ATARIMAX vs ATARI 800XL updated need-to-know-basis

[Root_Of_All_Beer]

Hello, I visited the Atarimax site:

http://atarimax.com/

 

And I saw all these options:

(1)"ABBUC USB Master Cartridge"

(2)"MaxFlash Programmer Kit"

(3)"MyIDE-II Compact Flash Cartridge"

.......etc etc etc......................................

 

Their site pricing is layed out confusing, the prices show up to really be 'bulk orders' instead of 'individual pricing' AT FIRST CLICK until you click the "more information" (link) to figure out that it's much cheaper per unit. And the purpose per each unit, what they do, etc etc. Nothing is clear on this site, it could all be a bunch of pretty pieces of fancy plastic boxes with lights for all I know!

 

(1) Can anyone tell me exactly what we would need to just download actual game ROMs online, convert them to SD card (or USB devices) etc, and plug them straight into cartridge-interface and actually be able to properly run downloaded games from the internet....onto our actual Atari 800XL computers? (I own a real Atari 800XL from 1982-83 era, and I'd like to play emulated game files onto the actual computer itself)

 

(2) VERY IMPORTANT, now that Windows XP is expiring as of April for EVERYONE, and we're all forced into switching to Windows 7 etc, will this cause any issue with compatibility of any of the ROMs/files/games/images that we've downloaded and plan to run on future Windows based operating systems, as well as how this might even effect the Atari 800XL/XE home computers? This goes for collecting additional downloaded ROMs/games/images in the future, storage etc.

 

(3) Do we need to have one of those Atarimax units that have the capability of "programming" and/or "storage" etc etc, what is really necessary, should we buy them all? Basically, what is the main difference between them all?

 

(4) After we purchase these devices, do we need to format them or run any procedures to load them etc? Are they plug-and-play or no?

Edited March 24, 2014 by Root_Of_All_Beer

[akator]

(1) Can anyone tell me exactly what we would need to just download actual game ROMs online, convert them to SD card (or USB devices) etc, and plug them straight into cartridge-interface and actually be able to properly run downloaded games from the internet....onto our actual Atari 800XL computers? (I own a real Atari 800XL from 1982-83 era, and I'd like to play emulated game files onto the actual computer itself)

 

MyIDE-II will allow you to plug the cart into your 800XL, then plug a Compact Flash card into the cart with your files. First you will need to follow the video tutorial to format the Compact Flash card using the cart and the 800XL, then you will load the files onto the flash card using your computer.

 

 

(2) VERY IMPORTANT, now that Windows XP is expiring as of April for EVERYONE, and we're all forced into switching to Windows 7 etc, will this cause any issue with compatibility of any of the ROMs/files/games/images that we've downloaded and plan to run on future Windows based operating systems, as well as how this might even effect the Atari 800XL/XE home computers? This goes for collecting additional downloaded ROMs/games/images in the future, storage etc.

 

Your Atari image files are data. Windows XP is an operating system. The Atari data files are the same whether you use XP, Vista, 7, 8, Mac, Linux, Android, or iOS. Microsoft and Windows XP has nothing to do with ROMs/games/images. Just make sure they (and all data) are backed up before upgrading or installing a new operating system.

 

 

 

(3) Do we need to have one of those Atarimax units that have the capability of "programming" and/or "storage" etc etc, what is really necessary, should we buy them all? Basically, what is the main difference between them all?

 

The MyIDE-II cart will allow you to save files on drive images on the Compact Flash card, allowing programming and development. There are tons of additional features.

 

The MaxFlash carts can be used to create custom "multicarts" or individual carts with only a single game. These are programmed through your computer using the MaxFlash software. As a newer product, MyIDE-II has many more features.

 

The ABBUC cart does exactly what it says, it allows you to plug USB 1.1 devices (like USB controllers) into your Atari via the cart. I've never used one of these because I have never needed to plug USB devices into an Atari computer. You don't need this to play games or access images.

 

The AtariMax site has support forums. There's a lot of info there, it just requires patience to go through the threads to find answers.

Edited March 24, 2014 by akator

[jblenkle]

No, we're not being forced into anything. Microsoft will simply no longer support Windows XP with any kind of updates or technical support. I don't plan on switching to another operating system anytime soon as a lot of the programs I run won't work with anything above Windows XP and I'm perfectly happy with all the programs I am currently running on my computer.

 

(2) VERY IMPORTANT, now that Windows XP is expiring as of April for EVERYONE, and we're all forced into switching to Windows 7 etc, will this cause any issue with compatibility of any of the ROMs/files/games/images that we've downloaded and plan to run on future Windows based operating systems, as well as how this might even effect the Atari 800XL/XE home computers? This goes for collecting additional downloaded ROMs/games/images in the future, storage etc.

[Kyle22]

(2) VERY IMPORTANT, now that Windows XP is expiring as of April for EVERYONE, and we're all forced into switching to Windows 7 etc,

 

Windows XP is not expiring for me, or anyone who runs the 2009 version. Available as trial version here: https://www.microsoft.com/windowsembedded/en-us/download-posready-2009.aspx

 

Sign in with Windows Live, or sign up. I personally like Windows Live, but if you don't, just sign up for this, and never use it again.

 

By the way, there is also a fix for MSN Messenger, so it still works (instead of being forced into Skype), it's called Messenger Reviver. Google it.

 

This will update until 2019. This IS Windows XP SP3.

 

I don't want to get my post deleted, so i won't link to the tool to remove the timebomb and make it a full version, But, I'm sure most of us know how to Tweak NT Operating systems by now. Hint

[Root_Of_All_Beer]

Hey thanks, I might have a few more concerns coming up.

 

I accidentally posted this as an edit earlier before I refreshed the screen to see what you posted Akator:

(4) After we purchase these devices, do we need to format them or run any procedures to load them etc? Are they plug-and-play or no?

[akator]

Each product page on the AtariMax site has video demos and tutorials. For example, the video tutorials for formatting and using the MyIDE-II and Compact Flash are located on the MyIDE-II product information page, located here:

 

http://atarimax.com/myide/documentation/

[Root_Of_All_Beer]

 

By the way, there is also a fix for MSN Messenger, so it still works (instead of being forced into Skype), it's called Messenger Reviver. Google it.

 

Hey man, THANKS! I'm glad you told me about that!

 

And thanks again Akator!

[Root_Of_All_Beer]

 

No, we're not being forced into anything. Microsoft will simply no longer support Windows XP with any kind of updates or technical support. I don't plan on switching to another operating system anytime soon as a lot of the programs I run won't work with anything above Windows XP and I'm perfectly happy with all the programs I am currently running on my computer.

 

I really don't want to derail this thread, but WOW!... would you think Windows 7 might effect M.A.M.E.? I have a really decent version of MAME and so many good games from RomNation.net (because I can't find anything from any site compatible with any current operating system I've had/have).

[Kyle22]

I'm happy to help.

[Kyle22]

I don't know about Win7 and MAME. I have had good success with MAME on XP, and I have had several other programs not work on 7. That, and the general bloat of 7, is why I run XP.

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

Regarding Windows 7 and MAME as well as any other incompatibilities using Windows 7 -

I run MAME v.143 perfectly on Windows 7 (64 bit even) Most things run fine on 7 (I have never encountered a problem) and MOST issues regarding successfully installing programs are caused due to Win 7 security no longer lets programs install files just anywhere (this began with VISTA) however, when installing a program, game etc, using the installer or .exe file if it fails to install OR does not seem to run correctly after installing just re-install with one difference, right click and select INSTALL AS ADMINISTRATOR, this will give the installing program permission to install files where required but may not be permitted by Windows 7 by default. NOW before anyone says that is not safe or bad for security blah blah, remember that while certain area's of the OS have been made inaccessible for security reasons in a case like this you are merely giving a program you already trust or have used before permission to install where it needs to (and was permitted to in previous versions of Windows) it will still be blocking untrusted or unknown programs or malicious applications that you have not given permission to so you will be fine, OBVIOUSLY this advice is only to be used with programs you have used before and / or trust to be non malicious. In the rare occasion I have had an issue installing / running a program that was just fine in XP for me this has always worked.

[+Larry]

Others have provided good info about XP "expiring." But I can say that I have used Atarimax (PC) products with Win7 with no issues, although I will continue to use XP simply because I like it better.

 

I might add that Atarimax provides it's own user forum and has excellent docs and video "tutorials," so his overall documentation is certainly superior.

 

-Larry

[Root_Of_All_Beer]

Hey I thank everyone here, this is really helpful information for me and for anyone surfing along! Keep on posting, good for the community!

 

Also, anyone recommend a decent Atari 800 emulator besides Altirra? I know IT-people who still can't configure their keyboards to work and play games with it. And Atari800Win Plus4.1 keeps giving me messages like: "Sorry this program needs a real Atari\OS"

[flashjazzcat]

Well, you've got Atari800 and Atari++, but this is the first I heard of ICT professionals being confounded by Altirra's keyboard options (which are basically "send cooked" and "send raw").

Edited March 24, 2014 by flashjazzcat

[pixelmischief]

I have been running MAME and Altirra on Windows 7 x64 for several years. I have done an enormous amount of work using Cartridge Studio to create ATR's for flashing MaxFlash and MyIDE-II. I have been able to create both SDs and Compact Flash cards. In short, you have nothing to worry about in terms of what a move to Windows 7 from Windows XP might mean to your ability to leverage the hardware and software you have invested in for interfacing with and emulating your Atari 8-Bit.

[Root_Of_All_Beer]

Well, you've got Atari800 and Atari++, but this is the first I heard of ICT professionals being confounded by Altirra's keyboard options (which are basically "send cooked" and "send raw").

I appreciate the info, yet I don't fully understand what "send cooked" and "send raw" means (but I've seen it on the 'configuration' settings) but they honestly don't seem to have many options, if not, any, I feel like I've clicked/scrolled/typed whatever, and nothing. I don't even know if the emulators I have are even adequate and fully functioning. Something tells me I've downloaded a whole ton of DUDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Like "if you want to find the real emulator, go to ________ (this website)" and then I go there and find a page that expired or lost all it's download links. This is 2014!

 

And I'm sure a whole bunch of newbies and passionate old-school gamers who stumble by all this jargon, is enough to turn them the other way, cause them to give up. I know I personally can think of hundreds of people who haven't a clue what all this slang really is, but they wish they could do more than just play 2600 & 5200 (w/ broken controllers) meanwhile drooling over Youtube vidoes of all those lucky people who sucessfully ghot their emulators functioning regularly!!!! C'mon folks!! Let's preserve history, not keep it for the elite!!!!!!! Who's with me?????

 

Please post step-by-step procedures, screenshots, tutorials for people with average computer setups (like what's found at libraries, or office environments, or average home stock computers). And not those bad video turtorials where the poster doesn't even talk, only shows what's on his sooped up deskstop that doesn't resemble the average household stock defaults, fancy custom-built computers that has all this hardware and fancy stuff that no one else has unless they're lucky or have that kind of money to budget for it, and are shy/chicken like they're afraid to show their faces or let their voices be heard just like the milenial generation of today where everyone is antisocial or has a BA-complex or has to be a know-it-all that doesn't help anyone but their own ego. Not that I'm acusing anyone here, just being preventative towards any future entanglements via the selfish.

 

Background on me:

I've been using all emulators arcade to home consoles since 1999 and I own a real Atari 800XL since approximately 1982 in my family, have been using it for more than just games, have taken only a few brief courses in grade school about computers, their history, some programming language. I'm extremely rusty, but only understood/understand basic terminology or entry level. I swear I'm not some clueless fool, I have backgrounds in electronics and a bunch of other fun geek hobbies.

[Root_Of_All_Beer]

I have been running MAME and Altirra on Windows 7 x64 for several years. I have done an enormous amount of work using Cartridge Studio to create ATR's for flashing MaxFlash and MyIDE-II. I have been able to create both SDs and Compact Flash cards. In short, you have nothing to worry about in terms of what a move to Windows 7 from Windows XP might mean to your ability to leverage the hardware and software you have invested in for interfacing with and emulating your Atari 8-Bit.

I'm glad to have you reply here, sir! Please explain to the court what "ATR" is! I would love to do exactly what you do. Thanks in advance for a response!

 

And remember folks, all forums are usually publicly accessable, let's keep it easy for the sand-baggers and wanderers who find this place through Google, and they don't even bother joining this place. They come by for some information and tend to get soured out easily if we don't watch our lingo!

[akator]

An ATR is a disk image.

 

The AtariMax website has nice information that describes much of the jargon and lingo clearly.

[Nebulon]

_{Well, I can tell you what I've been doing -- and it seems to work great.}

 

_{I purchased a MaxFlash 8Mbit re-writable cartridge and the MaxFlash programmer cartridge. You need to specify both when ordering, since the programmer cartridge doesn't come with the blank 8Mbit cartridge.}

_{I think the total worked out to around $85.00.}

 

_{Anyway, I installed the included software and hooked it up to the USB port on my Windows XP machine (the software is awesome, by the way).}

 

_{In the software, you just right-click a slot to place a game on a list. The list is what you'll see on the Atari computer when you plug the cartridge into it. 8Mbit is enough to hold around 20 to 40 Atari 8-bit games. You just use the joystick to select the game you want to play and press the joystick button to run it.}

 

_{If you want to make a different compilation, just plug the blank cartridge into the MaxFlash programmer cartridge and then into the PC's USB port and choose the Erase option.}

 

 

_{There are two main file types that the cartridge will recognize. They are .ATR and .XEX. When you search around on the web for disk images for the Atari 8-bit machines, these are the two most popular file formats. Note: Not all of them will run successfully. However, most will.}

 

_{The only thing I've yet to figure out on the MaxFlash cartridge is how to run a 2-disk game. Perhaps it isn't possible to switch to disk 2 using this system?}

 

 

_{As for Windows XP -- MS support is only an issue if you want to use it for web-browsing and need to keep it patched for possible future exploits (holes through which creepy crawlies can get through). If you're just using it as an off-line machine with a fixed set of software from today or earlier, you can keep that XP machine running for as many years as you like.}

[flashjazzcat]

I appreciate the info, yet I don't fully understand what "send cooked" and "send raw" means (but I've seen it on the 'configuration' settings) but they honestly don't seem to have many options, if not, any, I feel like I've clicked/scrolled/typed whatever, and nothing.

Well, if you click on Input->Keyboard, you'll see that "Send cooked key presses" and "Send raw key strokes" have glosses next to them which briefly explain what they do. Beyond the explanations given right there in the dialog, I don't know what goes on, but clicking on one or other of the radio buttons seems to work. Since there aren't many options, it should at least be easy to try them all out.

 

And I'm sure a whole bunch of newbies and passionate old-school gamers who stumble by all this jargon, is enough to turn them the other way, cause them to give up. I know I personally can think of hundreds of people who haven't a clue what all this slang really is, but they wish they could do more than just play 2600 & 5200 (w/ broken controllers) meanwhile drooling over Youtube vidoes of all those lucky people who sucessfully ghot their emulators functioning regularly!!!! C'mon folks!! Let's preserve history, not keep it for the elite!!!!!!! Who's with me?????

As I say: there are two radio buttons in Altirra, and not much jargon. Anyone able to turn the PC on in the first place should be able to test both possible settings.

 

Please post step-by-step procedures, screenshots, tutorials for people with average computer setups (like what's found at libraries, or office environments, or average home stock computers). And not those bad video turtorials where the poster doesn't even talk, only shows what's on his sooped up deskstop that doesn't resemble the average household stock defaults, fancy custom-built computers that has all this hardware and fancy stuff that no one else has unless they're lucky or have that kind of money to budget for it, and are shy/chicken like they're afraid to show their faces or let their voices be heard just like the milenial generation of today where everyone is antisocial or has a BA-complex or has to be a know-it-all that doesn't help anyone but their own ego. Not that I'm acusing anyone here, just being preventative towards any future entanglements via the selfish.

 

And remember folks, all forums are usually publicly accessable, let's keep it easy for the sand-baggers and wanderers who find this place through Google, and they don't even bother joining this place. They come by for some information and tend to get soured out easily if we don't watch our lingo!

If you have questions about Altirra's functionality, possibly best to post them in an Altirra thread: this will surely make it easier for the "sand-baggers and wanderers" to locate and read the responses.

[Android8675]

Hey I thank everyone here, this is really helpful information for me and for anyone surfing along! Keep on posting, good for the community!

 

Also, anyone recommend a decent Atari 800 emulator besides Altirra? I know IT-people who still can't configure their keyboards to work and play games with it.

 

Some of the smartest IT people I know don't understand emulation or even VMs.

 

Altirra is (IMHO) the best Atari Emulator. I don't know why you'd need to configure your keyboard unless you're using some weird keyboard. Not saying other emulators won't do the job, but Altirra has a great active bunch of people and I've never had an issue with it. There's a test you can run on emulators it runs a bunch of hardware tests to see what's being emulated correctly, and what isn't. I think Altirra gets the highest score at the moment. It's about as close as you can get to going out and buying an Atari and SIO2PC cable.

 

Windows XP. One of my system still runs Windows 2K, yeah, it's no longer supported, that doesn't mean that at it's end of life the whole OS just implodes. It just means you won't be getting any Windows Updates for it, so be careful. I'm running Win7 for DirectX11 support and the 64-bit version is a bit more robust than the XP x64 version. (helpful when you go over 4gigs ram, and wanna run a bunch of VMs in the background)

 

 

 

Please post step-by-step procedures, screenshots, tutorials for people with average computer setups (like what's found at libraries, or office environments, or average home stock computers).

 

I recommend asking questions when you get stuck, get specific. There are sites online that'll help with Emulators, if you search this forum you might find the answers you seek. Already a lot of people here who are more than willing to help you with problems. If you want to preserve history and write up FAQs for people getting started with Atari, then more power to you. I don't think there's that high of a demand for this kind of thing. Most people who want to know this information have a starting point and while the information isn't terribly well organized, it is out there. Just gotta hunt for it.

 

For example I've never been much of a Commodore fan, but I found a bunch of commodore boards and was able to figure out (with a little searching) about the different Amiga's and their emulators. It's not a common topic, and a lot of stuff out there is dated, but it's out there and it wasn't difficult to piece together what information I needed.

 

If you think there's a lack of information out there, start a Wordpress/Wiki site and get cracking.

[Root_Of_All_Beer]

This forum is awesome! I'm gonna come back here later to really re-read everything more thoroughly ! Glad you're all replying, thanks for the info!

Keep em coming!

Edited March 24, 2014 by Root_Of_All_Beer

[+MrFish]

Regarding Windows 7 and MAME as well as any other incompatibilities using Windows 7 -

I run MAME v.143 perfectly on Windows 7 (64 bit even)

 

I'm running MAME .137 with MAME+ (GUI/Front-End) on Win7 64-Bit, and it's working perfectly fine.

[+MrFish]

...But I can say that I have used Atarimax (PC) products with Win7 with no issues, although I will continue to use XP simply because I like it better.

 

I have one gripe with APE under Win7. Part of the interface on the lower portion of the file selection dialogue gets clipped by the boarders. Granted it ends up being mainly a cosmetic issue. I've message Steve about the problem, but he's yet to answer about it (over a year ago). I've installed updates to the software since, and still no fix. I'm guessing he's using code from his old version, which doesn't account for the differing dimensions of the interface elements on Win7 -- as compared with XP -- and he just hasn't bothered adjusting them. Not a real problem, but when you're paying for the software you expect things to look a little more professional.

 

Edited March 25, 2014 by MrFish

[+Ripdubski]

The AtariMax site has support forums. There's a lot of info there, it just requires patience to go through the threads to find answers.

Just dont bother asking any questions there. Noob question = thread delete. Ask them here.