labrat Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 I bought a collection of Atari 8-bit (and beyond) stuff off of craigslist recently and now have dozens of 5.25” and 3.5” disks of copied games. Many are backups of original disks that were included, but most were probably off of bbs etc. Assuming there’s not a copy of some ultra-rare prototype in there, is it worth trying to archive anything on them? If so, can I use a floppy drive in an old PC or do I need an SIO2PC card or equivalent? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charliecron Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 I think you should look through them. Apparently there is a lot of stuff that has not been preserved. Atarimania maintains a 'MIA' list, its a list of stuff that may not be generally available in the common net archives. I don't know anything about reading Atari disks in a PC drive. I've seen various utilities. You'll have a much easier time with a genuine Atari floppy drive/SIO2PC combo though. Charlie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 Aside from possible MIAs, savegames and high scores are probably the only reason to preserve them. I'd also mention Intros, but they were extremely rare compared to C-64 and Amiga pirated games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Jefferson Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 I've bought a couple of collections, and I usually go through the disks quickly, keep what I want and sell the rest on eBay (as blank basically, but explain that they may have Atari programs on them.) That way someone with more time can go through them in more detail if they want. I currently have about a hundred or so that I haven't had much of a chance to go through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
labrat Posted February 6, 2009 Author Share Posted February 6, 2009 I think you should look through them. Apparently there is a lot of stuff that has not been preserved. Atarimania maintains a 'MIA' list, its a list of stuff that may not be generally available in the common net archives. I don't know anything about reading Atari disks in a PC drive. I've seen various utilities. You'll have a much easier time with a genuine Atari floppy drive/SIO2PC combo though. Charlie Basically, what I'm trying to decide is: Should I get an SIO2PC if I don't really have much of an interest in running stuff off of my PC? I have one original that is not listed in the Atarimania database (Computer Gourmet by New Horizons; basically a recipe database). I've sent deathtrappomegranate scans of the documents and would be glad to send a dump, but I'm not sure I want to spend $50+ to do so. If I have the time at some point, I'll compare the copies I have to the MIA list, but I am just not sure of the "value" of a dump from a copy. If something is not available from atarimania, are there people out there waiting for it? Or is most stuff available elsewhere? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
labrat Posted February 7, 2009 Author Share Posted February 7, 2009 I think you should look through them. Apparently there is a lot of stuff that has not been preserved. Atarimania maintains a 'MIA' list, its a list of stuff that may not be generally available in the common net archives. I don't know anything about reading Atari disks in a PC drive. I've seen various utilities. You'll have a much easier time with a genuine Atari floppy drive/SIO2PC combo though. Charlie I may at some point have the time to go through and compare them to the MIA list... A browsing suggests that most of the stuff is common enough that they would have dumps from originals. Partly I'm trying to decide if I should buy an SIO2PC even though I don't have much of an interest in running emulators. I did find an original disk that is not in the atarimania database ('the computer gourmet' by new horizons software; basically a recipe database). I sent deathtrappomegranate some scans of the documents, and would not mind sending a dump, but am not sure its worth ~$50 to do so. Its a lot of money for something so... new. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
labrat Posted February 9, 2009 Author Share Posted February 9, 2009 Part of what I'm trying to decide is whether or not to buy an SIO2PC even if I don't have much of an interest in running emulated games. I guess at some point I will look through the disks and compare to the MIA list. I suppose a dump of a copy is better than nothing. I sent deathtrappomegranate some scans of a title that was not in the database, and I'd be happy to send a dump, but was hoping not to have to spend $50 to do so. Its a lot of money for something so... new. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctor_x Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 I apologize for being such a come and go kind of user here.. but I got nostalgic today, so I am trolling. In response to the OP, I have always thought it would be fantastic to get screenshots of all of the various release groups loader screens for atari games... not intro's per se as they never (rarely) had motion, but tons of games that I downloaded off of Atari warez bbs's back in the day did have loader screens. It would take some time, and the person would genuinely have to have an interest in the task - but it was just a thought while reading over this post that I thought I would share. Doc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
labrat Posted February 11, 2009 Author Share Posted February 11, 2009 Funny. I tried 3 times to reply to this with no avail. Now they all show up at once. After thinking about it for some time I think I will get an SIO2PC and make some dumps. The stuff is worth preserving, and has been said elsewhere, a backup of a copy is better than no backup at all. If anyone has an SIO2PC for sale at a discount, send me a PM. I'll even give you first look at the dumps when I get around to doing some. :-) I apologize for being such a come and go kind of user here.. but I got nostalgic today, so I am trolling. In response to the OP, I have always thought it would be fantastic to get screenshots of all of the various release groups loader screens for atari games... not intro's per se as they never (rarely) had motion, but tons of games that I downloaded off of Atari warez bbs's back in the day did have loader screens. It would take some time, and the person would genuinely have to have an interest in the task - but it was just a thought while reading over this post that I thought I would share. Doc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirage Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 As far as going through the disks alone goes... I put off going through all my C64 disks for a long time, thinking it would be an arduous task. It really wasn't as bad as I had expected. It goes quickly, and I was extremely thorough, documenting every last program (not every file) into an Excel. I did it in two sittings, not over 4 hours total, I'm sure. And I'm talking several hundred disks. Some I even had to actually load up to see what they were, to check copyright dates, version numbers in some cases, actual program name, etc. I used a Mach64/128 cart to speed up the process and to use the reset button and on/off switch on the cart. Anyway, it may not take as long to catalog stuff as you think (mostly talking to anyone else who may run across this topic as it sounds like the OP has already done this). As for getting an SIO2PC cable just for that? My opinion is that if it were some long-lost rare game, then sure, it may be worth it. But for a gourmet recipe program? IMO, not worth it. Who is really looking for that? I'd guess no one. If you already had the cable, then I'd definitely do it as a matter of principle. In your situation find someone who has an SIO2PC setup, mail them the disk and let them do it... you save $, and it still gets done. Problem solved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
labrat Posted February 11, 2009 Author Share Posted February 11, 2009 (edited) As for getting an SIO2PC cable just for that? My opinion is that if it were some long-lost rare game, then sure, it may be worth it. But for a gourmet recipe program? IMO, not worth it. Who is really looking for that? I'd guess no one. If you already had the cable, then I'd definitely do it as a matter of principle. In your situation find someone who has an SIO2PC setup, mail them the disk and let them do it... you save $, and it still gets done. Problem solved. Well, I still have not done much of anything with the blanks, but I've looked through enough to know that there are a number of games that are unavailable as dumps even among my originals. I probably won't ever collect downloaded dumps, but I know there are people who do. Between here and atarimania I've gotten lots of info that others have taken the time to amass, so its only fair to contribute. The recipe program struck me as interesting because it was not even in the database, but you're right that nobody really needs to download that. Edited February 11, 2009 by labrat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deathtrappomegranate Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 The recipe program struck me as interesting because it was not even in the database, but you're right that nobody really needs to download that. I guess that it depends upon your point of view, but I think that such things are interesting. Not that a recipe database for the A8 is likely to find a huge following of active users today, of course, but that's not really the point. There are many rare titles which wouldn't be likely to see much regular use, not just for A8, but 2600, Amiga - anything really. The point is that if these titles are not preserved then, eventually, there will be nothing to show that they ever existed. Whether those of us who happen to post here, at this point in history, happen to consider them to be of little value or not, it is quite possible that other people, in other places, and/or at other times would take a different view. Perhaps preserving a largely unknown recipe database program is adding little to mankind's cultural tapestry, but Atarimania has dumped many apparently obscure titles now, and it's great when the program's coder finds his or her work unexpectedly immortalised when they had thought it was forgotten, or when someone who was a kid in the 80s or 90s finds that one title that they spent so many hours on, that they can now share with their own children. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirage Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Yeah, I agree with that. To me, it's worth preserving anything. I guess my point was that if it were between buying a $50 cable for that one thing alone, it may not be worth it to the person... but to get the disk to someone who can dump it... it's worth it. It can be done one way or another. Which reminds me, there's still a couple C64 items I need to pull from floppies and one Vic-20 item. I have a bunch of A8 disks I haven't gone through yet at all. It's worth saving anything... heck, I even save all the little BASIC programs I find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Kinda off-topic, but I sector-copied my school's word processor when I was a kid. In the 90's, I was messing around with a file restore program and found a lotta deleted student files on it. Mostly boring junk or class exercises, but one that could have definately got somebody expelled Surprisingly, one was a letter to my sister written by one of her classmates...she got a kick out of seeing that a decade later. I guess the gist was to look through directories for deleted files. You never know what turns up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Wolfe Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 (edited) "vintage pirates"? Edited February 12, 2009 by Mark_Wolfe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Arr...where's be th' rum? I'll take me chances w'the sharks. * jumps overboard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorsten Günther Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Arr...where's be th' rum? I'll take me chances w'the sharks. * jumps overboard Shouldn't that be "sea dogs" instead of "sharks"? Or when exactly did the Mayan word "xook" evolve into the English word "shark"? Thorsten Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cybernoid Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Ah, I knew that this thread would eventually degrade into something along the lines of a "put them into a vintage brig" joke.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Labrat, My daughter as well as my wife are interested in your recipe database. My daughter recently asked for an 8 bit for Christmas. I assembled a system for her. She loves the thing and also loves to cook. Looks like a win win if it makes it to Atarimania database. A practical use for the Atari! As for getting an SIO2PC cable just for that? My opinion is that if it were some long-lost rare game, then sure, it may be worth it. But for a gourmet recipe program? IMO, not worth it. Who is really looking for that? I'd guess no one. If you already had the cable, then I'd definitely do it as a matter of principle. In your situation find someone who has an SIO2PC setup, mail them the disk and let them do it... you save $, and it still gets done. Problem solved. Well, I still have not done much of anything with the blanks, but I've looked through enough to know that there are a number of games that are unavailable as dumps even among my originals. I probably won't ever collect downloaded dumps, but I know there are people who do. Between here and atarimania I've gotten lots of info that others have taken the time to amass, so its only fair to contribute. The recipe program struck me as interesting because it was not even in the database, but you're right that nobody really needs to download that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctor_x Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 How bad ass would it be to have a daughter who asked for an 8-bit for Christmas... in 2008!!!!! Labrat, My daughter as well as my wife are interested in your recipe database. My daughter recently asked for an 8 bit for Christmas. I assembled a system for her. She loves the thing and also loves to cook. Looks like a win win if it makes it to Atarimania database. A practical use for the Atari! As for getting an SIO2PC cable just for that? My opinion is that if it were some long-lost rare game, then sure, it may be worth it. But for a gourmet recipe program? IMO, not worth it. Who is really looking for that? I'd guess no one. If you already had the cable, then I'd definitely do it as a matter of principle. In your situation find someone who has an SIO2PC setup, mail them the disk and let them do it... you save $, and it still gets done. Problem solved. Well, I still have not done much of anything with the blanks, but I've looked through enough to know that there are a number of games that are unavailable as dumps even among my originals. I probably won't ever collect downloaded dumps, but I know there are people who do. Between here and atarimania I've gotten lots of info that others have taken the time to amass, so its only fair to contribute. The recipe program struck me as interesting because it was not even in the database, but you're right that nobody really needs to download that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
labrat Posted February 13, 2009 Author Share Posted February 13, 2009 How bad ass would it be to have a daughter who asked for an 8-bit for Christmas... in 2008!!!!! Sounds like good parent-ing to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 (edited) We made a deal, as she makes the honor role... I must get her another part of the 8 bit system. She has now has... 1st quarter 8 Mb maxflash cart. 2nd quarter 1050 disk drive. She loves Click! the Christmas Edition! addictive simple fun. She wants them to make a version for Easter! Edited February 13, 2009 by _The Doctor__ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctorclu Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 We made a deal, as she makes the honor role... I must get her another part of the 8 bit system. She has now has... 1st quarter 8 Mb maxflash cart. 2nd quarter 1050 disk drive. She loves Click! the Christmas Edition! addictive simple fun. She wants them to make a version for Easter! How old is this girl again? Cool that she likes this stuff. As for vintage pirate stuff, it is always fun to see the "cracked by" screens and references to BBS's. Then I want to call them and wake up the person who currently owns that phone line... "Hello I'm looking for the ATARI VAN HALEN WAREZ BBS... What is it? Nevermind..." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.