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April COVID-19 quarantine sale!


batari

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Ordered an Encore last night, Thanks. Been putting it off for years. Didn't know that the sales for the harmony cartridges went to Atariage for new boards, so i bit for a good cause. You mentioned Enhanced Melody boards. Do you mean for Homebrews at the Atariage store? I'm intrigued.

Edited by jwelsh
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2 hours ago, jwelsh said:

Ordered an Encore last night, Thanks. Been putting it off for years. Didn't know that the sales for the harmony cartridges went to Atariage for new boards, so i bit for a good cause. You mentioned Enhanced Melody boards. Do you mean for Homebrews at the Atariage store? I'm intrigued.

Yeah, Melody boards are an exclusive AtariAge product. Production of Melody boards is both unprofitable and costly (as runs need to be produced in quantity) so Harmony sales have always subsidized Melody.

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1 hour ago, batari said:

Yeah, Melody boards are an exclusive AtariAge product. Production of Melody boards is both unprofitable and costly (as runs need to be produced in quantity) so Harmony sales have always subsidized Melody.

Nice. Thanks for the info. I was more curious as to what was Enhanced about the future boards, but this isn't really the post for that.  Look forward to receiving my Encore and giving it a whirl. Thanks Fred.

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Wow, imagine the timing. I started searching for a flashcart for Atari 2600 yesterday and I found out about the Harmony within minutes. Just placed an order on eBay for a Harmony Encore! By the looks of it I'm lucky I didn't dwell on it for any longer =D

Uhh, maybe a bit late to ask. But this is supposed to be used on a PAL system, are there any special considerations or do I just have to use the correct ROMs? I know the games are region free but just gives me odd colors ?

Stay safe and all the best luck with your projects!

 

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On 5/3/2020 at 10:58 PM, Cloaked Alien said:

Wow, imagine the timing. I started searching for a flashcart for Atari 2600 yesterday and I found out about the Harmony within minutes. Just placed an order on eBay for a Harmony Encore! By the looks of it I'm lucky I didn't dwell on it for any longer =D

Uhh, maybe a bit late to ask. But this is supposed to be used on a PAL system, are there any special considerations or do I just have to use the correct ROMs? I know the games are region free but just gives me odd colors ?

Stay safe and all the best luck with your projects!

Yes, just use the correct ROMs for PAL and you'll be good.

 

You can also change your BIOS to PAL, but it is rarely necessary to do so (the BIOS region is for the menu display only, and the colors are the same.) The only difference is the frame rate, and generally, PAL TVs display NTSC frame rates without issues.

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On 5/2/2020 at 1:22 AM, batari said:

Just a heads up to all: Although this was supposed to be for the month of April, I haven't had a chance to change the order pages. But, I expect to end this sale after this weekend. So if you want to take advantage of the lower prices, make sure you order before Monday.

Hi, 

 

I've just ordered a Harmony Encore microSD but forgot to include the instructions, can I just send the extra through PayPal for them?

 

Really looking forward to getting my 2600 up and running as I've just finished my C64 build :D

 

Thanks

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5 hours ago, Deker said:

Hi, 

 

I've just ordered a Harmony Encore microSD but forgot to include the instructions, can I just send the extra through PayPal for them?

 

Really looking forward to getting my 2600 up and running as I've just finished my C64 build :D

 

Thanks

Sending a PM

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  • 2 weeks later...

Mine arrived this week. I was a bit confused because I was experiencing the same problem reported here. Despite of that, everything works really fine, including my code, so I will have some fun developing and testing on the real thing.

 

Thanks so much for everyone involved with Harmony cart. 

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I haven't ended the quarantine sale yet, as I have just simply been too busy to change the website back. However, I need to do so ASAP as Harmony supplies are beginning to run pretty low. For the sale, my time spend building Harmony carts has a return of less than half of before, and while this is OK now that we've been basically stuck at home without much to do, things are starting to open back up now and I won't have as much spare time going forward.

 

On that note, as the COVID-19 sale has been popular, and so I have designed a reduced-cost Harmony cart, so once this is ready, I can continue to offer the lower prices. Game compatibility is 100% the same, but there will be some changes.


I will still offer "classic" Harmony carts while they last, but they are nearly sold out. As soon as I can get to it, I plan to increase the prices back up for these, and they will still be offered for sale in parallel to the newer carts. You can call any of these Harmony carts, but these will be dubbed "Classic Harmony" and "Classic Harmony Encore" in future postings here to help distinguish them from the revised carts. Further, the revised Harmony may then be called "Harmony Rev. A" Or "Harmony Encore Rev. A" so that it's clear what we are talking about.

 

Two reasons one might still want the classic Harmony cart at its higher price is it has a push-push SD slot (which some may prefer) and the FTDI USB chip which supports a wider variety of operating systems (including older operating systems all the way back to Windows 98 and Mac OS 8.)

 

The main differences of the revised cart are:

 

1. A less costly USB chip

2. A USB-micro connector rather than the USB-mini-B connector

3. New SD/microSD slot

4. Smaller board size (reduces production cost)

5. Multiple footprints for ICs (more choices in parts procurement, to shop for the best pricing)

 

For the new cart, the differences most noticeable to you will be the USB micro connector and a push-pull SD slot. Or, if microSD, the card is still push-push, but it inserts label-side up instead of label-side down as before. Also different drivers will be required to plug into a computer. These drivers (if they aren't built into your OS) have only been evaluated on Windows 7 and newer, MacOS Yosemite or newer or Ubuntu 18.04.2 or newer. You may be able to get them to work on older systems but that is not certain.

 

Also, note that there is currently a bug in the Windows version of the Harmony software that might need a workaround on the new cart. The workaround for now is to manually change the COM port in Device Manager. I have submitted an issue on the Harmony Cart software repository about this and it is a simple change. I also submitted a request to build the software as 64-bit, as MacOS Catalina no longer supports 32-bit software. I am hoping by the time the revised Harmony cart is released, this will all be fixed and a new version of the software will be available for download.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 4/1/2020 at 8:51 AM, Emyxox71 said:

Hello last night I made the purchase! I've been thinking about it for a long time! indicatively when will I receive the package in Italy? considering all the mess because of Coronavirus. A big hug! #staysafeathome

Finally after an odyssey of more than 2 months and two expeditions my Harmony Encore has arrived at home! Thanks Batari for everything! I can't wait to try it !!!!

WhatsApp Image 2020-06-16 at 12.10.09.jpeg

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  • 3 months later...
On 6/1/2020 at 8:14 PM, batari said:

I will still offer "classic" Harmony carts while they last, but they are nearly sold out.

Hello Batari, I only now saw your sale and the comments above. It is months later, but I saw the price is still the same and I was wondering if I ordered the Encore (SD or microSD) now would I be getting the classic or the new one? I was hoping for the classic one if at all possible.

Thanks for any help you can give ?

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1 hour ago, Phoenix79 said:

Hello Batari, I only now saw your sale and the comments above. It is months later, but I saw the price is still the same and I was wondering if I ordered the Encore (SD or microSD) now would I be getting the classic or the new one? I was hoping for the classic one if at all possible.

Thanks for any help you can give ?

The new one is functionally equivalent to the classic one. It plays all the same games, has the same amount of memory, etc.

 

The difference is the classic cart uses a push-push SD slot, has a mini-B USB plug and uses the FTDI USB chip. The new one uses a push-pull SD slot, has a micro-USB plug, and uses a WCH USB chip. If you opt for microSD, both carts use push-push slots.

 

Although the push-pull SD slot isn't as nifty as the predecessor's push-push slot, the micro-USB is more useful as cables are somewhat easier to find, and the WCH USB chip is actually twice as fast at programming the board, in my experience, which is nice for game developers.

 

If you want a classic one, you need to get the SD slot (I am out of microSD slots for classic carts, and all supplies have dried up.) I do have a small number of push-push SD slots left, though, so I could build you one if you wanted one. But please, PM me if you want a classic cart, as I am essentially no longer building the classic carts.

 

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Thanks for the clarification. I missed the part in your original post where you said that the microSD card would still be push-push, as that was my primary concern. I prefer the microSD over the SD cart as it is more flush with the case.

I do not have the need to to program on Windows 98 and you are correct, a micro-USB cable would be more convenient if I ever have the need to use it that way. It's great to know that these are the prices going forward.

Thank you so much for all the help you have given the community ?

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I will be getting one next week after I get paid and have almost all of my bills settled, so put me down for an Encore!!!

 

FINALLY I can ditch the Flashback 9 (it won't play ARM games) and use this on both my VCS adapter for my 5200 and also when I get my 7800 as well!!! I had to sell my original Harmony Encore early last year due to being both in debt and unemployed at that time. Boy what a difference having a job makes!!! YES!!! :) 

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  • 3 months later...
On 5/10/2020 at 6:46 AM, batari said:

You can also change your BIOS to PAL, but it is rarely necessary to do so (the BIOS region is for the menu display only, and the colors are the same.) The only difference is the frame rate, and generally, PAL TVs display NTSC frame rates without issues.

on atari 7800 pal the text menu is purple and on atari 2600 ntsc the text menu is green.

 

personally I prefer in purple. :)

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