ULTRASATAN

[Zap!]

Just a quick update before work. I downloaded that 1gb image that galax mentioned. Then with Win32 Disk Imager I put it on a 2gb SD card. Loaded it up and still nothing. The red light lights up for half a second while the STe is starting up, so I know the connecter cable must be good.

 

Ordering Peter's drivers today. Will get back to you tonight.

[ParanoidLittleMan]

Most likely that 2GB card is not compatible with UltraSatan. I seen posts about problems with.some 2GB cards. 4GB Kingston or Sandisk SD card is really not expensive now, and they work well.

Just to add that never write image files to cards as files - you need to write it to disk (as media), with special SW, and not to copy in partition what appears when attach card to PC.

Edited March 2, 2016 by ParanoidLittleMan

[galax]

I used http://atari.8bitchip.info/drimus.phpand not Win32 Disk Imager to write the downloaded image to SD, not sure if that would make a difference.

[Zap!]

Small update. I bought the drivers from Peter Putnik. I also ordered this SD card from Amazon, which gets here tomorrow. Just for kicks until the new card arrives here, I found three cards lying around the house and put the image on the cards. I knew the Sony 64gb wouldn't work, but I was curious if my SanDisk microSD's with adapter might. I unhooked the floppy drive and tried every card. The Sony card caused the red light to stay on continuously, even before I booted the STe. The rest just blinked red for a second when I put the card in, then another split second when the STe was booting. None worked, as no HD (or even floppy now that it was disconnected) was detected.

 

To be honest, I don't have much hope with the new card working, but we'll find out tomorrow night. With the cover off, I see that I have TOS 1.62. Doubt that would make a difference in detecting the Ultrasatan, but I ordered TOS 2.06 because it's best to have anyway. I remember reading something about some 1040 STe's not working right with Ultrasatan. Hope this isn't the case with mine.

 

I also noticed my connecter cable that came with the Ultrasatan is a bit different than some I have seen. There's an adapter on one end, rather than one piece. Once again, I doubt this matters, but just trying to post every little piece to this puzzle as I can. I attached two files.

[galax]

One thing you didn't mention, what power supply and cable are you using? Some USB cables (especially from phone chargers) really suck for powering anything else.

[Zap!]

One thing you didn't mention, what power supply and cable are you using? Some USB cables (especially from phone chargers) really suck for powering anything else.

I was using the one that came with my Galaxy Note Edge. Last night I switched it to an fast charging one that I bought a few months back. Same result. But I have a couple of others lying around the house, I'll try them when I get home.

 

Sent from my SM-N915T using Tapatalk

[Zap!]

Well, the Kingston 8 GB SD card came today. Put the image on it. As I suspected, nothing. No hard drive shows up. I've tried it on the left side, then reset it, changed resolution, then tried it on the right side. Even tried it with two cards in at once. All nothing. Does anyone know what could possibly be wrong? I've ruled out imaging problems. Besides, it came with an SD card with an image already on it and tested, and that did nothing too. Let's narrow it down to possible causes:

 

1) I have a 1040 STe. I heard some early models cause Ultrasatan to have problems, but wouldn't it at least still show up?

 

2) My cable isn't solid like everyone else's. It has an adapter on the end that goes in the STe. See post 379 above for pics. Where do I order another cable from? Does anyone have the same cable I use?

 

3) I have TOS 1.62. Ordered 2.06 and it's on its way. Could that change anything?

 

4) Perhaps my STe is faulty. I have never used the HD port before. I cleaned it out yesterday, even though it didn't look dirty at all. Still nothing. Anything I can do while the ST's hood is off?

 

5) The Ultrasatan might be defective. Extremely unlikely, as he tests every one before they ship.

 

Does anyone have any other ideas? Any opinions on possible causes? I have to get another floppy drive, this way I could at least try detecting it from there. Sorry if I seem agitated, I'm not. I just can't wait to play.

[atarian1]

Long shot suggestions:

 

Try a warm start (press reset button) after booting up the machine. It may need a double boot.

 

Try installing a drive icon manually. Select "install disk drive" under the options menu.

 

Sometimes I think the lack of a floppy drive can cause this. I recalled this may have happened to me a long time ago when I inherited an ST.

[ParanoidLittleMan]

Zap, I think that you listed all possible problems. TOS version is certainly not problem. UltraSatan can work even with TOS 1.00 - slower, with smaller partitions, but works,

It works without floppy drive too. Early STE-s have so called defective DMA chip, but it boots and works, only not 100% reliable,

LED blinking order, as you described indicates that UltraSatan handles SD card properly.

Most likely ACSI port is defective. So, you should find some Atari ST(E) or TT for test.

Would be good if you could run file US10R.PRG from floppy - that should detect attached device - so will outprint something like UltraSatan .. , and then detect partitions on media(s). If no device detected, ACSI port or UltraSatan or cable is bad.

[GadgetUK]

It could be the Ultra Satan cable. I have to bend the cable or put the drive on a certain side of the ST for my cable to work. It was like that from new, I am guessing a bad connection on one pin, but I've not investigated the cause yet. Maybe you've got a similar problem.

[GadgetUK]

Also make sure no keys are stuck down. I think you can bypass HDD boot by key held down, but I could be wrong.

[Zap!]

I took out the ol' SF354. I know it's a 360k floppy so I figured it couldn't read 720k, but it read King's Quest 3 and Operation: Clean Street just find. I also managed to get the internal ST's drive working, as long as I stick my finger in there lol. I'm going to try to get US10R.PRG on a disk today from a friend with a PC floppy drive. Took my old 2003 PC out of the closet, and the HD was corrupted (no luck), but so gonna stop by his house and pick it up later. Hopefully, the STe can read 1.44mb disks, as neither of us have blank 720k's. If worse comes to worse and it won't read the PC disk, I'll PayPal one of you guys to ship me a floppy with it on it. No one has an ST within a 500 mile radius of me.

 

Atarian1, I tried a warm start (double boot) too.Also manually added the drive icon, then clicked it and it said it didn't exist.

 

My keys seem to all be working correctly. I'll try twisting the cable a little. Does anyone know where I can get a solid one (not two piece like mine: see pics a few posts back)? Still though, when it's loading, the light blinks for a split second, so the Ultrasatan is getting some info from the STe. That indicates that the cable and port are working, unless it's partially broken? We'll find out soon and solve this mystery once and for all.

Edited March 6, 2016 by Zap!

[Zap!]

Well, came back from my friend's house. I had him put Peter Putnik's program that I bought the other day on a floppy disk. Tried it on my STe and it seemed to read fine. Double clicked US10R.PRG and it said something like "Drive B is not responding, please check the disk..." What is it supposed to say if it doesn't detect? Perhaps it's because it was formatted on a USB PC floppy it's not compatible, or perhaps the disk was too old. I'd like to try it with a real ST formatted disk.

 

If anyone has this on an ST formatted floppy, please PM me and I'll PayPal you the cost of the disk and shipping to 10309. On the bright side, that SF354 that I restored is working perfectly. At the very least I can play some old games on the floppies I have.

[ParanoidLittleMan]

Try following: format floppy on your Atari as single sided. Then copy on it on your friend's PC+USB drive. If floppy is HD need to cover hole at left (without tab), so it will be detected on PC as DD disk. Formatting on Atari makes it more reliable. Of course, you can copy partitioner and autoboot installer on too.

[Zap!]

Try following: format floppy on your Atari as single sided. Then copy on it on your friend's PC+USB drive. If floppy is HD need to cover hole at left (without tab), so it will be detected on PC as DD disk. Formatting on Atari makes it more reliable. Of course, you can copy partitioner and autoboot installer on too.

 

I tried formatting first on my Atari but my USB floppy drive wouldn't read it. However, a kind user here is lending me a disk and a cable to test it. If it still doesn't work, I'll be sending him my Ultrasatan so he can test it. The Atari community is the best in the business, I am truly grateful for all of your support.

[ParanoidLittleMan]

Probably USB drive will not work with single sided floppy. Some work only with 1.44 MB format - and that you can not read with STE (only with HD mod).

[Zap!]

Ok, I borrowed another cable from a kind user here, along with a single-sided floppy with US10R.PRG on it (my working drive is the SF-354). So...

 

When I tried the cable the same thing happened: nothing. During power up, the red light did blink for a split second, but nothing was there on screen in GEM, except A: and B: as usual. The single sided floppy did work perfectly. I ran US10R.PRG and it said it did not detect any drives. I reset it, and same thing. I even tried it with my old cable, and nothing. Lemme ask you guys this: Would running US10R.PRG detect the HD if the SD card is bad? It still should right?

There are now three possible reasons:

1) Card was imaged wrong. Can't see how this is possible, since I've also followed instructions online perfectly, and even the one that came with the Ultrasatan did nothing.

2) My STe's HD port is faulty. Strange, since the red light blinks for a second while it's powering up. So something is detected. The port was also never used since 1991.

3) The Ultrasatan is defective. He tests every drive before they go out, so this seems unlikely.

4) USB power supply is incompatible. Incredibly unlikely, since I am using this one, and it's not cheap. I also tried my Note Edge charger.

I will be sending my Ultrasatan, SD card, and charger to him to test. This will 100% solve the mystery. Any bets? We'll all know by Monday or so.

[venom4728a]

I also have an Atari 1040STe, I verified that I did not have the defective DMA chip in my unit. I purchased the UltraSATAN from Lotharek and mine also does not work. It has been about a year since I played around with it. I upgraded the Bios to 2.06. Upgraded memory to 4mb. Changed out Floppy controller to accept 1.44mb floppies. Used several different SD cards, flashed the image several times, Even purchased the recommended hard drive software.

 

In the end I just gave up to much other stuff I also need to take care of. After reading the above posts it sounds just like the symptoms my US has. My STe never once recognized the device.

 

Robert

[TheNameOfTheGame]

I just got done looking at Zap!'s ultrasatan and there is nothing wrong with it.

 

In my experience Lotharek is very careful with his products.

 

Not to say yours was or wasn't working, but in this particular case is was not the ultrasatan, cable or power supply causing the problem.

Edited March 15, 2016 by TheNameOfTheGame

[venom4728a]

Probably my issue as well.

[Zap!]

I want to thank TheNameOfTheGame for testing my Ultrasatan. His generosity and patience was unmatched, and I am truly grateful for everything he has done. He tested it with my cable, power supply, and card. There was a bit of an issue on my card, but he sent a new one. When it got back to me, I tried it and nothing. I tried US10R.PRG and it said no hard drive detected. Although my Ultrasatan lights up for a second during the STE's bootup (indicating the connecting is ok), it does not light up when I run the program (should it?)?

 

The only think that I can think of is that I'm running US10R.PRG of of my SF354 (internal drive is shot). A new one should be here this week from the UK. I doubt this is the problem, but we'll see. I have the Atari 1040 STE. I now have TOS 2.06 (I originally had 1.62 since it was new, and it didn't work with that either). Bad ASCII port? I'm totally running out of guesses.

 

Edit: Attached is a picture of the DMA. I know that someone had said it wouldn't matter, but I'd just like to confirm that this one is normal and not problematic.

Edited March 22, 2016 by Zap!

[TheNameOfTheGame]

Yes, that's the good one. You're ok there.

[ParanoidLittleMan]

Yes, that's the good one. You're ok there.

Good version of chip - yes. But is that chip still good is the question. Or some other chip in ACSI port ?

This is unlucky case of HW failure, in computer old over 25 years. Probably will be more and more similar cases. Fixing it may need some service man.

Beside DMA chip, should check those 74LS244, 74LS245, 74LS74 chips at port.

[Zap!]

Hey, just wanted to say that I just got a Mega ST4 (see thread that I started) and hooked the Ultrasatan up to it. I did fired it up with the Ultrasatan and card. During boot, it said in white "Jookie" and "Ultrasatan", plus the HD was visible in GEM. No idea why my STE failed (or if it came out of the factory like that), but I am glad the the issue can finally be put to rest. Thanks for all of you help, I really appreciate everyone's help!

[Zap!]

On Saturday I picked up a Mega STE, mint in box with a SC1224 monitor for $400. Although I don't need the monitor, the MSTE is perfect for my Ultrasatan, which is now working perfectly. I can't express how many countless hours I have been using the Utrasatan back and forth between my PC in the last 6 days. I could not be happier!