I just bought a TT030!

[dhedberg]

I have an announcement to make! I just bought the dream machine from my childhood, an Atari TT030!
As I never thought I would buy one I've not followed the hardware add-on development for the Atari TT that carefully. I know briefly about the Storm (Fast-RAM), Thunder (IDE), and Lightning (USB) add-ons.

- Are these still available or am I too late to the game?
- The TT I bought has 2 MB ST-RAM and 16 MB TT-RAM. Would I have to take the TT-RAM out to fit Thunder or Lightning?
- Does the Storm card give any performance gain over the original 16MB TT-RAM card?
- The TT has an external ISA graphics card with some adapter for the VME bus. Is the card worth messing with? Is it worth anything? Does it work with all of the above mentioned add-ons? See picture of the card for details.
- Any other add-ons available that I should be aware of?

Would appreciate any help and forgive me for not being more up-to-date on the subject.

Thanks,
Daniel

[Atarieterno]

Congratulations! You already have the beast of Atari. You are invited to the user club on Facebook ("Atari TT users").
The graphics card is useless, so you must send it to me so that I recycle it conveniently ...
Of course, the VME card is a great complement, modernize your TT. Reinforcements for IDE, RAM TT and USB ports are also available.
Have you checked the battery?
Best regards.

[frank.lukas]

The Nova VME Graphiccard is a ATI MACH64 with 2MB. There is a option to upgrade the ISA card to 4MB. Driver are there -> https://silicon-heaven.org/atari/nova/

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[joska]

NOVA is the best graphics card for the TT, definitely worth having.

[Gaiyan]

I have an announcement to make! I just bought the dream machine from my childhood, an Atari TT030!
As I never thought I would buy one I've not followed the hardware add-on development for the Atari TT that carefully. I know briefly about the Storm (Fast-RAM), Thunder (IDE), and Lightning (USB) add-ons.

- Are these still available or am I too late to the game?
- The TT I bought has 2 MB ST-RAM and 16 MB TT-RAM. Would I have to take the TT-RAM out to fit Thunder or Lightning?
- Does the Storm card give any performance gain over the original 16MB TT-RAM card?
- The TT has an external ISA graphics card with some adapter for the VME bus. Is the card worth messing with? Is it worth anything? Does it work with all of the above mentioned add-ons? See picture of the card for details.
- Any other add-ons available that I should be aware of?

Would appreciate any help and forgive me for not being more up-to-date on the subject.

Thanks,
Daniel

Congrats!

- Thunder and Storm would replace the original TT-RAM. Lightning fit in the backside of the VME board.
- Storm gives a nice boost over stock. It is the fastest TT-RAM upgrade.
- You not only have the most sought after ISA card, the Mach64 as Frank said, it's the only Mach64 model that can be upgraded to 4MB. It's the holy grail. The ram upgrade is cheap on eBay.
- Join the TT FB group. You'll be amongst the first to get the latest addon news there. Exciting things coming.

Be sure to check my latest blog posts on the TT. You'll find them useful.

[wongck]

Congrats. Enjoy your TT

[lp]

NOVA is the best graphics card for the TT, definitely worth having.

Totally agree. Keep that Nova setup.

[Bama]

I have an announcement to make! I just bought the dream machine from my childhood, an Atari TT030!

Hooray! It could not have been adopted by a better guy! Sounds like a terrific addition to your computer family.

Please post some more pics now and more as you upgrade.

Smiles!

[arf]

Congrats!

- Are these still available or am I too late to the game?

New Thunder, Storm & Lightning boards are in the making.

- The TT I bought has 2 MB ST-RAM and 16 MB TT-RAM. Would I have to take the TT-RAM out to fit Thunder or Lightning?

Maybe your TT-RAM board blocks Lightning.

- Does the Storm card give any performance gain over the original 16MB TT-RAM card?

Yes. AFAIK about 10-15% when TT-RAM is used.

- The TT has an external ISA graphics card with some adapter for the VME bus. Is the card worth messing with? Is it worth anything? Does it work with all of the above mentioned add-ons? See picture of the card for details.

Yes. Yes. Yes.

- Any other add-ons available that I should be aware of?

For TT, you would’ve been maxed out for now, if you go for the trio.

[mikro]

- You not only have the most sought after ISA card, the Mach64 as Frank said, it's the only Mach64 model that can be upgraded to 4MB. It's the holy grail. The ram upgrade is cheap on eBay.

Guys, can you enlighten me in this area as well? How can you tell that it is upgradeable and how? I happen to have exactly this card (and Frank's adapter) but I have no clue how to upgrade it. This period of PC upgrades is totally outside my world, I had been using Ataris back then. :)

Even a link or some more detailed description would be fine. Quick googling didn't turn up anything useful.

[dhedberg]

Thanks for all the replies! I haven't actually received the computer yet. The seller will send it on Monday so I expect it to arrive sometime during next week. I signed up for another CosmosEx to be used for the TT, but will consider buying the Storm/Thunder/Lightning cards later when they become available again. Seems like great cards and thanks for the information arf! For now PARCP-USB and a UltraSatan (which I assume works with the TT) will have to do, I don't trust the original SCSI HDD.

Sounds like the external graphics card is a keeper. Will try and get hold of the 2MB upgrade module for it if I get it to work. The battery will need to be replaced for sure. Haven't decided about the PSU yet. What have you others done? Replaced the PSU? Recapped it? Nothing?

I've joined the TT Facebook group quite some time ago! Says a lot, doesn't it?
I'm sure I'll be facing a lot of pleasant challenges with the new computer, but it will receive lots of love and get the most attractive location on my desk! Right in front of me under the main monitor.

If people are interested I'll take some pictures of it once I receive it. Hopefully in good condition after the shipping. Asked the seller to pack it and protect it well.

Thanks,
Daniel

[dhedberg]

- You not only have the most sought after ISA card, the Mach64 as Frank said, it's the only Mach64 model that can be upgraded to 4MB. It's the holy grail. The ram upgrade is cheap on eBay.

Guys, can you enlighten me in this area as well? How can you tell that it is upgradeable and how? I happen to have exactly this card (and Frank's adapter) but I have no clue how to upgrade it. This period of PC upgrades is totally outside my world, I had been using Ataris back then.

Even a link or some more detailed description would be fine. Quick googling didn't turn up anything useful.

I think you can tell by just looking at the card itself. If it has the two sockets for the memory card it can be upgraded.

[dhedberg]

Hooray! It could not have been adopted by a better guy! Sounds like a terrific addition to your computer family.

Thanks for the kind words. It's not just going to sit on my desk. I plan on creating demos for it!

[susher]

You can play games on the TT too, though only with the internal graphics adapter.

Petari has worked hard on systems and fixes to allow games to run from the hard disk, and many run on the TT too.

Have a look here: http://atari.8bitchip.info/fromhd.php

[Wayne123]

Congratulations, I also hope to get one someday.

[DoG]

Aah. So it was you how outbid me. haha. Seems to be a great TT though.

I bought a battery from Conrad. Either buy a new holder or try to open the old one.

New fan for the PSU is surely needed, if that haven't been replaced yet.

[tenox]

SCSI2SD works really well with TT along with HXC floppy emulator. I placed mine both in the HDD bay.

[arf]

- You not only have the most sought after ISA card, the Mach64 as Frank said, it's the only Mach64 model that can be upgraded to 4MB. It's the holy grail. The ram upgrade is cheap on eBay.

Guys, can you enlighten me in this area as well? How can you tell that it is upgradeable and how? I happen to have exactly this card (and Frank's adapter) but I have no clue how to upgrade it. This period of PC upgrades is totally outside my world, I had been using Ataris back then.

The upgrade module is pictured in Lukas_Frank’s post. Currently I couldn’t find one on eBay, keep looking. Or browse electronic surplus stores.

[frank.lukas]

Take a look at the 4MB PCI cards with such upgrade module and compare the part number ...

[stormy]

Can a 2mb Mach64 without the upgrade slots be retrofitted with an extra 2mb somehow? Maybe by piggybacking the ram chips on top?

[frank.lukas]

Can a 2mb Mach64 without the upgrade slots be retrofitted with an extra 2mb somehow? Maybe by piggybacking the ram chips on top?

No, there are no Datasheets or Pinouts from the ATI MACH32 or MACH64 Chips at all.

[frank.lukas]

I read something that a ATI MACH32 Chip can handle 8MB from video ram max ...

[Gaiyan]

- You not only have the most sought after ISA card, the Mach64 as Frank said, it's the only Mach64 model that can be upgraded to 4MB. It's the holy grail. The ram upgrade is cheap on eBay.

Guys, can you enlighten me in this area as well? How can you tell that it is upgradeable and how? I happen to have exactly this card (and Frank's adapter) but I have no clue how to upgrade it. This period of PC upgrades is totally outside my world, I had been using Ataris back then.

Even a link or some more detailed description would be fine. Quick googling didn't turn up anything useful.

Only the cards with the upgrade slots are upgradable to 4MB. Here's a card on ebay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-ATI-Xclaim ... SwlzRajGUn

[frank.lukas]

... watchout for the part number! Not all cards fit!

[lp]

I have one these Mach64 ISA cards possibly with the add-on memory module. It was in a Hades system that arrived DOA. All I need is the VME adapter at some point for my TT030. CrazyDots II is nice, but limited to 1mb.