800xl help

[chguat]

Hey guys, this is my first post on this forum. I just got my 800xl yesterday. Actually, I made off like a bandit with a whole pile of 800xl goodies. 2 cpu's, 1050 drive, 1010 drive, 30+ cassettes, 5 cartridges, 2 joysticks, all the cables and power supplies, and the kicker is that both cpu's and drives were in their original boxes.

 

Anyway, I haven't used an 800xl since I was 12, and it looks like I've forgotten a few things. I was trying to load a disk and I have no idea how to do it. I don't have a copy of Dos, so I don't know if I need it to just load a disk. I have a basic cart if that makes a difference. Anyway, is there a command I need to tpye or something, or is my drive possibly konked out (I hear the 1050 is prone to that)? I can get the power light to turn on, but not the read light.

 

Anyway, any help in teaching me how to load things using the disk drive will be appreciated.

[kevin242]

this should answer most of your questions:

 

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/atari-8-bit/faq/

 

but to answer your question directly use load file from dos and type d1:filename.ext

[Rybags]

Just powering on the Atari with the 1050 connected should give a BOOT ERROR at least.

 

Sometimes the cables play up and you have to jiggle them.

 

Next thing to do is build a SIO2PC/APE cable:

 

http://www.geocities.com/atarimods/howto-sio.html

 

It's a reasonable simple project, the 1489 IC is widely available through electronics outlets.

 

Then head to http://www.atarimax.com and grab the latest version of APE.

 

There are posts all over the place on these forums pointing to ATR disk images and DOS downloads.

[chguat]

Yeah, I don't get a boot error or anything with the 1050 connected. The power light comes on but nothing else. I did get my 1010 cassette drive going using the exact same power supply and SIO cable, which leads me to believe that the drive is just dead. I tried everything I could think of and got no sign that the disk wanted to read, or that the atari knew the drive was there. The 1050 is probably just dead. Am I right in thinking this? And if I am, what can I do (other than get an SIO2PC, which I already want to do)?

[Rybags]

The motor should spin up on the 1050s if you open/close the latch.

 

Next step is to check the drive ID switches (recessed at the back of the drive).

 

Both switches should be to the left (to ID it as drive 1).

[chguat]

Yeah, I can't hear the motor spin at all when I close the latch, and the read light doesn't come on either. I only saw one drive ID switch, and it was switched to the left. Anyway, I'm going to take it in to this local shop that really knows their vintage gear and see if they can't coerce it into running.