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Atari 1050 Boot issue


Tkat5200

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Hey now

I've found posts on here about certain errors with the 1050 but I've only found one with the 1050 error I am getting and its solution and steps leading to the issue are different.

 

Any Official ATARI disc I use (i have about 15) will start to load but eventually I get a "BOOT ERROR" that shows up on screen pretty much every 3 seconds.

 

the discs are in fantastic shape and have been kept in their original sleeves in a 3M cardboard blank discs box they were in a cool dry place for years before I got them. Now they are stored in a plastic storage case in a cool dry place.

 

  • The 1050 shows the ready light when I turn it on, then after I put the disc in and close the drive latch it starts to load and continues to the entire time it shows "BOOT ERROR"
  • I've used two sets of cables, one set was brand new.
  • The drive is set to DRIVE 1
  • There are NO bent pins on either the computer or the drive.

Its on an ATARI 800XL and I've even tested it on an ATARI 800. Both computers play games with no problem on cart and the 800XL was tested by someone who's dealt with ATARI computers and repair for years. So I know the 800XL at the very least is 100% working.

 

Anyone have any ideas on what is wrong? and is it an easy fix or something with rewiring being done. I'm a novice on internal repair, more on cosmetic repair / restoration.

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Easy fix. With power off, spray the drive select switches with WD-40 or electrical contact cleaner and work them twenty times. Reset them to D1: position and try again to boot. The switch contacts get dirty enough over time leaving the drive in a state of confusion that it will never work right in. I need to do it every decade or so.

 

You can try it without the spray if don't happen to have either, just triple the count. Eventually you will get there.

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The disk has to have bootable material on it, e.g. a Dos, menu loader or full disk game or application.

 

If it's beeping 3 times then saying BOOT ERROR then repeating, then it's likely to be just a fresh formatted disk or one with files on it but no Dos.

I doubt there's any comms problem to the computer - if the drive is set to ID other than 1 or the cable isn't any good then the computer won't attempt to boot from it and you'd not get error messages.

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The disk has to have bootable material on it, e.g. a Dos, menu loader or full disk game or application.

 

If it's beeping 3 times then saying BOOT ERROR then repeating, then it's likely to be just a fresh formatted disk or one with files on it but no Dos.

I doubt there's any comms problem to the computer - if the drive is set to ID other than 1 or the cable isn't any good then the computer won't attempt to boot from it and you'd not get error messages.

But I'm using full games like "Caverns of Mars" and the like...nothing is a copy its all original.

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But I'm using full games like "Caverns of Mars" and the like...nothing is a copy its all original.

If your disks are all original it's possible they have gone bad with age, depending on how they were stored over the years.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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If your disks are all original it's possible they have gone bad with age, depending on how they were stored over the years.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

These disks were kept in their original packaging (the Caverns of Mars, atari master discs) and the packaging is in like new condition. I got this stuff off of David Heller..the man that wrote all the Dr. C.Wacko's books on Atari programming. It was in just amazing condition...all of it.

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Please follow my advice anyway. Dirty switches have a bad habit of being nebulous in their functioning such that they cause the drive to answer yes to D1: in one half second and not being there at all in the next. So a Boot Error message is entirely possible.

 

If they are clean then what Rybags said is absolutely valid, but only if they are clean. If they are dirty then all bets are off and it will do whatever it wants to. Until you clean them, you don't know if they are clean.

 

I've never had a bad old disk, must be a real bummer.

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How exactly does it come up with boot error?

Does it wait a while then put message continuous loop?

Does boot error come up quickly in a continuous loop with a buzzing type noise?

Something else?

 

Knowing this will give a clue as to where to start looking.

 

James

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Does it do this on every single disk you put in?

 

If yes then its really unlikely ALL the disks are bad, you would expect a number even if they were bad to partly boot before giving an error, so if its on all disks then I'd say its the drive, I know you cleaned the head but a second light try may be worth it and a touch of oil on the rails that the head moves on would be a good idea as they can become stuck in place over time if the drives gets zero use. Make sure the head moves freely but don't go mad on it, try the WD-40 first and use a bud to apply it as you don't ant the oil on the head etc..

 

Hopefully that would fix it, if you can borrow another drive to verify, if the disks were kept pretty safe then its really really unlikely they all died...

 

Paul...Keep us all informed..

Edited by Mclaneinc
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It sounds like you can't read disks.

 

Could be any number of things. Does the disk spin properly? The belt could be bad or missing. If the disk spins at 288 RPM, then the data should be available at the head if it is clean. The controller chip (2793) has to decode the data into something the Atari can use. Anything that is wrong will give you errors and the drive will retry over and over. Unless you want to track the problem with an oscilloscope, your best bet is to just swap parts. Swap the drive mech. Swap the ICs.

 

You need a source of known, good parts to do this. Which most people don't have.

 

Best to send it to someone who can fix it.

 

Bob

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How exactly does it come up with boot error?

Does it wait a while then put message continuous loop?

Does boot error come up quickly in a continuous loop with a buzzing type noise?

Something else?

 

Knowing this will give a clue as to where to start looking.

 

James

It takes about 20 seconds...its loading...then it will say BOOT ERROR once...then 3 seconds later it will do it again...then again in another 3 seconds. and so on. It beeps everytime it says boot error

 

If I can figure out how to upload screenshots I will post them

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Can you hear beeps in the 1st 20 seconds? Beep is audio feedback that data is being transferred to/from drive.

 

Sounds like drive isn't reading the disk at all.

Is time to pull drive apart start checking things. Does the pressure felt pad on top push disk on to head? There isn't much pressure required but it is needed.

Check head is clean again. It doesn't take much dirt to stop things working.

More in depth stuff is to reseat/swap chips, check power rails etc.

 

James

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Hmm, Kyle's right. It might just be the angle, but it looks like the pressure pad is missing.

Looks indeed like it is MIA. You see a hole in the upper arm, which is where the pad holder would be clicked into. A missing felt pad results in the desribed error.

 

re-atari

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how does one get a hold of this........PAD!!!

:)

Contact Best Electronics and make sure to tell him that you have a "World Storage" mechanism, instead of the more common Tandon mech. I believe the part is the same for either mech, but not certain. The part number is C017511, but it's always good to confirm that with Brad.

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