Classic Computer Magazine Archive COMPUTE! ISSUE 46 / MARCH 1984 / PAGE 10

Atari Cassette LOADs

I am very eager to expand my Atari 400 computer from 16K to 48K. But, I've heard rumors that doing this sometimes messes up the cassette buffer, causing the 410 recorder only to load 50 percent of the time. Is this rumor true? Is there any other way the expansion changes the computer and its memory?

Mike Cohen

We've never heard that rumor, and can't see how it could be true. Unless the upgrade was improperly engineered so as to cause timing problems, it should merely add more memory. The cassette buffer is located in the lower 16K of memory anyway. However, there is a problem with SYSTEM RESET. Pressing SYSTEM RESET can sometimes leave the cassette improperly initialized. Atari recommends that you issue a LPRINT command (with or without a printer) before you try to CSAVE a program.