renewed ST interest

[popsicle]

Hey everyone. This is my first post in the ST section.

 

I had an 520STf in my youth, and only knew one other kid in my high school that had one. We were both 800xl owners and shared a lot of 8-bit floppies back and forth. When he got his ST and I saw Karate Kid II and Defender of the Crown running I was enamored. Not soon after, I got mine, and the first game I bought was Dungeon Master. From then on most of my shitty teenage job $ went to supporting my game library. The ST line wasn't nearly as available as many other machines, from what I recall. As a matter of fact, there were only 2 stores that I knew of in the west Cleveland area that routinely carried ST games, and only one of these two had hardware and repair services. I remember spending hard earned money at these stores on some real winners (Gauntlet II, Bards Tale, Populous) and some real stinkers (The Kristal, Dark Castle, Powerdrome). 

 

A couple of years later I convinced my neighbor friend to get one, since the price had dropped severely and he was in love with Microleague Baseball. This same kid had a Coleco Adam. What strange and wonderful times. Many years later, he simply gave me his ST (a 1040STE) since he lost interest. I took my ST to college and used it to write papers and do rudimentary music composition. My poor 520 stopped running and eventually junked it, but I held on to the 1040, the SC1224 color monitor, the mouse, a few joysticks, and my floppy collection. Now, I have a dedicated game room in my house and have proudly put the 1040STE on display after many years of storage.  

 

Tinkering with emulation over the years, I've found a lot of really fantastic little games that I never had the chance to know back then. It's amazing how this machine still has so much love and support. The hard drive adaptations from ParanoidLittleMan (Pete?) are simply astounding. That site, along with Atarimania and this forum have motivated me to modernize my ST. I opened it up the other day and gave it a deep cleaning. Holy Christmas, was there a lot of dust and grime on the MB. I gave the case and keyboard a good scrubbing. The machine seems to work just fine, floppy drive still works, monitor and speakers are clear, even the mouse is in good shape. Some games won't run, even though I remember them running just fine on my 520ST even back then, so I assume this is the TOS version and some older games prefer an older TOS. Of course, these floppies are quite old and some may have simply not kept their integrity. I had a blast and a chuckle finding old DEGAS pictures on unmarked floppies drawn in hazy, drunken dorm rooms. 

 

Anyway, my plan is to get an UltraSatan and start playing on real hardware once again. I really can't determine which TOS is in here, since I've read conflicting info. Since this is an STE and it is has the rainbow Atari logo, can I assume it is TOS 1.06, or is it possible it is running 1.04 since the last date listed is 89? Did any of the STE line have 1.04 'rainbow' TOS? 

 

Second question : I've read that upgrading the RAM from 1 to 4MB could cause more stress on the original power supply. How difficult is a power supply replacement on the STE? I see that ram upgrades on the STE are a fairly simple affair. 

 

Thanks for any advice or information!

Tom

 

 

 

 

 

 

[oakcitycomics]

STE shipped with 1.06 and later revisions 1.62

No 1.4 unless someone was mucking around in the system before you

[bfollowell]

Assuming it hadn't been upgraded to 2.06, an STe would have 1.06, also known as 1.6, or 1.62 .

 

I upgraded my 1040STe from 1 to 4MB for about $10 by ordering 4 SIMMS from someone on ebay. They work great. I even purchased an original Atari 4160STe upgrade case badge for my machine, though I have haven't put it on yet. I also have a dual TOS card that lets me switch between 1.62 and 2.06 for the best of both worlds in terms of features and usability and compatibility.

 

Also, you can download SysInfo and use it to determine exactly how much RAM your machine has and which version and region of TOS you have.

 

[popsicle]

1 hour ago, oakcitycomics said:

STE shipped with 1.06 and later revisions 1.62

No 1.4 unless someone was mucking around in the system before you

I broke the sticker seal when I opened it up, so it definitely has what it was shipped with. Thanks!

[popsicle]

1 hour ago, bfollowell said:

Assuming it hadn't been upgraded to 2.06, an STe would have 1.06, also known as 1.6, or 1.62 .

 

I upgraded my 1040STe from 1 to 4MB for about $10 by ordering 4 SIMMS from someone on ebay. They work great. I even purchased an original Atari 4160STe upgrade case badge for my machine, though I have haven't put it on yet. I also have a dual TOS card that lets me switch between 1.62 and 2.06 for the best of both worlds in terms of features and usability and compatibility.

 

Also, you can download SysInfo and use it to determine exactly how much RAM your machine has and which version and region of TOS you have.

 

I just found this ram on ebay for $12, which seems to fit the bill? I suppose I'll have to wait to get the UltraSatan or similar way to get the SysInfo file onto the ST. I haven't had a PC floppy drive for decades. I think Pete's HD game adaptations display your TOS version on their splash screens when starting.

 

[bfollowell]

48 minutes ago, popsicle said:

I'll have to wait to get the UltraSatan or similar way to get the SysInfo file onto the ST. I haven't had a PC floppy drive for decades.

 

 

I got rid of my physical floppy drive long ago. I have a Gotek installed in mine, so it was as easy as copying it over to an sd card. You really should consider replacing your floppy with a Gotek or a Goex. Floppy media won't last forever and when it's gone, it's gone.

 

Edited January 28, 2021 by bfollowell

[oakcitycomics]

1 hour ago, popsicle said:

I just found this ram on ebay for $12, which seems to fit the bill? I suppose I'll have to wait to get the UltraSatan or similar way to get the SysInfo file onto the ST. I haven't had a PC floppy drive for decades. I think Pete's HD game adaptations display your TOS version on their splash screens when starting.

 

Those sticks should work great. Are you in the USA if so I can help you with a sysinfo floppy 

 

[popsicle]

4 minutes ago, oakcitycomics said:

Those sticks should work great. Are you in the USA if so I can help you with a sysinfo floppy 

 

Thanks, I just ordered that ram. I think I'm going to pull the trigger on a cased UltraSatan drive too. Then, I can run sysinfo from there (but from what you guys said most likely TOS 1.6 is what's inside). I appreciate the offer! 

 

30 minutes ago, bfollowell said:

 

I got rid of my physical floppy drive long ago. I have a Gotek installed in mine, so it was as easy as copying it over to an sd card. You really should consider replacing your floppy with a Gotek or a Goex. Floppy media won't last forever and when it's gone, it's gone.

 

Is there any reason to have a Gotek if I have the UltraSatan? Seeing as I'm mostly playing games and backing up old files I can't see the need. Especially since so many floppy games have been adapted for hd use.

[oakcitycomics]

2 minutes ago, popsicle said:

Thanks, I just ordered that ram. I think I'm going to pull the trigger on a cased UltraSatan drive too. Then, I can run sysinfo from there (but from what you guys said most likely TOS 1.6 is what's inside). I appreciate the offer! 

 

Is there any reason to have a Gotek if I have the UltraSatan? Seeing as I'm mostly playing games and backing up old files I can't see the need. Especially since so many floppy games have been adapted for hd use.

With 4mb or ram you shouldn't have any issues. Some games like Cannon Fodder wont work for me via Ultrasatan if less then 4mb. If all the games you want to play are listed as converted then I would skip the gotek and go for the Ultrasatan or one of the other cheaper options. I know there is one that works via the extended joystick ports for under $10 though I'm not up to date on the compatibility of that one. 

[bfollowell]

1 hour ago, popsicle said:

Is there any reason to have a Gotek if I have the UltraSatan? Seeing as I'm mostly playing games and backing up old files I can't see the need. Especially since so many floppy games have been adapted for hd use.

 

Not all games/apps have been adapted for HD use. If you're certain that everything you may ever want to run has been adapted for HD use, then I guess you may not have a need. For $25, i felt it was good to give my machine as many input options as possible, so I have a Gotek and an US, though I haven't gotten around to getting the US setup and running yet.

 

Edited January 28, 2021 by bfollowell

[ParanoidLittleMan]

TOS 1.04 can not work in STE, only in ST. And btw. 1.04 and 1.06 are practically identical, done in same time (1989), except extra functions in 1.06, for supporting it's extra HW. Even if someone would relocate 1.04 to address space of 1.06, that will not work in STE - because will not initialize all HW.

1.62 is just bugfixed 1.06 (medium res. DESKTOP.INF bug) .

 

Considering PSU load with expanded RAM: that will be no problem, RAM consumes little power. But, because of age, recapping PSU is very recommended.