E474
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DUMP1050 utility - possible disk corruption bug, do not use!
E474 replied to E474's topic in Atari 5200 / 8-bit Programming
Hi @TZJB, I haven't had time to fix it, the bug can happen with high speed I/O (it's the Happy corruption bug). If you have a stock 8-bit computer (one that doesn't have high speed I/O added in to the OS in as custom firmware), and just use the Atari DOS 2.5 on the ATR you should be fine, but I would boot the ATR, dump the drive ROM, then reboot everything and power cycle the drive as code is uploaded to it as part of the ROM dump routine. Also, don't use a high speed DOS like SpartaDOS, etc., with DUMP1050. The ATR can be downloaded from the DUMP 1050 github repo. DUMP1050 is very "rough and ready", as it's not much more than a wrapper to save memory read from the drive using the routines from the German publication "Atari Magazin". Hopefully I will have time to revisit my various Atari projects later in the year, but I know am going to be very busy for the next few months with more pressing matters. Any feedback would, of course, be appreciated though. -
It was more trying to illustrate the idea of there's lots, and then there's really *LOTS*. Bizarrely, when I did a quick YouTube search for "Lots", I stumbled across this clip, which includes possibly the same actor, though in a different role:
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Hi @TZJB, Yes, I'll try and dump the ROM at some point going forward (I wrote a utility called DUMP1050 for this, but I need to add a workaround to the Happy corruption bug fix for high speed code, which is still on my to-do list). The PCB looks very similar to a Happy "clone" I picked up from The Netherlands (see below), which actually failed the Happy memory test (IIRC), but I think it was more to do with a hacked ROM than anything else (but I haven't checked so am not 100% sure). I think I will leave the wiring "as is", even though it looks a bit iffy, it will probably actually last a few more years (at least). Thanks again for the help!
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Meanwhile, over at Best Electronics:
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Good news everyone! I soldered the white wire to the middle pin of the switch, and everything works! With the light off I can't write to a write protected disk, with the light on, I can write to a write protected disk. To be honest, I'm a bit skeptical that I actually want to have a drive that can ignore a write protect sticker, but I'm pleased that the drive works OK, and the switch is fixed. It actually looks like it is a Happy clone - I tried it with a QuickOS disk (see above), and it reported an Unknown U.S. Doubler (which it obviously isn't), but could also get the Happy Command Table, so I think that's what it is. I will try out the Happy and Lazer utility disks to see what they report, but the drive was quite willing to format a single density disk and write Dos files to it, so I'm counting it all as a win. I re-soldered the connectors to the header pins (thanks for the info on the pin numbering on the board - I saw 1s next to each block apart from J11 - but I figure it never hurts to ask), but is it worth putting something like hot glue on the wires to keep them apart, or , could I have wired up the middle switch pin from any ground, or did it have to be the ground next to the black wire (I'm assuming any ground would do)? Thanks again to @_The Doctor__ and @TZJB and everyone else who commented.
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Hi @_The Doctor__, Thanks very much for the help, I'll take it as read that it's correct, but any chance of a simpleish explanation? I had a look for Single Pole Double Throw Switches (for example: https://www.elprocus.com/spdt-switch/), and it looks like the middle pin on the switch is the Common pin - and that's what the white wire should be soldered back on to. Is it one (electrical) path through the switch means the reading from the write protect sensor is always obeyed, and the other path through the switch means the sensor is ignored (either the disk is always writeable, or never). Looking at the second schematic in @TZJB's post above, J11 pin 1 is either GND at header position #4, or goes off to JP6/5 at header position #1 (I'm not clear how schematic connectors 1-4 on JP11 map to the headers on the PCB)? I'll try and solder up the wire this weekend (e.g. tomorrow), but I'd like to learn a bit about why the white wire goes to the middle pin on the switch too. I appreciate the help regardless!
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Hi, Thanks for tagging me @mnemo! I'm not sure what the exact status of ATRMaker is, but I remember it was mostly there, but I ended up making a newer version which was quite heavily re-factored, but also not quite finishing that. It's been a project that I've actually wanted to get done, but life always seems to get in the way, or I get distracted with another "interesting" project. Unfortunately at the moment I'm getting crushed in real life, since about the same time the PicoCart design got published, which is something I have all the parts for, and no time to do anything with (and why I've pretty much stopped posting recently). Anyway, I made a new repo for the latest version of ATRMaker ages ago, it's still private, though I will try and make it public with a note saying it's a work in progress, and post the link here. It did actually get 5th prize in the ABBUC software competition (and it was very exciting getting it uploaded in time), but apart from wanting to get it finished, I did actually receive some prize money, and feel a bit of a moral obligations to (eventually) ship a working version. Unfortunately I know the next few months will also be very busy, so there isn't a quick fix. I have a vague memory that MyCopyR might have a retry on bad sector option, but I'm really not certain as I haven't used that in years either.
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A8PicoCart - UnoCart on a Raspberry Pi Pico
E474 replied to electrotrains's topic in Atari 8-Bit Computers
The minute hand on this watch is minute.- 541 replies
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I tested the mystery mod drive (2nd drive above) with @Zolaerla's QuickOS disk detect routines - see: and it came up as an Unknown US Doubler, or an Unkown 180/1050, depending on the right side switch position. @xrbrevin - the Lazer mod is a bit bigger than the mystery mod as the Lazer includes a 6502. My first post on AA was actually about my Lazer drive which had developed read/write problems, and also ended up with a loose wire problem. See: I think for the first drive with the loose wire, I will just un-solder the switch assembly as I think it will take me ages to figure out where it should be connected, and I would rather test the drive first. Thanks again everyone for the help!
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Hi everyone, Thanks very much, I didn't think the soldering was actually that bad, but perhaps on closer inspection it could be fixed up a bit. I dug a bit deeper into the AA archives (used search), and found a few posts on this subject: and to name a few. I'm going to try and sketch out the current circuit with actual resistor values, and then see if I can figure out where the loose wire should go. I don't really want to throw out all the parts (even though they cost buttons), as I like the authentic bitd feel of things. However, I'm going to get the drive with the unknown mod working first, as there doesn't appear to be anything wrong with it. I'm wondering if the second switch is a toggle between a US-Doubler and stock ROM, though I'm not sure why it would need the extra wire to the PCB. Thanks again!
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Hi @TGB1718, Thanks, that's not a bad idea, I might do that if no one else can figure out where the wire should go. Incidentally, I actually got 2 drives as part of the deal, the second one has the same setup, but a more complicated switch assembly as it has a Green and Red light setup (wires from J11 and the resistor at the front of the board). In this setup the cream wire (corresponding to the white wire in the first drive) goes into a big resistor, so that might be where it should go on the first drive (though I have no electronics skills, so this is guess work). Posting pictures of the other drive just in case it helps (and doesn't muddy the waters). By the way, I think this might be a clone Super Archiver, but I'm really not sure as it's a new one for me.
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Hi everyone, I got this drive a couple of days ago, I always open them up before powering them up, and this one has a loose wire (the white one, in the second photo). I'm pretty sure it's part of a switch+light front panel assembly, and is part of the write-protect circuit, but I have no idea where it should go/be re-attached to. It comes from the J11 pins (on the underside of the PCB), which is in the schematic on Page 5-4 of the 1050 FSM (right page, bottom left corner of https://archive.org/details/1050FSMRebuiltAKH/page/n63/mode/2up). Can anyone take a stab at where I should try and reattach it? The wiring is a bit ropey, and it kind of looks like the wires are shorting on the underside anyway, though I'm not sure if the circuit has been altered as it's also connected to a resistor at the front of the PCB near the power switch (which has also seen better days). I'm quite reluctant to power it up as is, but I'm also a bit out of my depth on how to fix it. Incidentally, the advert (on Ebay, from a seller in Belgium) showed it working/powered up. Also guessing it's a Happy clone board, but waiting to fix the wire before testing it. Any help would be appreciated!
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It is remarkably colourfull though.
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A8PicoCart - UnoCart on a Raspberry Pi Pico
E474 replied to electrotrains's topic in Atari 8-Bit Computers
Hi, Yes, I meant the AVG cart. What wasn't clear was how to wire up the SIO connector to the Pico W. I didn't want to get in to the situation where the Pico was powered by the +5V cartridge line, but also connected to the +5V SIO line, as power would be flowing along this line (from the powered up 1050) when the 800XL was powered down. However, if it's not necessary to connect up the SIO +5V line to the Pico (thanks @mozzwald), then I only need to connect up the SIO lines: Data In, Data Out, GND and Command.- 541 replies
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A8PicoCart - UnoCart on a Raspberry Pi Pico
E474 replied to electrotrains's topic in Atari 8-Bit Computers
Basically I would like to have the same SIO connector that the Ultimate cart has. However, I'm not sure how to wire up the SIO bus to the Pico W without having power going back in to the 8-bit when the SIO cable is plugged in to the back of a powered up 1050, and the 800XL is off (and the PicoCart Duo is plugged in to the 800XL).- 541 replies
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