+Philsan Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 If the original cards use flash only, it should be possible. But since the flash chip is different and every chip has a different layout/block size dedicated code is needed. Patching on the fly is possible with The!Cart Studio, but some would need to create the patch for the flash routine. Pac-Man 2012 and Space Harrier both use AtariMax Flash carts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 (edited) I put Space Harrier in a 8Mbit AtariMax cart. It saves high scores (higher than 1 million). Then I guess my scores are saved. I was hoping it would save a starting level, when you have the option to choose at the main menu, if you've already played and made it enough levels to the save point (as long as power is on). I seem to recall being surprised at not being able to restart on level 12 or around there, after making it that far before...and turning off the game. EDIT: I also just remembered that I had borrowed my 8Mb SH flashcart to play AtariBlast!, so obviously my high scores were wiped then too. Edited February 24, 2018 by Gunstar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+JAC! Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 It works on a Mac but the fact that files have to be dropped one-by-one makes it a very tedious job. Also nog having (sub)folders means you are forced to select by search meaning you need to know part of the name. I don't understand why it would be one-by-one if you select all in the finder. And knowing part of the name is easy, because they are either .rom, .car or .atr. I just check on my Mac mini and it works just fine the way I described it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonVH Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 I don't understand why it would be one-by-one if you select all in the finder. And knowing part of the name is easy, because they are either .rom.car or .atr. I'll check on my Mac the next day. Maybe I misunderstand your problem... ========= I can't recheck at the moment but I am sure I could only drag a single program into the Cart Window. Multiples did not work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biobern Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 I don't understand why it would be one-by-one if you select all in the finder. And knowing part of the name is easy, because they are either .rom.car or .atr. I'll check on my Mac the next day. Maybe I misunderstand your problem... ========= I can't recheck at the moment but I am sure I could only drag a single program into the Cart Window. Multiples did not work. I always do it with a Mac. No problems to select hundreds of files at a time and drag it to theCartStudio. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonVH Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 Ah well, probably I did something wrong then. Will have a 2nd look at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plx Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 Hello, a question about that *.car file format: all i have found is .rom or .bin - they surely work but are there also collections of car-files available or is it something I have to covert with the specific tool? But as the roms and bins are working, why should I? I'm a bit irritated, please help... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiassofT Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 CAR files have a 16-byte header before the ROM data that contains the cartridge type (plus other info like a checksum). This type is quite important as ROM dumps of the same size could be coming from rather different cartridge types - eg a 16k ROM could be from a standard 16k cart (using 16k memory at $8000-$BFFF) or a 16k bankswitching OSS cart (using 8k memory at $A000-$BFFF). If you select the wrong type the cartridge dump doesn't work. If you add a raw ROM dump in The!Cart Studio it'll try to find out what kind of cart this is by comparing the checksum against a list of known carts. This can fail though if you try to add a dump that's not "well known", in this case you have to manually select the type. With a CAR file The!Cart Studio will use the type from the header instead. Most emulators have an option to convert between ROM and CAR files, and if you have an unknown ROM file that's also the easiest way to find out what type it could be. The emulator will also ask you about the type and you can quickly find out which type will work or not. This isn't 100% accurate though, there might be multiple types that work but have subtle differences - eg a standard 16k cart and a Blizzard 16k both use $8000-$BFFF but the latter can be switched off. so long, Hias 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plx Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 (edited) The question is not about the difference but rather where to find them. On sites like Atarimania or in archives, I always find .rom or .bin. Edited February 26, 2018 by plx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SS Posted February 27, 2018 Share Posted February 27, 2018 The question is not about the difference but rather where to find them. On sites like Atarimania or in archives, I always find .rom or .bin. Try these. I've got 200+ games in CAR format in the ZIP file. CAR files.zip 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plx Posted February 27, 2018 Share Posted February 27, 2018 Thanks for that one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+JAC! Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 Update: tf_hh finally received the V2 and is flashing it right now to start analyzing the Atari 400 compatibility issue. We want to make sure that if there is a fix possible & required, we won't have "fixed and unfixed" The!Carts out there. Thanks for you patience. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted March 3, 2018 Share Posted March 3, 2018 Thanks for the updates and all the work on this! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+JAC! Posted March 4, 2018 Share Posted March 4, 2018 UPDATE: Finally tf_hh identified the (hopyfully last) issue!!! The phi2_short signal generated by the RC combination is too short due to the value of the resistor. With the current 5.6k the signal is too short for the Atari 400, with 6.8k it works in Atari 400/XL/XE. Test for Atari 800 is on the todo list. Wolfram has sent out only 8 PCBs with the 5.6k resistor by now within Germany. All remaining PCBs will get the correct resistor now. It's SMD, but on the other hand only a resistor, so changing it should be doable. I'll do that also as test myself. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
commander Posted March 4, 2018 Share Posted March 4, 2018 great to hear. I can't wait to hold this great cart in my own hands :-) Hoperfully somebody can post some nice cart collections here to make a start easy for me :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Philsan Posted March 4, 2018 Share Posted March 4, 2018 great to hear. I can't wait to hold this great cart in my own hands :-) Hoperfully somebody can post some nice cart collections here to make a start easy for me :-) Post #735 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
commander Posted March 4, 2018 Share Posted March 4, 2018 I mean the complete cartstudio sets called workbook Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SS Posted March 4, 2018 Share Posted March 4, 2018 Honestly, I think that half the fun of these things is doing the work of filling your own cart yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panther Posted March 4, 2018 Share Posted March 4, 2018 Honestly, I think that half the fun of these things is doing the work of filling your own cart yourself. And some people believe that the fun of something like The!Cart is actually designing, building, and programming it, so are you planning on doing that as well? =B> 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+tf_hh Posted March 6, 2018 Share Posted March 6, 2018 UPDATE: Finally tf_hh identified the (hopyfully last) issue!!! The phi2_short signal generated by the RC combination is too short due to the value of the resistor. With the current 5.6k the signal is too short for the Atari 400, with 6.8k it works in Atari 400/XL/XE. Test for Atari 800 is on the todo list. Wolfram has sent out only 8 PCBs with the 5.6k resistor by now within Germany. All remaining PCBs will get the correct resistor now. It's SMD, but on the other hand only a resistor, so changing it should be doable. I'll do that also as test myself. Another update... also the programming (flashing) of The!Cart V2 works now fine on an Atari 400 or Atari 800! I´ve tested it with a full 128 MByte ATR file (took over 7 hours each!), no problems. The Atari 800 need the PHI2 cartridge patch, of course (see here: PHI2 Patch for Atari 800) Owners of the The!Cart V1 version can also use their carts with an old Atari computer, when the CPLD code is updated to the lasted version from Hias and the actual CARTMENU is used. The cartridge won´t fit with a closed cartridge door, but it works 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted March 6, 2018 Share Posted March 6, 2018 (edited) Fantastic! I am eagerly awaiting...I am going to add it to my sig, since I own it and just don't have it in my hands yet! Edited March 6, 2018 by Gunstar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARIO130XE Posted March 7, 2018 Share Posted March 7, 2018 Got my cart yesterday. looks beautiful and is working great, Thanks to Peter, Jürgen and Wolfram. Awesome job!!!! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucifershalo Posted March 7, 2018 Share Posted March 7, 2018 Hello, I am interested in this cart but have some questions? is it easy to use? which format can it recognize? thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted March 8, 2018 Share Posted March 8, 2018 (edited) Got my cart yesterday. looks beautiful and is working great, Thanks to Peter, Jürgen and Wolfram. IMG_3218.JPG Awesome job!!!! But where is the gold leaf inlay? Guess what I'll be adding to mine... Edited March 8, 2018 by Gunstar 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+JAC! Posted March 9, 2018 Share Posted March 9, 2018 Hello, I am interested in this cart but have some questions? is it easy to use? which format can it recognize? thanks Please check out the video and the description here http://www.wudsn.com/index.php/productions-atari800/tools/thecart Best Regards, Peter. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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