DavidC Posted December 9, 2021 Share Posted December 9, 2021 Hey folks, I just received a beautiful Atari 600xl with the 64k upgrade and composite video upgrade and I am stoked! I have never used an Atari computer before, I have had TI99/4a since the 80's and a few C64's over the years. I have a SDrive-max coming in the mail, should be here by this weekend if everything works out, fingers crossed. Is there any must read books for the new Atari computer user? What do you guys recommend for essential reading to get comfortable with a new to me machine? I have been reading a little about Turbobasic, seems like a good alternative than regular ATARI BASIC, kinda like how RXB is way better than the TI99's extended basic. I guess I am just reaching out ahead of time to get a clue about the cool stuff available for this machine. Any advise for a new and clueless beginner for the way of Atari is welcome. I am sure i will have follow up questions, thank you in advance. I like learning new things. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+x=usr(1536) Posted December 9, 2021 Share Posted December 9, 2021 1 hour ago, DavidC said: Hey folks, I just received a beautiful Atari 600xl with the 64k upgrade and composite video upgrade and I am stoked! Nice ? Is the 64K upgrade internal, or a 1064? Not that it really matters since they're both functionally-equivalent, but just curious to know. 1 hour ago, DavidC said: I have a SDrive-max coming in the mail, should be here by this weekend if everything works out, fingers crossed. Strongly recommended: a FujiNet. Just get one. It's arguably the most important modern peripheral you can have. 1 hour ago, DavidC said: Is there any must read books for the new Atari computer user? What do you guys recommend for essential reading to get comfortable with a new to me machine? There definitely are books to recommend, but it all boils down to what you want to do with the machine. What's most interesting to you? 1 hour ago, DavidC said: I have been reading a little about Turbobasic, seems like a good alternative than regular ATARI BASIC Turbo BASIC is excellent. There are some compatibility issues between it and Atari BASIC, but they're fairly minimal. In general, Turbo BASIC can run most Atari BASIC programs, but not the other way around as Turbo BASIC uses an extended command set that Atari BASIC just doesn't have. There are other significant differences, but in day-to-day usage they can be worked with / around. My suggestion would be to get familiar with Atari BASIC first since Turbo BASIC is essentially a superset of Atari BASIC. It (meaning Atari BASIC) is also the dialect that 99.9% of BASIC program listings were published in, so if you're going through old magazines looking for BASIC stuff to type in, it's almost certainly going to be for Atari BASIC. One hardware change I would recommend is updating the internal BASIC ROM to Rev. C. If you do a, "? PEEK(43234)" and get a result that isn't 234, swap the ROM out for a Rev. C. The 600XL and 800XL shipped with Rev. B BASIC, which had some significant bugs. More info here. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted December 9, 2021 Share Posted December 9, 2021 Lots of good info in this thread for noobs 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xrbrevin Posted December 9, 2021 Share Posted December 9, 2021 here is a great book resource, for all needs ? http://www.atarimania.com/list_documents_atari-400-800-xl-xe-_8.html 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGB1718 Posted December 9, 2021 Share Posted December 9, 2021 Welcome, nice to have another new user 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted December 9, 2021 Share Posted December 9, 2021 Congrats! Have you run the self test suite? Not the greatest, but will catch any glaring issues, like bad ram. Hopefully all is well. How is the video? I have several 600XL's and the composite is not so hot. You need to be happy with your video. The most practical fix if you're not completely happy is the Ultimate Atari Video (UAV). There are a couple of other links in the above thread that would seem to cover about all the bases. Good luck with your purchase! BTW, the UAV is sold at The Brewing Academy: https://thebrewingacademy.com/collections/atari-800-xl-xe-xel-xld?page=2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrshoujo Posted December 9, 2021 Share Posted December 9, 2021 One thing to do is find online repositories of free PDFs of all vintage Atari computer magazines. Compute!, Antic, Analog (not the Sci-fi magazine), and then there's things like Softside and Family Computing. And there's more. Compute! published a Lot of great books like Mapping the Atari which if you're looking to know the hardware, get the Revised Edition. It will go a long way. There are books to getting you up and programming with BASIC or Assembly. Atari Roots is one for assembly. I don't know if you can find Mac65 on cartridge easily, but it's a good macro assembler. Atari even made their own Assembler / Editor cartridge but Mac65 is the one I recommend. That being said, there are things like the 1MB Ultimate flash cartridge for emulating cartridges like SpartaDOS X which I also recommend. SDX doesn't work with TurboBASIC XL as they use the same shadow RAM under the OS unless you have extended RAM. Then SDX uses an extended bank. If you're just looking for games, cool. Easily found. If you're looking to write software, there's lots of information for that, too. I remember briefly meeting a fellow in Columbus, Ohio who was writing an Integer BASIC for the 8-bit. Maybe he completed it. This was around 1986 or so. I don't even know his name. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manterola Posted December 9, 2021 Share Posted December 9, 2021 Atari Projects – Fun projects for your Atari 8-bit home computers and video game consoles 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeblebrox Posted December 9, 2021 Share Posted December 9, 2021 @DavidC Welcome - good choice - 600XLs are great - with an iconic build, nice compact footprints and quality keyboards, great stock video IMHO (certainly when compared with the XE line), which can easily be enhanced. Like the 800XL they have a convienient top loading cart slot. Great your's has the 64K upgrade already. There are obviously tons of great games from over the decades and especially of late. SDrive max is great and was what I started out with when returning to the Atari scene earlier this year. (Since sold it and got me a SIDE3 cart alongside my U1MB (1MB) upgrade). There are other great cart systems (eg AVG). Fujinet - as has been mentioned - is pretty amazing all told. There is a thread dedicated to it pinned the top of the main forum. There are many game/software repositories out there (Fandal is always good, as is Atarimania) The topics for newbies/returning vets mentioned earlier is a good start for sure. It will also cover some info on some upgrades and accessories. My advice is to spend a good few days (ok weeks....alright months!!) ... just searching AtariAge (hereafter AA). There is a ton of info in these topic threads - old and new. Chances are if you have a question, someone else has asked it several times. Few games and other things to check out: (Prince of Persia (128k only but worth checking it out as an astounding port release this year); Flob is amazing, check out a fantastic 3D FPS recently released: Final assault which actually runs on 64K!). The Last Squadron, (fantastic vertical shooter); Yoomp! (amazing psuedo 3D game); Long running threads like Rastaconverter, (a must to see some amazing pics). and just cause I love em, old fav games like which are a joy to play: Boulderdash Henry's house Blinky's Scary School Lemmings clones: - Brundles (3 x ATR images which you can mount on the Sdrive max) - 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). Atari ST compatible 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 fom anything they are very colourful and fun) Albert (very colourful and fun platformer - with an physical cart release with enhancements planned). This Homebrew thread is always great and kept uptodate: https://atariage.com/forums/topic/315811-atari-8-bit5200-homebrew-games-completedwip-in-2021/?do=findComment&comment=4962446 WIP games including: L'abbaye des morts (aka ADM) - this is looking an amzing port Giana sisters - again looking amazing and a non playable teaser demo available Flimbo's quest (you may be familiar with this if you come from C64 circles) - been in the works for a long time Laser squad (bare in mind you'll see ref to VBXE here and elsewhere given there are two version of this game being developed simultaneously - VBXE is a video enhancement hardware upgrade FYI) Rick Dangerous - Like Flimbo this one has been on the cards for a long time (again there are VXBE and stock versions planned). Not sure if it will ever be completed. "Asteroida - the cause of life's troubles ... that is" - point and click Bubble shooter - looking great. Other games that need higher ram, ergo you won't be able to play on 64K - but worth checking out, (aside the aforementioned Prince of Persia of course), are: Atariblast! - simply gorgeous and very accomplished (and fun) shooter from the legend that is Paul Lay - it really showcases what the Atari can do and importantly plays to it's graphical strengths whilst not being constrained by memory) Space Harrier - amazing port of the arcade coin-op of the same name If you wanna be impressed check this out: (the downloadable demo - when played on a smaller screen - especially an old school CRT - is pretty cool) ProjectM - (and another vid) - (downloadable demo - choose the NTSC ver) - despite being an old tech demo from ten+ years back! Maybe it'll be resumed - and given the recent Final Assault 3D FPS raycasting engine release - who knows). ... and in terms of demo scene stuff there are loads (and here) (Bare in mind you'd need to find ones that run on 64K). The following demo is cool - Drunken Chessboard (it's one of my fav demos and amazingly has a very small footprint (16K I think)) Generally Indieretronews is a nice place to quickly see game release info (usually link back to AA). Defo check out Atarionline.pl too. Also I'd recommend installing Altirra emulator on your modern computer. Despite having the real thing, it does allow you to quickly test and run many things before you decide what to pop on the SDrive max to play on the real thing. Can save a lot of time. However the bonus is you could still play all the games you can't on your 600XL (including those that require more memory or even VXBE) on Altirra because it can emulate extra memory and specialist hardware. It's an amazing piece of software. (Altirra is widely regarded as one of the best, (if not the best) Atari emulators ever released.) Enjoy 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidC Posted December 9, 2021 Author Share Posted December 9, 2021 Wow, thanks for the replies! The 64K upgrade is internal. The computer itself looks like new. I love it. Peek(43234) reulted in 96, so I guess I have rev. B. As far as programming/uses I like screwing around with sprites or I guess player/missle graphics on the atari. Making stupid animations and stuff, nothing to serious. I will check out Fujinet for sure! The self tests all passed just fine, and the video looks great to me on my little Toshiba Flat screet CRT. So, I am cool with that. Thank you for all the links to different resourses, this wil keep me busy for a while! Can't wait for the SDrive to show up, but it should be here just in time for the weekend. This will be fun!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilsaluki Posted December 9, 2021 Share Posted December 9, 2021 As stated before, there are a plethora of upgrades, video out and otherwise. I have been burned, let down by some of these upgrades. I now pretty much leave them stock. Memory upgrades are easiest, but like you the stock video is just fine for what we use these computers for these days, hobbyists. I especially hate to mangle (my word) the original casings...drill holes to fit a switch or video upgrade. So, I just leave 'em be. You'll love the 600XL. It has the best keyboard of all my Atari 8s. Fujinet. I got it. Used it for a bit, now it sits in my drawer. The novelty of logging on a very lightly used BBS has worn off. Printing from it is nice via the .PDF to your PC, but I can do that on my original 9-Pin Dot Matrix far easier, and it sounds cool. Ratta-tat-tat. I know most people here love to mod their system, and the results are great. But, I try to convince most casual users to stay original. Welcome to the show. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mr. Video Posted December 10, 2021 Share Posted December 10, 2021 (edited) 22 hours ago, DavidC said: What do you guys recommend for essential reading to get comfortable with a new to me machine? While there are plenty of resources out there meant to get you up to speed on using an Atari 8-bit, one I can recommend is the Atari XL User's Handbook. It functions as a general guide on how to use Atari XL computers in particular as well other useful topics such as how to program in Atari Basic and how to use DOS 2.0 and DOS 3.0. It also has a handy basic reference guide in the back. As someone stated earlier in this post, Atari Mania has an archive of books as well as manuals and magazines covering the Atari 8-bit computers. Edited December 10, 2021 by The Mr. Video 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+x=usr(1536) Posted December 10, 2021 Share Posted December 10, 2021 Forgot to mention: if you don't want to go the whole hog on a U1MB just yet, I'd recommend checking out the SIDE3 cartridge. This is a great way of loading cartridge images directly from SD card storage, and is an excellent complement to the FujiNet. Speaking a bit more broadly about the FujiNet: in addition to its network capabilities, it also emulates a cassette drive (C:), disk drives (D1: through D8:), printer, serial interface, and more. The advantage of this is that it basically gives you every peripheral you are likely to need right out of the box. It doesn't do cartridges, though, so that's where the SIDE3 comes in. FWIW, SIDE3 functionality is built into the U1MB. However, the U1MB is an internally-installed device (for now). The FujiNet and SIDE3 can be moved between multiple machines should you end up with more in the future, so you've got really good flexibility with them. The U1MB and SIDE3 are priced about the same, so the only question is how much internal hackery you want to do. And, on a purely personal note: I love my old hardware, and I love using my old hardware. But upgrading was always the order of the day back then - start out with a cassette drive, upgrade to a disk drive, add a second one when the need arose, maybe move on to a hard disk. The SIDE3 and FujiNet are really just logical extensions of that upgrade path. By no means am I trying to dissuade you from using actual tapes, floppies, or spinning disks; if that's your thing, then by all means go for it. Hell, I still keep a 1010 and a couple of 1050s functional just in case. But having grown up using those peripherals when they were still current, I'm having a blast seeing what we can do with today's hardware while keeping the feel of the machine genuine. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidC Posted December 10, 2021 Author Share Posted December 10, 2021 Spent some time on Atarimania, what a excellent site! I downloaded enough books to keep me occupied for a while..haha. I do have a original cassette deck, 410, but sadly it does not work. After browsing ebay looking for a tape deck, or a disk drive I was kinda bummed as most were "untested" so I ordered the SDrive instead. I have been playing around with Altirra while I wait for the SDrive to arrive, to get used to using DOS 2.5 and generally figuring out how use the Atari. I am impressed at what this little computer is capable of! My friend in highschool had a Atari 800 and I had the TI-99. I always wanted a Atari, and now 30 some odd years later, I get to relive the times we had just typing in stuff from magazines and playing around. Those were the good old days.. Thanks again for all the tips, and advise. It is very much appreciated. Thank you. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidC Posted December 10, 2021 Author Share Posted December 10, 2021 Ok guys, I have a question about the SDrive-MAX. How do I load disk images on to it? Is it as simple as putting the SD card in my PC and copy/paste the .atr files to the card? I know thats how it works with the FinalGROM for the TI99 , and the Backbit cart for the C64. I hope it is that simple. That would be excellent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted December 10, 2021 Share Posted December 10, 2021 (edited) https://www.vintagecomputercenter.com/product/sdrive-max scroll down to the files section in the above link https://github.com/kbr-net/sdrive-max or read some stuff here.... ^^^ https://atari8bit.net/tutorials/de-re-sdrive-max/ or you could follow along with some tutorials in this last link.. there's more if you use the search box on AA or online search engine as well. Hope that helps Edited December 10, 2021 by _The Doctor__ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidC Posted December 10, 2021 Author Share Posted December 10, 2021 4 minutes ago, _The Doctor__ said: https://www.vintagecomputercenter.com/product/sdrive-max scroll down to the files section in the above link https://github.com/kbr-net/sdrive-max or read some stuff here.... ^^^ https://atari8bit.net/tutorials/de-re-sdrive-max/ or you could follow along with some tutorials in this last link.. there's more if you use the search box on AA or online search engine as well. Hope that helps Yes sir, I did read through all that over the past few days, but nothing mentions putting the files onto the SDrive-MAX's card in the first place. I am hoping it is as simple as copy/paste from my PC to the SD card, then put the SD card back into the MAX to use. I am just trying to get my thought process in order. I would hate to corrupt the files or something if putting the card into my PC somehow messes things up....that has happened to me before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted December 10, 2021 Share Posted December 10, 2021 (edited) https://atariwiki.org/wiki/Wiki.jsp?page=SDrive-MAX a little more info... there are a few ATR's and what not to check out and you can install at the root, but I haven't heard of any issues with using the SD card per usual... save some cards being too large and needing to be formatted fat32 or something like that. so long as your computers OS doesn't have some scan/fix errors on insert or reformat on insert set up you should be fine. I've only heard of that happening maybe once or twice.. or some mention of . dot files causing issues from mac users... though some thread talks of turning that off, removing, or hiding them. Edited December 10, 2021 by _The Doctor__ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidC Posted December 10, 2021 Author Share Posted December 10, 2021 6 minutes ago, _The Doctor__ said: https://atariwiki.org/wiki/Wiki.jsp?page=SDrive-MAX a little more info... there are a few ATR's and what not to check out and you can install at the root, but I haven't heard of any issues with using the SD card per usual... save some cards being too large and needing to be formatted fat32 or something like that. so long as your computers OS doesn't have some scan/fix errors on insert or reformat on insert set up you should be fine. I've only heard of that happening maybe once or twice.. or some mention of . dot files causing issues from mac users... though some thread talks of turning that off, removing, or hiding them. Excellent, Thank you sir! The mailman just dropped off my SDrive-MAX! I have it running one of the demos provided on the card and all seems well. This is so cool. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidC Posted December 10, 2021 Author Share Posted December 10, 2021 Sorry, I couldn't resist. My 600xl running a demo from the SDrive-MAX with my PI 400 for reading .pdf's and browsing AtariAge. Project for the weekend, cable management. Ain't technology grand? 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilsaluki Posted December 10, 2021 Share Posted December 10, 2021 Been dealing with "cable management" for over 35 years. Still tangled.? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Philsan Posted December 11, 2021 Share Posted December 11, 2021 Perhaps you'll find something useful in Topic for newbies. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGB1718 Posted December 11, 2021 Share Posted December 11, 2021 13 hours ago, DavidC said: Project for the weekend, cable management. It'll never happen ? you'll be having too much fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+x=usr(1536) Posted December 11, 2021 Share Posted December 11, 2021 17 hours ago, DavidC said: Ain't technology grand? Nice Grundig G5 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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