A.P.E 1.4 (DOS) compatibility with WinXP?

[Gunstar]

I have had A.P.E 1.4 for years, I later upgraded to A.P.E for Win98, both fully registered. Anyway, I upgraded to XP a while back, but hadn't been using A.P.E and my 8-bit. When I went to use it later, My Windows A.P.E doesn't work anymore becuase it doesn't have the right driver for XP. This I found out after asking the publisher what the problem was, and of course the only solution is to pay all over again to upgrade to A.P.E for XP (and I suppose I'd have to do it again when I eventually upgrade Windows again). I refuse to keep paying for a new driver everytime, even if it is cheaper than the full original price of A.P.E, it's still too expensive to keep upgrading it every couple years when I upgrade Windows. So, I decided to just go back to A.P.E 1.4 for DOS, but I can't get my Atari to recognize the link. Is this a driver problem still becuase I'm using a DOS window in XP? Everything on the PC end seems to be fine, but turning on my 8-bit doesn't recognize any virtual drive(s). Is there a way to get 1.4 working on my PC with XP? Will it work if I dump Windows for DOS only interface? and if so, how do I do that with XP. Or am I just out of luck unless I fork over more money? If I have to do that, I'll find an old windows 98 laptop to use instead of continuously paying for A.P.E drivers.

 

Don't get me wrong, I do think the authot of A.P.E deserves compensation for all his work and upgrades to make it compatible with new PC's, but I don't have the money to keep forking out for the same program I've already payed for and used for years, it seems like a lease instead of ownership. If I had that kind of money to throw around, I wouldn't still be upgrading from Win98(!) to XP; generations old windows. I just want to be able to use what I've already payed for, like everything else for my 8-bit.

Edited June 9, 2010 by Gunstar

[Rybags]

I wouldn't pay twice either.

 

DOS mode in WinXP and later is practically useless for older apps - the newer Win versions don't allow user code direct access to the PC hardware so lots of older apps won't work.

 

Just use APEQt instead - it's free and will probably eventually be much better than APE anyway, it's got it's own thread somewhere else in 8-bit computers.

[bfollett]

I don't have A.P.E., but I know a couple of tricks to get DOS programs to work in windows. First, try right mouse button clicking on the exe and go to the compatibility tab and try running in Maybe Windows 95 or 98 mode. If that doesn't do it, there is a free program called DOS BOX(www.dosbox.com) that let's you run a whole lot more DOS programs in a DOS emulated window.

 

Bob

[Fox-1 / mnx]

You first may ask Steven for the latest DOS version. I think it's 1.18D but using 1.17D will also do.

 

Next, you need to use an old fashion SIO2PC interface connected to a real serial port on PC. A USB->RS232 adapter will likely not work as does a SIO2USB.

 

I'm a registered user of APE-DOS since a very long while and ran it with MS-DOS 5.0/6.22 on 8086/8088, 80286, 80386 and 80486 systems with no problem at all.

 

Also run it in a DosBox on my Win98 laptop (and Win95 in the past), Win2000 server and WinXP workstation without any problem. Other then the standard PC mainboard drivers I never needed an additional one.

 

Another thing you might consider is http://sourceforge.net/projects/aspeqt/

Depends on what features you need.

[jaybird3rd]

I would try running the DOS version of APE inside a DOS virtual machine, using Virtual PC. Just make sure the virtual COM port(s) are mapped to the correct physical ports on your machine. DOSBox might work too, but I've never tried using the serial ports from within DOSBox, so I can't say from experience.

[Roydea6]

I just want to be able to use what I've already payed for, like everything else for my 8-bit.

 

Have you contacted Classics to ask for the XP upgrade?

 

I don't remember paying for the upgrade's since paying for Window98, But I don't remember real good any more.

[Gunstar]

You first may ask Steven for the latest DOS version. I think it's 1.18D but using 1.17D will also do.

 

Next, you need to use an old fashion SIO2PC interface connected to a real serial port on PC. A USB->RS232 adapter will likely not work as does a SIO2USB.

 

I'm a registered user of APE-DOS since a very long while and ran it with MS-DOS 5.0/6.22 on 8086/8088, 80286, 80386 and 80486 systems with no problem at all.

 

Also run it in a DosBox on my Win98 laptop (and Win95 in the past), Win2000 server and WinXP workstation without any problem. Other then the standard PC mainboard drivers I never needed an additional one.

 

Another thing you might consider is http://sourceforge.net/projects/aspeqt/

Depends on what features you need.

Thanks for the info to all of you. I do have 1.18, when I was posting I was recalling the version from memory which obviously was wrong, I knew it was 1.X at least. I'll look into all the suggestions, starting with the easiest first and let you guys know how it goes.

[Gunstar]

I just want to be able to use what I've already payed for, like everything else for my 8-bit.

 

Have you contacted Classics to ask for the XP upgrade?

 

I don't remember paying for the upgrade's since paying for Window98, But I don't remember real good any more.

reread my post.

[Gunstar]

I wouldn't pay twice either.

 

DOS mode in WinXP and later is practically useless for older apps - the newer Win versions don't allow user code direct access to the PC hardware so lots of older apps won't work.

 

Just use APEQt instead - it's free and will probably eventually be much better than APE anyway, it's got it's own thread somewhere else in 8-bit computers.

 

Actually, it would be my third time, I've already payed twice!

 

I did a google search for APEQt and nothing comes up except for this thread. I found an alternative called Atari810 that looks promising. I still need A.P.E for the 10502PC side using prosystem though too, unless there is another software program out there for 10502PC cable for putting ATR

onto real disks.

Edited June 9, 2010 by Gunstar

[jmetal88]

I wouldn't pay twice either.

 

DOS mode in WinXP and later is practically useless for older apps - the newer Win versions don't allow user code direct access to the PC hardware so lots of older apps won't work.

 

Just use APEQt instead - it's free and will probably eventually be much better than APE anyway, it's got it's own thread somewhere else in 8-bit computers.

 

Actually, it would be my third time, I've already payed twice!

 

I did a google search for APEQt and nothing comes up except for this thread. I found an alternative called Atari810 that looks promising. I still need A.P.E for the 10502PC side using prosystem though too, unless there is another software program out there for 10502PC cable for putting ATR

onto real disks.

 

He spelled it wrong, it's AspeQt, and it's fantastic!

 

Fox-1 / mnx already linked to it a few posts ago.

 

EDIT: I couldn't get Atari810 to work on my XP laptop, but AspeQt works fine.

Edited June 9, 2010 by jmetal88

[Gunstar]

I wouldn't pay twice either.

 

DOS mode in WinXP and later is practically useless for older apps - the newer Win versions don't allow user code direct access to the PC hardware so lots of older apps won't work.

 

Just use APEQt instead - it's free and will probably eventually be much better than APE anyway, it's got it's own thread somewhere else in 8-bit computers.

 

Actually, it would be my third time, I've already payed twice!

 

I did a google search for APEQt and nothing comes up except for this thread. I found an alternative called Atari810 that looks promising. I still need A.P.E for the 10502PC side using prosystem though too, unless there is another software program out there for 10502PC cable for putting ATR

onto real disks.

 

He spelled it wrong, it's AspeQt, and it's fantastic!

 

Fox-1 / mnx already linked to it a few posts ago.

 

EDIT: I couldn't get Atari810 to work on my XP laptop, but AspeQt works fine.

Yeah, I tried Atari810 with the exact same results I get with APE 1.18. I'll check out AspeQt. Thanks!

[Gunstar]

You first may ask Steven for the latest DOS version. I think it's 1.18D but using 1.17D will also do.

 

Next, you need to use an old fashion SIO2PC interface connected to a real serial port on PC. A USB->RS232 adapter will likely not work as does a SIO2USB.

 

I'm a registered user of APE-DOS since a very long while and ran it with MS-DOS 5.0/6.22 on 8086/8088, 80286, 80386 and 80486 systems with no problem at all.

 

Also run it in a DosBox on my Win98 laptop (and Win95 in the past), Win2000 server and WinXP workstation without any problem. Other then the standard PC mainboard drivers I never needed an additional one.

 

Another thing you might consider is http://sourceforge.net/projects/aspeqt/

Depends on what features you need.

I've got the exact setup you mention, APE 1.18, SIO2PC via COM (I made it myself, the 1 chip design, I have 10502PC on the opposite side of the board I made with it's own com port) I've used it successfully for years with both the DOS and Win98 versions of APE.

 

When you say "DosBox" are you just refering to opening up a dos window on the desktop or are you talking about some dos emulation program mentioned above called 'Dos Box'?

 

It might be possible that there is a problem with my SIO2PC board, it sat for a while, but it worked fine the last time it was hooked up, though that was on a P3 PC with Win98 and now I have a P4 PC with XP. I am assuming it's a problem with the software on the PC and not my SIO2PC interface at this point.

Edited June 9, 2010 by Gunstar

[tregare]

I have had A.P.E 1.4 for years, I later upgraded to A.P.E for Win98, both fully registered. Anyway, I upgraded to XP a while back, but hadn't been using A.P.E and my 8-bit. When I went to use it later, My Windows A.P.E doesn't work anymore becuase it doesn't have the right driver for XP. This I found out after asking the publisher what the problem was, and of course the only solution is to pay all over again to upgrade to A.P.E for XP (and I suppose I'd have to do it again when I eventually upgrade Windows again). I refuse to keep paying for a new driver everytime, even if it is cheaper than the full original price of A.P.E, it's still too expensive to keep upgrading it every couple years when I upgrade Windows. So, I decided to just go back to A.P.E 1.4 for DOS, but I can't get my Atari to recognize the link. Is this a driver problem still becuase I'm using a DOS window in XP? Everything on the PC end seems to be fine, but turning on my 8-bit doesn't recognize any virtual drive(s). Is there a way to get 1.4 working on my PC with XP? Will it work if I dump Windows for DOS only interface? and if so, how do I do that with XP. Or am I just out of luck unless I fork over more money? If I have to do that, I'll find an old windows 98 laptop to use instead of continuously paying for A.P.E drivers.

 

Don't get me wrong, I do think the authot of A.P.E deserves compensation for all his work and upgrades to make it compatible with new PC's, but I don't have the money to keep forking out for the same program I've already payed for and used for years, it seems like a lease instead of ownership. If I had that kind of money to throw around, I wouldn't still be upgrading from Win98(!) to XP; generations old windows. I just want to be able to use what I've already payed for, like everything else for my 8-bit.

 

 

Have you tried setting Windows 98 compatibility mode for APE-Win98?

[dwhyte]

When you say "DosBox" are you just refering to opening up a dos window on the desktop or are you talking about some dos emulation program mentioned above called 'Dos Box'?

DOSBox

[Fox-1 / mnx]

When you say "DosBox" are you just refering to opening up a dos window on the desktop or are you talking about some dos emulation program mentioned above called 'Dos Box'?

Just the standard built-in DOS-Window (CMD) as in a standard Windows set-up.

 

I have DOSBox too (mentioned in the post above me) but I don't use it with APE-D (never had a reason to try this).

 

 

It might be possible that there is a problem with my SIO2PC board

 

Double-check your "Serial Control" setting in APE (RI/DSR/CTS). It has to match your SIO2PC hardware. The default-setting is RI but I wired my SIO2PC interfaces to use DSR as this improves the timing/polling/priority/whatever of the RS232 port when used with Windows (IIRC. It's ages ago I changed this).

 

If you use the original "Nick Kennedy" RI wiring it may help to change that to a DSR or CTS wiring and change the setting in APE accordingly (option [5] in configuration menu. Ignore the warning :-) )

 

 

 

edit:

http://www.aggsoft.com/rs232-pinout-cable/serial-port-db9.htm

 

 

On a DB9 RS232:

 

RI = pin 9 (standard SIO2PC wiring)

DSR = pin 6 (what I use myself)

CTS = pin 8 (never tried that but probably works as good as DSR)

Edited June 9, 2010 by Fox-1 / mnx

[classics]

If you have an existing APE upgrade registration then drop me an e-mail at classics@atarimax.com.

 

I'm not sure what edition of XP you are running, but the current version of APE comes with signed 32-bit and 64-bit USB and RS232 drivers.

 

If you already purchased an upgrade registration in the past then the 2000/XP/Vista/7 RS232 driver should be included in 3.0.5.

 

I've posted it before (years and years ago) but I'll repeat it, the original charge for the 98->XP upgrade was because _at the time_ writing a driver for Windows XP was expensive, poorly documented and time consuming, not because I'm a greedy douche looking to get rich making tens and hundreds of dollars a year at the expense of poor Atari hobbyists.

 

Some people seem to imagine there is a lot of money in Atari 8-bit support, well there is not, and I seriously doubt even with the upgrade charge that I ever recovered the mid 4-figure sum I spent helping people at the time who had no other choice than DOS SIO2PC.

 

I'm not throwing myself on the cross either here. I choose by my own free will a long time ago (10+ years ago) to offer commercial support to people who wanted it and I still offer commercial support to people who need it. Things like driver signing certificates with background checks ($500+ per year, to start), corporate registrations, accountants, injection molds, machine tooling, design services, etc are not free. If what you really want is _free_ rather than the trappings that come with commercial support, there is a literally an embarrassment of riches in very good free software available, like AspeQT and Atari810.

 

Anyway, I hope I can help you resolve the problem you are having. Please drop me an e-mail, I have not logged in here at AA for many months and it may be awhile again.

 

Steve

Edited June 9, 2010 by classics

[Gunstar]

If you have an existing APE upgrade registration then drop me an e-mail at classics@atarimax.com.

 

I'm not sure what edition of XP you are running, but the current version of APE comes with signed 32-bit and 64-bit USB and RS232 drivers.

 

If you already purchased an upgrade registration in the past then the 2000/XP/Vista/7 RS232 driver should be included in 3.0.5.

 

I've posted it before (years and years ago) but I'll repeat it, the original charge for the 98->XP upgrade was because _at the time_ writing a driver for Windows XP was expensive, poorly documented and time consuming, not because I'm a greedy douche looking to get rich making tens and hundreds of dollars a year at the expense of poor Atari hobbyists.

 

Some people seem to imagine there is a lot of money in Atari 8-bit support, well there is not, and I seriously doubt even with the upgrade charge that I ever recovered the mid 4-figure sum I spent helping people at the time who had no other choice than DOS SIO2PC.

 

I'm not throwing myself on the cross either here. I choose by my own free will a long time ago (10+ years ago) to offer commercial support to people who wanted it and I still offer commercial support to people who need it. Things like driver signing certificates with background checks ($500+ per year, to start), corporate registrations, accountants, injection molds, machine tooling, design services, etc are not free. If what you really want is _free_ rather than the trappings that come with commercial support, there is a literally an embarrassment of riches in very good free software available, like AspeQT and Atari810.

 

Anyway, I hope I can help you resolve the problem you are having. Please drop me an e-mail, I have not logged in here at AA for many months and it may be awhile again.

 

Steve

 

I'm replying here, even if you don't check back for a while, becuase I've already been the route of dropping you an e-mail to resolve the problem, and at the time you're reply was that the driver(s) included in my version (don't have the disc next to me to check v.#) didn't cover windows XP and that I'd have to buy an upgrade. I replied to you at the time basically the same thing I said above; that I'd already bought two versions and felt that was enough money spent on A.P.E.

 

At that time, I had mistakenly thought that the version I had purchased was either already compatible or include free driver upgrades. My mistake, and certainly no fault of yours, but I was still upset when I realized I was wrong. I just don't care to pay for A.P.E a third time to use A.P.E on my latest computer.

 

As for my current problems with APE 1.18, we never discussed it, I just told you I'd just go back to APE 1.18 instead and that's basically where the corrospondance ended and I ended up not even bothering trying APE 1.18 through XP until now. But I'd appreciate any help with getting APE 1.18 working, or if something has changed with charging for a Window 98-XP upgrade as I think you stated above, a bit vague for me to assume anything though. This was about a year ago we corrosponded originally.

 

Like I said, I think you have every right to charge for your upgrades if you want too, I too, have the right to decide not to purchase it if I feel it's too much from my perspective after already paying full price for two other versions.

Edited June 9, 2010 by Gunstar

[Gunstar]

All that being said above...I've checked my interface and it's working correctly.APE 1.18 through DOSBOX emulation didn't work and I couldn't get Prosystem 1.18 to work with my 10502PC and 1050 drive either. So the problem is on the PC side even if my PC says everything is working right. I think I may have a bad com port that my PC reads as good. I'm going to see if I can find a used card with a com port on it at a Goodwill or thrift store, then set it and APE for com2 and see how that goes. I still need to try ASPEQT though...and the settings (R1,DSR,CTS, etc.)

Edited June 9, 2010 by Gunstar

[classics]

I can't imagine the DOS version will work well at all unless you throw a zillion CPU cycles at it, and even then it wouldn't work well. I think that was why I originally wrote the first driver for Windows 95.

 

I'm sorry I can't recall the conversation we had a year ago off hand. If you send me an e-mail I'll be sure you have the newest version.

 

Steve

[Gunstar]

I can't imagine the DOS version will work well at all unless you throw a zillion CPU cycles at it, and even then it wouldn't work well. I think that was why I originally wrote the first driver for Windows 95.

 

I'm sorry I can't recall the conversation we had a year ago off hand. If you send me an e-mail I'll be sure you have the newest version.

 

Steve

 

Well, I don't know what to make of your or anyone elses comments about the DOS version; you programmed it, so you should know best if it will work or not, but there have been several replies from people saying they use it just fine and how...

 

I will e-mail you about the newest version and I really appreciate it. But after trying several ways to not only get A.P.E working without success but other lesser virtual drive apps without success, and a test of my SIO2PC showing it is working, I think I have a problem with my com port that will need to be rectified before anything will work through my com port. (I also have an audio problem with my pc caused by a power surge, and I think the com port might have been affected too somehow, just didn't notice until now becuase windows says it's working, but it says that about the audio too)

[Fox-1 / mnx]

I'll suggest you to give AspeQt a try first: http://sourceforge.net/projects/aspeqt/

 

If it works your PC hardware is o.k. so no time wasted with searching for a hardware problem which doesn't exist.

[jmetal88]

I'll suggest you to give AspeQt a try first: http://sourceforge.net/projects/aspeqt/

 

If it works your PC hardware is o.k. so no time wasted with searching for a hardware problem which doesn't exist.

 

Very true. AspeQt worked on my laptop even when the demo version of APE refused to.

[Gunstar]

I'll suggest you to give AspeQt a try first: http://sourceforge.net/projects/aspeqt/

 

If it works your PC hardware is o.k. so no time wasted with searching for a hardware problem which doesn't exist.

 

O.k. I will. It also occurred to me that I could at least go to Classics' and I think they have a crippled share-ware version of A.P.E XP I could use to test. But apparently I'm going to get the latest version or at least driver to use A.P.E with XP and then I should know too. I haven't e-mailed him yet.

[+Larry]

What kind of hardware and OS does your laptop have? Real serial port or?

 

-Larry

 

 

I'll suggest you to give AspeQt a try first: http://sourceforge.net/projects/aspeqt/

 

If it works your PC hardware is o.k. so no time wasted with searching for a hardware problem which doesn't exist.

 

Very true. AspeQt worked on my laptop even when the demo version of APE refused to.

[jmetal88]

What kind of hardware and OS does your laptop have? Real serial port or?

 

-Larry

 

 

I'll suggest you to give AspeQt a try first: http://sourceforge.net/projects/aspeqt/

 

If it works your PC hardware is o.k. so no time wasted with searching for a hardware problem which doesn't exist.

 

Very true. AspeQt worked on my laptop even when the demo version of APE refused to.

 

It appears to be a real serial port.

 

I have a Latitude D400 running Windows XP. AspeQt is the only one of the peripheral emulators I got working on Windows, but I got the original SIO2PC program working when I booted into FreeDOS.

 

As for the problem with APE, it was kind of weird, it looked like the laptop was receiving instructions OK (though I had to rewire my cable to not use RI), but somehow APE wasn't sending out anything that my 130XE could make any sense of. As a result, what the laptop received was a bunch of requests for the same sectors, with the 130XE loading straight to Basic.