115 replies to this topic

[trub]

flashjazzcat, on Thu Feb 5, 2009 3:27 PM, said:

I hope "emulator friendly" versions of this cart will now be officially released.

Done, see sdx.atari8.info.

[flashjazzcat]

trub, on Sun Feb 8, 2009 6:47 PM, said:

flashjazzcat, on Thu Feb 5, 2009 3:27 PM, said:

I hope "emulator friendly" versions of this cart will now be officially released.

Done, see sdx.atari8.info.

Excellent stuff!

[rdea6]

trub, on Sun Feb 8, 2009 11:47 AM, said:

flashjazzcat, on Thu Feb 5, 2009 3:27 PM, said:

I hope "emulator friendly" versions of this cart will now be officially released.

Done, see sdx.atari8.info.

I like it, officially.

[twh/f2]

trub, on Sun Feb 8, 2009 7:47 PM, said:

flashjazzcat, on Thu Feb 5, 2009 3:27 PM, said:

I hope "emulator friendly" versions of this cart will now be officially released.

Done, see sdx.atari8.info.

great! now can also people without the specific hardware (atarimax, freezer, ..) try out and enjoy SpartaDosX.

grtx,
\twh

[drac030]

Bober has written Core Wars for the SDX, the link for downloading the ATR image can be found here: http://atariki.krap....x.php/Core_Wars

Previously he also released few little programs for SDX, called Toys:
http://atariki.krap.pl/index.php/Toys

As for other news, Zenon/Dial has designed a flashable 128k SDX cartridge, compatible with intSDX. But for now I don't know, how and when it will be available.

[David_P]

Core Wars? For the Atari 8?



There goes any free time I might have had for the next few months...

[NuY]

SpartaX is rather awesome, but I have a problem with it. I acquired a 65XE with internal SpartaX, 1mb RAM, dual Pokey, AKI kb interface, and internal QMEG.

I have a MAC/65 cart that refuses to work when internal SpartaX is running. Using the default config file, Sparta comes up as normal, but on entering CAR to run MAC/65, the normal welcome message appears at the top of the screen (copyright 1984 OSS etc.) and promptly freezes the machine with the Edit prompt and cursor displayed. The cart version is 1.01 according to the display.

The cart works fine under any operation where SpartaX is disabled.

Anyone have any clues?

[kurtm]

Quick question. Does anybody use Action with the new SDX under emulation? If so, how?

I'm not aware of a way to use the new SDX (or the old 4.21) under emulation like how you'd use it on a real atari. (With the passthrough).

So I've been sticking with 3.2 or REAL.DOS for now.

[MEtalGuy66]

NuY, on Wed Feb 11, 2009 9:35 AM, said:

SpartaX is rather awesome, but I have a problem with it. I acquired a 65XE with internal SpartaX, 1mb RAM, dual Pokey, AKI kb interface, and internal QMEG.

I have a MAC/65 cart that refuses to work when internal SpartaX is running. Using the default config file, Sparta comes up as normal, but on entering CAR to run MAC/65, the normal welcome message appears at the top of the screen (copyright 1984 OSS etc.) and promptly freezes the machine with the Edit prompt and cursor displayed. The cart version is 1.01 according to the display.

The cart works fine under any operation where SpartaX is disabled.

Anyone have any clues?

Stuff I'd check:
1) The obvious (condition of contacts on the OSS cart) no wires that have come loose from the SDX-INT installation, etc..

2) Try a different OSS supercart (BASIC XL, BASIC XE, ACTION, or different copy of MAC/65) to determine if mabe the logic on that cart is just wierding out when hooked "in-line" with SDX (so to speak)..

3) SpartaDOS X internal installation(Get out your Ohm meter): Make sure that the /S5,/S4,RD4, and RD5 wires (comming from pins 6,7,20, and 21 on the GAL) are going to pins (12,19,8, and 7 respectively) of the MMU(C061618),and these MMU pins are NOT connected to the motherboard.. Then make sure that GAL pins 13,14,18 and 19 have continuity to cart slot pins A,14,12, and 1 respectively, and NOT to the MMU..

4)If all this checks out, The GAL on the SDX-INT could be flakey..

Edited by MEtalGuy66, Wed Feb 11, 2009 10:27 AM.

[atarimac]

kurtm,
You can use Action, Mac/65, etc. with the Atari800MacX emulator on the Mac, as I added that capability a few versions ago. It will only work with the standard cart image, not the Max Flash image, as the emulator doesn't have a way to know that a SpartaDosX Max flash image is a SpartDosX, and not some other Max Flash cartridge.
I've talked to one of the other Atari800 team members about adding this to the core emulator (Atari800), and that may happen in the near future.
Of course Atari800WinPlus would have to be added by the guys currently looking at rebuilding it (as my knowledge of Windows programming is very thin.)

Mark

[trub]

NuY, on Wed Feb 11, 2009 5:35 PM, said:

I have a MAC/65 cart that refuses to work when internal SpartaX is running

If you have the flashable version of intSDX, disable flashing (there should be a switch/jumper somewhere). It should be enabled only during the process. Leaving it enabled afterwards causes such problems.

[MEtalGuy66]

Heh. Well, don't feel bad.. Niether BASIC XE, or MAC/65 works in the passthrough slot of the ORIGINAL ICD SPartaDOS X 4.19 cart I have here.. They both lock up when you type CAR

[selgus]

trub, on Wed Feb 11, 2009 12:58 PM, said:

NuY, on Wed Feb 11, 2009 5:35 PM, said:

I have a MAC/65 cart that refuses to work when internal SpartaX is running

If you have the flashable version of intSDX, disable flashing (there should be a switch/jumper somewhere). It should be enabled only during the process. Leaving it enabled afterwards causes such problems.

Is the intSDX something that is still being sold or is it a DIY type project? I have found many references how to mod one, but haven't seen a board layout. Thanks.
--Selgus

[NuY]

MEtalGuy66, on Thu Feb 12, 2009 4:54 AM, said:

Heh. Well, don't feel bad.. Niether BASIC XE, or MAC/65 works in the passthrough slot of the ORIGINAL ICD SPartaDOS X 4.19 cart I have here.. They both lock up when you type CAR

I should have mentioned that this is v4.42 of SDX, but that's exactly what happens.

Thanks for the tips Ken, I'm gonna rip open the XE and have a look, but unfortunately my electronics skills pretty much top out at plugging a chip into a socket, and my soldering skills have destroyed many things over the years This upgrade (along with everything else inside was done by the guy that sold me the Atari on ebay, and works flawlessly (with what I've tried) other than this prob.

I also don't have an oscilloscope or any other OSS carts As far as I'm aware, I don't even have any utility carts of any description that allow DOS to work when booted, it's all games... Thanks for the help though, I'll see what I can scrounge up on ebay for testing purposes with other software.

Trub, thanks for the help also - bearing in mind I didn't perform the installation myself, where would I find the jumper or switch for flashing (if it is flashable)? I know the basic layout of a 65XE, but I don't know where even the SDX kit goes internally, and with the other upgrades that are in there (RAM, POKEY, QMEG etc), I don't want to potentially damage anything

[flashjazzcat]

Well, I've just fitted a new keyboard to my 128K 65XE, cleaned the case, have a 320K mod waiting to be fitted, and have just flashed my 1MB MaxFlash cart with SDX 4.42 using my SIO2SD. Fantastic is all I can say! These are great times to be an Atari8 user.

[Allan]

flashjazzcat, on Thu Feb 12, 2009 10:47 AM, said:

Well, I've just fitted a new keyboard to my 128K 65XE, cleaned the case, have a 320K mod waiting to be fitted, and have just flashed my 1MB MaxFlash cart with SDX 4.42 using my SIO2SD. Fantastic is all I can say! These are great times to be an Atari8 user.

Yes they are. I just put together my CM108 mouse adapter for my 130XE. It works great with Atariartist.

Allan

[MEtalGuy66]

I just burned SDX 4.42 AND SDX 4.22 on a 27C020 eprom, and installed it in an original ICD SDX cart, with a switch to select between the two.

[drac030]

MEtalGuy66, on Thu Feb 12, 2009 3:33 PM, said:

I just burned SDX 4.42 AND SDX 4.22 on a 27C020 eprom, and installed it in an original ICD SDX cart, with a switch to select between the two.

But this isn't enough, right? To access the 4.42 (which is twice as big as 4.22) you have to modify the original cart's logic, I suppose.

[MEtalGuy66]

To upgrade an original ICD SpartaDOS X cartridge to SpartaDOS X ver. 4.42:
Follow the "part 2" instructions on this page: http://trub.atari8.i...intsdx_128kb_en
Replace steps 3,4, and 5 with the following:

3. Cut pin 13 of the GAL and bend it up away from the PCB
4. Solder a wire from the bent-up pin 13 to pin 10 of the GAL.
5. Solder a wire from pin 8 of the new EPROM to pin 12 of the new 74LS175.


Complete Instructions to upgrade an original ICD SpartaDOS X cartridge to SpartaDOS X ver. 4.42 and have the ability to switch back to 4.22 with a toggle-switch:

Required Parts & Materials:
74LS175
27C020
SPST toggle switch
hookup wire & solder

1. Load up your favorite hex editor.. (I like AXE or Hex Workshop on the PC), and load this file: http://sdx.atari8.in...x442_sdx128.zip.

2. Paste a copy of this file: http://hardware.atar.../sdx/sdx422.zip onto the end of it.

3. Paste a second copy of it onto the end of that.. Your total file size should be 262144 bytes. If not, you did something wrong. Start over and try again.

4. Save the new file, and burn it to a 27C020 EPROM.

5. Take a new 74LS175 and bend up all pins with the exception of 1,8,9 and 16. Cut off the thin part of all bent pins (we are going to use the pins 11 and 12).

6. Find the existing 74LS175 IC (U1) on the cart PCB, and piggy-back the new 74LS175 on top of it (solder pins 1-1, 8-8, 9-9, 16-16).

7. Cut pin 13 of the GAL (U3) and bend it up away from the PCB

8. Solder a wire from the bent-up pin 13 to pin 10 of the GAL.

9. Solder a wire from pin 8 of the new EPROM to pin 12 of the new 74LS175.

10. Bend up pins 1,2,30,31,and 32 of your newly programmed 27020 EPROM. Cut off the thin part of each of these pins. Now insert the 27020 EPROM into the original socket so that the pins you just bent up are overhanging the edge of the socket near the top (passthrough end) of the cartridge, and all the pins that you didn't bend up are going into the original 28 pin socket.

11. Solder a wire from pin 2 of the EPROM to pin 11 of the new 74LS175.

12. Solder a 4.7k resistor from pin 30 to 32 on the EPROM.

13. Solder a wire from pin 32 of the EPROM to pin 13 on the cart connector (This is the +5v on the cart connector. You'll see a fat trace running directly to it, its right next to pin 32 of the EPROM.)

14. Solder a wire from pin 30 of the EPROM to one terminal of a SPST toggle switch.

15. Solder a wire from the other terminal of the switch to GND (you can use pin 8 of the 74LS175, pin 10 of the GAL, or pin 16 of the EPROM for this.)

16. Insert the cart in your atari, turn it on and test it.

If everything has been properly done, you should be able to switch between both versions of SpartaDOS by flipping the switch, and cold-starting the machine.

Disclaimer: If you fry something, I did not tell you to do any of this. The above instructions are merely a halucination. You dreamed it up yourself and maliciously destroyed your own hardware.. You DAMN PSYCHOTIC ATARI KILLER!


Ps. I have a really good picture I can upload to go with this when I get home tonight. Also, I can upload the pre-made 256k EPROM image, in case anyone is too lazy to make it themselves as outlined above..

Edited by MEtalGuy66, Thu Feb 12, 2009 10:52 AM.

[drac030]

That's really great stuff. I am afraid, however, that there are not many atarians to modify their original ICD SDX cartridge considering its price on E-Bay But what the hell, personally I would do it, of course.

[MEtalGuy66]

drac030, on Thu Feb 12, 2009 11:25 AM, said:

That's really great stuff. I am afraid, however, that there are not many atarians to modify their original ICD SDX cartridge considering its price on E-Bay But what the hell, personally I would do it, of course.

As far as permanent modifications involved, you're only cutting one pin of the gal.. It could easily be put back "stock" by inserting a new machined pin through the hole in the PCB and soldering this back to the bent-up/cut pin 13 on the GAL.. Then just desolder everything else in the mod, and plug your original EPROM back in, and it's back 100% stock..

So basically, anyone who has the menial skills necessary to PERFORM the mod in the first place, also has the skills necessary to completely reverse it, with "no harm done"...

That said, please refer to my disclaimer in the previous post.

Edited by MEtalGuy66, Thu Feb 12, 2009 11:31 AM.

[MEtalGuy66]

Picture of SpartaDOS X Cart upgraded to switch between v4.42 and v4.22

[spookt]

MEtalGuy66, on Fri Feb 13, 2009 5:48 AM, said:

Picture of SpartaDOS X Cart upgraded to switch between v4.42 and v4.22

MVC_004F.JPG

Nice, I'm so tempted to do this. I have 4.20 in my SDX cart which doesn't play nice with formatting 128 bytes per sector images on my SIO2USB. The ABBUC guys have tested with 4.42 and confirm everything works there so I think I'll do this right after I get back from France next week.

Thanks for the instructions MetalGuy.

Edited by spookt, Fri Feb 13, 2009 5:31 AM.

[selgus]

I still like the idea of having an internal SDX board in the Atari. Since I couldn't find the board layout on the net, I might just layout my own board from the schematic that is out there.
--Selgus

[rdea6]

MEtalGuy66, on Thu Feb 12, 2009 9:43 AM, said:

To upgrade an original ICD SpartaDOS X cartridge to SpartaDOS X ver. 4.42:
Follow the "part 2" instructions on this page: http://trub.atari8.i...intsdx_128kb_en
Replace steps 3,4, and 5 with the following:

3. Cut pin 13 of the GAL and bend it up away from the PCB
4. Solder a wire from the bent-up pin 13 to pin 10 of the GAL.
5. Solder a wire from pin 8 of the new EPROM to pin 12 of the new 74LS175.


Complete Instructions to upgrade an original ICD SpartaDOS X cartridge to SpartaDOS X ver. 4.42 and have the ability to switch back to 4.22 with a toggle-switch:

Required Parts & Materials:
74LS175
27C020
SPST toggle switch
hookup wire & solder

1. Load up your favorite hex editor.. (I like AXE or Hex Workshop on the PC), and load this file: http://sdx.atari8.in...x442_sdx128.zip.

2. Paste a copy of this file: http://hardware.atar.../sdx/sdx422.zip onto the end of it.

3. Paste a second copy of it onto the end of that.. Your total file size should be 262144 bytes. If not, you did something wrong. Start over and try again.

Hi, I was wondering if anything else other than the SDX4.22 file could be put into this space. Like Basic XE or Mac/65 or any other rom or blank.

TIA