CharlesMouse

Hello all. I tend to lurk rather than post but had a couple of ideas for ADAM upgrades for sharing: -I got as far as a v1 schematic and layout for a Micro Innovations compatible Dual Serial card -Internal AY Sound chip upgrade consideration The dual serial card was intended to have a Pi Zero hangaring off it; primarily to run PiGFX for a HDMI/Composite 80column output for CP/M on the ADAM, along with a secondary serial port for communications. Of course with a Pi inside the machine the options are endless. (see Apple2Pi as an example) The compatibility with a known card because I'm no programmer and wouldn't be up to writing drivers. TTL level only to save on cost, and laziness. Like the idiot I am I accidentally deleted my Eagle schematic for the board. !!! :-( I still have the .brd file so could still make gerbers for fabrication with what I have, and I did at least take a screen-shot of my schematic... ...anyway I'm feeling pretty ticked-off at the mo' and it might encourage me to continue if there was any interest or indeed suggestions. For now: -See attached screen-shots of the board layout and schematic -Also attached is a .JED file for the GAL - If anyone has the original from the Micro Innovations board that would be great. As already mentioned I'm no coder and my attempt at reverse-engineering the original may be no good. -This version is intended for Slot P7, as per the original, but as I've now got a MicroFox IDE card (excellent) in that slot I was going to rework it for P6 or P5 - thoughts? It wasn't my intention to use the external expansion connector for obvious reasons... PS ...related to that I'm tempted to make a AY-based sound card for the ADAM to allow otherwise ADAM-compatible SGM software to have sound. If I get round to that I will, of course, share. The plan for now would likely be an internal upgrade, likely plugged in to the Z80 socket. Partly because I don't like having stuff hanging out of my machines, and partly because DIL-40 sockets are easy to source while leaving all the native slots free. Thoughts welcome. 2SER2B1.JED

Excellent, thank you again. :-) Um, Thingyverse link in case any are interested: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3465725

Hello again... I've finally gotten my blasted 3D printer working again. After days of messing about it turned out to be nothing to do with the printer but the filament I was using was old and damp - oops! Anyway I've printed a first test of my latest version of a case for Sean Myers genuinely awesome floppy emulator and I'll upload them to Thingyverse shortly for anyone who's interested. Print settings: Print all parts in the orientation they appear in the .stl files. Face.stl and Top.stl should be fine at about 20% infill, medium settings. They both need support, I'd suggest grid and set support roof. I'd also suggest enable ironing for both for best results and a smidge of fuzzy skin for Face.stl to give it that textured plastic look Base.stl only needs to be reasonably strong so print however you like, but this one will also need support for the lip. Assembly: Um... -Desolder / cut the pin-headers from the LCD module and do the same to your lovely Arduino! Also trim down the connection pins that poke up next to the LCD. -Pull the plastic header sockets from the Arduino and desoler / cut all the pins!!! -Take some wire (about 3-4cm long) and remake all the connections between the two -You may also need to butcher your microSD board and directly solder that to the Arduino if space is limited - wires about 5-6cm -Solder in the resistors and wires for the ADAM Net connector, long enough to reach from the front to the back of the Arduino. 6 Pin RJ11 connectors can be bought for buttons on eBay, just be sure you bend the pins flat and solder carefully being sure not to add height to the connector (it gets sandwiched between Arduino and the case top. Why such butchery? 1) The LCD panel doesn't sit in the right place to be able to make a nice ADAM FDD box so to move it requires wire connections. 2) I've tried to make this box as small as possible to save on print time - it's still about a 3-6 hour print depending on settings / printer At this point I also de-soldered the tact-switches from the LCD module and replaced them with taller 8mm ones. Again buttons on eBay. This was to allow them to poke through the shell - it's no good if you can't operate the darn thing... ...another option is to get some (small) tact-switch tops and push them through the holes in the case before installing the module - it work's fine but is frustratingly fiddly to keep them in place. Moving on: -Take your RJ11 connector on it's flying leads and push that though it's mounting hole in the top shell of the case. You'll notice it's legs will engage with the case with a bit of fiddling. -Carefully, but firmly push your LCD / Arduino sandwich in to the main case taking care to line up the tact-switches. With a bit of pressure the edges of the main LCD PCB will snap in to the walls of the case. -Carefully push down on the Arduino PCB so that it's power and USB sockets line up with the holes in the back. You'll note the RJ11 socket fits between and is now held firmly by the case and the Arduino. -Slide the base into the top, being careful not to snag anything and keeping the microSD adaptor dangling on it's wires out the front. The front lip of the base has a couple of tabs to engage the Arduino and so hold that firmly in place too. Now comes the somewhat messy bit: I couldn't think of a 'snap together' solution for the microSD adaptor in the space I'd left for myself. -Take your faceplate and push the microSD adaptor fully in to it's slot and glue it in place - sorry! -The faceplate can then be, carefully, pushed over the open end of the case and should also snap in to place. ...There should be room for the microSD board to fit between the LCD module and Arduino but be careful not to snag any wires. And it's all together - phew! Below are some piccies of my first trial assembly. It's a bit wonky because the microSD board wasn't glued at that point. I hope it's of use to someone and the assembly process hasn't put people off! Yes, I printed it with wood filament as that was the closest match I had to the ADAM (not close!) It seems beige printer filament is really, really expensive. When I've had a chance to play I'll probably sand / paint / print some stickers to finish the job, as per my mock-up further up this thread. Bonus: I've left holes in the face plate for power and activity LED's Once again my sincere thanks to Sean Myers for this awesome project and for be generous to share. It's made a huge difference to my enjoyment of my ADAM. PS If Sean is looking for suggestions: -At present the virtual floppy drive is always blank on power-up. It would be nice if at power-up the last image mounted was still present. -There are minimal Arduino Mega compatible boards to be found on eBay. I'm tempted to see if I can use one to make a smaller / easier to assemble spin on the above case using one. Of course if Sean was to do that officially that would be great for published user options, and save me burning through too many precious brain cells. Right, I'll stop clogging up this thread with my nonsense and go back in to my hole... at least until I have something useful of my own to share (80 col card if I can sus-out those fuzzy schematics - I just need to be sure I've got the slots pin-out correct)

Sorry for disappearing for a few days... I'm most pleased my case is a hit, but not half as pleased as I am with this wonderful device - my sincere tanks once again. On the subject of requested comments / suggestions I really only have one observation and an 'is this possible?': It seems the specified LCD shield comes as standard with the contrast turned allllll the way down... That gave me a moment or two before I twigged. Somewhat counter-intuitively that little blue pot (top-left) needs something like ten turns clockwise before text will show up - maybe worth a mention on your excellent github page? I'm a long, long way from familiarity with regard to the ADAM's hardware, sorry for a likely dumb question - there's a 5v line on the ADAM Net connector. It would save a connection if the Arduino could be powered from the computer - possible? PS I do have an improved design for a case (same theme) that I've yet to upload - I've not been able to test-print it as my printer's been a right little s*d the last few days... the print head keeps jamming up and despite trying everything I know to fix it it refuses to play ball. If anyone would like me to upload the files anyway just say, but the reason I haven't is it's quite a tight squeeze and I'd hate for someone to spend hours printing it only to find it's not fit for purpose. Many thanks, again, for this wonderful device!

You're most kind. :-) I'm afraid I'm not on Facebook For any who are interested I'm working on a further refinement to the case I'm doing. Previews below, I'll upload the 3D files to thingyverse when I'm happy. (sorry they are a bit big, I'll try not to clog up this thread further)

Oops: Sean, not Seam - Sorry. ...and Oops: I uploaded an older photo by mistake - here's the right one.

I'm rarely induced to come out of the woodwork but I just wanted to say a huge thank you to Seam Myers for making this awesome do-dad available. And to NAID for bringing it to our attention. ​My (sympathetically upgraded) ADAM has been languishing a bit of late for the lack of an easy / convenient way to use .dsk images and transfer software... so much so I was considering doing my own clone of MicroFox's version as I'm afraid the price (plus postage from the USA) was a bit too much for me... ​...I'm sincerely glad Seam beat me to it with such an excellent job as I suspect a project like this was going to be a step or two beyond my skills, and so a long + frustrating road. Thank you again!!! PS For any with access to a 3D printer I've made a (hopefully) nice ADAM Drive-ish case for this to go in to that I've posted on Thingyverse by way of a thank you. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3417782 The version to fit the 1602 Keypad Shield is at the end, the one with a socking-big hole in it PPS If any are looking on this device with lust but thinking "I really want one but I've never constructed something like this" might I suggest it's really quick and easy to do. As a test I wanted to see just how quick and easy is is to make from scratch so I: -Did a search on fleaBay for all the listed parts - lots of local options, all cheep, all arrived within 3 days -Googled the Arduino IDE, downloaded it fresh and hit install -Downloaded the SD Card lib as per Seam's link and installed that (Arduino: Sketch->Include Library->Add Zip Library...) -Hit the clone / download button on his GitHub page, then extracted the .zip to my desktop -5v power to the Arduino board -Arduino plugged in to computer via USB lead -Select Arduino: Tools->Board->...Mega 2560 -Double-click on the AdamNet_Drive_Emulator.ino file from the extracted .zip -Hit the right-facing arrow button at the top-left of the Arduino IDE app and wait a bit... ...a few seconds to compile followed by the communication LED flickering on the board and done (if after compiling the Arduino IDE complains it doesn't know which COM port to use, just select the likely only option from the drop-down menu and the upload will begin auto-magically :-)) -Unplug the Arduino (power and USB) -Fit the LCD shield being careful to line up the pins (they are marked on both boards) -Done! Not including waiting for the post all the above took less than 10mins Of course there's the connections to the ADAM to make but even if you've never soldered a few minutes of practice will ensure you're more than good enough and if you're still wary you can bodge the connections easily enough. By way of encouragement my 14 year old daughter built the 'Pro' version of one of these (https://rc2014.co.uk) a couple of weeks ago with no prior electronics or soldering knowledge, and it works! Um, the case I made (see above) will require one to cut/desolder the pins on the LCD shield and wire the necessary connections to the Arduino. That's for two reasons: -To keep the aesthetics of the case without resorting to something large enough to take an age to print -To make fitting the boards a bit easier. PPS While I have listed my case as non-commercial only on Thingyverse, Sean is of course very welcome to use it should he decide to start selling these, wonders what to put them in, and likes what I've done - feel free to suggest modifications. No I don't want anything, I just want to say thank you.

Bah! Still can't get the pesky thing to work right. What I believe I know so far: -It was working absolutely fine -It had a habit of popping out of it's socket (fixed, thank you for the advice!) -It stopped working after the last time it popped out... ...I assumed it had corrupted it's flash in the process, but happily much appreciated advice suggested what I really had was a bad connection or short somewhere. (not seeing the VBXE 'window' it seems) -Having endlessly tested everything I'd swear there are no shorts or bad connections... ...but I wonder how true that is - I suspect one or more cracked tracks giving an intermittent connection that I can't locate with the equipment I posses. So: If I still had my other 800XL (given to a friend) I'd swap the VBXE across to test if the 'fault' is really the motherboard, or the VBXE... ...but short of buying another 800 just for testing I can't do that. Further thoughts / suggestions would be much appreciated.

Back from work... Thanks for the extra tips, I shall see if I have time this evening for some further fiddling. It's frustrating that the thing was working just fine, now it isn't, and I bet it's just one cracked trace that I haven't (yet) put my finger on.

PS .Out of curiosity are all the ANTIC socket pins supposed to be connected through the XL adaptor to the header on the VBXE board? On mine ANTIC pin20 isn't. .PPS .I think we must have been posting at the same time, flashjazzcat, yes I do live in the UK.

Thanks again... Well that's really frustrating! I wicked out a good deal of solder from the VBXE pins and indeed it seats much better in ANTIC's socket, but still no joy. I can be pretty sure I have one or more cracked traces, or bad joints: If I boot the machine with the VBXE in place while applying some pressure to ANTIC it won't boot, and still won't boot without pressure... It will boot again if I give the VBXE board a little wiggle, but same issue with VBXE aware software. (Interestingly if I try to load to load the VBXE falcon image it says it can't find the VBXE on D640, so I guess flashjazzcat is bang on the money. If it's of any relevance the little red led on my VBXE board lights up solid on boot and stays that way unless any VBXE-aware software runs, in which case it blinks a good deal then returns to solid red when said software fails) Because it was easy I reflowed all the ANTIC socket pins - no joy - so I continuity tested all 40 pins, and they were all fine to both Sally and GTIA, where applicable. Also no shorts that I could find. I therefore assume I've got an intermittant connection somewhere (a b*gger to trace) or the bad connection(s) is on the VBXE board itself. Typically I gave a friend my spare 800XL so I can't swap the board across to get a better idea where the issue is. .Further thoughts most welcome.

:-) Thank you very much for the advice, and reassurance. I shall go wick some solder out of those pins and check the continuity of the socket... I wonder if I cracked a motherboard trace the last time reinserted the board..?

Thanks for the thoughts chaps. Please find below some photos of my system, and it running. I guess most are self-explanatory, the screenshots are: -Yoomp! (a normal game running, er normally) -Mr Proper VBXE (crashed) -fc.com (the VBXE programming app, crashed but seemingly doing something) Just to clarify all was working well prior to the latest unfortunate jolt. As you see the motherboard has been substantially recapped, also there's no components fowling the underside of the VBXE. Yes, the wiring is still a bit ugly but I'll tidy all that some time or other... So how do those pins look? I'd be very happy to hear I just need to wick some solder out of them to restore my VBXE and improve the connection... ...my assumption that all is electrically well but I'd scrambled the ROM was based on the observation that non-VBXE software still works fine and video output via the VBXE is unaffected. ...I'm very tempted to permanently solder the darn thing in (once confirmed working) but I don't like installing mods/upgrades I can't easily reverse. Thank you all again. PS Silly me - the VBXE doesn't have a socketed flashROM (I was thinking of my U1MB) so the brute-force approach isn't going to work if a scrambled ROM indeed is the problem. Originally programmed via JTAG..?

Hello all, I wonder if anyone might be able to suggest a fix for my seemingly unhappy VBXE. (Lotharek version installed in a non-Freddy 800XL, along with a U1MB, dual-POKEY, SIDE2, and Sio2SD). Yep, it's safe to say I've put a fair bit in to my 800XL but I'll freely admit being pretty new to Atari systems and I'm still learning my way. All has been working well (within the limits of my understanding! I still haven't sussed how to work the various proggies needed to flash/upgrade these devices) but I knocked my machine while powered up and not for the first time the VBXE partially popped out of the motherboard socket. As before, with a sigh wondering if this is the day I bite the bullet and just solder the darn thing perminantly to the motherboard, I opened it up to reseat the VBXE (so the cable-ties didn't work!). As before my 800XL seemed to be working fine again once reassembled... ...then I loaded a VBXE-specific game to be greeted by a corrupted screen. Several tests later I variously got; screen corruption, hard lockup, the app claiming the VBXE isn't present, or I need to load the FX core, depending on what I tried to run. 'Normal' Atari software runs just fine. Hmm, I tried the fc.xex app that manages the VBXE to see if the last 'accident' scrambled it's settings and if necessary reflash the core. (I have at least sussed how to work that app) Sadly it nolonger loads but leaves the machine locked up with a couple of scrambled lines of text in the middle of the screen. .I'd more than happily post more info / screenshots if helpful. My hope is I've just scrambled the flashROM, and so pulling said ROM to reprogram it externally would sort the trouble as fc.xex just crashes at present. Does sound likely? Thoughts? Can anyone point me in the direction of a .bin file I can use to manually flash the ROM..? (As the fc.xex utility seems to flash cores in to selectable blocks I have no idea how to construct a .bin file from the available core files) .My sincere thanks in advance.

AAh, an SIDE2 newbie thread... Exactly what I need. Having never layed hands on one before I bought an 800XLF, then SIDE2 + U1MB + dualPOKEY a little while ago as a fun project... I had some teething problems here and there which (hopefully) seem to have been cured by a reflash of the U1Mb using my Willem programmer and finally ditching the Freddy mobo in favour of an earlier version - my thanks and appreciation to all the most helpful people I have come across here. :-) I'm ashmed to admit, beyond using the SIDE loader for playing the odd .com and .xex file, I really can't figure out if I'm still having hardware issues or I simply haven't grasped how to properly set up and use it. For example; with no U1Mb installed the SIDE2 seems to work fine, I can get in to SDX, of course FDISK doesn't want to run without more memory so I can't set up any partitions - normal, I understand. With the U1Mb physically installed I can now get SDX to run (sometimes) but it doesn't seem to recognise the SIDE2 hardware / CF card - SIDE loader still working with the switch in the other position... I've re-read the guide on Lotharek's page, watched the YouTube videos, trawled this excellent site, but I'm non-the-wiser... ...To recap I suspect because I'm utterly new to 8 bit Atari's my issues are: -I can't be sure I'm not still having hardware issues -I'm starting from such a position of ignorance I'm not understanding the scattered nuggets of info I have found. Is there a kind (brave?) soul out there who can make sense of my ramblings and in the simplest words possible put me on the right path? (If a genuine n00bs step-by-step manual from switch on, through set-up, to specific examples of how to do things like partitioning, using .atr images and so be able to flash the U1Mb without pulling the chip, etc exists I would really appreciate a link - possibly a preconfigured CF image to look at would be enough to get me on the right path) Thanks in advance.

@ jdh: I shall prepare some piccies in a bit. @atari8warez: Many thanks. Er, now I seem to have my 800XLF working with it's current upgrades I find I have little clue how to actually use it! I don't suppose there's a n00b's FAQ lurking about somewhere..? To give an idea of the depth of my cluelessness: -In spite of reading the documentation, watching the YouTube turorials, I can't seem to get my U1Mb and SIDE2 to play nice with each other... ...for example, I can load .xex files in 'game mode' for want of a better phrase, but I can't figure out 'HDD mode' - largely because no matter what I do with set up there is no sign of SpartaDOS X unless I unplug the U1Mb entirely. But then there isn't enough memory to run the partition tool. -Also, I get .xex files, and I think .atr files are disc images, while .rom files I presume are cart images - I've no idea how to access/use any other than the .xex ones. It's been a very long time since I had to learn a wholly new system from scratch.

Pause for effect... : : ...dribble, dribble, gibber. I'd like to thank everyone for their help and advice - It turned out to be a corrupted flash in the end... Um, got the dual-POKEY upgrade to fit now... BTW: It may be old news to everyone but me, but would it be of interest to anyone how I made an easy/good/cheap Monitor to S-Video/Comp/Audio cable..?

Lovely, Thank you! Fingers crossed it really is a flash issue - I've checked everything else I can. Lotharek has really been helpfulness itself (many thanks) but I really don't want to send it back - I want to play!

Aah! Well, it's past midnight, I'm tired, work in the morning... No, actually work could call me now... That's my excuse for asking the following stupid questions and I'm sticking to it: The flash in my board is a SST39SF040: http://sigma.octopar...0-70-4C-NHE.jpg My Willem programmer is one of these: https://www.sivava.com/ ...which claims to support this chip. The software is this: https://www.sivava.com/download.html ...but for the life of me I can't find the chip listed anywhere in the devices menu. Would a kind soul like to point me in the right direction? P.S. While I'm in the mood to ask dumb questions, I presume said chip goes in the lower PLCC32 socket? Night, night.

One again thanks for all the helpful advice. @flashjazzcat: Yes, I should have mentioned - I did buzz it out, and seemed to be ok. 'Think I may recheck out of paranoia... @atari8warez: Thanks for the tip. @npturton: Seb..?

Ah, I'm happy to report photos of my install have passed muster. The smart money seems to be on corruption of the flash chip... so if I've got the right adaptor I'll try a reflash. If not back to Lotharek.

Hmm, interesting story. Reminds me of the 'fun' you can have when you own an Amiga... 'I bought / made add-on X and it doesn't work properly' 'What motherboard revision have you got?' 'It's a revision Y' 'Ah, there's your problem. You need to... get a revision Z' make the following mod(s)' unmake some of the mods you already made for another add-on, which will no doubt cause it to malfunction' Actually Amiga ownership isn't always that frustrating. Thanks for the further thoughts - I wonder if my programmer has the right adapter for that chip? Lotharek got back to me very quickly indeed. Many thanks! Oh, and the 800XLF should work with this board - that's one lot of egg on face I've dodged.

Ah, yes - that would be sensible... I shall go check. BTW: Having lurked about here for a while doing some pre-atari purchase research I've been following your GUI thread/project - I must say, most impressive. It's truly amazing what a talented coder can do with 8 bit hardware - really looking forward to the release version.

Progress report: -Remove U1Mb headers and in with IC sockets. -Back in with MMU and OS ROM. Power on and... It lives, it lives! Blue screen, Ready prompt. The whole nine yards. Well it's a relief to know I didn't break anything - I'm not usually that ham-fisted. What now? Re-re-recheck everything to do with the Ultimate 1Mb upgrade and try again: -Did I replace the correct IC's with the U1Mb headers? Yes. -Are said headers the right way round? Yes. -Are the ribbon connectors the right way round? Yes. -Am I absolutely sure I got the Sally to P2 connections right? Yes. -And it really was Sally I connected to? Yes. Ok, out with the MMU and OS ROM, reconnect the U1Mb again. Re-re-re-recheck everything again. Power on, Reset-Help, and... Nothing! Brown/Red screen, no prompt, no 'pop' from speaker... Nil. So: -Nothing wrong with my 800XLF, or indeed my soldering. -Ultimate 1Mb installed properly. (unless anyone can see something stupid in one of the above photos that I have somehow missed) Either: Freddy version of the XL really doesn't work with this upgrade Or: My U1Mb is not working... ...thanks for all the advice, if anyone can point out what I did wrong I'd be grateful, but I think time to contact Lotharek.

Thanks for the advice chaps. Time to bite the bullet then... As I was soldering the headers in I was thinking 'Sockets or no sockets? If I use some I can easily pull it apart again... But no! This is a dead-easy soldering job and I'll be up and away in half an hour, an hour tops. Besides it will be more robust this way, and why would I ever want to pull it apart?' -Sigh- I guess my lesson in caution will result in me getting something of a handle on Atari hardware earlier than expected. On a somewhat happier note (assuming I read correctly and plans didn't change before production) the XLF is listed as supported on Candle's thread.