Can you use Atari VCS offline with the Atari OS?

[Jack Burton 1]

Does anyone know a way to bypass the "connect to network" part of booting?

 

I want to use the Atari OS to play Atari Vault games, but I don't want to connect to the internet to do it (so as to avoid the update), however the VCS forces me to connect to the internet in order to access the Atari OS dashboard.

 

If anyone has any ideas it would be much appreciated!

[justclaws]

A network connection is not mandatory.
If you are using WIFI, you could just turn it off on the router, with Ethernet, unplug.
I thought I just clicked <skip> or pressed <esc>, like during setup, but I'll check.

From the dashboard, in settings, you can just clear the WIFI settings, once loaded.
Only the store or online apps should require the network.

If it can't be skipped, that would be a new bug, but it's very odd as it's certainly not intended.

[Jack Burton 1]

On 2/25/2021 at 10:26 AM, justclaws said:

A network connection is not mandatory.
If you are using WIFI, you could just turn it off on the router, with Ethernet, unplug.
I thought I just clicked <skip> or pressed <esc>, like during setup, but I'll check.

From the dashboard, in settings, you can just clear the WIFI settings, once loaded.
Only the store or online apps should require the network.

If it can't be skipped, that would be a new bug, but it's very odd as it's certainly not intended.

Unless I'm doing something wrong, turns out a network connection is necessary to sign in. I unplugged the ethernet and turned off the router. I still can't get past the network connection page. There's just no option to pass it up.

 

JustClaws, you mentioned you thought you clicked "skip" or pressed "esc" to get past this stage. Can you (or anyone else reading) confirm you were able to do this? I don't see any "skip" option and I don't have a USB keyboard to try the "esc" method.

 

I would buy a keyboard if it helps me get past the network connection page without connecting to a network.

 

Thanks for your help

[justclaws]

Hi Jack.
I cannot recreate the problem you are having. Maybe you are talking about the very first account, with the new console?
Can you send me a photo of your screen when you have the problem, via PM?

A network connection is definitely not required to login. One is required to create an account, because each is linked to an email.
Once the account is created you don't need email connection. You can use Guest if you do not want to create an account instead.

I have tried with both WIFI and Ethernet, making both unavailable. The result is only a warning message at the top of the screen.

I'm baffled, quite honestly. I can understand you're frustrated, but I cannot work out what's happening for you.
Cheers, Richard.

[John_Romero]

Atari Evangelizer, John Romero aka JBRM  here - ⭐ My fresh experience is similar, directly after the start up and Fuji (/|\) symbol in black and white, and a streaming vector graphic of arcade astroids, then after pushing the center Fuji start bottom on the Atari modern controller, and the button a as directed-mine goes directly to the “HELLO” screen in red and asked me to select the language, in which I select “English,” … immediately my system goes to a green screen which shows all of my neighbors Wi-Fi networks. In the lower right hand portion of the screen it only shows a, select, B, back, X, refresh I do not see a bypass here though I will try connecting a USB keyboard to try to skip. Technical problem, no known solution for me at this point. 
 

Rep. John B. /|\ 

[Mockduck]

7 hours ago, John_Romero said:

Atari Evangelizer, John Romero aka JBRM  here - ⭐ My fresh experience is similar, directly after the start up and Fuji (/|\) symbol in black and white, and a streaming vector graphic of arcade astroids, then after pushing the center Fuji start bottom on the Atari modern controller, and the button a as directed-mine goes directly to the “HELLO” screen in red and asked me to select the language, in which I select “English,” … immediately my system goes to a green screen which shows all of my neighbors Wi-Fi networks. In the lower right hand portion of the screen it only shows a, select, B, back, X, refresh I do not see a bypass here though I will try connecting a USB keyboard to try to skip. Technical problem, no known solution for me at this point. 
 

Rep. John B. /|\ 

It should show your wifi network, assuming you have one. Another option would be to plug in an Ethernet cable then bypass wifi.