#### Back to index | # Info for a800

#### Atari 800 Home Computer

Known Issues:
Requires full keyboard emulation. At startup, full keyboard emulation mode is enabled by
default. Whilst in full keyboard emulation mode, some key associated functionality may be
disabled (like the ESC key for EXIT). The keyboard emulation mode is toggled using the
scroll_lock key.
The Atari800 driver now has two ROM slots. It really had two slots, so the code was modified
to optionally read the second part of a 16K ROM from the second cartridge filename provided
(right slot). The previous version had a800_cartridge_32k flag which was wrong. Cartridges
are either 8K or 16K, so that was renamed to ..._16k too ;)
Most disk and cartridge images should work, though some graphic issues may exist.
The Atari 800XL driver (a800xl) is not currently working.

History and Trivia:
The Atari 400 and 800 were the first home computers to use custom coprocessors and the first
to use "sprites" and special video interruptions like display lists, features that will be
implemented several years after on the Commodore Amiga. It offered high graphic resolution,
lots of colors and great sound capabilities, more than other computers could do then! The
two models had same characteristics, the 400 is the low-cost version, it has only 16 KB
(instead of 48 KB), one cartridge port (two for the 800) and a membrane keyboard (a
typewriter style keyboard one for the 800).

created on Thu Aug 16 22:55:01 2001