urzu117 Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 Well I figured this is probably the best place to ask. I got an atari 600xl a year and a bit ago, didn't come with a power supply and didn't get one till about 6 months ago. I got some cart games and software to play around with and when I was messing with the self-test, the RAM test kept going for a long time, up to 48 blocks of RAM were tested. Concerned that there was a bad RAM chip, I opened up the machine and discovered a massive Applied Engineering RAM daughter card installed over where the stock RAM would've been. I thought Applied Engineering only produced upgrades for the Apple II, Mac and Amiga machines? I looked up the data sheet for the RAM chip type on the board, and it turns out there's a bunch of 4K chips that add up to 64K total. Can someone shed some light and tell me what the hell have I got? An apple II upgrade that was modified for a 600XL, or an actual AE stock product sold for the 600XL? Will post pics later when I crack the machine open again. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClausB Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 What is the RAM chip part number? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 Real weird that a Ram upgrade of that era would use such small ICs. Maybe the product was a result of price drops of the by then redundant smaller Ram chip sizes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mytek Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 Also strange considering how easy it is to update a 600XL up to 64K with two chips and a couple of jumper wires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Westphal Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 Never seen this. Could you post pictures please? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 (edited) Also strange considering how easy it is to update a 600XL up to 64K with two chips and a couple of jumper wires. Would it have been so strange 30+ years ago though? Where 2x64K chips readily available then? If so, how about cost effective? I would think Atari themselves would have used 2x64K chips in the 800XL instead of 8x64K to save money otherwise. Edited May 16, 2018 by Gunstar 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mytek Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 Would it have been so strange 30+ years ago though? Where 2x64K chips readily available then? If so, how about cost effective? I would think Atari themselves would have used 2x64K chips in the 800XL instead of 8x64K to save money otherwise. Yes you make a very valid point . I sometimes forget how things were then vs. how they are now. RAM prices and availability were also big issues back in the day for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+hunmanik Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 In the various Applied Engineering catalogs from the time period that I'm finding online, they were always proudly stating that they only designed products for Apple. So this does seem like an interesting mystery. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urzu117 Posted May 19, 2018 Author Share Posted May 19, 2018 (edited) Well mystery partially solved. Turns out I lied and made up the whole thing (not really, just a case of bad memory and mixing up two different companies because both have the term "engineering" in their name). Here's the photos I promised. As plainly seen, it's not Applied Engineering, it's a company called BOT Engineering. Edited May 19, 2018 by urzu117 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urzu117 Posted May 19, 2018 Author Share Posted May 19, 2018 Also both the card and the serial on the 600XL have a year of '83, it might be a dealer upgrade? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR> Posted May 19, 2018 Share Posted May 19, 2018 (edited) An old thread on that upgrade. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/73013-atari-600xl-mem-upgrade/ Interesting ... http://play.egames.com/atari-600xl-retro-computer/ Edited May 19, 2018 by JR> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMenard Posted May 19, 2018 Share Posted May 19, 2018 You should clean up that purplish corrosive stuff with some IPA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClausB Posted May 19, 2018 Share Posted May 19, 2018 (edited) Have you had one IPA too many? Those purplish spots are reflections. Edited May 19, 2018 by ClausB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClausB Posted May 19, 2018 Share Posted May 19, 2018 An old thread on that upgrade. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/73013-atari-600xl-mem-upgrade/ Interesting ... That appears to be a different version board, with 4164 DRAMs instead of 4416s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nezgar Posted May 20, 2018 Share Posted May 20, 2018 I guess it's not a big stretch for a smart person to make a 64K RAM upgrade intended for one 6502 based computer work on another... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilaskey Posted May 21, 2018 Share Posted May 21, 2018 An old thread on that upgrade. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/73013-atari-600xl-mem-upgrade/ Interesting ... Curious that no one picked up on the original poster saying it looked like a factory upgrade and the box had a sticker saying it was a 64K 600 XL 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urzu117 Posted May 22, 2018 Author Share Posted May 22, 2018 Okay, so I ran PRINT FRE(0), and got back 37k free. According to the board's amount of 4416s, they should be around 64k. I know that the OS and BASIC take up some of the RAM, but that much? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fox-1 / mnx Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 Yes, that much. 37K For a system without DOS or anything sounds right to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR> Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 It should say 37902 I believe. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClausB Posted May 23, 2018 Share Posted May 23, 2018 Yes, 14K OS ROM, 2K I/O, 8K BASIC ROM, 1K display RAM, 2K system RAM, leaving 37K for your program. The ROMs can be disabled, leaving 62K for programs that don't need the OS or BASIC. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urzu117 Posted May 26, 2018 Author Share Posted May 26, 2018 It should say 37902 I believe. That it does. So primary worry eliminated, I have a 64k machine with no bad RAM. Not gonna bother upgrading it, since it's looking to be a dealer installed upgrade, so I'd rather keep it that way for aesthetic and historical reasons. Thanks for the help everyone. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Almost Rice Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 (edited) This 64K 600xl is a factory or distributor upgraded 600xl sold in Canadia. Don't ask me why Atari did that. I have a boxed version somewhere in my closet. As you are from syrupland, I assume you are from land of maple syrup or at least adjacent. Edited July 5, 2021 by Almost Rice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.