Draugr Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 Hello. Can anyone tell me if there is a similar piece of hardware for the Atari 8-bits as there are for the Commodore 64, Apple IIe, Apple IIgs, and the VIC-20? What I'm asking about is a piece of hardware that lets you use a CF or SD card as a mass storage device so you can load all your Atari 8-bit programs and run / save them from/to the device and also transfer images from the device to a floppy so the programs will load off a normal floppy on a normal disk drive for the Atari 8-bit. Is there any hardware like this and if so, where can I purchase one? Thanks John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maguman Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 Hello. Can anyone tell me if there is a similar piece of hardware for the Atari 8-bits as there are for the Commodore 64, Apple IIe, Apple IIgs, and the VIC-20? What I'm asking about is a piece of hardware that lets you use a CF or SD card as a mass storage device so you can load all your Atari 8-bit programs and run / save them from/to the device and also transfer images from the device to a floppy so the programs will load off a normal floppy on a normal disk drive for the Atari 8-bit. Is there any hardware like this and if so, where can I purchase one? Thanks John One such device is SIO2SD. I bought one a while back and it has worked flawlessly. I have a 130xe, but I have hooked it up to a few 8-bits and it works with all of them. Uses a standard FAT formatted SD card - easy transfer from PC to Atari. I bought it via ebay (can't remember who the seller was) - do a search for SIO2SD and they come up pretty often. There are probably other places to buy them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Philsan Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 SIO2SD: http://marcinprusisz.pl/ (AtariAge user Pigula, $50) http://www.mmj.pl/~lotharek/atari/ (AtariAge user lotharek, €90 with case) http://mega-hz.no-ip.com/Angebote/SIO2SD/SIO2SD%20rev.2.html (€80 with case) Sdrive: http://nuxx.net/wiki/SDrive_NUXX (AtariAge user c0nsumer, $150 with case) http://morethangames.a8maestro.com/proda8/adv-ek0130.htm If you are able you can build yourself these devices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draugr Posted July 25, 2009 Author Share Posted July 25, 2009 Thanks for the info guys. I do have a new question though. I read about SIO2USB. Which device is the best to get? Best as in fastest, easiest to use, lowest price, built in menu for loading games, etc... So far I've seen the following devices. Are there even more? SIO2SD Turbo SDrive NUXX SIO2IDE SIO2USB MyIDE+Flash Interface Thanks John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spookt Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 Probably the cheapest option is to build your own SDrive. All the solutions have their pros and cons. I own a couple of SDriveNUXX units which I built myself using c0nsumer's PCBs and end panels and an SIO2USB which is fab but pretty expensive. For booting games the SDrive is perfect, however if I'm doing 'serious' stuff the ability of the SIO2USB to create new blank disk images from the A8 (using s2ushell) is fantastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+skr Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 Which device is the best to get? Best as in fastest, easiest to use, lowest price, built in menu for loading games, etc... They all have their Pros and Cons. Here is what I think about them: SIO2SD Turbo - Uh? I never heard about that one. I know the "normal" SIO2SD which I own. I bought the parts and assembled it on my own. It provides a 2 line LCD-Display and has a built in menu. Easy to use. SDrive - Great device! Very simple, very fast, very easy to assemble on your own. I just built one at the Fujiama-Party with parts which cost only about 10 Euro! (Watch this: http://www.abbuc.de/modules.php?name=Forum...p;p=33724#33724 ) SDrive NUXX - a commercial, ready to use version of the SDrive mentioned aboved. It cost some money but looks unbelieveable professional. Technically it is identical to the SDrive. SIO2IDE - this one allows you to connect harddrives abd CF-Cards (with IDE to CF adaptors). Very small and easy to assemble, but has some problems. Does not work with every harddrive and things like that. I just got one and are testing it. If you want to have a reliable and fast solution, this is nothing you want. SIO2USB - Ready to use device with LCD screen, Menu and RealTimeClock. It also allows you to connect USB-Adapters like CardReaders etc. Very mighty but not so easy to get. Has a built in menu, additional menus like YASH available. MyIDE+Flash Interface - I don´t know that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathy Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 Hello skr Re: SIO2SD Turbo: I guess the 14.xx MHz version is called the Turbo version by some. greetings Mathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roydea6 Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 MyIDE+Flash Interface http://www.atarimax.com/flashcart/forum/vi...2407748c1f1db9d Most of the info you need about this device can be read in the above forum. With MyPicoDos by Hais as the menuing program I think for gaming this would be the quickest and easy. Resonable priced with a small learning curve to set up system with your favorite (or most all games for the 8bit xl/xe). Image loading for individual games. Partitions of 16MB three partition maximum. There are several partitions posted in the forum ([You need to be a registered user to see and download attachments]) There a several PC programs that are helpfull and needed to roll your own partitions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sl0re Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 Thanks for the info guys. I do have a new question though. I read about SIO2USB. Which device is the best to get? Best as in fastest, easiest to use, lowest price, built in menu for loading games, etc... So far I've seen the following devices. Are there even more? SIO2SD Turbo SDrive NUXX SIO2IDE SIO2USB MyIDE+Flash Interface Thanks John The only other one I can think of is IDEa (KMK/JŻ). It's a parallel device and pretty fast. They're out on the internet for $75. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draugr Posted July 28, 2009 Author Share Posted July 28, 2009 Ok. so I'm debating between the Sio2SD or the SDrive. Between these two which is the better product? I mean which is easier to use, has greater compatibility amoungst Atari games and programs as atr images? Also, I read that these devices have built in menus. Are there any pictures of the menus in action? Are the menus the simple 2 line LCD found on the SIO2SD card or an on-screen menu when you boot up the Atari? If anyone has some pictures of the menu systems for these two devices, please post them here. Finally, let me ask this. There is another device that I mentioned. The MyIDE system and it has an on-screen menu that comes up when you boot the system. What I like about that menu system is that it appears to be a menu that lists the games and you just scroll down to the game you want to run and then hit enter and the game is loaded. I saw a menu system for the SIO2USB called YASH and it looks really nice, but also looks like a more involved menu system. Similar to the old X-Tree GOLD menu program on the old DOS PCs. Is there any menu systems for the SIO2SD or SDRIVE that are similar to the MyIDE loader menu? Here is an example of a boot menu that I'm trying to explain above.... [Draugr's Atari Games] <---- Menu Title Donkey Kong Pacman Zaxxon Ultima 3 etc..... So when that menu boots up you just use the down arrow key or the joystick to scroll over the name of the game you wish to boot, and then press enter or the fire button on the joystick and the game loads. I'd really like to see something like that for either the SIO2SD or SDRIVE. Sorry for the long message. Thanks again to all of you for your input and advice. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted July 28, 2009 Share Posted July 28, 2009 Info for the Sdrive can be found here, there are also some short videos. Don't know about the SIO2SD, but you are limited to the small screen of the device for selecting the game, there is no on screen display. You are limited to short names on the sio2sd, but you can use long file names on the sdrive, which makes finding a game easier IMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bf2k+ Posted July 28, 2009 Share Posted July 28, 2009 I have SDrive Nuxx and SIO2SD - I prefer the SDrive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+skr Posted July 28, 2009 Share Posted July 28, 2009 Don't know about the SIO2SD, but you are limited to the small screen of the device for selecting the game, there is no on screen display. You are limited to short names on the sio2sd, but you can use long file names on the sdrive, which makes finding a game easier IMO Absolutely wrong! The SIO2SD also has a on screen Interface where you comfortably can select the files. And that menu isn´t very different from the SDrives menu. In fact it handles long filenames much better and doesn´t show the normally invisible files which my Mac produces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draugr Posted July 28, 2009 Author Share Posted July 28, 2009 Is there any videos or pics of the on-screen menus for SDRIVE and SIO2SD? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roydea6 Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 Give this link a try you might find something.. http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?act=Search&f=12 good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 (edited) http://raster.infos.cz/atari/hw/sdrive/sdriveen.htm info page about the sdrive. Has some links to videos of sdrive in action if you scroll down to the bottom or a youtube clip *use the search Luke* Edited July 29, 2009 by mimo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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