SDrive-MAX

The SDrive-MAX is an Arduino-based floppy disk and tape emulator for the Atari 8-bit range of computers. The SDrive-MAX allows you to read and write ATR and CAS files on real Atari hardware as if they were real disks and cassettes.

With SDrive-MAX you can load executable XEX files as if they were on read-only boot disks, and you can match the timing of the 810 and 1050 floppy drives, allowing you to load copy-protected ATX stream copied disks. SDrive-MAX software is still under active development.

The history of SDrive-MAX

In 2008, Bob!k (Robert Petru?ela) and Raster (Radek ?t?rba) from CPU, created the original SDrive. That year it won the Abbuc hardware competition and the schematics, source code and designs were made public. This spurred the creation of a couple of improved versions; the SDrive-NUXX in 2009 by c0nsumer, the SDrive Micro in 2012 by santosp, the SDrive-NG in 2014 by kbr and the SDrive2 in 2017 by alsp. The SDrive-NG led to the creation of the SDrive-MAX in 2017 by kbr.

• Original SDrive
• SDrive-NUXX in 2009 by c0nsumer
• SDrive Micro in 2012 by santosp
• SDrive-NG in 2014 by kbr and
• SDrive² in 2017 by alsp
• The SDrive-NG led to the creation of the SDrive-MAX in 2017 by kbr.

Use of SDrive-MAX

The SDrive-MAX can be controlled by the touch screen of the device or directly on the Atari. By default "D0:" is enabled, this will cause the Atari to boot to the SDrive menu.

To make use of the Sdrive you need to have the file atr on the root of your SD card.

Order of files on the SD card

When you add your ATR, XEX and CAS files to the SDrive-MAX microSD card, the order in which they are added to the card is the order in which they will appear in the menus; SDrive-MAX does not sort the file names. If you want to get your list of files in alphabetical order, you can use a tool called FATSort, which works on Linux/Mac and can be found here, Mac users using Homebrew can simply enter brew install fatsort in a terminal window. There is a Windows program called DriveSort that does something similar available here.

Controlling the SDrive-Max from the touch screen.

Here are all the buttons you can press on the touch screen interface.

Controlling the SDrive-Max from the Atari

It is possible to control almost every aspect of the SDrive-MAX from the Atari's menu program. If you are powering your SDrive-MAX from your Atari, and your Atari does not have a mod installed that you can reset without cutting power, it is the only way to boot from a disk into the SDrive-MAX without saving your settings using the "SaveIm" button in Cfg.

There are more functions that you can access from the SDrive menu, I have tried to include all the most used ones, if you want to know the rest of the options, please see the original SDrive documentation here.

It has been discovered that there is a bug in the sdrive.atr image menu that makes the "Find" function not work on the Atari 800 series, it was written for XL/XE machines and the key table is different. Here is a fixed version for Atari 800 users, just replace the sdrive.atr in the root of your microSD card with this one.

sdrive.atr

SDrive-MAX operation video

Loading a disc with SDrive-MAX

Tap the disc icon in one of the empty slots on the drive and find the disc you want to load in the file chooser. The disc will be added, activated and marked as D1.

Add any other disks in the same way, they will all become the active disk as you add them, so make sure you tap the boot disk in the middle of the line to make it D1 when you're done. Now just turn on your Atari and it should boot from D1. Remember that many programs require BASIC to be disabled; if yours is, you'll need to hold down the option button while you turn on the Atari.

Powering up the Atari

Turn on your Atari and wait for it to boot into the SDrive-MAX menu. Tap the disk icon in one of the empty slots on the drive and find the disk you want to load in the file chooser. The disk will be added, activated and marked as D1. Add any other disks in the same way, they will all become the active disk as you add them, so be sure to tap the boot disk in the middle of the line to make it D1 when you are done. Now hit Reset on your Atari and it should boot from D1. Remember that many programs require BASIC to be disabled; if yours is, you'll need to hold down the Option button while pressing Reset.

Loading a cassette into SDrive-MAX

Make sure that all disk drives are disabled, some cassettes will not load if a disk drive is present. Press the "Tape:" button and select the CAS file you wish to load. Press and hold the start button on your Atari while turning it on; if you need to disable BASIC, press and hold that option as well. The Atari will turn on and make a noise of burpWhen you do so, press any key on the Atari and press the Start button on the SDrive-MAX. If the cassette is a multi-stage load cassette, you will have to pay attention to the message to load the next stage, as the SDrive-MAX does not have a motor control line, so it cannot automatically stop/start the tape.

Powering up the Atari

Turn on your Atari and wait for it to boot into the SDrive-MAX menu. Make sure all disk drives are disabled, some cassettes will not load if a disk drive is present. Press the "Tape:" button and select the CAS file you want to load. Press and hold the Home button on your Atari while pressing Reset; if you need to disable BASIC, press and hold that option as well. The Atari will reboot and make a noise. burpWhen you do so, press any key on the Atari and press the Start button on the SDrive-MAX. If the cassette is a multi-stage load cassette, you will have to pay attention to the message to load the next stage, as the SDrive-MAX does not have a motor control line, so it cannot automatically stop/start the tape.

SDrive-MAX project information

• Raster/Bob!k?s Original SDrive HW/SW package
• Raster/Bob!k?s Original SDrive photos
• Raster/Bob!k?s Original SDrive manual
• Raster/Bob!k?s Original SDrive SIO commands list
• SDrive-MAX's page on the Atari Wiki
• SDrive-MAX's GitHub Repo
• The main discussion at atariage
• The main discussion at abbuc
• The main discussion at atarionline
• The main discussion at forum64

Article assembled by jgilcas