Incognito - Now's your chance!

[Faicuai]

On 11/14/2019 at 12:16 AM, Kyle22 said:

'Not as Described' Really?" DEAL with it, you SNOWFLAKE!

 

Alphas win, Betas LOSE. Get REAL.

 

Oh, c'mon!!! You realize I have to deal with Chinese vendors and postage to get this done, do you?

 

Anyhow, I thought you may like the outcome....

 

 

Still a shame that those that do not go through this will NOT be able to safely upgrade their boards' logic, though... especially after paying US. $100.00 (!)

[flashjazzcat]

 

[toddtmw]

1 hour ago, Faicuai said:

Oh, c'mon!!! You realize I have to deal with Chinese vendors and postage to get this done, do you?

 

Anyhow, I thought you may like the outcome....

 

 

Still a shame that those that do not go through this will NOT be able to safely upgrade their boards' logic, though... especially after paying US. $100.00 (!)

Not to mention the picture on his web site still shows the board with the part populated.

[drpeter]

27 minutes ago, flashjazzcat said:

 

 

lol ?

 

the delivery reminds me of the hitchhiker in the film 'There's Something About Mary'

[Faicuai]

On 11/14/2019 at 6:40 PM, Faicuai said:

 

Ironically, it does not seem you got your question answered. Instead, a description of the shipments, but not the reason WHY the remaining boards are not coming equipped with the connector.

 

Fortunately, there is a solution (from Amazon), which I had already ordered quite a while ago (but you will have to wait a bit for it):

 

https://www.amazon.com/Pitch-Straight-Angle-Connector-Headers/dp/B00O9Y7ASS/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=B00O9Y7ASS&qid=1573774108&sr=8-1

 

I do hope, however, not to find the mind-boggling surprise I found on the last (white) Ultimate-1MB board I purchased: when you try to read existing CPLD config., Impact shows "read-operation is locked / blocked" or "configureD as write-only". In other words, I could not save the existing programming before flashing the new one.

 

We'll see, once the JTAG header is soldered in place, and attempt to read existing CPLD code.

 

Surprise, surprise!!!

 

Lo-and-behold, It turns out that the board is LOCKED-OUT for first read-out of on-board CPLD programming (!)

 

 

In other words, not sure how to back up what's in there and compare before any further re-programming...

 

This was surely not the case with my first boards from Candle, who had the gesture of delivering them unlocked...

 

Mhmmmm....

 

 

 

 

 

 

[777ismyname]

8 hours ago, flashjazzcat said:

 

Fooku2 did an excellent job! You should have him back sometime  It makes me want to grab an 800 from storage and drill a hole or two in it

[Jeffrey Worley]

On 11/14/2019 at 8:06 AM, flashjazzcat said:

You understand how it's supposed to work, right? The button latches and is seen by the next SIO call (commonly when software expecting a disk swap opens a file expected to be on disk #2). The firmware - upon seeing the latched button - clears the latch and swaps the volumes before carrying out the SIO request.

 

All I can tell you is that things work if you install them as per the instructions. If you decide to come up with a novel alternative solution and find it doesn't work, the novel alternative solution is probably what's at fault.

I may not actually understand.  I've tried grounding the switch to the anode leg of P2 on the INcognito, i just ran a separate ground for the switch, that DOES something different:   Instead of doing nothing, it lights the access lights, both the one I have added and the one on the INcognito board while pressed.  Nothing changes swapwise.  I'm stupid somehow.  I can't believe that I have broken gear, so I'm stupid somehow.  Five times stupid, since I built this system five times.  What am I doing stupid?

 

Here's how my switch is wired.  Pin 1 of P2 to one leg, ground to the other (wire to chassis in my recent case), Pin 3 of P2 is connected to the cathode of the activity led, and pin 2 to the anode of the led.  So the led has it's own ground (pin 2) and doesn't share with the switch.

 

I have the led and the switch mounted on a teensy circuit board, with a little pigtail connector that leads directly into the card bay to mate with INcognito.  It makes closing the cardcage a bit harder to do, but it isn't terrible.  So this is a nice rig, but it doesn't work, switchwise.  And I'm really at a loss., completely mystified, dumbstruck, slackjawed, clueless.  Help!

 

?

Jeff

[+DrVenkman]

Isn’t the switch supposed to be wired to pin 3 of the header not pin 1? (Don’t have access to my pics at the moment). 

[Faicuai]

1 hour ago, Jeffrey Worley said:

(...)  Instead of doing nothing, it lights the access lights, both the one I have added and the one on the INcognito board while pressed.  Nothing changes swapwise.  I'm stupid somehow.  (...)

 

?

Jeff

 

That's the key right-there: when switching .ATR images via .ATR switch/button (and assuming no cyclical SIO-calls are being placed by running app.) you should never see the on-board LED activate (to the naked-eye). It should remain completely off.

 

The ONLY pin you need for actuating / switching .ATR images is the FIRST pin on the right of the 3-pin header. In other words, with the machine's keyboard facing you, and Incognito installed on Slot-0, and looking at 3-pin header from above, it is the first pin on the right-hand side. That's the one you may want to ground in order to verify .ATR switch functionality. Swap Incognito's to make sure you don't have a defective one.

 

And no, you are not stupid (by any means), because your suggested setup is (conceptually) a better alternative that was once devised 6 years ago. You have managed to "modularize" the .ATR-switching function, keeping it away from the power board (thus freeing you to replaced it or service it at will), with absolutely NO physical changes or pcb-drilling, and while also taking advantage of the top-cover vents, for both light/signaling and button-actuation. It SHOULD work.

 

The only thing that I would suggest is, since your three-cable header is thin / narrow enough, make it long enough so it exits the expansion bay internally, and out of the RF shield (on the front-bottom) and then route it back and out through the top left-side vent, and finish the connections there. With this approach, you can now close properly the expansion-bay cover, while still preserving everything else.

 

Good luck!

 

 

 

Edited November 16, 2019 by Faicuai

[Faicuai]

18 hours ago, drpeter said:

 

lol ?

 

the delivery reminds me of the hitchhiker in the film 'There's Something About Mary'

Holy-cow!!!

 

It reminds me more of a FPV-version of ventriloquism. Here's from the outside (and really funny):

 

 

Edited November 16, 2019 by Faicuai

[Jeffrey Worley]

What kind of mouse do I need to have to work with this Gui OS/shell on the incognito?

 

Jeff

 

 

[+Stephen]

1 hour ago, Jeffrey Worley said:

What kind of mouse do I need to have to work with this Gui OS/shell on the incognito?

 

Jeff

 

 

https://atariage.com/forums/topic/254114-atari-400800-gui/?do=findComment&comment=4393065

 

[+DrVenkman]

@Jeffrey Worley, did you ever get your swap button situation figured out?

[Faicuai]

On 11/15/2019 at 5:33 PM, toddtmw said:

Not to mention the picture on his web site still shows the board with the part populated.

 

Correct.

 

To the above extent:

1. I have FIVE (5) extra J-TAG headers for this board.
2. Since they will be of absolutely NO use to me, I am offering to install them for FREE (in the U.S.) to anyone who wishes so and does not have immediate access to the soldering equipment required to do a clean and precise job.
3. You can zoom-in the above pics.(down the pixel-level if you wish) to see what the outcome looks like.
4. Unfortunately, you will NOT be able to apply any (future) update your Incognito's CPLD safely / reliably without this header.
5. If you are interested, just P.M. directly.
6. Otherwise, I will dispose them.

Cheers!

Edited November 17, 2019 by Faicuai

[+orpheuswaking]

On 11/16/2019 at 8:39 PM, Faicuai said:

 

Correct.

 

To the above extent:

1. I have FIVE (5) extra J-TAG headers for this board.
2. Since they will be of absolutely NO use to me, I am offering to install them for FREE (in the U.S.) to anyone who wishes so and does not have immediate access to the soldering equipment required to do a clean and precise job.
3. You can zoom-in the above pics.(down the pixel-level if you wish) to see what the outcome looks like.
4. Unfortunately, you will NOT be able to apply any (future) update your Incognito's CPLD safely / reliably without this header.
5. If you are interested, just P.M. directly.
6. Otherwise, I will dispose them.

Cheers!

I can install my own, just curious where you obtained the part? I'd like to add one myself but I don't have a spare on hand 

[Faicuai]

On 11/18/2019 at 9:37 AM, orpheuswaking said:

I can install my own, just curious where you obtained the part? I'd like to add one myself but I don't have a spare on hand 

 

You can obtain the part, right here (already mentioned on post #574, a few days ago):

 

https://www.amazon.com/Pitch-Straight-Angle-Connector-Headers/dp/B00O9Y7ASS/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=B00O9Y7ASS&qid=1573774108&sr=8-1

 

 

[Faicuai]

On 11/16/2019 at 8:39 PM, Faicuai said:

 

Correct.

 

To the above extent:

1. I have FIVE (5) extra J-TAG headers for this board.
2. Since they will be of absolutely NO use to me, I am offering to install them for FREE (in the U.S.) to anyone who wishes so and does not have immediate access to the soldering equipment required to do a clean and precise job.
3. You can zoom-in the above pics.(down the pixel-level if you wish) to see what the outcome looks like.
4. Unfortunately, you will NOT be able to apply any (future) update your Incognito's CPLD safely / reliably without this header.
5. If you are interested, just P.M. directly.
6. Otherwise, I will dispose them.

Cheers!

 

Just a quick update:

 

ALL available JTAG-headers are now allocated. There are no more left.

 

It seems their lives will be spared... ?

 

Edited November 20, 2019 by Faicuai

[gelo29]

Hi everyone,

I have question:

- will Atari 810 drive work with Incognito board?

If yes, what are proper Incognito Bios settings to make it working?

I ask, because I can't make it working at all (eg. if I want to format floppy disk in Sparta DOS I got: ''Drive does not respond'').

When I try to format floppy disk in DOS 1.0 (dedicated for Atari 810 single drive) I got ''Error- 138'' message…

Anyone help?

 

[Jeffrey Worley]

41 minutes ago, gelo29 said:

Hi everyone,

I have question:

- will Atari 810 drive work with Incognito board?

If yes, what are proper Incognito Bios settings to make it working?

I ask, because I can't make it working at all (eg. if I want to format floppy disk in Sparta DOS I got: ''Drive does not respond'').

When I try to format floppy disk in DOS 1.0 (dedicated for Atari 810 single drive) I got ''Error- 138'' message…

Anyone help?

 

I'd guess you don't have the drive numbered accordingly.

 

[gelo29]

Accordingly to what?

Please, explain, where and how to set it properly? 

[+DrVenkman]

4 hours ago, gelo29 said:

Accordingly to what?

Please, explain, where and how to set it properly? 

I think he's suggesting that your drive select switches may not be set correctly (in other words, not set to D1: with both of the switches moved all the way to the left).

 

Having said that, there's no reason an Incognito-equipped machine should not work with an 810 or any other Atari disk drive, assuming the cables are good, the drive is working properly and the drive select switches are set correctly. An 810 or a stock 1050 won't work in double-density in SpartaDOS X but it should format a single density disk.

[cbelcher]

Installed my Incognito in a later model NTSC 800 this week.  Noted a few things if it's your first one:

 

As others have pointed out - don't trust the wiring colors for the wiring harness - look at the points you are connecting.

 

Pin 1 of the headers has the square solder pad.

 

My "CPU Board" is a very different layout than seen in the tutorials - the chips are in a different layout and the pin 1 end is at the connector side of the board...

So count your pins on ANTIC to find 9 and 15

 

 

 

[Faicuai]

1 hour ago, cbelcher said:

Installed my Incognito in a later model NTSC 800 this week.  Noted a few things if it's your first one:

 

As others have pointed out - don't trust the wiring colors for the wiring harness - look at the points you are connecting.

 

Pin 1 of the headers has the square solder pad.

 

My "CPU Board" is a very different layout than seen in the tutorials - the chips are in a different layout and the pin 1 end is at the connector side of the board...

So count your pins on ANTIC to find 9 and 15

 

 

 

That's an older CPU board-layout.

 

Therefore, I am not sure if your 800 is a "later model" (unless original board was replaced)... 

 

But there is someone with your same board that may need your help ASAP (look at the Forum's index).

 

 

[Jeffrey Worley]

1 hour ago, cbelcher said:

Installed my Incognito in a later model NTSC 800 this week.  Noted a few things if it's your first one:

 

As others have pointed out - don't trust the wiring colors for the wiring harness - look at the points you are connecting.

 

Pin 1 of the headers has the square solder pad.

 

My "CPU Board" is a very different layout than seen in the tutorials - the chips are in a different layout and the pin 1 end is at the connector side of the board...

So count your pins on ANTIC to find 9 and 15

 

 

 

I just did several of these.  You did it right.  If you'd gone by the photo in the installation docs you'd have gone for the GTIA by mistake.  So you are in good shape. 

 

There are two types of 800 cpu boards.  One is the original, this one, that uses a standard 6502 cpu and adds some glue logic, in the form of those three small chips, to provide a halt cpu line for Antic control of the bus?  I'm a bit foggy on this but that's the gist as I get it.  Later 800's, and all the xl and xe computers, have a custom Atari version of the 6502 called Sally.  Sally is a 6502 with the halt logic included, thus eliminating those extra three chips from the new version of the 800 cpu board and all future machines.  The boards are interchangable, but the processor chips are not.

 

Jeff

[Jeffrey Worley]

I think that Lotharek really thought the connectors could fairly be omitted and that the average consumer of this product would have ready access to the means and parts to add the thing.  It takes a fair amount of skill just to disassemble the 800 and put it back together correctly.  To install the Incognito is a skilled job, so the assumption that the skill to add the port is universal is not unreasonable.  I don't think he meant to cheat anyone and I don't personally feel cheated.  These are really high-quality devices lovingly made and I'm beside myself with glee over them.  I'll eventually stick a connector on there.  I have a reader for the roms, so I can just yank the eprom, put it in the reader, burn it how I like it, and put the rom back in the incognito.  That's the quickest way to un-brick one, trust me I know.