phoenixdownita

Bought the same one, let's see if I can fix mine

Ok that explains why it locks on attempting to run theRomgenerator generated ATR thru MyIDE2 partition space. I still have no idea as to why SIDE2+U1MB can't load ATRs and simply goes to BASIC. My U1MB was purchased like 2 weeks ago and has a 39SF040 so I kind of doubt that it is a V1.

Mistery deepens. I did some more testing, it turns out that if I do not activate SDX on U1MB then even if I activate SIDE PBI nothing works at all, pressing L gets you to BASIC, if instead I have SDX active then pressing L does load SIDE loader, but then any ATR selected gets to BASIC has already stated. Maybe the PBI drivers here have been messed up ... not sure. I was trying to use TheRomGenerator to build an ATR to flash U1MB but I can't make it into a MyDOS ATR, and MyIDE2 seems to have issues booting the spartaDos ATR built from theRomGenerator, it just sits there, maybe it is not possible to flash U1MB from MyIDE2/MyBIOS Partition mode. The MyIDE2 FAT32Loader states that the ATR is too big and gives up (maybe a bug not sure) so even with that no dice. Only consolation is that if I disable PBI then pressing SPACE errors that "no PBI driver loaded" etc... so in that case all behaves as expected.

I believe I have the same issue. I received my U1MB + SIDE2 today, mounted it myself on my XEGS and XEX work, ATR instead go to BASIC. In my case I cannot even go to missile command, for some reason with or without XEGS switch on U1MB. Let me know what solution you found, I contacted Lotharek, maybe he has some clue on what's going on. I just hope I don't have to send this board back for "reflashing" although apart SIDE2 that fails to load ATR the only other alternative available to me is a MyIDE2 which I bought couple of months ago, maybe I can load the flasher ATR thru it and fix U1MB [if I managed to run the SDX rom for MyIDE2, never tried before].... mine has the 39SF040 EEPROM that requires the modified flasher .... we'll see hopefully is just a little hiccup. MX

Nothing against him really, I just enjoy DIY projects, they keep me busy and I learn new things.

I guess my choice of wording was poor and sounded full of contempt, my apologies, it was not the intent. But yes I will try, I guess I wanted to know how hard it is to separate the plastic handle from the supporting metal rod. I see 2 possibilities : 1) the plastic handle can be extracted out (maybe thru heat) 2) it cannot If 2 given how long the stick is I can just cut at the required length and take care of chipping away the leftover plastic. Given it seems to be a pretty cheap mod I suspect that there's a quick and easy way to get the old plastic handle out of its rod. Anybody can confirm? Again sorry if sometimes I sound like I'm full of it . (truth be told my eyes are brown so over the years I questioned if I'm actually full of it)

Not to bust your business but I'd like DIY, can I venture that you have found a safe way to strip out the original plastic stick (it's already using a metal rod inside) and either cut it short or if it is already short screw/glue a ball handle on it? Again not trying to ruin your business I'd just like to try it myself, the long stick is a killer it ends up making the user put too much strain on the holding hand. I also have a couple of CX78 and the button placement sucks, they are more usable that the std NTSC sticks but a far cry from a genesis pad (which I use for 2600 games and with my XEGS)

Would I be able to use a CF that I prepared for use with MyBIOS (for MyIDE 2)? It's a 4GB card, with 3 partitions. 1st is FAT32, 2nd APT [empty afaik as I've never run sdx and MyIDE has no other tools for it beside MyNBIOS creation step] and the 3rd is the proprietary MyIDE format. In MyBIOS there's not much that can be set, it's always 50% and 50% for FAT32/Proprietary, if an APT is required then the first 1/2 is divided again so 25% is FAT32, 25% is APT and 50% is proprietary. I was hoping to use the same CF with SIDE2 and not need to wipe out the current content thru preparation with FDISK (or however it ought to be done) My main goal is to manage to flash U1MB as I see fit from the related flasher ATR and something tells me that out of the box U1MB and MyIDE2 won't play nice, hence the SIDE2 as the middle man.

Any chance you can share the flasher? My U1MB is due to arrive in 2 or 3 weeks and if it has the new flash chip I would need it too. Given I have a MyIde 2 (external though) what MyIDE OS do you have in the image? I've been told RE would work better for MyIDE2, but in your case probably you put RI, am I right?

how about the following: dragon's lair, bomb jack, qix, out run, daytona usa (in the arcade it was just a blast) sega rally virtua fighter not top 5 but they deserve a mention somewhere.

I am in the same boat, just ordered U1MB with SIDE2, I will see if I can get MyIDE 2 to work well enough with U1MB to resell SIDE2 but for now I didn't want to risk to being sent back and forth among the 2 inventors when incompat arise. There's some hope http://www.atarimax.com/flashcart/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1417 by having R2/RE as one of the OS in U1MB, but I suspect that to get there I will need a SIDE2 to flash U1MB (as I don't have any SIO2xx available to me). I'm banking on the fact that I can build the required U1MB flash file ATR and flash the U1MB by loading said ATR thru the SIDE2 ..... if it doesn't work I'll be looking for other solutions. It's kind of a bummer U1MB and MyIDE 2 don't work better together out of the box but we will survive either way.. I do like MyIDE 2 R16 format support, not sure about all the Image/partition management thru MyBIOS, it definitely needs a native window app (rather than the hodge podge of wrapper and cmd line tool). If U1MB + R2/RE OS make MyIDE2 work I'll be set, I'm not into SDX so for me it is not going to be an issue, if not but I can use SIDE2 for the 4 or 5 ATRs full of images then I'll be happy too .... honestly nothing beats having a FAT32 partition and associated loader just because of the drag and drop on any OS (no need of apps/tools). I ordered the combo from lotharek, I expect it to arrive in 3 or 4 weeks, he told me that it will be a little trickier to install on XEGS because the MMU and ROM adapters are a little too bulky (the XEGS has the 2 ICs very close) so I expect to have to go up (like double sockets, pin headers or alike) to perform the mod .... time will tell, I managed to socket the 2 ICs thanks to a heat gun, that much I already did , when I told to lotharek that I was learning to desolder for the U1MB he advised me to renounce as I would have risked to ruin my XEGS, in a way I felt let down, in another way I appreciated the concerns, definitely not for a first timer, but my XEGS costed me only 60US$ shipped so I decided to take the risk.

Indeed it helps. Is there a master list of all of them? I've got mild OCD, and need to ensure I know what's missing

My apologies if this is already addressed on other topic, just redirect me there in case. I'm trying to find the 5200 ports, that is games that were different/better on 5200 and someone ported on 800/XL/XE. Is there a list of those? Even better a place where to grab them, maybe in 1 archive? I am mainly interested in the handful of them that looked better on 5200 than on their 800 incarnation (moon patrol comes to mind) but I wouldn't mind to get all that is available (and notice the difference: for example I can't tell Vanguard between 8bit and 5200 port but maybe it's just me and either I have the same one under 2 misleading names or the difference is not too evident). Thanks a lot for any information you may provide.

I have a question, is it me or the Atari 800 version of Gyruss messes up the music? Just take your time (say 1 min) on the very first stage and the music looses the foreground melody and just loops on the background beat. As soon as you get to stage 2 then the foreground melody resumes, this time it takes a little longer (2/3 mins) before hitting the same situation in which only the background beat is left. I can only play on XEGS but I've been told that it is the same on 600XL/800XL/1200XL, I'm not sure it behaves any different on true 400/800. Anyone can try and report? I distinctly remember that the C64 does not have the issue, the music does not looses voices if it takes a little longer to clear the stage.

It looks like in line with what I have, when I connect to a CRT I can tell you the ghosting subsides a lot, so I thought it may have to do also with the LCD TV I am using. BTW, another way to try could be to put back R1 and R2 AND use a small capacitor in front of the whole mod on the composite signal. Ideally something like 47uF. What the R1+R2 do is a voltage splitter attempting to keep the transistor working close to the ideal point. That is important for small signals, to achieve maximum amplification. But because we're taking the signal from the emitter it is always going to be Vbase - 0.7 [the voltage drop between B and E in a transistor is pretty much a constant]. For AC signals that can go negative it is important to bias the base up [with the splitter] and to keep it there you filter the DC component on the input signal by a small capacitor that doesn't filter out too much of the AC signal. So if you want to do more experimenting you could try it. Finally most composite outputs are AC coupled only, so normally there's a 220uF capacitor in series to the resistor, at the output, you could try that too. Modern TVs do not seem to care too much if you forget the out cap, but it may help your case. Again I have not tried it myself but if you have the time and energy it's worth a try.

I would suggest you take away R1 and R2 from the mod, and then R3 instead of going to GND you connect it to the RCA center pin. So you end up with the transistor having the composite signal in base [without any other components], having +5V on the collector, and out of the emitter a 75/100 ohm resistor that IS your composite video output. Tell us if it helps. Also you may need a different transistor but I doubt it.

Sorry I thought it was the same program. My apologies I will bug Steve over at AtariMax for the feature request. Peace.

Thanks for the link but that is beside the point. There are whole collections of atr that use Kboot format, it would be nice if the FAT32loader would fix them on the fly or allow an override option [maybe pressing K on the keyboard] to load them anyway zeroing all missing pages, whichever is easier to implement. I am trying to avoid having to use a PC except for drag and drop if possible.

Can you confirm the 150 ohm value? I can replace my fix although I doubt 150 vs 330 is such a big difference, I just want to have it run as per spec. Anyway I suspect it also depends on the 7800, I bought the game used and the owner swears playing with it way past level 1, also type1 cards may not have any fix at all, some of them didn't even have the capacitor [which again in many cases is not strictly required].

Hi, new here. Just bought a MyIDE2 and like it. I mostly use it with FAT32Loader as it is way easier to use, just drag and drop . I'd like to ask if it is possible to support KBOOT ATR files? FAT32Loader complains that those ATRs are not correct, which is right as they are truncated, but would it be possible to force the loading anyway considering all the missing blocks as zero? If this is not the right forum please feel free to point me in the right direction. Thanks and keep up the good work.

I can tell you that composite is allright depending on the TV, I also simplified the mod: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/127926-easier-7800-composite-video-mod/?p=2814181 [the signal does look soft, but it's composite and not SVideo so it is kind of expected] It is literally 1 Transistor (2222 or 3904 are both fine), 1 Resistor for the video [100 Ohm] and nothing else, still need to remove R3 and R5 and still need to perform the audio mix (I used a 10K and it worked). I recently tried Ballblazer and the Pokey volume seems fine to me, only Commando has both [Pokey + TIA] so I am not sure if 10K works for that game and given its cost I am not sure when/if I will ever try.

I know it's an old tread but I found a Type 1 Robotron that wouldn't work past wave 1 on my 7800, according to the following: Type 1: Standard ROM cart. PCB CO24926-xxx Type 2: Standard ROM with resistor in series with +5V. PCB CO24926-xxx ... Centipede - Type 1 - C30048-001A ... Joust - Type 2 - C300049-006A Robotron - Type 2 - C300049-009A-01 Robotron should have been Type 2 but mine was a Type 1 cart, to fix it I added a 330 Ohm resistor series on the +5V on the chip (pin 28) and it started working like a charm. I do not know if 330 Ohm is the "correct" amount used in Type 2, I tried 1K Ohm and it wouldn't work, with 330 Ohm it started working and I could play to my heart's content so I haven't tried going any lower. Not sure why full 5V doesn't work unless it could be out of spec and as such you need to reduce it a little. If the ROM is using 1mA the 330OHM resistor only lowers the voltage by 0.33V, if it is 2mA by 0.66 and so on. So it also acts as a current limiter but I am unsure what is the effect they were after. Anyway I found one type1 game that should have been type 2 and that would not work on my 7800 past initial loading [not sure why it would even work for the first wave].

Well according to Trebor above it may not help at all and given those pots are supposed to be touched very rarely I'll probably have to let it as it is and stomach the green. I can't really change the hue on my TV either as I have many consoled connected to the same AV input thru a mechanical switch box and to fix the 7800 I will mess all the rest. Oh well, at least I know it's "expected" ... it is the first console to be doing so ... I also have an XEGS and that one does not seem to have the issue with the green.

It's an LCD, I will give it a shot on a small CRT I kept around to make sure there it looks fine there as a starting point. When you say "adjust the tint/hue" do you mean from the TV controls or is there a pot on the motherboard of the 7800 that I can tweak? I'd like to do it at the source so I won't have to mess up with my TV settings every time I connect the 7800. [thanks for the link to that post, it seems temperature is also a factor .... how is that possible? Is Maria sensible internally to temperature changes? If it is due to outside components it should be possible to replace all of them with much precise ones these days for pretty cheap and with better temperature characteristic]

I performed the composite mod to my 7800. I bought it used and the RF never worked. While playing Joust I noticed the platform to be more greenish than I remember. I checked the 800/XE version and there they are more yellow. is there anything that can be done to "fix" the greenish hue that appears to be a little overdone? Mine looks exactly like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKAzDIMOKy0 ... see how green the platforms are? I was expecting something more like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2q2X1XIQsg (the 800/XL port) in terms of coloring, also playing with an emulator rendered the platform much closer to the 800/XL than my actual 7800. Any info/help greatly appreciated.