+CharlieChaplin Posted April 4, 2021 Share Posted April 4, 2021 17 hours ago, tmp said: i'm open to any ideas, of course i will cherry-pick those i like 1) RAM upgrade: already there, up to 4MB 2) PBI IDE-interface: using a CF or SD-card instead of a harddisk? (should be able to create native APT/harddisk partitions and also load/save ATR images without U1MB and with any DOS) 3) sound-upgrade: Covox? SID? AY? YM? AMY? TIA? Jerry? Paula? ... 4) gfx-upgrade: 80-columns? same resolution but more colours ? same resolution but more lumas? higher resolution? 5) sprite/PM upgrade: more player-missiles, e.g. 8, 16, ... 256 sprites/pm ? 6) display-upgrade: UAV? VGA? DVI? HDMI? Display-Port? ... 7) OS-upgrade/switcher: already there 4 OS ? 8 OS ? 16 OS ? 8 ) speed upgrade/turbo: 65816 with 3.5 Mhz, 7Mhz, 14 Mhz, 28 Mhz ? Personally I would prefer options 1, 2, 7 plus one of the things of option 6 and maybe option 3 with Covox, but that's all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poison Posted April 4, 2021 Share Posted April 4, 2021 (edited) It should be great to have one simple device which make every atari to powerful beast I call it Poisons Ballscutter Device (PBD) ! 512kb + Stereo + Covox + Q-Meg + AVG cart with SIO cable Easy to plug In to every XE without any soldering and you can play and see all games and demos (sadly not the best 1MB demo Prototype) And may be some HDMI output, but it is not necessary Edited April 4, 2021 by Poison Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathy Posted April 4, 2021 Share Posted April 4, 2021 Hello tmp - ram expansion (1088kB PORTB and/or 4MB AXLON and/OR 16MB MIO). - hardware 80 columns. 640x480x256 colors. - realtime clock that uses the atomic clock. Compatible with the drivers ICD wrote for its RT8 cartridge. There seem to be three standards that cover 100% of the globe when it comes to atomic clocks. And there are watches that support all three standards, so there should be a chip that supports all of them. - User selectable PBI IDs. - PBI passthrough (either XL or XE version, but always with 5V DC connected). Sincerely Mathy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxl Posted April 4, 2021 Share Posted April 4, 2021 17 minutes ago, Mathy said: - realtime clock that uses the atomic clock. Compatible with the drivers ICD wrote for its RT8 cartridge. There seem to be three standards that cover 100% of the globe when it comes to atomic clocks. And there are watches that support all three standards, so there should be a chip that supports all of them. what for? FujiNet will be in every computer in a moment, why do you need a clock if the time will be picked from the Internet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathy Posted April 4, 2021 Share Posted April 4, 2021 Hello xxl Just now, xxl said: what for? FujiNet will be in every computer in a moment, why do you need a clock if the time will be picked from the Internet. Why not? There is a lot of hardware that shares features, like built in SpartaDOS, extra memory, cartridge emulation, Covox, etc. Sincerely Mathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxl Posted April 4, 2021 Share Posted April 4, 2021 I think that the clock will only increase the cost of the device and the carbon footprint and if some funny DOS want to use time, let them learn to use the time provided from the network Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+CharlieChaplin Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 2 hours ago, Mathy said: Hello tmp - ram expansion (1088kB PORTB and/or 4MB AXLON and/OR 16MB MIO). - hardware 80 columns. 640x480x256 colors. - realtime clock that uses the atomic clock. Compatible with the drivers ICD wrote for its RT8 cartridge. There seem to be three standards that cover 100% of the globe when it comes to atomic clocks. And there are watches that support all three standards, so there should be a chip that supports all of them. - User selectable PBI IDs. - PBI passthrough (either XL or XE version, but always with 5V DC connected). Sincerely Mathy - RAM expansion is already there (more than 1MB XRAM for the A8 seems overkill to me anyways) - 80 columns, why not - for those that need it (I never use that on the A8) - 640x480x256c ? huh? Falcon030 or VBXL onboard? A bit too much I guess and most likely requires more space than available - realtime clock, okay, for those that need it (I am a DOS 2.x user and luckily DOS 2.x does not need a realtime clock or time/date stamps) - PBI passthrough sounds good (allthough I doubt I will use another PBI expansion attached to this AIO device) Hey, you forgot to mention a built-in GUI (another thing I never really use on the A8)... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 3 hours ago, Mathy said: Hello tmp - ram expansion (1088kB PORTB and/or 4MB AXLON and/OR 16MB MIO). - hardware 80 columns. 640x480x256 colors. - realtime clock that uses the atomic clock. Compatible with the drivers ICD wrote for its RT8 cartridge. There seem to be three standards that cover 100% of the globe when it comes to atomic clocks. And there are watches that support all three standards, so there should be a chip that supports all of them. - User selectable PBI IDs. - PBI passthrough (either XL or XE version, but always with 5V DC connected). Sincerely Mathy You realize that a 640*480 screen at 8bite-per-pixel is 256kB for one static screen right? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pseudografx Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 1 hour ago, Stephen said: You realize that a 640*480 screen at 8bite-per-pixel is 256kB for one static screen right? Actually 300 KB. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathy Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 Hello guys OK, in that case I don't want the extra memory, the 80 columns, the RTclock. What I do want is a cassette player that works via PBI at a speed of 6000 (in words: six thousand) baud. Come on guys, let's think outside the box. We want this thing to be different, to do stuff other pieces of hardware don't do yet. We want something new, not the same thing in a new variation. Or do we really only want the gazillionth flash cartridge which maybe has SpartaDOS built in just like every other piece of hardware that's being brought to market these days? Sincerely Mathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Robot Posted April 6, 2021 Share Posted April 6, 2021 I'd like a memory upgrade & os selection with built in turbo freezer, sys check, XEP80 and an ICD MIO implementation which includes a wifi R: and P: device. If it had a built in avgcart with SIO cable and support for emulation of turbo2000 tape drive mods it would replace every pbi/sio/cart device on the atari with a single box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pirx Posted April 20, 2021 Share Posted April 20, 2021 just slap raspberry pi pico to this bad boy and wait for the NES emulator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 (edited) On 4/4/2021 at 7:28 PM, xxl said: I think that the clock will only increase the cost of the device and the carbon footprint and if some funny DOS want to use time, let them learn to use the time provided from the network I don't want to rely on the internet like that, it's always under attack, cars hit poles, nodes go down, etc etc... not fun. It's fine to grab the time from the internet... but we need more options. Just like always wireless, fail to ethernet cable, fail to dsl, fail to POTS... etc and if that doesn't cover it, then a method to packet radio, gprs, cell etc. redundancy can be a good thing Edited April 22, 2021 by _The Doctor__ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the4thman Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 (edited) Thank You to the creator tmp of the AVG Cart. I bought mine through the miscretro website along with a SIO cable. The candy thrown in with the packaging was a nice touch too. I received it about a week ago and just now opened it up and started playing some games. It really is put together VERY nicely and it's so awesome to play games on an Atari 800XL with the original hardware and joysticks. I guess it plays into my sense of nostalgia in that an Atari 600XL was the first computer my dad bought for me way back in the day. What a dream come true to have access to every game ever made for the system. This would have blown my mind in the 1980's. Heck, it blows my mind today. I was also super impressed by how quickly it loads all the games in the folders too. Some of the retropie/Wii Atari 8 bit emulators take FOREVER to load a large list of games. Off topic a bit, but someone should create a better Atari 8 bit emulator for the PS Vita. There's a C64 one that rocks. It's amazing how far we've come tech wise, but it's still so awesome to stay connected to our past/early tech roots. To answer the question... I know it exists, but I've been impressed by that windows like GUI someone created. I think you need extra memory though. An easy memory expansion kit would be cool that didn't require soldering or taking apart the computer would be great. This is way off the topic, but I'd just love to see modern Atari 8 bits with HDMI in the wild like the C64 group did. I bet a kickstarter could make that happen. Edited May 2, 2021 by the4thman 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinjinhawke Posted May 3, 2021 Share Posted May 3, 2021 On 5/2/2021 at 2:01 AM, the4thman said: This is way off the topic, but I'd just love to see modern Atari 8 bits with HDMI in the wild like the C64 group did. I bet a kickstarter could make that happen. Maybe not what you are referring to but I have the Sophia 2 in my Atari800XL. It's DVI but I have an inexpensive DVI to HDMI dongle on it and it delivers amazing video. I should order an AVGCART. I have the SDrive2 for my 600xl, the SIDE3 in my 800xl. My 130xe needs some AVGCART love I think. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manterola Posted May 3, 2021 Share Posted May 3, 2021 On 5/2/2021 at 2:01 AM, the4thman said: This is way off the topic, but I'd just love to see modern Atari 8 bits with HDMI in the wild like the C64 group did. I bet a kickstarter could make that happen. Check this out.. you can see a picture with the hdmi adapter installed. https://atariage.com/forums/topic/307175-sophia-2-improved-gtia-replacement/?do=findComment&comment=4810737 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheHoboInYourRoom Posted May 11, 2021 Share Posted May 11, 2021 (edited) My apologies if this question has already been answered (this is a very long thread, and my search terms have not clarified things much): I recently received an AVGCART and have gotten it preliminarily set up. Besides emulating game cartridges, my other big reason to use AVGCART is to dive into using SpartaDOS X. I noticed on tmp's YouTube channel a video showing off Action! being run as a stacked cartridge on top of SDX (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vc6JYne79o). Perhaps I have simply not read the manual closely enough, but is the ability to use stacked cartridge images currently in the production firmware? In any case, I give hearty thanks for such a well-made device! Edited May 11, 2021 by TheHoboInYourRoom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewiS Posted May 11, 2021 Share Posted May 11, 2021 There is .car image of SpartaDos X with driver for AVG Cart available of FlashJazzCat's website (www.atari8.co.uk). Just drop it to the SD card And launch from AVG Cart's menu as any other cartridge image. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugarland Posted May 11, 2021 Share Posted May 11, 2021 (edited) Probably need to try to mount Action! first using CTRL-SHIFT-ENTER! That is in the video description you linked to. Then run SDX for AVG Cart. Edited May 11, 2021 by Sugarland Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmp Posted May 11, 2021 Author Share Posted May 11, 2021 (edited) 5 hours ago, TheHoboInYourRoom said: I recently received an AVGCART and have gotten it preliminarily set up. Besides emulating game cartridges, my other big reason to use AVGCART is to dive into using SpartaDOS X. I noticed on tmp's YouTube channel a video showing off Action! being run as a stacked cartridge on top of SDX (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vc6JYne79o). Perhaps I have simply not read the manual closely enough, but is the ability to use stacked cartridge images currently in the production firmware? sdx stacking is not in the current non-beta fw (0020) and i think it's also unfinished (i'll take a look whether it's a easy fix to make it work properly since it's currently hardcoded for type 43 sdx images (128kB)) if you're looking into stacking OSS carts, somewhere in this (mostly off-topic) thread is an archive with pre-stacked SIDE2 SDX + OSS carts, those should work with 0020, i'll try to find that EDIT: i've uploaded them here Quote In any case, I give hearty thanks for such a well-made device! thanks! Edited May 11, 2021 by tmp 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheHoboInYourRoom Posted May 11, 2021 Share Posted May 11, 2021 Very cool! I'll check those out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmp Posted May 12, 2021 Author Share Posted May 12, 2021 I was doing some tests today, stacking Action!, MAC/65 and OSS Basic XL seems to work, OSS Basic XE 4.1/4.2 doesn't start (some weird hacked 7.2 version does tho, I need to look into that), what are some other carts that could use stacking with SDX? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Robot Posted May 12, 2021 Share Posted May 12, 2021 This might be interesting to you 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AirKon Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 (edited) Hello, I have a curious thing, when I launch side2 emulation, I see the directories but I don't see the files (car/atr ...). Did I miss something ? I'm in 020; Sdcard 16GB Fat32. Edited May 13, 2021 by AirKon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Robot Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 side 2 cant launch CAR files so it hides them side 2 cant launch ATR files unless you have a U1MB so it hides them side 2 cant launch CAS files so it hides them you should see XEX files though 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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