Atari 1050 mods?

From: Lawrence Walker <lwalker_at_mail.interlog.com>
Date: Sat Jan 30 21:03:49 1999

On 30 Jan 99 at 23:35, R. Stricklin (kjaeros) wrote:

>
> Hi there.
>
> I finally scored a piece of disk-based software for Atari 8-bits, so I
> decided today to test out my atari disk drives to see if any of them
> actually worked.
>
> One 1050 did.
>
> The other 1050 doesn't run the seek test when you turn it on, and is
> invisible to the computer. I removed the actual disk drive from the
> cabinet and verified that it does in fact work in the other 1050 chassis.
>
> While doing this I noticed that the non-working 1050 seemed to have had a
> modification done (rather sloppily, I might add; I suspect this has
> something to do with why it doesn't work properly).
>
> There is a hand-written silver sticker over what I'm assuming is an EPROM
> that reads, "Doubler". There is a second Motorola 6810 piggybacked onto
> the normal 6810, and a couple of jumper wires leading off into the PCB.
>
> What was this, and how was it done properly (so I can verify that it's
> ok)?
>
> I have a Percom branded full height disk with Atari SIO connects on that
> also seems to not work. I think this is because I need to decipher the
> 4-position DIP switch at the back panel. Any hints? As it is now, the
> access light repeatedly switches on and goes off again, each accompanied
> by a moderately loud click. The light is on for a second and then off for
> maybe two. It doesn't ever stop doing this, and the drive is invisble to
> the computer. The drive inside is full height, and made by Tandon I
> believe.
>
> ok
> r.

 From David Pattersons Atari 8-bit Hardware Upgrade FAQ

>
US Doubler

      The Atari 1050 drive was brain-damaged from the
very beginning. Rather than add a few dollars worth of
parts to make a true double-density drive, Atari invented
their own format, called "dual-density", which stored
130k on a disk. ICD produced the US Doubler, a hardware
add-on that gave the 1050 true double-density. As an
added bonus, it also included UltraSpeed, which made
"the normal beep-beep of Pokey sound like staccato
machine gun fire" according to one review. A variant
was produced which added 4 to the drive number,
permitting drives to be addressed as D5:-D8:.
>
 Likely the best place to get answers would be the comp.sys.atari.8bit
naewsgroup. It is very active and they're a helpful lot.

ciao larry
lwalker_at_interlog.com
Received on Sat Jan 30 1999 - 21:03:49 GMT