bfollowell

Thank you. That did it. Mine appeared to be waiting on some Logitech process. As soon as I ended that process, ATRTools started right up.

I had to Google LibreOffice just to see what it was. It is definitely nothing that I have ever had installed. I do have Office 365 Professional installed, but I've never installed or used LibreOffice. Any other ideas?

Thanks for the link AtariGeezer. The only problem now is, it doesn't seem to do anything. If I double-click on it to start it, I get the little busy circle for a little while, then it disappears, but nothing ever happens or starts. If I go to Task Manager, I can see ATR Tools (32 bit) running as a background process, but there's no application open or anything. Anyway, for right now, it doesn't appear to work on my Windows 10 64-bit system. I'll read back through this thread and see if I'm missing something obvious or experiencing a common problem that may have already been answered.

I did put XEX file A onto an ATR image and it loads and runs just fine from my 800XL using the AtariMax SIO2PC-USB. It just appears to be an incompatibility with the AtariMax APELoader program or the locations it uses. I adjust the location to all that are available, but the result was always the same, so I guess it's the APELoader.

Where can I download the full install for ATRTools? I tried the link in the very first message of this thread, but the website it took me to wanted to install something and, nothing personal against the OP, but I don't let unknown websites install unknown crap onto my computer just to download a file from them. From that point on, anytime I click on that link Norton says the website is attempting to launch a malicious attack of some type. Every link after that first one appears to just be various updates, but not the whole install. I'd really like to give it a try, without risking the integrity of my system to do so.

I've just used the XEXs that I've found in the common file repositories that I'm aware of. I have no idea what the original source for these XEXs was. I'd certainly like to try one made from the original disk version, assuming I could locate one.

Yes, I hold the Option key down to disable Basic when loading the APELoader. I have a vanilla U.S. NTSC 800XL with OS Rev. 2, which I believe is by far the most common XL OS for NTSC machines. And, like I said,. I've confirmed this file doesn't work on my system from the APELoader, but it may work just fine from a disk image or some other brand/type loader.

OK, but I'm assuming I would've ran into those same limitations on The!Cart for the same reasons. Basically an 800XL is the same as a 65XE is the same as an XEGS, with very minor differences. Anyway, the limitations will be because of the machine I have, not the cartridge system I choose to buy, correct?

Thank you very much. Yes, for all the searching I've done, I hadn't stumbled across that side-by-side comparison yet. This is exactly what I needed. It looks like the products are fairly closely match for what I plan to use them for. It looks like The!Cart allows access to ATRs and the Ultimate Cart doesn't but I have an SIO2PC-USB and plan to purchase an SIO2SD soon as well, so that doesn't interest me. The Ultimate Cart appears to barely edge out the The!Cart for my purposes, because it can emulate just a few more cartridge types, but just barely. For the money though, I believe I'll probably lean towards the Ultimate Cart, unless someone else posts some compelling evidence that causes The!Cart to edge itself ahead. Honestly, they look extremely close in capabilities and cartridge types emulated and they're almost identical in price, so it really is almost a toss-up. I'll probably look a little closer and try to determine the actual 35 and 38 cartridge types that each emulates and compare them too, before I decide which to purchase. Thanks again for that link!

I think I'd like to purchase a cartridge-based product that I could use to emulate the various ROM/cartridge images I have. The two that I've narrowed down to are The!Cart and the Ultimate Cart. They both seem to do a lot of the same things, but I'm having trouble determining which would be best for my needs. They both seem great and are about the same price, but I'm only going to purchase one, and I want to make the best decision I can. I've looked into the AtariMax cartridge-based products but, as near as I can tell, while they give you access to lots and lots of files through the cartridge port, they don't necessarily emulate the various cartridge types. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on that point. Let me be honest. This is for an Atari 800XL, so most of what I'd be using it for would be to play old Atari 8-bit game cartridges, all the way up through the 128KB bank switching cartridges. However, I'd also like to be able to use images the old Monkey Wrench/Monkey Wrench II cartridge and the various O.S.S. language cartridges like MAC/65, Basic XL/XE, and Action! Would either of these work for what I want? I guess I'd like to here from some owners of these two products. If you could only own one of these, which would it be and why? Thanks.

OK, here's a zip file with the xex files I could find from https://wowroms.com/en/and http://www.atarionline.pl/. I left the filenames as they were. I've labelled them as such: A. Star Raiders II (1987)(Atari)(US) B. Star Raiders II (1987)(Atari)(US)[a] C. Star Raiders II (1987)(Atari)(US)[a1] D. Star Raiders II (1987)(Atari)(US)[a2] E. Star Raiders II (1987)(Atari)(US)[a3] F. Star Raiders II (1987)(Atari)(US)[cr Bit Cruncher] G. Star Raiders II (1987)(Atari)(US)[cr Bit Cruncher][noATR] H. Star Raiders II (1987)(Atari)(US)[cr Flinx] I. Star Raiders II (1987)(Atari)(US)[cr Flinx][a] And here's is how they reacted on my U.S. 800XL using APE and the APELoader. A. Game starts to load. Acts just like H. below, except there is no pirate splash screen. B. Game starts to load. Corrupted graphics scroll through for about five seconds then music starts for a short bit. Can here game playing background, but no graphics. C. Game starts to load. Acts just like H. below, except there is no pirate splash screen. D. Appears to be a renamed copy of H. below. E. Pirate splash screen with instructions. Music starts after pressing Return, but can't see game. Graphics are corrupted. F. Works but has pirate splash screen. G. Stops at splash screen, game never starts. H. Splash screen loads, games tries to start, music starts but graphics are garbled & corrupted, computer locks up about two seconds later. I. Splash screen loads, screen blanks like it's going to start but game never starts, computer locks up at black screen. Star Raiders II.zip

I don't know that I know for certain which version it was. However, most versions I tried failed to work until the Bit Cruncher version. There appeared to be three or four distinctly different versions though, as they behaved and failed differently. I'll look at them again this weekend and then upload two or three of them for you to check out.

It's been a busy work week and making it home late every night, working out, eating, then almost straight to bed doesn't leave a lot of time for updating. First of all, I was able to get the Bit Cruncher xex flashjazzcat mentioned to work with the APELoader, but it has Bit Cruncher's little flash screen at the beginning to boast of his accomplishments in cracking the game. Those were cool way back when I guess, but nowadays, I don't care for those. I like things to look and work like the originals were supposed to, but that's a pet peeve of mine. Still, for now I have a version that works and I can use it. As far as $0700 being a good location, yes, it's a shame that we can't move the APELoader to that spot in memory as it seems to work well for other loaders. Maybe that's something we should mention to Steve and he could possibly make a change in the future. I know he's always busy and, like most of the rest of us with families and real lives, covered up with things to do. Still, if we suggest it, maybe he could add it to his to do list. After researching a little earlier in the week, I think THE!CART or the Ultimate Cart (SD multicart) are the cartridge products that actually emulate the various different types of Atari cartridges. You guys can correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe Steve's AtariMax cartridge products work that way, or at least not to the same degree as these two products. At $100 a pop, I won't be getting both, so I really need to dig a little deeper and determine which is the most versatile and would be best for my needs.

I'm not sure if you wanted a Happy drive or an "original" Happy drive. If I hadn't won this one, I had one for $69 Buy It Now I was going to buy and put an AtariMax Happy Upgrade into it. I checked and it's still available. He confirmed that it was verified to be a working drive. https://www.ebay.com/itm/ATARI-1050-DUAL-DENSITY-DISK-DRIVE-Floppy-w-Original-Box-Cords/153309150550?hash=item23b1effd56:g:i0YAAOSwjlVcGW3S:rk:38:pf:0&LH_BIN=1

Yes, and I just found out that I'm buying it from the original owner. He even shipped his original receipts from 1983 with it too, so I know the pedigree!

Well, I didn't get this one, but I did manage to win an auction for a 1050 with an original Happy mod, including the original disks and the chips that were replaced by the mod. When I get it, I'll pop the cover and give it a good once-over. I'll clean the head and lightly oil the head rails. Hopefully, it will last through me archiving my collection. Almost everything ever released is available as an image nowadays, so once I get my 35-year-old personal stuff archived I'll probably look at selling it. I'll post here before I look into other methods.

I think you're probably right. I think most people say 1979, because that's the copyright year. Of course, Atari would've copyrighted (copywrote?) the name way back before it was actually finished or released. Anyway, I may be wrong, but I think that is why we see a lot of people referring to a 1979 release date.

Yep, I bet that baby will go for more than that. I'll keep an eye on it though. This one had another guy ahead of me by the time I decided to pull the trigger. He's gonna let me know if the deal falls through, but I'm not gonna hold my breath. Next time I'll have to follow my gut and jump a little faster.

Yeah, I just dug my 800XL out of the attic after 25 years of storage and I've been having a blast. I never had a 1050. I had a Rana 1000, but it bit the dust long ago. I have an XF551, but it doesn't really match my XL, and it seems to be getting a little flakey. I've decided I'd like to get a 1050 to match my 800XL and I'll probably install an AtariMax Happy mod so that I can try to read my old DD disks from my Rana days. I could wait a long time and not find a drive as nice and known to be working. I may find a better deal tomorrow, but you just never know. These babies aren't getting any younger and they're not making any more. I think I'm going to tell him I'll take it.

Do you think the power supply would ride well like this? I figure this is how they were shipped 35 years ago, but if you guys think it needs better packaging... And yes, he plans to double-pack it to insure the condition of the original box.

I've decided I want to purchase a 1050 drive and I'm wondering if this is a good price. It's still in the original box with all the original packing materials and the power supply and SIO cable. He acquired it with an 800XL and another 1050. He doesn't need both and just wants to recoup some of his cost. The drive looks extremely clean and the box and packing materials look really good. He's been using both drives and said that they both seem to read perfectly. It's a Singapore drive and he's not certain of the drive mechanism. I know the Hong Kong drives are more preferable, but this one sounds like it's in good working condition, at least for the time being. He's asking $70 and $20 to ship it to me. I rarely see a drive on ebay that I could get for much less than $50 or $60 shipped, and they're almost always untested, as-is, and don't include a power supply or an SIO cable. It seems like a decent price on a working drive, all things considered. What do you guys think? Thanks.

This is the official Star Raiders II, as released, the Last Starfighter reassigned one. I see that I can change the memory location of the loader, in case it's an issue with the program overwriting part of the loader program. I've tried several locations, but haven't had any luck so far. Several of the xex files seem to want to start; the correct music starts playing, but the graphics are all corrupted. Some just have corrupted graphics scrolling all over the screen, with no sound, and lockup after a few seconds. What are some of the modern cartridge solutions you mentioned? I read of THE!CART somewhere. I believe it is from Germany. That sounds like the sort of product you may have been talking about. Thanks for your reply.

I've ran into some game images that I can't run on my real 800XL using my AtariMax SIO2PC-USB. One example is Star Raiders II xex files using the AtariMax Loader. I've checked all the big file repositories, at least 15 different versions (or at least different filenames), and I can't find one that will work. I'm sure I'll eventually be able to come up with an ATR that will work, but I'm wanting to run many of the original ROM images I have. Would those work better from one of the AtariMax cartridge-based products? I guess what I'm asking is, do they just allow you to have access to hundreds of files, or do they actually emulate an Atari cartridge? If they emulate an Atari cartridge, which product would I need? I see Steve has several cartridge-based products available.

I did have to go back to 2013, but I did finally find a couple of older threads confirming this shielding is for the top read/write head. I'll clean off the glue remains and super glue it back into place. Now, if anyone can just confirm where I need to clean with the alcohol and swabs, I'll get the compressed air ready and get some cleaning going and, hopefully, be back in business soon. I'll probably check the solder connections on the SIO connectors while I'm at it and have it apart. Thanks! If anyone comes here looking for help with a similar issue in the future, here are the two older related threads I found as well. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/216223-xf551-repair-success-and-question/ http://atariage.com/forums/topic/219957-xf551-part-question-help/

I've been archiving my old disks using AtariMax's ProSystem and my old XF551 drive. Everything had been going great when the drive just stopped recognizing disk formats, even when I tried disks that I'd already read successfully. I decided to disassemble the drive and clean it. I noticed something rattling around as I took the drive apart. I found a loose piece of thin metal sitting on top of the drive when I took the cover off. It looks like shielding metal. I couldn't see where it might go until I took all the shielding off. Once I did, I saw some sticky pads around the top of the read/write head mechanism that seemed to match the sticky pads on one side of the loose piece of metal, though that seems like an odd place for it. Will anyone with an XF551 please confirm that's where this goes? Also, I've never really manually cleaned the read/write heads of a drive before. Back in the day I always used a cleaning disk kit. This time I plan to use a cotton swab and isopropyl alcohol. I just want to confirm the the white square area showing on the read/write head in the last picture, and the other above it that isn't seen, are the two areas that I need to clean. Thanks.