From 2b5c9df92951a2f15922c505eda2f853b94ae894 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: yann64 Date: Sun, 11 Oct 2026 21:05:40 +0200 Subject: [PATCH] External links open in a new tab Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01YDRjtmAiNpo5mK5N3d7QwZ --- content/magazine/obscure-systems-interton-vc-4000-clones.md | 2 +- content/magazine/old-computers-videogames-exposition-2005.md | 2 +- content/magazine/oric-2-pc-pc-2-oric.md | 2 +- ...2ide-or-how-to-install-a-hard-disk-in-your-8-bit-atari.md | 2 +- layouts/_markup/render-link.html | 4 ++++ layouts/_partials/entries.html | 2 +- layouts/_partials/ext.html | 5 +++++ layouts/baseof.html | 2 +- layouts/machine-tabs/single.html | 2 +- 9 files changed, 16 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-) create mode 100644 layouts/_markup/render-link.html create mode 100644 layouts/_partials/ext.html diff --git a/content/magazine/obscure-systems-interton-vc-4000-clones.md b/content/magazine/obscure-systems-interton-vc-4000-clones.md index ac82f6ed..36e115e2 100644 --- a/content/magazine/obscure-systems-interton-vc-4000-clones.md +++ b/content/magazine/obscure-systems-interton-vc-4000-clones.md @@ -11,4 +11,4 @@ params: date: '2021-05-12' --- -

> DESCRIPTION

Maybe this is the most obscure of the console groups... because there are all quite different in shape, and none of them could be found in the USA, so little information is to be found on the net for them so far. But at least 2 of these systems are quite known by europeans collectors :

The Interton VC-4000 and the Voltmace Database.

The Interton has the most complete list of games confirmed (40) and was sold outside Germany, in some other european countries. For these reasons, I decided to call this group "Interton VC-4000 and compatible systems".

In fact these systems seem to be "cut-down" versions of the "Emerson Arcadia 2001 and clone" systems. They use the same Signetics CPU (2650A) but have a less "powered" video-chipset : the Signetics 2636 instead of the 2637.

As most of these systems are different in shape and use different cart formats, they usually are not directly "hardware" compatible (i.e. cartridges do not fit), but there again, games are absolutly identicals.

> HOW TO RECOGNISE THEM ?

> THE CONTROLLERS
There are at least 12 keys (4 x 3) on each joystick keyboard plus most of the time 2 red fire buttons on each joystick. These fire buttons are generaly part of the keyboard, and not on the controllers sides like many "Arcadia" systems...

Sometimes (Rowtron system for example), the fire button is one of the 12 keys of the keyboard, but is still differenciated by the red color.

> THE CONTROL PANEL
On the control panel there are usually 4 functions buttons :

Power On/Off - Reset - Select - Start

This is good way to differenciate them from the "Arcadia" systems, which are very similar in many ways except that they have one more selection button (Select B or option...)

> INSIDE
Inside, the CPU is a Signetics 2650A just like the "Arcadia" systems, but the video-chipset is a powerless one : the Signetics 2636 (Arcadia systems use the 2637).

> THE SYSTEMS

Name

Brand

Country

VC-4000

Interton

Germany / Europe

Super Play Computer 4000

Grunding

Germany

MPU-1000

Acetronic

UK / Europe

HMG-1392

Hanimex

Europe

Programmierbares Video System

Radofin

Germany

MPU-2000

Acetronic

UK / Europe

Programmable Videogame

Radofin

Europe

Model 1392

Lansay

Europe

MPT-05

ITMC

France

Television Computer System

Rowtron

Europe

Voltmace database

Voltmace

UK

CX 3000 Palson Spain  

OC-2000

SOE

France

VC-6000

Prinztronic

???

> THE GAMES

Air / Sea Battle Black Jack BreakoutCircus

Combat??? Electronic pinball4 in a row

Horse racingCode breaker Maths 2Maths 1

MazeMotor racing Musical gamesBoxing

Alien invasionSpace battle Shooting gallerySports world

There are 40 games known for the Interton VC-4000, which has the most complete list. The other systems have apparently less games, which makes us think that Interton was at the origin of theses systems...

Interton VC-4000 games
Voltmace Database
Acetronic MPU-1000
Rowtron

1 - Autorennen

1 - Air-sea Battle ?

1 - Olympics

1 - Sportsworld

2 - Blackjack

2 - Blackjack

2 - Grand Prix 3

2 - Combat

3 - Ballspiele

3 - Bat and Ball

3 - Black Jack

3 - Horse Racing

4 - Panzer/Luftschlacht

4 - Road Race

4 - Tank/Plane Battle

4 - Maze

5 - Mathematik 1

5 - Tank and Plane

5 - Air Sea Battle

5 - Math Two

6 - Mathematik 2

6 - Mathematics 1

6 - Shooting Gallery

6 - Four in a row

7 - Luftkampf/Seegefecht

7 - Mathematics 2

7 - Basic Math

7 - Mastermind

8 - Motivsuche

8 - Shooting Gallery

8 - Math 2

8 - Air / Sea Battle

9 - Labyrinth

9 - Brain Drain

9 - Challenge

9 - Boxing

10- Wintersport

10 - Maze

10 - Codebreaker

10 - Black Jack

11 - Hippodrom

11 - Horse race

11 - Supermaze

11 - Sporting shotgun

12 - Jagd

12 - Circus

12 - Horse Racing

12 - Motor Racing

13 - Schach

13 - Boxing

13 - Circus

13 - Maths One

14 - Moto Cross

14 - Four in a row

14 - Prizefight

14 - Circus

15 - Vier in einer Reihe / Intelligenz

15 - Space battle

15 - Soccer

15 - Galactic space battles

16 - Superhirn / Intelligenz

16 - Alien invasion

16 - Hobby Module

17 - Circus

17 - Golf

17 - Musical Games

17 - Video Pinball

18 - Boxkampf

18 - Box clever

18 - Treasure Hunt

18 - Flag Capture / Memory match

19 - Krieg im Weltraum

19 - Treasure Hunt

19 - Golf

19 - Face the music

20 - Melodie Simon

20 - Arcade

20 - Head On

20 - Golf

21 - Attacke

21 - Musical memory

21 - Draughts

21 - Draughts

22 - Schach 2

22 - Spiders Web

23 - Flipper

23 - Chess

24 - Fußball

24 - Munch & Crunch

24 - Othello

25 - Kegeln / Bowling

25 - Leap Frog

25 - Electronic Pinball

26 - Dame

26 - Super Knockout

27 - Golf

27 - Invaders

28 - Cockpit

29 - Metropol

29 - Crazy Crab

29 - Shootout

30 - Solitär

30 - Space Wars

31 - Casino

31 - Lazer Attack

32 - Weltrauminvasoren

32 - Backgammon

33 - Super Invaders

33 - Planet Defender

34 - Space Laser

34 - Sea Wolf

35 - Rodeo

36 - Backgammon

37 - Monster-Man

38 - Hyperspace

39 - Basket-Ball

40 - Super-Space

> LINKS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Interton VC-4000 :
Classic Consoles Center! (cart list & screenshots)

Voltmace Database :
Obscure Pixels (pictures & carts list)

Palson CX-3000 :
Thanks to Miquel Pratsevall for the pictures

General :
The Video Game Consoles F.A.Q.
Ian's Game Page (cart lists)
Obscure Pixels

Cartridge lists are based on the work of :
Ian Pleasance, Richard Muse and Michael Davidson.

+

> DESCRIPTION

Maybe this is the most obscure of the console groups... because there are all quite different in shape, and none of them could be found in the USA, so little information is to be found on the net for them so far. But at least 2 of these systems are quite known by europeans collectors :

The Interton VC-4000 and the Voltmace Database.

The Interton has the most complete list of games confirmed (40) and was sold outside Germany, in some other european countries. For these reasons, I decided to call this group "Interton VC-4000 and compatible systems".

In fact these systems seem to be "cut-down" versions of the "Emerson Arcadia 2001 and clone" systems. They use the same Signetics CPU (2650A) but have a less "powered" video-chipset : the Signetics 2636 instead of the 2637.

As most of these systems are different in shape and use different cart formats, they usually are not directly "hardware" compatible (i.e. cartridges do not fit), but there again, games are absolutly identicals.

> HOW TO RECOGNISE THEM ?

> THE CONTROLLERS
There are at least 12 keys (4 x 3) on each joystick keyboard plus most of the time 2 red fire buttons on each joystick. These fire buttons are generaly part of the keyboard, and not on the controllers sides like many "Arcadia" systems...

Sometimes (Rowtron system for example), the fire button is one of the 12 keys of the keyboard, but is still differenciated by the red color.

> THE CONTROL PANEL
On the control panel there are usually 4 functions buttons :

Power On/Off - Reset - Select - Start

This is good way to differenciate them from the "Arcadia" systems, which are very similar in many ways except that they have one more selection button (Select B or option...)

> INSIDE
Inside, the CPU is a Signetics 2650A just like the "Arcadia" systems, but the video-chipset is a powerless one : the Signetics 2636 (Arcadia systems use the 2637).

> THE SYSTEMS

Name

Brand

Country

VC-4000

Interton

Germany / Europe

Super Play Computer 4000

Grunding

Germany

MPU-1000

Acetronic

UK / Europe

HMG-1392

Hanimex

Europe

Programmierbares Video System

Radofin

Germany

MPU-2000

Acetronic

UK / Europe

Programmable Videogame

Radofin

Europe

Model 1392

Lansay

Europe

MPT-05

ITMC

France

Television Computer System

Rowtron

Europe

Voltmace database

Voltmace

UK

CX 3000 Palson Spain  

OC-2000

SOE

France

VC-6000

Prinztronic

???

> THE GAMES

Air / Sea Battle Black Jack BreakoutCircus

Combat??? Electronic pinball4 in a row

Horse racingCode breaker Maths 2Maths 1

MazeMotor racing Musical gamesBoxing

Alien invasionSpace battle Shooting gallerySports world

There are 40 games known for the Interton VC-4000, which has the most complete list. The other systems have apparently less games, which makes us think that Interton was at the origin of theses systems...

Interton VC-4000 games
Voltmace Database
Acetronic MPU-1000
Rowtron

1 - Autorennen

1 - Air-sea Battle ?

1 - Olympics

1 - Sportsworld

2 - Blackjack

2 - Blackjack

2 - Grand Prix 3

2 - Combat

3 - Ballspiele

3 - Bat and Ball

3 - Black Jack

3 - Horse Racing

4 - Panzer/Luftschlacht

4 - Road Race

4 - Tank/Plane Battle

4 - Maze

5 - Mathematik 1

5 - Tank and Plane

5 - Air Sea Battle

5 - Math Two

6 - Mathematik 2

6 - Mathematics 1

6 - Shooting Gallery

6 - Four in a row

7 - Luftkampf/Seegefecht

7 - Mathematics 2

7 - Basic Math

7 - Mastermind

8 - Motivsuche

8 - Shooting Gallery

8 - Math 2

8 - Air / Sea Battle

9 - Labyrinth

9 - Brain Drain

9 - Challenge

9 - Boxing

10- Wintersport

10 - Maze

10 - Codebreaker

10 - Black Jack

11 - Hippodrom

11 - Horse race

11 - Supermaze

11 - Sporting shotgun

12 - Jagd

12 - Circus

12 - Horse Racing

12 - Motor Racing

13 - Schach

13 - Boxing

13 - Circus

13 - Maths One

14 - Moto Cross

14 - Four in a row

14 - Prizefight

14 - Circus

15 - Vier in einer Reihe / Intelligenz

15 - Space battle

15 - Soccer

15 - Galactic space battles

16 - Superhirn / Intelligenz

16 - Alien invasion

16 - Hobby Module

17 - Circus

17 - Golf

17 - Musical Games

17 - Video Pinball

18 - Boxkampf

18 - Box clever

18 - Treasure Hunt

18 - Flag Capture / Memory match

19 - Krieg im Weltraum

19 - Treasure Hunt

19 - Golf

19 - Face the music

20 - Melodie Simon

20 - Arcade

20 - Head On

20 - Golf

21 - Attacke

21 - Musical memory

21 - Draughts

21 - Draughts

22 - Schach 2

22 - Spiders Web

23 - Flipper

23 - Chess

24 - Fußball

24 - Munch & Crunch

24 - Othello

25 - Kegeln / Bowling

25 - Leap Frog

25 - Electronic Pinball

26 - Dame

26 - Super Knockout

27 - Golf

27 - Invaders

28 - Cockpit

29 - Metropol

29 - Crazy Crab

29 - Shootout

30 - Solitär

30 - Space Wars

31 - Casino

31 - Lazer Attack

32 - Weltrauminvasoren

32 - Backgammon

33 - Super Invaders

33 - Planet Defender

34 - Space Laser

34 - Sea Wolf

35 - Rodeo

36 - Backgammon

37 - Monster-Man

38 - Hyperspace

39 - Basket-Ball

40 - Super-Space

> LINKS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Interton VC-4000 :
Classic Consoles Center! (cart list & screenshots)

Voltmace Database :
Obscure Pixels (pictures & carts list)

Palson CX-3000 :
Thanks to Miquel Pratsevall for the pictures

General :
The Video Game Consoles F.A.Q.
Ian's Game Page (cart lists)
Obscure Pixels

Cartridge lists are based on the work of :
Ian Pleasance, Richard Muse and Michael Davidson.

diff --git a/content/magazine/old-computers-videogames-exposition-2005.md b/content/magazine/old-computers-videogames-exposition-2005.md index d4e0f91f..4217bc1b 100644 --- a/content/magazine/old-computers-videogames-exposition-2005.md +++ b/content/magazine/old-computers-videogames-exposition-2005.md @@ -11,4 +11,4 @@ params: date: '2022-05-04' --- -

OLD COMPUTERS & VIDEO GAME SYSTEMS EXPO 2005
in Talence (France)

From 1st July to 15th july 2005, OLD-COMPUTERS.COM made an exposition about computers & videogame history, at the Forum des Arts et de la Culture in Talence (France).

More than 50 systems were exposed with their own descrpitive charts. A lof of detailed panels were also created relating the history of computing, videogames, grahical user interfaces, etc.

To avoid normal hardware expositions which tends to be boring, the emphasys was made on the visual and audio aspect . We wanted the visitor to be immerged into a complete retro experience, including hearing, seeing, touching and testing.

The result was apparently quite a success as most visitors we talked to were quite impressed by their visit.

Here are some pictures so you can virtualy visit the exposition, as well as some videos :

- Video 1 (entrance + pongs + atari 2600)
- Video 2 (Videopacs + Commodore PET + Tandy TRS-80 + Virtual Boy + Game&Watch)
- Video 3 (Game&watch + Table Tops + Mattel Autorace + Atari 7800 + Apple IIe + Sinclair computers + Commodore 64)
- Video 4 (Commodore 64 + Intellivision + Vectrex + old adverts frieze + commercials video)
- Video 5 (MSX + Amstrad CPC-464 + Colecovision + history panels + Oric + Laser 50 + MO5 + Homebrew ZX-81)
- Video 6 (old adverts frieze + Amstrad PPC + Sega & Nintendo consoles + IBM PC)
- Video 7 (old adverts + pocket systems window display + Atari Jaguar + Atari 1040 STE)
- Video 8 (Matra Alice computers + Apple Macintosh + Thomson TO-7 + history panels)
- Video 9 (exposition hall viewed from the upper mezzanine - part 1)
- Video 10 (exposition hall viewed from the upper mezzanine - part 2)
- Video 11 (Teamtendo electronic live performance for the exposition)



what you see when you enter the exposition
another view from the back of the hall

from the top
left part of the hall

here is the "pixel man" created with red self-adhesive
floor mats. Visitors only realize the meaning of the shape
when looking at it from the upper mezzanine.
the entrance

kids playing pong
pongs, Atari 2600, Videopacs,
Commodore PET, Tandy TRS-80 and Virtual Boy

Sega & Nintendo consoles, original IBM PC,
Atari Jaguar and Atari 1040 STE
Sinclair ZX Spectrum & ZX-81, Apple II
Tandy TRS-80, Nintendo Virtual Boy
and Game & Watch window display

Sinclair ZX Spectrum & ZX-81, Apple II
Commodore 64, Mattel Intellivision
The Vectrex had great success !

kids playing Super Marios Bros on the NES
and Sonic CD on Sega Megadrive + Mega CD.
IBM PC is playing Chess Master 2000 (Hercules graphics)
and Tempest 2000 is running on an Atari Jaguar
in the background...
Early Macintosh computer
+ french Alice systems
Computing history panels in
the background.

the Amstrad PPC is a very interesting
example of early IBM PC portable computers
The "old adverts" frieze is running all
around the hall
french Alice computers
+ Apple Macintosh + Virtual Boy
+ Tandy TRS-80 + Apple II
+ Game & Watch window display

Apple II & Sinclair systems enhanced
by a nice minimalist display and top lightning
A non-stop video of old commercials
is projected on the wall
Videogame history panels
+ some pong examples

The Nintendo Virtual Boy had great success !
As well as the "star-trek" style Commodore PET
Videopac consoles playing
"Jumping Acrobats" and "Stone Sling"

Some Game & Wath items with description sheet
+ some "Table Top" videogame systems
Top of the window display is showing
Mattel Autorace, the first handheld
electronic game + Atari 7800

Stoned visitor blinded by the commercials projection.
The "old adverts" frieze is still running all aorund the hall
Sony MSX playing "Athletic Lands"
+ Amstrad CPC-464 playing "Jet Set Willy"
+ Colecovision playing "Venture" on a very
stylish 80's portable television

Nice view of the curved wall supporting a large portion
of the "old adverts" frieze. Some mico computers
are presented on the forefront block.
young kid captivated by the first
IBM PC playing "Chess Master 2000"
with greenish Hercules graphics

Nintendo NES playing "Super Mario Bros III" next
to Sega Systems (Master System I & II, Saturn, Megadrive II
+ Mega CD II). The Megadrive is playing "Sonic CD"
IBM PC + Atari Jaguar + Atari 1040 STE
"Portable systems" window display in the background

Some example of portable systems...
Canon X-07 and Olivetti M10 for computers,
Atari Lynx, Nintendo Game Boy (+ Game Child asiatic clone),
Sega GameGear, Supervision and Gametronic for handheld consoles
Atari Portfolio and Sharp PC 1500 illustrating
pockets systems concept + some examples of
early data storage mediums (8'', 5''1/4, 3"1/2 and 3" disks, Sinclair Microdrive, Quickdisk and magnetic tape)

Yes, you can't avoid being ridiculous
when playing a Virtual Boy...
Atari 2600 (playing "Space Invaders")
and its box

These panels present two subjects:
evolution of soccer videogames through time,
and evolution of graphical user interfaces
Apple Macintosh and Alice micro-computers,
computing history panels and old
commercial video running in the background

This is the first one of the
videogame history panels
This is the second part of the
computing history panels

This is the second part of the
graphical user interfaces history panels
This is one of the two panels illustrating
the official or not adaptations of an arcade game
(here Donkey Kong) to the numerous gaming
platforms of the 80's

First of the 4 panels illustrating the
evolution of soccer videogames through time
one of the many old adverts used
to create the giant frieze running
all around the exposition hall

one of the press papers
published for the exposition
(Metro, 11th july 2005)
   

____________________

We would like to thank for their precious help building this exposition :

- René Spéranza at www.silicium.org
- Philippe Dubois at www.mo5.com
- Yves Bolognini at www.bolo.ch
+

OLD COMPUTERS & VIDEO GAME SYSTEMS EXPO 2005
in Talence (France)

From 1st July to 15th july 2005, OLD-COMPUTERS.COM made an exposition about computers & videogame history, at the Forum des Arts et de la Culture in Talence (France).

More than 50 systems were exposed with their own descrpitive charts. A lof of detailed panels were also created relating the history of computing, videogames, grahical user interfaces, etc.

To avoid normal hardware expositions which tends to be boring, the emphasys was made on the visual and audio aspect . We wanted the visitor to be immerged into a complete retro experience, including hearing, seeing, touching and testing.

The result was apparently quite a success as most visitors we talked to were quite impressed by their visit.

Here are some pictures so you can virtualy visit the exposition, as well as some videos :

- Video 1 (entrance + pongs + atari 2600)
- Video 2 (Videopacs + Commodore PET + Tandy TRS-80 + Virtual Boy + Game&Watch)
- Video 3 (Game&watch + Table Tops + Mattel Autorace + Atari 7800 + Apple IIe + Sinclair computers + Commodore 64)
- Video 4 (Commodore 64 + Intellivision + Vectrex + old adverts frieze + commercials video)
- Video 5 (MSX + Amstrad CPC-464 + Colecovision + history panels + Oric + Laser 50 + MO5 + Homebrew ZX-81)
- Video 6 (old adverts frieze + Amstrad PPC + Sega & Nintendo consoles + IBM PC)
- Video 7 (old adverts + pocket systems window display + Atari Jaguar + Atari 1040 STE)
- Video 8 (Matra Alice computers + Apple Macintosh + Thomson TO-7 + history panels)
- Video 9 (exposition hall viewed from the upper mezzanine - part 1)
- Video 10 (exposition hall viewed from the upper mezzanine - part 2)
- Video 11 (Teamtendo electronic live performance for the exposition)



what you see when you enter the exposition
another view from the back of the hall

from the top
left part of the hall

here is the "pixel man" created with red self-adhesive
floor mats. Visitors only realize the meaning of the shape
when looking at it from the upper mezzanine.
the entrance

kids playing pong
pongs, Atari 2600, Videopacs,
Commodore PET, Tandy TRS-80 and Virtual Boy

Sega & Nintendo consoles, original IBM PC,
Atari Jaguar and Atari 1040 STE
Sinclair ZX Spectrum & ZX-81, Apple II
Tandy TRS-80, Nintendo Virtual Boy
and Game & Watch window display

Sinclair ZX Spectrum & ZX-81, Apple II
Commodore 64, Mattel Intellivision
The Vectrex had great success !

kids playing Super Marios Bros on the NES
and Sonic CD on Sega Megadrive + Mega CD.
IBM PC is playing Chess Master 2000 (Hercules graphics)
and Tempest 2000 is running on an Atari Jaguar
in the background...
Early Macintosh computer
+ french Alice systems
Computing history panels in
the background.

the Amstrad PPC is a very interesting
example of early IBM PC portable computers
The "old adverts" frieze is running all
around the hall
french Alice computers
+ Apple Macintosh + Virtual Boy
+ Tandy TRS-80 + Apple II
+ Game & Watch window display

Apple II & Sinclair systems enhanced
by a nice minimalist display and top lightning
A non-stop video of old commercials
is projected on the wall
Videogame history panels
+ some pong examples

The Nintendo Virtual Boy had great success !
As well as the "star-trek" style Commodore PET
Videopac consoles playing
"Jumping Acrobats" and "Stone Sling"

Some Game & Wath items with description sheet
+ some "Table Top" videogame systems
Top of the window display is showing
Mattel Autorace, the first handheld
electronic game + Atari 7800

Stoned visitor blinded by the commercials projection.
The "old adverts" frieze is still running all aorund the hall
Sony MSX playing "Athletic Lands"
+ Amstrad CPC-464 playing "Jet Set Willy"
+ Colecovision playing "Venture" on a very
stylish 80's portable television

Nice view of the curved wall supporting a large portion
of the "old adverts" frieze. Some mico computers
are presented on the forefront block.
young kid captivated by the first
IBM PC playing "Chess Master 2000"
with greenish Hercules graphics

Nintendo NES playing "Super Mario Bros III" next
to Sega Systems (Master System I & II, Saturn, Megadrive II
+ Mega CD II). The Megadrive is playing "Sonic CD"
IBM PC + Atari Jaguar + Atari 1040 STE
"Portable systems" window display in the background

Some example of portable systems...
Canon X-07 and Olivetti M10 for computers,
Atari Lynx, Nintendo Game Boy (+ Game Child asiatic clone),
Sega GameGear, Supervision and Gametronic for handheld consoles
Atari Portfolio and Sharp PC 1500 illustrating
pockets systems concept + some examples of
early data storage mediums (8'', 5''1/4, 3"1/2 and 3" disks, Sinclair Microdrive, Quickdisk and magnetic tape)

Yes, you can't avoid being ridiculous
when playing a Virtual Boy...
Atari 2600 (playing "Space Invaders")
and its box

These panels present two subjects:
evolution of soccer videogames through time,
and evolution of graphical user interfaces
Apple Macintosh and Alice micro-computers,
computing history panels and old
commercial video running in the background

This is the first one of the
videogame history panels
This is the second part of the
computing history panels

This is the second part of the
graphical user interfaces history panels
This is one of the two panels illustrating
the official or not adaptations of an arcade game
(here Donkey Kong) to the numerous gaming
platforms of the 80's

First of the 4 panels illustrating the
evolution of soccer videogames through time
one of the many old adverts used
to create the giant frieze running
all around the exposition hall

one of the press papers
published for the exposition
(Metro, 11th july 2005)
   

____________________

We would like to thank for their precious help building this exposition :

- René Spéranza at www.silicium.org
- Philippe Dubois at www.mo5.com
- Yves Bolognini at www.bolo.ch
diff --git a/content/magazine/oric-2-pc-pc-2-oric.md b/content/magazine/oric-2-pc-pc-2-oric.md index e518e2c0..f0feeccc 100644 --- a/content/magazine/oric-2-pc-pc-2-oric.md +++ b/content/magazine/oric-2-pc-pc-2-oric.md @@ -11,4 +11,4 @@ params: date: '2021-12-02' --- -


ORIC 2 PC / PC 2 ORIC

If you want to backup your old oric disks (from Microdisc or Jasmin drives) on your PC, or if you want to have those disk images (the Oric Megademo for instance) found on the web back to a real disk to use them on a real oric, it's really easy.

In fact there are two ways to do that:

  • using a 3.5" drive linked to your Microdisc or Jasmin unit
  • using a 3" drive on your PC

 

> 3.5" drive linked to your Microdisc or Jasmin unit

The first may be more interesting if you want to use images back on a real oric (but could also be used the other way). You'll find a lot of images on the web and you'll realize that those 3" disks are not that easy to find - except if you have a friend with an old amstrad laying around. But at the same time you could well blow your microric or jasmin disk controller if you don't do it properly - believe me I have one here which went through this.
If you really want a 3.5" drive on your oric have a look at back issues of the CEO mag where they explain in deep the way to add one to your Microdisc or Jasmin Unit.

Either way the method to have oric disk read or written with your PC will be the same...

 

> 3" drive on your PC

If you prefer to add a 3" drive to your PC, read below...

- Needed Stuff -

Here is a short list of what you'll need:


A PC power supply Y splitter


A Slave Microdisc Unit
(a microdisc unit with no floppy
controller inside)

[Note: if you don't have a Microdisc Slave unit, it might be more difficult the perform the transfer. The Microdisc drives are Hitachi 3". Amstrad 6128 3" drives have different connectors (+ the mecanism might not be compatible). Maybe the Amstrad external floppy disk has a compatible connector, I don't have one to check. If you happen to have the transfer working without using an Hitachi drive let me know...].


- Let's Go -

To transfer files, you must first link your 3" drive to the PC. There are 2 ways to do it:

  • sporadic use: you just want to plug a 3" drive to back up your disk from times to times (so you will remove it when the transfer is complete)
  • regular use: you prefer to keep it in your PC because you often transfer files

Depending on your choice you may have to skip some steps below. You will be warned when necessary.

1 - Open your Microdisc unit (four screws under the unit) and you'll then be able to see this:

[Note: if you have a pcb + another cable on top of your drive, it means it's a Microdisc Master unit, you may want to keep it safe because it's the one that is necessary to boot a disk on your real oric.]
2 - Disconnect the power supply plug and the floppy cable and remove the 3" drive from the box (it is not secured so it should come easily). Note the 5.25-drive style connector.
3 - Remove the 3" drive shielding (there are 2 screws, one on each side)
4 - Now you must configure your 3" drive (letter select). Whatever use will be made of the drive (sporadic or regular) configure it as a B: drive.
Set the dipswitch 1 - On and dipswitches 0, 2 and 3 - Off.
[Note: setting the switch 0 - On and 1 - Off would configure the drive as A:].
Now you can put back the drive shielding. If you have chosen the regular use jump to step 8.
[Note: ordinary 3.5" drive have a B:-drive factory-set up. They are seen as A: drive on your PC because of the cable twist before the last connector]
5 - Plug the Y splitter into the drive power connector.
6 - Re-connect the drive to the Microdisc floppy cable.
7 - You can now put back the Microdisc unit cover (hope you didn't lose the screws). When putting it back try to have the power leads going through the little space between the floppy cable connector and the top of the Microdisc box (there's room for it without having to cut the box).
8 - Now the easy stuff... Open your PC tower.
9 - You now have to connect the floppy cable to the 3" drive, it will be different depending on your sporadic or regular option.
  • sporadic : you will then use your 3" drive instead of your 3.5" drive. So disconnect your floppy cable from your 3.5" drive and use it to connect the 3" drive to your PC motherboard using the last connector of your cable (after the twist so the B: setup of the drive will be seen as A: by the PC). Find a spare power supply plug and connect it to the 3" drive.
  • regular : you will use your 3" drive as a second floppy drive (B:). Since the 3" drive bus is like a 5.25 one, you just need an old floppy cable with both types of connectors. And even if you don't have one then you just have to unscrew the cable from the Microdisc slave unit to use it as an interface to a modern floppy drive cable with only one type of connector. Once the cable problem is solved, you need to connect it to the PC motherboard before the twist of the cable (so between the motherboard and the twist). From motherboard to last drive (3.5") you will have:
    motherboard -> 3" drive (B:) -> twist of the cable -> 3.5" drive (A:) Find a spare power supply plug and connect it to the 3" drive. You have now two options, either trying to fit the 3" drive in one bay of your PC, or keep it on the tower (see picture). The latter is not very nice that's why I decided to use the whole Microdisc unit as a standalone unit.

Regular top-of-the-box version
10 - Switch on your PC and enter the Bios Setup. Under the Bios configure your 3" drive as a 5.25" 360 KB drive (it's the A: drive if you have chosen the sporadic option or B: for regular).

 

- File transfers -

Once the setup is ok you have to transfer the files...

To do that you will have to use Readdsk and Writedsk. You can download them from Fabrice Francès's website. You'll also find other utilities and of course the Oric emulator Euphoric...

These utilities work with with Microdisc and Jasmin disks/images without problems. But a Jasmin disk image written back to a real disk will only work on a Jasmin setup. It will be the same for a Microdisc disk image. To avoid problems (and waste of time) check the image under Euphoric, it will prevent you to write a disk without having the proper setup.

You will not have such a problem if you want to backup your oric disks on your PC since Euphoric handles both Jasmin and Microdisc disk images (but beware check Euphoric's manual to see the way to handle those images under the emulator).

Also remember that all disks are not boot-able. It means that you may have succeeded in writing back or backing up a disk without being able to boot it immediately. If it's a boot disk it will work without problems. If not you may have to boot the oric with a boot disk and then swap it with your new disk.

1 - Create a drawer in which you will copy both programs and the disks images you found on the internet (to be used with writedsk).
2 - Once done restart your computer in DOS mode and go to your drawer with the utilities and disk images.
[Note: you could use the utilities in a dos window but it would then be slower and not as accurate as in a pure DOS mode]

Writedsk

We want to write to a real oric disk the disk image of the Oric Megademo (you can find it on oric-international.org).

[Note: writedsk will only work with disk images, these are often files with the .dsk extension. It will not work with tape images, ie .tap files. If you wish to do that you must first have your files extracted from the .tap image and then have it copied in a disk image, you can use Euphoric to do that]
  • at the DOS prompt you can enter writedsk to see the command usage
  • insert a blank 3" floppy in your drive (check that it is write enabled)
    [Note: You may have to format it first on your oric setup before using it on your PC to avoid problems]
  • enter writedsk vip3.dsk a: or writedsk vip3.dsk b: depending on the letter associated with your 3" drive.
  • at the prompt type Y and press ENTER
  • it's now writing the disk image back to your disk. If there is an error, try with another blank 3" floppy.
  • once finished you can now use that disk with your oric...
  • to return to windows enter exit

Click to enlarge

Readdsk

You want to backup your old oric disks to your PC tu use them under Euphoric.
By the way if you find some nice programs (unknown programs, type-ins, your own programs) on these disk images of ours it would be nice to share them with the oric community. Then contact me or upload those images on Oric International's ftp.
  • at the DOS prompt you can enter readdsk to see the command usage
  • insert your 3" oric floppy in your drive
  • enter readdsk mydisk.dsk a: or readdsk mydisk.dsk b: depending on the letter associated with your 3" drive.
  • it's now backing up the disk image to your PC. It will stop when no more tracks will be found
  • once finished you can now use that disk with Euphoric...
  • to return to windows enter exit

Click to enlarge

Here you are. Enjoy...

____________________________

Article written by Romual Liné <romualdl@oric-international.org>

LINKS:

   

+


ORIC 2 PC / PC 2 ORIC

If you want to backup your old oric disks (from Microdisc or Jasmin drives) on your PC, or if you want to have those disk images (the Oric Megademo for instance) found on the web back to a real disk to use them on a real oric, it's really easy.

In fact there are two ways to do that:

  • using a 3.5" drive linked to your Microdisc or Jasmin unit
  • using a 3" drive on your PC

 

> 3.5" drive linked to your Microdisc or Jasmin unit

The first may be more interesting if you want to use images back on a real oric (but could also be used the other way). You'll find a lot of images on the web and you'll realize that those 3" disks are not that easy to find - except if you have a friend with an old amstrad laying around. But at the same time you could well blow your microric or jasmin disk controller if you don't do it properly - believe me I have one here which went through this.
If you really want a 3.5" drive on your oric have a look at back issues of the CEO mag where they explain in deep the way to add one to your Microdisc or Jasmin Unit.

Either way the method to have oric disk read or written with your PC will be the same...

 

> 3" drive on your PC

If you prefer to add a 3" drive to your PC, read below...

- Needed Stuff -

Here is a short list of what you'll need:


A PC power supply Y splitter


A Slave Microdisc Unit
(a microdisc unit with no floppy
controller inside)

[Note: if you don't have a Microdisc Slave unit, it might be more difficult the perform the transfer. The Microdisc drives are Hitachi 3". Amstrad 6128 3" drives have different connectors (+ the mecanism might not be compatible). Maybe the Amstrad external floppy disk has a compatible connector, I don't have one to check. If you happen to have the transfer working without using an Hitachi drive let me know...].


- Let's Go -

To transfer files, you must first link your 3" drive to the PC. There are 2 ways to do it:

  • sporadic use: you just want to plug a 3" drive to back up your disk from times to times (so you will remove it when the transfer is complete)
  • regular use: you prefer to keep it in your PC because you often transfer files

Depending on your choice you may have to skip some steps below. You will be warned when necessary.

1 - Open your Microdisc unit (four screws under the unit) and you'll then be able to see this:

[Note: if you have a pcb + another cable on top of your drive, it means it's a Microdisc Master unit, you may want to keep it safe because it's the one that is necessary to boot a disk on your real oric.]
2 - Disconnect the power supply plug and the floppy cable and remove the 3" drive from the box (it is not secured so it should come easily). Note the 5.25-drive style connector.
3 - Remove the 3" drive shielding (there are 2 screws, one on each side)
4 - Now you must configure your 3" drive (letter select). Whatever use will be made of the drive (sporadic or regular) configure it as a B: drive.
Set the dipswitch 1 - On and dipswitches 0, 2 and 3 - Off.
[Note: setting the switch 0 - On and 1 - Off would configure the drive as A:].
Now you can put back the drive shielding. If you have chosen the regular use jump to step 8.
[Note: ordinary 3.5" drive have a B:-drive factory-set up. They are seen as A: drive on your PC because of the cable twist before the last connector]
5 - Plug the Y splitter into the drive power connector.
6 - Re-connect the drive to the Microdisc floppy cable.
7 - You can now put back the Microdisc unit cover (hope you didn't lose the screws). When putting it back try to have the power leads going through the little space between the floppy cable connector and the top of the Microdisc box (there's room for it without having to cut the box).
8 - Now the easy stuff... Open your PC tower.
9 - You now have to connect the floppy cable to the 3" drive, it will be different depending on your sporadic or regular option.
  • sporadic : you will then use your 3" drive instead of your 3.5" drive. So disconnect your floppy cable from your 3.5" drive and use it to connect the 3" drive to your PC motherboard using the last connector of your cable (after the twist so the B: setup of the drive will be seen as A: by the PC). Find a spare power supply plug and connect it to the 3" drive.
  • regular : you will use your 3" drive as a second floppy drive (B:). Since the 3" drive bus is like a 5.25 one, you just need an old floppy cable with both types of connectors. And even if you don't have one then you just have to unscrew the cable from the Microdisc slave unit to use it as an interface to a modern floppy drive cable with only one type of connector. Once the cable problem is solved, you need to connect it to the PC motherboard before the twist of the cable (so between the motherboard and the twist). From motherboard to last drive (3.5") you will have:
    motherboard -> 3" drive (B:) -> twist of the cable -> 3.5" drive (A:) Find a spare power supply plug and connect it to the 3" drive. You have now two options, either trying to fit the 3" drive in one bay of your PC, or keep it on the tower (see picture). The latter is not very nice that's why I decided to use the whole Microdisc unit as a standalone unit.

Regular top-of-the-box version
10 - Switch on your PC and enter the Bios Setup. Under the Bios configure your 3" drive as a 5.25" 360 KB drive (it's the A: drive if you have chosen the sporadic option or B: for regular).

 

- File transfers -

Once the setup is ok you have to transfer the files...

To do that you will have to use Readdsk and Writedsk. You can download them from Fabrice Francès's website. You'll also find other utilities and of course the Oric emulator Euphoric...

These utilities work with with Microdisc and Jasmin disks/images without problems. But a Jasmin disk image written back to a real disk will only work on a Jasmin setup. It will be the same for a Microdisc disk image. To avoid problems (and waste of time) check the image under Euphoric, it will prevent you to write a disk without having the proper setup.

You will not have such a problem if you want to backup your oric disks on your PC since Euphoric handles both Jasmin and Microdisc disk images (but beware check Euphoric's manual to see the way to handle those images under the emulator).

Also remember that all disks are not boot-able. It means that you may have succeeded in writing back or backing up a disk without being able to boot it immediately. If it's a boot disk it will work without problems. If not you may have to boot the oric with a boot disk and then swap it with your new disk.

1 - Create a drawer in which you will copy both programs and the disks images you found on the internet (to be used with writedsk).
2 - Once done restart your computer in DOS mode and go to your drawer with the utilities and disk images.
[Note: you could use the utilities in a dos window but it would then be slower and not as accurate as in a pure DOS mode]

Writedsk

We want to write to a real oric disk the disk image of the Oric Megademo (you can find it on oric-international.org).

[Note: writedsk will only work with disk images, these are often files with the .dsk extension. It will not work with tape images, ie .tap files. If you wish to do that you must first have your files extracted from the .tap image and then have it copied in a disk image, you can use Euphoric to do that]
  • at the DOS prompt you can enter writedsk to see the command usage
  • insert a blank 3" floppy in your drive (check that it is write enabled)
    [Note: You may have to format it first on your oric setup before using it on your PC to avoid problems]
  • enter writedsk vip3.dsk a: or writedsk vip3.dsk b: depending on the letter associated with your 3" drive.
  • at the prompt type Y and press ENTER
  • it's now writing the disk image back to your disk. If there is an error, try with another blank 3" floppy.
  • once finished you can now use that disk with your oric...
  • to return to windows enter exit

Click to enlarge

Readdsk

You want to backup your old oric disks to your PC tu use them under Euphoric.
By the way if you find some nice programs (unknown programs, type-ins, your own programs) on these disk images of ours it would be nice to share them with the oric community. Then contact me or upload those images on Oric International's ftp.
  • at the DOS prompt you can enter readdsk to see the command usage
  • insert your 3" oric floppy in your drive
  • enter readdsk mydisk.dsk a: or readdsk mydisk.dsk b: depending on the letter associated with your 3" drive.
  • it's now backing up the disk image to your PC. It will stop when no more tracks will be found
  • once finished you can now use that disk with Euphoric...
  • to return to windows enter exit

Click to enlarge

Here you are. Enjoy...

____________________________

Article written by Romual Liné <romualdl@oric-international.org>

LINKS:

   

diff --git a/content/magazine/sio2ide-or-how-to-install-a-hard-disk-in-your-8-bit-atari.md b/content/magazine/sio2ide-or-how-to-install-a-hard-disk-in-your-8-bit-atari.md index b36e0c74..9271a7de 100644 --- a/content/magazine/sio2ide-or-how-to-install-a-hard-disk-in-your-8-bit-atari.md +++ b/content/magazine/sio2ide-or-how-to-install-a-hard-disk-in-your-8-bit-atari.md @@ -11,4 +11,4 @@ params: date: '2021-12-02' --- -

SIO 2 IDE 1.0

Howto 1.0 written by Romuald

SIO2IDE (C) 2002 by MMSoft
and the author: Marek Mikolajewski

You've always dreamt of an atari without those cumbersome disk drives. You would like to get rid of those floppy disks and their limited size. You've tried SIO2PC, you found it great but a PC is even more cumbersome than a disk drive... Try SIO2IDE.

You can find information and necessary programs for the SIO2IDE interface in Marek Mikolajewski's page.

This page is just intended to explain how to have the sio2ide 1.0 running in your atari. I had some problems to have it working since the documentation was in Polish (and I can't read it). So this page might help some people around.

 

> 2.5" Harddrive in your ATARI 8bit

Here is the way to install your sio2IDE 1.0 interface in your atari.

> Installation Howto
Here is a short list of what you'll need:

  • an atari (800xl or 130xe). But notice that if you want to have the 2.5" installed in your atari, the 800xl cartridge trapdoor might be a problem, if you have pics of your 800xl with the hard drive inside send them to me please. I did it on an atari 130xe so there might be some difference with the way to do it on the 800xl (for the installation/soldering only, the software and harddrive setup will remain the same)
  • an atari diskdrive (1050 is ok)
  • a SIO2IDE interface + cinfiguration floppy (atari floppy with Mydos 4.53/4 and Fdisk.com)
  • a 2.5" hard drive (low consumption, small size, and only +5v power supply which could be taken from inside the atari). A 3.5" disk would not fit inside the atari and there would be the power supply problem (it also needs +12v which you can't find in the atari)
  • a 2.5"->3.5" ide converter since you will have to plug a 2.5" drive on the 3.5" connector of the sio2ide interface
  • some soldering experience (and the necessary equipment) to put the interface in the atari (be careful you can severely damage your atari (and yourself?) if you don't know what you're doing, so proceed only if you CAN do it or have it done by someone with the ability the do it)
  • an electronic plier (or a crimp tool)

> Let's go

1 - Open your Atari and remove the keyboard so that you'll have more room to work.  
2 - along with your sio2ide interface you were supplied a connector (which will be connected to SIO_IO on the interface) , have some wires cut (avoid to make them too short or you may have some problem when connecting that cable to the sio2pc interface, see step 3 for the different soldering options before cutting the wires) and use you plier or a crimping tool to have the wires tightened on the small metal tabs. But don't slide the wires+metal tabs in the connector yet...  

3 - Concerning the length of the wires you have two options:

  • either you have the wired directly soldered on the top of sio port (on the pins of the port), then you'll need something like 10cm wires (to have some liberty to move around) (see pictures )
  • or you can solder those wires on the solder side of your atari motherboard (you will then need more wire length in order to have the wires running from under the motherboard to the sio2ide interface). It you prefer this option, it means you have then to:
    • remove the metal shielding (use a plier to bend the metal clips)
    • unscrew the motherboard
    • then find the sio port solder pads

I chose the quick and dirty pin-soldering option (see pictures).

Solder the wires on the atari SIO port pins #3, 5, 7, 4, 10. Check twice before soldering (pin 1 is easy to find since 1 is written on the motherboard but if you have doubts look at the picture for pin number identification).

[Note: beware if you chose the motherboard solder side option the numbers will be reversed, check twice before soldering]

[Note: I always check if the solder joints are good with a multimeter to avoid surprises later]

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

4 - Now you can slide the wires+metal tabs in the connector matching the table below:

SIO-IO pin SIGNAL ATARI SIO pin
1 (see note 1) DATA_IN 5
2 DATA_OUT 3
3 COMMAND 7
4 RESET_OUT - (see note 2)
5 GND 4 (see note 3)
6 GND 4
7 VCC 10

[Note 1: SIO-IO pin #1 is to be found on the left of the connector and you can see it written on the sio2ide interface if you look closely]
[Note 2: the RESET_OUT signal is optional, it works without connecting it]
[Note 3: I chose to have a jumper from SIO-IO #5 and #6 and thus only one wire on the SIO pin #4, if you prefer to keep the original pinout then solder one more wire to SIO pin #4]

Click to enlarge
5 - Now you have to find +5v and GND for the harddrive.
Don't do what I did on the picture: I found an easy way to have +5v and GND, I soldered the two wires on the atari power supply socket but I didn't realize that doing this would automatically bypass the atari on/off switch. Thus when I plug the atari's power supply the harddrive begins to spin automatically even if the atari isn't switched ON. That's a very bad idea, find another place to solder those two wires... 		Click to enlarge
6 - ok everything is soldered... Click to enlarge

7 - now connect the small SIO cable to the SIO-IO connector of the interface, connect the power supply to the harddrive, the harddrive to the interface (see the picture for the red-pin1 stuff), and voila...

[Note: you may have to find a way to isolate the harddrive and the interface in order to avoid shortcuts, I used paper for testing purposes but something better is easy to find and is highly necessary).

 Click to enlarge
8 - Put the keyboard you will need it to configure everything... ;)
But don't put the cover back yet since we will have to access the jumper settings. 		Click to enlarge

 

> SIO2IDE Configuration

Once the interface, solders and wires are ok we have to configure the harddrive to work with the sio2ide interface... Hook up your atari, disk drive and TV but do not switch it on...

Some useful information:

Interface state monitor LEDs:

  • PWR_LED - indicates the interface power supply status
  • SIO_LED - indicates that the SIO command is received
  • BSY_LED - indicates that the Hard Disk is busy or that an error occured
  • IDE_LED - indicates the IDE bus activity (HDD output)

 

1 - Before switching on your atari set the SIO2IDE jumpers:


Jumper Setting Description
------------------------------------
HD1_ZW Off Disk D1: Off
INIT_ZW On Disk swap D1<=>D2
MS_ZW On Master mode

[Note: you should have received your SIO2IDE interface with this jumper setting]

2 - Now insert your Mydos + Fdisk floppy in the 1050
3 - Switch on your atari while holding down the OPTION key to boot Mydos... After some LED activity you should see Mydos menu and the BSY_LED should NOT be active. If that's the case everything is OK. If not check that all your connections are ok and that you set the jumpers the proper way.  

4 - At the prompt type
L
then:
FDISK.COM
and then Fdisk.com will be loaded (it is the sio2ide configuration program)...


  
5 - On the first menu screen type 1 to see the master SIO2IDE interface configuration (you can have 2 sio2ide interfaces in your atari). You will then have this menu:

1 - View Disks and SIO2IDE parameters
2 - View Partition Table
3 - View Disks Sequence
4 - Edit Partition Table
5 - Edit Disks Sequence
6 - Exit

Enter 2 to see the partition table.
You will then see the 16 partitions (P1->P16) of the harddrive. Sio2ide 1.0 is limited to 16 partitions with a maximum of 65535 sectors per partition (it depends of course on the hardrive, I did it with a small capacity harddrive and I only had 8 partitions). But even with a 16 partitions harddisk sio2Ide 1.0 will see the partitions 8 by 8 because they are associated to disks and DOSes are limited to eight disks. With the edit disk sequence screen you will be able to access the other partitions by remapping/associating them with different disks. But for the moment, write down on a paper the number of sectors per partition you will need it later on...
Now you can exit Fdisk: press a key then enter 6 and finally 3.
Your computer should now go back to Mydos screen...

 
6 - You must then change the config of the dos (to tell him the number and the size of the disks to be used)...
At the prompt enter : O
Drive Number or Return: 2
Remove Drive: N
Is Drive Configurable: Y
High Capacity Drive: Y
Drive Size (in sectors): [Note: enter here the number of sectors for the Disk/Partition P2, ex:] 65535

Then we must initialize this Disk/Partition (=format), so enter I at the prompt and then:
Disk to Format: 2
Type (Y) to format Drive 2: Y

You will have to repeat step 6 with every drive from D3 to D8 (D2 is done now and you can't access D9-D16 for the time being). Just replace 2 with the number of your disk and of course the size in sectors (that's why you had to write them down)

 
7 - you must not forget the boot partition...
In fact we have now prepared partition 2 to 8, but the interface must boot on a DOS partition. You have then to prepare the partition #1 to become the boot partition...
At the prompt enter L then enter
FDISK.COM
Enter 1 to view the master sio2ide settings
then enter 4 (edit disk sequence)
enter 1 to edit one disk
enter the disk: 2 (disk that you want to modify)
enter the partition: 1 (you want to associate partition 1 to disk 2 to access to the content of the partition 1 when requesting Drive 2 under the DOS)
then enter 2 to save the changes, enter 3, 6 and 3 to return to the DOS screen.
Then repeat step 6 with Drive 2 (but it will physically alter partition 1)...
after drive 2/partition 1 has been "O" + "I" you need to make it a system/boot drive/partition by copying the DOS on it, enter H, then 2.

Once the dos files are copied you may also want to copy FDISK on this drive to access is easily from the harddrive (use C under the dos).

[Note: now you can also repeat step 6 with partitions P9 to P16 by associating them to D2 to D8 with the Edit disk sequence of FDISK... I won't describe it here since it's always the same thing]

  
8 - Before trying your new atari + harddrive you must then get the things back to the normal (P1->D1, P2->D2) so launch FDISK.COM enter:
L
FDISK.COM
1
4
and here associate D1 to P1, and D2 to P2. Save your changes by entering 2 and exit FDISK.

You can now switch off your computer...

 

9 - set SIO2IDE jumpers

Jumper Setting Description
------------------------------------
HD1_ZW Off Disk D1: Off
INIT_ZW On Disk swap D1<=>D2
MS_ZW On Master mode
 
10 - Detach your 1050 disk drive, switch on the computer and wait for Atari and HDD power-up...
The computer will then start in basic mode and only the PWR_LED on the SIO2IDE is active
From the Atari BASIC prompt type BYE command, you will then see the self test screen
Press RESET key to restart the computer and load the DOS from the SIO2IDE disk (D1:)
You should now have the DOS screen (if you still have basic type DOS and if no result check taht you've followed the steps carefully)... Once at the dos prompt, you can run FDISK.COM to change your configuration and access other partitions...

[Note: if you want an automatic system start without to start in basic and then pressing Reset you must connect the Reset_Out signal (SIO_IO pin 4) as shown in the schematics in the Polish Technical Manual...]

 

Here you are. Enjoy...

> Postface

having a harddrive is cool but you would prefer to have your partitions full of games and utilities. There are 3 ways of doing that:

  • copy the files on floppies with your PC (special equipment needed I will explain this method soon)
  • use SIO2PC. That would be really the best choice since all the files are on your PC and it's pretty fast and easy...
  • in fact the third way is not really a third option. Either way 1 or 2 is long, so forget sio2ide 1.0 and upgrade to sio2ide 3.0. It's not the same software, it's not the same interface (the chip is not the same and some mods have to be done on the interface) but with the 3.0 version here is what you have:

    ATARI side:

    • uses standard Atari SIO at a speed of 19200 baud
    • emulates Atari disks D1: to D7:
    • can be used with any Atari DOS and OS
    • can be used without any problems with other SIO devices (disk drivers, printers, modems, SIO2PC, second SIO2IDE etc)
    • can be easy installed inside your Atari with 2.5' laptop HD
    • is easy to configure via special fdisk.com utility software (changing disks sequence and active directory)
      IDE device side:

    • all IDE ATA/ATAPI devices can be used: Disk Drives (2.5' and 3.5'), CD-ROMs, Compact Flash cards etc.
    • supports PC file systems, FAT16 and FAT32
    • supports CD file system, ISO9660
    • supports ATR disk images (SD, DD up to 16MB)
    • supports directory change (multiconfig)
    • is easy to configure, many text configuration files (sio2ide.cfg) can be stored in different directories
    • disk configuration can be checked by special checkfs.exe PC utility
    • standard disk utilities can be used (defrag.exe, scandisk.exe etc)

Let's also add that you can format your harddrive on your PC, and you can also create your directories with all your atari programs (such as ATR DD 16mo for example) from your PC. Once done you just have to put back the harddrive in your atari 130xe.

____________________________

Article written by Romual Liné <romualdl@hotmail.com>
+

SIO 2 IDE 1.0

Howto 1.0 written by Romuald

SIO2IDE (C) 2002 by MMSoft
and the author: Marek Mikolajewski

You've always dreamt of an atari without those cumbersome disk drives. You would like to get rid of those floppy disks and their limited size. You've tried SIO2PC, you found it great but a PC is even more cumbersome than a disk drive... Try SIO2IDE.

You can find information and necessary programs for the SIO2IDE interface in Marek Mikolajewski's page.

This page is just intended to explain how to have the sio2ide 1.0 running in your atari. I had some problems to have it working since the documentation was in Polish (and I can't read it). So this page might help some people around.

 

> 2.5" Harddrive in your ATARI 8bit

Here is the way to install your sio2IDE 1.0 interface in your atari.

> Installation Howto
Here is a short list of what you'll need:

  • an atari (800xl or 130xe). But notice that if you want to have the 2.5" installed in your atari, the 800xl cartridge trapdoor might be a problem, if you have pics of your 800xl with the hard drive inside send them to me please. I did it on an atari 130xe so there might be some difference with the way to do it on the 800xl (for the installation/soldering only, the software and harddrive setup will remain the same)
  • an atari diskdrive (1050 is ok)
  • a SIO2IDE interface + cinfiguration floppy (atari floppy with Mydos 4.53/4 and Fdisk.com)
  • a 2.5" hard drive (low consumption, small size, and only +5v power supply which could be taken from inside the atari). A 3.5" disk would not fit inside the atari and there would be the power supply problem (it also needs +12v which you can't find in the atari)
  • a 2.5"->3.5" ide converter since you will have to plug a 2.5" drive on the 3.5" connector of the sio2ide interface
  • some soldering experience (and the necessary equipment) to put the interface in the atari (be careful you can severely damage your atari (and yourself?) if you don't know what you're doing, so proceed only if you CAN do it or have it done by someone with the ability the do it)
  • an electronic plier (or a crimp tool)

> Let's go

1 - Open your Atari and remove the keyboard so that you'll have more room to work.  
2 - along with your sio2ide interface you were supplied a connector (which will be connected to SIO_IO on the interface) , have some wires cut (avoid to make them too short or you may have some problem when connecting that cable to the sio2pc interface, see step 3 for the different soldering options before cutting the wires) and use you plier or a crimping tool to have the wires tightened on the small metal tabs. But don't slide the wires+metal tabs in the connector yet...  

3 - Concerning the length of the wires you have two options:

  • either you have the wired directly soldered on the top of sio port (on the pins of the port), then you'll need something like 10cm wires (to have some liberty to move around) (see pictures )
  • or you can solder those wires on the solder side of your atari motherboard (you will then need more wire length in order to have the wires running from under the motherboard to the sio2ide interface). It you prefer this option, it means you have then to:
    • remove the metal shielding (use a plier to bend the metal clips)
    • unscrew the motherboard
    • then find the sio port solder pads

I chose the quick and dirty pin-soldering option (see pictures).

Solder the wires on the atari SIO port pins #3, 5, 7, 4, 10. Check twice before soldering (pin 1 is easy to find since 1 is written on the motherboard but if you have doubts look at the picture for pin number identification).

[Note: beware if you chose the motherboard solder side option the numbers will be reversed, check twice before soldering]

[Note: I always check if the solder joints are good with a multimeter to avoid surprises later]

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

4 - Now you can slide the wires+metal tabs in the connector matching the table below:

SIO-IO pin SIGNAL ATARI SIO pin
1 (see note 1) DATA_IN 5
2 DATA_OUT 3
3 COMMAND 7
4 RESET_OUT - (see note 2)
5 GND 4 (see note 3)
6 GND 4
7 VCC 10

[Note 1: SIO-IO pin #1 is to be found on the left of the connector and you can see it written on the sio2ide interface if you look closely]
[Note 2: the RESET_OUT signal is optional, it works without connecting it]
[Note 3: I chose to have a jumper from SIO-IO #5 and #6 and thus only one wire on the SIO pin #4, if you prefer to keep the original pinout then solder one more wire to SIO pin #4]

Click to enlarge
5 - Now you have to find +5v and GND for the harddrive.
Don't do what I did on the picture: I found an easy way to have +5v and GND, I soldered the two wires on the atari power supply socket but I didn't realize that doing this would automatically bypass the atari on/off switch. Thus when I plug the atari's power supply the harddrive begins to spin automatically even if the atari isn't switched ON. That's a very bad idea, find another place to solder those two wires... 		Click to enlarge
6 - ok everything is soldered... Click to enlarge

7 - now connect the small SIO cable to the SIO-IO connector of the interface, connect the power supply to the harddrive, the harddrive to the interface (see the picture for the red-pin1 stuff), and voila...

[Note: you may have to find a way to isolate the harddrive and the interface in order to avoid shortcuts, I used paper for testing purposes but something better is easy to find and is highly necessary).

 Click to enlarge
8 - Put the keyboard you will need it to configure everything... ;)
But don't put the cover back yet since we will have to access the jumper settings. 		Click to enlarge

 

> SIO2IDE Configuration

Once the interface, solders and wires are ok we have to configure the harddrive to work with the sio2ide interface... Hook up your atari, disk drive and TV but do not switch it on...

Some useful information:

Interface state monitor LEDs:

  • PWR_LED - indicates the interface power supply status
  • SIO_LED - indicates that the SIO command is received
  • BSY_LED - indicates that the Hard Disk is busy or that an error occured
  • IDE_LED - indicates the IDE bus activity (HDD output)

 

1 - Before switching on your atari set the SIO2IDE jumpers:


Jumper Setting Description
------------------------------------
HD1_ZW Off Disk D1: Off
INIT_ZW On Disk swap D1<=>D2
MS_ZW On Master mode

[Note: you should have received your SIO2IDE interface with this jumper setting]

2 - Now insert your Mydos + Fdisk floppy in the 1050
3 - Switch on your atari while holding down the OPTION key to boot Mydos... After some LED activity you should see Mydos menu and the BSY_LED should NOT be active. If that's the case everything is OK. If not check that all your connections are ok and that you set the jumpers the proper way.  

4 - At the prompt type
L
then:
FDISK.COM
and then Fdisk.com will be loaded (it is the sio2ide configuration program)...


  
5 - On the first menu screen type 1 to see the master SIO2IDE interface configuration (you can have 2 sio2ide interfaces in your atari). You will then have this menu:

1 - View Disks and SIO2IDE parameters
2 - View Partition Table
3 - View Disks Sequence
4 - Edit Partition Table
5 - Edit Disks Sequence
6 - Exit

Enter 2 to see the partition table.
You will then see the 16 partitions (P1->P16) of the harddrive. Sio2ide 1.0 is limited to 16 partitions with a maximum of 65535 sectors per partition (it depends of course on the hardrive, I did it with a small capacity harddrive and I only had 8 partitions). But even with a 16 partitions harddisk sio2Ide 1.0 will see the partitions 8 by 8 because they are associated to disks and DOSes are limited to eight disks. With the edit disk sequence screen you will be able to access the other partitions by remapping/associating them with different disks. But for the moment, write down on a paper the number of sectors per partition you will need it later on...
Now you can exit Fdisk: press a key then enter 6 and finally 3.
Your computer should now go back to Mydos screen...

 
6 - You must then change the config of the dos (to tell him the number and the size of the disks to be used)...
At the prompt enter : O
Drive Number or Return: 2
Remove Drive: N
Is Drive Configurable: Y
High Capacity Drive: Y
Drive Size (in sectors): [Note: enter here the number of sectors for the Disk/Partition P2, ex:] 65535

Then we must initialize this Disk/Partition (=format), so enter I at the prompt and then:
Disk to Format: 2
Type (Y) to format Drive 2: Y

You will have to repeat step 6 with every drive from D3 to D8 (D2 is done now and you can't access D9-D16 for the time being). Just replace 2 with the number of your disk and of course the size in sectors (that's why you had to write them down)

 
7 - you must not forget the boot partition...
In fact we have now prepared partition 2 to 8, but the interface must boot on a DOS partition. You have then to prepare the partition #1 to become the boot partition...
At the prompt enter L then enter
FDISK.COM
Enter 1 to view the master sio2ide settings
then enter 4 (edit disk sequence)
enter 1 to edit one disk
enter the disk: 2 (disk that you want to modify)
enter the partition: 1 (you want to associate partition 1 to disk 2 to access to the content of the partition 1 when requesting Drive 2 under the DOS)
then enter 2 to save the changes, enter 3, 6 and 3 to return to the DOS screen.
Then repeat step 6 with Drive 2 (but it will physically alter partition 1)...
after drive 2/partition 1 has been "O" + "I" you need to make it a system/boot drive/partition by copying the DOS on it, enter H, then 2.

Once the dos files are copied you may also want to copy FDISK on this drive to access is easily from the harddrive (use C under the dos).

[Note: now you can also repeat step 6 with partitions P9 to P16 by associating them to D2 to D8 with the Edit disk sequence of FDISK... I won't describe it here since it's always the same thing]

  
8 - Before trying your new atari + harddrive you must then get the things back to the normal (P1->D1, P2->D2) so launch FDISK.COM enter:
L
FDISK.COM
1
4
and here associate D1 to P1, and D2 to P2. Save your changes by entering 2 and exit FDISK.

You can now switch off your computer...

 

9 - set SIO2IDE jumpers

Jumper Setting Description
------------------------------------
HD1_ZW Off Disk D1: Off
INIT_ZW On Disk swap D1<=>D2
MS_ZW On Master mode
 
10 - Detach your 1050 disk drive, switch on the computer and wait for Atari and HDD power-up...
The computer will then start in basic mode and only the PWR_LED on the SIO2IDE is active
From the Atari BASIC prompt type BYE command, you will then see the self test screen
Press RESET key to restart the computer and load the DOS from the SIO2IDE disk (D1:)
You should now have the DOS screen (if you still have basic type DOS and if no result check taht you've followed the steps carefully)... Once at the dos prompt, you can run FDISK.COM to change your configuration and access other partitions...

[Note: if you want an automatic system start without to start in basic and then pressing Reset you must connect the Reset_Out signal (SIO_IO pin 4) as shown in the schematics in the Polish Technical Manual...]

 

Here you are. Enjoy...

> Postface

having a harddrive is cool but you would prefer to have your partitions full of games and utilities. There are 3 ways of doing that:

  • copy the files on floppies with your PC (special equipment needed I will explain this method soon)
  • use SIO2PC. That would be really the best choice since all the files are on your PC and it's pretty fast and easy...
  • in fact the third way is not really a third option. Either way 1 or 2 is long, so forget sio2ide 1.0 and upgrade to sio2ide 3.0. It's not the same software, it's not the same interface (the chip is not the same and some mods have to be done on the interface) but with the 3.0 version here is what you have:

    ATARI side:

    • uses standard Atari SIO at a speed of 19200 baud
    • emulates Atari disks D1: to D7:
    • can be used with any Atari DOS and OS
    • can be used without any problems with other SIO devices (disk drivers, printers, modems, SIO2PC, second SIO2IDE etc)
    • can be easy installed inside your Atari with 2.5' laptop HD
    • is easy to configure via special fdisk.com utility software (changing disks sequence and active directory)
      IDE device side:

    • all IDE ATA/ATAPI devices can be used: Disk Drives (2.5' and 3.5'), CD-ROMs, Compact Flash cards etc.
    • supports PC file systems, FAT16 and FAT32
    • supports CD file system, ISO9660
    • supports ATR disk images (SD, DD up to 16MB)
    • supports directory change (multiconfig)
    • is easy to configure, many text configuration files (sio2ide.cfg) can be stored in different directories
    • disk configuration can be checked by special checkfs.exe PC utility
    • standard disk utilities can be used (defrag.exe, scandisk.exe etc)

Let's also add that you can format your harddrive on your PC, and you can also create your directories with all your atari programs (such as ATR DD 16mo for example) from your PC. Once done you just have to put back the harddrive in your atari 130xe.

____________________________

Article written by Romual Liné <romualdl@hotmail.com>
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