SIO99

The internal diagnostic memory checks seem to have passed every time. The results are the same as on my 65XE. One thing I don't understand is that this is represented by two lines of 16 squares, followed by a line of 8 squares. If a RAM chip became faulty, then how would I identify it? I read something about piggy backing RAM, but I'm not sure I understand this. One change is that, instead of the screen just flashing red, it now stays red for much longer. I've stopped using the 800XL for the moment and will now open up the case, examine it, post and take pics in the hope that there's some sign what's wrong. BTW, as for my electronics skills at the moment, I've just managed to work out how to take readings which tell me the values of resistors, because the colour codes are difficult to read. I'm trying to build a dimmer switch circuit on a breadboard. This means I couldn't do any more complicated repairs to the 800XL.

Something's happened today which may shed more light on the problems. A few times, the Atari 800XL has powered up with a dark green screen instead of dark blue. Once it changed from green to the usual dark blue all by itself and another time when I pressed RESET it rebooted with the usual dark blue screen. I also got a weird effect while playing the game Mr. M, which is in the Homesoft ATR disk collection. This was that when the player character was going up the screen, it left a trail behind it, which was later erased by going down the screen along this trail. It even happened on the title screen before I pressed the fire button to start. What could cause this? BTW, the inverse key now seems to be working OK. I hope to open up the 800XL soon, take some pics and post them on here.

Does anyone know when Silica Shop closed down? I've just done a search and couldn't find a date. I think it was in the early to mid 1990s. I feel I must point out that Silica Shop was in London Borough of Bexley, not Kent, although the Postcode system has never been updated. I should know, because I lived in that area! As for the lack of pics, I've been thinking about three kinds of technology in two stories. I read a story in a magazine such as "Tales to Astonish", "Astounding Stories", or "Creepy Worlds" where a man bought an old camera, set the lens to 2.0 but found the pictures he got didn't look like what he thought he'd taken. He found out that the number was actually 20 and he'd taken a picture of what was there 20 years previously. He later managed to take pics of himself as a boy and even managed to travel back in time by superimposing a recent picture of himself onto the picture of 20 years before. That's a bit far fetched, though. Something similar also happened in an early episode of Red Dwarf. I also saw something similar done in the series "Continuum", but they were only going back to the night before. I'm looking forward to machines which can produce pictures from brainwaves of memories. Silica Shop was near the corner of Hatherley Road and the High Street. I've actually found a pic of the opposite corner of Hatherley Road dated 1982, when I think Silica Shop was there. So near, but so far! I now plan to try and do some artwork showing what Silica Shop was like. Look forward to that!

I haven't got any pics, but I remember it well. I grew up in that area and often walked past the shop, even before first going in. I remember requesting and hearing a demo of the Atari 800XL sound facilities and I know there was lots of Atari 8 bit related stuff in the shop, such as copies of Antic magazine on the shelves. I never noticed anything about warez going on. They also sold various other computers, including the Acorn Electron, probably all the popular ones, and some that hardly anyone else sold. I bought various items from there, as well as trying out computers, but they didn't like you to try or test them out for too long. I remember typing a few listings into an Amstrad CPC464, before an assistant claimed to have "accidentally" turned it off by pressing the monitor switch while standing behind the computer! I'd be surprised if there wasn't an article about it somewhere. The local paper was called The Sidcup Times, and the free distribution paper was The News Shopper, so they may have published something about it. I remember seeing a Silica Shop ad in a local paper advertising the Spectravideo 328 in 1984 or later. It said that the Spectravideo 328 was "fairly new to the UK" and that any buyers could join their Spectravideo users' or owners' club. I was upset by this, because that computer had been made obsolete by the MSX standard, which had also been adopted by Spectravideo. If there are absolutely no photos available, I could try doing some artwork showing what it was like.

Thanks for your suggestions! I haven't opened the case and I've never checked under an Atari metal shield before. I'll try this in the near future.

I'm trying to prevent it from going bang in the first place. After a few months, I've now got an A8 computer with a SELECT key that works, so I can play Star Raiders, and Realsports Football (in regulation time). It's also a computer which was nearly my first computer, but my 65XE wasn't.

There are custom made replacement power supplies now on eBay, such as http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/330883848120?_trksid=p5197.c0.m619 and http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/330882589411?ssPageName=STRK:MESINDXX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1436.l2649 (both by the same seller). One possible fault is some of the RAM chips, which are the same type as used by some other computers, so these may be easier to replace than the Atari custom chips. The type of chips are 4164 or 41256. More details in the topic http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/186470-atari-800xl-memory-faulty/ .

Today I had a delivery of an Atari 800XL from eBay. I got it for a really low price because it was described as "For parts or not working" and "No cables, so sold as spares". I plugged in the power supply I already had, which may have come from another 800XL, and it worked first time, booting up to the BASIC Ready prompt. I carried out various tests, including the self diagnostic (which seemed to pass on all counts), plugged in a game cartridge and ran it, as well as connecting my SIO2SD unit, booting from there and running various software from ATR files, including BASIC programs I'd written myself. Some potential problems I noticed are as follows. The on/off rocker switch feels very stiff compared to my 65XE, so I have to press a lot harder to turn it on. The screen sometimes flashes red, but then quickly clears and boots up. The Atari/inverse video key doesn't work all the time, but that's obviously not as serious as the other two faults. I see that someone has uploaded an 800XL service manual, but obviously there will be a lot in it and it may be too technical for me. I hope someone on here can advise me about the potential problems above.

I should remind you all that I usually use an Atari 65XE with an SIO MicroSD device. I haven't used an A8 emulator for several months now, but I may use one soon, because not all the programs from the Homesoft collection are compatible with it. In particular, there are "Turbovision" or "Turboversion" ATR files with a rainbow background which cause the 65XE to lock up. I'm still thinking about buying an Atari 800XL as well.

I've met some Slovak women who I thought were amazing, as well as some Czech women, but I haven't met any Slovenian women, so I don't know what to think.

Oh dear! I can't edit my last message, but I've just read a previous message by Gury that says the quiz is in Slovenian, not Slovakian. This could change everything.

I can't believe that TMR has forgotten how to use his favourite command POKE! I've used POKE 82 various times since buying an Atari 65XE last May. Anyway, so far I've run all the games from that menu disk ATR file, but I haven't yet seen the listings themselves, because the BREAK key had no effect. I hope to read the listings soon on an emulator, or by compiling all the BASIC programs into an ATR file with no boot loader menu. I couldn't really play "Keep on Koastin' " and had problems running the skiing game, but eventually managed it. I loved the Slovakian quiz program and have been getting high scores on it. If I can do it, then that proves anyone can do it! I think that Gury should write some more detailed learn Slovakian programs. I hope to meet up with some more Slovakian women after learning the vocabulary.

I've downloaded and run the games which came as ATR files, but I don't know what to do with the games which came as BAS files. I mean I need a program to compile them onto an ATR. I read something about this in the past, but now I don't know where it is. Can someone post a link to a converter program?

Thanks, this certainly explains me a lot! As you've guessed, I've got the XC12 data recorder. It looks like I'm going to be doing quite a bit of writing and typing to copy my programs from cassette to SD card! Obviously, Atari knew what they were doing when they put 2 SIO connectors on the 1010 data recorder. Jack Tramiel has got more to answer for than I thought! I wonder how much money per XC12 this saved him? I can only imagine how many Atari XE buyers this has frustrated in the past. I've got lots of short BASIC programs I typed in and saved, some from listings and others I made up myself. I was working on a game which is a few K long, so that's the one which will give me the most trouble. I could cut out some of the work by getting an Atari compatible printer. Perhaps I could use an SIO2PC cable to transfer these BASIC programs to a PC, but that would also involve disconnecting the XC12 and connecting an SIO2PC cable with the 65XE powered on, which may cause damage. Does anyone have any other suggestions?

I've now got my SIO2SD Micro device doing just about everything I want it to! Unfortunately, I never owned an A8 before May this year, so I didn't understand any version of Atari DOS. After some time only running the Homesoft games compilations, I've finally got various versions of DOS up and running! To do this, you get dropped at the BASIC Ready prompt, then type DOS. Unfortunately, it seems these are all third party DOS systems, though. On Sunday, December 23, I finally wrote some DOS files to a blank disk ATR file, then managed to write a short BASIC print loop to write my name all over the screen, then I managed to save it to disk with SAVE "D1:filename.BAS". I don't know if or how I can transfer any BASIC programs I saved to cassette onto this device, though. If I loaded a program, then unplugged the tape drive and plugged in the SIO2SD, then I think this would either damage the device or just not be recognised. Pressing RESET usually doesn't delete a BASIC program from RAM, but I think that the SIO2SD TURBO bootloader would delete the program. I don*t know how to install the SIO2SD internally. Unfortunately, the files come up in the order I saved them to the SD card, not in alphabetical order. I also still wonder what the ESC and SHIFT keys are for.

Yes, it has autofire, but it*s usually turned off. It does this with the autofire turned off.

I've found the fault! My Quickshot joystick broke down, then I managed to repair it. Some time after the repair, the front fire button stopped working. I hadn't opened the stick, just the base. This was the button I preferred. Since changing to the top button, I still occasionally squeeze the front fire button with my first finger. This causes the brightness to dim both on my TV screen AND on my SIO2SD Micro. Could this cause any damage?

I have used my Atari 65XE with this TV before. The Atari is still working as I write this. I think I'll try testing my two power supplies with a multimeter and see what the results are. Perhaps if the voltage fluctuates wildly, then that means the new one isn't safe. I'm not sure what to look for, though.

It's not an "Ingot". My original power supply was an "Ingot", so I was told to get any of the other power supplies to replace it. This one is slightly larger than an "Ingot", has ridges, and the Atari logo and name embossed on in the middle of the top. Is that OK according to you?

My Atari 65XE screen display started playing up earlier today. I was playing the game "Mr M" when the screen brightness started fluctuating or flickering. Various times, the screen went slightly darker, before quickly returning to normal. I played another game "Spindizzy" to see if the effect was still present and it happened again. At the moment, I haven't taken any further action to find the fault, apart from unplugging then reinserting both the monitor and power leads. I'm using the 65XE with a SONY KV-14V5U or KV14V6U VHS video combo TV plugged into the SCART socket. This model came out in 1997 and was seen in the classic TV series "Goodnight Sweetheart" in Gary's shop. Obviously, the 65XE is at least 5 years older than the TV. I've got another TV I could use it with, but haven't tried that yet. I just wondered if there's any action I could take to fix this situation before it gets worse or something breaks down. I've had various electronic devices break down recently, so I'm trying to learn more about electronics so I can fix some of them without paying someone a small fortune to repair them. I know that I shouldn't try to repair the TV myself, otherwise I could get a fatal electric shock.

Actually, I'm a home brewer (of alcohol, not custom self built computers) and I found some simple kits last year on eBay after searching and finding nothing that would save me any money. I thought this must be due to the government cracking down on home brewing and alcohol drinking in general These kits consist of nothing more than a vial or two of Champagne style yeast, a few plastic screw caps with a hold bored in the middle and a rubber barrier with a cross cut in the middle to line up with the hole, plus a sheet of instructions and recipes. The first one I bought was from Alaska and took 12 days to arrive at my address in London, while the ones I've bought since then are from London. I didn't think I should post a link, but just search eBay for "home brew caps" (without quotes). All you do is collect some 2L plastic bottles which when you bought contained an alcoholic or soft drink, wash them out, then take some fruit juice or some other liquid, add a very small amount of yeast, and a measured or weighed amount of sugar, pour this into the plastic bottle, then seal it with one of the special caps, and about 3-4 days later it's ready to drink. The number of days it takes before it's ready depends on how alcoholic you want it. You can drink it after two days if you're desperate to save money, but it may not be worth it at that stage.

Nice collection! It's a pity that any day now some or most of it will probably go up in smoke when you spill a whole load of beer over it!! Nice touch balancing the glass on a folded towel as well. I can imagine the sparks flying from the bare board behind the XE. I was taught at a computer club that it was standard procedure not to place ANY drinks containers on the same surface as a computer. You were supposed to either hold the drink in your hand or put in on the floor. I also heard this from other sources and have always stuck to it. Anyway, what was it like owning an Atari 400? It was nearly my first computer and would probably have been a version with a replacement keyboard. Did yours have the original keyboard?

I don't know about using it with a 1050 disk drive, but I'm also having problems, as described below. Can anyone help? I recently got a new desktop PC system and monitor, but it didn't have a card reader. I'm waiting for one to arrive from eBay. The problem I was having before my laptop screen blew out is that the only ATR files which would load were games compilations supplied with an emulator, which all display the text that they're using a bootloader done by Mike LangerECT. This is a well known collection of games. I expect my new USB multi card reader will arrive today or tomorrow. This means I can copy some more ATR files onto it. After I do this, how do I get them to load? Of course, I'm keen to load some blank Atari DOS ATR files to save BASIC programs onto. My Select key doesn't work since my keyboard suddenly stopped working, then the best repair I could manage to do restored all the keys EXCEPT Select back to working order. I'm pretty sure that if I attempted another repair, various other keys would stop working again. Does it matter to the SIO2SD menu that the Select key isn't working? The prompt I get is [OPTION+] START or SELECT. Another thing I'd like to do is get some programs I wrote and saved onto cassette transferred onto my SD card, but I don't see how I can do that. I'd have to plug in the XC12 cassette data recorder to the SIO port, then load a program, unplug the XC12, then plug in the SIO2SD and get my 65XE to recognise it before I could save anything onto it. AFAIK, I have to reboot to get the SIO2SD menu, which would clear the program from RAM. Is there an adaptor which would allow me to have both devices attached at the same time?

I recently got a new desktop PC system and monitor, but it didn't have a card reader. I'm waiting for one to arrive from eBay. The problem I was having before my laptop screen blew out is that the only ATR files which would load were games compilations supplied with an emulator, which all display the text that they're using a bootloader done by Mike LangerECT. This is a well known collection of games. I expect my new USB multi card reader will arrive today or tomorrow. This means I can copy some more ATR files onto it. After I do this, how do I get them to load? Of course, I'm keen to load some blank Atari DOS ATR files to save BASIC programs onto. My Select key doesn't work since my keyboard suddenly stopped working, then the best repair I could manage to do restored all the keys EXCEPT Select back to working order. I'm pretty sure that if I attempted another repair, various other keys would stop working again. Does it matter to the SIO2SD menu that the Select key isn't working? The prompt I get is [OPTION+] START or SELECT. Another thing I'd like to do is get some programs I wrote and saved onto cassette transferred onto my SD card, but I don't see how I can do that. I'd have to plug in the XC12 cassette data recorder to the SIO port, then load a program, unplug the XC12, then plug in the SIO2SD and get my 65XE to recognise it before I could save anything onto it. AFAIK, I have to reboot to get the SIO2SD menu, which would clear the program from RAM. Is there an adaptor which would allow me to have both devices attached at the same time?

I don't think I ever said I was definitely going to try writing a game for this challenge. While this topic has been running, my laptop screen blew out, I found I had no external monitor that was working, then I bought a new desktop computer and LCD monitor. It didn't all happen at once, but I don't remember what date the screen blew out or when I had my new system set up. Meanwhile I was reduced to using an old Apple Blueberry iMac G3, which can only display most websites using a custom browser called Classilla. I was also spending a lot of time running a collection of games from an emulator which I had transferred onto an SD card and loaded them from my Micro SIO2SD device onto my Atari 65XE. Unfortunately, my laptop display has been reset under Ubuntu Linux to a low resolution to try and cut down the flickering before the screen blew out, but this setting only displays part of a much bigger screen and I can't view the rest of it. The remaining Windows installation is hardly working at all. I now plan to achieve more than I have done so far with my Micro SIO2SD after I finally get a multo card reader installed onto my new system. I then hope to type in and save Atari BASIC programs onto blank ATR disk images on my SD card.