Larry

While it is easy to create ATR's with APE, is there some way to create and/or change the titles of an ATR using just the SIO2SD? I'm not aware of any way to do this. I've looked at this for my own situation, and it looks like the easiest way to create the ATRs would be to use makeATR (PC utility) each time you wanted to create and then copy to that ATR. Or you can copy a "blank" ATR of the correct size to the card and then change the filename. But once the ATR is named and placed on the SD card, there doesn't seem any way to change the ATR filename except to take the card out and insert it into a card reader. Definitely doable, but seems quite a bit more cumbersome than using APE. One frequently reads the objection to APE (etc.) that "I don't want to be tethered to a PC," but some how, some way, the PC seems still needed with any of the imaging systems. -Larry

That makes things more complicated and more expensive. Cheapest solution is to download cracked versions. This would still require an SIO2PC or some other server device to get the images over to the Atari. If you want to copy the protected disks, then you need to make APE .PRO images using APE software. Or if you're good with copying to backup floppies, maybe the best overall solution is to purchase a Happy Drive internal mod for your 1050. IMO this is a better solution than PRO images, plus you get a nice improvement for your 1050.

As I've been getting reacquainted with my SIO2SD in the past two weeks, I've been thinking how nice a 9- or 10-line display would be for it. With 8 lines for the drives visible at one time and 1 or 2 lines for the status, you would almost never have to load the XEX selector file. Of course, using the selector file is not to much of an issue, since it can be loaded from a hard drive or (likely) a ramdisk. That is one of the things I like about the SIO2SD -- it plays nice with hard drives. I got an email from an Atari friend who mentioned an updated SDrive (SDrive Max) using a fairly big screen to show the 4 drives, so I thought I'd mention the SIO2SD idea here. Prices have come down a lot on small LCD screens, and perhaps the SIO2SD could be done with Arduino? I don't know if that would save very much money over an Atmega? And perhaps this overlaps a lot with the SIO2Arduino, I guess there are a lot of possibilities with modern, inexpensive devices that can interface with our Ataris. The SIO2SD is pretty cool, and I think it would be even better with a bigger screen and more drive info. -Larry

Thanks for the info/link about the fuse bits, lemiel. I'm only dimly aware of the fuse bits issues, so that helps! -Larry

Here's a case for the original 2+3 button versions if anyone is interested: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Case-for-Atari-SIO2SD-2-3-button-rear-SD-version/172862827191?hash=item283f6d6ab7:g:9FkAAOSwRFdZuDPA $25 + modest shipping, for a 3D printed case. I'll post about my results when I get the one I just ordered. I asked for what I thought were the critical dimensions of the case, and a few were off by .5 - 1 mm, but everything looked like it would fit. -Larry

I have two, and neither is installed. It's kind of like having a 4K TV -- nice to have, but not too much to use it with. And in the case of the VBXE, the display device/connection also becomes part of the issue. -Larry

Found a promising search term -- "sio2sd firmware". I kept trying "update....", and that didn't produce useful results. I've got a programmer, so hopefully that will solve my update problem and that in turn take care of the screen issues. Edit: Progress! Got it updated to V2.5 firmware. Operator Error -- I had left an extra "." in the BIN filename. Fixed that and it updated just fine from the config menu. Display. Tried a bunch of things, and neither of the 2.5 XEX files display properly. Interestingly, in addition to the display discrepancies, each key must be pressed twice to get a response. I've never seen that one before. But... I found that the 2.2/2.3 XEX which displays properly (it doesn't try to use too many scan lines for my display) can display drives 5-8. By default, it displays 1-4, but if I press 5, then it displays 5-8. I think I can live with that. It looks like from the Source Forge files that the regular 2.5 XEX and it's brother 2.25 are written in C, so fixing it may be possible for me. But in the meantime, the 2.2/2.3 XEX is usable. BTW, the 2.5 & 2.25 XEX files display 28 lines of what appears to be regular Gr.0 text. That's a lot of lines for NTSC and appears at least one too many for my ATI AIW capture display. Kind of the same issue as the XEP80. Thanks for the help and suggestions -- I do appreciate it! -Larry

I'll keep that in mind, but I'm running firmware 2.2/2.3. If I use the xex file that corresponds, everything looks normal. It is when I use 2.5 xex with 2.2/2.3 firmware that the screen issues show up. And when I use the "alt 2.5P" the screen is fine, but the keyboard doesn't respond. What firmware are you running and what xex paired with it? BTW, the auto spell corrector insists that an xex file is a sex file. Gotta love these things... Larry

Thanks for all the links -- will check them out! Yes, I have the 14.3xxx crystal on mine. It's default is at Pokey 6 -- 68Kbs. IIRC. Thanks again for the info. Every bit helps! -Larry Edit: Looking at the pcb layouts, looks like mine is a V1, but with the crystal upgraded to 14.3 MHz instead of 7.32.

Will it accept line numbers from conventional Atari Basic, or does it check syntax when a line is entered and would "burp" with a line number? -Larry

Mine is a little different. I don't have the 20-pin IC anywhere on my pcb. What is that chip on yours? I've seen pictures of several like yours. My Atmega is an Atmega32 16PU 0641B. You indicated that you couldn't update yours past 2.5 -- did you use your programmer and wouldn't update or did you use the internal? I'm going to plan on somehow updating mine to 2.5 for the next step. -Larry

If you have Action! Then the editor scrolls past 40 col, but I've never tried what you are saying with a Basic program. The Action! Editor was supposedly written for a word processor, so might work for you. Larry

This SIO225.XEX mostly works, but not quite correctly. Looks to have been written for PAL, so not all of the screen lines are visible. And puts spurious characters on the screen. But it actually is functional. Does anyone know what these were written in? I would think assembler, but I noticed that one of the 2.5 versions (Mad Team, IIRC) says "rewritten in assembler." That seems to imply that the original was something other than assembler. So if it is compiled, it might be fixable by me -- maybe. I will look on the internet about reprogramming the Atmega. Has anyone done it or can add anything about the process with the SIO2SD? And is the "....all.bin" file used for the complete program? I have a programmer that will do the Atmega32, so if that "...all.bin" file is used, I should be able to reprogram it. -Larry

Thanks, Roy! That would be really neat! Do you have one of the "early" models from Pigula? Must have been around 2010 or so for mine. Larry

Right now I'm trying to update my SIO2SD V2.2, and I cannot get the firmware update function to activate. It otherwise works great. I have folder ATARI in the root directory I have the SIO2SD.BIN file in the root directory. But when I press SHIFT + K3, it just swaps D1 and D2 continuously. Are there specific "rules" for upgrading the firmware. That is -- perhaps my hardware cannot upgraded beyond 2.2? Mine is a fairly early version from Pigula (IIRC). Are there specific "rules" for which XEX files that can be used? Such that a 2.2 bin must always use the matching 2.2 xex (etc.)? (seems likely). Can (in general) a V2 be upgraded to V3 bin file -- or is the hardware enough different that it can't be done. I'd like to be able to use one of the xex files that can manipulate all 8 drives instead of just 4. I've found a nice case for my SIO2SD, but if I need to, I'll upgrade to a cased V3. Thanks for any help! -Larry

Sold! Just this afternoon.

Good to see I'm not the only one. I really like the Q, so I'll probably end up powering the SIO2SD separately. Has anyone else here used a separate +5V line to the SIO2SD? -Larry

Works great, but I just don't use it, so selling the SDrive. $20 + $6 shipping. No card, no SIO cable. If you want the SIO cable also, $7 additional and increases the shipping to $10. PM me if interested. Ships to "lower 48" U.S. only. -Larry

What are you interested in -- 5-1/4" or converted to 3-1/2' micro floppy (720KB)? Unless you want to use it as a 720KB drive, for many folks, a 1050 with Happy is a better choice. (But I know a lot of folks who just love their XF's.) -Larry

☺ The auto spell corrector strikes again!

Well, that cased unit by FJC is really nice! It would look odd, but I could imagine adding switches on a daughter board above and left on the pcb. If I'd continue to use this, then I need to do something.

Hi Roy- Thanks! The first of the files appears to be the same as the one I already had. What is the 2nd file -- do you know what the "fb" in the filename is? The "Atari Software" page from the link above has the matching .xex files, so I downloaded the V2.2 xex file and it works fine. So now I'm just down to the tactile switches! -Larry

I spent a good part of yesterday trying to get my SIO2SD to work, without much success. I not only could not get it to work correctly, I couldn't get it to repeat from the controls. This is a V2.1 upgraded to V2.3. I know that it worked good in the past, although I haven't had it out in a couple of years. So this morning, I decided to direct-connect the SIO2SD to the computer. I was using an Antonia upgraded 600XL, and originally thought it was some type of issue with it, but the culprit appears to be my Quintopus. Maybe voltage drop? This is the first issue that I've seen that I could trace to the Quintopus. I get things to repeat now, and they more-or-less follow the "docs". So I'm happy with that. Has anyone else seen odd behavior from their SIO2SD and traced the issues to a root cause? Also, I can't get SIO2SD.XEX to work on my system. Is there more than one version of this and/or some docs? I always get "SIO ERROR" when I select a drive. Once upon a time, I remember this working. Maybe when I upgraded the firmware things went awry? Are older firmware versions kept somewhere? Edit: found older software at this page: http://sio2sd.gucio.pl/wiki/SoftwareAVR_en The only other thing that I now really find annoying is the operation of those itty-bitty tactile switches. Way too close for my fingers. And this is a pet peeve of mine -- for probably another $1 (or less), the pcb could have been slightly larger to spread out the buttons so that they would be easier to press (especially when you need Shift + another key. For you folks with Lotharek's SIO2SD, do you find the operation of the switches acceptable? And since I am considering replacing this beast with one from Lotharek, are there any other issues that you see with his device? -Larry

Thanks, guys for the info. I've been digging around, and learned quite a bit already. The HxC seems to be in a completely different league as goes flexibility from the "gotek" devices. I'm impressed, and think that this XF idea may have already been explored. If I get one of these and get it going, I will update this thread. -Larry

? Could you elaborate? That linked unit is a 1.44, which I would not expect to work -- at least as a "drop in."