Questions concerning TF534 in Atari ST

[Markus608]

Hi,
i have got a TF534 as well.
The Setup is the same as my TF536, meaning 4 switchable TOS, 8MB ALT-RAM, IDE0 and USB, ET4000AX graphics.

Since the computer is starting to desktop i think i did the flashing-job correctly.

Is the TF534 working with onboard IDE as well ? If the TF's IDE is working, can the ST boot from it?

Sorry i could try it, but i don't want to try anymore, because i think i had already too many removal cycles on the used sockets, i just want to avoid unnecessary damages.

thanks in advance for help

Markus

[exxos]

TBH I didn't even know there was proper ST firmware for the TF534. I would assume it wasn't tested much as the TF536 came out later and replaced it. It is likely limited and autoboot requires a patch wire on the DMA port. Which I assume hardware and firmware does not support. Though IIRC , @terriblefire correct me if I am wrong, but the TF534 had some issues which were fixed on the TF536. So I am not sure how good the TF534 even would be to begin with on the ST. If there is ST firmware, then I would assume IDE would work.. Just try HD10 and see if it "sees" the IDE interface.. there is a free demo if you do not have it.

[Markus608]

well...

thank you... @agranlund writing that "he couldn't be happier" with this card was good enough for me to give it a try.

I'll give it a try with the patchwire...

Thanks

[agranlund]

well...

thank you... @agranlund writing that "he couldn't be happier" with this card was good enough for me to give it a try.

I'll give it a try with the patchwire...

Thanks

It was years since I used the TF534 in my machine but yes, IDE should work fine with the ST firmware :)
EmuTOS will boot it without any extra wires but if you use Atari TOS then you need to run a wire from INT2 on the TF534 to ACSI pin 10.

Can't really remember but it could be that it assigns the IDE port to *all* slots meaning it wouldn't play well together with other IDE expansions.
The very earliest TF536 firmwares did the same until it was fixed to use a single slot.

All in all, I remember being very happy with the TF534 in my ST.
I don't think I ever got the NetUsbee to work with it though but it does work with the TF536.
(Although to be fair, the NetUsbee seems incredibly finicky with different hardware in general..)

[Markus608]

Thank you very much...

so i just need to remove the Lightning and connect the already existing INT10 wire to the TF.

Of course i know that TF534 was years ago now, but i'm back to ataris since only 6 month now and the TF534 was the cheapest solution to get started again.
Your work with the TF536 gave me a hard boost playing around with Mega STs as well.

Keep up the really good work

Thank you

and have a nice evening/weekend

Markus

[terriblefire]

TF534 is not supported. Its a terrible card. People ask when i am going to fix it and my answer is that i already did. The fix is called the TF536.

Don't build TF534s. They're awful.

[Steve]

TF534 is not supported. Its a terrible card. People ask when i am going to fix it and my answer is that i already did. The fix is called the TF536.

Don't build TF534s. They're awful.

With all due respect TF, Agranlund did extremely well with the TF534:

ex502nvd.jpg

source

Also the TF534 has an FPU option that the TF536 doesn't. FPU is far more important on Atari than it is on Amiga, which makes the 534 more valuable in the Atari-specific-arena (just to clarify, not saying more valuable than the tf536, I mean more valuable for Atari in general over Amiga in general)

I run the MiNT OS on my Ataris and it requires an FPU for all the Unix utilities, so even I wish I had a tf534.

Out of interest, what is particularly bad about the card? For Ataris I mean...

[exxos]

IIRC ,and indeed it seems I had a 534 in 2019, the 534 had bus grant issues which I found in my thread and ultimately gave up trying to fix. TF fixed the issues on the 536. I think @agranlund might have not used the floppy drive even ? I only got it working from cartridge to run GB6. In any case, the fix was a respin of the board. But people moaned about the lack of ram on the 534 so TF added more on the 536. Nobody cared about the fpu so it was removed as creating a low price point was one of the main objectives.

A lot of problems and fixes were only recently done by myself and @agranlund on the 536. The 534 remains a basically outdated and buggy card. Its a bit of a kick in the teeth for me and all the work I put into testing/fixing/updating the ST536 when people jump 2 generations backwards :roll:

[Steve]

@exxos Hey nobody is knocking the tf536 or the specific ST work you've put into it, ie; onboard tos decoding & firmware tweaks.

The OP said "i have got a TF534 as well" .. so he just happens to already have one, it's not that he was slighting you or anything, and neither was I. It's just that TF put a lot of effort into 'putting the card down' and I just honestly wanted to know why, that is all.

[exxos]

It's just that TF put a lot of effort into 'putting the card down' and I just honestly wanted to know why, that is all.

My comments wasn't directed at anyone particular. Myself and TF just find it slightly frustrating when we know people are building "last gen cards" with known issues.TF posted about this many times and even did a video recently about it. Its like going back to building a prototype when there is a final release board available . Building a 534 is 3 years to late. People can of course do what they want, but its kinda setting yourself up to fail right from the start. I just don't see the point.