Difference between revisions of "Atari"

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[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_8-bit_family Atari 8-bit family on the other WIKI]
 
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_8-bit_family Atari 8-bit family on the other WIKI]
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 +
<br>
  
 
== 16 bit ==
 
== 16 bit ==
  
−
The [[Atari ST]] was released in 1985, originally with an external PSU and external floppy drive. In 1986, the Atari STF integrated these components inside the machine itself.
+
=== Atari ST ===
 +
 
 +
The [[Atari ST]] was released in 1985. The case looks a lot like the 8bit Atari XE. It originally had an external PSU and an external single-sided (360KB) 3.5inch floppy drive. That resulted in games using single-sided 3.5inch floppies for a long time, even supplying two 360KB floppies instead of a single double-sided one. Also, the TOS had to be booted up from floppy disk.
 +
 
 +
In 1986, the Atari STF put the TOS in ROM and integrated the PSU and a double-sided floppy drive inside the machine itself. It was sold in 512KB and 1024KB RAM configurations.
  
 
A version intended for business users was also created in 1987 and named the Mega ST. It featured more RAM, a real time clock, a blitter chip for faster rendering and a detached keyboard.
 
A version intended for business users was also created in 1987 and named the Mega ST. It featured more RAM, a real time clock, a blitter chip for faster rendering and a detached keyboard.
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These machines were famous for being:
 
These machines were famous for being:
  
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*Inferior to the [[Amiga]] yet still better (the war still rages on nowadays). It was easier to do work on Atari, while on Amiga a guru meditation (machine crash) was never far away. Also the TOS was in ROM which mean it could be used immediately and it didn't consume valuable RAM. And as the OS was fixed, less time was spent customizing it and more time was used to do productive work.
+
*Inferior to the [[Amiga]] yet still better (the war still rages on nowadays). It was easier to do work on Atari, while on Amiga a guru meditation (machine crash) was never far away. Also the TOS was in ROM which means it could be used immediately and it didn't consume valuable RAM. And as the OS was immutable, less time was spent customizing it, freeing up more time to do productive work.
  
−
*A hardware [[MIDI|Midi Port]] : this spawned a generation of Musician Geeks.  
+
*A hardware [[MIDI|Midi Port]] : this spawned a generation of Musician Geeks. And some Atari ST games did use Midi sound as an option. [https://forums.atariage.com/topic/301647-midi-games/ Source]
  
 
*used widely in Amstrad CPC software developments (mostly games ?).
 
*used widely in Amstrad CPC software developments (mostly games ?).
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[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_ST Atari ST on the other WIKI]
 
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_ST Atari ST on the other WIKI]
  
−
The Atari STE followed up in 1989 by adding these new features:
+
<br>
 +
 
 +
=== Atari STE ===
 +
 
 +
The Atari STE followed up in 1989. It was a lot closer to the Amiga 500 in performance, but still less powerful. It added these new features:
 
* 4096 instead of 512 colour palette
 
* 4096 instead of 512 colour palette
 
* Fine Horizontal and Vertical hardware scrolling
 
* Fine Horizontal and Vertical hardware scrolling
 
* Blitter chip, same as in the Mega ST
 
* Blitter chip, same as in the Mega ST
−
* Stereo 8-bit PCM sound using DMA, with variable rate (50, 25, 12.5 and 6.25KHz)
+
* Stereo 8-bit PCM sound using DMA, with variable rate (50, 25, 12.5 and 6.25kHz). The Atari STE can play Amiga MODs with higher quality than the Amiga's 28kHz rate limit. However, at 50kHz, it uses 60% of the CPU for software mixing. Source: [https://youtu.be/ZYDQW7WbESs High fidelity dreams (Atari STE demo)]
 
* 256KB ROM instead of 192KB, containing the TOS
 
* 256KB ROM instead of 192KB, containing the TOS
 
* Four 30-pin SIMM-slots, for up to 4 MB RAM
 
* Four 30-pin SIMM-slots, for up to 4 MB RAM
 
* Extended and analogue capable joystick ports
 
* Extended and analogue capable joystick ports
 +
 +
The Mega STE was released in 1991 in 2MB and 4MB configuration. It provided:
 +
* a 16MHz 68000 CPU (software-switchable to 8MHz)
 +
* an optional FPU chip
 +
* a VMEbus slot
 +
* two extra RS232 ports (all 9-pin rather than 25-pin as previous models had)
 +
* a LocalTalk-compatible LAN port
 +
* a separate keyboard
 +
* a 1.44 MB HD floppy drive
 +
 +
<br>
 +
 +
== 32 bit ==
 +
 +
The Atari Falcon, released in 1992, is the final personal computer from Atari Corporation.
 +
 +
The machine is based on a Motorola 68030 CPU @ 16MHz (4 MIPS), a Motorola 56001 digital signal processor @ 32MHz (16 MIPS) and a socket for an optional FPU.
 +
 +
It also includes a new VIDEL graphics chip which greatly improves its graphics capabilities, offering up to 768x480 in 16-bit truecolor graphics mode. And like the Amstrad CRTC chip, the characteristics of the display can now be defined precisely.
 +
 +
The sound system consists of four stereo 16-bit DMA playback and record channels.
 +
 +
It sports a realtime clock, a LAN port, a 1.44MB HD floppy drive and an optional internal hard drive. Atari adopted the IDE bus in addition to the SCSI bus for connecting hard drives and CD-ROM drives.
 +
 +
It was sold in 1, 4 and 14MB RAM configurations.
 +
 +
While the Atari ST was less powerful than an Amiga 500, the Atari Falcon was more powerful than an Amiga 1200.
 +
 +
A Falcon040 model was in the works, with a 68040 CPU and a case similar to the PlayStation 2. But Atari cancelled the project.
 +
 +
<br>
  
 
==Links==
 
==Links==
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===8-bit===
 
===8-bit===
 
*https://atariwiki.org Atari 8bit wiki
 
*https://atariwiki.org Atari 8bit wiki
 +
*[https://youtu.be/WDAZAgrzNoo How Atari 8-Bit Computers Work!] by [[The 8-Bit Guy]]
 
*[[Media:Altirra Hardware Reference Manual - 20240921.pdf|Altirra Hardware Reference Manual]] Latest (09/2024!) Atari XL hardware documentation
 
*[[Media:Altirra Hardware Reference Manual - 20240921.pdf|Altirra Hardware Reference Manual]] Latest (09/2024!) Atari XL hardware documentation
  
 
=== 16-bit===
 
=== 16-bit===
 
*https://www.atari-wiki.com Atari ST Wiki
 
*https://www.atari-wiki.com Atari ST Wiki
−
*[[Media:Atari ST - Hardware Specification.pdf]]
 
 
*[https://www.synacktiv.com/ressources/Atari-ST-Internals.pdf Atari ST Internals]
 
*[https://www.synacktiv.com/ressources/Atari-ST-Internals.pdf Atari ST Internals]
 
*[https://www.atarimuseum.de/archiv/tech/sm_ste.pdf Atari STE Service Manual]
 
*[https://www.atarimuseum.de/archiv/tech/sm_ste.pdf Atari STE Service Manual]
 +
*[https://bus-error.nokturnal.pl/atari_compendium/html/toc.htm The Atari Compendium]
 
*[https://docs.dev-docs.org/ Atari Documentation Archive]
 
*[https://docs.dev-docs.org/ Atari Documentation Archive]
 
*[https://info-coach.fr/atari/documents/myDoc.php Atari image file formats documented]
 
*[https://info-coach.fr/atari/documents/myDoc.php Atari image file formats documented]

Latest revision as of 18:30, 10 December 2024

Nowadays, the Atari brand belongs to Ex-Infogrames.

Used to build 8 and 64 bits consoles (Atari 2600/5200/7800, Atari Lynx, Atari Jaguar), 8 bits computers, the famous Atari ST (16 bit) and less famous Atari Falcon (32 bit)

8 bit

Atari 8-bit family on the other WIKI


16 bit

Atari ST

The Atari ST was released in 1985. The case looks a lot like the 8bit Atari XE. It originally had an external PSU and an external single-sided (360KB) 3.5inch floppy drive. That resulted in games using single-sided 3.5inch floppies for a long time, even supplying two 360KB floppies instead of a single double-sided one. Also, the TOS had to be booted up from floppy disk.

In 1986, the Atari STF put the TOS in ROM and integrated the PSU and a double-sided floppy drive inside the machine itself. It was sold in 512KB and 1024KB RAM configurations.

A version intended for business users was also created in 1987 and named the Mega ST. It featured more RAM, a real time clock, a blitter chip for faster rendering and a detached keyboard.

These machines were famous for being:

  • Inferior to the Amiga yet still better (the war still rages on nowadays). It was easier to do work on Atari, while on Amiga a guru meditation (machine crash) was never far away. Also the TOS was in ROM which means it could be used immediately and it didn't consume valuable RAM. And as the OS was immutable, less time was spent customizing it, freeing up more time to do productive work.
  • A hardware Midi Port : this spawned a generation of Musician Geeks. And some Atari ST games did use Midi sound as an option. Source
  • used widely in Amstrad CPC software developments (mostly games ?).

Its use in CPC development (Cross Development) had many advantages :

  • Quite similar Video Resolutions : 320x200x16.
  • Possibility of a good GUI : easier, really.
  • Same Sound Chip : almost.
  • Quite powerfull to calculate sweet Data Compression (used in Xyphoes Fantasy)

Atari ST on the other WIKI


Atari STE

The Atari STE followed up in 1989. It was a lot closer to the Amiga 500 in performance, but still less powerful. It added these new features:

  • 4096 instead of 512 colour palette
  • Fine Horizontal and Vertical hardware scrolling
  • Blitter chip, same as in the Mega ST
  • Stereo 8-bit PCM sound using DMA, with variable rate (50, 25, 12.5 and 6.25kHz). The Atari STE can play Amiga MODs with higher quality than the Amiga's 28kHz rate limit. However, at 50kHz, it uses 60% of the CPU for software mixing. Source: High fidelity dreams (Atari STE demo)
  • 256KB ROM instead of 192KB, containing the TOS
  • Four 30-pin SIMM-slots, for up to 4 MB RAM
  • Extended and analogue capable joystick ports

The Mega STE was released in 1991 in 2MB and 4MB configuration. It provided:

  • a 16MHz 68000 CPU (software-switchable to 8MHz)
  • an optional FPU chip
  • a VMEbus slot
  • two extra RS232 ports (all 9-pin rather than 25-pin as previous models had)
  • a LocalTalk-compatible LAN port
  • a separate keyboard
  • a 1.44 MB HD floppy drive


32 bit

The Atari Falcon, released in 1992, is the final personal computer from Atari Corporation.

The machine is based on a Motorola 68030 CPU @ 16MHz (4 MIPS), a Motorola 56001 digital signal processor @ 32MHz (16 MIPS) and a socket for an optional FPU.

It also includes a new VIDEL graphics chip which greatly improves its graphics capabilities, offering up to 768x480 in 16-bit truecolor graphics mode. And like the Amstrad CRTC chip, the characteristics of the display can now be defined precisely.

The sound system consists of four stereo 16-bit DMA playback and record channels.

It sports a realtime clock, a LAN port, a 1.44MB HD floppy drive and an optional internal hard drive. Atari adopted the IDE bus in addition to the SCSI bus for connecting hard drives and CD-ROM drives.

It was sold in 1, 4 and 14MB RAM configurations.

While the Atari ST was less powerful than an Amiga 500, the Atari Falcon was more powerful than an Amiga 1200.

A Falcon040 model was in the works, with a 68040 CPU and a case similar to the PlayStation 2. But Atari cancelled the project.


Links

8-bit

16-bit

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