bongomeno Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 Hello Is it possible to connect my x86 pc modem (the one in my old laptop for example) directly to the xm301 modem and use the XE TERM (I have XE TERM and Telelink 1) software to transfer files between the computers. If so, what x86 software should I use? I would prefer DOS sofware. Are there any decent adapters/cables available to connect the 800xl parallel bus to a pc parallel port or serial port? How hard would it be to connect a serial port between a x86 pc and an atari 800xl controller port for data transfer? I imagine I could use DOS TCP/IP stack libraries with QBASIC to create slave software that could use a serial port to allow the Atari to make queries to the internet through the x86 pc.This way, i can use a x86 compatable thin client (AMD GEODE) as a medium between the Atari and an Ethernet modem. The advantage to this is that the thin client only consumes 12v and is very small. This could also be used as an external hard drive. My thin client (WYSE terminal) has about 32mb rom and 128mb ram with AMG GEODE processor. It has a parllel port, two serial ports, and 4 usb. I successfully installed msdos and freedos on the thing. I am considering just buying a sd card/cartridge setup for my 8 bits, but I would still like to employ my xm301 and sx212 for SOMETHING. Thanks for any info or tips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 Have the xm301 on the Atari call the sx212 on the thin client.... or cut a modular phone wire in half... grab a 9volt battery put a 680ohm resistor in series on one side run red to neg side of battery a then run second cords green wire to resistor on positive side then connect red and green from both cord halves together on the other side. plug in to both modems and type ata on sx212 and ato or originate on the xe term xm301.... if you can't find the option then use xm302 to ata or call and use sx212 to ato (originate) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillC Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 Have the xm301 on the Atari call the sx212 on the thin client.... or cut a modular phone wire in half... grab a 9volt battery put a 680ohm resistor in series on one side run red to neg side of battery a then run second cords green wire to resistor on positive side then connect red and green from both cord halves together on the other side. plug in to both modems and type ata on sx212 and ato or originate on the xe term xm301.... if you can't find the option then use xm302 to ata or call and use sx212 to ato (originate) I don't think the battery is necessary, I did similar without it back in the mid 80's, this may depend on the modems though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russg Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 (edited) Hello Is it possible to connect my x86 pc modem (the one in my old laptop for example) directly to the xm301 modem and use the XE TERM (I have XE TERM and Telelink 1) software to transfer files between the computers. If so, what x86 software should I use? I would prefer DOS sofware. Are there any decent adapters/cables available to connect the 800xl parallel bus to a pc parallel port or serial port? How hard would it be to connect a serial port between a x86 pc and an atari 800xl controller port for data transfer? I imagine I could use DOS TCP/IP stack libraries with QBASIC to create slave software that could use a serial port to allow the Atari to make queries to the internet through the x86 pc.This way, i can use a x86 compatable thin client (AMD GEODE) as a medium between the Atari and an Ethernet modem. The advantage to this is that the thin client only consumes 12v and is very small. This could also be used as an external hard drive. My thin client (WYSE terminal) has about 32mb rom and 128mb ram with AMG GEODE processor. It has a parllel port, two serial ports, and 4 usb. I successfully installed msdos and freedos on the thing. I am considering just buying a sd card/cartridge setup for my 8 bits, but I would still like to employ my xm301 and sx212 for SOMETHING. Thanks for any info or tips. Use BobTerm on the A8, and Procomm on the x86. Connect via two live phone lines, or via a null modem and two serial ports, (PRC, 850, MIO, BB on A8/RS232 on PC). You have to connect the TRNSMT to RCV on the two ends and the GRND straight thru (without modems). For the PC 25 pin D RS232, that would be pins 3 and 2, I forget which is SND and RCV. You can find the SND RCV in other posts here lately. The only way to use the modems is thru a phone line. Maybe you can do the connect thru crossed modular phone wire and battery like someone says, and no live phone lines via AT&T. The easy way is with a SIO2PC adapter, either USB or RS232 on PC side. Then you don't need terminal software, just copy from one to the other with DOS and extract files from the ATRs with MAKEATR or APE software. (But you want to use your XM301, which will be very slow.) Edited March 9, 2014 by russg 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bongomeno Posted March 9, 2014 Author Share Posted March 9, 2014 Thank you for your replies! They are very helpful. Will I have to enter special modem commands for them to communicate directly without a phone #? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 I use the battery as a sealing current over longer distances and you can also use two ancient old telephones as an intercom that way.... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bongomeno Posted March 9, 2014 Author Share Posted March 9, 2014 (edited) With a little digging, I also found this sio to serial cable: http://www.ebay.com/itm/221383887073 Perhaps I could use Qbasic and Atari BASIC to achive my goal of having data I/O between Atari8bix and x86 pc without having to use any old modems and related software? Edited March 9, 2014 by bongomeno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 If that is the case just get this... or go on ebay when they sometimes go on sale rs232 version with you might save 5 bucks and get a free rs232 cord.. http://www.atarimax.com/sio2pc/documentation/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle22 Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 (edited) Here's what I did: Neoware C50 (CA15) thin client. VIA Samuel 2 @ 400 Mhz, 256MB RAM, 256MB SSD running Windows XPe. USB external 80G hard disk. SIO2PC interface. APE Software. I have patched Windows to be a Terminal Server, so I can RDP into it from my desktop computer and change APE settings, etc. There is no monitor, keyboard or mouse connected. Windows and APE boot up from the SSD which has EWF (Enhanced Write Filter) enabled. This prevents any changes to C:. Atari ATRs and PC-Mirror are stored on F: (The 80G drive, Network Shared). On my main desktop computer, I simply right-click on a file, select "save as", point to the Thin Client's shared Network drive, and then switch to my RDP window, and mount the file I just downloaded in APE, it's that easy. I can download a file, and in a matter of seconds, it's running on the Atari. All the above hardware is contained in an old Corvus OmniDrive box. I mounted the SIO2PC on the back, so the SIO cable plugs into the box and looks nice. The Thin Client motherboard fits very nicely on the original Corvus metal frame inside. I had to bend one tab to make it fit. The only original Corvus parts still in use are the Power Supply and Fan (which could use some oil). I built it from stuff I had on hand. Not that difficult, really. Just make sure the Thin Client has at LEAST 256MB RAM, and 256MB SSD (also called Disk on Module). If anyone needs a Neoware image to flash their Thin Client with, let me know. HP has bought them out, and their software is really bad. I use a Linux USB bootable ThumbDrive to push (and pull) images. Hope this helps. -K Edited March 9, 2014 by Kyle22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricortes Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 IMO: $46.49 is a little pricey. Since you seem to be willing to do some level of hacking, you should consider just building a cable yourself. Less then $5 in parts and you can mount it internally so you don't need to cut an Atari SIO cable in half. Been a while since I timed it but should only be ~40 minute project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russg Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 (edited) Thank you for your replies! They are very helpful. Will I have to enter special modem commands for them to communicate directly without a phone #? I'm a little fuzzy here. You connect the XM301 to your PC modem using the crossed phone wire (cross TXMT and RCV) Or for sure connect using two phone lines. You have to use term software on both ends. You set your Procomm PC to 300 baud N,8,1. Now you use the Bobterm software to send a file and the PC Procomm software to receive the file. Maybe that will work. You can issue a modem command on either side, 'AT' in term mode should give an 'OK'. (on both screens?) You can test your XM301 with Bobterm and a single phone line to connect to a BBS. 214-987-2135 should be 'Eclectic BBS. 337-984-4794 Positronium Repository BBS. But probably neither one will allow 300 baud. Oh, I just realized. Procomm won't work on modern Windows. Use 'Teraterm' instead...l.. WAIT! Procomm will work if you use DOSBOX in windows to run MSDOS programs.....maybe. AND of course..... ICET is a better A8 term program. BUT? ICET may not do X or Y modem or one of the other modern transfer protocols. (I said I am fuzzy on this) Ymodem G is a good one. Xmodem is probably available on both ICET and Teraterm. Edited March 9, 2014 by russg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 the x-modem in hardware on the xm301 appears the quickest way to transfer on that modem when saving to a ramdisk or fast drive.... at least in it seems so... I used to get asked what modem I was using for a modem by x86 sysops all the time back in the day because of the thru-put... yes sysops were a meticulous breed. on the other hand batch modem file transfers became so darn convenient it was often forgotten.... I like xe term.... bobterm rocks... Express is nice... but ICE T rules with color ansi.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormtrooper of Death Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 (edited) Maybe a bit strange, but in the 80s, i and my friends made a box, that used 4 joystick cables to connect the Atari with the MSx. 2 joystick cables went into joystick port 1 + 2 of the Atari, and the other 2 cables went into the MSx ports. a friend of me simple wired the cables. We used this cable for file-transfer between msx and Atari. All software was made in Atari Basic and MSX basic. A bit slow, but it worked. Edited March 12, 2014 by Stormtrooper of Death 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charliecron Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 This reminded me of way people used to use the built-in modem on the Sega Dreamcast console, they called it a 'PC-DC server'. Here is an article with instructions on building the 'Line Voltage Inducer'.. http://dreamcast.onlineconsoles.com/phpBB2/guides_pcdcwin98.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillC Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Maybe a bit strange, but in the 80s, i and my friends made a box, that used 4 joystick cables to connect the Atari with the MSx. 2 joystick cables went into joystick port 1 + 2 of the Atari, and the other 2 cables went into the MSx ports. a friend of me simple wired the cables. We used this cable for file-transfer between msx and Atari. All software was made in Atari Basic and MSX basic. A bit slow, but it worked. Using the joystick ports for DATA transfer on the Atari computers is fairly common, MPP/Supra had 300 BAUD modems that used a joystick port, and Corvus had a HDD system that used ports 3&4 on the 800 computer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ripdubski Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 In the mid 90's I built a null modem cable. Connected it between my 850 and the serial port on the PC. I wrote a script in ProCom+ that accepted commands. The script parsed the input and responded. Inputs were simple like dir, cd, put, get - think ftp like stuff, and a size cmd which calculated how big the file would be on the atari drive in single and double density. I used Amodem on the A8 to connect. Worked like a charm. Kind a poor mans SIO2PC, albeit a lot less functinal. I think it worked fine up to 19.2 as well, o maybe it was 9600 I used. I still have the cable but would have to dig it out and take it apart to see how I built it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russg Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 (edited) With a little digging, I also found this sio to serial cable: http://www.ebay.com/itm/221383887073 Perhaps I could use Qbasic and Atari BASIC to achive my goal of having data I/O between Atari8bix and x86 pc without having to use any old modems and related software? You don't need QBASIC and Atari BASIC to have data I/O A8 to/from PC. What you need is a SIO2PC cable and APE or ASPEQT software. The SIO2PC adapter makes the PC act as a disk drive to the A8. Rick Cortese is the author of a self-made SIO2PC adapter, like he says, about $5 parts and 40 minutes to make. APE interface is another commonly purchased device for about $50 + ship, and you have the ebay one from Poland. I can dig up Rick's instructions if you want. Aspeqt is presently free. APE software is slightly disabled tryware, costs $50 to register if I remember, but you can do one way (I forget which way) communications. APE site is http://www.atarimax.com. I'm not sure where is the best place for ASPEQT, here's one place. http://sourceforge.net/projects/aspeqt/ Here's instructions for SIO2PC, home made. Make a folder to put the zip files in to unzip. Shoot, the first two zip files are for MAX232 only. I wanted to do the 14C82 single chip one by R. Cortese. That is the sio2pchow2.zip The Original 2-Chip SIO2PC interface.zip The Original 2-Chip SIO2PC interface_files.zip sio2pchowtoz25dir.zip Edited March 15, 2014 by russg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roydea6 Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 Isn't that suppose to be Nick Kennedy as author of SIO2PC.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricortes Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 Isn't that suppose to be Nick Kennedy as author of SIO2PC.... "SIO2PC adapter" Just the hardware. Side note, Nick was one of the many that disparaged the 1489 version of SIO2PC. Things didn't work out as well as they might have for him in the Atari arena. I got the impression not a lot of people sent in shareware fees. I know one seller, j131 on eBay, had ~2,700 positive feedbacks. Must of been tough to see numbers like that and not get a taste. It would have been better if some of the people making the cables would have given him a taste, buck a cable or something. Time has passed the DOS version by. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Z Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 I don't think the battery is necessary, I did similar without it back in the mid 80's, this may depend on the modems though. I believe you are right. the issue is that you need to disable dialtone detection on newer modem and that kind of thing. since it wont ring either, you need to manually answer the call too, the A command on a hayes compatible modem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ripdubski Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 I was looking for something completely different on my archive NAS, and stumbled across the ProComm + directory. Out of curiosity I looked to see if the Atari files I wrote for it were there. Sure enough. If anyone is interested, here it is (ATARI.ASP). I ran this on the PC, and used AModem or BobTerm (can't remember which) on the Atari, directly connected from 850 interface to PC RS232. The PC ran in a server mode, if you will. It supports these commands: UP/DOWN/SIZE/DIR/DEL/TIME/WORK/?/BYE I used it for transferring files to/from the PC for archive storage, not daily use. Looks like I initially wrote it in 1993, with updates in 97+. If anyone wants to use, yeah right, feel free. This was my poor mans SIO2PC. ; Script......: ATARI.ASP ; Programmer..: S. Wade Ripkowski ; Version.....: 1.82 ; Date........: 01/21/93 ; Description.: Places Procomm Plus in a "SERVER" state for link up remotely. ; Revised.....: 03/06/96-Added Zmodem, Kermit, handshaking. ; : 03/07/96-Added Working Directory. ; : 11/29/97-Changed to PC, and corrected several options. ; : 12/23/97-Added DD sectors to SIZE, descreased DIR time. ; : 01/06/98-Added file size to DIR ; : 01/07/98-Added DEL command define ATARI_NUMBER "10" define WAIT_TIME 240 proc main clear locate 0 0 string cmmd string flname string outstr string sppick string stemp string swork string ssendfl string ssizefl long size integer sect integer anoth integer ngetfile set BAUD 9600 set BAUDRATE 9600 set DATABITS 8 set PARITY NONE set STOPBITS 1 set DUPLEX HALF set PORT COM1 set RELAXED ON set CR CR_LF set SOFTFLOW ON set HARDFLOW OFF set ZMODEM AUTODLOAD OFF set KERMIT FILETYPE BINARY set TXPACE 5 set BREAK 350 set ALARM OFF set SOUND OFF set EXPLODE OFF set HOST CONNECTION DIRECT set CDINXFER NO EMULATE TTY message "Waiting 3 seconds...^M" pause 3 transmit "Atari<->PC Host, Version 1.82^M" pause 1 transmit "Copyright (C) 1993,1996,1997,1998^M" pause 1 transmit "S. Wade Ripkowski All Rights Reserved.^M" pause 1 transmit "^MPC signed on!^M" pause 1 swork="C:\TEMP\" transmit "Working PC directory:^M" transmit swork transmit "^M" MAINLOOP: transmit "^MCommand? " rget cmmd 5 WAIT_TIME if failure message "Timed OUT!^M" goto MAINLOOP endif switch cmmd case "UP" transmit "Upload Protocol?^M" transmit "Kermit Xmodem Ymodem Zmodem Quit: " rget sppick 1 WAIT_TIME if failure message "Timed OUT!^M" goto MAINLOOP endif ngetfile=1 switch sppick case "X" transmit "^MFilename? " rget flname 80 WAIT_TIME if failure message "Timed OUT!^M" goto MAINLOOP endif strcpy ssendfl swork strcat ssendfl flname endcase case "Q" transmit "^M" ngetfile=0 endcase endswitch if EQ ngetfile 1 transmit "PC ready to receive: " endif switch sppick case "K" transmit "Kermit...^M" getfile kermit endcase case "X" transmit "1K-XModem...^M" getfile 1kxmodem ssendfl endcase case "Y" transmit "YModem...^M" getfile ymodem endcase case "Z" transmit "ZModem...^M" getfile zmodem endcase case "Q" goto MAINLOOP endcase endswitch endcase case "DOWN" transmit "Download Protocol?^M" transmit "Kermit Xmodem Ymodem Zmodem Quit: " rget sppick 1 WAIT_TIME if failure message "Timed OUT!^M" goto MAINLOOP endif ngetfile=1 switch sppick case "Q" transmit "^M" ngetfile=0 endcase endswitch if EQ ngetfile 1 transmit "^MFilename? " rget flname 80 WAIT_TIME if failure message "Timed OUT!^M" goto MAINLOOP endif strcpy ssendfl swork strcat ssendfl flname transmit "PC ready to send: " endif switch sppick case "K" transmit "Kermit...^M" sendfile kermit ssendfl endcase case "X" transmit "1K-XModem...^M" sendfile 1kxmodem ssendfl endcase case "Y" transmit "YModem...^M" sendfile ymodem ssendfl endcase case "Z" transmit "ZModem...^M" sendfile zmodem ssendfl endcase case "Q" goto MAINLOOP endcase endswitch endcase case "SIZE" transmit "Filename? " rget flname 80 WAIT_TIME if failure message "Timed OUT!^M" goto MAINLOOP endif strcpy ssendfl swork strcat ssendfl flname getfsize ssendfl size strfmt outstr "%ld byte(s)^M" size transmit outstr div size 128 sect strfmt outstr "%d SD sector(s)^M" sect transmit outstr div size 256 sect strfmt outstr "%d DD sector(s)^M" sect transmit outstr endcase case "DIR" transmit "Filespec? " rget flname 80 WAIT_TIME if failure message "Timed OUT!^M" goto MAINLOOP endif strcpy ssendfl swork strcat ssendfl flname anoth=0 findfirst ssendfl if found strcpy ssizefl swork strcat ssizefl $FNAME strcat ssizefl "." strcat ssizefl $FEXT getfsize ssizefl size anoth=1 transmit $FNAME transmit "." transmit $FEXT transmit " - " strfmt outstr "%ld^M" size transmit outstr endif while anoth ; pause 1 findnext if found strcpy ssizefl swork strcat ssizefl $FNAME strcat ssizefl "." strcat ssizefl $FEXT getfsize ssizefl size transmit $FNAME transmit "." transmit $FEXT transmit " - " strfmt outstr "%ld^M" size transmit outstr else anoth=0 endif endwhile endcase case "TIME" strcpy outstr $DATE strcat outstr ", " strcat outstr $TIME0 strcat outstr "^M" transmit outstr endcase case "WORK" transmit "Directory? " rget stemp 80 WAIT_TIME if failure message "Timed OUT!^M" goto MAINLOOP else strcpy swork stemp transmit "Working PC directory:^M" transmit swork transmit "^M" endif endcase case "DEL" transmit "Filename? " rget flname 80 WAIT_TIME if failure message "Timed OUT!^M" goto MAINLOOP endif strcpy ssendfl swork strcat ssendfl flname isfile ssendfl if success delete ssendfl isfile ssendfl if success transmit "NOT Deleted!^M" else transmit "Deleted!^M" endif else transmit "No Such File!^M" endif endcase case "?" transmit "Commands: ^M" transmit "UP/DOWN/SIZE/DIR/DEL/TIME/WORK/?/BYE^M" endcase case "BYE" goto DONE endcase endswitch goto MAINLOOP DONE: transmit "^MPC signed off!^M" endproc 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Awesome - that's a pretty cool use for ASP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ripdubski Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 I also saw I had a variant for the ST, though I don't recall using it. The main differences I can see is the linefeeds are different and the baud was increased to 19200. It worked for what I needed back then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.