Help understanding/starting with SpartaDOS X

[ncherry]

Newb with SpartaDos, but not with the Atari's. The last DOS I worked with was DOS XL which I purchased new at the time. :-)

 

I've decided to resurrect my Atari 800 collection (much of which I can't seem to find, weird). And while waiting for parts to fix my 600XL and 800XL I've been busy with the Atari800 emulator (XE, 128K). I have Omnimon XL, Atasm and CC65 working under Linux (and hope to have my Pi Zero hooked up to my A8's soon) but I'm having trouble with the DOS part. I finally got SpartaDos X working with the emulator by booting the cart rom: SDX448_sdx128.car. When I attempted to load UBI.EXE (U-Basic) I get the error: RAM under ROM is not available. That seems pretty obvious, I don't know what I'm doing.

 

Now my questions what do I need to config to get SpartaDos X (SPX) to work with my emulator so I can put SPX in the extra RAM (emulator set to XE and 128K)? Next question is how will I get this working with the 800XL & 600XL when I've got them on my SIO2Pi board (wifi to my Linux server, plenty of space). I see everyone saying use SPX but I can't see how I can set it up. So what am I missing or is it not going to be possible to use SpartaDos without putting it in ROM?

 

PS: This is all working toward getting the Atari's working with Commodore 64 on a gaming network at VCF's ( http://infoage.org/wp/infoage/exhibits/vintage-computers/) museum @ Infoage in Wall Township, NJ. A very cool place.

[pirx]

So what am I missing or is it not going to be possible to use SpartaDos without putting it in ROM?

 

No... SDX is strictly ROM based. There are numerous solutions though to run it, just look at http://sdx.atari8.info/index.php?show=en_download_special

[flashjazzcat]

Type:

 

X UBI.EXE

 

Prefixing any executable with the "X" command turns off the cartridge ROM before loading the binary.

[ncherry]

 

No... SDX is strictly ROM based. There are numerous solutions though to run it, just look at http://sdx.atari8.info/index.php?show=en_download_special

 

Hmm, looks like I'll need to purchase a special cart. I may need to fall back to another DOS in the meantime.

 

Thanks

Edited October 14, 2016 by ncherry

[ncherry]

Type:

 

X UBI.EXE

 

Prefixing any executable with the "X" command turns off the cartridge ROM before loading the binary.

Same error:

 

RAM under ROM is not available.

 

Thanks

[flashjazzcat]

Same error:

 

RAM under ROM is not available.

 

Thanks

 

Ah right... I misunderstood your issue. SDX is running in the RAM under the OS, and the interpreter requires the same memory space.

 

Although SDX is cartridge-based, it can be made to vacate the Shadow RAM under the OS and place all drivers in extended RAM. For this to happen, you need either a) a machine with more than 128KB of RAM (in which case SDX will automatically use extended RAM), or b) 128KB and a CONFIG.SYS which begins with:

 

USE BANKED

 

Since I see you have the emulator configured as a 128KB machine, you could either try increasing the RAM size, or creating your own CONFIG.SYS file. To do the latter, you'll need to create a disk image and format it in SDFS format. Mount the image on drive one, then create a copy of the default CONFIG.SYS thus:

 

TYPE CAR:CONFIG.SYS >>A:CONFIG.SYS

 

Then type:

 

ED CONFIG.SYS

 

Add "USE BANKED" as the first line of the file (replacing any other line beginning "USE"). Press Ctrl+S to save the file, then reboot. You should then be able to run the interpreter.

 

Obviously some detail has been glossed over (disk images, formatting, etc), but the emulator documentation and the SDX manual will be helpful.

Edited October 14, 2016 by flashjazzcat

[ncherry]

 

Ah right... I misunderstood your issue. SDX is running in the RAM under the OS, and the interpreter requires the same memory space.

 

Although SDX is cartridge-based, it can be made to vacate the Shadow RAM under the OS and place all drivers in extended RAM. For this to happen, you need either a) a machine with more than 128KB of RAM (in which case SDX will automatically use extended RAM), or b) 128KB and a CONFIG.SYS which begins with:

 

USE BANKED

 

Since I see you have the emulator configured as a 128KB machine, you could either try increasing the RAM size, or creating your own CONFIG.SYS file. To do the latter, you'll need to create a disk image and format it in SDFS format. Mount the image on drive one, then create a copy of the default CONFIG.SYS thus:

 

TYPE CAR:CONFIG.SYS >>A:CONFIG.SYS

 

Then type:

 

ED CONFIG.SYS

 

Add "USE BANKED" as the first line of the file (replacing any other line beginning "USE"). Press Ctrl+S to save the file, then reboot. You should then be able to run the interpreter.

 

Obviously some detail has been glossed over (disk images, formatting, etc), but the emulator documentation and the SDX manual will be helpful.

 

Bingo, I expanded the memory to 192K in the emulator. Thanks

 

I did look at the SPX manual and it's actually quite good. I just haven't been able to figure out how to edit a ROM (CAR:) in the emulator. You seem to be suggesting that the A:config.sys will allow the change. I'll try that next.

 

Oh, and a manual for the emulator would be nice. I'm still working on the CLI options. I accidentally found some information that the ROMs need to have the correct CRC for me to use them. Still working on that one.

 

Thanks