You asked about getting SpartDos on a cartridge. While not exactly the same as your original stackable cart, you can run SpartaDos and Mac65 simultaneously on single Atarimax flashcart.
The SCRAM (Chris Crawford's nuclear reactor simulator/game) image from AtariManiac.com is a cassette image only, and Chris Crawford's excellent war-game Eastern Front 1941 is also a cassette image, though there is a cartridge edition available. Cassette images are still a thing.
Thank you for taking the time to create this video. You answered a lot of questions I had about this device. I am new to Atari 8 bits and didn't want to mess around looking for old disk drives on ebay that may or may not work. I ordered one of these and while waiting I was looking for instructions on how to use..thank you.
Wow, thanks for showing, this will be really useful. You said it can do tape emulation, so I checked the makers website. It can read .cas files! I found my 35 year old tapes at mum's house last Christmas and had lots of fun converting them to wave files, and then .cas files using the Altirra emulator. The kids had some fun too playing my old games on the emulator. I still have my old Atari, having one of these will be simpler than mucking around with tapes, and I can emulate a floppy drive I never had. Thanks
I actually tried it once, to see if it worked, and quickly I remembered why I hated my 410 tape drive until my parents got me the 810 floppy drive. Took so long to load anything but it does work just like the tape drive did.
Enjoyed the video a lot! Thanks for going through and showing the frustration of using some of these drive emulators. Makes me feel a lot better about my attempts to use them. I'm definitely going to get one of these and the Ultimate Cart. Please keep making the videos!!!
FYI, For us Cassette users the only issue is that tapes recorded with an audio track will not be heard. It will only load the data track, For example: Any of the conversational Languages on cassette have a data track for the program and an audio track for the spoken language. So those programs that take advantage of the audio track will not work, however the program will work.
After watching a couple of your videos I was inspired to pull out my 130XE after 30 years. When I took it out of the box it was extremely yellowed, is there any fix for that? Also I found two 800XL machines with no power supply, are they useless or do you think someone would want them?
Awesome! Glad your having fun that's what it's all about.... Check this video for restoring old yellow computers ruclips.net/video/VU7vXMezW_I/видео.html I might be interested in one of those 800xl machines as I could use one for the channel so let me know about that. Also, there is a USB power cable that can be used for powering these computers as they only need 5v to operate. Check eBay for 8bit Atari power cable you should be able to find one there. thanks for watching!
To fix yellowing look up retro brightening on you tube. This is a chemical process that reduces the yellowish coloring. It’s been sometime since your post abt the 800xls but am interested. Would pay for shipping etc. VUTHILAU@GMAIL.COM
The Atari800 emulator for the Mac, Atari800MacX, will also allow you to create large hard drive images. Atari DOS 2.5 does NOT support double-density disk formats. It only supports the single and "enhanced" density supported by the stock Atari 1050 disk drive. I had a 1050 upgraded with the Happy Disk ROM that allows it to use Happy's "Warp Speed" data transfer as well as true double density. But you'll have to use a third-party DOS such as Happy's Warp OS, MyDOS, or Sparta DOS to use the double-density disk format. I got a copy of Sparta DOS with the bootleg Happy Drive ROM upgrade I got.
Just happened to come across this video, since I just bought an SDrive MAX (a "1050" version with a case that looks like a mini 1050), and the product page says that it supports BIN files. This is a bit odd, since BIN files are typically rips from cart images. Not having a header, I can't imagine that they could load directly (and they don't). Of course the documentation has been updated, but still doesn't have any specifics about this "feature"... Eh, I guess I'll play around with that. Anyway, I've already been able to copy and preserve some of my old floppies that I've had stored for YEARS - kind of shocked that they still read fine (although I got errors trying to copy 1 so far. I'll be looking forward to copying the rest soon. I slightly panicked with early failures, only to realize that some of my disks were formatted with DOS 3.0 (packed in with my original 1050 that I still have, but lost the DOS 3.0 disk!). Luckily I found an .ATR of DOS 3.0 online, and was able to dupe those disks just fine. So yeah, I have to agree with your assessment. It has its quirks, and it took a while to get the hang of how it handles the drive slots (I STILL haven't figured out how you just empty a drive without resetting the unit), but I think that it's definitely worth getting one.
Yeah..i understand you. But, it's more easy turn off de 1050 drive instead pull off de sio conector from one 1050 and put it into another 1050 turned in D2 mode. Or not?? O maybe you have a sio chain and you just change de drive (D3) ?...can i do the same with my xf 551 ?. I don't have another 1050
@@Rodrigo.Guti77 8 bit atari has D1: to D4: not D0: to D3: if the sdrive max lets you boot from the second drive (weather you call it D1: or D2: you need the drive set on the back or unplug but in the video it looked like you wanted to do it without plugging and unpluging you can use a 1050 and xf 551 together at drive 1 and 2
The device needs to be refined, but it has a lot of potential. let's hope that the creators appreciate your contribution to its presentations and the fact of finding bugs. Great review
As I really hate to still for thousands time re-start Atari by on/off switch for cold reset > is there some way to make it in different way please? When I would like to finish the program on SD card and run another one I do not want to make cold reset with main switch each time... :(
Have you had any luck copying FROM a floppy drive TO S-Drive max? I am able to set the 1050 to drive #2 and copy to it but I haven’t been able to go the other way. Trying to backup my programs I wrote as a kid to sd. Guess I’ll have to print them out instead… I tried booting a sector copier on the sdrive with the 1050 set to d2 and turned off. Then after boot turn it on and select a blank image on d1 but it sees d2 still on the max. I think I need to make TWO empty drives. One in slot one and one in slot 2 and then select slot one on the max and try copying. Lol what a convoluted mess. But I’ll try it!
@@8bitandmore I ended up figuring it out.. its just a funky UI... You have to make sure drive 1 is empty and then format a blank disk image and use a copy program
This was all very helpful. The only issue I had was with the last part describing how to make a 16 mb .atr disk image. I succeeded in making a 16 mb disk file but Spartados x will only see it as a 720 sector image file (even though it's 16 mb in size). It wont see it as a 65K sector file only 720 sectors. This is with Spartados x 4.49. Anyone else have this issue? The build directory command works but the best I can get is high density with 1440 sectors.
very nice channel. well done and informative videos . you have a new subscriber. looking forward to the next video. I dug out my old Atari 800 I purchased in 1982, got a sio2sd box and am reliving old times.
It would make sense to be able to use Bob Puff's Disk Communicator aka DiskComm to make .DSK image files, rename them .ATR, and use the SDrive Max to emulate the source disk. It would also be super helpful to be able to save files from the Atari 8-bit directly to the microSD card in the SDrive Max and allow users to manipulate the disk images via PC. I would like for a way to save files directly to the SD card, or at least a utility on Windows to browse .ATR images and extract files from them to use in Windows.
I'm just getting back into Atari after 35+ years so I haven't tested it yet (I have a 130xe and a 1050 drive just ordered from ebay but no power cord yet or display cable, hopefully, both arrive tomorrow). But, I wanted to mention because you talked about it at 8:12 or so, I just ordered a Spartados X Cartridge from www.bitsofthepast.com/?product=super-spartados-pcb, you have to get a cartridge shell printed for it. I couldn't find an STL for the case but there is a link to order one from another site on his site. If you have an older version you can skip the case and just pop the PCB in that case. I'm waiting on both the case and the PCB to arrive but it looks like you can get a cartridge today with the latest community-developed version of SDX now.
This is an excellent and informative video. I watched it a couple of times and then got an SDrive-Max for my system. Awesome! I am using SpartaDOS with my Ultimate Cart and used the "build directory" feature you pointed out to create a 16 meg image file. That is really nice. Keep up the good work!
@@8bitandmore Next, I'd like to learn a new computer language (for the 8-bit Atari!!) Next time you talk about languages, could you maybe talk about ACTION! ... that's one I knew about and friends had, but I don't really know anything about it :( Maybe cover several langs in a 20-minute review? I'd pay for that! No, seriously!!
Dave Stelljes Yes I plan on doing a series of videos on Action as well, do you have an action cartridge? I’m pretty sure I can use the ROM file but I’m going try and get my hands on an actual Action! cartridge again
This thing is really easy to DIY, and costs about $10 in parts (avoid cheapest arduino screens though, but don't worry - even if LCD won't work, it still is pretty usable via boot manager on Atari). Needs bit more effort if you need to make that command/signal separation board or add external power supply connector, but still a piece of cake compared to SIO2SD.
Hi what’s the difference between sd drive max, uno cart and ultimate cart? What’s the best one to get? And would I need more than one of them. Thanks bit of a newbie to this so just wanted to find out more.
@@8bitandmore I got a Rambo 256 memory upgrade with my 800xl but it runs some games sped up. for example my ms. pacman runs faster than normal on level 1.. I guess they have to mod the os to get it to see the extra ram.. do you know of any fix?
Man, I hate to bother you with this, but I own a few different Atari 8-bits and an S-Drive MAX. The thing works PERFECTLY on ALL of my A-8's EXCEPT for my 130XE. For whatever reason, the 130XE loads and runs some things just fine, but with others, I get a variant of a message that says, "REMOVE CARTRIDGE". Is there something about "bank switching", or the extra 64k of RAM that the S-Drive doesn't LIKE??? I'm STUMPED.
that device you are using to use as your tape and disk drive you will not be able to use it on the 400 and the 800 computers because my mat has both the 800 and 400 computers
I just got my SDrive Max from Vintagecomputercenter and I used your coupon code, but after a few hours of use, most sectors of the display won't accept touch inputs... I searched the issue up and it seems to be an issue with a coding bug for the screen that is used on these models... I love this device and want to use it for Basic and Assembler, but it won't work now... Any ideas? all help is greatly appreciated! BTW some details about the issue: The touchscreen will not allow me to activate or highlight the D1 D2 D3 D4 D0, tape, or new. however When i click CFG or the blue "ready_" at the bottom it works! and also it will wake up from screensaver with any touch... atariage.com/forums/topic/288901-sdrive-max-installation-help/ same issue here Thanks to everyone again
I believe you can recalibrate the display by powering off device and then while holding the pen down on the display power it up. It will go through a simple calibration procedure
SDRIVE MAX documentation was clearly translated into english but was not spell checked or edited by actual english speaking person. Typical. All instruction manuals from devices made in china are like this.
You asked about getting SpartDos on a cartridge. While not exactly the same as your original stackable cart, you can run SpartaDos and Mac65 simultaneously on single Atarimax flashcart.
The SCRAM (Chris Crawford's nuclear reactor simulator/game) image from AtariManiac.com is a cassette image only, and Chris Crawford's excellent war-game Eastern Front 1941 is also a cassette image, though there is a cartridge edition available.
Cassette images are still a thing.
Thank you for taking the time to create this video. You answered a lot of questions I had about this device. I am new to Atari 8 bits and didn't want to mess around looking for old disk drives on ebay that may or may not work. I ordered one of these and while waiting I was looking for instructions on how to use..thank you.
Wow, thanks for showing, this will be really useful. You said it can do tape emulation, so I checked the makers website. It can read .cas files! I found my 35 year old tapes at mum's house last Christmas and had lots of fun converting them to wave files, and then .cas files using the Altirra emulator. The kids had some fun too playing my old games on the emulator. I still have my old Atari, having one of these will be simpler than mucking around with tapes, and I can emulate a floppy drive I never had. Thanks
I actually tried it once, to see if it worked, and quickly I remembered why I hated my 410 tape drive until my parents got me the 810 floppy drive. Took so long to load anything but it does work just like the tape drive did.
Enjoyed the video a lot! Thanks for going through and showing the frustration of using some of these drive emulators. Makes me feel a lot better about my attempts to use them. I'm definitely going to get one of these and the Ultimate Cart. Please keep making the videos!!!
This was an excellent video showcasing how to use the SDriveMax, its advantages, shortcomings, etc. Quite informative.
FYI, For us Cassette users the only issue is that tapes recorded with an audio track will not be heard. It will only load the data track, For example: Any of the conversational Languages on cassette have a data track for the program and an audio track for the spoken language. So those programs that take advantage of the audio track will not work, however the program will work.
that's good to know
And to keep it alive, i have setup a cassette creation and duplicating studio so i can make anyone who wants cassettes exactly like the original
After watching a couple of your videos I was inspired to pull out my 130XE after 30 years. When I took it out of the box it was extremely yellowed, is there any fix for that? Also I found two 800XL machines with no power supply, are they useless or do you think someone would want them?
Awesome! Glad your having fun that's what it's all about.... Check this video for restoring old yellow computers ruclips.net/video/VU7vXMezW_I/видео.html
I might be interested in one of those 800xl machines as I could use one for the channel so let me know about that.
Also, there is a USB power cable that can be used for powering these computers as they only need 5v to operate. Check eBay for 8bit Atari power cable you should be able to find one there. thanks for watching!
@@8bitandmore It's yours, let me know where to ship it.
@@anthonyferraro5569 send me an email at 8bitsandmore@gmail.com and I'll send the address, thanks a million!
To fix yellowing look up retro brightening on you tube. This is a chemical process that reduces the yellowish coloring. It’s been sometime since your post abt the 800xls but am interested. Would pay for shipping etc. VUTHILAU@GMAIL.COM
The Atari800 emulator for the Mac, Atari800MacX, will also allow you to create large hard drive images.
Atari DOS 2.5 does NOT support double-density disk formats. It only supports the single and "enhanced" density supported by the stock Atari 1050 disk drive.
I had a 1050 upgraded with the Happy Disk ROM that allows it to use Happy's "Warp Speed" data transfer as well as true double density. But you'll have to use a third-party DOS such as Happy's Warp OS, MyDOS, or Sparta DOS to use the double-density disk format. I got a copy of Sparta DOS with the bootleg Happy Drive ROM upgrade I got.
I ordered one of these off eBay for $48. Waiting now for it to get here.
Just happened to come across this video, since I just bought an SDrive MAX (a "1050" version with a case that looks like a mini 1050), and the product page says that it supports BIN files. This is a bit odd, since BIN files are typically rips from cart images. Not having a header, I can't imagine that they could load directly (and they don't). Of course the documentation has been updated, but still doesn't have any specifics about this "feature"... Eh, I guess I'll play around with that.
Anyway, I've already been able to copy and preserve some of my old floppies that I've had stored for YEARS - kind of shocked that they still read fine (although I got errors trying to copy 1 so far. I'll be looking forward to copying the rest soon. I slightly panicked with early failures, only to realize that some of my disks were formatted with DOS 3.0 (packed in with my original 1050 that I still have, but lost the DOS 3.0 disk!). Luckily I found an .ATR of DOS 3.0 online, and was able to dupe those disks just fine.
So yeah, I have to agree with your assessment. It has its quirks, and it took a while to get the hang of how it handles the drive slots (I STILL haven't figured out how you just empty a drive without resetting the unit), but I think that it's definitely worth getting one.
My S-Drive Max doe not have the power switch, so I need external power. I've been using the USB cable connected to a battery to power it.
I just received mine from Brewing Academy, and it's preloaded with hundreds of games and programs.
you needed to turn the 1050 to drive 2 on the back not turn it off I used to have 2 1050 drives
Yeah..i understand you. But, it's more easy turn off de 1050 drive instead pull off de sio conector from one 1050 and put it into another 1050 turned in D2 mode. Or not?? O maybe you have a sio chain and you just change de drive (D3) ?...can i do the same with my xf 551 ?. I don't have another 1050
@@Rodrigo.Guti77 8 bit atari has D1: to D4: not D0: to D3: if the sdrive max lets you boot from the second drive (weather you call it D1: or D2: you need the drive set on the back or unplug but in the video it looked like you wanted to do it without plugging and unpluging you can use a 1050 and xf 551 together at drive 1 and 2
The device needs to be refined, but it has a lot of potential. let's hope that the creators appreciate your contribution to its presentations and the fact of finding bugs. Great review
As I really hate to still for thousands time re-start Atari by on/off switch for cold reset > is there some way to make it in different way please? When I would like to finish the program on SD card and run another one I do not want to make cold reset with main switch each time... :(
Not sure what you are asking...
Have you had any luck copying FROM a floppy drive TO S-Drive max? I am able to set the 1050 to drive #2 and copy to it but I haven’t been able to go the other way. Trying to backup my programs I wrote as a kid to sd. Guess I’ll have to print them out instead…
I tried booting a sector copier on the sdrive with the 1050 set to d2 and turned off. Then after boot turn it on and select a blank image on d1 but it sees d2 still on the max. I think I need to make TWO empty drives. One in slot one and one in slot 2 and then select slot one on the max and try copying. Lol what a convoluted mess. But I’ll try it!
I believe it's possible but have not played with the SDrive Max in quite some time. If I remember I will pull it out of the dust and try it.
@@8bitandmore I ended up figuring it out.. its just a funky UI... You have to make sure drive 1 is empty and then format a blank disk image and use a copy program
This was all very helpful. The only issue I had was with the last part describing how to make a 16 mb .atr disk image. I succeeded in making a 16 mb disk file but Spartados x will only see it as a 720 sector image file (even though it's 16 mb in size). It wont see it as a 65K sector file only 720 sectors. This is with Spartados x 4.49. Anyone else have this issue? The build directory command works but the best I can get is high density with 1440 sectors.
This is on a 1st gen Atari 800.
oh man, really good explanation. You are right, very few info out there. Thank you !
So is the Sdrive-Max emulating a ATR-8000 for the purpose of high capacity drives only?
I can’t seem to format the HD1.atr file for my 800xl. Any ideas or instructions how to format it? I tried to using DOS, but no luck.
What DOS are you using? Sparta DOS does the trick for me.
very nice channel. well done and informative videos . you have a new subscriber. looking forward to the next video. I dug out my old Atari 800 I purchased in 1982, got a sio2sd box and am reliving old times.
Awesome! And thanks for watching.
You even have the original Cocoa book. Impressive young Skywalker.
Very keen observation Yoda!
Fun fact: The developers of the USB standard took the SIO concept as inspiration.
Would one buy the SDRIVE MAX or the Fujinet? Can the Fujinet do the same thing as the SDRIVE MAX?
It would make sense to be able to use Bob Puff's Disk Communicator aka DiskComm to make .DSK image files, rename them .ATR, and use the SDrive Max to emulate the source disk.
It would also be super helpful to be able to save files from the Atari 8-bit directly to the microSD card in the SDrive Max and allow users to manipulate the disk images via PC.
I would like for a way to save files directly to the SD card, or at least a utility on Windows to browse .ATR images and extract files from them to use in Windows.
Incognito has Spartados in ROM
Can you do a comparison between the SDmax/Side3/Fuji net as far as storage goes? Thanks!
They both do a good job on the storage side of things but the Fujinet is a far more capable device.
I'm just getting back into Atari after 35+ years so I haven't tested it yet (I have a 130xe and a 1050 drive just ordered from ebay but no power cord yet or display cable, hopefully, both arrive tomorrow). But, I wanted to mention because you talked about it at 8:12 or so, I just ordered a Spartados X Cartridge from www.bitsofthepast.com/?product=super-spartados-pcb, you have to get a cartridge shell printed for it. I couldn't find an STL for the case but there is a link to order one from another site on his site. If you have an older version you can skip the case and just pop the PCB in that case. I'm waiting on both the case and the PCB to arrive but it looks like you can get a cartridge today with the latest community-developed version of SDX now.
Awesome! thanks for sharing that
How do you format the HD1.atr file?
This is an excellent and informative video. I watched it a couple of times and then got an SDrive-Max for my system. Awesome! I am using SpartaDOS with my Ultimate Cart and used the "build directory" feature you pointed out to create a 16 meg image file. That is really nice. Keep up the good work!
Thanks for watching!
@@8bitandmore Next, I'd like to learn a new computer language (for the 8-bit Atari!!) Next time you talk about languages, could you maybe talk about ACTION! ... that's one I knew about and friends had, but I don't really know anything about it :( Maybe cover several langs in a 20-minute review? I'd pay for that! No, seriously!!
Dave Stelljes Yes I plan on doing a series of videos on Action as well, do you have an action cartridge? I’m pretty sure I can use the ROM file but I’m going try and get my hands on an actual Action! cartridge again
@@8bitandmore Actually, back in the day- I think a friend had it... but I've never seen it in.... well, in "Action!" LOL... pun intended!!
Have you checked out Action! from O.S.S.?
Michael Stoliker i used to program in Action! During the early 80’s lol, I would like to get an Action! cartridge and use it again
This thing is really easy to DIY, and costs about $10 in parts (avoid cheapest arduino screens though, but don't worry - even if LCD won't work, it still is pretty usable via boot manager on Atari). Needs bit more effort if you need to make that command/signal separation board or add external power supply connector, but still a piece of cake compared to SIO2SD.
Thanks for the info.
Hi what’s the difference between sd drive max, uno cart and ultimate cart? What’s the best one to get? And would I need more than one of them. Thanks bit of a newbie to this so just wanted to find out more.
Do I need the 1050 S-Drive Max or the S-Drive Max to back up my old disks? What's the difference?
An essential purchase!
Looks like SpartaDOS operates drives through some hacks which are not emulated with SDrive-MAX (yet?)
Zankuhaaa! Possibly, will have to research it some more
I was thinking of getting one have they ironed out some of these issues?
It works pretty well.
@@8bitandmore I got a Rambo 256 memory upgrade with my 800xl but it runs some games sped up.
for example my ms. pacman runs faster than normal on level 1..
I guess they have to mod the os to get it to see the extra ram.. do you know of any fix?
On my Atari 800 the SDrive Max that I got from Gavin works great without the need for the external power supply
For Info:
SpartaDOS PCB: www.bitsofthepast.com/?product=super-spartados-pcb
CASE: corei64.com/shop/index.php?route=product/product&path=62_87&product_id=67
Man, I hate to bother you with this, but I own a few different Atari 8-bits and an S-Drive MAX. The thing works PERFECTLY on ALL of my A-8's EXCEPT for my 130XE. For whatever reason, the 130XE loads and runs some things just fine, but with others, I get a variant of a message that says, "REMOVE CARTRIDGE". Is there something about "bank switching", or the extra 64k of RAM that the S-Drive doesn't LIKE???
I'm STUMPED.
Does the self test run fine?
that device you are using to use as your tape and disk drive you will not be able to use it on the 400 and the 800 computers because my mat has both the 800 and 400 computers
I just got my SDrive Max from Vintagecomputercenter and I used your coupon code, but after a few hours of use, most sectors of the display won't accept touch inputs... I searched the issue up and it seems to be an issue with a coding bug for the screen that is used on these models... I love this device and want to use it for Basic and Assembler, but it won't work now... Any ideas? all help is greatly appreciated!
BTW some details about the issue: The touchscreen will not allow me to activate or highlight the D1 D2 D3 D4 D0, tape, or new. however When i click CFG or the blue "ready_" at the bottom it works! and also it will wake up from screensaver with any touch...
atariage.com/forums/topic/288901-sdrive-max-installation-help/ same issue here
Thanks to everyone again
I believe you can recalibrate the display by powering off device and then while holding the pen down on the display power it up. It will go through a simple calibration procedure
@@8bitandmore Thank You so much!!! I can't believe I didn't know about this but it is fixed now!
I guess you showed this at 49:00... Facepalm
*¿Como llegue aca?...ha si..soy fanatico de ATARI!*
SDRIVE MAX documentation was clearly translated into english but was not spell checked or edited by actual english speaking person. Typical. All instruction manuals from devices made in china are like this.
Probably using Google translate