🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <DENNIS.89Oct12120223@phyllis.math.binghamton.edu>, dennis@phyllis.math.binghamton.edu (dennis pixton) writes:
> I have a mega-4, atari laser printer, and external hard drive (Supra card).
> Apparently when I boot with the laser printer attached it must be turned on;
> otherwise I can't access the hard drive.  If I turn the printer off after I
> boot I have trouble accessing both the hard drive and the floppy.  It's a
> real pain to swap cables to bypass the laser printer.  I talked to a dealer
> who said that this was "normal behavior".
> So:
> 1. Is there any danger to the laser printer if I leave it on while I'm using
> the mega?  The system is usually on about 8 hours a day, seven days a week.
> 2. Is there any switch available which will allow me to use the machine
> with the laser printer still attached but turned off?
> 3. Is there anything else I can try?


Dennis, I too own the SLM804 and an external hard drive. My local Atari
delaer came up with a solution to the problem. It tunrs out that if the
SLMC804 controller box is powered up you can turn off the SLM804 laser
printer itself. But, as the controller box is powered by 5 volts DC from the
laser printer you can't turn on the controller box with the printer turned off.
So, my dealer made a little cable to steal 5VDC from the second joystick port
on my Mega ST. And voila, I have power to the controller box even when the
SLM804 is turned off!! I have repeated this solution many times on this 
newsgroup, but nobody seems to remember it. Contact Henry Ahle at Computer
Works (602-246-6364) in Phoenix AZ and he can help you.

I have never heard from anyone at Atari about this patch cord. But, it has worked
for me for over 18 months now.

Good luck!!

Rich Covert