7.1) What versions of the Atari Operating System (OS) are there?

Subject: 7.1) What versions of the Atari Operating System (OS) are there?

Most of this section by permission from:
http://www.student.kun.nl/f.offenga/atari.htm or
http://members.chello.nl/taf.offenga/atari.htm

Atari 8-bit Operating Systems
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Version 3.3, 6/27/1999.
By Freddy Offenga (taf.offenga [at] chello.nl (replace " [at] " with "@")

400/800 10kB OS roms
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rev. TV Date CRC-32 Part Nr(s)
~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A NTSC (?) (?) (?)
A PAL (?) 0x72b3fed4 CO15199, CO15299, CO12399B
B NTSC (?) 0x0e86d61d CO12499B, CO14599B, 12399B
B PAL (?) (?) (?)

XL/XE 16kB OS roms
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rev. System Date CRC-32 Part Nr(s)
~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
10 1200XL 10/26/1982 0xc5c11546 CO60616A, CO60617A
11 1200XL 12/23/1982 (?) CO60616B, CO60617B
1 600XL 03/11/1983 0x643bcc98 CO62024
2 XL/XE 05/10/1983 0x1f9cd270 CO61598B
3 800XE 03/01/1985 0x29f133f7 C300717
4 XEGS 05/07/1987 0x1eaf4002 C101687

(?) This information is missing. If someone can supply this info,
please write me an e-mail.

NOTES:
The 400/800 O.S's consist of three ROMs (two 4kB and one 2kB).
The 1200XL contains two ROMs for the OS (8k each), XL/XE's use a single
16k ROM and the 16k XEGS OS is stored in a 32k ROM (together with 8k
BASIC and 8k for Missile Command).

Origins of ROM information
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
400/800 rev.A NTSC Could exist, since the PAL version exists and
rev.A is mentioned in the rev.B source code.
james adds (3/8/01):
Did exist! My parents bought me an Atari 400 w/ 410 back in 1981 for
entertainment when I was badly injured in a motorcycle accident. A
year or so later I paid good money ($40 USD or so?) to have the OS A
upgraded to OS B.
400/800 rev.A PAL All info found in two Atari 400's and Atari 800
ROM module CX801.P
400/800 rev.B NTSC Information from a ROM dump and the rev.B source
listing. The part numbers were listed in the
catalog from 'Best Electronics'. According to
'Mapping the Atari' rev.B ROMs have a 'B' at the
end of the part number, therefore I figure these
part numbers are from rev.B.
400/800 rev.B PAL Could exist, since the NTSC version exists and
there's some conditional PAL/NTSC assembly in
the rev.B source code
1200XL rev.10 PAL/NTSC All info found in an Atari 1200XL. The XL/XE
rev.2 source code refers to it as rev.10.
'Best Electronics' calls it rev.A.
1200XL rev.11 PAL/NTSC Refered to rev.11 by the XL/XE source code.
'Best Electronics' calls it rev.B.
XL/XE rev.1 All info found in an Atari 600XL
XL/XE rev.2 All info found in an Atari 800XL
XL/XE rev.3 All info found in an 800XE
XL/XE rev.4 All info found in an Atari XE Game System

O.S. Authors and dates
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The following info is from the Atari XL/XE rev.2 source code.

Revision A (400/800)
D.Crane / A.Miller / L.Kaplan / R.Whitehead

Revision B (400/800)
Fix several problems.
M.Mahar / R.S.Scheiman

Revision 10 (1200XL)
Support 1200XL, add new features.
H.Stewart / L.Winner / R.S.Scheiman /
Y.M.Chen / M.W.Colburn 10/26/82

Revision 11 (1200XL)
Fix several problems.
R.S.Scheiman 12/23/82

Revision 1 (600XL/800XL)
Support PBI and on-board BASIC.
R.S.Scheiman / R.K.Nordin / Y.M.Chen 03/11/83

Revision 2 (600XL/800XL)
Fix several problems.
R.S.Scheiman 05/10/83
Bring closer to coding standard (object unchanged)
R.K.Nordin 11/01/83

Vapour-ware
~~~~~~~~~~~
The following OS roms originate from rare Atari 8-bit systems.
Since I don't own any of these (unfortunately), I don't have much
information about these roms. Who can help me?

I've got two 16K rom dumps from the 1450XLD. Both ID's are rev.3.
The first dated 3/23/1984 comes from the 'Pooldisk Too' CD-ROM
(filename: 1540os3.v0) and the second dated 6/21/1984 was send to
me by Nir Dary (filename: os1450.128). Main differences between
these two are in the first 3K ($C000 - $CBFF).

The XL/XE OS rev.3B is from an Atari from Arabia. It's probably based
on rev.3. There are changes in the fonts (Arab characters) and several
patches in the code. More info at:
http://www.savetz.com/vintagecomputers/arabic65xe/

Rev. Found in Size CRC-32 Date
~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~
3 1450XLD 16kB 0x0d477aa1 3/23/1984
3 1450XLD 16kB 0xd425a9cf 6/21/1984
3B 65XE 16kB 0xf0a236d3 7/21/1984

References
~~~~~~~~~~
- The modified september Atari 400/800 computer operating system
listing, revision B, (c)1982 Atari.
- The Atari O.S. source code rev.2, (c)1984 Atari.
- Atari XL addendum Atari home computer system operating system
manual: supplement to Atari 400/800 technical reference notes.
- Best Electronics, catalog of Atari 8-bit parts.
- Mapping the Atari, revised edition, Ian Chadwick, Compute! books
publication, 1985.

Credits
~~~~~~~
Special thanks to Nir Dary for the rev.2 source code, rom dumps and
the 1200XL. It's in good hands.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More info on what is maybe either the 1985 or 1987 XL/XE OS versions listed
above. From ST*ZMAGAZINE #36, Sept. 1, 1989 (as reprinted in PSAN Nov 89):
by Mark Elliot, Innovative Concepts
The following changes have been incorporated in the 130XE computer.

The O.S. has minor changes like:
A) The MEMORY TEST (from SELF TESTS) tests the extra 64K now! (in 4 squares)
B) Also, the MEMORY TEST checks the first 48K over TWICE as fast as before!
C) The KEYBOARD TEST has the F1-F4 keys missing on top. (function keys),
although the code that interprets them is probably there (like XEGS).
D) Also, it types out "COPYRIGHT 1985 ATARI" at the keyboard test, when all
tests are done. (compared to COPYRIGHT 1983 ATARI, before)
E) And, the O.S. chip itself, is on a 27256 EPROM, but only half of it is
used! (comprared to the original, which was on a 16K x 8 ROM, 27128 comp.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

7.2) What is the ATASCII character set?

Subject: 7.2) What is the ATASCII character set?

ASCII is an acronym for the American Standard Code for Information
Interchange. Pronounced ask-ee, ASCII is a code for representing English
characters as numbers, with each letter assigned a number from 0 to 127. For
example, the ASCII code for uppercase M is 77. Most computers use ASCII codes
to represent text, which makes it possible to transfer data from one computer
to another.

The 8-bit Atari computers use a modified version of the ASCII character set
called Atari ASCII, or ATASCII.

David Moeser produced this nice translation table.
Piotr Fusik corrected the description of Atari character 5.

(see attached txt file)

7.3) What is Atari BASIC?

Subject: 7.3) What is Atari BASIC?

BASIC is an acronym for Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code.
Developed by John Kemeney and Thomas Kurtz in the mid 1960s at Dartmouth
College, BASIC is one of the earliest and simplest high-level programming
languages, incorporating components of FORTRAN and ALGOL.

In 1978 Atari contracted with Shepardson Microsystems, Inc (SMI) to create a
version of BASIC for their upcoming home computers. The following worked
together on the project, which resulted in Atari BASIC:

Paul Laughton (author of Apple DOS) - project leader, co-primary contributor
Kathleen O'Brien - co-primary contributor
Bill Wilkinson - floating point scheme design
Paul Krasno - implemented the math library routines following guidelines
supplied by Fred Ruckdeschel (author of the acclaimed text,
BASIC Scientific Subroutines)
Bob Shepardson - Modified IMP-16 Assembler to accept special syntax tables
Paul invented
Mike Peters - keypuncher/computer operator/junior programmer/troubleshooter

Three Revisions of Atari BASIC were produced: A, B, and C:
A - cartridge produced for use with the 400/800/1200XL
B - built-in to the 600XL/800XL, also produced on cartridge
C - built-in to the 800XL(late models)/65XE/130XE/800XE/XE Game System,
also produced on cartridge.

In order to find out what version you are running, at the READY prompt,
enter "? PEEK(43234)"

If the result is: You have Revision: Atari Part#:
162 A CO12402/CO14502
96 B CO60302A
234 C CO24947A

On versions A, B, and C, Greg Miller writes:
"Rev A had a number of bugs, not just the commonly described crash bug.
Rev B fixed most (maybe all, I don't remember) of these, but in the
process, they added a new bug. You see, the crashes were caused by a bu
g
in one of OSS's memory move routines. When the bug was fixed, the fix
mistakenly applied to a routine that actually worked in Rev A, causing t
he
new lockup problem.

Rev C differs in only a few bytes. AFAIK, the only change was to remove
the alteration made to the routine that was broken by Rev B.
Also concerning versions A, B and C, Russ Gilbert writes (3 Jul 2002):
"I've got an opinion on this, my opinion is wrong to 95% of Atari users.

B is a re-compile of A. C is a 12 byte patch to B.

I've used Atari BASIC for a millenium (?). B has less hangs and
ridiculous stuff like losing DIMs and stuff. C hangs like a lot. I must
admit I don't have very much experience with C as I go back to B after
using C for a short time.

I prefer B. I know its foibles. Just LIST, NEW, ENTER, SAVE every 5 or
6 SAVEs. Also, 0 REM will help with ENTERs that aren't working (put a
immediate 0 REM line before you ENTER.)"

7.4) What are Atari DOS 1, DOS 2.0S, DOS 3, DOS 2.5, and DOS XE?

Subject: 7.4) What are Atari DOS 1, DOS 2.0S, DOS 3, DOS 2.5, and DOS XE?

Here are short descriptions of the various Disk Operating Systems (DOS)
versions produced by Atari for use with their 8-bit computers.

The original Atari DOS shipped with all 810 disk drives from 1979-1981. It
consists of a single file, DOS.SYS, which is loaded into memory from disk on
startup.
At the top of the menu screen it reads:
DISK OPERATING SYSTEM 9/24/79
COPYRIGHT 1979 ATARI
Unless you are a collector, you probably have no reason to work with DOS 1.
Trivia: The "N. DEFINE DEVICE" menu option does not work.
The DOS 1 disk is labeled: Atari 810 Master Diskette (CX8101).

DOS II Version 2.0S was shipped with all 810 disk drives, and early 1050 disk
drives, from 1981-1983. It consists of two files:
- DOS.SYS is loaded into memory from disk on startup
- DUP.SYS, which contains the DOS menu, is loaded only when needed.
MEM.SAV can be employed to preserve the contents of memory to disk when
DUP.SYS is loaded, so that the data can be restored to memory when exiting
from the DOS menu. DOS 2.0S supports Atari's proprietary single-sided, single
density 90K 5.25" floppy disk format only. DOS 2.0S represents the lowest
common denominator of Atari DOS versions--you can be assured than any Atari
disk drive for the 8-bit Atari can work with disks formatted with DOS 2.0S.
DOS 2.0S can read disks written with DOS 1; the reverse is not the case. The
DOS 2.0S disk is labeled: Atari 810 Master Diskette II (CX8104).

DOS II Version 2.0D was shipped with the rare Atari 815 Dual Disk Drive.
Supports double-density disk drives; also supports single-density disk drives.
The DOS 2.0D disk is labeled: Atari 815 Master Diskette (CX8201).

DOS 3 shipped with 1050 disk drives from 1983-1985. It was created in part to
take advantage of the 1050's Dual-Density capability, by employing a single-
sided, enhanced-density 128K 5.25" floppy disk drive format. Atari called
this format "dual-density," but the Atari community quickly came to refer to
this format as "enhanced-density" to better differentiate it from widely
available 3rd-party truly double density disk drives and supporting versions
of DOS. DOS 3 uses a disk format incompatible with DOS 2.0S. It included a
utility to convert files from DOS 2.0S to DOS 3, but not back again. It used
disk space less efficiently than DOS 2.0S. For these reasons and others, DOS
3 was not widely accepted by the Atari community, and like DOS 1 is not
generally used except for curiosity's sake. The DOS 3 disk is labeled: Master
Diskette 3 (DX5052).

DOS II Version 2.5 shipped with 1050 disk drives and early XF551 disk drives
from 1985-1988. DOS 2.5 represented Atari's relenting to the masses,
returning to DOS 2.0S compatability. DOS 2.5 very closely resembles DOS 2.0S,
with just a few features added. It supports both DOS 2.0S single-density 90K
formats, as well as an enhanced density 128K format for use with the 1050 disk
drive. DOS 2.5 also includes a RAMdisk utility for use with the 128K 130XE
computer, a utility to convert files from DOS 3 disks back to DOS 2.5, and
other disk utilities. DOS 2.5 is just about as universal among Atari users as
DOS 2.0S.

DOS XE shipped with XF551 disk drives from 1988-1992. Like DOS 3, DOS XE
introduced a whole new format for Atari floppy disks; but unlike DOS 3, DOS XE
also preserved general compatability with DOS 2.0S/2.5. DOS XE supports the
full capabilities of the double-sided, double density 360K per 5.25" floppy
disk XF551 disk drive, including that drive's high-speed burst mode. DOS XE
also fully supports the 90K SS/SD capability of the 810 disk drive, the 128K
SS/ED capability of the 1050 disk drive, the 180K SS/DD capability of most
3rd-party disk drives for the Atari, and a RAMdisk for use with the 130XE.
Date-stamping of files is supported. DOS XE requires an XL or XE computer; it
is not compatable with the 400/800 computer models. Even though DOS XE was
critically well-received, and represented a substantial jump in capabilities
over DOS 2.5, its arrival came so late in the crouded realm of Atari and 3rd-
party DOS versions that it never achieved much acceptance among real users,
and is now relegated to the same status as DOS 1 and DOS 3 before it. Before
its release, DOS XE was widely known as "ADOS."

7.5) What are MyDOS, SpartaDOS, and other popular DOS versions?

Subject: 7.5) What are MyDOS, SpartaDOS, and other popular DOS versions?

Section includes contributions by Andreas Magenheimer (most DOS 2 clone
descriptions).

Atari DOS versions are very popular, but many 3rd-party DOS versions have also
been developed over the years. Of these, MyDOS and SpartaDOS seem to be the
most-used today.

7.6) How do I modify Atari DOS to support more than two drives?

Subject: 7.6) How do I modify Atari DOS to support more than two drives?

Russ Gilbert writes:

DOS 2 type DOSes default to two drives.
Boot DOS and BASIC.
? PEEK(1802)
if it is 3 then you only recognize two drives.
To get the 3rd drive, poke 1802,7. Then go to dup.sys (type DOS)
and write system files. Next time you boot that DOS, you'll recognize
3 drives.
If you want four drives, poke 1802,15.

7.7) Are there Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) for the Atari?

Subject: 7.7) Are there Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) for the Atari?

Contributors: Andreas Magenheimer, Mathy van Nisselroy, Kathleen Ferrante

- Diamond GOS version 1 (a cart and a PD demo-disk-version do exist),
version 2 (cart only), version 3 (cart only); plus some applications
(painter program, text program, etc.); Diamond GOS has been made
freeware by the author Alan Reeve;

- G.O.S., the Graphic operating system by Total Control systems; two different
versions are avaiable (I call them GOS 1 and GOS 2) and they are PD;

- G.O.E., the Graphic Operating Environment also by Total Control Systems
(this one merely works under Sparta DOS, not with Bewe-DOS and not at all with
DOS 2.x); so far I have found 3 different versions (GOE 1,2,3) with some
applications (graphic/painting program, etc.); PD;

- S.A.M., the Screen Aided Management (unfortunately it has the same name as
SAM, the software aided mouth) from PPP/Germany. It is avaiable in two
different versions: a) the type-in listing from Atari magazin and/or the Lazy
finger disks (which are PD!) or b) the commercial version 2.0 which has many
add-ons and can still be bought from Dean Garaghty/UK or
PD-World-Versand/Germany; This GUI merely works correct under DOS 2.5 and
Medium/dual density, however...

- BOSS-XL, the XL-Desktop from Mirko Sobe; written in Turbo-BASIC; freeware;
http://www.atarixle.de/

- BOSS-XE, the XE-Desktop from Mirko Sobe; written in Turbo-BASIC;freeware,
http://www.atarixle.de/

- BOSS-X the newest desktop version from Mirko Sobe, needs an 128k+ Computer
(128k or more memory), supports MyDOS up to 16MB and MyDOS subdirs...; still
written in Turbo-BASIC; many applications and drivers; freeware;
http://www.atarixle.de/

- XL-TOS a small and "cheap" GUI version from Atari magazin (i.e. a type-in
listing; the BASIC file, which consists of many data lines creates a short
object code file); unfortunately this GUI only looks good, it loads almost
nothing... PD;

- ST-TOS a small BASIC program, that looks like a GUI; it can merely load
BASIC files and do a few DOS commands, like lock, unlock, delete and such...
(PD)

- BASIC desktop, a GUI written in BASIC just as a sample, what can be done
with an 8-bit computer; this one loads BASIC and text files (maybe also ML
files); PD;

- DCS, the desktop construction set from Tom Hunt; there are 3 different
versions avaiable, a) for DOS 2.5, b) for MyDOS andc) for Sparta-DOS; I have
tested the Sparta DOS version, which worked with batchfiles and could easily
load some ML files, text files and BASIC files (which were already on the DCS
disk); it also works with high densities and/or hard disk partitions up to
16MB and supports subdirs of course; hmm, freeware or shareware ?!?

- ATOS - GUI by Tom Hunt/Closer To Home. http://cth.dtdns.net/atos/
1) Lets you use any demo or intro as a screen saver!!
2) Works with all Atari hardware, BB, MIO and Hard drives, SpartaDOS support
3) Lets you run files like full games and demos and then
return back to the desktop. It uses Overlays.

- Atari Desktop by ABC software (Poland), includes editors, converters,
file copiers, sector copy, tape+turbo tape copy, small games, CMC finder
and player and much much more; works with 64k RAM and keyboard input;
disk manuals only in polish language...

- Windows XL a Turbo-BASIC GUI with some nice add-ons, like calculator, editor
and other things. written in 1986-1988 by Joerg Forg.

- there are a lot more GUI programs, however many of them are written in BASIC
or Turbo BASIC and are very restricted; most of them merely look like a GUI
but need to much memory for everyday use. Thats why most users still prefer
those DOS or Gamedos (Gameloader, Multiloader, etc.) programs...

7.8) What should I know about modem device handlers?

Subject: 7.8) What should I know about modem device handlers?

In order to use a modem on the Atari, a modem software handler, or R: device
handler, must be loaded into memory.

There are several families of R: handlers, corresponding to the different ways
in which a modem may be attached to the Atari.

Except for family #7 below, these handlers are used in one of two ways.
Either they are (A) loaded into memory from DOS just before running the main
terminal application, or (B) the terminal program is appended to the handler,
so that in practice, a single file is loaded from DOS which contains both the
R: device handler and the application itself.

1) 835/1030/XM301 modems. Atari-only modems, interface via SIO

2) MPP/Supra modems. Atari-only modems, interface via joystick port

3) R-Verter cable. Connect standard Hayes-type modems via SIO
/ SX212 modem. A Hayes-compatible modem, interface via SIO

4) SWP ATR8000 interface. Standard Hayes-type RS232 modems via this interface.

Richard Anderson writes (Oct 2 02):
Mine originally came with a driver program; and, I believe, a BASIC program
to set up the driver from BASIC. Later they shipped with a special version
of MyDOS with the R: handler built in.

5) 850 Interface/P:R: Connection, internal

This type of "mini handler" simply loads the R: device handler code from a ROM
chip inside the RS232 serial interface. A long beep is heard through the
speaker when the handler is loaded into the computer's RAM.

Many varieties of DOS for the Atari include an explicit provision for loading
this type of R: handler into memory from the 850 or compatible interface.

Also, this type of R: handler is automatically loaded when any 8-bit Atari
computer is turned on with a P:R: Connection or powered 850 connected, but no
powered disk drive is present.

6) 850 Interface/P:R: Connection, external

Used with the 850/P:R: Connection in place of these interfaces' built-in
handlers.

7) MIO/Black Box interfaces, internal

These interfaces utilitize the PBI or ECI parallel ports on the Atari. They
include their own R: handlers in ROM, using no computer RAM at all.

8) MIO/Black Box interfaces, external: Len Spencer's Hyperspeed

This handler is "optional" for the Black Box, but "essential" for the MIO
in order to take full advantage of the high-speed hardware handshaking
capabilities of these two interfaces.

Hyperspd.arc is available at http://members.aol.com/lenspencer/atari8.htm