zeropolis79 Posted August 4, 2020 Share Posted August 4, 2020 13 hours ago, Mr Robot said: Send a PM to @tmp, he makes the carts. If you are looking for the SIO cable, I don't think there are any options there right now. Thanks - to be honest, when it comes to Atari - I wouldn't know an SIO cable to something else people says with Atari.. I'm more an Amstrad CPC expert.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted August 4, 2020 Share Posted August 4, 2020 37 minutes ago, zeropolis79 said: Thanks - to be honest, when it comes to Atari - I wouldn't know an SIO cable to something else people says with Atari.. I'm more an Amstrad CPC expert.. Many of us are multi machine on here, can't say I'm an Amstrad person but there are folks here that are...I'm Atari, C64 and Amiga plus consoles.. The cart is certainly a good move, cable or not, the cable just opens up new things like loading tapes, it will load disks / atr images but the compatibility is not as high because many game's / disk use fancy ways of loading that only work right on the SIO aka the Serial Input / Output port, basically the port where disk and tape get loaded from... The lead would be a nice bonus, its not expensive and just opens up the cart more..The SIDE3 cart when its released is another great choice, its main firmware author FlashJazzCat is writing a whole new set of features like cartridge rom loading making it another ideal cart, it has different features than the AVG but it's tailored towards the creative folk out there while offering great gaming / util use.. Remember us lot love to help so don't get flummoxed by the Atari, just ask and there's sure to be a person with the knowledge.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted August 4, 2020 Share Posted August 4, 2020 1 hour ago, zeropolis79 said: Thanks - to be honest, when it comes to Atari - I wouldn't know an SIO cable to something else people says with Atari.. I'm more an Amstrad CPC expert.. I might be able to make a cable for you, but not for 3 weeks or so as I have a lot on my plate at the moment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted August 4, 2020 Share Posted August 4, 2020 4 hours ago, mimo said: I might be able to make a cable for you, but not for 3 weeks or so as I have a lot on my plate at the moment The problem is that unless it's a brand new AVG cart the it won't have the connector soldered inside.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeropolis79 Posted August 4, 2020 Share Posted August 4, 2020 Thanks all - got to see how much the cart will cost first.. Tapes - I only have four tapes.. I've been using virtual tapes. and I don't have a disc drive.. I plan to get an S-Disc Max for discs however.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Robot Posted August 4, 2020 Share Posted August 4, 2020 you don't need an sdrive, just get an AVGCART... Read this https://atari8bit.net/de-re-avgcart/ to see what the cart can do 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeropolis79 Posted August 5, 2020 Share Posted August 5, 2020 Thanks - looks a good deal.. Same price as a similar device for the Spectrum.. Will need to wait a few weeks though due to current expenses.. (and will ask about the cable too) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeropolis79 Posted August 8, 2020 Share Posted August 8, 2020 On 8/4/2020 at 12:43 PM, mimo said: I might be able to make a cable for you, but not for 3 weeks or so as I have a lot on my plate at the moment How much would it cost? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted August 8, 2020 Share Posted August 8, 2020 6 hours ago, zeropolis79 said: How much would it cost? Thanks Replied by PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfollowell Posted August 8, 2020 Share Posted August 8, 2020 (edited) When I first bought my multi-cart, I looked over all of the options thoroughly. I wanted the best multi-cart with the best compatibility with the most cartridge types. At the time I purchased my Ultimate Cart, it was the best in terms of compatibility, hands down. Step forward 18 months and my, how things have changed. The AVG Cart has edged out the Ultimate Cart in terms of overall compatibility and added features like SIDE2 emulation and ATR support that are nowhere to be seen on my Ultimate Cart. I'm still really pleased with my Ultimate Cart, but the AVG Cart definitely has the upper hand in terms of cartridge compatibility and ongoing development and I'm considering purchasing one for the extra features and potential for future development. The only minor drawback that I see is the extremely plain menu system, at least when compared to the beautiful menu setup of the Ultimate Cart. Has anyone approached flashjazzcat to see if he might consider improving on the menu for the AVG Cart in a similar fashion? It seems like he'd offered to work on improving the way the AVG Cart works with the U1MB as well. Anyway, just curious if that's something that may have been discussed at some point or may be in the works. Thanks! Edited August 8, 2020 by bfollowell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddtmw Posted August 8, 2020 Share Posted August 8, 2020 Along similar lines, now that Side 3 is in preorder, can someone speak to what Side 3 can do that AVG cannot and what AVG can do that Side 3 cannot? Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted August 8, 2020 Share Posted August 8, 2020 10 minutes ago, toddtmw said: can someone speak to what Side 3 can do that AVG cannot and what AVG can do that Side 3 cannot? SIDE3 can mount emulated cartridges from the SIDE3 loader, so absolutely everything you need to do concerning ATRs, HDD partitions (assuming the presence of U1MB), XEXs and carts can be accomplished in the same loader and everything (emulated carts, ATRs, etc) can be run simultaneously. AVG's cartridge emulation features are confined to the stock AVG loader, meanwhile, meaning when the AVG is in 'SIDE mode', you lose access to the cartridge emulation, and when you're in AVG's native mode, you lose access to the U1MB APT integration. AVG, on the other hand, has the SIO-based ATR hosting, which - as I've said before - is the nuclear option (albeit slower than U1MB/SIDE FAT-hosted ATRs) when it comes to disk image compatibility. Other than that, SIDE3 has built-in SpartaDOS X and a real-time clock with battery-backed NVRAM, which AVG lacks, and a 'Google' search feature (triggered simply by typing without any preamble) which allows you to scroll through the search results while the search is running. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Robot Posted August 8, 2020 Share Posted August 8, 2020 The Ultimate Cart is OSS and OSH so it can be improved or upgraded by anyone with the skills to do so. AVGCART and SIDE3 are both closed and dependent on the developers to make updates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted August 8, 2020 Share Posted August 8, 2020 1 hour ago, bfollowell said: The only minor drawback that I see is the extremely plain menu system, at least when compared to the beautiful menu setup of the Ultimate Cart. Has anyone approached flashjazzcat to see if he might consider improving on the menu for the AVG Cart in a similar fashion? It seems like he'd offered to work on improving the way the AVG Cart works with the U1MB as well. Anyway, just curious if that's something that may have been discussed at some point or may be in the works. It's horses for courses, as they say. If all multi-carts had the same menu system (or one which was obviously written by the same individual), I think things would be rather boring. But for those who prefer the SIDE loader, AVG offers SIDE compatibility mode. I think tmp has done an excellent job on the AVG loader and while there is clear borrowing of ideas between various multi-carts and loaders, I wouldn't presume to suggest he needs any help from me with it. As for U1MB integration: I can't remember whose idea AVG's SIDE compatibility mode was, but I was certainly happy to help tmp with that when he was designing AVG. SIDE3 had Bigfoot status at that time, but regardless of this, tmp is the only third-party hardware designer who made any attempt (even after coercion) to support integration with U1MB; I think this is to his credit. As said above: Ultimate Cart is an open-source project, so anyone is free to modify the loader as they see fit. I don't think I will personally be revisiting the project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Robot Posted August 11, 2020 Share Posted August 11, 2020 On 7/31/2020 at 5:00 PM, Xuel said: I've fixed this. Here are new builds for all default combinations: avgplay-1.1.zip 50.02 kB · 31 downloads I meant to come back to you a last weekend when I finally got to testing this. It works great now, thank you! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lopezpb Posted August 27, 2020 Share Posted August 27, 2020 I have noticed two problems with the AVG cartridge 1) the avf files do not play correctly, the player is on the memory card but the screen looks odd. 2) cart cannot see atx files on the memory card. I use ea20 firmware with SIO mod, has anyone noticed such problems too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+CharlieChaplin Posted August 27, 2020 Share Posted August 27, 2020 6 minutes ago, lopezpb said: I have noticed two problems with the AVG cartridge 1) the avf files do not play correctly, the player is on the memory card but the screen looks odd. 2) cart cannot see atx files on the memory card. I use ea20 firmware with SIO mod, has anyone noticed such problems too? Hmmm, it could be one of these reasons: - the SD-card is not completely defragmented and/or the videos are not contiguous (solution: format the complete card with FAT 32, then copy the AVF files onto it) - the SD-card itself is the problem (Yes, some cards do not work very well with the A8, I mostly had problems with Transcend cards, but there are others as well; solution: try a different card / brand and see if it is any better) - you have a PAL system and try to play NTSC videos with it or the other way around, you have a NTSC system and try to play PAL videos with it Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeropolis79 Posted August 27, 2020 Share Posted August 27, 2020 I got told NTSC games could be played on a PAL system.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lopezpb Posted August 27, 2020 Share Posted August 27, 2020 I forgot to write that on db20 firmware atx file works fine. I will check diferent sd-card beacouse I have PAL system and file names of playing files has "PAL" in filenames, so I suppose that they are PAL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeropolis79 Posted August 27, 2020 Share Posted August 27, 2020 1 minute ago, lopezpb said: I forgot to write that on db20 firmware atx file works fine. I will check diferent sd-card beacouse I have PAL system and file names of playing files has "PAL" in filenames, so I suppose that they are PAL I've not long recieved my cart but not used it - can I just put the cart files on? I've not seen anything in the documentation that says you have to do something else first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Robot Posted August 27, 2020 Share Posted August 27, 2020 27 minutes ago, zeropolis79 said: I've not seen anything in the documentation that says you have to do something else first. https://atari8bit.net/de-re-avgcart/#AVF_Video_player Quote To get this working is pretty simple. There is a file included with new firmware releases called AVFPLAY, just put that in the root of your SD card and copy some AVF files to the SD. To make sure the files are contiguous you can use Microsoft Sysinternals “Contig” app. Picking an AVF file from the menu will play it. Make sure the AVF files are the correct region (PAL/NTSC) for your Atari or the colours and speed will be wrong. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeropolis79 Posted August 27, 2020 Share Posted August 27, 2020 Oh, video... Thanks - just want to use games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmp Posted August 27, 2020 Author Share Posted August 27, 2020 1 hour ago, lopezpb said: I forgot to write that on db20 firmware atx file works fine. that most likely means cable detect isn't working (you need to connect red and white wires together) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lopezpb Posted August 28, 2020 Share Posted August 28, 2020 I'll check it after work, because I left them loose thinking that it is not needed for anything Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lopezpb Posted August 28, 2020 Share Posted August 28, 2020 23 hours ago, tmp said: that most likely means cable detect isn't working (you need to connect red and white wires together) That was it, thank you. But I still have a problem with avf files, I do full format sd card but without success. I ordered a new sd card and I will check again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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