Guide to a possible happiness with the VCS and how to make it functional when it arrives broken. 😊 Reliable OS update & resetting of the BIOS Password aaaand getting started with Windows or Bacotera

PeterG · March 1, 2023

Like a lot of others that got the VCS recently, I was not able to do anything with it because it wouldn‘t update the OS and could not play anything and could not register and not being able to do anything with it out of the box.

The good news is, that the information is out there and there are some really helpful people and tips which helped me to get the thing working over the course of the last two days after digging around here and the internetzzzzzzz.

I just collected these infos and will try to give credit where I know and remember where the info came from (unfortunatley I did think of a guide only after the fact and did not make bookmarks or screenshots ☹), but I thought it would be cool to have a few step by steps how to get the machine up and running without having to reinvent the wheel over and over again. This could be updated with newer infos then.

I have seen that there are a lot of threads spread over AA, Discord, Reddit and who knows where else discussing what kind of RAM and which SSDs fit the best, maybe this can be edited in here too or someone creates an FAQ or we make it sticky.

Anyway I would like to make a start because it all seems so very complicated when in reality all you need is the right information and the next person doesn’t have to do all the search over again.

So the most importan thing is to get machine to let you do anything at all and fort hat Davpa has given help in several forums (THANK YOU)

Flash the new OS to get the machine working in the first place.

This ist he most important thing and it worked simple and flawlesly exactly as described so thanks again:

„First, download this zip from this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/18h01VknAi8eFsCFxeEe2DiCMo1XoT6Y9/view?usp=sharing

While that file is downloading, watch this video that I made that walks you through what you are going to with that file:  https://vimeo.com/784422540 “

BIOS PASSWORD deactivation

The second most important info comes from this unsung hero which I can’t find any more, I looked for the source, so if you know who this is or you are the one, thank you too.
(And please provide a link to the page with the information and the download. I do not find the page anymore where I got these…  and the google text search did not help ☹)
You found an awesome solution for everyones second biggest issue: the dreaded BIOS Password!

Here is what he said:

„everyone is just flashing their Atari to an older flash image for an older password, well you don't have to, you do however just need to create the flash Usb stick with the older patch with known working password... 
all you do is boot from Usb stick , Don't flash it but instead choose the option reboot into flash interface, it will then let you enter the old password in and then you can blank it out...
this works even with the latest bios update installed ..so no need to repatch back to old then updating to new.. it's so simple you just bypass it with the Usb stick“

This is his guide to changing AND/OR getting rid of the Bios Password. Worked like a charm too.:)

„Step 1.

Download the *.img provided here. : The Name is atari-flasher-ab-upgrade but I guess it is an older version than the one provided above by davpa. Don't know for sure, only that this one accepts the celebrate Bios password so that's why I assume it is different:

[https://we.tl/t-h0NlBG9VPu] I uploaded it to we transfer because it is almost 2 GB and I can’t find the original link and could bite myself. ☹ We need the source because this link will expire or someone has to upload it here as it is going to help a lot of people…

Step 2. Use an imager to burn the *img to a Usb stick

(i recommend Rufus downloaded from http://rufus.ie/en/ )

Step 3. Create USB Installer

● Run Rufus

● Choose downloaded / uncompressed image file (I.e atari-flasher.img) to copy

● Plug in and choose USB to copy image to

● Rufus should show Partition scheme will be “MBR” and Target System will be “BIOS (or UEFI-CSM)”

● Click Start (Current USB contents will be destroyed in process)

Step 4. After Image is Created

MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THIS! DO NOT! LEAVE USB STICK IN DRIVE WALKING AWAY AFTER YOU'VE PRESSED POWER ON, OTHERWISE IT WILL UPDATE ATARI AUTOMATICALLY AFTER A SET TIME AND WE DO NOT NEED TO DO THAT!

Insert Usb stick into front of Atari

Power up Atari

ATARI will now boot up from the usb stick presenting you three boot choice options.

Choose only : Reboot into firmware interface

This is the THIRD choice see screenshot.

It will reboot so quickly keep pressing escape to get into bios menu, then choose >Setup Utility

Enter Password I’ve provided in Download section of Atari 800 folder, It’s case sensitive so make sure you enter correctly. [ Atar!c313br8te$50Ye4r$ ]

You should now have access to other settings if you’ve done everything correctly ,if not read notes below.

Choose security section then enter the section where it says : Supervision password. This is where you change the password….

first line you correctly enter the password i’ve provided [ Atar!c313br8te$50Ye4r$ ], second and third line press enter each time making them blank.

Congratulations if you’ve made it this far, you can now save bios settings so new blank password is saved replacing the old one.

● Go to exit> exit saving changes.

● Take Usb stick out . Done!

Notes: I’ve used this on the newest Atari myself and it allowed me to remove password from all the latest updates, it’s not a first batch Atari, so i’ve no idea if it will work on earlier versions, but i cannot see why it wouldn't.

If this hasn’t worked out for you then you have to pick second option when Usb boots up and choose to flash Atari, it will downgrade the bios to allow you to use password i’ve provided like everyone else has been doing.

Why i know this exploit works is that originally i downgraded bios as everyone else does to get access..later on when i did the changes i needed, i re-upgrade the bios , i tested the bios and lost access after i did newest updates, the old password(one i provided, no longer worked) i tried many times incase i typed it wrong..no luck.. By sheer luck and needing to change settings again(getting more ram) i discovered this was an exploit no one else is using and a much faster method then downgrading the bios for access, all thanks to booting off the Usb using the image… i hope it works out ok for everyone else too.

21/1/23“

NOTE ABOUT THE PASSWORD:

Atar!C3l3br8te$50Ye4r$

Be careful to type it exactly as is and as several people mentioned to be aware that this is for an american keyboard layout, so if like me you are from europe, you have to change the Y with an Z and kind of „type“: Atar!C3l3br8te$50Ze4r$
https://forums.atariage.com/topic/315163-vcs-bios-related-discussions/page/18/

Installing Windows on an external SSD/USB:

So I wanted to be able to use Windows 10 so here is an awesome video to install it from an external SSD/USB:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BMuO8ueoM4

You can use a free version of Windows it will not be activated and has some (minor) limitations but it won’t keep you from using it at all.

The new version of Haselo’s wintousb looks different now, but it works practically exactly like described in the video. I have Windows installed on an external drive that I can boot via having it plugged in the USB port. It works very well.

Note about drivers missing after Windows install:

After the install there will be some missing drivers. Without a driver it identifies as Multimedia controller, but it is actually an AMD Audio CoProcessor. Download the „auto detect tool“ from the AMD website and you will fill in that gap too.

https://www.amd.com/en/support

https://forums.atariage.com/topic/336062-windows-10-device-manager-showing-problem/

Bacotera on a Stick

Video also explains how you can turn off the secure boot in Bios (Uefi) in order to boot this from the external USB. Free the VCS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9z0kx721Vs&t=114s

As I said, there is a LOT of other useful infos for upgrades, for other OSes and so on, it would be nice to collect them somewhere, but with these four points you can start using the machine.

I did, thank you everyone fort he provided help and maybe I can help someone getting startet with this too.

RollOut · March 1, 2023

Thanks for putting this together man. I haven't needed the info myself yet because I already had my VCS, but it's great to have it all collected like this.