Ian Primus

It was a toss-up between Yar's Revenge and Crystal Castles. Both are great games, but I think I spent more time playing Yar's Revenge than Crystal Castles. The other games are great too - but I can play Asteroids and roll the score without even trying. Yar's Revenge gets more challenging (and very hard!) and it keeps me coming back, trying to get a better score. -Ian

Wow. That's really cool. I've never seen that happen before. I have a labelless Gorf, but I've never heard of a Gorfless label. Ian Primus [email protected]

Try cleaning the contacts at the console. Use a folded bit of a business card, and gently press it down into the cart slot (you'll have to hold the slot open with a small screwdriver or the like). The cardboard should get rid of most of the grime on the contacts. Try that, and see if it helps. If not, your problem may be more serious. I could try to walk you through the possible causes, or if you want, I can fix it for you. I'm almost done with my "Atari 2600 Repair 101". I should have it up here next week. Ian Primus [email protected]

Don't feel alone. I still haven't gotten #2 yet either. I purposely tuned out the OJ case when it happened (like I'm doing now with Michael Jackson...), because I really didn't care, and I was sick of hearing about it. So, needless to say, I really don't remember what all happened with OJ. Ian Primus [email protected]

Found this while wandering around on eBay... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...2&category=1247 Not only can the seller not even manage to get the entire chip in the picture, but $6 for shipping?? Last time someone sent me a couple chips, it cost 83 cents! Once I even bought a box of 50 EPROMs, and it only cost $5 to ship. Meethinks the seller is trying to recoup costs... Ian Primus [email protected]

*raises hand* Ooh, ohh, pick me, pick me... <grin> Ian Primus [email protected]

PCB's are always different from manufacturer to manufacturer. I've managed to fit Activision PCB's in Atari cases, but you have to cut the PCB a little. Each company had it's own way of making the boards, and securing them into the case, so they don't fit right when you put them in a different case. M-Network carts can be tricky to open, you have to slide a small, flat blade screwdriver in from the cart opening, and open the two plastic clips on the top. I just took one apart, as well as an Atari Pac-Man. The boards are TOTALLY different, and will not be in any way compatible. The M-Network boards are shorter, and smaller, and don't even use real ROM chips. (They use the epoxy blobs). Atari PCB's are longer, and use ROM chips, and are clipped into the top of the cart shell. M-Netowrk ones are clipped into that end piece The Intv style case part is just empty, and clipped on to make the cart easier to plug in and out of the Atari. You can pull that part off an just use the bottom part, it has the PCB in it. Ian Primus [email protected]

How high do common carts go? Well, that would depend on how hard you threw them. Ian Primus [email protected]

If you just get a blank screen, and it's not the cart contacts, it could be a failed chip. The fact that the screen _does_ do something indicates to me that the voltage regulator is still working. (Could be weak or damaged though) Open it up and start measuring voltages. Read some of my earlier posts: http://www.atariage.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=36558 I'm also currently working on an "Atari 2600 Repair 101", since it looks like there are a lot of people that need help with this sort of thing. I can also do repairs for you if you don't feel comfortable/don't have experience/don't have the tools or parts to fix it yourself. Good luck! Ian Primus [email protected]

Shipping an _Handling_... yes, handling... We all know that it's at _least_ four dollars worth of handling involved in taking the paper out of the printer, folding it, and sticking it in an envelope. And don't forget, you're paying him to lick the glue on the envelope and the stamp, and even to write your address on the envelope. Hell, a process like that can take four days! (As is evident by some of his feedback). He's just trying to steal money from gullible people, five bucks at a time. What a jerk. Ian Primus [email protected]

Man, this guy is a real scammer. His title is phrased so that people would be inclinded to think he's selling an actual game. Also, charging four dollars shipping to cover a 37 cent stamp is rediculous. And insurance? Who insures a letter?? I didn't even know you _could_ insure a letter. I thought it had to be a package. On top of that, this moron can't even spell, punctuate, or for that matter, type legibly. He posts half of his listing in ALL CAPS, and in large font that is hard to read. This guy is a prime example of a grade A idiot. Some people are just too dumb to use eBay. I mean, come on - it's not rocket surgery! Ian Primus [email protected]

Read some of my earlier posts: http://www.atariage.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=36558 I'm currently working on writing an "Atari 2600 Repair 101", since it looks like there are a lot of people that need help with this sort of thing. I'll post it when I'm done. Ian Primus [email protected]

Dust isn't going to hurt the Atari (or at least not very much). Cleaning the board won't matter. The important thing is to make sure it's getting power, and that the regulator is working properly. Are you using a known good AC adapter? Did you make sure the TV was on the right channel? If you've ruled out the obvious, then there probably is something wrong with the consoles themselves. Do you have a multimeter and experience working with electronics? I've walked a couple people through repairing their Ataris, so I can walk you through some common tests, or, if you want, you can just send me the broken boards, and I'll repair them for you. (might only be able to make one working out of the two, if a crucial part has failed, but I can generally get replacement parts). Ian Primus [email protected]

That Sony Trinitron TV is a great model. I used to have one, and I really liked it. I also loved the remote that it used, nice big, metal klunky thing. Mine broke years ago, the vertical hold started to go on it, and the picture was folding up at the bottom. I knew what was wrong with it (failing capacitor), but couldn't find the parts or time to repair it, and I ended up just getting a new TV, (bigger screen, cable tuner, stereo sound), but those old Sony sets are great. Ian Primus [email protected]

Yeah, I hear you there. It's kinda odd playing Atari on a television set that doesn't have knob tuners. Ian Primus [email protected]

Actually, with Space Invaders, all you have to do is hold down the "Reset" switch when you turn on the power... I'd imagine frying would give a similar result though. While removing a cart with the power on probably isn't the best of ideas, I don't think it would hurt the Atari any. While it is definitely possible to blow something, I think as long as you're sure to insert and remove the cart straight up (not short anything), it shoudn't hurt the machine. All it's really doing is confusing the processor, since all of a sudden all it's ROM is different, right while it was in the middle of executing code. It's very likely that the machine would crash, or do something really weird. But, be careful, it _is_ possible to damage the machine, especially if you short something while inserting and removing the cart. Frying shouldn't hurt the machine either, although once again, it's very possible. The worst that could happen is that you would cause power spikes that could damage chips, but the Atari is pretty resiliant, and the voltages aren't nearly as critical as they are in other machines, so frying is very likely to screw up the contents of RAM, garble the graphics or change something about the gameplay, but it's less likely to damage the machine, since it doesn't have a switching power supply. If anything, you'd blow the voltage regulator. Ian Primus [email protected]

Some friends and I had a Space Invaders tournament on my 43" projection set. It's a lot of fun to play it on such a large screen. In the next town, there is a theatre that is a really old balcony theatre meant for live performances, but they have installed a screen, and show second run movies there (just before they come out on tape). Anyway, they have an absolutely huge screen there, since it's a full stage theatre. Before the movie, they have a slide show of ads. The projector is mounted on the balcony, and if you sit in the front middle of that balcony, you can reach right over and touch it. It's a regular PC projector, sitting on top of a Gateway computer that's running a slide show. It has A/V inputs right there on the back. I always thought it would be cool to bring an Atari in there and hook it up, but something tells me the people at the theatre wouldn't appreciate it. Hmm, I wonder if I can rent out the theatre for an afternoon (they don't show movies all the time)... Ian Primus [email protected]

If you want, I can make up a cart for you. Ian Primus [email protected]

I can't remember exactly off the top of my head what the connector for the 800 keyboard looks like, but IIRC, it's a flat mylar cable that plugs into a white friction fit connector on the motherboard. Along the top edge of the connector, you should see a little lip or ridge. Pull straight up on that with your fingernails, and the edge should lift about 1/16". This loosens the grip of the connector. Then, slide the mylar cable into the connector, and shove the lip back down, which then clamps the cable back into the connector. Good luck! Ian Primus [email protected]

I hope you're being sarcastic... Converting an NES controller to an Atari controller is _very_ simple. No laying out circuits, no tracking down parts, no logic tables, it's basically just cut and paste. Ian Primus [email protected]

I think the main killer for Nintendo 64 control sticks is a game called Mario Party. In Mario Party, there are numerous minigames that require you to swirl the control stick as fast as possible to beat your opponents. The easiest way to do this is to put the center of your palm on the stick and control it that way. After a good long game of Mario Party, it's not uncommon to have blisters in the center of your palm, as well as several destroyed control sticks. I think that Nintendo made Mario Party for the sole purpose of getting people to wear out controllers. Ian Primus [email protected]

Yeah, that's why they switched to the two port system, wasn't it? Nobody ever wrote any four player games, because at any given time, there were only three working 5200 joysticks at Atari, so they eventually just took two ports out. Besides, no one person could ever get ahold of four working joysticks at once. The simple act of bringing a fourth one into the house would throw off the balance of pressure in the other three, and cause at least one to develop a faulty start button or a broken fire button. Ian Primus [email protected]

I'm guessing that the chips in the homebrew carts are not EEPROMS. They are most likely EPROMS. Bit rot is an issue with EPROMS, but they should last from ten to twenty years, probably longer provided that they are taken good care of. Ian Primus [email protected]

It could be several things, but here are a few things to test. Check that the voltage regulator is putting out the right voltage. It's a 7805 regulator, and it should be putting out five volts. If it isn't, strange things can happen to the Atari. From what I've seen, too high a voltage can produce garbled sprites and erratic operation, and too low a voltage produces slurred or bad sound, weak signal and sometimes a totally dead unit. Those little regulators are pretty reliable normally, but the Atari is about 20 years old, and they are starting to fail. If it's a bad regulator, don't worry, they are easy to find. Even Rat Shack carries them. Check that the RF cable connector on the Atari main board is clean and not corroded, and that the mating connector is making good contact. Also, try the TV on different channels, and try cleaning the channel select switch. The heavy sixer should have one too, IIRC, it's hidden on the bottom and not labelled. Ian Primus [email protected]

Hmm, well, I think that's one prototype that was better off _not_ being released. I don't know what they were thinking when they wrote this, did they think it would ever sell? I mean, I've heard of mind reading, but RAM reading? Even if someone really could read thoughts, I seriously doubt they could see through the plastic case, all that RF sheilding, a plastic chip body, into the silicon and be able to discern the state of a cell of memory... Ian Primus [email protected]