Compact Flash or similar for Atari 800

[crash]

Hi,

 

I am wondering what kind of flash memory adapters there may be that are compatible with an Atari 800. I tried an SIO2IDE but could not get it to boot without many attempts. I read someone's post indicating they had an internal CF drive, and wonder if there may be options that I don't know about. It seems that some of the other solutions are for XL/XE only.

 

Thanks!

[Shawn Jefferson]

Incognito?

[mimo]

yes, incognito would give you internal cf. side cart with the case taken off and the cart door propped open would give you an external solution.

[Android8675]

Incognito you can partition into an Atari drive that works with Sparta and a FAT32 partition that you can just dump .xex files and load them from the Incognito menu. I haven't played around with the hard drive aspect, but I got it setup so that D2: through D8: are all 16meg partitions, which is pretty awesome. With that an the 1088kb ram and being able to choose my own OS/operating mode, it's definatly the most enjoyable experience I've ever had with my Atari. (my 800 is the first computer I ever owned and the only one I kept for all these years, so glad I did).

[toad]

Could you all answer a question for me - I want to use some device that is a flash 'hard drive'.

 

Where I can load in files on the pc side of things and have them accessible from the Atari side. Kind of like you can do in Altirra where a folder can be your Atari H: drive. SO you can be in Windows - put a file in a folder, and then be on the Atari side - and see those files.

 

What I was hoping for is a solution (for an 800XL) where I can plug the flash into the pc, copy files to the card - source code, text files, etc.

 

Plug it into the Atari - and see those files. Not in a special xex loader, but as a D: drive or H: drive with those files.

 

I have a SIDE 2. I don't have it working entirely, but even if I did, I don't see where it does what I want. It seems if the Side Loader worked for me (it doesn't, but I haven't had time to play with it)....even if it worked it just brings up those executables in a special side loader mode of the cartridge - which is not what I'm looking for. If I flip the switch and use it in SDX mode - that's great, but you can't copy into that part from the pc side - so the whole pc to Atari transfer is defeated.

 

So - before I invest in more hardware - is there a way to do this with Side 2 - is there a way to do it with something else?

What would you recommend for someone with 800XL - that doesn't want any type of program loader - but is mostly looking for 'sneakernet' way of copying files from a pc in one room to an atari in another.

 

Sorry if I hijacked the thread, but I didn't want to start a whole new thread.

[BillC]

Could you all answer a question for me - I want to use some device that is a flash 'hard drive'.

 

Where I can load in files on the pc side of things and have them accessible from the Atari side. Kind of like you can do in Altirra where a folder can be your Atari H: drive. SO you can be in Windows - put a file in a folder, and then be on the Atari side - and see those files.

 

What I was hoping for is a solution (for an 800XL) where I can plug the flash into the pc, copy files to the card - source code, text files, etc.

 

Plug it into the Atari - and see those files. Not in a special xex loader, but as a D: drive or H: drive with those files.

 

I have a SIDE 2. I don't have it working entirely, but even if I did, I don't see where it does what I want. It seems if the Side Loader worked for me (it doesn't, but I haven't had time to play with it)....even if it worked it just brings up those executables in a special side loader mode of the cartridge - which is not what I'm looking for. If I flip the switch and use it in SDX mode - that's great, but you can't copy into that part from the pc side - so the whole pc to Atari transfer is defeated.

 

So - before I invest in more hardware - is there a way to do this with Side 2 - is there a way to do it with something else?

What would you recommend for someone with 800XL - that doesn't want any type of program loader - but is mostly looking for 'sneakernet' way of copying files from a pc in one room to an atari in another.

 

Sorry if I hijacked the thread, but I didn't want to start a whole new thread.

Incognito is basicly a U1MB + PBI + SIDE for the 800, I believe there is a FAT driver in development which will give the functionality you desire when completed.

[Android8675]

Incognito is basicly a U1MB + PBI + SIDE for the 800, I believe there is a FAT driver in development which will give the functionality you desire when completed.

I've heard this as well... soon.

 

I get what you're trying to do toad, You want to be able to code in Windows, dump the code files into the Atari drive, turn it on and you're up and running, or something like that.

 

So the way I plan to do that when I start coding is this. So I have the 800+Incognito setup with the CF card as an Atari HDD (D3: through D8:, with SpartaDOS you can refer to these as drives C:, D:, E:... H: if that makes you happy), but I use a SIO2PC to mount folders on my PC as Atari drive images (I can boot the files if I set the drive to D1: or I can just have the files available if I set the folder to D2:).

 

So I can edit files on the PC, then boot up with them and copy them over to the Atari Partitions on the Incognito CF partitions.

 

There are lots of ways to do it, but can you take a FAT hd or cf card with a bunch of Atari files, slap it in an Atari and boot to it? I don't think so. Could be wrong, but there are lots of ways to setup a system to do what you ask.

 

For an 800XL, keep the SIDE2, add a SIO2PC interface (I recommend the RS232 version as the Serial version works with either APE, OR AspeQT, the later is a freeware version without as many features as APE, but both programs let you mount PC folders as Atari drives, even make them bootable. The SIO2PC/USB version only works with APE, which is also a great program, but you need to shell out $49 for it).

 

That'll let you edit files on a PC, drop them into a PC/Atari Drive folder, turn on the Atari and it could boot from that folder thinking it's an Atari drive. You can then copy the files on the Atari to the SIDE2 card, just setup the cart like a HD using the APT Disk utilities (I think that works).

 

Confused? Hope not.

[candle]

since i've developed side i don't know where my sio2pc cable is

if i'm testing something on real hardware i simply put cf card into the reader and store it there, if that something needs CIO access to other files, this is OK, since side loader i have already supports CIO calls and is able to get any file from current directory loaded as it were under normal DOS residing on floppy or ATR file

i don't really need anything more fancy

it helps (with xl/xe line) to have ultimate1mb along, but for basic stuff (meaning simple games that would fit into 64k etc, this is 80% what you could possibly do) it suffices to have just the side/side2 carts

 

incognito gives what combination of side/ultimate1mb gives to xl/xe line, except is more compact and nothing sticks out

[toad]

So, I've finished an executable and lets say it makes CIO calls. I want to test it on my Atari.

 

So, I copy the files to the fat32 partition of the CF card - along with the supporting files.

 

I run it from Side Loader - success program works, it can read files from the local directory - I decide to keep the program for posterity.

 

So I switch the SIDE 2 into SDX mode - and how does the file get there?? That's the part that's confusing me.

 

OK, so now in another scenario, I use a sio2pc cable. And I do have a sio2pc cable, I haven't tried it with the Side 2 yet - just haven't had time.

 

"

You can then copy the files on the Atari to the SIDE2 card

Now this does not work for me with a real 1050 drive. If I have my sio2pc on and a real 1050 on - I can use each individually but I cannot copy from a sio2pc drive (lets say its D1), to a real 1050 drive (say D3).

 

Copying from D1 to D3 using Dos 2.5 disk copy will result in both drives flashing for a while - but a timeout error every time.

 

But this would work with Side 2, where I can copy from the sio2pc drive to the APT partition on Side 2?

I just want to double check.

[crash]

I don't necessarily need all of the features of Incognito, but since it has CF that sounds like a good option. Are these still available? I haven't been able to find a place to buy them.

 

Regarding using a PC and Atari to access the same files, the easiest way to do this, if you don't mind keeping both devices connected at the same time, is Atari Peripheral Emulator (APE) and the prosystem software. I think this allows the ability to share files from the PC to the Atari as a drive. I haven't used it in a long time but perhaps someone here can clarify if it will do what you require. Since it uses a serial cable, and it is an older program, I don't know if it works with Windows7 or if a USB to serial adapter can be used.

 

Cheers

[candle]

toad, in that case you want to use matr under sdx and put these files in atr on fat32

[toad]

toad, in that case you want to use matr under sdx and put these files in atr on fat32

 

I have a stock 130xe and a Side 2 cart with 256mb CF card.

 

turned on the computer

typed matr

 

result:

 

170 File Not Found

[candle]

hardly my fault, is it?

atari8.co.uk

[toad]

I'm certainly not assigning fault to anyone, but as each bit of the puzzle unravels - more puzzle.

 

I looked through the spartdos documentation for a matr command and tried some googling - but now thanks to the latest pointing in the right direction, I see that there is a toolkit.atr that can be downloaded, presumably within the toolkit is a matr executable.

 

So I should mount this atr - and that will give me a tool for mounting atr's....lol.

 

well I'll see what I can try...I'll get out the sio2pc again...it won't disk copy for me, but I hopefully can get one executable copied in some manner or another---I'll try again.

[flashjazzcat]

http://atari8.co.uk/apt/tools/

 

This is where Candle was pointing you... look further down the page.

Edited August 29, 2013 by flashjazzcat

[toad]

http://atari8.co.uk/apt/tools/

 

This is where Candle was pointing you... look further down the page.

 

Thanks!

 

Now I have a couple additional hurdles - XEX's have never appeared in the SIDE Loader part of this cartridge for me.

 

The only thing that works for me is the SDX side. The SDX side - everything works as expected - the fdisk tool...I can copy to and from a real 1050 drive, etc.

 

So - I guess I'll need to go to the store and maybe try a different CF card....anyone else ever had an issue with XEX's not appearing in side loader?

 

edit: the cf card is a Sandisk Ultra 256MB

Edited August 30, 2013 by toad

[toad]

"MATR works with any DOS and allows you to mount ATR disk image files when used with the Ultimate 1MB or Incognito PBI drivers."

 

I have a stock 130XE and a Side 2 cartridge with 256mb CF card.

 

Can you all confirm that MATR will not work for me? That's what I am reading.

[candle]

matr should work with sdx soft driver

[toad]

matr should work with sdx soft driver

 

Awesome! I am getting so close now...I bought another CF card. This CF card works just fine with Side Loader. It's also a Sandisk. It's a 4gb variety - the cheapest I could get at this time of night, from my local pharmacy, heh....

 

But, I feel like I'm getting real close....whew! I am such not a hardware guy...lol, the scary cartridge almost beat me, but I think I'm going to have this finished today.

[Android8675]

Imagine if it was 1985 and you had these problems... Instead of 48 hours it might of taken a few months...

[crash]

So I found out about this too late and there are no more Incognito boards available. Is there any other option that will boot on an original Atari 800 (not XL/XE). Thanks