bfollowell

Sunday at 01:51 PM

9 minutes ago, THX-1138 said:

It's becoming more and more common not to include the USB power brick, makes sense really if you think about it. As is, they can ship one product, the same thing worldwide. If you add a power brick, you would need to produce a specific product for each country, their various standards and voltages.

Yes and no. Most power bricks for iOS devices are universal and will work darned near any and everywhere. It may make sense from a manufacturing viewpoint, and for saving a buck, but not really for a selling point.

Sunday at 10:06 AM

4 hours ago, Forrest said:

The Atari Gamestation Pro does not ship with a power adapter according to https://atari.com/products/atari-gamestation-pro

Well, I got everything I was supposed to then. Thanks.

It's a really strange decision though. You'd think that they'd want it to be ready to go right out of the package. I mean, they provided the USB-C power cable, just no power brick. While I'm sure there are lots of people with extras lying around the house, I'm sure there are just as many without them.

Sunday at 02:15 AM

Do brand new, unopened units not come with a power adapter?!

My renewed one came with a USB cable, but no power adapter.

Saturday at 02:54 AM

Well, I got my renewed Atari Gamestation Pro today. I haven't had a chance to do much more than open it yet. The weather is supposed to be ugly tomorrow though, so hopefully I'll get a chance to tinker with it then. By appearances, it is all but brand spanking new, so renewed is the right term. It looks exactly like any brand new unit I've seen on any number of unboxing videos. It has everything that is supposed to come with. The only difference I can tell between this unit and a new one is that a new one would've been sealed with tape.

Wednesday at 12:46 PM

That didn't last long. They're already out of stock, online at least. I may checkout my local Kohls when I get home though.

You can buy reconditioned units for $39.97 on Amazon. Only 20 left though. Well, 19 now.

May 21

I'm not sure where to locate these now, but I do know that Lotharek's 64KB SRAM replacement chip completely replaces the whole memory circuit, including the delay chip, so if you can't find a delay chip, you may consider this. They only run about £20 plus shipping. I'm not sure if there is anyone selling his items in the U.K., but I wouldn't be surprised.

https://lotharek.pl/productdetail.php?id=291

May 21

6 hours ago, Jetboot Jack said:

I guess double-hires images are on paper higher resolution than standard hires images on Apple II (where the effective horizontal resolution for colour is 140 pixels due to pixel pairs for artifacting) - but they look kinda blurry to me…

Perhaps I have not seen the best a stock Apple II can do, but so far yet to see a image better than this on an Apple II (non GS)…

sTeVE

I definitely agree, though this was from a homebrew conversion project that started several decades after the commercial demise of our beloved 8-bits. I can't think of too many still images that looked anywhere nearly that good back in the day, even though, obviously, our machines were capable of producing them. It makes you wonder what may have been if even just a fraction of the dedication and know-how that exists today, had existed and been taken advantage of back then.

May 21

2 hours ago, gtortone said:

Hi,
I have just realized that part of issue could be my upscaler (RetroScaler 2x),

I'm waiting for Startech upscaler to test...

I will keep you informed !

Thanks

I see the same sort of alternating lines on my display. Most of the 8-bits I use are modified with a UAV and using composite into a 15-year-old 22" Samsung 720/1080p TV. Now that I think of it, I'm thinking I may gave seen the same sort of alternation with my gen 1 Sophia, but I'm not 100% certain of that. So, anyway, this is definitely nothing out of the ordinary. It typically shows up in pictures or if I get really close to the display, but from a more normal viewing distance of 3'-6', it's barely noticeable, at least to my old eyes.

May 18

I've been wanting an upscaler that would take composite and S-Video as inputs and, while I really like the looks of, and the reviews of the RetroTink devices, those prices leave a lot to be desired. I'd been considering a composite/S-Video add-on for my OSSC, but this has even better priced and sounds like it works pretty well. I think I'm going to have to pick one of these up and give it a try. Thanks for the information!

May 17

I'd be in for this one.

May 10

5 hours ago, Atari-Collector said:

I only seen myAtari selling the nullmodem cable on ebay, and I avoid 'best' since he only uses the most expensive shipping to Canada.

I guess I could take a shot at making one, my hands hurt like hell today, but by the time I order parts I will hopefuly be doing better

I've never dealt with them personally, but I see 8bitclassics seems to sell the 850 modem cable.

https://www.8bitclassics.com/product/atari-850-db-9m-to-modem-db-25m-cable-cx-87-compatible/

May 1

35 minutes ago, spacedmonkeys said:

I put everything back together, decided to try some cartridges I have, with strange results:

Missile Command - worked a few times, but crashed, and no incoming missiles displayed. No sound. Tried a couple more times and got blue screen with cursor.

Asteroids - works but the asteroids seem to be incomplete, no sound.

Basic cart - does not boot (blue screen fixed cursor)

Star Raiders - black screen

Kind of unexpected that those first two carts worked.

Yeah, that is really weird, especially since Star Raiders didn't boot up. It's a good diagnostic cart because of the way it boots. I wouldn't have expected any signs of life from any others at all from what you've described getting from Star Raiders. You have the right group of fellow users on this thread though. If they can't help you get it going, something really major is up. @Beeblebrox is self-taught, but he's acquired a ton of A8 knowledge through trial and error troubleshooting and he has a very good methodology for troubleshooting these old machines. As far as @flashjazzcat goes, you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone anywhere that knows more about the A8 machines than him. If they can't help you get this machine going, it truly is dead.

May 1

I've used an AtariMax SIO2PC USB adapter with their APE and ProSystem softwares, as well as a homemade SIO2USB cable I made using a DTech FTDI USB to TTL Serial 5V Adapter Cable that I ordered from Amazon, link below, using respeQt. I've used these with everything from Windows 7 through Windows 11, all 64-bit versions, and never had any trouble whatsoever. I'm not a Linux user and have zero experience with it, so I can't even hazard a guess as to what your issues may be, but I can confirm that these devices and softwares work fine with "modern" systems and OSes made within the last fifteen years, at least in general. I know I've heard of others using at least some of these with Linux and Mac systems, either natively, or through a Windows emulator, so I know it can be done, but again, I have no direct experience with it.

DTech FTDI USB to TTL Serial 5V Adapter Cable 6 Pin 0.1 inch Pitch Female Socket Header UART IC FT232RL Chip Windows 11 10 8 7 Linux MAC OS (6ft, Black)

April 27

There's enough of us having issues that it sounds like a real issue. Strangely though, I've not experienced a similar issue with either Chrome or Firefox in recent memory.

April 21

Well, for stx files, neither FlashFloppy nor HcX are compatible with stx files directly, unless something has changed recently. There are details somewhere on the HcX website with details on how to convert a disk image to an hcx file or hfe or whatever the native HcX format is. You can convert an stx file to this and it may work. I've done this successfully with some stx files. Your best bet is to find a non-stx version of whatever software you're trying to run and use that.

I'm not aware of any way to run individual files directly from a Gotek.

Also, you seem to be mixing some terminology. You mention HcX firmware and then a FlashFloppy drive. There is no such thing as a FlashFloppy. There are Gotek and Goex drives and there is HcX and FlashFloppy firmware available for both. Your drive will have one or the other installed, but not both. I have the registered version of HcX firmware on my Gotek, so that's what I've used. I don't have much experience with FlashFloppy. I also have zero Mac experience, so I can't help you there either, sorry.

What files/games/software are you attempting to get to run and not having any luck?

April 20

1 hour ago, CommodoreDecker said:

Thanks for info! I wonder if the 520's composite line is faulty or if it's a bad cable. I've zero problems with monitor out when using a VGA cable (e.g. Best Electronics)...

I do have a ST to VGA cable that plugs into my HDMI monitor. The monitor definitely support the signal (I recall reading many LCD sets don't) But the scan doubler/converter would fix that for all... (and work on the Amiga, oh for the days of the A520 adapter LOL, but that's a different story.)

It depends on what 520ST you're talking about. If it's just an original, standard 520ST, I'm fairly certain there isn't a composite line. That whole part of the circuit doesn't exist. If it's a 520STM, a 520STFM, or a 520STE, then it would have the appropriate composite circuitry.

April 20

4 hours ago, Bee said:

Happy wife, happy wife. ... I'm going with it. Salmon swim upstream but many die.

my 2 cents!

You keep your wife happy. Most of those making fun are either in the same boat and trying to pretend they're not, not married, or not happily married. Most wives are extremely wonderful, as long as they're in full control of our balls. My wife gives mine back to me whenever she determines I need them. That arrangement has worked out really well for us for over 15 years and she takes much better care of them than I ever did!

April 16

Isn't there a dll that needs to be dropped into the installation directory to be able to access stx files?

April 14

3 hours ago, phoenixdownita said:

I assume the above wrt hdd and controller is for the mega ste as the 1040ste has neither afaik.

Yes.

April 14

6 hours ago, phoenixdownita said:

1040ste with 4MB seems to hover on the 300us$ and above, just as a reference, no idea with stock 1MB.

You can buy 4 1MB SIMMS for $20 or less, so just the memory shouldn't impact pricing all that much one way or the other. Now, if it's missing HD and/or controller, that's a different story.

April 4

14 hours ago, mozzwald said:

Parts arriving this week to make some more. If you get on the email list you'll get notified when they're available.

I'm using an 800XL with 512k SRAM upgrade and FujiNet, so nothing excessive here. Of the 50 shipped so far, have not heard from anyone blowing the fuse yet.

That's cool that you have some awesome 8-bit products and you're so close.

I guess Peoria and Evansville aren't really all that close, but since my wife grew up in the area and still has family there that we visit occasionally, it feels like it's right next door.

April 2

I've always made my own using Canakit 2.5A Raspberry Pi power adapters.

March 31

9 hours ago, Sean_1970 said:

These might be 5200 images (downloaded so many years ago I honestly cannot remember), so could be I just need to tick the 5200 radio button? Anyway cheers for all the info. I can’t see doing any manual edit, so worst case I’ll just try to source .atr versions 🤷‍♂️

No idea. The machine is too new. Try it and see what happens.

If they're actually 5200 titles, there won't be an atr version, or any other version other than some type of rom/bin/car image.

What titles are you talking about?

March 30

27 minutes ago, pjedavison said:

This from the manual may be of relevance to those having trouble with cartridges. I'm not sure what the relevant extensions/cartridge types are, but perhaps someone can clarify?

(Text for those who can't read the image: "Note: In the unexpected case where a cartridge file (specifically .rom or .bin) files is not identified correctly, you can instruct THE400 Mini to use the correct type by giving the file an extension of .c##, where ## gives the correct cartridge type number. For example .c02")

Yes, this makes it sound like The 400 doesn't support car images or their headers, so, he's going to need to convert his car images to bin or rom without a header and try again. If they still won't work, he'll need to rename using this criteria depending on what cartridge type the image is from.

March 30

Yes and no. They are binaries, but they are not straight dumps. A basic 16KB cart dump would be 16,384 bytes. A 16KB car image; a true car image, not one just renamed to car, would be 16,400 bytes. That 16B header tells the emulator/software/hardware that is using the image what type/brand of cartridge the original cartridge was so that it knows what to do with the cartridge. Not all carts were the same and some had banking schemes and they worked completely different. With a basic bin or rom, you lose this data and many cart images won't run properly.

As far as removing the header, I'm not certain myself. I'm sure you could use a hex editor to take off the 16B header and then save the image back out to bin or rom. I think that you might be able to open a car image in Altirra and then save it back out as a bin or rom without the header, but I'm not 100% certain.

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