CharlieChaplin

Well, in the last couple of days I played: - Fort Apocalypse - Bruce Lee - Conan - Zybex - Montezumas Revenge (and its polish counterpart Deimos) Maybe instead of a Top 5 / Top 10 we should also do a kind of Flop 5 / Flop 10 (the 5 or 10 worst A8 games)... My vote for the Flop 5 would be: - Amauroute by Mastertronic (what a bad gameplay!) - Frenesis by Mastertronic (is it really a game?!?) - Colony by Mastertronic (oh how boring!) - Nightmares by Mastertronic (ouch!) - that Alien... game by Mastertronic (a really bad Who Dares Wins or Commando clone) Nough said - Andreas.

Well, believe it or not the XEGS is not fully XL/XE compatible. Thats due to the new XE (or better XEGS) OS used in these machines. So, quite some XL/XE disks which do not require the translator disk and work fine on XL/XE computers will not work on the XEGS. Alas, I cannot give many examples, since I sold my XEGS long ago. The only programs I remember now are "Muad Dib" by Hurek (a demo, that crashes right after the start) and "Fast PAcker" by SRU (the screen is partially filled with lines of the Fast PAcker program and lines of the built-in XEGS Missile Command game)... I also found out that some carts did not work ok with the XEGS but I do not remember which ones..., well after some bad experiences with this thingy I sold it... -Andreas.

Well, allthough I have not coded any RMT tune, I collected all the tunes I found so far. Of course my collection is incomplete - but I will post what I have at home in a few days (3 ED disks so far)... greetings, Andreas Magenheimer.

Hello Folks, and here is the Neo-Tracker 1.4 (ABBUC edition). I know there is a newer version at atari-area available... but for those who do not know Neo-Tracker, here is version 1.4... -Andreas.

Yep, anyone can add the programs to his collection and/or homepage. Besides, I have also added SAP player XE and Neo-Tracker 1.4 (ABBUC edition). note that the Neo-tracker is not quite easy to use - read the docs if you have problems. the SAP XE player requires more than 128k RAM (tested on a 130XE and it did not work), so forget what the doc. is saying... (I have attached only a few NEO files, that are extremely short - because I wanted to have as many Neo sounds as possible working on a 128k machine... I also attached only a few SAP sounds, since this player has no DIRectory option and requires more than 128k RAM...) greetings from ABBUC - Andreas Magenheimer.

Well, here is the simple + old (german) type-in listing of Battlestar Galactica (which is called Kampfstern Galaktika in german language). The gameplay is easy, maneuver to a planet, shoot all invaders and if you did, press a key (SPACE if I remember correctly) to go to the next level... have fun... -andreas.

Hello folks, due to request, here are the programs of the ABBUC software contest 2003. Yes, only 3 programs, two other programs have been disqualified, since they did not work (or better: the leader of the ABBUC software Ressort did not get them to work until the deadline). If you are also interested in the disqualified programs (they were Neo-Tracker XE, a MOD player and Converter and SAP-XE, a SAP player for the XL/XE computers), let me know and I will upload them here... Last not least, I will upload the programs of the contest 2004 later... greetings, Andreas.

Hello folks, ABBUC has decided to do another software contest for 2005. Anyone willing to participate please register at the ABBUC homepage or send me the software ( software at abbuc . de ) and/or details about the program(s) and I will register it for you. For all other information, please read the official rules printed below... -Andreas. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rules for the ABBUC-Software-Contest 2005: 1) General Rules: The Deadline for the software-contest has been set to 31.August 2005 (until midnight). ABBUC will therefore spend the following Prices: 1st Place: 500 Euro 2nd Place: 250 Euro 3rd Place: 125 Euro 4th Place: 75 Euro 5th Place: 50 Euro For all registered contest programs, ABBUC will get the right to release them on its magazine, while the Copyright will still remain by the author, who can use his program freely after the contest. The presentation of the programs will take place at the Unconventional fair in September and on the ABBUC magazines, whereas the decision and pricing will take place at the annual ABBUC meeting in October. There is no need for the author to be present at any of these events, the price will still be send to the author’s postal adress or his bank account, provided that ABBUC has these adresses... 2) Program Types & Size: The contest programs must be one of the following program-types: a) Game/s, b) Application/s (also Tools, Utilities, etc.) and c) Operating Systems (DOS). Not allowed are any kinds of demos or intros, also not allowed are any beta- or pre-versions (meaning the contest programs must be finished). For compatibility reasons one must make sure, that the programs work at least on Atari XL or XE computers, which means standard 64k or 128k machines. Additional or extra hardware can be supported, but it must not be a requirement to own this extra hardware to load the program. Believe it or not, the ABBUC Software Ressort, as well as all ABBUC members, will do a “Quality” and “Compatibility” check of all registered contest programs... 3) Format and Languages: The software-contest programs can be send as 5,25” Atari disk(s) or as ATR-image(s), but they must use Single (90k) or Enhanced (130k) density. Furthermore, the program must have a short documentation, this can be included in the program (internally) or as a separate text-file (externally). It is therefore important, that one uses german or at least english language (and explains shortly how the program has to be loaded), so that everyone can handle the program. All Atari 8Bit compatible languages are allowed as programming languages, but all of them have to be compiled in the end, so that one can load the program without having to own a certain programming language. The only exceptions here are Atari Basic and Turbo Basic XL source listings, since every Atari user owns these languages. Lastly one needn’t supply any source-codes for the contest programs, the finished loadable or executable program is enough... Happy programming wishes the ABBUC Software Ressort !! (CharlieChaplin / Andreas Magenheimer) -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, you know, the ABBUC software contest is going to have another run 2005 (the deadline has been set for August 31, 2005). Maybe if you finish your game before that time, you wanna take part in the contest, Analmux ?!? greetings from ABBUC - Andreas.

Heya, maybe you want to take part in the ABBUC software contest 2005 ?!? Your game looks promising... greetings, Andreas.

Well, is there already a fix for "Bandits" available, so it loads on the XL/XE computers without the translator disk ?!? And how about the "Tail of Beta Lyrae" ?!? -Andreas.

Well, since TT-DOS is a product from Poland you should ask that in the atari-area forum to get an answer ( www.atariarea.histeria.pl ). I have TT-DOS in my collection but did not use it yet... -andreas.

Well, I guess that AR - The dungeon works on Atari 800. It is only a guess, since I do not own an Atari 800, I have an 800XL with a) original 800XL Os and b) good old Atari 800 OS. When I load AR the Dungeon with the XL Os, it says something like "64k mode" and loads the game. When I switch to the 800 OS, the screen says something like "48k mode" and also loads the game... and if you happen to have a 128k machine (130XE or compatible) it will show "128k mode" and also load the game. The difference between the 64k and 128k mode is clear: in the 128k mode the main program is loaded into the extra RAM (or Ramdisk) and is always there after a disk-swap. Whereas in the 64k mode the main program has to be loaded from disk, meaning when you leave a shop (or something) you have to swap disks again, to load the main program from disk... Have not found out yet the difference between the 48k and 64k mode though... -Andreas.

well, I guess this program describes what Gamelink 1 (by dataque) does. It links two Ataris together via the Joystick ports. One atari acts as the master, the other Atari as a slave which boots (very fast) from the master system. alas, only two games were made for Gamelink 1 (Tic Tac two and Battleships). Later Dataque developed a new Gamelink-2 system which works via the SIO ports and links 2-8 Ataris together. For this technique we already have 4 or five games available... Alas, the gamelink hardware has one big disadvantage: the software must be programmed in a special way to work with the gamelink network, i.e. the program must contain code to boot from another Atari computer which is not very easy to make... All other software that is not programmed especially for the gamelink network simply will not work with it - and concerning the printed program here, I guess it has much likely the same problem... -Andreas.

Well, your screenshots look great...!!! hopefully the game will once be available for the A8... Besides, there once was a Battlestar Galactica ML file in a german magazine (by Tronic Verlag). It was programmed by Carsten Reitz, the game is PD now, but in my eyes it is quite awful and unplayable. If you are interested in a copy, let me know... -Andreas.

Em er, well - can somebody please send me a copy of the color version (gr. 15 / PAL) of PCS ?? It looks like the boards created with the color version of PCS cannot be loaded with the mono version (I always get Error 136 or Error 164)... And as you all know, the color version (Gr. 15) is only available as a pirate copy (there exists no original version of it, e.g. the original version is only mono)... greetings, Andreas. P.S.: Send the color version of PCS to amp#abbuc*de (where # is @ and * is .)

Hello folks, here is a little Atari Ramdisk / extra RAM overview (still incomplete) and some examples,, what programs support or require a Ramdisk / extra RAM: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject 8.10: Atari 800/XL/XE extra RAM / Ramdisk Overview: (Version 3.3 from November 2004 by A.M.) A) Atari 400/800 Ramdisks: - Size: 64k XRAM (+ 32k RAM) Banks: 0 thru 3 (total memory = 96k RAM) Types: Axlon (=Atari) and compatibles; - Size: 128k XRAM (+ 32k RAM) Banks: 0 thru 7 (total memory = 160k RAM) Types: Axlon (= Atari) and compatibles; - Size: 256k XRAM (+ 32k RAM) Banks: 0 thru 15 (total memory = 288k RAM) Types: D. Byrd and other selfmade / Axlon-compatible RDs; - Size: 512k XRAM (+ 32k RAM) Banks: 0 thru 31 (total memory = 544k RAM) Types: selfmade / Axlon-compatible Ramdisks; - Size: 1024k XRAM (+ 32k RAM) Banks: 0 thru 63 (total memory = 1056k RAM) Types: selfmade / Axlon-compatible Ramdisks; - Size: 2048k XRAM (+ 32k RAM) Banks: 0 thru 127 (total memory = 2080k RAM) Types: selfmade / Axlon-compatible Ramdisks; - Size: 4096k XRAM (+32k RAM) Banks: 0 thru 255 (total memory = 4128k RAM) Types: selfmade / Axlon-compatible Ramdisks; => Note that all so-called Axlon "compatible" (256k-4096k) Ramdisks normally do not homebank when RESET is pressed (a fix should be available somewhere), whereas original Axlon Ramdisks do homebank properly !! (Special thanks to Lee Barnes for this note !!) B) XL/XE - 64k base RAM plus XRAM: - Size: 64k (total = 128k RAM, 4 banks) - Banks: E3, E7, EB, EF (block E = 1 block * 4 banks) - Types: 130XE-Ramdisk, Turbo-Freezer-XL + 64k, selfmade-ramdisks... - Size: 128k (total = 192k RAM, 8 banks) - Banks: A3,A7,AB,AF,E3,E7,EB,EF (blocks AE = 2 blocks * 4 banks) - Types: Compyshop 600XL with 192k, Turbo-Freezer-XL + 128k, selfmade-RDs... - Size: 256k / 26AE (total = 320k RAM, 16 banks) - Banks: 23,27,2B,2F,63,67,6B,6F,A3,A7,AB,AF,E3,E7,EB,EF (blocks 26AE, = 4 blocks * 4 banks) - Types: Compyshop 800XL RD., Compyshop 130XE RD., Peters/David Megaram 1, Peters/David Megaram 2, Peters/David Megaram 3 with 256k, selfmade RDs... - Size: 256k / 8ACE (total = 320k RAM, 16 banks) - Banks: 83,87,8B,8F,A3,A7,AB,AF,C3,C7,CB,CF,E3,E7,EB,EF (blocks 8ACE = 4 blocks * 4 banks) - Types: Newell, Rambo-XL, Scott Peterson, Atari Magazin, TOMS, selfmade-RDs... - Size: 512k / 26AE (total = 576k RAM, 32 banks) - Banks: 21,23,25,27,29,2B,2D,2F,61,63,65,67,69,6B,6D,6F, A1,A3,A5,A7,A9,AB,AD,AF,E1,E3,E5,E7,E9,EB,ED,EF (blocks 26AE = 4 blocks * 8 banks) - Types: none (that I know of) at the moment - but possible! - Size: 512k / 8ACE (total = 576k RAM, 32 banks) - Banks: 81,83,85,87,89,8B,8D,8F,A1,A3,A5,A7,A9,AB,AD,AF, C1,C3,C5,C7,C9,CB,CD,CF,E1,E3,E5,E7,E9,EB,ED,EF (blocks 8ACE = 4 blocks * 8 banks) - Types: Scott Peterson, TOMS, selfmade-RDs... - Size: 512k / 02468ACE (total = 576k RAM, 32 banks) - Banks: 03,07,0B,0F,23,27,2B,2F,43,47,4B,4F,63,67,6B,6F, 83,87,8B,8F,A3,A7,AB,AF,C3,C7,CB,CF,E3,E7,EB,EF; (blocks 02468ACE = 8 blocks * 4 banks) - Types: 1) upgrade / combination of 26AE and 8ACE ramdisk types to 512k RAM or to *one* 02468ACE ramdisk; idea by me, built by Bernhard Pahl (see his homepage at http://www.b-pahl.de/atari8bit/ramdisk) 2) Upgrade of the Rambo XL to 512k by Dan Schmid (see Pooldisk Too, Subdir ACE/ Acec202a.ATR and Acec202b.ATR) and of course 3) selfmade ramdisks... - Size: 1024k / 02468ACE (total = 1088k RAM, 64 banks) - Banks: 01,03,05,07,09,0B,0D,0F,21,23,25,27,29,2B,2D,2F 41,43,45,47,49,4B,4D,4F,61,63,65,67,69,6B,6D,6F 81,83,85,87,89,8B,8D,8F,A1,A3,A5,A7,A9,AB,AD,AF C1,C3,C5,C7,C9,CB,CD,CF,E1,E3,E5,E7,E9,EB,ED,EF (blocks 02468ACE = 8 blocks * 8 banks) - Types: Newell, Scott Peterson, TOMS, Satantronic`s 1MB- PC-SIMM-RD, selfmade-RDs... - Size: 1024k / 26AE (total = 1088k RAM, 64 banks) - Banks: EF,EE,ED,EC,EB,EA,E9,E8,E7,E6,E5,E4,E3,E2,E1,E0 AF,AE,AD,AC,AB,AA,A9,A8,A7,A6,A5,A4,A3,A2,A1,A0 6F,6E,6D,6C,6B,6A,69,68,67,66,65,64,63,62,61,60 2F,2E,2D,2C,2B,2A,29,28,27,26,25,24,23,22,21,20 (blocks 26AE = 4 blocks * 16 banks) - Types: Mathy van Nisselroy`s 1024k XEGS-PC-SIMM-Upgrade! (with some changes probably also usable for XL and XE, see also: http://www.mathy-van-nisselroy.nl) - Size: 1024k / 8ACE (total = 1088k RAM, 64 banks) - Banks: EF,EE,ED,EC,EB,EA,E9,E8,E7,E6,E5,E4,E3,E2,E1,E0 CF,CE,CD,CC,CB,CA,C9,C8,C7,C6,C5,C4,C3,C2,C1,C0 AF,AE,AD,AC,AB,AA,A9,A8,A7,A6,A5,A4,A3,A2,A1,A0 8F,8E,8D,8C,8B,8A,89,88,87,86,85,84,83,88,81,80 (blocks 8ACE = 4 blocks * 16 banks) - Types: none (that I know of) at the moment - but possible! - Size: 1024k / 0123456789ABCDE (total = 1088k RAM, 64 banks) - Banks: blocks 0123456789ABCDE each with 4 banks = 16 blocks * 4 banks (does not make much sense, but...) - Types: luckily, none at the moment... - Size: 1024k / ??? (max. memory = 1088k, 64 banks) - Port-Bits / Control-Bits: $D301 = 2,3,6,7 $D600 = 0,1 (or switches); - Banks: $D301: 23,27,2B,2F,63,67,6B,6F,A3,A7,AB,AF,E3,E7,EB,EF $D600: F3,F7,FB,FF... - Types: David/Peters Megaram 3 with 1024k RAM (and the switches positioned to 1 x 1024k) - Size: 2048k / 02468ACE (total = 2112k, 128 banks) - Banks: 00,01,02,03,04,05,06,07,08,09,0A,0B,0C,0D,0E,0F 20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,2A,2B,2C,2D,2E,2F 40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,4A,4B,4C,4D,4E,4F 60,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,6A,6B,6C,6D,6E,6F 80,81,82,83,84,85,86,87,88,89,8A,8B,8C,8D,8E,8F A0,A1,A2,A3,A4,A5,A6,A7,A8,A9,AA,AB,AC,AD,AE,AF C0,C1,C2,C3,C4,C5,C6,C7,C8,C9,CA,CB,CC,CD,CE,CF E0,E1,E2,E3,E4,E5,E6,E7,E8,E9,EA,EB,EC,ED,EE,EF (blocks 02468ACE = 8 blocks * 16 banks) - Types: selfmade-Ramdisks... - Size: 2048k / 0123456789ABCDEF (total = 2112k, 128 banks) - Banks: 01,03,05,07,09,0B,0D,0F,11,13,15,17,19,1B,1D,1F, 21,23,25,27,29,2B,2D,2F,31,33,35,37,39,3B,3D,3F, 41,43,45,47,49,4B,4D,4F,51,53,55,57,59,5B,5D,5F, 61,63,65,67,69,6B,6D,6F,71,73,75,77,79,7B,7D,7F, 81,83,85,87,89,8B,8D,8F,91,93,95,97,99,9B,9D,9F, A1,A3,A5,A7,A9,AB,AD,AF,B1,B3,B5,B7,B9,BB,BD,BF, C1,C3,C5,C7,C9,CB,CD,CF,D1,D3,D5,D7,D9,DB,DD,DF, E1,E3,E5,E7,E9,EB,ED,EF,F1,F3,F5,F7,F9,FB,FD,FF; (blocks 0123456789ABCDEF = 16 blocks * 8 banks) - Types: selfmade-Ramdisks... - Size: 4096k / 0123456789ABCDEF (total = 4160k, 256 banks) - Banks: 00,01,02,03,04,05,06,07,08,09,0A,0B,0C,0D,0E,0F 10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,1A,1B,1C,1D,1E,1F 20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,2A,2B,2C,2D,2E,2F 30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,3A,3B,3C,3D,3E,3F 40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,4A,4B,4C,4D,4E,4F 50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59,5A,5B,5C,5D,5E,5F 60,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,6A,6B,6C,6D,6E,6F 70,71,72,73,74,75,76,77,78,79,7A,7B,7C,7D,7E,7F 80,81,82,83,84,85,86,87,88,89,8A,8B,8C,8D,8E,8F 90,91,92,93,94,95,96,97,98,99,9A,9B,9C,9D,9E,9F A0,A1,A2,A3,A4,A5,A6,A7,A8,A9,AA,AB,AC,AD,AE,AF B0,B1,B2,B3,B4,B5,B6,B7,B8,B9,BA,BB,BC,BD,BE,BF C0,C1,C2,C3,C4,C5,C6,C7,C8,C9,CA,CB,CC,CD,CE,CF D0,D1,D2,D3,D4,D5,D6,D7,D8,D9,DA,DB,DC,DD,DE,DF E0,E1,E2,E3,E4,E5,E6,E7,E8,E9,EA,EB,EC,ED,EE,EF F0,F1,F2,F3,F4,F5,F6,F7,F8,F9,FA,FB,FC,FD,FE,FF (blocks 0123456789ABCDEF = 16 blocks * 16 banks) - Types: Newell, FTE, selfmade-Ramdisks... Well, I will not go into details with the disadvantages and software-problems with ramdisks beyond 512k RAM (Selftest, XL/XE Basic, RAM under the OS, separate Antic access, etc.). These problems mostly occur with 1 Megabyte or bigger ramdisks and there are several hardware and software solutions for them, alas not working correct with every software or program. With 4 Megabyte extra RAM / Ramdisk, the PIA is fully used/adressed, so that normally the base RAM at 4000-7FFF is not available any longer. But again, there are tricks and solutions to solve this problem. Installing a second PIA for example makes it possible to adress up to 256 Megabytes of extra RAM / Ramdisk - but who needs so much RAM on the Atari 8Bit computer ??? C) XL/XE - XRAM minus 64k Base-RAM: - Size: 192k / 8AE (total = 256k RAM, usable = 12 banks) - Banks: 83,87,8B,8F,A3,A7,AB,AF,E3,E7,EB,EF (8AE = 3 blocks * 4 banks) - Types: older Newell ramdisks (replace 64k by 256k); - Size: 192k / ACE (total = 256k RAM, usable = 12 banks) - Banks: A3,A7,AB,AF,C3,C7,CB,CF,E3,E7,EB,EF (ACE = 3 blocks * 4 banks) - Types: newer Newell RDs, newer Buchholz-RDs, Rambo-XL, selfmade Ramdisks (replace 64k by 256k)... - Size: 448k / 2468ACE (total = 512k, usable = 28 banks) - Banks: EF,EB,E7,E3,CF,CB,C7,C3,AF,AB,A7,A3,8F,8B,87,83 6F,6B,67,63,4F,4B,47,43,2F,2B,27,23 (2468ACE = 7 blocks * 4 banks) - Types: selfmade-RDs (replace 64k by 512k)... - Size: 896k? / 0248ACE (total = 1024k, usable = 56 banks) - Banks: EF,ED,EB,E9,E7,E5,E3,E1,CF,CD,CB,C9,C7,C5,C3,C1, AF,AD,AB,A9,A7,A5,A3,A1,8F,8D,8B,89,87,85,83,81, 4F,4D,4B,49,47,45,43,41,2F,2D,2B,29,27,25,23,21, 0F,0D,0B,09,07,05,03,01 (0248ACE = 7 blocks * 8 banks) - Types: Bob Woolley`s 1200XL 1MB Upgrade, selfmade-RDs (replace 64k by 1024k)... Allthough these RAM upgrades are relatively easy to build (and to install into the computer), they make problems with quite some software. Some programs tend to use the base RAM as extra RAM / Ramdisk with these upgrades, which will most often result in a crash of the computer. Next, most extra RAM testers will show more extra RAM (or a bigger Ramdisk) than there is really available (e.g. with a 256k upgrade you will see 240k extra RAM, but there is only 64k base RAM + 192k extra RAM). Alas, this is a typical hardware problem for these upgrades and it cannot be solved or avoided with software... D) XL/XE: Parallel-Bus-Devices: (600XL/800XL = Parallel Bus, XE = Cart.-Port + ECI) - Size: 128k / AE (total = 192k RAM, 8 banks) - Banks: A3,A7,AB,AF,E3,E7,EB,EF (blocks AE = 2 blocks * 4 banks) - Types: Turbo-Freezer-XL by Bernhard Engl with 128k XRAM - Size: 256k / 9ABE (total = 320k RAM, 16 banks) - Banks: 93,97,9B,9F,A3,A7,AB,AF,B3,B7,BB,BF,E3,E7,EB,EF (blocks 9ABE = 4 blocks * 4 banks) - Types: Turbo-Freezer-XL by Bernhard Engl with 256k XRAM - Size: 256k / ??? (total = 320k RAM, 16 banks) - Banks: unknown !! - Types: Yorky-XL by Richard Gore / Derek Fern (from GB/UK) with 256k XRAM - Size: 256k / ??? (total = 320k RAM, 16 banks) - Banks: unknown !! - Types: Multi-Input-Output-Harddisk-Interface (MIO) with 256k XRAM by ICD - Size: 1024k / ??? (total = 1088k RAM, 64 banks) - Banks: unknown !! - Types: Multi-Input-Output-Harddisk-Interface (MIO) with 1024k XRAM by ICD E) XL/XE: RAM/Flash-ROM/... Cartridges: - Rambox II with 256k RAM by JRC (Czech Republic; with special Ramdisk drivers for TT-DOS and Bewe-DOS!) - Ramcart 128k by ??? (Poland or Czech Republic) - Ramcart 256k by ??? (Poland or Czech Republic) (for some hints and pics see: www2.asw.cz/~kubecj/acarts.htm) - Flash-ROM cart. 512k by Stefan Dorndorf (Never released! But I do own a non-functional prototype-pcb; it should have used 64k for the OS and the remaining 448k as user-memory; the chip was organized in 64k blocks, thus the min. program space would always have been 64kbytes!) - Flash-ROM cart 128k / 1Mbit "Atarimax" by Stephen Tucker (allthough they are not usable as extra RAM / Ramdisk at the moment, I am quite sure that it is possible to write some drivers and thus use the Atarimax Flash-ROM carts as extremely fast floppy drives!) - Flash-ROM cart 1024k / 8Mbit "Atarimax" by Stephen Tucker (for information and complete documentation plus software see: www.atarimax.com/flashcart/documentation/index.html ) - and many others I do not know and I do not have any info about; Even cartridges can be used as Ramdisks (= fast floppy drives), especially RAM-carts or Flash-RAM carts. But they function like most other Super- or Mega-Carts, meaning the bank-switching techniques are also used there. Since the subject carts and bank-switching carts is quite enormous, I will not discuss it or present any information here. Just try to find a large description by John K. Picken ("RAM/ROM Control on an XL/XE") if interested in that subject (e.g. at Jindrich Kubec`s homepage: www2.asw.cz/kubecj/... ). Finally thanks and credits for this subject and lots of (used / borrowed) information therefore go to: Lee Barnes, Russ Gilbert, Mathy van Nisselroy, Erhard Puetz, Mathias Reichl, Ron Hamilton, Wes Newell, Guy Ferrante, XI of Satantronic, Bernhard Pahl and Walter Lojek. Also thanks to John K. Picken who wrote an excellent article about A8 extra RAM / Ramdisks and A8 cartridges and their technique of bank-switching. Well, if you still find errors, bugs, mistakes, etc. in this list, then tell me *nicely* or in a friendly way. Any updates and corrections can be send to: [email protected] -Andreas Magenheimer ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.11 Ramdisk-supporting Software: (This is version 3.3 from November 2004 by A.M.) a) support for 64k Ramdisks (RD-block E): DOS 2.5 (Atari), Bewe-DOS 1.x (Bewesoft), Bibo-DOS 5.x (Compyshop), Bibo-DOS 6.x (Compyshop), DOS II+D Version 6.x (Stefan Dorndorf), DOS XE 1.x (Atari), DOS XF (Reitershan), My-DOS 3.x (Wordmark), My-DOS 4.x (Wordmark), Sparta DOS 2.x (ICD), Sparta DOS 3.x (ICD/FTE), Sparta DOS 3.3x (Stephen J. Carden), Sparta DOS 4.x (cart., John Hardie? or John Harris?), Super DOS 2.x (Paul Nichols), Super DOS 5.x (Paul Nichols), Top DOS 1.x (R.K. Bennett), Turbo DOS 1.x (Reitershan), Turbo-DOS 2.x (Reitershan), X-DOS 2.x (Stefan Dorndorf), A-Base (???), ABBUC-Magazine Intro 52 (Karolij N./Heaven), ABBUC Magazine Intro 55 (Karolij N./Heaven), Adalmar (Falk Buettner/PPP), Alphasys-Sound-Sampler-Software (Mirage/ANG), A.R. The Dungeon (Philipp Price/Datasoft), A-Text (???), Atari Writer 80 (Atari), Atari Writer Plus (Atari), Basic-XE (OSS/ICD/FTE), Bop N'Wrestle (Mindscape), The Brundles (KE-Soft), Datei 4.x (Norbert Schlia), Desktop Atari (HBSF), Diskcomm. 3.x (by Bob Puff, under Sparta or MyDOS answer "use 130XE RAM?" with "N" and use your XRAM as Ramdisk D8: or D9: when formatted previously with a RD-driver!), Diskworker (Petsoft), Extended Atari Basic (???), Extended Turbo Basic (???), Fampy 2.3 (Wolfgang Freitag/Friday), Fampy 6.1 (Wolfgang Freitag/ Friday), Grafik+Sound Demo (Peter Sabath), Howfen DOS 3.x (???), Howfen DOS 4.x (???), Howfen Tape to Disk (???), Human Torch & the Thing (Questprobe/Saga+Marvel), Inertia 2.9 (MadTeam), I.K. Plus Demo (???), Megablast 1 (Thorsten Karwoth), Mental Age (???), Midi Mate II (Hybrid Arts), Midi Pattern Editor (Radek Sterba/Raster), Midi-Player (Ireneusz Kuczek), Midi Recorder (Ireneusz Kuczek), Midi Sequencer (Maciej Sygit), MSC-IDE Software (M. Belitz, S. Birrmanns), The Muppet Movie (MadTeam), Page-Designer (XLent), Paperclip II (Batteries Included), Spiderman (Questprobe/Saga+Marvel), Sweet Fantasy (Tight), The Browser (Tom Hunt / CTH), Theta Music Composer 2.x (Jaskier/Taquart), The Top 3 Demo (dancing girl part "Veronika" by WFMH), Typesetter (XLent), The X-Files [Picture] Demo (Shpoon) and most Text-Editors (e.g. Speedscript, Antic Writer, T-Edit, Page 6 Writer, Compyshop-Editor, Textpro, etc.) as long as they are running under a DOS 2.x (DOS 2 derivative) or Sparta / Bewe DOS and the appropriate Ramdisk-driver; b) support for 128k Ramdisks (ramdisk blocks AE): DOS 2.5 (Atari), Bewe-DOS 1.x (Bewesoft), Bibo-DOS 5.x (Compyshop), Bibo-DOS 6.x (Compyshop), DOS II+D Version 6.x (Stefan Dorndorf), DOS XF (Reitershan), My-DOS 3.x (Wordmark), My-DOS 4.x (Wordmark), Sparta DOS 2.x (ICD), Sparta DOS 3.x (ICD/FTE), Sparta DOS 3.3x (Stephen J. Carden), Sparta DOS 4.x (cart., John Hardie? or John Harris?), Super DOS 2.x (Paul Nichols), Super DOS 5.x (Paul Nichols), Top DOS 1.x (R. K. Bennett), Turbo DOS 1.x (Reitershan), Turbo-DOS 2.x (Reitershan), X-DOS 2.x (Stefan Dorndorf), The Brundles (KE-Soft), Datei 4.x (Norbert Schlia), Fampy 2.3 (Wolfgang Freitag/Friday), Fampy 6.1 (Wolfgang Freitag/Friday), Inertia 2.9 (MadTeam), Midi Pattern Editor (Radek Sterba/Raster), Midi Player (I. Kuczek), Midi Recorder (I. Kuczek), Midi Sequencer (M. Sygit), The Browser (Tom Hunt/CTH), Diskcom. 3.x (By bob Puff, under Sparta or MyDOS answer "use 130XE RAM?" with "N" and use your XRAM as Ramdisk D8: or d9: when formatted previously with a RD driver!) and most Text-Editors (e.g. Speedscript, Antic Writer, T-Edit, Page 6 Writer, Compyshop-Editor, Textpro, etc.) as long as they are running under a DOS 2.x (any DOS 2 derivative) or Sparta / Bewe DOS and (formatted previously with) the appropriate Ramdisk-driver; c) support for 192k Ramdisks (ramdisk blocks ACE): Bewe-DOS 1.x (Bewesoft), Bibo-DOS 5.x (Compyshop), Bibo-DOS 6.x (Compyshop), DOS II+D Version 6.x (Stefan Dorndorf), DOS XF (Reitershan), My-DOS 4.x (Wordmark), Sparta DOS 2.x (ICD), Sparta DOS 3.x (ICD/FTE), Sparta DOS 3.3x (Stephen J. Carden), Sparta DOS 4.x (cart., John Hardie? or John Harris?), Super DOS 5.x (Paul Nichols), Turbo DOS 1.x (Reitershan), Turbo-DOS 2.x (Reitershan), X-DOS 2.x (Stefan Dorndorf), Diskcom. 3.x (by Bob Puff, under Sparta or MyDOS, answer "use 130XE RAM" with "N" and use your XRAM as Ramdisk D8: or D9: when formatted previously with a Ramdisk driver!), The Browser (Tom Hunt/CTH, Sparta DOS only!) and most Text- Editors (e.g. Speedscript, Antic Writer, T-Edit, Page 6 Writer, Compyshop- Editor, Textpro, etc.) as long as they are running under a DOS 2.x (DOS 2 derivative) or Sparta / Bewe DOS and (formatted previously with) the appropriate Ramdisk driver; d) support for 256k Ramdisks (blocks 8ACE and/or 26AE): Bewe-DOS 1.x (Bewesoft, 8ACE and 26AE), Bibo-DOS 5.x (Compyshop, 8ACE and 26AE), Bibo-DOS 6.x (Compyshop, 8ACE and 26AE), DOS II+D Version 6.x (Stefan Dorndorf, 8ACE and 26AE), DOS XF (Reitershan, 8ACE and 26AE), My-DOS 4.x (Wordmark, 8ACE and 26AE), Sparta DOS 2.x (ICD, 8ACE and 26AE), Sparta DOS 3.x (ICD/FTE, 8ACE and 26AE), Sparta DOS 3.3x (Stephen J. Carden, 8ACE and 26AE), Sparta DOS 4.x (cart., John Hardie? or John Harris?, 8ACE and 26AE), Super DOS 5.x (Paul Nichols, 8ACE and 26AE), Turbo DOS 1.x (Reitershan, 8ACE and 26AE), Turbo DOS 2.x (Reitershan, 8ACE and 26AE), X-DOS 2.x (Stefan Dorndorf, 8ACE and 26AE), Anime 4ever (Sente Software Group, 8ACE), The Brundles (KE-Soft, 26AE), Datei 4.x (Norbert Schlia, 26AE), The Browser (Tom Hunt/CTH), Diskcommunicator 3.x (by Bob Puff, under Sparta or MyDOS, answer "use 130XE RAM" with "N" and use your XRAM as Ramdisk D8: or D9: when formatted previously with a RD driver!) and most Text-Editors (e.g. Speedscript, Antic Writer, T-Edit, Page 6 Writer, Compyshop-Editor, Textpro, etc.) as long as they are running under Bibo DOS, Turbo DOS, My-DOS or Sparta DOS and (formatted previously with) the appropriate Ramdisk-driver; e) support for up to 1 Megabyte Ramdisks: My-DOS 4.x (Wordmark), Sparta-DOS 2.x (ICD), Sparta DOS 3.x (ICD/FTE), Sparta DOS 3.3x (Stephen J. Carden), Sparta DOS 4.x (cart., John Hardie? or John Harris?), The Browser (under Sparta DOS 2.x, 3.x and 4.x), Diskcom 3.x (by Bob Puff, under Sparta or MyDOS, answer "use 130XE RAM" with "N" and use your XRAM as Ramdisk D8: or D9: when formatted previously with a RD driver!) and most Text-Editors (e.g. Speedscript, Antic Writer, T-Edit, Page 6 Writer, Compyshop-Editor, Textpro, etc.) as long as they are running under My-DOS or Sparta DOS and (formatted previously with) the appropriate Ramdisk-driver; Thanks and credits for this subject go to: Bernhard Pahl, Russ Gilbert, Ron Hamilton and Mathy van Nisselroy for sharing some info with me. -A.M. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.12 Atari-programs that require Extra-RAM / Ramdisk: (This is version 3.3 from November 2004 by A.M.) a) 64k XRAM required (block E or simply 130XE): 130XE-Bank/Memory-Testers (various programs+authors), 130XE Sectorcopiers (various programs from Antic, Analog, Happy Computer, etc.), 130XE Utilities (HAPS PD 0031), 130XE-Artshow (HAPS PD 0013), 130XE-Autoshow (ABBUC PD 191, HAPS PD 0637), 130XE-Demo (S.A.G.), 130XE-Impossible-Demo (Rudy Haegemann), Atari Writer Plus Super Menu (Ken Siders), Amiga-Boink XE (Bob Armour), Animkomials meet Boris Valleyo (Animkomials+Boris Valleyo), Boot Majster (Electron), Boss-X (Mirko Sobe, with MyDOS it supports up to 1 Megabyte XRAM/Ramdisk and subdirs and up to 16 Megabyte harddisk partitions), Boss-XE (Mirko Sobe, with MyDOS it supports up to 1 Megabyte XRAM/Ramdisk), Bill-Pie-Demo (Mad Team, supports up to 256k XRAM: AE/8ACE), BMW-Animation (Mirko Sobe), CES-XE-Demo (original 130XE version with 580 sectors by XANTH), Comet-Ani (MadTeam, supports up to 256k XRAM: AE/8ACE), Critical-Sound-Demo (Innovative), Coolcopy 130XE (???/authors unknown), CAD-XE (HAPS-PD 0350), Castle of Blackthorne (Thimo Graef), Cavepack (XE-Version by Kemal Ezcan), Computer Baseball (Douglas Blackwell), Danielle-(Gr.9-TB-)Ani (NBS/Bill Kendrick), Degas-View-XE (Mat*Rat/Mathew Ratcliff), Diskcomm. 3.x (by Bob Puff, if you want to answer "use your 130XE RAM?" with "Y", then 64k XRAM are required!), Diskettenverwaltung 130XE (ABBUC PD 86), Draw XE (ABBUC PD 387), Ergo- Bibamus (Quasimodos, has RD-setup!), Extract Slideshow (Replay/Bit Busters), Fraktale & Colorprint (Peter Woetzel), Gizmo`s Castle (XE-version by M. Kugler), Grafik Zeilen Editor (HAPS PD 0296), Hi-Res Designer (HAPS PD 0015), Hires Dump (ABBUC PD 113), Inertia 3.8 (MadTeam, supports up to 256k XRAM: 8ACE and 26AE with any DOS), Inertia 4.5 (MadTeam, supports up to 1 Megabyte XRAM: 8ACE and 26AE with any DOS), Igor Demo (MadTeam, diskside 1), Isolation Demo (MEC), Journey (Boot version by Polynomials, up to 256k XRAM: AE/26AE), Journey (File version by MadTeam, up to 192k XRAM: AE/ACE/8ACE/26AE), Journey into Sound (DGS/Dean Garaghty), Kaiser II (128k version by Carsten Strotmann), Killer Whales Ani (MadTeam, supports up to 256k XRAM: AE/8ACE), Lajf-Demo (MadTeam), Landscape-XE-Demo (Karl Pelzer), Megablast-Sounddemo (DGS/Dean Garaghty), MTV`s-Danielle = Danielle-Ani., Macro-Assembler XE (Thorsten Karwoth), Macro-Assembler-XE+ (Thorsten Karwoth, works with MyDOS only, supports up to 1 Megabyte XRAM), Masher-XE V1.0 (???/author unknown, supports up to 256k XRAM: E/AE/ACE/8ACE), Memdrv10 (Andre Bertram, tests up to 4 Megabyte XRAM, all portbits, standard 16k banks and exotic 32k banks, standard Port B $D301 and exotic Port B $D600), Menu 130 (Les Howarth), Midi Mate III (Hybrid Arts), Minesweeper 1-4 (4 game versions by J.R.Chicko/S.A.S.), Mister X (Stefan Soelbrandt), Monitors, Debuggers & more (HAPS PD 0109), Multi-DOS 130 (Kuchera/Excellent), Multi-Tasking-OS (various ABBUC magazines), MTOS XE (CTH/Tom Hunt), [Der] Neffe (XE-version or ABBUC PD 52), Neo-Tracker (EPI/Allegresse, runs only under MyDOS, TopDOS or Sparta DOS 4.X cart., supports up to 1MB XRAM), [The] Newspaper-Editor (HAPS PD 0294, similar to ABBUC PD 121 but this HAPS/Bellcom version is in english!), Nascar-Animation (Mirko Sobe), Nonjm Demo (TIGHT), Owca-Demo (Animkomials), Owca-2-Demo (Animkomials), Oelbaron (XE-version by ???/author unknown), Programm Verwaltung 130XE (HAPS PD 0434), Protracker 1.5 (MadTeam, supports up to 256k XRAM: 8ACE and 26AE, with any DOS), Parrot-XMAS-Demo (Anthony Ramos), Pedrokko-Sounddemos (Pedrokko, 10 Disks / 20 S.), Rechnen fuer Kinder (ABBUC PD 85), Rund um die Ramdisk (ABBUC PD 383, HAPS PD 1084), Raving Vierpz (Pentagram), Raytracing Animation (Karl Pelzer), Sample-Art-XE (Mozart/WSL, supports up to 1 Megabyte XRAM, alas it is buggy!), Shrink-XE (Peter Fitzsimmons), [The] Small Printery (Walter Lojek, supports up to 1 Megabyte XRAM: 8ACE and 26AE), Snapshot (???/author unknown), [The] Sound Utility (CTH/Tom Hunt, supports up to 1 Megabyte XRAM: E/ACE/8ACE, bug-free only under Sparta DOS!), Space Harrier (Sheddy/Chris Hutt), Strategy Baseball (HAPS PD 0302), Super-Print-Lab-XE (HAPS PD 0909), Sweet Fantasy (Tight), Shiny-Bubbles (XE version by Brian Paul), T-34 (ANG/Mirage), Tape-Copy 130 (Joerg Gernreich), Tape-Ramdisk-Drivers (Pokey & SAG), Text-130 (B. Russmann), Textpro "+" (e.g. 4.54+ by Ronnie Riche), Textpro 5.x (Ronnie Riche), The Code Cruncher 3.0 (Soused Teat/A.Bienias), The Cruncher 5.0 (MSL/Magnus), The [sparta DOS] Wedge (Ed Bachman), The Works (CTH/Tom Hunt), The Asskicker (Shadows), The Turtles-Demo (Ultra-Software), Total Dazed (Tight), Trip 6 (Shadows), Too Hard 2 (Animkomials), Ultra Demo (Taquart), Vengeance (Excellent), Vent (Excellent+Pentagram), Video Blitz (Helvetica Bold, also requires sep. Antic access!), WAF-Demo (W.A.F., two parts of side 2!), [Die] Wuerttemberger-Disk (ABBUC PD 361, HAPS PD 1050 because side 2 contains the XE-version of Gizmo`s castle!), XL-2 (John K. Picken, supports up to 1MB XRAM, depending on the DOS!), Xyberscape-XE (XE-version by Bill Le Masurier), X-Files Animation-Demo (Mad Team), Zero Demo (New Generation), Zargon XE (ABBUC PD 611, HAPS PD 0485), [Der] Zeitungsredakteur (ABBUC PD 121, german!); b) 128k XRAM required (blocks AE): 192k-Memory-Testers (various programs by various authors), Diskcom. 3.x (by Bob Puff, answer "use your 130XE RAM?" with "Y" and also answer "use additional RAM?" with "Y" to use full 128k XRAM), Igor Demo (MadTeam, diskside 2), Revenge of Hacker (Rasero Team), Too Hard 3 (Animkomials); Note: Quite a lot of 128k programs (block E) do also support 192k memory (blocks AE), just take a look above ! And all the programs that support up to 1 Megabyte XRAM do also support 128k XRAM, see above... c) 192k XRAM required (blocks ACE and others): 256k-Memory-Testers (various programs by various authors), Atari Writer Plus XE + Super Menu (Ken Siders), Dream Vision (ABBUC PD 480), MTOS 256 (CTH/Tom Hunt), American Natives (Fox-1, choose your DOS and RD-driver!), Impossible but Real (MacGyver, has an auto-setup!), Reditus (Zelax, has an auto-setup!), Tit Demo (MadTeam, has an auto-setup!); Note: All programs that support up to 1 Megabyte XRAM do also support 192k XRAM, see above... d) 256k XRAM required (blocks 8ACE or 26AE): 320k-Memory-Testers (various programs by various authors), APC-Archiver 1.0 (LBS/APC, 8ACE only!), APC-Packer 1.1 (LBS/APC, 8ACE only!), Audio/ Studio Master (ANG/Mirage, 26AE only?!), Back to Life 2 (Jaskier/Taquart, has an auto-setup!) Kaiser II (320k version by Carsten Strotmann, 26AE & 8ACE), Multi-DOS 320 (Kuchera/Excellent, 8ACE only?!), Base-33 (AIDS/AIDZ, 26AE & 8ACE, hold down SHIFT upon bootup for setup!), Cogito-Demo (AIDS / AIDZ, uses banks 8C, thus 8ACE only!), Edelweiss-Demo (A.R.+C.S.S.+S.V.L., 26AE), Glasshead Demo (A.R.+C.S.S., 26AE), Halle 1994: The Wormhole (Magic Arts, 26AE), (Atari) Hardware-Demo (A.R.+C.S.S., 26AE), Imperial [sound] Demo (Innovative, 26AE & 8ACE), Khai-Et (AIDS/AIDZ, 26AE & 8ACE, hold down SHIFT upon bootup for setup!), Numen Demo (Taquart, 26AE & 8ACE, has an auto-setup!), P.I.T.-Demo (Quasimodos, 26AE & 8ACE, has an auto-setup!), Raytracing 320k (Elsni/Stephan Elsner, 8ACE only!), Sheol Demo (Bit Busters, 8ACE only!), Stash-98-Demo (Rasero Team, 26AE and 8ACE, in the first menu press A for 8ACE Ramdisks, else press B for second menu - then press C for manual Compyshop setup!), Starwars-Demo (A.R.+C.S.S., 26AE), The Wormhole (Magic Arts, 26AE), Timekeep(er) (New Generation, 8ACE only! wait for depacking!), Too-Hard-4 (Animkomials, 26AE & 8ACE, has an auto- setup!), Trabant Demo (A.R.+C.S.S., 26AE), Worms-Demo (Datri, 8ACE), X-Demo (MadTeam, 26AE), X-Files 2 [TV-Intro] (MadTeam, 26AE & 8ACE); Note: There are some 128k programs that also support 256k XRAM; and all 128k programs that support up to 1 Megabyte XRAM do also support 256k XRAM (8ACE and/or 26AE), see above... e) 512k XRAM required (32 banks): 576k-Memory-Tester (various programs by various authors, e.g. a test program by Scott Peterson); Note: All 128k programs that support up to 1 Megabyte XRAM do also support 512k XRAM, see above... f) 1024k XRAM required (64 banks): 1088k-Memory-Tester (various programs by various authors, e.g. a test program by Newell); Raytracing 1MB (Solocoder of A.C.E., works only on Klaus Peters 1MB-Megaram 3 ! Boot version with 8 disksides; loading time: approximately 17 minutes!); Note: There are quite some 128k programs, that also support up to 1 Megabyte XRAM, see above... g) 2048k XRAM required (128 banks): 2112k-Memory Tester (have not seen one yet!); h) 4096k XRAM required (256 banks): 4160k-Memory-Tester by ICD and later FTE; Thanks and credits for this subject go to Russ Gilbert, Bernhard Pahl, Ron Hamilton and Mathy van Nisselroy for sharing their info with me. Any corrections and/or updates are welcome. - Andreas Magenheimer -------------------------------------------------------------------------- greetings,- Andreas.

Yeah, and Mr. Atari has even converted the whole movie "Tron" to this Gr. 9 movie format. The running / viewing length is 90 minutes with sound! The file length is 289 megabytes (so one has to use a CD or a PC harddisk, but it works). This movie was running live at the ABBUC JHV in Herten (October 23rd 2004)... amazing... -Andreas.

And, here is the second half of my pinball game collection... -Andreas.

So, here is the first half of my pinball collection (6 ED disks)... -Andreas.

Well, to find out which kind of Ramdisk (extra RAM) you have load the program XRAM (version 0.18, 0.19 or 0.21) by Satantronic on your Atari computer. It will display all the available rambanks, so you can find out if your RD belongs to the 8ACE (Newell, Rambo, TOMS,etc.) or to the 26AE (Compyshop, Megaram,etc.) types... -Andreas.

Well, afaik PCS does save created pinballs in one of two possible ways: a) as boards that can be used with the PCS only b) as binaries that can be used without the PCS, by using a DOS or Gamedos When choosing version b), the PCS will create a sort of appended file (length = 243 sectors). Use a DOS and its file copy option or simply a file/multi-file-copier and copy the file onto another disk. It will then have a length of 242 sectors and work fine under every DOS and Gamedos... -Andreas.

Hey Goochman, please post your Ultima (and other) pinballs here at atari-age! The photos look very good... -Andreas. P.S.: Added a color version of the Wrenchien pinballs...

Damn! the attachment was too big (1.2 Megabytes, only 1 Megabyte is allowed). So I have to unzip the stuff and try again later... -Andreas.