cwc Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 Seen loads of 1050s on eBay recently with three way write protect and now Happy fast/slow switch. e.g. http://www.ebay.com/itm/291796357335. Assuming these are Happy remakes (such as those sold by Atarimax) has someone worked out how to add a fast/slow switch to them? If so, does anyone here have any ideas how to do it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Binarygeek Posted August 11, 2016 Share Posted August 11, 2016 The answer is yes. http://www.ebay.com/itm/291829542762 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 All that is, is a switch and wires soldered to pin(s) on a 6502. I would think there would be instructions for a mod like this online, showing what pins to connect the switch wires too and could be done yourself. I just installed one of AtariMax's Happy boards in my 1050, but I didn't know about commercial software issues at high-speed. But I'm not going to be paying $21 for a switch that can be made for half the price, and about 10% of the price if I use the 6502 I already have! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ijor Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 (edited) All that is, is a switch and wires soldered to pin(s) on a 6502. I would think there would be instructions for a mod like this online, showing what pins to connect the switch wires too and could be done yourself. I just installed one of AtariMax's Happy boards in my 1050, but I didn't know about commercial software issues at high-speed. But I'm not going to be paying $21 for a switch that can be made for half the price, and about 10% of the price if I use the 6502 I already have! It should have something else besides just wires, although not too much (the original controller has a very small board). The switch activates the SO (set overflow) pin, which is detected by the firmware. But it needs some logic to enable this action only when the firmware wants it. You have to mask it, otherwise it would set the V flag all the time, and interfere with the firmware. Don't remember exactly how the firmware signals the switch logic that it wants to read the switch state, but I can check it on the Happy firmware. Happy used to protect its designs and the main board has some kind of protection, we all know that. But the controller fast/slow switch board is plain, it has no protection. It should be trivial to reverse engineer even without disassembling the firmware. A bit ironic, if you want, that this seller "protects" the switch logic with resin ... Still might be nice to offer this solderless (with CPU replacement included only) ... Edited August 12, 2016 by ijor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 (edited) It should have something else besides just wires, although not too much (the original controller has a very small board). The switch activates the SO (set overflow) pin, which is detected by the firmware. But it needs some logic to enable this action only when the firmware wants it. You have to mask it, otherwise it would set the V flag all the time, and interfere with the firmware. Don't remember exactly how the firmware signals the switch logic that it wants to read the switch state, but I can check it on the Happy firmware. Happy used to protect its designs and the main board has some kind of protection, we all know that. But the controller fast/slow switch board is plain, it has no protection. It should be trivial to reverse engineer even without disassembling the firmware. A bit ironic, if you want, that this seller "protects" the switch logic with resin ... Still might be nice to offer this solderless (with CPU replacement included only) ... That's why I assumed it was something very simple like a wire going from one pin to the ground pin or something to disable it, since the seller went through the trouble of encasing it all in resin with the guise of protecting wires. So simple he feels the need to hide it so others don't just make their own for a fraction of the cost. But you say it's a bit more like a simple logic gate chip probably. I've been searching for info on a do-it-yourself mod with no luck thus far, only finding the schematics for the write protect switch and front drive-number switches. One of which I've already done (and I needed no schematics for such a simple mod), and the other, I don't mind just making notches on the floppy disk; I've got a hole punch. Thanks for the info. Edited August 12, 2016 by Gunstar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Binarygeek Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 All that is, is a switch and wires soldered to pin(s) on a 6502. I would think there would be instructions for a mod like this online, showing what pins to connect the switch wires too and could be done yourself. I just installed one of AtariMax's Happy boards in my 1050, but I didn't know about commercial software issues at high-speed. But I'm not going to be paying $21 for a switch that can be made for half the price, and about 10% of the price if I use the 6502 I already have! Geez...don't get your panties bunched up so high! As is the norm in a free-enterprise system, if ya don't like it, don't buy it. And if you do find the mod on line, you will be the first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 (edited) Geeze...must be the seller...who's getting panties in a bunch? Sounds like you, not me. I never said I didn't like it. I just don't like the price when I'm capable of making one myself for a fraction. I'm not your consumer base. Just hoping I didn't have to figure it out on my own, but if I have to, I will. Edited August 12, 2016 by Gunstar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guus.assmann Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 Well, it does have a CPU attached to it. And it also looks like the wire won't just come off. Looks like some quality work. But curiuos as I am, I'd like to know how it works. And also, if it can be added to the MegaSpeedy. BR/ Guus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ijor Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 But curiuos as I am, I'd like to know how it works. And also, if it can be added to the MegaSpeedy. I'm really surprised that this information was never available online. I assumed Steven (Atarimax) didn't sell controller clones because there wasn't enough interest. Surely he had access to one, and its trivial to implement the logic. As I said, the switch should ground the SO (set overflow) pin depending on the position, but only when requested by the CPU. This is the code in the Happy firmware that shows how the code is ready to read the SO pin: CLV LDA $9800 LDA $9800 LDA $9800 LDA $9800 NOP PHP PLA AND #$40 ; Oveflow bit set ? ... BEQ $F08A ; Switch is in fast position I do have an original one, at some point will try to take pics. But in the meantime the above code should provide enough info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ijor Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 Controller tip: One of the big advantages of the Happy is that is has track buffered writes, not just reads. Most Happy look-a-likes didn't implement that. Buffered fast write is not enabled by the default. You have to enable it by software. Or ... Turn on the happy with the happy controller in the slow position, afterwards switch it to fast. This procedure will enable fast buffered writes! Note that you must boot with the switch in slow. Otherwise the switch in the fast position only will affect fast reads, not fast writes. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Binarygeek Posted August 14, 2016 Share Posted August 14, 2016 Geeze...must be the seller...who's getting panties in a bunch? Sounds like you, not me. I never said I didn't like it. I just don't like the price when I'm capable of making one myself for a fraction. I'm not your consumer base. Just hoping I didn't have to figure it out on my own, but if I have to, I will. Yep, you are right that I do not consider you part of my consumer base. Very few users in this forum would be. My consumer base is the Atari user that can just unscrew the 1050 drive and take off the hood. You know, lacking a bit of Atari tech knowledge, and I have to keep that in mind when selling a switch. I sell my drives on e-bay, and I probably sell enough drives to keep me in coffee money. I stated a few days ago that I would post the installation instructions, and I'll do it this evening. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ijor Posted August 14, 2016 Share Posted August 14, 2016 (edited) I'm really surprised that this information was never available online. As I was saying, it WOULD have been surprising. The information was actually available online for almost a decade: Edited August 14, 2016 by ijor 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariGeezer Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 For comparison, this is the schematic to the Smirk 1050 Controller board. Jerzy might have goofed on the Happy Control Board schematic as well if you compare the two... I just started making a diagram of the Smirk 1050 Happy Board and will post the complete schematic when finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ijor Posted August 27, 2016 Share Posted August 27, 2016 For comparison, this is the schematic to the Smirk 1050 Controller board. Jerzy might have goofed on the Happy Control Board schematic as well if you compare the two... May be he missed, I don't know. But the one you posted (never heard about the Smirk) seems to be missing the jumpers. The jumpers exist in the actual Happy Controller board ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariGeezer Posted August 27, 2016 Share Posted August 27, 2016 May be he missed, I don't know. But the one you posted (never heard about the Smirk) seems to be missing the jumpers. The jumpers exist in the actual Happy Controller board ... The jumpers do not exist on the Smirk 1050 Controller board. PCB is smaller too (I'll post pics soon) ... What he missed is the pins 3 & 4 are wrong on J11 that goes to the WP Sensor and LED, also pins 7 & 8 are backward on J1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted August 27, 2016 Share Posted August 27, 2016 To save me going through the thread, what do these switches do, put the drive in UN-Happy mode which I thought needed software or simply just drop the speed? Just wondering as I have just acquired a happy and installed it, never had a real happy before, had the Lazer... Paul.. Thanks 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ijor Posted August 27, 2016 Share Posted August 27, 2016 To save me going through the thread, what do these switches do, put the drive in UN-Happy mode which I thought needed software or simply just drop the speed? Just wondering as I have just acquired a happy and installed it, never had a real happy before, had the Lazer... One switch puts the drive in slow mode. It is not exactly the same as unhappy mode, but it is good enough for most titles that don't run with the default, fast, happy mode. It just disables the track buffering, that's all. It can also be used to enable fast buffered write mode. The other switch configures the write protect sensor. In one position the disk is always write protected, disregarding the notch. The middle position follows the notch, as if the controller wasn't present. And the last one is always write enabled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted August 27, 2016 Share Posted August 27, 2016 Thanks Ijor, I had the override write protect switch on my drives in the day and thanks for explaining about the slow but not Un-Happy.. Cheers kind Sir.. Paul.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmzalbar Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 (edited) I plan to make controller board from these schematics. Looks like there's a difference between the Jerzy and the SMIRK schematic, so I'll look hard at the photos people have posted and reason out which is correct. I have two of the most recent AtariMax happy boards. Although they don't have a header for the controller board like the original happy, all it is doing is watching the address decoder and clock, and setting SO under appropriate circumstances. The only question is, does the AtariMax expose the same address decoding on any of its GAL pins, or do I need to ignore the GAL and just add my own decoder to the controller board? Does anyone happen to know? If I use my own decoder anyway, It would be a solderless solution as a socket adapter to stack under the socketed 6502 on the Atarimax board. Edited May 4, 2020 by rmzalbar 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topogio Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 On 5/3/2020 at 7:45 PM, rmzalbar said: I plan to make controller board from these schematics. Looks like there's a difference between the Jerzy and the SMIRK schematic, so I'll look hard at the photos people have posted and reason out which is correct. I have two of the most recent AtariMax happy boards. Although they don't have a header for the controller board like the original happy, all it is doing is watching the address decoder and clock, and setting SO under appropriate circumstances. The only question is, does the AtariMax expose the same address decoding on any of its GAL pins, or do I need to ignore the GAL and just add my own decoder to the controller board? Does anyone happen to know? If I use my own decoder anyway, It would be a solderless solution as a socket adapter to stack under the socketed 6502 on the Atarimax board. did you ever figure this out, would be interested as I have the same atarimax board I wish had the controller board and an original happy with the controller hooked up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwc Posted May 22, 2021 Author Share Posted May 22, 2021 7 hours ago, topogio said: did you ever figure this out, would be interested as I have the same atarimax board I wish had the controller board and an original happy with the controller hooked up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topogio Posted May 22, 2021 Share Posted May 22, 2021 2 hours ago, cwc said: Awesome, thanks for the quick reply!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmzalbar Posted May 22, 2021 Share Posted May 22, 2021 On 5/21/2021 at 11:30 AM, topogio said: did you ever figure this out, would be interested as I have the same atarimax board I wish had the controller board and an original happy with the controller hooked up. Not long after COVID hit, I had to put everything in storage and move into a tiny place. Nearly all of my fun projects got shelved. I recently took my Atari crates out though so I may get to it soon. I think when I last looked at it, I found the logic for the original happy wasn't accessible in the Atarimax setup and that I possibly couldn't do better than Binarygeek, but I hadn't written it off yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topogio Posted May 28, 2021 Share Posted May 28, 2021 On 5/22/2021 at 4:30 PM, rmzalbar said: Not long after COVID hit, I had to put everything in storage and move into a tiny place. Nearly all of my fun projects got shelved. I recently took my Atari crates out though so I may get to it soon. I think when I last looked at it, I found the logic for the original happy wasn't accessible in the Atarimax setup and that I possibly couldn't do better than Binarygeek, but I hadn't written it off yet. Cool, no worries, I kinda expected that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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