List of planned upgrades.. Plus recasing....

General discussions or ideas about hardware.
Shugs81
Posts: 33
Joined: Sat Jul 14, 2018 12:48 pm

List of planned upgrades.. Plus recasing....

Post by Shugs81 »

Hiya chaps..

I currently have a 1040 STE that I'm looking to spruce up a bit to make it the best it can be!!

It seems to run ok but I wanna make sure its gonna last... and be better than it was intended.. plus I'll be looking to make music with it too!!

I've been looking through the exxos shop and there's a few bits i'd be looking to get :D

The Tos switcher... does anyone know if that comes with a tos chip? or would i need to program one myself? currently on 1.04 but definately interested in the later revisions..

I would also like the 1.44mb floppy thing... would that mean i could use any 1.44mb drive with the ste? and also how long a cable would i need? and would i need 2 for two floppy drives?

I'd love an UltraSatan too... what are the largest cards they support? and how could i use one with a second floppy drive?

is there capacitor kits to replace the originals as i know they can dry out/leak... and also how would i clean my board?

I would also like to shift it all out of its broken home into a 19" rack case... sort of... I've found a case that is stackable rather than being rail mounted... which gives the extra space the ste would need... as I'm looking to move ports and things firstly has anyone done something like this? how easy would they be to relocate?

Also I currently have 4mb ram installed... how do i fit a switch that makes it only 1mb for games?

any tips or other mod suggestions would be welcome!
User avatar
exxos
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 23488
Joined: Wed Aug 16, 2017 11:19 pm
Location: UK
Contact:

Re: List of planned upgrades.. Plus recasing....

Post by exxos »

Shugs81 wrote: Sat Jul 14, 2018 1:22 pm The Tos switcher... does anyone know if that comes with a tos chip? or would i need to program one myself? currently on 1.04 but definately interested in the later revisions..
The blue boards come with ROM the blacks ones don't, they are also assembled, the blue ones are not.
Shugs81 wrote: Sat Jul 14, 2018 1:22 pm I would also like the 1.44mb floppy thing... would that mean i could use any 1.44mb drive with the ste? a
You need a drive that can be modded, like the ones I list in my store.

Shugs81 wrote: Sat Jul 14, 2018 1:22 pm is there capacitor kits to replace the originals as i know they can dry out/leak...
PSU re-caps kits are also listed in my store for common PSUs.
https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/atari/ All my hardware guides - mods - games - STOS
https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/atari/store2/ - All my hardware mods for sale - Please help support by making a purchase.
viewtopic.php?f=17&t=1585 Have you done the Mandatory Fixes ?
Just because a lot of people agree on something, doesn't make it a fact. ~exxos ~
People should find solutions to problems, not find problems with solutions.
Shugs81
Posts: 33
Joined: Sat Jul 14, 2018 12:48 pm

Re: List of planned upgrades.. Plus recasing....

Post by Shugs81 »

Nice... Will definitely be getting one of them then!!!

I may have to start saving for my list!! 😁

I'm looking to refurbish everything I can to almost bring it back to new... But then add some more..

Cheers peeps!!
Shugs81
Posts: 33
Joined: Sat Jul 14, 2018 12:48 pm

Re: List of planned upgrades.. Plus recasing....

Post by Shugs81 »

Forgot to add the pic of Gem Bench... Does the red bar mean something bad??
vlcsnap-2018-07-14-11h43m57s209.png
vlcsnap-2018-07-14-11h43m57s209.png (369.03 KiB) Viewed 4587 times
User avatar
rubber_jonnie
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 10462
Joined: Thu Aug 17, 2017 7:40 pm
Location: Essex
Contact:

Re: List of planned upgrades.. Plus recasing....

Post by rubber_jonnie »

I can recommend the Dual TOS switcher upgrades, as I have two of them :) However, you will need to be adept at soldering to assemble the kit, so bear that in mind.

As for the 1.44Mb kit, there is a good amount of soldering work here too, and also the removal of the floppy controller chip from the mainboard.

It will give you the ability to use a 1.44Mb floppy disk drive and disks, however having had one of these and then later removed it, I'd say it is of very limited use these days, and you'd be much better off investing in a Gotek, which is a simple replacement for the floppy drive.

There is a bit of work to be done, in that you may need to do a small amount of soldering, as a lot of Goteks need a header adding to allow you to flash them, but certainly not as much work as the 1.44Mb floppy kit.

There's more Gotek info here: https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/forum/viewt ... f=12&t=593.

Other than that, look at the PSU, and either re-cap (More soldering required) or replace.

The 32Mhz booster is also good, but it's very difficult to do as you need to remove the socket for the CPU, and you could easily kill your STE unless you are very handy with a soldering iron.

Be patient though, as exxos is working on a new booster which will be plug in.

Good luck with your upgrades.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
Shugs81
Posts: 33
Joined: Sat Jul 14, 2018 12:48 pm

Re: List of planned upgrades.. Plus recasing....

Post by Shugs81 »

well... Nards....

It definately has Tos 1.04... as the copyright is only showing up to 89... http://www.atari.org/hosted/quickfaq/stfaq_1.htm#34 according to that anyway..

it has a blitter chip installed though... which i thought was an ste thing... and it seems to have a DMA chip...

How would i check if it's definately an ste???
Shugs81
Posts: 33
Joined: Sat Jul 14, 2018 12:48 pm

Re: List of planned upgrades.. Plus recasing....

Post by Shugs81 »

hmm...

according to this it is definately an ste... https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/forum/viewt ... f=51&t=506... phew... just has tos 1.04 on it for some reason...
User avatar
exxos
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 23488
Joined: Wed Aug 16, 2017 11:19 pm
Location: UK
Contact:

Re: List of planned upgrades.. Plus recasing....

Post by exxos »

According to GB6 you have TOS 1.06 in there which is early STE TOS.
https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/atari/ All my hardware guides - mods - games - STOS
https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/atari/store2/ - All my hardware mods for sale - Please help support by making a purchase.
viewtopic.php?f=17&t=1585 Have you done the Mandatory Fixes ?
Just because a lot of people agree on something, doesn't make it a fact. ~exxos ~
People should find solutions to problems, not find problems with solutions.
Shugs81
Posts: 33
Joined: Sat Jul 14, 2018 12:48 pm

Re: List of planned upgrades.. Plus recasing....

Post by Shugs81 »

OK.. It appears that I can't read! 😁

I must've read the 1.40 in the AES bit... Plus that other thing saying it was 1.04... Think I'm reading too much into stuff... And as I think I still need my posts moderating I'm getting a bit flappy...

I was a bit confused by it appearing to be 1.04 as I thought I'd read somewhere it didn't work on ste's...

Maybe I should just focus on one thing at a time... 😁

Might even try to sort my gotek out...
User avatar
exxos
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 23488
Joined: Wed Aug 16, 2017 11:19 pm
Location: UK
Contact:

Re: List of planned upgrades.. Plus recasing....

Post by exxos »

I've removed you from moderated users :)

Actually someone did try TOS104 on a STE last year and said it worked.. pointless as the STE Extra hardware would not work, but proved a point I guess.
https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/atari/ All my hardware guides - mods - games - STOS
https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/atari/store2/ - All my hardware mods for sale - Please help support by making a purchase.
viewtopic.php?f=17&t=1585 Have you done the Mandatory Fixes ?
Just because a lot of people agree on something, doesn't make it a fact. ~exxos ~
People should find solutions to problems, not find problems with solutions.
Post Reply

Return to “HARDWARE DISCUSSIONS”