130XE Adapter Board

130XE owners will need to use our special adapter board to use the MIO and replace the cartridge slot. This high quality board plugs directly into the cartridge and ECI connectors and converts all signals to be compatible with the 800XL bus while adding two additional cartridge slots.

These slots are connected in parallel so do not attempt to plug in two standard cartridges at the same time. The R-Time 8 may be plugged into one of the slots, and a standard cartridge may be plugged into the other slot. (You may also stack the two.) If using the SpartaDOS X cartridge with another cartridge (like a language cartridge), you must stack the other cartridge on top of the SpartaDOS X cartridge since it always controls the top cartridge. Note that the R-Time 8 is not really considered a cartridge, in the programming sense, since it does not use any cartridge area memory.

If you are using Atari brand cartridges with the 130XE Adapter, you will need to open the plastic shield which covers the cartridge edge connector. (Other brand cartridges do not have this shield.) A paper clip or pen point, pushed into one of the two release slots, will allow you to release this cover.

Parallel Printer Connections

Either parallel or serial printers may be used with the MIO. Most parallel printers will use the same cable as sold for the P:R: Connection (or Atari 850) parallel port. See Appendix B for pin connections used in these cables. The signals listed in table 2-1 are supported by the MIO. The parallel printer connector is on the right front side of the MIO and is labeled "PRINTER".

NOTE: The printer spooler will only support printers using one of these two ports. It will not spool text for an Atari brand direct connect printer.

MODEM Connections

Most MODEMs may be connected to the 9 pin serial port with our standard P:R: Connection (or Atari 850) MODEM cable. See Appendix B for pin connections used in these cables. Full hardware handshaking is supported from this connector and with the built in "R:" handler. The signals listed in table 2-2 are supported by the MIO. The serial connector is the 9 pin connector on the left middle of the MIO and is labeled "RS-232".

Note: All signals are high true (standard RS-232 definitions).

Serial Printer Connections

Serial printers will require the fabrication of a custom printer cable. All that is usually required for connection is: transmit, receive, and ground. Serial handshaking is done through software with XON/XOFF codes or with READY/BUSY hardware handshake. (READY/BUSY requires additional connections.) Refer to table 2-2 for the serial port pinouts on the MIO, and refer to your printer manual for the pinouts on its serial connector. Also, make sure that your printer supports XON/XOFF protocol. If it only supports a hardware handshake (READY/BUSY), then you can not use the printer buffer/spooler (see Chapter 3 about disabling the spooler). You must also connect CTS, DCD, and DSR, of the MIO to the "ready" pins of the printer (typically DTR). (The MIO checks CTS, DCD, and DSR, to make sure that they are high before sending each character.)

SCSI/SASI Connections

A 50 pin ribbon cable connects your SCSI or SASI controller board to the IO. Pin 1 is towards the rear of the MIO. Table 2-3 lists the signals used by this port. The SCSI/SASI connector is on the right rear of the MIO and is labeled "HARD DISK".

Note: All signals are low true. All odd pins are connected to ground. -PAR and -ATN are not connected in the MIO but are not needed for bus operation.

The MIO and the hard disk controller are connected by a 50 conductor ribbon cable. (Maximum cable length is 20 feet.) If using multiple controllers, you must connect each controller onto the cable in a parallel fashion (simply snap another connecter on the cable and plug it into the controller).

You should use a termination resistor pack on the devices connected at both ends of the cable but not in between the ends. (The socket at U50 in the MIO contains its resistor pack.) It is absolutely essential that at least one device has a termination resistor pack, otherwise the driver circuits will fail to operate.

Each controller on the cable must have a unique bus ID. This is typically accomplished by placing one or several jumper plugs in particular location on the controller card. Bus IDs will either be numbered 0 through 7 or 01,02,04,08,10,20,40,80. In either case, make sure each controller has a unique bus ID. Note: on XEBEC 1410 controllers, the ID is 0 — there are no jumper options to select other bus IDs. (The newer XEBEC 1410A does have jumpers.) Adaptec 4000A and 4070 controllers use jumpers A-F to select bus ID. Use no jumpers for an ID of 0; jumper A-B for an ID of 1.

Hard Drive Interface to Controller

Some hard drives have controllers built in and can be recognized by a 50 pin SASI/SCSI interface on the drive itself. Drives in this category include: Seagate ST-225N, Rodime 650/652, and Iomega Alpha/Beta drives. Note that you may set the bus ID on these drives, but the LUN (logical unit number) is always 0.

Some embedded SCSI drives (Supra uses these) may have trouble booting the configuration sector from the hard drive. Symptoms are: the drive will not come up to speed until both the MIO and the computer are powered on. By this time it is too late the computer tries to read the boot sector before it is up to speed. The controller just NAKs to the MIO or the MIO times out which makes it appear as if no drive is present. A solution to this is to bend down pin 40 of the SCSI connector of the MIO. This disables the RESET line to the drive which is the problem with startup on some imbedded SCSI drives. Looking directly at the SCSI connector on the MIO, pin 40 is in the bottom row of pins and in six pins from the left side.

Most commonly found hard drives do not have controllers built in. These drives must be ST-506/ST-412 compatible (all IBM drives are ST-506/ST-412 compatible — this is the most common drive interface). These drives are characterized by a 34 pin and a 20 pin edge connector. In order to operate this class of drives, you need a controller card (not an IBM compatible type) which has an SASI or SCSI interface. Typically, these controllers may be mounted right on top of the hard drive frame assembly with proper spacing and shielding.

The SASI/SCSI controllers, which include XEBEC 1410(A), Adaptec 4000A, and Adaptec 4070, usually contains two or more functional 20 pin connectors (SASI controllers may have three using one as a test port) which allow you to hook up multiple hard drives. The drive number jumpers on the drive itself, combined with the 20 pin connector you plug into, determines the Logical Unit Number (LUN). Adaptec 4000A and 4070 have a J0 connector for LUN 0 and J1 for LUN 1. Remember to set the drive jumpers (on the drive) to match the connector you plug into (consult your drive manual).

The controller's 34 pin edge card connector is connected in parallel to each drive to be used with that controller, while the 20 pin connecters are connected to only one drive each. (The 34 conductor ribbon cable must be terminated at each end of the cable so make sure resistor packs are on the extremities but not in the middle.) As mentioned earlier, each controller connected to the 50 pin cable must have a unique bus ID, however, you now have multiple LUNs. You must check the drives to make sure that each has a unique ID (0-3 typically) and that the drives are plugged into the correct 20 pin connector. Refer to your controller manual for this connection. Important: some drives as shipped contain a socket with break away tabs. Usually all 4 drive select lines are shorted together. This is fine for one drive systems, but when connecting two drives to one controller, you must make sure that only one drive select is allowed to pass on each drive (thus 3 tabs need to be broken). Please refer to your drive manual before breaking any of these tabs. The following is a list of SASI/SCSI controllers we presently support:

Adaptec ACB4000A and ACB4070 controllers are available at competitive prices from ICD. Call for more information.

80 Column Video Interface

The MIO has a video port on its front left side. This is for use with an optional 80 column adapter which plugs on top of the MIO circuit board. The pin assignments are listed in the 80 Column Adapter Users Manual.

Power-up Sequence

The power-up sequence when using the MIO is as follows:

Always turn on your hard disk unit first if applicable. It needs time to get up to speed before being accessed. (Usually around 30 seconds.)

Turn the MIO on next. (Floppy drives, MODEMs and printers don't really matter as long as they are not being accessed.)

Now turn on the computer.

The power off sequence is just the reverse; the computer is always turned off first. The power off sequence on the MIO and other devices doesn't really matter. Just remembe as a general rule: don't turn the MIO off without turning off the computer and don't turn the computer on without first turning on the MIO. (In other words, the computer should never be on with the MIO connected and turned off.)

The MIO draws between 1 and 2 watts of power while in its active state. This power consumption is minimal but does require some thought for ventilation. Do not place any equipment on top of the MIO which would prevent its heat dissipation. The MIO RAM will retain its memory as long as power is maintained.

If the system seems to lock up with the access LED on, first try pressing RESET. If that does not free the MIO, power down the system (first the computer, then the MIO), wait about 30 seconds for the memory to clear, and then power up the system again. Lockups can be caused by bad software or power surges.

Important: Under some conditions, when booting the computer, the MIO will take a long time to initialize. This is apparent when the MIO red light comes on but the screen is still black after several seconds of waiting. This is usually due to the MIO waiting for a non-existent drive to respond. The MIO attempts to communicate with each drive listed in the drive configuration, but if a drive is off-line, it may take some time for the controller to relay this information back to the MIO. Thus, it may take up to 30 seconds for the MIO to initialize.