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diff --git a/games/atari_8bit_utils/README b/games/atari_8bit_utils/README new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..29e003d4f2 --- /dev/null +++ b/games/atari_8bit_utils/README @@ -0,0 +1,90 @@ +This is a collection of Atari 8-bit utilities that I've written, +mostly back in the 90s, for managing files for an Atari on a +Linux system. Whether you're using a real Atari or an emulator, +these can be handy tools. + +ATRFS + +Want to mount an ATR image as a native file system in Linux? +Now you can! + +This uses FUSE to create a user-space file system that allows +reading and writing of Atari file systems in ATR image files. +This requires no special root privileges. + +The framework is designed to be modular, making it relatively +simple to add support for new Atari file systems. + +BASIC Autorun + +There are lots of AUTORUN.SYS files for running BASIC programs, +but what if BASIC isn't available? Well, this one will enable +BASIC first if it's disabled on an XL/XE system. +If it's a 400/800/1200XL, it will display "BASIC REQUIRED" +and hang. Also, the command text is stored in ATASCII, +so it's easy to edit the binary. + +SIO2Linux + +Pavel Machek made an initial attempt at communicating with the +Atari through an SIO2PC cable using Linux's serial port drivers. +He came up with a simple floppy emulator he called "femul.c" + +I rewrote that to add a bunch of features: +* No kernel modules. + Unlike the AtariSIO project, this is just a simple user-space + program that uses a serial port device. +* Create new dynamically sized images + Each image starts as a 3-sector image file, but grows to + accomodate the highest-numbered sector written. +* Mount your native file system as an Atari disk + It's read-only for now, and it doesn't support subdirectories, + but each file is mapped to a different starting sector, and + as that sector is read, it automatically maps in the rest of + the file. + +Binary load file analyzer + +This program will tell you all about your binary-load format Atari +files, and even clean them up if there are specific problems. +It runs under DOS and Unix. +It includes the option to dump the 6502 assembly. + +BASIC analyzer + +This program will parse the structure of a BASIC program. +The most common use would be to check if a file is a valid BASIC +file, in which case, just redirect the output to /dev/null and +it's BASIC if the program returns success. It will parse down +the the line level. Parsing out the individual tokens could be +done in the future. + +Disk image format conversions + +Want to convert between DCM and ATR? Want to turn an ATR disk image +into individual files on your native file system (even creating +subdirectories for MyDos images!)? Or convert a directory full of +files back into a disk image? Well, check out these programs: + +* atr2unix +* unix2atr +* dcmtoatr + +Disk manager (Atari-side sector editor and much more) + +Back in the mid 80's, I wrote a sector editor in BASIC. +Over several years, I incorporated additional features and +tools, as well as re-wrote various routines in assembly language +for speed. I should have released it back then, but now I've +gone back through it and added a few extra features. +I also re-worked all of the assembly language code. + +MyDOS Binary Load Menu + +There are plenty of menu programs that let you select from a +list of programs and execute one, but this one goes a step further. +It supports MyDOS subdirectories and is driven by the joystick, +so it's ideal for a huge disk image of games. +I wrote this in 1994 in BASIC and compiled it with ABC. + +-- adapted from original Preston Crow file |