"Hugh_E._Wells.ElSegundo"@XEROX.COM (08/16/88)
8/15/88 Has anyone experienced the XF551 drive going to sleep? I'm aware of two drives that periodically fail to respond to the normal boot process. The SLEEP syndrome is not like the one exhibited by the old 810 drive which went to sleep in the middle of an operation. These drives are attached to different systems and operated by different people. Once booted, the drives continue to perform normally. Only the start-up boot is in question. The XF551's are attached to 800XL's. I'm trying to determine the following: 1. Whether the XF551 design has a problem. 2. How frequent does the problem occur? 3. How it can be circumvented, or how to get the drive to respond while it is asleep? Multiple re-boot cycles are usually required for a start when the drive is acting up. 4. Any fixes that may have been developed to correct the problem. 5. Is there a known problem with the 800XL enable voltage level being in the TTL marginal logic voltage band? 6. I would also like to obtain a schematic set for the XF551. Any information you can provide will be appreciated. Hugh
conklin@eecae.UUCP (Terry Conklin) (08/24/88)
I have an XF551 (which I am very pleased with, folks. When you get used to IBM / TRS drive quality) and it has exhibited a similar behavior. Using SpartaDOS to create a double-sided disk, I have noted thatyou have to "teach" the XF551 to recognize double-sided mode after it's been turned on. When you first power the drive on, it will not recognize double-sided boot disks. If you boot under the appropriate dos, however, and then READ from a double-sided disk, the drive "realizes" that it's double-sided. You can then turn off the computer, disconnect lines, etc. and still be able to boot from DSDD disks. My solution? My XF551 has been on now for oh, a month or two? That's ok, my TRS Mod I that runs the Club BBS has been on 8 -years-! Still, I find this distressing. It may have been on purpose, however, as some mutant software perhaps was found checking for a double sided drive? A little news from Atari Eng. group on this would be appreciated. Terry Conklin ihnp4!frith!conklin conklin@egr.msu.edu The Club (517) 372-3131 3/12/24
lackey@Alliant.COM (Stan Lackey) (08/24/88)
In article <11045@eecae.UUCP> conklin@eecae.UUCP (Terry Conklin) writes: > >I have an XF551 (which I am very pleased with, folks. When you get used to >IBM / TRS drive quality) and it has exhibited a similar behavior. > >Using SpartaDOS to create a double-sided disk, I have noted thatyou have to >"teach" the XF551 to recognize double-sided mode after it's been turned on. I don't think I have had this problem, but perhaps a similar one. I use SpartaDOS so I can use the XF551 in DSDD mode. I find that when I first turn [my 65XE] on, it attempts to boot, and after a few seconds it stops. Then I press RESET and it usually boots OK. Sometimes it just goes into BASIC though and I have to repeat the process. Do I just have something set up wrong? Also - Atari in 3D! I have seen the Sega 3D glasses (for anyone who doesn't know, they use a liquid crystal shutter on each eye, that alternately open and close to allow each eye to see only those frames intended for it. The effect really does work, and rather well!) available at toy stores like KayBee and Toys R Us for $60. Do you think people would be willing to pay say $25 for a widget to connect them to the Atari, if it included a full set of instructions to programming them? I might also do a set of utilities to set up the display lists and VBI stuff, and do point, vector, and surface graphics in 3D. Number 3. Has anyone attempted to connect a Commodore mouse to the Atari? I use the Atari trak-ball for this purpose, but it seems a mouse might be better. Number 4. Back to Sega. Suppose my widget had an orifice for connecting the Sega lightgun to the Atari, doing the rewiring internally. I assume it would be programmed using the light pen facilities already in the Atari. How many lines does the light pen use? I ask because I need one of the port wires to control the glasses. Fun, fun! -Stan
dragon@olivej.atc.OLIVETTI.COM (,53-F,2338,4089963867) (08/25/88)
In article <11045@eecae.UUCP>, conklin@eecae.UUCP (Terry Conklin) writes: > Using SpartaDOS to create a double-sided disk, I have noted thatyou have to > "teach" the XF551 to recognize double-sided mode after it's been turned on. > When you first power the drive on, it will not recognize double-sided boot > disks. If you boot under the appropriate dos, however, and then READ from > a double-sided disk, the drive "realizes" that it's double-sided. You can > then turn off the computer, disconnect lines, etc. and still be able to > boot from DSDD disks. My solution? I put a DS disk (formatted w/SpartaDOS) in the drive, then turn on the computer. I get greeted with the familer "No Dos" message, then turn off the computer and on again (leaving the drive on) and it boots up fine. Seems it "learns" about the DS on its first spin up. No problems otherwise, and it works great with my ST too (and matches the case!) --Dean ---- Dean Brunette {ucbvax,etc.}!hplabs!oliveb!olivej!dragon Olivetti Advanced Technology Center _____ _____ __|__ _____ 20300 Stevens Creek Blvd. | | _____| | | Cupertino, CA 95014 |_____| |_____| |__ |_____ 'Dancing, screaming, itching, squealing, fevered feeling hot Hot HOT!'
kimes@ihlpe.ATT.COM (Kit Kimes) (08/25/88)
|> Using SpartaDOS to create a double-sided disk, I have noted thatyou have to |> "teach" the XF551 to recognize double-sided mode after it's been turned on. |> When you first power the drive on, it will not recognize double-sided boot |> disks. If you boot under the appropriate dos, however, and then READ from |> a double-sided disk, the drive "realizes" that it's double-sided. You can |> then turn off the computer, disconnect lines, etc. and still be able to |> boot from DSDD disks. | | | My solution? I put a DS disk (formatted w/SpartaDOS) in the drive, then | turn on the computer. I get greeted with the familer "No Dos" message, | then turn off the computer and on again (leaving the drive on) and it boots | up fine. Seems it "learns" about the DS on its first spin up. | I believe that the same thing can be accomplished by merely pressing the reset key on the XL/XE computers. That may not work for the 800 models though as the reset is handled slightly different. Kit Kimes AT&T--Bell Laboratories ...att!ihlpe!kimes
ken@hpclkms.HP.COM (Kenneth Sumrall) (09/05/88)
/ hpclkms:comp.sys.atari.8bit / lackey@Alliant.COM (Stan Lackey) / 8:07 am Aug 24, 1988 / >Number 4. Back to Sega. Suppose my widget had an orifice for connecting >the Sega lightgun to the Atari, doing the rewiring internally. I assume >it would be programmed using the light pen facilities already in the Atari. >How many lines does the light pen use? I ask because I need one of the port >wires to control the glasses. > >Fun, fun! -Stan Allow me to quote from the Atari Tech Ref. "When any one of the joystick trigger lines (pin 6) is pulled low, the ANTIC chip takes the current VCOUNT value and stores it in PENV. The horizontal color clock value (0-227 decimal) is stored in PENH. The least significant bit is inaccurate and should be ignored. Since there are a number of delays involved in displaying the data and changing the light pen register, each system must be calibrated. Software which uses the light pen should contain a user-interactive calibration routine. For example, the user could point the light pen at a crosshair in the center of the screen and the program could compute the required horizontal offset. PENH will wrap around from 227 to 0 near the right hand edge of a standard width display because of the delay. The pen will not work if it is pointed at a black area of the screen, since the electron beam is turned off. It is a good idea to read two (or more) values and average them, since the user will probably not hold the pen perfectly steady." End of quote. Now, for your enjoyment pleasure, I shall add some (probably obvious) commentary. In addition to using the trigger line, the gun will also need to use the power and ground lines. There is some limit on the current draw from the joystick, but I can't seem to find it right now. Just exercise caution as you hook up more things to one port. If you really need to now, send me e-mail, and I will try to locate the info. Of course, someone will need to know what locations PENV and PENH and VCOUNT and their shadows live in, so here is the list. NAME LOCATION SHADOW ---- -------- ------ PENH $D40C $234 PENV $D40D $235 VCOUNT $D40B N/A Good luck with the project, and let us know how it turns out. I don't have time to do the project myself, or I would give it a shot. Kenneth Sumrall ken%hpclkms@hplabs.hp.com ...!hplabs!hpclkms!ken