Topic for newbies or veterans returning to Atari

[manterola]

What you need is a "sector copier", or the duplicate disk from some DOS menues.

In this kind of copy the program goes thru the diskette sector by sector, reading and later writing, no matter what file or part of the file is in any particular sector. 

Obviously, thing are always a bit more complicated when dealing with copy protection techniques that might be used in a specific diskette yiu want to copy. 

But in general, when writing a diskette have downloaded from internet, you need to set your sio2pc as D1: and leave the D2: empty. Then set your real disk drive as D2: with an empty real diskette in. Then load the Dos or sector copier from your sio2pc D1: then set the sio2pc D1: with the atr you want to copy and start the sector copier process using D1 as source and D2: as destination. 

This same can also be made using D1 as the real disk drive and D2: the sio2pc, or setting the sio2pc as D3: , etc. The important think is to be careful of what disk unit number  is the source and which one is the destination. 

I am sure someone else can recommend you a good sector copier. 

 

[+Philsan]

Two good sector copiers are Copymate (you need 128KB RAM) and the new MILF.

 

Copymate XE (128).atr  MILF (2020)(Dely).atr

[+Philsan]

On 5/11/2020 at 6:39 PM, 8bitguy1 said:

When I first got back into the ST, I found "The Essential Software" list very helpful.  It's listed over at that other Atari forum, and it's not game based (I think it's hosted on its own now though).  I've scrolled through this thread and not seen anything similar for the 8 bit, would it be of value?  Even for me, a life long 8 bitter, it would be fun/helpful to see a list of key/important/best-in-class non-game software.

 

Thoughts?

I know that list and I find it useful too.

It's not an easy task to compile such a list for A8.

For example, which is the best graphic program? There are plenty of them, for different graphics modes, with strenghts and weaknesses.

 

Anyway, a thread could be opened to gather informations about categories and software.

[Atari8guy]

I agree not easy, but it could collectively be done and probably fun for the community.

 

As examples (and only examples)

 

Word Processors

Of the ERA - Important historically or Best in Class           Modern - Best in Class

Paperclip (with link to Atarimania?)                                 The Last Word (with link to FJC's site)

 

Desktop Publishing

Of the ERA - Important historically or Best in Class           Modern - Best in Class

Newsroom, The Print Shop                                              N/A

 

Where the importance could be determined by functionality, how wide spread, historical significance etc..

 

Maybe as the ST one started we could start with a google sheet, or a thread (the first post would have to be editable though).

[TapperP]

Hey everyone. I used to own an Atari 800 (original, not XL/XE) many years ago and miss it a lot. I'm now considering buying a used one from someone here.

 

What would be a fair price for one in good condition?

 

Also, are there any important questions I should ask before buying?

[+Philsan]

On 6/6/2020 at 12:16 AM, TapperP said:

Hey everyone. I used to own an Atari 800 (original, not XL/XE) many years ago and miss it a lot. I'm now considering buying a used one from someone here.

 

What would be a fair price for one in good condition?

 

Also, are there any important questions I should ask before buying?

Being European, I don't know exactly what would be a fair price in the USA.

In Europe we have to spend a lot of money because Atari 800 are rare. No problems to find XL or XE machines.

I think $150 would be a good price but in fact there isn't a price, it depends on items conditions (boxed, working, yellowed?) and on how much you are willing to pay.

 

If you can, test keyboard and joystick ports, load software from cart and SIO, check video output.

[TapperP]

2 hours ago, Philsan said:

Being European, I don't know exactly what would be a fair price in the USA.

In Europe we have to spend a lot of money because Atari 800 are rare. No problems to find XL or XE machines.

I think $150 would be a good price but in fact there isn't a price, it depends on items conditions (boxed, working, yellowed?) and on how much you are willing to pay.

 

If you can, test keyboard and joystick ports, load software from cart and SIO, check video output.

Thank you for the reply. Unfortunately there is no way to see in person, but the seller is providing photos and possibly video. Asking price is $175, and it is in nice clean condition, but no box or such.

[+Philsan]

2 minutes ago, TapperP said:

Thank you for the reply. Unfortunately there is no way to see in person, but the seller is providing photos and possibly video. Asking price is $175, and it is in nice clean condition, but no box or such.

A video with mentioned tests will suffice.

If it is not yellowed and it works I would buy it but with old electronics one can never know.

[TapperP]

Woohoo! Finally have an Atari 800 computer again after nearly 2 decades! Just arrived today, purchased from hursto75 on this site, along with a 1050 and NOS CX40. Working great!

 

Here she is running Gyruss:

 

Edited June 12, 2020 by TapperP

[Max_Chatsworth]

On 6/11/2020 at 9:10 PM, TapperP said:

Woohoo! Finally have an Atari 800 computer again after nearly 2 decades! Just arrived today, purchased from hursto75 on this site, along with a 1050 and NOS CX40. Working great!

 

Here she is running Gyruss:

 

I'm in the same boat as you somewhat. I had a 400 and an 800XL growing up, and as I went out into the world and left home for the service, I just kick myself for not safeguarding those. I am in the process of looking to buy another 800XL, but I'm awash in the dizzying array of options for disk drive emulation vs the real thing.  

 

 

[drhoemmal]

Hello community,  

May I ask you a question?  

I have such a white thing, I don't even know the name, where I put a tf card in and the Atari loads from one of the four emulated drives.  Now I've bought two 1050 drives with lots of empty discs on eBay.

My question, is there any way that I can copy programs from the white thing to the empty disks via my Atari so that I can play old style from the disks?     

Edited June 26, 2020 by drhoemmal

[+Philsan]

@drhoemmal, that device is called SDrive Max.

You'll find info and instructions here: https://atari8bit.net/de-re-sdrive-max/

 

Like other SIO port devices (SIO2PC, SIO2SD) it emulates a disk drive.

 

Therefore, you can copy files from it to a real disk drive and viceversa.

 

You should connect it to the disk drive and the disk drive to the Atari.

On the back of 1050 disk drive there are two switches that define disk drive's number.

You should set them so that disk drive is considered drive #2: http://www.atarimania.com/documents/Atari_1050_Disk_Drive_Owners_Guide.pdf#pagemode=bookmarks&page=5

 

So now, SDrive Max is drive #1, 1050 disk drive is drive #2.

You load an ATR image with a copy program in SDrive Max, then you attach the ATR you want to copy, you insert a floppy disk on 1050, you start the copy.

When you've finished the copy, you set 1050 disk drive's switches so that it is considered drive #1.

Now you can boot the floppy disk you made from it. 

[apc]

Just would like to say "Hello!" to this great community. I am glad I joined recently.

My little setup: 130XE, 800XL upgraded to 256kB back in 90s, XC12, some joy ... long time closed in a box (yellow, some parts not working anymore), but on my desk again! ?

 

[+Philsan]

Comparison table and first post updated.

As usual, please tell me if there are errors or I missed something.

It's not easy to keep up to date all infos.

[+CharlieChaplin]

Found some small "errors" in the comparison table, regarding AVG cart...

 

a) regarding CAS it says no, but it should be a yes with § note (can be loaded with optional/additional SIO-cable) 

b) plugs into says cartridge slot, one could add "(+SIO-port if optional SIO-cable is added)"

c) for speed, besides very fast one could also add "(+SIO-speed if optional SIO-cable is added)"

 

[flashjazzcat]

Minor observations regarding SIDE3 column:

• Although ATR compatibility is best with U1MB by far, the cartridge is capable of booting certain ATRs without U1MB
• Reset button doubles as swap disk button in ATR context

[Probabilitydragon]

Hello world!

 

Not exactly a newbie as I used to own an ATARI 600XL back in the eighties.

 

The machine was recently discovered in the attic of a relative, and it has brought me immense joy - I have played games with my kids, done a bit of basic programming and explored what the POKEY sound chip has to offer - also sampled some of the POKEY sounds for my music use. The sounds are damn sweet!

 

The Atari 8 bits were pretty marginal here in Finland - but I was happy to find there is a busy international community!

 

I already received the avgcart from tmp - and was surprised to find even the jsn connector included. Next step would be to make that SIO to cart cable, as well as set up the sd for hard drive use.

 

In the box, there was my old 1050 disk drive as well. The floppies, boot disk included, are still buried somewhere, probably the aforementioned attic. I was going to ask here for instructions on how to make my own boot disk - but managed without asking. So, now I have even a functioning floppy drive. My cassette recorder is dead, though - belt is worn out and the motor for play is out as well. I think I'm forgetting about the tape recorder and sticking to what I can upload via the avgcart.

 

Another thing I was going to ask were replacement switches for the keyboard. But then one of the nonresponsive keys, [ESC], came magically back to life and another one, [1], is functioning reasonably well. At the moment my only nonresponsive key is the [BREAK] key, and so far I manage without it. For the record, I have an awc keyboard.

 

Also I guess I should check my power adaptor for voltage, haven't done that yet. Is the really huge black variety of XL adaptors prone to failures or voltage changes as it ages?

[mimo]

Hi, welcome back to the world of Atari, great choice with the AVG cart, and it is definately worth making the sio cable for it.
 I guess your 600xl has had a memory upgrade at some point if you are using discs.
The really big power brick seems to be OK, but I'm not saying it won't fail as they are pretty old now. They are great for keeping your feet warm though  It is the "ingot" power supplies that will kill your machine.
Don't forget that the play motor will not work until it is commanded to do so by the 600xl, press play on the cassette drive, type "cload" in basic and hit any key to start the drive

Have fun revisiting your youth 

[manterola]

Regarding the keys, it depends of the keyboard type you have. I guess AWC keyword is a mechanical one (with real switches). Sometimes the metallic contacts need a bit of contact cleaner. I have fixed some keys by desoldering the switch and open it very carefully and then moving the metallic part to make more pressure against the other metallic part. 

But hopefully cleaning the contact and keep pushing the key will probably solve it. 

 

[mimo]

One other thing, with the sio cable AVG cart can be used to load cassette images ?

[Probabilitydragon]

Ah yeah, that's right - I think I only typed cload and forgot about hitting a key after hitting return!

 

Yes, my 600XL has always been with the 1064 memory extension connected.

 

I made myself a sio cable to connect the i/o port to the avgcart, and have had success with the slow loading of cas images. However, the atx images are not working 100% - the Bruce Lee atx image that I downloaded from Atarimania, for instance, does start loading and loads the text-based loading screen, but then boots to BASIC.

 

Also, regarding setting up the sd card to be used as an hd - I did try to set up the cart with the sd card as a hard drive as per the instructions on "De Re AVGCART", but I'm afraid my tech engineer skills end there and I don't know how to access the partitions I created on FDISK. I used my mac terminal diskutil to format the FAT32 partition.

 

Initially I had formatted the card with the OSX disk utility, and before the terminal diskutil format, the avf files wouldn't display correctly. But after the later formatting, the avf files started working. There's some cool value in playing back videos on the old atari, if not much of practical value

 

Not that I would be needing the mass storage on the sd disk to be accessed by the Atari now, I have my disk drive working anyway... but it would be interesting to know how exactly accessing the hard drive feature of the sd card works.

Edited December 9, 2020 by Probabilitydragon

[mimo]

1064 is a rare add on now, I have one but it does not have a case. If you can attach the atx image or send it in a message to me I will try it on my AVG. You have to hold down option to disable basic when you load an ATX image (sorry if you already know this)
As for the side 2 emulation, I believe (but I could be wrong ) that you have to have SpartaDosX or similar to access the HD partition, but that is a bit above my pay grade 

Edited December 9, 2020 by mimo

[Probabilitydragon]

the loading process on that atx boots to basic regardless if I start it with with option pressed down or not.

 

The atx is trom here --> http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-bruce-lee_798.html

 

atx also attached.

 

the cas works just fine. I had some issues loading one or two other atx's as well, but Bruce Lee is vital as it's something my friends with their C64's used to have and I was extremely jealous... and now I can have my glorious revenge in my middle age

Bruce Lee.atx

[tmp]

someone actually reported a few weeks ago that bruce lee doesn't work (supposedly even atr version) and i have completely forgotten about it :/

i'll look into that, thanks for reminding me

[Probabilitydragon]

Great!

 

and hey, thanks for the cart, it’s an amazing piece of tech!