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Vortex ATonce-386SX


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So, I finally took a closer look at the MegaSTe that I got from an audio producer some years ago. The things was very dirty so took it apart to clean it and noticed it has a Vortex ATonce 386SX in it.

 

I can imagine what it does (should do) but how does it work? Tried to google for a manual but all I could find was a German one but I would like an English version.

 

It probably needs drivers and/or tools too. Where can I get those or where should I look for?

 

Also: what's a quick way to see if there's an Ajax in it? (part number / location?).

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I noticed the search feature on "atari-forum" returns more results once one is a registered user, especially when it's only mentioned in the file name of an attachment :-) Have an .ST image now which is supposed to be the disk that came with both the ATonce286 and ATonce386. Chances are there's a digital version of the English manual on it too.

 

Next thing is to convert that ST image into something useful but I don't think that will be a problem.

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Years ago I had PC SPEED on my Atari 1040ST.

 

There was a config disk with that which let me configure things (like the screen emulation -> hercules, CGA or olivetti 640x400; the harddrive and all that). After I saved everything there are some settings flashed to the interface I guess (or perhaps in a cfg file I'm not sure)

Without harddisk you need -just like an MSDOS computer- a bootable 3.5" floppy with a version of MS DOS on it.

 

I know newer versions of MS DOS did not work properly on my PC SPEED. But 3.3 and a 4.x version of MS DOS worked great on it.

 

I guess that ATOnce is a 386 emulator and will accept the latest version of MS DOS (6.22?)

 

You should get a bootable DOS disk from internet and put this on a fysical 3.5" disk.

 

Booting from harddisk is a different story, but also possible ofcourse.

 

Greetz

Marius

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Years ago I had PC SPEED on my Atari 1040ST.

 

There was a config disk with that which let me configure things (like the screen emulation -> hercules, CGA or olivetti 640x400; the harddrive and all that). After I saved everything there are some settings flashed to the interface I guess (or perhaps in a cfg file I'm not sure)

Without harddisk you need -just like an MSDOS computer- a bootable 3.5" floppy with a version of MS DOS on it.

 

I know newer versions of MS DOS did not work properly on my PC SPEED. But 3.3 and a 4.x version of MS DOS worked great on it.

 

I guess that ATOnce is a 386 emulator and will accept the latest version of MS DOS (6.22?)

 

You should get a bootable DOS disk from internet and put this on a fysical 3.5" disk.

 

Booting from harddisk is a different story, but also possible ofcourse.

 

Greetz

Marius

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MS-Dos 6.22EN should run on it as it even runs on my old AT's and 286's. I have the install floppies but these are 1,44MB while the MegaSTe has a 720KB mechanic (I think).

 

Booting from hard disk shouldn't be a problem either as it does that now already. The hardware emulator works when starting the vortex .PRG but I have no more than that. No config tools, no info, no nothing, but now I have the ATONCE362.ST image I think I can make a clean install. Found FloImg to convert ST images.

 

Another thing is that I don't want to use the original Seagate HD of this MegaSTe to install a new set-up. The reason I got this STe is because of HD problems every now and then. The previous owner couldn't explain it in detail because the only thing he did with it was starting up Cubase for his audio productions and his knowledge about the actual computer is not that much.

 

I have a 270MB SCSI disk laying around and some NOS 60MB ones but all require parity so I'll have to mod the internal ACSI-SCSI controller to run those. Or I just exchange it with the one from my other MegaSTe, which I already modded some years ago. If the thing runs APE-D quite well I think I'll need to order some more of the SCM PCD-50A readers/writers as I also need to have something to use with the Falcon. Or maybe there are cheap IDE versions of these around to use on the Falcon, don't know. Or maybe I just use a PCMCIA<>IDE converter and stick a PCMCIA SD/CF converter in that. These do work on Atari 8-bit too.

 

edit: typo

Edited by Fox-1 / mnx
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