tearex

Plus, the original 6502 has a "Set Overflow" Pin. Through it, external hardware can set the flag. Useful for extremely fast polling loops like LOOP: BVC LOOP This loop takes only 3 cycles. For example, the Commodore disk drives use it to find out when a byte has been read completely from the disk, since a normal LOOP: BIT $XXXX BNE LOOP takes 7 cycles, which would be too slow, so the byte could be lost since one bit of the next byte has already come in by the time you get to read the byte from the hardware register. I'm not sure it the S.O. pin is connected to anything in the Ataris, but most computers leave it unconnected.

Glad if you could, eventually! Of course I don't have the "right" to ask for this, but you'll have to admit that it is unfortunate when Elite finally comes to the A8, and then it doesn't... because you need some special hardware to run it. Just to understand this better, what is the problem with a disk version? Too little RAM or too little Disk space? Shouldn't a 130XE with 180KB drive have enough of both? Or is speed the problem? Probably I'm totally besides the point, though. Thanks for answering!

A dumb question... i just stumbled across this thread, and maybe I'm misunderstanding something. Is there a disk image of the latest Elite conversion posted above, EliteBBC_v8_AtariMax_FlashRom.zip to be exact? I'd like to try it on the real thing (130XE) but don't own that FlashROM beast, or anything else of that sort. Just a plain 130XE with tape recorder and 1050 disk drive. Or is it for some reason impossible to run it from disk, for example because it needs too much memory to run from RAM?

Ok, I understand (somewhat) that holding back the image creation tool might make sense. But what about the write-back tool that allows you to write the images to real floppies again? Does it even exist yet? And has anybody except ijor access to it?

Yeah, but shipping from the US to Germany usually takes about two or three weeks in my experience... and I'm a bit of an impatient person I think I'll just try the PC gameport. I've used it for other interfaces before, such as powering a Commodore Datasette off it. (you may stone me now) Thanks to all who answered!

What I want to do is archive some real Atari disks to images and vice versa. And I don't have any other Atari 8-bit hardware other than a 130XE and a 1050 drive. So the Atari drive needs to be in the picture somehow. And as I said I have only one cable.

Thanks. Well I still have a gameport on mine (on a Soundcard). But probably a PCI adapter is more "future proof". I think the GAL does more than drive the LEDs. It will also switch between SIO2PC and ProSystem mode, and allow you to have the Atari Command line appear on several different status lines. On the Atarimax Forum, Steven Hirsch (he's not the Steven who runs the site IIRC) said that it would be better to install a voltage regulator and use a 9V wall wart. I'm not really convinced what is the better solution...

Hello y'all, I asked the following already on the Atarimax Product forum, but there seems to be very little traffic there, so I'll ask here too. I tried the search function but didn't really find anything good... so please bear with me if this has already been answered. ---------------------------------------- Ok, how do I use ProSystem with 1.) SIO2PC Serial version (just bought) from Atarimax - version with SIO connector 2.) only one SIO cable available From what I read, I need to feed some external power into the SIO2PC module... but I didn't find an exact explanation of what has to be done. One thing is for sure, I don't want to modify my existing Happy 1050 drive and/or SIO cable. So.... 0.) Any source of SIO cables other than eBay? I guess not... 1.) What voltage do I need? 2.) Where do I feed it into the SIO2PC PCB, possibly without doing any irreversible damage to it? 3.) Do I need to add any more components to the PCB? 4.) Can I use the +5V from a PC Game Port? From the Atari's Joystick Port? From an USB port? Any precautions to take in either case? 5.) If not, what kind (volts/amps/DC or AC) of external PSU do I need, and how do I connect it? 6.) What about the serial DTR line, many devices use that one as well as a power supply (pretty much all serial mice, for one thing). Is that possible with the ProSystem software? How would I modify the SIO2PC in this case? I'd love to get comprehensive answers, but even if you can only help out with one or two of the questions, please do so. Thanks in advance!

To answer my own question - according to the estoreoutwest.com website it's Atari part number C010823 and it's adjustable between 0.85 µH and 1.2 µH. The coil seems to be the same between NTSC and the several PAL variant boards, probably it was easier to change the fixed inductor L202. Shouldn't be too hard to get (or make) one with that information.

Hello to you all, does anybody here happen to know the (rough) inductance in µH for the adjustable sound sub-encoder coil of a PAL-B six switcher 2600 (L201 in most schematics)? During adjustment, I managed to crumble the stuck ferrite slug in in mine into a heap of small pieces, no chance of getting them together again... So I'll have to replace it. I'd rather replace the whole coil than to hunt high and low for a slug of exactly the right size and type of ferrite. The µH value is not given on any of the schematics I found, nor did I manage to find any reference to it in the forums. That's why I'm asking here. In case this helps somebody calculate the size, the circuit will have to output a 5.5 MHz signal to work in the German PAL-B TV norm. I know too little about circuit design to calculate the value myself. Many thanks in advance for any help!

Thanks! I found out that the part number is CO10373. I ended up ordering at eStoreOutWest.com though - they have a nice online shop for lazy people like me.

Hello to all, My woodgrain 2600 has a broken "right difficulty" switch. I tried gluing it, but even the strongest two-component glue did not last. Does anybody know either a maker and model number for a replacement switch that looks at least approximately right, or has one to sell? I'm located in Germany by the way. Many thanks in advance!

Hi Tsukasa, You'll need an UV-C "germicidal" bulb. UV-A "tanning" or UV-B (in between) doesn't work. I've heard that germicidal bulbs can be bought at some places that sell Aquarium stuff, so you might check a (not too small) pet shop. The other possibility is a place that sells stuff for hospitals since those bulbs are sometimes used there for sterilization purposes. Just make shure you build something where no light can escape and damage your eyes. Remember the UV-C light is not visible, so just the fact that you can't see any light escaping is not enough. Bye,

No, it was a "Dela II", one of the half-dozen or so German models of C64 prommers. Others were Rex, Goliath, Quickbyte, Tiny... I think most of them were never marketed outside Germany (and maybe its immediate neighbours). Never heard of the Promqueen, what country would that be? Some people said the only one they know of in the US was the "Promenade".

An eprommer isn't really that complicated a device at all, so I see no reason why it shouldn't work provided you have a standards compliant parallel port. Although if it says DOS, it probably means you must run the software in real DOS (or Win 9x booted directly to DOS mode), not in some kind of DOS prompt inside Windows. Otherwise the timing will probably be screwed up. I have a similar el-simplo programmer for my old Commodore 64 and it works like a charm.

Any decent graphics card that has a video-in should work. Also any TV tuner card that has a video-in (in addition to the RF in).

I agree... oh and sorry Spirantho if I came across as Mr. Know-It-All... you're probably better informed about all this than I am. Take care,

ad 3) This applies only to the UK, of course, because VHF was only used for the old 405-line system there. Most PAL countries use PAL on both VHF and UHF, and their TV sets have no problems with either. Also pretty much any TV that can handle broadcast NTSC should be able to handle VHF frequencies. ad 4) No; a PAL game will give 50Hz on any Atari. The game program determines the refresh rate, not the console. But they may still come out in black and white as the TV may assume 50Hz means PAL. And, the color encoding is determined by the console, not the game program; thus a PAL game in an NTSC console will give you a 50Hz NTSC signal (NTSC-50) that some TVs, even though they can do NTSC, might not accept as a color signal. Those that do will still give you the wrong colors in the PAL-game-in-NTSC-Atatri case, since the mapping of color numbers (used by the program) to actual colors is quite different on PAL and NTSC Ataris. ad 6) If the TV can actually handle broadcast NTSC (in color) it will also be able to handle the NTSC 5.50 MHz sound subcarrier. If not, I doubt that the coil can actually be adjusted all the way up to 6.50Mhz as used in the UK's PAL-I system. Maybe if you give it another core with less inductivity.

There's nothing *in principle* that prevents PAL games from working on NTSC hardware.. just 1.) The refresh rate is determined by the module, so they will be ca. 50Hz (not absolutely exactly because the CPU frequency of the consoles is not quite identical, but very close) 2.) Colors will be screwed up. Badly. Ugly. Hut-my-eyes-ly. This-Atari-is-on-LSD-ly. Deal with it or don't do it.

You're welcome! One more thing... the Atari "broadcasts" on a VHF frequency, and AFAIK in the UK the VHF frequencies are no longer in use; after the end of your old 405-line B/W TV system, everything in the UK happens on UHF only. So your TV would have to accept *a broadcast NTSC signal on VHF frequency*, to be exact about the requirements. Maybe VHF is in use for cable TV in the UK, though, I don't know about that, in that case all TV sets should be able to handle it. Take care.

Oh and by the way... just use a PAL Atari power adapter, or any other 9V DC, 400 or more mA adapter made for European voltage... no need to get any expensive converters. And, of course only NTSC game modules will work correctly!

No, if your TV accepts *broadcast NTSC* it will be all right. Many newer PAL TVs accept baseband NTSC (such as from a newer VCR or a DVD player, or newer gaming consoles) but *not* broadcast NTSC such as from an Atari 2600. So check this beforehand.

You mean the same game exists for both systems in two (internally, at least) different carts? Sure, it's the case for most games. You mean both in the same cart? Has been done for some homebrews... abusing the Color-B/W switch for selection. I don't know of any 80s games that do this, though. You mean borth in the same cart with automatic detection of which console type they're running on? Haven't heard of it yet, and don't know if that is even possible. Gurus?

True enough. Here in Germany we're going digital for real now, in some areas (Berlin and Cologne) analog broadcasting has been completely switched off... of course while this means better colors and better horiz resolution, vert resolution and interlacedness are here to stay for the moment. HDTV is still a long ways off... and I guess until some *good* codec like H.264 is actually mature enough for widespread deployment and has *cheap-ass chips* implementing it, HDTV won't become the standard broadcasting method. MPEG-2 HDTV simply takes up too much of that precious bandwidth. But with a good codec you could broadcast everything in HDTV and then the receiver box would just downscale it for pre-HDTV TVs. Oh well the bigger the haul the more slowly it has to move, and TV technology as such is a *very* big haul with probably close to a billion sets in use worldwide... so things will always move sloooowly.

SECAM is being phased out in favor of PAL (for many years now, but it's a slow business getting completely rid of it...) and 60hz is not that cool since it also means only 480 visible lines and ugly telecine for 24fps movies... whereas 50hz gives you 576 lines, but, movies have to be put on steroids by playing them 4% faster than they're inteded to be played. Nothing is really that ideal a solution I guess.