bfollowell

xex files are just executable files. It's a modern and fairly recent extension. I'm not sure I've ever read or heard where it came from. You can use just about any file loader or menu disk you want, or just do a binary load in the DOS of your choice.

It doesn't sound like it uses it as a floppy emulator, but actually uses the Model III floppy drive as an Atari floppy drive. I'm sure that's probably what you meant, but it's an important distinction.

Yeah, that one's been going for about ten years. It's not done, but there's steady improvement every few years. It definitely looks beautiful!

Not really, at least not in my experience. I've installed Goteks in three different ST machines and used FlashFloppy and HxC firmware, and had no issues whatsoever with any of them. They all worked flawlessly.

Take it from someone who owns an Ultimate Cart. It is an awesome little device. When I bought it, the AVG cart had just came out and the Ultimate Cart was much better in terms of features and compatibility with the largest number of cartridge types. Step forward a couple of years and the AVG Cart has now surpassed the Ultimate Cart in those same areas. To top it off, the AVG Cart is cheaper. Don't get me wrong. The Ultimate Cart is still an awesome piece of hardware, and I do not regret my decision, but if I were making the same decision today, I would definitely buy the AVG Cart. To top Also, if all you're concerned with is gaming, and you really don't see yourself ever using any apps, or doing programming or things like that, I don't think I'd even worry about looking into the Side 3. As awesome as it is, it's a little on the expensive side and it's way overkill if all you want to do is load up a game or two on occasion.

A lot of these questions seem extremely basic, no insult to you hueyjones70, so I was prepared to refer huey back to the topic for newbies, like the one back in the 8-bit thread. Imagine my surprise when I realized that we didn't have one here in the ST forums. I can't believe someone hasn't put something like that together yet. If I get the time this fall/winter, I may start putting together something similar and model it after the thread in the 8-bit forums. What do you guys think? I'm sure it would prove useful for new users like hueyjones70 and others.

A Gotek or a Goex drive will replace the floppy drive.

I've noticed that almost every single Atari or Wico trackball, or any other brand I may have seen over the years, is really aged and discolored. Has anyone ever tried cleaning or RetroBrighting them? Those balls are thick and heavy enough that I doubt much short of a direct nuclear strike would hurt them.

Then the only question is how to mod your case for the connectors and where to put them.

You may well be right. Like I said, I haven't really looked into the Sophia 2. You are correct though, the original Sophia requires you to plug the GTIA into it, so it certainly doesn't replace it.

I'd say it would just depend on the clearance in your machine. I haven't looked into it enough to see how much difference there is between the original Sophia and the Sophia 2, but I have both a Sophia and a VBXE in my 1088XEL, so there are no hardware incompatibilities between the two. Actually, I have both of those as well as composite output via the UAV.

Still, if has has those files on the root of the SD card and he's booted the ST and he's not getting the FF menu, then something other than having or not having those files on the card seems to be at play. Either the cards he's tried don't like the Goex or there's something wrong with the Goex. Either way, you'd think the manufacturer would be able to help him get it sorted out relatively quickly.

I think that was the first stick I ever bought back in the day. I no longer have it, but I wish I did. It was perfect for some games, like the Pac-Man varieties, etc., but not so great with others. I also had, and still have, the Wico Command & Control with the big red ball. It was a great stick as well, but kind of tall for some games. Between the two of those, I was set.

Will one of the moderators please lock this thread so that others will stop reviving it? I'd really rather this thread just die since the solution that it was originally about was a huge disappointment. I don't want others seeing this thread revived and getting the wrong idea. There really are much better threads for this type of discussion. Thank you.

Oh yes, I'm sure we all have here and there, but he's gotten a whole lot touchier over just about everything in the past couple of years. I just know that I no longer try to engage with him at all unless he instigates it. With me it's strictly business, and I try to stick to whatever the newest set of rules that I can determine are. Personally, I've not had any problems with Brad, but I've read enough that I can't discount it all. Also, I've seen and heard some of the cranky, strange behavior that I've heard others talk about, and I took it as a warning sign the second I noticed and changed the subject or went all business. All of my transactions with Brad have went well, and I want them to continue to do so.

I use Digi-Key for most of my components. Sometimes I get older RAM off of ebay. It just depends.

Most of people's issues with Brad over the past couple of years are with his $20 minimum order or with going over his arbitrary and ever changing maximum number of items per order. The numbers I keep hearing more than any other are no more than four or five items per order. So, if you needed six items, and they were all only $2-$3 apiece, you'd be doubly screwed because he probably wouldn't sell you six items and, even if he did, your items wouldn't meet the $20 minimum order. It really just depends on what you order and how much. But, like others have mentioned, over the past year or two, I've found it like walking on egg shells, wondering if I might say or do anything that will upset him and get me banned forever. It's sad, but I've started just sending him simple items requests with no extra communication or banter, because I'm so afraid of saying something that might upset him, and you have no way of knowing what innocent comment may upset him. If you keep all of that in mind when you're ordering, then yes, you will probably get your order in and receive it with no issues. As long as you can stay on his good side, you'll never receive faster or better service. If you go in expecting him to be like the Amazon of Atari sales, question his archaic web site or push him to break one of his arbitrary and ever increasing and changing rules, or Lord forbid, make any sort of negative comment, regardless of minor you may feel it is, there's an extremely good chance you will be completely banned and he will never answer another email or phone call from you.

I've dropped Level42 two PMs about ordering one of these for my 800XL, but I haven't heard anything back in the two weeks since my first PM. Have any of the rest of you heard anything back?

I was thinking the same thing. Alien: Isolation has a similar seventies futuristic styling to it.

I remember thinking, in the late eighties and early ninties, that I just HAD to have a 130XE. I mean, it was the top of the line, it was that latest and greatest, it had to have awesome quality, it had that awesome ST styling. Heck, it had the biggest number! It had to be the best, right? That just goes to show how little the younger me knew about business and manufacturing. Move forward to today and knowing of the quality issues, the mushy keyboard, and the complete lack of socketing, personally I wouldn't have an XE. Now, that being said, I'm not and will never be a collector. I have an 800XL and a 1088XEL. The 1088XEL, once completed and running well, will be my main daily user. The 800XL I probably won't be able to part with just because it's my old machine from the eighties. Now, if I were a collector, I'd probably want to pick one up just to have one for the collection, but it probably wouldn't be a daily user. When you ask a broad question like this, and you're liable to get as many different opinions as you get answers. Every user is different and we all have our favorite machines. The thing you need to ask yourself is why you need or want a 130XE. Push comes to shove, no one else's answer is going to make any difference.

OK, so not even an AtariMax product. But still, what I and the others here have said still holds true. I don't have any personal experience with the SDrive-Max, but you still need to make certain your SDrive-Max and your real disk drives are setup with different device numbers. Also, xex files aren't bootable, even if you have them on a real disk or an atr image. Not all atr images are bootable. Some may just be data disks. While it is possible and relatively easy to copy disk to disk with different versions of DOS, you really are better off using a good sector copier.

First of all, I just want to confirm what device you're using. There is no such device as an AtariMax. AtariMax is the company and they make a lot of different devices. From the description of your problem, I'm assuming that it's an SIO2PC device. First of all, assuming you're booting off of your SIO2PC as Disk #1, you'll need to make certain that your real drive is setup as #2. The best way would probably be to load your favorite sector copier in D1 on the SIO2PC, then, when prompted, swap your desired atr into D1 and put your blank disk in D2 and start the copy. I always used Disk Wizard II but you can use whatever copier you like. Assuming the image isn't copy protected, which it shouldn't be if it's an atr, you should be able to just copy it using DOS. As far as the xex goes, copying that to a disk won't make it bootable. An xex is just an executable file. Copying it on a real disk just means you have a disk with an executable file on it. You'd still need to boot into DOS and start the binary manually to start the program. xrbrevin mentioned that atr images are bootable disk images. That's not necessarily true, but it could be. atrs are disk images, period. They may or may not be bootable, just like all diskettes are not necessarily bootable. It depends on what you have stored on them, whether or not you have DOS on them, etc.

I'm not 100% certain, but the XF551 may have been the only DS/DD drive for the 8-bits. It was definitely the only one from Atari. There was the 1053, but it vaporware, or prototype at best. Is anyone aware of another DS/DD, 360KB drive for the 8-bit line? Did any of the 3rd party manufacturers make one?

This is not correct in either case. Both the Indus GT and the Rana 1000 were both single-sided, double-density drives.

When I first bought my multi-cart, I looked over all of the options thoroughly. I wanted the best multi-cart with the best compatibility with the most cartridge types. At the time I purchased my Ultimate Cart, it was the best in terms of compatibility, hands down. Step forward 18 months and my, how things have changed. The AVG Cart has edged out the Ultimate Cart in terms of overall compatibility and added features like SIDE2 emulation and ATR support that are nowhere to be seen on my Ultimate Cart. I'm still really pleased with my Ultimate Cart, but the AVG Cart definitely has the upper hand in terms of cartridge compatibility and ongoing development and I'm considering purchasing one for the extra features and potential for future development. The only minor drawback that I see is the extremely plain menu system, at least when compared to the beautiful menu setup of the Ultimate Cart. Has anyone approached flashjazzcat to see if he might consider improving on the menu for the AVG Cart in a similar fashion? It seems like he'd offered to work on improving the way the AVG Cart works with the U1MB as well. Anyway, just curious if that's something that may have been discussed at some point or may be in the works. Thanks!