Larry
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Posts posted by Larry
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PM me if you have one to sell. All replies answered.
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Here's an opposing point of view (sort of).
Aside from being useful for copying protected software, the Happy has a track buffer. This allows nearly the whole track to be read in one revolution, regardless of the format or density. The U.S. Doubler does allow double density, but it can only read and write fast if the disk being used is formatted differently. If you are just starting out with Atari, then this is not much of an issue, but if you have lots of regular formatted disks, it is. I have several Doubler drives, but never use them. Actually, I use ~90% ATR's with APE, but I've used Happy Drives since 1982, so obviously I really like them.
@BillP would you post a link to the Happy upgrade you saw on eBay? It should not cost more than about $40 + $10 postage (+/-). Here is a seller that I've had good results from if you decide on a Happy:
https://www.8bitclassics.com/product-category/computers/atari-8-bit-computer/
(Scroll down when using this link.)
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You might try the Wayback Machine at archive.org. They have quite a few snapshots of the Realdos.net site.
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Well, it doesn't react to the commands in the USPlus docs, at least in Altirra. I'm thinking that this is a different Ultra Speed OS, and seems more like APE Warp.
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Here is a working version of the ULTRAOS1 that we have been looking at. It is actually called the Speedy OS, and comes from Germany. I've tested this in Altirra, and it seems to work well. Does anyone know anything about it? For instance any docs, or known "hot keys," etc.? I will test it versus the docs for the USPlus OS.
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@guus.assmann That's really good info -- thanks. You recreated a BB, didn't you? Did you leave anything out (RS232, etc.)? Leaving stuff out would simplify things, including the pcb?
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Thanks for all the replies. Tried a bunch of settings and found a solution.
System> Configure System> Video > Artifacting Mode> NONE (this was set to NTSC/PAL autoswitch)
If I were playing an artifacting game (Lode Runner, etc.), I would want artifacting turned on, but definitely for text-based uses, NONE is clear as can be. I also checked the DELL, and its setting was NONE.
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I'm using Altirra more and more, and use it with two laptops -- a DELL several years old with a Core I5 + Intel graphics and a new HP Ryzen 7 with Radeon graphics. The Dell has a 1366 x 768 HD display while the HP has full HD 1920 x 1080. Both are nice, clear displays, but the HP full HD display is clearer and sharper. However, the display of the Altirra screen is much clearer on the Dell than the HP. The HP Atari screen is genuinely "fuzzy." I've tried all the filter settings in Altirra, and none come close to being sharp like the dell. I guess it is what it is, but I'm curious if someone can hazard a guess why the Ryzen/Radeon is fuzzy?
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Thanks, Bob! I'll email you.
Does anyone know what the -31 numbering means vs -33 or -66 (etc.)? I've looked through the data sheet, but the only thing I found was that R6522 is a 1 MHz part and R6522A is a 2 MHz part. So that would suggest that the BB uses a 1 MHz part. (??)
I talked to Bob Puff yesterday. He told me that the 6522 needs to be 2 MHz.
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Could you tell me where you bought those? U.S.?
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Wow! You are well stocked! And you have the exact part: R6522-31. I'll send you a PM.
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The third slot begs for a Bit3/Austin 80-column replacement. But a difficult task, for sure.
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https://www.unicornelectronics.com looks like a great site for NOS parts. I see they have a $30 minimum order -- not a dealbreaker, but that + shipping makes for an expensive I.C. unless I can find several other things I want.
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Brief update on the original topic... Hias' patch works great with the OS-B. Brian's RamRom board is terrific, and a great addition for an 800. And now I have MyDos with UltraSpeed on my "first love."
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That's great. Here's where I'm coming from -- I've got two new VBXE/VBXL that I've never installed because of no available converter. I've seen RGB to VGA converters, but I really need HDMI. So if you have a link to something that might work, it would be really helpful.
OTOH, I think there is some misunderstanding here about RGB vs YPbPr. It would be helpful if you could address that.
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That's my question. I see component to HDMI, but not RGB. They are different, aren't they?
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@mytek "There are some fairly inexpensive RGB to HDMI converters on the market now days that actually do a decent job of conversion for us people that live in non-RGB monitor land, and there are ways to make CRT monitors accept RGB input."
Can you point to one or two? I know that YPbPr to HDMI converters exist, but RGB?
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Where is a good place to purchase one? Have one to sell? -- PM me.
They used a lot of these in Commodore's, didn't they? Should be interchangeable?
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Thanks for your efforts! I'll take a look at the Basic file.
At least I have a real US Plus kit in an XE. Too bad that Bob Puff lost all that info about his products -- he had a lot of neat stuff.
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OK, I've tried several more times with the rom patcher without success, using both Altirra and real hardware. When the rom patcher gets through with the file, it looks like the first attempt. I don't think I'm doing anything wrong, but perhaps you can try and see if you get better results. If I were to guess, I would say that the file is put together in a non-standard way as a means of copy protection. "How" is beyond my skills, but it would not surprise me if the actual module did some type of bank-switching within different parts.
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I looked at it this AM, and I think you are right. Not sure where I got them messed up, but I will definitely go through it again.
It will probably be a few days until I get to it. In the meantime, I've taken the ULTRAOS2.rom down, since it is not the correct file.
Do you think that the first 6 bytes or the last 6 bytes of the file do not belong in the rom? Any way to make an educated guess? The 32K file has the same issue(s).
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I ran the Atari Rom Checker and Patcher on ULTRAOS1, and it did have incorrect checksums. With corrected checksums, it does boot and behaves like a proper OS. But now the color is the normal color and doesn't seem to be the US Plus OS. I'll check some more things, but it does not look promising. Here is the file, now called ULTRAOS2.rom (to avoid confusion).
Note: removed -- wrong file.
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I tried to use the Atari Rom Checker, (16,384 bytes), but it does not recognize the file as an OS. I tried several "known good" OS files, and it reacts properly, but with the UltraOS, it does nothing. I'll split the 32K file and try it with the Rom Checker.
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Wanted: Ultra Speed Plus O.S. (CSS)
in Atari 8-Bit Computers
Posted
Thanks. I did see that one, but I sure don't need another 130XE with bad ram.
If this doesn't pan out, then recreating a very similar one would be the next best bet. Hias' high-speed patch does the heavy lifting. The other (IMO) killer features of the US+ OS are the 720 sector ramdisks (single or double density) and the ability to swap drives. I don't believe coding of the drive swapping would be a big deal. But I think that the 720-sector ramdisk would be more difficult.
Here's a question for the coders -- would some of the features like changing margins and screen color selection suggest that there is likely an SRAM inside the module? Has anyone ever taken one of the modules apart?