Ray_A

I never owned an INDUS but I've recently had a similar problem with my 1050 (after pulling it out from the closet where it was dormant for many years). When I boot the computer with the same disk it would sometimes boot successfuly but most of the times would give me BOOT ERRORs. I thought the problem couldn't be the disk, because once a sector on the disk goes bad, it normally fails all the time, so I opened up the case and found that the lubricant on the metal rail on which the read/write head moves was thickened, so I wiped the old lubricant off the rail with a Qtip dipped in alcohol, then I've relubricated the rail with WD-40 the same way I cleaned it up. The drive works fine now, no more BOOT ERRORS. Now I am not sure whether this applies to your situation, but the drive mechanism of the INDUS looks very similar to the 1050, so you may want to try this procedure if everything else fails.

Nope the only thing that seems to work is the red power led, I will try inserting a cartridge though (as suggested above) and see what happens. When you power on, the reset line is held down for a few ms while the power stabilizes. Once RESET goes high, the CPU loads the address in the ROM at $FFFC,D and jumps to it. This means, at the very least, all the address lines should go high (except for A1) at least once. I wish we could auto-repeat RESET some way but you'll have to just press the key while you're probing the address lines. I've had the best luck just looking for hot chips, particularly memory. Otherwise, start with the oscillator and work your way in. You have quite a job ahead of you. It can be almost anything on the m/b, I'm afraid. And, it's all soldered in. Bob True. it's quite a job and I am not up to undertaking it right now (maybe never). Today I examined the board very carefully, nothing seems to be physically wrong (no burnt components, no loose solder point etc..), so it boils down to heavy duty diagnostics which is way above my head with my limited knowledge and equipment. When I can spare some time, I will undo the upgrade though and see if the base configuration still works. If it doesn't then this 130XE will probably go to the spare parts bin. My other one is stock (128K) and works just fine, although I may need a new keyboard or a CPU if they ever fail. By the way the working machine has a NEC 6502 not the Mexican made CPU like the dead one.

APE won't run with your converter? I'm asking because APE (for Windows) has sooo many more features than original SIO2PC. -Larry Well I tried APE without a SIO2PC connected to the converter just to see the software run. The program starts on my laptop but gives me an error about COM1 (this is the port emulated by the converter, not a real RS232 port), something like "Can not get the base address for COM1". It does not have this problem when I run it on a desktop PC which has a real RS232 connector. So I assume APE is not compatible with RS232 to USB type interfaces (or maybe just with mine!). Same thing happened on both VISTA and Windows XP (I have a dual boot laptop).

Hmm, if there's a EEPROM with propriatery code in the hardware design, then it's close to impossible to build one unless I have a copy of the code and a burner. Which I don't. Maybe I'll stick with the RS232 version and perhaps use the original SIO2PC software which doesn't seem to have the same problem with my DB9 to USB cable.

Well, the main reason many people want USB, is simply because many PCs don't have RS232 anymore Also, I'm not sure I'd agree USB is not better. There are many new features in the Sio2PC-USB that are not available in the "classic" version. Guess I have to read the whole thread before answering to avoid repeats but yes, especially laptops don't have RS232 for a long while now.

Hi Marius, you're right it's called an SIO2PC, my mistake!. The reason I want one with the USB connector is to be able to use my laptop which does not have a RS232 port (DB9 or DB25). Even though I have a DB9 to USB converter that I can use on my laptop (bought that so that I can connect my GPS to the laptop), my initial experimentation with the APE for Windows (trial version) ended up in problems. APE does not seem to work well with that converter (as it is not a real RS232 port). I am getting an error message that says "Can not get COM1 base address" (or something similar to that). I thought an SIO2PC with a USB connector would work fine since APE supports it.

Nope the only thing that seems to work is the red power led, I will try inserting a cartridge though (as suggested above) and see what happens.

Again very good points, some I have thought about some not, I'll open the case and I will go over those points one by one. On my first and second inspections I didn't see any burnt components. Also I pushed the ram chips in (carefully) to eliminate the possibility of loose chips (but should I really pull-them out fully and reinsert?). Haven't checked the CPU so I will do that too. Will see if i can come-up with something. And no the computer was never dropped, was just sitting in the closet for a long while.

Great info guys, I'll check that CPU and see.

you beat me to the answer, yes it is a rev C basic.

Hey, no fair, you typed faster than I did. Hope you find what's wrong and get your "super 8" working again soon! -Ed- Thanks for the advise ethierbach, I tried two different PS on that XE and no go. I am almost certain that something is wrong within the computer itself. I guess I may need to get my old logic probe out (and learn how to use it first ) to try to diagnose it. Won't be easy without some help I am sure about that as I am not really experienced in electronics.

I've been away from the Atari scene for some time and boy did things change while I was absent. There were no SIO2PC type interfaces when I was fully into 8 bits. Now that I see all the new hardware projects (by the way that 1200XL laptop proto is awesome!!)) I am excited and want to get my hands dirty again with some hardware mods. My question is about SIO2USB. Is there a schematic available somewhere in the web for me to build one. I know that AtariMax is already selling an interface but my excitement wouldn't be the same unless I've built one myself. (Hope it won't end-up like my 576K upgrade but still I enjoy messing around with hardware ). Any help in locating a schematic for the SIO2USB interface would be greatly appreciated. (I've already searched the forum but I am unable to find what I am looking for) Cheers Ray

Hi Marius, I checked the power supply and it's ok, works fine on another 130XE. When I turn the computer ON the only thing that I see is a momentary noise bar on the screen. It happens at the moment I flick the power switch on, and then nothing else. The computer is connected to a color monitor through the monitor port. I don't even get a color on the monitor, it's like nothing is connected to it at all.

Hi folks this is my first posting to the forums here, so a hello to everyone is in order. My name is Ray and I am from Toronto, Ontario. I was (and still is to some degree) an Atari enthousiast just like yourselves for many years. Played games, used productivity software and written programs for my Atari for several years. One of the other aspects of 8 bit Ataris I truly enjoyed was modding them. One of the mods I did was the 576K Upgrade to my 130XE. It was a joy seeing it work after the mess I created inside the case . I used that 130XE for a while until one day I stored it with all my other 8 bit stuff in a cabinet in the basement. Several years later I took the XE out to see it working again but NO GO. The beast! would simply refuse to boot. It would power-up but nothing is displayed and nothing happens. It was the same result whether the 576K switch behind the unit is ON or OFF. I am puzzled, how could it break sitting in a closet. I opened the case but there is no visible humidity damage. I checked all the solder points but couldn't find anything loose. So I am wondering if anybody else had a similar experience and whether they were able to fix it. I would love to see that machine come back to life but I am not sure how to diagnose it. So I am looking for a veteran hardware modder's opinion on this subject. thanks a lot in advance. P.S: I attached two pictures of the upgrade just in case if something wrong strikes you when you look at it. Ray