Atari st series computers conversion PC

[aacheron]

does anyone have a diagram for the pinout of the Mega keyboard lead ?

cheers

take a look at this website : http://old.pinouts.ru/Inputs/atari_mega ... nout.shtml
also, I'm pretty sure that it can be located circa page 7 of this thread

[wongck]

does anyone have a diagram for the pinout of the Mega keyboard lead ?

Can the Mega ST use a TT keyboard ?
I have a TT keyboard RJ11 pin out on my website, but remember this is the other way round.
http://phsw.110mb.com/hw-stkbd.html

[spiny]

ok, i have the mega keyboard attached like this:

Pin Description
1 +5V DC
2 +5V DC
3 Transmit Data
4 Receive Data
5 Ground
6 Ground

but it isn't -quite- working properly

i'm typing on it now and quite often key prees will be missed , as you can probably read here

back on win keyboard - it seems that some of the keypresses are 'missed' somehow, even if i type slowly. if i connect an ST keyboard, all is well. any ideas ?

is it due to there being no reset line ? or is the second 5v taking care of that ?

[aacheron]

ok, i have the mega keyboard attached like this:

Pin Description
1 +5V DC
2 +5V DC
3 Transmit Data
4 Receive Data
5 Ground
6 Ground

but it isn't -quite- working properly

i'm typing on it now and quite often key prees will be missed , as you can probably read here

back on win keyboard - it seems that some of the keypresses are 'missed' somehow, even if i type slowly. if i connect an ST keyboard, all is well. any ideas ?

is it due to there being no reset line ? or is the second 5v taking care of that ?

This can be dangerous :

Connect 5 and 6 (ground) to teensy ground, and try to power only one of the two +5V (pins 1 and 2) alternatively. Better if you disconnect the atari mouse.

[spiny]

yep, i have both grounds to teensy ground.

which +5 should i disconnect, does it matter ? (both are connected to vcc on teensy)

I just need to work this step out, then I can finish the enclosure for it all

edit: no atari mouse connected.

[joska]

i'm typing on it now and quite often key prees will be missed , as you can probably read here

back on win keyboard - it seems that some of the keypresses are 'missed' somehow, even if i type slowly. if i connect an ST keyboard, all is well. any ideas ?

Have you tested the keyboard on a real computer?

is it due to there being no reset line ? or is the second 5v taking care of that ?

There is no hardware reset on Mega/TT keyboards. Only software reset. The "second" 5v is the same as the first one, they are connected together internally in the Mega/TT.

You might want to compile the firmware without support for the reset-line.

[spiny]

cool, i'll check on my mega that the keyboard works properly, then try a recompile if needed

[aacheron]

cool, i'll check on my mega that the keyboard works properly, then try a recompile if needed

I think that user Majere has its mega-st keyb working with the teensy and joska code, he is a very kind person and i'm sure he could help you (my mega-st keyb was broken, but I can not remeber any problem with reset pin, but I'm sure I recompiled joska code without modifications). May be Majere had same problems that you are having...

[redhawk668]

Hello There,

I've been reading through this forum thread and it's given me the idea to do a conversion too, I still have some components lying around, and an empty Atari 1040 STE casing. I need to get a socket 775 mini itx board though,to use a dualcore Celeron E1500... Should give performance enough for Atari emulation... . The STE casing is completely empty, i.e. no keyboard, etc. Already got a keyboard from Ebay, so that's already sorted out. What I like to know, how do I mount the stuff in the Atari ST case? I will get myself one of those Teensy boards so I can convert the keyboard to usb... Therefore I will need pinouts and schematics, etc. Should be a nice challenge Will post pictures from the work in progress...

[gilles504]

hotglue is your friend

you can also use more conventional standoff like this one
http://www.kiatronics.com/media/catalog ... le_9_5.jpg

[spiny]

cool, i'll check on my mega that the keyboard works properly, then try a recompile if needed

I think that user Majere has its mega-st keyb working with the teensy and joska code, he is a very kind person and i'm sure he could help you (my mega-st keyb was broken, but I can not remeber any problem with reset pin, but I'm sure I recompiled joska code without modifications). May be Majere had same problems that you are having...

well, I was round my friends house this evening (GND, the coder in torment ) and I tested my teensy using one of his Mega keyboards and it worked perfectly. Even the mouse and joystick worked a treat, which was a little surprising So it could be my keyboard at fault, I will be stripping and cleaning it to make sure it's in as good condition as possible.

We alos scoured ebay for suitable mini itx boards for a 'pc in an st case' project and ordered some parts

[joska]

Even the mouse and joystick worked a treat, which was a little surprising

I guess the mouse worked by accident, because it really doesn't work properly. Some serial packets are lost and the whole thing becomes a mess which requires you to reset the Teensy.

Joystick works by emulating cursor keys. I can easily change this to emulate a real joystick if there's any interest in that.

[spiny]

Even the mouse and joystick worked a treat, which was a little surprising

I guess the mouse worked by accident, because it really doesn't work properly. Some serial packets are lost and the whole thing becomes a mess which requires you to reset the Teensy.

Joystick works by emulating cursor keys. I can easily change this to emulate a real joystick if there's any interest in that.

we tested it on Linux, not sure if that makes a difference ? but it did work really well, though we only used it for a few minutes

[joska]

This is interesting. I'm using Linux too but the mouse is not working correctly. After a little usage the adapter will miss a byte, and the stream from the mouse will incorrectly be interpreted as keypresses. If you have built the firmware yourself, which version of Teensyduino did you use? Maybe there is a bug in the rxtx library that has been fixed recently.

[spiny]

i'm using arduino 0023 I think

[redhawk668]

More components are coming in, my keyboard which I got from Ebay has arrived. It is in good condition, nice .. A 80 GB 2.5" SATA drive nicked from a HP laptop is going to be the harddrive and if I can fit it in the case, a slimline DVD/CDR drive. A 120 watt powersupply nicked from an old Tulip Pentium III system is going to power the system, should be enough power. It hasn't got a Pentium IV powersupply connector, but that can be easily added.... Now I need a mainboard, etc. and some mounting stuff to start working on it...

[spiny]

I just got one of these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/180776976728? ... 1423.l2649

and am currently 'fitting' it

atari-pc.jpg

I'm going to use a 'power brick' psu as the board came with a neat little 12v powersupply.

It looks like i'm also going to need low profile RAM so that the keyboard will fit properly ...

[redhawk668]

This is what I'm working on:

IMG_0243.JPG

IMG_0244.JPG

Soon I will get myself the motherboard and some other stuff and then I'm going to put the stuff together

[wongck]

Is that a STE or Falcon you gutted?

[31336haxx0r]

Judging from the case's colour it's an STE.

[Shredder11]

...and the large external floppy connector port hole!

[wongck]

what I mean that it's a waste to do that to a STE.
A ST/STFM is OK.

[redhawk668]

what I mean that it's a waste to do that to a STE.
A ST/STFM is OK.

Well, the insides of this STE are now in another case, this one is badly yellowed and showing signs of heavy use. I got a good looking case of Ebay and I've put the whole machine in this case, because it is better looking and still has the Atari badge on it. This one doesn't anymore, so it was completely empty and I decided to do a conversion on this case and give it a nice paintjob.... The STE is now getting a slight mod in its video circuit, so I can connect it to 17" TFT VGA monitor through a video to VGA adapter... My father is doing this mod for me, as my soldering skills are not so great Well, my soldering skills are more like soldering a wire or two, besides I don't own a professional soldering iron, my father does...

[wongck]

Well, the insides of this STE are now in another case, this one is badly yellowed and showing signs of heavy use..

[redhawk668]

And to add something more, the STE is getting a checkup on it's motherboard for loose connections so it will function as new... At this moment it sometimes 'bombs out' with 2 bombs or sometimes 4 bombs on screen, sometimes it doesn't want to boot... It just shows a white rolling screen, I think something is loose and needs some resoldering, so that's taken care of