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8BIT 1337

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Posts posted by 8BIT 1337

  2. Posted

    Well,

    MyDOS lists any Harddisk drive with "H" (f.e. 4H if drive 4 is a harddisk). But, when using such a drive you still have to use it as a diskdrive and thus use D: (D1: - D8:) as the drive specifier, otherwiese you will get the mentioned Error...

     

    Andreas Magenheimer

    916575[/snapback]

     

    I've actually found this not to be the case, at least as far as copying from the atr image onto the HD. If I use "D2:*.*,H4:" it works just fine.

     

    I just can't seem to get stuff to go the other way: from the HD into an atr image. I need to do this for a friend (so that I can make physical diskette images to send to him) and I'm at a loss as to how I'm going to do it.

     

    Any further help would be appreciated!

     

    (I thought maybe the number of files on the HD would be a problem, but there are only 62 so I assume that can't be it).

  4. Posted · Edited by Nature Boy

    (Formerly "Looking for some MyDos Help")

     

    I'm actually running it (4.53/4) in Atari800WinPLus 4.0. What I want to do is create some disk images (atrs) with a bunch of xex files on them (and an autorun of course), so that I can create actual disks to send to a friend.

     

    What I can't seem to do is configure the HD setting properly so that I can copy what I've downloaded and is sitting on my HD into an already created atr image. Some help would be appreciated. Here's what I *am* doing:

     

    Hitting "O" to change density.

    Using drive 4

    N, Y, Y, 65535 to the next four questions.

    Now I see "4H" listed along with the other disks I've got attached.

     

    I then hit "C" to start the copy.

    "H4:acedrib.xex,d2:"

     

    I'm getting error 165, which is "Invalid File name"

     

    Is there something I'm missing? The file is in the proper directory. I've enabled "H" and selected the appropriate directory in the emulator. I swear I've done this before and what I'm doing different this time escapes me.

     

    Thanks in advance!

     

    (BTW: I tried to find an online version of the MyDos manual, and the only thing I found *seems* to be incomplete, as it seems to start at section IV).

  5. Posted

    Interesting thoughts, but I don't think it would've flown. Something about your comparison to the NeoGeo just doesn't sit right. Perhaps because the NeoGeo is the same hardware that sits inside arcade cabinets, whereas the Atari 8-bit, even with all that extra memory, couldn't have come nearly as close to the arcade games of the day.

  9. Posted

    I did a search before posting and this was *pretty* close but I'm convinced (nor have I had the time to fully test this result).

     

    http://www.atariage.com/forums/viewtopic.p...ighlight=broken

     

    I unplugged my 7800 the other day in order to move it to another TV. When I went to turn it back on after plugging it in I got nothing. It seemed like the screen would flicker on for a second, but then shut off again immediately. And I couldn't get that flicker to re-create itself unless I unplugged the unit and plugged it back in.

     

    I took a look at the end of the power supply (the part that goes into the 7800) and it looked like some of the plastic was covering the wires, so I cleaned it a little. I'm still just getting flickering, although now it seems the power LED comes on (whereas it didn't before).

     

    My power supply is fairly new (bought it in 2002 from 4jays). Is it worth replacing it? Or should I wait (like the above poster) and hope it works again in a little while?

     

    Any help will be appreciated!

  10. Posted

    I know people complain in these sorts of things all the time, but I'm wondering why Supercharger games have to be seperate? I think we should be looping all 2600 games together - as long as they're original (not hacks).

     

    In order:

     

    1 - Adventure

    2 - River Raid

    3 - Frostbite

    4 - Barnstorming

    5 - Stampede

    6 - Kaboom

    7 - Defender

    8 - Enduro

    9 - Asteroids

    10- Space Invaders

     

    (I'd put "Communist Mutants" in my top 10, so consider this my vote for it being the best Supercharger game (I haven't played many of the others so I'm not ranking them)).

  11. Posted

    I know a minor electronic project is nothing to many of you but I was very excited to have made this all work :)

     

    I still get excited about getting all my stuff up and running. There's just something cool about having an old machine like that working along with a newer PC. Something only people like us would appreciate (hence the reason you brag about it here and not, say, at work/school :) )

  13. Posted

    Well, if you have some rare files from personal tape or disk collections (not anything from the various Atari sites or CD-ROMs as we have all this already), we'd love to hear from you.

     

    Will do.

     

    Of course I seriously doubt I have *anything* on your rare list but I've kept a copy of it and as I go through my stuff I'll be keeping an eye out. We only ever had around 800 games though so I'm guessing most of it's spoken for :)

  14. Posted

    You're correct, I think the very first emulators (like PCXFormer) couldn't boot executables.

     

    I thought about this some more after I posted it and I think my PocketPC emulator is the same way. ATRs only, not executibles. Guess I came along at the right time :)

     

     

    There are some very nice sites out there for other platforms dealing with the preservation of software. I like what World of Spectrum is doing for example.

     

    Yeah, I've been there too (it comes from having a subscription to "Retro Gamer" - you just *have* to check out those games :) ). The nice part about the Speccy is that it seems that they get a lot of support from the development committee (granting permission to post roms and whatnot).

     

    Hopefully, we'll manage to archive most of the things the same way with an emphasis on original versions of games rather than cracks. Next step would be to have 100% dumps (with copy protection). Probably in the not too distant future :)

     

    Is that all you're looking for on the website? Original versions as opposed to cracks? I'm pretty sure I have some files that aren't posted on your site but they're probably mostly cracks.

     

    Unfortunately, because there is nothing really official about preserving software, you end up with multiple files of the same game, you don't know which is which (because of no historical data) and you rely on the horrible TOSEC tools. It becomes a big mess if you don't try to organize things a bit more...

     

    Tell me about it. I'm currently down to about 3000 atrs and exes (which will have a bunch of duplicates I'm sure between the two types). I couldn't tell you what number I started at but it's taken me a *long* time just to get here but it feels good to finally have things personally organized.

  15. Posted

    Hope that wasn't too confusing

     

    Not at all. Obviously something didn't sit right with me and this *totally* makes sense.

     

    So was booting straight from an executable not available in previous releases of Atari800Win? Or maybe the PC Mirror functionality of APE wasn't available?

     

    Because at this point I'm not sure why I'd bother creating an atr image from my exes if I can still play it either on my actual machine or in an emulator? In fact I'm planning on getting rid of my 'fake' images as long as my exe is running properly (and if it isn't, only until I find a working exe :) ).

     

    My point: those "fake" ATR images are not only useless but confusing and a step backwards if you want to archive software (which, unfortunately, is not a subject of choice in the A8 arena).

     

    I agree with you - it totally *should* be a subject of choice. I've been dying for AA to tackle a software list for the 8-bits like they have for the consoles but obviously that hasn't happened yet. Atarimania is the main resource I use when trying to identify stuff as I archive and organize my collection - is there anything else out there I should know about?

     

     

    You can recognize them by the 'k' that appears on the screen during the boot load.

     

    Ahhh. Finally the 'k' is explained! I originally thought it was an emulator specific thing (in the days before I had APE) and was surprised to see it appear on my actual machine. Never thought to ask about it though :)

  16. Posted

    What is the difference between the exes and the atrs? I've tried to find something on this (using search) but came up blank.

     

    By EXEs I of course mean the files you can load in Atari800Win by using "Alt-X", and by ATRs I of course mean full disk images ("Alt-B").

     

    I know that if I create a single density disk image it's 91k. Why aren't all my atrs 91k (or 151k)? Like Alley Cat say - it's disk image is 65k.

     

    Alley Cat's exe file is only 35k. Does the disk image have a dos as part of it or something?

     

    My understanding of exes is that they were broken versions of the game in question. So what, in general, did they have to do to break them from atrs to exes? I've always wondered and never asked.

  18. Posted

    Seriously, GC Is THE system it seems for classic compilations and/or hardcore games (Sonic Mega Collection, Viewtiful Joe, LO Zelda: Colectors Edition, Ikaruga, etc)

     

    I don't want to start a fanboy fight, but I personally find the PS2 controller way better suited to the retro-gaming than the 'Cube controller. Which is why I waited until Sonic MC came out for PS2 before buying it (that, and the fact it was priced like a full price game instead of a retro compilation on the 'Cube *forever*).

  19. Posted

    Has anyone reported control problems with the tricked-out modes?

     

    Quite the opposite. I played "Space Duel" on regular mode (just once) and my ship kept 'transforming' into nothing more than one pixel. I could still shoot and rotate, but it kept switching between the ship and the pixel on me.

     

    I fired SD up in the Time Warp mode and the ship stayed a ship. Very weird.

     

    On another note: I for one think the navigation is pretty slick. It's too bad they didn't stick with "Atari Universe" as a title - would've made it even cooler.

  21. Posted

    Update: I cleaned the drive with some rubbing alocohol on Wednesday morning before going to work and gave it a try after getting home. Success!

     

    I'm guessing that my dad must've done that to our drive while I was growing up because it never even *occured* to me that it could've simply been a dirty head.

     

    My backup project continues!

     

    (Funny story: I did think of hitting reset instead of pulling the discs but I didn't think the button was working. I'm using an XE to do my copying because of it's extra memory and what I thought was the Reset button was the Help button (my XE is elevated enough that I can't read the descriptions above those buttons, and I'm *way* more familiar with the XL layout than I am the XE layout). Needless to say I've 'found' the reset button on my XE now and it works great :) ).

     

    Thanks again to all three of you!

  22. Posted

    I had the same exact problem a while back with a 1050.  It turned out that the bad disk has something on it that was transferred to the read/write head.  I cleaned the head and it has been fine ever since.  That's where I would start.

     

    Good advice - thanks (it definitely makes the most sense). I'll start there for *sure*.

  23. Posted

    I mucked up.

     

    I was backing up my disks using APE and my 1050 drive. I came across a disk that must have had some copy protection or a bad sector or something, and it was obvious that MyCopyR wasn't going to be able to finish the copy so I ejected the disk.

     

    Now my Atari isn't recognizing the 1050 drive. When I try to access it using DOS (on a Diskette I know is fine) it starts the drive up (I can hear it moving and the light comes on), but it's not reading anything and I get the diskette error.

     

    I've tried it as Drive 2 and Drive 1, both with APE running and without APE running, and I'm getting nothing.

     

    Did I mess up my drive?

  24. Posted

    I've always thought the fact that they kept releasing the same games on each platform (as has been mentioned before) was a *huge* mistake.

     

    When the Compact Disc Player was introduced, I didn't run out and replace all my existing cassette's with CDs - so why would I spend *more* money (games costing more than CDs) replacing games like Asteroids that offer nothing extra in terms of game play (using two buttons instead of one and 'down' isn't 'extra' IMO).

  25. Posted

    I'm not sure exactly what you mean. If you have an ATR, then you already have a cracked copy. There is no magic disassembler that will tell you how something works. Documenting a raw disassembly is always a long, complicated process.

     

    To produce the most helpful disassembies, try using an interactive disassembler like DIS6502.

     

      -Bry

    http://www.atarimax.com/dis6502/

     

    I'm not very good at explaining myself sometimes....

     

    I have looked at the code in Dis6502. But I think I'm seeing the situation described here, in the manual:

     

    When you disassemble a boot disk (BOOTGAME.ATR for example), sometimes, you will see that only a small part of the code is readable and the rest is crypted. Usually the readable part contains a loop to modify the rest of the code. It is used to prevent people from disassembling the code. The simplest algorithm is to EOR all the crypted code with a value.

     

    To be able to disassemble that kind of code, the best way would be to run the small part that transforms crypted code to readable (and executable) code and disassemble it after.

     

    ... And I don't have the foggiest idea as to how to identify the decryption algorthym. I guess when I said "copy protection" I really meant "decryption algorythym."

     

    @Heaven/TQA: Yes, the game itself let you edit the rosters (and create new ones). I'm looking at creating a *lot* of new teams so using the program itself would take too long.

     

    (I've found one great website for baseball stats - so all I'd have to do is manipulate those text files and I could have practically every team in history available).

     

    Maybe my real problem is, as Bryan has mentioned, the disassembly itself. I *know* that the code won't be readable, and I do understand a little 6502, but perhaps I'm too used to the documentation available for the VCS and I'm a bit lost on the 8 bit.

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