spinnaker15136
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Posts posted by spinnaker15136
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Most of the images and videos I have seen of screens from an Atari 800 show nice crisp white characters. At least one of those videos was showing an old CRT type monitor.
I am using my LCD TV. I am getting sort of a magenta tint to the characters and the blue background isn't exactly blue. I played with the settings on my TV and improved it a bit but the magenta tint persists. Is this just normal and I am not remembering it? Is it because I am using an LCD? Or is there something wrong.
Donkey Kong seems kind of washed out as well as Ghost Hunter, At least from the way I remember it. I can post those images later if requested.
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Sorry for the newbie questions. I just cannot believe all of the advances made in the Atari world in the 30+ years I was gone.
From what I gather, an atr file is sort of like a virtual disk image of the old diskette? I would like to know things like how to get files into an atr file. How to get them out. But I think I found a post in the newbie thread on that.
Who came up with the standard? How long has it been around? Is there a file stucture documented somewhere? Stuff like that.
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This post from me near the end of that same thread has the version 1.1beta files already compiled.
The zip has folders for each of 4 or 5 supported touchscreens. Basically you’ll copy the .hex files for your model display out of the sub folder into the main folder, then you can run the batch file in the post I linked to first.
You say "this post" but I don't see a link. Am I missing something?
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Now completed build, thought I would show you what I did as I couldn't use the SIO Cable from an old 410 Cassette, I couldn't
get the pins out to move the motor control to Command line as Command signal not used in Cassette.
Some years ago I built a SIO2PC and didn't have a spare SIO Cable so I cut one of my 1050 SIO cables in half, then soldered
a 25pin male/female to each half, I used a 25 way on the input to the SIO2PC box.
This meant I could use the SIO2PC but also join the cable back together when I wanted to use the 1050.
I decided to use this cable and put a 25 way (I have loads of components, so no purchase needed) on the SDrive
cable, I also didn't really want to mount the board with the 7407 in the Arduino, so I put the circuit board in a small
box between the plug and the SDrive.
All working fine now, only tested with 130XE, but will try on the 800 later.
I've added a diagram of the circuit I used, I wasn't happy with the ones I've seen before where the Atari +5V is connected to
the Arduino +5V (a recipe for disaster).
All I have to do now is find a suitable case
What did you use for the cable from the Arduino? Sort of looks like one of those modular phone cables.
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A few disks and manuals at the Internet Archive as well:
Excellent! I have misplaced my DOSXL manual. While I have my Diskwiz manual but can't find the disk!
And yes I see it on Atariamania. ;0
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A question I can't seem to get anyone to answer. So how do I get files on the CD in the first place? Do I load them on with a card reader? Can I load them with the USB interface to the Arduino? Or do I also need an SIO2PC?
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Please start recommending people use Xloader, at least for Windows as I haven't tried a Linux version if one is available. It is a simple point and click wrapper that takes care of all the CLI and installation programs people are having. The download I got even had AVRDude distributed within the zip so it doesn't have any trouble finding files.
The LCD screen that failed looks a lot like a MCUFriend. The reason why it won't work is the pins for the touch screen interface use different pins. You will never get the interface to work while the touchscreen is inoperative. No matter where you touch the screen, it will return the wrong info to the program.
A simple default to the software i.e. load named files like disk1.atr on the as the default. Ditto for the whole screen nags. Just do something like ~no user response after 1 minute to the screen calibration, just assume there is a problem and load defaults. That way you wouldn't even need a screen.
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I used this screen for my first sdrive-max. If you want one of the printed cases they are designed for the 2.8" screen.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01EUVJYME/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Thanks. Added to my cart. Have a bunch of stuff ready to order.
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Hi, this is a link to the screen I used on Amazon:- https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01C3RDFN6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
More info here on installing the software:-http://www.kbrnet.de/projekte/sdrive-max/index.html
and loads of help from this forum:- http://atariage.com/forums/topic/275629-sdrive-max-atx-support/
hope this helps
Thanks can't seem to find that one in the US. But here it is one eBay. Or seems like it.
They also have the 3.5". Are there any advantages to a larger screen? It is about the same price.
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Have to admit that we only set up the VCS (playing mainly Pong and mentioned in the presentation as the first cartridge-based console to reach a wide audience and starting the video game boom) and a Vectrex (to showcase Space War as the first programmed video game). We were lucky to set up in a classroom with a huge 1990s CRT that gave a great picture off the VCS's RF output. Unfortunately we did not have enough space to set up another machine and so the VCS won out over the 65XE due to its period looks.
In his presentation my son told the story of Computer Space being too hard and brainy to succeed commercially and it was interesting to notice that this was mirrored in our setup. Quite some people gave Space Wars a try but gave up saying "it's too complicated" and turned to Pong instead.
Still got a working 65XE out of this! Now need to clean up those other machines with their various hiccups and persuade another kid to volunteer for a "History of Atari" presentation
I can remember like was yesterday, the first time I played pong. It was at the bowling ally just up the road. It was the table version. I was absolutely amazed. We played till all our quarters ran out. Kids flocked to that place from all over town after the word was out. Back then every game was mechanical. The only thing close was an electro-mechanical game called Sea Raider.
I think kids are really missing out today. They were born into the tech world. I think I was very fortunate to be born in the right time in history to see it really evolve.
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It sure beats having to type data lines in from Compute or Antic or a host of other magazines back in the day. .
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Of course. Just look at the site - there are categories and alphabetical listings for each.
Besides Muschca be sure to spend time exploring the Pigwa FTP site. You can also download the entire TOSSEC archive from Archive.Org:
https://archive.org/download/Atari_8_bit_TOSEC_2012_04_23/Atari_8_bit_TOSEC_2012_04_23.zip
Ah! I see now. Thanks. Wow. You could spend a life time just on Atarimania.
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Are these events always held in the same cities? The Midwest one sounds interesting though maybe expensive for a room. But a good reason for an overnight train ride from Pittsburgh.
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Absolutely a good decision. If the 400 had not come out at a reasonable price point, my father would never have shelled out the cash for an 800 or an Apple II in 1981. The 16K 400 with BASIC and a 410 for $400 made home computer possible for me in 1981. A lot of power at half the price of its contemporaries. I had previously used Apple IIs in high school, but a 400 in 1981 just offered me so much more. To this day I contend that the 400 my father bought me for Christmas was one of the best (tangible) gifts he ever gave me. That 400 put me on a path that I might not have followed in the technical field. I am an Aerospace Engineer and that 400 I received in 1981 had a big role in that.
I just dragged my old 800 out of storage after almost 40 years. I have been thumbing through the OS manual appreciating all over again how advanced this machine was for its day, It was amazing the thought and engineering that went into the design. Then popping the hood, seeing so many through hole components and all the socketed chips. I am amazed that this thing did not cost ten times what they were charging back then.
While I did not obtain the lofty goals (pun intended) as you, the Atari got me to move from my first first love, electronics, on to my true love programming. Unfortunately, as of late I have lost the love for my job. I still love the profession but I can't stand my place of work anymore. Fortunately, I only have a few more years to retirement.
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As _The Doctor_ says, you’ll need single-density disks only with your 810.
Do you have an SIO2PC device of any kind? If so you can download ATR files of pretty much anything you want or need from various threads here at AtariAge, the collection at AtariMania, the Pigwa FTP site, the Mushca collection, or the Internet Archive. Then just use a sector copier to write clean disks to your 810 and see if they boot.
That would let you test the 810 formatting as well as ordinary read/write performance.
Found the link on AtariMania.
http://www.atarimania.com/top-atari-utility-atari-400-800-xl-xe-_U_8_D.html
My DOSXL is out there.
Syays TOP 100. Does that mean there are more downloads somewhere?Thanks for the other ideas for downloads. There is a ton of stuff on that Mushca site!
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Now completed build, thought I would show you what I did as I couldn't use the SIO Cable from an old 410 Cassette, I couldn't
get the pins out to move the motor control to Command line as Command signal not used in Cassette.
Some years ago I built a SIO2PC and didn't have a spare SIO Cable so I cut one of my 1050 SIO cables in half, then soldered
a 25pin male/female to each half, I used a 25 way on the input to the SIO2PC box.
This meant I could use the SIO2PC but also join the cable back together when I wanted to use the 1050.
I decided to use this cable and put a 25 way (I have loads of components, so no purchase needed) on the SDrive
cable, I also didn't really want to mount the board with the 7407 in the Arduino, so I put the circuit board in a small
box between the plug and the SDrive.
All working fine now, only tested with 130XE, but will try on the 800 later.
I've added a diagram of the circuit I used, I wasn't happy with the ones I've seen before where the Atari +5V is connected to
the Arduino +5V (a recipe for disaster).
All I have to do now is find a suitable case
Can you please tell us the screen you DID order?
Also I see from you post above you loaded files onto the SD memory? Where you able to do this with a card reader and your PC?
I am brand new to these devices so sorry for the dumb questions.
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6502 machine code is very easily recognised to someone who's used it a lot - just browsing a hex dump might be enough to reveal what it is.
Well back in the day I could look at 6502 machine code and read it as easily as people read text in their native language. But ut has been nearly 40 years since I have touched machine code. So the brain is a bit fuzzy.
I was just hoping someone recognized it by name. I guess I will need to investigate further on my own.
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Exactly. Just post the file here, and I'm 99% sure somebody will identify it.
When I can access it.
Still trying to get the whole Atari system back up on line. And then I will need to get SIO2PC or some way to get the file to my PC. -
Drop it on Memopad or Notepad++ and see if looks familiar...
Maybe it is part of the CIO driver you wrote, don't you just hate when you pick up something years later and can't work out where it came from...Always bloody annoying, more so if you did it
Been there a few times...
LOL I have tons of old code like that. One I remember but don't know how I was able to do it. Once I basically re-engineered a building automation system originally written for the PDP 11/34 that I had nothing top do with. The 34 would talk to field panels distributed in the building or campus. It used a proprietary protocol for which there was very sparse documentation.
I first had to write a serial data analyzer to better understand the protocol between host an panels. My automation software had scripting and multiple user terminals. This was all before Windows. When I look at that old code, I have no idea how I was able to accomplish that task.
And the really big news was that the original code crashed all the time. My code ran for a couple of years without a reboot. And the only reason for the reboot then as because of a power failure. -
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Drop it on Memopad or Notepad++ and see if looks familiar...
Maybe it is part of the CIO driver you wrote, don't you just hate when you pick up something years later and can't work out where it came from...Always bloody annoying, more so if you did it
Been there a few times...
One of the many projects.
Should it be readable? I.E. In text format? Or would it be binary? I guess I will need to look at both the XL BASIC and Mac 65 manual to see if they were able to create .lib files. -
Why can’t a double density disk be used in the 810 drive? Is there something about the magnetic and/or the magnetic encoding that prevents usage? Example : I read something about high density disks having a different composition that requires a stronger magnetic flux. Our drives aren’t “strong” enough” to write very well to those disks.
The confusion was my use of the word "enhanced" . As long as the disk is formatted single density, it should be able to be used in the 810.
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Your use of the word “enhanced” in the title, in connection with Atari floppy disks, generally indicates 130K 1050 Enhanced Density or 180K double-density disks.
It was meant as a DOS plus / advanced DOS. I.E. not the out of box Atari DOS.
The post clearly asks for single density. Sorry for the confusion.So what are my options other than SIO2PC? Can files be loaded on SD memory by a PC? Then use din one of the various SD memory drives for the Atari?
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Got the 810 working. So I know the SIO is working. Thanks.
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The Dos you choose should reflect your computer's capability as well as the storage device.
If you have lots of RAM then it might be worthwhile looking into SpartaDos.
Even if you only have 64K, the patched "DOS 2.5XL" is a worthwhile choice as it'll work fine with the SD drive but uses the Ram under the OS to store MEM.SAV and DUP.SYS which means you can use the Dos menu without program loss and without the annoying memory save/restore delays.
Currently only have 32K. RAM was really expensive back in the day.
It is an Atari 800 BTW.
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Not getting crisp white characters on TV from Atari 800
in Atari 8-Bit Computers
Posted · Edited by spinnaker15136
Sorry meant to mention that last night. Tried connecting two ways. One with a composite video cable direct to video in of the TV, And with RF. Video gives slightly better results.