Atari Forum FAQ

Here are some answers to question asked by the forum users.
The answers links back to the postings on the Atari Forum.

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Graphics Subsystem

How do I change the resolution on a Milan?

https://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=14467

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Software

Where can I download ST(E) / Falcon games?

https://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=9151

Where are all the system/language disk for download?

https://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=8921

Can unzip use long file names?

https://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=11586

Is there any ram test utility?

https://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1206

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Programming

How do you write a boot sector program?

ANS: https://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=68&t=20733#p183424
Several source code examples are located in thread itself.

How do you write the boot sector program into the floppy?

ANS: https://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=68&t=20733#p183543
FcopyPro: Inspect Disk -> Load, use sector 0 and point the file selector to your 512 byte sector image.
(The thread also contains some boot sector startup code or you can see another example here )

Is there a GCC for TOS?

https://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=17035
The last GCC that could have a chance to work in TOS was about 2.7.x version, i.e. something terribly old. Newer GCC needs long names filesystem, not speaking about some decent shell.

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Ultra Satan Disk

How to get correct year with Ultra Satan Disk?

ANS: https://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=17742&start=50#p156111
Auto folder: clocky + y2k_fix + us_getcl
CPX folder: clock_e.cpx
Date is set to 09 ==> clock_e does not pops up ==> clocky display 09 ==> control panel display 09

Where are Ultra Satan Disk Tools located?

ANS:https://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=17742&hilit=clocky#p153675
Go to the download section of UltraSatan web
...and download the 'UltraSatan clock tools', unzip, follow the instructions in 'howto.txt'

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Oversea Machine / eBay

How to use a EU machine in US/canada?

https://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=3990
You should be able to use a Step-UP transformer if you want run it at 120V. The step-up transformer will up the 120V to 240V before it enters your Atari's power supply. There seemed to be no problems with the 50/60Hz issues.

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Harddisk

How to boot from floppy by passing the harddisk?

https://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=7731
https://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=10358
https://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=16263
Boot up the Atari and hold down <ALT> from the start, then just as soon as the floppy and HD access lights come on, let go. This will boots right up into the floppies AUTO folder with the ACC loaded. If you continue to hold down <ALT> after the access lights come on, the boot up is to a plain floppy disk, bypassing AUTO folder and ACCs.

Can I format my hard disk partition to be over 2 GB?

https://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=14329
Best bet is to use at least HDDriver version 8 and above to partition anything greater than 2 GB.

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Mouse services

What mouse are there on the Atari?

In addition to the standard ST1 mouse, you can also use serial mouse and USB mouse.
For serial mouse you will need a Serial mouse plug into the serial port of the Atari. You need the mouse25 driver for this.
Serial: https://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=6770
For USB mouse, you will need either EtherNat or NetUSBee hardware addon. You need the driver from http://www.janthomas.org.uk/ (but url is bad)
USB: https://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=11602

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Hardware

The LED at the right side of a keyboard is blinking constantly?

https://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=8985
Blinking is hardly noticeable as the light is very dim.
It does the same on my falcon and i have no problem... So this is "normale" i guess.

How do I make a SCART cable?

https://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=12160
Pinout for the Monitor Connector on the Falcon vs EuroSCART AV input and it looks like the wiring diagram should be the following:

Falcon ----------------> SCART 
1 Red -----------------> 15 Red 
2 Green ---------------> 11 Green 
3 Blue ----------------> 7 Blue 
4 Mono/Overlay --------> NC 
5 GND (Common) --------> 21 GND (Common) 
6 GND (Red) -----------> 13 GND (Red) 
7 GND (Green) ---------> 9 GND (Green) 
8 GND (Blue) ----------> 5 GND (Blue) 
9 Audio Out -----------> NC 
10 GND (Common)	-------> 21 GND (Common) 
11 GNF (Common)	-------> 21 GND (Common) 
12 Composite Sync -----> 20 VIDEO/Sync/Luminance Input) 
13 Horizontal Sync ----> NC 
14 Vertical Sync ------> NC 
15 External Clock In --> NC 
17 +12v	---------------> 10 Function Select (AV Mode) 
18 M1 -----------------> NC 
19 M0 -----------------> NC 

As the Monitor connector only appears to output mono audio, I'll take a separate feed from the H/phone out on the Falcon to pins 2, 4 and 6 on the SCART connector.
I also wouldn't put resistors on the RGB lines either. You're *supposed* to as dictated by the purists, bringing the ST's 1v signals down to 0.7v. But in experience it just creates ghosting around text and alike. On older televisions it does not do this, but certainly on the 3 modern LCDs I've tried it does. Removing the resistors limits this. Just turn the brightness down a bit to compensate.

What is the metal shielding for ?

https://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=15609

1. Shielding is there to reduce the amount of stray electromagnetic radiation that the Falcon produces. There are laws regarding emissions so as not to interfere with other electronic (particularly RF) equipment. Atari had to meet or they would not be able to sell their product.
   I think you can leave out the shielding on anything you do. Plus if you use a metal enclosure (such as a PC case) that will do the same job.
2. the shielding also protects from the emissions from other equipment, not only reducing the emissions from the Atari. If all other equipment in your room is properly shielded it will never become an issue.

Are the PSU of my Atari dual voltage PSU?

https://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=14394#p122924
Afaik, later Ataris, starting with Mega STE / TT and later F030 use universal powersupplies. Meaning that they indeed work in both worlds so to speak. C-Lab never put their own PSU into their Falcons, they used the exact same PSU Atari did, albeit with a few extra power lines soldered to it to supply the hdd with power.

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Operating systems

How to handle big partitions in MINT?

https://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=16775
Following are partition size by TOS version, anything bigger you need alternative OS. Various combinations of file system are discussed in the thread.

OS-Release	Size
TOS 1.00 - 1.02	256 MByte
TOS 1.04 - 3.xx	512 Mbyte
TOS 4.0x	1024 MByte
MagiC / BigDOS	1024 MByte 2048 MByte (Compatible Dos)
MagiC 6.1/FAT32	Terrabyte (not MagiC 6.01)
FreeMiNT/FAT16	2048 MByte (DOS/TOS comp. Partition)
FreeMiNT/ FAT32	Terrabyte
FreeMiNT/ Ext2	Terrabyte

How to avoid the EDITOBJ.SLB error when running Jinne on Mint?

https://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=133086&p=133086#p133086
Copy the EDITOBJ.SLB from a Magic setup into the MINT folder. It doesn't seem to be working for everybody, as far as I can remember. Might depend on which MiNT version you're running.

What is the effect of missing RPM dependency for <program>

https://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=16872
Likely the dependency check isn't for the existence of /bin/sh in the filesystem, but for the existence of an installed rpm listed in the rpm database that would have provided /bin/sh. Since you haven't installed your system from rpms, this information isn't there. As long as you actually have the files for the missing dependencies, you're good to go.

How to start Unix styled applications in Jinnee?

https://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=17544
There's a setting that states which drives uses the unix styled executable bits. Just enable it and we're good to go.

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Misc

What are the methods of transferring files between Atari & PC?

https://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=17785

1. Serial cable link and comms/transfer software
2. Ghostlink and null modem cable.
3. Sting and a null modem cable to make a tcp/ip network and use ftp.
4. Telnet and a null modem cable for telnet file transfers.
5. IDE to CF adapter and use either Linux
6. some of the ways presented for Ultrasatan to mount it to the pc.
7. Ethernet.
8. Netusbee and a USB flash disk driver.
9. SCSI or IDE CD-ROM drive.
10. Network - just mount the Windows shared folder using MINT Net.
11. SD card
12. floppies
13. scsi-ide-cf adaptor setup
14. SCSI ZIP Driver, 250M.

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