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Indus Ramcharger Help


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Can you check if this more recent version 0.5 still reports an error ?

Yes, it shows the same message.

 

The ROM is Version 1.10 . SDX manual says that Indus older than V1.20 to "have some quirks".

Should i upgrade the ROMs?

Edited by Beetle
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Definitely. According to Indus Service Manual: "If the EPROM in the drive you are working on has a version number of 1.00 or 1.10, then it should be replaced immediately with the latest version of the device.".

Version 1.10 does not allow you to run CP/M (DRIVE TYPE + ERROR does not work). It also seems to fail executing the commands sent by CPMTool. I will try to investigate this further.

Edited by trub
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Ok, ROM version is 1.20 now. The error 61 is gone, i get an "Not an Indus/LDW/CA drive!"

message after approx 24 seconds of "testing RAMCharger..."

 

The trackcounter is not changing this time.

 

The drive works as to expect otherwise.

 

I have been able to fix the CP/M and RAMCharger Utility disks boot sectors

with CPMTOOL 0.5 successfully. ("Done!" message)

Edited by Beetle
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  • 1 year later...

I was just curious why they weren't shown. I was leaning towards an oversight, but I am unfamiliar with Eagle editor.

 

Thanks.

Many schematics, not just those from Eagle, only show power and ground connections as labels.

 

This is even true of the schematics in the Atari 400/800 Field Service Manual.

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Anyone still building RAMChargers, BTW? I got one from forum member tregare a couple of years ago but now he doesn't seem to be around any more (and didn't answer a mail to his paypal account either).

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Well, I'm no engineer... I have built a few projects of my own design, and can read the schematics, I have just never noticed this before.

 

I just finished building my own Sramcharger last night, tested and working.

 

I built it on a prototype board with a 40 pin header and an old, OLD(!) 40 wire IDE cable that didn't have pin 20 plugged off.

 

After assembly, I dunked it in plastidip, let it cure, and tucked it into the rear of the drive.

 

I bought enough parts to build two for less than 20 bucks. If you're handy with a soldering iron, you can do the same.

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Care to write instructions for those of us who can solder but can’t bridge the gap between schematics and parts on their own?

Well, I'm no engineer... I have built a few projects of my own design, and can read the schematics, I have just never noticed this before.

 

I just finished building my own Sramcharger last night, tested and working.

 

I built it on a prototype board with a 40 pin header and an old, OLD(!) 40 wire IDE cable that didn't have pin 20 plugged off.

.

 

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Uh, maybe? I mean, it's not really complicated. Print out the schematics of the Indus, specifically the J3 connector pins, and the pinout diagrams of the 628128 and 74LS155 ICs and get started soldering wires.

 

I used sockets for the ICs and a double row bulk header that you snap off to desired length.

 

Just remember that everything is reversed since you're soldering on the back side of the prototype board.

 

I can probably supply you with more detailed instructions when I get home from work tomorrow.

 

Care to write instructions for those of us who can solder but can’t bridge the gap between schematics and parts on their own?

 

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I'm glad this old thread was bumped, I recently purchased a CA-2001 from Brenski, and this thread has leads to all the CP/M stuff so I didn't have to do any searching on my own. :thumbsup:

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NICE!

 

There is a little issue I am trying to adrress with the otherwise EXCELLENT TRUB TERMINAL (decided to give it a try, besides my modified TRM80.COM):

 

I need to set color config. on (decimal) 710 address to 160, and (decimal) 709 to 12.

 

I have not been able to do so, not even tinkering directly with the two (2) bytes written on TT.CFG, upon pressing CTRL-SHIFT-S, before CTRL-SHIFT-Q.

 

If Trub is around, I would really appreciate learning how to fix this. THANKS!!!!

 

 

As a side note, I would definitely be in for another round of RamChargers, and it is so funny running Microsoft Basic 5.29 on the ATARI / IndusGT combo (!)

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I've pretty much have to learn all that from scratch. i'm a complete newbie to CP/M. Of course I know about terminals, I used Lynx in college 25 years ago, but IIRC, isn't that Unix/Xenix based? The only experience close to CP/M was using an early PC version of WordStar.

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I've pretty much have to learn all that from scratch. i'm a complete newbie to CP/M. Of course I know about terminals, I used Lynx in college 25 years ago, but IIRC, isn't that Unix/Xenix based? The only experience close to CP/M was using an early PC version of WordStar.

 

Yes!

 

But you may be surprised to know that, more than the usage itself, it is the SETUP of the environment (Atari, Indus, CPM disks, etc.) that could become cumbersome, to say the least.

 

I've got what I needed up and running here (way beyond my initial experiments a couple of years ago), and I will post a short, to-the-point summary on how to do that, along with the latest / up-to-date disk images you will need (including MS Basic and some examples on them).... because (ultimately) you MUST generate a CPM floppy-image (bootable with correct BIOS) if you are ever going to run it on real Atari + IndusGT hardware.

 

The VERY nice thing about all this is that, with one (1) single computer (Atari 800/XL/XE) and (essentially) one drive (IndusGT) you can bridge history all the way from the mid-seventies to mid-eighties, and right from the juncture from which today's world separated and evolved from. The evolution and DEMISE of CP/M is at the heart of today's modern computing world...

 

Talk about not just historical value, but a great window to peek way into the "primal" past. And that's also one of the reasons that makes the IndusGT really special.

 

Cheers!

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Uh, maybe? I mean, it's not really complicated. Print out the schematics of the Indus, specifically the J3 connector pins, and the pinout diagrams of the 628128 and 74LS155 ICs and get started soldering wires.

 

I used sockets for the ICs and a double row bulk header that you snap off to desired length.

 

Just remember that everything is reversed since you're soldering on the back side of the prototype board.

 

I can probably supply you with more detailed instructions when I get home from work tomorrow.

 

would you mind posting an image of your ramcharger? the one i made prevented me from closing the drive case when plugged in so i had to dismantle it and i havent re-attempted it yet :(

i blamed this obstruction on using chip sockets so im particularly interested in your component orientation and that you used sockets without an issue

i hope to be re-motivated!

many thanks

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would you mind posting an image of your ramcharger? the one i made prevented me from closing the drive case when plugged in so i had to dismantle it and i havent re-attempted it yet :(

i blamed this obstruction on using chip sockets so im particularly interested in your component orientation and that you used sockets without an issue

i hope to be re-motivated!

many thanks

Sure, but it's probably not as elegant as you think...

 

I'll take a pic of it in the drive in a bit.

post-13069-0-68567700-1527444634_thumb.jpg

post-13069-0-90776000-1527444657_thumb.jpg

post-13069-0-22081700-1527444715_thumb.jpg

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And here it is. The back side of the proto board is coated with plastidip to prevent shorts and to stiffen up and secure the wiring a bit.

 

As I said earlier, I used an old 40 wire IDE cable that did not have pin 20 blocked off.

 

I decided to go this route because I had no luck locating a female 90 degree 40 pin header. I figured even if I did find one, I was probably going to run into the same problem you did with clearance issues.

 

It's not the best looking setup, but it works, and the cover goes on. :)

post-13069-0-43304300-1527458491_thumb.jpg

post-13069-0-24966800-1527458505_thumb.jpg

post-13069-0-22634500-1527458984_thumb.jpg

Edited by undeadmechanic
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