OldScot

I have the same board in a used 520ST I bought 25+(?) years ago. The 520 has a 1040 motherboard with 512K of ram. The Ram expansion adds 2MB for a total of 2.5MB. The machine also has a daughter board bodge on one of the Roms, with one 1.4 ROM on the motherboard and the other in a cabled daughterboard. (No idea why.) I just opened up the machine to have a look as it is extremely flaky talking to an UltraSatan I just attached. Sometimes it works for a short time, sometimes it simply bombs on boot. It doesn't work long enough to be useful. I'm going to start by recapping the power supply as it looks like it needs it. (This is the first time I've run across an obviously failing cap.) I'll see if the situation improves any after that. I'd like to recap the motherboard as well as a there is one cap under the memory expansion and I'd prefer not to try removing it. The memory expansion is wild, two circuit boards back to back on LONG pins going to a shifter socket. Memory testing shows the 2.5 MB is working fine.

FYI. I followed Przemyslaw 's instructions and installed a pair of 15pf capacitors on the sd slots and now the UltraSatan is working with mutliple SDHD cards.

I asked Lotharek about the problem of using 2 cards and Przemyslaw updated the online FAQs. The response is the last FAQ. https://lotharek.pl/productdetail.php?id=48#faq Apparently "sdhc cards have recently changed".

Thanks for the feedback Peter. 4. The AdSCSI is connected to the internal ACSI connector and the UltraSatan is connected to the external ACSI connector of the MegaST. The UltraSatan is configured as SCSI 1 and 2. Perhaps the ACSI port doesn't like using both the internal and external connections at the same time? Perhaps it's a termination issue? SCSI is a bus with termination on the last device. Perhaps ACSI doesn't work the same way? 1. Any idea on question 1? I'd like to try putting the GEM partitions in Slot 1(SCSI 1) and the non-GEM partitions in Slot 2 (SCSI 2) but when I tried adding a new card in Slot 2 the UltraSatan wouldn't start. I've done more experimenting and it seems like Slot 2 must be an SD to use both slots. Can't use an SD HC in Slot 2 when Slot 1 also in use? I understand the Atari can access the non-GEM partitions as Meg-A-Minute is supposed to be able to back up the partition. And of course the Spectre128 software formats and uses those partitions. The non-GEM partitions are 20-30MB.

Forgot to add. System: TOS 1.04. (Originally 1.02, I just found my original TOS 1.02 roms the other day.)

My Ultrasatan is back and I'm experimenting with it again so I have many, many questions. (After having my first Ultrasatan for a day I somehow managed to bork it and it had to be reflashed.) Thank you for reading and any suggestions/advice! System: MegaST2, ICD AdSCSI Micro ST internal interface, Quantum Prodrive LPS (SCSI), external Ultrasatan. I have both the ICD and PP drivers. The internal SCSI drive was partitioned with ICD driver, uses SCSI ID 0. 1. Ultrasatan with 2 SD cards may lock up? Some combinations of cards work, other combinations lock up the Ultrasatan. (Red lights don't blink, ST sees no drives.) All of the cards work on their own. Does it matter if different drivers partitioned the cards? Why do some combinations work but others don't? 2. Spectre128 doesn't understand PP driver formatted partitions? Spectre128 shows gibberish and only 2 partitions. (Displayed partition sizes are very imaginative numbers.) Works perfectly with ICD partitions. (Have 4-5 ST partitions followed by 2 MAC partitions.) Online browsing suggests it SHOULD work with PP partitions. Anyone using PP driver with Spectre128 HFS partitions? (Spectre128 version 3.0.) 3. Is there a way to back up/copy non-GEM/BGM partitions? I'd like to copy/back up my Spectre128 HFS partitions. (Type is OOP as I remember.) The manual suggests using MEG-A-Minute (same author) but I don't want to back up to diskette. 4. Can't use AdSCSI and Ultrasatan at the same time? So far I've not been able to access Ultrasatan partitions when using the AdScsi drive. I've configured the Ultrasatan for SCSI ID 1 and the AdSCSI drive for SCSI ID 0. I've tried both ICD and PP drivers, no luck. I'd like to copy the partitions between drives and also backup the partition to my PC. Just read the AdSCSI manual, doesn't mention any limitations other than SCSI IDs 0-4 must be used. 5. Wondering if I should try the HD driver? Does anyone have experience with Spectre128 HFS partitions using the HD driver? Does anyone have experience with AdSCSI and Ultrasatan with the HD driver? Yes, I will probably eliminate the AdSCSI/SCSI drive at some point but would like to recreate the existing setup (desktop replacement, spectre, etc etc) on the Ultrasatan first. HINT: Quantum Prodrives have internal rubber stops that turn to mush/glue over time and stop the drive from booting. This was a problem back in the 90s when I was using this system, I would reboot until the drive finally spun up. Youtube videos show opening the drive and replacing those gloppy stops but that's as error prone as it sounds. Now that I know what the problem is I've found that heating the drive (to free the armature from the glop) before using it allows the drive to spin up successfully. (Your mileage may vary.) Thanks Again!

I have a MegaST2 with internal ICD ADSCSI board and a scsi hard drive. I'm trying to replace the drive with a 5.2 SCSI2SD. I can't get any ST HD drivers to see the SCSI device. I'm trying the ICD drivers, PPs driver, and the HDDriver demo. I've connected the SCSI2SD to the PC and have tried putting it in "SLOW" mode. I even tried turning OFF termination but then the ST boot showed drive failure (no drive icons), as expected. The internal drive connector goes to the ADSCSI which is mounted on the SCSI2SD. The power connector is going to the SCSI2SD. (Just like the old SCSI hard drive.) Is there anything I'm overlooking? Mystified. The setup IS working with the SCSI HD drive, when I coax the old drive to life. Apparently the Quantum ProDrives suffer from a rubber stop that turns to mush/muck over time. (Let me know if this should be a new thread.) Thanks

Great, thanks! Just the thing until I get that chip/battery replaced.

I did. Easiest connection is my old blue laplink cable. It's working between the MegaST and an old PC.

Hello, I'm just returning to the ST world after stopping sometime in the 90s. I'm busy digging out all my old gear and have dozens of questions but I'll start with just a few. (Have my original MegaST2 (TOS 1.04), my Falcon030, and an upgraded 520STFM (TOS 1.04) I bought used and dedicated to a full time application.) 1. Do these machines have a Y2K or other date/time problem and if so is there a standard solution? (Mega has ICD adscsi.) 2. I've finally managed to back up the drives in the Mega and Falcon. I wanted to let the NetUsBee developer know that the UIP tool crashes while reading FTP directories when a file has an illegal/bad date and time. 3. Does the Falcon need its setting/clock chip replaced due to dead battery, or is there a work around? 4. Just tried using the Falcon serial port to talk to the Mega and it didn't work. The Mega serial port is working. Is the Falcon serial port incompatible with older ST software or could it have failed? (The Mega has a Spectre/Mac partition I haven't backed up as TOS can't use it. I was going to try serial transfer of the Mac files. About to try serial communication with an old PC.) It's amazing how many things I've long forgotten, but they're slowly coming back. Thank you for your time and assistance. - OldScot