******¢ ** THE BLACKBOX VERSUS THE MIO¢ ==============================¢¢ This article originally appeared in¢ the June 1990 issue of PSAN. PSAN¢ (Puget Sound Atari News) is the¢ official newsletter of several¢ participating non-profit Atari user¢ groups. Approximate circulation -¢ 800. Please send any inquiries to:¢ PSAN, P.O. Box 110576, Tacoma, WA¢ 98411-0576¢ Reprited by OL' HACKERS with¢ THANKS!¢ ******¢ BlackBox vs. MIO by Dan Knauf of¢ S*P*A*C*E¢¢ Having had the opportunity to¢ use both the BlackBox from CSS and¢ the MIO from ICD, I thought I would¢ share what I have learned about¢ these two unique pieces of hardware¢ for the 8-bit Atari. The systems I¢ have used include: 130XE computers¢ (upgraded to 512k), 1-meg MIO, 256k¢ MIO, BlackBox, Supra Modem 2400,¢ Seikosha MP-1300AI printer, 2 Happy¢ 1050 floppy drives, an Adaptec 4000a¢ hard drive controller, 2 Adaptec¢ 5500 hard drive controllers, a¢ Seagate ST225 20 meg hard drive, a¢ ATASI 3046 40 meg hard drive, and a¢ CMI 5616 13 meg hard drive.¢¢ An explanation of just what the¢ MIO and BlackBox are is in order. ¢ Both include a SASI/SCSI hard disk¢ interface, a printer port, an RS232¢ port, and some type of printer¢ buffer. The MIO comes with either¢ 256k or 1 megabyte of dynamic ram on¢ board which can be used as any¢ combination of ramdisk(s) and/or¢ printer spooler. The BlackBox comes¢ either with no user ram or 64k of¢ static ram which can be used only as¢ a printer buffer. The BlackBox can¢ also use the standard extended banks¢ of a 130XE as a 64k printer buffer. ¢ The RS232 and/or printer ports can¢ be disabled in both units to allow¢ an external device such as an Atari¢ 850 interface to be used. Both come¢ with clear manuals printed on 8 1/2¢ by 11 inch unbound paper. The¢ pinouts for all ports are clearly¢ shown in the manuals and there are¢ examples showing how to set up a¢ hard disk system. The BB manual¢ includes several short assembler¢ listings showing some methods of¢ accessing the BB from machine¢ language.¢¢ Appearance:¢ ----------¢¢ The MIO comes in a nice gray¢ case with the SCSI connector and¢ printer port on one end. The other¢ end has the RS232 port, on/off¢ switch, power plug, and two LED's -¢ one is a power indicator the other¢ lights up when the MIO is busy. My¢ 1-meg MIO has a second 9 pin plug on¢ this end for a planned 80 column¢ adapter which never happened. The¢ 50 conductor ribbon cable which¢ plugs into the computer is on one¢ side. The BB comes with no case. ¢ Cases are available for it for¢ $39.95 (and they are even black!). ¢ On the front edge is the connector¢ which plugs into the 130XE. The¢ other side has the SCSI connector,¢ the floppy controller connector (see¢ below), and the power plug. The¢ printer plugs onto one end and the¢ modem on the other. The BB also has¢ two LED's which serve the same¢ functions as the ones on the MIO.¢¢ Plugging it in:¢ --------------¢¢ The MIO has a 50 pin connector¢ which plugs in to the parallel¢ expansion port on a 600XL or 800XL.¢ An XE adapter must be purchased for¢ $16.95 to plug the MIO into a 130XE¢ computer. This adapter plugs into¢ both the ECI port and the cartridge¢ port on the 130XE and has sockets¢ for two cartridges on it. The¢ second cartridge plug is primarily¢ for the Rtime-8 cartridge from ICD.¢ The BlackBox is built to plug¢ directly into the 130XE. It comes¢ with a short 50 pin cable for¢ plugging into an XL machine. No¢ extra adapter is needed. For my own¢ system, I use the XE adapter from¢ ICD and plug the 50 pin cable on the¢ BB into it. (I use the Rtime-8 and¢ this keeps the cartridge stack¢ shorter.) The MIO has the expected 9¢ pin and 15 pin d-connectors for¢ plugging in your printer and modem. ¢ The BB comes with 34 pin card edges¢ for use with 34 conductor ribbon¢ cable. You can use standard crimp-¢ on connectors for both cables (use¢ 25 conductor ribbon cable for the¢ modem cable) or you can buy the¢ cables you need from CSS. There is¢ also an unused 34 connection card¢ edge on the BB. This is for the¢ floppy controller that CSS is¢ planning to release. This floppy¢ controller will allow the user to¢ attach industry standard disk drives¢ - up to 80 track 720k - to the BB. ¢ The MIO comes with a heavy duty 9v¢ power supply. The BlackBox comes¢ with a power supply which has +12v,¢ -12v and +5v output. All three¢ voltages are used by the BB.¢¢ Menus:¢ -----¢¢ Both the MIO and the BlackBox¢ have menus. Here is a list of¢ options available from the main menu¢ of both:¢¢ 1) Assign drives as floppy¢ disks, or hard drive partitions. ¢ When assigning floppy drives, you¢ can assign any physical floppy drive¢ respond as any drive from D1: to¢ D8: (and D9: on the BlackBox). ¢ Note: On the MIO ramdisks can also¢ be defined. These ramdisks refer to¢ MIO memory only - not memory¢ available inside the computer. Use¢ a DOS ramdisk handler for the¢ extended memory in the computer.¢¢ 2) Swap Drives - shows up as¢ 'Exchange Drives' on the BlackBox¢ and allows you to swap the drive¢ assignments of two drives. For¢ example, you could swap drives 1 and¢ 4. The drive assigned to D4: would¢ then become logical drive #1 and you¢ could boot from it while the drive¢ that was drive 1 would then be¢ addressable as D4:. I am writing¢ this using PaperClip which I booted¢ from my hard drive using this¢ method.¢¢ 3) Lock Drive - Write locks a¢ drive if it is a hard drive¢ partition or a ramdisk.¢¢ 4) Save Congfiguration - this¢ writes the current configuration to¢ the first sector of device 0, 0 (the¢ first Hard drive on your system). ¢ If no hard drive is present this¢ option does nothing. The other¢ options available from these menus¢ are different enough to need¢ separate descriptions.¢¢¢ The MIO Menu:¢ ------------¢¢ The MIO menu is entered by¢ holding down the SELECT button and¢ pressing RESET. This loads the menu¢ into the computers program ram¢ starting at address $3000. This¢ destroys whatever was there, so it¢ is best to re- boot the computer¢ after accessing the menu. The main¢ menu is the drive configuration¢ menu. This is where you set up your¢ hard drive partitions, partition the¢ MIO ram into ramdisks, and assign¢ floppy drives. The printer and RS232¢ menus are also accessed from here. ¢ Available from the printer menu:¢¢ 1 - Pause/Resume Printing.¢ 2 - Clear Spooler.¢ 3 - Print Repeat Copies.¢ 4 - Set Port Type.¢ 5 - Set Spooler Size.¢ 6 - Set Port Number.¢¢ The 'Repeat Copies' option¢ allows you to print copies of any¢ text currently in the MIO print¢ spooler. Setting the port type¢ allows printing to either parallel¢ and serial printers. This function¢ is also used to turn line feeds¢ on/off. Spooler size is adjustable¢ in 32k byte increments from 0 (OFF)¢ up to the maximum ram available on¢ the MIO. Maximum available ram¢ includes all ram on the MIO not¢ already assigned to ramdisks. The¢ port number can be set to P1:, P2:,¢ or OFF. Available from the RS232¢ menu:¢¢ 1 - Set Baud Rate.¢ 2 - Set Stop Bits.¢ 3 - Set Parity.¢ 4 - Assign Port Number.¢¢ Baud rate can be set from 110¢ to 19, 200 baud. Stop bits can be¢ set to either 1 or 2. Parity can be¢ set to none, odd, even, or space. ¢ Since most terminal software handles¢ these items, I am not sure why they¢ are on the menu. Maybe it looked¢ empty without some extra options... ¢ R1:, R2:, or NONE are the allowable¢ port assignments.¢¢ The BlackBox Menu:¢ -----------------¢¢ The BlackBox menu is entered by¢ pressing a button on the BlackBox. ¢ This menu does not use any¢ programming ram and is therefore¢ non-destructive. You can enter the¢ menu and usually exit with no effect¢ on the program you are running. ¢ Available from the BlackBox menu¢ are:¢¢ 1 - Drive Configuration Menu.¢ 2 - Port Status Menu.¢ 3 - 6502 Monitor.¢¢ From the Drive configuration¢ menu you can partition your hard¢ drive, assign floppies, add hard¢ drive partitions to the partition¢ list (explained below), enter the¢ controller menu, or enter the¢ partition list menu. The controller¢ menu allows you to add up to 8¢ different hard drives to your¢ system. The BlackBox allows you to¢ have up to 96 hard drive partitions. ¢ The information on these partitions¢ (size, start sector, controller and¢ drive number, etc) is kept in the¢ partition list. You are allowed to¢ name each partition with any name of¢ up to 11 characters 10 of which show¢ up in the menu. The main¢ configuration table of the BlackBox¢ has room for nine drives (and/or¢ partitions). You can load any¢ partition from the partition list¢ into the main configuration table by¢ going to the partition list, moving¢ the cursor to the partition you want¢ and pressing RETURN. You will then¢ be returned to the main¢ configuration table and asked what¢ drive you want the partition loaded¢ as. Options on the port status menu¢ are:¢¢ 1 - I/O Sound On/Off.¢ 2 - RS232 Port On/Off.¢ 3 - Printer Port Number.¢ 4 - Printer Line Feeds On/Off.¢ 5 - Spooler Status.¢ 6 - HD Partition List Start¢ Sector.¢ 7 - Save Configuration.¢¢ Yes, I/O sound with a hard¢ drive, heh. The RS232 port can only¢ be turned on/off with no option to¢ be assigned as anything other than¢ R1:. The printer port can be¢ assigned as any one of P1: through¢ P8:, ALL, or NONE. Spooler status¢ cycles between off, XE extended¢ banks, and BlackBox ram (if the ram¢ is available on the BB). This is¢ also where you tell the BB where to¢ look for the partition list which¢ takes up to 14 sectors and can be¢ located anywhere on the first hard¢ disk on the system. You can save¢ the configuration here as well as¢ from the drive configuration menu. ¢ The 6502 monitor is the best I have¢ seen for the 8-bit Atari. It¢ doesn't have as many features as¢ others but it is transparent to the¢ system and does a MUCH better job of¢ interupting a program than either¢ DDT or Omnimon. I have retired my¢ Omnimon and never used DDT much¢ anyway. With the BB monitor you can¢ interupt a program, examine/change¢ memory, and usually resume right¢ where you left off. Ever had a¢ lockup you couldn't get out of by¢ pressing RESET? With the BB monitor¢ you can change the program counter¢ to point to E477 (the cold start¢ vector) and when you exit the BB the¢ computer will cold start. This is¢ nice for saving the files in your¢ ramdisks. Note: While snooping in¢ the BB ROM I discovered that holding¢ the HELP key and pressing RESET¢ causes a cold start. Holding SHIFT-¢ HELP does not cause the cold start. ¢ This feature was not mentioned in¢ the documentation.¢¢ Software:¢ --------¢¢ Other than programs to format¢ hard drives, the only software I am¢ aware of for these devices requires¢ SpartaDOS. There are programs to:¢¢ 1) swap drive assigns.¢ 2) Lock/Unlock drives/¢ partitions.¢ 3) Load/Save configuration¢ tables from/to disk files.¢ 4) Load/Save BB partition¢ lists from/to disk files.¢ 5) Print info contained in¢ config files and partition¢ list files.¢ 6) Load a partition from the¢ partition list into the¢ configuration table of the¢ BB.¢¢ There are also some.CMD files¢ used by BBS Express Pro! sysops to¢ work with the MIO. I am sure there¢ is software available that I don't¢ know about or forgot to mention¢ here.¢¢ Miscellaneous:¢ -------------¢¢ There are two buttons, two¢ switches, and a bank of eight dip¢ switches on the BlackBox. One of¢ the buttons is used to access the¢ menu. The other dumps the screen to¢ the printer. This can be done at¢ any time. One of the switches¢ allows you to select either text or¢ graphics mode for the screen dump. ¢ In graphics mode all Atari graphics¢ characters appear on paper just like¢ they do on your screen. In graphics¢ mode, screen dumps take the full¢ width of 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper. ¢ This makes a graphics 0 screen look¢ like graphics 2 on the print-out. ¢ The other toggle switch write¢ protects ALL hard drives. This is¢ handy when you want to try out a new¢ program and don't want it to mess¢ with the hard drives. The dip¢ switches are used as follows:¢¢ 1) Force printer fault line to¢ NO FAULT. This causes the BB to not¢ send any data to the printer. You¢ could have another printer interface¢ (and printer) attached to your¢ computer and control which printer¢ prints with this switch.¢¢ 2) Enable hard disk port/high¢ speed floppy SIO. This allows you¢ to disable access to your hard¢ drives and disable the BB's high¢ speed SIO code for floppy disks.¢¢ *3) Enable parallel printer¢ port.¢¢ *4) Enable RS232 port.¢¢ *5) Enable printer line feeds.¢¢ 6) Printer is a Prowriter. ¢ (Used by graphics dump routine.)¢¢ 7) MIO compatibility mode where¢ hard drives are concerned. The¢ MIO inverts all data as it writes to¢ the hard drive. In normal mode, the¢ BlackBox doesn't to this. Flipping¢ this switch to the MIO mode allows a¢ hard drive to be used by either the¢ MIO or the BlackBox. Note: this¢ affects ALL hard drives that are¢ online.¢¢ 8) unused.¢¢ * Switches 3-5 are mainly for¢ systems with no hard drives online.¢ If a hard drive is present this info¢ is contained on the configuration¢ sector. The BB gives more storage¢ capacity on hard drives than does¢ the MIO. It is able to format a¢ drive using 512 byte sectors. These¢ are accessed as 256 byte sectors¢ after formatting. (Each 512 byte¢ physical sector contains two 256¢ byte logical sectors). CSS claims¢ that using 512 byte sector format¢ can add up to 20% to the storage¢ available on a hard drive. I gained¢ a little over 10% formatting my 40¢ meg hard drive in this mode. I have¢ a 40 meg drive that formats out as¢ follows:¢¢ Format type sectors¢ MIO- 256 byte sectors 146685.¢ BB - 256 byte sectors 148994.¢ BB - 512 byte sectors *162530.¢¢ * This is the number of logical¢ (256 byte) sectors. The only way I¢ have found to empty the printer¢ buffer on the BlackBox is to enter¢ the port status menu and cycle the¢ buffer off/on. Printing through the¢ Printer buffer with either the¢ BlackBox or the MIO slows down both¢ the printing process and the¢ computer (especially when accessing¢ other devices like disk drives).¢¢ Reliability:¢ -----------¢¢ The MIO has been plagued by¢ problems and rumors of problems¢ since it was released. I personally¢ know of at least 11 MIO's that had¢ to be sent in for repairs at one¢ time or another. (And I only know 8¢ people who own MIO's.) I bought my¢ MIO's second hand and both had been¢ sent back by the original owners to¢ be fixed. Here are some problems I¢ have experienced when using the¢ MIO:¢¢ 1) Wierd things have happened¢ when I used the printer buffer. ¢ Everything from wierd flickering and¢ characters showing up on the screen¢ to garabage being sent to the¢ printer.¢¢ 2) I could not use my Mac/65¢ cartridge and the ram in the MIO at¢ the same time. When I tried, the¢ ramdisk(s) formatted themselves¢ whenever they felt like it and I had¢ to use a sector editor to recover¢ anything important. To my knowledge¢ no one else has had this particular¢ problem.¢¢ 3) When using terminal programs¢ the MIO frequently locked up on me¢ while I was online. I suspect that¢ this is a problem when the MIO is¢ the originator of a call because I¢ know of many BBS's using the MIO¢ that have been online for a long¢ time with no such problem. Note: ¢ BobTerm 1.20 claims to solve this¢ lockup problem by supplying it's own¢ handler for the MIO which also¢ allows it to transfer at a true¢ 19200 baud rate. I have had no¢ problems with the BlackBox except¢ when I wired it into my 230 watt¢ power supply. I reversed the +12v¢ and -12v lines and fried a couple of¢ chips. A normal person would not¢ have done this.¢¢ Product Support:¢ ---------------¢¢ ICD has apparently lost¢ interest in the Atari 8-bit¢ machines. At this time they offer¢ little support for the MIO. If¢ anything goes wrong, they are not¢ likely to offer any help to the user¢ at all beyond fixing them for¢ $40.00+parts+shipping. My own¢ experience with ICD has left a lot¢ to be desired. I have been using¢ ICD products since about 1984. I¢ use the SpartaDOS X-cartridge and¢ when I first got my MIO, I couldn't¢ exit the menu without the computer¢ doing a cold-start. Thinking¢ something was wrong with the MIO, I¢ called ICD for help. My call was¢ forwarded to to a technical¢ assistance person. I explained my¢ system and the problem to him and he¢ told me that the MIO was faulty and¢ to send it in for repairs. He¢ informed me that the repairs would¢ cost $40.00+parts+shipping. Well,¢ it turns out that exiting the MIO¢ menu with a cartridge plugged in¢ causes a cold-start with all MIO's.¢ So much for getting good help from¢ ICD for their 8-bit products. (In¢ fairness to ICD, I hear that they do¢ a better job supporting their ST¢ product line.) CSS, on the other¢ hand has proved to be a gold mine¢ for Atari 8-bitters. As I mentioned¢ above, I fried a couple of chips on¢ my BlackBox. I called CSS and (with¢ some embarassment) told Ron exactly¢ what I did. Instead of saying 'Send¢ it in with your wallet, checkbook,¢ and credit cards' he told me exactly¢ what chips I had probably fried. I¢ found the chips at Radio Shack (for¢ about $2.00) and fixed my BlackBox.¢ These folks really do care! The¢ people at CSS have answered some¢ pretty dumb questions for me (one or¢ two intelligent ones too). They¢ have even helped people with their¢ ICD products. They have also given¢ me any technical information I¢ needed - or thought I needed - to¢ write programs for the BlackBox.¢¢ Trivia:¢ ------¢¢ BB really stands for BobBox. ¢ (For creator Bob Puff.)¢¢ Conclusion:¢ ----------¢¢ The MIO has been plagued with¢ reliability problems. The RS232¢ handler has been known to cause¢ lockups when online and drops the¢ carrier (hangs up the modem) when¢ RESET is pressed. The print spooler¢ sometimes does wierd things and is¢ only semi-reliable. I have been¢ told that the spooler sometimes¢ writes to hard drives instead of the¢ printer. I kept the spooler turned¢ off when my hard drive was attached. ¢ I just didn't want to verify this¢ the hard way. The MIO is also known¢ to have (electronic) noise problems,¢ especially when used with 130XE's. ¢ The result is loss of ramdisk¢ configuration and/or contents. I¢ have only heard a few complaints¢ about the hard disk interface on the¢ MIO. I have experienced no problems¢ with the hd interface. Pretty is as¢ pretty does. I have found the BB to¢ be a far more reliable tool than the¢ MIO. It is more flexible in most¢ areas, offers more options, and¢ product support is just great! (Ed.-¢ ICD has decided to leave the 8 BIT¢ field)¢¢ === END ===¢ Editors note: Beauty is in the eyes¢ of the beholder. I (ALEX), purchased¢ my one Meg MIO board about 3 or¢ 4 years ago from a club member who¢ went to the ST (for no good reason),¢ and I have been using it with my 20¢ Meg Hard Drive on a daily basis as¢ the OL' HACKERS President, and I am¢ happy to say I have loved each and¢ every trouble free minute. I guess¢ it is all a matter of luck.¢¢ == REAl END ==
