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DarkLord

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Posts posted by DarkLord

  1. Posted

    This month at DarkForce:

     

    Magic Phrazes - $25 prize for the player with the highest score at the end of the month!

     

    ST Magazine - one lucky Atari caller will win a free subscription!

     

    Good luck to all! :)

     

    Folks, I just wanted to say that it only takes 1 single call each month to qualify for the ST Magazine subscription prize.

     

    Of course, the more you call, the more chances you have of winning. :)

     

    If you've never read ST Magazine, its a great little source for Atari ST users.

  5. Posted · Edited by DarkLord

    TOS 1.4 doesn't have that many incompatibilities...certainly not with Bards Tale here...

     

    May be it is compatible for you, but it is not for the rest of us.

     

    I researched the issue, and it definitely has a (minor if you want) incompatibility with any TOS higher than 1.2. The program has a bug when it attempts an illegal/undocumented operating system call variation. This has no effect on older TOS versions, but in newer ones it has the ill effect that the program won’t be able to read from the pictures file.

     

    If you check carefully what happens when you get the error message, you’ll note that the disk is not accessed no matter how many times you click on retry. This is because the error is not produced as a consequence of a physical disk error, but it is an OS logical error.

     

    The program still works and run as soon as you click on Ignore. You just get some corrupted pictures.

     

    Okay, I went back again, played Bards Tale for over 30 mins here. Twice, in over 30 mins of play, I got the error that I had mentioned before. This is the same error as you are reporting. (its seems that we are close to saying the same thing, just in slightly different ways).

     

    However, it is in no way a disabling problem. I mean, click on ignore, it goes right on with -1- corrupted picture. Immediately after you move, or turn, or access another part of the game, a new picture (not corrupted) is loaded. As I said, I only had it happen twice in over 30 mins of play and countless disk/picture accesses. It doesn't affect game play at all really.

     

    This is with a Mega ST2, upgraded to 4 megs, TOS 1.4 and an Adspeed accelerator. I'll have to go back and try it with the Adspeed turned off and see if that makes a difference. I didn't have time today. I'll post results if it does make any difference, but it doesn't seem like its going to.

     

    PS Do you think we might be getting different results because of things like PAL vs NTSC or Euro vs American version? Could that make a difference as well?

     

    Thanks.

  7. Posted

    I've got Bards Tale here right now - and it runs on my Mega STe with TOS 2.06 and TOS 1.4 on my Mega ST. ... as of 15 mins ago... :)

     

    So you had errors recently, but not now anymore? Did you change something?

     

    Although I can no longer test TOS 1.62 because I don't have the STe that I did before,

     

    All TOS versions higher than 1.02 produce the same behavior under Steem. I don’t know exactly why this happens, I would need to trace and reverse engineering to be sure. What I can tell you is that the error has nothing to do with the disk being damaged.

     

    Sorry for the confusion - years ago, about 1999, before I stored a bunch of my Atari hardware/software away, I could play Bards Tale as I described to you.

     

    Last year, I finally found the time and room to get my Atari collection back out. Now when I play this game, it gives an error like you described *occasionally*.

     

    I just keep trying a couple of times, and it finally loads. Which led me to believe that the disk was wearing out.

     

    Please keep in mind that I'm not running it under any emulator like STeem or Hatari... I'm running it on real Atari hardware.

  8. Posted

    The Bard’s Tale has this problem with TOS 1.04 or higher. You need to use TOS 1.0 or TOS 1.02. At least this is under Steem, and according to your experience, it seems the same behavior happens in real hardware.

     

    Has nothing to do with the disk being damaged. The disk that produces the error is the second one (Picture Disk). It is not copy protected and I can bet yours is not damaged.

     

    You are probably not remembering very well. Make a Pasti image of your disks and you’ll see they work fine with older TOSes.

     

    Sorry, but I don't have to "remember" very well.

     

    I've got Bards Tale here right now - and it runs on my Mega STe with TOS 2.06 and TOS 1.4 on my Mega ST.

     

    as of 15 mins ago... :)

     

    Although I can no longer test TOS 1.62 because I don't have the STe that I did before, I do remember it working on that as well. In fact, the only Ataris I've got that it doesn't run on is my 800XL and my Falcon...

  9. Posted

    I ask because I just bought the original game off of Ebay (UK version) since all the various archived versions of this game always had problems loading a lot of the pictures. The wierd thing is that I tried playing with my newly purchased original disks and the same pictures still won't load (Adventurers Guild at the beginning for one). I can ignore the error OK and keep playing like I could with the archived versions but this seems very strange. I am guessing my original disks are OK since the program disk loaded fine and the picture disk works most of the time except for the above problems.

     

    I don't think so.

     

    I bought mine brand new years ago and it worked fine through TOS 1.0, 1.2, 1.62, and 2.06...

     

    Just recently, I started getting errors like you mentioned. (never before though). I'm assuming its where the disk is finally wearing out.

     

    I can't remember which ones, but you can copy the play disk? and one other disk. I'm thinking its just the main disk you can't copy unless you're using something like Blitz.

  10. Posted

    Hi,

     

    I am trying to burn a TOS 2.06 image for my Mega STE. I have to split the file in two files to burn to ROMs. I used a PC program called WinHEX that can split every other word to make a new file, and I used it to make a Amiga 1200 kickstart ROMs successfully. The question I have is for the LOW and HIGH ROMs on the Atari. The low is the first set and high the second set? ROM 1 and ROM 2 is LOW/HIGH Correct?

     

    I believe thats correct.

     

    Although the ROMs I have are listed as "EE" and "EO".

     

    EE goes in ROM 1 and EO goes in ROM 2.

     

    HTHs.

  11. Posted

    I saw a topic like this in the 8bit forums, but couldn't find one similar here.

     

    So lets have it - I know there are some "high powered" Atarians here.

    I'd like to hear your stories about who you are and what you did, Atari wise.

     

    Just to start the ball rolling, I'll give my own brief "moments".

     

    Sysop of a fairly popular Atari based BBS

    Wrote a couple of Atari articles for Current Notes

     

    Now, I know there are some "heavyweights" here that will leave my

    poor contributions in the dust. I'm looking forward to reading about all

    of you! :)

  12. Posted

    Greetings,

     

    My TT030 and 19inch Moniterm monitor have a vertical hold issue sometimes, causing the screen to roll rapidly. Can anyone suggest whether this is caused by the computer _or_ the monitor?

     

    I opened up the Moniterm and looked for a vert hold adjustment which I didn't find, but I'm wondering if the computer needs service.

     

    Thanks!

     

    Hmm, without a built in vertical adjustment, thats a tough one.

     

    I doubt its this, but have you tried moving the monitor as far away from the TT as you can?

     

    Do you have another monitor that you can hook up to the TT to test? The TT works with standard VGA monitors so you could rule out which it is that way as well.

     

    HTHs.

  13. Posted

    I still have a bad taste in my mouth from the ST version of STUN Runner. Ugh... Maybe it would be good if the ST was 200 MHz, but it's too slow for an 8MHz system.

     

    I've never played STUN Runner on the ST. If its that slow, then it must be the result of bad coding because the ST at 8mhz is plenty capable of doing good, fast games. There are just too many examples of excellent ST games... :)

  14. Posted

    There are still BBSes in Toronto?

     

    Seriously?

     

    :o

     

    I'm impressed. I haven't called a real BBS since 1997. :) You should see if you can find an SX212 modem. It's crap, but it's 1200 baud and it's direct-connect.

     

    Real Atari BBSs...running on real Atari software and hardware... Yep, they are still around. See my sig. :)

  15. Posted

    Venturing out of the 8bit forum a bit!! I just got a 520STm with an interesting mod that maybe someone can shed some light on. It has 2 monitor jacks on the back, mainboard mounted, and a toggle switch with 2 wires coming off of it. 1 goes to a pin on the second monitor jack and the other about 2/3 of the way back on the main board. I assuming it is a dual monitor mod to connect both color and monochrome monitors and switch between the 2 or have both active at the same time. Any ideas??? I will try and post a picture later.

     

    Congrats and welcome to the 16/32 bit world! :)

     

    Well, if its not a 2 monitor mod (both mono and color) as you mentioned, then its probably a composite connection. Just double-checking, are you sure its not a 520STFM, instead of 520STM?

     

    Do post some pictures - I'm sure someone here will recognize whats been done.

  16. Posted

     

    Seriously, there is mine, Cold Winter Nights, and several others. A list can be found on my BBS, and also at:

     

    http://www.ilmarinen.us/spacebbs/

     

    They have lists for dial-up and telnet.

     

    They updated that list?

     

    Anyway, I call out on telnet on both current and retro machines.

     

    Hey Doc. Hmm, don't know if they have or not. I guess I really should go through it enty by entry and see whats what. I know I'm on there, and DarkForce is surely current. :)

     

    I was honestly just trying to give a good starting point to someone who has returned after being out of the "scene" for awhile.

  19. Posted

    When I boot my STE the Atari Emblem comes up in the left corner then it does a memory check. Can someone tell me what version I have. Back in the day I used to be friends with a teach at Case Western Reserve here in cleveland, and he was given all the versions of TOS months before they came out. And we used to burn copies all the time. Also My self and my buddie got out STs working again, and have them hooked up to telnet now working perfectly. We ran as you remember "Elite" BBS systems back in the day. And they have aprox 680Megs of all the files we had on the bbs still there. Is there anything wrong with putting the bbs back online for all you to have access to the files, or do you think it would be legal since the stuff is not around anymore. If its ok I will give you all the telnet address and you can all have at all the stuff.

     

    If its an STE, and its not been updated, then its probably TOS 1.6 or 1.62. If it won't boot up into medium resolution without a patch in the AUTO folder, then its TOS 1.6. If it boots up fine into medium res, then its TOS 1.62. (all of this is IIRC).

     

    About the software. It depends. Some stuff is copyrighted for a long time. I'm sure all freeware, shareware, public domain stuff is fine. Commercial games? I dunno, better be careful there. Disk images seem to be okay - most of the emulator sites have'em online.

     

    Congratulations on getting your BBS back up, BTW! :)

  20. Posted

    Do like I did, google it. There's LOTS of disk images out there for the st. Keywords "atari st disk image" oughta do it.

     

    Like he said. Many of the ST emulator sites carry links to archives chock full of ST images. Tons of stuff. You'll probably have to grab MSA (Magic Shadow Archiver) to get some of it back to a useable state.

     

    Also, ftp sites like the Belgian FTP site are wonderful places to download stuff. Martin posts update to the comp.sys.atari.st newsgroup regularly as well.

  21. Posted

    I am looking for dma cables to hook up the old atari hard drives to the ST. I am looking for ICD hard drive utilities. Does anyone know if they can be used with Atari Branded hard drives?

     

    AFAIK, ICDs stuff will work with Atari SH204/205, Megafile 30 and 60 hard drives.

     

    IMHO, you should invest in HDDriver though. Its the berries. :)

     

    As far as those old DMA cables, check with Best Electronics or B&C Computervision. They can fix you right up.

     

    HTHs.

     

    Huh HDDRIVER?

     

    Yes, HDDriver, by Uwe Seimet. Its the best HD software for Atari computers, bar none, IMHO. Its still supported too. I think you can buy it by paypal (not sure about that though).

  22. Posted

    I am looking for dma cables to hook up the old atari hard drives to the ST. I am looking for ICD hard drive utilities. Does anyone know if they can be used with Atari Branded hard drives?

     

    AFAIK, ICDs stuff will work with Atari SH204/205, Megafile 30 and 60 hard drives.

     

    IMHO, you should invest in HDDriver though. Its the berries. :)

     

    As far as those old DMA cables, check with Best Electronics or B&C Computervision. They can fix you right up.

     

    HTHs.

  23. Posted

    I have a Falcon030 that's hardly used. It comes with all the original documentation (including the large quick reference card and the pamphlet for the Arkanoid-type game that came with it), it also comes with all the original floppies, the original mouse and is in the original box. The computer itself is in mint condition, it has the 68882 co-proc installed, 4MB of RAM and a 60MB hard-drive, all works very well. The accessories are all in very good to excellent condition. I'm just curious to find out what this lot is worth?

     

    The remaining dealers are selling a setup like that for about $999.00 or so...

     

    On Ebay, that setup would probably go in the $300-500.00 range.

     

    Actually though, as far as the Falcons go, they are *priceless*.... :)

  24. Posted

    What I know DarkLord has Lantronic for his BBS. But I am not sure it is the best solution for ST line computers. It is not cheap and it is limited to speed of serial port. I know it has complete TCP/IP stack inside. But I think the ethernec with STIK stack is better for internet browsing.

     

    I would like to know what BBS software DarkLord use. Is possible to use it together with native TCP/IP stack or is it serial port only? Do you have some FAQ howto make own BBS using Atari ST line computer? I am interested in that topic.

     

    I agree, for general purpose/all around use, the EtherNEC is better for an ST, especially when it comes to web-browsing. Its faster for sure.

     

    I use BBS Express ST! v1.98a, and unfortunately, it is no longer supported. Development ended around 1999 or so. I've been unable to reach or contact the author, Rich Sanchez in any way. It does -not- support a tcp/ip stack, only the serial port (and modem 1 at that). Thats why I picked the UDS10. I didn't want to learn a new BBS setup, and frankly, I'm not sure that any do support tcp/ip. I know there are a couple of emulated Atari BBSs (Atari BBS software running through an emulator on a modern PC). I believe that Mark Ducksworth has expressed interest in updating/upgrading Octopus BBS software so that it can use the tcp/ip stack and support multiple connections. I've not heard anything more definite since he made that announcement though. Oh, I just about forgot about the Cold Winter Nights BBS. I believe that it does run on Atari hardware, uses Citadel BBS software, and supports multiple connnections, and the tcp/ip stack (STing).

     

    That URL is:

     

    http://www.coldwinterknights.net/

     

    You might want to check it out, even though it looks like its not been updated since July 2005.

     

    Sorry, but I don't really have a FAQ or HOWTO like that.... :(

     

    HTHs.

  25. Posted

    Please check this out:

     

    http://www.netburner.com/products/developm...evelopment.html

     

    Maybe this is a naive question, but why can't a serial-ethernet adapter be made like a modem? It can take the serial connection and change it to the signals needed by ethernet. I'm taking networking in school, and this kind of thing is done for win95 computers all the time when the books demand that that old computer be used. I didn't look too hard at that webpage, but a rom that gives the adapter box instructions in how it should talk sounds like it would work. The rom would be programmed via a different computer, you would set the thing up to work with tos and then move it over to the tos machine. If this could work, I may get someone to make one for me. First me, then release it under a reallycool gnu license:)

     

    Maybe somethig cheaper. $399 is a little high.

     

    Any thoughts?

     

    Nathan

     

    Umm, thats exactly what the Lantronix UDS10 does. It connects to your ST (or any comps) serial port and then you plug the cat5 cable from your LAN into it.

    I believe mine was about $150 delivered (that might be a little higher or lower but thats close). I use it to run my BBS by telnet (see sig).

     

    Here is their URL:

     

    http://www.lantronix.com/device-networking...ers/uds-10.html

     

    They've got a lot of nifty stuff. You might want to poke around a bit. :)

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