Nezgar
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Posts posted by Nezgar
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16 minutes ago, dzzy1982 said:
What I was getting at was that if you are emulating an archiver in respeqt as D1 and you have a real archiver daisy chained as D2, you should be able to backup and restore perfect 1:1 copies of ATX originals, yes?
In theory... but a quick glance at the RespeQt sources, I'm not sure how complete the support is. Regardless, there are a number of protection types supported by ATX images that CHIP/Archiver can't reproduce even with real hardware.
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@_The Doctor__ For drive numbers not served by RespeQt, it will log commands it sees on the SIO bus directed to other drives / devices.
It is of side interest here that RespeQt also has the ability of emulating behaviour of a chip/archiver itself.
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3 minutes ago, _The Doctor__ said:
https://github.com/RespeQt/RespeQt
the read.me on this page has a list of supported drive upgrades and their improvements
Nice find. But all it mentions is this:
* Chip 810 and Super Archiver 1050 emulation to read/write real floppy disks from/to images.
So I wonder what open code it expects - maybe the "standard" code used in the 1050 super archiver: ABCD
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40 minutes ago, dzzy1982 said:
What functionality as far as RespeQt is concerned is supported? It seems that RespeQt recognizes the drive and the MOD. I can't find any mention of this in the limited RespeQt documentation that I have found online.
I'm guessing probably none -- the logging has probably just been updated to output a bit more verbose logging about certain commands it "sniffs" from the wire.
But partial happy specific emulation has been incorporated, so I could very well be wrong...
Edit: indeed I am wrong. ?
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I still don't know what an "Original" CHIP looks like, that's interesting it has a label - I wonder if that's original, or a creation of a resourceful pirate. That 2139 would be the open code. Supposedly each original CHIP sold had a unique code to help against detection by software.
2139 doesn't match the 5 open codes I've come across in the wild up to this point, so it is at least new/unique amongst known ROM dumps up until now. It is a 2732 (4KB) EPROM. Do you have any means to dump/read out the ROM? It would be nice to compare the ROM against other known dumps.
Review this other recent thread which has other interesting reading, and links to software you can try:
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Cut off the DIN cord from the brick to keep, and throw out the rest. The old wire with the DIN connector is good to attach to a modern 5VDC PSU.
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Sounds like an issue with the erase head...
I'm sure these steps were covered somewhere in those previous links but check the following:
- if the disks you formated previously had data, are the disks previous data still intact after the failed format?
- can you write at all to a disk other than a format?
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4 hours ago, Chri O. said:
Okay and to answer my question about this PCB upgrade I think this is 1050 Duplicator. ?
Yes it is indeed a duplicator 1050. yours is a 3.x ROM - there was supposedly a 3.1 ROM as well. The mod provides track buffering and ultraspeed support which greatly improves disk IO speed.
The additional POT appears to connect between pin 31 (PA2) on the 6532/RIOT, and pin 10 (IN-) on the LM2917N Frequency to Voltage Converter, which correlates to a "slow speed" command referenced in this post with some technical info: https://atariage.com/forums/topic/102644-1050-us-duplicator-identification-needed/?do=findComment&comment=1252339
24. Change drive RPM
Command:j
Aux1:mode
Aux2:not used
If Aux1=0 drive is put to normal rpm (288). If Aux1=1, then drive is put in special slow rpm (272). Special slow pot must be installed for this command to function.
Indeed that would have been used for the software to reproduce some copy protection using long tracks to squeeze a few more sectors onto a track.
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12 hours ago, Chri O. said:
Okay so I'm looking inside the drive, I don't think this is factory setup.
I'm curious what is this potentiometer adjustment for... rpm adjustment
Second adjustment pots often are for a second "slow RPM speed" used to assist reproducing some copy protection mechanisms...
Please post a picture of the motherboard underneath the drive mechanism - here we have drive modifications suggesting there may be more "under the hood" that those wires connect to.
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14 minutes ago, tep392 said:
@nezgar, It seems you have first hand experience with some original Archiver chips. I'm curious what the label over the window looked like on the originals. My 810 from e-bay has the chip and it is just a plain white label with 1966, the open code, written on it. I'm curious if this would be real "Chip" or a copy.
Hard to know nowadays what is original, since even the original 810 Archiver chips used EPROMs... But based on the drive in my possession in post #22 from this this thread, the EPROM was covered in a silver write-protect tab/label, the chip was dated 1982, and the "open" code was unique amongst known dumps encountered thus far, I am hopeful that it's an original.
https://atariage.com/forums/topic/275134-another-unknown-eprom/?do=findComment&comment=4432031
I guess it would be good to corroborate observations of future Archiver/The Chip 810 finds to see if they also used a silver write-protect tab/label to cover the EPROM, and which brand/date of EPROM. (ie Intel / 82)
PS: @ebiguy This reminds me to dig out that drive again and get those pot measurements you asked for.
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Nailed it!
Means it's a later production 1050... looks like 1985?
ROM will most likely be an EPROM. Depending how well it cleans up, this type is a "less common" variant of the 1050...
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Is that a World Storage mechanism? (Bottom case label will say Made in Hong Kong)
The plastic strip on the silver nameplate seems very WST-esque...
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Trak ball is fun because you can swipe the ball and it will continue for a while on the inertia...
I specifically seeked out a CX20 driving controller to try with Tempest Xtreem, which works like a paddle but you can turn it forever... while it works I found the turning doesn't translate to fast enough turning on the screen - like it should be a bit more sensitive... or maybe my controller is just a little too stiff.. But it works!
Tempest Xtreem may be the only game on the Atari 8-bit to support that controller?
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6 minutes ago, Starfire said:
I can not, though I don't know if the keyboard works.
Try booting with the BASIC ROM removed. Should be a 24-pin, C024947.
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Can you get to the self test if you turn on the computer while holding OPTION?
Could be a bad BASIC or OS ROM...
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The "Rev 7" EPROM tells us it's a happy (a clone) - either V1 or V2, it would be interesting to get a dump of the EPROM to be sure. This can also be determined via the diagnostic software.
This is a "dual personality" drive though - There is also a US Doubler EPROM + a double-stacked 6810 SRAM to support that. On the clone happy board, the biggest chip is the 6502, the scratched off one is 8KBytes of RAM, a 6264 8Kx8 SRAM chip.
The switch at the front will likely toggle the drive between operating as a Happy, or as a US Doubler. This should only be done with the drive off. I have a drive with a similar "Dual personality" like this - it works by the switch determining which ROM gets power. If the motherboard ROM/EPROM receives power, and the one on the happy is off it will operate as a US Doubler. In the other position, the ROM in the happy board is ON, and the ROM on the motherboard is off - so it will operate as a Happy.
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5 hours ago, 8BIT 1337 said:
Can I ask how you turn a Happy drive into an Archiver/Super Archiver with software? Which software?
This disk:
https://archive.org/details/a8b_Happy_Utility_Menu_v1.0_1987_Pirate_Software
Option A, then Option C.
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On 1/21/2022 at 9:30 AM, clh333 said:
An Internet search for "US Doubler" led me to ILS at http://www.realdos.net/US Doubler.html but I was unable to view or download the EPROM files. No matter, as I think I would prefer to employ Nezgar's solution. Depending on his preference he can sell me empty boards or the whole megillah; in for two. If the super-speedy comes along later I can reverse-pivot, I believe.
Send me a PM if interested. Just sold the last two assembled, but I will assemble more.
The US Doubler ROM images are spread all over the Internet, but I did link to my patched one above, here again: https://atariage.com/forums/topic/158768-atari-1050-roms/page/3/?tab=comments#comment-4594602
On 1/22/2022 at 6:19 AM, clh333 said:I was not aware that the US Doubler used a different track format.
You only need to use the different track format if you want it to read sectors faster at maximum speed when operating in "UltraSpeed" mode. Otherwise it reads disks just like any other 1050 drive at 1X SIO speed. (But with added capability to read/write 256 byte true double density sectors) In fact, if one formats a disk with the UltraSpeed interleave it actually reads slower in standard/1X SIO speed due to the sub-optimal interleave for that speed, but it still works.
Turbo 1050 and XF551 are other examples of drives that use an alternate sector interleave to achieve faster highspeed sequential writes/reads without a track buffer. In fact, my modified firmware above "borrows" the improved standard-speed enhanced-density interleave from the Turbo 1050.
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14 minutes ago, DavidMil said:
Very cool Nezgar! How in the world did you find this?
Not my video, but came across it on my YouTube adventures. I do have that same beige touch-tone 2500 handset seen in that video though that I plan to use with my 830 though.
Also... EVERYTHING you ever (and never) wanted to know about Novation CAT modems, which had many incarnations, one of which being the Atari 830... When I originally found this video, it answered "how to open my 830" so I could re-solder broken solder joints on the power connector...
An amazing amount of info here:
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19 hours ago, MTippin said:
One of the engineers heard that there was a young pre-teen at home just getting into computers, so he gave my father a 300 baud modem that was about 12" x 12" with an RS-232 connector on the back.
Heh... something like this wooden box?
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What you see on the screen (bright, then dark scrolling bars - notice the grey/black background if you pause the video) is 60hz AC going into your computer instead of the normal DC.
Definitely lobotomize that PSU ASAP.
Keep the cord with the DIN end though, you can attach that to a new moder 5V DC power supply. Much easier than soldering wires to pins of a new connector.
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1 hour ago, bandit said:
Sparta, the company that released Archiver/editor disk.
Ah ok right - "Spartan Software Inc."
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21 hours ago, bandit said:
sparta had the last track special
What do you mean by this?
SpartaDOS keeps everything initially at the beginning of the disk (track 0), nothing on track 39. Also, up until the DLT releases of SpartaDOS, it also excluded use of sector 720 like Atari DOS.
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On 12/10/2021 at 1:51 PM, manterola said:
To my understanding of the floppy controller, that wd1770 does NOT work with 720KB 3.5" floppies.
Bob-Wolley modified firmware for 3.5" 720 works with both the WD1770 (later production units) and WD1772 (earlier production units), which only limits you to XF High-Speed (38Kbps) highspeed, and some of the other quirks of the Atari-based firmware.
If you want to use the Hyper-XF firmware, which includes ultraspeed support (54Kbps) amongst many other features and improvements, I believe it only works with a WD1772 controller. There is a 5.25 and 3.5" version of this firmware.
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1050 write protect jumpers J5, J6 and J7
in Atari 8-Bit Computers
Posted
That would suggest you have either a failure in the infrared LED or the photodiode which point at each other through the write protect notch position. Either failure will not produce a enough voltage to trigger the circuit to allow writes.
As to why default to write protect - honestly, to me that sounds like a safer failure mode.
You wouldn't want unsuspecting users to accidentally overwrite or format their "protected" original media...
Likewise above, if I am doing a disk imaging/preservation session I will temporarily disconnect J11 to ensure that ALL disks are write protected, even if they are notched. I absolutely want to ensure I don't accidentally write to or format disks I'm trying to archive/preserve!