hunmanik

05:14'70

Got it, thanks!

Broken link now, is it available somewhere else, or could someone re-post the file here? Thanks!

The vt850b1.arc file as posted was indeed how it was distributed. For instance, it remains available at: http://umich.edu/~archive/atari/8bit/Telecomm/Terminals/vt850b1.arc I believe for paying the shareware fee I received both the full docs and also this disk. The disk is a standard DOS 2.0S disk, with the same set of files as contained in the .arc distribution: * DOS SYS 039 * DUP SYS 042 * VT850B1 DOC 049 * VT850B1 NOH 098 * VT850B1 COM 101 * VT850B1 XEP 115 * README DOC 005 258 FREE SECTORS

To answer one of my earlier questions, based on the intro to the Rev D version I now believe the Byrd upgrade was first published in the July 1985 S.N.A.C.C Newsletter (Southern Nevada Atari Computer Club).

Found, scanned & posted the Byrd install documentation - 1987 Rev D version.

Atari 800 Plus 256K, project by David G. Byrd Rev D - Jan 1987 - for Ad Astra Ver 1.6, January/February 1987 Byrd 800 Plus 256K Rev D 1987.pdf

VT-850 Documentation for Rev B1.pdf

Appears to me to be the software for the Atari Coin Executive (ACE). http://www.atarimania.com/documents/atari-coin-executive.pdf

Thanks! https://mcurrent.name/atari-8-bit/faq.txt is indeed always the very latest latest posted version. There is only a brief delay between when I post a new edition and when nicely-formatted, content-identical versions of it appear at http://www.atari800xl.eu/ .

I don't believe DOS II came out until summer 1981, but the DOS II FMS was completed 19-Aug-80 according to the source code. I had narrowed the Assembler Editor ship date to Summer or Fall 1980. Probably more like fall 1980 based on this contingency on DOS II already being completed that you point out.

These same ads had previously appeared on pp. 54-55 of Merchandising, vol. 4, no. 1, January 1979.

Possibility that occurs to me: Maybe this is one of the rather rare late-production 800 units made in Hong Kong. The serial number sticker on the bottom will tell!

Purchased on eBay 10 Oct, arrived today 22 Dec, so about 75 days of shipping. Slightly damaged en route, but not a problem for me. Production quality looks great, looking forward to reading it through!

Off track again for this thread, but for @Kr0tki and that Wiki discussion you were part of: two more very good sources supporting the point that Whitehead was not part of the 400/800 OS development team according to Al Miller in 1997: https://archive.org/details/StellaAt20/Stella+at+20+-+tape+21+-+Discussion+at+Nolan+Bushnell's+estate+-+Activision.mp4 at about 25:55 and especially https://archive.org/details/StellaAt20/Stella+at+20+-+tape+08+-+David+Crane%2C+Al+Miller.mp4 starting at about 4:20. Here Miller goes on to say, several times if you keep listening, that Miller/Kaplan/Crane were assigned to work on the OS while Whitehead kept working on VCS carts. Which seems to contradict the idea that Whitehead worked directly on the 400/800 chess cart. Someone around here may have to pay to get to that Whitehead interview by Kevin Bunch...

(Somehow I missed this thread at the time.) So where did that picture of CXL4001 BASIC and CXL4002 Basketball carts come from? I went looking for it. Instead I found another: https://archive.org/details/Atari800OperatorsManualFirstVersion1979/page/n6/mode/1up I believe we learned from the Antic podcast interview with Liza Loop, who wrote that version of the 800 manual, that this pre-release version of the manual was made for the January 1979 CES. So that could help put an apparent timeframe on the found "video chess" CXL4003 computer cartridge. I had forgotten, this version of the 800 manual stated that the 800 would come with the BASIC and Basketball carts. It sure seems like the first three carts originally planned for the 400/800 were 1) BASIC, 2) Basketball, and 3) Chess, before plans changed and the numbering system was re-started. Lastly, I found this thread seeking to verify the author of Computer Chess (400/800 version). Some web sources credit Wagner and Whitehead, same as the 2600 cart. Maybe?

Yes please scan/preserve what you have there, would be widely appreciated!

"1983-1984 Researcher, Atari Labs" http://www.jaronlanier.com/general.html

I see in the 810 FSM there is this spec: Pad Pressure = 17 Grams. Would this be the pressure exerted by the heads? I don't see a comparable spec in the 1050 FSM. But if this is the relevant spec, maybe it is a bit different/more for the XF551? My experience with Blue Max disks on my XF551 was just like the op described with Wayout - the drive seemed to literally scrape the media off of the disk, creating a narrow ring where you could see right through the disk. The result was identical (same location on the disks) with two Blue Max disks that were both fine when used on an 810 but ruined by the XF551, but the XF551 never did that to any other disk. I have seen scattered reports of similar experiences with the XF551 over the years, so that's why I suspect it's a result of something different about the XF551 compared to other Atari drives, even if the pre-existing condition/quality of certain disks is the bigger factor.

Compare to the "Dixons Exclusive" pack.

What were the other titles that were damaged? I have this short list of disks that the XF551 has been known to damage in the way you describe, supposedly due to the XF551 spinning at 300 rpm (not that this reasoning makes sense to me!): - Flight Simulator II (subLOGIC) - Blue Max (Synapse) (I have personally destroyed multiple Blue Max disks with the XF551 drive! -mc) - Bank Street Writer (Broderbund). Conflicting reports about this one. - Boulder Dash II (Databyte release?) - Inside (Spektra, 1990?--original Polish version?)

I found another picture of that device. source: https://retrogames.cl/foro/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2549#p24086

https://archive.org/details/AtariNewProductSlicks1983

Regarding "OS 255" there's also: https://mcurrent.name/os255/410insert-os255.htm https://mcurrent.name/os255/softside.htm

FAQ will be updated..