.ATR that requires basic, anyway without basic?

[oo7]

Is there anything I can do to a ATR that needs basic enabled to run without basic?

 

I setup RetroArch with everything my family had back in the 80s and 90s.

 

everything works perfectly but when i get to A8 section all my stuff works fine except for the few ATR files that require basic. 
 

for me its no issue but to make the whole setup friendly in kiosk mode for the rest it would be the icing on top if i could somehow insert basic to these atrs so that it would load with them during boot or something 

[Rybags]

ATR is just a disk image, the system configuration shouldn't matter.

But needing Basic probably means that it has Basic programs on it.

Does it have a Dos on it, or just some sort of menu or other boot loader?

Possibly it could be modified to switch the onboard Basic in.  Or worst case, actually load a Ram based copy of Basic.

[oo7]

28 minutes ago, Rybags said:

ATR is just a disk image, the system configuration shouldn't matter.

But needing Basic probably means that it has Basic programs on it.

Does it have a Dos on it, or just some sort of menu or other boot loader?

Possibly it could be modified to switch the onboard Basic in.  Or worst case, actually load a Ram based copy of Basic.

These images specifically 

https://forums.atariage.com/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=683617

 

I was hoping there is a way to make them trigger or contain basic

 

Came from 

 

Edited December 2, 2023 by oo7

[pcrow]

Enabling BASIC after boot could be a challenge, but could probably be done in an AUTORUN.SYS file if needed.  I'm not aware of any programs that do it, but the steps would probably be:

• Lower HIMEM to 40K
• Reset the graphics mode (to have the display memory below 40K
• Enable BASIC using Port B on XL/XE or load it from a file for 400/800/1200XL
• Initialize BASIC (JSR through the cartridge vector)
• Do the normal program load autorun sequence

I've been thinking we should have a library of binary load initialization routines that validate that the system meets the requirements (like disabling BASIC, verifying RAM, OS, and such), displaying a useful error message if the program can't run.  This would fit into that, and would be a pretty good tool for a BASIC autorun.

 

[Mr Robot]

You can create an alternate config in Retroarch that turns on basic then associate the few atr's that need basic with that config. Do the same with the few that require NTSC or PAL as well.

 

[oo7]

14 minutes ago, Mr Robot said:

You can create an alternate config in Retroarch that turns on basic then associate the few atr's that need basic with that config. Do the same with the few that require NTSC or PAL as well.

 

With most emulators i do these things the way a800 works i didnt think i could. Ill test and report back.

[pcrow]

For emulators, I use atari800 on Linux, and I have a wrapper that does a lot of analyzing of the files to set the best options.  If it's a DOS2 disk image, it scans all the files to see if any are BASIC, and enables BASIC only if it finds them.  I combine this with a database that lists programs.  If it was released in 1984 or later, I emulate a 130XE, otherwise an 800.  Based on the country, I select PAL or NTSC.

 

For real hardware, having an autorun that does it would be ideal.

[oo7]

For emulating myself i use Altirra, however in a specific collection in ra kiosk mode im limited to A800 and am looking for a way to add this to finish that setup

Edited December 2, 2023 by oo7

[Mr Robot]

On 12/2/2023 at 10:49 AM, oo7 said:

With most emulators i do these things the way a800 works i didnt think i could. Ill test and report back.

Which frontend are you using? I have done this in launchbox, steam various handhelds and emulationstation. I think pretty much every frontend (and retroarch itself) allows you to customize the launch command on a file by file basis. 

you can create a config for each system and folder and file. Changing the OS/Memory/Stereo/Basic/Region is in the atari800 config so it's simple to set up a config for each model of machine and just point the odd games at the new one.

 

[Mr Robot]

On 12/2/2023 at 11:36 AM, pcrow said:

For emulators, I use atari800 on Linux, and I have a wrapper that does a lot of analyzing of the files to set the best options.  If it's a DOS2 disk image, it scans all the files to see if any are BASIC, and enables BASIC only if it finds them.  I combine this with a database that lists programs.  If it was released in 1984 or later, I emulate a 130XE, otherwise an 800.  Based on the country, I select PAL or NTSC.

 

I do the same thing using atari800 on macOS (I'm not a fan of the UI on atari800macosx) I wrote a wrapper in python that does all of the things yours does  It's great to be able to just double click an Atari file and have it start up correctly. 

 

I wish there was an atari 800 file format that wrapped an adf/xex/car/etc and had built in metadata, box art, screenshot, launch options etc. so a single file per title was all that was required.

 

 

[pcrow]

4 minutes ago, Mr Robot said:

I wish there was an atari 800 file format that wrapped an adf/xex/car/etc and had built in metadata, box art, screenshot, launch options etc. so a single file per title was all that was required.

It's not too late to create one.  I would leverage this off of some existing file format, like used for media files.  Anything that supports arbitrary key-value pairs where the value can be a binary blob.  Keys would include standard things like publisher, date, etc, but also things like memory, OS, PAL/NTSC, and other features required (e.g., BASIC).  The binary blobs could even be values for keys, like disk 1, disk 2, etc.

 

The trick is to get buy-in from the major emulator developers.

[Mr Robot]

54 minutes ago, pcrow said:

The trick is to get buy-in from the major emulator developers.

and to produce all the tools required to convert the usual types into and back out of the new format, for three different platforms.

 

I remember when Byuu tried to do that with SNES roms to include the copro roms with the game rom, it never went anywhere outside of Higan. 

 

[oo7]

On 12/2/2023 at 11:34 AM, Mr Robot said:

You can create an alternate config in Retroarch that turns on basic then associate the few atr's that need basic with that config. Do the same with the few that require NTSC or PAL as well.

 

Ok this worked. Feeling stupid right now lol. I thought the a800 core followed the a800 text it generates for basic on or off. This helped me.

 

thanks for waking me up

[oo7]

18 hours ago, Mr Robot said:

and to produce all the tools required to convert the usual types into and back out of the new format, for three different platforms.

 

I remember when Byuu tried to do that with SNES roms to include the copro roms with the game rom, it never went anywhere outside of Higan. 

 

God old byuu aka near.. i still wonder if he really passed or just wanted to vanish and is safe.

[Mr Robot]

10 hours ago, oo7 said:

God old byuu aka near.. i still wonder if he really passed or just wanted to vanish and is safe.

I believe one and hope the other, either way it was a loss to the emulation development community

 

 

[oo7]

8 hours ago, Mr Robot said:

I believe one and hope the other, either way it was a loss to the emulation development community

 

 

Yup giant loss.