• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

520st - 1040stf - 520stfm

2

2icebitn

Banned
Joined
Sep 22, 2017
Messages
1,861
Location
Principality of Xeon
Do these all share the same motherboard (but for ram amounts)? Is there any difference in firmware between these models? Or would specific board revision numbers be needed? Are the firware chips swappable between these models? I have 3 system units now and one French 520st mobo. I think I really only need 1 ST.
 
I would suggest examining the systems. Atari had a habit of doing stealth updates and inconsistent labeling. The STF is generally a later design and obviously incorporates an internal floppy connector. There were ROM revisions as well.
 
There are motherboard revisions but they are mostly inconsequential. Some have a RF modulator, some don't. There are two different floppy eject mechanisms and it is easier to replace the floppies that have the regular eject rather than the large central eject.

There is no difference in process, graphics, sound, etc. between the revision. Only when you move to an STE that has a blitter is there a difference.

There are debates on the optimal ROMs, depends on what you want to do - stick with old ROMs to play games, upgrade ROMs to run advanced productivity applications. In either case the ROMs are available.
 
1040STf - 520STfm share the same chassis, but they only might share the same mainboard, because there are more than 10 different versions with completely different positions of the chips on the same form factor. See some of them here: https://www.exxoshost.co.uk/forum/viewforum.php?f=52

520ST uses different chassis, without internal floppy, so it also uses different mainboard formfactor. 260ST and 520ST+ uses the same chassis. Also here are different layouts possible, see https://www.exxoshost.co.uk/forum/viewforum.php?f=53

260 = 512 kB RAM (originally it was planned with 256 kB)
520 = 512 kB RAM
1040 = 1 MB
4096 = 4 MB (rare prototype, never released)

ST = ST series, they all have the same chipset and capabilities
STe = STe series (e=extended), addional DMA sound hardware, more colors, hardware scrolling, blitter always integrated, additional jobystick ports

+ = additional 512 kB RAM (only 520ST+)

f = internal floppy drive
m = HF modulator

Mega (ST) 1-4 = ST professional version in "pizza box" formfactor, internal floppy, expansion bus, internal DMA port, mostly with Blitter, good keyboard, 1-4 MB RAM
Mega STE = professional version of STE, 16 Mhz, VME slot, internal floppy and HDD, TT style chassis, more serial interfaces

Additional there is TT, Falcon, STacy laptop and STBook notebook.

https://www.exxoshost.co.uk/forum/viewforum.php?f=41
 
So I bought a French Mobo for no reason? Something made me think it would mesh with my original 1040stf case. At least I can pull the chips. And it's alleged to be new or an Atari rework.

And can an ste blitter ever be made to work with an earlier st/f/m Mobo?
 
2icebitn said:
So I bought a French Mobo for no reason? Something made me think it would mesh with my original 1040stf case. At least I can pull the chips. And it's alleged to be new or an Atari rework.

And can an ste blitter ever be made to work with an earlier st/f/m Mobo?
Click to expand...

Some later revision ST motherboards have a spot for the blitter, but it is not a socket it is a complicated surface mount solder job. You would also want to upgrade to TOS 2.06 ROMs if you get a blitter, which would probably require an adaptor as most ST motherboards do not have sufficient address lines going to the ROMs for 2.06.

It actually says BLITTER on the motherboard where you need to solder it:

http://www.atari-wiki.com/?title=File:ST_Motherboard_C103414-001_Rev_1.jpg
 
rpiguy2 said:
Some later revision ST motherboards have a spot for the blitter, but it is not a socket it is a complicated surface mount solder job. You would also want to upgrade to TOS 2.06 ROMs if you get a blitter, which would probably require an adaptor as most ST motherboards do not have sufficient address lines going to the ROMs for 2.06.

It actually says BLITTER on the motherboard where you need to solder it:

http://www.atari-wiki.com/?title=File:ST_Motherboard_C103414-001_Rev_1.jpg
Click to expand...

STE mostly has integrated Blitter, it's not separated, but inside the MMU/GLUE chip.

Some 1040ST board also have solder eyes to insert socket for Blitter, but they are rare and some of these boards need modification, they have error in layout for Blitter support. It's not necessary to have TOS 2.06 for Blitter support, also TOS 1.02 ("Blitter TOS") does that job, and TOS 1.04 as well. I would not add Blitter to 1040ST, easier getting a Mega ST, STE or Mega STE which has Blitter by default.
 
2icebitn said:
So I bought a French Mobo for no reason? Something made me think it would mesh with my original 1040stf case. At least I can pull the chips. And it's alleged to be new or an Atari rework.
Click to expand...

WHat kind of board is that? 520STf(m) boards fits in 1040ST(f)m chassis. 520ST(m)(+) does not fit.
 
∆∆∆ post #7 ∆∆∆

I call it a 520stf as if there was such a thing. I assume it's basically a 1040stf w/o the additional 512k._20181013_152319.jpg
 
Last edited:
Yes, that would fit in a 1040STf(m) chassis. It has no modulator, and you can add another 512 kB by just populate the empty places with 16x 41256 DRAM. Maybe you need to add another resistor on RAS/CAS lines between the DRAM and MMU chip (the square one directly right to the DRAM), the photo is too small to see if it is popoulated or not. If you need to add the resistor, check the cirvuit diagram of 1040ST on https://www.dev-docs.org/docs/
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top