Larry

I'd like a backup unit, so I'd prefer not to buy a new "F". This was the last "large" form factor -- clearly marked with "Rev D" written on the back, next to the copyright notice. Rev D is compatible with the 65816 cpu and that's important for my use. If interested, please send a PM with price, etc. Thanks, Larry

Hi Santosp- If I understand you correctly, it would be for mounting the EclaireXL board in a 600XL or 800XL case using the native keyboard. (That would still be my goal.) Putting an EclaireXL in a separate case and then adding any external keyboard loses all the space efficiency of a self-contained unit (compactness). Aside from that, the XEGS keyboard is not the most attractive thing. And (IMO) a separate keyboard loses a great deal of its Atari character. -Larry

I've sent a PM to Simius, so we'll see if he has some thoughts. But yes, since it's lost the time & date again, seems like the battery or that circuit is suspect. @Roy- I found from the docs that Rev D is also 65816 compatible, and I do have a "D". So I got that "D" working. Although not used for a couple of years, the time/date was still accurate. (Yay!) -Larry

Oops! Updating to Bios 1.6 didn't completely fix the issue. As soon as I power down for a couple of minutes, then power back on, the IDE+ resets itself to the (I presume) default settings. Has anyone replaced their battery yet? If so, where did you get a new spot welded battery holder like the one Simius used? But the battery shows 2.90 volts, so that should be adequate, I'd think.

Hi Roy- Thanks for the info. My Rev E has the CF adapter built-in, so I hope it doesn't come to that. I do have some older versions, but this is the only one that works with the 65816, so I hope this one keeps on chuggin' along. -Larry

Thanks for the suggestions. I had already tried a stock 800XL with the same results. Tracing the issue a bit further, the screen & settings changed when I pressed START + RESET. So long as I didn't press those to bring up the config. screen, the system was stable. I've updated the Bios to 1.6 and everything seems to be working correctly again. Fingers crossed! -Larry

No, you're right, after looking at the files, what he gave the purchaser of the Rev 7 rom "free" were the files to convert/patch the old customizer to work with the new R7 rom. So, looks like two things -- you still need the original disk, and it seems that you still need an 810. A 1050 evidently won't work (although I never tried). I've done some lookiing and I'm even more convinced that I no longer have the original Customizer disk. Even if you get the actual disk, then you still have to deal with the issue of the copy protection. (Not that it is insurmountable.) -Larry

Absolutely. I had it many years ago. IIRC, the new (free) Customizer is built into Rev 7 and/or 7.1. The old Happy 810 Customizer was released on a well-protected disk, and I think that when I sold my Happy 810 drives, I sent that on its way. Originally, all the extra utilities like the multi-drive, etc were about $50 each, and I think the Customizer was more than $100. At some point they were likely advertised in Analog magazine. The Customizer could not be copied by a Happy -- not sure about the 810 Archiver. Of course, the Archiver software made the Customizer moot. I'll look through my stuff, but I'm quite certain I no longer have the original. -Larry

I'm having an issue with the IDE+2 retaining its settings. I started to update the bios to 1.6, but noticed in Konrad's docs that your IDE+2 should be "sane and stable." This is in a 600XL with the Antonia SRAM upgrade. A couple of disk drives attached as well as APE -- nothing else. Symptoms: Date/time have been corrupted. I reset and seems to be holding after a couple of days. IDE will not stay set to OFF. I turn it OFF and then after powering down overnight it is back ON. External cartridge keeps turning itself ON. Quick disable keeps setting itself to OFF Maybe an issue with Antonia (although this issue just started)? Battery failing? Thanks for any ideas! -Larry Edit: I just had another thought. I've been booting the Happy Backup software -- perhaps it is somehow interfering with the IDE+2. (?) I'll check with and without the Happy and see if that makes a difference.

I also wondered about the side B's. My gut tells me that when Happy WarpSpeed Dos was released, there was some stuff on side B. Looking at the individual disk images may shed some light on that. Edit: My gut was wrong -- it's on Side A!

Here is my recollection of the Happy Backup Software (I started with Rev 3.x for the drop-in Happy 810 Enhancement, IIRC): Rev 1.x ??? Rev 2.x ??? Rev 3.x (Happy 810 Enhancement) Rev 4.x (Happy 810 Software -- several releases) Rev 5.x (Happy 810 WarpSpeed Software -- several releases) Note: I believe that the 5.x series started the WarpSpeed releases, but may have started with something like 4.7. (?) Rev 6.x (Happy 1050 WarpSpeed Software -- not for 810 -- maybe a couple of releases Rev 7 (Happy 810 and 1050 WarpSpeed Software -- 810 needed the new Happy Rev 7 rom Rev 7.1 Last released version of 810/1050 WarpSpeed Software Any added input? Remember anything differently? Regrettably, after I got the new rom, I got rid of the older disk software, since it would no longer work with the 810 Rev 7 rom. Atarimania has the front side of 5.3 and 6.6. So some of these are missing. -Larry

Not to belabor this, but is your adapter going to support a regular (stock) XL/XE keyboard or just the XEGS? I don't have an XEGS, so I don't know how different they are (other than the connector). -Larry

"- older happy 810 can only do 'warp speed' 2x faster/ 38400 SIO that doesn't work with most software, and later 810 happy and 1050 happy support ultraspeed emulation (2.8x faster / 54000bps) which is compatible with spartados and many other DOSes and programs." Now you've got me curious -- I don't remember that 2X. I had an 810 Happy and a 1050 Happy at the same time, and don't remember the 810 Warp mode being noticeably slower. The only drive that I remember using 2X was the fast interleave double density mode of the XF551 (and I don't recall the divisor). Can you explain that a bit more? Perhaps you are referring to the Happy Menu operations as opposed to Warp Dos? I know that the capabilities of the 810 Happy were "enhanced" with the use of the new rom, but I don't recall the Warp Speed (Dos) being any faster. Your post also makes me notice how much I've forgotten, too! -Larry

Thanks for your help! From your AA link, the Tool downloaded with zero issues -- gave me the popup window with "SAVE or Open with" option (Win7). Rechecking, yes the right click at Trub's does work. I didn't interpret the "Save Link as" correctly -- thinking it would save the address and not the actual contents of the link. -Larry

Questions about the CP/M Tool... I followed the links to Trub's page on CP/M which has the link to the tool. But when I try to download the tool, I just get garbage on the screen -- Foxfire and Chrome both try to open it as some type of text file rather than a downloadable file. (Right click doesn't help.) I see it is an ARC file, and they typically show up as regular downloadable archives with no issue. But this one does. Or perhaps I'm bot understanding this correctly. I presume that the Tool is a Windows executable file? Can someone help, and if available, attach a copy of a Zipped copy of the tool? Thanks, Larry

Had forgotten about that linked math pack thread from 2008-09. There have been a lot of threads about patching the OS in various ways. But made me think about the patching procedure. Isn't there a patching program that patches and then recalculates the OS checksum? Actually I was thinking there were at least two -- one ML and one in BAS? Looked in my stuff, but so far haven't found them. Anyone remember these? -Larry

I downloaded 1.03i, and see that Ray updated the GUI a bit -- more colorful and also easier to read, I think. Big improvement to my eyes. The FTDI drivers are re-installed and everything is working now. It probably will never replace APE for me, but still nice to have operational again. Maybe if the ATX support for RespeQt works out, I'll give it a try. -Larry

I certainly wasn't sure, but I was thinking that preview 7 came from Ray. Unfortunately, if I search at AA, I come up with maybe 11 pages of topics that mention AspeQt. Maybe "preview 7" would have been a better search criteria. Anyway, I'll get this working again.

Thanks!

I don't use it very much, but after a PC crash some time ago and complete reinstall, I found that I lost what appeared to be my only copy of the AspeQt folder/files. Looking around the internet, the latest that I find is 1.03i from Google Drives. I think that this is a newer version than what I was using which I think was 1.0 Preview 7. (?) Can anyone tell me if 1.03i is the latest version that was released? I'm also going to need to reinstall the FTDI drivers, but that should be fairly easy to find. At some point, I'll give RespeQt a try, but for now, I just just want to re-familiarize myself with AspeQt. Thanks, Larry

I'm curious... has anyone here used a Retropie to emulate an Atari? Looks like a PITA to set up, but presumably it doesn't need to be done all the time. Will it emulate at 100% of Atari speed? Faster maybe with different settings? Does it crash often? As I said, just curious -- I have a ton of original hardware, but Retropie is intriguing. -Larry

I probably should have inserted a link: http://www.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/Shop

Looking at the excellent Eclaire XL mini, the only part I don't care for is that it uses a USB keyboard connector. (An Atari adapter may be available later.) I want to install a Eclaire in an 600XL or 800XL. A "sleeper" of sorts. A proposed solution is the Tynemouth Software Atari to USB adapter. There are Tynemouth adapters used for Retropie and other retro computers, so it is a relatively common solution for older computers. But the rub is that it is $80 including shipping. Not the end of the world, but pretty steep. This is similar to the issue of attaching an Atari keyboard to a PC which has been discussed in earlier threads. So, is anyone aware of any possible alternatives? Arduino? Raspberry Pi? -Larry

Hope it will be adaptable to regular XL/XE keyboard connections. The Tynemouth Software XL/XE --> USB adapter is apx. $80 (with shipping). That's pretty steep for an adapter. -Larry

Add-on board available now or at a future date? (I'm guessing later...)