XEP80 / hardware
From: Michael Current (aa700@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 04/21/92-07:46:07 PM Z
From: aa700@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Michael Current)
Subject: XEP80 / hardware
Date: Tue Apr 21 19:46:07 1992
Reprinted from the A.C.E.C. BBS (614)-471-8559
______________________________________
Xx XEP80 REVIEW
______________________________________
Living With the XEP80 a Subjective
Review by Wally Wong, BRACE
Yes, folks, it's finally here, the
long awaited 80 column adaptor from
Atari, the XEP80. Actually, it's more
than an 80-column display module, it's
also a parallel printer interface (Due
to deadlines, I did not have a chance
to investigate the printer aspects of
the XEP80 but will tell what the
claims are). There are some delights
and some plights you should be aware
of as well as a plethora of potential
programming hacking that could keep
some Atari enthusiast awake many a
nights.
The Atari XEP80 Interface Module is an
80-column video display controller and
"standard" parallel printer interface
for all 8-bit computers with a minimum
of 16K RAM. The XEP80 looks just like
the Atari SX212 modem, same size,
dimension and color - minus the lights
on the front panel. The XEP80 comes
with just about everything you need;
video cable to connect the module to a
composite monitor (monochrome
recommended), power supply adaptor
(Egads! Another one, that makes six!),
the module, a 20 page owner's manual,
a warranty card (that no one I know
sends in), and a 5 1/4" distribution
disk, all for $79.99,list.
A nice long cable runs out the rear of
the module that connects to your
computer via joystick port one or two.
Most will probably elect to use port
two and keep the other available for a
joystick. No problem except one of the
demo programs (WINDOW.BAS) will only
work if the joystick is in port two
and the module plugged into one. The
power switch is located in the rear
and a tiny diagonal window emits a
subtle green light on the front panel
when the power is on. The video cable
is a simple cable with RCA male jacks
on both ends. One end connects to the
rear of the module and the other to
your composite monitor.
The "standard" parallel printer port
is a DB25 parallel female connector
found on the STs and IBM type systems;
not centronics, and not a Atari 850 or
P:R: Connection connector. This is one
of the reasons why I haven't tried the
printer aspect of the module; no cable
and not being able to use my 850
parallel cable. The reason for using
DB25 connection is for
"standardization" which means you can
obtain a printer cable from just about
any computer store, and not be
hand-cuffed to "Atari Only" vendors
who would be the only ones carrying
850/PRC parallel cables (but we will
make our purchase at our local Atari
vendor, right!!). If you wish to use
the parallel printer port soley as a
printer port, hold down the shift key
while booting the disk and continue to
hold until its done loading. This
will allow output to the printer
although you'll be in 40 columns
through the computer video port or RF.
Here is what the owner's manual says
about selecting the printer port:
"When you start up your system with
the XEP80 Module, the module is
prepared to direct output to a printer
throught the parallel port(P1:).
Specifying P2: directs output to the
ATARI 850 Interface Module; P3:
outputs to the 1025 Priner; P4: to the
1020 Color Plotter; P5: to the 1027
Printer; P6: to the 1029 Printer; P7:
to the XMM801 Printer; and P8: to the
XDM121 Printer."
There is a "PRINTER.BAS" program on
the distribution disk. I haven't
looked at it, it may have something to
do with configuration and the XEP80.
The XEP80 also sports an internal 2K
buffer for printing. Nice touch.
(Nicer if its easily expandable,
that's too much to ask of Atari.)
That's all I can say about the XEP80
as a printer interface.
Turn on the XEP80, monitor, disk
drive(s), insert the XEP80 disk (of
course you made a copy of the
original, right?) and turn on the
computer. The XEP80 handler comes as
an AUTORUN.SYS file so it will boot up
automatically. If your monitor is
adjusted to give you a full screen
with a normal 40 column screen (like
mine), the first thing you will notice
is the bottom half of the last three
characters of the "READY" prompt of
BASIC in the upper left hand corner of
the screen. If you type "DOS" to get
to the DOS menu (DOS 2.5 comes on the
disk), the first line of the heading
is tucked somewhere beneath the top of
your monitor chassis. The next thing
you will notice is the bunch of tiny
characters (relative to 40 column
characters) on the screen! Folks, you
now have an 80 column display. The
characters are quite readable on the
BMC and Commodore 1702 composite color
monitors. The display looks !great! on
a monochrome composite monitor (once I
got mine to work properly).
The characters are defined within a
7x10 cell (7 wide x 10 high) compare
to 8x8 cell used normally. I think
this is the reason for the truncated
display at the top of the screen; the
characters are taller than normal and
pushing the top of the display. Now,
this is just a guess, I'm no video
display wiz. This can be corrected by
adjusting the vertical width.
Correcting for 80-colums will create a
smaller vertical screen when you
return to 40 columns. This is okay if
the vertical adjustment is located on
the front of the monitor or easily
accessible, if not, you'll have to
decide if you want to make this
adjustment and then find someone
qualified to do it.
The XEP80 can actually display up to
256 character columns but only 80 are
available at a time (Hmm, doesn't
AtariWriter Plus scroll in 256
columns??!!). The demo program
"WINDOW.BAS" and a joystick
illustrates this aspect nicely.
Remember, the module has to be plugged
into port one and the joystick in two
for the program to work. If you want
to disable the XEP80 but want to use
the printer port, hold down the shift
key when booting the system. This
disables the 80-column and enables the
normal video output; composite video
port or RF. The XEP80 handler
disables the ANTIC chip from
displaying and display I/O is directed
to the XEP80. There is a document
file on the distribution disk that
explains all this in detail.
The distribution disk comes with DOS
2.5, the XEP80 driver, assorted demo
programs written in BASIC, assembly
language source code, and a doc file
that goes into the hardware and
software specifics in detail.
The following are some thrills and
chills I've experienced during the
course of a week since I bought the
XEP80. Remember, these are only
preliminary experiences and are not
conclusive, especially the items
listed in "CHILLS." I qualify that
because the XEP80 handler is
relocatable and compatibilty may just
be finding the right spot for the
handler.
THRILLS:
1)It is compatible with SpartaDos 3.2.
The XEP80 handler (the AUTORUN.SYS
file on the distribution disk) must
be installed through the
STARTUP.BAT. I renamed the
AUTORUN.SYS file to XEP80.COM and
when creating the STARTUP.BAT file,
the XEP80 file should be the last
item in the batch. I have not tried
it with the Time/Date Display (TD)
line since I rarely use it because
of the conflicts with other
programs. Note: If you happen to
setup your ramdisk (RD.COM) after
installing the handler, you'll get
garbage on the screen. I found that
by turning the XEP80 off and back
on, the screen clears and behaves.
2)ATARI BASIC - you still have a
maximum of three lines per line
number but now three lines equals
240 characters instead of 120. I
would refrain from extending BASIC
lines beyond 120 characters to
maintain compatibility between the
XEP80 and standard 40 column screen.
SETCOLOR AND DRAWTO commands cannot
be used.
3)MAC/65, yes!
4)The display is good on a color
monitor and great on a monochrome.
The doc file provides plenty of
information to develop some great
applications taking advantage of the
XEP80. I've been looking at some
PD/Shareware text editors written in
BASIC that could easily be modified
to use the XEP80. Remember to give
credit to the author is you plan on
using existing programs as a
foundation for your programming.
I'll leave it to your good
programming morals to contact
authors before you start hacking
someones program and distributing
them.
5)The demo programs on the
distribution disk are a great source
for programming ideas and tips on
how to use the many attributes of
the XEP80.
CHILLS:
1)There are no programs available that
uses the XEP80 except for the demo
programs.
2)AtariWriter 80, if I may call it
that, will be a couple of months
before it is released. November,
maybe?? Contrary to some rumours
that the AW80 was cancelled or
shelved, the AW80 is being worked
on; confirmed with Neil Harris on
GEnie.
3)No ACTION! XEP80 does not like the
way ACTION! behaves with the screen.
4)No BASIC XE. Same reason as number
(3). Probably the same with BASIX
XL.
5)I also found that with the system
on, it may try to reboot when
turning the XEP80 off and on with
DOS 2.5, sometimes. Turning the
XEP80 off and on like this is
probably not good for your system,
so make sure you process the
SpartaDos batch files correctly to
avoid this.
6)Inconvenience between switching
plugs connecting the monitor between
the video cable coming out of my XE
and the XEP80. You can't have both
connected at the same. There are two
solutions-
a)run out and buy a monochrome
composite monitor and connect the
XEP80 into this monitor and keep
the video connected to the color
composite monitor (or vice versa
if your present monitor is
monochrome) or
b)build a switch box that will
handle all the different
connections. Plans for the switch
box I built is simple and I'll
submit it to PSAN...next month.
Neutral Notes:
1)Be sure you try out the monitor with
the XEP80 before you buy.
2)Some monitors have a 40 or 80 column
switch either inside or outside.
This switch might have to be set to
obtain a decent display (as
suggested by Darryl, Atari Tech.).
3)If your monochrome monitor looks
fine in 40 columns but you get
flashes of indecipherable dots, try
adjusting the horizontal hold.
Again, this adjustment might be
internal so think before you jump.
4)The XEP80 supports bit mapped
graphics, 320x200.
5)the XEP80 handler replaces the E:,
S:, and P: vectors in the Handler
Address Table.
Personal Touch:
I believe this is the single product
that will make or break the "only a
game machine" mentallity of the eight
bit Ataris. If the applications
software is done well and released in
reasonable time and the advent of the
new disk drive and maybe a drop in
price, the Atari XE will be the most
affordable, versatile and serious
computer system on the market. Imagine
the day when new computer buyers
choose the Atari because it's
AFFORDABLE and DOES THE JOB WELL!....
and it has great graphics and games.
We know this already, now it's time
for the public to find out.
--
Michael Current, Cleveland Free-Net 8-bit Atari SIGOp -->> go atari8 <<--
The Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIG is the Central Atari Information Network
Internet: currentm@carleton.edu / UUCP: ...!umn-cs!ccnfld!currentm
BITNET: currentm%carleton.edu@{interbit} / Cleveland Free-Net: aa700
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