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Atari Falcon 030 - Hz Switching


cawley1

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Hi Guys,

I got a Falcon 030 yesterday, and have never used one before, so forgive the NOOB question!

 

I think it's a UK spec machine (I am in the UK) as it has a £ sign on the keyboard, but it boots into 60Hz everytime I power it up. I plan to use it to run demos and games (especially when I get a CF hard disk in there) and I can't seem to be able to get the refresh rate to switch from 60Hz into 50Hz - I have a couple of Hz switch programs, but not sure if they are designed for the ST range only, as they do not appear to work! I am using this with an RGB Scart cable on a Sony CRT TV, not a VGA monitor.

 

If anyone can tell me how (if it's hardware), or point me in the direction of some software that will let me run in 50Hz, I would appreciate it.

 

Thanks,
Paul

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Hi exxosuk,

Thanks for that - I've spent the afternoon stripping it down and cleaning it (just finishing the Keyboard!), so I will have a look at that shortly when it's back together - It's definitely a UK machine as it says so on the sticker underneath, on the keyboard etc!

I am guessing the previous owner set it to 60Hz at some point. Any idea how do I go about creating the bootsector for it? I am assuming the NVRAM will need replacing shortly, anyway - I just need to find someone to remove the chip and solder a socket in it's place for me.

Cheers,
Paul

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Hmm, I knew I should not have itched the scratch!

I found a program called bootconfig (bootc201) - I ran it from the desktop and it allowed me to switch into PAL (it was set to NTSC) and when I hit reset it sure enough loaded up in 50hz mode, although there was a black rectangle to the side of the screen when booting, but it was not there in GEM.

 

I switched off and on, it loaded up in 60hz, which I assumed would happen as I powered off. I re-loaded bootconfig and oddly it was still saying PAL - so I switched it to NTSC and pressed reset, then all I got was a black screen! I have changed the box a number of times now, and regardless of PAL/NTSC setting, when I reset it's a black screen. I have to power off to get it to cone back to the memory test.

So, while it's not buggered, it is strange! Is this because the NVRAM is old, or am I doing something wrong?

Any ideas?
Thanks,
Paul

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If its the original NVRAM then likely battery is flat. Its common. So once you power off the machine it will lose settings again. You could be stuck in some odd resolution on boot up giving odd video results.

 

Some links which maybe of interest...

http://www.exxoshost.co.uk/atari/last/NVRAM/index.htm

 

http://exxosnews.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/falcon-rtc-module.html

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