyshop-Editor, Textpro, etc.) as long as they are running under

Bibo DOS, Turbo DOS, My-DOS or Sparta DOS and (formatted previously with)

the appropriate Ramdisk-driver;

 

e) support for up to 1 Megabyte Ramdisks:

 

My-DOS 4.x (Wordmark), Sparta-DOS 2.x (ICD), Sparta DOS 3.x (ICD/FTE),

Sparta DOS 3.3x (Stephen J. Carden), Sparta DOS 4.x (cart., John Hardie?

or John Harris?), The Browser (under Sparta DOS 2.x, 3.x and 4.x), Diskcom

3.x (by Bob Puff, under Sparta or MyDOS, answer "use 130XE RAM" with "N"

and use your XRAM as Ramdisk D8: or D9: when formatted previously with a

RD driver!) and most Text-Editors (e.g. Speedscript, Antic Writer, T-Edit,

Page 6 Writer, Compyshop-Editor, Textpro, etc.) as long as they are

running under My-DOS or Sparta DOS and (formatted previously with) the

appropriate Ramdisk-driver;

 

Thanks and credits for this subject go to: Bernhard Pahl, Russ Gilbert,

Ron Hamilton and Mathy van Nisselroy for sharing some info with me. -A.M.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

8.12 Atari-programs that require Extra-RAM / Ramdisk:

(This is version 3.3 from November 2004 by A.M.)

 

a) 64k XRAM required (block E or simply 130XE):

 

130XE-Bank/Memory-Testers (various programs+authors), 130XE Sectorcopiers

(various programs from Antic, Analog, Happy Computer, etc.), 130XE

Utilities (HAPS PD 0031), 130XE-Artshow (HAPS PD 0013), 130XE-Autoshow

(ABBUC PD 191, HAPS PD 0637), 130XE-Demo (S.A.G.), 130XE-Impossible-Demo

(Rudy Haegemann), Atari Writer Plus Super Menu (Ken Siders), Amiga-Boink

XE (Bob Armour), Animkomials meet Boris Valleyo (Animkomials+Boris

Valleyo), Boot Majster (Electron), Boss-X (Mirko Sobe, with MyDOS it

supports up to 1 Megabyte XRAM/Ramdisk and subdirs and up to 16 Megabyte

harddisk partitions), Boss-XE (Mirko Sobe, with MyDOS it supports up to

1 Megabyte XRAM/Ramdisk), Bill-Pie-Demo (Mad Team, supports up to 256k

XRAM: AE/8ACE), BMW-Animation (Mirko Sobe), CES-XE-Demo (original 130XE

version with 580 sectors by XANTH), Comet-Ani (MadTeam, supports up to

256k XRAM: AE/8ACE), Critical-Sound-Demo (Innovative), Coolcopy 130XE

(???/authors unknown), CAD-XE (HAPS-PD 0350), Castle of Blackthorne (Thimo

Graef), Cavepack (XE-Version by Kemal Ezcan), Computer Baseball (Douglas

Blackwell), Danielle-(Gr.9-TB-)Ani (NBS/Bill Kendrick), Degas-View-XE

(Mat*Rat/Mathew Ratcliff), Diskcomm. 3.x (by Bob Puff, if you want to

answer "use your 130XE RAM?" with "Y", then 64k XRAM are required!),

Diskettenverwaltung 130XE (ABBUC PD 86), Draw XE (ABBUC PD 387), Ergo-

Bibamus (Quasimodos, has RD-setup!), Extract Slideshow (Replay/Bit

Busters), Fraktale & Colorprint (Peter Woetzel),

 

Gizmo`s Castle (XE-version by M. Kugler), Grafik Zeilen Editor (HAPS PD

0296), Hi-Res Designer (HAPS PD 0015), Hires Dump (ABBUC PD 113), Inertia

3.8 (MadTeam, supports up to 256k XRAM: 8ACE and 26AE with any DOS),

Inertia 4.5 (MadTeam, supports up to 1 Megabyte XRAM: 8ACE and 26AE with

any DOS), Igor Demo (MadTeam, diskside 1), Isolation Demo (MEC), Journey

(Boot version by Polynomials, up to 256k XRAM: AE/26AE), Journey (File

version by MadTeam, up to 192k XRAM: AE/ACE/8ACE/26AE), Journey into Sound

(DGS/Dean Garaghty), Kaiser II (128k version by Carsten Strotmann), Killer

Whales Ani (MadTeam, supports up to 256k XRAM: AE/8ACE), Lajf-Demo

(MadTeam), Landscape-XE-Demo (Karl Pelzer), Megablast-Sounddemo (DGS/Dean

Garaghty), MTV`s-Danielle = Danielle-Ani., Macro-Assembler XE (Thorsten

Karwoth), Macro-Assembler-XE+ (Thorsten Karwoth, works with MyDOS only,

supports up to 1 Megabyte XRAM), Masher-XE V1.0 (???/author unknown,

supports up to 256k XRAM: E/AE/ACE/8ACE), Memdrv10 (Andre Bertram, tests

up to 4 Megabyte XRAM, all portbits, standard 16k banks and exotic 32k

banks, standard Port B $D301 and exotic Port B $D600), Menu 130 (Les

Howarth), Midi Mate III (Hybrid Arts), Minesweeper 1-4 (4 game versions by

J.R.Chicko/S.A.S.), Mister X (Stefan Soelbrandt), Monitors, Debuggers &

more (HAPS PD 0109), Multi-DOS 130 (Kuchera/Excellent), Multi-Tasking-OS

(various ABBUC magazines), MTOS XE (CTH/Tom Hunt),

 

[Der] Neffe (XE-version or ABBUC PD 52), Neo-Tracker (EPI/Allegresse, runs

only under MyDOS, TopDOS or Sparta DOS 4.X cart., supports up to 1MB XRAM),

[The] Newspaper-Editor (HAPS PD 0294, similar to ABBUC PD 121 but this

HAPS/Bellcom version is in english!), Nascar-Animation (Mirko Sobe), Nonjm

Demo (TIGHT), Owca-Demo (Animkomials), Owca-2-Demo (Animkomials), Oelbaron

(XE-version by ???/author unknown), Programm Verwaltung 130XE (HAPS PD

0434), Protracker 1.5 (MadTeam, supports up to 256k XRAM: 8ACE and 26AE,

with any DOS), Parrot-XMAS-Demo (Anthony Ramos), Pedrokko-Sounddemos

(Pedrokko, 10 Disks / 20 S.), Rechnen fuer Kinder (ABBUC PD 85), Rund um

die Ramdisk (ABBUC PD 383, HAPS PD 1084), Raving Vierpz (Pentagram),

Raytracing Animation (Karl Pelzer), Sample-Art-XE (Mozart/WSL, supports

up to 1 Megabyte XRAM, alas it is buggy!), Shrink-XE (Peter Fitzsimmons),

[The] Small Printery (Walter Lojek, supports up to 1 Megabyte XRAM: 8ACE

and 26AE), Snapshot (???/author unknown), [The] Sound Utility (CTH/Tom

Hunt, supports up to 1 Megabyte XRAM: E/ACE/8ACE, bug-free only under

Sparta DOS!), Space Harrier (Sheddy/Chris Hutt), Strategy Baseball (HAPS

PD 0302), Super-Print-Lab-XE (HAPS PD 0909), Sweet Fantasy (Tight),

 

Shiny-Bubbles (XE version by Brian Paul), T-34 (ANG/Mirage), Tape-Copy

130 (Joerg Gernreich), Tape-Ramdisk-Drivers (Pokey & SAG), Text-130 (B.

Russmann), Textpro "+" (e.g. 4.54+ by Ronnie Riche), Textpro 5.x (Ronnie

Riche), The Code Cruncher 3.0 (Soused Teat/A.Bienias), The Cruncher 5.0

(MSL/Magnus), The [sparta DOS] Wedge (Ed Bachman), The Works (CTH/Tom

Hunt), The Asskicker (Shadows), The Turtles-Demo (Ultra-Software), Total

Dazed (Tight), Trip 6 (Shadows), Too Hard 2 (Animkomials), Ultra Demo

(Taquart), Vengeance (Excellent), Vent (Excellent+Pentagram), Video Blitz

(Helvetica Bold, also requires sep. Antic access!), WAF-Demo (W.A.F., two

parts of side 2!), [Die] Wuerttemberger-Disk (ABBUC PD 361, HAPS PD 1050

because side 2 contains the XE-version of Gizmo`s castle!), XL-2 (John

K. Picken, supports up to 1MB XRAM, depending on the DOS!), Xyberscape-XE

(XE-version by Bill Le Masurier), X-Files Animation-Demo (Mad Team), Zero

Demo (New Generation), Zargon XE (ABBUC PD 611, HAPS PD 0485), [Der]

Zeitungsredakteur (ABBUC PD 121, german!);

 

b) 128k XRAM required (blocks AE):

 

192k-Memory-Testers (various programs by various authors), Diskcom. 3.x

(by Bob Puff, answer "use your 130XE RAM?" with "Y" and also answer "use

additional RAM?" with "Y" to use full 128k XRAM), Igor Demo (MadTeam,

diskside 2), Revenge of Hacker (Rasero Team), Too Hard 3 (Animkomials);

Note: Quite a lot of 128k programs (block E) do also support 192k memory

(blocks AE), just take a look above ! And all the programs that support up

to 1 Megabyte XRAM do also support 128k XRAM, see above...

 

c) 192k XRAM required (blocks ACE and others):

 

256k-Memory-Testers (various programs by various authors), Atari Writer

Plus XE + Super Menu (Ken Siders), Dream Vision (ABBUC PD 480), MTOS 256

(CTH/Tom Hunt), American Natives (Fox-1, choose your DOS and RD-driver!),

Impossible but Real (MacGyver, has an auto-setup!), Reditus (Zelax, has

an auto-setup!), Tit Demo (MadTeam, has an auto-setup!); Note: All

programs that support up to 1 Megabyte XRAM do also support 192k XRAM,

see above...

 

d) 256k XRAM required (blocks 8ACE or 26AE):

 

320k-Memory-Testers (various programs by various authors), APC-Archiver

1.0 (LBS/APC, 8ACE only!), APC-Packer 1.1 (LBS/APC, 8ACE only!), Audio/

Studio Master (ANG/Mirage, 26AE only?!), Back to Life 2 (Jaskier/Taquart,

has an auto-setup!) Kaiser II (320k version by Carsten Strotmann, 26AE &

8ACE), Multi-DOS 320 (Kuchera/Excellent, 8ACE only?!), Base-33 (AIDS/AIDZ,

26AE & 8ACE, hold down SHIFT upon bootup for setup!), Cogito-Demo (AIDS /

AIDZ, uses banks 8C, thus 8ACE only!), Edelweiss-Demo (A.R.+C.S.S.+S.V.L.,

26AE), Glasshead Demo (A.R.+C.S.S., 26AE), Halle 1994: The Wormhole (Magic

Arts, 26AE), (Atari) Hardware-Demo (A.R.+C.S.S., 26AE), Imperial [sound]

Demo (Innovative, 26AE & 8ACE), Khai-Et (AIDS/AIDZ, 26AE & 8ACE, hold down

SHIFT upon bootup for setup!), Numen Demo (Taquart, 26AE & 8ACE, has an

auto-setup!), P.I.T.-Demo (Quasimodos, 26AE & 8ACE, has an auto-setup!),

Raytracing 320k (Elsni/Stephan Elsner, 8ACE only!), Sheol Demo (Bit

Busters, 8ACE only!), Stash-98-Demo (Rasero Team, 26AE and 8ACE, in the

first menu press A for 8ACE Ramdisks, else press B for second menu - then

press C for manual Compyshop setup!), Starwars-Demo (A.R.+C.S.S., 26AE),

The Wormhole (Magic Arts, 26AE), Timekeep(er) (New Generation, 8ACE only!

wait for depacking!), Too-Hard-4 (Animkomials, 26AE & 8ACE, has an auto-

setup!), Trabant Demo (A.R.+C.S.S., 26AE), Worms-Demo (Datri, 8ACE),

X-Demo (MadTeam, 26AE), X-Files 2 [TV-Intro] (MadTeam, 26AE & 8ACE);

Note: There are some 128k programs that also support 256k XRAM; and all

128k programs that support up to 1 Megabyte XRAM do also support 256k XRAM

(8ACE and/or 26AE), see above...

 

e) 512k XRAM required (32 banks):

 

576k-Memory-Tester (various programs by various authors, e.g. a test

program by Scott Peterson); Note: All 128k programs that support up to

1 Megabyte XRAM do also support 512k XRAM, see above...

 

f) 1024k XRAM required (64 banks):

 

1088k-Memory-Tester (various programs by various authors, e.g. a test

program by Newell); Raytracing 1MB (Solocoder of A.C.E., works only on

Klaus Peters 1MB-Megaram 3 ! Boot version with 8 disksides; loading time:

approximately 17 minutes!); Note: There are quite some 128k programs,

that also support up to 1 Megabyte XRAM, see above...

 

g) 2048k XRAM required (128 banks):

 

2112k-Memory Tester (have not seen one yet!);

 

h) 4096k XRAM required (256 banks):

 

4160k-Memory-Tester by ICD and later FTE;

 

Thanks and credits for this subject go to Russ Gilbert, Bernhard Pahl,

Ron Hamilton and Mathy van Nisselroy for sharing their info with me. Any

corrections and/or updates are welcome. - Andreas Magenheimer

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

greetings,- Andreas.

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  • 10 years later...

Thank you Andreas!

 

Very useful info.

Now I know that my new RAM 576XE is "Type 8ACE".

(-> So I changed my nickname.)

 

Can you help me with readymade MOD's or NEO's for COVOX testing?

(I can't still hear anything. Too pity...)

 

All the best!

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Afaik,

 

the Covox must be set or jumpered to $D600 since most programs are fixed to this memory adress and sound will be distorted/noisy/completely silent when using another adress...

 

Search for the following programs:

- Inertia (MOD-player): http://madteam.atari8.info/index.php?prod=uzytki

there you find Inertia 3.7 and 4.5

 

- Pro Tracker (MOD player and editor): http://madteam.atari8.info/index.php?prod=uzytki

there you find Pro Tracker 1.5

 

=> at the MadTeam page click on the pictures to start the download

 

- Neo Tracker: http://www.atarionline.pl/v01/index.php?ct=utils&sub=3.%20Muzyka&tg=NeoTracker#NeoTracker

or here: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/216674-abbuc-software-contest-the-unpublished-software/

(post nr. 3)

 

- XL-Digital: http://yerzmyey.i-demo.pl/xl_digital.zip

 

Think I do have some more Covox sounddemos in my collection, but since you can download hundreds of MODs and NEO files and play them back with Neotracker or Inertia, it does not matter. Last not least, Fandal also has stuff for the Covox available for download:

http://a8.fandal.cz/search.php?search=Covox&butt_details_x=x

 

Request for @Albert: We can use the search button to search for various topics in all forums, is it also possible to search for certain attachments (like ZIP, XEX, ATR, e.g. Neo*.zip, Halo*.XEX, Sonic*.ATR) ?!? If not, it would be nice to enable such a search function (but with wildcards allowed please)... and as soon as the attachment is found, the topic where it was attached shows up...

Edited by CharlieChaplin
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An absolutely fascinating list there!!! Many thanks for going through all those. I notice the "Ultimate1MB" is not listed, but I guess instead one refers to the underlying type of RAM expansions it can be set to emulate.

 

Update:

 

Woah!!! Now I notice this is a post originally made in 2004... That would explain it!!!

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  • 3 months later...

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