NetUSBee USB basic setup help for storage please

[6BQ5]

@256 colors : Hooray, you crossed the first hurdle! The disk I made for you is recognizing the NetUSBee cartridge and the Kingston USB device. Now we need to set up the Kingston USB device so both your STe and your Windows machine can read/write to it. This is where we bump into old TOS limits. Unlike Windows, TOS cannot understand large multi-gigabyte drives. These drives need to be broken up (or, partitioned) into smaller drives. The largest partition TOS can natively work with is 512MB. That doesn't sound like a lot in modern terms but in STe terms that is huge! In theory, your 16GB device can have 32 partitions of 512MB (i.e. 32 * 0.5GB = 16GB). Now we bump into another limit. TOS only natively supports drive letters up to P. From C to P you will have 14 drive letters and at 512MB/each you will have 7GB total storage. Yes, 9GB is "lost" to your STe. Your Windows machine will see them just fine though. Considering the hassle of finding a small USB device nowadays, especially one that works with NetUSBee, you are better off just forgetting about the 9GB. USB devices like this are super cheap so don't worry about it. My local Walmart sells nothing smaller than 32GB now for $10.

 

Without any partitions, double clicking on the icons will give you errors since the drives do not exist. Partitioning is not hard. As @ParanoidLittleMan mentioned above, you can use Windows to create the drives with a program called Disk Management. The internet is filled with thousands (tens of thousands?) helpful webpages. Use Google. Don't be afraid to experiment. If you bork up your USB stick then you can always clear it and reformat it. Just don't accidentally erase your drive C. See the attachment for a screen capture of Disk Management showing my 512MB partitions.

 

I used a program called HDDRIVER on my STe because it came with my Megafile. It's super simple. In general, you select the device, click on partition, and type "512" all the way down the list of available drive letter positions. Watch for typos when you are on a roll. You will get warnings if you enter something bigger like "521" by switching the digits. If you do go with HDDRIVER then be sure to enable TOS/DOS compatibility. It's a check box to click on. Super easy to see. HDDRIVER created my partitions as FAT (not FAT16, not FAT32, not exFAT, etc). Keep that in mind.

 

@ParanoidLittleMan also has partitioning program that looks very simple to use ... maybe even simpler and more direct than HDDRIVER. ? I'm sure there are other programs out there. Trust me, you're not the first person looking to make partitions ... and you won't be the last.

 

After you make your partitions and reboot your STe with the NetUSBee drivers, you ought to be able to open drives C through P by double clicking on the icons. You should also be able to highlight a drive icon and click on "Show Information" to see the total space used (0 bytes) and the total space available (512MB)

 

Regarding low resolution ... not sure how that happened but I think you know how to change resolution. The worst thing that happens here is icons are stacked on top of each other.

 

I mentioned native limits of 512MB and drive P. There are programs that extend these limits. Don't worry about them right now. Let's get NetUSBee working within native first. Then you can experiment with extensions.

[256 colors]

Right to be sure i don't fuck up gonna double check some facts

I need 14 partitions each at 512mb each named as C to P using FAT not FAT16, not FAT32, not exFAT, to make 7GB total storage?

I will be using windows 10 (fucking shit OS) Disk Management. I have access to Windows Vista Disk Management would this be easier to use i ask coz windows 10 give me nothing but shit

Edited July 1, 2019 by 256 colors

[6BQ5]

Windows 10 vs Windows Vista? Hmmm ... I thought there was a limitation in past versions of Windows that prevented partitioning USB drives. They treated it as "all or nothing". Partitioning USB drives into smaller volumes was a new feature in Windows 10. I could be wrong on that one.

 

If Disk Management doesn't work for some reason, like there is no FAT or FAT16 option, then you can try Diskpart. Here's an example of Diskpart in action.

 

https://www.pendrivelinux.com/restoring-your-usb-key-partition/

 

Keep that link handy, just in case you need to restore your USB device.

 

Here's an example of someone creating FAT/FAT16 partitions using Diskpart/

 

https://www.instructables.com/id/Format-USB-Flash-Drive-to-FATFAT16-not-FAT32/

 

And more results in general.

 

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=diskpart+fat16

 

Google is your friend.

 

I am wondering if you do not get FAT/FAT16 option in Disk Management then can you bust up the USB drive into 3 or more smaller volumes and then create volumes inside there? A thought ...

 

Looking through the threads in Atari-Forum it seems like almost everyone went down the HDDRIVER path (like I did) or the DOS-GEMDOS path.

 

Good luck!

[ParanoidLittleMan]

As I wrote already here Windows - at least from XP Win has restriction that accessing only first partition on removable media. And of course, Pen drives, SD cards etc. are it. Really have no clue what is the reason for it. Never had problem with multiple partitions on them - after installing special driver for overriding stupidity.

 

Yes, Windows tend that in case of only 1 partition create only partition self, without usual MBR (master boot record)  - I even have support for such case in my drivers - of course only in versions which run from floppy, because if media starts right with partition self no place for autoboot driver for Atari/TOS  on media.

 

I used couple years ago Win 10, and it had same restrictions. Maybe some updates were done in meantime, don't know and not in mood to bother with it and it's idiotic update policy.

 

Yes, DOS or TOS/DOS compatible path is what is best, even if some may think that it is not in Atari spirit. Atari TOS/AHDI solution for partitions over 32 MB is simply bad. That's why I made fully DOS FAT16, BigDOS compatible hard disk filesystem in improved TOS .  And it is not only because easy data exchange with some modern computer. More details on my pages about.

 

Windows partitioner allows FAT16 partitions. Win 10 too, at least so was last time I looked about.  But more interesting are settings:

you need FAT 16, max size 511 MB ,  so in Disk Management select your Pen drive - should be obvious which is it. Right click on 'Unallocated' space, and it will ask for size. Assign drive letter or not is not relevant, but better yes, then can access it right after partitioning. Then comes important dialog - File system - they call it just FAT for FAT16. Leave allocation unit size on default. May give some volume label - but strictly in 8.3 format, all capitals. Quick format is OK, so Next, and it is done in few seconds. Will be able to add there more depends on is there patch (to call it so) to remove that 1 partition restriction.

If media is uninitialized, or contains some foreign system, partitions for Windows, or no MBR or single partition Disk Management will start with Initialize Disk dialog. Then must select MBR option - otherwise is not good for Atari, not good for multiple partitions. After that it goes as described above.

How to make it uninitialized ? - yes, sometimes you will need it.  Write zeros to media start.  With this: http://atari.8bitchip.info/drimus.php

In ZIP is file ZEROS.IMG . After writing need to remove Pen drive and insert back after couple seconds .

Yes, yes, all this is really messy and complicated. But it's not me who invented those restrictions, incompatible partitions. Blame Jack and Bill ?

 

[6BQ5]

@ParanoidLittleMan : how much more do you have in your website? It seems like an endless box of treasures!

 

I tried working with the Disk Management software late last night after my message. In order to create FAT partitions (vs FAT32 or something) you must enter a small size, like 500MB or whatever. That makes sense. You cannot create a 16GB partition of FAT or FAT16. My NetUSBee had no problem recognizing the Kingston device and the partitions. Problem is that Disk Management tool in Win10 does not format them to be TOS compatible. I still had to use HDDRIVER to format them.

 

Maybe there is a way in Diskpart to do this ... but now we are starting to get more complicated than it should be.

[ParanoidLittleMan]

Yes, there is lot if it, but fur sure it covers not everything. Biggest flaw is that people wants simple answers, and that's simply not possible ?

 

Page about partition types: http://atari.8bitchip.info/atdoscp.html

 

You can not create TOS/DOS compatible partitions with any Windows SW. Actually, Windows can not even access ordinary Atari floppies since XP, or little earlier. While it was possible with Win 95 . As I know, only Hddriver and my partitioner SW in driver package can create TOS/DOS compatible partitions.

In short:  FAT16 means that there are 2 POW 16 records, so up to 65535 . File record holds position of next part of file inside partition. Of course, first one is position of file start too.

In ideal case, 1 file should be like:  0003,0004,0005,$FFFF  - all fragments in row, FFFF means that it is last fragment. Yes, this complication is done to make possible that we use space what got free inside partition after deleting some file - what may be shorter than what we just copy there - in that case it will be fragmented for sure, because whole file can not fit in that free section. Who is interested, can find much more online.

 

Why is TOS FAT16 different ? My answer to it is that they had no good enough C compiler (they = DRI ) . Used one Alcyon was not good with unsigned integers, and who knows what more.

The result is that TOS uses 16-bit sector addressing - and it hurts especially because 68000 is CPU with 32 bit registers.

1 sector is 512 bytes. And that's why partitions up to 32 MB are compatible - 32 MB fits in 16 bits - sector count is under 65536 (2 POW 16) .

In case of larger partitions, sector access should be addressed with 32-bit value. And that's biggest flaw of TOS type partitions - it is still addressed with 16 bit.

They solved it with using so called large sectors - so in case of partition up to 64 MB it is 1 KB or 2 regular sector size. In case of 256-512 MB it is 8 KB, or 16 regular sectors. And on top of it, it is hard disk driver who needs to deal with it, not TOS . Still, it can be DOS FAT16 compatible, because FAT self is same. But some parameters must be defined in special way - then will be good for both. 

The bad thing with large sectors is that system must load always complete large sector, or it's multiples , even when much less is what is really to load. Same stays for write too, of course. Then, extra disk buffers are needed for large sectors. And more: it is sometimes even only 15 bit, not 16 - because used signed integers instead unsigned. Simple math says: with 8 KB large sectors and with usual 2 sectors/cluster  max partition size should be not 512 MB but 1 GB - 16KB x 65536 is 1 GB. The reason for 512 MB is that they used signed 16 bit, and it means that it is only 15 bits (16-th bit is for is it positive or negative). Yeah, I know it well, since I corrected that at many-many places in TOS . And funny thing - limit of 14 partitions is 16-bit limit actually - 14 partitions + 2 for A: and B: is exactly 16 ?

 

And here need to say couple words about program BigDOS - it is freeware, somewhere from about 1992 . Actually TOS extension, what makes Atari to be able to access BigDOS partitions. And even up to 2 GB size, if I remember correct.  Of course, it takes lot of RAM, but not more than Hddriver tends when there is more RAM in machine.  BigDOS was popular until TOS/DOS compatible partitions arrived, what was much later. Main problem with it is that lot of SW just works not under BigDOS . Not because BigDOS self is bad, but many SW expect, or just work good only under regular TOS (AHDI) type filesystem. 

For me is still not clear is NetUsBee driver for storage that kind - supports DOS type partitions, and needs program BigDOS ? +, it seems that there is some support for Hddriver in all it - well, Germans always stick together ? Freeware promoters support commercial SW author ?

 

Complicated or not, it can work well and efficient, reliable. First hundred years are hardest, as saying . OK, here first hundred minutes maybe  The reasons for complications are in big part because competition - we know that Windows strictly ignores everything what is not by Microsoft - like Linux. So, why wonder that no TOS support, especially now, so many years after.

It is harder to judge why there is no full DOS type disk support in TOS - and stays for floppies too. As said, it was compiler limitation for sure. Really hard to understand why it was not improved during years from 1985. In any case, once you establish one filesystem type for some computer, it is very hard to switch to other because compatibility problems.

 

 

Edited July 2, 2019 by ParanoidLittleMan
Needed to remove accidentaly opened, empty spoiler field

[256 colors]

Just looking at the HDDRIVER  homepage https://www.hddriver.net/ what on earth do i need it's anything but clear?

Do i have to pay for this software because i can't and won't keep throwing money at my Atari STE i don't have a unlimited pot of gold brimming with gemstones and gold coins that's madness

I'm poor as a church mouse

 

I also found out recently my STE  has a good DMA chip and ICD PRO software is free

More money i just don't have for UltraSatan cased/PSU/new card/DB19 ACSI Ultrasatan cable all this without any shipping costs or VAT yet  

Edited July 2, 2019 by 256 colors

[256 colors]

Just wanna be clear

I don't have issues for products i need or good home-brewed useful software and don't mind paying for them

My issue is with my Atari STE  constantly sucking me dry for money it never seems to stop 

Edited July 2, 2019 by 256 colors

[ParanoidLittleMan]

I think that retro computing now going in mentioned "money sucking" direction.

You need to buy HW floppy emulator. Or replacement floppy drive - because mechanic has limited life span.

You need to fix or buy new PSU. And it ends here only if you are lucky. There is much more what can broke and cost more - my STE for instance.

 

You want mass storage ? Well, that's the complex part. Hurra ! NetUsBee works with Pen drives. Ah, slow as Hell, complicated, and still not clear how it works without loading drivers from floppy ...   Don't blame STE because some people mislead you about freeware driver SW. It seems rather as freeware snail, hard to tame ?

[256 colors]

If i compare 8bit Atari 800XL

£200 800XL

£20 new PSU

£10 correct video leads

£60 modern loading device SIO2SD

Done and all works

 

Now compare what STE has cost me

 

£300 STE with new PSU and recap

£400 XRGB-mini Framemeister with all the needed accessories (and i had sync issues)

£20 for correct video cables

£90 NetUSBee

£10 USB KEY

£200 for the OSSC 1.6 with all the needed accessories

£130 for CUSB - USB Floppy emulator cased

£70 for CUSB - USB Floppy emulator cased to wired correctly as external drive and the drive select mod

If i want monochrome output that's more £££ for a new monitor

If i want better software then FlashFloppy firmware that can write to MSA/STX FORMAT more £££

If i want software just to partition NetUSBee USB more £££

If i wanted the UltraSatan that's more £££ for correct cables new PSU and pay for partitioning software apart from ICDPRO

If i wanted to play as many games as possible for STE that's mod for switching between multiple TOS versions and another mod switch for switching between ram sizes more and more £££

My STE is computer in my collection is only one that keeps bleeding me dry

 

At this rate should just built a high end PC and downloaded Hatari for free with out breaking the bank and all other bullshit

Edited July 2, 2019 by 256 colors

[ParanoidLittleMan]

Auuuuu ........   no way .... please, say that you just joked  .

Most expensive is Framemeister with some + . Gimme the break.

I bough for 120 Euros new Philips TV with Scart - 24 inch size. Works like charm in color modes. I don't need monochrome - but have little older LCD what works with it, and have cables.

That TV can serve as TV too - what a surprise, can record TV program on some USB drive. Can be PC monitor ...

I even don't know what is OSSC, but looks like another video converter ....

2 floppy emulators .... sure, you need 2 - why ? Maybe to have A and B - huh - how I used my ST with only 1 drive over years ?

 

Then, you don't need new monitor for monochrome. Get some LCD with res 1280x1024 for 20 bucks if don't have such. Or come to me, and I will give you my 12 years old Asus for free - still works well.

 

So, let see how some rational shopping looks:

Will not go in is possible to get STE for less.

Solving display - 120 Euros + 10, max 20 (if need shipping) for cable .

Monochrome - for what ? But if insist - some 30 Euros with cable. Although, it may be that above can work in monochrome mode .

HW floppy emulator - 70 Euros or about .

Second one - please don't come here with something not really necessary.

And this is it:  under 250 Euros .

Now, I personally prefer UltraSatan to floppy emulator. Even if some SW, games will not work - but that's really low count now, because some people worked thousands of hours for free to make it possible. Yeah - me for instance, and yet, I don't come with how dry I feel. There is TOS/DOS compatible partitioning SW for UltraSatan, so better than ICD pro, for 10 Euros.  And btw. there are other free solutions beside ICD Pro. But none is TOS/DOS compatible.

Hey, was that NetUsBee free ?

 

[256 colors]

No the NetUsBee was not free what gives you this idea 

Theirs lots and lots of professional software that insist on high res monochrome output otherwise they just won't work Cubase and midi software are good examples

GoTek drive was already fitted with FlashFloppy that only supports ST files(we have had this discussion before)

CUSB - USB Floppy emulator cased only has read file support kinda fucked if you wanna make game save file in STX or MSA

I'm not interested in buying any old modern junk TV or monitor only to have hideous latency issues

[ParanoidLittleMan]

It was not idea. It was mocking, since you did not list it.

" modern junk TV or monitor " - Well, I think that I'm finished with you. There is no any latency bigger than latency of Atari ST keyboard, joystick read delay.

Actually, those converters are what usually have latency.

Nobody saves files in STX format. It is read only.  Plus emulator only. And all it was told here already. Who don't listen to people helping without interest, but rather to sellers (and I really can only assume that it is the reason for those boosted prices) will really spend lot of money.

Good luck sir .

[256 colors]

If STX files are emulator only read only files care to explain how i can read from real hardware and HxC you read write those too with real hardware

Fact the market is awash with cheap junk TV'S and monitors you get what you pay for normally if it's cheap as chips then normally that's performance you will get too

If you think their are no latency issues on some modern displays care to explain us why people buy products as RetroTink or XRGB-mini Framemeister or OSSC 1.6 perhaps people like burning money for no reason

Edited July 2, 2019 by 256 colors

[6BQ5]

@ParanoidLittleMan Thanks for the write up. That was a great insight! Material like that should be pinned to the top of the forum! I will dispute one of your lines though. You said :

"Actually, Windows can not even access ordinary Atari floppies since XP, or little earlier."

My Win10 machine can read/write floppies originally formatted on my STe. I used a generic USB floppy drive. Floppies must be formatted by "format a: /n:9 /t:80" in a Command window. Now that I have NetUSBee I don't use floppies for shuttling files anymore though.

 

I wish NetUSBee did not require some sort of boot device like floppy or HD. Is it possible to boot from cartridge drive “c”? If yes then maybe the drivers can fit in a 128k ROM. 

@256 colors : Nobody gets into retro-computing to save money. It's like restoring an old vintage automobile. Yes, it can be money pit depending on how far you want to go with it. Your 800XL is not "done" from what I can see. Where is your UAV, SDrive-Max, 1MB upgrade, and stereo POKEY?  

You spent some serious coin on your setup so far so. Where do you shop for your gear? Converting your British pounds to US dollars made my eyes pop out a little. Maybe prices are a little different across the Atlantic.

Comparing your 800XL to STe, I have to ask how do you connect your 800XL to a display. Do you use composite? You can do the same with the STe. You don't need a Framemeister or other converter in that case.

You don't need a new monitor to display monochrome. Any modern monitor with a VGA port will work. All you need is a cable.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Atari-260-520-1040ST-MegaST-VGA-Adapter-HI-RES-monochrom/361509837104?hash=item542baa5930:g:fLIAAOSwuAVWvI20

I think @ParanoidLittleMan got lucky to find his Phillips TV that works with his STe. ? Here in the US the story is very different. We don't have such displays available here. A converter of some sort seems to be necessary in order to use a modern display. Or, we must find old multi-sync displays which is hard today. Back in the day I had a NEC Multi-Sync ][. That was an awesome monitor and I wish I still had it. I used it for like 10 - 12 years. No junk there. I felt like a super-star when I sound a used plasma TV for $30 with three S-Video connectors. Perfect my 8-bit systems. Any latency is minimal in real world terms. Being one frame behind is 1/60th of a second behind, or 16.67 milliseconds. Two frames is about 33 milliseconds. If you can notice something like that then you have magical eyes!

For maximizing your game compatibility you don't need multi-TOS switching. Just use version 1.06 or 1.62 and run the 50_60HZ.PRG for switching between North American and European games. TOS 1.60 is too buggy and TOS 2.06 breaks some compatibility. Maybe this is not the best solution but good enough? 

I'm still hanging on to real floppies for now and I have no problems extracting images from *.ST and *.MSA files. Using *.STX file would be a problem for me since those are not meant to be written back to disk easily. I haven't found a *.STX file that lit my feet on fire so I am in good shape so far. Floppies rule! One day I will switch to solid state but that day is not now. 

That was a huge digression ... but kind of fun.

Back to topic at hand. Yes, it seems like you will need some sort of formatting software to get your NetUSBee partitions readable by TOS.

[256 colors]

Thank's i didn't know about Atari 260/520 / 1040ST / MegaST VGA Adapter (HI-RES monochrome) i only have one monitor with VGA input and that's broken

So far as my Atari 8bit setup is concerned it's done in terms of what i want it to do output is S-VIDEO via RetroTink via 1080P HDMI to RGB Component 5 RCA YPbPr Video + R/L Audio Converter Adapter via OSSC 1.6 to HDMI

In terms of systems costing money yes that's the norm but i don't have unlimited cash for one system

As for 1.06 or 1.62  TOS for me that still mean a switch and some games and programs don't like big or small ram sizes

[ParanoidLittleMan]

I did not go in details about Windows and Atari floppies - 800 KB format was used widely, and we did not use Desktop formatter normally ?

800 KB floppy may be opened with Windows XP and later, but it will be processed wrong, and you may even damage data on it. + only at TOS 1.04 is that Desktop formatter will make it properly, so DOS, Win will handle it.  But I really hate to write same thing for 1000-th time, about floppies, while I work on to make people get rid of them ?

 

TV problem in USA, and probably it is same in Mexico, Canada ... Don't know about South America, since they use there some mixture of PAL and NTSC - 60 Hz PAL . And I don't see here people from Brazil or other ...    Surely I know that Scart connector is not used there.  But not sure that you can not buy new flat panel TV which has some kind of RGB input for old video standards - ergo for computers like Atari ST, Amiga ...  Of course, there is RGB input at VGA connector, but it may be that there is more. Maybe 3 RCA jacks for old type RGB ? Or it is possible to attach it to VGA, and it will work at those 60, 50 Hz refresh rates ?  Not theory - so work multisync monitors. 

If someone from oversea could look about it little and write here would be nice. I mean, I can self examine technical specs online, but can not know what models are most present in shops.

S-Video is not bad too, but who has such output on Atari - well, I have.

Btw. cheapest solution is to use some capture card - now people gives them away for free - and watch Atari via PC, + then can record all it . And put up on YT .

That may have some latency, depending from card, used SW, but I  must say that I did not notice it. And I hate when response on joystick is slow. And I made over 1000 YT videos of games, so yes, I know what talking about.

 

Considering STX files:  I worked together with Jeff - French man who designed HxC and SW for it. Was about some 6 years ago, and aim was to make HxC supporting STX images.

First problem: lack of documentation for STX format by author. His support is equal to 0 (I say it in present time, but could say was 0, will be zero - well, I hope that last one is wrong ? ).

Here is my contribution to make some level of documentation for STX:  http://atari.8bitchip.info/STXdesc.html

To keep this short - we made some progress, Jeff was not happy with all it - that there is lot of unknown, that he needs to do all coding - I hate C, and not good in it. + it was for his product. It finished with that Jeff said that so much is enough. And I don't blame him. He spent lot of time with, surely much more than me, who was mostly tester and someone with more knowledge about ST and SW for it. All in all, there is partial STX support for HxC, and I guess that same SW is used with Gotek.  + something probably not known - STX works much better with USB HW floppy emulators than on SD card based ones. Because USB version can some things what SD card v. not - like changing slightly floppy data rate.

 

It would be nice if Ijor popped up here, and said something (author of STX format) . But ehm, he us now busy with come cycle accurate FPGA Atari core, as I know. Not that it really should prevent someone to talk about something else - but good excuse is always welcome - /sarcastic mode off .

 

[6BQ5]

9 minutes ago, 256 colors said:

Thank's i didn't know about Atari 260/520 / 1040ST / MegaST VGA Adapter (HI-RES monochrome) i only have one monitor with VGA input and that's broken

 

Do you have a DVI-I connector on your display? If so then you’re totally in luck!

 

https://pinoutguide.com/VideoCables/dvi_to_vga_adapter_pinout.shtml

 

9 minutes ago, 256 colors said:

So far as my Atari 8bit setup is concerned it's done in terms of what i want it to do output is S-VIDEO via RetroTink via 1080P HDMI to RGB Component 5 RCA YPbPr Video + R/L Audio Converter Adapter via OSSC 1.6 to HDMI

 

Holy guacamole, that sounds complicated! What kind of display do you have? If you are using S-Video from your (modified?) 800XL and if you have a HDMI input on your monitor then just use the Framemeister you already have. It’s picture quality is only one slight step down from a display with native S-Video input capability. 

 

9 minutes ago, 256 colors said:

In terms of systems costing money yes that's the norm but i don't have unlimited cash for one system

As for 1.06 or 1.62  TOS for me that still mean a switch and some games and programs don't like big or small ram sizes

 

What I’m saying is you could just pick one of the two and run with it until you bump into a game that requires the other TOS. Are there TOS 1.06 and TOS 1.62 specific games out there? I’ve seen some demos that puke on TOS 1.06 but those are far and few in between.

[6BQ5]

11 minutes ago, ParanoidLittleMan said:

[snip snip]

 

Of course, there is RGB input at VGA connector, but it may be that there is more. Maybe 3 RCA jacks for old type RGB ? Or it is possible to attach it to VGA, and it will work at those 60, 50 Hz refresh rates ?  Not theory - so work multisync monitors. 

If someone from oversea could look about it little and write here would be nice. I mean, I can self examine technical specs online, but can not know what models are most present in shops. 

 

My older Samsung 55” HDTV has a VGA input. It is not compatible with the lower horizontal sync frequency.

 

I was was looking at new 4K TVs recently just for fun. Very few, if any, have VGA connections on them now. HDMI has taken over the world.

[256 colors]

No  DVI-I connector on my display

Using the Framemeister gives me best possible quality picture but a huge price i can really noticed the latency delay with other config i get  good quality display output and less latency delay

The thing to remember is Framemeister is a upscaler both the RetroTink and OSSC  are line doublelers 

Edited July 3, 2019 by 256 colors

[ParanoidLittleMan]

Sorry, but 4K is not where can expect support for 30 years old computers . Nor price about 150 bucks ?

 

Who follows this forum can see which computer monitors support lower h.s. freqs. There is WEB page with list of them ... I was on to get such, but here in Hungary it is very rare - I found, but not close, so shipping would cost about 70-80% of price of new TV. That + price of seller was even little higher - so it was very easy decision ?

 

[Bikerbob]

On 6/29/2019 at 1:36 PM, 6BQ5 said:

I'm attaching a photograph showing how the NetUSBee drives boot up on my US STe with TOS 2.06. Does your screen look similar to this? If you have the correct order in your AUTO folder and use your Kingston device then we should have similar (or even the same) screens. Notice where the drivers find the Kingston device, near the bottom of the screen. Can you confirm your screen looks similar?

 

If you cannot boot your drivers in order, or doubt they are booting in order, then you can run them one by one from your desktop. That process should work too. It's a little cumbersome but a good way to test each driver one by one.

 

Assuming the correct boot order and the Kingston is recognized then you need to partition the device. The STe cannot natively address or recognize partitions bigger than 512MB. I used HDDriver because it came with my Megafile. ParanoidLittleMan has a very nice program available as well. There may be others available online too. Win10 ought to be able to do this too. Using Win10 may be the easiest and a good time to verify FAT16 formatting. HDDriver can do this too but Win10 PC will be faster.

 

After partitioning and rebooting create your desktop icons. My desktop has icons "C" through "P", all capital letters. Lowercase "c" is the cartridge port. See my second attachment. I do not use BigDOS or any 3rd party program to extend partitions beyond 512 MB.

 

My Kingston has no R/W access restrictions on STe and Win10. Very easy way to transfer files. Just be sure to eject properly as always. Only "weird" thing is Win10 creates a hidden folder that appears as "SYSTEM~1" on the device. After deleting it Win10 will recreate it. I assume Windows must be storing some window viewing setting there.

 

Do the math and you'll see I have 14 partitions at 512 MB = 7 GB. Yes, 8 GB are simply lost here. However, the single 8 GB device I had didn't work with NetUSBee. *shrug* It is not so easy to find small USB devices anymore so be ready to waste half, if not more, of your available space. That's OK. USB flash storage is cheap. Less than $10.

 

After we get your USB storage device working then we'll work on getting you a USB mouse! That works too ... but I still prefer Atari mouse.

 

I do not have GoTek or other floppy emulator so I don't know all the 1's and 0's about them. I assume you create blank *.ST image file in a ST emulator like Hatari and then treat as regular floppy disk after mounting image in floppy emulator? Too bad there isn't some sort of native support in TOS for USB devices. Then all of this would be easy-peasy.

How were you able to take a picture of your screen.. mine goes by soooo fast I cannot read what it says..  I am having the same issues as 256 colours..  I cannot get the storage drivers to load.

 

James

[Bikerbob]

I have been trying this through facebook, through Atari-Forum - on MEgaST  on STE - I still have an STF and MegaSTE to try.. but I cannot get the STORAGE driver to load. I have not tried the mouse.. which I have usb.. or keyboard.. maybe that would be worth it to see if its the usb keys.

 

I have a Sandisk 1gb key.. formatted to 2 487mb partitions Every computer I own sees it.. has not issues with this.. But the STE boote up with the .ST image provided in this thread.. gives me a NetUSBee Root Hub.. but does not see any of the drives I have.

 

I also have some really nice small 128mb thumb drives from days past.. but it does not see any of those 3.

 

Out of ideas.

 

James

 

 

[Bikerbob]

Ok, tried one more thing.. SO .. I think this is a driver issue.. maybe a cartridge power issue???

 

I found a Kingston Traveller 8gb stick. - Its was found - now that at the moment is being used for something else.. so it could not see partitions as it was an 8gb partition.

 

BUT - after I swapped it out and put the sandisk mini cruiser back in.. it see its.. sees 2 partitions and i can install the devices on the desktop..  But - I cannot access them.. I try and click on the icons.. nothing.

 

SO.. something in the way Kingston makes their drives these drivers or this cartridge likes.. 

[Lastic]

On 6/29/2019 at 12:17 AM, 6BQ5 said:

Two links below for reference :

 

http://atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=33266

 

and ...

 

http://atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=34355

 

Just in case there are others here who may not know about Atari-Forum threads.

Off topic, but I seem to be unable to register at atari-forum.com

When I try to register , it states that there is an issue with an external party.
When I browse the forum afterwards (with no user), I get the message that my IP has been banned because of the StopForumSpam policy until a time in the past ?
When I check that website (StopForumSpam), I states that my public IP is not in their database.
Have sent a mail to the forum admin's but didn't get any reply yet.

How can I spam a forum if I don't even have a user to logon ? A bit puzzled now.
Like this forum atari-forum.com has a lot of usefull resources and information , but I can't acces it.