What's wrong with this picture?

Can you spot two things that are wrong?

Those with a keen eye will notice the larger screen space of my GEM desktop? What about the three resolutions that appear selectable? Well, if you saw these things then you're an Atari ST rock star and I salute you!

Yes, I've been experimenting with a few GEM programs that allow the use of larger resolutions and more cool stuff. Some support interlace to double the vertical resolution but that can look a little odd and hurts my eyes! (use 60Hz!!). Others can create a virtual screen by using the hardware scrolling of the Atari STe. But do you really wanna scroll?

Interestingly, some programs feature overscan. This is a technique used to make use of the empty borders and it sparked my curiosity. Using this extra screen space is excellent and comes without any slowdown. Most GEM programs should work perfectly fine and I'm left wondering why Atari couldn't have made this standard back in 1985?

I've made a bundled download of these programs - please let me know if there are others I've missed.

PowerDOS

TOS? No, DOS?

I was recently reading through Atari ST Review #32 and I came upon an interesting tidbit for a public domain tool called PowerDOS. I had never heard of this but it sounded interesting and potentially very useful.

The slowest part of any computer is the hard drive and, whilst this might not matter quite as much for Ultrasatan, there is still a benefit to be had: PowerDOS is for GEMDOS what NVDI/QuickST/Warp9 are for the VDI components of TOS. That means all those inefficient bits 'n bobs that go together to make up the disk operating system are replaced by "newer" routines that improve system performance (TOS) and also add a few new features within a multitasking environment.

Installation is as simple as copying the program into your AUTO folder and rebooting. I'm using TOS 2.06 and had the obvious problem with NVDI but everything else appears to work fine. The speed improvements are most welcome for example, try loading up CAB or JAM (with all their plugins enabled). Sweet!!

I do love tinkering with my Atari ST and utilities like PowerDOS are amazing. The incompatibility with NVDI is worrying but I do wonder if a middle-ground can be forged by using QuickST or maybe Warp9? Whaddya think? Give it a try and see how you get on, let me know in the comments below. Download is available from Atari-Forum (with credit to Mark_G & bj)

MiNT OS

Update!! (September 2020)
Marcello has just released v1.3 of ST MiNT

ST's can't multitask

Here's a thought: why not ditch TOS for a spanky installation of MiNT? This has been done and is called ST MiNT by Marcello. It's based on Cripple MiNT (w/ extras) and is intended for a 4MB ST running in High Res. All you need is a spare SD card for your Ultrasatan (or similar) and you're flying free in a multitasking world!!

I've installed this myself and it's shockingly easy to get up and running. It's an incredibly impressive product!!

Installation is very easy and Marcello has even provided helpful instructions to recreate the image. However, I thought I'd also add my own installation experience just for us Mac folk - but it's dead easy to do on any computer...

1) Download ST Mint disk image.
2) Insert the SD card (if an alert appears, choose ignore)
3) Open up Terminal.app and enter in three commands:
     3a) diskutil list (this displays the necessary information to identify your SD card - diskX on my iMac was disk1)
     3b) diskutil unmountDisk /dev/diskX (now that you know the device ID you can unmount it - but leave physically inserted!)
     3c) sudo dd if=st_mint-0.7.img of=/dev/diskX (dd is the command that transfers the data onto the SD card and will take several minutes. Enter your password and wait!!)
4) Now eject and insert the SD card into your ultrasatan
5) Switch on the Atari ST and enjoy a baby MiNT OS

This next bit is optional and only for those struggling to identify the SD card device ID. Okay, here is a copy of my Terminal activity and, as you can see, I entered the "diskutil list" command twice. Once before I inserted the SD card and afterwards just to compare the differences in the output (before running the above)

iMac:~ ataricrypt$ diskutil list
/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *1.0 TB     disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD            999.3 GB   disk0s2
   3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk0s3
/dev/disk3 (disk image):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:     Apple_partition_scheme                        +18.1 MB    disk3
   1:        Apple_partition_map                         32.3 KB    disk3s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS Flash Player            18.1 MB    disk3s2
iMac:~ ataricrypt$
iMac:~ ataricrypt$ diskutil list
/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *1.0 TB     disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD            999.3 GB   disk0s2
   3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk0s3
/dev/disk1 (internal, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                                                   *1.0 GB     disk1
/dev/disk3 (disk image):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:     Apple_partition_scheme                        +18.1 MB    disk3
   1:        Apple_partition_map                         32.3 KB    disk3s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS Flash Player            18.1 MB    disk3s2
iMac:~ ataricrypt$ diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk1
Unmount of all volumes on disk1 was successful
iMac:~ ataricrypt$
iMac:~ ataricrypt$ sudo dd if=~/Desktop/st_mint-0.7.img of=/dev/disk1
Password:
1228800+0 records in
1228800+0 records out
629145600 bytes transferred in 986.684138 secs (637636 bytes/sec)
iMac:~ ataricrypt$

uIP-tool

Easy-peasy transfers

As you may have read in my previous article, I've bought the NetUSBee which is a gorgeous slab of hardware available from Lotharek. Its ethernet socket offers the potential to connect to the outside work or even your own Mac/PC and Mariusz Buras has developed a program to do just that - it's called uIP Tool.

This will transform your Atari ST into a file server without any configuration. Just load it up and it will automatically assign itself an IP - which you use in Google Chrome on your Mac/PC. Now you can access the Atari ST and begin transferring files. NetUSBee with uIP-tool makes transferring files to/from your Atari ST a cinch.

In fact... you don't need to use a web browser at all. Load up uIP-Tool and then copy a file over to your Atari ST using the command line. It's geeky but it works very well so is lots of fun! Here is the example command to copy 'myfile.zip' over to the D-Drive on my Atari ST...

curl -0T myfile.zip 192.168.2.2/d/myfile.zip

uIP-Tool makes the entire process of getting files onto your Atari ST a whole lot easier and better. It's simple to use thanks to the user interface and it gets the job done without any hassle. Yep, NetUSBee is fantastic and uIP-Tool enhances the joy of owning such a great piece of kit. A heavenly marriage of hardware and software!

Help for those using WiFi
If your router is in a different room to your Atari ST then you might think uIP-tool isn't compatible with your setup unless you have a mega-long ethernet cable? Not so. My router is located downstairs so I bought myself a very short ethernet cable to physically connect the Mac to my Atari STe.

To provide uIP-Tool with a working IP address - just enable the Mac's Internet Sharing. Sorry, I don't own Windows or Linux, but I expect a similar function exists? Just follow this:

 1) load up System Preference (via the Apple menu)
 2) click on Internet Sharing (view me)
 3) choose WiFi in the dropdown menu & tick the ethernet box (view me)
 4) lastly, tick the box left of "Internet Sharing" to activate this service.
 5) now quit System Preferences.
 6) load up uIP-Tool on the Atari ST and note the IP it displays for you.
 7) enter that IP into Google Chrome so you can now access your Atari ST. Job done!

Master CAD

A day in the life

I have far too many boxes of serious programs gathering dust on my ST-shelf... I figured I should make an effort to learn 'em or bin 'em!! First up is Master CAD, by MichTron. After brushing away a thick layer of dust I opened it up and lifted out a weighty manual. "Time for a good read", I thought. However, I almost fell into a coma because it's so dull and very confusing! Perhaps I should stop reading and just boot the thing up...

Installation was my first stumbling block: it insists on being stored onto Drive C, which is doable but it's cluttering up my boot partition. Not something I am happy about. The next problem was a lack of examples to work from (and yes, that does mean steal). My journey into the serious side of the ST wasn't exactly off to a great start...

With little guidance, I continued on the best I could. However, it was instantly clear MichTron wrote this for the established designer rather than somebody like me - and being thrown in at the deep end wasn't going to work. Later on, I tried my best to map a crude plan of Doom's E1M1 which soon look like a cluttered mess.

It was long before I gave up! Click here to see a photo of how Master CAD affected me!!

Ultimate Virus Killer

Ugh, bugs!

Since getting my UltraSatan, I've been stuffing the SD card with lots of Atari ST files (okay, I mean games!!). Now, I don't wish to compromise my collection of ST goodies so I check for errors and viruses quite regular.

There's only one real Atari ST virus killing program worth its salt and that's Ultimate Virus Killer by legend Richard Karsmakers. Well, thanks to Chris aka Exxos, we have the complete and last edition freely available to download but is it still worth it after all these years? Surely the dreaded ghost virus is now extinct?

Sadly, I feel this program is still needed because most ST software is now archived online which means there's a chance so are the various nasties. It's like they're frozen in time just waiting to thaw and inflict their curse all over again. So let's kill 'em all using this amazing program which I highly recommend, even today!!

Waste no more time and get Ultimate Virus Killer downloaded right now :-)

Who needs Chrome?

You in need a fully featured web browser for your Atari computer then NetSurf is an excellent choice and something I've enjoyed using for well over a year. You will need a decent spec and one that runs MiNT OS (check out my own virtual Falcon). To download NetSurf (click here) and for the bleeding-edge builds (click here). Enjoy!!

MOD Players

Tricky Trackers!

I remember when I first heard tracker music, it was around 1989 and it was a pretty cool experience albeit not on the ST. To be honest, it was something that I never expected to hear from such a small file - after all, I am comparing it to a sound sample of course would eat up the entire space on any floppy disk (and then the Ram).

So, when I upgraded to an Atari STe in 1990, finding a MOD player was one of the first things I attempted. I think that I wanted to ditch chipmusic for this tantalising new style of computer music. It's weird but, back then, I felt disappointed in my Atari ST and its chip music but I don't feel that way now. In fact, I find many of those MODs I find poor and often quite irritating, excluding classics like R-Type, Menace, and a few others.

Today, I'm a chip guy, but that doesn't mean I'm completely against MODs. I just prefer chip. I see videos on YouTube and read people's comments of how they wished a particular ST game sounded more like the Amiga. I get that but, imagine IF our computer did sound the same. Would that be a good thing? I don't think so. The ST is its own entity with the ability to sound its own way using gorgeous chip music. If the ST had the same music capabilities as the Amiga (in games) then why not just buy the Amiga and have done with it?

No other computer out there has to justify itself like the Atari ST and that ... annoys me! Think about it. In fact, this is why I started AtariCrypt because I was tired of the way we were ignored. I want the ST to be an ST and not pretend to be something else. The YM is part of what makes the ST an ST, and that's a good thing and shouldn't be thought of in a negative way. With that off my chest, here is a selection of excellent MOD players for the Atari STe...

Atari STe MOD / Tracker Players

BackTrack - I wasn't too sure about this at first but I cannot deny its playback quality and the selectable frequencies is a brilliant idea that will be useful on every model of Atari. The audio playback sounds great, especially at 50KHz - but you might need a Mega STe for that!! (v4.04 - released 1993 - by Wizzcat)

CD Player STE - This is like a CD player from the 90s. Just copy the MOD files into the same folder as the program and boot it up. Obviously not a GEM program but something that works really well and is very effective and with a fantastic interface. Cracking program - leave it running while you work! (released 1990 - by Light)

DBE Player - Another GEM program to punch out your favourite MODS. The quality is excellent and has a decent playlist feature but it's pretty demanding of the basic model STe (v2.0 - released 1999 - by Sector One)

The MusicPlayer - Ignoring its quirky GEM interface (which is odd) I thought this program produced good sound quality and even supports 50KHz / 8 channels! (v1.0 - released 1994 - by Christian Dahl)

Sirius Player - This is another that refuses to use GEM and replaces that with its own beautiful UI and what a gorgeous player it is!! The sound quality is Grade A with support for 50KHz thus proving a normal 8MHz STe can handle outside of GEM. Also, 8-channel MODS can be played using features like presets /etc/etc. Don't forget to press the HELP key for all of the options. This is my favourite program of the lot because its playback quality is literally mind-boggling!! (v2.0 - released 2001 - by TSCC 2001)

Paula - A great program that makes you wish you'd have bought a Mega STe for that extra grunt! This is yet another example of the sound quality an Atari STe can produce - and in GEM too. My thanks to Pavel Puchala for alerting me to the freeware release! (v2.6 - released 1999 - by Pascal Fellerich)

JAM - A true jack of all trades that works either in GEM or using its own frontend GUI. It features a neat plugin architecture so lots of different file types are supported - not just MODs but various chiptunes. This is absolutely fascinating and JAM always produces excellent sounds! (v1.0 - released 2000 - by Cream)

The CryptO'pinion?

This page proves nothing. Well, except that the Atari STe can easily handle those Amiga MODs with quality playback, no matter what program you decide to use. They're all great. It just depends on your own needs: if you need a GEM player then any of the above is a good choice to install onto your hard drive/ultrasatan.

Yes, they are all great in their own way but I really loved how CD Player can be stacked up and left to play while you're doing something else. Also, JAM is great and can handle a wide variety of different formats too. Ultimately, I think Sirius is best (for me) with its astounding 50Khz playback, so I tend to prefer this above all others.

Atari Mega STe

I recently asked Peter Putnik, from over on 8BitChip, if there was a program that allowed the Mega STe to flip between 8 and 16MHz - but without having XControl preloaded. He said yes, and a couple days later he had created it!! What a great Atari community we have - my sincere gratitude to Peter. Thank you mate!!

The download link is available via the AtariAge forums.

Ugly medium resolution?

Tippy typey

Like anything in this life, nothing is perfect. Shockingly this also applies to our Atari ST which has one characteristic I have never really cared for: its obscure, ugly, stretched medium resolution. Well, since my colour monitor decided to blow up, I have been happily zipping along in monochrome which would explain the recent run of high-resolution articles. All were written using the classic, 1st Word Plus. (Go on, you can call me a geek if you want!)

Okay, it's hardly a modern word processor bursting with features but it does the job perfectly well. Sure, I can't wait to get my new colour monitor bought as I'm missing games in glorious 16-bit technicolour. However, I have definitely fallen in love with this crisp black and white display which has met each and every requirement lately.

Who needs an expensive modern computer? Obviously not me!! But, I am mad... :^)

Diamond Edge

I loved Hi-Soft!!

Isn't Diamond Edge a brilliant program? One of its features is 'Test Disk' which scans for various types of potential problems and, only the other day, this saved my bacon because Drive C (a 32MB partition) suddenly reported itself as 22MB. Why I do not know, but Diamond Edge came to the rescue and fixed several serious errors!!

I have also found it particularly useful to optimise (defrag) the partitions in order to better stream audio for (storage) demanding games (Cannon Fodder / Xenon II) or other programs like ST Video Player. I try and defrag the drives on a monthly basis. Don't even get me started with Undelete, another superb part of the Diamond Edge suit.

Diamond Edge is one of the most fundamental utilities for all Atari computers equipped with a hard drive. Anodyne has Diamond Edge freely available to download along with the manual too. Which is simply excellent.

SysInfo

Needing tech support?

SysInfo is an incredibly useful utility that can display a whole raft of details about your Atari ST. It has recently helped me diagnose a problem with my Mega STe's audio but it can diagnose everything from TOS/GEM details to the more technical aspects like the Cookie Jar, VBL, traps & other mind-boggling jargon. Really helpful and perfect for geeks!

Download SysInfo from "Atari ST Essential software (The List)" which is a great website.

Universal Item Selector

Let's patch a bland part of GEM...

The excellent Universal Item Selector by Application & Design Software, released here in the UK by ST Club. The Atari ST has always been blessed with a small, but great, selection of replacement file selectors but UIS is the best of all. Only this weekend, I trudge through a folder containing over 100 tracker mods, deciding which ones to keep or delete. It was mad so I installed UIS which made the job 100x easier because of its integrated tools.

Click here to download this great program with its PDF manual available via Atari Document Archive.

SNDH Players

  

  

I love listening to SNDH chiptunes on my Atari STe but it recently occurred to me that many didn't realise which player to use. So, here are four fantastic Atari ST/e GEM programs to play your favourite toons...

JAM - Quite possibly the most well-known of all the players and deservedly so because it's brilliant with a modular design to handle a wide variety of file formats. It always sounds great but looks rather a plain jane. Thankfully, there is also a version which doesn't use GEM and is far nicer! (download)

SND Player - It might look ugly in the 4-colour medium resolution but I really like this program and it sounds just dandy. I found this to be a reliable player and it looks very nice in Low/High resolutions. (download)

GEMPlay - is a "Lite" version of YesCREW's Falcon player. Some features are removed because the ST/e has no DSP Processor but it plays SNDH tunes just dandy. Again, I recommend Low/High resolution! (download)

KrapSNDH - Such simplicity. It's perfect to be set up as an Application for the .snd file format within GEM so you can double-click any sound file for instant play. No fancy interface but it's a great player! (download)

YMT Play

Let's bleep and bloop the night away!

What better way to end a great Christmas than listening to cool chiptunes using YMT Play by Peter Jørgensen (aka Bionic Nerd). This program features YM music data streaming, like the typical ST-sound playback using a sound range from 50hz -> 300hz and with very little CPU usage. The quality is outstanding and I'm sure you will find its potential interesting and an exciting concept? Go and download YMT from Demozoo.

What is YMT?

"YMT files are like the YM/AY files. Music files where you sampled data from the sound chip register (YM2149/AY8910) in a certain interval, instead of having a dedicate player.

To my knowledge, there has only been YM/AY player that could play tune/score files, that was sampled at 50HZ, but the YMT player can play files up to 300hz (there are some 50hz+ tunes/scores include in the examples)

The advantaged of AY/YM/YMT format, is that to replay these tunes/scores cost very little CPU power. So, if you need a lot power for a eg. a 3D demo, then it could be a wise choice to use it, because it leaves most of the CPU power for 3D calculations and the graphic etc.

The disadvantaged is that it uses a lot of memory, and it is nearly impossible to make a routine that can capture and use the SID sound and Samples etc. It is also why those files need to be hand made, that is the reason why YMT-Player only support pure YM2149 sound."

Trans D-Bug Express

Save our floppy!

D-Bug's TDE is a program used to convert old floppies into MSA disk images. I know there are excellent apps already out like Jay MSA and Magic Shadow Archiver but TDE works at a technically lower level and therefore has more success with those crusty old floppies. In fact, even if TDE fails with a dead part of a disk, it still offers you the option to save a good image thus you're able to rescue the remainder. Such an excellent and essential utility!

Update October 2020

Version v1.05 is now out and with lots of changes: low RAM reqs, low-level FDC code, faster code, Drive B support and is compatible with all Atari computers. See the readme file within the download.

Bootsie

A boot sector program that's useful

Bootsie, a utility by Stefan Krey that writes a boot sector on a floppy to perform nifty system init functions. These are useful for Atari's with a hard drive or those fortunate to own a MSTE, TT or Falcon. By default, my Mega STe boots up in an 8MHz "compatibility mode" which is great for gaming but pretty lame for everything else. After all, the entire boot process from start to end will be a lot slower than it could be if it was running at 16MHz.

Enter Bootsie that can set the processor speed to steroid mode and it will also do lots more cool stuff, such as CPU caching, activate the Blitter chip, 60Hz display, and much more. What a fantastic utility that helps make a computer as zippy as is possible. Download it right now from Atari ST Essential Software List.

App appreciation day

There are some programs that don't get the credit nor respect that they deserve. The ones that we use regularly, that never let us down and get the job done perfectly. Yet, once their task is complete, they are TOSsed to one side without so much of a thank you. Do you know a downtrodden app? Then shame on you!

Sadly, so do I. It's called FastCopy (Pro) by Martin Backchat and is an iconic program for the Atari ST. In fact, you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone that didn't/doesn't use this funky little thing? I think every ST owner has a copy of this on their computer and, rightly so, because it has several distinct features and here are a few that I like:

   1) A brilliant backup tool.
   2) Essential formatting options.
   3) Actually, very smart formatting. Woo!!
   4) Nifty virus prevention.
   5) Can run either as a PRG or an ACC.

I personally format all my disks using this to make 'em all ready for the stuff that I've downloaded from off the internet. It never lets me down (touches wooden head). So, dear Fast Copy, I promise to start appreciating you more and I send my Mega-ST greetings to Mr Backschat for making such an awesome Atari ST program!

 Atari-Forum Wiki  |  Essential Software List

MaxYMiser

MaxYMiser is the premier tracker on the Atari for chipmusic and I have it running on my Atari STe right at this moment! Once loaded, you soon realise just how superbly well designed it is and it's obvious why our community loves it so. Give it a playtest - MaxYMiser is a babe and here is a series of tutorial videos!!