OFFICIAL FAQ
Atari 400 800 XL XE FAQ
Additions/suggestions/comments/corrections are needed! Please send to Michael D. Current
Copyright © 1992-2018 by Michael D. Current, and others where noted. Feel free to reproduce this file, in whole or in part, so long as the content of that portion reproduced is not modified, and so long as credit is given to this FAQ list or its Maintainer, or the author of that section reproduced when given.
This FAQ list is in a constant state of development and comes with no guarantees. If you see any problems, I need to hear from you!
Last update: January 8, 2018
- 1.1) What is an Atari 8-bit computer?
- 1.2) What is the Atari 400?
- 1.3) What is the Atari 800?
- 1.4) What is the Atari 1200XL?
- 1.5) What is the Atari 600XL?
- 1.6) What is the Atari 800XL?
- 1.7) What is the Atari 65XE?
- 1.8) What is the Atari 130XE?
- 1.9) What is the Atari XE game system?
- 1.10) What is the Atari 800XE?
- 1.11) What were the Atari 1400XL, 1450XLD, 65XEP, and 65XEM?
- 1.12) What are SALLY, ANTIC, CTIA/GTIA/FGTIA, POKEY, and FREDDIE?
- 1.13) What is the internal hardware arrangement of the 8-bit Atari?
- 1.14) What are the pinouts for the various connectors on the Atari?
- 1.15) Who designed the Atari 8-bit computers?
- 2.1) What are analog TV broadcasting systems and composite video?
- 2.2) What kinds of TVs can display my Atari's RF output signal?
- 2.3) What kinds of computer monitors can I use with my Atari?
- 2.4) What were the Atari XC1411 and XM128 monitors?
- 2.5) What is artifacting?
- 2.6) What is HDTV display lag?
- 3.1.1) What are the Atari 410, 1010, XC11, & XC12 Program Recorders?
- 3.1.2) What other cassette recorders can I use with my Atari?
- 3.1.3) What speed upgrades are there for Atari program recorders?
- 3.2.1) What is the Atari 810 Disk Drive?
- 3.2.2) What is the Atari 1050 Disk Drive?
- 3.2.3) What is the Atari XF551 Disk Drive?
- 3.2.4) What were the Atari 815, XF521, and XF351 Disk Drives?
- 3.2.5) What other floppy disk drives were designed for my Atari?
- 3.2.6) What is the Percom configuration block?
- 3.2.7) How can I use an industry standard floppy disk drive?
- 3.3.1) What is the Corvus disk system?
- 3.3.2) How can I use an ST506 interface hard disk (MFM or RLL)?
- 3.3.3) How can I use a SASI or SCSI interface hard disk?
- 3.3.4) How can I use an IDE interface hard disk or CompactFlash card?
- 3.3.5) How can I use a Secure Digital (SD) card with my Atari?
- 3.3.6) How can I use a USB flash drive with my Atari?
- 4.1) What are the Atari 820, 822, and 825 Printers?
- 4.2) What are the Atari 1020, 1025, 1027, and 1029 Printers?
- 4.3) What are the Atari XMM801 and XDM121 Printers?
- 4.4) What were the Atari XTM201 and XTC201 Printers?
- 4.5) What other printers were designed for my Atari?
- 4.6) How can I use a Centronics or IBM parallel interface printer?
- 5.1) What are the Atari 830, 835, 1030, XM301, and SX212 Modems?
- 5.2) What other modems can I use with my Atari?
- 5.3) What should I know about using fast modems with the Atari?
- 5.4) How do I transfer files using a null modem cable?
- 5.5) What networking hardware is there for the Atari?
- 5.6) How can I connect my Atari to a high speed/Ethernet network?
- 6.1.1) What is the Atari 850 Interface Module?
- 6.1.2) What is the Atari XEP80 Interface Module?
- 6.1.3) What were the CP/M Add-On module and 1090 XL Expansion System?
- 6.1.4) What MIDI interfaces are there for the Atari?
- 6.1.5) How can I use an ISA device with my Atari?
- 6.1.6) How can I use a USB device with my Atari?
- 6.1.7) Can the Atari use my other computer's storage/printer/network?
- 6.2) What are the power requirements for my Atari components?
- 6.3) What accessories/kits did Atari make for their 8-bit computers?
- 6.4) What graphics tablets were produced for the Atari?
- 6.5) What light pens were produced for the Atari?
- 6.6) What light guns were produced for the Atari?
- 6.7) What voice/speech synthesis hardware is there for the Atari?
- 6.8) What sound digitizers/samplers were produced for the Atari?
- 6.9) What sound upgrades (stereo or 8-bit PCM) are there?
- 6.10) What graphics enhancements are there for the Atari?
- 6.11) What types of memory upgrades are there for the Atari?
- 6.12) What personality boards were produced for the Atari 800?
- 7.1.1) What is the Atari Operating System?
- 7.1.2) What modified versions of the Atari OS were released?
- 7.1.3) What is the ATASCII (Atari ASCII) encoding standard?
- 7.1.4) How is the Input/Output subsystem of the Atari OS organized?
- 7.1.5) What is attract mode?
- 7.1.6) What is the Atari cassette utilization/filesystem?
- 7.1.7) What programs run only on the 400/800 (not the XL/XE) and why?
- 7.1.8) Why do some programs run only on the XL/XE (not the 400/800)?
- 7.1.9) How can I run older programs using the Atari Translator?
- 7.1.10) How can software detect NTSC versus PAL/SECAM computer types?
- 7.2.1) What is Atari BASIC?
- 7.2.2) How do I load/run or save an Atari BASIC program on cassette?
- 7.3.1) What is Atari DOS, and what versions did Atari release?
- 7.3.2) What are RealDOS, SpartaDOS X, and XDOS?
- 7.3.3) What are MyPicoDOS and Micro-SpartaDOS?
- 7.3.4) What other 3rd-party DOS versions were released for the Atari?
- 7.3.5) What should I know about filenames and filename extensions?
- 7.3.6) What Atari programs can use MS-DOS 5.25" or 3.5" diskettes?
- 7.4) Are there Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) for the Atari?
- 7.5) What should I know about R: and T: modem device handlers?
- 8.1) How may a program behave on NTSC/PAL/SECAM computer versions?
- 8.2) What programming languages are available for the Atari?
- 8.3) What cartridges were released for the Right Slot of the 800?
- 8.4) What games support 4 or more simultaneous players?
- 8.5) What programs use a light pen or a light gun?
- 8.6) What programs are designed for a true trackball controller?
- 8.7) What programs are designed to work with a mouse?
- 8.8) What programs use paddle controllers?
- 8.9) What programs include CX85 Numerical Keypad support?
- 8.10) What programs use: Touch Tablet or KoalaPad/Animation Station?
- 8.11) What games support online action via modem?
- 8.12) What programs support Atari computer networking?
- 8.13) What programs use Keyboard Controllers?
- 8.14) What programs use Driving Controllers?
- 8.15) What noncommercial telecommunications programs are there?
- 8.16) What programs can I use to host a BBS on the Atari?
- 9.1) What file formats for entire disks/tapes/cartridges are there?
- 10.1) How can I read/write Atari diskettes with my other computer?
- 10.2) How can my other computer utilize my Atari disk drive?
- 11.1) What is the history of Atari's 8-bit computers platform?