+bent_pin Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 I'm just starting my 800XL adventure. I got a really clean unit that I currently want to keep stock. I have another unit on the way for testing and upgrading too. I have an 850 for each, 1 backbit pro, and 1 Sdrive max. I'm building fujinet adapters myself. I will eventually upgrade the ram, but I want to build the upgrades myself as I have a multicore CPU upgrade with cache in mind and I want to integrate the entire thing. While I'll play some games on it, I really plan on using this to explore early computing and development. I eventually want to write my own OS specifically geared toward software development for all Atari 8-bit consoles. Is Sparta Dos the best option currently? Should I run it from the backbit or the Sdrive? For the 850s, I'm planning on making an ad hoc network, also I have a design to program Arduinos using them, and I plan on writing a simple IDE for Arduino. I'd love links to the best resources for this platform, advice, ideas on existing stuff and how to use it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 This is a really good starting point. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reifsnyderb Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 Attach a 1090XL and install some cards! 🙂 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bent_pin Posted January 27 Author Share Posted January 27 5 minutes ago, reifsnyderb said: Attach a 1090XL and install some cards! 🙂 The 1090XL looks like a parallel bus expansion card system. Is anyone making these? What cards are available? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geister Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 (edited) Brian is making these and I have one. There is an 80 column card that works similarly to the XEP80, but uses an RP2040 instead of the NS405 terminal chip. Many DIYers are producing VGA outputs w/the RP2040 and I intend to look into at least adding color terminal capabiliies to the software. There is also a 320K Ram expansion and a CX45 (numeric keypad) controller. I'd like to see a COVOX sound card with mouse and keyboard support. Edited January 27 by Geister horrible typos. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bent_pin Posted January 27 Author Share Posted January 27 I just got a number-pad controller. I'll have to decide if I want to buy or build something like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bent_pin Posted January 27 Author Share Posted January 27 19 minutes ago, Geister said: Brian Do you have a link to the user profile or website, please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marius Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 It is all dependable of what you would like to achieve and how skilled you are in all kind of fields, and of course all as a matter of taste as well. When I look at myself, for instance, I really love a stock Atari 800XL with all kind of bells and whistles connected on external ports. I love my Turbo Freezer 2011 with XE compatible Memory and I love my IDE+ 2.0 harddisk interface, but also my MyIDE ][ and my very nice external Midi Interface. All connected to my (nearly) stock 800XL. The only modification I made is that the Parallel Bus Interface has a +5V on one of the pins, so that external expansions/add-ons do not need a PSU (through a wire to the joystick or cart port). I also love to code on the 800XL, but I never use any cross-platform-tools. I use Synassembler or Mac/65 on a cart and I have all kind of tools that make coding on the real thing more convenient. It is so much more fun to do everything on the 800XL... although I completely agree that for convenience (and even for more possibilities) coding on a PC/Mac on a cross-assembler would be a much better idea. Anyway, I can only say: enjoy this journey. It is awesome. If you would like to write a new OS, you definitely should talk to @mr-atari ... he wrote the fabulous MyIDE OS, and has lots of experience in that field. There are some more interesting/cool OS variants. Some you really will like is the QMEG OS. If you do not want to upgrade your Atari with an extra OS or with Ultimate 1MB ... you might want to check SysCheck II. It is an external add on that also can carry a different OS rom for the Atari. Very nice. Greetings and good luck Marius 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pseudografx Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 (edited) SUBAVGCart provides most upgrades you might ever need for your Atari, including fast loading of binaries and carts, RAM expansion, OS switching, stereo upgrade, COVOX and battery-backed RTC. The only things you might be missing are better video output, networking and CPU/video accelleration. Also separate ANTIC access is not supported, but that is very rarely used in software. Edited January 27 by pseudografx 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scitari Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 I also like using stock hardware for an authentic old school experience. I started doing hardware, software, and programming projects on my 8-bits more than 5 years and documenting them on a website called Atari Projects. There are over 200 projects there. I hope you find something fun and useful there! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reifsnyderb Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 1 hour ago, bent_pin said: The 1090XL looks like a parallel bus expansion card system. Is anyone making these? What cards are available? I can supply a modernized reproduction, of the board and 3 of the cards. Presently, a 320k (64k main memory and 256k extended memory) parallel card is available, an 80 column card as described by @Geister, a CX-85 numeric keypad card, and a 130XE compatibility card has been made. A 64k/256k reproduction card has been made but the banking is incompatible with all software. A reproduction 80 column card can also be made. ( @kenames99 has reproduced these two cards ) Other cards could be made and I believe I've compiled enough information to consider the parallel bus completely documented. If you would like the 1090XL board and/or the cards I have, please pm me. Best Regards, Brian 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bent_pin Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 7 hours ago, Marius said: I also love to code on the 800XL, but I never use any cross-platform-tools. I use Synassembler or Mac/65 on a cart and I have all kind of tools that make coding on the real thing more convenient. Thanks for the detailed reply, Marius. The quoted section is of particular interest to me. I think for now I want to stick to the basics. Using only my Sdrive-Max and my Backbit pro, I want to be able to Create, Load, Modify, and Delete files written in Basic, Assembly, and Machine Language. I want to do so from the 800XL without needing anything else. Ideally, I'd like to be able to bump the OS out of ram with a program to test my own OS as I work. Obviously, I'd have to use option to load a homebrew OS unless I swap out the BASIC rom with an eeprom. I now have Mac/65 and the manuals to read from here: Atari 400 800 XL XE MAC/65 : scans, dump, download, screenshots, ads, videos, catalog, instructions, roms (atarimania.com) Which version is best? I have found AtariWiki V3.1: Synapse Assembler. Given my hardware and intended path, how would you recommend I set it up? It looks like there are many ways, that's why I ask. There are so many other utilities available, are there any others that you'd recommend or should these cover my immediate goals? 7 hours ago, scitari said: I started doing hardware, software, and programming projects on my 8-bits more than 5 years and documenting them on a website called Atari Projects. There are over 200 projects there. I hope you find something fun and useful there! I am going to spend some serious time going over your projects. Thank you for sharing them. The only other thing that I need is a way to use the 850. It looks like until I can write my own SIO RS-232C handler and SIO Parallel Port handler, I will have to use Atari DOS 2 or 3. Unless anyone has separated these handlers so I can study them. Also, how to address different targets on the SIO port. Any ideas? Thanks everyone. I really appreciate all the input! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SoulBuster Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 Stay away from DOS 3. Incompatible with just about everything else on Atari. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bent_pin Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 2 hours ago, SoulBuster said: Stay away from DOS 3. Incompatible with just about everything else on Atari. Thanks. Was it intended for later models? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geister Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 It was intended to replace DOS 2.5 but nobody liked the design of the DOS. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bent_pin Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 3 minutes ago, Geister said: It was intended to replace DOS 2.5 but nobody liked the design of the DOS. DOS Millennium Edition? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockymin Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 2 hours ago, Geister said: It was intended to replace DOS 2.5 but nobody liked the design of the DOS. In Altira, there's an option to boot to DOS 4. Was that an official release from Atari? I don't recall ever hearing about DOS 4 back then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SoulBuster Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 Not Official You can get it here https://forums.atariage.com/topic/321959-my-software-library-a-preservation-effort/page/3/#comment-4846468 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrFish Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 6 hours ago, Geister said: It was intended to replace DOS 2.5 but nobody liked the design of the DOS. Actually, it was intended to replace DOS 2.0. DOS 2.5 was created to replace DOS 3.0 (which it did very well). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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