+DjayBee Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 39 minutes ago, scotty said: Warner Communications (Warner Brothers) owned Atari from 77-90. Only publically. You don't know the secret contracts between Nintendo and Walnel Gommunigations. 😎 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lbaeza Posted September 23, 2023 Share Posted September 23, 2023 Hi @Farb I finally got my hands on a Juno First tape, this is somewhat elusive. I checked on the A8Preservation site and I can see that a tape image is missing, this isn't even listed there. Please find attached to this post the FLAC for each of the tape sides, its corresponding CAS file (made using a8cas-convert.exe v1.3.1), and an image scan of each side of the tape, together with some screenshots. I made the FLAC files using Audacity. I made sure to select "None" on Dither, under the High-Quality section of the Preferences. I tested the FLAC files using Altirra. Unfortunately, loading the FLAC for Side B fails, although a valid CAS file was successfully generated from it. I hope you list me as a contributor on A8Preservation's Juno First tape entry. If you need anything else, just let me know. Kind regards. Luis. jfirst-b.cas jfirst-a.cas jfirst-b.flac jfirst-a.flac 11 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted September 23, 2023 Share Posted September 23, 2023 make sure everything is clean, fast forward and rewind the tape a few times, giving it the slight hand rattle in between. Maybe some level adjustment and another attempt on side b will yield better results. If that fails perhaps some wave files will allow manual adjustments to adjust any drops or pops out of the stream. Then it should process better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atarigrub Posted September 23, 2023 Share Posted September 23, 2023 Thanks for these @lbaeza Using Altirra, both FLACs seem to load okay for me. 🤔 One thing I do notice is that yours FLACs are single track only. Are you able to capture the stereo output of the tapes as ideally we wish to preserve both. Most times the left-hand track will simply be a copy of the right-hand track or simply mute. However, on some cassettes this can contain music/dialogue. But for these scenarios we'd prefer both tracks for preservation purposes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atarigrub Posted September 23, 2023 Share Posted September 23, 2023 @lbaeza Do you happen to have the original box, as I'm curious to know if there was a Cassette only release for Juno First, or if the cassette originated from the Disk & Cassette version? Currently we have a disk only release page on the preservation website 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcamp48 Posted September 23, 2023 Share Posted September 23, 2023 I have both original cassettes for the Pilot cartridge , I can send them your way Farb. Russ Unfortnately I do not have the cartidge itself, I sold it moths ago. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckybuck Posted September 23, 2023 Share Posted September 23, 2023 Thank you very much Russ, but that was already preserved: https://atariwiki.org/wiki/Wiki.jsp?page=Pilot#section-Pilot-CASImages Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atarigrub Posted September 23, 2023 Share Posted September 23, 2023 @luckybuck I don't believe we have wav or flac files for those on a8preservation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckybuck Posted September 23, 2023 Share Posted September 23, 2023 That was done 8 years ago, must look in my archive. Anyway, with Altirra you can create a very good wav file out of the cas file... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lbaeza Posted September 23, 2023 Share Posted September 23, 2023 Hi @Atarigrub I will do my best to get my hands on my stereo deck to make stereo FLACs, hopefully during this weekend. Unfortunately the cassette came without box and instructions, I suspect this might have been part of those Datasoft packs that came with the disk and cassette, I am aware Bruce Lee came like this. Kind regards, Luis. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DjayBee Posted September 23, 2023 Share Posted September 23, 2023 5 hours ago, Atarigrub said: @luckybuck I don't believe we have wav or flac files for those on a8preservation? Except fur Luckybuck's dump we also have one from Soulbuster. You can find it in his Uploads/Multiformat directory. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckybuck Posted September 23, 2023 Share Posted September 23, 2023 Thanks DjayBee, yes the cas files are derived from wav files. A worldwide coordination, like here in the preservation project, saves double work... Btw, there is still much to do... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lbaeza Posted September 24, 2023 Share Posted September 24, 2023 Hi @Atarigrub Attached to this post you can find the stereo version of the FLACs for both sides of the cassette. I tried them on Altirra and they load just fine. Kind regards. Luis. jfirst-stereo-b.flac jfirst-stereo-a.flac 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atarigrub Posted September 24, 2023 Share Posted September 24, 2023 5 hours ago, lbaeza said: Hi @Atarigrub Attached to this post you can find the stereo version of the FLACs for both sides of the cassette. I tried them on Altirra and they load just fine. Kind regards. Luis. jfirst-stereo-b.flac 62.97 MB · 1 download jfirst-stereo-a.flac 61.99 MB · 1 download Thanks for providing these @lbaeza 👍 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atarigrub Posted September 24, 2023 Share Posted September 24, 2023 15 hours ago, luckybuck said: That was done 8 years ago, must look in my archive. Anyway, with Altirra you can create a very good wav file out of the cas file... Yes, appreciate that, but as part of our preservation project we wish to capture the recordings from the original tapes. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Gillman Posted September 24, 2023 Share Posted September 24, 2023 My view on this is the A8 Game Pack is already an MDB (Ms Access database) which includes parameters for launching old 8 bit stuff. That or something like it should be used to log all of the requirements to successfully launch the 40 year old softwares instead of people saying this one requires OSb and this one requires OSa on forum messages. When we find a "key" game like Starraiders which I can only get to load via the starraider.rom file in Altirra by saying load cartridge and choosing it, THAT should maybe require discussion to say oh yeah A8 can load it if you use 800 system or 130XE with the translator so it can be fixed to work through the database menu setting the right options for us? The current approach just ensures we have loads of old files nobody will ever load to waste bandwidth and not address or narrow the list to the good stuff which remains incomplete but looks bloated IMO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+gnusto Posted September 24, 2023 Share Posted September 24, 2023 4 hours ago, Ray Gillman said: My view on this is the A8 Game Pack is already an MDB (Ms Access database) which includes parameters for launching old 8 bit stuff. That or something like it should be used to log all of the requirements to successfully launch the 40 year old softwares instead of people saying this one requires OSb and this one requires OSa on forum messages. When we find a "key" game like Starraiders which I can only get to load via the starraider.rom file in Altirra by saying load cartridge and choosing it, THAT should maybe require discussion to say oh yeah A8 can load it if you use 800 system or 130XE with the translator so it can be fixed to work through the database menu setting the right options for us? The current approach just ensures we have loads of old files nobody will ever load to waste bandwidth and not address or narrow the list to the good stuff which remains incomplete but looks bloated IMO I'm not quite getting your meaning here. For a8preservation purposes, Atari environment dependencies aren't picked up from some random forum post, they are tested by running the software. I've double checked every single game entry in the latest a8 distribution for my own project and only a few were off, which I've noted and have available for Farb. The database is reflective of the environment needed for the original media as received by a8preservation. Which may come in different forms and require different environments for each release, and when that happens all variants are preserved. As good as it is it's not possible for the A8 Game Pack to be fully accurate on this point, as many games were not dumped in ATX format at the time it was created. If it bothers you that space is used to preserve in original format, there are a variety of resources that have the good stuff cracked and adapted easiest use approach which works both for real hardware and emulators (Homesoft, fandal, etc). But there are certainly people who don't consider the old files in their original form a waste - I'm one of them, for instance. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Gillman Posted September 24, 2023 Share Posted September 24, 2023 I was referring to the A8 game pack. I haven't found the A8 preservation to check it out yet because nobody seeds anything any more hah! I was thinking more like the it would be great to get Star Raiders and a few others added to the A8 game pack it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sargie Posted September 24, 2023 Share Posted September 24, 2023 My server has been down but is usually seeding 24/7. It will be up again in a few hours. Sorry! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+gnusto Posted September 24, 2023 Share Posted September 24, 2023 1 hour ago, Ray Gillman said: I was referring to the A8 game pack. I haven't found the A8 preservation to check it out yet because nobody seeds anything any more hah! I was thinking more like the it would be great to get Star Raiders and a few others added to the A8 game pack it That's an extremely old version, which is why you probably don't see it seeded. This post by Djaybee is the most recent, which I have continuously seeded since it was out (barring reboots and such). It does not come with a launching system (that is actually the thing I'm working on). If the size is imposing, load the torrent unstarted and unselect the top 8 files by size, they are all non games with large audio cassettes, for instance language tutors. That will reduce the download to about a quarter of the original size. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Gillman Posted September 26, 2023 Share Posted September 26, 2023 (edited) On 9/24/2023 at 4:09 PM, sargie said: My server has been down but is usually seeding 24/7. It will be up again in a few hours. Sorry! Do you have an updated torrent link? Maybe my 390.4MB link is an old torrent and not the latest? Nevermind I didn't realize the arrow top right of your blue square had a link to another post with a links to the new 2023 torrent whew 2.11 GB thats a fat download for Atari stuff which is measured in 90K increments mostly 😃 Edited September 26, 2023 by Ray Gillman 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smesgr Posted September 27, 2023 Share Posted September 27, 2023 https://www.a8preservation.com/#/software/release/4661 recorded with an Technics TR-RS737 -> AMD Starship/Matisse HD Audio Controller (Onboard) -> Audacity 2.4.2 (cut and amplified) -> a8cas-convert 1.3.1 For some reason the A side cas file has a odd data length header which causes a boot error on the emulator. If the cas is converted back to wav and than played as a audio into a real tape deck connected to an 800XL the game starts fine. B side works. Protector.cas Protector.flac ProtectorB.cas ProtectorB.flac 9 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atarigrub Posted September 28, 2023 Share Posted September 28, 2023 On 9/27/2023 at 8:29 PM, smesgr said: https://www.a8preservation.com/#/software/release/4661 recorded with an Technics TR-RS737 -> AMD Starship/Matisse HD Audio Controller (Onboard) -> Audacity 2.4.2 (cut and amplified) -> a8cas-convert 1.3.1 For some reason the A side cas file has a odd data length header which causes a boot error on the emulator. If the cas is converted back to wav and than played as a audio into a real tape deck connected to an 800XL the game starts fine. B side works. Protector.cas 28.19 kB · 10 downloads Protector.flac 62.38 MB · 0 downloads ProtectorB.cas 28.19 kB · 7 downloads ProtectorB.flac 62.65 MB · 0 downloads Thanks @smesgr The problem that you experience with Side A is the leader tone is too short (approx 8.5 secs) compared to Side B's 19 secs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smesgr Posted September 28, 2023 Share Posted September 28, 2023 16 minutes ago, Atarigrub said: Thanks @smesgr The problem that you experience with Side A is the leader tone is too short (approx 8.5 secs) compared to Side B's 19 secs. Thanks @Atarigrub seems the real hardware isn't so picky. Thanks for the analysis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smesgr Posted October 9, 2023 Share Posted October 9, 2023 https://www.a8preservation.com/#/software/release/2961 recorded with an Technics TR-RS737 -> AMD Starship/Matisse HD Audio Controller (Onboard) -> Audacity 2.4.2 (cut and amplified) -> a8cas-convert 1.3.1 some of the entry I have send are now on the page. The games on page 107 not. Just a reminder if those was forgotten in the off topic discussion in between. ColossusChess30.cas ColossusChess30.flac 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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