TXG/MNX Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 What do you want to know? Years ago I hacked the firmware of the blackbox. That was a rather complicated job, but I managed (THEN!) to find out where the byte is stored which decided what SCSI ID is used for read/write config. As you know this is always SCSI #0 Lun #0 on the blackbox. I hacked this into another value. I also did that for that SCSI Card reader, which I wanted to use with the CF-card slot by default. This was SCSI 0, Lun #1... So I had to changed that in the firmware. Unfortunately it is been a LOOOONG time ago, and I have no idea anymore how I did it; i might have made a document about it, but I am not sure... If I find that, I'll let you know. Just Dump the ROM and compare it with an unmodified rom then you got the exact byte and location that is changed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXG/MNX Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 Is there a location with all rom versions ever made for the Black Box ? I have 3 of them, 2 MIO but prefer BB. Last one with floppyboard I bought as-is for 20 euro and a BB is easy to repair all chips are socketed. The only issue I had I blew the serial buffers but changed those and was working fine... Hacking the BB would be nice to use them together with newer IDE interfaces... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEtalGuy66 Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 Also is the SIO2USB still the goto upgrade for connecting your A8 to a modern computer? SIO2USB is not a device that hooks an Atari 8-bit to a PC.. You are referring to the USB version of SIO2PC. SIO2USB allows you to use a USB mass storage device directly with your Atari 8-bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndusGT Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 Is there a location with all rom versions ever made for the Black Box ? I have 3 of them, 2 MIO but prefer BB. Last one with floppyboard I bought as-is for 20 euro and a BB is easy to repair all chips are socketed. The only issue I had I blew the serial buffers but changed those and was working fine... Hacking the BB would be nice to use them together with newer IDE interfaces... No need to hack... http://www.ebay.com/itm/ACARD-AEC-7720U-Ultra-SCSI-to-IDE-Bridge-Adapter-HDD-DVD-CD-50-Pin-/291102564768?pt=US_Drive_Cables_dapters&hash=item43c710a1a0 I have this device on my 2 black boxes with floppy boards and have plugged in: http://www.neobits.com/transcend_ts256mdom40v_transcend_256mb_flash_p1436316.html?atc=gbp&gclid=CIH7jr3o9b8CFWwQ7AodsyYA7w Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocRotCod Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 Don't you have to do the parity upgrade on the BB/MIO to use this device? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndusGT Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 Don't you have to do the parity upgrade on the BB/MIO to use this device? I had bob puff do it back in the day as some drives needed it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbking67 Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 Of course the Black Box and Multi I/O are inferior to modern day upgrades... However if you want to have a retro system that is vintage 80's with all the trimmings then these devices are very attractive, especially the hard disk support. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXG/MNX Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 No need to hack... http://www.ebay.com/itm/ACARD-AEC-7720U-Ultra-SCSI-to-IDE-Bridge-Adapter-HDD-DVD-CD-50-Pin-/291102564768?pt=US_Drive_Cables_dapters&hash=item43c710a1a0 I have this device on my 2 black boxes with floppy boards and have plugged in: http://www.neobits.com/transcend_ts256mdom40v_transcend_256mb_flash_p1436316.html?atc=gbp&gclid=CIH7jr3o9b8CFWwQ7AodsyYA7w I know those Acard bridges but they are extremly expensive spending about $200 usd (incl shipping) to get IDE on my BB that I bough for 20 euro makes no sense would it ? This would make more sense if someone could build it and would be much cheaper http://joo.kie.sk/?page_id=371 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndusGT Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 (edited) I know those Acard bridges but they are extremly expensive spending about $200 usd (incl shipping) to get IDE on my BB that I bough for 20 euro makes no sense would it ? This would make more sense if someone could build it and would be much cheaper http://joo.kie.sk/?page_id=371 The Acard bridges used to be dirt cheap about $30 or so, another option was a SCSI flash card reader, last I checked: $50 another option is scsi to sata: http://www.acard.com/english/fb01-product.jsp?idno_no=324&prod_no=AEC-7732U&type1_idno=6&ino=43 Edited August 5, 2014 by IndusGT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXG/MNX Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Ok when you find some cheap ones PM me :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kogden Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Until someone builds a combo IDEPlus and external RAM expansion, the MIO is still a winner on stock machines. It's a cool piece of hardware but I've never personally owned one as my wife would have me shot for spending that much on a disk interface. Even for a modern machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXG/MNX Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 I think BB and MIO must not be compared to other upgrades. As single upgrade they are awesome, firs MIO later BB took over... The current interfaces are based on these as they learned what to do better. I believe the MIO was awesome with memory upgrade, the BB was awesome with modded printer buffer and the rom with sector editor and tools was more advanced as MIO. All current interfaces are bases on IDE and not SCSI so no really compare. IDE seems to be faster but I got BB's and MIO's and they are fast enough on 8-bit :-) The menu of BB was really nice, I never had bad experience with the hardware... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXG/MNX Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 My ideal hw would be BB with MIO expanded memory with serial hack to 38.400 and printer buffer 64kb and IDE/SATA and SD slot with passthru to use more PBI devices Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathy Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Hello Rene The serial hack shouldn't be to difficult. We just need to find somebody who is willing to tell us how to do it. The external memory upgrade I'm thinking about, would have "MIO expanded memory" (read: "use the same addresses to select the banks as the MIO does") and a pass-through PBI (XL or XE type) port. Sincerely Mathy PS 64kB printer buffer is possible. Bob Puff sold it and wrote an article for Atari Classics magazine for those who wanted to install one by didn't want to buy Bob's kit. See my BlackBox page. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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