Swami Posted June 9, 2017 Share Posted June 9, 2017 I know there is a lot of info out there, which I have searched through and thought for days about, but I would like to know which is the best flash based cart to load and play the most cartridge-base games on the XEGS: MyIDE II or Ultimate Cart sd card. I am leaning towards the MyIDE II because it comes already in cartridge and requires no proprietary PC software to become obsolete (similar to AtariMax Ultimate SD for CV and Harmony Encore and Concerto prototype carts, which I own) and has MyBIOS integrated. However, I have heard MyIDE has more compatibility issues and not as easy to use (vague statement) versus this from another thread "As far as cartridge rom support, I do like my MyIDE 2 as well, even if there had to be .R16 patches for the XEGS stuff. It runs every cartridge rom including XEGS that I've tried, even through my SpartaDOS cartridge." Also, 1. I don't believe there is any experiential difference between using a compact flash or sd card for 8-bit games, as far as speed, but let me know if I am mistaken. 2. any big advantage to the Ultimate Cart sd use of software for loading games? 3. is one of these more compatible with more games than the other, XEGS thru 400? 4. Does one of these provide significantly better graphics and/or sound than the other? I have also heard of The!Cart, but it sound like you have limited storage space, saving one game per rom space with ~16 spots with that wheel. I think these are important decision questions for many people that would help choosing the best flash based cart for them and I haven't found answers for them. Thank you, Quote is from: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/264504-which-cartridge-and-why/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathy Posted June 9, 2017 Share Posted June 9, 2017 Helklo Swami I've got a few flash carts, but I haven't flashed any yet. But I also own an "Ultimate Cartridge". I guess this one is the easiest. Until last H.A.T.Z. a few weeks ago, I never used it. At the H.A.T.Z. I found out the SD card has to be formatted on a PC. The rest was easy: Just copy a bunch of file to the SD card, place the SD card in the Ultimate Card and start up het Atari. No need for a special directory or anything. The card just shows a menu with the files on it. Works really well. Sincerely Mathy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Westphal Posted June 9, 2017 Share Posted June 9, 2017 Uno cart. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swami Posted June 9, 2017 Author Share Posted June 9, 2017 Ended up getting an Ultimate Cart SD, after it seemed there was less possibility of needing to hunt for, convert or patch files and they are being sold PRE-INSTALLED in cart shells, contrary to everything I have read. $110 each for black, $120 for choice of color + $10 shipping. If it doesn't work for this or that cartridge game that I cannot buy reasonably or the PC software doesn't work with Windows 14, I can get the MyIDE 2 in few months or so, or whatever new great thing has appeared by then. The crap thing about using roms dumps is that 10% of them don't work on the console for one reason or another, so I prefer to keep the cart component as simple as possible to not complicate trouble-shooting. Thanks for your input. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle22 Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 (edited) I love my Ultimate Cart. I use a Toshiba FlashAir WiFi card with a custom script on it that makes it part of my network. All I do is go to its address with a web browser, and I can upload or download files from / to the Windows laptop. Edit: Spelling Edited June 10, 2017 by Kyle22 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swami Posted June 10, 2017 Author Share Posted June 10, 2017 I love my Ultimate Cart. I use a Toshiba FlashAir WiFi card with a custom script on it that makes it part of my network. All I do is go to its address with a web browser, and I can upload or download files from / to the Windows laptop. Edit: Spelling Main thing about MyIDE 2 was there is mention on it's webpage it plays atari 400 games with mybios, while it sounds like the Ultimate Cart does not. I am not sure if mybios or some other utility could be used to play a400 games with the Ultimate, but I can probably fill in the gaps with emulation. The WiFi Card sounds like a pretty cool perk to the Ultimate Cart. I will be thinking about getting one. I have a spare sd I will probably use for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle22 Posted June 11, 2017 Share Posted June 11, 2017 I just set my Incognito to Colleen 16K with everything else disabled. That should be just like a 400. I used OS-B. Ultimate cart works fine. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swami Posted June 15, 2017 Author Share Posted June 15, 2017 Helklo Swami I've got a few flash carts, but I haven't flashed any yet. But I also own an "Ultimate Cartridge". I guess this one is the easiest. Until last H.A.T.Z. a few weeks ago, I never used it. At the H.A.T.Z. I found out the SD card has to be formatted on a PC. The rest was easy: Just copy a bunch of file to the SD card, place the SD card in the Ultimate Card and start up het Atari. No need for a special directory or anything. The card just shows a menu with the files on it. Works really well. Sincerely Mathy What kind of files can you use for an XEGS with the Ultimate Cart. I got an Asteriods.xex to work but mostly I am finding ATR and ROM that don't show up on the menu. Bad files or wrong type? Is there a game pack for Ultimate Cart on XEGS? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jefffulton Posted June 17, 2017 Share Posted June 17, 2017 What kind of files can you use for an XEGS with the Ultimate Cart. I got an Asteriods.xex to work but mostly I am finding ATR and ROM that don't show up on the menu. Bad files or wrong type? Is there a game pack for Ultimate Cart on XEGS? Go here http://atarionline.pl/v01/index.php?ct=nowinki&ucat=1&subaction=showfull&id=1497645980, translate to English when asked, scroll down the left column until you see the games and alphabet folders. Inside you will find many many games in many formats. Find games you like, and download the xex or Car images. .atr will not work on Ultimate cart. Put all of the images on the SD card, put it in the ultimate cart, turn on the Atari and explore 8-bit bliss. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+slx Posted June 17, 2017 Share Posted June 17, 2017 1. I don't believe there is any experiential difference between using a compact flash or sd card for 8-bit games, as far as speed, but let me know if I am mistaken.Probably not, but on the PC side you might find CF support to be tapering out, i.e. PCs are more likely to have built-in SD than built-in CF readers 4. Does one of these provide significantly better graphics and/or sound than the other?The graphics and sound depend entirely on the Atari 8-bit program and are not affected by the medium it is loaded from. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swami Posted June 19, 2017 Author Share Posted June 19, 2017 Go here http://atarionline.pl/v01/index.php?ct=nowinki&ucat=1&subaction=showfull&id=1497645980, translate to English when asked, scroll down the left column until you see the games and alphabet folders. Inside you will find many many games in many formats. Find games you like, and download the xex or Car images. .atr will not work on Ultimate cart. Put all of the images on the SD card, put it in the ultimate cart, turn on the Atari and explore 8-bit bliss. Thanks. LOL, they call us "atarers". I would expect "atarites", a little easier to say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeeter Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 I'm thinking about picking up an Ultimate Cart SD. Can you use exe in place of xex or do these need to be converted? I've got a rather large collection but most of the files are exe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swami Posted June 20, 2017 Author Share Posted June 20, 2017 I'm thinking about picking up an Ultimate Cart SD. Can you use exe in place of xex or do these need to be converted? I've got a rather large collection but most of the files are exe. Upload a couple exe files to me that you are interested in and I will try them, but I doubt it as they are not listed as a supported file type. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeeter Posted June 20, 2017 Share Posted June 20, 2017 Upload a couple exe files to me that you are interested in and I will try them, but I doubt it as they are not listed as a supported file type. Thank you, I appreciate the offer but it won't be necessary. I've been told that in most cases an .exe file is the same as an XEX and all that's needed is to rename it so I should be good to go. And if that doesn't work getting the XEX versions is easy enough. So I went ahead and ordered the cart and I'll be able to check it out soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariGeezer Posted June 20, 2017 Share Posted June 20, 2017 (edited) Thank you, I appreciate the offer but it won't be necessary. I've been told that in most cases an .exe file is the same as an XEX and all that's needed is to rename it so I should be good to go. And if that doesn't work getting the XEX versions is easy enough. So I went ahead and ordered the cart and I'll be able to check it out soon. Exactly, EXE's are renamed to XEX on the Atari just so programs aren't confused as MS-Dos programs or vice versa... Edited June 20, 2017 by AtariGeezer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeeter Posted June 20, 2017 Share Posted June 20, 2017 Exactly, EXE's are renamed to XEX on the Atari just so programs aren't confused as MS-Dos programs or vice versa... Cool....the cart is due to arrive tomorrow and the computer (800) is due on Thursday. Another thing I was a bit concerned about was whether or not the cartridge door on the 800 would close with this cart inside. But I've been assured that although it may be a tight fit, it should work fine. And there's no metal plate on the inside of the door so that should help. I'll have an SD card loaded up and ready. I'm getting excited now, feel like a kid on Christmas morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swami Posted June 22, 2017 Author Share Posted June 22, 2017 Cool....the cart is due to arrive tomorrow and the computer (800) is due on Thursday. Another thing I was a bit concerned about was whether or not the cartridge door on the 800 would close with this cart inside. But I've been assured that although it may be a tight fit, it should work fine. And there's no metal plate on the inside of the door so that should help. I'll have an SD card loaded up and ready. I'm getting excited now, feel like a kid on Christmas morning. Couldn't find the post, but someone uploaded this gamepack for the Ultimate Cart: 000.zip 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillC Posted June 30, 2017 Share Posted June 30, 2017 Thank you, I appreciate the offer but it won't be necessary. I've been told that in most cases an .exe file is the same as an XEX and all that's needed is to rename it so I should be good to go. And if that doesn't work getting the XEX versions is easy enough. So I went ahead and ordered the cart and I'll be able to check it out soon. I believe that the extension was changed to XEX for use with Atari emulators on the PC, so that DOS/Windows wouldn't mistake them for PC executable files. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeeter Posted June 30, 2017 Share Posted June 30, 2017 Couldn't find the post, but someone uploaded this gamepack for the Ultimate Cart: Thank you, I'll check it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swami Posted July 28, 2017 Author Share Posted July 28, 2017 I love my Ultimate Cart. I use a Toshiba FlashAir WiFi card with a custom script on it that makes it part of my network. All I do is go to its address with a web browser, and I can upload or download files from / to the Windows laptop. Edit: Spelling Is this the FlashAir III, FlashAir SDHC or an older one. Which ones work with the Ultimate Cart? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+remowilliams Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 The FlashAir III (W-03) should work, I just set one up for my 3D printer as an smb/cifs on my network. No browser or anything else needed - just acts like a remote drive share over the network, very cool. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle22 Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 Mine is W-03 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddtmw Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 I love my Ultimate Cart. I use a Toshiba FlashAir WiFi card with a custom script on it that makes it part of my network. All I do is go to its address with a web browser, and I can upload or download files from / to the Windows laptop. Edit: Spelling Are these still available? If so, can you link to the site or thread? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbievgb Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 (edited) I've been working on building my own Ultimate Cart set based on the zip posted here earlier and all the US cart files available on Atarimania. Some of the XEGS roms in particular need to have their extension changed to run on the Ultimate Cart. Progress is slow but steady Edited July 30, 2017 by robbievgb 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle22 Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 I've been working on building my own Ultimate Cart set based on the zip posted here earlier and all the US cart files available on Atarimania. Some of the XEGS roms in particular need to have their extension changed to run on the Ultimate Cart. Progress is slow but steady I use Altirra lo load the ROM and make sure it works properly as the selected cartridge type. I than save it as a .CAR file and send to the Ultimate cart. Please be so kind as to upload your collection when finished. Thanks. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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