ATARI 130XE BOOT WITHOUT HOLDING DOWN OPTION

[COBRAIP]

I have a 130XE that had a chip in it that has been removed. It would allow me to boot without holding down the option key, thuss bypassing booting into basic. Does anyone know if they still sell this chip? If so where can I get one to replace the one I've lost.

[Bryan]

Easiest way is to have a modified OS that reverses the detection of the OPTION key. I don't know if anyone is selling them as a ROM, but multi-OS boards are available.

 

http://www.atarimax.com/warpos/documentation/

[+bob1200xl]

I think you're saying that someone removed a chip from your 130XE so that you don't have to hold OPTION to disable BASIC. If you remove the BASIC ROM chip itself, then you won't need OPTION. So, you probably need a BASIC ROM chip.

 

You should try to get the rev.'C' BASIC ROM. Maybe Best Electronics or B&C Computervision?

 

Bob

 

 

I have a 130XE that had a chip in it that has been removed. It would allow me to boot without holding down the option key, thuss bypassing booting into basic. Does anyone know if they still sell this chip? If so where can I get one to replace the one I've lost.

[COBRAIP]

That is correct but the one I had in there allowed me to boot directly into a menu instead of booting into dos and I used it to boot with my MIO.

[COBRAIP]

I'm sorry I stated that wrong I ment that it allowed me to boot directly into the dos menu in MIO instead of the normal basic that you get when you turn the 130xe on. Otherwise you have to hold the OPTION key down to boot to dos.

[COBRAIP]

Bryan,

 

Just looked at your reference and that seems like the way I will go. I can do that easy. It will work fine with me and I might even do the mod to 320k on the memory tha is available. Thanks for the help.

[Bumzyman]

I have two of Steve's APE Warp+ 32-n-1 OS boards and they are great, I highly recommend one.

 

You should try to get the rev.'C' BASIC ROM. Maybe Best Electronics or B&C Computervision?

 

I think Best is out of the rev C ROMs but I have a few EPROM's that are drop in replacements for the BASIC ROM and I can program them with any BASIC rev you want.

[oracle_jedi]

If you want to boot the 130XE with BASIC disabled and without holding down OPTION, you can cut or lift pin 11 of U23 - the PIA.

 

This mod will permanently disable BASIC, so you will have to use BASIC loaded from disk or cartridge if you need BASIC again.

[UKRetrogamer]

Easiest way is to have a modified OS that reverses the detection of the OPTION key. I don't know if anyone is selling them as a ROM, but multi-OS boards are available.

 

http://www.atarimax.com/warpos/documentation/

That's right. One of the listed features for the AtariMax Warp+ OS upgrade is to reverse the action of the option key during boot.

 

Has a chip been physically removed from the 130XE or is it still fitted with Warp+ OS and this option inadvertently changed to "normal" operation?

 

To check if an Atarimax Warp+ board is installed, try pressing Select at boot. This will bring up the OS selection menu if this type of board is present.

 

If not, do you have any idea which chip was removed, by whom and why it was removed?

 

Can you still access BASIC without a ROM cart? If so, does the Atari boot directly into BASIC or the "notepad"?

[+Larry]

The 32-in-1 OS module is a nice mod, and it has very few incompatibilities. But it is overkill for most folks, and it is not easily re-programmed. It does need to have three solder connections, IIRC.

 

www.atarimax.com

 

An alternative: if you have access to an eprom programmer, then a 27C512 will hold four OS. You or a friend can burn the 4 you want (rom files are readily available), and you purchase Dropcheck's 4-in-1 adapter with a couple of SP-ST toggle switches. The downside to this is that you need to mount the switches in the Atari case. The upside is that if your OS needs change, it's as easy as re-programming the eprom.

 

www.bitsofthepast.com

 

 

In either case, if your current rom is soldered in, then it must be de-soldered. Not an easy task in an XE.

 

-Larry

[COBRAIP]

I just moved everything arround and I need to get the 130xe back out and check as I can't remember if it was socketed or not and as far as who took it out I don't know as I lent it out and when I got it back it was missing.

 

I left all my stuff inclusing my Oasis BBS running with a friend and now all I have back is an MIO that doesn't work and a 130xe that is missing a rom and my harddrive case missing the hard drive. Case senaro never loan stuff out to someone you don't really trust. He says he gave everything back and swares on it but in the end I don't have anything that works. Which is why I put everything in the backroom. I'll get it out this week and see what is there again and hope it has a socket so I don't have to do much soldering.

 

Thanks guys.