A new way to experience the Atari 2600.

© Copyright 2009-2011 – AtariAge (atariage.com)

Second printing

Contents
Introduction_____________________________________ 1
Getting Started with Harmony________________________ 1
Harmony Firmware Upgrading_ ______________________ 3
Frequently Asked Questions_________________________ 5
Harmony File Extensions_ __________________________ 8
Harmony Technical Specifications_____________________ 9
Acknowledgments________________________________ 9
Introduction
The Harmony cartridge is a programmable add-on for the Atari 2600 console that allows you
to load an entire library of games into a single cartridge and then select which title you want to
play from a friendly, on-screen menu interface. It features an SD card interface, making it simple
to access the large library of Atari 2600 software. The Harmony cartridge supports almost all of
the titles that have been produced for the Atari 2600. It can also be used to run your own Atari
2600 game creations on a real console. The Harmony cartridge is flash-upgradeable, and will be
updated to support future Atari 2600 developments.

SD card slot Mini-B USB port

Back edge of Harmony Cart

This guide tells you how to make the most of your Harmony cartridge. It should be read
thoroughly before the cartridge is used for the first time. Your Harmony cartridge will provide you
with many years of Atari 2600 enjoyment.

The following equipment is required to use the Harmony cartridge:

1) An Atari 2600, Atari 7800 or other Atari 2600-compatible console.
2) A Windows, Macintosh or Linux-based computer to transfer data onto the SD card.
3) An SD card adapter for your computer.
4) An SD or SDHC card up to 32GB capacity.
5) A Mini-B USB cable (only required for updating the Harmony firmware).

Getting Started with Harmony

This section is a quick guide to using your Harmony cartridge. By following the steps below, you
can use your Harmony cartridge to enjoy thousands of titles in the Atari 2600 software library:

1) Connect an SD card to your computer. This will normally require an

SD card reader or adapter. Only SD (and SDHC) cards up to 32GB are
supported. Older MMC cards and micro-SD cards (with an SD adapter)
may not work reliably. A 1GB SD card is sufficient to hold every Atari 2600
title ever produced.

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2) Ensure that the SD card is FAT formatted (FAT32 is best, but FAT16 or FAT12 will
work). SD cards are normally supplied FAT formatted, but some new SD cards contain
unnecessary files that may interfere with normal operation of Harmony, so it is best to start
with a blank, freshly-formatted card. If you purchased a Deluxe Harmony cartridge, there is
no need to format the included SD card as it is FAT32 formatted and ready to use.

3) Locate the files that you want to copy onto the SD card. These files should be raw
Atari 2600 binary (.bin) files. Other file types (e.g. Supercharger .wav files) will need to be
converted before they can be used. Binary files larger than 32KB, Supercharger multi-load
files larger than 33KB, and Atari 5200 and 7800 files, will not work with the Harmony
cartridge.

4) Copy the Atari 2600 files that you want onto the SD card. The Harmony cartridge
supports file directories, so it is usually best to copy these files to your SD card in newly-
created directories. The order the files are copied onto the SD card will be the order that
they are displayed in the Harmony menu. On the Mac, it is necessary to copy and paste the
files onto the SD card (rather than drag and drop) to preserve the file ordering. The Harmony
menu will only display the first 24 characters of the filename (including the file extension). If
the filename is longer, the full filename can still be displayed (see step 7) but will normally
be truncated to 23 characters.

5) The SD card can now be ejected from the computer

system and placed into the Harmony cartridge. This
should be done before the Harmony cartridge is inserted into
the console, or before the power is switched on. Note that the
SD card slot on the Harmony is a push-push design - simply
push gently and release to eject. Never pull the SD card out of
the Harmony cartridge without first pushing it in to eject it.

6) The Harmony cartridge with SD card inserted can now be inserted into the console,
and the console powered on. If everything is working, then you will see the menu system
displayed on the screen after a few seconds. If weird patterns (garbage) appears on the
screen, switch the console off, and then
on again after a few seconds. If it fails to
work after several attempts, try cleaning the
cartridge edge connection.

7) Navigate the menu system using a joystick

in the left controller port. Holding up or
down on the joystick will move between
menu entries, and holding left or right on
the joystick will move between menu pages.

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 Use the fire button to open a directory (enclosed by [ ]), and to select a menu entry to be
loaded. You can page faster by holding the fire button while moving the joystick left/right
- this will skip forwards or backwards through the menu 10 pages at a time. You can
display the full filename for a menu entry by holding down the fire button for more than a
half second. The menu system can also be navigated with a paddle controller or driving
controller in the left port. Sega Genesis controllers also work but are detected as paddles,
but this detection may be circumvented by holding down button B. A similar method may
also work for Sega Master System or Coleco Gemini controllers.

8) Select an entry from the menu and it will be loaded and should start after a few
seconds. The Harmony cart will automatically detect the type of the file. If weird patterns
(garbage) appears on the screen, this normally means that the Harmony could not detect
the file type. It can also indicate a corrupt or invalid file. It is possible to tell the Harmony
what type of file is used by changing the file extension (the valid file extensions are listed in
a section at the end of this document). Once you are done, the console can be powered off
and then on to return to the Harmony menu. There is no way to return to the menu from a
game without cycling power on the console.

9) The console should not be switched off while the Harmony cartridge is loading a file.
Under certain circumstances, this could corrupt the Harmony firmware (requiring it
to be reprogrammed). Also, the SD card should not be ejected from the Harmony cartridge
while the console is powered, or the contents of the card may become corrupted. It is safe to
switch off the console when it is displaying the menu screen, or after a file has loaded. It is
only safe to remove the Harmony cartridge from the console when it has been powered off.

Harmony Firmware Upgrading

Harmony cartridges ship with the latest firmware (internal software), but new versions of the
Harmony firmware may be released to improve the compatibility of the cartridge and to fix any
issues that are discovered. It is a good idea to make sure that your Harmony cartridge is always
using the latest firmware release.

To check your firmware version, select the [.] entry on the first page of the Harmony menu, then
visit the Harmony cartridge website at http://harmony.atariage.com to see if a newer version of
firmware is available. If the firmware is current, there is no need to upgrade the firmware unless
you are having trouble with your Harmony cartridge, either due to firmware corruption or use of
firmware for an incompatible television format. Harmony cartridges ship with firmware for the
NTSC television format as this usually works worldwide, but sometimes it may not.

The Harmony firmware is too large to be loaded directly onto the Harmony cartridge. Therefore,
a small loader program must first be downloaded onto the Harmony cartridge using a Mini-B

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USB cable, and then the actual firmware will be loaded from an SD card. To
simplify this process, a Harmony Programming Tool has been developed for
Windows, Macintosh, and Linux-based computers.

To upgrade the Harmony firmware using this tool, you should perform the
following steps:

1) Download and install the latest version of the Harmony Programming Tool from http://
harmony.atariage.com. Make sure that you download the correct version for your computer
(Windows, Macintosh, or Linux).

2) Connect the Harmony Cartridge to your computer using a Mini-B

USB cable. The Harmony cartridge should not be inserted
into the Atari console at this point. Some operating systems
may already have appropriate drivers to communicate with your
Harmony cartridge, but if not, it may be necessary to install these
drivers. These drivers may be found at http://harmony.atariage.com.

3) Insert an SD card into the SD card reader on your computer. Ensure that the SD card is FAT
formatted, and can be accessed by your computer.

4) Start the Harmony Programming Tool. If everything is working correctly, a window should
appear on the screen with a green light in the bottom right corner. If the window does not
appear, or a red light is displayed, please consult the Frequently Asked Questions section at
the end of this guide.

5) Make sure that the “BIOS

Update” tab is selected inside the
Harmony Programming Tool. The
“Development” tab is provided for
Homebrew game developers and is
not covered in this guide.

6) The BIOS Update tab shows three

steps that should be performed.
These steps are described below:

Step 1: Select the EEPROM loader to download onto the Harmony cartridge. This
is done by clicking on the EEPROM “...” button. You should select a loader
that is suitable for your console (either NTSC, PAL50, or PAL60). If you are
unsure, use the NTSC version (eeloader_xxx_ntsc.bin) if you are in
Northern America, and the PAL50 version (eeloader_xxx_pal50.bin)

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 otherwise, where xxx is the firmware version. Once you have selected the
correct version, click on the “Download EEPROM” button. The download to the
Harmony cartridge should complete after a few seconds.

Step 2: Select the firmware image to be copied onto the SD card by clicking on the
HBIOS “...” button. Your choice (NTSC, PAL50, or PAL60) should match your
choice in Step 1. For example, if you used the eeloader_xxx_ntsc.bin
file in Step 1, you should select the hbios_xxx_ntsc.bin image here,
where xxx is the firmware version. Once you have chosen the correct image,
click on the SD Card “...” button and select the root directory of your SD card.
Finally, click on the “Copy HBIOS” button and the firmware image will be
copied onto the SD card.

Step 3: Close the Harmony Programming Tool and disconnect the Harmony cartridge
from your computer by unplugging the USB cable. You should also safely eject
the SD card from your computer (do not just pull it out of the SD card reader).
Insert the SD card into the Harmony cartridge, and then insert the Harmony
cartridge into your Atari console before turning on the power to the console.
If everything has worked correctly you should see a spinning symbol on the
screen, followed a few seconds later by a message saying that the BIOS
update has been successful. If weird patterns (garbage) appear on the screen,
turn off the console power for a few seconds and then back on again.

7) At this point the firmware in your Harmony cartridge should have been successfully
updated. You can continue using your Harmony cartridge as normal until the next firmware
update is available. If you encountered any problems upgrading the firmware, consult the
Frequently Asked Questions section.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q) I am having a problem with my Harmony Cartridge - where can I get help?
A) http://harmony.atariage.com has a link to the Harmony cartridge forum on the AtariAge
website. This is good place to ask questions about the Harmony cartridge. However, it is a
good idea to check if your question has already been answered before posting a query.

Q) Why are my files all jumbled up in the Harmony menu?

A) The files are shown unsorted, in the order that they appear on the SD card. If you are using
a Macintosh computer, make sure to use copy and paste, rather than simply dragging the
files onto the SD card. There are also utilities (e.g. DriveSort) that can reorder the files on an
SD card.

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Q) My Harmony cartridge just displays a spinning logo on the screen, and nothing else
happens - what am I doing wrong?
A) This means that the SD card is not supported, or has not been properly FAT formatted. Try
reformatting the card (make sure to backup the contents first). If this does not work, then
you will need to use another SD card. Unfortunately, not all SD cards are created equally -
there are many counterfeit branded cards out there, and many do not support the full SD
card protocol.

Q) My Harmony cartridge has stopped working - it used to work fine, but now it just
shows weird patterns on the screen - what do I do?
A) Try cleaning the cartridge edge connector, and re-seating the cartridge. If this does not help
then the firmware probably needs to be reprogrammed using the Mini-B USB port.

Q) How do I clean the edge connector on my Harmony cartridge?

A) Open the cartridge dust flap by gently inserting a screwdriver into one of the holes on
the bottom of the cartridge and pressing lightly on the flap. The contacts can be then be
cleaned with a contact cleaning solution or rubbing alcohol, and a Q-tip. Conductive liquids,
such as water, must never be used to clean the cartridge contacts.

Q) Why does my computer say that the SD card is full, even though there appears to be
plenty of free space on the card?
A) Your SD card is probably formatted with FAT12 or FAT16. You can solve this by reformatting
your card as FAT32 (make sure to backup the contents first), or by splitting the contents into
more sub-directories.

Q) What games do not work with the Harmony cartridge?

A) All of the original Atari 2600 titles should work, apart from the 64KB MegaBoy cartridge.
There are also some homebrew titles over 32KB that will not work, e.g. Stella’s Stocking.

Q) Why does a ROM that does not work with the Harmony cartridge, work fine with the
Stella emulator?
A) If the ROM is over 32KB then it will not work. If it is 32KB or smaller, you can try forcing the
file type by changing the file extension. The supported file types are listed at the end of this
document. If the ROM still does not work, please let us know.

Q) My Supercharger multiload game crashes after the first part - is there any way to
make it work properly?
A) Supercharger multiloads are supported on the Harmony cartridge, but only if they are made
into a single binary file. You need to join all of the separate parts together using a utility, or
obtain a file that has already been joined together.

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Q) Why does my TV screen roll after loading certain games, or the picture appear in
black and white?
A) You are probably trying to play an NTSC game on a PAL console, or a PAL game on an NTSC
console. Try to find a version of the game that matches your console type.

Q) Will my Harmony cartridge be “bricked” (permanently damaged) if I switch it off

during loading, or if a firmware update fails?
A) The Harmony cartridge cannot be “bricked” as the firmware loader for the Harmony is
permanently stored in ROM. If the Harmony firmware gets corrupted then it can simply be
reprogrammed using the Mini-B USB port.

Q) How do I check which version of the firmware is on my Harmony cartridge?

A) The firmware version is displayed at the top of the “credits” screen on the Harmony
cartridge. Simply start the Harmony cartridge with an SD card inserted and select the [.]
entry on the first page.

Q) Why can the Harmony Programming Tool not find my Harmony cartridge?
A) You probably need to install the Virtual COM port drivers for the FT232R device available
from: http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm You should reboot your computer after these
drivers have been installed.
Also make sure you are using a proper Mini-B USB cable. Some cables are designed for
power-only, such as those for USB speakers, lights, chargers, or other passive devices.
Other cables might have a poor connection or sensitivity to RF interference, so it is best to
use a quality cable with a ferrite bead attached.

Q) How do I use the Harmony Programming Tool with Linux?

A) The USB FTDI Single Port Serial Driver module (ftdi_sio) needs to be loaded into your kernel.
This module has been included with the Linux kernel since 2.4.30 (and all 2.6.x kernels).
You should also make sure that the qt4 library (libqt4) has been installed from your Linux
distribution.

Q) Should I use the NTSC, PAL50, or PAL60 version of the firmware?

A) The choice depends on the kind of Atari console that you have, and your TV set. If you are in
an NTSC region (USA, Canada, Mexico, Japan, etc.) you should use the NTSC version. If you
are in a PAL region (Europe, Africa, Russia, Australia, etc.) then you should use the PAL50
version. If you are in a PAL-M region such as Brazil, or in a PAL region but have a TV that
can display a 60Hz picture, then you can try the PAL60 version. You can always update the
firmware to a different version if necessary. If you select the wrong version, the colors in the
Harmony menu will be wrong, and the TV picture may “roll” on the screen.

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Q) What if my Harmony cartridge starts acting weirdly after upgrading the firmware?
A) If your Harmony cartridge does not work properly after the firmware upgrade then you
should repeat the upgrade process. If it still does not work, then you should ensure you
are installing a compatible firmware image. Some Harmony carts will not work properly
with firmware versions before v1.03. If you are sure that you are installing a compatible
firmware version, and it still does not work, consult the AtariAge forums for known issues.

Q) When I connect my Harmony Cartridge to my computer, why doesn’t it appear as a

drive letter or volume like my camera or MP3 player?
A) The Harmony Cartridge is not designed to do that. The USB port on the Harmony is intended
for firmware upgrades or game development only. Use a separate card reader to manage
the contents of your SD card.

Q) The Harmony menu is very difficult to read on my TV set - how can I fix it?
A) The Harmony menu is optimized for CRT TVs and may not display perfectly on newer LCD
TVs. You may find the picture is clearer if you disable color cycling (set the Color/B&W
switch to Color). It is also important to properly calibrate your TV so that darker colors are
clearly visible. There are a number of home theater calibration DVDs and Blu-Ray discs
that can help with this. Lastly, installing a video mod into your Atari console that provides
composite or S-video output may display a clearer picture.

Harmony File Extensions

The Harmony cartridge supports many different types of Atari 2600 software. The type of the
software is automatically detected when the file is loaded. However, this auto-detection process
can sometimes fail, resulting in weird patterns (garbage) being displayed on the screen. This is
completely harmless, but can often be avoided by telling the Harmony cartridge explicitly what
is the type of the file. In technical terms, the type of the file is the kind of bankswitching that
was originally used by the cartridge.

It is possible to tell the Harmony cartridge directly what type of file is used by renaming the file
extension. Atari 2600 software normally has a binary (.bin) file extension. This extension can be
changed to one of the following to tell the Harmony what kind of bankswitching to use:

Extension Bankswitch type Extension Bankswitch type

.2K Atari 2K .F8S Atari F8 with Superchip
.4K Atari 4K (default) .F6 Atari F6
.F8 Atari F8 .F6S Atari F6 with Superchip

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 Extension Bankswitch type Extension Bankswitch type
.F4 Atari F4 .E7 M-Network E7
.F4S Atari F4 with Superchip .CV CommaVid
.FA CBS RAM + .UA UA Limited
.FE Activision FE .AR Arcadia Supercharger
.3F Tigervision 3F .DPC DPC (Pitfall 2)
.3E 3E (3F with up to 4K RAM) .084 0840 Econobanking
.E0 Parker Brothers E0 .CU Custom *

For example, to tell the Harmony cartridge to use F4 bankswitching with Superchip support you
would rename the file cavein.bin to cavein.f4s (the extension is not case-sensitive).

* Custom bankswitching is not a specific format but rather a stub that allows new
bankswitching schemes to be added to the .bin files themselves, so future BIOS updates are not
necessary to support them.

Harmony Cartridge Technical Specifications

Processor: NXP 70MHz ARM7TDMI-S microcontroller

Memory: 8KB SRAM, 32KB Flash, and 512KB EEPROM
SD Card Interface: 7MHz SPI bus controller
USB: FTD232 serial interface
Filesystems supported: FAT32/16/12 with Windows Long Filenames (LFN)
Bankswitching types 2K, 4K, F8, F8SC, F6, F6SC, F4, F4SC, FA, FE, 3E, 3F, E0, E7, CV, UA,
supported: Supercharger, DPC, 0840, Custom

Acknowledgments
The Harmony cartridge was created by the following people on AtariAge:

Fred Quimby (batari) Thomas Jentzsch

Chris Walton (cd-w) John Payson (supercat)
Stephen Anthony (stephena) Nathan Strum
Delicon Albert Yarusso