8 Bit Computers and internet

[pepax]

I was not even going to try the internet on that type of computer..I knew most people ran BBS in the 1980's.

You may like this web.

Also read these threads: 1, 2, 3.

 

 

I saw what you were talking about. If I buy one of those SIO2PC interface this next month can someone help me set of up for doing the Telnet. So I don't need

the a terminal program that comes with a modem is this correct. I have the Atari 850 interface unit but I have not bought a Modem or Terminal program since I figured

the BBS or Compuserve is no longer used anymore.

 

You need a Telnet client, which is basically a terminal program. Get the Ice-T.

If you are planning to get rid of your PC, which is not a good idea anyway, you can buy a cheap used Lantronix UDS10, UDS100, MSS10 or MSS100 which will connect your Atari to the Internet through the SIO2PC or 850 interfaces. Read http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=127821

If you ask for help in the appropriate threads I'm sure someone will help you with the setup.

 

An FTP client for our little Ataris would rock, that's for sure!

 

The only reason I need a disk drive is for some of the games she has on disk

that she cannot use yet. So I will get the SIO2PC, but a disk drive is still needed.... All this will take me time to get. It took me alongtime to just come up with the mone for the Atari 130XE computer. She has a couple of games that uses that XE light gun and I do not even have the gun yet,so that something else I have to get. Well If I get

the SIO2PC this next month then I will need help gettingit going.

As others have already said, you can safely throw, err sell the floppies or maybe put them in a showcase and download their contents from the Internet for use with the SIO2PC or store it on a flash memory for the MyIDE, SIO2IDE etc. A real floppy drive is not that useful anymore these days. (I have bought an XF551 off an auction site for about $100 and I still don't know why. )

As for the light gun - the original Atari one is said to be rather poorly made. You'd better buy the Sega Light Phaser somewhere, though its fire button works the opposite way with an Atari computer but some good soul may modify it for you for a buck or two... or donate a converter.

 

We had a major move because my home was sold to pay only part of the medical bills I owed on... Life support and major surgery run around a million dollars and

that no joke and that was just my bill hers bill was around $145,000.00 plus we had funneral cost and the coffins and burriel fees... Also cost on Xrays,CTSCANS,MRI's,Neorological testing, and she had adominal surgery since the seat belt did cut her stomache open.

Reading this makes me so sad and sorry.......at the same time I feel happy and grateful that I live where I live..... Maybe I should check that Sicko movie after all.

 

Anyways I was hoping to give her one positive thing this year that she could enjoy.

You are most certainly a great Dad!

 

Does this work the same as a harddrive?

 

 

 

Special Offer - MyIDE+Flash Interface w/ Transcend 256MB Flash Key

 

Pin-20 Power Pre-Installed, just plug and go!

 

1 for $99.99 + $5 Shipping

 

http://www.atarimax.com/myide/documentation/

 

Yeah.. It does.. But without an SIO2PC, youve go tno way to load anything onto it.. SO get the SIO2PC first.

Unless you connect the Flash key to your PC just like an ordinary PC IDE hard drive (but if you're using a notebook you'd have to buy an IDE-to-USB adaptor/box). I'd personally prefer the SIO2SD (suppose your notebook has an SD card reader). SIO2USB is a very nice, although quite expensive, piece of hardware, too.

You don't even need a SIO2PC if you only want to flash some pre-made contents downloaded on the Internet into the flash part of the cart, IMHO. The only problem is what to boot the flashing software from, without a Floppy or a SIO2PC-connected PC server? I'd expect the software to be pre-flashed in the cart so you could boot off it, copy the software onto the IDE hard drive and then flash anything you want into the cart but I don't really know what's inside from the factory.

If you buy the SIO2IDE or even MyIDE, it would be nice to have an IDE flash card reader, that is, if they work together. Any volunteers?

 

that she cannot use yet. So I will get the SIO2PC, but a disk drive is still needed....

Whatever disks she has, you can get free ATR images of them off of the internet. And if you cant find them, someone in this forum will gladly post them for you.. You dont need a disk drive.. If you just WANT ONE to make the system look "complete" thats understandable, but you should get the SIO2PC first because a disk drive wont give you 1/100th the functionality that SIO2PC will.

 

SIO2PC - not necessary in certain setups but highly recommended

SIO2SD - not necessary but very handy

SIO2IDE - not necessary

MyIDE - not necessary

Floppy drive - not necessary at all

 

 

One thing you should pay attention to is that there are 2 versions of SIO2PC. There is a serial port version, and a USB version. If the PC (or laptop) you have does not have a DB-9 (9-pin) serial port, then you will need to buy the more expensive ($50.00) USB version of SIO2PC.. If your PC (or laptop) does have a serial port, then you can get the cheaper ($30.00) version of SIO2PC..

And if you see a cheap USB-to-serial converter just forget it. They often don't work with the SIO2PC. I'd be happy to have the SIO2PC USB edition...

 

Do yourself a favor and take our advice.. We have all seen hundreds of people go down "the road you are on" as far as getting back into ATARI stuff. We can save you lots of money, disapointment, and frustration if you'll listen...

So true........

 

We are not DELL....

Press the Dell key...

[MEtalGuy66]

Pepax.. Are you just trying to confuse the hell out of him or what?

 

Sean... Get the USB version of SIO2PC... And after youve played with that for about a month, if you wanna blow some more cash and get some "gadgets" like MyIDE+flash, or SIO2SD, etc.. you can at that point, after youve got a little better understanding of what your preferences and needs are..

 

SIO2PC is only 50 dollars.. And I dont agree with Pepax's asessment of "not necessary"... EVERY ATARI person should have an SIO2PC... The functionality it offers is an absolute must. If you want to be an active part of the atari community, you need a way to get disk images to & from the internet to your ATARI..

 

Those flash devices are neat gadgets and nice in certain situations, but SIO2PC is the first thing you need.. and it covers DISK, INTERNET, PRINTER, PLOTTER, etc. all in one shot.. Theres only one program to learn to use on the Windows side, and it gets you up & running with max functionality in minimum time, for minimum price..

 

 

About the 850 Interface you have:

 

That 850 interface is not only pretty USELESS nowadayze, but its NOT even from the XE generation.. Its from the original beige 400/800 generation of equipment.. It doesn't "match" the XE series in case styling..

 

Once youve got SIO2PC, it fully emualates the 850 interface for any software you want to run, and hooks you directly to the internet at the same time as providing disk and printer emulation.. In order to use the 850 (for anything useful these days) youd have to have a nullmodem cable going into a PC that has its serial port configured for shell access.. (or a lantronix terminal server box which costs several hundred dollars by itself).. And the ports on the 850 are not even "standard" serial ports.. They use the 9-pin connector, but the pin-out is slightly different, so you have to get (or make) custom cables to even use it..

 

I have an 850 interface and I don't think Ive so much as powered it up in 20 years... I also have a CSS black box and several ICD Multi I/Os.. These are PBI devices with fully buffered UART driven serial ports.. And I never even use THOSE serial ports... SIO2PC functionality is much better and more convenient..

 

The 850 interface was a neat box back in the days of modems, BBS's, and dot-matrix printers... But nowadyaze, its of little more than collector value in terms of what is most practical to use for any given purpose...

Edited July 2, 2008 by MEtalGuy66

[+remowilliams]

... EVERY ATARI person should have an SIO2PC... The functionality it offers is an absolute must.

I agree. And APE too.

[machf]

EVERY ATARI person should have an SIO2PC... The functionality it offers is an absolute must. If you want to be an active part of the atari community, you need a way to get disk images to & from the internet to your ATARI..

That's why I've been trying to get my other XF551 working... my plan was to make DCM images of SD/ED disks and store them on DS/DD disks, then read those DS/DD disks with Hias' WriteAtr tool, or read the files directly with UTIL (I've always kept 5.25" FDDs on my PCs just for that - only the P4 I'm using right now lacks one, but maybe this Mitsumi mech I found the other day is short enough to fit).

 

Anyway, I've had the pieces for a SIO2PC cable lying around for 10 years now, I never got to build it because having only a single MAX232 chip I couldn't decide whether to build the SIO2PC cable or an R-verter clone - I've always regretted not getting 2 samples from Maxim instead of just 1. I'm thinking of requesting a couple more samples, after 10 years I don't think they would mind...

 

Time to go on and build that SIO2PC cable, I guess.

[Cybernoid]

I want to apologize to Sean for laughing at the Dell Phone call... Sorry!

 

Anyway, I have posted a download site for my "Terminal Server" for the Atari. It is a Cygwin install with lynx, news, irc, command shell, etc. You can use it with APE and it works great. I included my color ANSI compatible terminal program, too...

 

Check it out and download it here:

 

http://cybernoid.servebbs.com/

 

Here is the info from the site:

 

 

 

 

 

Atari Terminal Server for Windows

Are you tired of setting up a Linux server? No shell accounts available?

 

 

 

Well, I have bundled the most critical features you might want from Cygwin for use with APE.

 

 

Installing and Runing

Here is what you need to do:

 

1. Download the following zip file to your APE windows PC and unzip. termserv2.zip
   
2. On your PC, CD to the termserv directory and run the "runme.bat" batch file.
   
3. Run APE with the R: emulation set to client mode.
   
4. Boot your Atari with your favorite terminal program.
   
5. Press [RETURN] on your Atari 8-bit Terminal Screen and you should receive the APE "proxy>" prompt.
   • type "open localhost" at the "proxy>" prompt for full speed.
     
   • or type "open localhost 70" at the "proxy>" prompt for 2400 bps.
     
   • or type "open localhost 80" at the "proxy>" prompt for 9600 bps.
     
   • or type "open localhost 88" at the "proxy>" prompt for 19200 bps.
     

[*]You will be given a Linux Shell prompt, where you can run the following commands:

• lynx for web,
  
• pine for mail,
  
• tin for news,
  
• irc for irc,
  
• ftp or ncftp for ftp,
  
• talk for talk,
  
• lsz and lrz for x,y,zmodem (I have not been able to get this to work yet).
  

 

You can even run an MS-DOS prompt if you type "command" or "cmd" If you want to disconnect type exit or logout if you telnet to the normal port (23), or ctrl-D if you telnet to ports 70-88 for speed reduction.

 

 

Shutting down the Terminal Server

• run the killme.bat file included in the termserv directory.
  

Terminal programs

I also included the ANSITERM.XEX file which is my 40 column color ansi terminal. It has a virtual 80 columns. You can use the SHIFT-CTRL-< and SHIFT-CTRL-> to move around the screen. Below is a screen shot of the color ansi terminal running on my 130xe at work..(still not perfect but works okay). Ice-t and bobterm also work with the terminal server.

 

 

 

APE comes with Bobterm and ICE-T. Also, if you are having trouble getting the included Cygwin install working, try downloading Cygwin and installing it first from here: http://www.cygwin.com Webpage

 

Cygwin Install

 

 

Color ANSI Terminal

ansiterm.zip

[MEtalGuy66]

That is an awesome little package. Everyone who seeks better internet connectivity/functionality on their ATARI 8-bit and who has APE/SIO2PC should download it... In fact, there shouldbe a link from the ATARIMAX site for that, if there isnt already.

 

Btw, your hosting is broken on the ansiterm.zip file...

Edited July 2, 2008 by MEtalGuy66

[Cybernoid]

That is an awesome little package. Everyone who seeks better internet connectivity/functionality on their ATARI 8-bit and who has APE/SIO2PC should download it... In fact, there shouldbe a link from the ATARIMAX site for that, if there isnt already.

 

Btw, your hosting is broken on the ansiterm.zip file...

 

 

Whoops! That is fixed now!

 

Please everyone let me know how this works for you....

[UNIXcoffee928]

Wow, that sux. Sorry to hear all of that, dude.

 

The best thing I can tell you is to start over from square one, and go back to school for EE. This will help you to get your head straight in a lot of areas of your life, from a cognitive perspective.

 

NASA has always been a dream job for me, you are a very lucky man to have worked there.

 

 

Best of luck, and thanks for your time in the service protecting our country.

 

 

L8R.

[RedBeard]

Best of luck, and thanks for your time in the service protecting our country.

I second this. My thanks to you, sir. (And the rest of you out there. God Bless You. and thanks...)

 

 

This all sound a bit more complicated than hooking up a disk drive, but worth the effort. Is all this explained in a(n) FAQ somewhere? I am partial to the 'I just want to do it the old-school way' attitude. But I bet several of you have 'been there and done that' and are trying to help the newbies, eh?

 

><>RedBeard

 

 

/*

Something like Artillery Duel Network or the just released NetRacer on the C64, perhaps; the latter supports internet play for eight people and has been thrashed quite a bit over the weekend by the bunnies on #c-64 - getting a game going is more realistic than a browser certainly and a lot more fun too. =-)

MAYBE *and this is the right topic/forum, perhaps* it is time for the Atari and Commodore people to join up. Don't tell me that I'm the only one who wished that Commodore and Atari would have joined forces against Macintosh and IBM pc's. Somehow... in the last months before folding... in the darkest hours... in the depths of death throes... with all the spilt blood and bad feelings, Commodore and Atari joined together to wrest 2nd place from Apple. Then leaving the Macintosh in the dust bin of history. OS9, OSX. NEXT and all. Trumped by MINT/[workbench/whatever].

 

Anyways, there are some of us and some of them. Maybe some BBSing and gameING would be cool at this stage. Kind of bringing us together (oh, and the TI/994A folks, too) for one last hurrah or something...oh wishful thinking... */

Edited July 4, 2008 by RedBeard

[MEtalGuy66]

This all sound a bit more complicated than hooking up a disk drive, but worth the effort. Is all this explained in a(n) FAQ somewhere? I am partial to the 'I just want to do it the old-school way' attitude. But I bet several of you have 'been there and done that' and are trying to help the newbies, eh?

 

><>RedBeard

 

The disk emulation is not any more complicated than hooking up a disk drive..

 

In fact.. It's a total "no brainer"

 

1)plug cable from atari to pc

 

2) run automated APE installer ("no questions asked" normal windows installation app)

 

3) run Ape program and drag & drop floppy images directly onto 8 "boxes" which represent your 8 disk drives..

 

4) boot atari..

 

 

All of the stuff he was talking about is for internet functionality, which there is no way a disk drive is going to get you, and you dont have to install all that stuff until you are ready to play with direct internet connectivity on the atari..

 

 

A disk drive also wont get you print functionality..

 

A disk drive also wont let you use up to 16megabyte partitions..

 

A disk drive also wont let you play "multi-disk" games without swapping disks all the time..

 

Also.. Try getting a demo or game from the internet into your atari through a disk drive.....

 

APE/SIO2PC is designed for the absolute novice end user, and has the extra functionality to satisfy most power users as well.. Uts a product thats been under constant development and support for over 10 years..