Creating Multi-Load Menus ?

[Rachel-Emma]

I've downloaded all these multi-load disks from this site http://www.mushca.com/f/atari/index.php?idx=1

 

All the games are on a Bootmanager Menu (Mike Langer). I am not familiar with this and I would like to transfer the games that on your site onto an Ian.K Menu or an Alpha Menu. How Can I do this? Have you got any Utilities that will enable me to take any game from your multi_load menus and write them to a single disk so that they can be read into an Ian.K or Alpha Menu.

 

Any help on this will be much appreciated.

[kheffington]

I've downloaded all these multi-load disks from this site http://www.mushca.com/f/atari/index.php?idx=1

 

All the games are on a Bootmanager Menu (Mike Langer). I am not familiar with this and I would like to transfer the games that on your site onto an Ian.K Menu or an Alpha Menu. How Can I do this? Have you got any Utilities that will enable me to take any game from your multi_load menus and write them to a single disk so that they can be read into an Ian.K or Alpha Menu.

 

Any help on this will be much appreciated.

 

On a desktop computer, you can use MakeATR to open the disk images and extract the executable files from them.

Edited May 4, 2011 by kheffington

[Rachel-Emma]

What is the best extractor for ATR files ???

[kheffington]

What is the best extractor for ATR files ???

 

 

On a Windows based PC, MakeATR. You can open the ATR and extract the com files or any other files on the ATR. You can also insert files on a PC to an ATR image. Attached file is MakeATR GUI based.

makeATR_v0.06.zip

[Rachel-Emma]

Well after trying extremely hard to take some games off these multi load disks from http://www.mushca.com/f/atari/index.php?idx=1 I am still not having much luck at all putting them onto a new Multi-Load Menu. Can someone please explain what to do. I am fairly new to the scene.

 

The trouble is that these multi load disks from this site are on a (Bootmanager 1996 Mike Langer Menu) and I don't want to use this particular menu and I want to be able to lift certain games from this menu to either a single boot disk or a multi-boot menu so that they can be read from there to a US Doubler Menu.

 

I've been told that I need an NDos Converter but I can't make any sense of it whatsoever. I've tried just about every Dos possible but just can't seem to lift these games from this Bootmanager Menu. Is there such a thing as an Ndos Menu Maker ???

Edited May 6, 2011 by Rachel-Emma

[Rachel-Emma]

 

You can use Bootmanager to create multi load disks but you need exe files instead of atrs. Or you could just save yourself the time of doing it and download what you like from the site below. Several hundred multi game disks with menus.

muscha atari disks

 

Hi

 

Your link for Bootmanager doesn't seem to be working. I wrote it to a floppy but it doesn't seem to load properly not unless I am supposed to type something in when it says "READY"

[kheffington]

 

You can use Bootmanager to create multi load disks but you need exe files instead of atrs. Or you could just save yourself the time of doing it and download what you like from the site below. Several hundred multi game disks with menus.

muscha atari disks

 

Hi

 

Your link for Bootmanager doesn't seem to be working. I wrote it to a floppy but it doesn't seem to load properly not unless I am supposed to type something in when it says "READY"

Doing most of the work on a PC is far easier and takes less time. Here is a way to do it with bootmanager. Same premise will work with other bootmanager programs.

 

Tools used on PC are MakeATR, BOOTMANAGER, and an Atari Emulator in this case Altirra.

 

Start by extracting the com or exe files from the ATR images you downloaded to a directory on the PC (SEE IMAGE) by using MakeATR.

 

One you have extracted the files and you are ready to put them on disk, use MakeATR to insert them in the BOOTMANGER ATR. Use a backup copy of the BOOTMANAGER ATR for each disk you want to make as it can only be used once.

 

Save the BOOTMANAGER ATR that you inserted the files into. Use an Atari emulator to boot that disk. (SEE IMAGES).

 

Hit return and give the BOOTMENU disk name. Hit return to go down the list of files on the disk to and type in boot menu names for them. Hit return at the last one and then hit J twice for yes you are finished and yes save the disk. At this point a DOS menu will show in the emulator. Just cold start the disk and your menu will show on reboot.

 

Use SIOPC to transfer this ATR you made to a real Atari disk.

[Rachel-Emma]

 

You can use Bootmanager to create multi load disks but you need exe files instead of atrs. Or you could just save yourself the time of doing it and download what you like from the site below. Several hundred multi game disks with menus.

muscha atari disks

 

Hi

 

Your link for Bootmanager doesn't seem to be working. I wrote it to a floppy but it doesn't seem to load properly not unless I am supposed to type something in when it says "READY"

Doing most of the work on a PC is far easier and takes less time. Here is a way to do it with bootmanager. Same premise will work with other bootmanager programs.

 

Tools used on PC are MakeATR, BOOTMANAGER, and an Atari Emulator in this case Altirra.

 

Start by extracting the com or exe files from the ATR images you downloaded to a directory on the PC (SEE IMAGE) by using MakeATR.

 

One you have extracted the files and you are ready to put them on disk, use MakeATR to insert them in the BOOTMANGER ATR. Use a backup copy of the BOOTMANAGER ATR for each disk you want to make as it can only be used once.

 

Save the BOOTMANAGER ATR that you inserted the files into. Use an Atari emulator to boot that disk. (SEE IMAGES).

 

Hit return and give the BOOTMENU disk name. Hit return to go down the list of files on the disk to and type in boot menu names for them. Hit return at the last one and then hit J twice for yes you are finished and yes save the disk. At this point a DOS menu will show in the emulator. Just cold start the disk and your menu will show on reboot.

 

Use SIOPC to transfer this ATR you made to a real Atari disk.

 

Hi there,

 

Thank you for helping. I really hope I can do this. The thumbnails you attached should be useful and I hope that I can follow your instructions which I will try in a few minutes. Do you have bootmanager so that I can download it? Also what extracting tools do you have?

 

[kheffington]

Here is the boot manager file. I should have added above that you can use this as disk 1 in the emulator and use just a blank disk ATR to put the com files on then load that ATR as disk 2 in the emulator (make sure it is marked as both read/write in the emulator for the disk with the files. You will be able to get slightly more usage space this way. But you have to leave around 45 sectors for the bootmanager to write dos and autorun plus the menu to the disk with the com files.

 

I think it only works with com files not exe files, but unsure. That however is not an issue as they are basically the same and you can change the extension on the file to com from exe.

 

I will put together a word file with graphics in it up on my server for you later so you can download that. Will take an hour or two for me to get around to it.

 

MakeATR is in a post 2 or 3 up from this post.

Bootmanager (1996)(Mike Langer).zip

Edited May 7, 2011 by kheffington

[Rachel-Emma]

Here is the boot manager file. I should have added above that you can use this as disk 1 in the emulator and use just a blank disk ATR to put the com files on then load that ATR as disk 2 in the emulator (make sure it is marked as both read/write in the emulator for the disk with the files. You will be able to get slightly more usage space this way. But you have to leave around 45 sectors for the bootmanager to write dos and autorun plus the menu to the disk with the com files.

 

I think it only works with com files not exe files, but unsure. That however is not an issue as they are basically the same and you can change the extension on the file to com from exe.

 

I will put together a word file with graphics in it up on my server for you later so you can download that. Will take an hour or two for me to get around to it.

 

MakeATR is in a post 2 or 3 up from this post.

 

WOW - many thanks for your help. I look forward to your word file - I can't tell you enough how grateful I am

[kheffington]

You can download the Microsoft Word 2003 version or a PDF version in zip archives with images from the below links. Not too fancy but should be usable to extract and then make boot menu disks.

 

Bootmanager Guide PDF format

 

Bootmanager Guide Word Format

[Rachel-Emma]

You can download the Microsoft Word 2003 version or a PDF version in zip archives with images from the below links. Not too fancy but should be usable to extract and then make boot menu disks.

 

Bootmanager Guide PDF format

 

Bootmanager Guide Word Format

 

I really don't know what to say - bless you for doing this. Your guide with images is excellent to follow. I am so grateful The last thing I have to ask you for is for a link to down the version of Altirra that you are currently using as I don't have it installed

[kheffington]

Home page for Altirra is located at the link below. 1.8 is there.

 

Altirra Home Page

[Roydea6]

The most recent Atirra Beta is downloadable from this Thread:

 

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/181257-siccart-preorder/

 

The #1 Post.

[HiassofT]

Another possibility, if you feel comfortable using command-line programs, use "dir2atr" from my Atari Tools for Win32 package

 

Once you have the COM/EXE/XEX/... files for a disk in a directory (lets say "games1-dir") just run dir2atr to create a bootable disk image with MyPicoDos on it:

dir2atr -b MyPicoDos405 -P -d 720 games1.atr games1-dir

This creates a double density ('-d') 720 sectors image.

 

so long,

 

Hias

[Rachel-Emma]

Another possibility, if you feel comfortable using command-line programs, use "dir2atr" from my Atari Tools for Win32 package

 

Once you have the COM/EXE/XEX/... files for a disk in a directory (lets say "games1-dir") just run dir2atr to create a bootable disk image with MyPicoDos on it:

dir2atr -b MyPicoDos405 -P -d 720 games1.atr games1-dir

This creates a double density ('-d') 720 sectors image.

 

so long,

 

Hias

 

Hello Hias,

 

Any instructions of what to do here ?

 

Rachel

[Rachel-Emma]

Hello Everyone,

 

Just to let you know that my first menu disk created was a success thanks to all your help - especially "Kheffington"

 

As my first disk, I thought it was best to copy all the games on the first disk from http://www.mushca.com. Although it was a success and my floppy loaded, I wasn't able to fit the same games on a disk as the ones from Mushca.com and I am not sure why. I chose SpartaDos and went for Enhanced Density which gives you 1030 free sectors. Also, although my 1050 Disk Drive loaded the games fairly quickly, I have known it to load quicker with having installed a Happy Mod.

 

Do any of you guys know the answers to these questions ???

[kheffington]

Hello Everyone,

 

Just to let you know that my first menu disk created was a success thanks to all your help - especially "Kheffington"

 

As my first disk, I thought it was best to copy all the games on the first disk from http://www.mushca.com. Although it was a success and my floppy loaded, I wasn't able to fit the same games on a disk as the ones from Mushca.com and I am not sure why. I chose SpartaDos and went for Enhanced Density which gives you 1030 free sectors. Also, although my 1050 Disk Drive loaded the games fairly quickly, I have known it to load quicker with having installed a Happy Mod.

 

Do any of you guys know the answers to these questions ???

 

Use a blank disk without DOS on it to copy the files to. The Mushca disks are Double Density disks so to fit as much on them as he does you would have to use a DD ATR to work with.

[Rachel-Emma]

 

Use a blank disk without DOS on it to copy the files to. The Mushca disks are Double Density disks so to fit as much on them as he does you would have to use a DD ATR to work with.

 

How do I do this ?

[Rachel-Emma]

Is there any way that you can compress an ATR file ?

[HiassofT]

Hi Rachel!

 

Any instructions of what to do here ?

Here's a short crash course, you can find detailled instructions for dir2atr in the README.txt (also inside the ZIP file).

 

Let's assume you have all your Atari stuff in C:\Atari.

 

Then, if you want to create a bootable disk with a menu, you first create a folder for that disk, let's say C:\Atari\games1-dir.

 

In the next step you copy your COM/EXE/XEX/BAS/BIN/... files to C:\Atari\games1-dir. You may also create sub-folders and place the games there, if you like (for example C:\Atari\games1-dir\Adventures). At this step you might consider naming the files appropriately (for example "Boulder Dash I.exe" instead of just "BDASH1.EXE") - dir2atr will respect the original "long" names when creating the MyPicoDos menu.

 

BTW: Instead of extracting the COM/EXE/XEX files from ATRs (using MAKEATR or whatever) you can also search atarionline.pl for COM/EXE files - bonus: a lot of them already have long names.

 

If you want to be able to copy the ATRs to "real" floppy disks you have to pay attention that the contents of the directory are smaller than the disk size (90/130/180k). You also have to leave some 6k space for MyPicoDos and the directory. If you just want to use this ATR with APE, SIO2xxx etc, you can cram up to 16MB of files into this directory (in this case keep in mind that you can store a maximum of 63 files/subdirectories in each directory - the limit is 64 and one entry is needed for PICONAME.TXT - a file containing the "long file names" for MyPicoDos).

 

When you are finished, you start the DOS box (command prompt or whatever it's called in Windows), enter "C:" and "cd \Atari" to navigate to your Atari directory and then start dir2atr from there (either copy dir2atr to that directory, or set the PATH pointing to the dir2atr executable, or enter the full path where you stored dir2atr.exe, for example c:\Atari\Tools\dir2atr.exe).

 

Let's have a look at the command line options I used in my previous post:

dir2atr -b MyPicoDos405 -P -d 720 games1.atr games1-dir

"-b MyPicoDos405" tells dir2atr to create a bootable ATR with MyPicoDos405 on it.

 

"-P" creates a "normalized" PICONAME.TXT files - the "long filenames file". This means a file named "Boulder Dash I.exe" will show up as "Boulder Dash I" in the menu.

 

"-d" tells dir2atr to create a double-density ATR file (256 bytes per sector) instead of a single-density (128 bytes per sector ATR).

 

"720" is the number of sectors for the ATR. In combination with "-d" this means create a standard 180k DD ATR (720 DD sectors). To create a standard 90k image you'd skip the "-d" (as 90k images are single density, 720 sectors), to create a standard 130k image you'd skip "-d", too, and use "1040" instead of "720". If you don't specify the number of sectors dir2atr will calculate the number of sectors needed to store all files by itself, but in this case you might end up, for example, with a 1983 sectors ATR which can't be copied to a "real" disk.

 

"games1.atr" then is the name of the ATR file dir2atr should create (you could also use e:\OtherAtariStuff\Temp\foobar.atr, or whatever). And, the last option:

 

"games1-dir" is the path of the directory where dir2atr should read the files from. Of course you can also use "e:\OtherAtariStuff\MyGames1" or something like this.

 

Nice thing about the dir2atr approach: you don't have to start an emulator and manually enter the long file names - this is all handeled automatically, using the original filenames in Windows, and if you re-arrange your disks you just have to re-run dir2atr and you are done :-)

 

so long,

 

Hias

[kheffington]

Don't think there is any way to compress an ATR and use it on an Atari Floppy disk. Basic types of floppy disks used on Atari are listed below with capacity. If you have a Stock 1050 drive you can only use Single density (90K)or enhanced density disks (127K). If you have a 1050 that was upgraded with a doubler or happy you can use double density disks (180K.

 

To get a blank DD Atari disk, you can create one in the emulator you are using or you could use MakeATR to reformat one of the ones you downloaded. Or you could just use the command line method Hias explained to you in his post.

 

Atari Floppy Disks

SD (Single Sided Single Density) – 40 Tracks x 18 Sectors x 128 byte – 90 K

ED (Single Sided Enhanced Density) – 40 Tracks x 26 Sectors x 128 bytes – 127 K

DD (Single Sided Double Density) – 40 Tracks x 26 Sectors x 256 bytes – 180 K

DSDD (Double Sided Double Density) – 80 Tracks x 26 Sectors x 256 bytes – 360 K

 

 

Atari 810 drive can read/right SD disks.

Stock Atari 1050 drive can read right SD or ED disks. (Single Sided)

Atari 1050 with Doubler or Happy can read right SD, ED or DD disks. (Single Sided)

Atari XF551 can read/right SD, ED, DD and DSDD disks. So can several third party drives.

[Rachel-Emma]

The strangest thing has happened and I really have no idea what to do. I've been clicking for over an hour and getting rather frustrated. I've been using Altirra for the final stages of creating an ATR image to write to a floppy. When I open Altirra I select Bootmanager (Mike Langer) for drive 1 R/O and the ATR image which I created in drive 2 R/W but for some reason the program is not responding. Even a cold restart is not showing the Bootmanager screen as it should. it's just blank. I have tried clearing my memory on my PC and even restarted windows and still nothing. I have even tried re downloading Altirra and my pc keeps remembering my last settings which is not what I want. I simply can't do anything. What am i doing wrong. I wrote my first disk ok only 2 hours ago.

 

I wonder if I've accidentally clicked on something that I shouldn't have done

Edited May 8, 2011 by Rachel-Emma

[kheffington]

Could be the display is turned off in Altirra. Try on the menu VIEW/DISPLAY

[Rachel-Emma]

For some reason when coming to the end comfirming everything is complete on the Bootmanager page - everything seems to go wrong from there. I must have been lucky the first time I did it but can't seem to get it right a second time. I wrote the ATR to disk but it comes up Boot Error.