3 Atari 8-bit Hard Drive images for SDrive, etc.

[+wood_jl]

Yes! Thank you, once again. I respect your generosity greatly!

[walter_J64bit]

WOW, kheffington how long did it take to make these HD images? I was going to do the same thing for my MyIDE! Thanks! :thumbsup:

[walter_J64bit]

UhOh... a8isa1's Large Game ATR rule seems to be over!

 

 

I can't take much credit for the set I've been posting. Al3ph (over at Atarimax forums) did all the hard work. I just compacted five ATRs down to four so that I could mount them all at once on SDrive. (I even keep one SD card configured to boot straight to MyPicoDOS so I don't have to waste 30 seconds selecting ATRs. How lazy is that?)

 

I did change a few things, though. The version of MyPicoDOS was changed to one with 3X SIO (6X available if you have Hias' beta firmware in your SDrive) and I also updated the games with about 100-120 addition over the past year.

 

There's a total of 3,158 games on the four ATRs now. I don't think there are any duplicates but there are many games with multiple revisions. The updates are not complete. I tended to add what interested me and didn't document a thing

 

Except for the additions and having to reorder 3 or 4 subdirectories (63 file limit of MyDOS is a PITA, btw!) everything is as I got it.

 

I have to say the extra comments/notations in Keffington's ATRs and the extra documentation make his set superior.

 

One thing though, where's Yoomp!? I gotta have Yoomp!!! (NTSC Yoomp!)

 

My set of ATRs can be found here. (I will continue to update them in my own haphazard way but this is probably the last time I will announce them).

So all these are files your HD images are packed? WooT I'll have take look at this, that's a lot of work, I've just packed a 360K disk that took some time to do!

Edited August 19, 2011 by walter_J64bit

[a8isa1]

UhOh... a8isa1's Large Game ATR rule seems to be over!

 

 

I can't take much credit for the set I've been posting. Al3ph (over at Atarimax forums) did all the hard work. I just compacted five ATRs down to four so that I could mount them all at once on SDrive. (I even keep one SD card configured to boot straight to MyPicoDOS so I don't have to waste 30 seconds selecting ATRs. How lazy is that?)

 

I did change a few things, though. The version of MyPicoDOS was changed to one with 3X SIO (6X available if you have Hias' beta firmware in your SDrive) and I also updated the games with about 100-120 addition over the past year.

 

There's a total of 3,158 games on the four ATRs now. I don't think there are any duplicates but there are many games with multiple revisions. The updates are not complete. I tended to add what interested me and didn't document a thing

 

Except for the additions and having to reorder 3 or 4 subdirectories (63 file limit of MyDOS is a PITA, btw!) everything is as I got it.

 

I have to say the extra comments/notations in Keffington's ATRs and the extra documentation make his set superior.

 

One thing though, where's Yoomp!? I gotta have Yoomp!!! (NTSC Yoomp!)

 

My set of ATRs can be found here. (I will continue to update them in my own haphazard way but this is probably the last time I will announce them).

So all these are files your HD images are packed? WooT I'll have take look at this, that's a lot of work, I've just packed a 360K disk that took some time to do!

 

um, no.

 

I didn't say the files were compacted I said the collection was compacted from 5 ATRs down to 4 via simple reorganization.

 

I didn't mean to imply the files were "crunched", "packed" or compressed in a similar means. Some of the games happen to be compressed but I didn't do the work.

In fact, now that we have more options for fast hard drives I kind of wish that all such files were available in an uncompressed form.

Edited August 19, 2011 by a8isa1

[+wood_jl]

I noticed that the game "Threshold" was missing, from these (now 4) images. I only noticed because it's in the current "Hi Score Club" and I was looking for it.

 

(THIS IS ONLY A NOTE, NOT A COMPLAINT. These are the most awesome ATRs ever created)

[+Philsan]

Are there advantages of using those 4 ATRs with SIO2SD?

This device's launcher supports long file names and I think it's easier to copy and update .atr and .xex directly from PC to SD card without having to modify everytime MyPicoDos .atr images.

[+wood_jl]

Are there advantages of using those 4 ATRs with SIO2SD?

This device's launcher supports long file names and I think it's easier to copy and update .atr and .xex directly from PC to SD card without having to modify everytime MyPicoDos .atr images.

 

I'm a real SIO2SD Newbie, so I can't say. Bit with these huge ATRs, it's really great to use the same ones on (1) emulator (2) SIO2PC (3) Sdrive.

 

I have yet to truly explore SIO2SD. My cased Lotharek units will be some time in arriving, and I don't even know which box the others are in!

[+Philsan]

Are there advantages of using those 4 ATRs with SIO2SD?

This device's launcher supports long file names and I think it's easier to copy and update .atr and .xex directly from PC to SD card without having to modify everytime MyPicoDos .atr images.

 

I'm a real SIO2SD Newbie, so I can't say. Bit with these huge ATRs, it's really great to use the same ones on (1) emulator (2) SIO2PC (3) Sdrive.

 

I have yet to truly explore SIO2SD. My cased Lotharek units will be some time in arriving, and I don't even know which box the others are in!

I understand that those images are very useful to avoid SDrive long names limitation but I still don't see advantages of using them with SIO2SD.

When new programs come out, how do you insert them in the .ATRs? With SIO2SD you simply copy the new files into SD card.

[kheffington]

Are there advantages of using those 4 ATRs with SIO2SD?

This device's launcher supports long file names and I think it's easier to copy and update .atr and .xex directly from PC to SD card without having to modify everytime MyPicoDos .atr images.

 

I don't currently have and SIO2SD so I can't completely answer your question; I would think that the advantage would be more or less the same. I do have an SIO2SD on the way though. On an Atari with built in basic, MyPicoDos will turn it off or on as required by the game, no need to do the OPTION key bit. The games are in 4 16 MB ATRs so they can be all loaded at once and easily navigated thru. Yes you still have to navigate directories but it is seems an easier way to do so to me as it just looks like a cleaner interface for using executable files. Many but not all of the games allow the RESET key to reboot directly to the HD images so easy enough to hit reset and change games. Games that are in XEX or COM format seem to be better suited for my personal usage in the large ATR format with games only available in ATR format better kept in directories on the SD card

 

I don't think it is any more difficult to use a PC to add the files to the ATR images and then copy them to the SD card.

Edited August 19, 2011 by kheffington

[kheffington]

I noticed that the game "Threshold" was missing, from these (now 4) images. I only noticed because it's in the current "Hi Score Club" and I was looking for it.

 

(THIS IS ONLY A NOTE, NOT A COMPLAINT. These are the most awesome ATRs ever created)

 

I have never seen Threshold available as an executable file only ATR. If you or some one else has a COM or XEX of it, I would be happy to add it.

[kheffington]

WOW, kheffington how long did it take to make these HD images? I was going to do the same thing for my MyIDE! Thanks! :thumbsup:

 

Took some time but was done over a long period so was spread out.

 

Still being worked on and should be completed around middle to end of September. Currently at the same links, the First Two drives have been updated with some added games and a few removed or moved to PAL directory.

 

The first two drives are probably final or close to it at any rate. The other two are still being worked on. There have been some changes in the last two as well but not much yet.

[+Philsan]

I don't think it is any more difficult to use a PC to add the files to the ATR images and then copy them to the SD card.

If a want to add a new game to your MyPicoDos .atr images, how can I do it?

(I don't know how MyPicoDos works).

[Roydea6]

This quote is from the readme.txt of the archive for Picodos405 at Hiassoft's website.

 

5. Long filenames and disk/directory titles support

 

By default MyPicoDos displays the directory in a short format (8.3 filenames).

 

If MyPicoDos finds a file named PICONAME.TXT in a directory, it will read the

disk/directory title and the long filenames from it.

 

MyPicoDos displays the long filenames in the same order as they appear in the

PICONAME.TXT file. So you can easily arrange the order by simply editing

PICONAME.TXT by hand.

 

Only file found both in the directory _and_ in the PICONAME.TXT file are shown.

So, if you add another file, be sure to update the PICONAME.TXT file, otherwise

it won't appear in the listing. On the other hand, you can simply hide files by

omitting them in the PICONAME.TXT file.

 

In case you'd like to see what's really on the disk, you can disable the long

filename display with the "L" key. If you want to remove all long filenames

completely, just delete the file PICONAME.TXT.

 

Please note: a maximum of 100 long filenames is supported per directory. This is

no limitation for MyDos/DOS2.x format disks, which can contain a maximum of 64

files per directory, only BiboDos is able to store 128 files per directory on a

QD (360k) disk - so, in general, this should not be a real limitation.

 

5.1 Creating/editing long filenames with the initializer program

 

First of all, the initializer program will ask you to enter the drive/directory

for which you would like to create or edit the long filename definitions. The

drive/directory must either be a standard drive specification (eg "D:" or

"D2:"), or a standard MyDos directory specification (eg "D:SUBDIR:" or

"D2:GAMES:ACTION:"). In any case: if the drive/directory entered does not end in

a colon (":"), the initializer won't accept it.

 

Next, the initializer will search for an existing PICONAME.TXT file and load it.

All definitions found in this file will be used as default values for the

filename and title inputs. So, if you add a new file to a disk, you don't have

to enter all long filenames again.

 

Then the initializer will read the directory and ask for a long name for each of

the files.

 

When you are finished with it, you can tell the initializer to sort the long

filenames alphabetically.

 

At last, you are asked for a disk/directory title, which will appear right above

the filename listing in MyPicoDos.

 

Please note: If you want to edit the long names for a BiboDos QD disk you have

to start the MyPicoDos initializer from BiboDos. The initializer program uses

the standard DOS routines to read the directory of a disk, and all other DOSses

except BiboDos only handle 8 entries per directory sector (compared to 16

entries in BiboDos QD format).

 

5.2 Creating the PICONAME.TXT file by hand

 

The file format of the PICONAME.TXT file is quite simple: it is a plain ATASCII

file separated by returns (character 155).

 

The first line contains the title of the disk/directory (up to 38 characters).

 

The following lines contain the DOS filename, followed by a space (character 32)

and the long filename (up to 38 characters).

 

The DOS filename is stored in exactly the same way as in the directory: 8 bytes

for the filename and 3 bytes for the extender. If the filename and/or the

extender is shorter than 8/3 characters, the remaining space is filled with

blanks.

 

A file named "GAME.BAS" is stored as "GAME BAS", a file named "PACMAN.1" is

stored as "PACMAN 1 ".

 

So, the filename must _always_ be exactly 11 characters long.

 

An example PICONAME.TXT file might look like:

 

my favourite games

PACMAN COM Pac Man

DIMENSIONX Dimension X

BOULDERD1 Boulder Dash 1

BOULDERD2 Boulder Dash 2

 

And then to add a new file called BOULDERD.3 later with texteditor simular to EDIT.COM, KEDIT.COM, or LASTWORD.COM just open the PICONAME.TXT file from the directory that the program was added to and modify text.

BOULDERD1 Boulder Dash 1

BOULDERD2 Boulder Dash 2

BOULDERD3 Boulder Dash 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

[+Philsan]

Thanks.

 

So, a little work is involved whenever a new program is released.

 

Updating .atr images is not easy like a simple drag and drop.

[a8isa1]

Are there advantages of using those 4 ATRs with SIO2SD?

This device's launcher supports long file names and I think it's easier to copy and update .atr and .xex directly from PC to SD card without having to modify everytime MyPicoDos .atr images.

 

I'd have to agree that the user interface of MyPicoDOS is the strongest benefit of the ATRs.

 

I also llike that the ATRs are transportable. You can use them in disk emulators like AtariSIO/Atariserver, AspeQt, APE, SIO2OSX (or whatever the name of the Mac app) or in real devices like SDrive, SIO2SD, and SIO2USB. For disk systems where you can't mount ATRs you can still use the images but you have the trouble of getting them to your partitions. If you go to the trouble you are again rewarded with a fimiliar interface.

 

You can also use the ATRs in Atari 800 emulators, for those people who use that sort of thing

 

Lastly, I appreciate all of Kheffington's work. The extra notes like ram requirements, "OSB", etc, next to each game title is a nice feature, and likewise for the extra documentation.

Edited August 20, 2011 by a8isa1

[+Philsan]

Regarding Kheffington's classification work, it's awesome and I have nothing to say.

I am doing the same, but only for my preferred programs, so I know very well the big work involved.

 

My point is that I don't see any benefits of using those big .atr images with emulators, SIO2PC and SIO2SD.

 

In my PC I have an Atari folder, with subdirectories, that I use with emulators, SIO2PC and SIO2SD.

I only have to keep this folder updated and simply drag and drop new files to SIO2SD SD card.

If a game needs .atr I have an .atr image, if it supports .xex I have a .xex file, all together, no need to separate them.

 

SIO2SD launcher supports long filenames and has a standard selection method (similar to MyPicoDos) or a faster one (as you can see here).

 

So I don't see why should I waste time to update those big .atr images when with only a drag and drop I have my SIO2SD always up-to-date.

[kheffington]

Thanks.

 

So, a little work is involved whenever a new program is released.

 

Updating .atr images is not easy like a simple drag and drop.

The reason for working on this was to have a more or less complete set of executable file games on ATRs for personal use as I was unable to find any pre-made ones that fit my use. I had not really planned on changing them much once they were completed.

 

However, with a little bit of organization it would be just as easy to set up in a way that is readily changeable with very little effort. If you take the executable files and lay them out in a directory structure on a PC; they can be laid out in a manner that makes changes easy. Just put say 50 files per directory originally leaving room for additions and leave additional blank space on each drive image for the addition of the extra files. Then use Hiassoft’s Atari Tools for Win32 to create the ATR’s from the directories on the PC; only takes a couple of minutes.

 

The drive images should be more or less in a complete state by the middle to end of September and will reside at the same link when complete. I was also planning on uploading the directory structure used to create them in a zipped file along with instructions on how to modify them at that point in time.

 

The original set up work is the real work after that a minor amount of work is required that is really not much more than dragging and dropping into folders as long as a PC is used to do the work and available tools are used to create the ATR from folders on the PC. The original set up work would be required even if you were just coping directories over to an SD card. Do the original set up work and any future changes are easy and a minor amount of work.

 

With the files in a directory structure laid out on a PC create the ATR’s using the DIR2ATR program from Hiassoft’s site to create them. It is a command line tool that work in Windows. I do not know if there are equivalent for Mac or Linux.

 

With the directory structure on a PC use DIR2ATR to create a 16MB ATR from the nested folders. This would create the long file names for display stripping off the extension and copying the executable to ATR in 8.3 format along with MyPicoDos.

 

Directory structure:

DISK>DISK 1>SUBFOLDERS

 

DOS box command below assumes that DIR2ATR program is located in the root directory where the sub directories are located for the drive creation. Open a command box on windows, change to the root directory where the sub folders for drive creation are located and use the command below by typing it in.

 

DIR2ATR –d –b mypicodos405n –P 65535 DISK1.ATR DISK1

 

This will create a 16MB ATR form the directories and subdirectories in the directory DISK1 and the ATR will be named DISK1. The –d switch is double density, the –b switch is bootable with specified DOS, the mypicodos405n is the DOS version specified here, the –P switch is write long file names and strip the extension off, the 65535 is the size of the disk in sectors, the DISK1.ATR is the name of the ATR to create, and the DISK1 is the Main directory to find the files/subdirectories in.

 

Limitations to be considered:

1. Long file names can be up to 32 characters.

2. Up to 64 directories in root directory.

3. Up to 64 files/directories per directory

 

With the above limits you need to take into consideration that while the limit for the directory is 64 files, you can only put 63 game files in the directory as the PICONAME.TXT will need to be written or saved to the directory as well. If the file name is longer than 32 characters plus extension, the long file name will not be created, the file will be copied to ATR but will not show up in long file names.

Edited August 20, 2011 by kheffington

[a8isa1]

Regarding Kheffington's classification work, it's awesome and I have nothing to say.

I am doing the same, but only for my preferred programs, so I know very well the big work involved.

 

My point is that I don't see any benefits of using those big .atr images with emulators, SIO2PC and SIO2SD.

 

In my PC I have an Atari folder, with subdirectories, that I use with emulators, SIO2PC and SIO2SD.

I only have to keep this folder updated and simply drag and drop new files to SIO2SD SD card.

If a game needs .atr I have an .atr image, if it supports .xex I have a .xex file, all together, no need to separate them.

 

SIO2SD launcher supports long filenames and has a standard selection method (similar to MyPicoDos) or a faster one (as you can see here).

 

So I don't see why should I waste time to update those big .atr images when with only a drag and drop I have my SIO2SD always up-to-date.

No one is telling you how to use your SIO2SD.

 

This thread was provided to aid SDrive owners and these ATRs do help.

 

Please, let's just agree to disagree on how to enjoy using our A8s

 

I also manage my own files in folders (but on my linux box). The only amount of time it takes me to make new ATRs is to run a shell script which contains four lines similar to this one:

 

dir2atr -d -m -p -b mypicodos405s0 65535 /media/disk/disk1.atr /home/user/game1

 

That command (program written by Hias Reichl) takes the entire directory tree and puts it in an ATR, installs mypicodos game loader (customized for 6X SIO on SDrive w/ Hias' beta firmware) on that ATR, and puts that ATR on my SD card. Would be no time at all except I have Class 1 SD cards (slow).

[lotharek]

You rock MAN !!!!!

[Faicuai]

Being unable to locate downloadable hard drive images for personal use with nicely formatted long file names, I made three to use.

 

Download links in this post are for the three Atari 8-Bit 16MB hard disk images containing a little over 2,200 games. Disk images are in MyPicoDos405 format and have been set up with long file names. These were made for use with SDrive but do work with Atari 8-bit Emulators and should work with MyIDE and SIO2SD devices.

 

Games were tested on an SDrive with an Atari 130XE. As there are over 2,200 games; testing was somewhat rudimentary. Testing consisted of loading each game, starting the game and briefly playing it (not extensive play test). A game was included if no problems were noted in this brief period of testing. A few of the games require OSb and are so noted in the long file names by [OSb]. A few require more than 64k of ram and are noted by having the minimum ram noted in brackets in the names [128k] etc.

 

There is additional space for approximately 400 additional games in the three hard disk images but I have run out of COM or XEX files that work. I am looking for more and will probably update the images at some point.

 

There are Excel and Text files in each archive of the games in that archive.

 

GAMES A-F

Games G-P

Games Q-Z

 

 

Just wanted to drop a BIG THANKS for the work here (including anyone else involved). An amazing amount of time saved with them.

 

These large .ATR images are an excellent compilation, well documented (love the title-descriptions and Years included), and a MUST have, in combination with the NUXX-drive (gram-by-gram, probably the best modern drive (SIO-based) available for the 8bit-series.)

 

 

UPDATE: These images are very easy to handle. I have already updated their PicoDOS versions, and have added several titles that I had in my XEX/COM library, like Perfected Pong, Star Raiders (1979), etc. Long-name files were also updated, although a tiny on-ATR editor would be great, so no external work would be needed.

 

 

F.

[+Philsan]

No one is telling you how to use your SIO2SD.

This thread was provided to aid SDrive owners and these ATRs do help.

Please, let's just agree to disagree on how to enjoy using our A8s

Hey, relax!

 

Not knowing MyPicoDos, I only asked questions to know strenghts and weaknesses of this solution.

 

I bought many storage devices (SIO2PC, SIO2SD, SDrive, recently IDE + and SIDE) and I am always interested in easy solutions, in particular for newbies.

For example, in other threads I asked questions and required easy launchers for IDE+ and SIDE.

 

Kheffington (I thanked him for his awesome work), has correctly undertood my goal.

 

It's pretty obvious that nobody tells you (or me) how to organize software's collection.

[Chris Union NJ]

Thanks now I really can't wait to get my Myide!

[walter_J64bit]

What the best way to copy these hard drive images to MyIDE partitions, I've tried the duplicate disk option it seem to lose files and it take too long.

[kheffington]

What the best way to copy these hard drive images to MyIDE partitions, I've tried the duplicate disk option it seem to lose files and it take too long.

 

From a PC using MyIDEDriveManager would probably be the easiest I would guess. You do have to make 16MB partitions on the drives to copy then to first.

 

http://home.kindredintellect.com/atari/MyIDEDriveManager/

Edited August 23, 2011 by kheffington

[walter_J64bit]

What the best way to copy these hard drive images to MyIDE partitions, I've tried the duplicate disk option it seem to lose files and it take too long.

 

From a PC using MyIDEDriveManager would probably be the easiest I would guess. You do have to make 16MB partitions on the drives to copy then to first.

 

http://home.kindredintellect.com/atari/MyIDEDriveManager/

Thanks, I'll try this out!