Built one with the 6 wire usb serial using the CTS (blue lead). This thing really works!! Don't need the AtariMAX serial cable anymore. Using AspeQT, so Sweet! Thanks for all the helpful posts folks!! PS, the Atari SIO cable I used as the Atari side of things had non-standard color coding, and I had to meter each pin to verify correct pin-outs.
BEFORE you go and destroy an SIO cable and USB cable, please note that video DOES NOT tell you that the USB side of HIS cable HAS an FTDI chip in it. Just merging the 2 cables WILL NOT work. Thanks to Retro System Rescue's comments below, I was able to decipher what was REALLY going on here and why my own cable did not work. Back to my original SIO2PC serial connection. This works fine, but wanted to try straight up USB to SIO as the video showed to test for speed.
if you don't understand anything about computers and wires, then why are you trying to do something yourself? And if you understand, the author clearly and unambiguously said that "Serial USB cable" is needed, which leaves no chance for understanding this video as "twist two cables with wires".
In 2021 I bought from alibaba to US: a 10-pk of USB to RS-232 (but just uses HL-340 so it's TTL levels good for SIO) and only paid about $2 ea (was listed 0.80 ea for ten). Obviously you should find out what you're doing first because it's a simple thing but needs the right hardware, usb driver, and wiring to adapt. Often it's not worth destroying a good SIO cable, they are worth more intact than for this purpose.
@@BellaLugoshi Hey genius, ALL the things that I've done with electronics, Atari's & Amiga's and wiring that I've long forgotten, YOU'LL NEVER LEARN... I totally understand the video and its intellectual short comings. I'm preventing innocent unknowledgeable people who don't know what is really needed from needlessly destroying a cable they need....
IT WORKED FOR ME!!!! I really don't believe it! Thank you so much!! I didn't want to have to spend tons of money connecting my Atari 800 to my PC and this really works well!!!!
Only just seen this, this is a great idea. I hate to cut my Atari lead, but to load up software I think it's worth it. This is an old video, so I hope I can find the software. Thanks for sharing!!!
I built one of these, and it does indeed work, but a few points I'll make from my experience. 1. Soldering was still necessary. The wires in the SIO cable were not sturdy enough to go into the slots on the USB cable. I soldered some male type breadboard jumper wires to the 3 wires and used those to make a connection. Not everyone's experience may be the same. Aligator clips could also work, but soldering will get you the cleanest connection, and the most reliable loading. 2. Does not work under Linux. It took me a while to figure out why, but ultimately I found in the documentation for Aspeqt that it does not support USB mode in Linux, so have Windows PC available. Fortunately my laptop is Windows 10, and that worked. 3. There are lots of SIO2PC software options, but only Aspeqt actually worked. I had to set it to no handshake mode to get the machines to talk to each other, and of the software I've tried, only Aspeqt had that mode. I'm suspecting a 4th wire might have been needed for handshaking. In any event only Aspeqt works for me, but hey it does work. 4. You may have to try different com ports in your settings. I've found Windows will usually assign the SIO2PC USB to the next available com port after everything else you already have installed. In my case that was COM4. Try counting the number of devices connected to figure it out and keep trying different ports until it's detected. It should eventually work.
Cool. I'm going to do this for sure. For not too much more, a bag of assorted shrink tubing would probably be better than electrical tape. Also, soldering wires will help those accidental tugs not separate. Of course, this would exceed that $6 but then again, you also had to purchase wire strippers and cutters so what's a few extra bucks.
if you have steady hands you can use a small sharp knife to cut the wires, or you can connect the USB to Serial directly to the SIO PORT (to the appropriate pins).
Yea, I can appreciate that you're trying to stick to the $6 target but in the end, you're probably only saving yourself $20 dollars. Also, you wouldn't be getting the best end product as one would if they just invested in the appropriate tools. Let's face it, in our retro world, soldering irons and wire strippers get used more than once. I actually do like your idea of forgoing the splicing and just connecting the USB cable right to the SIO but I think with the shrink tubing, either way would look professional enough.
Wow I got this to work. In RepecQt for Windows I had to change a setting to get it to load a disk image: Tools-->Options: Handshake Method: None. That is for a USB to serial adapter that is not FTDI with a CTS connection.
it would be good if you listed what each wire for each cable (SIO2 and USB) is (eg 5v, ground, data), just so if you have a cable that DOESN'T match your spec, you can still figure out which wires to connect.
i did posted in the notes below, here it is again Atari SIO Black wire to Serial to USB Black wire (this is GND signal - Atari SIO Pin4 ) Atari SIO Green wire to Serial to USB White wire (this is TXD signal - Atari SIO Pin5) Atari SIO Orange wire to Serial to USB Green wire (this is RXD signa - Atari SIO Pin3)
in 3 is RXD, Pin 5 is TXD, See here: ftp.pigwa.net/stuff/collections/atari_forever/Extension/Pinouts%20-%20Atari/ATARI%208-Bit%20Pin-outs%20(and%20more)_files/sio.gif
I know this is old, but to help clear this up: SIO Pin 3 is Atari data in: connect to PC TXD SIO Pin 5 is Atari data out: connect to PC RXD SIO Pin 4 is Atari gnd: connect to PC gnd SIO Pin 7 is Atari "command": connect to PC CTS (optional) and another variation of this cable can be used to connect an Atari disk drive to a PC; look at the Atariage forum post for that.
I found two black wires in my SIO cables. So do you have a pin-out of which pins go where? I also don't want to ruin my SIO cables since I only have 2, but it have a lot of peripherals. I'd like to make a male SIO connector to a male USB type A connector and not sacrifice an SIO cable.
Hello... i tryed to make my own, but when i try to boot the Atari with rs232 connected, it results with blank screen of the Atari. Any idea? Thanks a lot. Jakub
HI !!! i need help for a SIO to Usb i have Sio and my windows 10 its faild conection or i need chips FTDI ? or any driver? ty for you help i have 800xl atari and Sio to USB
am i using the wrong usb cable, is that a special usb type cable, or a FTDI usb cable with the inline micro chip . the PC cannot see the usb when plugged in ?
Do I need an SIO cable? Cannot I just plug the Green, White and Black USB wires directly to the 3, 5 and 4 Pins in the Atari? Because that's what I did, and even though it sounds as I turn ON the 800xl, It doesn't do anything when I just plug the cable, meaning that the SIO cable must have some components inside, also (with the Atari ON it tries to install drivers but is not possible, it says Unknows Device and stays like that) Well so maybe there's something inside the SIO, Is this true? If so, can you please point me to a page with schematics of this cable or Unscrew one and tell what resistors or pieces do I have to get? In my country is very hard to buy those cables even though they seem very cheap and available anywhere else... Please, and thanks in advance!
yes you can connect directly but be cearful and make sure you are connecting to the correct pins on the SIO port, look down in this thread you will find the correct SIO pins
This looks good, unfortunately it isn't what I need. I have a bunch of Atari 800XL disks (some are Flippy disks) that I want to get my old games programs etc, that I wrote, out of and on to a PC. I no longer have the Atari disk drive, but do have a 40/80 track BBC drive. Is it possible to use this to read the disks to a PC?
its going to be difficult to do what you ask with the equipment you have the ATARI drive format is not standard and cannot be read with other hardware, there is a tool for the PC called ANADISK that read ATARI XF551 180K formatted disks,, but yours probably 90k or 130k format.. even with the KYROFLUX device, that cost much more you need to hard mod it to allow back up of SIDE B.. The best solution is to contact someone in your area with ATARI DISK drive and meet him to port your floppies to .ATR files that will load on the PC
With this setup (cable and software), does it also transfer from an Atari disk drive to PC? I'm looking to rescue some programs I had written as a kid.
Well, I have got USB cable, made SIO2PC-USB version but Atari is booting to the Self Test not mounted D1. Also your description of wire connection is different than from the USB cable description which is Red wire： 5V Black wire： GND White wire： RXD Green wire： TXD Yellow wire： RTS Blue wire： CTS Any clue what can be wrong in my case?
first after you plug the USB cable to the PC check that the hardware was detected (in the control panel => hardware devices) and confirm which COM port it has received. on your USB cable you only need to connect the Back, Green & White wire.. no need for the other wires.. check again in the webpage where you bought the cable.. the Write White should be RXD and Green TXD if they are reversed swap their conneciton
Yes, Windows is dedecting FTDI Serial USB on COM3 so I have set it in the RespeQt. I may try to switch wires for RXD and TXD to see if this will helps.
The problem is that in the video he uses WIRE COLORS and sometimes they change the colors depending on the manufacturer, it should have been done with SIO pin numbers (pinout) and GND, Data In, Data Out in the USB side... anyways...
Thanks for this link! I had no effing clue where to find the cable or the pinouts to make the cable. The 13thleader site is great! I found the cable on ebay for under $5 CAD so this is great. Just have to chop into a SIO cable though....
I can boot from it eg. SpartaDOS 3.2f but I lose connection it to it along the way. Not many settings to play with here. Currently my COM3 settings are NONE for Handshaking and 19200 baud rate, 8, None,1.
This custom cable is missing extra handshaking wires that are required for UltraSpeed operation. SpartaDOS loads an UltraSpeed handler as it boots, so it probably dies when it tries to negotiate that protocol with the SIO2PC host PC... You could try going into the settings and setting the "complete/error response delay" up to μs and see if that helps...
@@RyanGoolevitch Thanks for the info, makes sense. Have added 4th wire USB Blue to SIO pin 7. Seems to have helped (note I have a 1050 Disk Drive hooked up as well). Curious when booting Atari DOS 2.5, how does one leave the menu to go to a D1: prompt?
@@markmoore8642 Atari DOS is "menu only" - everything has to be done using the menu options. There are other DOS's that work with a command prompt, the most popular being SpartaDOS, but there were earlier examples like OS A+ (ported from the Apple II), DOS XE, and BiboDOS from europe.
Wait a minute.. this is NOT a direct ISO to USB, the USB cable is actually a serial port. So couldn't I just use my old Atari 850 to connect to my PC??
Yes, you need to connect your disk drive to the Atari computer, and the SIO2PC-USB will connect to the disk drive and the PC computer, then just load a disk copy tool. mount an empty ATR file to drive two and do a copy from D1 to D2
Atari SIO Black wire to Serial to USB Black wire (this is GND signal) Atari SIO Green wire to Serial to USB White wire (this is TXD signal) Atari SIO Orange wire to Serial to USB Green wire (this is RXD signal)
The standard USB wire color is white is Data- and Green is Data+. Since The Modern Atari 8bit computer is saying "RXD" is green wire and atari8 warez says SIO PIn 5 is data send from Atari to PC RXD, that should mean: SIO Pin 3: Data receive from PC TXD to Atari -> USB Data- (white) SIO Pin 4 or Pin 6: Ground from Atari to PC -> USB GND (black) SIO Pin 5: Data send From Atari to PC RXD -> USB Data+ (green) We don't seem to be using the USB +5V (red) so that SIO Pin 7: Command line from Atari to PC handshaking DSR/CTS or RI hasn't been shown to be used. I'm still skeptical that this would work safely without some additional electronics.
Oops I used a picture as a reference downloaded off the internet and it said the opposite Usb data+ White and Usb data- was Green, So I connected Green to pin 3, black to 4 and white to 5... I wonder if that was why it didn't work connecting it straight to the Atari's port pins... but now checking other pinout images it says as you pointed out... tomorrow I'll give a try! thanks
You can build such cable and connect it to a an ATARI 1050 drive that is linked to a computer, then use the RESPEQT tool on a Windows PC machine, and with a sector copy tool copy your software to a newly created ATR files
Dobrý den Mám Atari 800xe a sehnal jsem tento kabel www.dx.com/p/hl-340-usb-to-rs232-serial-port-adapter-cable-green-silver-80cm-150345#.WjF9E0le7IU nefunguje mi to muže to být kabelem? děkuju za odpověď
Je to tím kabelem. Aby to fungovalo, potřebuješ usb/serial převodník s čipem FTDI. Kabel v tom videu není jenom kabel s usb konektorem, ale v tom usb konektoru je převodník FTDI 232rl. Takže kabel třeba tento: www.dx.com/p/6pin-ftdi-ft232rl-usb-to-serial-adapter-module-usb-to-ttl-rs232-cable-2079692#.XUw_qegzaUk nebo www.aliexpress.com/item/1858974923.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.819821b6TsK8DG&algo_pvid=310d8d55-6247-45c4-8b87-89043887058f&algo_expid=310d8d55-6247-45c4-8b87-89043887058f-0&btsid=da36bb41-83a5-4300-a96c-054f8397d3c9&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_1,searchweb201603_53
How does this even work when you have no drive in windows to recognize the usb? Its fascinating that you got it to work but you just totally gloss over how.
Correct but since you are wiring a usb cable directly to the sio cable you have to have some drive on the pc side to handle the communication. When I did exactly as you show here windows just balked at the cable and never allowed me to access it via respect. So you have to have some driver somewhere or other step that turns that plain usb to sio cable into a com port that windows will access.
the cable has an FTDI chip inside which does the RS232 to TTL conversion on modern computer once you plug the cable to the USB port automatically the driver will be installed and activated from windows repository
Yep. I just destroyed a usb rs232 adapter because I found this out too late. Oh well, theyrr cheap, my fault for not doing more research but man..That's some important info you left out. People might destroy valuable hardware if you give out vague DIY instructions. I thought I just wire usb straight into the Atari Lol
Anyone use SIO2PC with RespeQt on their 800xl? im having problems with saving and loading my own basic files. while loading games works fine I cant save anything or load anything from a mounted folder. I can list its content in both Dos 2.5 v4 and Picodos... I'm thinking maybe a setting issue with baud rate or other. Anyone run into this? heeeelp
just cutting existing ones in half won't exactly do the trick. most of them say 'molex' on it yet finding an order number for those things (as in the connectors seperately) has always been a problem. and not just for us. lol. crappy propriotory plugs. sometimes atari had a rather high 'nintendo' factor to it.
@@RiksVids no one has ever referred to the Atari computer as a PC, even though they are personal computers. It's simply an Atari 8-bit Computer, or an Atari (model).
This cable does not use the FTDI Chip in it, it use the PL2303.. i tried those and my experience with the PL2303 is that they do not work well in this application (that require reliable high speed communication).. you can get a cheaper Usb to Serial adapter that is FTDI Chip based for around 2$, but you will need to do some soldering here - www.ebay.com/itm/FT232RL-3-3V-5-5V-FTDI-USB-to-TTL-Serial-Adapter-Module-for-Arduino-Mini-Port-/381374421597?hash=item58cbafda5d:g:jk8AAOSwrklVMjIp
@@TheModernAtari8bitcomputer Hello, I want to use the Ft232rl 3.3 V 5.5 v Ftdi Usb To Ttl Adapter, I can get the SIO connector but I would be missing the cable, what type of cable should I use? or can I use a CAT6 network cable? Thanks in advance
Built one with the 6 wire usb serial using the CTS (blue lead). This thing really works!! Don't need the AtariMAX serial cable anymore. Using AspeQT, so Sweet! Thanks for all the helpful posts folks!! PS, the Atari SIO cable I used as the Atari side of things had non-standard color coding, and I had to meter each pin to verify correct pin-outs.
Can you provide the connections you made?
BEFORE you go and destroy an SIO cable and USB cable, please note that video DOES NOT tell you that the USB side of HIS cable HAS an FTDI chip in it. Just merging the 2 cables WILL NOT work. Thanks to Retro System Rescue's comments below, I was able to decipher what was REALLY going on here and why my own cable did not work. Back to my original SIO2PC serial connection. This works fine, but wanted to try straight up USB to SIO as the video showed to test for speed.
if you don't understand anything about computers and wires, then why are you trying to do something yourself? And if you understand, the author clearly and unambiguously said that "Serial USB cable" is needed, which leaves no chance for understanding this video as "twist two cables with wires".
In 2021 I bought from alibaba to US: a 10-pk of USB to RS-232 (but just uses HL-340 so it's TTL levels good for SIO) and only paid about $2 ea (was listed 0.80 ea for ten). Obviously you should find out what you're doing first because it's a simple thing but needs the right hardware, usb driver, and wiring to adapt.
Often it's not worth destroying a good SIO cable, they are worth more intact than for this purpose.
He quite clearly says it's a USB to serial cable.
@@BellaLugoshi Hey genius, ALL the things that I've done with electronics, Atari's & Amiga's and wiring that I've long forgotten, YOU'LL NEVER LEARN... I totally understand the video and its intellectual short comings. I'm preventing innocent unknowledgeable people who don't know what is really needed from needlessly destroying a cable they need....
I love your channel because you’re breathing new life into Atari computers. Great video and keep doing the AWESOME job you are doing.
IT WORKED FOR ME!!!! I really don't believe it! Thank you so much!! I didn't want to have to spend tons of money connecting my Atari 800 to my PC and this really works well!!!!
Only just seen this, this is a great idea. I hate to cut my Atari lead, but to load up software I think it's worth it.
This is an old video, so I hope I can find the software.
Thanks for sharing!!!
your videos makes me happy that I did not get rid of my old Atari 800 and upgraded Atari 800XL. :3 Thanks!!
I built one of these, and it does indeed work, but a few points I'll make from my experience.
1. Soldering was still necessary. The wires in the SIO cable were not sturdy enough to go into the slots on the USB cable. I soldered some male type breadboard jumper wires to the 3 wires and used those to make a connection. Not everyone's experience may be the same. Aligator clips could also work, but soldering will get you the cleanest connection, and the most reliable loading.
2. Does not work under Linux. It took me a while to figure out why, but ultimately I found in the documentation for Aspeqt that it does not support USB mode in Linux, so have Windows PC available. Fortunately my laptop is Windows 10, and that worked.
3. There are lots of SIO2PC software options, but only Aspeqt actually worked. I had to set it to no handshake mode to get the machines to talk to each other, and of the software I've tried, only Aspeqt had that mode. I'm suspecting a 4th wire might have been needed for handshaking. In any event only Aspeqt works for me, but hey it does work.
4. You may have to try different com ports in your settings. I've found Windows will usually assign the SIO2PC USB to the next available com port after everything else you already have installed. In my case that was COM4. Try counting the number of devices connected to figure it out and keep trying different ports until it's detected. It should eventually work.
good points!!!, i tried to limit the info to make it straight forward to explain
@@TheModernAtari8bitcomputer Pin this please. It is important info.
Works great! Thanks for the vid!
Is the SIO connector sold anywhere? I don't fancy cutting a floppy drive cable...
Thx so much for this! Got mine up and running.
Cool. I'm going to do this for sure.
For not too much more, a bag of assorted shrink tubing would probably be better than electrical tape. Also, soldering wires will help those accidental tugs not separate. Of course, this would exceed that $6 but then again, you also had to purchase wire strippers and cutters so what's a few extra bucks.
if you have steady hands you can use a small sharp knife to cut the wires, or you can connect the USB to Serial directly to the SIO PORT (to the appropriate pins).
Yea, I can appreciate that you're trying to stick to the $6 target but in the end, you're probably only saving yourself $20 dollars. Also, you wouldn't be getting the best end product as one would if they just invested in the appropriate tools. Let's face it, in our retro world, soldering irons and wire strippers get used more than once.
I actually do like your idea of forgoing the splicing and just connecting the USB cable right to the SIO but I think with the shrink tubing, either way would look professional enough.
Wow I got this to work. In RepecQt for Windows I had to change a setting to get it to load a disk image: Tools-->Options: Handshake Method: None. That is for a USB to serial adapter that is not FTDI with a CTS connection.
good point
Totally going to build one of these. Thanks!
Todd's Nerd Cave Me too! I gave up looking for cheap tape and floppy drives. I'll probably make a straight RS232 serial to SIO cable too
it would be good if you listed what each wire for each cable (SIO2 and USB) is (eg 5v, ground, data), just so if you have a cable that DOESN'T match your spec, you can still figure out which wires to connect.
i did posted in the notes below, here it is again
Atari SIO Black wire to Serial to USB Black wire (this is GND signal - Atari SIO Pin4 )
Atari SIO Green wire to Serial to USB White wire (this is TXD signal - Atari SIO Pin5)
Atari SIO Orange wire to Serial to USB Green wire (this is RXD signa - Atari SIO Pin3)
That is wrong - it should be
SIO Pin 3 == TXD
SIO Pin 4 == GND
SIO Pin 5 == RXD
SIP Pin 7 == CTS (optional)
in 3 is RXD, Pin 5 is TXD, See here: ftp.pigwa.net/stuff/collections/atari_forever/Extension/Pinouts%20-%20Atari/ATARI%208-Bit%20Pin-outs%20(and%20more)_files/sio.gif
And that configuration wasn't working for me but that one was: atariage.com/forums/topic/242526-cheap-but-effective/?p=3525401
I know this is old, but to help clear this up:
SIO Pin 3 is Atari data in: connect to PC TXD
SIO Pin 5 is Atari data out: connect to PC RXD
SIO Pin 4 is Atari gnd: connect to PC gnd
SIO Pin 7 is Atari "command": connect to PC CTS (optional)
and another variation of this cable can be used to connect an Atari disk drive to a PC; look at the Atariage forum post for that.
I found two black wires in my SIO cables. So do you have a pin-out of which pins go where?
I also don't want to ruin my SIO cables since I only have 2, but it have a lot of peripherals. I'd like to make a male SIO connector to a male USB type A connector and not sacrifice an SIO cable.
Could this be used to write downloaded software to real floppies using the 1050 drive?
Wow! Thanks a lot for the information
Awesome video!!
Can you please make a video on how to make a SCART to DB9 cable for the Sophia? Many people are confused in the Sophia thread on Atari Age.
I made a different cable for my SCART Sophia, I used a MINIDIN 8 connector to fit the RF hole and built a cable for that
Thanks very informative video for the beginner that I am :)
Are the wire colors on both cables always the same regardless of the manufacturer?
no, each manufacture use different color, look at the pin assignment at the top of this thread
Hello... i tryed to make my own, but when i try to boot the Atari with rs232 connected, it results with blank screen of the Atari. Any idea? Thanks a lot. Jakub
HI !!! i need help for a SIO to Usb i have Sio and my windows 10 its faild conection or i need chips FTDI ? or any driver? ty for you help i have 800xl atari and Sio to USB
am i using the wrong usb cable, is that a special usb type cable, or a FTDI usb cable with the inline micro chip . the PC cannot see the usb when plugged in ?
You need an FTDI cable.
Vary nice. You do not use RI ? What is the maximum speed?
AspeQT is slightly faster than RespeQT.
No, i am not using RI or CTS and can get 57600bps
Do I need an SIO cable? Cannot I just plug the Green, White and Black USB wires directly to the 3, 5 and 4 Pins in the Atari? Because that's what I did, and even though it sounds as I turn ON the 800xl, It doesn't do anything when I just plug the cable, meaning that the SIO cable must have some components inside, also (with the Atari ON it tries to install drivers but is not possible, it says Unknows Device and stays like that) Well so maybe there's something inside the SIO, Is this true? If so, can you please point me to a page with schematics of this cable or Unscrew one and tell what resistors or pieces do I have to get? In my country is very hard to buy those cables even though they seem very cheap and available anywhere else... Please, and thanks in advance!
yes you can connect directly but be cearful and make sure you are connecting to the correct pins on the SIO port, look down in this thread you will find the correct SIO pins
Do those red and green and orange wires have names and numbers?
This looks good, unfortunately it isn't what I need.
I have a bunch of Atari 800XL disks (some are Flippy disks) that I want to get my old games programs etc, that I wrote, out of and on to a PC.
I no longer have the Atari disk drive, but do have a 40/80 track BBC drive. Is it possible to use this to read the disks to a PC?
its going to be difficult to do what you ask with the equipment you have the ATARI drive format is not standard and cannot be read with other hardware, there is a tool for the PC called ANADISK that read ATARI XF551 180K formatted disks,, but yours probably 90k or 130k format.. even with the KYROFLUX device, that cost much more you need to hard mod it to allow back up of SIDE B.. The best solution is to contact someone in your area with ATARI DISK drive and meet him to port your floppies to .ATR files that will load on the PC
Is it safe to connect a serial port directly to USB? If so, why do USB serial cables have electronics?
With this setup (cable and software), does it also transfer from an Atari disk drive to PC? I'm looking to rescue some programs I had written as a kid.
yes it can, you simply create a new .ATR file on the PC and copy your software to that file
Good tutorial, but you could have explain the signal of the wires you used on the SIO cable, instead of the Colors of the wires !
Is it regular USB cable or a special one? like USB to TTL?
correct, its a USB to TTL cable that based on the FDTI chip (you can get one for 4$ or so on ebay, Amazon or Ali Express
where are these links you said that you were going to share ?
the links are below in the discussion thread of this video
Well, I have got USB cable, made SIO2PC-USB version but Atari is booting to the Self Test not mounted D1.
Also your description of wire connection is different than from the USB cable description which is
Red wire： 5V
Black wire： GND
White wire： RXD
Green wire： TXD
Yellow wire： RTS
Blue wire： CTS
Any clue what can be wrong in my case?
first after you plug the USB cable to the PC check that the hardware was detected (in the control panel => hardware devices) and confirm which COM port it has received.
on your USB cable you only need to connect the Back, Green & White wire.. no need for the other wires.. check again in the webpage where you bought the cable.. the Write White should be RXD and Green TXD if they are reversed swap their conneciton
Yes, Windows is dedecting FTDI Serial USB on COM3 so I have set it in the RespeQt. I may try to switch wires for RXD and TXD to see if this will helps.
It came up that connections are wrong.
SIO Pin 3 == TXD
SIO Pin 4 == GND
SIO Pin 5 == RXD
SIP Pin 7 == CTS (optional)
The problem is that in the video he uses WIRE COLORS and sometimes they change the colors depending on the manufacturer, it should have been done with SIO pin numbers (pinout) and GND, Data In, Data Out in the USB side... anyways...
Thanks..
Can I use a USB PL2303HX cable? since you only need SIO TXD, GND and RXD? Or is FTDI cable the only that works?
i did try the PL2303 chip with no luck the software works better with FTDI
Thank you for your answer!
nice and good instructions
More info on how to build this cable at
twitter.com/AtariSTguy/status/1222203828084400133
or
13leader.net
Thanks for this link! I had no effing clue where to find the cable or the pinouts to make the cable. The 13thleader site is great!
I found the cable on ebay for under $5 CAD so this is great. Just have to chop into a SIO cable though....
Can I get a link to that particular USB serial cable?
here it is: www.ebay.com/itm/111241824248?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
I can boot from it eg. SpartaDOS 3.2f but I lose connection it to it along the way. Not many settings to play with here. Currently my COM3 settings are NONE for Handshaking and 19200 baud rate, 8, None,1.
This custom cable is missing extra handshaking wires that are required for UltraSpeed operation. SpartaDOS loads an UltraSpeed handler as it boots, so it probably dies when it tries to negotiate that protocol with the SIO2PC host PC... You could try going into the settings and setting the "complete/error response delay" up to μs and see if that helps...
@@RyanGoolevitch Thanks for the info, makes sense. Have added 4th wire USB Blue to SIO pin 7. Seems to have helped (note I have a 1050 Disk Drive hooked up as well). Curious when booting Atari DOS 2.5, how does one leave the menu to go to a D1: prompt?
@@markmoore8642 Atari DOS is "menu only" - everything has to be done using the menu options. There are other DOS's that work with a command prompt, the most popular being SpartaDOS, but there were earlier examples like OS A+ (ported from the Apple II), DOS XE, and BiboDOS from europe.
Hello, I try with PL2303HX USB-TTL and not working! I think only FT232RL is needed.
I used a Basic Stamp 2 to build this and it WORKS hahahahaaaaa! (mad scientist frizzy hair included)
OK, very nice but will this work with CP2104 USB to UART Bridge?
No.. The software that emulate the disk drive require FDTI based adapter
Wait a minute.. this is NOT a direct ISO to USB, the USB cable is actually a serial port. So couldn't I just use my old Atari 850 to connect to my PC??
Very nice info!. Thanks.
Exist any RespeQt for Linux Ubuntu?.
From the Github page:* Cross-platform (currently Windows and x86-Linux)
So I guess it should work :)
thanks! !
I'm wondering if I can do it from Win9X so I can use my Toshiba Libretto with legit RS232 Serial to SIO.
Is there a possibility to save original disks with this method or a similar simple one ?
you mean convert original disks to .ATR files? then YES
Great. I've got some disks to back-up. Is it strait-forward to do as well ?
Yes, you need to connect your disk drive to the Atari computer, and the SIO2PC-USB will connect to the disk drive and the PC computer, then just load a disk copy tool. mount an empty ATR file to drive two and do a copy from D1 to D2
All right seems simple enough ! Thanks for your help and sharing knowledge.
thank you! !!
Is that really it?!?!? All you really need is the converted cable? You don't really need to buy the sio2usb or any converter like that?
hey where can i get the program
I make the cable but it did not work, Windows put it as unknown device. Some help? Thank you.
or you can download the necessary CAB file for your windows OS from here: www.helpjet.net/Pi-84727314.html
Which one will works with w7 ?
Atari SIO Black wire to Serial to USB Black wire (this is GND signal)
Atari SIO Green wire to Serial to USB White wire (this is TXD signal)
Atari SIO Orange wire to Serial to USB Green wire (this is RXD signal)
Thanks I was about to comment that it was missing :)
Atari8 Warez thanks for that, but Data Receive is it Data + or Data - on USB?
The standard USB wire color is white is Data- and Green is Data+. Since The Modern Atari 8bit computer is saying "RXD" is green wire and atari8 warez says SIO PIn 5 is data send from Atari to PC RXD, that should mean:
SIO Pin 3: Data receive from PC TXD to Atari -> USB Data- (white)
SIO Pin 4 or Pin 6: Ground from Atari to PC -> USB GND (black)
SIO Pin 5: Data send From Atari to PC RXD -> USB Data+ (green)
We don't seem to be using the USB +5V (red) so that SIO Pin 7: Command line from Atari to PC handshaking DSR/CTS or RI hasn't been shown to be used.
I'm still skeptical that this would work safely without some additional electronics.
Oops I used a picture as a reference downloaded off the internet and it said the opposite Usb data+ White and Usb data- was Green, So I connected Green to pin 3, black to 4 and white to 5... I wonder if that was why it didn't work connecting it straight to the Atari's port pins... but now checking other pinout images it says as you pointed out... tomorrow I'll give a try! thanks
Reply back with your results, since I'd like to know, as I'm sure anyone else that reads this will.
Can you write disks with this cable?
Yes you can
anyone help mine just says system cant find file specified any advice welcome
How can I save my 1050 floppy data to pc for archiving?
You can build such cable and connect it to a an ATARI 1050 drive that is linked to a computer, then use the RESPEQT tool on a Windows PC machine, and with a sector copy tool copy your software to a newly created ATR files
Hi everyone, somebody know where I can buy plug sio for atari? I dont want broke my tape recorder ....
Lotharek online store sell that - lotharek.pl/productdetail.php?id=103or I believe also Best Electronics carry it
I can make them. email me if interested gavin@icitywork.com
Dobrý den Mám Atari 800xe a sehnal jsem tento kabel www.dx.com/p/hl-340-usb-to-rs232-serial-port-adapter-cable-green-silver-80cm-150345#.WjF9E0le7IU nefunguje mi to muže to být kabelem? děkuju za odpověď
Je to tím kabelem. Aby to fungovalo, potřebuješ usb/serial převodník s čipem FTDI. Kabel v tom videu není jenom kabel s usb konektorem, ale v tom usb konektoru je převodník FTDI 232rl. Takže kabel třeba tento: www.dx.com/p/6pin-ftdi-ft232rl-usb-to-serial-adapter-module-usb-to-ttl-rs232-cable-2079692#.XUw_qegzaUk nebo www.aliexpress.com/item/1858974923.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.819821b6TsK8DG&algo_pvid=310d8d55-6247-45c4-8b87-89043887058f&algo_expid=310d8d55-6247-45c4-8b87-89043887058f-0&btsid=da36bb41-83a5-4300-a96c-054f8397d3c9&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_1,searchweb201603_53
mine comes up with driver error 10??
How does this even work when you have no drive in windows to recognize the usb? Its fascinating that you got it to work but you just totally gloss over how.
you need to run a software on the PC that emulate the ATARI DISK DRIVE, like Aspeqt, Respeqt or APE
Correct but since you are wiring a usb cable directly to the sio cable you have to have some drive on the pc side to handle the communication. When I did exactly as you show here windows just balked at the cable and never allowed me to access it via respect. So you have to have some driver somewhere or other step that turns that plain usb to sio cable into a com port that windows will access.
the cable has an FTDI chip inside which does the RS232 to TTL conversion on modern computer once you plug the cable to the USB port automatically the driver will be installed and activated from windows repository
That is something you totally do not say in the video
Yep. I just destroyed a usb rs232 adapter because I found this out too late. Oh well, theyrr cheap, my fault for not doing more research but man..That's some important info you left out. People might destroy valuable hardware if you give out vague DIY instructions. I thought I just wire usb straight into the Atari Lol
Anyone use SIO2PC with RespeQt on their 800xl?
im having problems with saving and loading my own basic files. while loading games works fine I cant save anything or load anything from a mounted folder. I can list its content in both Dos 2.5 v4 and Picodos... I'm thinking maybe a setting issue with baud rate or other. Anyone run into this? heeeelp
Neither my Windows 7 nor my Mac see a USB or TTY port when I plug it in.
Hi Gavin, looks like it has to be a FTDI type cable with the 2102 chip in it, but the color connects in video may be all wrong....
its safe?
availability of those connectors has always been a pain in the ass. guess people have 3d printers nowadays. lol.
just cutting existing ones in half won't exactly do the trick. most of them say 'molex' on it yet finding an order number for those things (as in the connectors seperately) has always been a problem. and not just for us. lol. crappy propriotory plugs. sometimes atari had a rather high 'nintendo' factor to it.
Why do you constantly say "PC Computer?" the "C" in PC already means Computer. You're literally saying "Personal Computer Computer."
Maybe to differentiate from the Atari computer rather than the PC computer
@@RiksVids no one has ever referred to the Atari computer as a PC, even though they are personal computers. It's simply an Atari 8-bit Computer, or an Atari (model).
windows has put an update that cancel out the chip on the lead this does not work dont waste your money bullshit
here is the link to the USB to Serial cable part: www.ebay.com/itm/111241824248?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
This cable is under $2! www.ebay.com/itm/112227826086?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&var=412573995720&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
This cable does not use the FTDI Chip in it, it use the PL2303.. i tried those and my experience with the PL2303 is that they do not work well in this application (that require reliable high speed communication).. you can get a cheaper Usb to Serial adapter that is FTDI Chip based for around 2$, but you will need to do some soldering here - www.ebay.com/itm/FT232RL-3-3V-5-5V-FTDI-USB-to-TTL-Serial-Adapter-Module-for-Arduino-Mini-Port-/381374421597?hash=item58cbafda5d:g:jk8AAOSwrklVMjIp
@@TheModernAtari8bitcomputer Hello, I want to use the Ft232rl 3.3 V 5.5 v Ftdi Usb To Ttl Adapter, I can get the SIO connector but I would be missing the cable, what type of cable should I use? or can I use a CAT6 network cable? Thanks in advance
any one, please.
It's a great video but you linger too long sometimes. Thanks, though!