How to Run A-Track

SW requirements

A-Track can operate under Atari OS or Q-MEG.

A-Track loads and saves files from disk, so it needs DOS! Do NOT run A-Track from Q-MEG menu or other non-DOS loaders.

The author distributed A-Track with Atari DOS 2.5 and SpartaDOS. We bring A-Track to you on disk C (single density) with XDOS.

HW requirements

A-Track needs at least 64 KB of RAM.

Of course it is a good idea to have the A-Track HW set (especially the DIU) if you run the SW. But it is not necessary (see below).

DIU requires PBI (XL models) or ECI (XE models) to be connected. So it cannot work with Atari 400, 800, 65 XE (cartridge only version) and XE Game System.

A-Track Start with DIU

The easiest way to start A-Track SW is to boot disk D, wait till XDOS starts, write ATRACK and press RETURN.

When started, A-Track asks for the name of a saved item list:

Load>D1:ATRKDEMO.ITL

Just press RETURN to load a prepared demo set.

If you have DIU connected, answer Y to all initial questions and enjoy A-Track. It is a good idea to read the A-Track manual (available on the web) or at least the A-Track article (on the disk A of FLOP 65).

You can start A-Track SW even without DIU, but it behaves differently on XL and XE machines...

Start on XL machines without DIU

  1. Run ATRACK.COM from DOS
  2. Press RETURN after Load>D1:ATRKDEMO.ITL is displayed.
  3. Answer Y to the question Clear State of All Decoders?
  4. Answer Y to the question Check DIU Set to Operate Mode?
  5. The following message appears: Error 203 - ESC to Resume
  6. Press ESC.
  7. Answer Y to the question Ignore Further DIU Status/Errors?
  8. Answer Y to the question Restore Prior Speed/Dirn Settings?
  9. Answer Y to the question Restore Prior Function Settings?

Now you can explore A-Track without restrictions.

Start on XE machines without DIU

  1. Run ATRACK.COM from DOS.
  2. Wait till the program is loaded.
  3. Wait untill the message "Overload Detected" is shown and you hear warning sounds.
  4. Press RESET (really).
  5. Program will restart.
  6. Press RETURN after Load>D1:ATRKDEMO.ITL is displayed.
  7. Answer Y to all the questions which follow.

Now you can explore A-Track without restrictions.

The problem is, that A-Track on XE without DIU thinks, there is an output current overload. So (without the RESET trick) it would show the "Overload Detected" message and produce warning sounds every few seconds. To stop the overload alert, you can press ESC. But it will appear again in another few seconds.

Alternative List of Items

Among the default ATRKDEMO.ITL, there is also REALITEM.ITL on the disk. If you want to try it, simply change the line 

Load>D1:ATRKDEMO.ITL
to
Load>D1:REALITEM.ITL
at program start.

During work with A-Track, you can load item lists via menu (open with the Inverse key) -> File -> Load

A-Track and other DOS

If you do not like XDOS, you can use A-Track with another system. Just have a disk with preferred DOS (and enough space) and copy the followeing files to it: 

ATRACK.COM
ATRACK.OVL
ATRACK.FNT
ATRACK.CFG
ATRKDEMO.ITL

You can even set ATRACK.COM to be loaded automatically in the DOS batch file (e.g. AUTORUN.SYS).