Which programs/OSs get the most from Speedy 1050 mod?

[vitoco]

I just got a working piece of history: a Speedy 1050 Mini mod from Compy Shop.

 

I installed it on my 1050 disk drive and tried the Compy Shop System Software diskette. As it is in german, I had to use Google Translate to understand what was each option from every menu.

 

I'd like to find other DOS, utilities and even games that could use the Speedy enhancements... I started googling unsuccessfully, so I'm wondering if existed such software.

 

I'd also want to explore the capabilities of this mod, like change the order of the sectors in a track to speed up diskettes on stock 1050 drives, or to analyze protection schemes. Unfortunately, most or all the docs I've found are also in german, so I guess that's why it is hard for me to find anything online.

 

Hints? Links? Keywords?

 

Thanks!!!

 

[+CharlieChaplin]

Well,

 

a (mini) Speedy 1050 upgrade works similar as a 1050 Happy upgrade, meaning it has a track buffer (or cache) and thus there is no need to have a special order of the sectors (like sector skewing) - the drive always reads the whole track, the sector order simply does not matter. The Speedy 1050 is limited to 180k per diskside (but there are Speedy upgrades available in other drives, like the Floppy 2000 which can do DSDD/360k and the High Density Interface which can do up to 1440k). The mini Speedy 1050 has a shortened version of Bibo-DOS and the High Speed Sector Copy program built-in (use a switch to choose between Bibo-DOS and HSS-Copy when booting without a diskette in the drive).

 

Most tools, applications, utilities and DOS versions that support ultraspeed in general and are NOT exclusively written for Happy, US-Doubler or other ultraspeed drives will work with the Speedy 1050 upgrade, since it also uses ultraspeed.

 

Besides the Speedy System disk (which includes a Sector Copy program, a Highspeed Sector Copy program, a Gamedos, a Backup Copy program, a Setup program, etc.) there are e.g.:

 

-DOS versions:

Bibo-DOS 6.4HS (HS=Happy+Speedy), Turbo-DOS 2.1HS (Happy+Speedy) or Turbo-DOS 2.1EX (extended = Happy, Speedy, XF551 and Turbo 1050), Super DOS 2.9 US or HS (US = ultraspeed, HS=Happy+Speedy), SuperDOS 4.3, SuperDOS 5.x (e.g. versions 5.0 and 5.1 and the patched version 5.1 here at AA, sometimes named version 5.2), SpartaDOS 3.2f, 3.2g and 3.2gx, RealDOS, XDOS 2.4F (f=fast, for ultraspeed drives) and many others.

 

- applications:

Copy 2000 V2.4D (180k) and V2.5Q (360k), MyCopier V1.2c (180k) and V2.1 (180k), Sector Copy 1.4 (180k), Sectorcopy 1.5 (180k), Sectorcopy Quad (360k) and other sector-copy programs, Hypra-Disk 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2 (disk-editor), Disk-Wizard 1.x (DIR-Editor), Turbo-1050-Emulator (emulates the Turbo 1050 upgrade in the Speedy drive; when installed one can use all Turbo 1050 tools and applications and errm, this one requires special order of the sectors; the Turbo-1050 also includes a backup copy program and a magic formatter to create copy protected disks), Ultra-Copy (backup-copy program), Disk-Master (NOT! the disk-editor, instead this is an application to read/analyze various copy protections as well as to create/write/format various copy protections), MS-Copy (backup copy program), MS-Formatter (? most likely to create copy protections), MS-Backup (backup copy program) MyPicoDOS 4.05 (Gamedos with various versions, for the Speedy enhancement one should choose one with highspeed=on or with highspeed=auto), US-Menu (Gamedos) and many other programs. Since the Speedy was originally created and sold by Compyshop in Germany, most applications are also from Germany and thus use german language...

 

The Speedy did NOT use something like PDB files, which the Happy did. Instead it made backups of copy protected disks with the original copy protection intact (or if it failed, it just could not copy the disk). Since there were several backup copy programs available (some were especially made for copy protected Medium/Enhanced 130k Disks, since these were very popular here in Germany), most software could be copied with a Speedy in one way or another and the copy would work on any drive (with or without Speedy), just like the original did...

 

-tools/utilities:

ultraspeed drivers by Bob Woolley (which work with any drive capable of ultraspeed, e.g. Happy, Speedy, US-Doubler and others; there were two versions, one for DOS disks and one for bootdisks, but both use RAM under the OS and thus do not work with programs that also use RAM under the OS or modify port B $D301 in some way), a Speedy driver selector (installs speedy ultraspeed driver either into page 6 or two other memory areas, think it was done by someone from Pokey or ANG), some Speedy drivers (install the speedy ultraspeed driver into a fixed memory adress) and some other tools and utilities.

 

Many tools, utilities and applications that require a DOS will also work with Speedy ultraspeed if the chosen DOS supports ultraspeed (but as you already know, ultraspeed drivers require more memory, so not all programs will work; furthermore some programs are "tied" to a certain DOS and if this DOS, e.g. DOS 2.5, does not support ultraspeed, the program will most likely not work with ultraspeed - you simply have to try and test this...)

 

- OS:

US+OS, QMEG-OS, SPOS, Speedy-OS, highspeed-OS, Atari XL/XE-OS with HIAS highspeed-patch (sometimes named Hi-OS or XL-OS Hi or XL-Hi) and others.

 

Last not least, if the chosen DOS already has built-in drivers for ultraspeed, then do NOT use external drivers for ultraspeed, but if the DOS does not (e.g. DOS 2.0, DOS 2.5, MyDOS, etc.) then try to make it faster with such external ultraspeed drivers or simply use an alternative OS that supports ultraspeed...

 

 

P.S.: The rights to all former Compyshop hardware and software (this includes the Speedy hardware and software) belong to ABBUC nowadays...

Edited January 9, 2016 by CharlieChaplin

[vitoco]

Wow! Impressive...

 

Well,

 

a (mini) Speedy 1050 upgrade works similar as a 1050 Happy upgrade, meaning it has a track buffer (or cache) and thus there is no need to have a special order of the sectors (like sector skewing) - the drive always reads the whole track, the sector order simply does not matter. The Speedy 1050 is limited to 180k per diskside (but there are Speedy upgrades available in other drives, like the Floppy 2000 which can do DSDD/360k and the High Density Interface which can do up to 1440k). The mini Speedy 1050 has a shortened version of Bibo-DOS and the High Speed Sector Copy program built-in (use a switch to choose between Bibo-DOS and HSS-Copy when booting without a diskette in the drive).

 

I meant to sort the sectors on diskettes that would be used by drives without Speedy... just stock drives.

 

It was news to me that info about the built-in programs to be loaded when there is no disk in the drive when booting the Atari. I'll try that... Is there some other info about this? I noticed some welding remains on some of the contacts of the Speedy board, but I didn't know why, now i guess that it probably was for this program selection. BTW, the EPROM is labeled "V1.4", if this matters.

 

Thanks for the references... I'll search and try all those programs/utilities.

 

BTW, I got this Speedy from the ABBUC friends.

[+CharlieChaplin]

Ah alright. (Version 1.4 is the latest available ROM for the mini Speedy.)

 

Just set your drive to #1, switch on drive, switch on computer (without a diskette in the Speedy 1050 drive) and see what happens - it should either boot BiboDOS or the Sector copy program. The sectorcopy program appears with an orange-red screen, BiboDOS appears with an Atari blue screen. And if you boot with Basic enabled you merely see READY, type DOS and you should see BiboDOS on the screen immediately... you can quit/exit both programs with pressing Shift-Control-Tab simultanously (that key combinations works in a lot of Compyshop programs, also with a lot of programs on the Speedy sytem disk).

 

If you upgraded a standard 1050 with the Speedy upgrade it might be nescessary to correct or calibrate the drive speed (RPM) a little bit. Insert your Speedy system disk and choose "Speedy Setup" (or Speedy Config.), when loaded choose "1) Speedy 1050 Test" and in the next menu choose "4) Geschwindigkeitstest" (RPM). It will show 288 RpM as standard speed and below the actual speed of your drive. Let it run for 5-10 seconds, if your speed is too low or too high, there is a small blue poti (? unsure for the correct word in english) at the rear of the 1050 drive pcb, near the drive cables on the left side. Use a screwdriver and turn the poti a few millimeters to the left or right while looking at the RpM test and thus verifying the speed. I did set my four Speedy 1050 drives to 287.5 RpM with this method... but maybe you are lucky and the drive already has the correct speed after you installed the Speedy upgrade.

 

Attached are a few programs for the Speedy 1050 upgrade...

Speedy_tools.zip

Edited January 9, 2016 by CharlieChaplin