Wanting to learn more about the ST, particularly

[Randy]

stuff such the hardware, operating system, programming, kind of the nuts and bolts of how this works.  I have limited CS knowledge but can learn!  Any suggested books, websites, etc?  I read so much here that I really don't quite understand, and I want to understand, that is a big reason for getting back into the ST after so many years away from it.  Thanks!

[English Invader]

To be honest, I don't think it's something you can learn from just reading.  I just learn what I need to learn on a problem-solution basis and I think you'll find that's what most people do instead of trying to learn everything in advance.  You'll learn the big stuff when it becomes relevant to you.

 

This is a video that really opened up the ST hardware for me.  It's a teardown of an STfm with a 4MB ram upgrade with a blitter chip and a floppy drive emulator installed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NecW-gh6jKM

 

The best advice I can give you is to just buy an Atari ST and deal with whatever problems it presents.  That will get you properly engaging with the hardware and you'll start learning things that are directly relevant to you instead of just reading about things that other people are doing.

Edited May 16, 2020 by English Invader

[ParanoidLittleMan]

I agree that problem solution, experimenting, and like is best way.

But some literature is necessary - for instance you can not start even simplest programming without instructions for particular language, some examples + knowing little about HW, OS .

I was lucky in my beginning years - bought Atari ST ProfiBuch in 1987 - what covered very well, detailed TOS, HW, with some code examples, etc. That book is now accessible online - later edition, of course need to know German. Other sources of knowledge in those years were magazines, then BBS .

With Internet there is really much more available, practically instantly.  This should cover pretty much HW and SW related: https://docs.dev-docs.org/

Some basic FAQ, for beginners:  http://atari.8bitchip.info/astbegfaq.html

 

[Randy]

Thanks PLM, in reading many of your posts, I realize I am woefully lacking in knowledge to understanding much of what you talk about, that alone is reason enough to learn more about the ST topics!

[MasterMotorola]

Randy, if you are looking for technical information then the Atari Document Archive is a goldmine... https://docs.dev-docs.org/

 

AtariMania has a lot of software organised into categories and nicely padded with screenshots, box scans, and manuals in many cases... http://www.atarimania.com/top-atari-utility-atari-st-_U_S_D.html

 

What hardware do you currently have?

 

Cheers,

Steve