Bitsofthepast.com status

[COREi64]

On 7/5/2023 at 10:14 AM, x=usr(1536) said:

Note that these are only available for the straight extension boards, not the right-angled ones.

I've ordered the RA boards from Dropchecks site (thanks by the way for posting that).  As soon as they arrive, I will be creating a revised design for the right-angled board.

 

COREi64

[COREi64]

One more quick post.

 

A couple photos from the other day, closer up, so you can see what reflow soldering looks like on the SpartaDOS cartridge I'm producing.

The cartridges will have version 4.49, as shown in the last picture.

COREi64

 

  
  

[+slx]

39 minutes ago, COREi64 said:

I've ordered the RA boards from Dropchecks site (thanks by the way for posting that).  As soon as they arrive, I will be creating a revised design for the right-angled board.

 

COREi64

Are those RA boards still available? I found a development page only. (I bought the straight extenders years ago but find them inconvenient for my present desk space.)

[COREi64]

17 minutes ago, slx said:

Are those RA boards still available? I found a development page only. (I bought the straight extenders years ago but find them inconvenient for my present desk space.)

I found them here: https://www.bitsofthepast.com/cartridgeboards.html# if you're looking for the gerbers to do it yourself.

 

If you're looking for an assembled one with or without a case, I'll be able to do that for you too (once the boards arrive and I adapt my case design).

 

COREi64

[Overange]

If you need a right angle adapter for the XE systems, PM me as I can supply them

 

[+slx]

6 hours ago, Overange said:

If you need a right angle adapter for the XE systems, PM me as I can supply them

Thanks for the offer, but I need one (or two) for 1200XLs. Sorry, I wasn't more specific.

[Mathy]

Hello COREi64

 

16 hours ago, COREi64 said:

I am contemplating removing the embossed "SpartaDOS X" and replacing it with a vinyl color label.

 

If the cart can also be used for (all the) other stuff (that came on a passthrough cartridge, like Diamond GOS, etc.), it might be advisable to use a vinyl label instead of an embossed name.

 

Sincerely

 

Mathy

 

 

 

[COREi64]

4 hours ago, Mathy said:

Hello COREi64

 

 

If the cart can also be used for (all the) other stuff (that came on a passthrough cartridge, like Diamond GOS, etc.), it might be advisable to use a vinyl label instead of an embossed name.

 

Sincerely

 

Mathy

 

 

 

I'm not sure if these other cartridges you're talking about had the exact same footprint as the SpartaDOS X board.

 

COREi64

[+David_P]

30 minutes ago, COREi64 said:

I'm not sure if these other cartridges you're talking about had the exact same footprint as the SpartaDOS X board.

 

COREi64

As I recall, Diamond GOS and Express! used the same cart, with the GAL programmed to respond to a different address range on the CCTL line.

 

 

EDIT to add link.

[reifsnyderb]

On 8/13/2023 at 6:40 PM, mytek said:

Yeah tell me about it. Seems like every project i embark upon requires me to have at least 3 prototypes made before getting it right

You aren't the only one.  Today I just ordered my 3rd prototype of a 4MB 1090 board for the XL's and XE's.  I've never even loaded firmware on it to test yet.   😞

 

[kenames99]

I have the board recreated for the original SDX, Express, and Diamond GOS carts. and I have the GAL logic files so I can make all these carts. I do not have cases for them but the cases can be bought from corei64. and yes I do the Diamond cart as version 3.

 

Ken

 

[Dropcheck]

On 10/18/2023 at 10:26 PM, COREi64 said:

Thanks Dropcheck for not only bringing this to peoples attention but for allowing me to carry on the creation of this wonderful cartridge!

I've been busy tuning my workflow for the SpartaDOS cartridge.  I finished nailing it down today, and tomorrow I start producing them.  My initial run will be 10 boards, however I have parts ordered for 50 more.  I think that should keep people in SpartaDOS's for a while eh!

 

The PCBs are enig (gold plated) and are constructed using a solder paste stencil printer and a commercial quality reflow oven.  I've also developed a jig to perfectly align the cartridge connector on the end of the PCB, so I guarantee it will be dead straight, centered with absolutely no skew.

 

For your entertainment, here are some photos of the first board I built using my developed workflow that I'll be using for all future built boards.  The yellow thing is my jig.  And the blue case is an example of how it's installed and what it looks like in the case.  I am contemplating removing the embossed "SpartaDOS X" and replacing it with a vinyl color label.  Community thoughts on that would be welcome.  The case will be an option for those that want something covering the bare board at time of ordering.  It can also be ordered after the fact for people with boards and no case.  The case is compatible with Dropcheck's built boards as well as my builds.

 

Give me a couple more days, to build and test 10 cartridges, then I'll post here when they'll be up for sale.

 

COREi64

 

 

 

 

Just wanted to be clear on whose responsible for the original development of this pcb.  Panos and tf_hh played a huge role in the development. This pcb would not have been possible without their involvement.   Thank you Panos and tf_hh!

[COREi64]

4 hours ago, Dropcheck said:

Just wanted to be clear on whose responsible for the original development of this pcb.  Panos and tf_hh played a huge role in the development. This pcb would not have been possible without their involvement.   Thank you Panos and tf_hh!

Thanks for that information.  I'll be sure to include kudos to them in the future as well.

 

COREi64

[COREi64]

Just a heads up to those monitoring this Bits of the Past thread, and have been waiting for SpartaDOS cartridges to become available again.  I just completed building and testing 10 cartridges.  I'll be posting this in the for sale section here shortly as well.

 

https://corei64.com/shop/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=444

 

COREi64

[macsonny]

1 hour ago, COREi64 said:

Just a heads up to those monitoring this Bits of the Past thread, and have been waiting for SpartaDOS cartridges to become available again.  I just completed building and testing 10 cartridges.  I'll be posting this in the for sale section here shortly as well.

 

https://corei64.com/shop/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=444

 

COREi64

Really nice work there!

 

[Dropcheck]

FYI:

 

    The first two XF551 PCB Schematics and Gerbers are now live.  The A version is as close to the original version as it can be, but with a few optional upgrades added.  I can't stress enough that it requires a fully functional XF551 Disk Drive for almost all of it's parts.  The second is still going to need some parts from a fully functional XF551, but it is quite abit looser.  It also has optional upgrades added.  The two optional accessory XF551 pcbs are also available. These boards should fit on either side of the front top case very carefully. 

 

    Still to come is the SF551 and iF551 versions.  They can also make use of the two accessory pcbs.

 

    Enjoy! 

[Mathy]

Hello guys

 

A dumb question just poppeg into my mind when I looked at Lenor's site:  Would it be possible to patch the/a XF551 OS so that we could use "D1:" through "D8:" instead of just "D1:" through "D4:" ?

 

BTW No, I don't mean change the OS so it'll listed to four other drive numbers than the drive numbers available now.  I mean eight drive numbers, switchable via some kind of dial, but only one drive at a time.  On a single drive without "partitions" like the HyperXF.

 

Sincerely

 

Mathy

 

[macsonny]

3 hours ago, Dropcheck said:

FYI:

 

    The first two XF551 PCB Schematics and Gerbers are now live.  The A version is as close to the original version as it can be, but with a few optional upgrades added.  I can't stress enough that it requires a fully functional XF551 Disk Drive for almost all of it's parts.  The second is still going to need some parts from a fully functional XF551, but it is quite abit looser.  It also has optional upgrades added.  The two optional accessory XF551 pcbs are also available. These boards should fit on either side of the front top case very carefully. 

 

    Still to come is the SF551 and iF551 versions.  They can also make use of the two accessory pcbs.

 

    Enjoy! 

Just listed your site and the two sets of boards your reference in your email are still showing "Not active yet". Am I doing something wrong?

[Dropcheck]

1 hour ago, macsonny said:

Just listed your site and the two sets of boards your reference in your email are still showing "Not active yet". Am I doing something wrong?

Clear your website cache.  Coming up fine here. 

[Dropcheck]

4 hours ago, Mathy said:

Hello guys

 

A dumb question just poppeg into my mind when I looked at Lenor's site:  Would it be possible to patch the/a XF551 OS so that we could use "D1:" through "D8:" instead of just "D1:" through "D4:" ?

 

BTW No, I don't mean change the OS so it'll listed to four other drive numbers than the drive numbers available now.  I mean eight drive numbers, switchable via some kind of dial, but only one drive at a time.  On a single drive without "partitions" like the HyperXF.

 

Sincerely

 

Mathy

 

If I remember correctly you have to add buffers for each extra drive in DOS and autorun.sys, before the Atari will see more than D1 -D4 too.  Modifying the XF551 BIOS is beyond me.  I wonder if there is a size limit on the BIOS.  Even Hyper_FX stayed within the 4K limit.   I know you can modify which drives the BIOS will see from this article

[macsonny]

8 hours ago, Dropcheck said:

Clear your website cache.  Coming up fine here. 

Yeah - got it working. Amateur error 😞 

[Mathy]

Hello Lenore

 

19 hours ago, Dropcheck said:

If I remember correctly you have to add buffers for each extra drive in DOS and autorun.sys, before the Atari will see more than D1 -D4 too.

 

That is true for Atari DOS, but not for MyDOS.  MyDOS only needs three buffers, independent of the amount of drives you (want to) use.

 

Sincerely

 

Mathy

 

 

[macsonny]

I've just sent an order for XF551 (both variants) boards to PCBWay with a minimum order quantity of 5 units. If anyone would like a board then let me know.

[macsonny]

Hi All,

 

So I have actually built up on the  XF551 boards that @Dropcheck has kindly posted on her website. I got both the V4 and V6 boards printed by PCBWay, but ended up building the V4 board as it's closest to the board I currently had in my XF551. I previously bought the upgrade board for my XF551 so I could do track display. The board I previously received from @Dropcheck worked great but in the process of building that board some 6 months ago I did a bit of a butcher job on the soldering and was never happy with the end result. Hence why I wanted to build up a new v4 board for aesthetics.

 

Anyhow, I have built up the v4 board and (less the track display as waiting on the IC's for that) and power the drive on. Spins up fine. I have the HYPER+ ROM installed too as I did previously. So, when turning the Atari on, I get BOOT ERROR on screen and then drive boots directly into the HYPER+ menu like there is no floppy in the drive. 

 

It seems like the drive is not trying to read the floppy - just jumping directly into the HYPER+ menu after a single BOOT ERROR message.

 

Any ideas on where I could start fault finding?

[macsonny]

Just a little update. First placed I looked was the connector cable between PCB and floppy drive. Buzzed all pins and seem to be a-ok.

 

I've provided a copy of the soldered board to see if anyone can see a mistake? Note the capacitor on the bottom of the board was a mistake. I forgot to solder it on the board when building up. Figured soldering from below was ok.

 

Also added a few top photos to see if anyone can see a glaring issue?