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Archive-name: atari-8-bit/faq Posting-Frequency: monthly Welcome to the comp.sys.atari.8bit/Info-Atari8 Digest/INFO-A8 discussion group! Atari 8-Bit Computers Frequently Asked Questions List Revised 28-Apr-95 Additions/suggestions/comments/corrections are needed! Please send to: mailto:mcurrent@carleton.edu UUCP: ...!umn-cs!ccnfld!mcurrent Cleveland Free-Net: aa700 Copyright (c) 1992-1995 by Michael D. Current, and others where noted. This file may be reproduced, in whole or in part, so long as the content of that portion reproduced is not modified, so long as no profit is gained from such reproduction, and so long as credit is given to this FAQ list or its Maintainer, or the author of that section reproduced when given. The Atari 8-Bit Computers Frequently Asked Questions List was created to provide answers to many commonly asked questions found in the Internet's comp.sys.atari.8bit/Info-Atari8 Digest/INFO-A8 discussion group. It is in a constant state of development, and comes with no guarantees. If you see any problems, I need to hear from you! --- Where to get the latest copy of the 8-bit Atari FAQ List --- The home of many FTP archive sites, automatically updated monthly: ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-group/news.answers/atari-8-bit/faq The World Wide Web hypertext version, automatically generated monthly: http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/atari-8-bit/faq/faq.html Alternate hypertext version, not as fancy, in Europe: http://www.cs.ruu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/atari-8-bit/faq.html Usenet newsgroups where this FAQ list is automatically posted monthly: news:comp.sys.atari.8bit news:comp.answers news:news.answers You can also get the latest version by e-mail. mailto:mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu, message says: send usenet/news.answers/atari-8-bit/faq quit ------------------------------ Subject: 0.1) Table of contents 0.1) Table of contents Introduction 1.1) What is an Atari 8-bit computer? Usenet 2.1) What is comp.sys.atari.8bit? 2.2) What is comp.sys.atari.announce? 2.3) What is comp.sys.atari.advocacy? 2.4) What is comp.sys.atari.programmer? 2.5) What is comp.emulators.misc? 2.6) What is comp.emulators.announce? E-Mail 3.1) What is the Info-Atari8 Digest? 3.2) What is INFO-A8? 3.3) How can I access the Merit/UMich Archive by e-mail? 3.4) How can I retrieve files from FTP sites by e-mail? 3.5) How can I post to Usenet newsgroups by e-mail? 3.6) How can I access the World Wide Web by e-mail? FTP 4.1) How can I access the Merit/UMich Archive by FTP? 4.2) What is the Boston Archive? 4.3) What is the PVV Archive? 4.4) What is the ClarkNet Archive? 4.5) What is the Gatekeeper's Archive? 4.6) What is the Closer To Home Archive? 4.7) What is the James King Archive? Telnet 5.1) What is the Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIG? 5.2) What is the Youngstown Free-Net Atari SIG? 5.3) What is the National Capital Free-Net Atari SIG? 5.4) What is the Closer To Home BBS? 5.5) How can I access the World Wide Web by Telnet? Gopher 6.1) How can I retrieve files from the Merit/UMich Archive through Gopher? World Wide Web 7.1) What WWW pages support the 8-bit Atari? Prospero 7.8) How can I access the Merit/UMich Archive by AFS? IRC 7.9) What is #Atari8? Online Magazines 8.1) What is the CAIN Newsletter? File Formats 9.1) What's this UUEncoding stuff (.uu, .uue files) all about? 9.2) What is an .arc file? 9.3) Okay, how about a .dcm file? 9.4) What is an .xmo file? Emulation 10.1) What 8-bit Atari emulators exist for other computing platforms? File Transfer Solutions 11.1) What are the best terminal emulators available? 11.2) Can I read/write 8-bit Atari disks on an IBM-PC? 11.3) Can I read/write MS-DOS disks on an 8-bit Atari? 11.4) How do I transfer files using a null modem cable? Storage Media 12.1) What 5.25" floppy disk drives are available? 12.2) How can I use 3.5" floppy disks with my 8-bit Atari? 12.3) What do I need to connect a hard drive to my 8-bit Atari? 12.4) How can I use an IBM-PC as a storage device for my Atari? General Interest 13.1) What's the best DOS for the Atari? 13.2) What hardware has Atari created in the 8-bit computer line? 13.3) What are the power-supply requirements for my Atari components? 13.4) What are the pinouts for the...? 13.5) What BBS software can be used on the Atari? Other Documents of Interest 14.1) What vendors, developers, or publishers support the 8-bit Atari? 14.2) Where is my nearest 8-bit Atari BBS? 14.3) Where is my nearest 8-bit Atari user group? 14.4) How do I use my new or emulated Atari? 14.5) What prominent Atarians are reachable by e-mail? ------------------------------ Subject: 1.1) What is an Atari 8-bit computer? In order of their release, the Atari 8-bit computers include the 400, 800, 1200XL, 600XL, 800XL, 65XE, 130XE, and the XE Game System. The 400/800 models were first shown publicly in November 1978 and first sold in 1979. The final machine, the XE Game System, was released in 1987. Atari Corp. officially dropped all remaining support of their 8-bit computer line on January 1, 1992. The following text was written by Chris Crawford and appears in De Re Atari (Atari#APX-90008), a book published and copyright by Atari, Inc., 1981-1982. It has been very slightly modified here for generality. "The internal layout of the Atari 8-bit computer is very different from other systems. It of course has a microprocessor (a 6502), RAM, ROM, and a (PIA). However, it also has three special-purpose (LSI) chips known as ANTIC, GTIA, and POKEY. These chips were designed by Atari engineers primarily to take much of the burden of housekeeping off of the 6502, thereby freeing the 6502 to concentrate on computations. While they were at it, they designed a great deal of power into these chips. Each of these chips is almost as big (in terms of silicon area) as a 6502, so the three of them together provide a tremendous amount of power. Mastering the Atari 8-bit computers is primarily a matter of mastering these three chips. ANTIC is a microprocessor dedicated to the television display. It is a true microprocessor; it has an instruction set, a program (called the display list), and data. The display list and the display data are written into RAM by the 6502. ANTIC retrieves this information from RAM using direct memory access (DMA). It processes the higher level instructions in the display list and translates these instructions into a real-time stream of simple instructions to GTIA. GTIA is a television interface chip. ANTIC directly controls most of GTIA's operations, but the 6502 can be programmed to intercede and control some or all of GTIA's functions. GTIA converts the digital commands from ANTIC (or the 6502) into the signal that goes to the television. GTIA also adds some factors of its own, such as color values, player-missle graphics, and collision detection. POKEY is a digital input/output (I/O) chip. It handles such disparate tasks as the serial I/O bus, audio generation, keyboard scan, and random number generation. It also digitizes the resistive paddle inputs and controls maskable interrupt (IRQ) requests from peripherals. All four of these LSI chips function simultaneously. Careful separation of their functions in the design phase has minimized conflicts between the chips. The only hardware level conflict between any two chips in the system occurs when ANTIC needs to use the address and data buses to fetch its display information. To do this, it halts the 6502 and takes control of the buses." The 130XE and XEGS contain a small additional LSI called FREDDIE. According to mailto:masstorage@closer.brisnet.org.au (Masstorage), "Freddy is a type of memory controller. It takes the address and clock from the CPU and multiplexes it with the appropriate timings and signals to use DYNAMIC memory. Freddy also buffers the system clock crystal and divides it down then feeds that to GTIA. The XEGS has a freddy but it doesn't have the extended RAM. Even if it did, you would still need the chip that does the REAL bank switching. It is a small 16-pin chip (Atari/Best Electronics catalog number CO25953: rev9/page 42). It gets RAS from freddy, the bank select bits from PIA, A14, A15 and the 6502 halt signal to control which bank of 8 chips RAS goes to. A14 and A15 then go to freddy for the address range of the extra memory bank (or normal address range with no bank switching). The ANTIC/6502 select bits in combination with the 6502 halt line, control the switching of the PIA bank number bits to A14/A15 and which bank of memory RAS goes to. Why people say freddy does the bank switching is beyond me. An 800XL can look like a 130XE with that 16-pin chip installed (That's right NO freddy) and an extra 8 RAM chips." Hardware Arrangement OS RAM======# #======+-+ User RAM====# |P| +-----+ |r|======|6502 | Left Cart.==# |o| +-----+ # |c| OS ROM======#======|e| # |s| +-----+ Right Cart.=# |s|======|ANTIC|-<------Light Pen |o| +-----+ |r| | | | \/ |b| | /-Console Switches |u| +-----+-<---+--Joystick Triggers |s|======|GTIA | /-Picture | | +-----+--->-+--Sound | | | \-Keyboard Speaker | | /\ | | | /-Keyboard | | +-----+-<---+--Paddles | |======|POKEY| | | +-----+====Disk Drives====Other Peripherals | | | | +-----+ /-Keyboard Controllers +-+======| PIA |-<---+--Joystick +-----+ \-Paddle Triggers Beginners at using the 8-bit Atari platform may wish to contact Bill Kendrick, mailto:kendrick@sonoma.edu, for his Newbie/Emulator FAQ. The following is taken from Bill's Newbie/Emulator FAQ. Graphics: The Atari has maximum resolution of 320 x 192 (standard, non-overscanned screen) x 2 colors. 160 x 192 x 4, 160 x 192 x 2, 160 x 96 x 4, 160 x 96 x 2, 80 x 48 x 4, 80 x 48 x 2, 40 x 48 x 4 graphics are also supported. 40 x 24 x 256-character (128 normal, 128 inverse, character set indirection available) text mode is standard (2 colors). 40 x 24 x 128-multi-colored-character (4 colors per character allowed, the other 128 characters have 4th changed into a color 5) and 40 x 12 x 128-multi-colored-character screen modes are available. GTIA graphics support 80 x 192 x 16 shade-only, 80 x 192 x 16 hue-only, and 80 x 192 x 9 color screen modes. Graphics Modes Summarized: Mode Horiz.xVert.xColors text/graphics 0 40 x 24 x 2 text 1 20 x 24 x 5 text 2 20 x 12 x 5 text 3 40 x 24 x 4 graphics 4 80 x 48 x 2 graphics 5 80 x 48 x 4 graphics 6 160 x 96 x 2 graphics 7 160 x 96 x 4 graphics 8 320 x 192 x 4 graphics 9 80 x 192 x 16 luminence-only graphics 10 80 x 192 x 9 graphics 11 80 x 192 x 16 hue-only graphics 12 40 x 24 x 4-colored text 13 40 x 12 x 4-colored text 14 160 x 192 x 2 graphics 15 160 x 192 x 4 graphics Normal (bordered), narrow (underscanned), and wide (overscanned) screen modes are available. Screen modes can be mixed (by lines) down the screen using the Display List (a program which is executed by the ANTIC graphics chip every screen refresh (60 times per second on real NTSC Ataris). Fine scrolling (both vertical and horizontal) can be enabled on any line on the screen. All other screen attributes (color, player/missile horizontal position, screen width, player/missile/playfield priority, etc.) can be ajusted at any point down the screen via a "Display List Interrupt." Four 8-bit wide, 128 or 256 byte high single color players, and four 2-bit wide, 128 or 256 byte high single color missiles are available. A mode to combine the 4 missiles into a 5th 8-bit wide player is also available, as is a mode to XOR colors or blacken out colors when players overlap (good for making three colors out of two players!) Players and missiles have adjustable priority and collision detection. Sound: Four voices of 8-bit pitch-resolution, 4-bit volume-resolution, 8-distortion sound can be produced. 2 voices (1 and 2, and/or 3 and 4) can be combined to make 16-bit pitch-resolution. Also 4-bit volume-only modes can be enabled for digitally sampled sound replay. A fifth "voice" is produced by the internal speaker on Atari 400/800's (for keyclick and buzzer) and in the XL's and XE's this was (fortunately!) rerouted through the normal audio output, and the keyclick can be disabled. [I'd like more system spec's here.] ------------------------------ Subject: 2.1) What is comp.sys.atari.8bit? If you have Usenet newsgroup access you can access this discussion group through news:comp.sys.atari.8bit. This is an unmoderated newsgroup for discussion about the 8-bit Atari 400/800/XL/XE computing platform. All postings to news:comp.sys.atari.8bit automatically appear in the Info-Atari8 Digest and in INFO-A8. comp.sys.atari was split into comp.sys.atari.8bit and comp.sys.atari.st in approximately 1986. To the best of my knowledge, there is no charter for comp.sys.atari.8bit, presumably because the custom of drafting charters for new newsgroups did not exist at that time. news:comp.sys.atari.8bit is archived by the INFO-A8 listserv. ------------------------------ Subject: 2.2) What is comp.sys.atari.announce? news:comp.sys.atari.announce is the moderated Usenet newsgroup for news items and announcements related to all Atari computing platforms. This is a low-volume, high-signal newsgroup, useful for reaching the widest possible audience when making 8-bit Atari announcements. Moderated by Yat Siu from mailto:lexicor@world.std.com ------------------------------ Subject: 2.3) What is comp.sys.atari.advocacy? news:comp.sys.atari.advocacy is the unmoderated Usenet newsgroup for advocating for or against the various Atari computing platforms. If you enjoy making comparisons between Atari 8-bit and other computing platforms, this is the place to do it. ------------------------------ Subject: 2.4) What is comp.sys.atari.programmer? news:comp.sys.atari.programmer is the unmoderated Usenet newsgroup for topics in programming on the various Atari computing platforms, including the Atari 8-bit. ------------------------------ Subject: 2.5) What is comp.emulators.misc? news:comp.emulators.misc is the unmoderated Usenet newsgroup for the discussion of emulating computing platforms on other computing platforms. All emulator discussion that does not involve the Apple ][, the Commodore 64, or the WINE MS-Windows emulator (which each have their own emulator groups) may be found on news:comp.emulators.misc. ------------------------------ Subject: 2.6) What is comp.emulators.announce? news:comp.emulators.announce is the moderated Usenet newsgroup for news items about emulating one computing platform on another. This is a low-volume, high-signal newsgroup, useful for reaching the widest possible audience when making 8-bit Atari emulator announcements. The moderator may be contacted at mailto:emulators-request@qualcomm.com ------------------------------ Subject: 3.1) What is the Info-Atari8 Digest? If you have Internet e-mail access you can access this discussion group through the Info-Atari8 Digest. The Info-Atari8 Digest originates from mailto:atari8@netcom.com Subscription requests should be sent to the above address with the subject: SUBSCRIBE | UNSUBSCRIBE (that is, one or the other) The first line of the body of the letter should be the person's full name followed by his/her mailing address. For example: Mike Todd snyder10@convex1.tcs.tulane.edu To contribute to discussion threads in the Info-Atari8 Digest, send your posting to mailto:comp-sys-atari-8bit@cs.utexas.edu. Postings sent here automatically appear on news:comp.sys.atari.8bit and in INFO-A8. Note that any posting sent to mailto:atari8@netcom.com will NOT be cross-posted to news:comp.sys.atari.8bit. The Moderator is presently working to correct this. The Info-Atari8 Digest is archived by the INFO-A8 listserv. Recent copies are also kept at ftp://ftp.kendall.mdcc.edu/pub/atari/info-a8/ (147.70.146.36) by Jason Duerstock. The Info-Atari8 Digest Moderator is Mike Todd, mailto:snyder10@convex1.TCS.Tulane.EDU ------------------------------ Subject: 3.2) What is INFO-A8? If you have BITNET or Internet e-mail access you can access this discussion group through INFO-A8. The BITNET subscription commands are: tell listserv at marist register <your real full name> tell listserv at marist subscribe info-a8 The Internet subscription command is: mailto:listerv@vm.marist.edu, message says subscribe info-a8 <your real full name> To contribute to discussion threads in INFO-A8, send your posting to mailto:comp-sys-atari-8bit@cs.utexas.edu. Postings sent here automatically appear on news:comp.sys.atari.8bit and in the Info-Atari8 Digest. Any postings sent to mailto:info-a8@vm.marist.edu or to INFO-A8@MARIST will not reach news:comp.sys.atari.8bit, so don't send your postings there. You may leave the list at any time by sending a "SIGNOFF INFO-A8" command to LISTSERV@MARIST, or by sending a message to mailto:listserv@vm.marist.edu that says "unsubscribe info-a8". Please note that this command must NOT be sent to INFO-A8@MARIST nor to mailto:info-a8@vm.marist.edu. The archive of comp.sys.atari.8bit, the Info-Atari8 Digest, and INFO-A8: You can obtain a list of the available archive files by sending an "INDEX INFO-A8" command to LISTSERV@MARIST or by sending a message to mailto:listserv@vm.marist.edu that says "index info-a8". These files can then be retrieved by means of a "GET INFO-A8 filetype" command, or by using the database search facilities of LISTSERV. Send an "INFO DATABASE" command for more information on the latter. Recent copies are also kept at ftp://ftp.kendall.mdcc.edu/pub/atari/info-a8/ (147.70.146.36) by Jason Duerstock. The INFO-A8 Moderators are: HARRY@MARIST (A Harry Williams) mailto:ravi@mcnc.org (Ravi Subrahmanyan) mailto:billw@score.stanford.edu (Bill Westfield) INFO-A8 was created on December 9, 1986. ------------------------------ Subject: 3.3) How can I access the Merit/UMich Archive by e-mail? For more information on the Merit/UMich archive, see the section of this FAQ list on accessing this archive by FTP. Downloading - BART ----------- Brode's Archive Retrieval Thang - the Merit/UMich Archive e-mail file server To learn about using BART to access the Merit/UMich Archive, send e-mail to: mailto:atari@atari.archive.umich.edu. The subject of the message doesn't matter, but let the body of your message be: help send 8bit/0index If you receive nothing within a day (it should take just a few minutes), try including a line of this form: path [your e-mail address] BART automatically uuencodes binary files (so they may be mailed over the Internet) and splits up large files into parts of about 30K or less. Uploading --------- Simply uuencode the file, (please split it into parts of 60 K or less) and mail the result to mailto:lenn@atari.archive.umich.edu. Please name the parts in the subject line. This is really helpful as the parts usually don't arrive in the proper sequence. Also, please include a message labeled "file transmission," containing a short description of the file, etc. Shar files are also acceptable, but uuencoded is preferred. ------------------------------ Subject: 3.4) How can I retrieve files from FTP sites by e-mail? There are several general-purpose FTP mail-servers. These may be used to retrieve any files available from anonymous FTP sites on the Internet. 1) mailto:ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com with no subject line, and two-line body with line 1 help and line 2 quit 2) mailto:ftpmail@grasp.insa-lyon.fr (body: help ) Please, European users only. 3) mailto:bitftp@pucc.princeton.edu (body: help or ftplist for a list of anonymous ftp sites) 4) mail BITFTP@DEARN or to mailto:BITFTP@vm.gmd.de (body: help or ftplist for a list of anonymous ftp sites) (Europe only) ------------------------------ Subject: 3.5) How can I post to Usenet newsgroups by e-mail? There are a several 'public' mail/News gateways. Each one has their own ways for addressing syntax. The three most common ones are: Site: cs.utexas.edu Syntax: newsgroup-name@cs.utexas.edu Example: To send to the newsgroup 'comp.sys.atari.8bit', address the message to comp-sys-atari-8bit@cs.utexas.edu Site: newbase.cs.yale.edu Syntax: newsgroup.name-news@newsbase.cs.yale.edu Example: To send to the newsgroup 'comp.sys.atari.8bit', address the message to comp.sys.atari.8bit-news@newsbase.cs.yale.edu Site: decwrl.dec.com Syntax: newsgroup.name@decwrl.dec.com Example: To send to the newsgroup 'comp.sys.atari.8bit', address the message to comp.sys.atari.8bit@decwrl.dec.com Mail-to-news gateways of this sort tend to be overloaded. Therefore, please do not use these gateways or any other similar gateways if you can post to Usenet directly. ------------------------------ Subject: 3.6) How can I access the World Wide Web by e-mail? Swiped from the WWW FAQ, which is maintained by mailto:boutell@netcom.com (Thomas Boutell), here is how to access a web page by email: mailto:server@mail.w3.org (preferred) or to mailto:listserv@info.cern.ch (older address) containing the following single line. (What you put on the subject line doesn't matter; blank is OK. This line should go in the text of the message.) You will receive as a reply a simple page intended to help you learn more about the Web. send http://www.earn.net/gnrt/www.html ------------------------------ Subject: 4.1) How can I access the Merit/UMich Archive by FTP? The Merit/University of Michigan Software Archives hold a huge number of files for many computing platforms, including the Atari 8-bit computers. Our 8-bit Atari Archivist is Jody Lenn, mailto:lenn@atari.archive.umich.edu; the Atari Archive as a whole is maintained by Mickey Boyd, mailto:boydm@atari.archive.umich.edu. The convention for Anonymous FTP sites is to accept "anonymous" as your username, and your e-mail address as your password. All of the FTP sites mentioned in the FAQ list follow this convention. Downloading (Try the site nearest you first) ----------- a) ftp://atari.archive.umich.edu/atari/8bit (141.211.120.11, United States) b) ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu/systems/atari/umich.edu/8bit (128.252.135.4, United States) c) ftp://src.doc.ic.ac.uk/computing/systems/atari/umich/8bit (146.169.2.10, United Kingdom) d) ftp://info2.rus.uni-stuttgart.de/afs/umich.edu/group/itd/archive/atari/8bit (129.69.8.13, Germany) e) ftp://ftp.orst.edu/pub/mirrors/archive.umich.edu/atari/8bit (128.193.4.2, United States) f) ftp://barnone.citi.umich.edu/afs/umich.edu/group/itd/archive/atari/8bit (141.211.128.22, United States) g) ftp://phlem.ph.kcl.ac.uk/pub/Atari8bit (137.73.4.24, United Kingdom) h) ftp://ftp.kendall.mdcc.edu/pub/atari/umich.edu/8bit/ (147.70.146.36, United States) Remember to set file type to BINARY when downloading non-text files (.arc, .com, .dcm, etc.) by FTP. Uploading --------- Place uploads in ftp://atari.archive.umich.edu/atari/8bit/New No uploads may be made to the Archive's mirror sites. Remember to set file type to BINARY when uploading non-text files (.arc, .com, .dcm, etc.) by FTP. Also, please upload a short .text file describing what your upload is, so our 8-Bit Archivist will be sure to place it in an appropriate permanent directory. Note that the 8bit/New directory is "write-only." Newly uploaded items may be found in the 8bit/Newitems subdirectory. ------------------------------ Subject: 4.2) What is the Boston Archive? Here's an 8-bit Atari FTP site located at Boston University. It is maintained by Adam Bryant, mailto:adb@albert.bu.edu. This site seems to have seen no uploads for years, but there are some files here that aren't on any of the other sites. ftp://cs-ftp.bu.edu/PC/ATARI (128.197.13.20) ------------------------------ Subject: 4.3) What is the PVV Archive? This is a mid-sized Atari FTP site maintained by Eyvind Bernhardsen, mailto:eyvind@lise.unit.no. PVV stands for ProgramVareVerstedet, or The Software Workshop, a student society at the University of Trondheim, Norway. ftp://nova.pvv.unit.no/pub/Atari/8bit (129.241.36.207) Uploads go to ftp://nova.pvv.unit.no/incoming/atari/8bit; Eyvind moves them to the appropriate directory. Please include a .readme file with each upload, so people know what they're downloading. ------------------------------ Subject: 4.4) What is the ClarkNet Archive? This smallish 8-bit Atari FTP site is maintained by Kevin Atkinson, mailto:kevina@clark.net. ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/atari (168.143.0.2) Write to Kevin for uploading instructions. A mirror of the ClarkNet Archive, kept by Jason Duerstock: ftp://ftp.kendall.mdcc.edu/pub/atari/clark.net/ (147.70.146.36) ------------------------------ Subject: 4.5) What is the Gatekeeper's Archive? This small FTP site offers most of the resources provided on the Atari 8-Bit Home Page. Kept by mailto:ipoorten@cs.vu.nl (Ivo van Poorten, The Gatekeeper). ftp://ftp.cs.vu.nl/pub/ipoorten/atari.8bit (192.31.231.43) ------------------------------ Subject: 4.6) What is the Closer To Home Archive? Here is a fairly large FTP site in Australia kept by mailto:Dave.Blears@closer.brisnet.org.au (Dave Blears). ftp://closer.brisnet.org.au/pub/archive1/8_bit (203.4.149.97) Support site for James Bradford's Super 8-bit Products including SuperDos, SuperRam, Super800<->XL and much more. Uploads go in ftp://closer.brisnet.org.au/pub/incoming ------------------------------ Subject: 4.7) What is the James King Archive? Here is a growing 8-bit Atari FTP site kept by mailto:jeking7@delphi.com (James King) ftp://ftp.xmission.com/pub/users/j/jeking/8bit (198.60.22.3) Uploads go in ftp://ftp.xmission.com/pub/users/j/jeking/uploads ------------------------------ Subject: 5.1) What is the Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIG? The Cleveland Free-Net is the hub system of the NPTN, the National Public Telecomputing Network. It can be accessed by any of the following: telnet://freenet-in-a.cwru.edu, telnet://freenet-in-b.cwru.edu, or telnet://freenet-in-c.cwru.edu (129.22.8.32 or 129.22.8.51). Type "go atari" to reach the Atari SIG. Those who add their names to the Atari SIG user directories are automatically members of the official Atari user group C.A.I.N. - Central Atari Information Network. The Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIG publishes the CAIN Newsletter, maintains the CAIN Home Page on the WWW, and keeps the "Who's Who in the Atari Community E-Mail Directory" listing. Send correspondence and press releases to mailto:xx004@cleveland.freenet.edu. ------------------------------ Subject: 5.2) What is the Youngstown Free-Net Atari SIG? Youngstown Free-Net (Youngstown, Ohio USA) telnet://visitor@yfn.ysu.edu (192.55.234.27) Type "go atari" to reach the Atari SIG. Write to mailto:xx140@yfn.ysu.edu for more information. ------------------------------ Subject: 5.3) What is the National Capital Free-Net Atari SIG? National Capital Free-Net (Ottawa, Canada) telnet://guest@freenet.carleton.ca (134.117.1.25) Type "go atari" to reach the Atari SIG. Write to Christopher Browne at mailto:aa454@Freenet.carleton.ca for more info. ------------------------------ Subject: 5.4) What is the Closer To Home BBS? Kept by mailto:Dave.Blears@closer.brisnet.org.au (Dave Blears), this is a BBS in Australia which supports the 8-bit Atari. telnet://guest@closer.brisnet.org.au (203.4.149.97) ------------------------------ Subject: 5.5) How can I access the World Wide Web by Telnet? This section swiped from the WWW FAQ, which is kept by mailto:boutell@netcom.com (Thomas Boutell). An up-to-date list of these is available on the Web as http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/FAQ/Bootstrap.html and should be regarded as an authoritative list. telnet://telnet.w3.org A telnettable browser provided by the W3 coalition. telnet://www@www.cc.ukans.edu Offers Lynx, a full screen browser which requires a vt100 terminal. Log in as www. Does not allow users to "go" to arbitrary URLs, so GET YOUR OWN COPY of Lynx and install it on your system if your administrator has not done so already. The best plain-text browser, so move mountains if necessary to get your own copy of Lynx! telnet://www@www.njit.edu (or telnet 128.235.163.2) Log in as www. A full-screen browser in New Jersey Institute of Technology. USA. telnet://www@www.huji.ac.il A dual-language Hebrew/English database, with links to the rest of the world. The line mode browser, plus extra features. Log in as www. Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. telnet://sun.uakom.cs Slovakia. Has a slow link, only use from nearby. telnet://www@info.funet.fi (or telnet 128.214.6.102). Log in as www. Offers several browsers, including Lynx (goto option is disabled there also). telnet://www@fserv.kfki.hu Hungary. Has slow link, use from nearby. Login is as www. ------------------------------ Subject: 6.1) How can I retrieve files from the Merit/UMich Archive through Gopher? The Merit/UMich Archive has a native Gopher server. Try gopher://gopher.archive.merit.edu:7055/11/atari/8bit to connect directly to the Merit/UMich Archive's 8-bit Atari directory. I personally recommend this method for downloading from the Merit/UMich Archive. There are also several mirror archive sites with Gopher servers: gopher://wuarchive.wustl.edu:70/11/systems/atari/umich.edu/8bit gopher://sunsite.doc.ic.ac.uk:70/1/0-Most-Packages/atari/umich/8bit gopher://gaia.ucs.orst.edu:70/11/g-i-s/computer/zftparea/mirrors/archive.umich. edu/atari/8bit ------------------------------ Subject: 7.1) What WWW pages support the 8-bit Atari? Atari 8-Bit Computers FAQ and Vendor/Developer Lists, Michael Current http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/atari-8-bit/faq.html Atari 8-Bit Home Page mailto:ipoorten@cs.vu.nl (Ivo van Poorten, The Gatekeeper) http://www.cs.vu.nl/~ipoorten/Atari.8bit.Homepage/index.html Atari 8-Bit Resort mailto:un55@rz.uni-karlsruhe.de, Marek Tomczyk http://rzstud1.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de/~un55/8bit.html Big Atari 8bit Home Page Tomasz Tatar, mailto:tatar@student.uci.agh.edu.pl http://www.uci.agh.edu.pl/student/airgrp/tatar/public_html/Atari/hp.html Central Atari Information Network Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIG, mailto:xx004@cleveland.freenet.edu http://ace.cs.ohiou.edu/personal/mleair/cain.html Rob Funk's pages http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/~funk/ mailto: CompuCat BBS mailto:nkinney@netcom.com, Neal Kinney ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/nk/nkinney/html/compucat.html Classic Computer and Video Game Systems http://www.gate.net/~cmwagner/atari8.html ------------------------------ Subject: 7.8) How can I access the Merit/UMich Archive by AFS? Downloading ----------- Just cd /afs/umich.edu/group/itd/archive/atari/8bit [What is the propsero:// URL for this?] Uploading --------- Just cp the file into /afs/umich.edu/group/itd/archive/atari/8bit/New [What is the propsero:// URL for this?] ------------------------------ Subject: 7.9) What is #Atari8? There is a channel on Internet Relay Chat for 8-bit Atari users. Its name is #Atari8. Join #Atari8 on port 6667 (EFNet) and enjoy (if you meet somebody there). There should be a small bot called XE_BOT on this channel. While on channel #Atari8 use the command /msg XE_BOT help for more information. The latest information on #Atari8 and the XE_BOT may be found here: http://www.uci.agh.edu.pl/student/robo1grp/tatar/public_html/Atari/irc.html Channel #Atari8 and the XE_BOT are the work of Tomasz Tatar, mailto:tatar@student.uci.agh.edu.pl. ------------------------------ Subject: 8.1) What is the CAIN Newsletter? The Central Atari Information Network Newsletter is the monthly online magazine of the Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIG. The editor is Mark Leair of the Atari SIG. 8-bit computers support is provided by Michael Current and Craig Lisowski. For information, write to the Atari SIG at mailto:xx004@cleveland.freenet.edu. ------------------------------ Subject: 9.1) What's this UUEncoding stuff (.uu, .uue files) all about? UUEncode/UUdecode is a UNIX utility that will convert a binary file into 100% printable ASCII characters, so that the file may be posted or e-mailed anywhere a text message can go. The 8-bit Atari is perfectly capable of UUEncoding/UUdecoding as well. On the archives: Uudecode 1.2a by John Sangster - very functional. Merit/UMich: Archivers/uudecode.bas, Archivers/uudecode.doc Boston: comm/uudecode.lst, comm/uudecode.doc Yet Another UU-coder by John Dunning - both decoding/encoding. Merit/UMich: Archivers/yau.arc Boston: comm/yau.uue, comm/yaue.uue, comm/yau.doc Uudecode.com, Uuencode.com by ??? - "newer, cleaner, easier to use." Merit/UMich: Utilities/uue.arc Dumas UU-coder by John Dunning - should work w/BART-style split files. Merit/UMich: Cc65/dumasuu.arc ------------------------------ Subject: 9.2) What is an .arc file? A file with the extender .arc has been archived in a standard manner that is common in the MS-DOS world. This is done to make the file shorter, so it takes up less space on your disk and it takes less time to transfer between computers. The archives contains several 8-bit Atari archivers fully compatible with this standard, including: Super Un-Arc 2.3, Super Arc 2.0 by Bob Puff - highly recommended. Merit/UMich: Archivers/superarc.arc - both Super Un-Arc & Super Arc Archivers/suprarc2.arc - Super Arc Archivers/supunarc.com - Super Un-Arc Archivers/supunarc.uue - Super Un-Arc Boston: {comm,util}/superarc.uue, {comm,util}/superarc.doc ------------------------------ Subject: 9.3) Okay, how about a .dcm file? A .dcm file is a format unique to the 8-bit Atari which is used to convert entire disk images into files. To work with .dcm files you'll need: Disk Communicator 3.2 by Bob Puff. Merit/UMich: Archivers/dskcom32.arc or Archivers/diskcomm.arc (same thing!) Boston: {util,comm}/diskcomm.uue ------------------------------ Subject: 9.4) What is an .xmo file? .xmo stands for XMODEM. The idea was that the file was not plain text, but was a binary file. As a binary file, it had to be downloaded using a file transfer protocol such as XMODEM. The use of ".xmo" as a filename extender was popular once, but has been discouraged for years. ------------------------------ Subject: 10.1) What 8-bit Atari emulators exist for other computing platforms? These are the emulators that are usable. 1) ST Xformer 2.55, from Branch Always (see companion Vendor/Developer List for complete contact info). A freeware 8-bit Atari emulator for the Atari ST. Merit/UMich: /atari/Emulators/stxf255.lzh 2) PC Xformer, from Branch Always (see companion Vendor/Developer List for complete contact info). The 8-bit Atari emulator for DOS/Windows/OS/2. Versions 2.0 and 2.5 are freeware; 3.0 is the commercial version. The following further info on PC Xformer provided by Bill Kendrick, mailto:kendrick@sonoma.edu. Contact him for his Newbie/Emulator FAQ. 2.0 emulates an Atari 800. It requires about 300K of free memory, 320x200x256 (MCGA/VGA/SVGA) graphics, and a 286 CPU. It does not support ROM files, disk image swapping within the program, player/missile graphics collision detection, sound, PC joystick support, modem/printer support, but is free. 2.5 is the replacement for 2.0. It emulates either an Atari 800 or an Atari 800XL. It requires about the same as 2.0. It does support ROM files and the PC speaker is used to emulate the old Atari 400/800 internal speaker clicks. It is also free. 3.0 is the first commercial release. It emulates an Atari 800, 800XL, or 130XE (128K RAM; I heard it was to do 320K but I think that was reduced). It requires a 386 and 512K of memory. It supports Sound Blaster, player/missile graphics collision detection, modem/printer and PC joystick support. It comes with a disk with the software, an ammendum to the printed documents, and a bunch of Atari 8-bit software (example programs: demos/games, and a few useful utilities). It supports disk swapping through a (currently) simple menu. All versions support .XFD (Xformer disk) format disk images, and all versions of PC Xformer support SIO2PC disk images (.ATR's). PC Xformer 3.0 comes with a 36-page printed manual and reference. It includes appendicies explaining graphics, sounds, colors, BASIC, subdirectory paths (for MSDOS which in turn explains SpartaDOS/MyDOS), a quick keyboard reference, ATASCII characters (all 128 drawn out), the Atari editor, error codes, file IO (commands, devices, XIO calls) as well as giving breif information on how to contact other Atari users, common file extenders, and it includes a LARGE glossary explaining Atari BASIC / TurboBASIC XL commands, Atari computer terms, and general computer terms. Merit/UMich: Xf2/xf2.zip, Xf2/xf25.zip Of importance to PC Xformer users is: DcmToDsk, freeware by Jason Duerstock. It converts most .DCM files into SIO2PC .ATR's for use with SIO2PC and PC Xformer. Merit/UMich: Sio2pc/dcm2dsk2.zip ------------------------------ Subject: 11.1) What are the best terminal emulators available? Here are some of the more popular PD/freeware/shareware terminal programs available. BobTerm 1.22, shareware by Bob Puff Emulates: VT52 Text: 40 columns in gr.0; 80 col. w/ XEP80 File Xfer: XMODEM, YMODEM, FMODEM Autodial: Yes Backscroll buffer: No Capture-to-disk: Yes Summary: Feature-filled; excellent for BBSing Merit/UMich: Telecomm/bterm12.arc Kermit-65 3.7, PD by John R. Dunning Emulates: VT100 Text: 40 columns in gr.0; 80 col. in gr.8; 80 col. w/ XEP80 (sort of) File Xfer: Kermit Autodial: No Backscroll buffer: No Capture-to-disk: No Summary: Excellent VT100 emulation; rock-solid Kermit Xfers Merit/UMich: Telecomm/k65v37.arc - latest version Telecomm/k65doc.arc - documentation Telecomm/k65src.arc - source code OmniCom by CDY Consulting Emulates: VT100 Text: 80 columns in gr.8 File Xfer: XMODEM, Kermit Autodial: No Backscroll buffer: No Capture-to-disk: No Summary: Combination VT100, XMODEM, Kermit; buggy at file Xfers Merit/UMich: Telecomm/omnicom.arc VT850 B1, shareware by Curtis Laser Emulates: VT100/VT102 (plus complete VT220 keymap) Text: 40 columns in gr.0; 80 col. w/ XEP80 File Xfer: None Autodial: No Backscroll buffer: No Capture-to-disk: Yes Summary: Excellent at VT100 on the XEP80; 1200bps top speed Merit/UMich: Telecomm/vt850b1.arc FlickerTerm 80 0.37, freeware by LonerSoft (Clay Halliwell) Emulates: VT100, IBM ANSI Text: 80 column via a special Graphics 0 screen (no hardware req'd) File Xfer: None Autodial: No Backscroll buffer: No Capture-to-disk: No Summary: Fastest and most complete VT100 emulation; readability a minus Merit/UMich: Telecomm/ft80v037.arc Ice-T 1.0 by IceSoft (Itay Chamiel) Emulates: VT100 Text: 80 column via a fast-scrolling graphics 8 screen File Xfer: XMODEM download Autodial: No Backscroll buffer: yes (One screen) Capture-to-disk: No Summary: Excellent for high-speed VT100 emulation Merit/UMich: Telecomm/icet.arc ------------------------------ Subject: 11.2) Can I read/write 8-bit Atari disks on an IBM-PC? There are several programs that allow an MS-DOS system to work with an Atari-format diskette. The following require a DOS and disk drive on the Atari end capable of the SS/DD 180K format: ATARIO by Dave Brandman w/ Kevin White - Reads SS/DD 180K Atari disks. Merit/UMich: Diskutils/atario21.arc SpartaRead by Oscar Fowler - Reads SS/DD 180K SpartaDOS disks. Merit/UMich: Diskutils/sr.arc UTIL by Charles Marslett - Reads/Writes SS/DD 180K Atari disks. Use MyUTIL! Merit/UMich: Diskutils/dskutil.arc (Older versions are contained in pcxfer.arc, util.arc, and ataridsk.arc) MyUTIL by Charles Marslett and Mark Vallevand - The latest version! Merit/UMich: Diskutils/myutil.zip PVV: utilities/disk/myutil.zip While the above work with SS/DD 180K Atari-format disks, the following combination of utilities can be used to work with SS/SD 90K Atari-format disks, and is currently the best bet for reading SS/ED 128K Atari-format disks. AnaDisk 2.07, shareware by Sydex - Reads/Writes "any" 5.25" diskette Merit/UMich: Xf2/anad207.zip, Xf2/anadisk.txt Deana by Nate Monson - converts AnaDisk dump files from Atari format Merit/UMich: Xf2/deana.com, Xf2/deana.txt Explanation --> According to mailto:preston.f.crow@dartmouth.edu, "As best as I can figure it out, if your PC drive happens to read FM disks (I'm not sure what the criteria for that is), then you can read single density disks on your PC by dumping the contents to a file with AnaDisk, and then using Deana.com to convert the dump file into a usable format. For enhanced density disks, Anadisk generally only reads the first portion of each sector, but it demonstrates that it is possible for a PC drive to read enhanced density disks." ------------------------------ Subject: 11.3) Can I read/write MS-DOS disks on an 8-bit Atari? a) Mule by Rick Cortese - Read/Write 180K MS-DOS disks with an Atari 1050 drive or equivalent. Very limited. Merit/UMich: Diskutils/mule.arc, Diskutils/mule.exe, Diskutils/mule.txt b) SIO2PC, described elsewhere in this FAQ List (section 12.4), can be used to read/write to a hard drive connected to an MS-DOS system. This can also be a very effective file-transfer solution. c) The XF551 3.5" Upgrades from Computer Software Services (see the companion vendor/developer list) allow the Atari XF551 disk drive to read 720K 3.5" MS-DOS disks. d) The Floppy Board, the add-on to the Black-Box from Computer Software Services (see the companion vendor/developer list), allows both low density (360K 5.25", 720K 3.5"), and, in the case of the Deluxe Version, high density (1.2M 5.25", 1.44M 3.5") external MS-DOS-standard floppy drives to be used on the Atari. A utility is included to read/write MS-DOS formatted floppies in all supported densities. ------------------------------ Subject: 11.4) How do I transfer files using a null modem cable? This section by mailto:cb541@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (James R. Gilbert) A: Simply put, you need a terminal program and an RS 232 port on each computer. The RS 232 ports need to be connected together using a 'null modem cable'. For up to 4800 bps, no flow control lines need be connected. Just cross the transmit and receive lines and join the grounds together. (Transmit is pin #2, receive is pin #3 and ground is pin #7 on the 25-pin port.) The right hand pin on the 'long' side of a female 'D' connector is #1. There are 13 holes on this 'long' side, 12 holes on the 'short' side. The numbers go from #1 on the right to #13 on the left on the 'long' side and from #14 to #25 from right to left on the 'short' side. #25 is closest to being under #13. A male connector is the mirror image of this. Most terminal programs allow a null connection, without a carrier detect. Notably, '850 Express!' does not. A convenient way to make a null modem cable, up to about 30 feet long, is to use two female DB25 connectors and some three or more conductor cable. Using the two DB25 female connectors allows unplugging your modem and plugging in the null modem cable. This also avoids the confusion of the wide variety of serial port jacks on different computers. Almost all computers connect into the modem via a DB25 connection. The SIO port on the Atari cannot be used directly. An 850 Interface Module, P:R:Connection, Multi I/O, Black Box (by Computer Software Services) or similar device that provides an RS232 port must be used. On the Atari, the port is a female DB9. So you need a male DB9 to male DB25 modem cable to connect to your modem. So why not use this cable as your null modem cable as well? For higher speed connections, above about 9600 bps on the 8-bit, you need the flow control lines. You also need a Multi I/O or Black Box, which use the PBI (parallel bus), then you can go higher than 9600 bps. Following are pin assignments for a DB25 pin RS 232 C port. 13 1 o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o 25 14 (Above is female, male is mirror image.) 1. Protective Ground 12. Select Alternate Rate 2. Transmit Data 15. Transmit Clock (sync) 3. Receive Data 17. Receive clock (sync) 4. RTS (Request to Send) 20. Data Terminal Ready 5. CTS (Clear to Send) 22. Ring indicator 6. Data Set Ready 23. Select Alternate Rate 7. Signal Ground 24. Transmit Clock 8. Carrier Detect A high speed cable would need not only pins 2 and 3 crossed but also pins 4 and 5 as well as 6 and 8. Or better yet, make a true 25 wire, straight through cable and use a commercial null modem. A commercial null modem is just a small device with the correct lines already crossed. (DTE = Data Terminal Equipment, i.e., your computer. DCE = Data Communications Equipment, i.e., your modem.) ------------------------------ Subject: 12.1) What 5.25" floppy disk drives are available? Major contributors to this section: mailto:Krishna@max.tiac.net (Glenn M. Saunders) mailto:tatar@student.uci.agh.edu.pl (Tomasz M. Tatar) mailto:Masstorage@closer.brisnet.org.au (James Bradford) mailto:conradus@plearn.edu.pl (Konrad M. Kokoszkiewicz) ==> Atari 810 SS SD 19.2Kbps standard ==> Happy 810 SS SD Warp speed ==> Atari 1050 SS SD/ED 19.2Kbps standard ==> Happy 1050 SS SD/ED/DD Warp speed US Doubler/19.2 and 52k. track buffering ==> Super Archiver 1050 SS SD/ED/DD Ultra Speed 50+K ==> Speedy 1050 SS SD/ED/DD 78K mode (European) unknown DOS restrictions ==> Supermax 1050 SS SD/ED/DD 19.2k and 52k (ultra speed) by Super products. Compatiable with superdos and US Doubler ==> Lazer 1050 SS SD/ED/DD Another Happy clone; Compatible w/ US Doubler ==> Atari XF551 SS/DS SD/ED/DD 38K burst mode usable only with SpartaDOS X, SuperDOS 5.1, TurboDOS, DOS XE, and patched SpartaDOS 3.2. XF DS system now considered "standard". ==> CSS XF551 SS/DS SD/ED/DD US Doubler compatible. Updates drive to work better and faster. Also 3.5" upgrade available ==> Percom Various/RFD Various. Any IBM mech from SS/SD 5.25 to 720K 3.5" NOTE: no ED 19.2K standard only. Unique DS system ==> Percom AT-88 SS SD ==> Percom AT88-S1PD printer port ==> Trak ATD1 SS SD ==> Trak ATD2 SS SD/DD Built in Diagnostics. Track indicator. Write protect switch. Built in parallel printer interface. 2k printer buffer (expandable). Optional Turbo software on Eprom. ==> Trak AT-1 SS SD/DD Slave ==> Indus GT SS SD/ED/DD Synchromesh mode usable with SpartaDOS X and DOSXL only. ==> Astra Double-D? SS/DS SD/DD? standard /LEDs and such ==> Rana 1000 SS SD/ED/DD standard /LEDs and such can format disks on a stand alone basis ==> TOMS 720 double head disk drive, 5.25", with mounted interface Centronics, chips: CPU 8085, WD2797, PIA 8255 (for handle Centronics), 32 KB ROM, 8 KB RAM ROM contains: OS of drive, MYDOS 4.50 and some utilities (copy, format, etc.) ROM is seen by computer as drive D1: (if drive is open), and D3: (when drive has number D1:) or D4: (when drive has number D2:). It makes possible load DOS from ROMdisk during booting system. Formats of disks: - SS/SD - 40 tracks, 18 sects, 128 bytes = 90 KB - SS/ED - 40 tracks, 26 sects, 128 bytes = 130 KB - SS/ED - 40 tracks, 18 sects, 256 bytes = 180 KB - SS/ID - IBM S-9 - 40 tracks, 9 sects, 512 bytes = 180 KB - DS/DD - 40 tracks, 18 sects, 256 bytes = 360 KB - DS/QD - 80 tracks, 18 sects, 256 bytes = 720 KB - DS/ID - IBM D-9 - 40 tracks, 9 sects, 512 bytes = 360 KB Transmition modes: - normal - 19200 bps - Turbo - 70000 bps - Ultra Speed - 70000 bps Also tracks buffering. ==> AS SN-360 double head disk drive, 5.25", CPU 8051, controler WD2797 19200 bps Available formats: - SS/SD - (FM) single sided, single density - 90 KB - SS/ED - (MFM) single sided, enhanced density - 130 KB - SS/DD - (MFM) single sided, double density - 180 KB - DS/DD - (MFM) double sided, double density - 360 KB ==> TOMS 710 (The newest polish disk drive and probably the best one) Similar to TOMS 720, one more format: - double sided, 80 tracks, IBM (720 KB) Transmition modes: - standard 19200 bps - TOMS Turbo (loaded from ROMdisk if drive is open) - 67000 bps - Ultra Speed (QMEG-OS, SpartaDOS) - 67000 bps Also tracks buffering. ROMdisk contain: - MYDOS 4.50 - COPY - INIT - TURBO - turn on/off TOMS Turbo mode - BASIC - turn on/off Atari Basic - AUTORUN.SYS - ramdisk - README Also TOMS Navigator instead of DUP.SYS. It is program similar to Norton Commander on PCs. IBM-ST copier on additional disk. ==> LDW Super 2000 SS SD/ED/DD 19200 bps or 38000 bps CPU Z80A, ROM 4 KB, RAM 256 B. Some difficulties with ED ==> LDW CA-2001 SS SD/ED/DD 19200 bps or 38000 bps CPU Z80A, ROM 4 KB, RAM 256 B. Some difficulties with ED ==> LDW CA-2002 SS/DS SD/ED/DD 19200 bps, 70000 with SpartaDOS CPU 8040, ROM 4 KB, RAM 256 B ==> Floppy board various Any standard very fast parallel DOS-transparent. Requires Black Box. DS system configurable for XF Percom or ATR style ==> HDI various Any standard very fast SIO? European ==> SWP ATR-8000 Any standard standard except 1.2 meg and unique DS system (HD) nice Z80 CP/M system in which CP/M drive acccess is parallel only thus faster. ==> Atari 1450XLD drives DS SD/ED DD? standard, requires DOS4. unusual DS system Only prototypes exist. ==> KARIN MAXI Double head disk drive 360 KB/5,25" or 720 KB/3,5", controller WD 1772. Available formats: = standard SS/SD 90 KB = standard SS/ED 130 KB = standard SS/DD 180 KB = 'cylindric' DS/DD 360 KB (XF-551 uncompatible) = 'cylindric' DS/QD 720 KB (TOMS-compatible; 720 KB drives only) Any other capabilities depend on a special software. Transmission mode: - parallel: real speed 11.25 kilobytes per second with DOS or 22.5 kilo- bytes per second with special track-copier. Notes: Because of the 1772-registers available in 6502 i/o pages ($D100), the KARIN MAXI drives look full-programmable. Preferred systems: My-DOS, SDX. ==> XFD-601B Double head 360 KB/5,25" disk drive. Controller WD 1772, CPU 8051. Available formats: - standard SS/SD 90 KB - standard SS/ED 130 KB - standard SS/DD 180 KB - standard DS/DD 360 KB (XF-551 compatible) Transmission modes: - normal 19200 bps - Top Drive 1050 70000 bps - Indus GT (synchromesh) 70000 bps (GTSYNC.COM and INDUS.SYS are not necessary; full-compatibel with the SDX) - Ultra Speed 70000 bps (full-compatible with the older SpartaDOS) Notes: Customized sector skew. In fact, the XFD-601B is a original clone of the XF-551. ==> XFD-602B The two XFD-601B drives in the one unit. ------------------------------ Subject: 12.2) How can I use 3.5" floppy disks with my 8-bit Atari? to be written. volunteers? - Amdek - XF551 upgrades - Floppy Board ==> Atari XF521 3.5" system Unreleased ------------------------------ Subject: 12.3) What do I need to connect a hard drive to my 8-bit Atari? original by mailto:Krishna@max.tiac.net (Glenn M. Saunders) Corvus ? 10 megabytes Fast but still relatively slow I/O, kludge through joystick ports for 800. Rare Supra/K-P N/A various Some limitations on drive type and size and total number of drives in sys. FTe Multi I/O various 256 byter per sector restriction. 256K and 1 meg ramdisk models. Printer and modem, modem will handle 19.2K bps CSS Black Box various Will handle all SCSI drives. Allows 9 drive access for MYDOS. Currently the only modem interface with CTS/RTS hardware flow control. 19.2K ready. SWP ATR-8000 unknown limits Rare daughterboard for hard drives. I/O is probably fairly slow on this baby and there may be DOS restrictions. ==> IDE/AT-BUS hard disk (still under construction) ------------------------------ Subject: 12.4) How can I use an IBM-PC as a storage device for my Atari? Original by Dave Paterson, mailto:d.paterson2@genie.geis.com SIO2PC is a cable and software combination that lets you use your PC as up to 4 drives for your 8-bit. Drives can be SD, ED, DD or custom sizes up to 16 megs. SIO2PC also lets you redirect the printer output to your PC printer or to a file on the PC. High speed drives are emulated (a la US Doubler). All these functions are transparent at the Atari end; you never notice the difference between SIO2PC and regular drives, except that the SIO2PC drives are faster than any others (except Ramdisks and PBI interface drives). SIO2PC 3.19i is shareware by Nick Kennedy. Merit/UMich: Sio2pc/sio319i.exe Of importance to SIO2PC users is: DcmToDsk, freeware by Jason Duerstock. It converts most .DCM files into SIO2PC .ATR's for use with SIO2PC and PC Xformer. Merit/UMich: Sio2pc/dcm2dsk2.zip ------------------------------ Subject: 13.1) What's the best DOS for the Atari? This is a matter of opinion, but general consensus is that all 8-bit Atari users should treat themselves to either MYDOS or SpartaDOS to appreciate the power of the system. MYDOS is modelled after Atari DOS 2.0S/2.5, but provides subdirectory and hard-drive support. SpartaDOS is a completely different command-line DOS modelled after MS-DOS, though it is perfectly capable of reading all Atari DOS and MYDOS disks. SpartaDOS 3.2g is disk-based; SpartaDOS X 4.21 is cartridge-based and includes many additional features. SpartaDOS is available from Fine Tooned Engineering (see companion vendor/ developer list); MYDOS 4.53/4 is freeware from Wordmark Systems (Charles Marslett and Bob Puff). It is recommended that all 8-bit Atari users own at least DOS 2.5 for complete compatibility with existing software, and then choose either SpartaDOS or MYDOS as they see fit. DOS 2.5, MYDOS and SpartaDOS are all available on the archives. Merit/UMich: Os/dos25.arc (DOS 2.5) Merit/UMich: Fte/fte32g.arc (SpartaDOS 3.2) Merit/UMich: Os/mydos453.dcm (MYDOS - latest version) Os/mydos45m.arc (MYDOS - latest complete doc's) ------------------------------ Subject: 13.2) What hardware has Atari created in the 8-bit computer line? Computers: 400 Personal Computer (1979) 8-16K, membrane keyboard, 400/800 OS 800 Personal Computer (1979) 8-48K, two cartridge slots, 400/800 OS 1200XL Home Computer (1982) 64K, early XL OS, F1-F4 keys, 4 LEDs 600XL Home Computer (1983) 16-64K, BASIC, PBI, XL OS 800XL Home Computer (1983) 64K, BASIC, PBI, XL OS 800XE Home Computer (1987?)~same as 130XE but 64K. Mostly eastern Europe. 65XE Personal Computer (1985) same as 800XL minus PBI 130XE Personal Computer(1985) same as 65XE with 128K plus ECI XE Game System (1987) same as 65XE plus Missle Command, detach keybd Peripherals: 410 Program Recorder -Japan and Hong Kong versions 810 Disk Drive -SS/SD 90K with DOS 1 or DOS 2.0S,MPI&Tandon vers. 820 Printer -40 col. 822 Thermal Printer -40 col. 825 80-Column Printer -req. 850 830 Acoustic Modem -300 baud req. 850, with Telelink I 835 Direct Connect Modem -300 baud, with Telelink II 850 Interface Module -4 9-pin serial, 1 15-pin parallel ports, beige & black metal versions 1010 Program Recorder -Sanyo and Chelco versions 1020 Color Printer -40 col., print/plot in 4 colors 1025 80-Column Printer -7-pin dot matrix 1027 Letter-Quality Printer-80 col., letter quality 1029 Printer -7-pin dot matrix, same as Commodore MPS-801 1030 Direct Connect Modem -300 baud, with ModemLink 1050 Disk Drive -SS/ED 128K with DOS 3 or DOS 2.5 1064 -64K RAM module for 600XL XC11 Program Recorder XC12 Program Recorder XM301 Modem -300 baud, with XE Term XMM801 Printer -80 col. Ribbon: Mannesman/Tally MS80 XDM121 Printer -80 col.letter quality. Ribbon: Silver Reed CF130 XF551 Disk Drive -DS/DD 360K with DOS XE XEP80 Interface Module -80 col. video display and DB25 parallel port SX212 Modem -1200 baud, rarely with SX-Express! package Atari 8-bit vaporware computers: (note some are more vaporous than others) 1200 1200XL internally, many slight cosmetic differences 800XLF 800XL incorporating a FREDDY chip (as in the XE's) 1250XLD Earlier concept of the 1450XLD 1400XL 800XL plus modem, speech synth.(looks like a 1200XL) 1450XL Earlier concept of the 1450XLD 1450XLD 1400XL plus 5.25" floppy drive 65XEP 65XE plus 3.5" floppy drive, 5" green monitor 65XEM 65XE plus AMIE sound chip Atari 8-bit vaporware peripherals:(note some are more vaporous than others) 815 Dual Disk Drive -2 x SS/DD 180K with DOS 2.0D 1090 XL Expansion System-for PBI, CP/M/MS-DOS/Apple II compatible XM128 -12" green monitor w/ built-in 80-column card XC1411 -composite 14" color monitor XF521 -5.25" floppy drive - 1050 compatible, in XE style XTM201 -non-impact printer XTC201 -non-impact color printer ------------------------------ Subject: 13.3) What are the power-supply requirements for my Atari components? As with the rest of this FAQ list, please let me know if any of this information conflicts with the units you have. I'm also not sure how much of this section is valid outside North America. If it's not valid where you are, I need to hear from you! The most important information is the voltage (in volts) required, and whether you need a transformer (AC output) or an adapter (DC output). The power (in watts) and current (in amperes) specifications of the original equipment as presented here should be regarded as minimum values. Higher-than-specified power and current capacities are entirely usable, and often preferable because such supplies run cooler and last longer. Power (in watts) = current (in amps) * voltage (in volts) 9 V AC 5.4 VA (600 mA) Atari#CO62195 transformer: 1030 9 V AC ???? VA (??? A) Atari#CO61516 transformer: 1010 9 V AC 15.3 VA (1.7 A) Atari#CO14319 transformer: 400,800,822,850,1010,1200XL,256K FTe MIO 9 V AC 18 VA (2.0 A) Atari#CA014748 transformer: 400,800,810,822,850,1010,1200XL,256K FTe MIO 9 V AC 18 VA (2.0 A) Atari#CA016804 transformer: 400,800,810,822,850,1010,1200XL,256K FTe MIO 9 V AC 31 VA (3.4 A) Atari#CO17945 transformer: 400,800,810,822,850,1010,1200XL,1020,1050,XF551,256K FTe MIO 9 V AC 50 VA (5.6 A) Atari#CA017964 transformer: 400,800,810,822,850,1010,1200XL,1020,1050,XF551,256K FTe MIO 9.5 V AC 40 VA (4.2 A) Atari#CO61636 transformer: 1027 24 V AC 3.6 VA (150 mA) Atari#CA016751 transformer: 830 5 V DC 1.0 A (5.0 W) Atari#CO70042 adapter: 65XE,XE Game System 5 V DC 1.5 A (7.5 W) Atari#CO61982 adapter: 600XL,800XL,65XE,130XE,XE Game System 5 V DC 1.5 A (7.5 W) Atari#CA024814 adapter: 600XL,800XL,65XE,130XE,XE Games System 5 V DC ??? A (??? W) Atari#CO81982 adapter: XL/XE 6 V DC 300 mA (1.8 W) Atari#??????? adapter: "410P" 9 V DC 500 mA (4.5 W) Atari#CO16353 adapter: XEP80,SX212,2600 9 V DC 500 mA (4.5 W) Atari#CA014034 adapter: XEP80,SX212,2600 9.3 V DC 1.93 A (18 W) Atari#CO18187 adapter: Indus GT,1 Meg FTe MIO,5200 11.5 V DC 1.95 A (22 W) Atari#CA019141 adapter: Indus GT 5 V / 12 V DC 1.1 A (5.5 W / 13.2 W) Atari#CO62297 adapter: 1400XL,1450XLD These draw their power from the SIO +5 V: XM301 (60 mA),XC12;FTe P:R: Connection Draws power from the 600XL PBI: 1064 These have built-in power supplies (plug directly into the wall): 410,815,820,825,1025,1029,XMM801,XDM121 The power supply requirements for the following are still needed: ??? V DC ???? A (???? W) Atari#CA060535 adapter: 835 XC11 program recorder (no brick needed -> internal or SIO source?) ------------------------------ Subject: 13.4) What are the pinouts for the...? Serial I/O (SIO) Port (all machines): 2 4 6 8 10 12 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 1. Clock Input 8. Motor Control 2. Clock Output 9. Proceed 3. Data Input 10. +5V/Ready 4. Ground 11. Audio Input 5. Data Output 12. +12V (400,800 only. 1400XL/1450XLD?) 6. Ground 13. Interrupt 7. Command Cartridge Slot ("Left" slot on all machines; "Right" slot on 800 only): A B C D E F H J K L M N P R S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 1. ~S4(Left) R/~W late(Right) A. RD4(Left) B02(Right) 2. A3 B. GND 3. A2 C. A4 4. A1 D. A5 5. A0 E. A6 6. D4 F. A7 7. D5 H. A8 8. D2 J. A9 9. D1 K. A12 10. D0 L. D3 11. D6 M. D7 12. ~S5(Left) ~S4(Right) N. A11 13. +5V P. A10 14. RD5(Left) RD4(Right) R. R/~W 15. ~CCTL S. B02 Enhanced Cartridge Interface (ECI) (130XE and 800XE only): A B C D E F H 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 A. Reserved 1. ~EXSEL B. ~IRQ 2. ~RST C. ~HALT 3. ~D1XX D. A13 4. ~MPD E. A14 5. Audio F. A15 6. ~REF H. GND 7. +5V Monitor Jack (all but 400, North American 600XL, XE Game System): 3 1 5 4 2 1. Composite Luminance (not on 600XL) 2. Ground 3. Audio Output 4. Composite Video 5. Composite Chroma (not on 800XL,1200XL; grounded on 600XL) Power Adapter Plug (all but 400,800,1200XL,1400XL,1450XLD): 7 6 3 1 5 4 2 1. +5V 2. Shield 3. Ground 4. +5V 5. Ground 6. +5V 7. Ground Controller Port (4 on 400/800, 2 on all others): 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1. (Joystick) Forward Input 2. (Joystick) Back Input 3. (Joystick) Left Input 4. (Joystick) Right Input 5. B Potentiometer Input 6. Trigger Input / Light Pen Input. Port 4 only on 400 7. +5V 8. Ground 9. A Potentiometer Input Parallel Bus Interface (PBI) (600XL and 800XL only): 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 49 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 1. GND ground 2. External select 3. A0 Address output 4. A1 5. A2 6. A3 7. A4 8. A5 9. A6 10. GND 11. A7 12. A8 13. A9 14. A10 15. A11 16. A12 17. A13 18. A14 19. GND 20. A15 21. D0 Data (bidirectional) 22. D1 23. D2 24. D3 25. D4 26. D5 27. D6 28. D7 29. GND 30. GND 31. Phase 2 clock output 32. GND 33. NC Reserved 34. Reset output 35. (IRQ) Interrupt request 36. Ready input 37. NC 38. External decoder output 39. NC 40. Refresh output 41. Column address output 42. GND 43. Math pack disable input 44. Row addr strobe 45. GND 46. Latch read/write out 47. NC (+5V on 600XL only) 48. NC (+5V on 600XL only, used to power 1064) 49. Audio input 50. GND --850 R1-4 pinouts from: mailto:generic@rahul.net (Chris Rosenthal) R1: Serial port (850 Interface Module): 5 4 3 2 1 9 8 7 6 1. Data Terminal Ready (DTR, Ready Out) 2. Carrier Detect (CRX, In) 3. Send Data (out) 4. Receive Data (In) 5. Signal Ground 6. Data Set Ready (DSR, Ready In) 7. Request to Send (RTS, Out) 8. Clear to Send (CTS, In) R2: Serial port (850 Interface Module): 5 4 3 2 1 9 8 7 6 1. DTR 3. Send Data 4. Receive Data 5. Signal Ground 6. DSR R3: Serial port (850 Interface Module): 5 4 3 2 1 9 8 7 6 1. DTR 3. Send Data 4. Receive 5. Signal Ground 7. RTS 8. -8 Volts R4: Serial port (850 Interface Module): 5 4 3 2 1 9 8 7 6 1. Send Data + 3. Send Data - 7. Receive Data + 9. Receive Data - (20 mA) --850 P: pinout from: Jim Evans, mailto:donor@max.u.washington.edu P: Parallel port (850 Interface Module): 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 1. Data Strob 2. D0 3. D1 4. D2 5. D3 6. D4 7. D5 8. D6 9. 10. Data pins pull up +5V 11. Ground 12. Fault 13. Busy 14. - 15. D7 P: Parallel port (XEP80 Interface Module): 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 1. Strobe 2-9. Parallel Data 10. Not Used 11. Busy 12-17. Not Used 18-25. Ground ------------------------------ Subject: 13.5) What BBS software can be used on the Atari? This section by mailto:winston@merk.com (Winston Smith) Here is the run down of ATARI 6502 8-BIT BBSes that I am aware of: o A.M.I.S. BBS -- The A.C.E. Message Information Service. This BBS was written in BASIC by the Atari Computer Enthusiasts computer club (was it the Michigan chapter?). It included designs for a ring-detector. You needed a sector editor and had to allocate message space by hand, hex byte by hex byte. o FoReM BBS -- Friends of Rickey Moose BBS. At the time, there were a lot of BBSes around called things such as "FORUM-80" and "BULLET-80", ergo the name. FoReM BBS was the first truly RBBS-like BBS for the ATARI 8-bit. It was programmed in BASIC and was somewhat crashy. I think that this is the great-grandparent of the FOREM-XE BBSes that survive today. Matt Singer, mailto:msinger@oe.fau.edu writes: FoReM BBS derived from an early AMIS. When multiple message areas were added the name was extended to FoReM 26M. Then, When OSS released BASIC XL the program was rehacked and called FoReM XL... Bill Dorsey wrote most of the Assembler routines (where is he now?). o ABBCS -- The ANTIC Bulletin Board Construction Set. The user design of the ABBCS was very good. It sported features such as intra-line editors. Unfortunately, the coding of the ABBCS was really poor. You could practically blow on your keyboard and crash this BBS. The BBS would sometimes crash several times a day. o NITE-LITE BBS -- Paul Swanson's BBS with RAM disk. Paul Swanson was a programmer from the Boston, Massachusetts, USA, area. I'm not sure whether his BBS for the Atari 8-bit has been placed into the public domain or not. This BBS was the first to support a RAMdisk, which Paul Swanson called a "V:" device for "virtual disk". This BBS was written in Atari BASIC and required a joystick hardware "dongle" device. This was notable as being one of the first Atari 8-BIT BBSes that could actually go for a week without having to be rebooted. Pointers to the message base were kept in an Atari "very long string" (for which Atari BASIC is famous). The BBS would only have problems (for the most part) if this string became corrupted. o ATKEEP -- An Atari 8-bit version of CITADEL BBS. I believe that AT-KEEP, like FOREM-XE, requires the use of the commercial BASIC XE cartridge to run. This BBS program was very popular around Louisiana, USA, from what I understand. o Benton's SMART BBS -- BBS written in BASIC by Marco Benton. This program is written entirely in BASIC. It expects to be running under a SpartaDOS environment. This was a problem until very recently, when the disk-based version of SpartaDOS was re-released as shareware. This BBS program uses a "modem clock string" rather than an R-Time 8 cartridge in order to retrieve the current time. It also comes with an Atari BASIC game door called "Sabotage". o FOREM-XE -- FOREM using BASIC XE. This version of FOREM BBS requires the commercial BASIC XE cartridge in order to run. It is in the public domain and can import and export messages from the Atari PRO! BBS EXPRESS-NET (7-bit text only, control ATASCII graphics are reserved for message data-structure bytes). FOREM-XE BBS is still currently in use as we speak, and may be reached via the PRO! EXPRESS-NET as long as the cross-networking "transnet" is still in effect. o The BBS Express -- PRO! BBS demo program. This is the public domain version of EXPRESS!-BBS, which is the Keith Ledbetter companion project of the EXPRESS!-TERM terminal program of days gone by. I am not familiar with this program. I think that it is written in Action! and only supports XMODEM Checksum transfers. I have never called or seen this program demonstrated. o OASIS JUNIOR III -- OASIS BBS demo program. OASIS JUNIOR III is the --ALL MACHINE LANGUAGE-- demo version of the OASIS BBS program. OASIS is very crash-resistant and comes with a "dial out" screen so that the Sysop can use the BBS as a terminal program to call and fetch files without having to bring the BBS down and reload a terminal program. OASIS supports "Door programs" which it refers to as "OASIS PAL modules". This OASIS demo module comes with an excellent message system. The OASIS file system is one of the most complicated that I have ever seen. It consists of "file libraries" with suites of "file types". There is quite a bit of overhead involved in performing a download (which may be a good thing, as it discourages file hogs). There is a commercial version of OASIS called "OASIS IV" that performs networking. There was an OASIS network between Boston, Massachusets, USA and Murfreesboro(SP?), Tennessee, USA. Occasionally word of the OASIS IV developers reaches the network from New Zealand or Canada. o Frank Walters BBS -- I know nothing about this BBS except that Frank Walters wrote it. OASIS IV, CARINA, and BBS-EXPRESS-PROFESSIONAL! are all commercial programs. I haven't heard anything about OASIS IV and CARINA for a while, but PRO!-BBS is still a viable commercial enterprise last that I had heard. ------------------------------ Subject: 14.1) What vendors, developers, or publishers support the 8-bit Atari? 1) See the "Atari 8-Bit Computers Vendors and Developers List." The latest version may be obtained in the following locations: ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-group/news.answers/atari-8-bit/vendev http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/atari-8-bit/vendev/faq.html news:comp.sys.atari.8bit news:comp.answers news:news.answers mailto:mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu, message says: send usenet/news.answers/atari-8-bit/vendev quit You can also ask me for a copy at mailto:mcurrent@carleton.edu 2) "The Official **AC** Vendor List" is maintained by Atari Classics magazine's Advertising Editor, Bob Scholar, mailto:r.scholar@genie.geis.com. This list focuses on North America, but all sources listed have been personally confirmed by the AC staff. ------------------------------ Subject: 14.2) Where is my nearest 8-bit Atari BBS? The "ATARI CLASSICS Atari Bulletin Board System listing" is maintained by Lawrence Estep, AC's Telecommunications Editor, mailto:71450.1050@compuserve.com. ------------------------------ Subject: 14.3) Where is my nearest 8-bit Atari user group? An 8-bit Atari user group listing is maintained by Atari Classics magazine's Exchange Editor, James King, mailto:jeking7@delphi.com. ------------------------------ Subject: 14.4) How do I use my new or emulated Atari? "The Unofficial Atari 8bit Newbie / Stupid Question / Emulator Help FAQ" is maintained by Bill Kendrick, mailto:kendrick@sonoma.edu. You can write to Bill at New Breed Software, 59 Palm Lane, Novato, CA 94945. ------------------------------ Subject: 14.5) What prominent Atarians are reachable by e-mail? The "Who's Who in the Atari Community E-Mail Directory" listing covers people involved in all of the Atari computing and gaming platforms. This file is maintained by Len Stys, SIG Manager of the Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIG. Write to the Atari SIG at mailto:xx004@cleveland.freenet.edu. ------------------------------ End of atari-8-bit/faq ------------------------------