AtariLeaf Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 I was given a couple of Atari's from the local game store and upon opening the H6 I could tell it's already definitely been worked on. It gives a black screen with a thin blue line down the left side. I was going to swap the riot and see if that helped but noticed this pictured below. What is going on with this McGyver'd setup? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+GoldLeader Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 A small piece of the Necronomicon ExMortis has found its way into your Atari! Whatever you do AtariLeaf, Do not speak any ancient Sumerian Funerary Incantations while working on it...Or the results may be...unpleasant! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted December 31, 2017 Author Share Posted December 31, 2017 LOL no incantations so far but if this keeps up I may turn to black magic to get this board going. In the process of trying to swap out the riot and tia with a chip extractor, both sockets came right out with just the socket pins left sticking up on the board so I'm going to have to re-socket these boards. I also took a closer look at the ribbon cable and it's separating in two places This board is seriously borked. On the happy side, the light sixer I was given in the same lot was a simple power port solder touch up. The only other thing wrong with it is the right player difficulty switch is stuck on expert. Not a big deal, I'll take it apart and hopefully a good cleaning will do it otherwise I'll swap it out. EDIT could be the voltage regulator? I had it on for a couple minutes when switching the riot and almost burned myself on the heat sink. I tested with the voltage regulator and got really low readings, almost zero. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted January 1, 2018 Author Share Posted January 1, 2018 I retested the voltage regulator (this time on the correct setting) and am getting over 8 volts output so it definitely needs replacing. Would still like some input on what's going on in that first pic and if I should replace that whole thing. Looks like I'll have to replace all the sockets too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted January 2, 2018 Author Share Posted January 2, 2018 No one know why this weird capacitor setup is on this board or why it might have been done? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwilkson Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 (edited) No one know why this weird capacitor setup is on this board or why it might have been done? That is an L-C filter for the main clock (PHI_2). The orange thing is the inductor. It was only used on early units. Later units don't include it. You should remove the inductor and the stand up capacitor per Atari Service bulletin. Be careful not to damage the other components (C201 and R206). They are under the LC filter. (And you should send that inductor to me for documentation purposes. I think it's marked 330 but I don't know if that's micro- or nano- Henry. ) Edited January 4, 2018 by cwilkson 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted January 4, 2018 Author Share Posted January 4, 2018 So those two parts don't need to be replaced with anything else? They looked like some kind of homemade setup. I'll check out that service bulletin. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted February 4, 2018 Author Share Posted February 4, 2018 So I'm contacting Best Electronics to order one of each of the 3 IC's for this heavy sixer (TIA, RIOT, 6507) but I'm also going to need to replace the sockets. Long story short when I tried to remove the IC's to reseat them the entire sockets started to come up so I'm not sure I can trust them. Looking on ebay I noticed an auction with some options that I'm not sure of which I would would need: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/10Pcs-IC-Socket-DIP-6P-40P-Pin-2-54mm-Integrated-Circuit-Adaptor-Solder-Type/271839819937?hash=item3f4aea78a1:m:mrg23idz02mGeAvDvn7fDPg I would need 40 pin sockets as well as 24 pin however the drop down menu for type mentions things like "round pin" or "wide body" I'm assuming I'd need the wider one but what is the round pin and do I need that or just the regular? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 (edited) So I'm contacting Best Electronics to order one of each of the 3 IC's for this heavy sixer (TIA, RIOT, 6507) but I'm also going to need to replace the sockets. Long story short when I tried to remove the IC's to reseat them the entire sockets started to come up so I'm not sure I can trust them. Looking on ebay I noticed an auction with some options that I'm not sure of which I would would need: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/10Pcs-IC-Socket-DIP-6P-40P-Pin-2-54mm-Integrated-Circuit-Adaptor-Solder-Type/271839819937?hash=item3f4aea78a1:m:mrg23idz02mGeAvDvn7fDPg I would need 40 pin sockets as well as 24 pin however the drop down menu for type mentions things like "round pin" or "wide body" I'm assuming I'd need the wider one but what is the round pin and do I need that or just the regular? I'm guessing the Round Pin is in reference to machine pin type sockets. They are the small post like legs and not the flat one the actual ICs use. They would likely work, but it would be best to get dual wipe type sockets for those ICs. That way the legs are making contact on both the outside and inside of the legs. Machine Pin socket ( Guessing this is the round hole they are talking about and you don't want this) This is a dual wipe standard 40 pin socket. This is the type you want... Edited February 5, 2018 by -^Cro§Bow^- 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted February 9, 2018 Author Share Posted February 9, 2018 So a snow day from work has allowed me to replace the voltage regulator and clean the power switch. I'm getting a good 4.8 volts out of the regulator instead of the 8 from the old one. Still no love, just a blank screen so it must be an IC chip? I have them on order from Best but it may take a while getting to Canada. Other than the voltage regulator, power switch, or one of the IC's are there other possibilities that would throw a black screen or black screen with a blue and orange line down the left and right side of the screen respectively? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted February 10, 2018 Author Share Posted February 10, 2018 So I'm worried I destroyed this board. I have to desolder the sockets for all 3 of the main IC's since the sockets broke off trying to remove the chips with a chip puller. I use my iron and desoldering braid but I may have damaged the board in the process. I still can't get some of the legs out even though the solder is gone from each hole. I hope I didn't but fear I did. Break it to me gently. My other concern in the third pic were scratched I made stupidly using a screwdriver to pry up the chip when I originally couldn't find my chip puller and scratched some traces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zylon Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 Doesn't look bad, but tracing over them with a conductive pen can't hurt. I'd also replace the hex buffer as well. (little IC all by itself on upper right) That little guy can give all sorts of problems from no fire, continuous fire, black screen, hum, paddle problems, etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted February 11, 2018 Author Share Posted February 11, 2018 Doesn't look bad, but tracing over them with a conductive pen can't hurt. I'd also replace the hex buffer as well. (little IC all by itself on upper right) That little guy can give all sorts of problems from no fire, continuous fire, black screen, hum, paddle problems, etc. Ah yes, the 4050. I just so happen to have a few of those and sockets to go along with them from a joystick firing issue on another system. Thanks for the help and advice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zylon Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 (edited) Bad voltage regulators cause other components to fail, usually the 4050 takes the 1st hit on 6ers. On 4sw, it's been eliminated and so the TIA gets 1st hit. As for your L6er diff switch issue, if cleaning it, or bridging the contacts manually doesn't work, the RIOT is suspect. I usually use Space Invaders set on team players and watch the ship width to test. Edited February 11, 2018 by zylon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted February 11, 2018 Author Share Posted February 11, 2018 So the main 3 IC's might be ok after all? I already ordered a set of 3 from Best and since I'm putting new sockets in anyway, I'll pop in the new chips and if it still doesn't work I'll replace the 4050 and put a socket in there too. If it does turn out to be the 4050 I'll put the original IC's back in and if they work I'll have a nice new set for future repairs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zylon Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 (edited) Even if bad, it's rare that all 3 fail. That might take lightening. The most common buffer fail is either an open or short on the trigger lines for either left or right player. It can fail in other places and short the whole system. I did repair one for a member here about 3yrs ago with a similar issue. I'd change the buffer while you wait for IC's and maybe swap ones from another system for testing. Usually one failure leads to the next until system stops working. You'd hate to install nice new ICs and have a shorted buffer kill them. Edited February 11, 2018 by zylon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted February 11, 2018 Author Share Posted February 11, 2018 Even if bad, it's rare that all 3 fail. That might take lightening. The most common buffer fail is either an open or short on the trigger lines for either left or right player. It can fail in other places and short the whole system. I did repair one for a member here about 3yrs ago with a similar issue. I'd change the buffer while you wait for IC's and maybe swap ones from another system for testing. Will do thanks again. I wish I knew the 4050 was a possible cause for black screen issues. In my reviewing threads on the issue I don't remember seeing one that mentions the 4050 as a possible culprit but chances are I missed that thread or wasn't paying close enough attention. Would have save me a lot of headaches if I tested that after replacing the voltage regulator. If it's none of the above it may very well be that ribbon cable I posted a picture of in the 3rd post here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zylon Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 (edited) Also look for the colored dot. You can see it on right side under cart port in this pic. If it's missing, it can short the whole board against the metal casting. It was only a sticker and does fall out. I hated those flatwire cables, lol. Thank Reading, PA for that one. Edited February 11, 2018 by zylon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted February 11, 2018 Author Share Posted February 11, 2018 Usually one failure leads to the next until system stops working. You'd hate to install nice new ICs and have a shorted buffer kill them. Yikes, good point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted February 11, 2018 Author Share Posted February 11, 2018 Also look for the colored dot. You can see it on right side under cart port in this pic. If it's missing, it can short the whole board against the metal casting. It was only a sticker and does fall out. I hated those flatwire cables, lol. Thank Reading, PA for that one. I see a sliver of red in that very spot so I'm assuming that's the sticker but red, not yellow like in your pic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zylon Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 (edited) I spent a lot more time fixing 2600s than playing them, lol. I'm not the most technical, but my success rate's good. You're good then, the bulletin just says colored dot. Edited February 11, 2018 by zylon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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