This is the step-by-step description of the fastest way to make a copy of an ATR file onto the real floppy disk
You will need:
- regular SIO2PC cable. Unless otherwise specified cables bought from me are 1chip with RI serial control
- DOS APE version
- two ATR files with Sparta DOSes: 3.2G and some other with working "scopy"
- one blank SSDD or DSDD 5.25 floppy diskette.
- of course you will need also the ATR you want to copy.
1). Configure your real drive to be #2. In case of 1050 the "drives elect" switch is in the back of the drive and for the drive to be identified as #2 it should look like that:
2). Connect your Atari, real floppy and your PC.
3). Run DOS APE on your PC. Do it either under pure DOS or under 9x series of Windows (tested up to Windows ME).
4). Configure APE according to your hardware. By pressing "Z" you should get to the configuration menu looking like that:
Pay particular attention to options "1", "2" and "5". They must agree with your hardware. If your PC has any unusual serial port setings then check out also options under "D".
5). Load ATR files into APE by pressing "L" and selecting appropriate files. The main APE screen should look more or less like that:
Now, it is important that you do not load anything in drive #2 as this number is taken by your real drive. It is also crucial to load the particular file shown as drive #1 as this version of SpartaDos is the one fully supporting highest transfer speeds (up to 3x standard). You can substitute it by the version distributed with APE. You must load also the ATR you want to copy into drive #4 (unless you want to copy one of the ATRs already mentioned and loaded - in which case you will obviously have to modify the command below accordingly).
6). Boot the Atari (turn it on with "Option" key pressed). On your Atari type the following (after the "D1:" command prompt):
D3:SCOPY D4: D2:
7). Followed by "Return" key. It should look like this (after pressing "Return"):
Now it is the time to insert blank (or overwritable) SSDD or DSDD 5.25" floppy into your real drive. After pressing "Return" the copy operation from drive #4 (virtual) to drive #2 (real) will begin. The diskette will be formated during the process so make sure you do not have anythig important on it.
8). After several rounds of reading and writing you should see a screen like that:
Now you have your ATR transferred to the real disk. Moreover you have seen the real performance potential of SIO2PC. Each cable I sell is checked this way so rest assured that if you got one from me then it is capable of doing this.
What can go wrong? Well, most likely the real floppy diskette. Do not use HD disks - they will not format correctly in Atari drive. Even DS disks may not format correctly depending on their status and the status of your drive. You surely know that, but it is probably worth mention here that you can use the second side of DSDD diskette by cutting the plastic envelope in the following way and turning the diskette upside down:
That way you may actually use some of otherwise permanently broken floppies. Or double the number of available ones.
One more note: the reverse procedure (making ATR file from the real diskette) will not work in this setup due to unregistered APE limitations. Do register your copy or use SIO2PC instead (but at lower speeds).
Happy copying!
