oracle_jedi

Back when I added the RetroKidz SVideo adapter board to my 400, I added extra cooling holes to the cage. Its pretty simple. The original thread is here: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/163005-a400-composite-mod/?hl=%2Batari+%2B400+%2Bsvideo&do=findComment&comment=2026954 There is a picture of the cage after I added the holes here: http://atariage.com/forums/gallery/image/4471-img-2851jpg/ I just used a 3/8 drill bit on a power drill. It cut through in just a few seconds. But take it slow to get a good clean finish.

Parsec XL was ported from the TI-99/4A. Gridrunner and Metagalactic LLamas were ported from the VIC-20. Blacklamp first appeared on the ST I believe.

Unless and until you have a clear answer to that question, and determined that the titles are not abandonware, the rest of the sentiment expressed is sheer bullshit. Self-serving crap. Ebay retro game price gouging masquerading as a moral crusade to fight "title diluting".

For me its a Camputers Lynx. I love the design of the Lynx, with its elegant business grey case and red legends on the key caps, and I loved the idea that you could take a Z80 based home computer and expand it to run CP/M with an 80-column display. Of course the reality was that the 48K Lynx could never deliver on that promise, and I don't think the 96K Lynx could either. As I understand it the 128K Lynx, which could run CP/M, was mostly incompatible with the smaller memory machines, so little of the entertainment software would run on it. Yet I still lust after a 96K Lynx with the disk drive. I have the emulator, and I know the software was pretty bad. The 48K machine was really more like a 16K machine as 32K of the RAM was dedicated to video, and the video display was painfully slow, as each character was rendered pixel by pixel. The Lynx BASIC was bizarre with floating point line numbers and a screen that wrapped back to the top when you got to the bottom. I have resisted buying one, they don't come up on EBay that often, it would be expensive to import to the U.S., and would be something toyed with once or twice a year, and then put back in to storage as my Atari 8 bits, VIC20 and TI99/4A are much more interesting machines to interact with.

Just wanted to add my thank-you for the great ST ports. IK+ was one of my favourite games back when I had a 520ST, and its great to play it again on the Jag. Hey Felyx - any chance you would consider creating some cartridge label artwork for IK+, Joust, Star Wars, R-Type and Bubble Bobble? I only have one Skunk so created physical cartridges out of those ROM images, they could really use some of your artistic magic Oh - any chance Prince of Persia would be up for conversion to Jag?

I have one of these which I bought for my TI. As Ksarul states, the device only has 256K of RAM, so can support 2x90K or 1x180K disks, but not DS/DD 360K disks. The device can be set up to respond to DSK1, DSK2 or DSK3. It uses a RS232 interface, over which an GUI allows you to download disk images. From memory it supports v9t9 and TIDisk format files as well as various formats for TRS80, Apple II and others. I used this with my CorComp 9900 some years back to transfer files from a PC to the TI, copying files from the virtual disk to a real 3.5 floppy. But it was a slow process, and the SVD has a tendandcy to lock up periodically. I don't own an HxC, but it sounds like a much simpler device to use.

Got my confirmation email yesterday and sent payment. Order number 268.

If there really is a pre-order list for a Jag Xevious cart please add me to it!

Definitely agree with you on the instructions needing some clean-up! The mistake you made with could easily have been avoided if the instructions showed taking those signals from the solder pads directly next to pin 36 of U1. This also avoids having to try to solder a wire onto a resistor leg that is still in position. Instead you have two empty holes to solder into. Much simpler. It is also worth mentioning that you can tap pin 5 of U11 from a point under the IC. I removed U11 to solder into that tap point but you could also access it from underneath the board. Not mentioning the TIA switch is a serious omission. I took out the RF2/3 switch on my first install, as I figured that was a good place to mount the SVideo plug. I ran the audio line through the RCA jack of what used to be the modulator. I had to use a whole cutting drill bit to enlarge the RF switch opening to accommodate the SVideo plug, but cosmetically it looked great - almost factory issued. The video output was good, but any 7800 game with a single color background, like Robotron (black), or Xevious title screen (green) I got the faint diagonal lines which are damn annoying. Having learned about the TIA interference I then had to put the RF2/3 switch back in and re-purpose it to enable/disable the TIA. I pulled out component C3, which connects to the center pin of S7, and used the lower solder pad as a convenient place to run the TIA line from R22. I then used a Xacto knife to break the connection from the left pad of S7 to Q1, and soldered a line from the top of the left pad of S7 to the TIA input on the Longhorn. I also broke the ground line on the left pad, since I wasn't sure if that would affect the operation of the TIA when the switch was in the disable position. So then I had to move the Svideo plug, and on the 7800 they're are not many places it can go. I decided to position it on the left side of the console as that seems common. The next problem is that the SVideo plug provided has the structural integrity of chilled butter. Even waiving a soldering iron in its direction makes it turn to black goo. And the Luma ground pin fell off when I tried to remount it. I also made the mistake of not leaving enough clearance for the steel locking nut to go on. So I ended up having to enlarge the hole in the side of the case and using two locking nuts - one inside and one outside - to secure the SVideo plug. It looks like anyone else attempting this needs to mount the SVideo plug toward the back of the 7800 but leave at least 7.5mm of space from the center of the hole to the bottom of the case, and 1.5cm of space from the back of the case (viewed from the outside), to leave enough space to tighten the nut behind the plug inside the case. That doesn't leave much space for the audio and composite video lines, but there is just enough room in there. The end result is a nice clean stable color image in both 2600 and 7800 modes, but the case now looks like a hack job, because it is. I made mistakes on this one, and I need to own them, but some better thought out instructions would have gone along way to making this a simpler more enjoyable upgrade.

Interested in a cartridge with case, but before I order, will it fit in a 1200XL without having to hack the cartridge port?

All the Llamasoft titles are good, especially Traxx (Amidar clone), Matrix and Hellgate. A.E, Capture the Flag and Bandits are all great. Spiders of Mars, Outworld, Atlantis Pretty much everything by Tom Griner Bonzo is a sort of Apple Panic game which is worth playing, I spent a lot of time on this one as a kid. Jetpac is a lot of fun. Its better than the ZX Spectrum original. Choplifter on the VIC is one of the best ports of the game. Moon of Jupiter is a reasonable Asteroids clone. Games by Postern (Mike Singleton) were simple and fun; Shadowfax, Siege and Snakepit. If you have a PAL machine then the games by Kingsoft were very good. Especially Star Defence (Defender) and Bongo If you like a deeper challenge, then Realms of Quest or VICtoria are both deep games with lots to explore. Some of the new games coming out are also worth taking a look at. The new Pooyan implementation is excellent, and the VIC20 version of Doom is really quite fun.

PM sent

Here are a couple of links that might help: A mirror of Arma's VIC20 tape archive, with TAP files, case and manual scans: http://www.6502dude.com/cbm/vic20/arma/mtaps.html Robert Hurst's download page, with his software collection, plus the Gamebase 20 archive which includes PRGs, D64 files and TAP files, plus manual scans and artworks: http://robert.hurst-ri.us/downloads/ I don't have an up-to-date rarity list. You should also check out the Denial forums. Lots of great new software titles for the VIC20 including Pitfall, Pooyan and Popeye.

Also, for others who might be struggling to debug an FE3, note that: 1 "EEPROMFS" EE 2A 13 BLOCKS FREE Is what happens when you access the disk device and no SD card is inserted. This is different from my uIEC which reports "device not present" if no SD card is inserted. This further leads me to think the SD card cradle is faulty, or the pre-soldered surface mount cradle was not installed correctly.

The reliability improved somewhat after I put the FE3 in a recycled "Programmer's Aid Cartridge" case. It is still flaky, but works as expected about 75% of the time now, as opposed to 5% of the time before. My guess in Sinchai got a bad batch of SD card cradles, which don't make proper contact with the PCB. Perhaps the case applies just enough pressure to make a solid contact? I am guessing here, based on observations. Since I have no idea how to surface mount solder I am not willing to try removed the SD card cradle and remount it. The unit still resets/hangs on SD card insertion. Power cycling it usually allows the unit to read the card again. Does anyone know enough German to reach out Sinchai and ask if he has any insights? Also, I never got the label I paid an extra three euros for

Here's another couple of good VIC20 games patched to run on NTSC machines; Jetpac and Traxx. These games require an 8K memory expansion so do not need memory at $A000. Just load and run. traxx_ntsc.zip Jetpac NTSC.zip

Attached is a ZIP file of Imagine games for the VIC20. This includes Wacky Waiters NTSC version. The archive has the following games in both PAL and NTSC format: Arcadia Bewitched Catcha Snatcha Frantic Wacky Waiters Note that these games requires memory at $A000 (Block 5) and are started with SYS64802, except Wacky Waiters which starts with SYS48896. I did not do the original dumps. Also note Bewitched will crash if memory is present at address $2000. I patched the NTSC versions using VICE, so let me know how they look on a real NTSC VIC. Enjoy. Graham Imagine.zip

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I downloaded CBM Command and it seems to get the job done, albeit with quite a few lockups on the VIC. But the 64 version is more stable and better able to navigate the large directory of files when you put small VIC files on a 720K floppy.

I am looking to move a bunch of files from an SD card to a 3.5 in floppy. I have my uIEC connected as drive 10, and the 1581 configured as drive 8. What utilities do you recommend to help with this? I am hoping to find something like File Commander, but I am open to recommendations. Many of the programs to be moved are for a VIC20 if that makes any difference.

I picked up one at SRGE this year for $50 with two CX24s, a power pack and an RF switch box, from Aurora Game Gurus. Since then I have added the Longhorn SVideo/Composite mod from Electronic Sentimentalities. The upgraded video is worth the time and cost to add in. I think that was $35. Robotron, Joust, Galaga, Karateka, Choplifter and Pole Position II cost me $10 for the lot. All loose. Everything works good. I just started exploring the 7800 library, but Robotron 2084 on the 7800 is awesome. I also got a Concerto at PRGE which I hope to find some time to experiment with when work stops getting in the way.

I don't know if this is the site you were thinking of, but Video 61 has a library of cartridges, some of which were originally marketed as disk or cassette titles, such as Tapper, Hard Hat Mack and Dropzone. http://members.tcq.net/video61/compnew.html Video 61 is still going, and bringing some amazing new titles to market such as Tempest Xtreme and I think, Space Harrier. Also several repositories exist where you can pretty much download every title ever released for the 8-bits and play them on original hardware using an SIO2PC, or an SIO2SD, or a MyIDE II, or an Atarimax Flash Cartridge or one of the many other options that hardware geniuses have been delivering for our machines since Nick Kennedy first connected his Atari to his IBM PC.

Thanks for the efforts to help debug this! I do appreciate it. To answer your question, no, when the FE3 is plugged into the IEC jack, it is the only IEC device connected to the VIC. I tested the SD cards in a different uIEC device to make sure they were readable and they are. Using the stand alone uIEC device with the FE3 (the FE3's uIEC is disconnected) works fine. But relegates the FE3 to little more than a fancy RAM expansion. Further testing shows that the FE3's uIEC device works normally about 1 in 20 restarts - a restart being a full power cycle. Also removing an SD card is fine, but inserting a new one, or the same one reinserted, causes the VIC to reset as if I pressed RUN/STOP + RESTORE. At which point the VIC freezes and must be power cycled again. I have tested this with two VICs - an original NTSC (gold/silver label) and a PAL (rainbow label). Same results. All solder points have been retouched and there are no obvious dry joints, bridges or gaps. If anyone has any bright ideas where to start I could use some magic!

Sinchai shipped the PROMs pre-programmed. The SD card slot and voltage regulator (the SMC devices) were pre-soldered. Everything else was soldered on by me. I tested removing the SD2IEC chip to see if it was really blank, or faulty. When I do that I have no device 8 anymore, so I am guess it is working as expected. It does seem that the uIEC device is not reading the SD card at all, and defaulting to the "EEPROMFS" pseudo device. I don't know where this pseudo device is coming from as my other uIEC device simply shows "device not present" if there is no SD card in the slot. Is there a way to re-flash the SD2IEC chip?

Got my FE3 (Rev 10) late last week from Sinchai, and assembled it over the weekend. I am having some trouble diagnosing what I think is an error. The unit boots up fine to the FE3 menu. I can select memory expansion configurations and so on. Accessing the Disk Menu returns me to the main screen. Starting BASIC and trying to access the contents of the SD card results in: 1 "EEPROMFS" EE 2A 13 BLOCKS FREE I have tried several SF cards from 64MB to 2GB using FAT16 and FAT32. A few of these work fine in a Jim Brain uIEC device. I have read the other threads on this but they often point to dead links. Hoping someone might know where to focus the diagnostic effort. Would appreciate any insights. Thanks Graham

PAL machine (UK) (48K, GTIA, cased RAM cards, twist latches to remove cover, box has "Now with 48K RAM" sticker) Printed: BK 009914 502 Hand Written: BK 129074 12/6 NTSC machine (48K, GTIA, cased RAM cards, twist latches to remove cover, unboxed) Printed: AW 312189 322 Hand Written: AW 328667-8-2