Atari Dos Tutorial ...

[Evad97]

Hi everybody ... I've just recently started to play around with my 1050 and, coming from a background of Apple IIs and Commodore 64s, I find Atari Dos somewhat counterintuitive. Is it possible to access the drive from a command line?

 

Actually, the real point of this post is to ask if anybody knows of anything resembling a tutorial for Atari Dos or where I might be able to find an online copy of a book that will help me sort out Atari Dos.

 

Thanks

 

E.

[UNIXcoffee928]

There's tons here & on the web. This book, Your Atari Computer, by Poole, is one of the finest written, but there is no PDF for it yet.

 

For a command line DOS, look for SpartaDOS.

 

 

Have fun!

[Evad97]

Thanks for the reply - I'll do a little more digging. I was hoping that there would be an easy answer . Are there any compatibility issues with Sparta Dos? (I recognize that I'm opening another thread here but, if somebody could give me a quick answer, I'd appreciate it.) Can I simply use Sparta Dos as my day-to-day dos?

 

Thanks

 

E.

[RedBeard]

Just a note to say that alibris.com has several used copies of Your Atari Computer. Looks like S/H charges might be more expensive that the book itself.

 

><>RedBeard

 

/* Also, of course, you can POKE around (heh. "basic" nerd joke. [double points for the pun!]) atariarchives.com...several books there. */

[UNIXcoffee928]

If you're hardcore & devoted, learn SpartaDOS. If you know Linux/UNIX, it'll be straightforward. Read the Fine Manual. You will still need an Atari DOS, so learn that too.

 

To answer your question directly, No. Just learn Atari DOS & you'll be good to go. SpartaDos is more like also having a luxury exotic car to use for your own fun, while Atari DOS is pretty much your everyday driver.

 

Atari DOS 2.5 is the standard. DOS. 2.0S is also another popular version. Don't use later versions than 2.5 to avoid incompatibilities & other annoyances (REALLY.). There are many other DOS variants, learn DOS 2.5 first, then have a go at them.

 

Atari DOS functions can be accessed via the BASIC command line with a few BASIC statements, and, of course, type DOS for the menu driven user interface (most common).

 

You will want to CREATE MEM SAVE so that your BASIC programs will still be there when you leave DOS to return to BASIC with option B on the DOS menu.

 

OK, now go RTFM!

 

 

= )

[+bf2k+]

...

 

Can I simply use Sparta Dos as my day-to-day dos?

 

Thanks

 

E.

 

I do.

 

I have plenty of other DOS's but I use Sparta 99% of the time... but for the most part, I don't play games or run demos.

[nathanallan]

If you're hardcore & devoted, learn SpartaDOS. If you know Linux/UNIX, it'll be straightforward. Read the Fine Manual. You will still need an Atari DOS, so learn that too.

I've been wondering this too, lately, sounds like SpartaDOS is for me. I am a linux/unix user.

 

Nathan

[Evad97]

Thanks for all the helpful explanations / suggestions. I really appreciate the advice and will make good use of it.

 

E.

[+MrFish]

Here's a rough version of the DOS II manual. It's been downsampled in order to meet the max 2mb upload size.

 

DOS_II_Reference.zip