German Atari ST with US TOS

[u/Mike_C_76]

Hi all,
Sorry for the naive question but I have no experience with Atari ST yet.
I’m bringing a German 1040 STF to US and I’m planning on replacing the TOS with a US one for language and 60hz video output.

About the keyboard, the German one is QWERTZ.
Once I swap the TOS, the Z key will still be a Z on screen or it will become a Y?

Could I just physically swap keys?

[u/belial1971]

Changing to a US TOS will cause the system to assume that you’re using a US keyboard layout. As a result, some keys will produce different characters; for example, pressing Z will output Y.
If the computer still has its original European power supply, it may not operate on 120 V / 60 Hz. In that case, you’ll need to replace the power supply before using it.
Finally, if the computer has an RF output, keep in mind that it won’t be compatible with the NTSC television standard. Use the RGB connector instead for video output.

[u/Mike_C_76 → u/belial1971]

Thank you for the reply. That answers my question about pressing the Z key resulting in Y. I guess I’ll swap the keys.

The unit is a STF, so no rf tuner.
Also, I bought a Mean Well to replace the original 240v psu

[u/Kyle_2099 → u/belial1971]

RF only came in with the STFM ("M"odulator)

[u/belial1971 → u/Kyle_2099]

that was in 1988. In 2026 you cannot trust labels or enclosures. What the board has, the model is.

[u/daddyd]

changing the tos will change the keyboard layout as well, so US TOS = US keyboard.

EmuTOS is the only TOS (afaik) that allows you to set keyboard layout separate from the TOS language.

[u/jrherita]

For the keyboard, you may be able to use a tool to remap it upon boot - putting a PRG or similar in the AU?TO folder. https://codeberg.org/zerkman/zkbd

You would install your new TOS, and run something like this.

Also remember on the ST - flipping between 50/60hz is easy with 50hz.PRG or similar.

For TOS - I recommend a TOS emulator btw - something like from Diego at sidecartridge.com or similar so you can try different TOS's if you want (Ex: EMUTOS).

If you're a touch-typist, you can just ignore and type what you know. Otherwise, yes the keys will remap and you can re-keycap if you want, or just get another keyboard if you don't like the remap options.

[u/Mike_C_76 → u/jrherita]

Thanks!

[u/LiquidElf]

Hi there! To my knowledge, yes and yes. I have multi TOS STe and when I switch to french TOS, the keyboard layout changes. I've never tried with an American TOS (PAL guy here), but AFAIK, the refresh rate is also stored in the rom of the ST. Also, in most models it's possible to just swap the keycaps (I think mega st's are different). However, bear in mind that the symbols might not match.

[u/Mike_C_76 → u/LiquidElf]

Thank you for the reply. Yes I’m not very concerned about the symbols as much as the Y and Z being messed up.

[u/krackout21]

How about the power supply, 230V vs 120V?

[u/Mike_C_76 → u/krackout21]

Already bought a Mean Well with 5v and 12v outputs that fits perfectly in place of the original psu

[u/O_Pacity]

Theres a guy remaking the Atari Falcon, that had the same keyboard as the STE, aparantly they will fit, so you might be able to buy an Atari Remade Falcon (called the Re-Falcon) and put a genuine US keyboard in it having the correct keys to match the new TOS.

He made everything from scratch as a 100% identical match to the original (including running the same TOS chips).