sidney Posted December 20, 2019 Share Posted December 20, 2019 Hi there, Just added an Atari 65xe to my collection and have 1 game for it - a Pole Position cartridge! I was wondering if I could load Atari Xe games through the tape deck using my phone and a cassette adaptor. I've seen it done on youtube, so I was wondering what app I could use and where I might download the games. Any advice gratefully received. Many thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xrbrevin Posted December 20, 2019 Share Posted December 20, 2019 im not sure it is possible in the same way as other 8bit machines as the Atari doesnt use cassette data in an audio format. although there is a device called SIO2BT that uses a bluetooth device connected to the SIO port. that may operate with your phone in the way you suggested. see here: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidney Posted December 20, 2019 Author Share Posted December 20, 2019 That Sounds like an interesting device. I saw a ShadowsNose video where he uses one of those in car cassette adaptors with the Atari tape deck to load a game. I will probably eventually grab an SD drive max or Ultimate cartridge eventually. I was just looking for a quick fix in the interim period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted December 20, 2019 Share Posted December 20, 2019 One of those car cassette adaptors could be used with the audio jack and an MP3 file could hold the converted CAS file. But you'd have to ask why. Anything more complex involves spending upwards of what a disk emulation solution would cost - rock bottom pricing there being a selfbuilt SIO2PC type cable that could be done for a few bucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidney Posted December 20, 2019 Author Share Posted December 20, 2019 (edited) Quote I just just wanted to try a few games to test things out as soon as possible, a quick fix if you like. Any longer term solution can only really be sorted out after Xmas allowing for festive postage etc. As I said- I have the SD drive and the Ultimate Cart firmly in my sights. The fact that the Shadows Nose was able to load in from an MP3 player running through a car cassette adaptor, suggests that it must be possible. I've done this with the Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and MSX, I'm encouraged by the possibility that it could be done on the Atari. Edited December 20, 2019 by sidney Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted December 20, 2019 Share Posted December 20, 2019 Atari used actual tones at a comparitively pathetic bitrate compared to most systems so it'd be even more possible. Some other systems did direct digital output in some cases where typically there'd be short or long transitions to encode bit values which is more "unnatural" and less likely to work at a low MP3 bitrate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted December 20, 2019 Share Posted December 20, 2019 Yes, it is possible. You plug the car cassette adapter into the audio out or headphone jack on your PC, with an MP3 ready to play, the other end in the tape recorder, do the steps to load an Atari cassette: Power on with START held down, here the beep, press play on the Atari tape deck, play on the PC MP3, and then hit return on the 65XE and it will load. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidney Posted December 20, 2019 Author Share Posted December 20, 2019 Thanks Gunstar- Where may I find these game roms and what program will be needed to transfer them to sounds that the 65Xe can understand? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavin1968 Posted December 20, 2019 Share Posted December 20, 2019 Why would you want to go though all of that and load tape images? Those are painfully slow to load. I would highly suggest on of my SDrive-MAX drive emulators. If you want to load tape images you can do it with the SDrive as well, but again, why would you want to? All of my drives are on sale right now - https://www.vintagecomputercenter.com/sale I think you would be way more happy. Happy Holidays ?, Gavin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted December 20, 2019 Share Posted December 20, 2019 http://www.atarimania.com/pgelstsoft.awp?system=8&type=G&tape=1&step=25 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted December 20, 2019 Share Posted December 20, 2019 https://atariage.com/forums/topic/273122-convert-cas-to-wav-a8cas-help/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xrbrevin Posted December 20, 2019 Share Posted December 20, 2019 4 hours ago, Gunstar said: Power on with START held down correction for XL/XE models: Start and OPTION held down 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred_M Posted December 20, 2019 Share Posted December 20, 2019 Using a casette adapter in an Atari data recorder will work, but I don't think that MP3 files will load. The quality of these files is not good enough. Using flac or wav-files will work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted December 20, 2019 Share Posted December 20, 2019 35 minutes ago, Fred_M said: Using a casette adapter in an Atari data recorder will work, but I don't think that MP3 files will load. The quality of these files is not good enough. Using flac or wav-files will work. Agreed, that was an error on my part because @sidney mentioned using MP3's. I've always used wav. myself too, because that's what @baktra 's Turgen system uses to make files meant for emulators or to copy to real cassette tape. I installed external outputs and a mini-headphone jack to the in the back of my 1010 just so I didn't have to use the cassette adapter anymore, but more importantly, so I could still record the input onto tapes in the 1010. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted December 21, 2019 Share Posted December 21, 2019 (edited) 8 hours ago, xrbrevin said: correction for XL/XE models: Start and OPTION held down LOL! I've been using custom OS's with reverse OPTION function for so long, I forgot I used to have to hold down both Option and Start keys when booting a cassette! I've been used to holding down OPTION to start in BASIC mode for over 15 years now! My instruction are right, for me, and anyone who has their XL/XE computer modded to start with BASIC off. Edited December 21, 2019 by Gunstar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xrbrevin Posted December 21, 2019 Share Posted December 21, 2019 yeah reverse option basic with fast SIO is a great OS mod, i also use it in my daily driver 800XL ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baktra Posted December 21, 2019 Share Posted December 21, 2019 I have to say that I never had problem with loading of standard tape records from MP3s, provided that the bitrate was 320 kbps and constant. Lossless compression is better choice, of course. However, having the disk drive replacement device is the best choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred_M Posted December 21, 2019 Share Posted December 21, 2019 4 hours ago, baktra said: I have to say that I never had problem with loading of standard tape records from MP3s, provided that the bitrate was 320 kbps and constant. Sorry, I was not thinking about a 320kbps MP3 Those will be fine too. Most of the audio files you can find on the internet for A8 are wav-files In this topic the SDrive-Max is mentioned by a seller. The Sdrive-Max is a good choice. But do know that this is an open source project, so you can build one yourself for a lot less (instructions can be found here: http://en.devzine.pl/2019/05/08/how-to-build-sdrive-max/). If you don't want to built one, you can buy one from various sources like ebay for about 41 euros: https://www.ebay.nl/itm/SDrive-Max-Atari-8bit-800xl-600xl-65xe-130xe-Atari-XEGS-disk-and-tape-emulator/254384953015 Another (and cheap) option is the good old sio2sd. This SD-card interface is very stable, works great with other SIO devices, but it does not have the bigger touch screen like the SDrive-Max. You can buy one at Lotharek for about 21 euros: https://lotharek.pl/productdetail.php?id=58 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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