Forrest Posted July 20 Share Posted July 20 Probably not. To use an analogy, you’re asking how well a car drives on the highway, while you haven’t confirmed you can shift the car out of park yet. One step at a time. The SidecarT does not prevent you from running a game from the original disk or running a converted game from a Gotek drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+remowilliams Posted July 20 Share Posted July 20 27 minutes ago, danm said: I'm asking about compt with the sidecart. If I wanted a game or program that isn't available from the sidecart web site, can I copy any random .stx / .st / .msa disk image onto it an expect it to work? .STX no, without a doubt. .ST maybe, depending on if it's a standard disk and the software obeys 'proper calls' - I'm going to tell you that many games originally do not. Stuff that has been filed and doesn't use trackloaders is more likely to work. Again, the sidecart appears to be a very cool device but anything hooking calls to try and be a floppy drive is not going to actually be a floppy drive. Whether that matters or not, is up to the individual using it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danm Posted July 20 Author Share Posted July 20 I've now got my optical PS/2 mouse working on my STFM via my Amiga PS/2 adapter. I rewired my joystick extension cable following this diagram: https://mikrosk.github.io/doitarchive/doitf030/100d.htm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ijor Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 4 hours ago, danm said: I have emailed to author of omniflop to see if he has any tips for writing ST disks from Linux without buying a greaseweazle or a drawbridge etc. Maybe there is a Linux equivalent? I'm not a Linux expert, but Linux has built-in support for ST disks. As long as you have an old school floppy on an old school PC (which means, NOT an USB floppy drive), you don't need any special software to read standard ST disks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danm Posted July 21 Author Share Posted July 21 (edited) 8 minutes ago, ijor said: I'm not a Linux expert, but Linux has built-in support for ST disks. As long as you have an old school floppy on an old school PC (which means, NOT an USB floppy drive), you don't need any special software to read standard ST disks. I've already got reading and writing standard ST (720K msdos format) disks under Linux working, using both USB and internal floppy drives. What I haven't had work is writing 800 Kb ST game disks from Linux but it might be my crappy disks that literally got pulled out of a bin and will likely be 30 years old etc. I've got a bid on for some hopefully better quality DD disks and I've emailed the OmniFlop dev to see what he has to say. Edited July 21 by danm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ijor Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 53 minutes ago, danm said: I've already got reading and writing standard ST (720K msdos format) disks under Linux working, using both USB and internal floppy drives. What I haven't had work is writing 800 Kb ST game disks from Linux but it might be my crappy disks that literally got pulled out of a bin and will likely be 30 years old etc. You are probably not using the right tool. I think you need to configure the device geometry. I suggest you go to atari-forum where you will find many ST Linux experts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danm Posted July 21 Author Share Posted July 21 (edited) I have now got my 6 button Mega Drive controller working in both STFM joystick ports. I've added the following note to the joystick section of the Hardware hacks page of the atari-wiki ( https://www.atari-wiki.com/index.php?title=Hardware_hacks#Atari_Joystick ) but its currently waiting approval. Quote Sega Genesis / Mega Drive and Master System controllers work without modification in port 0. You can modify an Atari joystick extension cable to work with Genesis / Mega Drive controllers simply by rewiring pin 7 (+5v) to use pin 5 instead, leaving pin 7 unconnected. This works with both 3 and 6 buttons controllers but only the B fire button works. I was tipped off to this hack by referencing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_joystick_port , I couldn't find evidence of anyone else having documented this easy hack but maybe I wasn't looking hard enough? I think it deserves to be documented on the wiki. Edited July 21 by danm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danm Posted July 21 Author Share Posted July 21 (edited) I would've edited my previous post but it seems this forum has a time limit for editing posts. I've adjusted my wiki addition to read: Quote Sega Genesis / Mega Drive and Master System controllers work without modification in joystick port 0. You can modify an Atari joystick extension cable to work with Genesis / Mega Drive controllers simply by rewiring pin 7 (+5v) to use pin 5 instead, leaving pin 7 unconnected on the female end of the connector. This works with both 3 and 6 buttons controllers but only the B fire button works. My edit has still not been approved. I think that is enough info regarding using Sega controllers on the ST but maybe I should create a new page for it? I want to add a link to the Amiga -> Atari mouse hack too but lets see if my first submission gets approved. I almost rewrote the Uzebox wiki I've made so many contributions to that and I've made over 100 contributions to the Arch Linux wiki. I'm one of the very rare people who feels compelled to write documentation, it irks me when stuff isn't documented. Many github READMEs and wiki sites have benefited from my documentation OCD. Edited July 21 by danm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danm Posted July 21 Author Share Posted July 21 (edited) I took my keyboard to bits and put it back together again this morning and that has fixed my depressed Enter key. It still worked, as did the numpad enter key, but it was bugging me. I feel better having a more level keyboard again. Edited July 21 by danm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danm Posted July 21 Author Share Posted July 21 (edited) Today I ordered exxos' shifter 4 MB RAM upgrade, a SideCartridge, 20 Atari branded DD floppies and some Winbond W27C512 EEPROMs to burn TOS 1.04 onto. Edited July 21 by danm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danm Posted July 26 Author Share Posted July 26 (edited) I have created a new page on the Atari wiki for the Sega controller mod https://www.atari-wiki.com/index.php?title=How_To_rewire_an_Atari_joystick_extension_cable_to_use_Sega_controllers and I added a link to some instructions for using an Amiga mouse to the hardware hacks page: https://www.atari-wiki.com/index.php?title=Hardware_hacks#Mouse_Adapters I took my A600 and STFM to be re-capped and remove the RAM from the ST a couple of days ago but it could be a couple of weeks before I get them back as he only really does the repair stuff on weekends. I got a reply from the Omniflop dev and he seems to think I should be OK with using dd to write .st images but my disks still haven't arrived and of course I won;t be able to test out my method (or OnniFlop) until I get my 16 bit Motoralas back. Edited July 26 by danm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danm Posted July 29 Author Share Posted July 29 My sidecart arrived today, the floppies arrived on Saturday but I've not got my ST back yet. They've got Windows 3.0 on 'em. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DarkLord Posted July 30 Share Posted July 30 17 hours ago, danm said: They've got Windows 3.0 on 'em. Reformat them. About time someone put them to a legitimate use. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenixdownita Posted July 30 Share Posted July 30 (edited) On 7/26/2024 at 12:28 AM, danm said: I have created a new page on the Atari wiki for the Sega controller mod https://www.atari-wiki.com/index.php?title=How_To_rewire_an_Atari_joystick_extension_cable_to_use_Sega_controllers Pretty sure you could just use a DB9 gender-changer and simply snip pin7 on the male side. You wouldn’t have 5v at all but joystick directions and buttons don’t use it anyway. The Megadrive controller would only have 2 buttons working but that’s expected. Edited July 30 by phoenixdownita Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forrest Posted July 30 Share Posted July 30 I never saw an Atari brand floppy disk. It looks like those disks shipped with the Atari PC - never saw one of those either. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danm Posted July 30 Author Share Posted July 30 (edited) 2 hours ago, phoenixdownita said: Pretty sure you could just use a DB9 gender-changer and simply snip pin7 on the male side. You wouldn’t have 5v at all but joystick directions and buttons don’t use it anyway. The Megadrive controller would only have 2 buttons working but that’s expected. If someone tries that and proves it works then we can add that to the wiki page. I'm not keen on adding anything unless I've tested it myself so I know for sure what I write works. Edited July 30 by danm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theboyfromanotherplanet Posted July 31 Share Posted July 31 On 7/29/2024 at 11:00 PM, danm said: My sidecart arrived today, the floppies arrived on Saturday but I've not got my ST back yet. They've got Windows 3.0 on 'em. Save the windows fonts off the disk - they might come in handy one day if you get the urge to do some DTP 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+remowilliams Posted July 31 Share Posted July 31 Because new toys are hard to say no to - after a little soldering and printing... 🙂 Also after a little bit of testing, my initial assumptions around potential floppy incompatibilities due to the required methodology seem correct. The initial GEMdrive hard drive support seems promising with a number of hard drive adapted games happily working. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danm Posted July 31 Author Share Posted July 31 Yes I was going to print a case for my sidecart today but it didn't happen. I was going to print this one: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6712743 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+remowilliams Posted July 31 Share Posted July 31 32 minutes ago, danm said: Yes I was going to print a case for my sidecart today but it didn't happen. I was going to print this one: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6712743 Yes that's the top remix I used along with the parent bottom case. The bottom case needs to be modified about 3-4mm to be able to close around the USB stack. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danm Posted August 5 Author Share Posted August 5 (edited) I expect to be waiting at least another week now before I'll get my ST back as I don't think he's desoldered the RAM yet but Russell has recapped (some of) my PSU. Quote Power supply finished and reassembled. All caps changed, R201 and R202 changed, 4 pin bridge rectifier fitted and D202 changed. Here's before: And here's after: Edited August 5 by danm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logronoide Posted August 5 Share Posted August 5 On 7/31/2024 at 8:53 PM, danm said: Yes I was going to print a case for my sidecart today but it didn't happen. I was going to print this one: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6712743 How on earth did I miss this case? Just added it to the list of available cases. Better late than never, right? https://docs.sidecartridge.com/sidecartridge-multidevice/cases/ 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danm Posted August 14 Author Share Posted August 14 (edited) A couple of days ago I got my recapped A600 and STFM back so yesterday I upgraded my ST to 4 MB RAM using exxos' MMU/shifter upgrade. I had to remove the shifters top shielding to put my case back on. I also tested using HxCFloppyEmulator to convert an .msa disk image into a 800 Kb .st image which I successfully transferred to floppy under Linux using dd and tested it OK. I used FOFT51 (Midnight Resistance) for that. Edited August 14 by danm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danm Posted August 20 Author Share Posted August 20 (edited) So far I have been using the rather odd combo of a modfied Atari joystick extension cable and an Amiga PS2 mouse adapter for a mouse on my STFM. That had been working fine until I tried ProTracker. I had two Amiga PS2 mouse adapters, both worked with my ST and Amiga mouse/Atari extension cable and ProTracker seems to have killed them both. In both cases, my mouse partly worked for a couple of minutes before it lost power which is when my Amiga PS2 mouse adapter seems to have had enough. Has anyone heard of this happening before? I have bought a KMTech MKIII Amiga/Atari PS/2 mouse adapter to replace it with. Dare I try ProTracker again with it? Edited August 20 by danm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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