cephallus

Only 16 hours left, and sitting at $15.50. It'll be a great deal for someone.

Thanks a lot, although I can't take credit for the beautiful design. I love this system, I mean I really love it...I just don't use it. It's a crime to have a nice piece of hardware just sitting on a shelf getting dusty when there is someone, somewhere, who will really use it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150393594239#ht_500wt_1182 Up for auction is my beloved 1200xl. Once again I tricked out my dream A8 music system only to have it sit for months. Shame on me. This system has the following upgrades: Steven Tucker’s MyIDE internal IDE interface (see http://atarimax.com) Atari BASIC on ROM IDE CF Card Reader, mounted internally so the card can be inserted/removed from the rear 256MB CF card with MyDOS 4.53 and some software, including a working MAC65 assembler and music composition software (TMC) Dual/Stereo POKEY upgrade with gold-plated RCA jacks in the rear Clearpic mod SVideo output (kind of overdriven, pics are from my 32” LCD TV) 256k Rambo XL memory upgrade Keyboard repaired/cleaned Auction starts at a dollar, no reserve. I just want someone to actually use this thing. :/

Just to get my name on the board...haha, have not had any time to play...

One of my new-year's resolutions is to participate in HSC regularly. Sorry if we've already done these...how about Kikstart or Popcorn?

Awesome job, thanks for posting this!

Ya, what they said. Really good, love the sounds!

Wow, cool, I have never played this game before! It is *very* challenging for me...I'll post a score after a couple dozen games.

Wow. Sweet.

I am in awe of your centipede skills! I've played around 5 games so far...the CX joystick is *not* doing it for this. Time to break out the Wico.

HBD to one of the names I've been seeing for years and years on atari8-l, etc. Have a good one!

Just slightly tangental...you didn't happen to buy the ATR8000 off of eBay a few years ago from a seller who said he was looking for the manuals he misplaced, did you? Because if so, I found them a few months ago...

Which is great...but none of those computers have SID. Believe me, since I've been back to working with my c64's the last two years or so, I've accumulated what practical upgrade h/w I've been able to find...but there's a line that you have to cross to put your name on a waiting list for a device that's approaching $200 for what is, at this point in my life, nothing more than a closet-hobby. If I still considered music a career, or even a serious hobby, I'd have no problem with dropping a few hundred bucks (considering I had about $15k worth of equipment in my "amateur" studio at one time, eek) ...but there's a lot of other things on my agenda these days, not the least of which are kids who are significantly more expensive a hobby than music, ice hockey, paintball, martial arts, or any of the other things I've been really into in my life have been. If there were something similar to the MyIDE for the c64 - low cost, that allowed me to run a decent assembler as well as all of the music software I wanted - I'd buy three of them in a heartbeat.

Easy, easy...we're all friends here. I am aware of what's available for the c64, and while there are some amazing hw upgrades, the only really viable 1541 hardware emulation device is not immediately available...and costs a whopping $173. Ouch. I'm with you on the SpartaDOS thing. It's a bummer. I'm not debating that the MyIDE is as powerful/useful as an MIO for the extreme end of the power user scale...I was just commenting that shoe-horning MyIDE as *only* being useful for people jonesing to play a few old games is a little narrow. You can squeak a little more out of it...I manage to. Just.

There is software to use the sio2pc with the Mac as well... Haha, Metalguy, that's a little harsh. I definitely do more than play games on my A8, though I'm not sure what a "power user" of the A8 even means at this point in time. I can program in macro assembler, use several music composition apps that work flawlessly, and save everything to a HD image that I can then back up from the CF card using a two-line batch script on my Mac. Compared with what's available for the c64 in this area, I definitely feel like a "power user" on my A8!

It is very nearly completely different in method of operation. The Flash carts allow you to store executables in a selector menu and specially prepared 'whole disk' (takes entire cart space) stuff. MyIDE is an actual disk OS, and the MyIDE/flash cart is an IDE device adapter. So (with an IDE CF module stuck on top) it's the equivalent of a booting DOS with a HD attached to it. You can then load executables from command lines, menus, etc. and prepare special portions of the 'HD' to contain entire disk images. Is there any advantage to using the MyIDE/Flash cart over something like SIO2PC other than convenience? I have an SIO2PC device and using Atari810, I've been able to load just about everything. Tempest I have an internal MyIDE installed in my 1200xl with CF->IDE installed in the rear of the case. I can pull the CF card out and use my PC to write HD images to it, or to transfer atr's to the disk image space. There are very easy to use PC tools for writing files to the MyIDE-formatted CF card. 256 meg CF cards are a dime a dozen now; with this sytem, you could keep several with different types of software handy...though to be honest, one provides more storage for me (I have it set up with 4 16mb hd images) that I'll probably ever use on my A8. The big advantage is that I can take my 1200xl out of the closet and plug it in to the svideo/audio cables I keep tucked behind my TV and the 9v PS, and I'm up and running with any of the hundreds of apps I have on the CF card. No other cables, or space, required. I'm working on finishing my portable screen mod, so I'll truly have a 'laptop' useable 1200xl.

Very nice, great job!

When I had my 800xl, I *lusted* after the 1200xl just for the keyboard. I typed in tons of programs from Antic, and it took forever to enter all of those data statements on the terrible 800xl keyboard! I scrounged and saved and begged and cried for a 1050, then for a Commie color monitor (had an NEC amber monitor)...a couple of months after I got them, my grandfather that I didn't have much contact with asked me if I wanted his old computer rig, as he'd just bought a Mac Plus. I figured wth, any old junk was worth playing with...and his "old" rig turned out to be a 1200xl with 3 1050 drives and an 850 interface! I actually sold the 1200xl to buy a 130xe when it first came out, and regretted it for years, even through the ST days. I can honestly say that the 1200xl is my favorite computer of all time...hands down.

Wow!!. Thanks for the offer. But as I live in New Zealand [the edge of the world stuff] I'm guessing the postage cost is going to be a killer considering just shipping a 810 disk drive over alone is $50 approx. That's the price for living so far away but it's a price a tad too high just at the present time. Ya, no kidding. I've shipped car parts from Australia and just about had a heart attack when I got the shipping bill.

you mean like this one? Yeah ...but he doesn't ship International.....sigh!!! Where are you? I wouldn't mind forwarding it to you outside the US...though that would mean double-shipping costs for you...

Great explanation, thanks for posting that!

Totally not what you were asking (I'm going to have to check on the CMC version)...but have you tried Theta Music Composer? Version 2.0 supports up to 4 pokeys, and it is, IMHO, a more user-friendly interface than CMC. I'm currently working on an enhanced manual/tutorial for it in English, I'll be happy to post it when I'm done.

you mean like this one?

Thanks! I'll try out those settings today.

I'm sure some of you can relate, but while the 8bit was down, I didn't even think about it much...just went on with the rest of my daily routines. Now that it's up and running again (and better than ever!) I'm in love with it all over again. I spent a couple of hours working with TMC last night, and it was pure heaven.