520 ST vs 520/1040 STF difference seen running software

[retrobits]

Hi all,

 

Back in the 80s, I had a plain old 520 ST so I have a fondness for the form factor of those and also the port/switch placement.

Recently I acquired several original 520 STs. Two are stock with 512K and two have upgrades, one with 1MB, the other with 2.5MB.

What is confusing to me is why there would be differences running software on these machines versus the 520/1040 STF(M) of which I have several (also stock). I assumed the only difference was built in disk, power supply, and RF out for the (M) versions. All of these machines have TOS 1.0 US version since I really only use them for games. At first I thought there was something wrong with one or two of the 520 STs. But now that I've tested all 4, I can see that there really is a difference in the way some software is run.

 

OK, so here is one difference I've found. On every 520 ST machine I own, upgraded memory or not, the Automation 97 menu displays with only the top scrolling bar:

 

 

while on my 520 STF and my 1040 STFM, the top and bottom scrolling bars are shown.

 

 

Does anyone know why there would be a difference like this? Its mostly out of curiosity as to why this would be happening that I ask this question.

 

 

For reference Automation 97 disk version that I'm testing with is named "Automation Menu Disk 097 (19xx)(Automation)[a].st" in the TOSEC archive. I suspect googling for that filename will yield a download if you need it. It runs with both top and bottom bars on the emulator (SainT).

Edited February 27, 2016 by retrobits

[ParanoidLittleMan]

EU versions have screen refresh at 50 Hz, while US ones at 60 Hz.

And when running SW is the topic: there is many SW sensitive on TOS version, and even on RAM size - may happen that problem is not not enough RAM, but too much RAM

[galax]

You can press 0 on that menu screen to toggle 50/60 Hz, and see if that makes any difference.