_The Doctor__ Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 using the ape loader to handle an xex may require you to press tab key to select a different load address... give it a whirl 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E474 Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 Hi @Beeblebrox, I think you have run dump1050 correctly, so no worries there. It might be a Lazer/US Doubler mod, the switch would be for changing modes from Lazer to US Doubler (do this when the drive is powered down), and you might be in US Doubler mode, and can't get out of it without flipping a (currently non attached) switch (Dump1050 will only work with a Happy or Lazer drive). I'm not sure if there is a (physical) switch that can force a Happy (or Lazer) mod into stock mode, but not being able to format Enhanced (1040) sectors is a bit strange. @Nezgarmight know a bit more on this (I have a vague recollection about reading something along these lines, but I think it was a couple of (fairly turbulent) years ago. Have you tried DOS 2.5, which has options for Format (enhanced)/Format Single. It might also be a SuperArchiver, I think they have a similar 6502+extra Ram, or one of the Speedy mods, so I would search for those ATRs and try them out. Also a 1050 Duplicator. You might have to write the ATRs to a physical disk and boot up with the disk, not via APE, etc. The command table is a list of all the SIO commands a drive supports, and the address in (drive) memory where each command is located. Dump1050 version 1.1 will include more informative messages, but it is on the back burner at the moment. If the drives will read disks they must be in working order, it's just a matter of finding out what the mods actually are, and probably the simplest way is to write out the ATRs to real floppies, and boot them up (probably worth doing with the Happy and Lazer ATRs too, just in case). By the way, can you check the switch that has become detached to see if there is a resistor under the heat shrink? My Lazer/US Doubler drive had a resistor soldered on to the switch, so yours might be the same. Also, finally, does the original seller know more? Hope you get the drives working! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeblebrox Posted October 14, 2021 Author Share Posted October 14, 2021 (edited) 37 minutes ago, E474 said: I think you have run dump1050 correctly, so no worries there. It might be a Lazer/US Doubler mod, the switch would be for changing modes from Lazer to US Doubler (do this when the drive is powered down), and you might be in US Doubler mode, and can't get out of it without flipping a (currently non attached) switch (Dump1050 will only work with a Happy or Lazer drive). I'm not sure if there is a (physical) switch that can force a Happy (or Lazer) mod into stock mode, but not being able to format Enhanced (1040) sectors is a bit strange. @Nezgarmight know a bit more on this (I have a vague recollection about reading something along these lines, but I think it was a couple of (fairly turbulent) years ago. @E474 Thanks for you thoughts. The drive's non connected toggle switch just switches between write modes according to the sticker on the top of the drive: So I don't think there is a US doubler and a Happy or Lazer installed which you switch between. I think the swtich's cables connect near the rear of the 1050's PCB rather than the mod board now. I'll need to revisit it but side tracked with these other related things. Besides I get exactly the same issue/behaviour with my other modded 1050 drive with unknown mod. Quote Have you tried DOS 2.5, which has options for Format (enhanced)/Format Single. I will try and format the disks independantly and report back. Quote It might also be a SuperArchiver, I think they have a similar 6502+extra Ram, or one of the Speedy mods, so I would search for those ATRs and try them out. Also a 1050 Duplicator. You might have to write the ATRs to a physical disk and boot up with the disk, not via APE, etc. Thanks will do that re the Superarchiver and 1050 duplicator ATRs. I came across this FTP resource earlier which has at least one of them. Quote The command table is a list of all the SIO commands a drive supports, and the address in (drive) memory where each command is located. Dump1050 version 1.1 will include more informative messages, but it is on the back burner at the moment. Great, thanks for explaining and good to know there is a new release in the pipeline. Quote If the drives will read disks they must be in working order, it's just a matter of finding out what the mods actually are, and probably the simplest way is to write out the ATRs to real floppies, and boot them up (probably worth doing with the Happy and Lazer ATRs too, just in case). Thanks - I actually did this earlier this afternoon and tried with the real disks - same result. Quote By the way, can you check the switch that has become detached to see if there is a resistor under the heat shrink? My Lazer/US Doubler drive had a resistor soldered on to the switch, so yours might be the same. Also, finally, does the original seller know more? Hope you get the drives working! I'll look re the resistor when I next open up this drive. As for the original seller they really new very little about anything regarding Atari 8-bit's or hardware, etc - so unfortunately that's a no go. Thanks again - I'll update the thread if I discover anything further. Edited October 14, 2021 by Beeblebrox Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E474 Posted October 15, 2021 Share Posted October 15, 2021 Hi @Beeblebrox, Thinking about it a little more, I think it's a Happy clone, and at the moment it's in "normal" mode, which (I think) means it's acting like a stock 1050, though I have no idea why it's having trouble with Enhanced density. I think it's unlikely it's labelled as a Happy, and isn't, unless the lids have been mixed up. Personally I would wire up the switch and see if it makes a difference (toggle the switch with power off though!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeblebrox Posted October 15, 2021 Author Share Posted October 15, 2021 5 hours ago, E474 said: Hi @Beeblebrox, Thinking about it a little more, I think it's a Happy clone, and at the moment it's in "normal" mode, which (I think) means it's acting like a stock 1050, though I have no idea why it's having trouble with Enhanced density. I think it's unlikely it's labelled as a Happy, and isn't, unless the lids have been mixed up. Personally I would wire up the switch and see if it makes a difference (toggle the switch with power off though!). @E474 Thanks although the drive runs much faster at present than my stock 1050 so the mod is enabled. And regarding the wiring I will still need to work out where it goes which is the goal of posting this topic. I'll do some more research and also read a doc another forum member posted as it mentioned several wiring schemes for 1050 switches if I recall and one might work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeblebrox Posted October 15, 2021 Author Share Posted October 15, 2021 (edited) Little more investigative work to report. So one thing that clarifies things a little more with this drive is that on the underside label it has the following: So at some stage this drive had a US Doubler which was removed and then replaced with a Happy revision 7 board, (or rather more likely a Happy clone as people have said given the current board doesn't resemble an official Happy upgrade board). Or perhaps it once had a US Doubler, then real Happy board and then someone replaced the Happy board with a clone? Who knows. I also looked closer and the unknown mod board plugs into the U10 and U9 sockets: I wonder does this tell us anything more given I believe Happy mods only usually plug into a single socket, (the CPU socket), and not two? Also regarding the toggle switch. I had a look at it as well as the zipped 1050 mod documents Larry kindly posted earlier (post #7). As per the label on the top of the drive it states the switch was for Write/normal mode switching - so two states. I take this to be the write enable mod which is an over-ride for the need to notch disks to write to them. In another words with write mode enabled it allows you to write to a disk on both sides without notching it. With it disabled (aka normal) only notched disks would be writeable. If so then Larry's mod instruction docs do include a variation on this (ie they include an LED in the circuit but also the following two mod instructions for write protect mods that gives you up to 3 x modes/states instead of 2. Namely: Always write enable Always protect enable Normal (off) Atari 1050 Write-Protect Switch.docx Add a Write Enable Switch and LED to 1050 Drive.docx So looking at the currently installed switch on my drive and noticed a few things: 1) the toggle switch itself, (A DPDT), is broken (I tried moving it and it is clearly not right) - so I'll need to replace it for a start. I have a spare DPDT On/On switch but I don't believe I can use it as one of the mods uses an on off on DPDT and the other a requires a SPDT switch. 2) there are only 2 wires remaining of what looks like the original 5 of the 6 on the switch still attached to it: 3) looking at the both Word doc mod instructions it talks about the J11 connector at the back left of the drive's PCB and connecting up the mod here: I can't see any evidence that at any stage of this drive's mod that any of the wires have been modified to the J11 connector on the back of the PCB. The included schematic below (I've crossed out the irrelevant content/doesn't correspond with the content of the Word doc): So right now I plan to follow the simpler of the word doc mod instructions, (the Add a write enable switch and LED doc), using a SPDT on-off-on latched switch I'll buy as follows, with the exception that I'll leave out the LED: Add a Write Enable Switch and LED to 1050 Drive 1) Cut J11 – pin 4 at a convenient place. 2) Solder a 30 gage wire from the center of an ON-OFF-ON single pole switch and solder the other end to the cut wire stub that goes to J11 – pin 4. 3) Solder a 30 gage wire from the top pole of the switch and connect it to the remaining stub. This stub goes to the WP sensor. 4) Cut the wire that goes to J11 – pin 3 at a convenient place and solder a wire from the bottom pole of the switch to both ends of the wire that you just cut (making a 3-wire connection). I started reading the other mod doc and I must admit it TOTALLY confused me! I'll update on my progress tmrw. Edited October 15, 2021 by Beeblebrox Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeblebrox Posted October 15, 2021 Author Share Posted October 15, 2021 (edited) Incidentally just to say my other modded 1050 drive which I've mentioned above a few times, I've just this minute managed to confirm as a Lazer drive - I've also managed to dump the rom for that drive and upload it. Details in my other thread here: Edited October 15, 2021 by Beeblebrox Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillC Posted October 15, 2021 Share Posted October 15, 2021 9 hours ago, Beeblebrox said: If so then Larry's mod instruction docs do include a variation on this (ie they include an LED in the circuit but also the following two mod instructions for write protect mods that gives you up to 3 x modes/states instead of 2. Namely: Always write enable Always protect enable Normal (off) There is a simpler method to connect a 3 position write enable/disable switch to the 1050, removing jumper J7 and connecting a SPDTCO switch. I attached a schematic of this mod, including status LEDs, to the following post. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeblebrox Posted October 16, 2021 Author Share Posted October 16, 2021 6 hours ago, BillC said: There is a simpler method to connect a 3 position write enable/disable switch to the 1050, removing jumper J7 and connecting a SPDTCO switch. I attached a schematic of this mod, including status LEDs, to the following post. @BillC thanks for this. I'll have a look. I've actually done the wires for the mod from Larry already yesterday in preparation for the switch coming today so may do the mod you link to in my other drives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillC Posted October 16, 2021 Share Posted October 16, 2021 1 hour ago, Beeblebrox said: @BillC thanks for this. I'll have a look. I've actually done the wires for the mod from Larry already yesterday in preparation for the switch coming today so may do the mod you link to in my other drives. About 35 years ago I did a mod that inserted between the write protect sensor and the 1050 PCB, after I had access to the schematics I saw that the signal that it modified went thru jumper J7. This version removes jumper J7 uses its contacts instead, much simpler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwc Posted October 16, 2021 Share Posted October 16, 2021 (edited) Looks like you were checking the drive with Happy v5.1 software which I think will have been for the 810 disk drive and may not recognise a 1050 Happy. Suggest you try with a later version of the software (v6.6 or higher) just to make sure. Atr images are here. Edited October 16, 2021 by cwc Typos 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwc Posted October 16, 2021 Share Posted October 16, 2021 32 minutes ago, cwc said: Looks like you were checking the drive with Happy v5.1 software which I think will have been for the 810 disk drive and may not recognise a 1050 Happy. Suggest you try with a later version of the software (v6.6 or higher) just to make sure. Atr images are here. Worth also bearing in mind that Happy drives will show as Lazer Drives in the Lazer software so the only way to find out if you've got a Happy (or clone) is to put the drive through its full paces using the Happy Software. To add to the complexity, there was a hacked version of the Happy Software for the Lazer (on @E474's Lazer thread) - so don't use that for testing! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeblebrox Posted October 19, 2021 Author Share Posted October 19, 2021 (edited) Ok, bit of an update regarding this Happy 7 (labelled) drive. Firstly the SPDT switch arrived today so I installed it, hooking it up to the 3 x wires I'd prepared as per Larry's instructions (post #31 above). In the end I got a pack of 10x of em as they were cheap - will prob do one of the other switch suggested although this turned out to be easy and I am not bothered with an LED so I may just stick this method). A bonus was the switch fitted in the existing hole in the drive fascia so all good. I can now write to the other side of disk without notching them which is great. Secondly following tips earlier in this thread (thanks), I downloaded the Happy Warp 7.1 software disks a & b and using APE and Disk Wizard II, I copied them to both sides of a real disk. Ran the software from said disks. It initially confirmed it was a Happy 1050 drive. However I suspect it is a Happy clone as when I tried to access the enhanced functions (option E - Enhancement diagnostic), from the software's menu it threw up an error code and then told me the drive wasn't a Happy drive. It told me to switch off the drive for 10 seconds, power up and reset the software. Then the drive reported as a Happy 1050 again. (Seems to me that indicates it is indeed a clone with only some of the Happy functions). Ah well, still happy with it (no pun intended). Inciodentally I did run the RPM test which came out at 288 which is good. One thing I've noticed this evening using Disk Wizard II sector copier is this. Whilst both copying and writing at 720 single density it copies the sectors at a speed of roughly only slightly faster than 1 sector a second. Yet when booting a copied disk the read speed/SIO sound is many times faster. The other thing I did which I've not done with this particular drive until now is use @E474's Dump1050 software to dump the drives Rom. I had done this before with the other Lazer drive I have and the results were garbage then - as tested by several forum members as I uploaded that rom dump to AA too. So with this drive I dumped it to a real disk as before after writing dos 2.5 files to said disk: .......Then after the confirmed successful rom dump I used Disk Wizard II to copy the real disk containing the rom files to an empty ATR created in APE for Windows. I've included said ATR here but having tried to read the directory from dos and also load the ATR on my 800XL and in Altirra (given it has Dos 2.5 files installed) - it appears to have nothing on it. It boots to Ready prompt. Something isn't right. So I've no idea what is happening given this has occured now for both my modded drives I've attempted to extram Rom dumps from. Happyrom.atr Anyway, for the moment I have a drive that can copy to both sides of a disk and loads disks increadibly fast - so I am happy to move on for now as have other hardware to fix. (Got a stock 1050 which looks like it needs a replacement zero track sensor having watched a tell tale video on the subject. Managed to source one in the UK here just in case anyone is after one). Edited October 19, 2021 by Beeblebrox Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E474 Posted October 19, 2021 Share Posted October 19, 2021 Hi, I have the same error code with running the Happy 7.1 diagnostics with a Happy "clone", so it's probably a Happy clone, not a Lazer, though only way to be sure is with a Rom dump, or see the command table (AFAIK). I have no idea why the DiskWizard copy route isn't working - if you can boot a physical DOS disk, and have an APE drive as D2, I would think it would be simplest to use DOS to format D2: (I think it also creates a fresh directory structure), then write Dos files to D2:, and finally copy over the Rom dump and command table files. Alternatively, you could mount the working dump1050.atr that you've already posted as D2 (in APE), and DOS copy from the physical floppy that already has the Rom files on to D2:. You could even dump directly to the APE mounted ATR from dump1050, provided the ATR was in Dos 2(.5) format (or compatible with whatever Dos you're actually running). Glad to hear it mostly worked out though, I'll have a look at the Happyrom.atr a bit closer to the weekend (hopefully). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sup8pdct Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 Again, the directory is gone as well as the VTOC. Maybe try the dos 2.5 duplicate disk instead. It will copy all used sectors on a dos 2.5 disk. or copy the files as E474 said. Try superdos 5.1 copy disk. it will copy all sectors, or use scopy from spartados construction set. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeblebrox Posted October 20, 2021 Author Share Posted October 20, 2021 43 minutes ago, sup8pdct said: Again, the directory is gone as well as the VTOC. Maybe try the dos 2.5 duplicate disk instead. It will copy all used sectors on a dos 2.5 disk. or copy the files as E474 said. Try superdos 5.1 copy disk. it will copy all sectors, or use scopy from spartados construction set. James @sup8pdct I did use the dup disk option in dos to copy to the real disk d1 to the atr in ape d2 at the time. It didn't work and threw up a 139 error if I recall, so I used disk wizard II instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 just some ideas. Make sure you mount the disk as write-able. Make sure to create and name the blank container/atr/disk first in you sio emulator... possibly pay attention when closing or ejecting the disk... a warning may pop up asking if you want to save the disk etc. say yes. make sure to use a standard divisor when using the non modified drives as well. some sio emulators do not save to the atr in it's slot but rather hold such images in memory so you don't alter the original. You have to set it up so it doesn't do that or tell it to save each time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+kheller2 Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 Are you using a proper DOS 2.5 image to boot from? Just seems odd that the directory structure would be gone.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeblebrox Posted October 21, 2021 Author Share Posted October 21, 2021 6 hours ago, kheller2 said: Are you using a proper DOS 2.5 image to boot from? Just seems odd that the directory structure would be gone.... @kheller2 Hi. Yeah, I boot the dump1050.atr which has DOS 2.5. I use that DOS to then load the dump 1050.exe, etc. I agree it's very weird and has occurred with both of the 1050's I've tried to dump. Tbh I've had to focus on other things for now. Thanks all for help so far. I will revisit the Rom dumping for both drives when I have a mo. ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sup8pdct Posted October 21, 2021 Share Posted October 21, 2021 Just a suggestion, maybe Ape is doing something silly for some reason. Give AspeQt a go. it requires windows but does work well. I did use a registered version of ape for dos a long time ago. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeblebrox Posted October 21, 2021 Author Share Posted October 21, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, sup8pdct said: Just a suggestion, maybe Ape is doing something silly for some reason. Give AspeQt a go. it requires windows but does work well. I did use a registered version of ape for dos a long time ago. James @sup8pdct Sure, maybe so. Although regarding AspeQt (or rather it's current successessor RespeQt) - as per my other thread I couldn't get the latter to work at all with my Atarimax SIO2PC USB module and Windows 10 after many painful days of trying (re: drivers, VCP, etc), hence why I am using APE for Windows trial currently. Generally aside the drive rom dumping issue you already know about and a few other annoyances, (PC mirroring for loading XEXs, the clunky 32bit file heirachy, etc), APE for Windows trial is working ok and is an impressive piece of software. (I mentioned to another forum member the irony of me moaning about a dated 32bit interface... whilst loading near 40 year old 8-bit software heh heh!?) See topic link below - I worked through lots of things with the forum's help as you can see. (For example I didn't actually know for a good while before the post that I had the Atarimax model (as it came pre-installed in my XL), or that they are different from other SIO2PC units. (Generally I knew very little abut SIO2PC interfaces and assumed they were all created off the same tech and used the same drivers, Virtual Com Ports, FTDI drivers, etc, etc): Edited October 21, 2021 by Beeblebrox Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E474 Posted October 21, 2021 Share Posted October 21, 2021 Hi @Beeblebrox, that sounds like a lot of trouble. I put together an interface with the help of a 3D printed SIO plug and a £2-3 logic level shifter from eBay, and a raspberry pi, according to this blog post: https://blog.lmorchard.com/2018/03/01/sio2pi/ I'm using Hiasoft's atariserver software, and it's worked very well. Setting up RespeQT has been on the to do list for a while, but I keep on putting it off. I think Hiasoft also supports the 10502PC cable (or mode, etc.), which looks pretty good for imaging disks to ATR at hi speeds, etc., though I haven't tried it out yet. Probably you're going to want to be happy with the reliability of your setup before archiving your disks! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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