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_The Doctor__

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Posts posted by _The Doctor__

  1. Posted

    Wow, just wow!

    The background themes just rock and build on each layer, I love it when a solid coder gets it together. I loved watching my favorite Atari games and themes scrolling by as I wailed on the colorful bad guys. I felt invincible, well er 'cause I was invincible!

    Nice!

     

    I wonder what else is going to be crammed in there when it's finished. Awsome job.

    • Like 1

  3. Posted · Edited by _The Doctor__

    I always start by lubricating the bearings and then checking disk rpms

    after a long time in storage... sometime the drives get sticky spindles after sitting.... you can use any of the rpm software out there or use the pattern that appears on the underside of the mech when adjusting speed just make sure you use the proper pattern 50 hz or 60 hz.

    I think sparta has an rpm command as does disk doctort etc etc.

    This fixed about 5 of my drives... too slow no go too fast and some copyrighted games did not work. I think it was 288 rpm

    You can allways pull the mech and remove the shields and reseat the chips.

    Sounds like its moving out and back like it should so track zero should be fine.

    The caps may indeed be going bad it happens....

    No it does not need to sweep all the way in and back out it just moves part way in and back to make sure it is finding track zero

  6. Posted

    Looks like cable is luma chroma cable, You might try a composite cable. I just dug out an 800xl with the video mod and it looked exactly like this... I had it plugged into LED TV and CRT. Swapped the cable to composite. Problem solved, wanted better video and hacked the luma chroma cable to s-video connector. Plugged that in and now VERY nice display from both cables!

  8. Posted · Edited by _The Doctor__

    I have sent items to Steve that he never got because he was busy and missed it or the item came back to me repeatedly as undeliverable... whoever is suppose to accept the package must of been busy or whatever.. once I got ahold of him Steve was so darn nice he sent me the replacement anyway. Trust me Atarimax always comes thru even when most people would not.... Any delay you encounter is ALWAYS made up for in costumer service and knowledge. If there is a problem it's got to be a real deal for Steve not to help.. he tirelessly helps the entire community with some very excellent work products and insight. I was working on a project he put endless hours into answerring my questions... He was travelling down the road and handling me and his two other projects at the same time. The man is dedicated and has never failed myself or anyone I have known since he first started his bussiness. He's litterally that busy most of the time, the fact he does any Atari stuff at all is amazing. He even helps others produce products and gives them parts to make devices to further the 8 bit community. I would be more worried about his health and well being than anything else. He is a classic good guy.

    • Like 5

  14. Posted · Edited by _The Doctor__

    It's artificial, it's being done by the get rich ebay book twits, just like in wargames the only way to win is not to play.

     

    Try to do private sales and auctions, buy from actual Atari vendors... There are about 8 atari people causing this mess on ebay. but its spreading fast to all the other markets If you let em starve for a couple years they will give up.... they spent a couple years working towards this it will take that long to break em.....

     

    http://www.ebay.com/gds/DO-NOT-SELL-TO-ZERO-FEEDBACK-BIDDERS-/10000000010301786/g.html

     

    I was in a local store that also sells on ebay and watched a his computer scan for and automatically bid on competitors products up to a preset amount and then stop... he saw me watching and said pretty cool huh... I have a list of everything and it looks for it and bids on it up to my price... I either get it for next to nothing or someone is going to pay more than my price... I win either way.

     

    I was pissed but held my temper and decided to act in awe of it and played stupid to see if he would 'wow' me like a show off would and he did... he has several differrent scripts running on automatic sniping sites and stand alone software on his machine as well... jbidder gixen auctionsnipe etc etc etc. these machines are set up and have the purpose to screw the competition and the public period... if he doesn't want to pay and get nailed under one false acount he just sets up another... makes a few phony sales for next to nothing to give the name credibility and does it again.. I notified ebay... but since they make money off of the fees and prices you guess what will happen.. ebay says they are working on a way to mess up the sniping software... I will believe it when I see it... Simple use picture answer question to verify human bidder is making bid. I don't see it yet.

    • Like 1

  15. Posted · Edited by _The Doctor__

    ebay is a shark tank..... automatic bid sniping software that helps 'Collector Stores' hike up the prices on other peoples auction..... constantly not paying .... then you have to re list playing this charade over and over till they get it from you for their store for cheap or someone just gives up and buys it for the rediculous price...

    I already gave partial refund for the difference back to someone just keep the collector store jerks out and let real person who would enjoy it have it.... if the feedback is less than 50 block em! if all their feedback is to the same 4 guys block em! check this out

     

    I know I told you these were rare and I ran out but good news I just found a limited quantity of them again and for just 10 20 dollare more you can have ... rinse repeat at yearly or bi-yearly intervals...

     

    and on and on it goes, now we see it's $500 for that stale dorito since I am selling that kind of stale dorito too and ebays price guide shows joe shark sells that dorito for 500 I should sell my stale dorito for $450.00 ? and many do just that....

     

    for fun just check some of this out

    zeros

    http://www.ebay.com/gds/DO-NOT-SELL-TO-ZERO-FEEDBACK-BIDDERS-/10000000010301786/g.html

    restrict a bid

    http://www.ebay.com/gds/How-to-set-up-buyer-requirements-restricting-a-bidder-/10000000013095666/g.html

    VERO wtf!!

    http://www.ebay.com/gds/False-VERO-Rights-Suspension-What-Just-Happened-/10000000010207230/g.html

    Deadbeat Battles

    http://www.ebay.com/gds/HOW-I-GOT-MY-STUFF-FROM-A-DEADBEAT-SELLER-TRUE-STORY-/10000000010412650/g.html

     

    No point in buying much of anything off ebay any more..... truth...

    and remember that broken jaguar is worth $900.00 lmfao rofl holds spleen..... bleeds out...

    • Like 2

  20. Posted

    Interesting, Starfleet/Starship was the BBS Dave and I ran years ago on the 8 bit, He showed me a very interesting signed photo of Marina Sirtis. She had a way different job before Star Trek! I was currently digging thru my garage looking for the BBS (I bought it from him years ago)... I am coming up a few things short. I was hoping to put the Two BBS's I co-sysed on back up, one hard drive is toast, I tried replacing the board that runs it... but no go... it's a full height sea crate er seagate... The other is an embedded scsi that the Tyrant and I put on my system when I co-sysed Parallel Dimension....

     

    I wanted to put them both up and network them running the old msg boards as a nostalgia base and new message sections.... as well...

    I also wanted to have them run one msg base as the old node network, I believe we call it the nearus network. anyway one would call the other and networked the msg bases. so I could let them connect that way... I also wanted to allow them to multiplex and talk to each other and allow users to talk to each other as well the way puffs BBS function back in the day. Lastly I want the thing to have a multiplexed room where all can talk to each other. The icing on the cake would be a third BBS that is all new multiplexed to the other 2.

     

    Now this is where I have a problem, I want real phone access to the BBS's and I want telnet access as well.... I can't make it happen...I need to modify something to shut one down while the other is happening, phone answers, shut telnet down, telnet aswers shut modem down, either one drops bring both back up... drop both for maintenance/modification then back up when done

     

    I have the modems but need a power supply or two.

    I have the lantronix box,

    I have a 2 thin clients with sio2usb on one and sio2rs232 on the other,

    I have the 320XE,

    I have a 130XE with no keyboard at all but works,

    I have 2 800XL I will have to rambo,

    a few courrier hst/dst,

    still have the original 1 meg Mio,

    still have the original Black Box, It has has the enhancer spooler and floppy board removed (sent it out for repair by a less than reputable person, never saw the floppy board again :( back ups from the bbs's were made using floppy board can't read em now) I don't know why...

    I also have 850 interface.

    I really want to cut the thin clients setup out of the loop and use lantronix boxes, save some power bills that way, and take up even less space. also means I can be more Atari only in hardware.

     

    Concerned about how well upload/download will work over telnet or voip for that matter... I want to make sure you can get the entire BBS experience. Press Download and eat dinner then return, or play breakout while downloading... hehehe I loved that part of the terminal software.

     

    tried to do this two years ago, and then we had to move our facility 65 miles away, and then they shut down (congrats you ALLL get severance pay, yep the entire staff and management).... so now I am going to try to do it from home. I appear to have some free time!

  24. Posted

    The type of keyboard used is known as a "Low-resistance contact", the

    resistance being about 1000 ohms or so. As you use the keyboard, the

    resistance of the contacts tend to go up. For the regular keyboard and

    the RESET key, this increase in resistance causes no problems. But the

    console keys (OPTION, SELECT, and START) are read by a different IC, and

    the change in resistance will eventually keep the console keys from

    working. (The HELP key is actually read as just another letter key).

     

    The fix to the problem is to add just enough resistance in parallel to

    the key so that it is high enough not to make the computer read the key

    as pressed, but low enough that when the console key is pressed, the

    computer will recognize it.

     

    The original idea for this fix came from Alan Haskell from the book "Mods,

    Fixes, and Upgrades" available from Best Electronics, 2021 The lameda,

    Suite 290, San Jose, Ca.5126.

     

    One minor problem with the fix, however - it wouldn't work on the 130XE

    that was given to me to repair. After several hours of pulling out my

    hair over this thing, (and anyone who has seen my balding head KNOWS I

    can't afford to do too much of that!) I determined the problem.

     

    The resistor value given - 3000 ohms - was too low, for this machine at

    least. This value was just slightly above what the computer registered

    as a key pressed. Any random electrical noise would cause the computer

    to read the key as pressed, which would cause problems with the BBS

    program that was being used. A higher resistor value was needed.

     

    Theres no "correct" resistor value to use, as it varies between different

    130XEs. You may need to do some testing (as I did) to make sure it works

    properly.

     

    What You Need:

     

    Soldering Iron and Solder

    Wire Clippers

    (3) 4700 Ohm Resistors, 1/4 watt

    A small Phillips screwdriver

    Needle-Nosed Pliers

     

    How to do it:

     

    1) Unplug all of the wires from the computer.

     

    2) Turn the computer over and remove the four screws that hold the top

    cover on.

     

    3) Turn the computer back over and THEN take off the top cover.

     

    4) Lift the keyboard up and forward and you should see the ribbon

    connector at the lower right corner. Gently remove the ribbon from

    the connector.

     

    5) Remove the screws that hold the motherboard to the lower half of the

    case. Lift the front part of the motherboard up and then forward to

    remove it from the case.

     

    6) Straighten the tabs that hold the top and bottom shields on and remove

    the shields.

     

    7) Turn the board over with the keyboard connector facing to the front.

    The connector pins are numbered from right to left. Pin #3 is the

    ground connection, and Pins #21, 22, +23 are the pins for START,

    SELECT, and OPTION keys, respectively. These are the connections you

    need to make for the repair.

     

    8) Take the three resistors and solder the wire from one end of one

    resistor and solder it to the second resistor, at the spot where the

    wire comes out from the connector, being sure to cover them with a

    short piece of insulation as well.

     

    9) Check your wiring to be sure that there are no shorts!

     

    10)Use as little solder as possible, and make the connection as fast as

    you can, using as little heat as possible. Place a short piece of

    electrical tape under on the board under the resistors, if needed,

    and press the resistors close to the board.

     

    11)Reassemble the shields and check to see that the resistors are not

    shorting against the lower shield.

     

    12)Reattach the keyboard to the motherboard, taking care not to bend the

    ribbon - it WILL crack. It helps to insert one edge first, then

    carefully work the other edge into the connector.

     

    13)To test the repair, power up the computer and in BASIC type:

     

    10 PRINT PEEK(53279):GOTO 10

     

    and type RUN. You should see a vertical row of 7's. Pressing OPTION will

    give you 3's. SELECT will give you 5's and START will give you 6's. The

    value should not change while any one key is held down. This should

    return the normal function of the console keys.

     

    Special Note for Techs:

     

    You can use the following method to determine the exact resistor value

    that you need. It might save you time and aggrivation:

     

    What you need (in addition):

     

    Multitester (digital best)

    10K Multiturn Potentiometer

    Some short pieces of thin wire

     

    This should be done between steps #4 and #5 of the above procedure:

     

    A) Connect one short piece of wire to the center pin of the pot, the

    other to one of the other pins.

     

    B) Solder the free end of one wire to the ground pin (Pin 3). These

    connections will only be temporary. Solder the other free end to one

    of the console key Pins (21,22, or 23).

     

    C) Adjust the pot for maximum resistance.

     

    D) Reconnect the power and monitor. Reconnect the keyboard. Turn on

    the computer with the option key pressed - you should get the

    diagnostic screen. Select the KEYBOARD TEST and hit START.

     

    E) Adjust the pot until the tone just starts to sound intermittently.

    Measure the resistance by connecting the probes to the center pin and

    the unused pin on the pot. Subtract the measured value from the rated

    value of the pot to get the proper value. Record it.

     

    F) Adjust it again until the tone sounds continuously. Record the value

    the same way as in step E.

     

    G) Turn the computer off, and disconnect the cables and the keyboard.

    Unsolder the wires from the keyboard connector.

     

    H) The proper resistor value to use will be the closest value that is

    both HIGHER than the highest value recorded, but around DOUBLE the

    lower value. The resistors you will use will probably be between 3000

    and 5000 ohms. Continue on to step #5 as above.

     

    I dug this up out of an old BBS..... and it has solved all but one out 20+ supposedly broken trace mylars I have been confronted with... if you do cause a crack it is normally on the short strip from the keyboard to the main board I just paint it and put it in when the traced parts are still damp... if you make the the trace to thick or put it in while completely dried when it bends it will crack again ... less is more!

    • Like 3

  25. Posted

    Yeah the wayback machine has some hacked images as well, so I went back a little further and you are still there just very slow to retreive.... looks like you get nailed within the same timeframe each year... I think the idiot needs a new hobby... Maybe we all should get together find the weenie and help correct their thought process....

    • Like 1
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