Tominator Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 Hi all! I have been a spectator here for years... and now I get to post, since my Atari 800XL is not working properly. I recently purchased an Atari 800XL with 256K mod and an Omniview 80 Column Mod. There are switches on the back to disable both, I have always had both disabled. I was playing Kaboom! with my son and the game froze. After that, I have not been able to get the Atari to output any kind of picture again. Red LED still comes on when turned on and plugged in. Connected to HDTV with the Monitor cable - 1 to video and 1 to audio. When I turn on: Black screen sometimes, Pinkish/Orange screen sometimes. Once I got the blue screen with some scrambled letters and symbols moving about the screen. I am not an electronics expert, but I have soldered a few things in my time and I have repaired a few TVs. <-- but by following someone else's instructions and diagnosis. So... my question. Do I need to take this to an electronics shop? Should I just buy another one? Thanks. This is my 4th Atari and I finally had the means to enjoy the machine with my boys and KABOOM! my Atari blew up! Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 Electronics shop wouldn't have a clue really. Likely one of the upgrades, probably the RAM, is causing system instability. Something as simple as a wire dropped off or a short somewhere can be sufficient to crash the CPU. The video circuit itself should be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted July 12, 2014 Author Share Posted July 12, 2014 Well, I got it working again and it completed all of the self tests without issue. A few games in and it crashed. Anyone happen to have a manual for the memory upgrade? Maybe I can just remove it? Rybags - thank you for taking the time to reply. Very much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted July 12, 2014 Author Share Posted July 12, 2014 Okay, got it working a few more times. Still no problems with Memtest. Crashes after about 5 minutes of gaming. I booted into Basic and wrote a small program and let it run in a loop. 20+ minutes and no problems. I switched controllers while playing the games to eliminate a short in the controller being the issue. I wiggled the video cable during the Basic program - no flicker, no issues. I am guessing bad memory on the added memory. Am I way off? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 If you open the machine and post a photo of the modded parts, someone could probably ID the upgrade. I'd not remove it, chances are it's just a problem wire or connection gone intermittently bad. Maybe try running a test program then gently move the wires around and see if something makes it crash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted July 12, 2014 Author Share Posted July 12, 2014 Will do. Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted July 12, 2014 Author Share Posted July 12, 2014 Okay, while running Basic, I moved the atari and it crashed. Repeated. Crash. There is certainly something loose inside. More to follow... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zylon Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 Check the connections for the power socket. Might have a cracked solder joint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted July 12, 2014 Author Share Posted July 12, 2014 Here are the pics of the memory module inside of the computer. One thing wierd was one of the black wires had an exposed section that was touching the now-disconnected RF module. Can anyone identify the Memory add? Is it something I can remove safely? i have checked all of the chips to ensure they are well seated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillC Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 The RAM upgrade is a Newell Industries 256k XL, it is similar to the Rambo XL upgrade from ICD but uses different PIA bits for bank access. Your computer also contains a piggy-back ROM type of dual OS upgrade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted July 13, 2014 Author Share Posted July 13, 2014 Thanks Stargunner The rom on the right side is the Omni 80 Column rom. It has an on/off switch. I have kept it off so far. Are there any known issues with Newell 256K? I checked gave everything the visual check and pushed in all of the chips, but still no luck. Black screen. Yesterday I got an occasional pink/orange screen. Today nothing. Oh well, it was cheap. I will just find another one or a 130XE. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted July 13, 2014 Author Share Posted July 13, 2014 One last thing... is there any chance it could be the video cable? I didn't think so since I am not getting sound or video. But, never know... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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