Silent Butler 80

[Bill Lange]

Curt Vendel recently sent me 14 5 1/4 floppy diskettes related to the rare, unreleased 80 column version of Silent Butler. I Kryofluxed all 14 diskettes and put disk images and RAW files in various places including archive.org. 

 

You can run the disk images in Altirra with a virtual XEP80 attached. I've been able to get the 80-column title screen to display, but nothing after that. Once the "disk" stops stops spinning, it plays a tune, which I assume means it wants a RECORD disk, but haven't got much further. Curt had brought these diskettes to VCF East 2019 in May and we were able to get just as far on physical hardware. 

 

As I mentioned I Kryofluxed all 14 diskettes and made disk images of both sides for a total of 28 disk images to play with. The raw Kryoflux files are also in the archive.

 

 

 

Curt also has a few pages of notes/manual that were with the diskettes. We'll get them posted here as well.

 

If anyone is able to get past the title screen in 80 columns, please report back.

 

Regards,

Bill

[Gunstar]

Is anyone sure that there is more than a title screen? Maybe that's as far as Atari got...will it load into the program in 40-column mode?

 

I never did understand the title of this program. How many rich people with butlers would actually have their butler's do their accounting and finances instead of a professional accountant? It should have been called 'Silent Accountant.'

Edited December 3, 2019 by Gunstar

[Bill Lange]

There are 14 diskettes with dates covering more than a year. I would hope that there is more than just the title screen. I did use one of the 40 column versions in this set to create a RECORD disk to try with the 80 column version.

[Bill Lange]

Quote

I never did understand the title of this program.

 

There was once a popular thing called a "Silent Butler". Maybe it is just a play on that.

 

I find a spreadsheet, even back in the ferg, much easier to use.

 

[Gunstar]

28 minutes ago, Bill Lange said:

 

There was once a popular thing called a "Silent Butler". Maybe it is just a play on that.

 

I find a spreadsheet, even back in the ferg, much easier to use.

 

I guess it fits if your finances are the equivalent of ashes and crumbs!

 

I too use a spreadsheet, and other Synapse Syn-series programs. But my favorite I use is pictured below, I highly doubt Silent Butler is more sophisticated. Doing my finances on my Atari makes them a bit less a hassle and more fun, because it's another opportunity to use my Atari! And no worries about hackers breaking in! But it's not in 80-columns, the only downside for me, but I'm willing to put up with it.

Edited December 3, 2019 by Gunstar

[8bitguy1]

Out of curiosity I went over to Atarimania to look up Your Personal Net Worth but couldn't find it.

[www.atarimania.com]

The section for utilities was started way later than the one for games and is less updated. It's still very incomplete.

 

Your Personal Net Worth is not that rare.

Edited December 3, 2019 by www.atarimania.com

[phaeron]

Got SB80-19871009-80 to run:

 

 

For some reason, Silent Butler 80 uses two different XEP80 drivers. The driver that draws the splash screen autodetects an XEP80 in either joystick port 1 or 2, but the one used by the main program is hardcoded to port 1. Altirra's XEP80 emulation is on port 2, which is why the main program blanks out. I need to add an option to switch it to port 1.

 

Side note, ending a section with "Should this info be corrected (Yes/No)?" is not good UI....

[luckybuck]

phaeron, you are a living legend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't know yet, whether SB80 is using the fast XEP80 routine our floppydoc has made?

https://atariwiki.org/wiki/Wiki.jsp?page=XEP80

 

WOW!!!! Thank you sooooo much! IMF mission!

[Bill Lange]

Quote

Got SB80-19871009-80 to run

Nice job! 

 

 

 

[luckybuck]

Looks great, even in inverse mode.

 

Please take the 1st picture if you running Atari800MacX 5.0.1

[luckybuck]

I really would like deeply, deeply thank:

- Curt for saving the disks

- Alan providing the Kryo

- Bill making all the hard work to kryo them and provide them for us

- phaeron for getting it run

- ...

 

Again, Tom Cruise is fictional in a movie, the above ones are the real IMF team!

 

It shows again, what can be achieved, when we all work together! :-)))

 

Please go ahead!

 

2 Accountant boxes and our "baby":

https://atariwiki.org/wiki/Wiki.jsp?page=Atari The Dow Jones Investment Evaluator

are still missed...

Edited December 4, 2019 by luckybuck

[Bill Lange]

Here are two and a half silent (boring) minutes of Silent Bulter 80 boot from an SDRIVE-MAX on an Atari 800XL with a XEP80 connected to joystick port #1 and output to a Zenith green screen.

 

I tried to capture the video with a video capture card, but the card didn't like the XEP80 output. 

 

 

[Bee]

Bill,

 

Are you booting form an Atr(s) or XEX(s).  Can you post the files?  I down loaded the Archive but only see RAW and hav no idea what to do with them.

 

Thank you

[Bill Lange]

Go here https://archive.org/download/SilentButler80/SilentButler80/SB80-198804/

Download the .atx files.

 

You can run these on the version of Altirra that lets you change which port the XEP80 is on.

[Tempest]

On 12/4/2019 at 12:40 AM, phaeron said:

Got SB80-19871009-80 to run:

What about the latest version?  The picture at the beginning of this thread says 3/16/88.  I assume the one you got working is 10/9/87?

[Bill Lange]

I've gotten a couple of versions working. If I remember correctly, the title screen expects the XEP80 on Port 2 or Port 1. The program itself requires Port 1 I believe. 

[Tempest]

So was the 80 column version never released then?

[Bill Lange]

That is correct.

[+Allan]

But the question is, what happened to the Apple II version? And what ever became of the dot-matrix printer check pinter holder?

 

[Tempest]

13 minutes ago, Allan said:

But the question is, what happened to the Apple II version? And what ever became of the dot-matrix printer check pinter holder?

 

There was an Apple II version?  Interesting.   I'm surprised they bothered though, there was so much productivity software for the Apple II that SB would have gotten lost in the shuffle.

[+Allan]

There as suppose to be a ST version as well but was never shipped as well. It would be cool to hear an interview with Ted A. Goldstone, the owner of the company. (if he is still alive.)

[+Allan]

He had a patent on the check holder.

 

https://patents.justia.com/inventor/ted-a-goldstone

[Tempest]

Any more info on this?  I don't know why, but this program fascinates me.  This sounds like a job for the Inverse Atascii podcast.

[Savetz]

On 2/7/2020 at 8:01 AM, Allan said:

There as suppose to be a ST version as well but was never shipped as well. It would be cool to hear an interview with Ted A. Goldstone, the owner of the company. (if he is still alive.)

I've been trying to find Ted since May, no luck so far.

 

-K