The Atari ST Gets Some HDMI Love

[@RetroHackShack]

Some people have asked if this works in the hires mono mode. Yes it does! If there is no monochrome monitor connected, you will need to short pin 4 (mono detect) to pin 13 (GND) on the monitor port in order to get it to work. There is a separate profile on the RGBtoHDMI for mono mode.

[@ropersonline]

That's what I wanted to hear 👍- and preferably see. Too many retrocomputing fans, especially American users, ignore the ST's hires mode entirely, as if colour were always better (it's not). There's a lot of great "Jackintosh" software for the ST that really shines on the mono monitor. Glad to hear the RGBtoHDMI supports that.

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@ropersonline Cubase!!

[@Barcrest]

​@@ropersonlinecalamus

[@horusfalcon]

Atari systems don't get enough love. They are capable of a wide range of tasks, and come equipped with a very powerful dialect of BASIC. Please, sir, may I have another? I love how you show all the ins and outs/ups and downs, of a build. Well done!

[@RetroHackShack]

Thanks! I will put more Atari ST on the menu.

[@galier2]

There are severam excellent Basic's for the ST. The original ST-basic that was delivered with it in the beginning is not one of them, that was a real stinker. The good ones were GFA-Basic, Omikron-Basic that was delivered with the machine later on and for those who love game programming, there was STOS-Basic, which was the program that became AMOS on the Amiga.

[@slaapliedje]

​@@galier2Ha, my first ST was when the Mega STe back in 91-92... and I think by that time, they did not include ST-BASIC.

[@galier2]

@@slaapliedje Yes. In 91-92 period they would bundle Omikron-Basic to their machines, at least in Germany.

[@slaapliedje]

@galier2 Huh, the only thing I recall that came with the Mega STe was the language disk in the USA. Which basically just had Xcontrol and ahdi? I would have to look again. Pretty sure it didn't come with BASIC though. Granted it was probably way more machine than we needed at the time, but I think that is wherre I really became less interested in video games and more interested in how to play with the computer itself. Like getting GEM desktop replacements and trying to get X11 working, etc. Early versions of MiNT before Atari made it official, and all that...

[@santomichaelo931]

Super video. Please do more Atari ST stuff. The platform deserves more attention. 😊

[@AlexBissonnette]

I just got my hands on a fully functioning Atari 1040STF with megafile and the original monochrome screen this week. I've been crawling around the forums and various videos to see how to get it to work in color with modern displays. This is a great find, and I even have a pi 3 lying around.

[@mattmyers9351]

More Atari St videos definitely please!

[@jfloydsea]

This is a C070523 STF motherboard - aka "Silly Style". I've got the same one. RGBTOHDMI arrives monday or tuesday, should be a nice mod to get installed!

[@igorperuchi2114]

Great video! The St is a fine machine, regardless of how it fares against the Amiga. The Hdmi picture is wonderful, just like an emulator! It's a pity that the RGBtoHDMI still lacks proper support for the older Atari 8 bit line, though!

[@PaulHockerOnEarth]

Thanks again for this video. Just got mine installed on my 520ST and it works perfectly.

[@dnwheeler]

You can get the shield out by removing the separate shield over the power supply and then removing the power supply. That allows the main shielding to be removed.

[@AtariCrypt]

Superb video!! More ST content pls :)

[@Pest789]

10:13 Not only mains connections. I was a Commodore/Atari repair tech in the late 80s and those big L shaped heat sinks on ST power supplies are *not* at ground and will shock the hell out of you. Ask me how i know.

[@RetroHackShack]

Good tip. I have another one to fix with a bad PS.

[@slaapliedje]

Haha, I haven't shocked myself on an ST PSU yet... honestly surprised too, since my Falcon hasn't had a lid on it for ages...

[@Miesiu]

#LegendsNeverDie #StayAtari

[@Kikay0n]

Dude! I always appreciate your content. I have one question though. How in the world do you regulate the noise and temp in your garage! My museum / computer repair / maker space is my garage and I can’t figure it out. Thanks!

[@RetroHackShack]

Thanks! It is a challenge for sure. The garage is not insulated and even in California it gets quite cold in the winter months. I just got a propane forced air heater that takes the chill off but is quite loud.

[@horusfalcon]

I'd start by insulating the garage, It probably wouldn't take much (maybe r-12 insulation) to make a difference, but the better the rating, the better temperature control you will achieve. The other part of the equation is the HVAC setup. Look at some of the really nice mini-split units that are available. They typically come in two major sections, one of which mounts in the ceiling, and the other (heat exchanger) which sets on a good footing outside. These units typically come with a remote that allows setting things like temperature and humidity without getting on a ladder. A lot is going to depend on the construction of your garage: does it have a ceiling, or are the rafters open? (A ceiling of some kind would be better.) How tight is the fit of the garage door (that door is one huge pneumonia hole, and will leak enough to really mess up any efforts at control if it's fit is not tight). If you have a side (personnel-sized) door, use it whenever possible, and keep that garage door shut unless actually in use.

[@horusfalcon]

@@RetroHackShack Be careful with that heater... if you don't have one, consider installing a CO detector - it might save your life.

[@OidHunter]

I have to get this set-up, thanks for putting the video together. The ST originally came with a dual extension cable for the joystick and mouse. You can buy these cheap on ebay, ones for the Megadrive and Genesis should work too. How did you restore the colour of the case? Retrobrite? Is the plastic starting to go brittle? I'm reluctant to do it to my STs.

[@RetroHackShack]

Yes. I used retrobright. The case is not brittle at all.

[@koztech]

You now have a disciplinary tool to bring your kids into line. Use it wisely (or hell, bring it on!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!)

[@richardpeel6056]

Nice video I recently added a Scart lead to my Atari STE and have connected the monitor socket of the Atari to a Scart/VGA TV/monitor, the results are amazing compared to CRT. I notice I can get a Scart to HDMI connector should I ever want to. Although it was set up I hadn't used my Atari STE for many years, the floppy drive and nearly all the floppy disks work, but the hard drive won't won't book up and bleeps once on start up, I got it 2nd hand 20+ years ago and it never worked quite right. I got a SD4ST+ Mini hard drive and it works fine. I also got a Gotek and a Atari ST External Floppy Drive Adapter. There's not enough space to plug them in together at the back of the machine. Can I connect the old hard drive to the computer and the SD4ST+ Mini hard drive to the out port of the old hard drive, there seems nothing wrong with the old hard drive case. Where could I get a female/female DB19 connector to go on the end of the old hard drive cable, or a male/female DB19 cable to replace it?

[@william2william]

You've got to turn the autofocus off. No one cares if your moving hand stays in focus and it is your moving hand that is causing autofocus to go out of focus.

[@Chris.Wiley.]

This is very cool! Do you think it would be possible to do something similar to an Atari 2600? I know there's an RGB mod for it and would love to be able to go directly from my 2600 to my TV via HDMI.

[@RetroHackShack]

I have only ever done composite mods to the 2600.

[@RetroHackShack]

Looking at this mod, it should be possible. etim.net.au/2600rgb/

[@DbugII]

Very interesting. Two questions for you: - Is there a way to get the high resolution 640x400 mode to work as well? - Is there a way to switch between the super crisp output (nice for productivity software) and a "CRT emulation" mode (nicer for games, demos, graphical stuf, etc...)?

[@RetroHackShack]

Yes. It will work with high res mode. You can adjust the look and feel in the menu.

[@williamo4553]

Are there any projects working on getting a raspberry pi alternative working?

[@RetroHackShack]

Not that I know of. I have been meaning to ask Ian about it though. I wonder if RISC V might be a good target.

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

You will have to find a way to the board so that it goes through the HDMI cable as a SPDIF signal.

[@infinitecanadian]

That's a cool phone! Does it work? The CRT whine never bothered me; in retrospect, I never minded it.

[@acbc2k]

Finally, something for my 520STFM. Basically I need to order 4-5 items from the shop?

[@RetroHackShack]

Just the four items I mentioned. You supply your own RPi. But order quick. I am almost out of stock already on several items. More are on the way.

[@OtterlyInsane]

How well does it display the other desktop resolutions out of interest?

[@RetroHackShack]

I tested Medium in the video and it was fine. I wasn't interested in mono/hires, but I just tested it and it works well, too.

[@infinitecanadian]

'Excellent' is a descriptive word I have never before heard applied to Atari ST music. I always wish that they had put in the POKEY chip. I don't know how 'The Duel' had such good quality music, though.

[@jamesfmackenzie]

The ST *can* do sample-based tracker audio (which sounds great!), but it taxes the CPU. Notice in “The Duel” that you only get the nice audio during the menu screen, not during gameplay 😎

[@infinitecanadian]

@@jamesfmackenzie Cool! Can the YM3812 do that?

[@slaapliedje]

The ST had some good music, it is just one of those things where you need a good composer to utilize it. I really miss the days when coders could actually wow you by their skills because the hardware had limitations. These days, you almost just can feel there was no talent when the games are not photorealistic... some games on the ST do crazy stuff and show more than 16 colors, and run far better than they rightfully should. Especially considering the stock ST that did not have a blitter.

[@christopherbaar4498]

Another interesting mod. Shame I only have an STE, though. Apart from not having to connect power to the Pi separately, is there any other benefit to doing it this way over just connecting to the analog RGB out of the ST? Or am I mistaken that such a connection is an option for the RGB2HDMI?

[@RetroHackShack]

This mod uses the digital RGB signals to scale and not the analog signals. So the picture can be bigger and sharper this way with less lag.

[@christopherbaar4498]

@@RetroHackShack That's definitely a good reason to do this, then!

[@hundgirridchannel]

Now that's very interesting. Too bad it doesn't work on the STE, I'm terrible at soldering things.

[@KAPTKipper]

Yes, the beeping is normal for a non-connected keyboard on a ST.

[@TPau65]

The picture quality of this solution is awesome, no doubt! BUT, geometry (or size to be more specific) on your monitor is not correct. The GEM desktop does have much bigger white borders on all sides! There are many demos on the ST which uses overscan on two or even all four borders. A few (not many though) games use overscan too, mostly the lower border. E.g. you won't be able to see the energy bar in "Chambers of Shaolin" from Thalion on your system! For audio output it would have been easier to build an adapter from 13-pin monitor connector (easy to find even today, at least here in germany, for just over one Euro) to RCA. 😉

[@RetroHackShack]

I could have done an adapter on the monitor port, but I want the option of using the CRT monitor at the same time as capturing output. Personal preference I guess.

[@TPau65]

@@RetroHackShack Ah, ok, a permanent audio output, no matter which monitor is connected. Actually I did a Stereo output (two RCA, just like STE or Amiga) on my 520STM back then. When capturing from this ST, I always use this output for audio. 😉

[@orlevy3379]

hello from Israel, could you do HDMI adapter to apple 2e

[@RetroHackShack]

Hello! Yes. Check out my Apple iic videos for an example.

[@tenminutetokyo2643]

Oh yeah. Now do one for Trash-80.

[@RetroHackShack]

Yeah. I just got a model 1 that is in rough shape so I will make it a part of that repair.

[@Mueller3D]

I don't see any reason why you couldn't add an audio input to the Raspberry Pi (either with a USB audio device or an I2S ADC) and pipe the audio stream to the HDMI port. Just requires a bit of hacking.

[@RetroHackShack]

If you could make it work I know the community would appreciate it. So far it's a no go.

[@Mueller3D]

The difficulty comes from the fact that the RGBtoHDMI software for the Pi is running on bare metal, not on Linux. It is open source, so modification is possible, but it would be a non-trivial task to add the required support.

[@lucasjokiel]

@@Mueller3D IanSB vesion does now!

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

Rebel Rotozip.

[@timcross3461]

Wow, no reason to cut the case. The ribbon cable has enough room to come out above the serial port. 👎

[@RetroHackShack]

Yes. As I mentioned, you can totally do that if you want.

[@domramsey]

Can't believe we're still cutting holes in vintage computer cases in 2023. Thankfully it's only an Atari ST! 😉

[@RetroHackShack]

Ouch 🙂

[@endwigast5212]

@Dom - You're one of those dang Commodore users?

[@TheLemminkainen]

cool project only case molesting isnt cool

[@onkelebert787]

Nice modification, but GEM is still so ugly that it could be mistaken for the fifth horseman of the apocalypse.

[@DieselPLL]

Now try disconnecting the hard drive from your retro computer let's see what you see 😁

[@JorgeCarvalho_web_dev]

Capital sin!! Drilling holes in retro hardware, shame on you. This mod is not for me, better keep my rgb to scart cable