OPERATING SYSTEM IDENTIFICATION In Antic, April 1984, it was mentioned that A = USR(61733) reboots
the system as though just powered up (page 10). It works on non-XL
models. On my 1200XL, Error 9 shows up. Fix this by using A=
USR(58487), which is the cold start entry point for ALL models. If
you wish to reset only, without pushing the RESET button, use A= USR(58484)
in your program.
Now, a question. Is there an easy way to determine
the identification of an Atari computer system, including revision numbers
and dates, by PEEKing locations in the Atari?
John Fronheiser
Pottstown, PS
Atari has gone through six Operating Systems. The older 400/800's
both contained identical OS's and went through revisions A and B. There
were two OS's for the 1200XL, referred to as 10 and 11 at Atari. The new
600/800XL's have had revisions 1 and 2. If location 64728 contains 162,
you have a 400/800, otherwise you have an XL. To determine which
400/800, look in location 65528. A 221 there means you have revision
A, 214 means revision A PAL, 243 means revision B, and 34 is revision B
PAL. If you have an XL computer you can test for the OS
at location 65527, where a PEEK will generate the revision numbers 10,
11, 1 or 2. -ANTIC ED
DESERT NEWS
In your March 1984 issue, The International Atari, you said only Atari
game machines are available in Saudi Arabia. Actually, Atari 400s
and 800s are, and have been, available for at least a year in many stores.
However, there are very few Atari owners with disk drives, making it hard
to trade games.
Incidently, I find it extremely hard to read control characters
used in Antic listings. Is there any way around this? That
aside, Antic is the oasis in my desert.
Dan Herron
Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
Thanks for the kind words and the information, Regarding our control
characters: we frequently use character strings, instead of data statements
to save memory space. Here's a tip that may help reading those strings-in
the typeface font we use for our listings, most control codes are squarish,
and most inverse alphanumeric characters are rectangular -ANTIC ED
TRANSLATOR TAPE?
I own an Atari 1200XL, and would like to know if the Translator, produced
in disk form by Atari, could be on a cassette tape.
Richard Lowery
Akron, OH
The disk version of Translator takes about 20 seconds to boot and
must be rebooted for each new program requiring the old OS that you load.
The Translator requires an XL computer with 64K RAM, but most cassette
owners have only 16K. Most Atari owners with 64K have disk drives. A cassette version of Translator would take several
minutes to load, in addition to loading time for the application.
Such time can be frustrating-buying a disk drive would make more sense.
-ANTIC ED
DOING MORE WITH DOS 2.0
A few technical errors popped up in my article
"Do More With DOS 2.0"
(August 1984). Here are some clarifications. Under modified
DOS 2.0, only 963 of the possible 1040 sectors are accessible, resulting
in a total formatted storage capacity of 123,264 bytes.
Also, the actual DOS modification procedure (page 32)
should be performed as follows: before performing the BASIC POKES, boot
your system with a standard DOS 2 disk and leave the disk in the drive
while POKEing. When you've completed the POKES, use this easier procedure:
type DOS [RETURN] and wait for the DOS menu to appear. Remove your
standard DOS disk now and insert a blank disk for formatting. Use
the "I" menu option as usual to format the new disk and then use the "H"
option as usual to save the DOS files. Then proceed with copying
other files as indicated.
Richard Kruse
Witchita, KS
MORE MEMORY?
All 600XL and 800XL owners know that there is a special opening in
the back of their computers. Can I insert a 64K card (made by MPP)
into the 800XL? Will I have 128K?
Michael Keylin
Brooklyn, NY
The addressing bus on the 800XL will only see 64K. You can
plug in the MPP 64K module, but the computer will then use the MPP 64K
and not its own. In other words, instead of adding 64K, you're switching
64K. -ANTIC ED
SAVING AN ADVENTURE GAME
I'm writing an adventure game on my Atari 800XL and would like to offer
the player the option of saving the game in progress for later playing.
How can I do this?
Michael Keylin
Brooklyn, NY
You must determine which variables contain status information on
the course of the game and write two subroutines. One should save
the value of these variables to disk in a predetermined order and the other
should read the values from the disk in reverse order and place them in
the proper variables. For example: OPEN #1,8,0,"D:ADV.DAT":PUT #1,FLAG:
PRINT #1,ROOM$ ...etc. To retrieve: OPEN#1,4,0, "D:ADV.DAT":GET #1,
FLAG: INPUT #1,A$,. . . and so on. To get an idea of which variables
you need, see our variables cross-reference article in the August 1984
issue Good Luck! -ANTIC ED
PLATO ARISES
I was very impressed with the article Plato Rising (Antic, July 1984).
Is Plato compatible with the MPP 1OOOC modem? Would you list all
the modems with which Plato is compatible? Where can I get the Plato
cartridge?
Kendel Bennett
Brigham City, UT
Plato is compatible with any popular modem, including the MPP As
for cartridges, you might contact Computer Creations (see the advertisen
index in the back of this issue) -ANTIC ED
ENDING ATARI CABLE CHAOS
Although my Atari is a wonderful machine, a complete system can be
very untidy and cumbersome, especially compared to some of the newer compact
models on the market.
I solved the problem of chaos caused by my Atari 800,
monitor, two disk drives, 850 interface, modem, printer and printer buffer,
as well as the attendant wires, by encasing much of the system in an IBM-type
box. Now the drives, disk controller, 850, printer buffer and all
of the power supplies are all housed in a compact, transportable package.
The modem sits on top of the case and few cables clutter my shelves.
Mike Palmer
Tampa, FL
CRUEL I/O
I cooked this little ditty up one day when I was feeling masochistic.
I wrote it in response to the novices' worries about hurting the computer
through the keyboard.
5 GRAPHICS 0:HI=0 6 POKE 764,255:? "Hi the re! What's your name?"; 7 IF PEEK(764)=255 THEN 7 8 GRAPHICS 2+16:POKE 708 ,14:POSITION 5,5:? #6;"D ANGER!!!":SOUND 0,12,252 ,15 9 FOR I=l TO 200:POKE 71 2,PEEK(53770):NEXT I 10 FOR I=l TO 50 15 POKE 560,PEEK(53770):P OKE 561,PEEK(53770):POKE 708+INT(RND(0)*5),PEEK(53 770):POKE 623,PEEK(53770) 20 POKE 756,PEEK(53770):P OKE 559,PEEK(53770):POKE 53760+INT(RND(0)*9),PEEK( 53770):NEXT I 30 GRAPHICS 0 40 SOUND 0,0,0,0:SOUND 1 ,0,0,0:SOUND 2,0,0,0:SOU ND 3,0,0,0 45 IF AARD=255 THEN POKE 764,255:? :? "Do you da re try again?":END 50 IF NOT HI THEN ? "He e, Hee.":? "But, serious ly..":HI=1:GOTO 6 60 ?"Never trust a comp uter with a sense" 70 ? "of humor. (I can't believe you fell":? "for it two time in a row!)" 80 POKE 764,255:? :? "RE ADY" 90 AARD=255:GOTO 7 Chris Page
San Diego
Listing: CRUELIO.BAS Download
LOCKED OUT OF AN ATARI
After using my Atari 800 for about 20 minutes, I find that it frequently
locks up or scrambles my code. in the lock-up situation, all the keys function
fine-until I press the [RETURN] key, when everything except the [SYSTEM
RESET] locks up. Pressing the [RESET] key works, and the machine
is fine until I press [RETLTRN] again.
My computer also adds, deletes and changes lines of code
as it sees fit.
These problems only occur when the BASIC cartridge is
inserted. What should I do?
Will Cronenwett
Norman, OK
Sorry to hear of your troubles. The problem probably lies
with your BASIC cartridge. A new, fully debugged BASIC cartridge,
Revision C, is now available for $15from Atari Customer Relations, 1312
Crossman Ave., PO. Box 61657, Sunnyvale, CA 94088. -ANTIC ED
RADIO ATARI
I need information on a modem to run with my radio transmitter and
Atari 800. It would have to be able to send and receive Morse Code, ASCII
and radioteletype (RTTY). Can you help?
Roy Whiteside
Newcomb, Australia
You will find a review of the RM1000 radio modem on page 89 of our
July 1984 issue Also, you might wish to contact the folks at Ad Astra,
the journal of the Atari Microcomputer Net and Amateur Radio Operator Users'
Group. Their address is 4749 S.R. 207 NE, Washington CH., Ohio 43160.
-ANTIC ED
ANTIC VOL. 3, NO. 6 / OCTOBER 1984 / PAGE 7