Help loading ATR with SIDE2

[Optimus]

I was fighting with this long time ago. Then I thought maybe I need Ultimate 1MB for some reason (maybe there is ramdisk to load the ATR or something). Anyway, now I have SIDE2 and U1MB in my Atari 65XE.

 

I've read many documents. I know I should press L to load ATR. But in all these cases I get message implying there is no FAT32 partition, or no PBI or no APT device.

What I understood is that somehow I have to run fdisk to make partition.

 

I have read docs and seen videos.

Yesterday I managed to extract FDISK.XEX from an ATR with these utils.

It starts but then it says "Can't find APT device"

 

I also installed a thing called PBI.

I am not exactly sure what PBI or APT means. I need a mental map to understand what I am dealing with.

 

But I know I have to somehow make it possible to see the cart as a disk or something. But nothing works.

 

Also, in the docs it's implied that FDISK and other tools are loaded by default in the cart. But FDISK is not there. I am in SpartaDos, at D1:. I thought maybe I should write CAR: and nothing happens but shows me again at D1:

Is CAR: some storage in the cartidge that holds those tools? There are video tutorials someone writing fdisk and running the thing. But I get an 138 device error. Of course I tried the other solution, extracting the FDISK.XEX and running it trhough the SIDE loader.

 

There is more. I somehow manage to install a PBI driver 1.0, so I get the message when I boot to spartados that PBI is loaded. Don't know if this changes something. But now I have hard time to get into the loader. Unless I disable SIDE2 in the setup menu (with Help+Reset). But I don't understand the logic. I thought SIDE2 was that loader. So, I get into the LOADER by disabling the hardware. And if I enable it w/o button (what does this mean?) now it always boots in spartados no matter what. Before that, I had to Turn Off/On the atari from the switch, to boot to LOADER, even with SIDE hardware enabled. A reset would later get me to DOS but not loader. I don't understand, it's a bit convoluted. But now it's worse.

 

I'd like to understand the logic. Maybe though I am failing, because besides that there is something wrong with the CART. Maybe not.

[flashjazzcat]

Everything you need is here:

 

http://atari8.co.uk/apt/index.html

 

You need to flash the provided SDX ROM which includes the partitioning tools. There's ample documentation describing the set-up procedure.

[Optimus]

Ok, the only thing I need to proceed is to flash the ROM.

 

What I have here is:

Download SpartaDOS X 4.46 with MyIDE2 Driver v.3.2

It has an ATR file which I cannot of course use.

And it has a ROM file which I should flash.

 

Secondly, there is also:

http://atari8.co.uk/uflash/uflash_1.2_test1.zip

 

Fortunately this is a XEX. This means I can run it from SIDE loader.

But there is a problem. This has to be able to see the ROM file.

I can put both XEX and ROM in the CF card.

But when I run the XEX, it's loaded and ran into memory, but does not look at the other files.

I tried this last time with another XEX coming with ROM file, and it couldn't read the ROM file because the CF card is not seen as a disk drive.

 

I read the APT documentation and see that I can use FDISK and other commands to do my work. But I am not there, because every previous step needed (to flash rom, to upgrade something, anything so that I can finally use these disk tools) always comes with an ATR and a ROM file. Or a XEX that will need to select a ROM file (I don't think putting the XEX and the ROM in same directory on card and then run the XEX from loader will make it see the ROM file, last time it couldn't since there is no visible file system for the XEX I think). Never a XEX that include in it's binary data the ROM.

 

So what do I miss?

Edited December 12, 2014 by Optimus

[flashjazzcat]

Sorry: I was using a mobile browser earlier, and options were limited.

 

The ROM you need is this one:

 

http://atari8.co.uk/apt/downloads/SDX446Ultimate.zip

 

The version of UFlash you should use is this one:

 

http://atari8.co.uk/uflash/uflash_v.1.0.zip

 

Now, if your Ultimate shipped with the latest XEX loader, you'll be able to put UFlash and the ROM on the CF card's FAT partition, run the Ultimate's XEX loader, run UFlash.xex, navigate to the SDX ROM using the loader's built-in FAT file system driver, and perform the flash. However, if your Ultimate 1MB has an older XEX loader, the file system won't work and you'll be stuck. I have asked Candle for copies of the most recent XEX loaders so that I can host them on my website, but none have been forthcoming yet. The only thing you could do is obtain a self-contained XEX flasher to update the loader on the Ultimate 1MB; you'll need to obtain this directly from Candle.

 

Other than that, some kind of SIO device is heartily recommended, since - as you can see - it becomes indispensable in many situations.

[Optimus]

Just one question: is the Ultimate XEX loader different loader than the cart loader?

Long before I had the U1MB, I only had the cart and could go to the loader to load XEX.

Then I upgraded with the U1MB. Is there a different loader for this? It's the one where you press L to get into? (but doesn't find FAT32 device right now)

 

So, yeah I am stuck at the moment. I need the self-contained XEX flasher.

Maybe I should have bought the SIO2SD. I bet it loads ATR and XEX straightforward.

Edited December 12, 2014 by Optimus

[flashjazzcat]

Just one question: is the Ultimate XEX loader different loader than the cart loader?

It's the same loader, but built for Ultimate. You can't, therefore, just flash the one to the other and vice versa.

 

Long before I had the U1MB, I only had the cart and could go to the loader to load XEX.

Then I upgraded with the U1MB. Is there a different loader for this? It's the one where you press L to get into? (but doesn't find FAT32 device right now)

If the loader isn't finding a FAT32 device, then there's something wrong with the way the CF card is formatted. I didn't write the loader, so please contact the author Candle for more specific information.

 

So, yeah I am stuck at the moment. I need the self-contained XEX flasher.

Maybe I should have bought the SIO2SD. I bet it loads ATR and XEX straightforward.

SIO2SD is a useful peripheral, but the Ultimate 1MB/SIDE combo also mounts ATRs and loads XEXs without fuss once you get it set up correctly, so there's no need to feel deflated just yet.

[Optimus]

 

 

If the loader isn't finding a FAT32 device, then there's something wrong with the way the CF card is formatted. I didn't write the loader, so please contact the author Candle for more specific information.

 

Ok, I guess I could try formatting the card from windows. I did this actually once, but I think windows doesn't do it right. Maybe I'll use some other windows tools that does it better?

[flashjazzcat]

Windows' formatter should be fine, but also look at DISKPART if you want to really wipe the media. Make sure it's formatted FAT32 as well. The XEX loader doesn't mind whether there's an MBR partition table on the card (commonly there isn't).