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 Post subject: Tried newer MyIDETool
PostPosted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 4:18 pm 

Joined: Tue Jan 27, 2009 6:51 pm
Posts: 17
Location: England
The Doctor - you were right I was using an old version of myidetool - I did not realise (it was the one linked to in Paranoids guide). I downloaded 0.30 to give it a try......

I just reformatted Transend under windows just to start again. Then I FDisked again on the Atari, and wrote some images with the new myidetool (0.30). Unfrotunately still does not work, although it was worth a try. I tried S/D, D/D. I tried powering the Transend and not powering it. But still a problem. I will see what Mr Atari says when he returns.

It is a pity I do not have a real MyDOS floppy disk.

At the moment I cannot use any of Shawn Jefferson utils because I still can't boot up a basic DOS image yet.

Thanks for all your suggestions.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 2:54 am 
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Joined: Sun Nov 02, 2003 8:15 am
Posts: 1549
Location: netherlands
Hi Newat,

...back...

Ok, lot of posts, good to have lot's of help. :-)

The PSU from you IDE-to-USB will do fine I think.
The picture shows me it's connected correctly.

But I read you still get the I/O-error, meaning data is read corrupted from IDE-device.
Since the data is stored correct (&checked) on the PC, the error must be
made in de interface, that passes the data from IDE-device to Atari.

9 out of 10 times this is a problem with power (you tackled this) and/or bad
contacts on the atari side (the interface now has gold plated).

So the most logical step will be to clean the contacts of your atari.
-rubbing mildly with sanding paper is the most easy way.
-blow away the dust.

About booting from real D1:
Any dos will do fine. You must have have dos 2.5 lying around somewere.
Boot from disk using the shift+control+D procedure.
Then when DOS is loaded, shift+control+R
Try to read DIR of D1: several times (D1: on IDE)
If the readout is consistent the interface is OK
You can format from DOS and write DOS-files to it as you like.
After doing so try and boot the Atari from IDE.
switch off (yes, wait 10 seconds) switch on and press 0 (no cartridge).

When the I/O-error is persistant, the interface is most likely bad.
Contact Steve for a replacement.

Perhaps you need to filter out the possibility that the trancend you have
is incompatible with the MyIDE-interface. This is a rare phenomena.
Do you have a harddisk lying around doing nothing?
Connect it to the myide with the USB-to-IDE-PSU.
Run fdisk, make D1 SD 720 sector.
boot DOS from disk (using the disable-trick)
format this partition and write dos 2.5
reboot the atari from ide.
When you have again I/O-error, the interface is indeed bad.
At the otherhand, when it all works, the trancend is incompatible......

Let me know,
Sijmen.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 5:38 am 

Joined: Tue Jan 27, 2009 6:51 pm
Posts: 17
Location: England
Hello Sijmen,
Thanks for the suggestions.

Before opening up the Atari to clean the slot I tried the DOS test.

I booted from DOS2.5 using a real floppy, switched to the IDE and did a few directory listings. I can list the D1: on the IDE a 3/4 times and then I get various errors like 139 (Device Nak). Sometimes the blue light get stuck on, sometimes not. By listing the directory again it might work (and clear the blue light).

So now I am about to open up the cartridge slot - and I have another question. I have removed the case of the 65XE, but still cannot get to the cartridge slot. I removed the keyboard and circuit board and can see the black plastic cartridge slot casing. I can see the alternating silver contacts and black protruding plastic. Is this where insert sand paper and rub or do I need to remove this black casing? I want to check first becuase to me it looks to me that the plastic might stop me from cleaning the contacts. As I said before electronics are not my forte!


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 7:35 am 

Joined: Tue Jan 27, 2009 6:51 pm
Posts: 17
Location: England
Sijmen,

I went ahead and cleaned the cartridge slot with some fine sandpaper. I also doubled it up to make sure there was a nice tight fit. I cleaned it several times and blew away a fair amount of excess dust.

I am still getting the same errors. Also when I disabe the IDE, boot from a real 2.5 floppy, re-enable the IDE I can sometimes get a dir listing and after a couple of goes get an error.

I do not have a spare working IDE hard drive so cannot determine whether there is a compatibily problem with the 512MB transend. As Steve supplied both it might now be worth me sending them back to him for a replacement.

If you agree Sijmen, I will contact Steve for a replacement.

Thanks for all your efforts. I have learnt a lot!


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 9:36 am 
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Joined: Sun Nov 02, 2003 8:15 am
Posts: 1549
Location: netherlands
Yes, reading your posts and since you bought both from Steve,
best is to email him about a bad cartridge/transcend combination.

A pitty things didn't work out straight away for you. :-(

Later,
Sijmen.


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 Post subject: Did try to use a CF card with MyIDE before returning goods
PostPosted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 5:05 am 

Joined: Tue Jan 27, 2009 6:51 pm
Posts: 17
Location: England
Sijmen,

Sorry you probably thought this thread had ended, but I have a bit more information which might give you a clue about the problem I was getting with the MyIDE and 512MB Transend that I got from Steve.

Before sending the cartridge back I managed to borrow a compact flash IDE adapter from a friend to which I plugged in a 64MB CF card.

Although not every time, I did manage to boot up to MyDOS a few times and copy a few files (using DOS Copy) from a floppy image. This was the first time I managed to boot to DOS so it was progress. I only had one partition. However a few strange things happened:

* While in DOS, the 720 S/D partition was D1. I was expecting the Atari 1050 to be D2, but it was D3. I then tried switching the drive selector at the back of the 1050, rebooting, etc. but this did not work. D1 was the IDE CF drive and D3 was the Atari floppy. I even tried reformatting the CF on a PC and starting again by creating a single partition and using your 720 S/D MyDos immage, but the same happened again.

* I then thought I would try the image space '>' option to copy a floppy to the IDE CF card. This also sounded like it was trying to read drive 2 that did not exist (I guess it is trying to copy from D2?). I could hear the usual 'drive grumbling' noises.

I have still returned the cartridge/transend to Steve because of the compatibility problem we discussed previously, but I thought it worth mentioning the drive number issue, in case it is relevant information.

All the best

Newat


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 11:05 am 
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Joined: Sun Nov 02, 2003 8:15 am
Posts: 1549
Location: netherlands
Hi Newat,

no problem ;-)

The SIO-routines in MyIDE do NOT alter the switch settings of your 1050.
So when you set the drive as D2: it should response to D2:
Reading your post, mostlikely you switched the wrong DIPswitch / or it's bad.

When using the build-in image manager, the copy tool copies from real D1: to image-slot.
So in this case your 1050 must be set as D1:

Cheers,
Sijmen.


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 Post subject: Replacement Cartridge and 512MB Transend Received Today....
PostPosted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 2:06 pm 

Joined: Tue Jan 27, 2009 6:51 pm
Posts: 17
Location: England
Hello Mr Atari,

You may remember my previous problem where I was getting Boot Errors with my first IDE Cartridge and Transend 512MB card (I have a PAL UK Atari). I returned these to Steve (I am not sure if he had a similar problem with them).

Today I received a replacement Cartridge and Transend from Steve, but unfortunately I get the same problems with both my 65XE and 130XE. Steve kindly created a partition for me on the replacment Transend with MyDos on it, but I still get the same errors. I again tried powering the Transend separately but still no luck. I also read the image from the Transend that Steve created using myidetool and the image boots up fine in Atari800WinPlus and Atari++ fine.

Today I borrowed a 64MB compact flash card and IDE Adapter from a friend, and tested it with the new cartridge. This works great although I get the occasional boot error which does not bother me. This leads me to believe it might be a 'timing' problem with the faster Transend card....? maybe only for PAL Ataris or only for SOME Ataris? - I am sure you have a better idea.

I was wondering if it might be to do with the 'timing' issue some Ataris might have which is mentioned by 'The Doctor' here.

http://www.atarimax.com/flashcart/forum ... g&start=17

I will buy myself a Compact Flash Card and IDE Adapter and just use the MyIDE cartridge with a Compact Flash from now on. I would like to buy a larger CF card but I am not sure whether I will get similar problem with larger/faster compact flash cards.

If you have any ideas please let me know.

Cheers

Vic


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Feb 26, 2009 1:50 am 
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Joined: Sun Nov 02, 2003 8:15 am
Posts: 1549
Location: netherlands
Hello Vic,

I'm very sorry to hear the cartridge still has problems with the transcend.
Not sure why this problem is. I have a 128mb module and that works fine.
But I also have a SimpleTech (cheap) 256mb module, that does not like
all the Atari's I have too. Most CF-cards work, 99% of the newer >1G are ok, some older <128Mb have also problems.

There is some difference in timing problems with production runs of atari
computers, but never seen both at the same address (yours).....

Anyhow:
Currently I'm emailing with Steve to see if the MyIDE-hardware can
be enhanced to coop with this 'probem'. Some prototypes are on the
way from USA (steve) to NL (me) for testing.

We let you know.

Cheers,
Sijmen.


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 Post subject: Further Update
PostPosted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 4:34 am 

Joined: Tue Jan 27, 2009 6:51 pm
Posts: 17
Location: England
[quote="newat"]
Today I borrowed a 64MB compact flash card and IDE Adapter from a friend, and tested it with the new cartridge. This works great although I get the occasional boot error which does not bother me."

Unfortunately I didn't get much further success. I transfered a few 5.25 disks using the '>' transfer option. After about 10 disks I transferred these onto a PC using MyIDETool. Some images were ok but all of the DOS3 images had problems - I could list the directory but the files were missing - I thought not a problem as I can convert them on the Atari with the COPY32.COM utility.

After using the '>' to do a couple of more images, the Atari Froze and the blue light on the MyIDE cart remained on. I tried a re-boot but the drive status is showing as 'Busy or Locked'. I reformatted the compact flash on the PC and the card worked fine on the PC (NFTS). Again I tried to boot up the Atari but still the device says 'Busy or Locked'. I checked all the jumpers on the CF adapter and they are correct (5v and Master).

I thought I would order another compact flash card (1GB) which arrived yesterday. As soon as I tried to boot up the Atari it also says 'Busy or Locked'. I tried a different compact flash adapter that I previously used and I still get the same problem.

As a reminder I have not had any success with the Transend.
It looks like I will have to wait to see if your new Prototype works!

Is there anything else you could suggest or shall I get a refund from Steve until (hopefully) you find a fix (if a fix is needed that is)?

So I can continue to transfer my Atari disks over to PC I am thinking of buying one of the SIO2PC cables. I guess these would not have the same timing issues? Any advice greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Vic


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 10:29 am 
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Joined: Sun Nov 02, 2003 8:15 am
Posts: 1549
Location: netherlands
Hi Vic,

Prototypes are expected next week.

SIO2PC is different than IDE.
It uses the SIO bus and does not have this issue you have with IDE.

Anyhow, perhaps you can swap your myide/trancend with steve for a sio2pc until later times?

The DOS3 problems could be a compatibility issue with the OS. I don't know if DOS 3 runs on the MyIDE-OS.

The locking up with ">" is the timing issue. Locking up during saving is not nice, saved data could end up on a different sector then addressed to....
Seems to be an retry-error in the IDE-routines here. (need to fix this someday).

Best is to use MyIDEtool for data transfer.
Reading from MyIDE with retry due to errors goes OK.
So you could use the cartridge (for now) as read-only.

Later,
Sijmen.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 1:37 pm 

Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2007 5:04 pm
Posts: 36
These new prototypes are the ones that may be able to "cope" with the timing problems, or is there some other issue.

The My-IDE cart is the best thing I've every purchased for my Ataris. However, with the two transcend modules I have (512mb and 1gb), neither or my 130XEs will work. However, both of the 130s work with a CF to IDE adapter, and a 128mb CF card. Also, the My-IDE cart works with BOTH the 512k AND the 1gb on THREE other Ataris I tried it with: a 65XE, and two XEGSs. Not that big a deal, but I prefer to use my 130XE, instead of the 65XE or XEGS. I would simply use the CF to IDE adapter with ALL of them, but the Transcend modules just look so good plugged into the My-IDE cart.

Anyway, I would be interested in any new developments as well.

Thanks for all your hard work.

John
(ponderosa)


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