Hello folks,
here is a little Atari Ramdisk / extra RAM overview (still incomplete):
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Subject 8.10: Atari 800/XL/XE extra RAM / Ramdisk Overview:
(Version 3.3 from November 2004 by A.M.)
A) Atari 400/800 Ramdisks:
- Size: 64k XRAM (+ 32k RAM)
Banks: 0 thru 3 (total memory = 96k RAM)
Types: Axlon (=Atari) and compatibles;
- Size: 128k XRAM (+ 32k RAM)
Banks: 0 thru 7 (total memory = 160k RAM)
Types: Axlon (= Atari) and compatibles;
- Size: 256k XRAM (+ 32k RAM)
Banks: 0 thru 15 (total memory = 288k RAM)
Types: D. Byrd and other selfmade / Axlon-compatible RDs;
- Size: 512k XRAM (+ 32k RAM)
Banks: 0 thru 31 (total memory = 544k RAM)
Types: selfmade / Axlon-compatible Ramdisks;
- Size: 1024k XRAM (+ 32k RAM)
Banks: 0 thru 63 (total memory = 1056k RAM)
Types: selfmade / Axlon-compatible Ramdisks;
- Size: 2048k XRAM (+ 32k RAM)
Banks: 0 thru 127 (total memory = 2080k RAM)
Types: selfmade / Axlon-compatible Ramdisks;
- Size: 4096k XRAM (+32k RAM)
Banks: 0 thru 255 (total memory = 4128k RAM)
Types: selfmade / Axlon-compatible Ramdisks;
=> Note that all so-called Axlon "compatible" (256k-4096k) Ramdisks
normally do not homebank when RESET is pressed (a fix should be
available somewhere), whereas original Axlon Ramdisks do homebank
properly !! (Special thanks to Lee Barnes for this note !!)
B) XL/XE - 64k base RAM plus XRAM:
- Size: 64k (total = 128k RAM, 4 banks)
- Banks: E3, E7, EB, EF (block E = 1 block * 4 banks)
- Types: 130XE-Ramdisk, Turbo-Freezer-XL + 64k, selfmade-ramdisks...
- Size: 128k (total = 192k RAM, 8 banks)
- Banks: A3,A7,AB,AF,E3,E7,EB,EF
(blocks AE = 2 blocks * 4 banks)
- Types: Compyshop 600XL with 192k, Turbo-Freezer-XL + 128k,
selfmade-RDs...
- Size: 256k / 26AE (total = 320k RAM, 16 banks)
- Banks: 23,27,2B,2F,63,67,6B,6F,A3,A7,AB,AF,E3,E7,EB,EF
(blocks 26AE, = 4 blocks * 4 banks)
- Types: Compyshop 800XL RD., Compyshop 130XE RD.,
Peters/David Megaram 1, Peters/David Megaram 2,
Peters/David Megaram 3 with 256k, selfmade RDs...
- Size: 256k / 8ACE (total = 320k RAM, 16 banks)
- Banks: 83,87,8B,8F,A3,A7,AB,AF,C3,C7,CB,CF,E3,E7,EB,EF
(blocks 8ACE = 4 blocks * 4 banks)
- Types: Newell, Rambo-XL, Scott Peterson, Atari Magazin,
TOMS, selfmade-RDs...
- Size: 512k / 26AE (total = 576k RAM, 32 banks)
- Banks: 21,23,25,27,29,2B,2D,2F,61,63,65,67,69,6B,6D,6F,
A1,A3,A5,A7,A9,AB,AD,AF,E1,E3,E5,E7,E9,EB,ED,EF
(blocks 26AE = 4 blocks * 8 banks)
- Types: none (that I know of) at the moment - but possible!
- Size: 512k / 8ACE (total = 576k RAM, 32 banks)
- Banks: 81,83,85,87,89,8B,8D,8F,A1,A3,A5,A7,A9,AB,AD,AF,
C1,C3,C5,C7,C9,CB,CD,CF,E1,E3,E5,E7,E9,EB,ED,EF
(blocks 8ACE = 4 blocks * 8 banks)
- Types: Scott Peterson, TOMS, selfmade-RDs...
- Size: 512k / 02468ACE (total = 576k RAM, 32 banks)
- Banks: 03,07,0B,0F,23,27,2B,2F,43,47,4B,4F,63,67,6B,6F,
83,87,8B,8F,A3,A7,AB,AF,C3,C7,CB,CF,E3,E7,EB,EF;
(blocks 02468ACE = 8 blocks * 4 banks)
- Types: 1) upgrade / combination of 26AE and 8ACE ramdisk
types to 512k RAM or to *one* 02468ACE ramdisk;
idea by me, built by Bernhard Pahl (see his homepage
at http://www.b-pahl.de/atari8bit/ramdisk)
2) Upgrade of the Rambo XL to 512k by Dan Schmid
(see Pooldisk Too, Subdir ACE/ Acec202a.ATR and
Acec202b.ATR) and of course 3) selfmade ramdisks...
- Size: 1024k / 02468ACE (total = 1088k RAM, 64 banks)
- Banks: 01,03,05,07,09,0B,0D,0F,21,23,25,27,29,2B,2D,2F
41,43,45,47,49,4B,4D,4F,61,63,65,67,69,6B,6D,6F
81,83,85,87,89,8B,8D,8F,A1,A3,A5,A7,A9,AB,AD,AF
C1,C3,C5,C7,C9,CB,CD,CF,E1,E3,E5,E7,E9,EB,ED,EF
(blocks 02468ACE = 8 blocks * 8 banks)
- Types: Newell, Scott Peterson, TOMS, Satantronic`s 1MB-
PC-SIMM-RD, selfmade-RDs...
- Size: 1024k / 26AE (total = 1088k RAM, 64 banks)
- Banks: EF,EE,ED,EC,EB,EA,E9,E8,E7,E6,E5,E4,E3,E2,E1,E0
AF,AE,AD,AC,AB,AA,A9,A8,A7,A6,A5,A4,A3,A2,A1,A0
6F,6E,6D,6C,6B,6A,69,68,67,66,65,64,63,62,61,60
2F,2E,2D,2C,2B,2A,29,28,27,26,25,24,23,22,21,20
(blocks 26AE = 4 blocks * 16 banks)
- Types: Mathy van Nisselroy`s 1024k XEGS-PC-SIMM-Upgrade!
(with some changes probably also usable for XL and XE,
see also: http://www.mathy-van-nisselroy.nl)
- Size: 1024k / 8ACE (total = 1088k RAM, 64 banks)
- Banks: EF,EE,ED,EC,EB,EA,E9,E8,E7,E6,E5,E4,E3,E2,E1,E0
CF,CE,CD,CC,CB,CA,C9,C8,C7,C6,C5,C4,C3,C2,C1,C0
AF,AE,AD,AC,AB,AA,A9,A8,A7,A6,A5,A4,A3,A2,A1,A0
8F,8E,8D,8C,8B,8A,89,88,87,86,85,84,83,88,81,80
(blocks 8ACE = 4 blocks * 16 banks)
- Types: none (that I know of) at the moment - but possible!
- Size: 1024k / 0123456789ABCDE (total = 1088k RAM, 64 banks)
- Banks: blocks 0123456789ABCDE each with 4 banks
= 16 blocks * 4 banks (does not make much sense, but...)
- Types: luckily, none at the moment...
- Size: 1024k / ??? (max. memory = 1088k, 64 banks)
- Port-Bits / Control-Bits: $D301 = 2,3,6,7
$D600 = 0,1 (or switches);
- Banks: $D301: 23,27,2B,2F,63,67,6B,6F,A3,A7,AB,AF,E3,E7,EB,EF
$D600: F3,F7,FB,FF...
- Types: David/Peters Megaram 3 with 1024k RAM (and the switches
positioned to 1 x 1024k)
- Size: 2048k / 02468ACE (total = 2112k, 128 banks)
- Banks: 00,01,02,03,04,05,06,07,08,09,0A,0B,0C,0D,0E,0F
20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,2A,2B,2C,2D,2E,2F
40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,4A,4B,4C,4D,4E,4F
60,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,6A,6B,6C,6D,6E,6F
80,81,82,83,84,85,86,87,88,89,8A,8B,8C,8D,8E,8F
A0,A1,A2,A3,A4,A5,A6,A7,A8,A9,AA,AB,AC,AD,AE,AF
C0,C1,C2,C3,C4,C5,C6,C7,C8,C9,CA,CB,CC,CD,CE,CF
E0,E1,E2,E3,E4,E5,E6,E7,E8,E9,EA,EB,EC,ED,EE,EF
(blocks 02468ACE = 8 blocks * 16 banks)
- Types: selfmade-Ramdisks...
- Size: 2048k / 0123456789ABCDEF (total = 2112k, 128 banks)
- Banks: 01,03,05,07,09,0B,0D,0F,11,13,15,17,19,1B,1D,1F,
21,23,25,27,29,2B,2D,2F,31,33,35,37,39,3B,3D,3F,
41,43,45,47,49,4B,4D,4F,51,53,55,57,59,5B,5D,5F,
61,63,65,67,69,6B,6D,6F,71,73,75,77,79,7B,7D,7F,
81,83,85,87,89,8B,8D,8F,91,93,95,97,99,9B,9D,9F,
A1,A3,A5,A7,A9,AB,AD,AF,B1,B3,B5,B7,B9,BB,BD,BF,
C1,C3,C5,C7,C9,CB,CD,CF,D1,D3,D5,D7,D9,DB,DD,DF,
E1,E3,E5,E7,E9,EB,ED,EF,F1,F3,F5,F7,F9,FB,FD,FF;
(blocks 0123456789ABCDEF = 16 blocks * 8 banks)
- Types: selfmade-Ramdisks...
- Size: 4096k / 0123456789ABCDEF (total = 4160k, 256 banks)
- Banks: 00,01,02,03,04,05,06,07,08,09,0A,0B,0C,0D,0E,0F
10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,1A,1B,1C,1D,1E,1F
20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,2A,2B,2C,2D,2E,2F
30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,3A,3B,3C,3D,3E,3F
40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,4A,4B,4C,4D,4E,4F
50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59,5A,5B,5C,5D,5E,5F
60,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,6A,6B,6C,6D,6E,6F
70,71,72,73,74,75,76,77,78,79,7A,7B,7C,7D,7E,7F
80,81,82,83,84,85,86,87,88,89,8A,8B,8C,8D,8E,8F
90,91,92,93,94,95,96,97,98,99,9A,9B,9C,9D,9E,9F
A0,A1,A2,A3,A4,A5,A6,A7,A8,A9,AA,AB,AC,AD,AE,AF
B0,B1,B2,B3,B4,B5,B6,B7,B8,B9,BA,BB,BC,BD,BE,BF
C0,C1,C2,C3,C4,C5,C6,C7,C8,C9,CA,CB,CC,CD,CE,CF
D0,D1,D2,D3,D4,D5,D6,D7,D8,D9,DA,DB,DC,DD,DE,DF
E0,E1,E2,E3,E4,E5,E6,E7,E8,E9,EA,EB,EC,ED,EE,EF
F0,F1,F2,F3,F4,F5,F6,F7,F8,F9,FA,FB,FC,FD,FE,FF
(blocks 0123456789ABCDEF = 16 blocks * 16 banks)
- Types: Newell, FTE, selfmade-Ramdisks...
Well, I will not go into details with the disadvantages and
software-problems with ramdisks beyond 512k RAM (Selftest, XL/XE Basic,
RAM under the OS, separate Antic access, etc.). These problems mostly
occur with 1 Megabyte or bigger ramdisks and there are several hardware
and software solutions for them, alas not working correct with every
software or program. With 4 Megabyte extra RAM / Ramdisk, the PIA is
fully used/adressed, so that normally the base RAM at 4000-7FFF is not
available any longer. But again, there are tricks and solutions to solve
this problem. Installing a second PIA for example makes it possible to
adress up to 256 Megabytes of extra RAM / Ramdisk - but who needs so much
RAM on the Atari 8Bit computer ???
C) XL/XE - XRAM minus 64k Base-RAM:
- Size: 192k / 8AE (total = 256k RAM, usable = 12 banks)
- Banks: 83,87,8B,8F,A3,A7,AB,AF,E3,E7,EB,EF
(8AE = 3 blocks * 4 banks)
- Types: older Newell ramdisks (replace 64k by 256k);
- Size: 192k / ACE (total = 256k RAM, usable = 12 banks)
- Banks: A3,A7,AB,AF,C3,C7,CB,CF,E3,E7,EB,EF
(ACE = 3 blocks * 4 banks)
- Types: newer Newell RDs, newer Buchholz-RDs, Rambo-XL,
selfmade Ramdisks (replace 64k by 256k)...
- Size: 448k / 2468ACE (total = 512k, usable = 28 banks)
- Banks: EF,EB,E7,E3,CF,CB,C7,C3,AF,AB,A7,A3,8F,8B,87,83
6F,6B,67,63,4F,4B,47,43,2F,2B,27,23
(2468ACE = 7 blocks * 4 banks)
- Types: selfmade-RDs (replace 64k by 512k)...
- Size: 896k? / 0248ACE (total = 1024k, usable = 56 banks)
- Banks: EF,ED,EB,E9,E7,E5,E3,E1,CF,CD,CB,C9,C7,C5,C3,C1,
AF,AD,AB,A9,A7,A5,A3,A1,8F,8D,8B,89,87,85,83,81,
4F,4D,4B,49,47,45,43,41,2F,2D,2B,29,27,25,23,21,
0F,0D,0B,09,07,05,03,01 (0248ACE = 7 blocks * 8 banks)
- Types: Bob Woolley`s 1200XL 1MB Upgrade, selfmade-RDs
(replace 64k by 1024k)...
Allthough these RAM upgrades are relatively easy to build
(and to install into the computer), they make problems with
quite some software. Some programs tend to use the base RAM
as extra RAM / Ramdisk with these upgrades, which will most
often result in a crash of the computer. Next, most extra RAM
testers will show more extra RAM (or a bigger Ramdisk) than
there is really available (e.g. with a 256k upgrade you will
see 240k extra RAM, but there is only 64k base RAM + 192k
extra RAM). Alas, this is a typical hardware problem for these
upgrades and it cannot be solved or avoided with software...
D) XL/XE: Parallel-Bus-Devices:
(600XL/800XL = Parallel Bus, XE = Cart.-Port + ECI)
- Size: 128k / AE (total = 192k RAM, 8 banks)
- Banks: A3,A7,AB,AF,E3,E7,EB,EF (blocks AE = 2 blocks * 4 banks)
- Types: Turbo-Freezer-XL by Bernhard Engl with 128k XRAM
- Size: 256k / 9ABE (total = 320k RAM, 16 banks)
- Banks: 93,97,9B,9F,A3,A7,AB,AF,B3,B7,BB,BF,E3,E7,EB,EF
(blocks 9ABE = 4 blocks * 4 banks)
- Types: Turbo-Freezer-XL by Bernhard Engl with 256k XRAM
- Size: 256k / ??? (total = 320k RAM, 16 banks)
- Banks: unknown !!
- Types: Yorky-XL by Richard Gore / Derek Fern (from
GB/UK) with 256k XRAM
- Size: 256k / ??? (total = 320k RAM, 16 banks)
- Banks: unknown !!
- Types: Multi-Input-Output-Harddisk-Interface (MIO) with 256k
XRAM by ICD
- Size: 1024k / ??? (total = 1088k RAM, 64 banks)
- Banks: unknown !!
- Types: Multi-Input-Output-Harddisk-Interface (MIO) with 1024k
XRAM by ICD
E) XL/XE: RAM/Flash-ROM/... Cartridges:
- Rambox II with 256k RAM by JRC (Czech Republic; with special
Ramdisk drivers for TT-DOS and Bewe-DOS!)
- Ramcart 128k by ??? (Poland or Czech Republic)
- Ramcart 256k by ??? (Poland or Czech Republic)
(for some hints and pics see: www2.asw.cz/~kubecj/acarts.htm)
- Flash-ROM cart. 512k by Stefan Dorndorf (Never released! But I do own
a non-functional prototype-pcb; it should have used 64k for the OS
and the remaining 448k as user-memory; the chip was organized in 64k
blocks, thus the min. program space would always have been 64kbytes!)
- Flash-ROM cart 128k / 1Mbit "Atarimax" by Stephen Tucker
(allthough they are not usable as extra RAM / Ramdisk at the moment,
I am quite sure that it is possible to write some drivers and thus
use the Atarimax Flash-ROM carts as extremely fast floppy drives!)
- Flash-ROM cart 1024k / 8Mbit "Atarimax" by Stephen Tucker
(for information and complete documentation plus software see:
www.atarimax.com/flashcart/documentation/index.html )
- and many others I do not know and I do not have any info about;
Even cartridges can be used as Ramdisks (= fast floppy drives),
especially RAM-carts or Flash-RAM carts. But they function like
most other Super- or Mega-Carts, meaning the bank-switching
techniques are also used there. Since the subject carts and
bank-switching carts is quite enormous, I will not discuss it or
present any information here. Just try to find a large description
by John K. Picken ("RAM/ROM Control on an XL/XE") if interested in that
subject (e.g. at Jindrich Kubec`s homepage: www2.asw.cz/kubecj/... ).
Finally thanks and credits for this subject and lots of (used /
borrowed) information therefore go to: Lee Barnes, Russ Gilbert,
Mathy van Nisselroy, Erhard Puetz, Mathias Reichl, Ron Hamilton,
Wes Newell, Guy Ferrante, XI of Satantronic, Bernhard Pahl and
Walter Lojek. Also thanks to John K. Picken who wrote an excellent
article about A8 extra RAM / Ramdisks and A8 cartridges and their
technique of bank-switching. Well, if you still find errors, bugs,
mistakes, etc. in this list, then tell me *nicely* or in a friendly
way. Any updates and corrections can be send to: amp@abbuc.de
-Andreas Magenheimer
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8.11 Ramdisk-supporting Software:
(This is version 3.3 from November 2004 by A.M.)
a) support for 64k Ramdisks (RD-block E):
DOS 2.5 (Atari), Bewe-DOS 1.x (Bewesoft), Bibo-DOS 5.x (Compyshop),
Bibo-DOS 6.x (Compyshop), DOS II+D Version 6.x (Stefan Dorndorf), DOS XE
1.x (Atari), DOS XF (Reitershan), My-DOS 3.x (Wordmark), My-DOS 4.x
(Wordmark), Sparta DOS 2.x (ICD), Sparta DOS 3.x (ICD/FTE), Sparta DOS
3.3x (Stephen J. Carden), Sparta DOS 4.x (cart., John Hardie? or John
Harris?), Super DOS 2.x (Paul Nichols), Super DOS 5.x (Paul Nichols), Top
DOS 1.x (R.K. Bennett), Turbo DOS 1.x (Reitershan), Turbo-DOS 2.x
(Reitershan), X-DOS 2.x (Stefan Dorndorf), A-Base (???), ABBUC-Magazine
Intro 52 (Karolij N./Heaven), ABBUC Magazine Intro 55 (Karolij N./Heaven),
Adalmar (Falk Buettner/PPP), Alphasys-Sound-Sampler-Software (Mirage/ANG),
A.R. The Dungeon (Philipp Price/Datasoft), A-Text (???), Atari Writer 80
(Atari), Atari Writer Plus (Atari), Basic-XE (OSS/ICD/FTE), Bop N'Wrestle
(Mindscape), The Brundles (KE-Soft), Datei 4.x (Norbert Schlia), Desktop
Atari (HBSF), Diskcomm. 3.x (by Bob Puff, under Sparta or MyDOS answer
"use 130XE RAM?" with "N" and use your XRAM as Ramdisk D8: or D9: when
formatted previously with a RD-driver!),
Diskworker (Petsoft), Extended Atari Basic (???), Extended Turbo Basic
(???), Fampy 2.3 (Wolfgang Freitag/Friday), Fampy 6.1 (Wolfgang Freitag/
Friday), Grafik+Sound Demo (Peter Sabath), Howfen DOS 3.x (???), Howfen
DOS 4.x (???), Howfen Tape to Disk (???), Human Torch & the Thing
(Questprobe/Saga+Marvel), Inertia 2.9 (MadTeam), I.K. Plus Demo (???),
Megablast 1 (Thorsten Karwoth), Mental Age (???), Midi Mate II (Hybrid
Arts), Midi Pattern Editor (Radek Sterba/Raster), Midi-Player (Ireneusz
Kuczek), Midi Recorder (Ireneusz Kuczek), Midi Sequencer (Maciej Sygit),
MSC-IDE Software (M. Belitz, S. Birrmanns), The Muppet Movie (MadTeam),
Page-Designer (XLent), Paperclip II (Batteries Included), Spiderman
(Questprobe/Saga+Marvel), Sweet Fantasy (Tight), The Browser (Tom Hunt /
CTH), Theta Music Composer 2.x (Jaskier/Taquart), The Top 3 Demo (dancing
girl part "Veronika" by WFMH), Typesetter (XLent), The X-Files [Picture]
Demo (Shpoon) and most Text-Editors (e.g. Speedscript, Antic Writer,
T-Edit, Page 6 Writer, Compyshop-Editor, Textpro, etc.) as long as they
are running under a DOS 2.x (DOS 2 derivative) or Sparta / Bewe DOS and
the appropriate Ramdisk-driver;
b) support for 128k Ramdisks (ramdisk blocks AE):
DOS 2.5 (Atari), Bewe-DOS 1.x (Bewesoft), Bibo-DOS 5.x (Compyshop),
Bibo-DOS 6.x (Compyshop), DOS II+D Version 6.x (Stefan Dorndorf),
DOS XF (Reitershan), My-DOS 3.x (Wordmark), My-DOS 4.x (Wordmark), Sparta
DOS 2.x (ICD), Sparta DOS 3.x (ICD/FTE), Sparta DOS 3.3x (Stephen J.
Carden), Sparta DOS 4.x (cart., John Hardie? or John Harris?), Super DOS
2.x (Paul Nichols), Super DOS 5.x (Paul Nichols), Top DOS 1.x (R. K.
Bennett), Turbo DOS 1.x (Reitershan), Turbo-DOS 2.x (Reitershan), X-DOS
2.x (Stefan Dorndorf), The Brundles (KE-Soft), Datei 4.x (Norbert Schlia),
Fampy 2.3 (Wolfgang Freitag/Friday), Fampy 6.1 (Wolfgang Freitag/Friday),
Inertia 2.9 (MadTeam), Midi Pattern Editor (Radek Sterba/Raster), Midi
Player (I. Kuczek), Midi Recorder (I. Kuczek), Midi Sequencer (M. Sygit),
The Browser (Tom Hunt/CTH), Diskcom. 3.x (By bob Puff, under Sparta or
MyDOS answer "use 130XE RAM?" with "N" and use your XRAM as Ramdisk D8: or
d9: when formatted previously with a RD driver!) and most Text-Editors
(e.g. Speedscript, Antic Writer, T-Edit, Page 6 Writer, Compyshop-Editor,
Textpro, etc.) as long as they are running under a DOS 2.x (any DOS 2
derivative) or Sparta / Bewe DOS and (formatted previously with) the
appropriate Ramdisk-driver;
c) support for 192k Ramdisks (ramdisk blocks ACE):
Bewe-DOS 1.x (Bewesoft), Bibo-DOS 5.x (Compyshop), Bibo-DOS 6.x
(Compyshop), DOS II+D Version 6.x (Stefan Dorndorf), DOS XF (Reitershan),
My-DOS 4.x (Wordmark), Sparta DOS 2.x (ICD), Sparta DOS 3.x (ICD/FTE),
Sparta DOS 3.3x (Stephen J. Carden), Sparta DOS 4.x (cart., John Hardie?
or John Harris?), Super DOS 5.x (Paul Nichols), Turbo DOS 1.x (Reitershan),
Turbo-DOS 2.x (Reitershan), X-DOS 2.x (Stefan Dorndorf), Diskcom. 3.x (by
Bob Puff, under Sparta or MyDOS, answer "use 130XE RAM" with "N" and use
your XRAM as Ramdisk D8: or D9: when formatted previously with a Ramdisk
driver!), The Browser (Tom Hunt/CTH, Sparta DOS only!) and most Text-
Editors (e.g. Speedscript, Antic Writer, T-Edit, Page 6 Writer, Compyshop-
Editor, Textpro, etc.) as long as they are running under a DOS 2.x (DOS 2
derivative) or Sparta / Bewe DOS and (formatted previously with) the
appropriate Ramdisk driver;
d) support for 256k Ramdisks (blocks 8ACE and/or 26AE):
Bewe-DOS 1.x (Bewesoft, 8ACE and 26AE), Bibo-DOS 5.x (Compyshop, 8ACE and
26AE), Bibo-DOS 6.x (Compyshop, 8ACE and 26AE), DOS II+D Version 6.x
(Stefan Dorndorf, 8ACE and 26AE), DOS XF (Reitershan, 8ACE and 26AE),
My-DOS 4.x (Wordmark, 8ACE and 26AE), Sparta DOS 2.x (ICD, 8ACE and 26AE),
Sparta DOS 3.x (ICD/FTE, 8ACE and 26AE), Sparta DOS 3.3x (Stephen J.
Carden, 8ACE and 26AE), Sparta DOS 4.x (cart., John Hardie? or John
Harris?, 8ACE and 26AE), Super DOS 5.x (Paul Nichols, 8ACE and 26AE),
Turbo DOS 1.x (Reitershan, 8ACE and 26AE), Turbo DOS 2.x (Reitershan, 8ACE
and 26AE), X-DOS 2.x (Stefan Dorndorf, 8ACE and 26AE), Anime 4ever (Sente
Software Group, 8ACE), The Brundles (KE-Soft, 26AE), Datei 4.x (Norbert
Schlia, 26AE), The Browser (Tom Hunt/CTH), Diskcommunicator 3.x (by Bob
Puff, under Sparta or MyDOS, answer "use 130XE RAM" with "N" and use your
XRAM as Ramdisk D8: or D9: when formatted previously with a RD driver!)
and most Text-Editors (e.g. Speedscript, Antic Writer, T-Edit, Page 6
Writer, Compyshop-Editor, Textpro, etc.) as long as they are running under
Bibo DOS, Turbo DOS, My-DOS or Sparta DOS and (formatted previously with)
the appropriate Ramdisk-driver;
e) support for up to 1 Megabyte Ramdisks:
My-DOS 4.x (Wordmark), Sparta-DOS 2.x (ICD), Sparta DOS 3.x (ICD/FTE),
Sparta DOS 3.3x (Stephen J. Carden), Sparta DOS 4.x (cart., John Hardie?
or John Harris?), The Browser (under Sparta DOS 2.x, 3.x and 4.x), Diskcom
3.x (by Bob Puff, under Sparta or MyDOS, answer "use 130XE RAM" with "N"
and use your XRAM as Ramdisk D8: or D9: when formatted previously with a
RD driver!) and most Text-Editors (e.g. Speedscript, Antic Writer, T-Edit,
Page 6 Writer, Compyshop-Editor, Textpro, etc.) as long as they are
running under My-DOS or Sparta DOS and (formatted previously with) the
appropriate Ramdisk-driver;
Thanks and credits for this subject go to: Bernhard Pahl, Russ Gilbert,
Ron Hamilton and Mathy van Nisselroy for sharing some info with me. -A.M.
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8.12 Atari-programs that require Extra-RAM / Ramdisk:
(This is version 3.3 from November 2004 by A.M.)
a) 64k XRAM required (block E or simply 130XE):
130XE-Bank/Memory-Testers (various programs+authors), 130XE Sectorcopiers
(various programs from Antic, Analog, Happy Computer, etc.), 130XE
Utilities (HAPS PD 0031), 130XE-Artshow (HAPS PD 0013), 130XE-Autoshow
(ABBUC PD 191, HAPS PD 0637), 130XE-Demo (S.A.G.), 130XE-Impossible-Demo
(Rudy Haegemann), Atari Writer Plus Super Menu (Ken Siders), Amiga-Boink
XE (Bob Armour), Animkomials meet Boris Valleyo (Animkomials+Boris
Valleyo), Boot Majster (Electron), Boss-X (Mirko Sobe, with MyDOS it
supports up to 1 Megabyte XRAM/Ramdisk and subdirs and up to 16 Megabyte
harddisk partitions), Boss-XE (Mirko Sobe, with MyDOS it supports up to
1 Megabyte XRAM/Ramdisk), Bill-Pie-Demo (Mad Team, supports up to 256k
XRAM: AE/8ACE), BMW-Animation (Mirko Sobe), CES-XE-Demo (original 130XE
version with 580 sectors by XANTH), Comet-Ani (MadTeam, supports up to
256k XRAM: AE/8ACE), Critical-Sound-Demo (Innovative), Coolcopy 130XE
(???/authors unknown), CAD-XE (HAPS-PD 0350), Castle of Blackthorne (Thimo
Graef), Cavepack (XE-Version by Kemal Ezcan), Computer Baseball (Douglas
Blackwell), Danielle-(Gr.9-TB-)Ani (NBS/Bill Kendrick), Degas-View-XE
(Mat*Rat/Mathew Ratcliff), Diskcomm. 3.x (by Bob Puff, if you want to
answer "use your 130XE RAM?" with "Y", then 64k XRAM are required!),
Diskettenverwaltung 130XE (ABBUC PD 86), Draw XE (ABBUC PD 387), Ergo-
Bibamus (Quasimodos, has RD-setup!), Extract Slideshow (Replay/Bit
Busters), Fraktale & Colorprint (Peter Woetzel),
Gizmo`s Castle (XE-version by M. Kugler), Grafik Zeilen Editor (HAPS PD
0296), Hi-Res Designer (HAPS PD 0015), Hires Dump (ABBUC PD 113), Inertia
3.8 (MadTeam, supports up to 256k XRAM: 8ACE and 26AE with any DOS),
Inertia 4.5 (MadTeam, supports up to 1 Megabyte XRAM: 8ACE and 26AE with
any DOS), Igor Demo (MadTeam, diskside 1), Isolation Demo (MEC), Journey
(Boot version by Polynomials, up to 256k XRAM: AE/26AE), Journey (File
version by MadTeam, up to 192k XRAM: AE/ACE/8ACE/26AE), Journey into Sound
(DGS/Dean Garaghty), Kaiser II (128k version by Carsten Strotmann), Killer
Whales Ani (MadTeam, supports up to 256k XRAM: AE/8ACE), Lajf-Demo
(MadTeam), Landscape-XE-Demo (Karl Pelzer), Megablast-Sounddemo (DGS/Dean
Garaghty), MTV`s-Danielle = Danielle-Ani., Macro-Assembler XE (Thorsten
Karwoth), Macro-Assembler-XE+ (Thorsten Karwoth, works with MyDOS only,
supports up to 1 Megabyte XRAM), Masher-XE V1.0 (???/author unknown,
supports up to 256k XRAM: E/AE/ACE/8ACE), Memdrv10 (Andre Bertram, tests
up to 4 Megabyte XRAM, all portbits, standard 16k banks and exotic 32k
banks, standard Port B $D301 and exotic Port B $D600), Menu 130 (Les
Howarth), Midi Mate III (Hybrid Arts), Minesweeper 1-4 (4 game versions by
J.R.Chicko/S.A.S.), Mister X (Stefan Soelbrandt), Monitors, Debuggers &
more (HAPS PD 0109), Multi-DOS 130 (Kuchera/Excellent), Multi-Tasking-OS
(various ABBUC magazines), MTOS XE (CTH/Tom Hunt),
[Der] Neffe (XE-version or ABBUC PD 52), Neo-Tracker (EPI/Allegresse, runs
only under MyDOS, TopDOS or Sparta DOS 4.X cart., supports up to 1MB XRAM),
[The] Newspaper-Editor (HAPS PD 0294, similar to ABBUC PD 121 but this
HAPS/Bellcom version is in english!), Nascar-Animation (Mirko Sobe), Nonjm
Demo (TIGHT), Owca-Demo (Animkomials), Owca-2-Demo (Animkomials), Oelbaron
(XE-version by ???/author unknown), Programm Verwaltung 130XE (HAPS PD
0434), Protracker 1.5 (MadTeam, supports up to 256k XRAM: 8ACE and 26AE,
with any DOS), Parrot-XMAS-Demo (Anthony Ramos), Pedrokko-Sounddemos
(Pedrokko, 10 Disks / 20 S.), Rechnen fuer Kinder (ABBUC PD 85), Rund um
die Ramdisk (ABBUC PD 383, HAPS PD 1084), Raving Vierpz (Pentagram),
Raytracing Animation (Karl Pelzer), Sample-Art-XE (Mozart/WSL, supports
up to 1 Megabyte XRAM, alas it is buggy!), Shrink-XE (Peter Fitzsimmons),
[The] Small Printery (Walter Lojek, supports up to 1 Megabyte XRAM: 8ACE
and 26AE), Snapshot (???/author unknown), [The] Sound Utility (CTH/Tom
Hunt, supports up to 1 Megabyte XRAM: E/ACE/8ACE, bug-free only under
Sparta DOS!), Space Harrier (Sheddy/Chris Hutt), Strategy Baseball (HAPS
PD 0302), Super-Print-Lab-XE (HAPS PD 0909), Sweet Fantasy (Tight),
Shiny-Bubbles (XE version by Brian Paul), T-34 (ANG/Mirage), Tape-Copy
130 (Joerg Gernreich), Tape-Ramdisk-Drivers (Pokey & SAG), Text-130 (B.
Russmann), Textpro "+" (e.g. 4.54+ by Ronnie Riche), Textpro 5.x (Ronnie
Riche), The Code Cruncher 3.0 (Soused Teat/A.Bienias), The Cruncher 5.0
(MSL/Magnus), The [Sparta DOS] Wedge (Ed Bachman), The Works (CTH/Tom
Hunt), The Asskicker (Shadows), The Turtles-Demo (Ultra-Software), Total
Dazed (Tight), Trip 6 (Shadows), Too Hard 2 (Animkomials), Ultra Demo
(Taquart), Vengeance (Excellent), Vent (Excellent+Pentagram), Video Blitz
(Helvetica Bold, also requires sep. Antic access!), WAF-Demo (W.A.F., two
parts of side 2!), [Die] Wuerttemberger-Disk (ABBUC PD 361, HAPS PD 1050
because side 2 contains the XE-version of Gizmo`s castle!), XL-2 (John
K. Picken, supports up to 1MB XRAM, depending on the DOS!), Xyberscape-XE
(XE-version by Bill Le Masurier), X-Files Animation-Demo (Mad Team), Zero
Demo (New Generation), Zargon XE (ABBUC PD 611, HAPS PD 0485), [Der]
Zeitungsredakteur (ABBUC PD 121, german!);
b) 128k XRAM required (blocks AE):
192k-Memory-Testers (various programs by various authors), Diskcom. 3.x
(by Bob Puff, answer "use your 130XE RAM?" with "Y" and also answer "use
additional RAM?" with "Y" to use full 128k XRAM), Igor Demo (MadTeam,
diskside 2), Revenge of Hacker (Rasero Team), Too Hard 3 (Animkomials);
Note: Quite a lot of 128k programs (block E) do also support 192k memory
(blocks AE), just take a look above ! And all the programs that support up
to 1 Megabyte XRAM do also support 128k XRAM, see above...
c) 192k XRAM required (blocks ACE and others):
256k-Memory-Testers (various programs by various authors), Atari Writer
Plus XE + Super Menu (Ken Siders), Dream Vision (ABBUC PD 480), MTOS 256
(CTH/Tom Hunt), American Natives (Fox-1, choose your DOS and RD-driver!),
Impossible but Real (MacGyver, has an auto-setup!), Reditus (Zelax, has
an auto-setup!), Tit Demo (MadTeam, has an auto-setup!); Note: All
programs that support up to 1 Megabyte XRAM do also support 192k XRAM,
see above...
d) 256k XRAM required (blocks 8ACE or 26AE):
320k-Memory-Testers (various programs by various authors), APC-Archiver
1.0 (LBS/APC, 8ACE only!), APC-Packer 1.1 (LBS/APC, 8ACE only!), Audio/
Studio Master (ANG/Mirage, 26AE only?!), Back to Life 2 (Jaskier/Taquart,
has an auto-setup!) Kaiser II (320k version by Carsten Strotmann, 26AE &
8ACE), Multi-DOS 320 (Kuchera/Excellent, 8ACE only?!), Base-33 (AIDS/AIDZ,
26AE & 8ACE, hold down SHIFT upon bootup for setup!), Cogito-Demo (AIDS /
AIDZ, uses banks 8C, thus 8ACE only!), Edelweiss-Demo (A.R.+C.S.S.+S.V.L.,
26AE), Glasshead Demo (A.R.+C.S.S., 26AE), Halle 1994: The Wormhole (Magic
Arts, 26AE), (Atari) Hardware-Demo (A.R.+C.S.S., 26AE), Imperial [Sound]
Demo (Innovative, 26AE & 8ACE), Khai-Et (AIDS/AIDZ, 26AE & 8ACE, hold down
SHIFT upon bootup for setup!), Numen Demo (Taquart, 26AE & 8ACE, has an
auto-setup!), P.I.T.-Demo (Quasimodos, 26AE & 8ACE, has an auto-setup!),
Raytracing 320k (Elsni/Stephan Elsner, 8ACE only!), Sheol Demo (Bit
Busters, 8ACE only!), Stash-98-Demo (Rasero Team, 26AE and 8ACE, in the
first menu press A for 8ACE Ramdisks, else press B for second menu - then
press C for manual Compyshop setup!), Starwars-Demo (A.R.+C.S.S., 26AE),
The Wormhole (Magic Arts, 26AE), Timekeep(er) (New Generation, 8ACE only!
wait for depacking!), Too-Hard-4 (Animkomials, 26AE & 8ACE, has an auto-
setup!), Trabant Demo (A.R.+C.S.S., 26AE), Worms-Demo (Datri, 8ACE),
X-Demo (MadTeam, 26AE), X-Files 2 [TV-Intro] (MadTeam, 26AE & 8ACE);
Note: There are some 128k programs that also support 256k XRAM; and all
128k programs that support up to 1 Megabyte XRAM do also support 256k XRAM
(8ACE and/or 26AE), see above...
e) 512k XRAM required (32 banks):
576k-Memory-Tester (various programs by various authors, e.g. a test
program by Scott Peterson); Note: All 128k programs that support up to
1 Megabyte XRAM do also support 512k XRAM, see above...
f) 1024k XRAM required (64 banks):
1088k-Memory-Tester (various programs by various authors, e.g. a test
program by Newell); Raytracing 1MB (Solocoder of A.C.E., works only on
Klaus Peters 1MB-Megaram 3 ! Boot version with 8 disksides; loading time:
approximately 17 minutes!); Note: There are quite some 128k programs,
that also support up to 1 Megabyte XRAM, see above...
g) 2048k XRAM required (128 banks):
2112k-Memory Tester (have not seen one yet!);
h) 4096k XRAM required (256 banks):
4160k-Memory-Tester by ICD and later FTE;
Thanks and credits for this subject go to Russ Gilbert, Bernhard Pahl,
Ron Hamilton and Mathy van Nisselroy for sharing their info with me. Any
corrections and/or updates are welcome. - Andreas Magenheimer
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greetings, - Andreas.