SIDE3 not working on one 800XL

[scelbi8h]

Today I got my SIDE3 and Incognito boards from Lotharek. I'll probably install the Incognito on my 800 next weekend

 

I purchased the SIDE3 to upgrade my 800XL with U1MB from the SIDE2, but it won't work on this computer. When I turn on the machine, the cartridge LED lights for a fraction of a second and then nothing. The 800XL will act like if there's no cartridge at all, showing the "No device" message when starting the Loader. 

 

I tried to look for an answer to this question on the forum, and I saw some people mention that replacing the 74LS08 with a modern 74F08 would fix the issue. But I think they are talking about the 1200XL, so I don't know if that can be applied to the 800XL.

 

This SIDE3 works ok on my 600XL with 64KB RAM, so the cartridge is OK. 

 

Any idea?

Edited December 4, 2021 by scelbi8h

[flashjazzcat]

16 minutes ago, scelbi8h said:

I tried to look for an answer to this question on the forum, and I saw some people mention that replacing the 74LS08 with a modern 74F08 would fix the issue. But I think they are talking about the 1200XL, so I don't know if that can be applied to the 800XL.

That fix is generally required on XEs (for some reason), but it's something you can also try on any XL which has a problem.

[scelbi8h]

17 minutes ago, flashjazzcat said:

That fix is generally required on XEs (for some reason), but it's something you can also try on any XL which has a problem.

I will replace it then, thanks 

 

I think I'm going to replace the PSU too - I read the original one could get bad after so many years and become a danger to the computer. From the Fujinet configuration I see it reads 4.792V on the SIO port, which looks low to me. On the 600XL with the SIDE3 and Fujinet I get 4.926V.

 

Well, before @flashjazzcat replied, I already ordered some 74F08s, just in case. Meanwhile, the 800XL will need to be used with the SIDE2.

 

I'll let you all know if the issue is fixed

Edited December 4, 2021 by scelbi8h

[flashjazzcat]

PSU can be a factor too, by the looks of things. Something modern like Lotharek's 3A 5V 'Meanwell' PSU is a good choice.

 

[scelbi8h]

12 minutes ago, flashjazzcat said:

PSU can be a factor too, by the looks of things. Something modern like Lotharek's 3A 5V 'Meanwell' PSU is a good choice.

 

I was thinking about adapting an oficial Raspberry Pi PSU, 5V 2.5V. But for the price Lotharek is selling his PSUs, I think it's not worth the effort. I'm going to order one.

 

About the SIDE3 on the 800XL, it's not really acting like if the cart wasn't connected. When it is plugged, I can't move around the options very well. I need many keypresses to jump from one to another, so the cartridge is doing something to the computer. 

[Beeblebrox]

@scelbi8h  Yup, 74F08's are dirt cheap. I bought a batch of 10 in the Summer for a few XE machines I was troubleshooting. F4F08s defo helped.  I have replaced the 74LS08s in two XLs whilst I was doing other work to them just to be sure.

 

Incidentally are you running the latest Firmwares for U1MB and SIDE3 and have you flashed the SIDE3 plugin on the U1MB? Perhaps drop a few pics of the screens if you like.

 

Here are screen shots of mine for both:

    

 

Re PSUs I use USB 5V PSUs:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/324365010703

 

 

Edited December 4, 2021 by Beeblebrox

[flashjazzcat]

7 hours ago, Beeblebrox said:

Incidentally are you running the latest Firmwares for U1MB and SIDE3 and have you flashed the SIDE3 plugin on the U1MB?

Very good call. Missed that, but it would explain the problem. I bet the loader showing 'no device' and acting slow is the SIDE loader, ran in error, not the SIDE3 loader.

[scelbi8h]

1 hour ago, flashjazzcat said:

Very good call. Missed that, but it would explain the problem. I bet the loader showing 'no device' and acting slow is the SIDE loader, ran in error, not the SIDE3 loader.

That was indeed the case! It's the SIDE loader the only one I saw on the screen.

 

9 hours ago, Beeblebrox said:

@scelbi8h Incidentally are you running the latest Firmwares for U1MB and SIDE3 and have you flashed the SIDE3 plugin on the U1MB? Perhaps drop a few pics of the screens if you like.

I was running the last firmwares on all the 3 devices I have (SIDE2, SIDE3, U1MB), but on the plugins readme file said the VXS2STCO was applied, so I understand now why it didn't support the SIDE3. I installed the firmware U1MBS3FW.ROM again and now everything works great

 

Well, I already spent the money on the PSU and 74F08s, but that's ok, it's good to have them all.

 

Thank you guys!

Edited December 5, 2021 by scelbi8h

[Beeblebrox]

@scelbi8h  That's great!   We tbh it's always worth having a decent modern PSU so you've not wasted your money. And hopefully the 74F08's didn't break the bank. 

 

You may aleady have done so or have this planned but I'd hightly recommend doing the following to have a bit of fun now you have the U1MB and SIDE3:

 

• Enable the PBI HDD in the U1MB settings
• Partition the SDcard so it has APT and FAT32 partitions. (Details on FJC's website and his Youtube channels). Currently both partitions will be accessable in the SIDE3 loader, and when in SpartadosX you can also save to the APT partition or run things like the excellent The Last word word processor and save to the latter. 
• Enable "remember last file" in the SIDE3 settings. This is IMHO the best as you always know the last file you opened and for PDMs and Rastsaconverter images it's great, saves you having to advance through directories each time. There are other options as well like remember last directory, also useful.
• Read up on the keyboard shortcuts for the SIDE3 loader and use the search facility - it's quick and saves you time. (on FJC's website)
• Load some PDM music files onto the SDcard - if you have good powered speakers or even better Stereo enhancements on the A8, crank up that volume. One of my recent Fujiconvert tunes is the stereo title soundtrack, ("TANK"), to Cowboy Bebop and it's played quite a bit in my house!   Use the left and right arrows to "jog on", and space to pause. 
• Create your own PDMs with the amazing Fujiconvert. (Convert mono tunes if you don't have stereo capability)
• IMHO without a doubt load some Rastaconverted images onto the SDcard - seeing these on your A8, especially XLs, is pretty cool. Great thing is XEX Rastacoverter files load up for viewing from the SIDE3 loader, then at the press of the joystick button or the escape key it drops you right back to the SIDE loader.  Here are some of my earlier conversions but this thread has been going for near 10 years and there are 1000s of excellent conversions downloadable. It's one of my fav threads. (Case in point - I love this image from Gunstar)

Load the following games onto the SDcard:

 

Albert - great fun and amazing graphics - and an enhanced version on cart is on the cards

Final Assault - astounding achievement, 3D raycasting FPS

Atariblast! (uses the U1MB's extra mem) - Car file version - trust me - amazing game

Prince of Persia  (I run the Car file version of the game. Loads within seconds) - This one needs no introduction - amazing achievement and is fantastic to play.

Flob (IMHO one of the best games on A8  and an amazing achievement with fantastic playability, etc. Incredibly addictive and new updates from the creator coming out fairly regularly - also takes advantage of stereo).

Space Harrier (uses the U1MB's extra mem) 

The Brundles - excellent Lemmings clone (which you can mount all 3 x ATRs into memory thanks to U1MB and loads really quickly from SDcard) - space bar when it first starts to load gets you into config where you can set things including mouse control. (mouse in jotstick port2)

 

and just cause I love em:

Henry's house 

Blinky's Scary School

Tommingi (great Lemmings clone with mouse support (albeit 7 levels) (here is a fantastic version recently tweaked by Mrfish with some colour and other aesthetic enhancements). Mouse in joystick port2. This for me is the closest to the Lemmings experience with truely excellent animation as a bonus. (Although still love Brundles).

Dimo's games (cause aside rfom anything they are very colourful and fun) 

 

... and the following demos:

* = utilizes the extra ram)

 

Drunken Chessboard (included this one because it's one of my fav demos and amazingly has a very small footprint (16K I think))

NEAR*

Bad apple *

Cyberpunk *

Numen *

Pacem in Terris *

 

There are loads more I could link to but the above are really good showcasers.......and most importantly great fun.

 

Finally, (and I think I've mentioned this before but what the hell! )-  a new BETA firmware for the SIDE3 loader is on the cards courtesy of FJC who is working on it as we speak which has some fantastic new functions, etc. (FATFMS is a biggy). A little more teaser info on FJC's main thread.

 

Good luck with the Incognito install in the 800 next weekend.

Edited December 5, 2021 by Beeblebrox

[scelbi8h]

12 hours ago, Beeblebrox said:

@scelbi8h  That's great!   We tbh it's always worth having a decent modern PSU so you've not wasted your money. And hopefully the 74F08's didn't break the bank. 

 

You may aleady have done so or have this planned but I'd hightly recommend doing the following to have a bit of fun now you have the U1MB and SIDE3:

 

• Enable the PBI HDD in the U1MB settings
• Partition the SDcard so it has APT and FAT32 partitions. (Details on FJC's website and his Youtube channels). Currently both partitions will be accessable in the SIDE3 loader, and when in SpartadosX you can also save to the APT partition or run things like the excellent The Last word word processor and save to the latter. 
• Enable "remember last file" in the SIDE3 settings. This is IMHO the best as you always know the last file you opened and for PDMs and Rastsaconverter images it's great, saves you having to advance through directories each time. There are other options as well like remember last directory, also useful.
• Read up on the keyboard shortcuts for the SIDE3 loader and use the search facility - it's quick and saves you time. (on FJC's website)
• Load some PDM music files onto the SDcard - if you have good powered speakers or even better Stereo enhancements on the A8, crank up that volume. One of my recent Fujiconvert tunes is the stereo title soundtrack, ("TANK"), to Cowboy Bebop and it's played quite a bit in my house!   Use the left and right arrows to "jog on", and space to pause. 
• Create your own PDMs with the amazing Fujiconvert. (Convert mono tunes if you don't have stereo capability)
• IMHO without a doubt load some Rastaconverted images onto the SDcard - seeing these on your A8, especially XLs, is pretty cool. Great thing is XEX Rastacoverter files load up for viewing from the SIDE3 loader, then at the press of the joystick button or the escape key it drops you right back to the SIDE loader.  Here are some of my earlier conversions but this thread has been going for near 10 years and there are 1000s of excellent conversions downloadable. It's one of my fav threads. (Case in point - I love this image from Gunstar)

Load the following games onto the SDcard:

 

Albert - great fun and amazing graphics - and an enhanced version on cart is on the cards

Final Assault - astounding achievement, 3D raycasting FPS

Atariblast! (uses the U1MB's extra mem) - Car file version - trust me - amazing game

Prince of Persia  (I run the Car file version of the game. Loads within seconds) - This one needs no introduction - amazing achievement and is fantastic to play.

Flob (IMHO one of the best games on A8  and an amazing achievement with fantastic playability, etc. Incredibly addictive and new updates from the creator coming out fairly regularly - also takes advantage of stereo).

Space Harrier (uses the U1MB's extra mem) 

The Brundles - excellent Lemmings clone (which you can mount all 3 x ATRs into memory thanks to U1MB and loads really quickly from SDcard) - space bar when it first starts to load gets you into config where you can set things including mouse control. (mouse in jotstick port2)

 

and just cause I love em:

Henry's house 

Blinky's Scary School

Tommingi (great Lemmings clone with mouse support (albeit 7 levels) (here is a fantastic version recently tweaked by Mrfish with some colour and other aesthetic enhancements). Mouse in joystick port2. This for me is the closest to the Lemmings experience with truely excellent animation as a bonus. (Although still love Brundles).

Dimo's games (cause aside rfom anything they are very colourful and fun) 

 

... and the following demos:

* = utilizes the extra ram)

 

Drunken Chessboard (included this one because it's one of my fav demos and amazingly has a very small footprint (16K I think))

NEAR*

Bad apple *

Cyberpunk *

Numen *

Pacem in Terris *

 

There are loads more I could link to but the above are really good showcasers.......and most importantly great fun.

 

Finally, (and I think I've mentioned this before but what the hell! )-  a new BETA firmware for the SIDE3 loader is on the cards courtesy of FJC who is working on it as we speak which has some fantastic new functions, etc. (FATFMS is a biggy). A little more teaser info on FJC's main thread.

 

Good luck with the Incognito install in the 800 next weekend.

Thanks! I'm going to check all these games, minus POP (already completed this game!)

 

I still need to learn all the hard disk and PBI stuff. Depending on the settings, sometimes the ATR images I mount either work or not, and I don't really get why this happens. About the partition stuff, I did the same thing as FlashJazzCat on the videos, but I can't access the FAT32 partition from the Atari and the card will do weird things on the PC when inserted. I did that with the SIDE2, maybe I need to try it again with the SIDE3. 

 

When you say "Enable "remember last file" in the SIDE3 settings", what do you mean? I just see "Item", "Folder" and another one I don't remember right now on the "remember" setting. I suppose you mean the "Item" one, right?

 

I still have lots to learn about the Atari computers!