Dead 1050 disk drive

[Dead 1050 disk drive]

I have a dead 1050 disk drive that needs service. When I power it on, the power LED lights up but the drive does nothing. When connected to an 800XL I get only the scrolling/repeating boot error message.

 

I remember reading somewhere on the Internet a while ago that the 1050 drives suffer from a very common problem. If I recall correctly, capacitor failure on these drives is not uncommon. I can't, for the life of me, remember where I read this though. Anyone know what I'm talking about here?

[Atari 800XL service manuals]

First course of action would be:

 

- check power supply with a multimeter

 

Power supply is fine. I have four 800XLs and one power supply. The machines that work fine, work well with the power supply that I use on the XL with the blue screen.

 

- open the XL. Ensure all socketed chips are seated OK.

 

This particular XL has soldered chips.

 

- check power supply componentry inside the computer.

 

What should I be checking, exactly?

 

- quick visual check of the board, looking for lifted/broken traces or bad solder connections

 

Quick visual check of the board reveals a bunch of dust and a dead spider. Both removed. Other than that, everything looks as it should, only aged.

 

But the smart money is on either badly seated IC/s or a dud ROM.

 

I can rule out badly seated ICs.

[Atari 800XL service manuals]

Does it have a black border like a normal GR.0 screen does, or is it literally solid blue?

 

I don't recall if there was a border. I'll have to check again.

[Atari 800XL service manuals]

I have a problem with one of my Atari 800XL computers and am in need of a service manual. I did a little search in Google and found that there is a retailer or two who have them for sale, but at about $50 a pop they cost more than I want to spend. I'm wondering if anyone has ever bothered scanning one of these manuals into PDF format and distributed it on the Internet? I'd sure like to get my hands on an elecronic copy of this manual, as well as the manual for the Atari 1050 disk drive.

 

As for my 800XL, it boots to a solid blue screen. No cursor. No typical Atari messages like the words 'ready' or 'boot error'. I get just a solid blue screen. Maybe a bad ROM?