The Atari ST Quick FAQ Version 2.9a (TXT) - 1999-09-29 INGREDIENTS 1. General Information 1.1 What is this Atari ST thing ? 1.2 What kind of monitor can I use ? 1.3 How do I get it to boot up ? 1.4 Emulators 1.5 Will the Y2K bug affect my Atari ? 2. Software 2.1 Where can I get W@r3Z for my ST ? 2.2 Where can I get regular software? 2.3 What application software is available for Atari ? 2.4 Can I upgrade my operating system ? 3. Hardware 3.1 How can I upgrade memory in my Atari ? 3.2 How can I connect a hard disk drive to my ST ? 3.3 Floppy drives 3.4 Mouse and keyboard 3.5 What about printers ? 3.6 The Universal 4 Inch Drop Fix(tm) 3.7 Schematics and Connector Pinouts 4. Communication 4.1 How can I transfer files between an ST and another computer ? 4.2 How can I get on the Internet ? 4.3 Where are those nifty Atari Web pages ? WHAT'S THIS FAQ BUSINESS ALL ABOUT ? This 'Quick' FAQ was initially intended to be a small list of resources made to avoid comp.sys.atari.st newcomers asking the same questions over and over again. However, as the project progressed, and other members of the Atari community became involved, it simply became bigger and bigger. I doubt it really deserves to be called 'quick' any more, but hopefully it will still serve it's original purpose. Oh, and for the real net.newbies, 'FAQ' stands for 'Frequently Asked Questions'. ;-) (and that's a smiley!) If any of your questions do not find an answer in here, please direct them to the comp.sys.atari.st newsgroup instead of me. I'll be willing to answer them myself, but if I didn't put it in the FAQ, I probably don't know. Any comments regarding the FAQ itself however (corrections, additions, comments, requests or total contradictions) are absolutely welcome. I'll be quite happy to correct any omissions or errors or to add sections that might be necessary (as soon as I find the time). Topics that are not covered in this FAQ might also be found in the older, larger but apparently no longer maintained FAQs: ftp://ftp.sol.no/users/h/hallvart/atari/info/n_faq1.txt ftp://ftp.sol.no/users/h/hallvart/atari/info/n_faq2.txt ftp://ftp.sol.no/users/h/hallvart/atari/info/n_faq3.txt I would also like to point out that this page is deliberately not graphic intensive in order to allow the simplest HTML browsers to access it. It should come out fine with Lynx, CAB, Adamas and WenSuite, and maybe won't even crash Netscrape and Internet Exploder. If there is any problem with your particular browser, let me know. WHERE TO FIND THIS FAQ Well, it definitely looks like you've already found it. However there have been several distributions of this document, and not all of them are the latest up to date documents. To be sure to have the latest version of the Quick FAQ, please refer to: The Atari ST Quick FAQ (WWW version) http://quickfaq.atari.org The Atari ST Quick FAQ (anonymous FTP/text version) ftp://ftp.sol.no/users/h/hallvart/atari/info/quickfaq.txt The Atari ST Quick FAQ (downloadable ZIP file) ftp://ftp.atari.org/pub/quickfaq/quickfaq.zip DISCLAIMER JUST IN CASE... I cannot be held responsible of any data loss, hardware damage, warranty voids, or thermonuclear warfare resulting in the application of anything described here. Nobody else can be blamed for any misuse but yourself. Any action that is described here may only be done at your own risks and perils. Whatever happens, it's not my fault. CREDITS Helpful criticism, corrections and additions helping me to create this document came from: Richard Davey - rich@atari.org Tom Derrick - tom.derrick@acpu.com Eric Hays - elhays@ucdavis.edu Tom Hopper - tjh@ic.net John Kormylo - John.Kormylo@7861.conchbbs.com Ken Macdonald - macdonal@cfcsc.dnd.ca Ashley Seabrook - ashley.seabrook@zetnet.co.uk Martin-Eric Racine - q-funk@pp.fishpool.com Peter Rottengatter - perot@pallas.amp.uni-hannover.de Terry Ross - tross3@hamtel.tds.net Neil Roughley - roughley@unix.dsoe.com Hallvard Tangeraas - hall@post1.com Jo Vandeweghe - dipching@ping.be Many thanks to all of these people. If you have contributed and I forgot to list you here, please send me an email to remind me. Nicholas Bales - bales@online.fr 1 - GENERAL INFORMATION 1.1 What is this Atari ST thing? The Atari ST is a 16/32 bit Motorola 68000 based personal computer range launched in the mid 80's which has evolved over the years from the ST to the STF, STFM, Mega ST, STE, Mega STE, and into more modern computers like the TT030 or Falcon030. There are even some extremely powerful Atari-compatible clones around like the swiss 68060 based Hades or the german Milan, and clone projects like the french Phenix or the american Wizztronics machine. These computers run various flavours of an operating system called TOS (The Operating System), which includes GEM, a graphical user interface from Digital Research. More details on various machine specifications can be found here: http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/aseabrook/a_models.htm If you are interested in the fate of Atari, and the company's history, you might want to visit the following places: The Atari Exhibition (includes vapourware products and old ads) http://www.best.com/~hmk/atari.htm What is TOS ? http://www.dsoe.com/people/roughley/tos_main.htm The Atari Computer History site http://www.atari-history.com The Atari Library (presentation of almost all Atari products) http://www.netlink.co.uk/users/markn/16Bit/16bitcom.html Modern Atari clones can be found here: Medusa Systems (Hades/Medusa) http://www.stud.ee.ethz.ch/~caschwan/medusa.html Milan Gmbh http://www.milan-computer.com/ Centek (Phenix) http://www.centek.fr Wizztronics http://www.wizztronics.com/ 1.2 What kind of monitor can I use ? 1.2.1 Connecting to a TV Set STFMs and later models were equipped with an RF Modulator allowing them to be connected to a TV's antenna connector. You then need to tune into the correct channel on the TV to get the ST picture. In some countries, Atari shipped machines with a SCART/Peritel cable that plugs into the monitor port instead of the RF Modulator. In this case you need the adequate cable and a SCART/Peritel equipped TV set. No tuning is required, and the RGB picture is better quality than RF. These cables might still be available from some Atari dealers, but it is also quite easy to home-build one, provided you know the pinouts (see section 3.7). Atari to SCART cable http://www.algonet.se/~guld1/hardware/atari-scart.html A TV will act exactly like an Atari Colour Monitor, and therefore will only display low or medium resolution modes. 1.2.2 Atari Monitors First of all, the Atari ST has 3 screen resolutions: 1 monochrome (Hi-res), and 2 in colour (Mid-res and Low-res) Monochrome (640x400) requires special Atari high resolution 72Hz monitors (SM models). These monitors have a very stable, although small, paper white display. SM monitors can only display monochrome mode. TTs and Falcons can do without the SM monitor and display ST high-res on a VGA monitor. ST Medium (640x200/4 colours) and ST Low (320x200/16 colours) need a colour monitor (SC series) or a TV. Note that a monochrome display can only show Hi-res, and a colour monitor (or TV) can only display Mid-res and Low-res. Most games require colour, and most application programs require Hi-res, so the choice of your monitor is important. If you want to display all ST screen resolutions with an ST/STF/STFM/STE you need both types of monitors or you can use a multisync monitor with a special adapter. A temporary solution for running monochrome programs on a colour monitor, can be to use a software Hi-res emulator such as Sebra (see section 2.2.3). These monitors cannot be connected to a TT, as this machine requires a VGA monitor. 1.2.3 VGA, SVGA or multisync monitors First of all, you need a monitor that supports RGB signals, and the following refresh rates : ST High ST Low/Medium Vertical refresh rate 72 Hz 50 or 60 Hz Horizontal refresh rate 31.5 Khz 15.75 Khz Note that a modern day standard VGA monitor can only handle the ST's monochrome frequencies. In this case, you need to connect the ST's mono out to the red, green and blue inputs of the monitor. Connect the H-sync and V-sync signals, and the ST's mono-detect pin to ground. Connecting a VGA monitor to an Atari ST http://columbia.digiweb.com/kiffer/ATW/ST-VGA.html For a multisync or any other RGB display that can handle the above display rates (including a SCART equipped TV set), you will need to build a simple adaptor that connects the red, green and blue outs, the H and V sync signals, and ground from the ST monitor output to the display unit's connector. Leave the mono-detect pin disconnected. Connector pinouts can be found in Section 3.7 of this FAQ. The proprietary connector used on the Atari can sometimes be difficult to find. A source in the UK is Maplin's. In Europe (at least Germany and France), you can try Conrad Electronics. In the USA, the best source for such parts is probably Best Electronics. Conrad Electronics http://www.conrad.de Best Electronics http://www.best-electronics-ca.com/ Instructions on building a multisync adaptor for the ST can be found here: ftp://ftp.sol.no/users/h/hallvart/atari/info/msync_ii.zip 1.2.4 Falcon Video The Falcon is equally happy with a VGA/SVGA/etc. monitor or an old ST/STE type monitor (though resolution will be limited to 640x400 interlaced on these). Whatever the display you choose, the Falcon requires an external video adapter, either for ST type monitors or for VGA screens. There are also third party adapters that can switch between the two displays. A text file about Multisync/VGA/ST-res adaptors for Falcon is here: ftp://nic.funet.fi/pub/atari/falcon/doc/falcadap.zip 1.3 How do I get it to boot up ? 1.3.1 Booting without a disk First of all, most Atari computers have TOS in ROM and therefore don't need a boot disk. If you do not have a correctly formatted double density disk to boot from, just wait a few minutes for the GEM desktop to come up on it's own, then format a blank double density disk using the menu option. Having a formatted disk in the drive dramatically shortens the bootup time. If the desktop screen doesn't come up after more than 5 minutes, either your ST is broken or you have an ST without TOS in ROM. Only some of the first pre-STF machines (the ones with no floppy drive) needed a special TOS boot disk without which they are more or less useless. If you happen to have one of these machines, you should seriously consider a TOS upgrade (see section 2.4). 1.3.2 Getting started without a manual If you have never used an ST and don't have a manual on hand, there is little you need to know to use the desktop. The GEM desktop is the where you will do all file operations and launch programs, here are the basics: Main file types: PRG and APP files are executable programs, using the GEM graphic environment. TOS are executable programs, that run under TOS (text mode). GTPs and TTPs are executable programs (Gem or Tos) needing parameters, added by the user when running from a command line, or asked by the program when running under GEM. ACC files are desk accessories. These go in the boot disk's root directory, and appear after boot in the Desk menu in order to be always accessible from the menu bar. In TOS, there is a limit of 6 desk accessories per boot. CPXs are Control Panel Extension modules, special desk accessories for use with XCONTROL.ACC RSCs are program resource files. These contain GEM objects (icons, dialog boxes, menus, icons...) used by the program. INF and SYS are system information files or program options or preferences. AUTO folder programs are PRG files that are placed in an AUTO folder in the disk's root directory. These programs will be launched at bootup. Some will remain resident. Not all PRGs can be used this way. ZIP, LZH, ARC, ZOO, MSA files are various compressed archive formats. You need special dearchivers to use these. You can find them on most FTP sites (see section 2.2.3). File operations: To open a file, a folder or a disk, or to launch a program, double click on the icon, or select it and go to File - Open in the menu bar. To copy a file, select it, and drag it onto a disk or folder icon, To delete a file, select it and drag it onto the trash icon (on the ST, trashed files are permanently deleted, unlike on a Mac or PC) To rename a file or to view it's properties, select it and then go to File - Information To format a blank disk, go to File - Format To save your desktop configuration, use the save desktop option in the Options menu. This will create a DESKTOP.INF or NEWDESK.INF file, depending on your TOS version. Like accessory programs, this file is read at boot time. Tips To make multiple selections, hold SHIFT down while selecting To refresh a disk window, press ESC Just play around with the options to find out what they do. Remember you cannot cause any damage to the OS as it is in ROM. Once you have got the hang of this, the rest is pretty straight forward. This is for all TOS versions. Newer versions of TOS have additional features. An explanation of the contents of the DESKTOP.INF and NEWDESK.INF files can be found here: http://ic.net/~tjh/computers/atari/desktips.html 1.3.3 Atari language disks Depending on the ST version you have, a language disk was supplied with some basic software, mainly: CONTROL.ACC or XCONTROL.ACC: Control panel desk accessory STBASIC or STLOGO: Programming languages (very buggy and not very useful) Omikron Basic: A quite good Basic language (commercial). VT-52 terminal emulator ACCessory Printer/modem configuration ACCessories or CPXs TOS boot disk (only with a few of the the very first Atari ST machines as it was installed in ROM later) Various TOS patches Very few of the programs supplied on these disks were of much use. If your system disks have been lost, it is no big deal. Better public domain or shareware equivalents can be found on most FTP servers (see section 2.2.3). Xcontrol can be found here: ftp://sunsite.doc.ic.ac.uk/packages/atari/umich/Utilities/Controlpanels/xcontrol.zip Software supplied with the Falcon included several commercial programs such as MultiTOS, Atari Works or SpeedoGDOS. These are not freely available. 1.3.4 How do I know what TOS version I have One way to find out which version of TOS you are running is to check out the latest copyright date in the Desk, Information box. 1985: TOS 1.00 (ST/STF) - original ROM version 1986: TOS 1.02 (Mega ST) - blitter support 1989: TOS 1.04 (STF/Mega ST) - coloured atari logo, better disk I/O, many bugfixes, faster. 1990: TOS 1.06 (STE) - STE hardware support 1991: TOS 1.62 (STE) - bugfixed version of above 1990: TOS 2.05 (Mega STE) - new desktop, customizable icons, HD disk support 1991: TOS 2.06 (Mega STE) - bugfixed version of above, support for future hardware. In addition to these, a Falcon will be running TOS 4.02 or 4.04 and a TT030 will have TOS 3.01, 3.05 or 3.06. The new Milan computer runs a licensed TOS 5.0. For any serious use, versions of TOS below 1.04 should be upgraded. See section 2.4. To obtain a full report on your hardware (RAM, TOS, disks, etc...), you should run a program such as Sysinfo. Sysinfo http://bales.free.fr/atari/files/sysinfo.zip 1.4 Emulators 1.4.1 How can I get Atari ST software to run on a PC,Mac or Unix box ? You need a program that will fool your computer into running Atari ST programs. This is called an emulator. There are plenty of them available on the Internet. Here are some good net resources for Atari emulator software: The Atari ST Emulation FAQ http://members.iglou.com/rsg0910/atstemu.faq.html PaCifiST ST emulator for PC http://pacifist.fatal-design.com WinSTon ST emulator for PC http://winston.atari.org TOSbox ST emulator for PC http://www.emuclassics.com/tosbox Gemulator ST emulator for PC http://www.emulators.com STemulator ST emulator for PC (in german) http://www.stemulator.de Gemulator ST emulator for PC http://www.emulators.com/ Emulation Net (Atari emulation on Macintosh) http://emulation.net/atarist/index.html NoSTalgia ST emulator for Macintosh http://users.skynet.be/sky39147/ STonX ST emulator for UNIX http://www.complang.tuwien.ac.at/nino/stonx.html STonX for DOS http://www.tsgbasel.ch/emucamp/stonx/ Application Systems Heidelberg (MagiCPC and MagiCMac) http://members.aol.com/ashinfo/ TOS2WIN ST emulator for PC http://www.aixit.com/ 1.4.2 Where can I get those TOS ROM images ? TOS is the ST's operating system. It was supplied on ROM chips with most Atari machines. Some emulators need an image of these ROMs in order to run. However, TOS is still copyrighted software and the distribution rights belong to Atari. Neither Atari nor JTS (the company who now owns Atari) has stated that any version of TOS can be freely distributed and used. Distributing it without a licence is therefore software piracy, which is illegal and enforced everywhere in the world. Solliciting pirated software is also illegal. Owners of a real ST can use a program called TOSDUMP.PRG to make a TOS image for their own use. This is considered legal as long as the image is not distributed and you own a legal copy of the program (ie: the ROMs). Illegal copies of TOS images can be found at the following location. Remember that using them is software piracy. See section 2.1. The Little Green Desktop http://lgd.fatal-design.com/ 1.4.3 What are .ST files and what can I do with them ? Emulators often have problems reading original ST floppy disks, mainly because of hardware issues on the emulating machine. A common workaround is to convert all the data contained on a disk (including special formatting, boot sectors, hidden tracks, etc...) into a disk image file. The most common format for this is the .ST file format from PaCifiST. The emulator then mounts the files as if they were real disks. Here are various utilities for converting disk image files into disks, and vice versa. ST2DISK (Atari) http://st2disk.atari.org/ Makedisk (DOS) http://www.fatal-design.com/makedisk/ Dust (Mac) http://users.skynet.be/sky39147/dust.sit.hqx Many .ST files that are on the net are actually pirate copies of games. Even if these games are no longer produced or sold as new, unauthorized distribution and use of copyrighted software is still illegal. See section 2.1. 1.5 Will the Y2K bug affect my Atari ? There is a lot of hype around the Year 2000 bug, much of which actually comes from people who are making profit out of PC users' ignorance. The problem mainly affects old mainframe-type programs where the programmers coded years in 2 digits (00-99) instead of using the correct 4 digit form (0000-9999). First of all, Atari ST, STF and STE computers do not have a real time clock (RTC) to begin with, so unless you set the time/date on every boot, they still figure they are somewhere in september 1986. On the other hand, other Atari computers with a built-in RTC were all designed to go way over 2000. Although the limit is not clearly defined, it appears to be somewhere after 2028. TOS also is also capable of tracking time at least up to this date. Basically, the hardware and system software DO NOT suffer from any millenium bug. As far as software goes, most programs do not even use any RTC or date functions. This will be true for games and 90 percent of your other software. What might suffer is any database program with some built in date tracking that does not comply with the system standard. Another identified problem is for aftermarket RTCs, like the Forget-me-clock, which will happily tick on to the next millenium, but for which the setting software will not work anymore. There is a web site specially dedicated to Atari and the Y2K issue. The Y2K/Atari page: http://www.whalley.demon.co.uk/atari/y2k.html 2 - SOFTWARE 2.1 Where can I get W@r3Z for the Atari ? Software piracy is an illegal activity. Participating and promoting it is considered an offense on most newsgroups, and comp.sys.atari.st readers certainly are opposed to it. The recent availability of some very good emulators (see section 1.4) has resulted in wide distribution of disk images of copyrighted software. This activity is also illegal. If you still wish to ask for pirated software, do so at your own risk, but be aware that you will receive flames and complaints to your domain administrator that might even lead you to lose your internet account, not to mention general discredit and maybe even more trouble. See also section 1.4.2 on TOS ROMs. 2.2 Where can I get regular software ? 2.2.1 Atari dealers There are not many of these left. There are several lists of the last survivors at the following locations: Hallvard Tangeraas' Atari ST Launchpad (most online dealers are there) http://launchpad.atari.org/atari_dealers.html Victor Bobier's Superman Desktop Theme Homepage http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Haven/8103/ Atari Dealers (mainly US) http://virtual-markets.net/vme/yac/yac_deal.html 2.2.2 FTP ? What's an FTP ? FTP stands for 'File Transfer Protocole'. It's a means of transferring files across the Internet. FTP servers are places where all sorts of files can be found. Some FTP servers maintain Atari software available to all users. To use FTP servers, you need an FTP client program or a web browser. Here is a little file that teaches you how to use command line FTP clients. Graphical clients or web browsers use the same principles, but are just easier to use : ftp://ftp.sol.no/users/h/hallvart/atari/info/ftp_info.txt 2.2.3 Ok, so where are the Atari FTP sites ? There are lots of freeware and shareware programs available for the Atari ST on FTP archive sites. There are also too many FTP sites that hold Atari software to mention here, so you should rather refer to the following lists that are regularly updated: Maintained lists of FTP sites : ftp://ftp.sol.no/users/h/hallvart/atari/info/ftplist.txt (ASCII) http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Bay/8745/atari_ftp.html (HTML) http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/aseabrook/a_ftp.htm Links to a few of the most notorious atari archives (some HTTP, some FTP) http://www.umich.edu/~archive/atari/ http://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/atari ftp://chapelie.rma.ac.be ftp://sunsite.doc.ic.ac.uk/pub/computing/systems/atari Not really FTP: The Ultimate TOS Software Index http://www.multimania.com/falkweb/UTSI/INDEX.HTM Do not forget that shareware (and sometimes freeware) means that you have to register the software if you use it regularly. Please do so as this is an encouragement for programmers to continue developing for the Atari platform. 2.3 What application software is available for Atari ? 2.3.1 Home Productivity Software There is no integrated "MS Office"-like package for Atari, except maybe the defunct Atari Works. The most popular commercial Word Processors are Papyrus, Protext, Sting, Le Redacteur. WordPerfect was also once available on the Atari platform. The latest supported office software is currently : Word processor : Papyrus, Protext, 1ST Word Spreadsheet : Texel, XXL Database : Twist 2.3.2 Graphics and DTP packages ? Ever since Atari launched the first laser printer under US$2000, DTP and graphics have been one of the platform's major strengths. Although some of these program will run on an 8Mhz ST, they are usually designed for more powerful machines. DTP : Calamus SL (Invers), ST Publisher Raytracing : Neon, POV Graphics : Positive Image, Photoline 2.3.3 Sequencers and Music Software Because the Atari has had built-in Midi ports since it's earliest days, it has been used in studios and on stages all over the world as a professional system. The star programs are: Sequencing : Dr.T's, Notator (Emagic), Logic (Emagic), Cubase (Steinberg) Direct To Disk : Logic Audio (Emagic), Cubase Audio (Steinberg), Devil Studio (Softjee) Sampling : Zero-X (Copson Data), Studio Son (Centek), Expand (Softjee) 2.3.4 Internet and Communication Software This topic is covered in Section 4.2 of this FAQ. 2.4 Can I upgrade my operating system ? The ST's operating system, TOS, is on ROM chips on most STs. Only the a few of the earlier machines had TOS 0.99 on disk. Upgrading your TOS means replacing the old ROMs with new ROM or EPROM chips. TOS 1.2 (1.02) came on 6 chips, TOS 1.4 (1.04) came on either 6 or 2 chips. All later versions came on 2 chips. TOS 2.06 is the latest version that can be used in an ST(e/f/fm). TOS 3.xx is for TTs and TOS 4.xx is for Falcons. These two are highly hardware dependent and cannot be used on other machines. Here is a quick list of the main TOS versions from Atari: ftp://ftp.cs.tu-berlin.de/pub/atari/Doc/tosguide.lzh Upgrading TOS from a 2 chip version to a newer 2 chip one is quite simple, provided you change two jumpers on the motherboard (W102 and W104). The instructions on how to do this can be found here : http://bales.free.fr/atari/files/text/tos_ste.txt For upgrading old 6 chip TOS machines to TOS 2.06, look here: ftp://sunsite.doc.ic.ac.uk/packages/atari/umich/Misc/tos206up.zoo Plans for a TOS 2.06 board can be found here: http://users.ticnet.com/newell/download.htm Otherwise there are a few TOS upgrade boards available as well as Double-TOS boards allowing you to switch from your older TOS to 2.06 with an extra switch. This is to bypass compatibility problems with older programs. There are also third party replacement operating systems such as MagiC and Geneva (TOS-like multitasking systems) or MiNT and Linux-68K (UNIX-like systems). ASH (MagiC) http://members.aol.com/ashinfo/ Gribnif Software (Geneva) http://www4.pair.com/gribnif/ MiNT, Linux, and Emulators http://sparemint.atari.org http://www.cet.com/~danbrown/lynx/a_mint1.htm http://www.esat.kuleuven.ac.be/~pcoene/index.html MiNTOS Distribution and Information Page http://www.earth.ox.ac.uk/~steve/mintos.html 3 - HARDWARE 3.1 How can I upgrade memory on my Atari ? 3.1.1 Expanding SIMM equipped models If your ST is equipped with SIMM memory, you can easily upgrade your memory to 1, 2 or 4Mb by just taking out the old SIMMs and popping in the new ones. The correct memory type is 30 pin SIMMs, with or without parity, capacity being either 256Kb or 1Mb. The minimum speed of 256Kb SIMMs is 150ns and 120ns for 1Mb SIMMs. It is best not to mix different SIMM types. They must be installed by pairs in slots 1 and 3, then 2 and 4 (from back to front). Atari STEs are originally equipped with either 2 (520STE) or 4 (1040STE) 256Kb SIMMs that can be replaced by 2 or 4 x 1Mb SIMMs. Because of a bug in TOS, STEs will not recognize a 2.5Mb configuration (2x256Kb + 2x1Mb) without a small bootup program like silkboot2e or simmfix. These can be found on most FTP sites (see section 2.2.3), but are quite unreliable. 3.1.2 Expanding DRAM equipped models On DRAM memory models, the memory chips are soldered directly to the computer's motherboard. This makes memory expansion a lot more tricky. A way to avoid the soldering and memory limitations is to use a special memory expansion board that replaces the original memory banks with standard SIMM sockets. There are several such solutions available like the Marpet Xtra Ram board or the Aixit 10Mb expansion board. Look for Atari related companies on the Atari web pages (see section 4.3). DIY conversions require serious soldering skills, and are not for the faint hearted. Descriptions of such modifications can be found below: In german (but with some nifty diagrams) ftp://ftp.cs.tu-berlin.de/pub/atari/Doc/simm.lzh ftp://ftp.uni-regensburg.de/pub/freeware/software/atari/docs/hardware/tt-img.zip In english ftp://ftp.cs.tu-berlin.de/pub/atari/Doc/ramupgra.lzh http://users.ticnet.com/newell/download.htm 3.1.3 "4Mb, the Final Frontier" On ST, STF and STE computers, the MMU (Memory Management Unit) has a hardware limit of 4Mb. However recent developments have seen third party expansion boards that allow going beyond this limit. The Magnum-ST board from Woller+Link in Germany allows up to 16Mb on a plain ST/STF (not STE). TOS versions below 2.06 will not deal with more than 4Mb, so either a TOS upgrade or MagiC (see section 2.5) is necessary. Woller + Link http://www.inx.de/w+l/atari.htm 3.1.4 Those Falcon boards The step forward from DRAM to SIMMs on the STE series became a step back to a proprietary memory board system on the Falcon. The falcon was pre- equipped with 3 memory board models: 1, 4 or 14Mb. Upgrading a Falcon means scrapping the original memory and replacing it with either a new proprietary memory board or a third party SIMM board. There are many of these available and can sometimes be combined with a CPU accelerator board. 3.2 How can I connect a hard disk drive to my ST ? 3.2.1 ACSI Hard drives (Atari Megafile and SH series). ACSI is Atari's proprietary hard drive connector. It is similar to SCSI which was standardized later, but not directly compatible. ACSI drives were the Atari Megafile and SH series that ranged from 20 to 60Mb capacities. Supra, and maybe some other manufacturers also made some ACSI drives at one point, but these are quite rare. These are the only hard drives that are directly "plug'n'play" compatible with the Atari ACSI/DMA port on stock STs. Atari SH drives have the advantage of being made up of an ACSI to SCSI host adapter connected to an Adaptec 4000 SCSI to MFM adapter that is attached to the drive. It is therefore sometimes possible to adapt these drive to use SCSI drive mechanisms. This is not the case for Megafile drives. It is possible to expand Megafile drives by adding a second drive mechanism inside the case. Here are explanations on how to do this: http://www2.imperial.co.uk/home/ben/pc2st.htm 3.2.2 SCSI hard drives In order to use SCSI peripherals, and unless you have an internal Atari interface (Mega ST, Mega STe) you need a SCSI host adapter that connects the SCSI drive to the ACSI hard drive port on the Atari. There are several models available depending on whether or not you need parity, whether or not they are for external or internal drives. The 2 most common SCSI host adapters are ICD's The Link II and Link'97 from WB Systemtechnik. ICD (The Link II) http://www.icd.com/ WB Systemtechnik (Link'97) http://members.aol.com/wbsystem/in_e.html Don't forget also that there is not much room for a 3.5" hard drive inside an original ST case. You will need either to put the whole system into a PC type tower case, or to find an external housing and power supply for your hard drive. The largest drives the Mega STE internal SCSI interface supports are 1Gb. Anything beyond that will be wasted. This interface also does not support parity, therefore you should disable it by using the jumpers on the drive. A parity generator for any host adapter that does not natively support parity can be easily built by following the instructions below: http://atari.nvg.org/parity/parity_gen.html 3.2.3 IDE hard drives There are now at least 3 IDE host adapter boards available. The TUS IDEal board is for STE only, It plugs into the processor socket and requires 4 wires to be soldered to the board. It is mainly aimed at connecting 2.5" IDE drives internally, but 3.5" drives can be attached to it if the computer is tower-mounted. Mario Becroft's adapter is quite similar but is available for both STF or STE models and includes a TOS 2.06 upgrade, which is required if you plan on booting on the IDE drive. Instructions to build your own DIY interface also exist, but should only be performed by people with a solid knowledge in electronics, soldering and programming GAL chips. The Upgrade Shop http://www.tusdev.demon.co.uk/tusdev/ Mario Becroft's hardware http://planet.ak.planet.gen.nz/~mario/hardware/ DIY IDE Interface http://members.tripod.com/~piters/atari/astide.htm The Falcon has an internal IDE slot for internal 2.5" IDE drives. Some Falcon users have managed to fit a replacement 3.5" drive after cutting parts of the metallic shielding. Just a general note: You can partition IDE drives as much as you like, but do not format them. Some of them will not recover from a "low level" format. 3.2.4 ZIPs, CDROMs, Syquest drives, anything else non-SCSI Using a parallel ZIP drive on any Atari computer's parallel port is impossible because of the lack of several signals in Atari's implementation of the parallel port. You should use a SCSI ZIP drive. There is however a parallel port interface that plugs into the cartridge port of Atari computers, available from Woller+Link (Germany). Woller + Link http://www.inx.de/w+l/atari.htm Zip Drive FAQ ftp://ftp.uni-paderborn.de/atari/infos/zipdrive.faq SCSI versions of ZIPs and CD-ROMS are recommended, so that you can use a SCSI host adapter (as described in section 3.2.2). Be aware also that CD ROMS and ZIP drives use parity, so you must have a parity enabled SCSI adapter or perform the following modification to allow parity on a non-parity host adapter: http://www-atari.nvg.ntnu.no/parity/parity_gen.html MFM or RLL drives will need an MFM or RLL to SCSI interface, that you will then connect to the standard SCSI/ACSI host adapter (section 3.2.2) in turn connected to the ST. 3.2.5 Hard disk driver software In order to get TOS to recognize the drive, a HD driver package will be needed. Here are some of the more popular packages: AHDI is Atari's Hard Disk Driver and can be obtained free from any good FTP server (see section 2.2.3). However, it appears that it is not as capable and efficient as some 3rd party driver software. ICD Tools: provided with ICD host adapters (see section 3.2.2). Quite efficient and easy to install but has a few compatibility problems with advanced setups (alternative operating systems etc). HD Driver: Probably the best commercial driver available. It can be bundled with some host adapters, and it also includes support for removable media, such as ZIP or JAZ drives. CBHD: another freeware driver, probably not as good as the two commercial ones, but certainly better than AHDI. Only german docs are provided, so setup might be a bit tricky. AHDI 6.06 Utility Disk http://bales.free.fr/atari/files/ahdi6061.zip HDDriver http://acp5.chemie.uni-kl.de/seimet/hddriver_english.html It also seems that some drivers are more suited to one type of drive whereas they can have problems with other drives. A good idea might be to ask the newsgroups or the software vendor for any compatibility issues before buying. 3.3 Floppy Drives? 3.3.1 Replacing a floppy drive The disk drives used by Atari ST computers are industry standard 360K or 720K double-density floppy drives, exactly the same as those in PCs... at least in those days. PC drives can be used as replacement drives, only nowadays it is difficult to find 720K drives. You can however use just about any 1.44Mb HD drive as these will perform perfectly well in DD 720K mode. Nevertheless, you have to be aware of the following: You need to be able to change the ID number of the drive to 0 instead of the default 1 for PCs. Usually there is a jumper to do this, but it tends to disappear on modern drives, making this rather tricky. It now often involves connecting a solderpad on the drive's PCB. You need to connect the cable upside down on the drive. This can mean cutting a little plastic part that is designed to make this impossible. You need to set the Media Change Detect jumper, or else, under certain circumstances, your disks might end up scrambled. This jumper no longer exists on most modern drives, but you can work around the problem by using the Force Media Change program. Most modern HD drives can no longer read single sided 360K disks. Hallvard Tangeraas' instructions on how to use a Sony drive in an Atari. ftp://ftp.sol.no/users/h/hallvart/atari/info/sony_144.zip Force Media Change http://www.umich.edu/~archive/atari/Diskutils/fmc.arc http://bales.free.fr/atari/files/fmc.zip How to modify a Mitsumi drive for the Atari. http://bales.free.fr/atari/files/text/mitsumi.txt 3.3.2 Upgrading to a HD drive Using a high density drive in high density mode on an ST, is feasible, but requires a few hardware hacks, both on the ST and on the drive. Ready made HD kits are available at several places, and a few DIY text files describe (sometimes contradictory) modifications too on several FTP servers. ftp://ftp.tu-clausthal.de/pub/atari/docs/hardware/flop14st.lzh http://bales.free.fr/atari/files/text/hdfloppy.zip Hallvard Tangeraas' instructions on how to use a Sony drive in an Atari. ftp://ftp.sol.no/users/h/hallvart/atari/info/sony_144.zip Then there is the issue of the controller chip. The WD-1772 is not designed for handling the faster frequency needed to use HD mode, although some people have had one running for years with no problem so an 'Ajax' chip is highly recommended. Most STEs seem to have an Ajax chip fitted as standard. All the above modifications are also valid if you are planning on upgrading an external drive. You will still have to modify the drive mechanism, and you will still have to modify the ST's motherboard. Lots of information on the subject can be found at the following page too: The Atari Hardware Hack Page http://www.freeweb.org/computer/vezz/atari/hardware/index.htm 3.4 What about printers ? 3.4.1 What kinds of printers can I connect ? All Atari computers have a standard bidirectionnal printer port, which means that basically any printer that connects to a PC parallel port should work with an ST, with the same cable. A problem lies, however, with the recent appearance of cheap printers "Optimized for Windows 95". These units actually lack hardware, making them rely on require Windows95 to run. They will also not work with a Mac or Unix box, so be careful when you buy. Atari became famous in the DTP for offering the first cheap laser printers. This was done by using the computer's RAM instead of having built-in memory. The SLM laser printers therefore require at least 2Mb of RAM to run. They also attach to the ACSI/DMA port, which means that they cannot be connected to a Falcon. A Falcon/SLM adapter, called the Heatseaker, did exist but never got to the market. 3.4.2 Where do I get a driver for my printer ? The issue of printer drivers is mainly an application problem. The part of TOS originally devoted to printing and graphic output, called GDOS, was not included in ROM, therefore some applications bypassed it and developed their own printing routines. This sort of application will require it's own proper drivers to be written. Properly written programs will use the GDOS standard, allowing use of proportionnal fonts and standard drivers. To run GDOS on your computer, there are several solutions. FontGDOS is the latest freeware GDOS implementation from Atari, but is slow and handles only bitmap fonts. SpeedoGDOS and NVDI are both commercially available and fully maintained, and handle both bitmap and proportional fonts. NVDI is also a very efficient screen accelerator. Basically, if you plan on using a printer, you should consider obtaining NVDI. FontGDOS (also contains some drivers) http://bales.free.fr/atari/files/fontgdos.zip NVDI 5.0 - Systems Solutions page http://www.system-solutions.co.uk/cafe/nvdi5.htm The Deskjet Home Page - Printing support for Atari http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/wyvern/hp/hp_home.html 3.5 Mouse and Keyboard 3.5.1 Mice, mouse, meece The Atari mouse was quite poor, and very few remain in good working condition after the years. When it finally needs replacing, these mice are very hard to find. Try contacting an Atari dealer in your area, as most of them carry some sort of Atari compatible mouse. A PC serial mouse can be connected directly to the serial (modem) port. There are two drawbacks to this. Firstly, on a machine with only one serial port it prevents from connecting anything else (modem, extra midi ports...). Secondly, you will need to load a serial mouse driver such as Genmouse, which can be found on your favourite FTP sites (see section 2.2.3). The problem is that, being an auto folder program, it will obviously not run with autobooting programs such as games. Genmouse http://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/atari/Utilities/gmouse25.zip ftp://ftp.leo.org/pub/comp/os/atari/drivers/mouse25.lzh A PC mouse can be attached to the Atari mouse connector, but this needs a complicated adapter board, such as those described here: DIY PC to Atari mouse adapter http://members.aol.com/tgkirk/pcstmous.htm Mario Becroft's Atari/PC keyboard and mouse adapter http://planet.ak.planet.gen.nz/~mario/hardware/mouse.html Some Amiga mice have a little Amiga/ST switch allowing them to be used on an Atari, the only difference between the two being two swapped wires. Converting an Amiga mouse to an Atari mouse http://bales.free.fr/atari/files/text/amimouse.txt Although old PC Bus mice are now probably as difficult to get as ST mice, instructions on adapting one for use on an Atari can be found here: http://bales.free.fr/atari/files/text/pc_mouse.txt If all else fails, you can always use the Alt + Arrow keys trick (Alt + Shift + Arrow keys for pixel scale movement, Alt+Clr/Home for left click, and Alt+Insert for right click) as a lifesaver, but that's hardly a practical solution in the long run. Erratic mouse behaviour is sometimes caused by a faulty connector. The mouse port connections under the keyboard, are subject to stress when there is continuous plugging and unplugging of the mouse (to connect a joystick for example). A remedy for this is to take apart the ST and touch the solder joints that connect the mouse connector to the keyboard PCB with a soldering iron, just to restablish a good contact by slightly melting the solder. 3.5.2 Keys to the keyboard One of the weak points of the Atari ST is the keyboard. First of all, the standard ST/STF/STE/Falcon has a very "squishy" touch. There are solutions to this, such as the famous "TT keys" rubber cups that you are supposed to put under each key to give it a more pleasant feel. The Mega ST,Mega STE and TT keyboards were much more professional and can be easily adapted to the other machines. For this, but also because the best way to repair a broken keyboard is to just replace it, you might want to follow the instructions below. Connect a Mega ST/STe/TT keyboard to the ST/STe/Falcon http://bales.free.fr/atari/files/megabrd2.zip It is also possible to attach a PC keyboard to the Atari, in case you want to adapt it to a tower case. There are several such adapters around, like Mario Becroft's one Mario Becroft's Atari/PC keyboard and mouse adapter http://planet.ak.planet.gen.nz/~mario/hardware/mouse.html 3.6 The Universal 4 Inch Drop Fix(tm). A common problem on Atari ST computers is socketed chip connections coming loose. The symptoms are erratic behaviour, sudden resets, unexpected bombs, blank screen (white), disk errors, etc... This is the result of the PCB aging, heating, dilating, warping, slowly easing the chips out of there sockets. A common, and quick fix to this is the famous 4 inch drop, and it goes like this: Switch off the machine, Lift it horizontally about 4 inches (10 cm) above the desktop, Drop it. As silly as it may sound, this sometimes works, reseating the chips and solving the problem. The result is not 100% guaranteed however. If the problem still occurs you probably have a more serious problem. Of course, another (more professional) option is to take apart the machine and reseat all the chips by hand. 3.7 Schematics and Connector Pinouts. When your computer breaks and there is no Atari Service Center in your neighbourhood to repair it for you, you'll want to see if you can do it yourself, or get someone else to fix it. Chances are that you will need some schematics of the machine. You can find most of these at the following addresses: Schematics Mania http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/quadra/455/ The Atari Hardware Hack Page http://www.freeweb.org/computer/vezz/atari/hardware/index.htm Atari ST Internals http://www.netkonect.net/tachyon/A3/articles/stinternals/STINTERN.HTM http://bales.free.fr/atari/files/text/stintern.zip Schematics of one of the many power supply units that shipped with the ST machines can be found here: ftp://ftp.leo.org/pub/comp/os/atari/hardware/netzteil.zip Many people ask for information about the Atari proprietary port pinouts. These can be found in the computer manual, but if you don't have one around, this page has pinout information for just about any connector in the electronics industry, including all the Atari ports, standard VGA connectors and SCART/Peritel sockets. http://margo.student.utwente.nl/stefan/hwb/menu_Connector.html Full plans of an ST monitor port to VGA monitor adapter can be downloaded from here: http://bales.free.fr/atari/files/st2vga.txt http://bales.free.fr/atari/files/atari2vga.txt 4 - COMMUNICATION 4.1 How can I transfer files between an ST and another computer ? 4.1.1 Exchanging TOS and MS-DOS disks Disk exchange between MS-DOS and TOS is absolutely possible, if you follow these rules: TOS versions from 1.04 onwards are 100% compatible with MS-DOS. If using TOS 1.02 or earlier, you must either format the disk on a PC, use preformatted PC disks, or use a DOS compatible formatter on the ST. Choose a PC format compatible with the Atari drive, ie: 720K for double sided drives and 1.44M for HD drives. The internal drives of some older 520STF and SF354 units were limited to single-sided 360K disks that modern PCs can no longer read or write. In this case, a drive mechanism swap (see section 3.3) is highly suggested. Windows 95 uses long filenames that can sometimes corrupt TOS disks, so be sure to use the good old 8+3 filename format. The same goes for directories, avoid them at all costs. Do not use HD disks formatted in DD mode (ie: with sticky tape over the HD hole). This sometimes works momentarily, but is very unreliable, as the magnetic coating of HD disks is not the same as with DD disks. As a summary, it is usually best to format a DD 720K floppy on the PC before using it to transfer files. The following is an MS-DOS program that allows conversion of old ST disks to make them readable by a PC. Do NOT use it with executable boot sector disks (ie: games) and if possible, only use it on a copy of the disk. This program messes around with the disk's boot sector, and if anything goes wrong, chances are your data will be lost. ST2DOS.EXE ftp://sunsite.doc.ic.ac.uk/packages/atari/umich/Misc/st2dos10.zip If all else fails, another solution can be to make a disk image file from the disk, and use an emulator to transfer the files over to the PC. See section 1.5 for more details on Atari ST emulation. 4.1.2 Exchanging TOS and Macintosh disks TOS is not compatible with the Mac's HFS disk format, but MacOS versions from 7.5 onwards are supplied with PC Exchange, that allows reading and writing of MS-DOS disks, which are compatible with TOS (See section 4.1.1). PC Exchange is also sold separately by Apple dealers. An old ST program called DCFormat can reportedly format HFS and MFS disks. DCFormat http://www.umich.edu/~archive/atari/Dc/dcfmt30.arc 4.1.3 Serial/parallel port file transfer Another way of exchanging files between ST and PC is to connect the two computers through serial or parallel links. Here is a quick review of several PC to ST connection packages. The following suggestions are file transfer solutions, not real network setups. Please check section 4.1.4 for networking information. Ghostlink uses a serial null-modem cable. The PC drives are mounted on the Atari desktop, just like ST drives, but it suffers several limitations, of which speed of transfer, the need to run it under DOS (not a DOS session under Win95) on the PC, and it's inability to launch programs from the remote drive. Ghostlink ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/atari/telecomm/ghostlnk.zip The following packages all require a special parallel cable to be built (or bought), but are much faster. They also use their own file transfer programs. PARCP http://www.stehlik.cyberstrider.org/parcp/ ParaLink 2000 http://www3.mistral.co.uk/thomas/ HDD Daemon http://risc.upol.cz/~cieluch/atari.html Zmodem is a standard for terminal connections. Zmodem compatible terminal programs can be found on practically any platform, including Atari, Mac PC, Unix, etc... Zmodem requires a serial null-modem cable, but as above, serial connections are quite slow. 4.1.4 LAN Networking If you plan on integrating your Atari into a real heterogeneous network with other computers, then you will probably have to setup some kind of Local Area Network. Beware, as this is not for the faint-hearted. Issues related to LAN networks and Ethernet are best dealt with on the following web page. The Atari Network Connectivity page http://gallery.uunet.be/saka If all you need is to connect several Atari computers together, then STinG can do this, either through the serial port or over a MIDI network. STiNG http://www.stud.uni-hannover.de/~perot/index-e.html The other networking solution is MiNTnet, and extension to MiNT, which offers unix-like connectivity to the Atari platform. Here are some instructions for setting up a serial NFS connection with a PC. Setting up a PC <->Atari NFS link http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/jacquesa/atari/stpc-nfs.html http://www2.imperial.co.uk/home/ben/pc2st.htm 4.1.5 MIDI file transfer MIDI is one of the main activities on Atari computers. The issue of transferring MIDI files, other than through the means described above, can be solved by recording the MIDI data directly with MIDI cables. Connect the Atari MIDI OUT cable to the other computer's MIDI IN with usual MIDI cables. Fire up sequencer programs on both machines. Load the MIDI file into the Atari sequencer. Set the PC sequencer sync to the external MIDI source. Hit record. Hit play on the Atari. 4.1.6 File conversion issues Just because a file has been transferred does not make it readable by the software. Here are some file types that come up often. Midi: Midifiles are platform independant, so there should be no problem transferring them to or from any midi capable computer. Text: The shareware word processor Marcel can read and write 1stWord, 1stWord Plus, WordPerfect, WordWriter, STWriter and the universal RTF format. TWP28 can translate between WordPlus ThatsWrite and WordPerfect. In other cases it is probably easier to export/import plain ASCII text. Pictures: You can use Gemview to convert just about any graphic format to GIF or JPG formats. Paint Shop Pro on the PC can read IMG and GEM files. Sound: FiveToFive (525) can convert many sample formats, including .WAV and .AIF. All of these programs are shareware and can be found on your favorite ST archive (section 2.2.3). If you no longer have an ST to run these conversion programs, you might try using an ST emulator (section 1.4). 4.2 How can I get on the Internet ? 4.2.1 What do I need to connect ? The ST can be used to send and receive email, read usenet newsgroups, download from FTP archives, and surf the web, chat on IRC, basically all you'll want to do on the Internet. For this you need : a modem : note that machines up to STE included are limited to 19200bps, unless modified. a subscription to an Internet access provider, who must provide SLIP or (preferably) PPP, a TCP/IP layer : STiK (SLIP only) or STinG, or MiNT with MiNTnet, or CAB 2.x (PPP but commercial) or WENsuite (commercial) or Draconis (beta), ( a Web browser : CAB 1.5 (freeware), Draconis, CAB 2.x or WENsuite (all commercial) or Chimaera and Lynx under MiNTnet. a News/Mail reader : Newsie, Okami or Oasis There is a whole lot of information resources on the subject. A good start might be to check out the following pages, although some of these are outdated : Mille Babic's home page http://hem1.passagen.se/atari/ The STiK support page http://www.flinny.demon.co.uk/ The Atari Internet guide http://zippy.spods.dcs.kcl.ac.uk/~garfield/aig/aig.htm L'Atari Branché (french) http://www.cedep.net/~gstamant/atari/atanet_f.htm The Draconis Web package http://dc2.uni-bielefeld.de/atari/edracon.htm Connecting to the Internet with STinG http://www.acay.com.au/~stevebj/sting.txt 4.2.2 How do I connect ? This section is intended to be a quick step by step introduction on how to connect to the Net. I will by no means be covering everything, just the quick method to get the most widespread Internet package running. Please note that this method applies to a clean "normal" setup, with a "normal" commercial ISP. Things might be different if you are connecting through a network, to a university or a "proprietary format" provider such as CompuServe or AOL. This method requires all the software below. Be sure to get THE LATEST packages from the following locations. Do not trust FTP sites or CD-ROMs for these packages, as internet software is in ongoing development. HSModem - Serial port driver replacement http://www.student.informatik.th-darmstadt.de/~aclauss/download_e.html Follow the docs to install HSModem. Always put the DRVIN.PRG first in your AUTO folder, then MFP.PRG or SCC.PRG depending on your setup. XControl - Atari's good old eXtended Control Panel ftp://sunsite.doc.ic.ac.uk/packages/atari/umich/Utilities/Controlpanels/xcontrol.zip If you haven't already got it, put the xcontrol.acc file in your root directory, and configure it to use the correct CPX folder. STiNG - TCP/IP connection and PPP Dialer software http://www.stud.uni-hannover.de/~perot/index-e.html Install STiNG as described in the docs. Put the CPXs in you usual CPX folder and STING.PRG and STING.INF in your AUTO folder. All the other stuff should go in a separate STING folder. You can remove the STX files that you don't need (MASQUE, LCLTLK, ETHER, CENTR, MIDI) and make sure the RESOLVE.STX is the last one to be loaded. Edit the STING.INF file to show the path of the STING folder and the DIAL.INF to show the dialer's folder. There is no need to mess around with the other config files. Reboot and run the DIALER.PRG. Enter all the necessary parameters in the Configuration section (DNS servers, login and password) and save. If your provider supports PAP, then forget the script part. Now you can try to connect: run the STING CPX, and set it to active, then run the dialer. If the dial-in process works, try a ping to 127.0.0.1 (yourself), then to your own DNS server. Next try a ping or a traceroute to some other server, such as www.yahoo.com. If successful, you are ready for the next step. CAB - HTML Browser (v1.5 is freeware, later versions are commercial). http://www.student.informatik.th-darmstadt.de/~aclauss/download_e.html Setup CAB as described in the docs. The package contains various language RSCs and docs, so you can set your own language. Test it with the test files that are included with the package. Setup a CACHE directory. CAB Overlay - Software interface for using CAB with STiNG http://www.netset.com/~baldrick/ovl.html CAB requires this overlay program to get online and to communicate with STiNG. Put the appropriate file in your CAB folder. You should now be able to go online and start web surfing. NEWSie - News/Email/FTP software http://www.primenet.com/~rojewski/newsie.html NEWSie is the most widespread mail and newsreader. Just install it as described in the docs, and fill in all the file pathnames and server names as required. Another step by step guide on connecting to the Net with STinG can be found here: http://users.ticnet.com/newell/download.htm Detailed instructions on how to connect 1Mb machines with no hard drive can be found here. Please note that this kind of setup is not the best way to access the net. http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Technology/NSACUG/faq/stfsting.txt 4.2.3 Ok, I'm online. What next ? Well, if you are really new to the Internet, here are some introductive sites to get you started. The Internet Help Desk http://w3.one.net/~alward/ The Netiquette Homepage http://www.albion.com/netiquette/index.html As far as newsgroups go, you can check out the comp.sys.atari.st and comp.sys.atari.st.tech groups for support on just about anything Atari-related. And for other Atari links, it is probably best to have a look at the following section (4.3) for a nice and quick web page list. 4.3 Where are those nifty Atari Web pages ? There are too many excellent web sites to list them all here, but there are people who maintain some very up to date pages with plenty of pointers, so here is a quick list of some of the most complete general purpose link pages for Atari related stuff: The Atari ST Launchpad http://launchpad.atari.org Elysium http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/aseabrook/a_index.htm The Atari Reference Desk http://personalpages.tds.net/~tross3/ard/atari001.htm Catfish Corner http://www.wingnet.net/~catfish/ Atari Internet Resource Guide http://hem2.passagen.se/patsa/atari/ Victor Bobier's Superman Desktop Theme Homepage http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Haven/8103/ The Atari Web Ring http://www.webring.org/cgi-bin/webring?ring=atari;list The Yolo Atari Club http://vme.net/dvm/yac/ Mario Becroft's Home Page http://planet.ak.planet.gen.nz/~mario/ K.Ellis' Home Page http://kellis.atari.org What is TOS ? http://www.dsoe.com/people/roughley/tos_main.htm Falcon Computer Resource http://www.tmisnet.com/~strads/hq/atari.html Atari Stacy and TT030 Homepage (Funkyware) http://hal.fishpool.com/~q-funk/TT030/ Atari ST Quick FAQ - v2.9a (TXT) - bales@online.fr