1050 Hyperdrive (Issue 2)

[Guest]

a desperate request - does anyone have a manual and disks for the

 

1050 Hyperdrive (Issue 2) as per the pics below

 

really appreciate any help at all

 

 

 

 

[+Nezgar]

I saw previous reference to the "Warp Laser" Happy clone - and the Hyperdrive was a clone of that clone haha.

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/128791-atari-1050-smirk-happy-clone/?p=1553384

[Guest]

from what i can gather there will be software that the Laser/Warp/Hyperdrive can use

 

Laser Copier

Hyperdrive v II - sofwatre package - Chaos Computers

Warp Utils

[cwc]

A Hyper Drive (HF Developments) disk is on eBay here.

 

[+Nezgar]

@brenski - it's even in the UK!

[+Larry]

Were there any added features as compared to a Happy? 

 

 

[Guest]

not that i know of. i think the things was basically just a clone.

[Guest]

managed to buy this off ebay. but disk is unreadable.

 

[+Nezgar]

14 minutes ago, brenski said:

managed to buy this off ebay. but disk is unreadable.

 

Damnnnnn! 100% unreadable? If any sectors are readable, could you try reading with a non-buffered drive, or Happy in unhappy mode, and try to copy to an ATR with errors using Disk-Wizard II ?

 

I'm curious if sectors any sectors are readable it might reveal/support my theory it's mostly the same as a Happy 7.x disk, just with the text "HAPPY" replaced with "HYPER" everywhere...

[Guest]

i'm not even sure it's the correct software.

label says:

HF Hyper Drive 1050

 

but my understanding is that the Hyperdrive software may have been a bunch of disks/software

Hyperdrive v II - software package - Chaos Computers

 - Shipped with software package (Ver. II): Hyper Fast DOS, Hyper Sector
   Copier, Hyper Back-Up Sytem, US Doubler Emulation, HyperCompaction,
   Diagnostic Tester, Archiver/810 Emulation, Multi Drive Back-Up

 

 

Edited September 3, 2020 by Guest

[E474]

Hi @brenski,

 

   Have you tried my DUMP1050 utility on the drive, to see what ROM images get returned (assuming it works)?

 

    

[+Larry]

19 hours ago, brenski said:

managed to buy this off ebay. but disk is unreadable.

 

What drive(s) did you try?  You might try with an XF551 if you have access to one. I always have had better luck with the XF551 when trying to read "stubborn" disks.  And do you have an Archiver/Editor or Super Archiver?  (Or the Happy archiver might run on the clone.) That might tell what sectors do contain valid data. Interesting challenge.

[Guest]

don't have an XF551 - just 3 different 1050s - none of which read this disk.

[Guest]

well after many failed attempts, finally, i managed to get both sides of the disk ATRd. however, even when prosystem finally read it, the disk is riddled with unreadable sectors and crc errors.

 

 

hd1.ATR hd2.ATR

[1050]

It's a mess, but it has the same first sector pretty much as the Happy 7 disk. Then sector 2 is blank and that won't work for a boot sector at ALL. Hyper does replace text in often repeated similar patterns all the way to the end for both discs that make it look like a purposely made to be shit disc. No VTOC, No directory, how does it get this sideways without help?

 

The 1st sector similarity has me thinking do you have the Happy 7 disks and have you tried to boot them?

 

Until we get sector two with something in it and correct the "errors" in sector one which by rough guess would be about 20 bytes, we are not getting very far with this rocket.

 

And then there's this feeling that if you booted Happy 7 you would find it says it's a Happy.

So just an outright ripoff that somehow is not qualified for a full copyright infringement effort across the pond due to non working software supplied and on the phone the voice says to use the Happy software and don't bother me again.

 

 

[+Nezgar]

Original happy 7.0 or 7.1 disk diagnostics ROM test pass should confirm it's original code, fail if the ROM was modified. E474's dumprom tool as posted previously will allow closer inspection.

[cwc]

Unfortunately I missed this when live but it has pictures of the documentation and a software screenshot (looks like "Lazer" software in blue) and could provide a lead for @brenski to follow up:

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Atari-1050-Disk-Drive-with-Rare-Hyper-Drive-Upgrade-/313376169353?nma=true&si=xNaMzyZSmFzf0t4Dt6wBSyRkSdo%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

 

Did anyone here win the auction?

[E474]

Hi,

 

   I would be tempted to try the Lazer utilities disk, just to see what happens! Also, dump1050 is a fine utility!

 

  

Atari_Age_Lazer_Utilities.atr

[+nasty niff]

Chaos computers Manchester? This is a happy clone......100%

Contact Paul hollins on Facebook...

Edited January 27, 2021 by mistapaul

[HyperDriver]

Wow. I can't believe that the Hyper Drive is still getting talked about after all these years! I'm the "F" half of "HF Developments". Me & Mr. H were the original rip-off merchants of the Lazer Drive, which was a rip-off of the Happy Drive. I still have all my Atari stuff up in my loft somewhere, which should include all the Hyper Drive stuff. When (if) I get time, I'll hunt around for it. It's quite nostalgic to see members on here discussing somerthing that me & my mate used to sell around 30 (?) years ago! My recollection about some of the details may be a bit hazy after all these years though.?

 

I was an avid collector of all thing related to Atari 400/800, so snapped up the Lazer drive as soon as I saw it advertised (could't afford an original Happy). As we were working for a large electronics company, we had access to EPROM erasers & copiers, & decided that we could easily duplicate the Laser & sell it under our own brand. Luckily, there was an electronics component shop right opposite our workplace who could supply some of the components (eprom, memory & logic chip), & the 6502 was from Cricklewood Electronics (or it may have been the other way round). There was also a stationary shop nearby who could supply the jiffy bags at a good price. Mr. H found a place to etch & drill the boards.

 

So that was the hardware sorted, now for the software. It was all very low tech! With the 1050 opened up, I would look to see where I needed to "rebrand" the software by simply looking to see where the disk drive head was. I would then use a hex editor to look for the wording that needed changing in that area. I also changed the colour of the menus I think to a more readable blue background. From my hazy memory, I think that there were also some options on the original Lazer software that didn't actually work, so they were removed.

 

I wish my memory was better, as I can't remember what options were added to ver. 2, or where it came from. I can only assume that Lazer brought out enhanced software & I went through the same procedure to rebrand that as well. Or did the Happy software work with the Lazer board? Again, I may be mis-remembering, but I thought the Happy software was incompatible with the Lazer hardware. Can anyone confirm this?

 

I made up a ribbon cable from the socket that the Hyper connected to, & had it dangling out of the case of the drive with another socket on the end, so that I could test each board. I didn't want to keep plugging the boards into the actual socket on the circuit board as it would eventually have damaged it.

[+Stephen]

Cool!  Paging @Savetz

[E474]

Hi @HyperDriver,

 

    Welcome to the AtariAge forums! I don't have a HyperDrive, but do have a "clone" Lazer/US doubler, as described in this post: 

 

 

   Is there any chance of you digging out your HyperDrive modified 1050 and dumping/sharing the ROM using my dump1050 utility (available at https://github.com/e474/DUMP1050 )? It's a native 8-bit Atari app, so you will need to dig out the rest of your 8-bit kit, so appreciate it's a bit of an ask! Also, there's a lively software preservation scene here, so there's always interest in whatever software/hardware people happen to have acquired/collected over the years.

 

   From memory, I think the Lazer Rom was slightly different to a stock Happy Rom - so Happy code that got uploaded to the drive, for example, some PDB files, wouldn't work as is with the Lazer, as they jumped to routines in the Happy Rom that were at different locations in the Lazer Rom.

 

  Sounds like you had a lot if fun with the Atari, bitd!

 

 

[+Nezgar]

On 3/24/2021 at 5:52 AM, HyperDriver said:

I was an avid collector of all thing related to Atari 400/800, so snapped up the Lazer drive as soon as I saw it advertised (could't afford an original Happy). As we were working for a large electronics company, we had access to EPROM erasers & copiers, & decided that we could easily duplicate the Laser & sell it under our own brand.

Hah wow, confirmation that the Hyper 1050 was a clone of the Lazer 1050, which itself was a clone the Happy 1050. The Lazer ROM was a clone of the Happy 1050 v1 ROM, not the later v2 ROM, which would be the start of some of the incompatibilities.

 

On 3/24/2021 at 5:52 AM, HyperDriver said:

we could easily duplicate the Laser & sell it under our own brand

Do you recall making any changes to the ROM, or duplicated it as is? Or mostly just the software.... We still need a dump of a Hyper 1050 I think, ie using @E474's aforementioned dump1050 utility to confirm if it is indeed the same as the "Lazer" ROM!

 

On 3/24/2021 at 5:52 AM, HyperDriver said:

I can't remember what options were added to ver. 2

It looks like V1 of the hardware was the wire-wrap jon, and V2 was the PCB version, but maybe a derivative of the Happy 1050 V2 ROM came along as well.

 

On 3/24/2021 at 5:52 AM, HyperDriver said:

I may be mis-remembering, but I thought the Happy software was incompatible with the Lazer hardware. Can anyone confirm this?

Under testing with full drive emulation, I observed the Lazer ROM behaving differently compared an authentic happy 1050 v1 ROM, at first in some obvious ways like a faster head stepping speed - but also the Happy diagnostics or duplication software would cause the drive to drop into a failure mode with continuous drive motor on/off, so there must have been other changes to the ROM too.

 

On 3/24/2021 at 5:52 AM, HyperDriver said:

I needed to "rebrand" the software by simply looking to see where the disk drive head was. I would then use a hex editor to look for the wording that needed changing in that area.

I/we would very much appreciate if you have any working disks if they could be imaged/preserved because the only one so far was @brenski's attempt which was full of read errors!

 

Other modified happy ROM's circulated (maybe originating out of Germany) that corrected the V2 unbuffered write corruption bug, sped up the stepper rate, as well as had provisions in the ROM code for an LED track-number display. Those probably have a lineage separate from Lazer/Hyper.

 

Really great to have you contribute here @HyperDriver! Look forward to anything you can share.

[HyperDriver]

@E474  I don't recognise that Lazer/US Doubler configuration. The only Lazer upgrade I saw was the plug in board that we copied. Does anyone have an actual Lazer board? I ask because I can't remember if it had the RAM & EPROM side by side. Our boards had the RAM piggy backed on to the EPROM. I can't remember if that was our idea, or if the Lazer was also like that.

 

I will try to dig out my stuff in the loft as soon as I can. To be honest, I don't know when that will be. Hopefully it will be before I retire in 2 and a half years time. ? Wish I had more time on my hands, as I'm getting quite intersted in this again now.

 

It's interesting to hear about what you can do now, with interfacing the Atari stuff with the pc. It will be a learning curve for me, as I've completely lost touch with my Atari's for decades now. I've noticed .atr files on many posts here. I take it these are software dumps?

 

As for having fun back then, well definitely yes! Things seemed so much more exciting & enjoyable in those days. Loads of magazines to buy, loads of computer shows to visit. Great times. Things seem so much more bland in these pc times.?

[HyperDriver]

@Nezgar We didn't make any changes to the Lazer ROM. It was copied exacly as it was on our "gang of 8" EPROM copier. We didn't see any need to change anything. All I did was change the wording in the software to our brand. As far as I could tell, it did everything we needed it to do, so left it as it was. Of course we couldn't check out every possible function.

 

Having now found some screen shots of the menus, it looks like ver.1 of our software only had 3 options, while ver.2 may have had 9. I say may, because I'm now wondering if we modified the Happy software for our ver.2, rather than modify any Lazer ver.2 software? Did Lazer even bring out their own ver.2 software anyway? Perhaps the options that I mentioned that I disabled in my earlier post were the ones that were incompatible between the Happy software & our boards? Hmmm...

 

I'm getting more & more anxious to get the loft ladder out now! ?

 

I hope my disks are still working after being stored for so long. I will try & make an image/dump of the disk & EPROM as soon as I can work out what I need & how to do it (and as soon as I find the time).