RobPattonDotCom Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 Has anyone ever seen, or possibly have one of these: I'm trying to find a copy of the software for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobPattonDotCom Posted June 13, 2008 Author Share Posted June 13, 2008 Has anyone ever seen, or possibly have one of these: I'm trying to find a copy of the software for it. I guess I should have explained what that is. Take two atari computers, connected by a joystick cable. Install a driver in the main machine to redirect printer io, put the cart in the slave machine, attach the printer to the slave machine. Blamo, very expensive print buffer (back in the day) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenfused Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 There was info or it was reviewed in either Antic or Analog (I forget which but don't see it in Antic archives). Seems like the company had another cart like a disk emulator or something in the same article. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+David_P Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 There was info or it was reviewed in either Antic or Analog (I forget which but don't see it in Antic archives). Seems like the company had another cart like a disk emulator or something in the same article. I seem to recall an ANALOG review. This was similar to the "Atari Zucchini" series of articles by Lee Brilliant, on converting an 800 to a printer buffer - a custom SIO cable between the parent computer and the slave 800; the 800 would act as a printer buffer and print out via the joystick ports to any Centronics parallel printer (in other words, it would act as the P: device). I also recall another cart from the same company that would have your second computer act as a RAMDISK. Anyone interested in learning to program SIO / CIO could do much worse than reading the Atari ZUcchini articles from ANALOG. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 So, the cart just has some sort of server-side type software? If you could dump it, it would probably be able to be examined to work out just what it does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobPattonDotCom Posted July 29, 2018 Author Share Posted July 29, 2018 Having found the cart and disk, and dumped them to the best of my ability, I'd like to see if I can engage someone to help look at what I've done and see if it is usable. PPPPPPPPP BBBBBBBBB RRRRRRRRRR PPPPPPPPPP BBBBBBBBBB RRRRRRRRRRR PP PP BB BB RR RR PP PP BB BB RR RR PP PP BB BB RR RR PPPPPPPPPP BBBBBBBBB RRRRRRRRRRR PPPPPPPPP BBBBBBBBB RRRRRRRRRR PP BB BB RR RR PP BB BB RR RR PP BB BB RR RR PP BBBBBBBBBB RR RR PP BBBBBBBBB RR RR PRINT BUFFER ROUTINE COPYRIGHT 1984 B.L.ENTERPRISES PAGE 1 This document contains information on P.B.R. (print buffer routine). The P.B.R. is a software program and a hardware package that allows a 2nd Atari® Home Computer to be used as a print buffer. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 HARDWARE INSTALLATION System options,Cabling PAGE 2 CHAPTER 2 SOFTWARE INSTALLATION Program options,Disk creation PAGE 4 CHAPTER 3 OPERATION Running cartridge,disk and cassette programs PAGE 8 CHAPTER 4 TROUBLE SHOOTING Hardware,Software PAGE 10 APPENDIX A Limited 90 day Warranty B.L.Enterprises warrant the disk or cassette media, the cable and cartridge to be free of defects for 90 days after purchase. It is up to B.L.Enterprises as to whether the product is to be replaced or repaired. The purchaser should return the product prepaid to: B.L.Enterprises P.O.Box 4282 Louisville, KY 40204 Disclaimer of Warranty The products are sold on an "as is" basis with no warr- anty as to thier performance. B.L.Enterprises shall have no liabilities or responsibilty to the purchaser for any lia- bility, loss, or damages caused directly or indirectly by this hardware, software, or documentation package. The warranty shall not apply if the products returned show signs of misuse, excessive wear or modification. Atari is a trademark of Atari Inc. PAGE 2 CHAPTER 1 HARDWARE INSTALLATION The 1st thing to do is to determine which computer you will use as your main computer and which will be used as the print buffer. It makes no difference if either one is an XL series or a 400/800 series so use your favorite one for the main computer. Now for the Hardware installation. Refer to Fig 1-1 for help with this section. Printer and Printer Interface (if needed) are to be connected to the Print Buffer. Disk drives will still be connected to the main computer. Take the cable that comes with P.B.R. and plug one end into Joy- stick Port #1 on the Main computer. The other end plugs into Joystick Port #1 on the print buffer. The cartridge that comes with P.B.R. is to be inserted into the Print buffer. ____________________________________________________________ ------- ------- ! ! ! ! --------- ! main ! ----- !print ! ----- ! ! ! comp. ! ! ! !buffer ! ! ! ! printer ! ! !---!disk ! ! !--- !print!---! ! ! ! !dr. ! ! ! !inter! ! ! !JS1 ! ! ! !JS1 ! ! ! ! ! ------- ----- ------- ----- --------- ! ! ! ! ---------------------- P.B.R. cable FIGURE 1-1 ___________________________________________________________ Now it's time to connect the video(TV)outputs of the 2 computers. Two TV/computer switch boxes are required if you wish to see the video output of the print buffer. This is not really necessary during normal use but makes trouble shooting much easier. Under normal operation the print buffer's screen editor is disabled after a 2 second title screen. Refer to Figure 1-2 to connect the TV/computer switch boxes. Table 1-1 shows how the switchs will need to be set in order to view the TV, or the main computer, or the Print buffer. We recommend labeling the switch boxes to prevent confusion. ___________________________________________________________ TO VIEW SW1 SW2 ------- -------- --------- TV TV TV MAIN COMPUTER COMPUTER TV MAIN COMPUTER COMPUTER COMPUTER PRINT BUFFER TV COMPUTER TABLE 1-1 ___________________________________________________________ PAGE 3 ---------- ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ------ T.V. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ---------- ! ! ! ! ----------- ! ! ! ! ! ! -------- ! -------- ! TV ! ! ! TV ! ! ! ! ! ! !COM TV ! ! !COM TV ! ANT. ! ====== ! ! ! ====== ! OR . ! !A ! ! !A CABLE ! !N- ! !N IN ----!C.IN !T ---!C.IN !T<--- ! -------- ! -------- ! SW1 ! SW2 ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! -------- -------- ! ! ! ! -------------- -------------- ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! MAIN ! ! PRINT ! ! COMPUTER ! ! BUFFER ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! -------------- -------------- FIG. 1-2 -------------------------------------------------- PAGE 4 CHAPTER 2 SOFTWARE INSTALLATION SECTION 1 This section is for disk based systems having 24K or more of memory. Section 2 is for disk based systems having 16K. Section 3 is for loading P.B.R. from cassette. On th P.B.R. disk you receive are several programs. The 1st is DISK.PBR. This is the program that is loaded into the main computer. It is the standard version that will be used. We will install and run this version 1st. It is B.L.Enterprises policy not to copy protect our disks. We feel that you, as the purchaser, have the right to make backup copies for your own use. The P.B.R disk you re- ceive is write protected. You should leave the disk this way and copy the files onto your Atari DOS disk. Then put the master disk away for safe keeping. Insert the work disk you just made into the disk drive and boot the system. When DOS comes up copy DISK.PBR to AUTORUN.SYS. Turn the main computer off and insert your BASIC cartridge (on non XL machines). Set the TV switch Boxes to view the Print Buffer video (tv) output as per Table 1-1. Make sure the P.B.R. cartridge is inserted in the Print Buffer. Turn on the Printer and make it ready. Turn on the Printer Interface (if you have one). Turn on the Print Buffer. The Print Buffer should display this title screen: PRINT BUFFER ROUTINE VERSION 2.00 Copyright 1984, B. L. ENTERPRISES for about 2 seconds. The buffer's RESET key will display the title screen again for 2 seconds. The blank screen is the normal condition for the Print Buffer. If these things do not happen refer to CHAPTER 4. Next set the TV switch Boxes to view the main computer as per Table 1-1. Insert the work disk in drive 1 and turn on the main computer. The disk should boot and you should see this title screen: FROM PBR: © 1984 B. L. ENTERPRISES PRINT BUFFER STATUS = OK. nnnnn BYTES AVAILABLE. READY nnnnn = The amount of memory available in the Print Buffer. If the title screen does not appear or any errors are displayed go to CHAPTER 4. The P.B.R. is now installed and ready to be used with your favorite Basic program. For example try: LPRINT "0123456789" You should see this print on the printer. Now hit the START key on the Print Buffer. The printer should go to top of form (some printers will not recognize the top of form control code). SELECT is a single line feed and OPTION is a double line feed. Pushing RESET on the main computer will take you back to the title screen. There is no need to reboot P.B.R. when using DISK.PBR. . PAGE 5 SECTION 2 This section covers machines that have less than 24K of memory and are disk based. The program we will be concerned with is SLIMDISK.PBR. It must be an AUTORUN.SYS file to run. It is B.L.Enterprises policy not to copy protect our disks. We feel that you, as the purchaser, have the right to make backup copies for your own use. The P.B.R disk you re- ceive is write protected. You should leave the disk this way and copy the files onto your Atari DOS disk. Then put the master disk away for safe keeping. Now insert your work disk and boot the system. DOS files should be on this disk but, it is a good idea to remove DUP.SYS. SLIMDISK.PBR will not accomodate the use of the DUP functions because it was designed for minimum memory size. Removing DUP.SYS will help you remember this. If a DUP function is used a reboot of SLIMDISK.PBR will be needed. We recommend using Atari DOS 2.0 (3.0 will work too). Rename (or copy to) SLIMDISK.PBR to AUTO- RUN.SYS. Set the TV switch Boxes to view the Print Buffer video (tv) output as per Table 1-1. Make sure the P.B.R. cartridge is inserted in the Print Buffer. Turn on the Printer and make it ready. Turn on the Printer Interface (if you have one). Turn on the Print Buffer. The Print Buffer should display this title screen: PRINT BUFFER ROUTINE VERSION 2.00 Copyright 1984, B. L. ENTERPRISES for about 2 seconds. The buffer's RESET key will display the title screen again for 2 seconds. The blank screen is the normal condition for the Print Buffer. If these things do not happen refer to CHAPTER 4. Next set the TV switch Boxes to view the main computer as per Table 1-1. Insert the AUTORUN disk in drive 1 and turn on the main computer. The disk should boot and you should see this title screen: FROM PBR: © 1984 B. L. ENTERPRISES PRINT BUFFER STATUS = OK. nnnnn BYTES AVAILABLE. READY nnnnn = The amount of memory available in the Print Buffer. If the title screen does not appear or any errors are displayed go to CHAPTER 4. The P.B.R. is now installed and ready to be used with your favorite Basic program. For example try: LPRINT "0123456789" You should see this print on the printer. Now hit the START key on the Print Buffer. The printer should go to top of form (some printers will not recognize the top of form control code). SELECT is a single line feed and OPTION is a double line feed. Note that anytime RESET is pressed on the main computer using SLIMDISK.PBR a reboot will be needed to re-install P.B.R. . PAGE 6 SECTION 3 This section will tell you how to create and load DISK.PBR from a boot load cassette. It is B.L.Enterprises policy not to copy protect our disks. We feel that you, as the purchaser, have the right to make backup copies for your own use. The P.B.R disk you re- ceive is write protected. You should leave the disk this way and copy the files onto your Atari DOS disk. Then put the master disk away for safe keeping. Insert the work disk in drive 1 and do a binary load on the program CASSETTE.PBR. This program will load in and will also load in DISK.PBR so make sure this program is on the disk. The title screen will display (see Fig.2-1) and the computer will beep twice. The prompts will ask you to insert a blank cassette into the drive. After doing so press PLAY, RECORD on the cassette drive and RETURN on the computer. CASSETTE.PBR will then write DISK.PBR onto a bootloadable cassette. After the cassette is finished you will be returned to DOS. ------------------------------------------------------- © 1984 B. L. ENTERPRISES P.B.R. BOOT CASSETTE MAKER VERSION 2.00 This program will create a BOOT CASSETTE TAPE of the DISK VERSION of P.B.R. Remember, this version requires a minimum of 24K MEMORY. LOADING D1:DISK.PBR INSERT BLANK CASSETTE, PRESS REC PLAY THEN PRESS RETURN ------------------------------------------------------ Figure 2-1 Having DISK.PBR on cassette is used mainly for disk boot software that allows for a cassette boot. Set the TV switch Boxes to view the Print Buffer video (tv) output as per Table 1-1. Make sure the P.B.R. cartridge is inserted in the Print Buffer. Turn on the Printer and make it ready. Turn on the Printer Interface (if you have one). Turn on the Print Buffer. The Print Buffer should display this title screen: PRINT BUFFER ROUTINE VERSION 2.00 Copyright 1984, B. L. ENTERPRISES for about 2 seconds. The buffer's RESET key will display the title screen again for 2 seconds. The blank screen is the normal condition for the Print Buffer. If these things do not happen refer to CHAPTER 4. . PAGE 7 Next set the TV switch Boxes to view the main computer as per Table 1-1. Insert the cassette into the drive and turn on the computer while holding down the start key. The computer will beep once. Insert your program disk into the disk drive, press PLAY on the recorder, and RETURN on the main computer. The tape will load and you should then get the P.B.R. title screen: FROM PBR: © 1984 B. L. ENTERPRISES PRINT BUFFER STATUS = OK. nnnnn BYTES AVAILABLE. The disk drive will come on and your program will load. The P.B.R. is now installed and should work with the program just as the printer did. Pressing RESET will reinstall P.B.R. without having to re- load from tape. If the P.B.R. does not appear to be working correctly it could be that the program does not allow a boot from cassette. . PAGE 8 CHAPTER 3 OPERATION As you can tell from the proceeding Chapters there are several different versions of P.B.R.. This is done to achieve compatiblity with as much software as possible. The 1st version you should try using is DISK.PBR. This is the normal version that will remain in memory after a reset. The easiest way to use P.B.R. is to use it in an AUTORUN.SYS file.(1) This can be just P.B.R. or it can be appended to an existing AUTORUN.SYS file. The method of appending the file is easy, however precautions should be taken to not destroy an AUTORUN.SYS file that cannot be replaced. Before append- ing the file you should copy AUTORUN.SYS to AUTORUN.ORG (ORG for orginal). That way if appending does not work you still have the orginal AUTORUN.SYS file to copy back. Next copy DISK.PBR to AUTORUN.SYS. Then copy AUTORUN.ORG to AUTORUN- SYS/A. The /A is very important because that is what tells DOS to append. More simply put: COPY AUTORUN.SYS TO AUTORUN.ORG COPY DISK.PBR TO AUTORUN.SYS COPY AUTORUN.ORG TO AUTORUN.SYS/A This way when you boot the disk you will load P.B.R. just before you boot your program. If there are any errors with the print buffer or the printer the errors will be displayed before your program loads. Of course DISK.PBR can also be loaded by using the DOS option BINARY LOAD. DISK.PBR loads itself into the uppermost 4K of memory and then changes MEMTOP to just below itself. A 4K block must be used due to restrictions of the operating system. On machines with more than 48K the 4K above the cart- ridge, normally wasted, is used. It then checks to see if the print buffer has been connected and determines the memory size of the buffer. This is then reported back to you on the title screen. It also checks to see if the printer is connected, turned on, and ready. Any errors with either the buffer or the printer are reported on the main computer's screen. If your software does not work with DISK.PBR (for ex- ample it acts as though it prints but the printer does noth- ing) then you should try using SLIMDISK.PBR. This program is a "slimmed" down version of DISK.PBR. It was design for min- imum memory size, requiring only about 1K of memory. This program works quite well with cartridge type programs such as Basic, Assembler/Editor, Atariwriter etc... Because this version was designed for minimum memory size it does not allow for the use of DUP functions under DOS. This would require a reboot of SLIMDISK.PBR. SLIMDISK.PBR must be an AUTORUN.SYS file to run and the same precautions on protecting files that cannot be replaced apply here also. There may be some cases when you would want to load the P.B.R. from cassette. The DISK.PBR version can easily be put on cassette as described in Chapter 2 Section 3. Be forewarned that while any cassette can be booted before the disk some programs will not allow the booted program to remain in memory. (1) We use Atari DOS 2.0 with P.B.R. . PAGE 9 The P.B.R. also has some nice features for use while printing. After you have sent one print-out to the printer you can insert a top-of-form command(1) in the buffer to insure the printer will be at top-of-form for the next print-out. And don't wait for the printer to finish, if the computer is ready to send more data over go right ahead. The buffer will finish the 1st print- ing, go to top-of-form or what ever console key you pressed, if any, and then start the next print job. If you decide that you don't want the print-out you are print- ing you can press RESET on the buffer. This will erase the contents of the print buffer and leave it ready to receive data from the main computer again. If you decide you don't want the print-out as it's being sent to the buffer (or the main is hung) press the BREAK on the main computer. You will be returned to the program. (1)Note: Hold console key until printer pauses and when key is released the function will be loaded and the printer will continue printing. . ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ PAGE 10 CHAPTER 4 TROUBLESHOOTING SECTION 1 HARDWARE Hardware problems will generally display themselves in one of four different error messages. These messages are: # 1. FROM PBR: ** ERROR ** - TURN ON PRINT BUFFER, RETURN # 2. FROM PBR: ** ERROR ** - CHECK PRINTER, RESET PRINT BUFFER, RETURN. # 3. FROM PBR: ** ERROR ** - BAD LOAD. PLEASE RELOAD P.B.R. # 4. FROM PBR: This version requires 24K minimum - use SLIM version. These messages will be displayed on the main computer's screen at load time of P.B.R. Assuming no actual hardware fault exists and the cabling is correct, all that is needed is to follow the error messages instructions. In the case of error message #1, you are asked to turn on the print buffer, then press return on the main computer. For error message #2, you are asked to check the printer. Is it turned on, paper loaded and on line (ready)? Next you should reset the print buffer. This will cause the print buff- er to recheck the printer status. Then you should press return on the main computer. After correcting any problems and hitting return on the main computer, P.B.R. will check the memory size of the buffer and report it back to you. "PRINT BUFFER STATUS = OK" will be displayed. ERROR MESSAGE POSSIBLE CAUSE ------------- -------------- TURN ON BUFFER 1. Print buffer not powered on. 2. P.B.R. cable not plugged into joystick #1 on both computers. 3. P.B.R. cartridge is not inserted in print buffer. 4. Make sure printer is ready. 5. Print buffer needs to be reset. . PAGE 11 PROBLEM STILL EXISTS If the buffer appears to be cabled correctly and is pow- ered on you should then set the TV switches to view the print buffer's video output as per Table 1-1 on Page 2. When the buffer is turned on you should see the title screen for about 2 seconds. The screen will then go blank as the screen editor is disabled. Holding down the SELECT key (on the buffer) while the title screen is on will display the title screen until the key is released. If the title screen is not displayed set the TV switch's to view the main computers screen and plug the P.B.R. cartridge into the main computer. After powering on and you do get the title screen, this means the P.B.R. cartridge is good. A possible problem exists in the 2nd Atari computer. Another way to troubleshoot this problem is to change computers. Use your main computer as the print buffer and the print buffer as the main. Of course you will have to recable the peripherals to the correct computer as per Fig. 1-1. ERROR MESSAGE POSSIBLE CAUSE ------------- -------------- CHECK PRINTER 1. Printer not turned on. 2. Printer not ready. 3. Printer interface not turned on. 4. Printer not cabled to interface. 5. Interface not cabled to print buffer. If you have eliminated these items and the problem still exists you can troubleshoot using the basic cartridge. Remove the P.B.R. cartridge from the print buffer and insert the basic cartridge. (If the buffer is an XL simply power on after removing the P.B.R. cartridge). Set the TV switch's as per Table 1-1 on page 2. When you power on the buffer you should now get the Basic "READY" screen. Try using Basic to get the printer to print. For example try: LPRINT "0123456789" If the printer prints "0123456789" a fault exists in the P.B.R. cartridge. If the printer does not print, then the problem is in the hardware. Either the printer, printer interface, or print buffer computer could be at fault. The print buffer computer can be eliminated as the problem by swapping it with the main computer and again use the basic cartridge to do a print operation. . PAGE 12 SECTION 2 SOFTWARE TROUBLESHOOTING This section deals with troubleshooting software problems. Presumably any software problems will occur when you are trying P.B.R. with your software for the 1st time. The problem could be that P.B.R. loads and appears to be working. Your program even sounds as though it's sending information to the printer, but in a steady tone, not the usual beeping tone. This may happen because the software has corrupted P.B.R. or reconfigured the Joystick ports. Another way a failure may present itself is by hanging when attempting a print operation. This may happen when the software overwrites P.B.R. in memory. Some programs do not look at MEMTOP when determining memory size but do an actual write and read from memory. This of course corrupts the P.B.R. So, you should attempt to bypass these problems by the steps outlined in the Operations chapter. In fact, they are the exact steps you should take to find a version of P.B.R. that will run with your software. If DISK.PBR does not work, try SLIMDISK.PBR. If that does not work, try loading P.B.R. from cassette. The method's for loading these other versions are found in chapter 2. You may also use Appendix A to determine software compatabilities. It is a list of some programs we have tried and how P.B.R. is used with them. If you have specific questions concerning P.B.R. please feel free to write us. We will make every effort to answer your questions. . APPENDIX A PROGRAM COMPATABILITIES BASIC(1) ----- All versions of P.B.R. work with basic. ASSEMBLER/EDITOR(1) ---------------- All versions of P.B.R. work with Assembler/Editor. ATARIWRITER(1) ----------- All versions of P.B.R. work with AtariWriter, however only SLIMDISK.PBR works with 48K or less. Remember when using the SLIMDISK.PBR RESET will require a reboot of P.B.R. On a XL series using DISK.PBR (with Atariwriter) the Atari translater should be used. BANK STREET WRITER(2) ------------------ DISK.PBR loaded from cassette works quite well. RESET will not destroy P.B.R. Bank street with P.B.R. requires over 48K. VISICALC(3) -------- Works with DISK.PBR loaded from cassette. SYNCALC(4) ------- P.B.R. will not work with Syncalc, however by saving the spread sheet using the text option, you can print it out using the DOS copy function. Simply boot the P.B.R. disk and copy the saved text file to the printer. "<file-id>,P:" This may still save you time if the spread-sheet is extensive. LJK DATA PERFECT(5) ---------------- P.B.R. will not work with Data Perfect. Data Perfect appears to corrupt memory above MEMTOP when loading. HOME FINACIAL MANAGEMENT(1) ------------------------ SLIMDISK.PBR runs fine. Remember it must be an AUTORUN.SYS file to run. DATACOMM (using an 850 on the main computer) -------- Load DISK.PBR from cassette. 1. Atari,Inc. 2. Broderbond 3. Personal Software,Inc. VisiCorp. 4. Synapse 5. LJK Enterpries,Inc. ..... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobPattonDotCom Posted July 29, 2018 Author Share Posted July 29, 2018 Here is what I've got. I assume the .rom file has extra bytes on it somehow, as no emulator seems to like it as a cart, but I dont know enough to fix it. Anyone? PBR Files.rar 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1050 Posted July 30, 2018 Share Posted July 30, 2018 (edited) By what means did you dump the cart? Because all I can see under any file name that might be that is a standard load from disk executable file which is not the way cart code would exist. It's also not the proper size for a cart image. More information will be necessary to move on from here. A bit later and inside pbr.rom we are instructed to: turn on CART CLONE, hit any key. I see direct jumps into OS code, and cart area code too. So I wonder if it isn't part cart and part RAM? Lots of repeated code segments which seems senseless for now. Other file appears to be RANA DUP.SYS? Edited July 30, 2018 by 1050 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobPattonDotCom Posted July 30, 2018 Author Share Posted July 30, 2018 The PBR.rom file that was in the archive is the file that the cart dumper I used spit out. I can see PRINT BUFFER ROUTINE VERSION 2.00õõ Copyright 1984, B. L. ENTERPRISES info in the file, so I assume its an actual dump. Have another cart dumper on the way if this doesnt work... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1050 Posted July 30, 2018 Share Posted July 30, 2018 Does this dumper have a name? How about the dumper that's coming? I sure hope you are not spending good money for these dumpers. That text snippet is repeated several times and that part makes little sense to me. It is not an actual dump of the cart area by the file header info stored within the file. It appears to be a DOS SAVE memory from $3B24 thru to $5BFF with a run address vector of $3B24 which happens to be the load address as well. A cartridge save would be from $8000 thru to $BFFF if 16K cart or $A000 thru to $BFFF if an 8K cart. It would not have an appended run vector address with it either. This illogical difference earmarks it as a pretty lousy dumper then. Which is why I asked for some kind of method used to get the dump. Dumper is not an adequate response that informs me of anything. Sort of like yes for answer to 20 questions that can't all be answered with one yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted July 30, 2018 Share Posted July 30, 2018 Maybe a step by step on dumping and a couple of dump programs would be useful.... the forums are littered with threads about it and the dumping software too. He could just use his Atari then... so many solutions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobPattonDotCom Posted July 30, 2018 Author Share Posted July 30, 2018 It was a software cart dumper that I found an ATR image of, I dont recall the name, but I can check. I purchased one of the Atarimax USB readers/writer for another project, but will try it with this project as well. The wiggle the cart, plug it part way in, etc method was problematic for me, I used 3 different dumpers, and was only able to get this one to "work" clearly the forum is telling me it did not work as well as I had hoped. I'm new to cart dumping, I'll try harder next time. I was going to desolder the chip and read it on my eeprom programmer, but didnt want to risk the chip since I've never seen another one of these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted July 30, 2018 Share Posted July 30, 2018 a very clean card edge and port will help incredibly, and once lined up a quick move should do the trick. The atarimax reader should have made quick work of it as well, if it didn't we may have a new or different cart scheme, I drop a not to Steve at Atarimax, and consult the jindroush (spelled it wrong I bet) cart list to see if the scheme it uses is listed, If it is select it if it isn't Steve may need to add it... either way I'm sure it will work out eventually. super clean is key lined up just so with a deft insertion is the other. I bet you'll get it no problem.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobPattonDotCom Posted July 30, 2018 Author Share Posted July 30, 2018 (edited) Some pics of the cart. I expect there is nothing fancy there, and would be easy to duplicate. Edited July 30, 2018 by RobPattonDotCom 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nezgar Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 2716.... So looks like only a 4KB EPROM. It would occupy the 8K cartridge space, but would have data in half of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1050 Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 More better information helps a lot, thanks. Yes 4k in size would be a DOS (K.) Save file from $B000 thru $BFFF, if you can boot a DOS disk while the cartridge is plugged in. One of the easiest ways to copy a cartridge rom too as you need nothing other than DOS and a disk to write the file to. But some cartridge code won't allow a disk boot so this aspect can be an issue. You may need to read up on the DOS commands though. Page 47 here http://www.atarimania.com/documents/Atari%20DOS%202.5%20-%201050%20Disk%20Drive%20Owner's%20Manual.pdf Don't worry about being new to the game, I pretty much had that part guessed at already. No telling what some software is doing right or wrong and it might be more trouble to find out than to just let it go for a better method. As stated there are so many ways it would just be confusing to name them all. My favorite hands down every time is Omnimon XL OS. But that would be because I'm used to it. And it gives excellent results usually. In this particular case, IF it's as easy as booting a DOS disk while the cartridge is inserted then I would opt for the DOS (K.) SAVE method myself. I would not desolder this one either, if DOS (K.) SAVE doesn't do it then Omnimon XL would so risking heat damage to a rare one of a kind rom is NOT the thing to do. Good instincts there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 wow that needs some cleaning, look like it got wet and made some slight issues... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillC Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 2716.... So looks like only a 4KB EPROM. It would occupy the 8K cartridge space, but would have data in half of it. 16k bit is only 2k Byte. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1050 Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 Quite right BillC and I'm guilty of not engaging a working brain stem in double check the facts first mode as well. Thanks for catching that mistake. So new DOS (K.) SAVE addresses would be for $B800 thru $BFFF for this 2716 based cart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobPattonDotCom Posted August 13, 2018 Author Share Posted August 13, 2018 (edited) Ok, here is my 2nd dump attempt. It seems to work in the emulator! PBR.bin Edited August 13, 2018 by RobPattonDotCom 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1050 Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 Very much better but still in error due to repeated segments of same information. BUT the emulator is not prepared for a 2K file at all and it's very likely this form is the only one that would fly there anyway. Here is the 2K version for those wanting to duplicate it exactly. I already tested it by adding it to itself three more times and then testing that file against your file for no differences encountered report from MS-DOS file compare program. Nicely done. pbr2k.zip 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobPattonDotCom Posted August 14, 2018 Author Share Posted August 14, 2018 Lots of ways to do this, but if I take this file, should I be able to just burn a 2716 with this? I guess at this point it cheaper just to use one of Tucker's MaxFlash carts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1050 Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 Yes if you use my file only. The MaxFlash would need your file. I assume. But we don't know exactly how it all works just yet either. If I was doing it, I would have the Atari protect the 8K area where the 2K cart is and then use the empty area as ram for the buffer. Printer buffers are supposed to use ram and it's supposed to be ram that can't be already be in use which is kinda the point to adding a printer buffer in the first place. But this all just conjecture that I probably won't be investigating because it's too much work and the interesting part for me is over. I don't need a printer buffer you see. This is pretty old hardware/software while being a solution I don't even need. I wonder why they needed it to be honest. I see problems with my own suggestion above too, I simply don't know how it all works. Very glad to see this archived on several hard drives just the same - all Atari software deserves that much consideration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobPattonDotCom Posted August 14, 2018 Author Share Posted August 14, 2018 I ordered a 5 pack of max flash, just to have to play with, but I have eeproms, just need to find a blank cart, to see if I can do it is what pushes me. I havent used this pbr thing since 89 ish, and even then it was more just to prove it worked. There is a joystick cable that I havent yet found so I couldnt actually "use" it even if I wanted to. Now to see if I can find someone that has the disk emulator ver of this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 In addition to this one and several hardware add-on devices (such as the MIO and BB), wasn't there a magazine program to use the extra 64K of an XE as a printer buffer? I'd swear that I remember it from Analog or Compute!, but can't find it in online searches. Anyone remember it? -Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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