Serpentor Posted April 2, 2017 Share Posted April 2, 2017 If the Concerto can be flashed to work as a Harmony Encore, I would offer $89 shipped for it. From the looks of it, this is dead as far as getting proper 7800 functionality. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted April 2, 2017 Share Posted April 2, 2017 If the Concerto can be flashed to work as a Harmony Encore, I would offer $89 shipped for it. From the looks of it, this is dead as far as getting proper 7800 functionality. You'll still need to cut off the extra pins with a Dremel wheel in order to use it on a 2600, and doing so would permanently bar any future 7800 functionality should a firmware compatibility fix ever be provided... = = = = = = = = I am curious of one thing. Now that I have Harmony BIOS installed, could the Pokey Socket be made use of while running 2600 software on a 7800? I'm assuming the mixing circuitry is still active in either operating mode. If the Pokey could be coaxed into performing audio functions in 2600 mode, it could have limited homebrew functionality. It would be kinda neat to get Pokey sound out of a 2600 game, but I have a feeling that might be impossible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serpentor Posted April 2, 2017 Share Posted April 2, 2017 You'll still need to cut off the extra pins with a Dremel wheel in order to use it on a 2600, and doing so would permanently bar any future 7800 functionality should a firmware compatibility fix ever be provided... = = = = = = = = I am curious of one thing. Now that I have Harmony BIOS installed, could the Pokey Socket be made use of while running 2600 software on a 7800? I'm assuming the mixing circuitry is still active in either operating mode. If the Pokey could be coaxed into performing audio functions in 2600 mode, it could have limited homebrew functionality. It would be kinda neat to get Pokey sound out of a 2600 game, but I have a feeling that might be impossible. I would be using it on a 7800 to play 2600 games, so it would be okay for my purposes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinks Posted April 2, 2017 Share Posted April 2, 2017 If the Concerto can be flashed to work as a Harmony Encore, I would offer $89 shipped for it. From the looks of it, this is dead as far as getting proper 7800 functionality. Most of the 7800 stuff works fine. Depends on your console compatibility. From not at all to almost flawless. Aromour Attack 2 does not work at all on mine. I buy all the carts anyways but mine to not have to change them to change games. Instead of saying it is worth 89 how about buying a harmony cart? When this cart does work there is nothing like it. Fred said he would be away for awhile dealing with stuff. 3 months is not the end of the world. I know he will come back within in a year or so. Big deal. The right now people can not handle these things and need to whine to other people to make a new sd cart. Its an atari 7800. It is like there are 13 year old kids looking for a map pack for their latest fps game. If you have been around the scene long enough you eventually understand how it all plays out and chill. Buy my xm for 1k! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serpentor Posted April 2, 2017 Share Posted April 2, 2017 Most of the 7800 stuff works fine. Depends on your console compatibility. From not at all to almost flawless. Aromour Attack 2 does not work at all on mine. I buy all the carts anyways but mine to not have to change them to change games. Instead of saying it is worth 89 how about buying a harmony cart? When this cart does work there is nothing like it. Fred said he would be away for awhile dealing with stuff. 3 months is not the end of the world. I know he will come back within in a year or so. Big deal. The right now people can not handle these things and need to whine to other people to make a new sd cart. Its an atari 7800. It is like there are 13 year old kids looking for a map pack for their latest fps game. If you have been around the scene long enough you eventually understand how it all plays out and chill. Buy my xm for 1k! I have a Harmony Encore already. My offer is intended as a gamble. At worst, I end up with a second Harmony Encore, and at best I would end up with the Concerto working as it should. If anyone gets desperate to sell, they know where I'm at I just can't offer more than $89 because it may never work as it should. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 I have a Harmony Encore already. My offer is intended as a gamble. At worst, I end up with a second Harmony Encore, and at best I would end up with the Concerto working as it should. If anyone gets desperate to sell, they know where I'm at I just can't offer more than $89 because it may never work as it should. Several have already changed hands at $120+ with or without Pokey (most people originally payed $129 then supplied their own Ballblazer donor cart for the shell and the Pokey), so you are kind of low-balling it at $89. I think $89 would only be a fair price for a Concerto if the extra pins were cut off. I stupidly misplaced my old model Harmony (nothing is ever truly lost as I know it hasn't left the house) so flashing the firmware with the Harmony cart BIOS and using it like an Encore allows me to try out some stuff I've missed out on very recently. It literally hasn't seen use in 3 months so I'm happy to give it second life by downgrading the firmware. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarshipUK Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 If the Concerto can be flashed to work as a Harmony Encore, I would offer $89 shipped for it. From the looks of it, this is dead as far as getting proper 7800 functionality. Oi mate there is a queue here and you are in it behind me, so please stop trying to jump. I would pay someone the $129 asking price for one. No lowball offers from me. As long as it works on a system without Pokey (only two official games need that), that's fine with me. As for saying "Fred said he would be away for awhile dealing with stuff", I hope that is the case as he has disappeared for long periods before without word, but the last post here: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/230751-sd-cartridge-for-7800/?p=3651196just says he had a bad year in 2016, 2017 would be better, saying the issue needs a firmware update and he needs to find time to write code and asking the minions here for feedback to the issue. Nothing about disappearing again or when he would resume work on this project, and I think that's what's pissing off people the most. Just a quick one paragraph post from him to confirm he is busy and unable to work on this project (or to confirm it has finally been abandoned) would I think put many peoples minds as ease, rather than just vanishing without word. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serpentor Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 Oi mate there is a queue here and you are in it behind me, so please stop trying to jump. I would pay someone the $129 asking price for one. No lowball offers from me. As long as it works on a system without Pokey (only two official games need that), that's fine with me. As for saying "Fred said he would be away for awhile dealing with stuff", I hope that is the case as he has disappeared for long periods before without word, but the last post here: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/230751-sd-cartridge-for-7800/?p=3651196just says he had a bad year in 2016, 2017 would be better, saying the issue needs a firmware update and he needs to find time to write code and asking the minions here for feedback to the issue. Nothing about disappearing again or when he would resume work on this project, and I think that's what's pissing off people the most. Just a quick one paragraph post from him to confirm he is busy and unable to work on this project (or to confirm it has finally been abandoned) would I think put many peoples minds as ease, rather than just vanishing without word. I'm not trying to jump or piss off anyone. My post was simply an open offer to anyone who finds himself unable to get more than the offer amount. As long as a queue of buyers are lined up at $129, I don't expect my offer to be filled. I offered the amount that it is worth to me. Simple economics says that if it is worth less to me than the market, I will not get one. It is a product that appears to be incapable of ever being fixed. I'm probably better off waiting for one of the other SD card options being worked on. It is worth the price of a Harmony to me, nothing more. If that offends, it is not my intention. It's just my honest assessment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+eebuckeye Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 What software is available for the Encore only? I thought there was one game so far? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Everett1954 Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 eebuckey, don't know where you got the understanding that the Harmony Encore can only play one game. It can plays hundreds of 2600 games, atari releases, home-brews, hacks etc. The encore is a finished product and works well. Fred did an excellent job on it! The Concerto was a beta that he sold for 7800 games. It didn't wok at all on my original 7800. I picked up a cosmetically ugly one but it sure works pretty well with the concerto (About 90%) mine does not like the pokey installed, it stops the games from fully loading. There may be only two official Atari games that use the Pokey but a lot of home-brew. Agree with StarshipUK a quick post would be great but haven't heard from him in over three months. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+eebuckeye Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 I know the Encore can play thousands of games... just wondering what games are only playable on the Encore vs. the standard Harmony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dauber Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 I know the Encore can play thousands of games... just wondering what games are only playable on the Encore vs. the standard Harmony. For one thing, DK VCS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 eebuckey, don't know where you got the understanding that the Harmony Encore can only play one game. It can plays hundreds of 2600 games, atari releases, home-brews, hacks etc. The encore is a finished product and works well. Fred did an excellent job on it! The Concerto was a beta that he sold for 7800 games. It didn't wok at all on my original 7800. I picked up a cosmetically ugly one but it sure works pretty well with the concerto (About 90%) mine does not like the pokey installed, it stops the games from fully loading. There may be only two official Atari games that use the Pokey but a lot of home-brew. Agree with StarshipUK a quick post would be great but haven't heard from him in over three months. Another thing to bear in mind that since the Concerto firmware is currently incomplete, it was built with bacwards compatibility in mind. Pokey did work on my 7800, however the Concerto corrupted the ROMs when loading into flash RAM, with or without the Pokey in place, said corruption did not occur with 2600 titles. Concerto is very much still in beta and while I do not know if a fix is possible in software without changes to the hardware, the 2600 side of things did work without corruption of games. However most advanced bankswitch routines including Melody and DCP modes were not implemented yet. Since the 7800 side of things is still mostly broken, I decided to utilize it's backwards compatibility mode with Encore to get better 2600 support in exchange for disabling 7800 mode operation. And I'm delighted to earn the "bus stuffing" demos work on my particular 7800 console. For one thing, DK VCS. Erm, as a 32kbyte game, DK VCS and DK Arcade both worked on my old Harmony. Examples of games which do not operate on older pre-Encore Harmony boards include the public Boulderdash demo (not enough RAM), Zippy the Porcupine and Stella's Stocking (vanilla 64kbyte bankswitch). I'm sure there are more, but the vast majority of homebrew and bitd games do run on the cheaper last gen Harmony carts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dauber Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 Hmmm... I could never get DKVCS working on my Harmony. Could have sworn someone told me I need the Encore for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinks Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 Works fine with concerto. Both my 7800s will play 2600 games without a problem. As long as the menu does not freeze. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 Works fine with concerto. Both my 7800s will play 2600 games without a problem. As long as the menu does not freeze.Not DPC+ games unless you flash the Encore BIOS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinks Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 Dont know which ones are dpc+ Fall down, man goes down, thrust, etc all work. I will do some searching.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 Dont know which ones are dpc+ Fall down, man goes down, thrust, etc all work. I will do some searching.. Try the bus stuffing demos to really give the ARM a workout... http://atariage.com/forums/topic/258191-bus-stuffing-demos/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynxpro Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 Have to agree with Toilettunes your mileage will vary with Concerto. I too had to get another 7800 to use it and it plays about 90% OK. Unlike Toiletunes, mine does not work with Pokey installed. It stops the loading process on most games. Anyways its been a long time since we have heard from Fred and people are starting to sell there Concertos. There is also hope that SaintT will have a working cartridge eventually. Fred, we would really like a quick update. Any word would be appreciated. When did SainT say he's going to do a 7800 SD Cart? He's busy with his NeoGeo Pocket and Jaguar SD Carts. And Krikzz only does Japanese systems so he's out. AtariMax? I have to ask...why so many issues? Did the Cuttle Cart 2 run into these issues? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 When did SainT say he's going to do a 7800 SD Cart? He's busy with his NeoGeo Pocket and Jaguar SD Carts. And Krikzz only does Japanese systems so he's out. AtariMax? I have to ask...why so many issues? Did the Cuttle Cart 2 run into these issues? If you may recall, he did start an interest thread. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/256916-new-7800-sd-cartridge/ I may just wait SainT to announce his product to the world if Batari doesn't post an update soon. I am getting very tempted to simply cut the extra pins off my Concerto and use it as an Encore. If SainT does produce a 7800 flash cart, it will be up to him to make it dedicated 7800 or allow 2600 ROMs to play on it as well. Given how mature the Harmony is, it would not be a bad thing to have two flash carts, a Harmony for 2600 games, and a SainT flash cart for 7800 games. That way SainT would not be stepping on Batari's toes by copying the Harmony portion. I think a partnership would be great, but that is wishful thinking I'm afraid. IMO if Batari is unable or unwilling to continue this project for whatever reason, then he should pass the code off to someone who will... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinks Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 If you may recall, he did start an interest thread. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/256916-new-7800-sd-cartridge/ I think a partnership would be great, but that is wishful thinking I'm afraid. IMO if Batari is unable or unwilling to continue this project for whatever reason, then he should pass the code off to someone who will... Pass his code off? lol! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Everett1954 Posted May 2, 2017 Share Posted May 2, 2017 I may just wait SainT to announce his product to the world if Batari doesn't post an update soon. I am getting very tempted to simply cut the extra pins off my Concerto and use it as an Encore. If SainT does produce a 7800 flash cart, it will be up to him to make it dedicated 7800 or allow 2600 ROMs to play on it as well. Given how mature the Harmony is, it would not be a bad thing to have two flash carts, a Harmony for 2600 games, and a SainT flash cart for 7800 games. That way SainT would not be stepping on Batari's toes by copying the Harmony portion. I think a partnership would be great, but that is wishful thinking I'm afraid. IMO if Batari is unable or unwilling to continue this project for whatever reason, then he should pass the code off to someone who will... AGREE WITH KOSMIC 100% Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted May 2, 2017 Share Posted May 2, 2017 If SainT does produce a 7800 flash cart, it will be up to him to make it dedicated 7800 or allow 2600 ROMs to play on it as well. Given how mature the Harmony is, it would not be a bad thing to have two flash carts, a Harmony for 2600 games, and a SainT flash cart for 7800 games. That way SainT would not be stepping on Batari's toes by copying the Harmony portion. I really hope that whatever cart comes out for the 7800 will have 2600 support as well. The Harmony isn't being copied in any way. You really think the Harmony was the first multicart for the 2600? There is room for all and the market decides who gets paid. I want an all in one with 2600 and 7800 support on the same cart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinks Posted May 2, 2017 Share Posted May 2, 2017 I think eventually Fred will come thru. This Concerto has been many years in the making just needs some finishing touches and it is done. Hopefully just a few tweaks to the firmware for loading data to the flash cart to enable full compatibility. The 7800 reminds me of a full tube amp they dont like cold starts and work better warm. Whenever I want to use my 7800 I usually put a game in and turn it on for 5 or 10 minutes then try a game later as it will load almost all the time and the colours change as well and get brighter. A cold start the colours are dull and many games will not load right. Might sound like I am full of crap but I have proven this with Reveng's diagnostic program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted May 12, 2017 Share Posted May 12, 2017 I am officially an idiot. Don't try this at home folks... Video may take a while to upload. Good night and God bless... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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