A Tale of Two 1040ST's (or, "What should I put into this ST after it's fixed?")

[SlagOMatic]

I have two 1040 ST's.

 

One of them is bone-stock, though I do have a cased UltraSATAN and a VGA adapter. Internally though, bone stock.

 

The other...sigh. It was my original machine from decades ago. The story of its demise is cringeworthy but suffice to say there are three known problems with it: There is no floppy drive, the upper case has been hacked up a bit in an attempt to put a traditional floppy drive in it, the keyboard doesn't work (missing multiple springs and those little silicone caps), and it doesn't power on due to having a screw dropped onto its motherboard while it was powered up.

 

I want to keep the stock one as-is, but I also want to repair and upgrade the other one. Step 1 is to restore power, of course. Getting a replacement keyboard may be pricey but not out of the question. And I think an internally-mounted UltraSATAN with a 3D-printed bezel around it to hide the cosmetic damage of the case is a workable idea.

 

But I've never been into the ST scene as much as I was with the 8-bits, so I'll ask this simply: Other than the UltraSATAN, what upgrades should I put into it? If my memory serves me right I seem to recall there being a TOS switcher mod to allow you to switch between different TOS versions; is that still a thing? Both of my 1040's have early TOS, not even "rainbow" TOS, so moving up the ladder might be worthwhile. I'd love to see a FujiNet-type adapter for it as well. I know FujiNet doesn't exist for the ST but maybe something equivalent? Are RAM upgrades still around?

[snarkdluG]

Many of the IC isn't socketed in the ST line. So many upgrades you will need to be able to solder. Some upgrades are plug-n-play though. TOS switcher is not needed in my opinion any more. But upgrade TOS to v1.04 is smart. You can also put TOS v2.06 in it if you have decoder board. Or EmuTOS for that matter. If you want to play with EmuTOS and another TOS then I suppose a switcher could be a great option. RAM upgrades are available on the market in different forms, but often needs some soldering. Accelerators and ALT-ram can be put in but needs to desolder de main processor and put in a socket. NetUSBee is for the cartridge port and gives you SUB and RJ45 (network). Space is limited and the model and rev of the motherboard determines some upgrades. 

Edited March 24, 2023 by snarkdluG

[ggn]

Hi, here are a few links to online shops (and projects) so you can choose and pick what suits you better. Or, come back with questions if something is unclear:

 

https://lotharek.pl/products.php?id=15

https://centuriontech.eu/product-category/atari/

https://thebrewingacademy.com/collections/atari-st-ste-mega

https://shop.inventronik.de/index.php

https://www.van-radecke.de/STUFF/tfhh_HW_info.pdf

https://www.eltradec.eu/index.php/en/w/acsi2sd

https://www.arananet.net/pedidos/product-category/atari

https://github.com/agranlund/STRam

 

In general there are many options for storage these days, both for hard disk and floppy drives. RAM upgrades are tricky and will most definitely require soldering. a PS/2 to ST mouse adapter is, as expected, just plug and play.

 

I'll end by mentioning two products which are currently out of stock but are fantastic if you can get hold of them (especially CosmosEx is way better than a Fujinet)

 

http://joo.kie.sk/?page_id=384

http://ultradev.ultrafex.de

[+Sauron]

You're probably going to want a Gotek for both systems first and foremost, as that will not only be much more convenient to use than actual floppies, but also makes it much easier to transfer downloaded files from a PC. I'd recommend that before looking at anything else. Fortunately, they're not very expensive.

[ggn]

3 hours ago, Sauron said:

You're probably going to want a Gotek for both systems first and foremost, as that will not only be much more convenient to use than actual floppies, but also makes it much easier to transfer downloaded files from a PC. I'd recommend that before looking at anything else. Fortunately, they're not very expensive.

The centuriontech store stocks what he calls a "goex" which is a gotek with a front panel that matches the Atari ST case, which might be nicer than all the franken gotek solutions that require you to hacksaw the case.

[Atari8guy]

I have a GEOX, recently aquired...it fits the case very well (long button drive version) and it works reasonably enough.  Not a fan of the jog dial, but that's personal preference...

Edited March 27, 2023 by Atari8guy

[+remowilliams]

Yes, the GOEX is a really slick fit with the system.