blakespot

Well, the CRT must be ok. It takes a Playstation s-video feed just fine. Hmmm. 130XE NTSC attached now. No v/h hold knobs on this PVM. That's a shock. Got to open it up to adjust those basic pots?? bp

Ok, so I have an 800XL and a 130XE here (both NTSC) and ordered a s-video cable from 8BitClassics. I have an incoming 800XL PAL motherboard with the chroma enhancement done to it which I plan to use here in the states on my Sony PVM via s-video, which should be able to do 50Hz (it does Amiga RGB 50Hz fine, at least). So, I plug the 800XL NTSC into the PVM via s-video cable and see a black and white image and wonder why. I leave the set on for half an hour or so while I do other things and I remember that most 800XLs in the states didn't have s-video, and I had checked the BASIC ver and once knew this 800XL does not do it so I was about to grab the 130XE and connect it. At that moment I heard a hummmm come from the PVM and a few minutes later I go to see what was up, and I see not the black and white Atari BASIC prompt but helter skelter garbled video, with the humm. I turn on the Amiga 2000 and switch to RGB in and the image goes solid, switch back to s-video and the video goes haywire. I try the 130XE on the system and it's the same, but with a little color thrown in the garbled mix. Here is a video I just took. Is hooking an Atari 8-bit s-video cable going from a pre-s-video A8 to an s-video display sending some damaging voltage down the chroma line? Did I blow part of the board's electronics in the PVM? Any suggestions here? Thanks. bp

Ive seen the set of images shown here, along with a few others, linked together in various forum posts on the web, searching this morning on the APAC software approach to high-color on the A8 using various clever tricks. Ex: http://atarionline.pl/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=746&page=1 Does anyone know where this or a similar slideshow can be downloaded as a disk image? Thanks. bp

Bah gave up on my Win 10 machine. Repurposed a Haiku-running P3 and got it done with XP. :-) https://twitter.com/blakespot/status/944404946304294912

I uninstalled and then re-installed. I saw both the Trial and Update as 2 sep programs in Add Remove Programs and I removed Trial and then tried to remove Update (latest ver) but it threw error, so I went in and deleted the Update file dir and two remaining Registry references to APE, reinstalled, exited, re-ran and same issue. Bluescreen. I went to run re-config in APE (auto config) and it now cannot see the SIO2PC on the Atari, which it saw fine before (so I know the USB to serial was working fine). Worse problem now. Would be great to get this working. As for manually installing signed drivers, do you mean this sticky with the drill? https://www.atarimax.com/flashcart/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=889 That seem to be for USB people and was posted 8 years ago. Could you point me to specifically what you meant? Thanks. bp

Does anyone know where APE stores its config file so I can edit it directly?

As I said, I emailed Steve, and he found my reg and sent me 3.0.13. Has my old address (where we lived 14 years ago...) and everything on the loading screen now. Crazy. My issue now is that I ran the auto configurator, it found SIO2PC device, and set itself up. I then tried to boot the XL after loading a disk and the Win 10 PC blue screened. I then noted that I had not changed the RS232 driver to Software since it's a virtual serial port, looking at your screenshot. I went to do that and, sadly, I make the change but when I hit OK, the spinning wheel persists and the app goes (Not Responding) for a while then Windows blue screens. I can't even kill the hung process in Task Manager... Rebooted a few times, same drill, same problem. Any ideas? Windows 10 Pro 64 here, kept up to date. Keyspan USB to serial drivers for Win 10 installed and the device is found and functioning. Thanks. bp

The 7th apparently annual roundup of Holiday demos is now up on my blog. Those with a taste for the season and sharp pixels may enjoy the show. 16 demos across 13 platforms this year. A bracing Festivus to you all! http://www.bytecellar.com/2017/12/12/have-a-helping-of-8-bit-holiday-cheer-2017-edition/ Cheers! bp

Thanks. I emailed Steve, but I am not 100% certain I ordered it from AtariMax. I don't really want to spend $100 on it anew as the i7 Win 10 machine is far across the room and I don't have a laptop to shuttle around as a next-to-Atari support unit. I've got a couple RPi laptops, but Not sure that would work. And besides I have a SIO2SD on order. bp

What mod are you referring to with the exceptional picture? Thanks. bp

Bah. Maybe so. I purchased SIO2PC cable and APE something like 15 years ago and still have the cable (serial) -- but I see APE is $100. Not going to re-pay that with the SIO2SD en route from Europe, but it would've been nice to play with some games on this NTSC unit while I wait. Is there any other program that can use an SIO2PC cable to run anything, even if crudely? Also -- is it definitely the case that if I were to pay the $100, signed drivers that will run under Windows 10 Pro 64 exist? (I would need to install the Keyspan USB to serial adapter I have and drivers to interface to APE with this serial SIO2PC cable.) Also --- other suggestions for PAL Atari 8-bits (more than just the board)? Thanks.

Interim - found SIO2PC serial cable (need USB to serial which I have). Installed APE software which claims Win10 operation and got non signed drivers error. Oy. Will wait for the SIO2SD to arrive I guess.

Ericthanks. Do you have a web link for info on Jurgens PAL board video mod? Id like to go that route. How do NTSC games look/run on it? Wondering if having PAL and NTWC systems is the way to go. bp

I just ordered a Lotharek SIO2SD external box w/ LCD. Seems a start. bp

Good info. Another question: You mention good and bad GTIA. Does this explain why my 800XL has notably cleaner video than my 130XE (I dont recall if I had composite or s-video cable - its been years since I payed with them)? Also, does anyone know if there are many demoscene productions that require the extra RAM of the 130XE? Also, if I setup this PAL system for demos, probably most games will be not-ideally running with extra scan lines and 50 vs 60, correct? I could just swap in and out that NTSC 800 XL I have already for games, I suppose. Thanks. bp

Um. Wow.

I am in the U.S. and have an 800XL and a 130XE, the former seemingly having much cleaner video output. I want to setup a system for gaming but mainly for watching scenedemos which are basically all PAL. I would like to know what I need. Can I modify this 800XL to do it, or should I source a PAL 800XL? If the latter, do I need an AC adapter to convert voltage or will a US PSU work? Also, I had a SIO2PC many many years ago, but I know weve come farther since. What do I need to load disk images from SD on such a machine? I see this Ultimate cartridge. Is that it? I have a Sony PVM which should be able to do PAL on s-video. Id like to go that route on video if possible. Any tips appreciated. Thanks! bp

Fixed. Thanks for the help. https://instagram.com/p/Bckm4N_BKfR/ https://instagram.com/p/BclfmfMhZJo/

Thanks! This is my first time using a Geneve (via MAME) and I see the swan but not sure how far I need to go beyond that. Will the disk autoboot? Thanks.

Yea... I pulled out the keyboard and took a look at the cable's solder connection to the keyboard's circuit board. Look close. Full-sized original can be seen here. Doesn't look so good, and the cable bends out from the plastic keyboard backplate so easily. Prob desolder that cable and either clip back that cable and expose some "fresh" wire or try and run individual wires from the board to the edge connector, having removed the original ribbon cable entirely. Or, other approaches? Thanks. bp

I guess I may as well open it and reseat the kbd cable, etc. even though Ive not yet identified what ICs if any could alternatively be the problem.

Does anyone have a copy of this Geneve Xmas demo disk by Mizapf? Thanks. (Post from 2013) bp

Does anyone have videos of the Geneve demo or even Woodstock? Im putting my 6th years running Christmas demos blog post together and Ive ever only had one TI example to point to, as I recall. bp

I have a '99 that I fitted with a F18a some months back. I've used it a good many hours without issue, and some of that was online through TIMXT with a WiFi232 -- so the keyboard has been working fine. I'd not used the TI in a few weeks and turned it on and noticed in the FlashROM '99 menu that certain keys were not working. Those keys are: HJKL; and SPACE Press normal, hard, etc. and they don't register -- TI BASIC, TIMXT, Forth, etc. But, I left the machine on for a while and I notice they keys now do work...but you need to press them just a little harder than "normal" for them to trigger, and when you do, they usually repeat a few times. One depress of 'K' results in 'KKKK' and such. So something is really strange here. I assume the hardware heating up is the change, but the repeat action baffles me. Can anyone make anything out of this? I see no other oddities with the system. I disconnected my PEB and that had no effect on the situation. Is this a specific IC failing? Or...? Thanks. bp

Is anyone aware of a C64-style terminal emulator app for the ST? Thanks. bp