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atari 400/800xl.....problems

M

marioplayr

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Joined
Nov 1, 2009
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27
Location
grand blanc, MI (USA)
i bought an atari lot a few days ago..... it came with an atari 800xl, two atari 400s, two atari 1050 disk drives labled 1 and 2...... ill get to that later....... a cassette recorder by taihaho, a rana systems 1000 disk drive, a sio2pc, and a ton of different types of dos.
ok so now the problems........i cant get anything to load in the cassette drive or the two 1050s. the 1050s are lables 1 and 2 and they canme with a book that calles them atari 1050 dos disk drives..... is that normal or is that something wierd????? also..... can they only run dos and how do you load it?????? do you need a to load a specific type of dos you any type..... i have microsoft dos and i think i have dos 2.5 but whenever i load dos 2.5 it always comes up with a wierd game and not dos....... so, can anyone help me?!?!?!?! thanks a TON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

-Alex
 
It appears you've got yourself some neat 'stuff', and also appears you are unfamiliar with Atari.
Here's what I've found. When you glom onto a 'new to you' system, of course the first reaction is to run the stuff. That can be a pile of frustrations. So . . . a lot of research is needed. You have to become familiar with something before you can just have fun with it. When I first got my Atari, I couldn't believe the differences between Atari and Commodore. I was so used to Commodore and Atari was a whole 'nother world altogether. When I think back to the amount of learning that went into my understanding of Commodore, and the time it took, I smiled to myself and dispelled my eagerness to plow right into the Atari. It's just going to take some time and effort. Today's computers are just appliances, but yesteryear's computers took some 'learin'. That was half the fun of it all. There is so much Atari info on the Net that you can absorb. Enjoy your new stuff and take your time - because that's what it takes, time.

Here's a good place to start http://www.faqs.org/faqs/atari-8-bit/faq/
 
If you've never owned an 8-bit Atari before, you should at least browse the Atari 8-bit FAQ.

Then start simple. You list a huge pile of stuff there. Hook up the 800XL by itself to see if it works. Then add a single 1050 and try to boot a diskette. (You'll need to set the drive to Drive 1, using the black and white slide switches recessed on the back).
 
I concur with the two previous posters. 8-bit "home" computers of the late 1970s and 80's all used different systems, software and commands for loading software. Although most had BASIC built in, the specific commands, settings, arrangement of peripherals etc. all varied. It requires a bit of the learning curve if you are not familiar with the systems.

Start with checking the machines boot into BASIC with no peripherals attached. Bear in mind the 400 needs a BASIC cartridge for this. Explore the links mentioned above and then go from there.

Tez
 
marioplayr said:
ok so now the problems........i cant get anything to load in the cassette drive or the two 1050s. the 1050s are lables 1 and 2 and they canme with a book that calles them atari 1050 dos disk drives..... is that normal or is that something wierd????? also..... can they only run dos and how do you load it?????? do you need a to load a specific type of dos you any type..... i have microsoft dos and i think i have dos 2.5 but whenever i load dos 2.5 it always comes up with a wierd game and not dos.
Click to expand...

I think you're getting confused between Atari DOS and MS-DOS (as on a PC). They are two completely different things. Your Atari cannot run MS-DOS, nor can a PC run Atari DOS (at least not without an emulator program).

Since the '90s it has been common lingo to just say "DOS" when referring to MS-DOS or IBM DOS running on a PC, but back in the '80s, there were many different types of Disk Operating Systems, not just MS-DOS... there was Atari DOS, Apple DOS, ProDOS, AmigaDOS, TRS-DOS, etc. -- none of which were directly compatible with each other.
 
i know that the 800xl and 400s work (i have them up and running....) but the 1050s dont work...... also, on the website that you guys gave me..... i did all of the cassette loading codes but none of them have worked so far..... oh.... one more thing, one if the atari 400s cartrige ports dont work.... you put the cartrige in and turn it on and it goes to the memo pad....... so..... if you guys can help me with anything else.... that would be great!!!!!

-alex

p.s. i already had the disk drives sett up with the switches..... thanks again!!!!
 
oh.... ok now i get the whole dos thing but ms dos will not work at all???? in the book, it sais that it can work with 8,16, and i think 32 bit computers.... the atari is an 8-bit computer but i guess its not compatible with the atari.... right?????

-Alex
 
oh... another thing..... when i play the tape in the cassette drive and load it..... it goes until the end of the tape and when you press reset, it goes to this self test thing..... with memory, audio-visual-keyboard-and then all tests..... whats that???? is that the cassette???? im using conversational french.....

-ALex
 
marioplayr said:
oh.... ok now i get the whole dos thing but ms dos will not work at all???? in the book, it sais that it can work with 8,16, and i think 32 bit computers.... the atari is an 8-bit computer but i guess its not compatible with the atari.... right?????
Click to expand...

I don't know where you read that, but it is wrong. MS-DOS does not run on any 8-bit computers.

Microsoft did write other software for 8-bit computers, but not MS-DOS.

Here is a web site which should be helpful to you. It is a complete scan of the book "Atari BASIC, XL Edition".

http://www.atariarchives.org/basicxl/
 
thanks vwestlife!!!! that really helped me a ton!!!!! but can any one help me with the tape deck or the 1050s???? i really want to get them up and running..... thanks a ton!!!!!!!!!!

-Alex
 
Alex, you need to give us more information than they "don't work". Since we can't see what you have, or how it's hooked up, you need to tell us that. Then, exactly what are you doing and what happens when you do it. Again, be specific. Include error messages, etc.

Otherwise, if you tell me something doesn't work, my answer is "I guess it's broken".
 
oh my gosh!!!!!!!!!! im sooooo sorry!!!!!!! i didn't even think of that!!!!!!! OK so the 1050s only make beeps coming out of the speakers in the monitor and the tape drive only plays the tape till the end and that's with all of the load commands on that Atari questions website that you guys gave me....... also, i cant get the sio2pc to do anything, i have ape and all of the cables but i just don't even know how to use it....... i know that its not the peripheral port on the 800xl because i had the Rana systems 100 working in it but that's the only thing that has...... one more thing..... on the one 400 of mine.... when you put the cartridge in and turn it on..... it only shows the memo pad.........so, i hope this helps you help me!!!!!!!!!!! thank you sooooooo much for trying to help me!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Alex
 
marioplayr said:
OK so the 1050s only make beeps coming out of the speakers in the monitor
Click to expand...
They're supposed to do that. The beep tells you that it's reading data. It should eventually stop and give you a READY prompt. If one drive doesn't work, try the other. If neither works, maybe the floppy disk you're trying to load is bad; try another one.

also, i cant get the sio2pc to do anything, i have ape and all of the cables but i just don't even know how to use it.......
Click to expand...
How do you have it hooked up?

I don't know anything about the 400 or the cassette drive, sorry.
 
sorry..... i think i forgot to say that the 1050s both make like two beeps and then it starts saying "BOOT ERROR" all the way down the screen..... and the disks im using work because they work in the rana systems 1000..... and as for the sio2pc..... that has the sio going from the sio2pc to the peripheral port on the atari and i have the other cable going from my pc to the sio2pc...... it might be the cable im using...... its going from a cable with 9 pins like the controller port in the 800xl to a 25pin connector..... i had it 9pin to 9 pin but one end of that cable was broken and frayed....... hope this helps!!!!!!!

-Alex
 
yep..... the one i have it plugged into right now (on the PC end) is a printer plug..... can it work in there???? i dont think it can so...... is the 9 pin thing the only way to go?????
 
marioplayr said:
the 1050s both make like two beeps and then it starts saying "BOOT ERROR" all the way down the screen.....
Click to expand...
Okay, that's different. Yes, the drives are having trouble reading the disk. Does the lever on the front of the drive seem to swing down all the way?

and the disks im using work because they work in the rana systems 1000.....
Click to expand...
So it's either an alignment problem or a density issue.

and as for the sio2pc..... that has the sio going from the sio2pc to the peripheral port on the atari and i have the other cable going from my pc to the sio2pc......
Click to expand...
You should be able to connect up the SIO2PC as if it were another floppy drive, specifically the last one in the chain (because it's only got one SIO socket). APE should show you whether it sees any data, so you can figure out if the cable you have works.
 
yes the lever goes down all the way....... so if its an alignment problem or a density issue..... how do i fix it????? and one more thing....... what is a density issue?????

-Alex

p.s. i opened up the 1050s and the rana systems 1000 to see what was going on differently and the rana slowly slides up on the disk starting from the bottom and the 1050s stay in the same place at the bottom........ hope this helps!!!!!!!!
 
marioplayr said:
yep..... the one i have it plugged into right now (on the PC end) is a printer plug..... can it work in there????
Click to expand...
This is why you need to slow down and not just plug things in anywhere. No, it's probably not meant for the printer interface, and you may actually have damaged the SIO2PC. I'm going to assume it's the RS-232 version, because you mention a 9-pin connector. I suggest you read the SIO2PC documentation.
 
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