TheAtariKing Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 I have 1 Epson SMD-340 and 3 Epson SMD-300 high density disk drives. I know that the SMD-340 will work as a HD disk drive, but, will the SMD-300 also work as an HD disk drive in an Atari 1040STe computer? Since I am replacing my TOS roms, I figured I might as well replace the 720k disk drive with a high density disk drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
locnar77 Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 (edited) It should work no problem, but you may have to change the jumper settings on the back of the drive Edited October 26, 2014 by locnar77 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_ Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 You can use an HD drive in the STe but it will work as a 720K drive unless some modifications are done to the STe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle22 Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 Get the floppy controller chip from Best Electronics. The chip is called Ajax. Be sure to ask Brad if it will work in your particular ST. You probably need TOS 2.06 as well to get 1.44M. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAtariKing Posted October 26, 2014 Author Share Posted October 26, 2014 (edited) I am installing TOS 2.06 and I will jumper the Atari 1040STe motherboard for a high density disk drive. Can any of you provide a picture of the jumper setting on the back of your Epson high density disk drive. Thanks. Oh, my floppy disk controller chip is revision 02-02. Edited October 26, 2014 by TheAtariKing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParanoidLittleMan Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 Only Mega STE has necessary chips for HD floppy . All other ST, STE machines need 16 MHz circuit + logic to switch to 8 Mhz when DD disk is inserted. In other words Ajax chip and TOS 2.06 are not enough. Search little about topic - there are diverse threads about, and some circuit schematics. Probably will find someone who offers boards for sale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
locnar77 Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 I had no problem with my 1040ste reading HD disks running 2.06, then i decided to drop disks all together and went lotherak SD card drive replacement. And it will still read 1.44 disk images Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAtariKing Posted October 26, 2014 Author Share Posted October 26, 2014 Only Mega STE has necessary chips for HD floppy . All other ST, STE machines need 16 MHz circuit + logic to switch to 8 Mhz when DD disk is inserted. In other words Ajax chip and TOS 2.06 are not enough. Search little about topic - there are diverse threads about, and some circuit schematics. Probably will find someone who offers boards for sale. According to the installation procedures that comes with the TOS 2.06 roms, the Atari 1040STe already has the circuitry on the motherboard to handle high density disk drives. You just have to have a revision 02-02 floppy disk controller chip plugged in (which most 1040STe computers do) and you have to solder the E6 jumper pad. You also have to replace the 720k disk drive with a high density disk drive. The Epson SMD-340 is a direct replacement for the 720k Epson drive, just swap the face plate and eject button. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_ Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 (edited) I am installing TOS 2.06 and I will jumper the Atari 1040STe motherboard for a high density disk drive. Can any of you provide a picture of the jumper setting on the back of your Epson high density disk drive. Thanks. Oh, my floppy disk controller chip is revision 02-02. Here you go. Read this thread over at Atari-forum http://atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=24202&p=220398&hilit=high+density#p220303 Edited October 26, 2014 by Official Ninja Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAtariKing Posted October 27, 2014 Author Share Posted October 27, 2014 (edited) Then I guess the installation procedures that comes with the TOS 2.06 roms is wrong. What exactely does jumper pads E6 do? The other 3 jumpers close to the roms are for the different types of chips used. An Ajax chip is not needed if your floppy disk controller chip is revision 02-02. I do plan to use a Gotek drive instead of the disk drive. Just waiting for someone to release the firmware so I can reflash the Gotek drives. So, if a Gotek drive will work at the standard 720k disk format after reflashing the firmware, then I am not worried about high density. I use a Gotek drive in my Amiga 500 Tower and I really like it. Never had any problems. I can even boot up my custom Workbench 1.3 and my productivity software. I use an 880k disk drive as DF1 when I need to work with actual disks. I plan to do the same thing with this Atari 1040STe computer. Edited October 27, 2014 by TheAtariKing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_ Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 (edited) Then I guess the installation procedures that comes with the TOS 2.06 roms is wrong. What exactely does jumper pads E6 do? The other 3 jumpers close to the roms are for the different types of chips used. An Ajax chip is not needed if your floppy disk controller chip is revision 02-02. I do plan to use a Gotek drive instead of the disk drive. Just waiting for someone to release the firmware so I can reflash the Gotek drives. So, if a Gotek drive will work at the standard 720k disk format after reflashing the firmware, then I am not worried about high density. I use a Gotek drive in my Amiga 500 Tower and I really like it. Never had any problems. I can even boot up my custom Workbench 1.3 and my productivity software. I use an 880k disk drive as DF1 when I need to work with actual disks. I plan to do the same thing with this Atari 1040STe computer. I don't know about documentation that comes with 2.06.... If I remember right though, 2.06 was made for the Mega STe. With the Mega STe you can add a HD drive if you have the proper chip. No other modifications need to be done. In both of my Mega STe I do not set the jumper. I just use a PRG in the auto folder that enables the OS to have HD formatting available. Edited October 27, 2014 by Official Ninja Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParanoidLittleMan Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 TOS 2.06 was only in Mega STE machines. Better said, in later ones, since first ones were with TOS 2.05 - like mine, and with DD floppy drive. In Mega STE is really enough to replace drive and set switch. No 1040 STE was equipped with TOS 2.05/6 - they were with TOS 1.06 and 1.62 only. More important is that in 1040 STE no HD floppy circuit. So, please cut this unnecessary discussion and order HD circuit from exxosuk .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAtariKing Posted October 27, 2014 Author Share Posted October 27, 2014 (edited) TOS 2.06 was only in Mega STE machines. Better said, in later ones, since first ones were with TOS 2.05 - like mine, and with DD floppy drive. In Mega STE is really enough to replace drive and set switch. No 1040 STE was equipped with TOS 2.05/6 - they were with TOS 1.06 and 1.62 only. More important is that in 1040 STE no HD floppy circuit. So, please cut this unnecessary discussion and order HD circuit from exxosuk .. No, I will not order the HD circuit from exxosuk. I will just have to wait for the firmware to be released for the Gotek USB floppy drive. I buy these drives for less than $19 (free shipping). I have already installed a Gotek drive in an external Atari disk drive case. It looks very nice. In the mean time, I will follow the instructions that came with TOS 2.06 and install an Epson SMD-340 high density disk drive and solder the E6 jumper pads. I think that the E6 jumper hooks up the floppy disk controller chip's clock pin to the 16 MHz clock on the 1040 STe motherboard. I am not sure about this, so I will follow the trace using my multimeter. If this is not the case, then I will have to feed the 16 MHz clock to the chip with a wire. I will only be using high density disks on this Atari 1040STe. So, I am not worried about the 720k read / write function or the 7 MHz clock going to the floppy controller chip. I mean, why would I want to mess with 720k disks when both my Atari 1040STe and my classic Pentium 3 pc reads and writes 1.44 mb disks? I have two high density disk drives in my classic Pentium III pc that I built years ago. It still looks brand new, even after all these years of heavy use (I build very high quality computers). I use Winblows 98SE on this pc. I can stick an Atari ST disk in one drive and copy the contents over to a 1.44 MB disk. Since all Atari ST computers with TOS 1.4 or later can read and write pc format disks, there is no problem. It's like those stupid people that still mess around with 8-bit computers, when we have 16/32 bit computers. I just do not get it. I mean, when I bought my Atari ST computer back in 1985 I never looked back at the Commodore 64 or any of the other 8-bit computers of the time. Who in their right mind would?! In the same way, if your Atari ST computer can read and write high density disks, why mess with 720k disks? As the Goblins in World of Warcraft say "GET REAL". Edited October 27, 2014 by TheAtariKing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galax Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 It's like those stupid people that still mess around with 8-bit computers, when we have 16/32 bit computers. I just do not get it. I mean, when I bought my Atari ST computer back in 1985 I never looked back at the Commodore 64 or any of the other 8-bit computers of the time. Who in their right mind would?! In the same way, if your Atari ST computer can read and write high density disks, why mess with 720k disks? As the Goblins in World of Warcraft say "GET REAL". Other than archiving old software and data I avoid using floppy disks at all- I only use solid state media. I would have no use for an HD floppy drive. I wouldn't call someone who still uses floppy disks stupid though. These 80s/90s 8/16/32 bit computers are a hobby for all of us- there's nothing 'stupid' about someone else's hobby just because you don't share it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
locnar77 Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 that is exactly right. I have my atari 1200xl and my atari XEGM, and i still play those all the time. so atariking, if people who still use 8-bits are stupid, then why in a world of 128bit and 64bit are you still using your 16/32bit? and I can bet you are not typing in these responses with your atari (since you mentioned warcraft). maybe you are the one to GET REAL and not bash someone's hobby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAtariKing Posted October 28, 2014 Author Share Posted October 28, 2014 that is exactly right. I have my atari 1200xl and my atari XEGM, and i still play those all the time. so atariking, if people who still use 8-bits are stupid, then why in a world of 128bit and 64bit are you still using your 16/32bit? and I can bet you are not typing in these responses with your atari (since you mentioned warcraft). maybe you are the one to GET REAL and not bash someone's hobby. I can understand why people still use the Atari ST and Amiga computers, because their graphics and sound was way ahead of their time and are still great today. But, 8 bit graphics and mono sound, I got tired and bored of that in 1983. Why do you think I sold all of my 8 bit computer stuff and used the money to buy the parts to build an IBM clone? It is because the IBM had much better graphics and at higher resolution. Then when the Atari 520ST was released I traded my new IBM clone for an Atari ST computer system. I never looked back at that 8 bit crap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galax Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 I never looked back at that 8 bit crap. So you are calling the systems that 90% of this website is devoted to 'crap'? And you wonder why you get banned from forums? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
locnar77 Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 this has gone far enough, the moderator needs to close this thread, please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle22 Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 I agree 100% with what galax just said. Why don't you read and research what we are doing with our "crap" computers? I always considered the ST line to be "crap", and, people like you prove my point in that "crap" people (who obviously don't know any better) like to use and promote "crap." Go take your "crap" somewhere else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAtariKing Posted October 28, 2014 Author Share Posted October 28, 2014 (edited) So you are calling the systems that 90% of this website is devoted to 'crap'? And you wonder why you get banned from forums? Then I guess I joined the wrong forum. I do not worry about "getting banned from forums". I can always start my own forum. Most of you that join forums are followers or "sheep". I on the other hand am a leader or a "wolf". Why do you think I started working for myself? It is because I found out if you work for someone else you are a loser, no matter what fancy title they give you. THINK about it, the rich people that run and control this planet work for themselves. The only person here that is a winner or a "wolf" is the person that started and owns this forum. The rest of you are losers or "sheep". BYE. Edited October 28, 2014 by TheAtariKing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAtariKing Posted October 28, 2014 Author Share Posted October 28, 2014 (edited) One more thing, most of you are too stupid to answer simple questions. What clued me in on this is when some of you responded to my posts with RF modulator crap when I was talking about RGB. I guess I will just have to figure things out myself, I always do. Edited October 28, 2014 by TheAtariKing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle22 Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 Have fun being a lone "wolf"... Isn't that what they call those psycho-terrorists that aren't affiliated with a known group? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 If he's such the expert he claims then why ask these simple questions to begin with? And if he's so successful in business, why does he only own the one shirt? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galax Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 (edited) Why do you think I started working for myself? Is that your highly successful Craigslist computer repair business, or one of the "Divisions" of your Retrogeek computing empire? I think "unemployed" or "retired" would be more accurate. One more thing, most of you are too stupid to answer simple questions. What clued me in on this is when some of you responded to my posts with RF modulator crap when I was talking about RGB. I guess I will just have to figure things out myself, I always do. It was you who misunderstood; you asked "How do I change my STe from PAL to NTSC ?", which implies changing the composite and/or RF out to NTSC. You actually only wanted to change the RGB out to 60Hz by default, which is a different question. PAL is usually 50Hz, and NTSC is usually 60Hz, but not always. Both PAL and NTSC STs can output in both 50Hz and 60Hz. You clearly still don't understand the distinction. Edited October 28, 2014 by galax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 The only person here that is a winner or a "wolf" is the person that started and owns this forum. The rest of you are losers or "sheep". BYE. By that logic (which doesn't seem to be your strong suit), that would also make you a loser or a sheep! Congratulations on getting banned from yet another forum. ..Al 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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