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TheNightOwl

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Posts posted by TheNightOwl

  2. Posted · Edited by TheNightOwl
    Typo

    I suppose the Power Pack might have prevented many users from buying new games immediately with their ST but after that you'd think the interest for newer games would come. From a consumer perspective it's hard not to be happy with the games bundled in though and I played many of them constantly over the years when the ST was my main computer. 🙂

  3. Posted

    What a great list! The applications that immediately came to mind for me were:

     

    Print Shop - that got so much use in our family for making things. An incredible piece of software to encourage people to use a computer. I remember making a lot of images and borders using the PS Companion (?) too.

     

    Micro Illustrator / Atari Artist - really got into graphic art thanks to these and both the Koala Pad and Atari Touch Tablet. I may not have been a terribly good artist but I enjoyed the process!

     

    Typesetter - a number of high school assignments were made with this and when I found I could combine it with pages that had Print Shop borders (yes, double printed) I was able to leverage both with great results.

    • Like 1

  14. Posted

    I had no idea there were any other good paint programs beyond Atari Artist / Microillustrator but then I was a kid and just happy to be drawing pictures on a computer. :)

     

    I was lucky though to try both a Koala Pad and Atari Touch Tablet and both are amazing but I'd prefer the Touch Tablet if I still had one. Its size and dimensions were much closer to 1:1 with your screen and for me that helped a lot.

  15. Posted

    Interesting hearing the stories of new C64 users as I'm one too! I got my first C64 more than a year ago to go with my A8 and first thing after plugging it in, the "black box of death" PSU fried the computer! At the time I didn't know about just how unreliable and dangerous they were. Thankfully there was someone in my area who could fix the C64 and I imported a modern PSU from a seller in Europe. Now both my 8bit machines share a place of honour in my games room. 😀

    • Like 1

  17. Posted

    Uniterm also helped get me to finish my degree and kept my ST useful far longer than it might have. Nice seeing I wasn't the only one it helped. :)

     

    On topic: My time as a dedicated Atari user came to an end the moment I saw PCs with VGA adapters and sound cards... If you wanted to play the latest computer games at their best the PC was the place to be. TTs and Falcons barely made an appearance here in Australia from what I could remember so there was little incentive to upgrade which was sad.

    • Like 1

  18. Posted

    I really enjoyed IMII on the ST - a great version of the game that looks fantastic! Completed it a couple of times too. :)

     

    It's not as hard as the original game in the C64 though IMHO (which I also never completed) - I think it is much less random as each themed tower has a limited set of rooms to choose from and one of them always has to be the one with the safe (containing the music tape) so it's easier to plan out your approach.

     

    It's been years since I last played it so my memories might not be 100% but I do remember a gaming mag of the day (Zzap64 or C&VG) mapping the game out and showing all the possible rooms in each tower... perhaps even showing how to traverse them too (?).

  20. Posted · Edited by TheNightOwl

    Nice work! :thumbsup:

     

    Just taking the connectors and chips as a guide to the size it already looks like you've shrunk it by a huge amount. :) With the RF Modulator gone you'd now have a neat little hole at the back of the STFM case too. Would that be big enough to fit a connector or wiring for external devices (say a cased HxC)? Guessing though people would use it to mount a toggle switch (ROMs, Drives, etc) which is a nice neat solution.

     

    Apologies in advance if anything said is wrong - I'm learning as I go. :)

  21. Posted

    Please keep up with the updates - it's great to read how you're figuring it all out. :)

     

    As someone who is terrified of upgrading their stock STFM due to the prospect of having to cut up parts of the case or shielding to fit things in (but knows it'll need to happen eventually to keep it running), the possibility of getting a compact motherboard that works just like my old machine but allows the room to hide upgrades internally has a lot of appeal. If it means I don't need a crash course in soldering all the better. ;)

  22. Posted

    What I did first was get a new 20MB MFM hard drive from Best Electronics I was hoping that would be the fix but no. Now I have two working 20MB MFM drives but I'm only using the new drive. The next step was to tack down a new SH205 motherboard Best Electronics didn't have any so I've called B&C Computervisions they had some but Bruce had to refurbished one, now it's all good! ;-) I hope you can get yours up and running!

     

    Thanks for the extra info, much appreciated! I had heard of Best Elec. but not B&C so that's another useful resource! Have been unsure in the past of trying to order because the postage costs (to .au) might be excessive. Definitely gives me something to think about though. :)

     

    Will also run a few more tests with different AHDI disks and a spare 520 just in case it's the ST that's the problem.

  23. Posted

    Update, It was a bad motherboard the original HD works but the old data was lost and the new case fan not as noisy all I hear is just the HD.

     

     

    I just got my hands on my old SH205 from when I was in high school, hoping to get it up and running again with my 1040STFM. The issues I'm facing sound almost exactly the same as what's described here. It had been safely stored away so was hoping it'd be good to go but the software is having trouble identifying it and keeps asking if the cables are connected properly. :(

     

    The thing is definitely well past its lifespan but it'd be fun seeing the old beast and its massive 20Mb storage working again if it were possible but I wonder if I might have run into the same issue as you did. How did you diagnose it?

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