Atari ST
The Atari ST is a series of computers developed by Atari. The first model had a limited release in April 1985, with wider availability later in July. The monochrome display retailed for $799.99 USD ($2,063.94 in 2021), with the color display retailing for $999.99. Later models would be capable of outputting to standard TV sets. The last model was discontinued in 1993. Notable titles include Dungeon Master, Oids, Sundog and MIDI Maze.
Although this price might seem high by today's standards, it was actually one of the more affordable computers for the time. This, plus offering an all-around superior monochrome display in general, made it quite successful in the business market.
The “ST” stands for Sixteen Thirty-two, in reference to the 16 and 32-bit components it utilizes. It's also been said to be the initials of Sam Tramiel, the son of Jack Tramiel, who was president of Atari at the time.
Model list:
- Atari 520ST
- Atari 260ST
- Atari 520STM
- Atari STf
- Atari 520STE
- Atari 1040STE
- Atari MEGA ST
- Atari MEGA STE
- Atari TT030
- Atari Falcon
Interesting tidbit about the unreleased Falcon 040, one of its prototype case designs would go on to inspire the case design for the Sony PlayStation 2:
This system scrapes metadata for the “atarist” group and loads the atarist set from the currently selected theme, if available.
Quick reference
- Accepted ROM formats:
.st,.msa,.stx,.dim,.ipf,.m3u,.zip,.7z - Folder:
/userdata/roms/atarist
| Emulators |
|---|
| libretro: Hatari |
| Hatari |
BIOS
Only tos.img is truly required, however many games will not function on this BIOS alone and other BIOS files need to be tried.
| MD5 checksum | Share file path | Description |
|---|---|---|
c1c57ce48e8ee4135885cee9e63a68a2 | bios/tos.img | |
25789a649faff0a1176dc7d9b98105c0 | bios/tos100fr.img | |
c87a52c277f7952b41c639fc7bf0a43b | bios/tos100uk.img | |
d0f682ee6237497004339fb02172638b | bios/tos100us.img | |
a622cc35d8d78703905592dfaa4d2ccb | bios/tos102de.img | |
d6521785627d20c51edc566808a6bf28 | bios/tos102fr.img | |
b2a8570de2e850c5acf81cb80512d9f6 | bios/tos102uk.img | |
41b7dae4e24735f330b63ad923a0bfbc | bios/tos104de.img | |
143343f7b8e0b1162af206fe8f46b002 | bios/tos104es.img | |
0087e2707c57efa2106a0aa7576655c0 | bios/tos104fr.img | |
036c5ae4f885cbf62c9bed651c6c58a8 | bios/tos104uk.img | |
736adb2dc835df4d323191fdc8926cc9 | bios/tos104us.img | |
992bac38e01633a529121a2a65f0779e | bios/tos106de.img | |
30f69d70fe7c210300ed83f991b12de9 | bios/tos106es.img | |
bc7b224d0dc3f0cc14c8897db89c5787 | bios/tos106fr.img | |
6033f2b9364edfed321c6931a8181fd2 | bios/tos106uk.img | |
a0982e760f9807d82667ff5a69e78f6b | bios/tos106us.img | |
94a75c1c65408d9f974b0463e15a3b11 | bios/tos162de.img | |
ed5fbaabe0219092df74c6c14cea3f8e | bios/tos162fr.img | |
1cbc4f55295e469fc8cd72b7efdea1da | bios/tos162uk.img | |
febb00ba8784798293a7ae709a1dafcb | bios/tos162us.img | |
7aeabdc25f8134590e25643a405210ca | bios/tos205de.img | |
7449b131681f1dfe62ebed1392847057 | bios/tos205es.img | |
61b620ad951815a25cb37895c81a947c | bios/tos205fr.img | |
7e87d8fe7e24e0b4c55ad1b7955beae3 | bios/tos205it.img | |
7cdd45b6aac66a21bfb357d9334e46db | bios/tos205us.img | |
0604dbb85928f0598d04144a8b554bbe | bios/tos206de.img | |
b2873004a408b8db36321f98daafa251 | bios/tos206fr.img | |
4a0d4f282c3f2a0196681adf88862dd4 | bios/tos206.img | |
e690bec90d902024beed549d22150755 | bios/tos206uk.img | |
c9093f27159e7d13ac0d1501a95e53d4 | bios/tos206us.img | |
066f39a7ea5789d5afd59dd7b3104fa6 | bios/tos306de.img | |
dd1010ec566efbd71047d6c4919feba5 | bios/tos306uk.img | |
ed2647936ce4bd283c4d7dfd7ae09d1c | bios/tos400.img | |
9e880168d0a004f7f5e852be758f39e4 | bios/tos402.img | |
e5ea0f216fb446f1c4a4f476bc5f03d4 | bios/tos404.img |
ROMs
Place your Atari ST ROMs in /userdata/roms/atarist.
Emulators
RetroArch
RetroArch (formerly SSNES), is a ubiquitous frontend that can run multiple “cores”, which are essentially the emulators themselves. The most common cores use the libretro API, so that's why cores run in RetroArch in Batocera are referred to as “libretro: (core name)”. RetroArch aims to unify the feature set of all libretro cores and offer a universal, familiar interface independent of platform.
RetroArch configuration
RetroArch offers a Quick Menu accessed by pressing [HOTKEY] + 
which can be used to alter various things like RetroArch and core options, and controller mapping. Most RetroArch related settings can be altered from Batocera's EmulationStation.
Standardized features available to all libretro cores: atarist.videomode, atarist.ratio, atarist.smooth, atarist.shaders, atarist.decoration, atarist.game_translation
ES setting name batocera.conf_key | Description ⇒ ES option key_value |
|---|---|
| Settings that apply to all cores of this emulator | |
GRAPHICS API atarist.gfxbackend | Choose which graphics API library to use. Vulkan is better, when supported. ⇒ OpenGL opengl, Vulkan vulkan. |
AUDIO LATENCY atarist.audio_latency | In milliseconds. Can reduce crackling/cutting out. ⇒ 256 256, 192 192, 128 128, 64 64, 32 32, 16 16, 8 8. |
THREADED VIDEO atarist.video_threaded | Improves performance at the cost of latency and more video stuttering. ⇒ On true, Off false. |
libretro: Hatari
This is the libretro port of the Hatari emulator.
libretro: Hatari configuration
Open the Hatari GUI in-game with 
. This is typically required to configure games properly before they'll begin launching.
Hatari
Hatari is an Atari ST/STE/TT/Falcon emulator.
Hatari configuration
Standardized features available to all cores of this emulator: atarist.videomode, atarist.padtokeyboard, atarist.decoration
ES setting name batocera.conf_key | Description ⇒ ES option key_value |
|---|---|
| Settings that apply to all cores of this emulator | |
MODEL atarist.model | ⇒ 520 ST / AUTO 520st_auto, 520 ST / TOS 1.00 520st_100, 520 ST / TOS 1.02 520st_102, 520 ST / TOS 1.04 520st_104, 1040 STE / AUTO 1040ste_auto, 1040 STE / 1.06 1040ste_106, 1040 STE / 1.62 1040ste_162, Mega STE / AUTO megaste_auto, Mega STE / 2.05 megaste_205, Mega STE / 2.06 megaste_206. |
LANGUAGE atarist.language | TOS languages. ⇒ DE de, ES es, FR fr, IT it, NL nl, RU ru, SE se, UK uk, US us. |
EMULATED RAM SIZE atarist.ram | ⇒ 520K 0, 1M 1, 2M 2, 4M 4. |
Controls
Here are the default Atari ST's controls shown on a Batocera RetroPad:
| Batocera RetroPad | Libretro Hatari |
|---|---|
 | Fire |
| | Open Hatari GUI |
| D-pad | Directions |
[L1] | Joystick number |
[R1] | Cursor speed |
[L2] | Toggle m/k status |
[START] | On-screen keyboard |
[START] | Mouse mode toggle |
Troubleshooting
Game X does not work
Atari ST is one of the harder emulators to get set up and working properly. Libretro has a quick guide on their documentation site. For more in-depth issues, read on.
To quote Hatari's FAQ page:
* Many ST games often need a certain TOS version to run right. Old games often only work with TOS 1.00 or TOS 1.02, so you should try these TOS versions first. If the game still does not work, you should also try TOS 1.04 and 2.06. Some games also either need a NTSC (US American) or a PAL (European) TOS, so it might be useful to test these different types, too.
* There are also some games which do not work in STE mode - but there are also some few games which only work in STE mode and not in ST mode. So changing the machine type might be worth a try, too.
* Some games also need certain RAM sizes, for example some games do not work with 4 MB memory size!
* And finally, try to enable the “Slower but more compatible CPU” and/or disable the “Patch Timer-D” in the system options dialog. This slightly increases compatibility with the real ST. In some few cases you also have to enable the “Slow floppy access” option in the floppy options dialog to mimic the speed of the original floppy disk drive.
The full manual offers more insight.
Check the compatibility list
Further troubleshooting
For further troubleshooting, refer to the generic support pages.
- systems/atarist.txt
- Last modified: 6 months ago
- by atari