SIDE 3 preorder

[cwilbar]

On 10/5/2020 at 1:32 PM, MacRorie said:

TBA has them in hand and ready to ship.  (Candy is NOT included, my shipping person **LOVES** it)

 

https://thebrewingacademy.com/collections/atari-800-xl-xe-xel-xld/products/side3

Ordered mine from TBA.  For those stateside who want one, this is the cheaper option until (/if?) international shipping returns to normal.

 

Gladly giving up my portion of the candy for the savings in shipping ?

 

[fenrock]

I think i'm beginning to get the picture.

I believe I can't update the U1Mb from the Side3 because uflash doesn't recognise it (yet)

(I loaded uflash.exe off my FAT sd card, which booted but it doesn't know about side3 so I can't load the U1Mb 3.10 firmware).

I don't have any other devices to load files from at the moment that uflash would be able to read from (only have the 800XL, U1Mb and Side3) so I'll wait patiently on that front.

But xex games are working fine.

[flashjazzcat]

8 minutes ago, fenrock said:

I believe I can't update the U1Mb from the Side3 because uflash doesn't recognise it (yet)

This should work; if you run UFLASH from the SIDE3 loader, the SIDE3 cartridge ROM will be totally disabled and the flashing software should be able to see U1MB. Just tried it here and it detected U1MB fine. Make sure SDX is enabled on the U1MB, though.

 

I'll test this again tomorrow on a machine which doesn't already have the SIDE3-enabled U1MB firmware on it, though. Be sure I'll make sure you can update your U1MB using the new cart.

 

[+MacRorie]

44 minutes ago, cwilbar said:

Ordered mine from TBA.  For those stateside who want one, this is the cheaper option until (/if?) international shipping returns to normal.

 

Gladly giving up my portion of the candy for the savings in shipping ?

 

Indeed!  Yours went into the hands of USPS yesterday!

[fenrock]

39 minutes ago, flashjazzcat said:

This should work; if you run UFLASH from the SIDE3 loader, the SIDE3 cartridge ROM will be totally disabled and the flashing software should be able to see U1MB. Just tried it here and it detected U1MB fine. Make sure SDX is enabled on the U1MB, though.

 

I'll test this again tomorrow on a machine which doesn't already have the SIDE3-enabled U1MB firmware on it, though. Be sure I'll make sure you can update your U1MB using the new cart.

 

yes, it worked this time, I changed a few options in U1Mb (enabled full ram and spartados i think) and this time running uflash immediately took me to the flashing screen with the ST39SF040 at the top, and could also see the roms on the SD card when I selected it to flash.

It's just completed, and I've boot into latest firmware from your site.

Cheers!

[+Firedawg]

Thanks to Marlin and The Brewing Academy for the fast shipping, fine packaging, and nicely printed color catalog.  I'm 3D printing the XE case for the FujiNet at the moment.  Now to get down to some exploring;)

 

 

[+Stephen]

Wow - I pre-order a few minutes after the announcement is made and I don't even have a shipping notice yet, while half a dozen people are already using their device.

[Roydea6]

4 hours ago, fenrock said:

2. partition the sd card and copy on files - only xex will work at the moment

I have put in several directories of ROM files 8k thru 128k.  And then played (Side3 mode only) Rescue on Fractilus 64k rom.

 

[+DrVenkman]

2 minutes ago, Roydea6 said:

I have put in several directories of ROM files 8k thru 128k.  And then played (Side3 mode only) Rescue on Fractilus 64k rom.

 

Yeah, if you have the cart in SIDE Loader mode; you turn off SDX in the U1MB BIOS; and follow Jon's earlier advice to also turn off HDD access as well, when you boot the Atari, the SIDE Loader in the cartridge will come up. From there you can run cartridge ROM files. Press the ATR button on the SIDE3 cart and then SYSTEM RESET. the SIDE Loader menu will load again and you can choose another file to load.

[TGB1718]

11 hours ago, Stephen said:

Wow - I pre-order a few minutes after the announcement is made and I don't even have a shipping notice yet, while half a dozen people are already using their device.

I don't know, but maybe he's shipped in surname alphabetical order, my surname starts with a 'B' and I have mine (just a theory until proven wrong)  :0

 

[+Stephen]

1 hour ago, TGB1718 said:

I don't know, but maybe he's shipped in surname alphabetical order, my surname starts with a 'B' and I have mine (just a theory until proven wrong)  :0

 

Nah - there was an issue with the shipping I chose (picked a super expensive version) which took a while to get sorted.  Lotharek was kind enough to fix it.  Anyhow - didn't mean to sound like a crybaby in the post - it was meant in jest.  I feel like the dork on the playground watching from the sidelines while all the cool kids are playing with their shiny toys

[+orpheuswaking]

59 minutes ago, Stephen said:

Nah - there was an issue with the shipping I chose (picked a super expensive version) which took a while to get sorted.  Lotharek was kind enough to fix it.  Anyhow - didn't mean to sound like a crybaby in the post - it was meant in jest.  I feel like the dork on the playground watching from the sidelines while all the cool kids are playing with their shiny toys

Hey at least you have one coming I have my money tied up in other projects and will have to wait. 

[elmer]

On 10/7/2020 at 11:52 AM, DrVenkman said:

As noted earlier, I have already filed away enough material on my 1200XL cartridge tunnel to let it fit (albeit tightly). However, this is kind of annoying; even with the tunnel filed, the cartridge connector housing itself is very tight.

 

I am definitely interested in the capabilities of the SIDE3, but there is absolutely no way that I would take a file to my beautiful 1200XL just to use one, nor am I willing to use just a bare-board.

 

I am possibly in the minority here, but I guess that I'll just have to wait and see if there is a future revision to the board and/or cartride shell so that it fits.

[flashjazzcat]

20 minutes ago, elmer said:

I am definitely interested in the capabilities of the SIDE3, but there is absolutely no way that I would take a file to my beautiful 1200XL just to use one, nor am I willing to use just a bare-board.

The take-away here appears to be that it DOES fit; you just have to push hard. Can't confirm one way or another yet. I have four 1200XLs but no cased SIDE3 as yet.

 

[+DrVenkman]

2 minutes ago, flashjazzcat said:

The take-away here appears to be that it DOES fit; you just have to push hard. Can't confirm one way or another yet. I have four 1200XLs but no cased SIDE3 as yet.

 

Jon is right but ... as I said, I’d already done some of the necessary filing for use with my SIDE2 cart about 5 years ago, so another half-millimeter or so on either side is not a big deal. Fitting the cased board to an unmodified 1200XL cart tunnel will be challenging. This particular machine is my special project Ugly Duckling that I brought back from the dead and restored 3 years ago. A little filing on the cart tunnel is about the least intrusive thing I have had to do to it if you consider what I had to do to bring it back to life (replace three corroded 40-pin DIP sockets, replace the ANTIC, GTIA and SALLY, replace a broken joystick connector, etc). Besides, I have two other 1200XLs already, including one that is totally stock. Neither of those has had any changes or mods to the cart tunnel.  And on that note, if no one beats me to it, after work tonight I’ll try the SIDE3 in one of those others.

 

But more generally about modifying the cart tunnel - the filing is all on the inside and entirely invisible from the front or top, and even from the side you’d have to know exactly where to look, assuming the SIDE3 isn’t inserted. Further, talk to some poor 7800 owners who have had to modify their cart connector guides for 35 years to get any Imagic cart to fit into their consoles.

[flashjazzcat]

Well, since narrowing the SIDE3 shell to fit the 1200XL was my idea, and since the suggested reduction in width was based on personal experience of sanding down SIDE2 casings to fit 1200XLs, it is tempting to walk into the sea. However, I thought I'd measure the cart tunnel on a 1200XL randomly pulled out of the cupboard first:

So it would appear there is some variation in the width of 1200XL cartridge tunnels, and - to everyone's surprise - Herb is suffering from a severely restricted slot.

 

At least my guestimate was based in reality. Nevertheless, I'd like to see some wider research carried out in future with stuff like this, since it's clear some people are going to be disappointed. My advice: measure the slot on your own 1200XL. We know - thanks to Herb's measurements - that the SIDE3 casing is 65.5mm wide at its broadest point, and 64mm wide at its narrowest point, so if your 1200XL has a cartridge slot the same as the one I have just measured, you should have no problems at all.  For the rest: I can only suggest the lubricants I mentioned in prior posts.

Edited October 8, 2020 by flashjazzcat
Apathy

[leech]

Got my SIDE3 today, and of course I ordered it from TBA a day after I ordered my FujiNets.  SIDE3 was shipped UPS and got here already, FujiNets were shipped via USPS, and it shows them as having not even left the state yet...

 

@flashjazzcat I have two 1200xls here.  Not sure if I've ever tried the SIDE2 in them (I thought I had in at least one), I'll test out both the 2 and 3 in each of them and report back.  The cart tunnels didn't seem particularly narrow to me though.

[flashjazzcat]

6 minutes ago, leech said:

I have two 1200xls here.

It would be interesting (if somewhat specialist interest) to get a cross-section of how many machines have the narrower and wider cartridge connector housings. I cannot imagine there being any variation in the outer plastic funnel.

[MaPa]

On 10/7/2020 at 6:55 PM, DrVenkman said:

Unfortunately, I have only the one SIDE2 cart, and its shell has been sanded down. Right now, at its widest part, it is 65mm wide, almost exactly.

 

But you photo shows width something like 68.4 mm

 

Edited October 8, 2020 by MaPa

[+MrFish]

2 hours ago, elmer said:

...but there is absolutely no way that I would take a file to my beautiful 1200XL just to use one...

 

File the cartridge down.

 

[Marius]

Once I had a pretty 1200xl but in my crystal ball I saw future problems with side3 so I donated my near mint 1200xl to my dearest friend.

 

Case closed for me

[flashjazzcat]

10 minutes ago, MaPa said:

But you photo shows width something like 68.4 mm

 

By that metric (which I never noticed, I must admit), Herb's cart slot is about the same width as mine, and his SIDE3 shell is the same width as a SIDE2.

 

If so, I fucking give up.

 

[+DrVenkman]

14 minutes ago, MaPa said:

But you photo shows width something like 68.4 mm

 

Um, no. Someone doesn’t know how to read an analog caliper.  

 

 

[MaPa]

 

[+DrVenkman]

See the photo of the machine rule above. 

 

The bottom line is, the SIDE3 shell - like the SIDE2 before it - is too wide to fit easily through the 1200XL cartridge tunnel and, at least in the case of my usual 1200XL, the 90-degree angle cartridge connector guide.