HDTV1080P

This picture at the following website looks like the 1200 baud prototype modem was a ADAMNet external modem. The one Coleco released for the ADAM was a internal 300 baud modem. Over the years in the 80's and early 90's people were using 2400 baud, 9600 baud, and 19,200 baud modems with a third party modified version of ADAMLink V and/or CP/M modem software. People who owned Micro Innovations dual serial with parallel interface also could output in a 80 column terminal mode while online. In the late 20th Century DSL became popular then Cable modems became popular in the early 21st Century around 2002. However no third party company every developed a Ethernet jack for the ADAM computer as far as I am aware. This would have been ideal for people that are on a 100% wired Internet connection like CAT5e, CAT6, CAT6a, CAT7A, and CAT8. But of course the ADAM computer is not powerful enough to offer browsing capabilities like Internet Explorer 11 64 bit. https://colecoadam.wordpress.com/2012/07/17/from-the-lab-1200-baud-modem/

This latest post suggests the ATARI 7800 had more issues with ATARI 2600 games, and it was more than a physical fitting of the cartridge issue, some ATARI 7800 systems had a timing issue with certain ATARI 2600 cartridges. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/269042-should-i-buy-a-starpath-supercharger/?p=3841449 http://atariage.com/forums/topic/269042-should-i-buy-a-starpath-supercharger/?p=3841468 At least the Coleco Expansion module #1 ATARI 2600 adapter was 100% compatible with all ATARI 2600 cartridges once the Cartridge Extender was used. Coleco never had any timing issues with their ATARI 2600 adapter.

So was it both a physical fit in the slot issue and a timing issue for some cartridges, because a earlier post by another individual said it was a problem with some of the plastic cartridges?

This issue was not just a problem for the 2 million ColecoVision and 500,000 ADAM owners that owned Expansion Module #1 the ATARI 2600 adapter (I do not know how many ATARI 2600 adapters Coleco sold? Was it 200,000+??). Anyways there were 3.5 million ATARI 7800’s sold and that system could natively play ATARI 2600 games since it had a built in adapter. The ATARI 7800 had the same problem, it needed a cartridge extender, but I think Coleco was the only one that made such a device. I made the suggesting in another thread that maybe some third party company should make a universal Cartridge Extender and sale it for around $30. This would solve the problem for the ATARI 7800, ColecoVision/ADAM owners, and any other system that has an issue with playing odd shaped ATARI 2600 cartridges. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/269042-should-i-buy-a-starpath-supercharger/?p=3841431

Therefore, both the ATARI 7800 and Coleco Expansion module #1 ATARI 2600 adapter need a cartridge extender type product to use a Supercharger and a few other odd shaped cartridges. How many other ATARI 2600 adapters for other systems and ATARI 2600 clone systems have this problem with the Supercharger? Take a look at the following link. Coleco developed a Cartridge Extender back in the early 80’s to take care of this problem for their own Expansion Module #1 ATARI 2600 adapter. Perhaps we can get a third party company to make a universal cartridge extender to sale to consumers for around $30. This would solve the problem for the ATARI 7800, ColecoVision/ADAM owners, and any other system that has an issue with odd shaped cartridges. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/268800-coleco-cartridge-extender-offical-coleco-catalog-part-number-592114/

So far I have only used emulation programs to emulate a ColecoVision/ADAM system on a Windows PC. Maybe I should one day download a emulation program for other systems like the ATARI 2600.

A PC emulator has better picture quality since one is using HDMI on a modern PC (Also I prefer the keyboard keys over the old style less reliable joysticks). A lot better then RF channel 3/4 and composite video. I do not miss the grainy pictures one bit. When I play Atari 2600 games on the ADAM computer at least I have composite video which is better then RF channel 3 and 4. I also agree that a Supercharger rom image or harmony cartridge with instant loading is better then a manual cassette or audio CD loading. However sometimes I would like to try the old audio CD or cassette method to remember what it was like. I have the original Supercharger with many of the cassettes if I every want to take the time to do this.

The reason there is no mention of this new label is because its a very minor change in a existing product.

So was the ATARI 7800 not 100% compatible with ATARI 2600 games? The ATARI 7800 was unique, since it was the only videogame system that did not require a add on adapter to play ATARI 2600 games. Why doesn’t the Supercharger work on all or most ATARI 7800’s? Was it a physical depth issue when it came to the Supercharger plastic case? I purchased a ColecoVision in 1982 for around $200 and later on purchased the Expansion module #1 ATARI 2600 adapter for around $60. When I purchased my Supercharger back around 1984, the plastic case was too wide and it would not work. Therefore, I called Coleco to report the problem. Coleco said I needed a Coleco Cartridge Extender to use Expansion Module #1 the ATARI 2600 adapter with the Supercharger unit. Therefore, Coleco asked for the serial number and then mailed me a free $30 value cartridge extender. Yes it solved the problem and it allowed me to use 100% of ATARI 2600 cartridges including the Supercharger unit.

There must have been a master analog videotape made of ADAMCon 1. Was the master tape Hi-8 400 lines of resolution, 8mm with 250 lines of resolution, S-VHS with 400 lines of resolution, or standard VHS at 240 lines of resolution? Also videotape ages over time and many times will not last longer than 20 years even when stored properly. If an original master analog tape exists or only a second generation copy exists, then the best thing to do is copy the image onto a computer hard drive using a high quality analog to digital conversion process. Then since the image is only standard definition quality and only 2 hours long, record it on a DVD-R disc. Optical discs like CD’s, DVD’s, and Blu-ray’s can last up to a 1,000 years and are 100% immune to EMP’s. The DVD’s could be offered to people and of course the ADAMCon 1 video could be uploaded to YouTube for free as long as it’s a public domain video.

With my email communications with Steven J. Tucker at ATARIMAX. It is my understanding that his purpose for the original Ultimate SD Cartridge was for ColecoVision/ADAM game developers and ATARI 5200 game developers to be able to distribute videogames on SD media. The advantage of SD media is that it’s cheaper, faster, and offers much more storage space when compared to actual game cartridges. The option of using copy protection and being able to use the SD media on an emulation program on a real PC was my idea. I mentioned to Steven Tucker that Coleco Industries back in 1983 originally planned on coming out with a high-speed wafer tape drive for Supergames because developing a cartridge that used more than 32KB was too expensive back in the 80’s. Therefore I made the suggest that his product should be called an “Ultimate SD Wafer Drive” instead of an “Ultimate SD Cartridge”. Steven at ATARIMAX agreed to try the new style label on his product, since he always had a vision of his product being used by game developers to distribute games on SD media instead of cartridges. The ColecoVision/ADAM version of the Ultimate SD Wafer Drive is currently being used for people that own the OPCODE Supergame module. ATARIMAX has made some custom labels for both the ColecoVision/ADAM and ATARI 5200 systems with the words “Ultimate SD Wafer Drive”. Again the only difference between the “Ultimate SD Wafer Drive” and the older label called “Ultimate SD Cartridge” is the label. 100% of the electronics are exactly the same. The Ultimate SD Wafer Drive can be purchased on Amazon and EBAY websites. People can also purchase the Ultimate SD Wafer Drive directly from ATARIMAX. Current firmware Supports MMC, SD, and SDHC wafer cards. Both the FAT and FAT32 Filesystem is supported (full long filenames are support also). The FAT filesystem is needed for older SD cards under 2GB in size. The FAT32 filesystem is for native SDHC cards with 2GB to 32GB capacity. ATARIMAX is working on a firmware update for the Ultimate SD Wafer Drive so that the exFAT file system can be used on the latest SDXC cards with a 32GB to 2TB capacity (512GB SDXC cards exist in retail stores in 2017. 1TB and 2TB sizes are planned to be released by SD card manufactories in the future). One day having a ColecoVision/ADAM videogame and ATARI 5200 videogame up to 2TB in size will become a reality if a programmer needs that much space. It should also be mentioned that blank SD media under 2GB in size is no longer being manufactured. Today consumers have a choice between SDHC and SDXC cards. Sometime in future years most likely blank SDHC cards between 2GB to 32GB will one day be going out of production as the demand for consumer storage capacity increases for 4K video camcorders built into Smartphones and other massive storage needs for apps in future generations of tablets and Smartphones. Therefore, ATARIMAX is working on a firmware update for exFAT file support and SDXC card support just in case one day blank SDHC cards between 2GB to 32GB go out of production. The SD card industry keeps increasing in capacity size while at the same time the price per GB keeps falling in price. More information on bank switching 4MB at a time for up to 32GB capacity under the current firmware (The text below in blue are word for word quotes from Steven Tucker at ATARIMAX) “The limit of the current hardware is 4mbit for flat ROM images.” Question: If One installs a 32GB SDHC card into the Ultimate SD Wafer Drive, could a game developer use the entire 32GB of space to make a super large game that is 32GB in size? “Yes, you can go beyond 4mbit by using the onboard CPU to load and save data as needed to and from the card.I'm not aware of any ColecoVision titles that use these functions at the moment, however there are a couple games on the 5200 cartridge that do use it for loading levels and saving high scores.”

With my email communications with Steven J. Tucker at ATARIMAX. It is my understanding that his purpose for the original Ultimate SD Cartridge was for ColecoVision/ADAM game developers and ATARI 5200 game developers to be able to distribute videogames on SD media. The advantage of SD media is that it’s cheaper, faster, and offers much more storage space when compared to actual game cartridges. The option of using copy protection and being able to use the SD media on an emulation program on a real PC was my idea. I mentioned to Steven Tucker that Coleco Industries back in 1983 originally planned on coming out with a high-speed wafer tape drive for Supergames because developing a cartridge that used more than 32KB was too expensive back in the 80’s. Therefore I made the suggest that his product should be called an “Ultimate SD Wafer Drive” instead of an “Ultimate SD Cartridge”. Steven at ATARIMAX agreed to try the new style label on his product, since he always had a vision of his product being used by game developers to distribute games on SD media instead of cartridges. The ColecoVision/ADAM version of the Ultimate SD Wafer Drive is currently being used for people that own the OPCODE Supergame module. ATARIMAX has made some custom labels for both the ColecoVision/ADAM and ATARI 5200 systems with the words “Ultimate SD Wafer Drive”. Again the only difference between the “Ultimate SD Wafer Drive” and the older label called “Ultimate SD Cartridge” is the label. 100% of the electronics are exactly the same. The Ultimate SD Wafer Drive can be purchased on Amazon and EBAY websites. People can also purchase the Ultimate SD Wafer Drive directly from ATARIMAX. Current firmware Supports MMC, SD, and SDHC wafer cards. Both the FAT and FAT32 Filesystem is supported (full long filenames are support also). The FAT filesystem is needed for older SD cards under 2GB in size. The FAT32 filesystem is for native SDHC cards with 2GB to 32GB capacity. ATARIMAX is working on a firmware update for the Ultimate SD Wafer Drive so that the exFAT file system can be used on the latest SDXC cards with a 32GB to 2TB capacity (512GB SDXC cards exist in retail stores in 2017. 1TB and 2TB sizes are planned to be released by SD card manufactories in the future). One day having a ColecoVision/ADAM videogame and ATARI 5200 videogame up to 2TB in size will become a reality if a programmer needs that much space. It should also be mentioned that blank SD media under 2GB in size is no longer being manufactured. Today consumers have a choice between SDHC and SDXC cards. Sometime in future years most likely blank SDHC cards between 2GB to 32GB will one day be going out of production as the demand for consumer storage capacity increases for 4K video camcorders built into Smartphones and other massive storage needs for apps in future generations of tablets and Smartphones. Therefore, ATARIMAX is working on a firmware update for exFAT file support and SDXC card support just in case one day blank SDHC cards between 2GB to 32GB go out of production. The SD card industry keeps increasing in capacity size while at the same time the price per GB keeps falling in price. More information on bank switching 4MB at a time for up to 32GB capacity under the current firmware (The text below in blue are word for word quotes from Steven Tucker at ATARIMAX) “The limit of the current hardware is 4mbit for flat ROM images.” Question: If One installs a 32GB SDHC card into the Ultimate SD Wafer Drive, could a game developer use the entire 32GB of space to make a super large game that is 32GB in size? “Yes, you can go beyond 4mbit by using the onboard CPU to load and save data as needed to and from the card.I'm not aware of any ColecoVision titles that use these functions at the moment, however there are a couple games on the 5200 cartridge that do use it for loading levels and saving high scores.”

ATARIMAX is not interested in selling public domain and commercial rom images (Those ROM images can be downloaded from third party websites and inserted on a SD card). However ATARIMAX does make a fully licensed digital copy of Beef Drop available for free on the included SDHC card for everyone that purchases a Ultimate SD Wafer Drive for the ATARI 5200 system.

SD media is a lot cheaper then cartridges. Sometimes 8GB sizes can be found as low as $2.50. Releasing the game on SD wafer media results in a lower price for the consumer while at the same time being able to play the game on both a real system and PC. You do not need to purchase another cartridge if you already own a SD version from ATARIMAX. The “Ultimate SD Wafer Drive” by ATARIMAX is also exactly the same as the “Ultimate SD cartridge”, the only difference is the new style label. Since the cartridge operates like a solid-state wafer drive for SD media, the new label is just a more clear meaning of what the cartridge really is. Also with my communications with ATARIMAX, if anyone prefers the new label they can contact ATARIMAX and one can arrange to send their existing Ultimate SD Cartridge in to be relabeled to say “Ultimate SD Wafer Drive”. Current firmware supports up to 32GB SDHC wafer cards for programmers that want to create huge Supergames and programs (The actual capacity of the current hardware is to allow up to 4MB of data to be loaded at any moment. A game developer can page data in and out from the 32GB SDHC wafer cards as needed, which means a programmer can literally make one large ColecoVision/ADAM videogame that takes up the entire 32GB of space on the SDHC wafer media).

SD media is a lot cheaper then cartridges. Sometimes 8GB sizes can be found as low as $2.50. Releasing the game on SD wafer media results in a lower price for the consumer while at the same time being able to play the game on both a real system and PC. You do not need to purchase another cartridge if you already own a SD version from ATARIMAX. The “Ultimate SD Wafer Drive” by ATARIMAX is also exactly the same as the “Ultimate SD cartridge”, the only difference is the new style label. Since the cartridge operates like a solid-state wafer drive for SD media, the new label is just a more clear meaning of what the cartridge really is. Also with my communications with ATARIMAX, if anyone prefers the new label they can contact ATARIMAX and one can arrange to send their existing Ultimate SD Cartridge in to be relabeled to say “Ultimate SD Wafer Drive”.

This is why option one is the best option. If game boxes and color labels were made for SD media. Most consumers would try and copy the game on their Windows PC using a quick copy and paste technique. If a simple copy protection is used on the SD media to prevent copying in a Windows PC, MAC, and Linux machine, then one has eliminated the easiest way to copy the rom image. One would not need some serialized feature that would marry the SD card to one Ultimate SD Wafer Drive cartridge. If the 32kb cartridge rom image is encrypted and copy protected for the ADAM computer system. Since the year 1983 there has existed technology to copy the cartridge rom image up to 32kb to a Digital Data Pack or floppy disk image. So yes unless one were to create a entire new videogame system with secure copy protected operating system, there is no perfect security.

More detailed information To help make things more clear I am creating this add on post that hopefully will answer everyone’s questions. 1. Distributing games on SD media and using copy protection has nothing to do with ATARIMAX and their cartridges: There are different types of copy protection technologies and encryption technologies that keep data secure on SD cards. There is secure and so far unbreakable encryption technologies like 256 bit AES and 448 bit blowfish technology that keeps data secure. Now I understand that once one uses an authorized key to unlock that encryption and to covert the file to a standard unencrypted file, that the file or rom image can be copied and read once its back in its unencrypted state. Therefore, the purpose of the first post was to bring people’s attention that some different types of copy protection and/or encryption technology can be used on the SD media itself that would protect the media from being copied with a simple copy and paste in Windows, MAC, or Linux machine. Preventing the copy from occurring on the Windows PC, MAC, and Linux computer is the most important place to protect the SD Wafer rom image from being copied and not the cartridge SD wafer drive. 2. The existing firmware in the Ultimate SD Wafer Drive is designed to read Atari 5200 or ColecoVision/ADAM videogames on cartridge that do not use any encryption or copy protection technology (Which is 100% of all current ROM images): Currently many people use the ATARIMAX Ultimate SD Wafer Drive to play classic public domain rom images for ColecoVision/ADAM and ATARI 5200 games that they have downloaded from various websites. In addition, some commercial ROM images are for sale on various third party websites that people purchase and can play with a PC with emulation program, or with the ATARIMAX Ultimate SD Wafer Drive on a real console. Game developers also use the Ultimate SD Wafer Drive to play their homemade videogames on an actual console. 3. ATARIMAX firmware update information: ATARIMAX is currently working on an Official firmware update that will offer exFAT file support. Once that firmware update is released consumers can use up to 2TB SDXC wafer cards in theory. Currently in the year 2017 512GB SDXC cards are the largest available on the market; however in the lab 1TB and 2TB SDXC cards are being worked on for a future release in the years to come. So one day a 2TB size videogame for the ColecoVision/ADAM and ATARI 5200 system could become a reality if one had the time in their lifetime to make a videogame that size (Using Super computers with specially made software, one could greatly reduce the development time since the computer would write automated code with a graphic interface). 4. A Possible future firmware update from a third party programmer can make copy protection and/or encryption technology possible in the Ultimate SD Wafer Drive cartridge: With my communication with ATARIMAX it was my understanding that anyone can make a special firmware update for the Ultimate SD Wafer Drive that would allow a game programmer to use copy protection and/or encryption technology with a digital serialized key that is unique to each cartridge. This means a SD wafer game can be serialized to run on only one Ultimate SD Wafer Drive. This would most likely be a third party firmware update only. However, it is my understanding that if enough videogame developers want this copy protection technology inside the Ultimate SD Wafer Drive cartridge, then ATARIMAX would consider maybe writing a firmware update to offer that feature.

More detailed information To help make things more clear I am creating this add on post that hopefully will answer everyone’s questions. 1. Distributing games on SD media and using copy protection has nothing to do with ATARIMAX and their cartridges: There are different types of copy protection technologies and encryption technologies that keep data secure on SD cards. There is secure and so far unbreakable encryption technologies like 256 bit AES and 448 bit blowfish technology that keeps data secure. Now I understand that once one uses an authorized key to unlock that encryption and to covert the file to a standard unencrypted file, that the file or rom image can be copied and read once its back in its unencrypted state. Therefore, the purpose of the first post was to bring people’s attention that some different types of copy protection and/or encryption technology can be used on the SD media itself that would protect the media from being copied with a simple copy and paste in Windows, MAC, or Linux machine. Preventing the copy from occurring on the Windows PC, MAC, and Linux computer is the most important place to protect the SD Wafer rom image from being copied and not the cartridge SD wafer drive. 2. The existing firmware in the Ultimate SD Wafer Drive is designed to read Atari 5200 or ColecoVision/ADAM videogames on cartridge that do not use any encryption or copy protection technology (Which is 100% of all current ROM images): Currently many people use the ATARIMAX Ultimate SD Wafer Drive to play classic public domain rom images for ColecoVision/ADAM and ATARI 5200 games that they have downloaded from various websites. In addition, some commercial ROM images are for sale on various third party websites that people purchase and can play with a PC with emulation program, or with the ATARIMAX Ultimate SD Wafer Drive on a real console. Game developers also use the Ultimate SD Wafer Drive to play their homemade videogames on an actual console. 3. ATARIMAX firmware update information: ATARIMAX is currently working on an Official firmware update that will offer exFAT file support. Once that firmware update is released consumers can use up to 2TB SDXC wafer cards in theory. Currently in the year 2017 512GB SDXC cards are the largest available on the market; however in the lab 1TB and 2TB SDXC cards are being worked on for a future release in the years to come. So one day a 2TB size videogame for the ColecoVision/ADAM and ATARI 5200 system could become a reality if one had the time in their lifetime to make a videogame that size (Using Super computers with specially made software, one could greatly reduce the development time since the computer would write automated code with a graphic interface). 4. A Possible future firmware update from a third party programmer can make copy protection and/or encryption technology possible in the Ultimate SD Wafer Drive cartridge: With my communication with ATARIMAX it was my understanding that anyone can make a special firmware update for the Ultimate SD Wafer Drive that would allow a game programmer to use copy protection and/or encryption technology with a digital serialized key that is unique to each cartridge. This means a SD wafer game can be serialized to run on only one Ultimate SD Wafer Drive. This would most likely be a third party firmware update only. However, it is my understanding that if enough videogame developers want this copy protection technology inside the Ultimate SD Wafer Drive cartridge, then ATARIMAX would consider maybe writing a firmware update to offer that feature.

A game programmer that spends a few years on making a state of the art videogame, has a personal decision to either copy protect his or her design or not to use any type of copy protection. No one is forcing anyone to use copy protection. The potential is there with SD cards if one decides to use it before releasing their game.

OK I understand you do not like Pyramid Patrol. i also do not like the ATARI 2600 Pacman, but millions of people do.

I think we would both agree that Pyramid Patrol has more control then Dragon’s Lair, since in Pyramid Patrol one has 360 degree 2-D control of where one is going to shoot. Pyramid Patrol has complete movement on the screen with the so called movie graphics superimposed over the background. Now with a modern video-game system like the XBOX One S a team of programmers could recreate Pyramid Patrol from scratch so that within the movie style graphics one has 3-D depth control of what direction one is going in. The modern video games have advanced so much that the graphics look like movie quality. On the Laseractive system the digital audio track contains the CD-ROM binary videogame data. Yes the video and audio tracks are analog that is superimposed in the background of the video game graphics data and sound. A better solution would have been to make the entire 12 inch and 8 inch optical discs 100% digital with videogame data so that movement can occur like you are talking about, but that was not done. I like the 1983 Dragons Lair and 1984 Space Ace. Back in the 80’s that was state of the art for videogames even though one had limited control in the game. The Laseractive system is capable of playing those games but it was not released for that system. If one has the Computer pack with RS-232 interface and the original Laserdisc of Dragon’s Lair used in the arcade, a computer programmer can interface a PC with the Laserdisc player to play those games, but they would need to program the Laserdisc points. However those type of games were released on the Blu-ray format if one wants to play them.

This Pyramid Patrol game is not like Dragon's Lair, you have complete control of your character.

Yes I heard about a second 3.25 inch prototype that plugged into the Digital Data Drive sockets (That socket also has access to ADAMnet). At one point they must have been thinking about a replacement for the Digital Data Drives. That would have been awesome if in 1983 or 1984 the ADAM computer would have had 3.25 inch disks instead of Digital Data Drives. I was also told by a reliable source that Coleco had a 320K double sided 5.25 inch disk drive prototype however in 1984 they decided to release a 160K single sided 5.25 inch disk drive for only $199.95. Most likely the 320K if it was released would have sold for at least $299.95. The only big negative about the Coleco disk drives was that they were 160K, and if one wanted to make a backup copy of a Digital Data Pack software, if the software program was between 161K-256K in size then it was not possible especially if it was a Supergame which required multi-loading for several different game screens. The Digital Data Drives were not that bad, they were only a major problem if one did not know how to use them (Not using them properly would chew up tapes or erase the data on them). By late 1984 the latest version of the Digital Data Drives were much more reliable, plus Digital Data Drives were much faster than manual cassettes and faster then some computers first generation floppy disk drive technology.

I remember you attending ADAMCon IV. I should have purchased your ADAM videogame and tried it out, I heard people really liked it. When I was driving back from Ohio to Virginia in 1992, it was kind of funny, I saw you and your Dad on the highway several times since you guys would pull off the intersection briefly with your vehicle and get something to eat, etc. Then you guys would pass me on the highway since I had that old car going at a slower speed when compared too most the people on the road. You guys passed me 2-3 times on the main highway on the long trip back to Virginia. I have a different car now. I have not communicated with Mark in several years.

If you’re not interested in the 12 inch Sega mega games for the Laseractive system, and if the Genesis 32X adapter does not work for the Sega PAC, then I can see your point of view, however have you every tried the Genesis 32x adapter to see if it will physically fit in the Sega PAC? I have not had any problems with my Laseractive system. Where did the leaky capacitor theory come from? All capacitors wear out over the decades.