Ultrasatan worth it or not?

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stephen_usher
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Re: Ultrasatan worth it or not?

Post by stephen_usher »

Other than UltraSATAN seemingly stressing the DMA chip a bit it's an excellent addition to the ST. Having said that, finding low capacity SD cards to put into it is getting harder these days.
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DoG
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Re: Ultrasatan worth it or not?

Post by DoG »

IDE solution needs soldering as far as I know.

UltraSatan is a good pick if you want something that just works and is plug-n-play. There is cheaper solutions of course. Using a Gotek for demos/games is probably enough. It's pretty easy to use. In your case it is not really needed so it's a bit hard for me to justify the purchase. It depends how much you use your Atari and if you feel a bit awkward by using a Gotek.

But hard drive solution is very handy for sure. Just drag and drop on your PC to the SD card and use it on your Atari. Not suited for games, but most games are hard drive adapted now a days.
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Darklord
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Re: Ultrasatan worth it or not?

Post by Darklord »

It seems to me that the Ultrasatan has a few other advantages as well...

An RTC, for example - handy for the ST's that don't have one.

Also, the Ultrasatan has 2 SD card slots. For transferring files,
this can be a big convenience. Also, when partitioning a new
SD card, I don't have to boot to a floppy or run anything from
the floppy.

Do the other options have an RTC and 2 card slots?

I've asked before but no one has ever answered....

Thanks.
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olivier.jan
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Re: Ultrasatan worth it or not?

Post by olivier.jan »

Darklord wrote: Mon Apr 18, 2022 5:35 pm
Do the other options have an RTC and 2 card slots?

I've asked before but no one has ever answered....

Thanks.
Latest versions of ACSI2STM firmware have RTC and it can support up to five SD cards. I haven’t seen any adapter sold with these options implemented though.
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olivier.jan
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Re: Ultrasatan worth it or not?

Post by olivier.jan »

HigashiJun wrote: Mon Apr 18, 2022 11:00 am Yes, but external (which might not be drawback to everyone though) and as you specified, lower performance.
How do you mount it internally in an STE ? or is it a Mega STE ?
Retro stuff
520 STF/ 1040 STE / Mega ST / 2 Mega STE / 2 H5
2 x 600XL with U1MB /SOFIA 2/ AVG CART / and a few 1050
Apple //c, Commodore 128, Mac Classic, SE/30, LC, IIvi and PB G3 (Clamshell)
Amiga 600 and a few 486 and 386.
Many Nintendo G&W and other electronic games from the late 70s/early 80s.
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HigashiJun
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Re: Ultrasatan worth it or not?

Post by HigashiJun »

olivier.jan wrote: Mon Apr 18, 2022 9:02 pm
HigashiJun wrote: Mon Apr 18, 2022 11:00 am Yes, but external (which might not be drawback to everyone though) and as you specified, lower performance.
How do you mount it internally in an STE ? or is it a Mega STE ?
Here it is.

https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/forum/viewt ... =29&t=3300

Look at the 4th and 5th pictures.
russellnash
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Re: Ultrasatan worth it or not?

Post by russellnash »

Important information for people considering an Ultrasatan is that it doesn't work well with TOS lower than 1.04 because it can't handle the number of folders and you end up with a bank screen and have to restart. The problem can be helped but not solved with FOLDRxxx.

https://sites.google.com/site/stessential/tos-patches

Some of the adapted games have big advantages like being able to save at any time making them much more playable.
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alexh
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Re: Ultrasatan worth it or not?

Post by alexh »

russellnash wrote: Tue Apr 19, 2022 7:37 am Important information for people considering an Ultrasatan is that it doesn't work well with TOS lower than 1.04 because it can't handle the number of folders and you end up with a bank screen and have to restart.
Presumably this is not just Ultrasatan but any HDD adapter?
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russellnash
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Re: Ultrasatan worth it or not?

Post by russellnash »

I am sure that is correct. Not every ST user knows everything. Anyone who buys one without knowing it, like me, for example, might wonder why everything has disappeared from the screen.
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stephen_usher
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Re: Ultrasatan worth it or not?

Post by stephen_usher »

russellnash wrote: Tue Apr 19, 2022 7:37 am Important information for people considering an Ultrasatan is that it doesn't work well with TOS lower than 1.04 because it can't handle the number of folders and you end up with a bank screen and have to restart. The problem can be helped but not solved with FOLDRxxx.

https://sites.google.com/site/stessential/tos-patches

Some of the adapted games have big advantages like being able to save at any time making them much more playable.
That’s not an UltraSATAN issue it’s an issue with any storage, including floppy if you create a large number of folders.

The bigger issue you will have with TOS <1.04 is the maximum size of partitions.

There are only a very few games which require TOS 1.02, or even TOS 1.00, so really 1.04 should be a baseline for a usable system.
Intro retro computers since before they were retro...
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
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