Guitarman

Looks like I'll be able to repair 8 bits for a while!!! All this for $49!!! Maybe I can start building out that 1400XL now!!!

Well, My UltraSatan is on it's way back to Jookie for a once over and reflash!! I got a response from Lotharek so I have a new UltraSatan on the way. Now I'll have a backup!!!

It is one of a handful of programs to be used with the Chalkboard PowerPad. Each of the programs have overlays that go on the PowerPad to show you the 'zones' that are being set for the program.

Sweet!!!!! I will test it this week and let you know, but that looks like all that would be needed.

Make sure the computer is off. In the area where the HDD is, give it a couple of good solid taps with your knuckles. See if you can get the drive to respond. You can usually tell if the drive is spinning up because you'll definitely hear it. The key is hearing that the drive spins up fairly quickly. If it doesn't, the computer will not sense it and end up at the desktop. If you can't get it to spin up, try giving it a couple of good solid taps with the computer on and see if you hear it spin up. If so, just press the reset button instead of turning it off and on and see if the drive loads. If it does, let the computer ist turned on for a while to let the bearings in the drive loosen up. Then, if it locks up at a later time, a couple of taps should get it going. That's what I have to do with the one I got. If I let it sit a day or so, I have to 'assist' it in starting up!! LOL For backup of the contents, get yourself an UltraSatan, if you don't have one. That will probably be the best backup solution for large amounts of data. The was my intent when I fried mine doing the firmware upgrade!! It's being repaired at this time.

Can you snap a picture of the keyboard with the missing key so I can see the key mount?? I may have one for you.

I would see if the seller would exchange it. It seems like all your other parts are working fine. I notice he doesn't have any more of those for sale and is now selling a full adapter.

So, where did you get the cable?? Do you have a link??

Also, There are 3 pins that feed +5V. I'm not sure on the computer side but if the 3 pins feed 3 separate circuits in the Atari, one dead pin could cause issues in certain areas (video???). If the 3 pins are joined or bridged in the Atari or the PS, then it wouldn't matter. Same goes for the ground pins, but those should be bridged.

That would be the next thing I'd check, especially if the computers works fine with an original supply and you've already tried different computers and power adapters. The only thing you haven't tried yet is a different cable.

You are correct. One port is 2.1A and the other is 1.5A (zoom the attached pic). These are a bit misleading, but most of the multiport adapters state the total amperage from all ports in their title but each port only generates a portion of the total. Still, at 1.5A and 2.1A, either port should power the Atari.

Yeah. Mine is the first version originally built by Jookie. The firmware, from what I understand, is for any version. Also, this firmware is mainly for issue found with the latest version of HDDriver, which I have. If you're not using HDDriver, I wouldn't worry about it. I haven't heard back from Lotharek yet about a spare.

It's beyond that. First thing I tried was the jumper. But if I connect the US to a machine, the machine will not boot properly to anything and I get floppy read errors that go away as soon as I disconnect it. It's on its way back to Jookie right now so he can reprogram it. I PMed Lotharek to see if he has any of the new one so I can get a spare.

Is there software on the ST side that will backup the HDD to another connected device as an image file, or is it easier to just copy the contents of the main drive(s) to the SD card??

Got my UltraSatan a while back but just broke it out to start using to make backups of my HDD's. It was working fine.Connected it and ran the config to set the drive ID's to 2-3 to work with a MegaSTe I want to back up. No issues. Then I did a search for updates to the US and found the 1.13 firmware update, so I downloaded and installed the new firmware. Now the US will not respond to anything. I get a power light but when I insert a card, no flash from the drive lights. I have taken it out of its case and jumped the base firmware jumper but no change. If fact, now when I connect it to the computer, my floppy drive starts getting read errors when trying to access a disk. Half the time, with it connected, the ST will just start to the desktop with no drive activity. HELP!!! The US I have is Jookie's version, black case with the card slots up/down from each other. As I said, this is the first I've started using it as it's been sitting on my Atari desk since I bought it.

What are folks using/doing to back up their hard drives?? What I'd like to do is use my UltraSatan as a backup device. I know I could set up a TOS/PC configured card and copy the contents to the card. Is there backup software that will back up the drive as an image so it can be used in an emulator?? If so, can that image be restored to a new HDD? (software???) I am not at a lack of SD cards so my plan is to have 1 card per backed up HDD. Thanks for any info!!!

Keyboard fixed!!! There was actually a third open trace that was barely visible. Now the full keyboard is working flawlessly. Time to hook up the UltraSatan and get a backup of the drive.

Well, I'm going to throw a wrench in the cog!! I am using a Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer 2.0 'cordless' with the adapter and it works great!!! So, don't give up on a cordless solution.

Well, found my circuit pen!! So I redrew the 2 traces and put the keyboard back together. Now I have all keys working with the exception of the Esc key. I think the Esc key was the only key on one of the traces so I must not have got a good retrace on that one. One more time!!

Does the current generation even know what binary is?? LOL

So, the keyboard issue turns out to be a couple of open traces on the mylar. It looks to have been previously repaired as it had trace repair tape over the 2 open traces. I think the trace tape just aged and started lifting. Couldn't find my circuit pen last night so going to the electronics shop to get a new one today. I will probably also order a new mylar from Best. They are only $30 and it would be good to have one on hand if one of the MSTe or TT keyboards goes out in the future.

My next 'repairs' are going to be 2 Falcons, one with a flakey HDD and the other keeps loosing it's NVRam config. The one with the flakey drive I got about a year ago but it wouldn't boot, so I shelved it 'til I had time to mess with it. The other I have had for a few years and work flawlessly with the exception of the system config dropping after a power-down, and it's intermittent. I thought that maybe the battery in the NVRam chip was dead but I replaced it with a new one and it still did it. So I think I may have a short in that one somewhere.

It is probably the case since this is how the 800XL with a 256K Rambo reacts if it isn't allowed to set a few moments after powering off. I would assume that since it is a set of 64x4 chips, they will take longer to clear than the 64x1 chips in a stock 800XL.

Received mine. Again, another great hardware project for the Atari!!! Thank You to Ben and Panos!!

Crap!!! I was in the area just last week/weekend!! I'll look at your list and see what I can use.