x=usr(1536)

Yes - those are extremely overpriced, regardless of whether they're still in bubble wrap or not. Best is selling CX78s with extended cables and their improved PCBs installed for $60. You may want to consider a return of the eBay items if that's still a possibility.

Yes, quite a bit. On previous versions, I could get into 5-digit scores without too much trouble. On this one, I'm lucky to make it out of the 3-digit range Then again, arcade Galaxian was never one of my strongest games. Always liked it, but was never very good at it. Perhaps it's just more arcade-accurate now

Ah, OK. Thanks for that explanation; it cleared up a definite misconception I had about how all of this works re: XL and XE differences. Frankly, I'd be OK with losing BASIC since it's a Rev. B machine, and the Self-Test is at least useful for checking the fundamentals. Sounds good. And nothing against tf_hh's upgrade, but if I were likely to expand the RAM further I'd probably just go straight to a U1MB. The only reason I was aiming for 320K was to be able to run a couple of games / demos that need it, but I can live vicariously through YouTube on that for a while.

BeOS 4lyf, yo! *raises two middle fingers and runs off cackling into the sunset*

Seeing it here on my Concerto, so I'm going with non-specific Yep, seeing the same behaviour here. Not 100% certain about this, but I think that Bob (based on his earlier comment) may have disabled POKEY sound already.

Could this be based off of the arcade game's DIP switches? I'm not 100% certain how they may affect gameplay, but they do definitely affect number of starting lives and the score at which a bonus life is awarded. Sorry to lose POKEY, but TIA sounds great. Quite honestly, if I hadn't heard the POKEY sounds previously, I don't think I'd really be aware of there being a difference - both fit the game very well. One thing I did notice: there's a stack of four pixels in the upper-left corner of the screen. They're visible in both the attract mode and during gameplay. Are these intentional? And yes - another excellent WIP Thank you!

Preface: I know there are arguably-better alternatives out there (such as the U1MB), but I'm curious about how to accomplish this. Humour me My 800XL has a 256KB upgrade in it. It's the ClausB upgrade (16KB banking), with eight 256Kb Micron MT1257-15 ICs replacing the original 64Kb ICs. I'd like to bump that up to 320KB. Is this as simple as piggybacking the 64Kb ICs onto the 256Kb ICs, or is there more to it than that (which I suspect that there is)?

Quick recap of the thread so far:

Very nice! Congratulations! It's always interesting to hear the stories behind the machine and how it came to be in its owner's hands. C19 may not be any fun, but this is a great example of how we've had to do things during this time. Makes it a bit unique. Now go add your serial number to the 7800 Serial Number List thread

Thank you! It's greatly appreciated!

I use white vinegar fairly routinely to remove rust from corroded hard parts, mainly fasteners that I'm reusing and various bits and pieces removed from cars. It absolutely does work, particularly if you let things soak overnight or longer. Having said that: under no circumstances would I ever use it on a PCB, or suggest using it on components attached to a PCB. There's too much room for causing further damage. If Adrian's Digital Basement does it, then fine, he can take that risk. It doesn't mean that you have to. Isopropyl alcohol is, as others have pointed out, still the safest bet.

Yes, please. I did manage to find one on eBay, but can't get it to read (centre reinforcing ring is missing, so the disk isn't clamping down properly and won't spin at the correct speed). Let me know what you might need to get it to me. There is a Kryoflux headed this way; going to tackle this again once that arrives and is built out.

Stuck a UAV in the 1200XL. It's now a usable machine; previously, the video was so bad that it would make your eyes bleed to look at it.

Yeah, I'm not a fan of the joy-cons either. They more or less work and I like the concepts that Nintendo was experimenting with in their design, but in the real world they're just not all that great. I can't remember if we've rebuilt the same one twice or both of them once, but the jitter issue is very real.

And forems.

After a couple of hours trying to determine whether or not the UAV's colour is slightly off, I think it's actually my brain that needs to adjust Compare the following images (and disregard the black boxes in host slot 7; those are my edits): 800XL, stock video, composite output. Note that the text is blue and the green line is somewhat pronounced: 1200XL, UAV, composite output. Text appears white (ignore the pinkish tint; that was my phone) and the green line is less vivid: At first I thought that the colour on the UAV might be off. Then I noticed that a new #FujiNet video had been released: I realise that it's difficult to make a direct comparison between poorly-shot photos of a CRT and a screenshot of a paused video stream, but the video stream image is almost dead-on the same as what I'm seeing from the UAV. This is also holding true in video from other streams that are being compared to the 1200's output, so I suspect that I just need to get used to seeing the video as it was intended to be, not as it was being shown

UAV's in. Installation went fine, and it fired up without issue on the first power-on after surgery. Followed tcervo's guide, which is extremely helpful and is strongly recommended to anybody thinking of doing this upgrade to their 1200XL. Still only using composite output, but there is a massively noticeable difference between 'before' and 'after'. Some adjustment of the colour pot is likely needed as some blue shades seem to be tilted towards the whiter end of the spectrum, but I'm going to do some testing with the goal of determining if this is just me finally seeing things being displayed properly.

Definitely upgrade to 0.95; it fixes a number of issues and also updates the bootloader. See this post for details. It's been a while since I had mine open, but my recollection is that the only thing in there that's removable is POKEY, if you've installed one.

In that case, I apologise unreservedly for the confusion, as well as the ire aimed in your direction. I was unaware that the two entities were entirely unrelated and was completely off-base with my earlier comments.

Would you be kind enough to see if the refund for the upgrade kit that was never sent to me is also in that pile? I realise that it's been 30-odd years at this point, but I would like to receive it if it's knocking around. And yes, I did attempt to order an upgrade kit from Chaos back in the day. Sent a Sterling postal order (which were not cheap to get in Ireland) and heard nothing back after almost 4 weeks. Called the number (an international call) to see if the postal order had been received and was told that it had been and that my order would be shipping out shortly. Another four weeks went by, with nothing arriving. Another international call, but this time I was told to (and this is a direct quote), "fuck off," before being hung up on. After playing a game of we're-not-answering-the-phone for a couple of days, I eventually got back through and demanded a refund. This time, I was told that I could go fuck myself. It was an interesting variation on the previous suggestion, that's for sure. So, in the end, I was out of pocket for the kit, postal order, and international calls. Customer service at its finest. Fortunately, I was able to source a US Doubler from another retailer who knew how to not swindle their customers outside of the UK. They also ended up getting the group order from our Users' Group, which was good for about 15 units in one shot.

I've also found that many of the el cheapo units also handle multiple analogue TV standards - so PAL-, SECAM-, and NTSC-region machines may be possibilities. Could help with future acquisitions

This. It will be very helpful for diagnosis.

Ditto. That and I have utterly appalling graphic design skills. I'm lucky that I can even write with a pen, let alone make anything that looks visually-appealing.