September 2012
NEWSLETTER for September 2012 President’s Corner by Michael Current September 2012
Treasurer's Report by Greg Leitner For August 2012
I've been busy trying out all the great DOMs going back to last fall. Wasn't the new Pac-Man version amazing? It's perfect! Another highlight for me was the new release of Ice-T. It took a little experimentation, and of course I don't have a modem hooked up, but it was great to see it up and running on the TV. Years ago I was online using that program all the time. It still has that feel of a modern software app, a really classy piece of programming. If you have any reason to use a dial-up program on the Atari, Ice-T is hands-down the best!
Friday, August 10th was just about a perfect day until I got to the meeting and discovered that I left my keys at home. So I had to hightail it back home and leave Glen, Tony and Marcus in the parking lot. Thankfully, there was a cleaning person in the building and she let them in and so by the time I returned with the keys everything was pretty much set to go. After this happened to me a while back I told myself then that I woud never let that happen again. Wrong!! Well everything worked out okay and I had the keys to lock up after the meeting.
Random something I learned just today. I always understood that peripherals that draw their power from the computer over SIO like the ICD P:R:Connection or the XM301 modem don't work with the 1200XL because the 1200XL lacked the +5 volts on SIO pin 10. Well, that really wasn't very accurate at all. In designing the 1200XL Atari apparently decided that they didn't want peripherals to draw power from the computer via SIO. So, they removed the +12 volts from pin 12 of the SIO port, and they greatly reduced the amount of current available on the +5/Ready pin, pin 10. Basically no one had used the +12 volts on SIO pin 12 on the 400/800 anyway. But, the minimized current on the pin 10 Ready line, which (I would think) was probably never meant to power peripherals anyway, is what caused all the problems. Of course, Atari partially relented by restoring more current availability to SIO pin 10 with the release of the 600XL/800XL, later that same year of 1983. But ONLY the 400/800 ever had the +12 volts available on pin 12. Before the 1200XL came out, can you explain why a few 3rd party peripherals used the SIO Ready line as a power source instead of the SIO +12V line?
With the nice weather finally I could understand the low attendance for the August SPACE meeting. Michael made it from Wisconsin and so we had five members present for the meeting. It was very interesting as Michael made it in time to visit a Minneapolis library and seek out an old collection of Cash Box magazine. They closed shortly after he started his search so he wants to continue his search at a later time. Apparently they were one of the first publications to begin advertising for computers. I can't wait to hear more. We only had five members for the meeting, but with Michael catching up on his doms and paying for his membership renewal we had a good month for our treasury. Here is how our bank account looks after the August SPACE meeting: Beginning balance as of August 1, 2012:
462.05
Receipts for August: Memberships Doms Total receipts for August
15.00 30.00 45.00
No expenses for the month of August Thanks, keep using that Atari, and come to your next SPACE meeting, Friday September 14, 2012. **********************************************
Ending balance as of August 31, 2012:
507.05
So we hit a balance over $500.00 for the first time since March 2012. We are getting into the period where a lot
of our members dues are renewed so I expect our bank account will increase even more. So if you are one of them like me please renew your memberships on time. That's all for now, see you all in September.
We might offer incentives like DOMs or newsletters or memberships. We might need to formalize SPACE as a non-profit with the state of Minnesota, and/or cap how much money we would want to take in. The task-force is green-lighted to proceed on the concept.
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Secretary's Report By Steve Peck For August 2012
The SPACE meeting was called to order on Friday August 10 at 7:35 pm at the Falcon Heights Community Center, with 5 people present. In the secretary's absence Michael asked for a volunteer to take meeting notes for the evening. Michael agreed to take minutes. The July meeting notes appeared in the August Newsletter, thanks to new secretary Steve Peck. It was noted that May, June, and July minutes all appeared in the August newsletter. At least a couple of us have been receiving obvious spam emails coming from Greg Leitner's email address. The security of Greg's PC may be compromised, especially if it is not running a current version of any antivirus program. Suggestions offered included AVG and Avast (both available in free versions). Greg reported that minimal expenses this month left us at $462 at the end of July. The big $300 room rental fee is coming around again, but so are many membership renewals, hopefully. Things are looking to tighten further in the coming year. Glen Kirschenmann reported that this month's Disk of the Month Side A includes 5 games and one musical item. Side B includes pictures and games from Glucholazy (Poland) 2012. Glen then reported that membership is holding at 11. In discussing the rarity of Atari computer clubs, Glen noted that we are still sending newsletters to IMAGE and SCAT. Michael mentioned that he is on SCAT's email list, and SCAT is definitely still meeting. However, Michael thinks that IMAGE probably is gone. Old Business The group continued the discussion of fund-raising via Kickstarter. People with experience with Kickstarter are confident we could raise significant money on the site.
New Business The latest rise of retro-gaming was discussed. The Pioneer Press just had an article that mentioned something called "Insert Quarter?". DETAILS: Insert Coin(s) Videolounge GameBar is to open at 315 1st. Ave. N. in Minneapolis in October. Las Vegas location website: http://www.insertcoinslv.com/ . There is also Rusty Quarters Retro Arcade & Museum at 818 West Lake Street, Minneapolis, http://www.rqarcade.com/ . And, Zap Arcade at 234 Broadway St. Jordan, MN, http://zap-arcade.com/ . Conventions like the Classic Gaming Expo in Las Vegas (http://www.cgexpo.com/), the Midwest Gaming Classic near Milwaukee (http://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/), and especially Gen Con Indy (http://www.gencon.com/) were mentioned. Michael described his late-afternoon venture to the Hennepin County Public Library Central Library in downtown Minneapolis, looking for articles and advertisements relating to Atari history and pre-history. Michael showed several pics on his camera from Cash Box magazine showing ads, articles, and a factory photo showing the manufacture of Computer Space by Nutting Associates, which was engineered by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney before they departed Nutting and started Atari. The meeting ended at 8:17 pm. Submitted by Michael Current for secretary Steve Peck, Aug. 12, 2012 ********************************************
From: Michael Current [michael@mcurrent.name] Sent: Sunday, August 26, 2012 9:57 AM Subject: Rainbow 2.2 Atari Emulator released Rainbow 2.2 Atari Emulator released Saturday, August 25, 2012 7:34:29 AM Hi all, New features for version 2.2: - improvements to video timing - Bennet tables implemented for DMA timing
- mid-scanline timing fix (e.g. Fast Eddie, Silly Things demo, Master of the Lamps) - 6502 store timing fix - VSCROL fixed - VDELAY fixed - player & missile colours fixed for GTIA modes - "Share Joystick fpr Player 2" menu item added (share a single joystick for 2 players, playing alternately) - PIA memory repeat added - PIA fixes for DCRs and data registers - menu option to turn on/off console speaker - SIO disk fixes - sound restored when window gets focus - more trace info for CPU, SIO, PIA and display options - scanline ruler added - CONSOL read fixed for 5200 (Xari Arena ok now) - 20% faster than v2.1 http://www.chrislam.co.uk/rainbow-atari-8bitemulator.htm Regards, Chris. ********************************************
From: Michael Current [michael@mcurrent.name] Sent: Saturday, September 01, 2012 5:04 PM Subject: Atari and Internet Explorer Launch Starstudded Game Lineup in HTML5-based Social Arcade Atari and Internet Explorer Launch Star-studded Game Lineup in HTML5-based Social Arcade Modern ‘Atari Arcade’ Experience Features Fresh Graphics, Social Connectivity and Tablet Touch Gameplay, Play Now for Free at Atari.com LOS ANGELES – August 30, 2012 – Atari, one of the world’s most recognized publishers and developers of interactive entertainment, today announced a partnership with Internet Explorer to launch the Atari Arcade. The browser-based portal is a next-generation collection of Atari’s classic games reimagined in HTML5 with fresh graphics, gameplay and integration with Facebook and Twitter. Atari Arcade shines in Internet Explorer, but also works well in other modern browsers. Because of the quality of the IE experience, an ad-free version is made available to all Internet Explorer customers when they play Atari Arcade. In celebration of Atari’s 40 year anniversary and the upcoming launch of Internet Explorer 10, classic games like Asteroids, Pong, Lunar Lander, Missile Command,
Centipede, and others have been developed with new graphics and gameplay features. Like the arcades that first popularized gaming, players can go head-to-head with friends in competitive, real-time battles for high scores and leaderboard placement in the next evolution of Atari fan favorites like Super Breakout and Combat. “Atari and Microsoft have had a long and successful history on Xbox LIVE and in the digital space,” said Jim Wilson, CEO of Atari. “The reimagined Atari Arcade expands this partnership in a new direction, in keeping with our current digital strategy, making it easier than ever for gamers around the world to access our renowned franchises, through the power and flexibility of an HTML5 based platform.” “We were excited to work with a gaming legend, Atari, to bring their classic arcade games to life on the web with Internet Explorer,” adds Ryan Gavin, general manager, Internet Explorer. “Atari Arcade demonstrates what’s possible when you couple HTML5 along with a fast and fluid browser that is perfect for touch, which is precisely what you get with Internet Explorer 10. Now together with Internet Explorer and HTML5, we get to see some of our favorite games jump into the next generation of gaming on the web – which is pretty fantastic.” Atari’s new platform will grant developers access to CreateJS, a suite of tools for creating cross-browser, cross-device HTML5 gaming and media experiences. This new offering will give developers a platform to publish and monetize games with the ability to utilize features like Facebook integration. Attendees at this year’s PAX Prime, taking place Aug. 31 – Sep. 2 in Seattle, will be able to get hands-on experience with the Atari Arcade in Internet Explorer’s booth in the north lobby. Atari has released a promotional video for the event in which game industry luminaries Nolan Bushnell and Grant Skinner provide their perspective on 40 years of video games and HTML5’s impact on future development. The video may be viewed at: http://youtu.be/3qaF9-W2Dvg. Visit the Atari Arcade now at Arcade.Atari.com. For more information about Atari games and the latest news: - Visit our website: www.atari.com - Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/atari - Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/atari
- Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/atari For more on Internet Explorer, please visit http://www.beautyoftheweb.com/ About ATARI, SA Atari (www.atari.com) is a multi-platform, global interactive entertainment and licensing company. The original innovator of video gaming, founded in 1972, Atari owns and/or manages a portfolio of more than 200 games and franchises, including world renowned brands like Asteroids®, Centipede®, Missile Command®, Pong®, Test Drive®, Backyard Sports®, and Rollercoaster Tycoon®. Atari capitalizes on these powerful properties by delivering compelling games online (i.e. browser, Facebook® and digital download), on smartphones and tablets and other connected devices. Atari also develops and distributes interactive entertainment for video game consoles from Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony. As a licensor, Atari extends its brand and franchises into other media, merchandising and publishing categories. Atari has offices in Los Angeles, New York, Paris and Lyon. © 2012 Atari Interactive, Inc. All rights reserved. Atari word mark and logo are trademarks owned by Atari Interactive, Inc. ********************************************
From: Michael Current [michael@mcurrent.name] Sent: Saturday, August 18, 2012 9:52 PM Subject: Altirra 2.10 Altirra, an 8-bit Atari computer emulator Version 2.10 [August 13, 2012]: [features added] a.. SlightSID emulation support. b.. Covox emulation support. c.. 1200XL emulation support. d.. BASIC programs can now be booted. e.. Fast boot option now accelerates timeouts for powered down disk drives. f.. Disk: Added support for format skewed ($66) command. g.. Disk: Format commands ($21, $22) now support high-speed operation. h.. Disk: Added emulation profile modes for various disk drives. i.. Disk: Reduced ACK-to-complete delay when accurate sector timing is off. j.. Disk: Added rotation and seek sound emulation. k.. Disk: Accurate disk timing prediction is now
preserved when burst I/O transfers are enabled. l.. Debugger: Added .sum (sum memory area) command. m.. Debugger: Added .warmstart command. n.. Debugger: Added ap (alias pattern) command for adding aliases with patterns. o.. Debugger: Added additional aliases to a8 command (set Atari800-compatible command aliases). p.. Debugger: Added alternate L>addr syntax for setting an address range length based on an end address. q.. Debugger: Added heat map support. r.. Debugger: Added .basic_dumpline command. s.. Debugger: Enter now repeats the last command. t.. Debugger: .dumpdlist command now collapses runs of identical commands. u.. Debugger: Unassemble and dump commands now support continuation from the last address. v.. Debugger: Added deref signed byte (dsb) expression operator. w.. Debugger: Added %c and %y formatting specifiers to .printf command. x.. Debugger: Added .dmamap command to show ANTIC DMA pattern over the course of a frame. y.. Serial: 1030 Modem support. z.. Display: Added scanline display mode. aa.. Display: Added integer-multiple version of preserve aspect ratio sizing mode. ab.. Display: Added sharp bilinear filter mode. ac.. Display: Text can now be copied out of ANTIC modes 2, 3, 6, and 7 (GR.0, 1, and 2). ad.. Display: Added CIO intercept based enhanced text mode. ae.. HDevice: Added minimal support for SDX Get Current Directory command ($30). af.. HDevice: Added support for H6-H9: text translation modes. ag.. HDevice: Implemented rename, get/set/create/remove directory, and get file length commands. ah.. HDevice/PCLink: Fixed lock command not setting read-only flag. ai.. Cartridge: Added MicroCalc 32K cartridge type support. aj.. Cartridge: Added cartridge type autodetection. ak.. UI: Screenshot command now adjusts for interlacing and 14MHz dot clock rendering. al.. UI: The program is now marked as high DPI aware in the application manifest. am.. Simulator: Added support for MapRAM MMU modification. [bugs fixed] a.. Increased paste keyboard timer to reduce dropped keys on line processing delays. b.. Fixed startup crash on Sandy Bridge CPUs on Windows XP.
c.. Simulator: Inhibit FP math acceleration hooks when PBI ROM overlay is active. d.. Simulator: BASIC disable Option key hold is now released more quickly to reduce cartridge conflicts. e.. Debugger: "read" and "write" terms can now appear more than twice in a conditional breakpoint expression. f.. Debugger: Fixed .tracecio off not working. g.. Debugger: Fixed execution stopping on TRACE statements. h.. Debugger: Breakpoint clear (bc) command no longer interprets breakpoint numbers as hex. i.. Debugger: Fixed console entry window not always disabling properly. j.. Debugger: .pokey command now reports correct status for secondary POKEY. k.. Display: Fixed crash on some XP systems on display mode change. l.. Display: Added workaround for ps1.1 precision issue on Intel graphics cards. m.. Display: Fixed bicubic scaling in OpenGL mode. n.. ANTIC: Fixed line buffer addressing to correctly handle aliasing of buffered data to different modes. o.. POKEY: Fixed glitching in high-pass filtering. p.. POKEY: Fixed wrong bit in SKSTAT being set for serial input overruns. q.. POKEY: Fixed asynchronous receive mode not resetting timers 3+4 that are already running. r.. Disk: Fixed handling of XF551 high-speed sector skew format commands ($A1/$A2). s.. Disk: Format command now sends back ACK+ERROR+buffer instead of NAK on a readonly disk. t.. Disk: Adjusted step rate of 810 drive to 5.3ms. u.. Disk: Fixed forced sector ordering command (.diskorder) for .pro images. v.. Disk: Step delays were not always reflected correctly in command delay time (only rotational position). w.. Disk: Fixed inverted write protect bit status. x.. Disk: Attempted writes to a write protected disk now return errors instead of a NAK. y.. Disk: Fixed command response when accessing a drive with no disk. z.. Disk: Fixed error return for unsupported Write PERCOM Block requests. aa.. Disk Explorer: Fixed case sensitivity issue allowing duplicate file creation on DOS 2 file systems. ab.. Input: Fixed bug in keyboard repeat detection code. ac.. Input: Improved Caps Lock key support. ad.. Cartridge: An error is now thrown when attempting to save a cartridge image in .CAR format with an unsupported mapper. ae.. Cartridge: Fixed switchable XEGS cartridge modes.
af.. Display: Fixed display mode matching when /f is specified on the command line. ag.. Display: Improved behavior of interlaced mode when frames are dropped. ah.. CPU: Fixed cycle behavior of ASL/LSR/ROL/ROR abs,X instructions in 65C02 mode. ai.. HLE Kernel: Fixed BUFADR being overwritten by CIO, which broke the DOS XE executable loader. aj.. IDE: Fixed banking in KMK/JZ V1 mode and added 3K ROM support. ak.. IDE: Fixed multiple sector read requests of exactly 32 sectors. al.. VBXE: Fixed memory not being cleared on cold reset with randomize function disabled. am.. Serial: Fixed incompatibility with Ice-T XE and the R: handler's STATUS handler. an.. Misc: Fixed upper 4 bits for some R-Time 8 register reads. ao.. HDevice: Fixed NOTE and POINT commands. ap.. Cheats: Fixed 16-bit option not being tracked properly for manually entered cheats. aq.. GTIA: Sprites are now triggered properly from within horizontal blank. ar.. GTIA: Fixed sprite image overlap result. as.. Cassette: Loading a new tape didn't press 'play' on the emulated player until the next cold reset. ********************************************
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