SDrive-MAX ATX support

[+CharlieChaplin]

I didnt buy a Mac to type in stupid terminal commands.

 

 

Thats why I also did not (and still do not) buy an Apple Mac.

 

But I do buy some Fleetwood Mac...

 

No need for me to type in stupid terminal commands -

just listen to good music (the Journey is worth it, don't stop believin).

[_The Doctor__]

why didn't you read the part where I said using a filter to include only a search term or excluding a search term could be cool? what's wrong with making things selectable?

An since you made the statement... take a look... space is running out inside this here thingamajig...

I am sure someone else might mention the same if they were to take a look..

*edit* afterthought....Depending on which arduino.. some have 22k generally available for programs (stack and boot loader eats some space) and 2k of ram....

 

It is what it is....

 

I decided to cover my *ss and look up something slightly more specific... so around 9k for a stack and around 1/2 a k for bootloader.. so I was wrong in saying 22k... musta been closer to 22.5 k.... and I didn't scrutinize it much further... looks like a tight space to me... for the program, screen, and whatever variables being used... I of course could be totally wrong... forgot to mention 512b or eeprom..

Since it is assumed I am wrong and there is tons of space... If I am that terribly wrong... How about having the Atari use the sdrive max atx screen to load a game it and have it send messages to it while serving disks.... use it as a damage display screen for a cool space shooter...

 

anyway it's general guidelines, I sure they could share the specifics and break it down for us...

 

ah what the heck... go here.... and find out what your ardy has left...

http://playground.arduino.cc/Code/AvailableMemory

 

oh and I was correct about the cracked screen too.. just sayin'

Edited September 24, 2018 by _The Doctor__

[+DrVenkman]

 

 

Nice edit. Too bad I got the email notification with what you wrote first instead, lol. If that's how you react to people who suggest a work-around for a problem that affects a minority of users instead of a change to the entire codebase, well …

 

Switch to decaf. You'll live longer.

[_The Doctor__]

Yeah he changed all that against you and then went after me. It's okay. I stand by the 2 more than adequate solutions you guys posted. And my statement about efficiency and waste. As well as the screen being cracked (later verified). As well as some Ardy/Uno specs and the posted memory link. I can of course be wrong. But I think there is a lot going on... at this point in time I am so happy with it, and it ain't broke... I worry to *ahem* fix it...

 

but if there is a wish list, why not have a search/exclude function... so long as we only beat the crap out of ram and don't use up the limited times we can write to the other areas it sounds cool to me...maybe even store the searches on the sd card...

 

I tend to be more of a guide these days... if something is rattling around up there. I can't remember a great deal of things anymore I knew like the back of my hand a few years ago. I'll be pushin up posies soon enough..

Edited September 24, 2018 by _The Doctor__

[+remowilliams]

I'd not see a bit of the limited resources of these devices wasted on something that is easily worked around (I have a Mac myself...) and is a 'problem' in scope far beyond this wonderful little thing.

 

That being said, it's a reasonable candidate (as are others) for a wish list item that could possibly be achieved after all the core functionality for this device has been 100% implemented.

 

Let's let time, resources and the wonderful maintainers of this project decide, and not argue like a Jaguar forum please...

[+Stephen]

Yeah man....sorry for thinking of an INTELLIGENT solution instead of having to type in a stupid manual command every single time I add ONE freaking file to my Sdrive-Max SD card.....

 

I didnt buy a Mac to type in stupid terminal commands.

My recommendation in this case would then be to use a Windows machine, because the big bad evil M$ doesn't tamper with our storage devices when using them. My god - the nerve of some OSes - trashing a file system on a card without our permission - all that oppressive Windows stuff Oh wait.

 

Also - I am surprised a several thousand dollar Mac allows you to communicate with an external SD card. Are you aloud to do this with your gold plated hardware without running iTunes?

 

Oh yeah - one more reason. Probably paid at least 1/3rd the price for my hardware and it's not locked down. Do continue the rants though.

[Kyle22]

It all works perfectly for me using Win XP 32.

[adamchevy]

My recommendation in this case would then be to use a Windows machine, because the big bad evil M$ doesn't tamper with our storage devices when using them. My god - the nerve of some OSes - trashing a file system on a card without our permission - all that oppressive Windows stuff Oh wait.

 

Also - I am surprised a several thousand dollar Mac allows you to communicate with an external SD card. Are you aloud to do this with your gold plated hardware without running iTunes?

 

Oh yeah - one more reason. Probably paid at least 1/3rd the price for my hardware and it's not locked down. Do continue the rants though.

That is some funny shit! I’ve only owned a few macs in my time, and I’ve always sold them because of this very reason.

[Level42]

Great ....now this has evolved to yet another stupid Mac/Windows debate....brilliant. The thread is really improving because of this...yep.

Edited September 24, 2018 by Level42

[Level42]

If running dotclean from the terminal before ejecting the card is too much trouble for some people, we're all wasting our breath to suggest alternatives.

 

 

This is what my edited comment was about..... I didn't like the arrogant (using "someone" while it was clearly pointing at, and ridiculing me) tone of that comment and it was yet another bombing a suggestion for a MINOR change in the code which by all means would NOT have to be used by anyone who doesn't want to....

Edited September 24, 2018 by Level42

[+DjayBee]

I'd not see a bit of the limited resources of these devices wasted on something that is easily worked around (I have a Mac myself...) and is a 'problem' in scope far beyond this wonderful little thing.

 

I guess that an if-clause to skip/ignore files starting with a "." uses much less resources than tens or hundreds of unnecessary filenames in a list to be sorted and displayed.

[Level42]

.....and something I forgot in all the clouding here....

 

Remember that I showed a picture of the SDRIVE program running on the A8 itself. Even IF it would be too "stressful" for the Arduino program, it could still very easily be implemented in the Atari program. This is in machine language though and is half documented in Polish...and I'm not a ML expert but it can't be that hard to add it ?

[_The Doctor__]

I don't know, what's the filename limit in the device or the fat system file/folder limit per directory level for that matter.... once the full repository is on an SD card and we have all the images on there how will it be handled. I've seen this sort of thing happen with sio2sd devices before, the changes were made and then reports of files not showing up at the end of the sd card and some files showing up during one directory read and not another. Eventually the worked it out and stated file/folder limits. Later other fat formats were supported etc.

These core things always need to be tackled, if it fits, you can do it, if later on every byte counts certain things will have to go.

[_The Doctor__]

.....and something I forgot in all the clouding here....

 

Remember that I showed a picture of the SDRIVE program running on the A8 itself. Even IF it would be too "stressful" for the Arduino program, it could still very easily be implemented in the Atari program. This is in machine language though and is half documented in Polish...and I'm not a ML expert but it can't be that hard to add it ?

Now that's an option that could work! You can do all sorts of things to the progam running on the Atari... Atari Commander style even...

[Roydea6]

Which UNO and Screens did you buy?

 

 

From Aliexpress. still waiting for diodes.

[E474]

Hi,

 

I've managed to build/assemble the SDrive-MAX, please see the attached photos, as they show the parts, assembly, complete wiring, and also the correct screen orientation. The following is (hopefully) a fairly complete howto/walk-through.

 

Best way to build this is to:

 

1.) Download the latest version of the software, and unzip it to a folder on your laptop/PC. I got my copy from http://www.kbrnet.de/projekte/sdrive-max/index.html - but it is now in GitHub at https://github.com/kbr-net/sdrive-max

 

2.) Flash the Arduino first, as there's no point soldering anything until the firmware has been installed, and if you have a damaged one, you might not be able to return it if you have soldered it. Also, if it stops working after you have soldered it, you know who the culprit is. To flash the Arduino, you need to connect it to a computer, in my case using a USB -> micro-USB cable.

 

I use Linux, and bought the Arduino with the micro USB connection and the ili9341 screen (see pictures). To flash the eprom writer software, I changed directory to the atmega328-ili9341 folder, and:

 

e474@laptop:~/a8.sdrive/atmega328-ili9341$ sudo avrdude -carduino -pm328p -P /dev/ttyUSB0 -U flash:w:eeprom_writer.hex

avrdude: AVR device initialized and ready to accept instructions

Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.00s

avrdude: Device signature = 0x1e950f (probably m328p)
avrdude: NOTE: "flash" memory has been specified, an erase cycle will be performed
To disable this feature, specify the -D option.
avrdude: erasing chip
avrdude: reading input file "eeprom_writer.hex"
avrdude: input file eeprom_writer.hex auto detected as Intel Hex
avrdude: writing flash (3534 bytes):

Writing | ################################################## | 100% 0.71s

avrdude: 3534 bytes of flash written
avrdude: verifying flash memory against eeprom_writer.hex:
avrdude: load data flash data from input file eeprom_writer.hex:
avrdude: input file eeprom_writer.hex auto detected as Intel Hex
avrdude: input file eeprom_writer.hex contains 3534 bytes
avrdude: reading on-chip flash data:

Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.48s

avrdude: verifying ...
avrdude: 3534 bytes of flash verified

avrdude: safemode: Fuses OK (E:00, H:00, L:00)

avrdude done. Thank you.

 

 

To flash the SDrive software:

 

e474@laptop:~/a8.sdrive/atmega328-ili9341$ sudo avrdude -carduino -pm328p -P /dev/ttyUSB0 -U flash:w:SDrive.hex

avrdude: AVR device initialized and ready to accept instructions

Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.00s

avrdude: Device signature = 0x1e950f (probably m328p)
avrdude: NOTE: "flash" memory has been specified, an erase cycle will be performed
To disable this feature, specify the -D option.
avrdude: erasing chip
avrdude: reading input file "SDrive.hex"
avrdude: input file SDrive.hex auto detected as Intel Hex
avrdude: writing flash (30182 bytes):

Writing | ################################################## | 100% 5.96s

avrdude: 30182 bytes of flash written
avrdude: verifying flash memory against SDrive.hex:
avrdude: load data flash data from input file SDrive.hex:
avrdude: input file SDrive.hex auto detected as Intel Hex
avrdude: input file SDrive.hex contains 30182 bytes
avrdude: reading on-chip flash data:

Reading | ################################################## | 100% 4.01s

avrdude: verifying ...
avrdude: 30182 bytes of flash verified

avrdude: safemode: Fuses OK (E:00, H:00, L:00)

avrdude done. Thank you.

3.) Format the micro-SD card as FAT-32 on a PC/laptop. Copy the sdrive.atr file (contained in the software downloaded in step 1) to the sd-card top level folder/directory. Also, it's probably a good idea to copy a few Atari ATR files on to the micro-SD card, you probably want to have some (known/tested/good) disk images to test out how well the SDrive works. The SDrive supports sub-folders/directories, so you might want to create a few folders and put some ATR files in these folders too. Safely remove the micro-SD card. Note: you will probably have to use an SD to microSD adapter.

 

4.) Remove USB cable, attach screen (see photos for correct orientation/pin connections). Reconnect USB cable, and power the Arduino up. You should get a white screen, then four cross-hairs (one after the other, one in each corner) for touch screen calibration. I found the calibration was a bit sensitive to double taps, it needs to be properly calibrated or it won't work (properly). I thought the screen was broken when I first set it up because of this, but if you have problems calibrating it, power the SDrive up again while touching the screen, and the software will display the cross-hairs for re-calibration again. After calibration, you will get the SDrive-Max screen, shown in photos. If you haven't put the microSD card in, the SDrive will give you an error message about the SD card. Power down the Arduino, put the microSD card in, power up. You should be able to use the touch screen to set up the ATRs in whichever drive you want (it's worth trying this out now, just to make sure everything is working properly). Feature request would be a bit of a pause between each cross-hair being displayed to avoid the double tap problem.

 

5.) Power down the Arduino, remove the USB cable, microSD card, and then remove the screen from the Arduino.

 

6.) Solder the wires (and diode) to the Arduino. I'm part way through this, in the sense that I have soldered wires (and diode) onto the Arduino, but am using a bread-board to connect to a 3D printed Molex connector. I've ordered some Molex KK crimp connectors, but they haven't arrived yet, but when they do arrive I intend to crimp them on to the wires that are actually soldered on to the Arduino, and then use heat-shrink cable wrapping to make a cable, then put the crimped wires into another 3D printed Molex connector. Although the pictures of the wired up Arduino doesn't show the finished setup, it does show all the wires and connections you need to do, from the Arduino through to the Molex (SIO) plug. You will have to zoom in a bit for best results though. I used a 1N5819 diode, this lets me successfully use a 1050 with the SDrive. The instructions say to use a 1N4148, but this has been reported as not being correct. The banded side of the diode should be connected to the Arduino. If you're working from an Atari SIO cable, it's best not to trust the color coding, but to check electrical continuity for the SIO pins you need. The GitHub instructions for wiring are:

 

Wiring:

 

Arduino <-> Atari-SIO:

TXD <-> Pin 3 (Data-In, over the diode, cathode to arduino)
GND <-> Pin 4 (Ground)
RXD <-> Pin 5 (Data-Out)
A5 <-> Pin 7 (Command)
* +5V <-> Pin 10 (+5V/Ready)

*Optional, if you want power from Atari, but then you can't use Display while Atari is powered off!

 

See pictures for wiring examples (sorry about the multiple views and rats nest of cables, but hopefully this should clear up any wiring questions).

 

You might want to plan out/write down which wires you want to connect to which points on the Arduino before you start soldering, and double check you are connecting to the correct pins on the Molex (SIO) connector.

 

7.) Reassemble the Arduino and screen (see pictures for orientation) and insert the memory card. Don't connect up the SDrive to the Atari yet. Check that the Arduino and screen still work after you have finished soldering by powering up using the USB cable. The screen should display correctly (see picture). Put the USB cable out of the way, if you connect the USB cable, and the SIO cable, you can damage/destroy the Arduino and/or screen (I have heard), so put the USB cable somewhere out of harms way.

 

8.) Connect up the SDrive to the Atari, and power up the Atari. It should boot the sdrive.atr software, and the touch screen should display the status of the SDrive - a green circle indicates which drive is active. You can use the sdrive.atr software, or the touch screen to navigate around the contents of the microSD card, and load up ATRs onto the SDrive's D1-D4. The inverse video/Atari key will reboot the Atari, hold down OPTION at the same time if you want to boot without Basic. If you have used a 1N5819 diode, you should be able to use/daisy-chain other Atari SIO peripherals (I tested this with a 1050 set to drive1, and it was fine, though the SDrive was a bit fiddly to set up as not using drive 1).

 

9.) If everything is working, load up the microSD card with Atari files.

 

10.) Construct/3D-print a case for the SDrive - ideally with a screen protector/cover, and possibly a stylus holder.

 

That's pretty much it.

 

I bought the parts from AliExpress (first purchases for me). The parts were (sorry no hyperlinks, am a bit wary of accidentally pasting in my wallet) :

 

- Arduino, described as "One set New 2017 - UNO R3 ATmega328P/CH340G MicroUSB. UNO Rev 3.0(hei) For Arduino" from "XM (ShenZhen) Electronic Trade Co.,Ltd", store number 1095279.

 

- Screen, described as "2.8 inch TFT color LCD touch screen module for Arduino UNO MEGA2560 R3 Development board", from "GOOUUU Store", store number 2340056.

 

- I also got an assorted pack of 200 diodes, which had the 1N5819 diodes in it.

 

- The wires/crimp connectors were all reused/reclaimed from a broken PC ATX power supply (great selection of colors), which I got for free from my local Hackspace, and that was also where I did the 3D printing for the white Molex connector.

 

Feature requests I would like are:

 

-- 1 - 2 second pause between displaying each calibration cross-hair to prevent calibration problems from double-tap sensitivity.

-- display full length file names on the Atari computer - this would mean putting the D1 - D4 info in a top pane, and the (full length) file names in a pane underneath.

-- alphabetic sorting of file names.

-- PC-Link support from the SDrive. There is some communication between the SDrive Loader on the 8-bit, and the SDrive itself, as files and folders on the microSD card are being listed on the 8-bit.

-- some color/button text customization (internationalization) via a .cfg file on the microSD card would be nice, but I appreciate the amount of memory on the Arduino is limited.

 

Hope this helps!

Edited September 25, 2018 by E474

[Level42]

Very nice to see an extensive step-by-step. Must say it's a lot of text for what I experienced as such a simple project...but everything is more simple once you've done it.

 

I fully agree on the request for pauses between the calibrating steps....I had to do it sometimes several times again because of an accidental 2nd tap and the same cross....

 

I do have one remark: I seriously do hope you cut of the excess of both leads of the diode AND isolated the entire diode and soldering with some shrink-tube....

 

Also a tip: before soldering the wire to the diode's lead, wrap the copper core around the diode's lead a couple of times. A soldering is _not_ a mechanical connection, it's only an electrical one. Wrapping it will provide the mechanical strength.

 

One request for you since you use Linux: could you try to run my script to automate the flashing process ? I wrote it for OSX but since it's in Bash I figure it should work on Linux just as well. Would be interested in your results

Edited September 25, 2018 by Level42

[Kyle22]

Hi,

 

I've managed to build/assemble the SDrive-MAX, please see the attached photos, as they show the parts, assembly, complete wiring, and also the correct screen orientation. The following is (hopefully) a fairly complete howto/walk-through.

 

Best way to build this is to:

 

1.) Download the latest version of the software, and unzip it to a folder on your laptop/PC. I got my copy from http://www.kbrnet.de/projekte/sdrive-max/index.html - but it is now in GitHub at https://github.com/kbr-net/sdrive-max

 

2.) Flash the Arduino first, as there's no point soldering anything until the firmware has been installed, and if you have a damaged one, you might not be able to return it if you have soldered it. Also, if it stops working after you have soldered it, you know who the culprit is. To flash the Arduino, you need to connect it to a computer, in my case using a USB -> micro-USB cable.

 

I use Linux, and bought the Arduino with the micro USB connection and the ili9341 screen (see pictures). To flash the eprom writer software, I changed directory to the atmega328-ili9341 folder, and:

 

e474@laptop:~/a8.sdrive/atmega328-ili9341$ sudo avrdude -carduino -pm328p -P /dev/ttyUSB0 -U flash:w:eeprom_writer.hex

avrdude: AVR device initialized and ready to accept instructions

 

Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.00s

 

avrdude: Device signature = 0x1e950f (probably m328p)

avrdude: NOTE: "flash" memory has been specified, an erase cycle will be performed

To disable this feature, specify the -D option.

avrdude: erasing chip

avrdude: reading input file "eeprom_writer.hex"

avrdude: input file eeprom_writer.hex auto detected as Intel Hex

avrdude: writing flash (3534 bytes):

 

Writing | ################################################## | 100% 0.71s

 

avrdude: 3534 bytes of flash written

avrdude: verifying flash memory against eeprom_writer.hex:

avrdude: load data flash data from input file eeprom_writer.hex:

avrdude: input file eeprom_writer.hex auto detected as Intel Hex

avrdude: input file eeprom_writer.hex contains 3534 bytes

avrdude: reading on-chip flash data:

 

Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.48s

 

avrdude: verifying ...

avrdude: 3534 bytes of flash verified

 

avrdude: safemode: Fuses OK (E:00, H:00, L:00)

 

avrdude done. Thank you.

 

 

To flash the SDrive software:

 

e474@laptop:~/a8.sdrive/atmega328-ili9341$ sudo avrdude -carduino -pm328p -P /dev/ttyUSB0 -U flash:w:SDrive.hex

 

avrdude: AVR device initialized and ready to accept instructions

 

Reading | ################################################## | 100% 0.00s

 

avrdude: Device signature = 0x1e950f (probably m328p)

avrdude: NOTE: "flash" memory has been specified, an erase cycle will be performed

To disable this feature, specify the -D option.

avrdude: erasing chip

avrdude: reading input file "SDrive.hex"

avrdude: input file SDrive.hex auto detected as Intel Hex

avrdude: writing flash (30182 bytes):

 

Writing | ################################################## | 100% 5.96s

 

avrdude: 30182 bytes of flash written

avrdude: verifying flash memory against SDrive.hex:

avrdude: load data flash data from input file SDrive.hex:

avrdude: input file SDrive.hex auto detected as Intel Hex

avrdude: input file SDrive.hex contains 30182 bytes

avrdude: reading on-chip flash data:

 

Reading | ################################################## | 100% 4.01s

 

avrdude: verifying ...

avrdude: 30182 bytes of flash verified

 

avrdude: safemode: Fuses OK (E:00, H:00, L:00)

 

avrdude done. Thank you.

 

 

3.) Format the micro-SD card as FAT-32 on a PC/laptop. Copy the sdrive.atr file (contained in the software downloaded in step 1) to the sd-card top level folder/directory. Also, it's probably a good idea to copy a few Atari ATR files on to the micro-SD card, you probably want to have some (known/tested/good) disk images to test out how well the SDrive works. The SDrive supports sub-folders/directories, so you might want to create a few folders and put some ATR files in these folders too. Safely remove the micro-SD card. Note: you will probably have to use an SD to microSD adapter.

 

4.) Remove USB cable, attach screen (see photos for correct orientation/pin connections). Reconnect USB cable, and power the Arduino up. You should get a white screen, then four cross-hairs (one after the other, one in each corner) for touch screen calibration. I found the calibration was a bit sensitive to double taps, it needs to be properly calibrated or it won't work (properly). I thought the screen was broken when I first set it up because of this, but if you have problems calibrating it, power the SDrive up again while touching the screen, and the software will display the cross-hairs for re-calibration again. After calibration, you will get the SDrive-Max screen, shown in photos. If you haven't put the microSD card in, the SDrive will give you an error message about the SD card. Power down the Arduino, put the microSD card in, power up. You should be able to use the touch screen to set up the ATRs in whichever drive you want (it's worth trying this out now, just to make sure everything is working properly). Feature request would be a bit of a pause between each cross-hair being displayed to avoid the double tap problem.

 

5.) Power down the Arduino, remove the USB cable, microSD card, and then remove the screen from the Arduino.

 

6.) Solder the wires (and diode) to the Arduino. I'm part way through this, in the sense that I have soldered wires (and diode) onto the Arduino, but am using a bread-board to connect to a 3D printed Molex connector. I've ordered some Molex KK crimp connectors, but they haven't arrived yet, but when they do arrive I intend to crimp them on to the wires that are actually soldered on to the Arduino, and then use heat-shrink cable wrapping to make a cable, then put the crimped wires into another 3D printed Molex connector. Although the pictures of the wired up Arduino doesn't show the finished setup, it does show all the wires and connections you need to do, from the Arduino through to the Molex (SIO) plug. You will have to zoom in a bit for best results though. I used a 1N5819 diode, this lets me successfully use a 1050 with the SDrive. The instructions say to use a 1N4148, but this has been reported as not being correct. The banded side of the diode should be connected to the Arduino. If you're working from an Atari SIO cable, it's best not to trust the color coding, but to check electrical continuity for the SIO pins you need. The GitHub instructions for wiring are:

 

Wiring:

 

Arduino <-> Atari-SIO:

TXD <-> Pin 3 (Data-In, over the diode, cathode to arduino)

GND <-> Pin 4 (Ground)

RXD <-> Pin 5 (Data-Out)

A5 <-> Pin 7 (Command)

* +5V <-> Pin 10 (+5V/Ready)

 

*Optional, if you want power from Atari, but then you can't use Display while Atari is powered off!

 

See pictures for wiring examples (sorry about the multiple views and rats nest of cables, but hopefully this should clear up any wiring questions).

 

You might want to plan out/write down which wires you want to connect to which points on the Arduino before you start soldering, and double check you are connecting to the correct pins on the Molex (SIO) connector.

 

7.) Reassemble the Arduino and screen (see pictures for orientation) and insert the memory card. Don't connect up the SDrive to the Atari yet. Check that the Arduino and screen still work after you have finished soldering by powering up using the USB cable. The screen should display correctly (see picture). Put the USB cable out of the way, if you connect the USB cable, and the SIO cable, you can damage/destroy the Arduino and/or screen (I have heard), so put the USB cable somewhere out of harms way.

 

8.) Connect up the SDrive to the Atari, and power up the Atari. It should boot the sdrive.atr software, and the touch screen should display the status of the SDrive - a green circle indicates which drive is active. You can use the sdrive.atr software, or the touch screen to navigate around the contents of the microSD card, and load up ATRs onto the SDrive's D1-D4. The inverse video/Atari key will reboot the Atari, hold down OPTION at the same time if you want to boot without Basic. If you have used a 1N5819 diode, you should be able to use/daisy-chain other Atari SIO peripherals (I tested this with a 1050 set to drive1, and it was fine, though the SDrive was a bit fiddly to set up as not using drive 1).

 

9.) If everything is working, load up the microSD card with Atari files.

 

10.) Construct/3D-print a case for the SDrive - ideally with a screen protector/cover, and possibly a stylus holder.

 

That's pretty much it.

 

I bought the parts from AliExpress (first purchases for me). The parts were (sorry no hyperlinks, am a bit wary of accidentally pasting in my wallet) :

 

- Arduino, described as "One set New 2017 - UNO R3 ATmega328P/CH340G MicroUSB. UNO Rev 3.0(hei) For Arduino" from "XM (ShenZhen) Electronic Trade Co.,Ltd", store number 1095279.

 

- Screen, described as "2.8 inch TFT color LCD touch screen module for Arduino UNO MEGA2560 R3 Development board", from "GOOUUU Store", store number 2340056.

 

- I also got an assorted pack of 200 diodes, which had the 1N5819 diodes in it.

 

- The wires/crimp connectors were all reused/reclaimed from a broken PC ATX power supply (great selection of colors), which I got for free from my local Hackspace, and that was also where I did the 3D printing for the white Molex connector.

 

Feature requests I would like are:

 

-- 1 - 2 second pause between displaying each calibration cross-hair to prevent calibration problems from double-tap sensitivity.

-- display full length file names on the Atari computer - this would mean putting the D1 - D4 info in a top pane, and the (full length) file names in a pane underneath.

-- alphabetic sorting of file names.

-- PC-Link support from the SDrive. There is some communication between the SDrive Loader on the 8-bit, and the SDrive itself, as files and folders on the microSD card are being listed on the 8-bit.

-- some color/button text customization (internationalization) via a .cfg file on the microSD card would be nice, but I appreciate the amount of memory on the Arduino is limited.

 

Hope this helps!

Very nice, WARMSV, please note that you can connect the screen first, before the programming process.

I do wish that the screen was less 'touchy' when calibrating.

I am running V0.9 and it performs well.

[Level42]

Man I SO love you quoted that entire post.....

[Level42]

Very nice, WARMSV, please note that you can connect the screen first, before the programming process.

I do wish that the screen was less 'touchy' when calibrating.

 

That's why he request the pause....

[Kyle22]

It has always worked fine for me. Running the script under Windows XP 32. It is perfect. No problems flashing this thing at all.

Thanks to all involved with this to make it emulate the ATX protection. This thing is beautiful.

[AtariGeezer]

 

0924180600a.png

 

From Aliexpress. still waiting for diodes.

Looks right, have you programed it yet?

[Kyle22]

That's why he request the pause....

So, it is possible to re-calibrate the screen without re-flashing. That was always my problem. One mis-touch on the screen would render it useless.

 

This thing is a pain in the ass to re-calibrate. It's all very good for the most part, but the screen calibration sucks.

 

I have a hard time seeing it correctly.

 

Edit: sorry for my blindness. Just ignore this entire post.

Edited September 25, 2018 by Kyle22

[Roydea6]

Looks right, have you programed it yet?

No 100% sure of the Screens Model # it looks to be identical to E474's screen post. Still waiting to the diodes from Aliexpress. After I get the diodes I intend to flash 09 firmware.

[+mytek]

So, it is possible to re-calibrate the screen without re-flashing. That was always my problem. One mis-touch on the screen would render it useless.

 

This thing is a pain in the ass to re-calibrate. It's all very good for the most part, but the screen calibration sucks.

 

I have a hard time seeing it correctly.

 

Edit: sorry for my blindness. Just ignore this entire post.

 

Us older Atarians are unfortunately all going blind, so I feel your pain Kyle. And although I think the SDrive-MAX is quite the beauty with that color touchscreen display, I too would likely have problems using it without popping on the extra magnified readers as well.

 

So I now have a dumb question, and I say it's dumb because it's probably common knowledge for many on AA. What does ATX support truly bring to the table? In my limited understanding I believe it is the closest thing to real floppy image emulation, without it really being a floppy. So things like copy protection schemes would be retained in the image. But other than that, what is it really good for? Why not just use the cracked ATR or XEX versions instead, which by now I would thing fully encompass pretty much everything that has ever been done in the past.