Atari810 Emulator for SIO2PC 1.4 by Dan Vernon

[atari8warez]

I came accross this software lately and wondering if anybody have any experience with it. Looks like the development of this particular emulator was stopped sometime in 2002-2003. I tried it today with one of my SIO2PC Cables and it seems to work, however it has some minor quirks. What are your experiences like?

Edited September 27, 2007 by atari8warez

[retrobits]

thanks for trying atari810. Yes, I wrote it 4 or 5 years ago when there really wasn't much support for win nt/2k and sio2pc. It works reliably at 1X SIO speed, but begins to have problems at higher speeds. Rather than write a device driver (as Steven Tucker eventually did with APE), I just wrote the code to run in user mode with the basic Win32 serial API. There has been more interest lately in the program it seems (I've gotten several emails regarding the program in the last few weeks). I really stopped working on it mainly because my wife and I began having children and the Atari stuff got shelved for a while. Now my boys are about 8 years old and getting very curious about all the stuff in "Dad's office" .

 

What quirks in particular did you notice in the program?

Edited September 27, 2007 by retrobits

[atari8warez]

I came accross this software lately and wondering if anybody have any experience with it. Looks like the development of this particular emulator was stopped sometime in 2002-2003. I tried it today with one of my SIO2PC Cables and it seems to work, however it has some minor quirks. What are your experiences like?

 

Guess nobody heard about this one. One interesting thing with this is it works with up to 3x SIO speeds under a Windows NT based OS (XP/Vista). It even works with a RS232 SIO2PC interface connected to a Virtual COM port through a USB-Serial conversion cable but only at 1x SIO speed. 2x is unreliable and 3x does not work at all with this type of connection.

 

Not as feature rich as APE for Windows of course, but you get 3x SIO read/write speeds without having to register the software. its free to use under GNU Public Licence.

 

By the way I am curious to know how many people actually registered their copy of APE.

[+remowilliams]

By the way I am curious to know how many people actually registered their copy of APE.

I'd say a decent amount, at least here at AA. Steve (classics here) from Atarimax is an awesome guy and APE is just one of his awesome products. He absolutely deserves the support.

[Heaven/TQA]

i have registered my APE...

[+Larry]

I came accross this software lately and wondering if anybody have any experience with it. Looks like the development of this particular emulator was stopped sometime in 2002-2003. I tried it today with one of my SIO2PC Cables and it seems to work, however it has some minor quirks. What are your experiences like?

 

As indicated, this was released when APE for Windows did not support XP (and its older siblings). At that point, I was using a dual-boot system with XP and W98 SE so that I could use APE. That wasn't really a very good solution for my system (and eventually massively self-destructed), so I was very eager to try Atari810. The last version (1.4d) seemed to work well on my system with either the Sparta UltraSpeed driver or the Black Box driver. It was *slightly* slower than APE on my system. And it is open source, if one is truly ambitious. *Love those "skins" for the GUI.* It's most certainly worth a look.

 

Of course, that is all now history -- Steve has continued to upgrade APE, and the PC-Mirror, printer support, graphics printer support, USB, etc. are not found in Atari810. Still, Atari810 is *light years* ahead of SIO2PC if you are a Windows user. IMO, if you don't want to pay the money for APE, then Atari810 is an excellent freeware alternative. Again IMO, I think Steve should "cripple" APE more completely in the "trial" version, to "help" folks who use the trial version for YEARS decide if they want to pay for it.

 

And yes, I registered both versions of APE -- years ago.

 

-Larry

[WizWor]

I used the 810 emulator. It works fine. I registered Ape when I bought my SIO2PC and AtariMAX carts. Didn't need to register because unregistered does all I need, but I wanted to reward Steven Tucker for his effort and encourage him to maintain the software. I'd be interested to know how pervasive Steven Tucker's products are. I wonder if he keeps track. I'd like to know, for instance...

 

- registered ape

- max carts sold

- usb sio2pc sold

- serial sio2pc sold

- serial sio2pc sold since intro of usb model

- defective units of each replaced

 

I see the serial sio2pc still on ebay and wonder what % pay the premium for usb. I'm a little curious about the defect rate among the flash carts as well. I have two, and I think one is failing/defective. I am thinking of buying five more and wonder if there are reliability issues.

 

For those who have owned flash carts for a long time (more than one year), how many do you own and have you had any problems. For those who have registered APE, was it (primarily) to use the additional features, disable the nag screen, or support the programmer?

[+Guitarman]

I have APE (registered), and both versions of the SIO2PC adapter (and many other Atarimax items, for that matter). I use APE/Prosystem and the USB version for most of the work in archiving the disk libraries I have recently come across. For making VAPI images, I have to use the serial version since VAPI doesn't support the USB version yet. I don't think there is anything I have purchased from Steve that I haven't used on almost a daily basis, so paying for the trialware was a no-brainer.

Edited September 27, 2007 by Guitarman

[atari8warez]

thanks for trying atari810. Yes, I wrote it 4 or 5 years ago when there really wasn't much support for win nt/2k and sio2pc. It works reliably at 1X SIO speed, but begins to have problems at higher speeds. Rather than write a device driver (as Steven Tucker eventually did with APE), I just wrote the code to run in user mode with the basic Win32 serial API. There has been more interest lately in the program it seems (I've gotten several emails regarding the program in the last few weeks). I really stopped working on it mainly because my wife and I began having children and the Atari stuff got shelved for a while. Now my boys are about 8 years old and getting very curious about all the stuff in "Dad's office" .

 

What quirks in particular did you notice in the program?

 

Hi Dan, I am one of those people who emailed you recently, probably the last email you have received belongs to me. I like your software, not just for the skins but because it does work under Windows and it's open source. I thought that it used Win32 Serial API and that's probably why it runs with a Virtual COM device unlike APE which probably accesses the serial port directly. It's a double edged sword, performance versus compatibility. In my view what ATARI810 losses in the performance department is made-up by the advantages in the compatibility department. I am for compatibility for most of the time. (I am also a software developer with close to 30 years in the business, although my experience is mainly with mid-range systems). I always developed apps with this in mind, reliability/stability + compatibility partly because that's what businesses needed most. Hobby and home market is different of course, people usually look for better speed (no matter how small a difference may be), cooler features, shortly for more fun and cutting edge stuff.

 

Anyway, after I raised my kid and had my divorce (gee I talk about as if it is a normal step in one's life ) I stopped working in the mid-range industry, nowdays I have a lot more time in my hands to go back to my ATARI roots. Actually I am in the process of polishing my rusted Atari skills. Hardware mods were one of the things I most enjoyed with my Atari, but when I left the scene years ago there were no SIO2PC/SIO2IDE/SIO2.... style hardware yet, the SpartaDos was at version 3.2b and Atari DOS was at version 3.0. So I needed to do a lot of catch-up. I am amazed to see that there were so many mods and enhancements to the 8 bit after my exit.

 

I guess that's enough of my story, what I am now interested with is to further develop ATARI810. That's why I asked you in my email whether you have any documentation available. I would really like to see ATARI810 able to work under Windows NT derivatives at all 3 SIO speeds and with a Virtual COM port. It may be difficult to achieve but I don't believe it's impossible. Also adding few more features to support other PC peripherals. If you have time to get involved it would be awesome, if you don't, I would appreciate any documentation you may have.

 

I'll write about the small problems I've noticed with the program on a separate thread/message.

Ray

[atari8warez]

.

Edited September 28, 2007 by atari8warez

[atari8warez]

By the way I am curious to know how many people actually registered their copy of APE.

I'd say a decent amount, at least here at AA. Steve (classics here) from Atarimax is an awesome guy and APE is just one of his awesome products. He absolutely deserves the support.

 

I don't know Steve personally but I am sure he is an awesome guy and you really don't need to tell me that he deserves the support (after all I know what it's like to develop software. Sleepless nights and a lot of effort, sometimes to make a living sometimes for the fun of it). Having said that I also support open source concept and free hardware support. I wouldn't have liked if the laptop I just bought came with no OS to operate it, if I had to pay Microsoft extra just to be able to use my hardware. Would you have bought your Atari if it came with no OS or DOS. Hardware needs software support that's a fact, you could build the most advanced hardware and it will be useless without software.

 

Steve apparently made available a trial version of his APE with his hardware with limited features, that's perfectly fine with me, what I don't like about it is the delays/nags he chose to build-in. People (well at least myself) will buy the software If they needed the extra features. But if they only want to use the interface for the basic premise of the hardware (which is peripheral emu) they should not be annoyed with the delays and nags. As I said earlier the hardware without software support is useless and the hardware should be able to do what it promises to do without us having to pay extra just to be able to use it without frustration. The delays and nags in the software gives the impression that Steve really wants you to buy the software if you use his hardware on a daily basis. This impression of mine is further enhanced after seeing APE for Windows does not support 2x SIO write speed with the unregistered version (A downgrade from APE for DOS). This is a step backwards in basic usability and a step forward in convincing users to buy the software.

 

If I was in his shoes I would release a basic version of the software without nags and make available an enhanced functionality version (for a fee) for people with more needs. That would be a fair proposition IMHO.

 

Crippling it further (as one user suggested in this thread) would only encourage people to seek other software or a cracked version of his code.

The best way to fight piracy is not to ennoy people more instead make them realize that support is as (or even more) valuable as the software.

Edited September 27, 2007 by atari8warez

[atari8warez]

I came accross this software lately and wondering if anybody have any experience with it. Looks like the development of this particular emulator was stopped sometime in 2002-2003. I tried it today with one of my SIO2PC Cables and it seems to work, however it has some minor quirks. What are your experiences like?

 

As indicated, this was released when APE for Windows did not support XP (and its older siblings). At that point, I was using a dual-boot system with XP and W98 SE so that I could use APE. That wasn't really a very good solution for my system (and eventually massively self-destructed), so I was very eager to try Atari810. The last version (1.4d) seemed to work well on my system with either the Sparta UltraSpeed driver or the Black Box driver. It was *slightly* slower than APE on my system. And it is open source, if one is truly ambitious. *Love those "skins" for the GUI.* It's most certainly worth a look.

 

Of course, that is all now history -- Steve has continued to upgrade APE, and the PC-Mirror, printer support, graphics printer support, USB, etc. are not found in Atari810. Still, Atari810 is *light years* ahead of SIO2PC if you are a Windows user. IMO, if you don't want to pay the money for APE, then Atari810 is an excellent freeware alternative. Again IMO, I think Steve should "cripple" APE more completely in the "trial" version, to "help" folks who use the trial version for YEARS decide if they want to pay for it.

 

And yes, I registered both versions of APE -- years ago.

 

-Larry

 

IMHO crippling it more will not encourage people to buy it but it may force them to buy it or to seek other solutions. I am certain that they won't be happy with this kind of downgrade after they have paid for the hardware. If they didn't buy the software for all those years that means they don't need more and that's fine. I don't really believe in trial versions for software supporting hardware. Hardware must have free software support in order to function. This free functionality may be limited in features but should be there regardless.

 

As i mentioned earlier, a more feature rich version may be made available for a fee for people with needs beyond connecting their Atari to a host PC to store and access files. If people already paid for a high speed DOS like SpartaDos they would expect to have similar speeds with such an interface too. APE for Windows trial version does not permit unregistered users to WRITE with anything above 1x SIO Speed. (Ironically APE for DOS does). So this is a further penalty for people who chose not to buy the software for additional features.

 

Ray

[tjb]

I've used the Atari810 Emulator program for quite some time now and found it to work well. I've never even tried APE but based on the comments I'm hearing I think I might just pick up the USB version along with a registered copy of the software.

 

tjb

[+Larry]

IMHO crippling it more will not encourage people to buy it but it may force them to buy it or to seek other solutions. I am certain that they won't be happy with this kind of downgrade after they have paid for the hardware. If they didn't buy the software for all those years that means they don't need more and that's fine. I don't really believe in trial versions for software supporting hardware. Hardware must have free software support in order to function. This free functionality may be limited in features but should be there regardless.

 

As i mentioned earlier, a more feature rich version may be made available for a fee for people with needs beyond connecting their Atari to a host PC to store and access files. If people already paid for a high speed DOS like SpartaDos they would expect to have similar speeds with such an interface too. APE for Windows trial version does not permit unregistered users to WRITE with anything above 1x SIO Speed. (Ironically APE for DOS does). So this is a further penalty for people who chose not to buy the software for additional features.

 

Ray

 

I understand that point of view. Of course, with the USB interface, it is a case of specialized software necessary to support that hardware (I don't believe there is any alternative at this time).

 

Are you planning on releasing your own software to support the serial interfaces you are selling?

-Larry

[Tempest]

thanks for trying atari810. Yes, I wrote it 4 or 5 years ago when there really wasn't much support for win nt/2k and sio2pc. It works reliably at 1X SIO speed, but begins to have problems at higher speeds. Rather than write a device driver (as Steven Tucker eventually did with APE), I just wrote the code to run in user mode with the basic Win32 serial API. There has been more interest lately in the program it seems (I've gotten several emails regarding the program in the last few weeks). I really stopped working on it mainly because my wife and I began having children and the Atari stuff got shelved for a while. Now my boys are about 8 years old and getting very curious about all the stuff in "Dad's office" .

 

What quirks in particular did you notice in the program?

 

I've been using Atari810 for years now, and I've never had a problem with it. It's a great program, I really hope you start working on it again.

 

Tempest

[atari8warez]

IMHO crippling it more will not encourage people to buy it but it may force them to buy it or to seek other solutions. I am certain that they won't be happy with this kind of downgrade after they have paid for the hardware. If they didn't buy the software for all those years that means they don't need more and that's fine. I don't really believe in trial versions for software supporting hardware. Hardware must have free software support in order to function. This free functionality may be limited in features but should be there regardless.

 

As i mentioned earlier, a more feature rich version may be made available for a fee for people with needs beyond connecting their Atari to a host PC to store and access files. If people already paid for a high speed DOS like SpartaDos they would expect to have similar speeds with such an interface too. APE for Windows trial version does not permit unregistered users to WRITE with anything above 1x SIO Speed. (Ironically APE for DOS does). So this is a further penalty for people who chose not to buy the software for additional features.

 

Ray

 

I understand that point of view. Of course, with the USB interface, it is a case of specialized software necessary to support that hardware (I don't believe there is any alternative at this time).

 

Are you planning on releasing your own software to support the serial interfaces you are selling?

-Larry

 

That's my plan, we'll see how it's going to turn out. I am new in this and I need some feedback from the people who bought the hardware. If/when I can come up with a software I am planning to make it available at no charge to support the hardware. As I mentioned earlier at least the basic functionality (like 1x 2x 3x SIO speed and the ability to create/use .atr images will be free for all to use under Windows NT/XP/Vista)