areeve Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 I recently got a Micro Mainframe disk drive however I don't have the paperwork / documentation or the utility disk it came with and I'd love to get both. Anyone out there have either of those such that I could get a copy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle22 Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 Nice drive You should be able to use any normal DOS disk. AtariDOS, SpartaDOS, MyDOS, etc. Ask someone who lives near you to make you a copy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
areeve Posted December 3, 2015 Author Share Posted December 3, 2015 Nice drive You should be able to use any normal DOS disk. AtariDOS, SpartaDOS, MyDOS, etc. Ask someone who lives near you to make you a copy. Sure, but what I am seeking is the Utility disk that came with the drive and the documentation on how to use it. It had tools for doing custom formatting, fast disk copying, track dumps... etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle22 Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 A quick search turned up nothing, but I'll keep my eyes open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 I had one of these, but traded it many years ago. I don't believe that I ever had any printed docs, but the Utility Disk had most of the special programs in BASIC, so figuring out how to use them shouldn't be too hard if you can get the disk. I'll look through my stuff to see if I can find a copy I might have saved. BTW, you probably know this, but IIRC the cpu was Z80, so any uploads to the drive were Z80 code. In the meantime, here is a link to a review which explains some of the features: http://www.atarimagazines.com/v2n6/products.html Massive drive case, isn't it. -Larry 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mytek Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 In the meantime, here is a link to a review which explains some of the features: http://www.atarimagazines.com/v2n6/products.html Nice disk controller, can support up to 8 double density drives. The PCB in this thing would be great to resurrect and use as a general purpose Atari drive controller. Any chance that someone has schematics and a ROM dump? - Michael 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
areeve Posted December 4, 2015 Author Share Posted December 4, 2015 I had one of these, but traded it many years ago. I don't believe that I ever had any printed docs, but the Utility Disk had most of the special programs in BASIC, so figuring out how to use them shouldn't be too hard if you can get the disk. I'll look through my stuff to see if I can find a copy I might have saved. BTW, you probably know this, but IIRC the cpu was Z80, so any uploads to the drive were Z80 code. In the meantime, here is a link to a review which explains some of the features: http://www.atarimagazines.com/v2n6/products.html Massive drive case, isn't it. -Larry I don't recall that programs on that disk being in BASIC... FWIW I had one of these when I was a kid. In a nutshell, I joined a user group and they guy that ran it saw the ads for this amazing new Atari disk drive and helped to spread the word. I don't know how I convinced the parents to get me one at $450 if I recall and then the number of calls my Mom made to Mr Manz (sp?) over there before I finally got it. Anyhow, yes... it was a tank of a disk drive... and had two key features for me... access to custom formatting disks and a built in RS232 printer interface. I learned a lot about disk formatting theory with that drive and the printer interface was nice EXCEPT it didn't work well at all with programs like the Print Shop. Two ESC chars in a row and it would go nuts thinking that was a custom command... so it would be printing along... hit that bit pattern and suddenly my sign didn't look too nice. It also had the issue that timing holes were needed to format a disks... so one couldn't just punch the other side and flip the disk over. However, the funny other side of that was in EA's later years they used a track skew for copy protection... the one where you'd hear the drive head crank back and forth for half an hour... well, the MFM disk drive copied those like they weren't copy protected because it used the timing hole for formatting so tracks were all skewed correctly by default on it. Funny. Anyhow... I sold it... but kept in touch with the gentleman that ran the user group and he recently gave me most of his old Atari stuff including a dual MFM disk drive. I'd love to get those docs and that utility disk back... but it looks doubtful. I can't imagine there were many out there to being with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMartian Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 Nice disk controller, can support up to 8 double density drives. The PCB in this thing would be great to resurrect and use as a general purpose Atari drive controller. Any chance that someone has schematics and a ROM dump? - Michael And if I had a ROM dump, I'd look at adding Ultraspeed to it... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mytek Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 And if I had a ROM dump, I'd look at adding Ultraspeed to it... Yep that would make it even better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 And if I had a ROM dump, I'd look at adding Ultraspeed to it... Would your Indus drive US likely be useful? -Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMartian Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 Would your Indus drive US likely be useful? -Larry The concepts, yes, but the actual code unlikely... Until I see code / schematics, I don't know how the serial is done to see if US is possible... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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