Atari 800 XL Repair (1 of 2)
Defect:
- Cartridges don’t work.
- Some games or demos via SIO don’t work.
Replaced parts:
- Replaced ROM CO61598B (U5) with a EPROM 27C128.
Gallery of the repair:
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Atari 800 XL Repair (2 of 2)
Defect:
- The computer starts only in SELF TEST mode.
Replaced parts:
- Replaced ROM BASIC C060302A (U4) with a EPROM 27C64 through adapter from 2364 to 2764.
Gallery of the repair:
Download:
Retro Things to be repaired for some friends.
- 1 x Amiga 1200 (Full Recap)
- 1 x Atari 800 XL (don’t runs anything)
- 1 x Atari 1010 (check)
- 1 x Commodore 1571 (freezed/error)
- 1 x Hantarex PCB Coin-op Monitor (Full Recap)
- 1 x Sony HITBit HB-F1XD MSX2 (missing sound)
- 1 x Sony HITBit HB-75P (keyboard problem)
A lot of retro things received as gift from my friends. Many thanks to Andrea & Ciro.
Description of the retro things received:
- General Electric TXP-8100 Printer for Atari XL/XE (SIO BUS) & Commodore VIC-20/64. (IEC BUS)
- Mega-Sound from Cheetah for Sinclair ZX Spectrum. (Boxed)
- Tenkolek ZX Spectrum Cassette Interface. (Boxed)
- 20 x New 3-inch floppy disk drive for Amstrad Home Computer.
- RocGen Plus from Roctec Electronics Amiga Genlock. (Boxed)
- Videon 4.1 Gold from Newtronic Video Digitizer for Amiga. (Boxed)
- Commodore 64 with an uncommon internal configuration.
- Commodore Floppy Disk Drive 1541 with an uncommon front label with the white case.
- Analog Joystick for VIC-20 with instruction how to write the software for use it.
- Unknown Power Supply 24v 1.8A.
- Sinclair Spectrum +2 Power Supply.
- BrunWord word-processor MK2 Cartridge for Amstrad CPC.
- Hardtek Serial to Parallel Converter for Sinclair ZX Spectrum with Interface 1. (Boxed)
- Memotech Memopak 32k for Sinclair ZX-81. (Boxed)
- Memotech Memopak 16k for Sinclair ZX-81. (Boxed)
- MSX Micro FDD Interface
- Unknown 64 Modem
- Dk’Tronics Mouse Interface for Amstrad CPC.
- Rubber Keyboard replacement for Sinclair ZX Spectrum.
- Rubber Keyboard replacement for Sinclair ZX-81.
- Portugal Tape Software for Sinclair ZX Spectrum.
- Radio Shack TRS-80 Software.
- Amstrad CPC Italian Instruction Manual.
- TRS-80 Color Instruction Manual.
- Atari brochure.
- Atari ST Manual.
- Commodore VC-1541 Instruction Manual.
- 2 x Texas Instruments TI-99/4a USA motherboards for spare parts.
- HitBIT HB-11 MSX Home Computer Japan with the external case completely broken. (spare parts)
- Yellow bag from Buffetti to be used for the Commodore 64.
Gallery:
Jean-François DEL NERO (who’s behind the HxC SD Floppy Emulator) recently has released a version of the HxC emulator firmware that is compatible with the STM32 chip used in the Gotek floppy emulators.
This means that the great functionality of the HxC SD emulator is now available on cheaper and more widely available hardware.
The bootloader to convert the Gotek floppy drive in HxC compatible must be purchased on the website HXC 2001 by sending an email to Jean-François DEL NERO. The price of the bootloader is one-off 10 Euro per Gotek that you want to update. Future updates of the software are free and can be made from a USB stick
The HXC Usb (Gotek) firmware supports: 
+ many more….
USB Stick STM32 (Gotek) HxC Floppy Emulator Firmware v3.1.22.1a -> v3.1.25.1a cumulative changelog:
- TI99/4A : V9T9/DSK Loader -> Better disk layout detection.
- OLED screen setting sanity check: Do not allow more than 21 characters per line.
- 2 Digits screen Gotek: Fix embedded config menu.
- HFE files: Fix MPC60 MkII formatted images write support regression. May also fix possible write issues on HFE files with some others machines/disk formats. Update recommended.
- 7 segments Gotek: New menu entry : 5 -> Auto select delay setting.
- Floppy Interface initialized before the screen. (Fix Emu Emulator second drive detection issue).
- Amiga ID support enabled by default (HD ADF support).
- Internal improvements.
- “Double steps per increment” rotary support added.
- New menu entries: Head settling time. (7 digits gotek meny entry number 6). Rotary type. (7 digits gotek menu entry number 7 – 0=Single Step, 1=Double Step, 3=Disable.).
This is only a little part of the changelog. The original one is very long and you can read it here. (instruction manual here)
Download: USB Stick STM32 (Gotek) HxC Firmware v3.1.25.1a (1161)
source: hxc2001.com
Some retro-Trash things received from a friend. Thanks Gerben.
Below the list.
- Philips Computer Monitor 80 (Amber phosphors).
- Commodore Music Maker.
- Philips MSX Data Recorder
- Easy Bob Model 745 – RS232 Serial Analyzer/Tester.
- Data Switch.
- Taxas Instruments T-83.
- 4-to-1 Parallel Auto Switch.
- Zanussi Ping-O-Tronic (MOD. PP 7)
- Lego USB 4 Ports HUB.
- General Electric IFM Interface Module for C64/Atari.
- Some Serial/Parallel/MSX cables and adapters.
- Joystick.
- External CD-ROM.
- Mouse Pad.
- Some Serial/Parallel/MSX cables and adapters.
Vampire GOLD2.9 Core Released for V600 v2 & V500 v2(+) and new Saga Driver v1.3
Vampire GOLD2.9 Changelog:
- Improved Power-OFF/ON on Amiga
- Allow software to access on-board ROM chip
- MapROM mapping support for Atari roms
- Memory management support for Atari memory map
- FPU Speed-up (51Mflops at x11 according to SysInfo)
- FPU fully working under TOS
- Modified Expansion post pin-out
- Boot to EmuTOS with FIRE button on Power-ON
SAGA Driver v1.2/1.3 Changelog:
- Updated VControl to 1.4
- Added V2ExpEth.device 1.2
- Updated SDNet.device to 1.2
- Some more work on TX stability
- Should recover from ENC Module hangs more often
- Aligned with future EXPnet
Download: Vampire Core & Saga Driver (1327)
source: apollo-accelerators.com
Jean-François DEL NERO (who’s behind the HxC SD Floppy Emulator) recently has released a version of the HxC emulator firmware that is compatible with the STM32 chip used in the Gotek floppy emulators.
This means that the great functionality of the HxC SD emulator is now available on cheaper and more widely available hardware.
The bootloader to convert the Gotek floppy drive in HxC compatible must be purchased on the website HXC 2001 by sending an email to Jean-François DEL NERO. The price of the bootloader is one-off 10 Euro per Gotek that you want to update. Future updates of the software are free and can be made from a USB stick
The HXC Usb (Gotek) firmware supports: + many more….
USB Stick STM32 (Gotek) HxC Firmware v3.1.16.1a -> v3.1.22.1a cumulative changelog:
- TI99/4A : Direct support of *.DSK/*.PC99/*.V9T9 sectors dump images SD/DD/HD density support (Read & Write).
- New embedded menu entry : You can now force the user interface mode (Normal/Indexed or selector mode selection).
- USB Direct Access mode code : Index gap increased (Amiga File selector & HxC copy utility under WB fix)
- Indexed mode : Ignore file extension. You can now use any file extension as long as the file is supported by the floppy emulation engine. (Can be DSKA0000.HFE/IMG/DSK/ADF/ADL…)
- Acorn machines (*.ADL, *.ADM, *.ADF): Sectors gap, interleave and tracks skew aligned to the real machine.
- USB Direct Access mode code refactored : Read/write performance increased (hxcmount). / Command/Write indications printed on the LCD.
- USB access cache : Write timeout value set to 2 seconds.
- Normal mode : Remove unwanted key delay when entering in direct mode.
- End part of the read output pipeline reworked (pulses generator).
- Akai S20 IMG images : sectors gap and tracks skew aligned to the real machine.
- Casio FZ1 IMG images : sectors gap and tracks skew aligned to the real machine.
- Fix last the v3.1.16.2a compilation option ! Please update if you have the v3.1.16.2a released yesterday !
- Autoboot mode + 3 Digits Gotek screen : Fix slot number.
This is only a little part of the changelog. The original one is very long and you can read it here. (instruction manual here)
Download: USB Stick STM32 (Gotek) HxC Firmware v3.1.22.1a (1054)
source: hxc2001.com
Jean-François DEL NERO (who’s behind the HxC SD Floppy Emulator) recently has released a version of the HxC emulator firmware that is compatible with the STM32 chip used in the Gotek floppy emulators.
This means that the great functionality of the HxC SD emulator is now available on cheaper and more widely available hardware.
The bootloader to convert the Gotek floppy drive in HxC compatible must be purchased on the website HXC 2001 by sending an email to Jean-François DEL NERO. The price of the bootloader is one-off 10 Euro per Gotek that you want to update. Future updates of the software are free and can be made from a USB stick
The HXC Usb (Gotek) firmware supports: + many more….
Firmware STM32 USB HxCFloppyEmulator v3.1.9.1a -> v3.1.16.1a cumulative changelog:
- User interface part :
- Code Refactored
- Better buttons behavior.
- Better/faster rotary behavior.
- Normal mode :
- Press both buttons shortly to jump to the first entry of the current folder. (“..”)
- Normal mode :
- When returning to parent folder (“..”) the position in the folder is restored.
- Autoboot mode :
- Press both buttons shortly to jump to Autoboot.hfe / Press both buttons more than 2 seconds eject/insert the disk.
- Indexed mode :
- Press both buttons shortly to jump to DSKA0000.HFE / Press both buttons more than 2 seconds eject/insert the disk.
- 7 segments screen : Now show when an image is inserted (“—”) or ejected (” – “)
- OLED : init algorithm revised for diymore.cc screens. (Press the right button at power up at the first diymore.cc screen installation).
- Various user interface fixes.
- Normal mode : key auto-repeat delay increased.
- Revert filtering changes (Rotary support)
- Keys debouncing filter increased.
- Normal mode : Wait the select key release after a directory change.
- New interface modes :
- IBMPC_DD_HD (PC Mode with auto density selection)
- S950_DD_HD (Akai / Shugart-Like Mode with auto density selection)
- New Family :
- Ensoniq ASR10 (Ensoniq Auto DD & HD support)
- New 7 segments config menu 1 (Interface mode) entries :
- 0F = S900/S950 (Density Auto)
- 10 = PC DD/HD (Density Auto)
- New 7 segments config menu 0 (System family) entry :
- 11 = Ensoniq ASR10 (Ensoniq Auto DD & HD support)
- Some file system & disks access sanity checks added.
- New menu setting interface menu for normal 7-segments Goteks :
- To access it, remove the USB Stick and press both buttons.
- Choose the sub menu number – wait some seconds for the selection validation.
- Check and/or change the setting – wait some seconds for the selection validation.
This is only a little part of the changelog. The original one is very long and you can read it here. (instruction manual here)
Download: USB Stick STM32 (Gotek) HxC Firmware v3.1.16.1a (1047)
source: hxc2001.com
This version of the Atari 410 Cassette Recorder differs from the one inside the “Atari – The Educator” box only for the additional colored box that hold the simple one in white cardboard.
Gallery:
Jean-François DEL NERO (who’s behind the HxC SD Floppy Emulator) recently has released a version of the HxC emulator firmware that is compatible with the STM32 chip used in the Gotek floppy emulators.
This means that the great functionality of the HxC SD emulator is now available on cheaper and more widely available hardware.
The bootloader to convert the Gotek floppy drive in HxC compatible must be purchased on the website HXC 2001 by sending an email to Jean-François DEL NERO. The price of the bootloader is one-off 10 Euro per Gotek that you want to update. Future updates of the software are free and can be made from a USB stick
The HXC Usb (Gotek) firmware supports: + many more….
Firmware STM32 USB HxCFloppyEmulator v3.1.2.0a -> v3.1.8.1a Cumulative Changelog:
- Raw files : Write sector performance increased. / Near Real time sectors write !
- Low level Floppy IO optimizations.
- Raw *.IMG PC Files : Use the DOS 6.22 disk layouts.
- And as always some code optimizations.
- Cache flush fix : Do you not reorder the cache when not needed ( e.g when the track fit the cache size )
- CFG File V1 fix (Autoboot mode) : slots support now file images with 2 characters filename extension…
- More code Speed optimizations. (again ! :) )
- More Code Speed optimizations.
- RAW MFM & FM Images (IMG/ST/…) : More Write speed improvement. / Sector Data cache prefetch.
- RAW MFM & FM Images (IMG/ST/…) : Write speed improvement. / Track cache workflow improvement. / Code optimization (CRC16, MFM 2 BIN…).
- *.ST 720KB Files : Switch to the TOS 1.62 Disk Layout.
- RAW files loader : Internal enhancement.
This is only a little part of the changelog. The original one is very long and you can read it here.
Software HxCFloppyEmulator v2.1.8.0:
- New Loader : Atari ATR file image loader.
- New Write & Loader : HFE V3 : variable bitrate and other proctections support. / (Experimental ! The file format definition is not yet finished !)
- Kryoflux raw files Writer : Fix dead lock with tracks without pulse.
- Amiga DOS image browser : 85 tracks AmigaDos image support.
- Disk Image browser (FAT & AmigaDOS) : Fix null-sized file import issue.
- Disk Image browser (FAT & AmigaDOS) : Can now delete folders.
- All image loaders : Fix possible track skew calculation error.
- Emax image loader : GAP fixed to 30.
- Thomson *.FD loader : Sector interleave set to 7
- Command line tool : -uselayout option can be now used to specify external xml disk layout file.
Download:
source: hxc2001.com
Jean-François DEL NERO (who’s behind the HxC SD Floppy Emulator) recently has released a version of the HxC emulator firmware that is compatible with the STM32 chip used in the Gotek floppy emulators.
This means that the great functionality of the HxC SD emulator is now available on cheaper and more widely available hardware.
The bootloader to convert the Gotek floppy drive in HxC compatible must be purchased on the website HXC 2001 by sending an email to Jean-François DEL NERO. The price of the bootloader is one-off 10 Euro per Gotek that you want to update. Future updates of the software are free and can be made from a USB stick
The HXC Usb (Gotek) firmware supports: + many more….
Release notes Firmware STM32 USB HxCFloppyEmulator v3.1.1.2a – v3.1.1.4a:
- Config file “Load last loaded floppy” flag is now supported in indexed and file selector mode.
- Normal mode Fix : ST files are visible again !
- “Load Last selected image” : Save & Restore previous folder position.
This is only a little part of the changelog. The original one is very long and you can read it here.
Download: USB Stick STM32 (Gotek) HxC Firmware v3.1.1.4a (1012)
source: hxc2001.com
Tomasz “Tebe” Biela has released an update of the program Graph2Font v4.0.2.1 and the Atari Graphics Studio v3.0.1.
This project began many years ago as a simple graphics converter for Atari but over the years the features are significantly increased. The converter runs under Windows.
Download:
source: g2f.atari8.info
The Leonardo console is nothing more than a italian clone distributed by “Gig” of the console Emerson Arcadia 2001. 35 games have been published under the GIG Leonardo label.
Arcadia 2001 is a second-generation 8-bit console released by Emerson Radio in 1982 following the release of ColecoVision. It was discontinued only 18 months later, with a total of 35 games having been released. Emerson licensed the Arcadia 2001 to Bandai, which released it in Japan. Over 30 Arcadia 2001 clones exist.
The unrelated Arcadia Corporation, manufacturer of the Atari 2600 Supercharger add-on, was sued by Emerson for trademark infringement. Arcadia Corporation then changed its name to Starpath.
The Arcadia is much smaller than its contemporary competitors and is powered by a standard 12-volt or 9-volt power supply so it can be used in a boat or a vehicle. It also has two outputs (or inputs) headphone jacks on the back of the unit, on the far left and far right sides.
The system came with two Intellivision-style controllers with a 12 button keypad and ‘fire’ buttons on the sides. The direction pads have a removable joystick attachment. Most games came with BoPET overlays that could be applied to the controller’s keypads. The console itself had five buttons: power, start, reset, option, and select.
There are at least three different types of cartridge case styles and artwork, with variations on each. Emerson-family cartridges come in two different lengths (short and long) of black plastic cases.
Technical specifications:
- Main Processor: Signetics 2650 CPU (Some variants run a Signetics 2650A)
- RAM: 1 KB
- ROM: —
- Video display: 128 × 208 / 128 × 104, 8 Colours.
- Video display controller: Signetics 2637 UVI @ 3.58 MHz (NTSC), 3.55 MHz (PAL)
- Sound: Single Channel “Beeper” + Single Channel “Noise”
- Hardware Sprites: 4 independent, single color.
- Controllers: 2 × 2 way.
- Keypads: 2 × 12 button (more buttons on some variants)
Gallery:
source: wikipedia
Jean-François DEL NERO (who’s behind the HxC SD Floppy Emulator) recently has released a version of the HxC emulator firmware that is compatible with the STM32 chip used in the Gotek floppy emulators.
This means that the great functionality of the HxC SD emulator is now available on cheaper and more widely available hardware.
The bootloader to convert the Gotek floppy drive in HxC compatible must be purchased on the website HXC 2001 by sending an email to Jean-François DEL NERO. The price of the bootloader is one-off 10 Euro per Gotek that you want to update. Future updates of the software are free and can be made from a USB stick
The HXC Usb (Gotek) firmware supports: + many more….
Release notes Firmware USB HxCFloppyEmulator v3.1.1.1a:
- Fix broken Rotary support in normal mode. (Connection points reminder : Clock -> J7 pin 2,Direction -> J7 pin 1)
This is only a little part of the changelog. The original one is very long and you can read it here.
Download: USB Stick STM32 (Gotek) HxC Firmware v3.1.1.1a (900)
source: hxc2001.com
SNDH archive v4.7 released – 323 new/updated SNDH files (1209 subtunes) – (total 10238 tunes)
Ever since the birth of the Atari ST, different chip music formats have had different ways to use them. If you are coding a chip music player for the Atari ST you would have to use dozens and dozens of special ways to replay music.
But in the mid 90′s, BDC of Aura crew became tired of this inelegant system and decided to fix the issue once and for all. He then created the ‘SNDH’ file format. SNDH is actually the original songfile and replaycode with a header bolted on top of the music and replayer. The header has a unified calling interface no matter what type of chip music is hidden beneath it, and it has extended datas about the music.
Download: SNDH Atari ST YM2149 Archive v4.7 (1685)
source: sndh.atari.org
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