Simulated disk atari xe

[oo7]

So... I am putting together an 8-bit setup that I will be using on the regular again.

 

Ide like to be able to load stuff which in the past would be on floppy.

 

 

What is the best solution?

 

 

is SIO to SD any good?

 

What is used commonly?

 

Looking for user friendly. (most user friendly)

 

 

I will be using this XE as some fun for me and getting my little guy into Atari lol (the little guy is why I want user friendly) he is also why I want this setup, for myself I enjoy Altirra.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gavin1968]

FujiNet is the only way to go, don't waste your time with any other SIO to SD thing out there.

 

[oo7]

47 minutes ago, Gavin1968 said:

FujiNet is the only way to go, don't waste your time with any other SIO to SD thing out there.

 

Will need to learn about fujinet. Been a while since i was hardcare atari. Waking up from a long slumber lol

[xrbrevin]

Fujinet is not so easy to build yourself, it uses many 0402 SMD parts (magnifier spec)

For ease of making, the SDriveMAX is just an arduino, a touchscreen, 5 core wire and an SIO plug - instant emulated disk drives!

or just buy a pre-made one?

[_The Doctor__]

AVG cart w/ sio cord works a treat for most things as well

[oo7]

What will allow me to use xex and atr downloaded by my pc very easy on the atari? I only say very easy as i plan to teach a toddler how to use this. If it was just me i would t care how difficult or easy.

 

will look at sddrivemax and avg cart

[chevymad]

With fujinet, you just download the xex or atr and put it in tnfsroot folder on your pc.. Then select the file on the atari and load it in a slot. Press option and that file boots.

 

 

Also there are online servers that allready have many files. You can select them just as easily. Fujinet will also allow you to go to bbs and will print to your pc as a pdf. 

Edited August 6, 2021 by chevymad

[oo7]

31 minutes ago, chevymad said:

With fujinet, you just download the xex or atr and put it in tnfsroot folder on your pc.. Then select the file on the atari and load it in a slot. Press option and that file boots.

 

 

Also there are online servers that allready have many files. You can select them just as easily. Fujinet will also allow you to go to bbs and will print to your pc as a pdf. 

Might not be for me then. Sounds cool but my current want is to run my xe without my pc. If i want xe with my pc ill use altirra

 

i just want a device to replace having a 1050 drive.

 

 

im starting to think sddrive max if it works how i think.

 

the system will mainly be used for playing the odd cartridge game, sddrivemax for certain software i like that doesnt exist on cartridge and some atari basic, i wonder if i can save bas to sddrive max?

 

unless i do go fujinet. I need to learn how these devices actually work

[darwinmac]

14 minutes ago, oo7 said:

 

i just want a device to replace having a 1050 drive.

 

starting to think sddrive max if it works how i think.

 

Actually, I own an Sdrive Max. You do need a PC or Mac to load the files into the SD card. If you create a blank ATR image file (either on the Sdrive Max itself out using a utility on a Mac or PC), you can save BASIC programs or any other file onto the ATR image once you mount it. 
 

To be fair, you can use Fujinet the exact same way as the Sdrive Max and you have network capability if you want to use it. You don’t have to set up your own TNFS server if you don’t want to do that. It isn’t required to use Fujinet from everything I’ve read. 
 

Bob C 
 

 

Edited August 6, 2021 by darwinmac

[_The Doctor__]

I don't know, I stuck a flash air sd card in my AVG, copied almost everything over to it, and send the latest and greatest to it via wifi, drag and drop or type in to the web page... If you don't have a wifi router etc, the flash air acts as it's own so you can use it for transfers without all that network stuff in your location.

 

If you are looking to copy from a 1050 to the SD cards in any of the devices you will need to be able to name and create the .atr blank disks as a function of whatever device you are using if you plan to keep a PC totally out of the loop though... this requires reading up on each device to see what is best and easiest for you to do. It's a matter of your personal experience and preference at that point

[oo7]

1 minute ago, _The Doctor__ said:

I don't know, I stuck a flash air sd card in my AVG, copied almost everything over to it, and send the latest and greatest to it via wifi, drag and drop or type in to the web page... If you don't have a wifi router etc, the flash air acts as it's own so you can use it for transfers without all that network stuff in your location.

 

If you are looking to copy from a 1050 to the SD cards in any of the devices you will need to be able to name and create the .atr blank disks as a function of whatever device you are using if you plan to keep a PC totally out of the loop though... this requires reading up on each device to see what is best and easiest for you to do. It's a matter of your personal experience and preference at that point

Im just looking for a device i can use like a disk drive but flash based.

 

like i want to be able to save and load basic files without the need for a pc. I want to be able to load the odd atr or xex off of the device and or a flash card. My thoughts might change later, just getting back onto being serious with A8 hardware. Im going to have to read the operation manuals i guess to help me choose.

 

end of the day if i can get a box that plugs into the sio port that lets me load and save off of a sd card and have the ability to run my atari on its own i will be in heaven.

 

i only think this way because currently i already a8 alot on my pc via altirra, i can be pal ntsc and run everything and am very happy with that setup, my xe im going to be working on os out of missing the real thing for some reason (many reasons i guess) currently i know i will be running a 65xe all original no mods on a 20” crt tv with two cx-40s a bunch of cartridges forr games. Now my only thing missing is the ability to save and load my work in atari basic which i plan to do and i want the ability to load the odd atr and xex for things like zybex for example or glenns centipede things i can not wver possibly get depending on just carts. 
 

i may at some point want to bring my basic creations over to my pc if i were to want to upload them or put them in altirra but i was going baby steps for now.

 

its been so long since i used real hardware i need brushing up. My last real rig was 130 xe with 2x happy 1050 a black box and a scsi harddrive. I got alot of catching up to do lol

[oo7]

I guess i need guidance. I will be better in a week or so still waiting for 65xe to arrive. Lets see if she even boots or if im going to be looking for another a8 lol.

 

once i see it running i will be cleaning it up and testing, then immediately i will need to hunt down this modern storage solution.

 

excited as heck but not sure what to get yet.

 

the ability to talk to the pc would be nice but i want it to not have to need a pc is all. My atari is even going in a special spot which will be dedicated to it lol.

 

im not sure why but out of nowhere i got into a mode where i need my atari back.

 

the 65xe was not my choice machine i was after an xl and if it was going to be xe i would of preferred the 130xe but if an sio solution can do what i want ill be happy with the 65xe, i got a good price on it so i pulled the trigger. I look at it as a 800xl missing the pbi which i dont think i will miss this time, i hope

[chevymad]

The fujinet also has an sd card. 

 

You can actually use the atari to copy a file from your pc to the sdcard via wifi as well. So no need to move the card.. just make sure both machines are on at the same time when you do the copying.

Edited August 6, 2021 by chevymad

[Dinadan67]

13 hours ago, oo7 said:

I will be using this XE as some fun for me and getting my little guy into Atari lol (the little guy is why I want user friendly) he is also why I want this setup, for myself I enjoy Altirra.

I think the most simple and easy to use solution for a child to play games on an Atari would be the AVG Cart with SIO cable. It plays not only disk images, but emulate cartridges as well.

 

https://atariage.com/forums/topic/278212-avgcart/

Edited August 6, 2021 by Dinadan67

[xrbrevin]

Has anyone tried to save a file to the SDriveMAX in basic?

Ive done something similar in Aspeqt but not via basic, it was in DOS. I copied files onto a formatted disk image file using my 800XL and Aspeqt allowed me to save the .atr image file to my PC. On rebooting, my files were still there and I could then write them to a real floppy disk on my 1050.

I would assume the process is similar but you end up with the amended .atr file saved onto the SDriveMAX's SDcard

 

[Mr Robot]

There is only one "loads everything" device, that's the AVGCART with its SIO cable addon. 

Fujinet offers a huge amount more than ATR/ATC/XEX/CAS loading with it's network interface and stuff like Printer emulation. 

 

All the other solutions out there are valid but don't stack up feature-wise against those two.

 

If you want to DIY, the SDrive-MAX is probably the easiest device to make for yourself.

[Mclaneinc]

 

For simplicity but great power I'd go for the AVG with SIO lead...Could not be easier..Format an SD card, copy the AVG system files to it, make whatever directories you like for the various game file formats or throw them all in the same dir, up to you. Boot up with the cart and the SIO lead in the SIO port and you get a menu. Find the file you want to load and use either joystick or the keyboard to boot the game..

 

You can mount up to 4 files to look like drives, so for multi disk game it's just a matter of pressing a button on the cart to swap between the 4 drives. Pretty much every cart format will load directly, as will tape files, just as if they were connected to a cassette.

 

There's so much more it can do, but it's so easy out of the box..

 

Make sure to look at Mr Robots excellent tutorial page on https://atari8bit.net/  where he does a tutorial on both the AVG and SD-Max..

[mdivancic]

I’ll add that SIDE3 combined with the Ultimate 1MB upgrade is a great solution. I prefer it over my Fujinet just slightly.  

[oo7]

Im leaning to sdrive max for what I want, possibly avg.

 

with these two solutions i think i can mount a dos atr and save .bas files to them correct?

 

fujinet does seem like the best but my want is something to allow me to most easily load atr and xex files and to be able to work on and save .bas files and possibly be able to take the sd card out and also access the bas files in altirra.

 

 

i wont be printing or going online with the xe. To go online if for some reason i want a8 mode ill do this via altirra which i use all the time. My 65xe will be used as show and tell game a little and timler with basic thats it.

 

 

i saw sdrive mac as a 1050 thought that was cool. Havnt seen it as xf 551

 

still waiting for the 65xe to show up…. Lol according to tracking its one week away. Received the din plugs for power and monitor yesterday. 
 

located in ontario canada where would one order avg or sdrive max?

 

 

Edited August 8, 2021 by oo7

[_The Doctor__]

https://miscretro.com/product/avgcart/

non uk

 

https://retrolemon.co.uk/8-bit-mass-storage-devices/125-avgcart.html

uk

 

https://avgcart.tmp.sk/

manual etc.

 

@tmp

creator, AA contact, etc.

Edited August 8, 2021 by _The Doctor__

[Mr Robot]

13 hours ago, oo7 said:

Im leaning to sdrive max for what I want, possibly avg.

 

with these two solutions i think i can mount a dos atr and save .bas files to them correct?

Yes you can. Both devices can mount a disk in a drive slot and write data to it. 

 

13 hours ago, oo7 said:

 

fujinet does seem like the best but my want is something to allow me to most easily load atr and xex files and to be able to work on and save .bas files and possibly be able to take the sd card out and also access the bas files in altirra.

Again, the fujinet can do this too, create a blank disk image, insert it into a drive slot, use it to write bas files to. 

 

 

13 hours ago, oo7 said:

i saw sdrive mac as a 1050 thought that was cool. Havnt seen it as xf 551

I designed the SDrive-MAX drive cases, you can get an XF-551 version from here. https://therobotfactory.net/shop/3d-prints/sdrive-max-case/ 

If you aren't into making your own (or rehousing one you bought) you can get 1050 and 810 drive versions from VCC which use a modified version of my cases. Gavin never made an XF-551. 

 

13 hours ago, oo7 said:

 

located in ontario canada where would one order avg or sdrive max?

Miscretro is the only place to get an AVGCART outside the UK https://miscretro.com/product/avgcart/ 

In the UK RetroLemon also sell AVGCART https://retrolemon.co.uk/atari-8bit-storage-devices/125-avgcart.html

 

SDrive-Max is widely available everywhere, both the big sellers here, TBA  and VCC sell them, as do many people on eBay.

If you want to build your own, I have a how-to on my site here. https://atari8bit.net/tutorials/de-re-sdrive-max/

 

 

[Mr Robot]

13 hours ago, oo7 said:

my want is something to allow me to most easily load atr and xex files and to be able to work on and save .bas files and possibly be able to take the sd card out and also access the bas files in altirra.

I should clarify something here that I think you might not be understanding. None of these devices will let you write a bas file directly to the SD card. You will have to create a blank disk image (.atr) insert that into a virtual drive slot in the device and write your .bas files to that. The .atr file will be accessible on your computer from the SD card, the .bas file will be inside the .atr file. 

 

You can use Altirra (or other tools) to extract the bas files from the atr file once it's on your computer if you need to. 

 

 

 

[Gavin1968]

On 8/5/2021 at 1:29 PM, xrbrevin said:

Fujinet is not so easy to build yourself

You are correct! I have built a couple by hand, and I am 52 with vision that isn't as good as it used to be.  I use a pick and place when I build them now.  Here is a video series of how they are built:

 

 

[+nasty niff]

side3 with u1mb is a must

[Mr Robot]

9 minutes ago, mistapaul said:

side3 with u1mb is a must

Absolute minimum you need to get Star Raiders running properly.