SIDE 2 Help - please

[Xebec]

I need some help. I have a SIDE 2 and a U1MB 800XL (Thank you very much Lotharek!!)

 

and I've spent several hours already trying to figure out everything required to mount .ATR files on the Side 2.. From what I can tell you need SpartadosX with FDISK to partition the CF card to have an Atari partition of some type followed by FAT16/FAT32 partitions that can house the .ATR files.

 

After finally getting a .ATR file with FDISK.EXE on it (and using APE on my Windows machine to boot it - since I couldn't figure out any other way, and the SpartadosX in the U1MB doesn't have fdisk..) it ends up showing one device but with garbage characters, and it wont' let me initialize or format the disk ("invalid size").

 

I was curious if anyone would be kind enough to post an image of a correctly partitioned CF card (any size) so I could just use win32diskimager and be done with it? I've tried all manners of U1MB bios settings, up/down on the switch for the Side 2 (I can't find any clear documentation on what the up position is vs. the down position on SIDE 2?). I'd just like to be able to play games that are .ATR and "enjoy" this Atari

 

I appreciate any help anyone can give. This community is awesome and I really respect the work everyone has put into the hardware and software solutions to keep this alive..

 

Thank you,

John

[Roydea6]

@Xebec says:

 

" I'd just like to be able to play games that are .ATR and "enjoy" this Atari"

 

 

If this is the case then don't even mess with SDX and Fdisk with one of your CF cards (I use a 256MB for just games.atr) . Partition with PC to Fat32 and drop you favorite game.atrs into several folders named for the games in the folder (i.e.) arcade, scrollers, shootem-up, maze games...etc

 

Good Luck..

the button is up for xex games with SpartaDos. and the Fat32s Loader..

Edited November 9, 2013 by rdea6

[Xebec]

Hi there! I tried something like this, and while it will load .XEX files without issue, it gives me an error about D1: not mounted... so i'm not sure what else needs to be configured? It shows the ATR files on screen no problem, just won't mount them to run them...

[flashjazzcat]

Do you have "SIDE Hardware" enabled in the U1MB menu? Set it to "enabled, with switch".

[Xebec]

If I set U1MB to Side hardware: Disabled, it goes into the SIDE, and works for .XEX but not .ATR

 

if I set U1MB to enabled with button, it never loads the SIDE loader...

 

I've tried all kinds of other settings in U1MB when SIDE loader is enabled: Stock OS, High speed OS. Tried changing the BASIC/XEGS stuff around incase that matters.. the L button just brings you to basic or the sellf-test.

 

I have PBI set to 1..

 

What full settings should I be running?

[Roydea6]

@xebec

 

"If I set U1MB to Side hardware: Disabled, it goes into the SIDE, and works for .XEX but not .ATR"

 

Yes this is true, BUT if you would press the 'L' key before leaving the Bios menu then you will be directed to the fat32 partition and will be able to select an ATR press SPACEBAR and then press ENTER KEY. And the ATR should boot as D1:

[flashjazzcat]

Don't use the loader on the cart. Use the loader in U1MB. When SIDE hardware is enabled in the U1MB BIOS, SIDE cart is IDE registers and nothing else. Are you sure you have the loader-equipped U1MB ROM?

[Xebec]

ok testing scenarios:

 

1. SIDE HW = disabled, space bar to mount a ATR gives me a no PBI driver found, but I can load .XEX successfully. switch is UP in this case.

 

2. SIDE on/button, the SIDE switch in the up position, sparta DISABLED L from the bios gives me basic or system test (option held down) and won't get me to the SIDE cartridge, gives me BASIC

 

3. SIDE on/button, SIDE switch up, sparta ENABLED, pressing L in bios gets me to SIDE cart but 'FAT32 paritition not found'

 

4. SIDE on/button, and the SIDE switch in the DOWN position, and spartados DISABLED, pressing L gives me BASIC

 

5. SIDE on/button, and the SIDE switch in the DOWN position, and spartados ENABLED , pressing L gets me to the SIDE cartridge but 'FAT32 partition not found'

 

SDX boots with or without SIDE in system if enabled

 

scenario 3 and 5 is what was driving me to think i need to do some special partitioning with FDISK ?

[flashjazzcat]

ok testing scenarios:

 

1. SIDE HW = disabled, space bar to mount a ATR gives me a no PBI driver found, but I can load .XEX successfully. switch is UP in this case.

That's correct. No PBI driver found because it's turned off.

 

2. SIDE on/button, the SIDE switch in the up position, sparta DISABLED L from the bios gives me basic or system test (option held down) and won't get me to the SIDE cartridge, gives me BASIC

Sounds like there's no loader in the U1MB ROM?

 

3. SIDE on/button, SIDE switch up, sparta ENABLED, pressing L in bios gets me to SIDE cart but 'FAT32 paritition not found'

 

4. SIDE on/button, and the SIDE switch in the DOWN position, and spartados DISABLED, pressing L gives me BASIC

 

5. SIDE on/button, and the SIDE switch in the DOWN position, and spartados ENABLED , pressing L gets me to the SIDE cartridge but 'FAT32 partition not found'

Never have the SIDE cart's switch in the down position if you're using it with U1MB. U1MB has its own SpartaDOS X, it's own loader, it's own hard disk driver. SIDE switch should be in the upper (loader) position at all times. Put it there and leave it that way. Turn SIDE hardware on, with switch, in the U1MB BIOS and leave it that way. Whether SDX is enabled or not in the U1MB BIOS is up to you. This is the configuration you're trying to get working.

 

If you're pressing "L" in the U1MB BIOS screen and the loader is coming up, that's a start. If it's saying "FAT32 partition not found", then maybe there is a problem with the MBR on the card. If you're just trying to get ATRs mounted, forget about FDISK, APT and SDX partitions for a moment. Just get a nice FAT32 partition on the disk (do that using your PC), put some ATRs on it, and keep going with the known configuration I described above.

[Xebec]

Thanks flashjazzcat -- Got it on the up position..

 

I think there's something else going on if the .XEX files are read OK in situation 1, but the same cart gives me a 'cannot find FAT32 partition' in 3/5.. I've been trying two different CF cards (2GB and 4GB), both formatted as FAT32 with a single partition on a PC.

 

Is there anything else that would cause the partition to be found when PBI is off, but not when PBI is on? Something wrong with the U1MB?

[flashjazzcat]

The SIDE loader doesn't bother the PBI ROM (for which read "SIDE Hardware") when loading XEX files, therefore the SIDE Hardware doesn't need to be enabled when loading XEXs. ATRs are another matter: the SIDE loader asks the PBI ROM to register the ATR as a mounted disk image. If the PBI can't do this for any reason (say - it can't recognize the FAT), it will return an error message - usually causing the SIDE loader to report "Cannot find FAT32 partition". So it seems to me we need to focus on the formatting of your CF cards. The latest PBI ROM versions should handle a variety of disk layouts, with or without MBR partition tables. However - I'll try to do some testing in case something was missed. It appears your cards just have FAT boot sectors and thus a single partition covering the entire media. This should work fine. However, something's clearly not quite right.

 

If you have the time/inclination, try using Gparted or some third-party partitioning application to put a couple of FAT partitions onto one of your cards. This will force an MBR partition table to be written to sector 0. See if this helps any. Alternatively, use FDISK 4 (see the APT Partitioning Tools topic) to put a FAT and an APT on the card. This - again - will force an MBR to be written to the card. You can then format the FAT partition using your PC.

 

However - as said above - you ought to be able to use a plain formatted CF card straight out of the shop, so if there's a problem there we need to get to the bottom of it.

[Xebec]

Hello! so after a crazy week of work. I did finally use Gparted to delete and create 2 partitions.. it did prompt me along the way to create a new partition table. The good news now is, with PBI on, if I go into the bios and hit 'L', it will see the FAT32.. and .xex's work.. I can also mark files as D1/D2 now which I could never do before.. but when i hit enter to load/reboot, it just goes to basic or the 'missle command' in the U1MB. This seems to be regardless of what i actually set 'basic' and 'xegs' cart slots to..

 

any further suggestions? thanks for this one..

[lotharek]

 

ATR loading routine - from 4.00

Edited November 15, 2013 by lotharek

[Xebec]

Thanks Lotharek - unfortunately that's not what happens for me. After fixing the partition table problem above (I didn't realize windows would even read FAT32 partitions without a proper table), I can now mark files as shown in the video.. but when I hit enter to load, it sits there for a few seconds, and then resets and goes back to the BASIC "READY" prompt. (Even if basic is OFF from the SIDE loader)

 

I have tried two different CF cards -- one sandisk and another more generic brand. I've also tried 'smaller' partition sizes of 480MB incase that makes a difference.

 

If someone has the time and is willing to help, I can compress up an image of the CF card to see if it's something with my card configuration or files.. I've tried a lot of different .ATR files. Also if it matters, I have nothing connected to the SIO bus to avoid conflicts with drives.

[+Philsan]

My Atari 800XL+U1MB+Side2 was unable to run ATR games, a ready prompt used to appear.

 

The problem was that my U1MB was v1. A friend reprogrammed it with v2 core and now it works.

I am not an U1MB expert so I cannot give you more advices.

[flashjazzcat]

I agree with Phil. Certainly looks to me like the board is not even set up for PBI operation.

[Xebec]

Thanks -is there any easy way to identify whether my U1MB is v1 or v2? I saw another thread where 'candle' indicated that you'll see options for PBI if it's version 2. I do see the option to select what ID it is, not sure if there are other options implied?

[flashjazzcat]

You could have the PBI options present even if the device isn't capable of PBI operation. However, if you purchased the device from Lotharek it should be v2 and thus good to go. Perhaps he can verify the provenance of your Ultimate 1MB?

[Xebec]

I paid Lotharek himself to install the device, so hopefully he can

 

(Yes you can laugh at my weak soldering skills )

[phoenixdownita]

I paid Lotharek himself to install the device, so hopefully he can

 

(Yes you can laugh at my weak soldering skills )

I believe I have the same issue.

I received my U1MB + SIDE2 today, mounted it myself on my XEGS and XEX work, ATR instead go to BASIC.

In my case I cannot even go to missile command, for some reason with or without XEGS switch on U1MB.

Let me know what solution you found, I contacted Lotharek, maybe he has some clue on what's going on.

I just hope I don't have to send this board back for "reflashing" although apart SIDE2 that fails to load ATR the only other alternative available to me is a MyIDE2 which I bought couple of months ago, maybe I can load the flasher ATR thru it and fix U1MB [if I managed to run the SDX rom for MyIDE2, never tried before].... mine has the 39SF040 EEPROM that requires the modified flasher .... we'll see hopefully is just a little hiccup.

 

MX

Edited November 17, 2013 by phoenixdownita

[phoenixdownita]

I believe I have the same issue.

I received my U1MB + SIDE2 today, mounted it myself on my XEGS and XEX work, ATR instead go to BASIC.

In my case I cannot even go to missile command, for some reason with or without XEGS switch on U1MB.

Let me know what solution you found, I contacted Lotharek, maybe he has some clue on what's going on.

I just hope I don't have to send this board back for "reflashing" although apart SIDE2 that fails to load ATR the only other alternative available to me is a MyIDE2 which I bought couple of months ago, maybe I can load the flasher ATR thru it and fix U1MB [if I managed to run the SDX rom for MyIDE2, never tried before].... mine has the 39SF040 EEPROM that requires the modified flasher .... we'll see hopefully is just a little hiccup.

 

MX

Mistery deepens.

I did some more testing, it turns out that if I do not activate SDX on U1MB then even if I activate SIDE PBI nothing works at all, pressing L gets you to BASIC, if instead I have SDX active then pressing L does load SIDE loader, but then any ATR selected gets to BASIC has already stated. Maybe the PBI drivers here have been messed up ... not sure.

 

I was trying to use TheRomGenerator to build an ATR to flash U1MB but I can't make it into a MyDOS ATR, and MyIDE2 seems to have issues booting the spartaDos ATR built from theRomGenerator, it just sits there, maybe it is not possible to flash U1MB from MyIDE2/MyBIOS Partition mode. The MyIDE2 FAT32Loader states that the ATR is too big and gives up (maybe a bug not sure) so even with that no dice.

 

Only consolation is that if I disable PBI then pressing SPACE errors that "no PBI driver loaded" etc... so in that case all behaves as expected.

[AtariGeezer]

You might have a conflict between U1MB and MyIDE2 ?

 

The flasher for U1MB requires you to have SDX Enabled in order for it to work, which is why the creation of a MyDOS ATR isn't done...

[Xebec]

Well seeing that my Ultimate 1MB was purchased a while ago and only recently installed, I decided to Flash with ultimate2.atr from Lotharek's website to try to fix my .ATR loading problem.

 

Guess what? The ROM successfully erased, and when getting ready to flash Bank 0 it just exited the program, and I have a dead Atari. Awesome.

 

Does anyone have an actually working Atari 800XL with the capability to load .ATR files that I can just buy? or someone who knows what they're doing and can fix this for a fee?

 

I guess it really is just time to give into emulators only as a way of remembering the Atari

[flashjazzcat]

If you were in the UK, I could get it sorted for you. Perhaps you could send the machine back to Lotharek? In any case, it's easy to throw one's hands up in despair at times like these (and very understandable), but there's always some way to get things fixed.

[Roydea6]

@xebec

Where are you located? Not address but general location (i.e.) Europe, USA, South America. Several of us Atari Age forum members have the ability to re flash your chip..