Middleman

Well in that case I'll put in a short explanation. Over 2 years ago like everyone else here I got the VCS as one of the original backers on Indiegogo. However I wanted to do something a little different with it, and that was to turn it into an actual Hackintosh, not based on running via a VM but using the actual hardware. The result was mentioned in this thread below. I have since gotten it working with the latest macOS Monterey and Ventura, but for the longest time I couldn't get the GPU acceleration enabled because there was no driver for it, until very recently via a kext called NootedRed. So I now have the AMD Vega 3 GPU running Metal fully on the macOS, which means potentially, official Mac-only games on Steam, GOG and the like can also run on it (potentially faster than via Windows or Linux). That means the VCS' abilities just got better.

Now that the GPU acceleration issue has finally been resolved with macOS via NootedRed on the VCS, I'm interested to see what kind of games can run on the new setup. As it now fully supports Metal, we should by all means be able to run any standard working Mac game. Does any of you have any ideas in mind?

Hi folks, I just wanted to confirm with you that full GPU acceleration has now been achieved with the Atari VCS on macOS Monterey using the NootedRed kext. Not only that but the VCS can also run the latest macOS Ventura and Sonoma OSes, all in 4K too! (if you prefer). For my test system I changed my VRAM to 8GB, but it go as high as 16GB! I have been tinkering with this system for a long while now (over 2 years). Up until this point I was totally out of luck with how the system could be set up for GPU acceleration in macOS (because the VCS had tons of settings in the BIOS, so I didn't know where to look). A chance view of a Youtube video on upping the VRAM in the BIOS changed all that. Also some guides on current working NootedRed configs also helped.

I have a full guide I posted on tonymacx86.com that details the steps. Just search for Atari VCS in the search bar. I also have extra news to share for everyone! I believe we now have full GPU acceleration under Big Sur & Monterey thanks to a new driver on Github for AMD Raven/Vega IGPUs called NootedRed. When I previously ran macOS on the VCS I was unable to achieve this, only static output up to 4K, so this is really great news. I will report back when its been tested.

For MountEFI I used one downloaded last October. For Opencore Configurator to edit the config.plist I used the OC 0.6.8. which would have been version 2.35.0.0. I never used Clover for the Atari VCS.

It's pretty stable. No major issues so far I've found.

Oh I have done already! Been running it on Monterey since the release of the beta.

Hi guys, I was on Kickstarter earlier today finishing my pledge for Fusion Retro magazine, when I came across this. Apparently it's a new Commodore called the CTab-64 and is designed by a group of engineers who have taken over the Commodore brand.

RIP Sir Clive Sinclair, someone who was very influential from the earliest days of my life. My 2nd computer was a Sinclair ZX Spectrum (48K) Plus, and it was the one device that would influence my interest and career today into computing. Having been largely self-taught, he was certainly one of the UK's most prolific inventors and engineers. Before the arrival of computers, he was building things like miniature TVs and radios and storage devices and was always ahead of the curve. He was already building commercial electric cars for the masses in the 80s before the likes of Elon Musk today was espousing the idea. He was a pioneer for sure. His miniature TV came out a full decade in 1977 before Sony ever did (with their Watchman in the late 80s). Anyone who is interested in his life should watch the BBC short movie Micro Men starring Martin Freeman (of The Hobbit). It's a good movie for computer buffs.

So I finally resolved my VCS' non-booting issue. Turns out I needed to reflash the system but flash the BIOS firmware with the USB first. Once that was completed I let it reboot into Atari OS, and then from there it was smooth sailing, and updated it to the latest version via the OS system menu. I found that if at any point the system reboots itself and doesn't complete the update, you should proceed to reflash the OS with the USB and then try to reboot it from there.

Just letting everyone know I've managed to get Psychonauts 2 working on the VCS! It looks pretty impressive under Windows 10 under the game's Low Graphics mode (I have 32GB RAM installed on mine). Just remember to increase your GPU RAM in the Atari BIOS under AMD CBS > NB10 > GFX Configuration > Integrated Graphics Controller > Force and set the UMA Buffer Size (I set mine to 4GB). You can also increase the TDP level under NB Configuration Options > System Configuration to 54W maximum power. Also enable Xbox controller mode on the Atari modern joypad by holding the two context buttons for 5 secs so it can be recognised by the game.

Not sure about this, but I'm having problems updating the latest BIOS. The system seems to go into a loop from updating online (which was working fine before until I switched it on recently). So I've tried flashing it with the 210524 BIOS on a USB stick and it doesn't seem to work. It recognises the Atari joypad, asks to set the language then runs the 4 updates but never gets to the AtariOS main login screen. Anyone here come across a similar issue?

Ok then I have to ask, have you ever seen this screen? This is a VCS BIOS update. If not you may have to run your secondary VCS OS drive. There are two VCS booting partitions available on your system and one of them should activate it.

Really? Unless I'm mistaken, that's strange because I just had it updated when I turned my unit on - the system auto-updated itself and is the third set of BIOS updates since I got my unit back in December. The code is even recognised in my macOS Big Sur System Profiler. BIOS version is 05.32.50.0011-VCS.21.

Anyone noticed the recent new Apple TV+ dedicated app on the VCS store?