







                   SIO2IDE Version 4.4 Users Manual
                               Revision 1
                        for Atari 8bit Home Computers



              Copyright (C) 2005 by MMSoft and the author:

                                                        Marek Mikolajewski
                                                        Gdansk Poland






I. SIO2IDE CHARACTERISTIC

     The SIO2IDE is a simple interface that allows you to attach any IDE
  Disk Drive to your 8-bit Atari computer. Latest interface version has the
  following main features:

      * ATARI side:
        - uses standard Atari SIO at a speed of 19200 baud
        - works with Atari High Speed SIO (US and Happy) at a speed of 52000 baud
        - emulates Atari disks D1: to D8:
          disk D1: can be swaped with Common disk D1: (HD1_ZW jumper)
        - can be used with any Atari DOS and OS
        - can be used without any problems with other SIO devices (disk drivers,
          printers, modems, SIO2PC, second SIO2IDE etc)
        - can be easy installed inside your Atari with 2.5' laptop HD
        - is easy to configure via special fdisk.com utility software
          (changing disks sequence and active directory)
      * IDE device side:
        - all IDE ATA/ATAPI devices can be used: Disk Drives (2.5' and 3.5'),
          CD-ROMs, Compact Flash cards etc.
        - supports PC file systems, FAT16 and FAT32
        - supports CD file system, ISO9660
        - supports ATR disk images (SD, DD up to 16MB)
        - supports directory change (multiconfig)
        - is easy to configure, many text configuration files (sio2ide.cfg) can
          be stored in different directories
        - disk configuration can be checked by special checkfs.exe PC utility
          NOTE: checkfs.exe does NOT work with HDD connected via USB port
        - standard disk utilities can be used (defrag.exe, scandisk.exe etc)
        - Long File Name (LFN) support for HDD
        - TEST mode for checking HDD initialisation
        - supports Master/Slave IDE devices
        - disk defragmentation is not required
      * USB port side:
        - interface works as Mass Storage Class device (removable drive)
        - no drivers are needed for Windows 2K, ME, XP
        - driver for Win98 is included in this SIO2IDE package


II. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

    The SIO2IDE interface is intended to function like other Atari peripherals
  attached to the SIO connector. Because of that there are no special system
  requirements from this side. Interface can operate properly with all standard
  Atari 800, 600/800XL and 65/130XE Atari computers. Additionally all OS and
  DOS extensions can be used without any problems.

  From the Hard Disk Drive side there are the following limitations:

      - only IDE disks (devices) can be used with SIO2IDE
      - 2.5' laptop disks are recommended (small, only one +5V, low power
        consumption) [3.5" to 2.5" converter cable would be needed, available
        from Cables N More: http://cablesnmor.com/hard-drive-converter.html ]

  From the USB port side there are the following limitations:

      - operating system must support Mass Storage Class devices


III. TECHNICAL INFORMATION

    This information is covered in the technical notes for SIO2IDE (ref. 1).


IV. FDISK.COM UTILITY SOFTWARE

    The FDISK.COM utility is Atari software that can be used for configuring
  the SIO2IDE and attached IDE disk. The software has the following menu
  structure.

        Start Menu            Main Menu
        --------------        ---------------------
    (M) Master SIO2IDE -> (P) View parameters
                          (D) Change active DIR
                          (V) View ATR files
                          (A) Assign Disk
                          (S) Save configuration
                          (Esc) Exit
    (S) Slave SIO2IDE  -> (as above)
    (Esc) Exit

  After starting the user must select the Master or Slave SIO2IDE interface
  (depending on the MS_ZW jumper). This is important when two interfaces are
  attached to the Atari SIO.


  IV.1. View interface status (M-P or S-P)

  This option allows you to examine the Disk Drive and SIO2IDE parameters. The
  following information is displayed (example only):

                  ---------Disk Drive parameters ----------
                        HDD mode          :  CHS
                        Heads             :  8
                        Cylinders         :  762
                        Total Sectors     :  273441
                  -------- Interface parameters -----------
                        Device mode       :  MASTER
                        Soft version      :  4.0
                        ATR files         :  24
                        Part. type        :  FAT16 big
                        Sec per Clust     :  4
                  -----------------------------------------


  IV.2. Change active directory (M-D or S-D)

  This option allows viewing disk directories and changing active directory.
  User can select directory (using keyboard or JOY1) and enter to the selected
  directory (using 'RETURN' or FIRE). To activate current directory press 'A'.
  Note that only directories with configuration files can be successfully
  activated.


  IV.3. View ATR files (M-V or S-V)

  This option allows viewing the all ATR files available in the active directory.
  Note that selected ATR file is described in the 'ATR file details' window:
    - file number
    - RW mode
    - sector size 128/256
    - number of sectors
    - LFN (Long File Name) if available


  IV.4. Assign Disk (M-A or S-A)

  This option allows editing SIO2IDE disks table (disks sequence). User can select
  one of Atari disks D1 to D8 and Common disk D1. For empty slots it is possible
  to assign an ATR files. For used slots it is possible to delete current assignment.
  Additionally it is possible to make selected disk as Read-Only ('R' key) or
  Read-Write ('W' key). Note that for CD-ROM this function is not allowed.

  Note that Common disk D1 can be easy swaped with disk D1: by HD1_ZW jumper.
  To use Common disk D1 please add entry D9:=<ATR file> to your root sio2ide.cfg file.
  This disk will be visible as D1: from all subdirectories on your HDD
  (if HD1_ZW is Off).

  Note that you can save this settings to the sio2ide.cfg file (M-S or S-S).


  IV.5. Save configuration (M-S or S-S)

  This option allows saving current configuration to the sio2ide.cfg file in
  the active directory.


V. INITIAL INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

    The following checklist is a procedure to connect an SIO2IDE on a new
  IDE Hard Disk Drive.

  V.1. Hardware and Disk set-up:
      - connect suitable SIO_IO pins to the Atari SIO connector
                SIO_IO           Atari SIO    Signal
              -----------------------------------------
                pin 1            pin 5        Data_Out
                pin 2            pin 3        Data_In
                pin 3            pin 7        Command
                pin 5            pin 4        GND
                pin 6                         Not used
                pin 7            pin 10       +5V

      - prepare HDD for SIO2IDE:
        - if disk is not partitioned or formatted please do that under DOS or
          Windows operating system,
          Note: only primary partition will be used by the SIO2IDE
        - write all PC software that you want (including OS files),
          I recommend to write the following utilities (example only):
            - defrag.exe
            - chkdisk.exe or scandisk.exe
            - checkfs.exe (SIO2IDE utility)
            - makeatr.exe (SIO2IDE utility)
            - SIO2PC, Atari emulator etc
        - write your ATR files (create directories if needed),
          Note: you can create empty ATR files with makeatr.exe utility and
                format it using Atari emulator (i.e. XFormer for DOS)
        - create all needed sio2ide.cfg files (c:\sio2ide.cfg is required)
          I recommend to write ATR file with Atari DOS (i.e. MDOS453.ATR)
          to the c:\ and put the following line to the c:\sio2ide.cfg file:
          D1:=MDOS453
          Note: MDOS453.ATR file should contain fdisk.com utility software
        - use defrag.exe to defragment your disk (recommended)
        - check your configuration in HDD (use checkfs.exe utility),
          if all is OK correct disks sequence should be displayed on screen

      - connect IDE_IO with the HDD using standard IDE cable
        Note: for the 2.5' laptop HDD special adapter is required
              (visit http://cablesnmor.com/hard-drive-converter.html for a converter adapter)

      - connect supply voltage to the HDD
        Note: for the 3.5' HDD +5V and +12V from external power supply;
              for the 2.5' laptop HDD only +5V from external power supply or
              directly from the Atari computer (if HDD current consumption is
              less that 650mA)

      - set SIO2IDE jumpers
                Jumper       Setting    Description
              ---------------------------------------------------
                MODE_ZW      Off        SIO2IDE mode
                HD1_ZW       On         Disk D1: On
                MS_ZW        On         Master mode

  V.2. System start:
      Now you can start your system from SIO2IDE disk.

      - switch on the system and wait for Atari and HDD power-up,
        during initialisation the SIO2IDE reads c:\sio2ide.cfg configuration
        file and initialises assigned Atari disks, after correct initialisation:
          - Atari computer works normally (in BASIC mode)
          - only the PWR_LED on the SIO2IDE is active
          Note: in case of initialisation error check the hardware setting

      - from the Atari BASIC prompt type 'BYE' command

      - press RESET key to restart the computer and load the DOS from
        the SIO2IDE disk (D1:)
        Note: for automatic system start the Reset_Out signal (SIO_IO pin 4)
              must be used (see SIO2IDE schematic, ref. 5)

      - run the fdisk.com and check and/or change your configuration (ref. IV)

  V.3. Using USB port:
      To use USB port available on the SIO2IDE interface you have to start
      your system with the following jumpers setting:

                Jumper       Setting    Description
              ---------------------------------------------------
                MODE_ZW      On         IDE2USB mode
                HD1_ZW       Not important
                MS_ZW        Not important

      In this configuration you have to connect USB port to the host i.e. PC
      with Windows. Windows will automatically recognize new device and install
      required drivers. Note that you will need dedicated drivers only for
      Win98 (ref. 6).
      After successful initialisation you will see your HDD as removable
      drive. Now you can easy exchange data between your HDD and PC.

  V.4. Using TEST mode:
      To use TEST mode available on the SIO2IDE interface you have to start
      your system with the following jumpers setting:

                Jumper       Setting    Description
              --------------------------------------------------------------
                MODE_ZW      On&Off     On during start and then Off in 3sec
                MS_ZW        Not important
                HD1_ZW       Not important

       This mode alows to test drive initialisation process. Debug text
       information is sent on UART Tx line. To view debug output simply
       connect SIO2IDE to the PC (use signal converter) and start any
       terminal software (19200,8n1). The following SIO_IO line should
       be used:

                SIO_IO           Signal
              ----------------------------
                pin 2            UART Tx line
                pin 5            GND
                pin 7            +5V

VI. RELATED DOCUMENTS AN SOFTWARE

  1) MMSoft 2004    "SIO2IDE ver 4.3 Technical Specification"
  2) MMSoft 2003    FDISK.COM - utility software for Atari
                    FDISK.ROM - cartridge version (XEGS32k or DB32k)
  3) MMSoft 2003    CHECKFS.EXE - utility software for PC
  4) MMSoft 2003    MAKEATR.EXE - utility software for PC
  5) MMSoft 2002    SIO2IDE_4_SCH.DOC - SIO2IDE schematic
  6) MMSoft 2002    SIO2IDE_4_PCB.GIF - SIO2IDE PCB layout
  7) MMSoft 2002    SIO2IDE USB Mass Storage Class driver for Win98

