Hardware Info

Hello folks, hello users!

The ABBUC Hardware department has been around since roughly October 2002. However, things have been pretty quiet here so far. But anyone who thinks we now plan to produce tons of new Atari hardware is mistaken, because the Hardware Section isn’t meant to manufacture new hardware, but rather to uncover existing projects and make them known to users, interested parties, or even like-minded people. On the one hand, this is intended to prevent different people in different locations from producing the same hardware without knowing about each other. On the other hand, it is also intended to ensure that some existing projects receive even better support.

After all, it could be that some Atarians still have their own ideas or similar concepts that could be incorporated into the project – or that there are people who know where and from whom one can obtain inexpensive electronic components, circuit boards/board manufacturers, and other hardware. In this way, some projects could potentially be realized faster, better, or more cheaply. And last but not least, this way everyone can find out what’s new in Atari hardware or hardware ideas…

Here’s an important reminder: a) If you know of any current hardware projects that haven’t been mentioned here and can provide us with brief details and (very important!) contact information in the form of website links or email addresses, please share them with us; b) If you know of any hardware projects that are already outdated or discontinued, please let us know so we can remove the information here. We want to ensure we’re reasonably up to date and not spreading “old news.” But this requires your help and support. Enough of the long preface; the following Atari hardware projects currently exist or are known to us:

Hardware Projects in Development:

Turbo-Freezer-XL

Hardware for the XL parallel bus (or XE with an adapter) that allows you to freeze, modify, and of course save just about any software. Technical documentation is available at https://www.strotmann.de/~cas/Infothek/TurboFreezerxl/tech-doc_turbo-freezer_xl3__xe1.pdf.

RAM Expansions

A 1MB RAM expansion for all XL/XE Ataris, based on PC SIMMs. Unlike the (incompatible) Megaram 3 by K. Peters, however, it is fully Newell-compatible. Extensive information is available from Bernhard Pahl at https://web.archive.org/web/20210610015714/http://www.b-pahl.de/atari8bit/RAM-Disk/ram-disk.html. Mathy van Nisselroy is also working on a 1MB RAM expansion for the Atari XE Game System (XEGS), also based on SIMMs. This RAM expansion can likely be adapted for the XL/XE as well. The schematic can be found here, for example: http://www.holyoak.com/atari/schalt~1.jpg and the documentation is available here: http://www.holyoak.com/atari/memsch.txt . And among users in Poland, there have been and still are, of course, Atari XL/XE RAM upgrades; information on these can be found, for example, at Satantronic: http://www.atari.sk/satantronic/1MBRAM_SMMMU/index.htm. In addition, numerous issues of ABBUC magazine have already covered the topics of RAM expansion, additional RAM, and RAM disks, for example in issues 28, 29, 30, 33, 34, 35, 36, 56, 59, 63, 66, 69, 70, 71 – so you can see that this topic has always been and remains relevant…

65C02 Upgrade

A new CPU for the Atari XL/XE with many additional instructions and the option for a higher clock speed. Further information is available directly from Guus Assmann http://www.retrobits.net/altcpu.html or from Bernhard Pahl http://www.b-pahl.de/atari8bit/65c02/65c02.html. The 65C02 CPU is also mentioned alongside the 65816 in some issues of ABBUC Magazine, such as issues 28 and 29, and there is reportedly already software available—including the MAE assembler and several other applications—that supports this expansion (though, as always, there are also some things that don’t work with it)…

Flash RAM Card

A small, convenient plug-in card (familiar from digital cameras) that can be easily used as a portable mini-hard drive for the XL/XE via My-IDE. Further information is available from Bernhard Pahl at the URL http://www.b-pahl.de/atari8bit/myide/myide.html

SIO2IDE Project

The Polish SIO2IDE project, in which the hard drive is accessed via the SIO port, allowing direct access to ATR images. Further information and downloads are available in Polish at: http://atariarea.histeria.pl/sio2ide/. A German translation and software can also be found in ABBUC Magazines 68 and 71.

65816 Expansion

(Turbo816, Hyper-Speed XL/XE, etc.): A completely new 6502-compatible CPU or simply an addition to the existing 6502 CPU, featuring a 16-bit instruction set, access to up to 16MB of RAM, higher speed or clock rate, and more. Further information can be found under the heading “Hyperspeed XL/XE” at http://www.stud.uni-karlsruhe.de/~un55/Hardware/hard.html or at the bottom of the page at http://www.b-pahl.de/atari8bit/65c02/65c02.html; ABBUC magazines Nos. 28, 29, 36, 40, 43, and 47 also contain several articles on the subject. And just like with the 65C02 CPU, there is already the MAE assembler and other software that runs on the 65816 (or doesn’t run)…

USB Cartridge

Based on an idea by Guus Assmann, there is an XL/XE cartridge with USB ports, allowing the Atari to be used as a USB slave for the PC or, alternatively, to run some USB devices on the Atari. More detailed information is available at: http://www.strotmann.de/twiki/bin/view/APG/ProjUSBCart and, of course, a more recent version is available at: http://www.microusb.org/

CD-ROM Interface

A simple CD-ROM interface as a fast tape replacement. It allows you to quickly and easily load so-called Turbo Tape files from CD (significantly faster than from tape). However, the system is limited to files; boot disks cannot be loaded with it. An informational article along with a schematic was published in ABBUC Magazine 64; however, if you don’t want to build the interface yourself, you can always politely inquire with the RAF or Harry Reminder: http://www.abbuc-raf.de. Unfortunately, the corresponding software isn’t all that easy to find, as it’s only available on tape (for which you’d need a Polish Turbo Tape 2000) or on cartridge, which is quite rare and therefore very hard to find. The only solution here is probably to check eBay frequently or wait until someone publishes the (disk-patched/bootable) software in ABBUC Magazine…

Pokey Upgrade

Two Pokey chips in one Atari for fantastic stereo sound with up to 8 sound channels—who hasn’t always wanted that? Unfortunately, you won’t find any schematics online, just the English text and instructions by Chuck Steinman; however, ABBUC Magazine issue 39 includes the German translation, a schematic, and everything else you need. Magazine No. 60 mentions the Stereo Deluxe expansion, so if you don’t plan to solder a second Pokey onto the first one, you can ask Freddy Offenga for a suitable plug-in board. In one of the upcoming ABBUC magazines, there will finally be a short list of programs that support stereo via two Pokey cards. Information on this can be found here, among other places: http://www.atariarchives.org/cfn/05/07/0034.php.

MIDI Interface

If you want to use MIDI not only on the ST and/or PC, but also on the little Atari, you can do so with the help of various commercial interfaces (and software) or use the great DIY schematics and the articles + software from the old Computer Kontakt (…) and ABBUC magazines 54, 65, and 66. Thanks to the Atari ST, there are already hundreds of playable MIDI sounds. You can access Ireneusz Kuczek’s website (on which the ABBUC articles are based) here: http://www.republika.pl/ixkuczek/ixkuczek.html.

SID Upgrade

This idea has been around in Poland for several years, but unfortunately, until now, there were only pictures of it and no construction plans. Thanks to Analmux (short for Analog Multiplexer) from the Netherlands, there is now also a construction plan for an SID board that can be operated via the parallel bus. Some Polish enthusiasts are also already working on a kind of universal SID player (after all, there have already been a few SID sounds in Atari demos, e.g., in Veronika and Cool Emotion). The schematic for the SID board can be viewed online at https://www.atariage.com/ or at: http://www.atariage.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=37511&highlight=si. Or simply wait for the next issue of ABBUC Magazine, where an article on this topic will also appear.

Covox Upgrade

Another sound upgrade to improve the Pokey's capabilities regarding digital sounds and samples. A brief build guide and article were included in ABBUC Magazine No. 76; compatible software can be found online, e.g., at http://atariarea. histeria.pl/pliki.php?sec=browse&cat=utils There you can easily find software such as Neo-Tracker 1.5, Inertia 4.5, and Pro-Tracker 1.51; however, you must register once to download them).

Completed Hardware Projects

Turbo 1050 Module and Turbo 1050 Printer Interface

Bernhard Engl’s Floppy 1050 Speeder is now being replicated with official permission. Available only as a speeder module or as a module with a printer interface for Centronics printers. Here are the original instructions. And more info at https://www.mia-net.org/speedy.html.

SIO2PC and SIO2ST

The adapter cable for all Atari floppy emulators on the PC and connected Atari computers, such as Ape, SIO2PC, AFM, etc. Also available with the XL-Deejay program for the Atari ST. For more information or to order, visit: http://www.abbuc-raf.de/sio2pc_d.htm

Multijoy8 Interface

The interface for connecting up to 8 joysticks to the XL/XE Atari and playing special Multijoy games using them. For information and orders, visit: https://abbuc.de/~raf/home.htm. If you’d like to build it yourself, here’s the schematic: http://www.infos.cz/raster/atari/hw/multijoy.htm and software is also available from Raster: http://www.infos.cz/raster/atari/hw/multigam.htm some articles and software were also featured in ABBUC magazines 66, 67, and 74.

Multilink/Gamelink

The network interface for network-capable Atari games, such as Agdagon, Multi-Dash, Multi-Race, and Multi-Worms. Information is available at http://www.abbuc-raf.de/networkd.htm, and related articles and software were also featured in ABBUC magazines 50, 64, 65, and 74.

My-IDE Project

The hard drive interface for internal installation in the XL/XE computer or as an external cartridge to be inserted into the XL/XE cartridge port. Outdated information and articles were available in ABBUC Magazines 56, 57, 58, and 60. More current information is available at: http://www.mr-atari.com/hardware-info.htm

Speedy Module

The legendary Floppy 1050 Speeder from Compyshop has been available for some time now from ABBUC or ABBUC Floppydoc. Information and orders are available at http://www.atari-central.de/floppyservice/

Bibomon

The universal ML monitor for installation in the XL/XE computer is also available from ABBUC or ABBUC-Floppydoc. Information and orders are available at http://www.atari-central.de/floppyservice/.

Happy Module

The well-known and proven Happy 1050 expansion has been available for quite some time from Guus Assmann. Information and orders at: Guus.Assmann#wolmail*nl ;

OSS Carts

The good old OSS Supercarts, such as Action!, MAC 65, Basic XL, and Basic XE, are available on a multicart, also from Guus Assmann. Info and orders at: Guus.Assmann#wolmail*nl

Flash ROM Module

Since Stefan Dorndorf’s 512-kilobyte cartridge unfortunately didn’t pan out, an American vendor is now offering so-called Flash ROM modules. These come in two versions: a) with 128 kilobytes (1 megabit) and b) with 1 megabyte (8 megabits). You can then store plenty of files or boot disks on them, provided you have a PC and the necessary software to program the modules. You can order the modules here: http://www.atarimax.com/flashcart/documentation/index.html; the English manual and the corresponding software are also available for download there from the author, Steve Tucker; if you’d prefer the instructions in German, you can find them here: http://www.strotmann.de/twiki/bin/view/APG/AtariMaxDocuGerman. Ready-made Flash ROM images are already available for download here: http://www.atarimax.com/flashcart/forum/viewforum.php?f=2&sid=aa07ed1d0a92da37dfbf79466720eb25 (128k version) and here: http://www.atarimax.com/flashcart/forum/viewforum.php?f=4&sid=aa07ed1d0a92da37dfbf79466720eb25 (1MB version).

That’s all we know for now. Last but not least, you can of course try your luck on the ABBUC Forum Marketplace or on eBay.

ABBUC e.V. – Hardware Department