bcombee

I'm wondering if it would be possible to have a future version of the Harmony BIOS support a demo mode. Right now, if you name your ROM "AUTORUN", it will run automatically on startup. What I'd love to see is the ability to put a collection of ROM images in a "DEMO" folder and have the Harmony run each for a set period of time, then switch to the next one. Maybe the ROM name could also have a second duration at the end -- "demo1_60s.bin", e.g. I believe that's possible, since the ARM in the unit can switch the instruction stream to one that does a bunch of BRKs followed by resetting the 2600 to a known state, then starting the new image. Any interest in this?

Glad this works! I know some analog-to-VGA converters have problem syncing with old video game sources due to scanline order issues.

I was hoping to have my real copy by then

Details on the event are at http://austinmakerfaire.com

Ferrite beads are usually used to reduce RF interference. Perhaps they were having a problem with RF frequencies being radiated over the joystick cable on some units.

Hey, Bruce! Yeah, the Red Box app is definitely something I'll show. Hope to see you at the Faire.

I like the idea of showing some demos. Thanks for the link.

I just got my acceptance to do a small booth showing off Atari 2600 homebrew programming at the one-day Austin Mini Maker Faire on May 12th. I did a little of this a couple of years ago at the NY Maker Faire as part of the NYC Resistor booth, but this year I'm on my own. My plan is to have a couple of Atari 2600's setup with monitors and a laptop running Harmony carts. I'll have Batari Basic running there with a mini-USB cable to reload the demo code onto the real device and the emulator running. I'm going to modify my NYCR demo into something Austin specific and try to also do some LED control directly off the second joystick port to show interfacing with hardware projects. I'm also thinking of printing up a few posters showing the Atari 2600 memory map, 6502 assembly, and how the video signal determine what's on your screen. I'll also have a display case with several of the homebrew carts I've bought over the years and some flyers to point people to AtariAge and various tools. Any other ideas?

Wondering if this might have anything to do with the PRONTO/Chemical Bank trial where they connected 200 Atari 8-bit systems to the bank via modem for online banking. It's described at http://www.atarimagazines.com/v1n6/pronto.html, but I've never seen a picture of the cart. There's a screen shot at http://www.atarimania.com/utility-atari-400-800-xl-xe-pronto_13693.html, and a related program shown at http://www.atarimania.com/utility-atari-400-800-xl-xe-target_13710.html.

Looks like Doug's posted some stories about Star Raiders on his site, see http://dougneubauer.com/starraiders/

Based on old USENET posts, it looks like it shipped in February 1996, but probably was finished in late 1995. See http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.video.atari/browse_thread/thread/85d3989a61455b7d/5f1520132b73dad0?lnk=gst&q=defender+2000#5f1520132b73dad0

Each individual Atari 2600 game controls the number of scan lines they output, and that determines if a digital converter is going to be able to sync the signal. The Stella emulator has an Alt-L option to show how many lines are being output. The NTSC version of Combat runs at 263 lines, where Super Breakout is running at 262. I suspect that's enough of a difference to mess up the digital sync logic in the SIR TS-360. I had a LCD TV a few years ago that showed the same problem. It wouldn't display half of the older game consoles I hooked up to it. I looked at a few other games and saw some at 262, some at 263, some at 261 or 264. There was enough slop with CRT timing for all of those to work, The official NTSC definition has 525 scan lines, split between two fields, so one field has 263 lines, the other has 262 but it's start is delayed half-a-scan line to indicate it's even. The 2600 only generates frames, not fields, so you don't get the interlacing effect that normal NTSC video has.

If you're going, I've set up a Lanyrd page at http://lanyrd.com/2012/classic-gaming-expo/ to track attendees and speakers.

Just placed my pre-order. I agree that it's expensive, but I've never regretted supporting a labor of love like this, and I'm super excited about all the "high-tech" it uses on the 2600.

Trakball mode acts like joystick mode, but the signals are interpreted differently -- see . I'd bet that it would just work, since the game is reading the joystick the same way. See http://www.atarimania.com/faq-atari-400-800-xl-xe-what-issues-surround-ntsc-vs-pal-versions-of-the-8-bit-atari_16.html, part 1.15 for the pinout in joystick vs CX22 trackball mode.

Yeah, the Atari joysticks are simple parallel devices with each pin representing a different direction or button signal from the joystick. The DB8 serial connector on a PC has a different set of signals with only one pin for receive and one for transmit. You need a Atari joystick-to-USB convertor like the Stelladaptor (see http://atariage.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=267). It's probably easier to get a modern recreation of a CX40 with USB plug like the one from Legacy Engineering (http://www.legacyengineer.com/storefront/)

The 7800 uses a two-pin polarized connector that's not common in consumer electronics. There's an article at http://saundby.com/atari7800mod/7800_powermod.html about adding your own connector to allow use of more standard power supplies.

DotMan just came out on the DSi store today - http://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/u46I93UGT7ESwKX8bTQ2DmQcxX6fT160 After watching about five seconds of the game play, I realized that this is in fact the long-awaited update to the classic Atari 2600 game Dodge 'Em, No idea if it's fun, but for $2, I might just pick it up.

The homebrew Go Fish! is loosely based on Shark Shark.

Don't forget Star Raiders... while not an official BSG game, the race of aliens you fight in the computer version are the Zylons, and the two harder enemies are modeled on the Cylon raiders and basestars.

You can do this yourself with Adobe Reader... after you switch to Two-Up mode, go to the View/Page Display menu and check the "Show Cover-Page During Two-Up" option. That will make page 1 stand by itself, then start the two-up with 2/3, 4/5, etc.

I've used Eagle for a few projects and find it works pretty well, although it helps to get a little training with it first. I'd had boards done cheaply by Seeed Studio in China as part of their Fusion service for open-source projects, and I think you can also use BatchPCB (from SparkFun) and some larger shops like Gold Phoenix.

Just wondering... what scanner and software are you using to scan these in? I've been wanting to pick up a document scanner to digitize a bunch of old paperwork and magazines and wanted a recommendation.

This thread was just mentioned in a story on Hacker News about the relaunching of BYTE.com, see http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2033728

There is a brightness knob on the DS... it's just in software and only available from the system screen before starting a game.