mamejay

May 26, 2023

On 5/25/2023 at 2:31 PM, mytek said:

Curious as to why? The OP already stated that he hasn't seen a problem thus far without them.

Just cause the op has not seen a problem does not mean its fine. For 30 cents of parts everything can be within manufacturer spec.

May 25, 2023

Great project. Do you have a Github or somewhere that the PCB's and schematic are? Would love to rework the board and add level shifters.

June 14, 2020

4 hours ago, Al_Nafuur said:

While the SD Logo is displayed, the VCS is performing a "waitroutine" in his RAM and the STM32 is trying to read the SD card, and storing the entries in a variable. If the STM32 "crashes" during this task, the VCS will never get the cue to return from the "waitroutine". The problem might be SD-Card wiring?

I don't know how this could happen, with my test build. In this firmware the menu area of the ROM should always be overlaid by the STM32 menu variable, which is empty or it contains the files list of the SD card.

can you select these test entries? what happens if you press the fire button?

I have given up for now. Might grab the original dev board used in the original article and do a rebuild. Has to do with something on the dev board I purchased. Anyway thanks for you help Al_Nafuur!

June 12, 2020

On 6/10/2020 at 1:31 AM, Al_Nafuur said:

Try this test build, i just disabled the comm blocking (which is only necessary for 7800 bootup)

firmware.bin 48.04 kB · 3 downloads firmware.elf 491.99 kB · 2 downloads

Thanks for that. just tested and just get the big SD displayed. If I hit he reset button on the dev board I get that same test menu list up again.

June 8, 2020

Hey guys. Wondering if you can help.

Built a cart using a stm32f407vgt6 diymore dev board.

I managed to get a menu but from what I have been told this is a test menu.

It's not reading from my sdcard.

Any ideas what could be the problem?

Thanks

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

May 20, 2020

16 hours ago, abbotkinneydude said:

@mamejay

The ATARI 800XLF Secam Rose (which is the one you have) can produce up to 256 colors if you install the SOPHIA upgrade from ATARI Age user Simius.

I think only the Rev.B of the SOPHIA upgrade is available in Secam. It's a special order so you'd have to contact Simius directly.

Note that the picture quality with the Secam Sophia upgrade is nothing short of phenomenal.

A couple of tidbits: 1) your French ATARI 800XL contains the Freddie chip hence its 800XLF designation. 2) there is a French speaking group on facebook which contains major info about how to upgrade the video quality of the Secam XL/XE's if you cannot get a Sophia.

Here's the link (they speak English too): https://www.facebook.com/groups/957320864626817/

I took your advise and ordered a Sophia. Can't wait now. Would like to see how others have mounted the device

May 20, 2020

Thanks everyone for the comments. This has helped heaps.

I contacted The Brewing Company but never received a reply so its great that andymanone managed to get in contact with them.

I think I will go down the UAV route for now as its the cheapest and easiest to come by. If i hear back about the Sophia I would love to grab one of those also.

May 18, 2020

1 hour ago, andymanone said:

Here you´ll find the complete 800XL SECAM schematics...

Gtx.,

andY

Atari 800 XL Secam.7z 74.1 kB · 1 download

Thanks for that!! I wonder if the TBA's Ultimate Atari Video (UAV) av mod would work on a SECAM model.

May 18, 2020

8 hours ago, TGB1718 said:

I believe the French standard is called SECAM, can't find the 800XL version of the circuit diagram, but assuming the 130XE has similar circuitry

it appears that the video connector on SECAM has 6 pins, does yours have 6 ? normally it's 5 pin

This is the 130XE SECAM Video circuitry

Yes it has a 6 pin din connector. I have already made up a composite cable for it but just not happy with the quality.

Do you have the rest of the SECAM schematic?

May 18, 2020

Hi Team,

I managed to get a Atari 800XL from France recently. I live in Australia and all our equipment here supports all standards.

I am disappointed with the quality of the output and was wondering if there is any AV/SVideo mod for the French models?

There is not much information out there on these and was hoping there may be some French or European users here that know if any mods that can be performed.

Thanks

April 21, 2020

Just started following this thread. Wondering if anyone has tried Zimmerman's firmware

https://github.com/bozimmerman/Zimodem

Its for a C64 but should work with Atari also.

February 18, 2020

14 hours ago, DrVenkman said:

That’s the problem - the Atari boots up faster than the Arduino gets up and running. You either need to alter your device for external power and have it running before the Atari boots, or do some kind of mod to your Atari that lets you cold boot without a power cycle.

I was advised here to move away from powering externally. Strange that I have one 2.8" screen and that works perfectly. just seems to be the 2.4" screen. Could it be something to do with the LCD and SDcard hardware on it? i might just reformat the sdcard and see if that makes any difference. Could be the sdcard being a ms too slow

February 17, 2020

Hey Team,

I have made a few of these and had a bunch of 2.4" screens that came in a lot. I managed to find the right firmware to use to get them working.

What i have found is that on a cold boot the Atari does not see the drive and i have to do a quick power cycle of the machine to get it to recognize.

i suspect it is something to do with the sdcard not initializing fast enough on boot up.

My system is a Pal 130XE and I am getting power from the SIO port. Wondering if there is any hack that can be done to the uno to get it to initialize faster is that is what the problem is.

Thanks

February 3, 2020

47 minutes ago, Al_Nafuur said:

No STM-Link Programmer is needed, just a micro USB but the boot1 jumper has to be short..
Read the: Assembly Instructions and the Flashing Instructions

Just saw it's only mentioneWhen d in the assembly Instructions but not in the Flashing, will add it there too..

That is exactly what I needed to know. When I get home I will try it out. Thank you!!!

February 3, 2020

Hello there. Probably a silly question.

I purchased a STM32F407VGT6 board as per the guide. I have just connected it to my PC to upload the hex file but its not detecting in windows.

Do I need to use a STM-Link programmer for this or should I be able to just use the STM-Utility to program when the dev board is connected VIA a USB cable.

Just want to determine if my dev board is faulty or if I am doing something wrong.

Thanks

December 4, 2019

Found your firmware. Unfortunately I still get a blank screen. How do you go about adding support for a different screen. What high level steps are required? I have a friend that can help with the coding I just have no idea where to start. Going from your Github I suspect that Display.c and makefile need to be updated.

December 4, 2019

Hi Willyvmm,

I ordered more screens and ow the 2.8" screens have a RM68090 chip in the. I have found that its supposed to be the same as a ili9325

I am useless at compiling code. Is it possible to get your ready made hex files? or guide me to a easy way to compile in Windows?

Thanks

October 11, 2019

On 10/9/2019 at 8:31 PM, willyvmm said:

@E474 it depend on Your difficulty definition.

Compared to blinking LED id Rocket science.

Compared to Apollo guidance computers od easy.

Yo have to know how to read datasheet, how the software is working, how the hardware isvworking, and what to expect. Then is easy.

I have no idea how mamy LCD types are sharing same layout and can be used with Arduino.

@mamejay if Your LCD is working with original firmware, then it is not ili9325.

The ili9325 seems to be an early version of lcd controller family, and is not compatible with newer chips. (Also more difficult to program).

I have dissected some of the mcufriend lcd's, and there is possibile to mount at least 5 different LCD on PCB that are almost identical.

The Only way to identify your lcd chip is to run a diagnostic software.

Another problem is quality. 2 of 4 was broken when arrived. Only white screen and problem with reading id. One of them has identified itself as Renesans R61xxx (afair).

So... It's lottery.

Thanks for that. What Diag software can I use to determine exact what the type of LCD display I have? Seems a waste to have these screen and no use for them

October 9, 2019

Tested with my screens I got. Can only get a white screen.

If I use the normal firmware the writing is back to front and touch screen doesn't work

September 28, 2019

On 9/27/2019 at 5:42 PM, _The Doctor__ said:

on some 130XE the speed killing caps on rx and tx need to be removed.

after that it's the PIA and Pokey chips you check ...

but there is one other possibility, ditch the external power and use Atari power to run the sdrive max...

I do know that some of them do not and should not be powered by their usb port (which should only be used for programming)

If one uses Atari power or the actual power jack they seem much better behaved. USB power problems might come down to the usb power adapter and what version uno/ardy a person uses and how they wire them.. so I avoid that method entirely and avoid any headache now or down the line...

Should I remove these caps anyway as a preventative measure?

September 27, 2019

Thanks for that. Well looks like the Pokey chip. I had a dead XEGS here and desoldered the Pokey and installed into the XE. Now everything is working again.

Just strange that the original Pokey works fine with the Sdrive2 and not the Max.

I had concerns about using the 5V from the Atari to power the uno and screen. That is why I am using the usb cable instead.

September 27, 2019

Ok guys. New development. I grabbed my friends known working SDrive max and found that is DOES not work on my 130XE. I have a Sdrive2 I grabbed from here some time ago which works fine on my 130XE.

I remembered I had a atari xegs and keyboard so decided to try it out on that. My Sdrive Max works on this no problem.

So looks like a issue with my 130XE.

What are the differences with the Sdrive2 and the Sdrive Max which would allow the Sdrive2 to work on the 130XE and the Max to not. What controls the SIO ports in Atari? Suspect whatever is controlling the SIO has a problem.

September 26, 2019

Thanks for that. I will revisit this tomorrow. I am grabbing one of my known working ones from a friend and will be working backwards to determine where I have gone wrong.

This is so simple and in the past has taken me 10 minutes to solder up the cable. Anyway I will let you know my findings

September 25, 2019

Thanks everyone. Yes of course I get the display up after flashing the device.

I have replaced the diode twice now. I have re-crimped a new SIO connections.

Re-formatted SDcard and downloaded a fresh copy of sdrive.atr

I have used a second UNO board. The last thing I will try is opening up my Atari and check continuity direct from the pinheader back to the ardunio. Running out of ideas.

September 25, 2019

40 minutes ago, Mr Robot said:

OK I'm going to guess you're using external power or else it wouldn't work at all...

sdrive.str not loading... have you got the D0: button selected on the touchscreen?

Yes you are correct I am using an external power supply.

D0 is selected on the touch screen. Have now just tested using D1 as the boot device and mounting sdrive.atr but get the same issue.