diy sio2pc help

[Dripfree]

Hey everyone. I got my first atari 8 bit (800xl) a few months back. Since then I've become obsessed and now I've been looking into an sio2pc cable and I have been weighing my options. Ive been extremely impressed with this community and would like too propose a few questions.

 

Idealy id actualy like a sio to serial. This is because i have an old laptop mid to early 90's with no usb. It does have a serial and parrallel connection and ive already installed the APE software and it seems fully capable of running it. I would like to be able to leave this as a permanent part of my atari setup. Are there any downfalls to using serial opposed to usb? I would also like to use it as 1050 to serial. Am I understanding correctly that the most basic diy cable is not capable of this function?

 

I am fairly skilled with a soldering iron and have built quite a few different cables mods and circuits for different machines. I admit I have very little knowledge of electronics. I was only able to make the circuits that I did because I found very detailed instructions with lots of pics (schematics may as well be hieroglyphics). Even though I may not know how or why the circuit works I can probably copy what someone else did if I get detailed enough instructions. I realy enjoy doing these things myself and would prefer to build one rather than buy one. Can someone please post a link to what might be the most easy and most detailed instructions on the web?

 

Finaly have I been overthingking this thing? Would I just be better off to go and buy an atarimax usb sio2pc, because in the end ill have the most options with the least amount of headache's?

 

I look foreward too your response and appreciate your time.

[+bob1200xl]

Well, is your interest centered around exploring the Atari 8-bits or building neat little hacks for them? I do a lot of hardware hacks on the Atari 8-bit, but all my SIO2PC hardware was built by someone else.

 

Works for me...

 

Bob

[atari8warez]

Idealy id actualy like a sio to serial.

 

Hi DripFree, I build this dual functionality SIO2PC/1050PC. It is a USB based device but I also build serial versions either as separate SIO2PC and 10502PC or as all in one device. If you need any more info you can PM me or ask your question in this thread. There are basic SIO2PC building instructions all over the web like this one. I do mine with or without enclosures with all the cables ready to plug and go, plus a DVD full of Atari software. Also mine works with APE, but if you want full functionality (slightly less features), AspeQT is free and opensource. I am also adding more features to that software whenever I have time (I am not the original developer).

 

As for your question. There are no downfalls to using a serial version. It's only a connectivity issue and you choose the device depending on the ports available on your PC. The USB version has two flavours. One is emulating a serial port over USB, so it's much like the serial version only the serial port is emulated and is called VCP (Virtual Com Port). Some chipsets do a better job of emulating, and FTDI is one of the better manufacturers. The other one is AtariMax USB which is a proprietary USB connection (not VCP), but I believe the device now also supports VCP (have no personal experience with that).

 

So as you see there are several options available to you, including building one yourself..

 

Regards

Ray

Edited October 5, 2012 by atari8warez

[john-m]

Also, at the end of the APE for DOS manual, there are instructions for building an SIO2PC cable the only uses one chip.

It is very easy to build. But will not work as a 1050toPC cable.

In my case though, I just copy disks or files to or from the PC or Atari with a drive connected to the Atari.

[Rybags]

The RS232 version using the single 1489 type chip is the cheapest and easiest to build yourself.

 

1050 to PC - IMO not worth bothering with unless you have like 100 disks worth of stuff that you created yourself and isn't available elsewhere and you want to make available as ATR images.

 

The only advantage of 1050->PC is you take the middleman out of the process (the Atari) which makes doing transfers to/from real floppy a little bit faster.

 

Realistically once you start using SIO2PC/APE type setups you'll just pack the real 1050 away, especially if you have a portable setup such as your laptop solution.

[atari8warez]

The only advantage of 1050->PC is you take the middleman out of the process (the Atari) which makes doing transfers to/from real floppy a little bit faster.

 

 

Also with 10502PC one can make copies of protected disks using Prosystem. For collectors who don't own a modified floppy drive that may mean being able to make backup copies of collected rare original disks. To make a dual functionality interface one only needs to add a multiplexer chip to the original design of the circuit which is not difficult at all. This does not require any additional software/logic, so no chip programming is required. For a couple of bucks more one would pay for such a chip IMO it's definitely worthwhile having a 2-in-1 device.

Edited October 6, 2012 by atari8warez

[Dripfree]

Thanks alot for all the good info. I did search the web before I posted here and felt kinda lost there are so many different ways to build and different options to buy that I wasn't sure what would suit me best. Ive decided that Im going to attempt a build with the 1489 chip. This seems well within my abilities, and should suit my needs nicely. It will also realy open up the atari 8 world for me (thus far I got about 12 carts but all I can use my 1050 for is saving basic programs). Once Ive gathered my parts I'll let you all know how it goes. This is a great commuinity while browsing the forums I could see everyone is very eager to help. I'm very excited to become an active member myself. Thanks again.

 

Drip

[+Larry]

There are a lot of ways to "skin this cat." Here are a few suggestions from my experiences building these (some years ago).

 

I had much better success with 14C89 than the other variants. From my experience avoid the straight 1489 chip. A MAX232 or 233 interface will not work any better than the less-complicated 14C89.

A Radio Shack project board makes it easy to construct. Use a socket on the board. http://www.radioshac...oductId=2103799

I's not difficult to add a switch and a couple of simple mods to make the ProSys cable. But be aware: it is EASY to destroy an old disk while trying to read its copy protection with the ProSystem.

In general, you will have better success if you go directly from the Atari to the PC serial port. At most, have only one real drive in the daisy-chain.

Here is another link that has good plans for a DIY (copy and paste this) wolfpup.net/atarimods/sio2pc1.html

Note that the add-on circuit shown at the bottom of the page never worked for me. If you go back to the Wolfpup home page, you'll find other variants of this and more projects -- good info!

You may have the best success looking at BOTH the Dyson and AtariMax instructions.

Keep in mind that if you end up paying postage to get parts, it may be cheaper to buy a ready-made interface.

 

-Larry

 

 

 

Thanks alot for all the good info. I did search the web before I posted here and felt kinda lost there are so many different ways to build and different options to buy that I wasn't sure what would suit me best. Ive decided that Im going to attempt a build with the 1489 chip. This seems well within my abilities, and should suit my needs nicely. It will also realy open up the atari 8 world for me (thus far I got about 12 carts but all I can use my 1050 for is saving basic programs). Once Ive gathered my parts I'll let you all know how it goes. This is a great commuinity while browsing the forums I could see everyone is very eager to help. I'm very excited to become an active member myself. Thanks again.

 

Drip

[ivop]

Most stuff you can buy cheaper ready-made, but it's a lot more fun to build stuff yourself