dkerfoot

Not aiming for any politics, just some sad 8-bit news: https://www.npr.org/2022/03/29/1088680989/a-retro-computer-museum-in-mariupol-beloved-by-children-was-attacked-by-russia

My high school computer lab had I think six 400s and four 800's that were somehow "networked" to a stack of four of 810s (I don't remember the details). We'd fight over who got to use the 800s, but the 400s weren't that bad to type on if you were a bad typist anyway. Our teacher always made us write out our programs on paper first and only when he approved it did we get to type it in and try it. We worked in teams of three and I remember him "rewarding" teams that came up with the best solutions by letting them use one of the 800s to type it in. I personally think the video showing the mom wiping the ice cream off the 400 is an example of marketing recasting a cost reduction as a feature. Yeah sure, it would be easier to wipe ice cream off of a 400 keyboard, but the membrane keyboard was originally selected for lower cost.

I don't think it is. No "data sound" on startup. No sound if a cart is loaded. No typing sound.

Thanks for the help. I am slow to reply because I couldn't find my old logic probe, so I had to order one. Reset (pin 40) goes from low to high when turned on. Pins 9-20 and 22-33 all toggle at various rates. 5.02 VDC on pin 8 of Sally, Pin 21 Antic, Pin 27 GTIA, Pin 17 Pokey, Pin 20 PIA. Swapped out UAV, no change. Do you suggest checking power on the other chips too? Any other suggestions?

Agree it isn't likely UAV but I may swap it too just to be certain. Yes swapped PS. Actually used the same one on both machines, yet swapped it too just to be 100%. Don't disagree that one chip at a time is better, but when time is limited... I was up until 1:30 AM working on the thing as it was... ALL chips swapped - no exceptions. ALL. Because the three wires used in this RAM upgrade are all soldered to the shoulders of the pins on the chips, the entire thing can be moved from machine to machine. In other words, if I had a cold solder joint, it would have moved from bad machine to good along with the chips. I'll have a closer look at the CPU and Antic. I do very much appreciate the help.

ALL chips were swapped - No exceptions. No resistors for any of the upgrades. Also, for clarity, the upgrades have all been in place for six months or more and it was working fine, until yesterday when it stopped. I should add that none of the chips get hot.

I have two basically identical 600XLs. Both Rev A, both have the 3-wire 64K memory upgrade and both have UAV Rev D. Oh, they both have Hias' 1.30 high speed ROM too. (The perfect compact combination for anyone that isn't into demos or actually doing a bunch of typing, IMO) One suddenly has a black screen on boot. Power LED lights and the TV goes from blue (unconnected default) to black. I never hear the "data sound" of basic loading. Since I have another (and happily the RAM upgrade I did doesn't require soldering to the MB) I have been able to swap all chips between the two units, 3 or 4 at a time. The bad unit remains bad and the good unit remains good. There is no apparent damage to the MB and the contacts all look good - nothing bent, apparent corrosion, etc. I did reseat each chip a couple of times. No joy. Any ideas on what it could possibly be? I do have reasonably good electronic troubleshooting skills and tools (including an o'scope), but I don't know enough details about the circuits to know where to start or what to look for. Does the black screen point to any particular circuit? Any help would be much appreciated.

The black plastic card-edge connector that is soldered to the motherboard. I could use the part itself, an old scrap motherboard or else 10-12 of the actual internal pins. I've got the tools and skills to desolder one from a scrap MB. History: I had a keyboard growing increasingly flaky, but everything tested good. In fact, swapping the keyboard, flat-cable and little circuit board with all the resisters on it showed the problem was with the motherboard. Pushing the connector one way or another would make the problem better or worse, but never completely working. Turns out the connector was not solidly flush to the motherboard and over the years, a few of the pins had broken off underneath it. I'd like to keep the socketed 600XL motherboard because I've already installed 64k RAM, UAV and Hias 1.3 patched OS on it. Hopefully somebody has the part available in some fashion so that I can put this Atari back to good use! Also, I am selling off most of my collection (hopeful to keep this 600XL if I can find the part though). I've sold off a couple systems. Currently I have a variety of peripherals and books and game carts. I'll eventually be listing more systems, etc... https://www.ebay.com/sch/laketech/m.html

Resurrecting an old post. I have a ctirad RAM320-XL with case and pigtail. $50 shipped within the US. -Doug

Having finally installed new OS ROMs with Hias' 1.30 patch, I've been able to test a bunch of different scenarios After much experimentation with the Raspberry Pi Zero W, I have found I can connect via version 0.8.7 of AspeQt at a reliable 57,600. This matches what I can do over an old built-in (DE9) SIO2PC on my 800XL connected to an old desktop PC with a serial port. With RespeQt 4, I can reliably connect at 128,000 (divisor 0) over SIO2PC-USB. This matches what I see from my new laptop connected over the same device. So, while the serial ports are certainly usable, USB is better than twice as fast. Additionally, the Pi doesn't max out the CPU while querying the USB port like it does with the serial port and you don't need to rejigger the bluetooth settings. So, USB seems like the obvious way to go.

To follow up on this discussion in case someone is reading this later: I had two identical Atari 600XLs, except one had C89 and C90 removed, the other had them still in place. Both have 64k and UAV video. With stock OS, I could never get anything but 19,200. Installed new EPROMs of XL OS patched with Hias v1.30. Using RespeQt 4 to load International Karate over Sloopy's SIO2PC-USB. The one with C89, C90 still in place maxed out at 88k, while the other ran 125k no problem. Clipped out C89, C90 from the 2nd 600XL and it now also loads at 125k. Needless to say, I am very happy with this simple (once you know what needs to be done) upgrade!

Need filled - thanks!

https://www.cnet.com/news/atari-yes-that-atari-teases-new-game-console-ahead-of-e3/

I have a bad keyboard in need of replacement. You have an old 600XL/800XL parts machine with a fully functioning keyboard. Let's talk.

I was making this way harder than it had to be: READY LOAD "D:GAMENAME.BAS" [RETURN] CSAVE [RETURN] NEW [RETURN] CLOAD [RETURN]

Thanks Vitoco, I'll give it a try.

Thanks. I do appreciate the detail. I am hoping to do a little more of an extended test though. Thinking that two lines of code might copy and play OK, even if the drive is fairly out of whack (even a stopped clock is right twice a day, etc...). Since I have several tape drives to test, I'd rather not key in a bunch of text, especially since the Atari keyboard is now a foreign instrument! If there isn't some technical obstacle to copying from a disk, it still seems like the best option.

While folks are answering basic questions that often aren't addressed in the detailed descriptions: I have read conflicting accounts about the resistor. Should it be installed on the computer's SIO port or should it be included in the SIO device? The question comes down to: 1. Will the resistor (if installed on the computer) cause any trouble for a chain of standard SIO peripherals? 2. If a resistor is already built into a device such as SIO2PC-USB, will it hurt to also have one on the computer's SIO port? I ask because I'm going to be selling several A8 machines. Since Kyle22 has been kind enough to offer to program five patched OS EPROMs for me and since I am handy with a soldering iron, I'd like to make my A8s as useful as possible before I sell them. If clipping the capacitors and adding a resistor (combined with the Hias patch) will help high speed transfers and not hurt standard SIO devices, I'd probably go ahead and make the mod before selling (as well as for whichever two I end up keeping). Speculations are welcome, but direct experience would be especially valuable. Thanks!

I have several cassette drives that I am going to start selling off (along with a bunch of other stuff). Rather than list them as "untested" I'd like to let the buyer know exactly what to expect. A fair test seems to be to copy a file from disk to tape, then run the file from the tape. Even though I had some fair assembly programming skills back in 1984, I have forgotten nearly everything except how to run games (plus I never really messed with cassettes). I have a floppy that includes Atari DOS 2.05 and several basic programs. I have no problem copying files from disk to disk, but I'm not sure how to approach disk to cassette. If there is such a thing as an old school newbie, that would fairly describe me nowadays. Any suggestions? Thanks

I did do this with a 600XL. No change at all. Did you do this with a stock OS or a patched OS? With my stock OS machines, I set RespeQt to 57600 but it transfers are all locked at 19200. Not starting at 57600 and falling back - never anything but 19200. It sure seems like RespeQt is sensing the lack of patched OS and over-riding the settings down to 19200. This applies to two 600XLs, an 800XL and a 65XE. The only exception is my 1200XL with the Warp+ 32 in 1. It acts the same way with any of the base OSs such as XL, XE, etc... but will run steady at 57600 with the Warp+ OS loaded. I've tried with Sloopy's SIO2PC-USB, a SIO2v23 and an old school SIO2PC with DE9 serial port. All seem to work the same. I also have an SDrive NUXX. I've mostly used it with the 1200XL and gotten very good speeds. I'll try it with a couple of the others when I get a chance to see if they run any faster than they do with RespeQt.

Thanks Kyle22! I'll PM you.

Thanks, I have looked at the TL866CS and thought seriously about buying one but it would get very, very limited use. I've already got a number of programmers for chips I use in my business (Atmel AVRs, Altera CPLDs, etc). I'm preparing to sell off all but two of my A8s (haven't been able to decide which two yet). So, I really only need a couple of chips burned and hoping someone in the US would be willing to help me out.

So I finally figured out that the reason I wasn't able to exceed 19200 was because I am using a stock OS. I didn't realize that higher speeds are not possible without a patched OS. I do have one machine with the Warp+ 32-in-1 OS that achieves better speed. Looking at Hias' notes, it seems like I should be able to run his patch at the beginning of a session and get better speeds on the stock OS. Is there a method for doing this? If so how? I have tried without success. Also wondering if anyone with an EPROM or EEPROM burner would be interested in creating a couple of patched chips for me. Things like Ultimate 1MB are overkill for my use - I just want to get faster load times using RespeQt.

I have three SF 354 drives that don't work. One uses a direct drive, the other two use the belt drive. I got replacement belts, they still don't work. All three spin but the disk can't be read. I've tested the disks on the internal floppy of an 520STfm and they are good, single sided format. External cable show good continuity all pins. I cleaned the heads with isopropyl and cotton swabs. Replaced the electrolytic caps on one of them, even though they looked fine. Troubleshooting suggestions?