Atari 400, no Basic.

[Geister]

I just recently got my first computer back from my sister's family and I was so distracted by all the cartridges that came with it, I didn't notice that the Basic Cartridge I'd given them with the computer was no longer there. The Atari tablet was missing too, but that's another story.

 

The 400 doesn't do much but play games with the cartridges I've got. Is there a way to get Basic on this computer without an EPROM burner and sacrificing a game cart? I have a MyIDE II, but I don't think that's going to work under the cartridge door.

 

Is there a flash cartridge that will run Atari 8K Basic and work with the 400 or does anybody have a Basic cartridge they would part with?

[oracle_jedi]

If you have 48K RAM you can just load BASIC from disk.

[Gunstar]

There are many options available like Atarimax flashcarts, etc. But I have several extra Basic carts, and only one 800 that need one. PM me and we can arrange for me to send you one for just the cost of shipping. It should be only a few dollars if media mail is fast enough for you.

[Geister]

That would certainly work for me. I won't say I trust media mail as my daughter lost some books she was shipping to a friend, but I'll be happy to pay for shipping and whatever else for your trouble. I'll PM you my details.

[Gunstar]

I can send it anyway you like, media mail is just the most inexpensive, and no worries about my "trouble," I've been on the receiving end of gifts from Atari fans far more than the the giving end, the 800 in my avatar being the most expensive gift I've received for free. It's my turn to pay it forward. Actually, I don't think I'll charge you a penny, now that I think about it, no one charged me for shipping either.

Edited February 14, 2019 by Gunstar

[Mclaneinc]

Superb community spirit there Matt..

 

Nice one...

[Geister]

I'm OK with media mail. I have a brother in law that works for the post office, so if it gets lost...I know where he lives!

[russg]

ATARBAS.ARC

If you have 48K RAM you can just load BASIC from disk.

Here's A, B, C binary load BASIC. In an .ARC file. Unarc it

 

 

 

[russg]

ATARBAS.ARC

Here's A, B, C binary load BASIC. In an .ARC file. Unarc it

 

 

Uhm... I like BASIC B best. It crashes the least. I really don't like C.

Edited February 15, 2019 by russg

[256 colors]

There are many options available like Atarimax flashcarts, etc. But I have several extra Basic carts, and only one 800 that need one. PM me and we can arrange for me to send you one for just the cost of shipping. It should be only a few dollars if media mail is fast enough for you.

 

That's what i love about the Atari section of these forums nice friendly people

[+Nezgar]

If you have 48K RAM you can just load BASIC from disk.

For that to work reliably on a 400/800 you lose an additional 4K of RAM to prevent the E: handler bug from clobbering some of the BASIC code... but you've got a cart coming, so that's best.

[Gunstar]

He's had the cart for at least a couple weeks now I believe...

[Geister]

Yep. The cart arrived safely last week. Plugged it in and it worked great. Better than the game carts that came with the 400. They were in rough shape, but an eraser and some elbow grease has got most of them working. Nothing really rare in the box but the Simon and Shuster logic games were something I've never seen before. My sister said that they cleaned out a lot of clearance bins in the 90's to get the collection. No idea why the Basic cart and the touch tablet I gave them disappeared. Maybe the mice carried them off or they got sold at a yard sale.