Jump to content
IGNORED

SDrive-MAX ATX support


Farb

Recommended Posts

Someone please tell me which side the black band of the diode needs to be pointing - Arduino side or Atari side? Reason I asked is, I tried it both ways, the device failed to work. As soon as I removed it completely, things work great, as you can see. Is it possible I've got a bad batch of 1N4148 diodes?

 

Cathode (black band) end soldered to the Arduino.

 

 

Yeah, that's what I thought! Nada when I had it wired that way.

Harrumph. I'll rewire it tomorrow and try again. Thanks for the confirmation though!

 

Just to put a bow on this side issue, in case someone has a similar problem in the future and runs into a similar issue, at Michael St. Pierre's suggestion, I substituted a small 1N5819 Schottky diode for the suggested 1N4818 and voila, problem solved! My SDrive-MAX works now with my 1088XEL and allows use of other SIO drives at the same time. Whew!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

Just to put a bow on this side issue, in case someone has a similar problem in the future and runs into a similar issue, at Michael St. Pierre's suggestion, I substituted a small 1N5819 Schottky diode for the suggested 1N4818 and voila, problem solved! My SDrive-MAX works now with my 1088XEL and allows use of other SIO drives at the same time. Whew!

I'm just collecting the parts to assemble and I'm not particularly experienced with electronics. Do you know if this solution is specific to the 1088XEL, or a generalized approach for all Atari hardware?

 

Thanks for your help!!

Greg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm just collecting the parts to assemble and I'm not particularly experienced with electronics. Do you know if this solution is specific to the 1088XEL, or a generalized approach for all Atari hardware?

Thanks for your help!!

Greg

It’s been 3 decades since my two semesters of “Electrical Engineering for non-EE Majors” classes, what we called “Sparks and Magic 101” :P So my theoretical knowledge is both old and mostly forgotten.

 

However, having said that, others have built these with 1N4148 diodes without any problems. With that type diode mine worked with my 1200XL but didn’t work with my 1088XEL. However, another user said it worked with his. Each of the XEL’s is hand-built, usually by its owner, so the build quality is a variable too. So who knows if mine is just a little off-spec in the serial I/O chain?

 

But once I put in the 1N5819 Schottky diode instead, it booted right up. I haven’t yet tried it with my 1200XL or the 800 I have out and handy. I’ll do that at some point. After struggling with this nagging issue all weekend on and off, I was happy to declare victory and retire from the field! :)

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

Just to put a bow on this side issue, in case someone has a similar problem in the future and runs into a similar issue, at Michael St. Pierre's suggestion, I substituted a small 1N5819 Schottky diode for the suggested 1N4818 and voila, problem solved! My SDrive-MAX works now with my 1088XEL and allows use of other SIO drives at the same time. Whew!

Just for the sake of having both options I just ordered some 1N5819's. For the price might as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just to put a bow on this side issue, in case someone has a similar problem in the future and runs into a similar issue, at Michael St. Pierre's suggestion, I substituted a small 1N5819 Schottky diode for the suggested 1N4818 and voila, problem solved! My SDrive-MAX works now with my 1088XEL and allows use of other SIO drives at the same time. Whew!

 

Excellent, glad to hear you got it working. Still interesting to know if it's a just enough out of spec edge case considering it works on machines other than the XEL.

 

 

I'm gearing up to make some SDrive-MAXs for friends. Experimenting with some print settings and some filament that is annoying me for some reason, will probably make the 'somewhat less than perfect' cases available for free to fellow AAers when I'm done :)

 

 

jncCKa.jpg

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

How do You print it ? Normal or uipside down. I am printing it that face lays on bed. Result is not perfecto on grid holes...

 

Excellent, glad to hear you got it working. Still interesting to know if it's a just enough out of spec edge case considering it works on machines other than the XEL.

 

 

I'm gearing up to make some SDrive-MAXs for friends. Experimenting with some print settings and some filament that is annoying me for some reason, will probably make the 'somewhat less than perfect' cases available for free to fellow AAers when I'm done :)

 

 

jncCKa.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Excellent, glad to hear you got it working. Still interesting to know if it's a just enough out of spec edge case considering it works on machines other than the XEL.

 

 

I'm gearing up to make some SDrive-MAXs for friends. Experimenting with some print settings and some filament that is annoying me for some reason, will probably make the 'somewhat less than perfect' cases available for free to fellow AAers when I'm done :)

 

 

jncCKa.jpg

 

I'm not so picky about the case so would gladly pay for material costs and shipping of one of the "less perfect" ones :D

Edited by Level42
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

Just to put a bow on this side issue, in case someone has a similar problem in the future and runs into a similar issue, at Michael St. Pierre's suggestion, I substituted a small 1N5819 Schottky diode for the suggested 1N4818 and voila, problem solved! My SDrive-MAX works now with my 1088XEL and allows use of other SIO drives at the same time. Whew!

Did you ever test the 1N5819 with a DVM ? sounds it was open (blocking two ways).

 

In theory a shottky diode should be better because it only drops 0,3V or so compared to the generic 1N4818...

 

[EDIT] checked the datasheets. The 1N4818 can also "only" deliver 300mA where the 1N5819 can handle 1000mA... I guess the Uno plus display won't consume more than 300mA but even so...in theory the 1N5819 seems like a better choice....

 

O well I guess whatever works is best, LOL

Edited by Level42
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wait a minute, just read the 1088XEL thread......I think you exchanged the type numbers of the diodes in your post here :D

 

So DO use a 1N5819 (or similar schottky diode) and NOT a generic one with a higher voltage drop (like the 1N4818).

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wait a minute, just read the 1088XEL thread......I think you exchanged the type numbers of the diodes in your post here :D

 

So DO use a 1N5819 (or similar schottky diode) and NOT a generic one with a higher voltage drop (like the 1N4818).

Yeah I made a typo. I let my AA subscription lapse and can’t edit the post, lol. Anyway, the 1N5819 is working with the XEL and the 1N4148 wasn’t. So once I do some compatibility tests with an 800 and a 1200XL, I’m going to build another one for a friend.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was just looking at my recently acquired 1025 and remembering all these neat XL style boxes I thought: wouldn't it be cool to replace the top plastic part of the 1025 with a completely redesigned one that is REALLY in XL style..... LOL.....

Oops, no intention to side-track this thread :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

im printing mine face down as i type - when i tried it the right way up, it left lots of debris where the screen butts up.

 

The case top is something you really need to print face down for FDM printing, otherwise you'll cause a massive amount of support structure material printing and/or make an ugly top surface over supports.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am currently working on a compatibility list for the latest beta version (0.8b) which I manually build from Github. As for 0.7, a few that are known to work (although there are many others) are:

 

Agent USA

Bandits

Bruce Lee

Canyon Climber

Goonies (used to test weak bits)

Nibbler

 

I just decided to try this and what do you know? It worked! I booted up the ATX from the A8 Software Preservation Project torrent and it worked like a charm, thanks! So great to be able to boot some titles like this in un-cracked/un-hacked versions. :)

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just decided to try this and what do you know? It worked! I booted up the ATX from the A8 Software Preservation Project torrent and it worked like a charm, thanks! So great to be able to boot some titles like this in un-cracked/un-hacked versions. :)

 

It's just a beautiful thing isn't it? The SDrive-MAX is amazing in its own regard, but even the partial support of .atx is a fantastic cherry on top. And that's on top of an SDrive that can actually support 4 drives and change images on the fly. Hello Alternate Reality the Dungeon!

 

Yet I can't help getting the feeling that many of our A8 compatriots still don't know about the SDrive-MAX or how incredible it is.

 

How do we change that? We need to change that...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Would this board and this screen work for an SDrive-MAX build?

 

I like the board because the headers aren't installed yet and there is a USB Micro B connector instead of USB B.

 

On the downside a cable isn't included.

 

-SteveS

 

[EDIT]

Oops. I was a bit slow. Pretty much the same materials that Kyle22 asked about.

Edited by a8isa1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's just a beautiful thing isn't it? The SDrive-MAX is amazing in its own regard, but even the partial support of .atx is a fantastic cherry on top. And that's on top of an SDrive that can actually support 4 drives and change images on the fly. Hello Alternate Reality the Dungeon!

 

Yet I can't help getting the feeling that many of our A8 compatriots still don't know about the SDrive-MAX or how incredible it is.

 

How do we change that? We need to change that...

I know, right?!?! I admit that I paid this far too little attention myself until recently. When Farb first mentioned it in the Atari 8-bit Software Preservation Project thread, I admit I confused it with the confusingly-similar named SDrive dongle SD card/SIO plug dongle device. I was totally unaware of this actual project until the link to the project was later posted. To quote my paraphrase my forum-handle inspiration, this gadget SHOULD be bigger an the microchip. But no ones heard of it.

 

Since then Ive done what I can. I built one last week and posted about on the Facebook Atari 8-bit Computers page where it got quite a bit of attention. Ive shared it in my own small circle of retrocomputing friends, at least two of whom want to build them now themselves. I plan to build two more in the coming weeks (one as a spare and one for a friend). Its fantastic. AND it handles .XEX and .CAS files all in one device that anyone can build themselves if they have a cable. Amazing.

 

Kyle, I know the Arduino will work. Ive got two of them and they work great for this project. I dont know about the screen, It looks very similar to the specific recommended Elegoo unit so its *probably* identical just without the name. If it does all work, thats a great price - about what I paid for the Elegoo screen alone on Amazon about a week ago. Edited by DrVenkman
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...