-^CrossBow^-
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Blog Comments posted by -^CrossBow^-
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I never ran across that bug myself that I can recall? Interesting! But I am also curious of course to know what additional changes you might in store for the Koffi redux? And while I haven't really the tools or time to design any sprites I'm happy to test anything you want where I can record and document anything I find and ideas.
Another thing is that with Koffi being a unique IP that belongs to you, I think a redux release on cartridge would be nice and include some of your grid paper designs in the manual or as a separate "Making of" booklet that would be included?
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8 minutes ago, ZeroPage Homebrew said:Looks Vectrexian-ish to me!
- James
Yeap I was going to guess vectrex as well.
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I'm assuming this is a topper for a controller?
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@Albert has a lot of pics from his consoles that I did over the summer. Those attachment points are nearly the same ones I used. The difference is that I added a large section of shrink tubing around the UAV boards so I could use my industrial velcro to hold them down between the space of the select/reset switches and the RF modulator. I also get the +5 and Gnd from near that area as well. The ground can be had from an unused via near the RF output RCA jack on the board, and the +5 can be had from a ferrite bead just above the RF modulator area.
The main issue I have with the UAV on 2600 systems is that some of the colors aren't being shown properly. Pitfall! is a prime example because the tree trunks will appear to be black vs the dark brown they actually are. So in essence some details could be lost in the games through the UAV output. However, it doesn't really seem that any of my clients have noticed this. As for the audio, what I was doing was to just add in another 10µf cap with the positive side attached next to one of the vias that the already in place 104 ceramic disc cap is using for audio and then run a wire from the negative lead to the RCAs. It is louder than the stock but still sounds good.
I've installed that Internal Audio board into a few systems and generally don't see a need for it over what I've already been doing with just some extra resistors or caps and it is easier to do that vs using that board since I have less to attach in the process. That said the use of one of the internal audio boards in a 400 I did a few months back was quite nice and is exactly what it was designed for.
I could be wrong but I think the IAB is just a larger through hole version of Bryan's original UAC boards he sold for a brief while along with the UAVs years ago. The waveform from those older boards was reversed phased from how it should be and while most folks wouldn't have noticed this, I did and confirmed it when I compared the waveforms later. Not sure if the IABs also invert the audio or not.
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2600 Kung Fu at least the actual cart will NOT work with that cap disconnected. But again, the 7800 version is better so why would you want to play the 2600 version on a 7800 is my question? The crazy thing about the extra timing circuit is that it doesn't actually effect the game logic. It just effects the video timings. Because with something like Kung Fu master or the parrot demo, I can clip that cap and the games or demos work. But if you press the lead back down to make contact while the game or demo is running, the graphics go crazy on the screen. Left the cap lead back up and the graphics snap back into shape. So it does seem to only effect the video timings or rather something to do with the timing to the RAM.
Likewise, have that cap connected and run those games or programs and you get nothing of a scrambled looking screen. Lift the cap leg off while it is on and the graphics snap on the screen into place. So... yeah odd. Later revs of the 7800 starting sometime in '88 started to remove and bypass this circuit. So it was really only in place for like a year and a half during production it seems.
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So... you could have just left that cap disconnected without the switch and been good to go? right?
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That is definitely the extra timing circuit in place as it has the extra IC installed for it and it isn't being bypassed. I also wonder if the extra length of wire by adding in the switch is changing it somehow? I usually just desolder that right leg and put a bit of shrink tubing over it and leave it disconnected. As I've stated, I always disable it when I see it and don't even mention having done it. After over doing 100 of these 7800 consoles with UAVs, and many of them having that circuit, I've yet to have anyone come back to complain about something not working. Which Harmony cart do you have? Maybe it is the fact that I still use an original Harmony and not the Encore version? Maybe that newer cart does something to allow the ROMs to work properly regardless?
Now, one game to test although again I'm not sure if it will do this with a Harmony or not, is the 2600 version of Dark Chambers? Apparently that circuit was put into place to correct for timing issues with that game and also for the 2600 version of Kung Fu Master. With the exception of Matt's 7800 when I did his, all the others would no longer play those two games after disabling the circuit.
Again, that circuit was only put into place to allow some of the newer 2600 games to work on the 7800 at the expense of killing some of the older Activision titles. That circuit being enabled or not has no bearing on the 7800 games.
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Yes for some reason, most of the issues with the activision games only seem to happen with actual carts due to the extra timing circuit while the flash carts seem immune to this. That or the ROMs you are using are already patched to work regardless? That said, two games I use to test for this are Robot Tank and Space Shuttle.
But as I also advised separately, it helps with the bus stuffing code as well with it disabled. The Parrot bus stuffing test really shows this as you can literally flip that switch on/off to see a scrambled picture...proper picture...scrambled...proper. Without having to even reset the console as the change happens in real time.
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7 hours ago, 5-11under said:
Search for "0.1 mm wire", and you'll find suitable wire for repair. On the one side, you have vias (holes) that you can connect to.
Actually not really. See not all of the vias can be got to. They are offset and so every other one is under the BGA package. Addtionally, those vias don't go through to the other side. And the other end of the connection to the GPU doesn't have any vias there at all. Had that ben the case, I could have gotten away with using the 30awg kynar I have on hand now. I'm likely going to send it to another tech that likes working on micro stuff like this and let them have it. I already replaced out the main board for this project so the original is just a parts donor at this point. Then again, there isn't a lot on it that I can really use given the main chips really require a hot plate and better SMD station setup than I'm equipped to handle.
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36 minutes ago, Nathan Strum said:
I've poured over the schematics, searched the forums... and for the life of me I can't find where C64 is. Can you post a pic of where it is (and which leg is on the right, if it happens to be non-obvious, ie. vertical)? Thanks!
That is because like everything that doesn't makes sense, Atari has the silkscreen for the component IDs... UNDER the components once installed. It is on the right center side of the board. See the pic below where I circled it and the black line indicating the right leg to lift or clip from the board to disable the extra timing circuit. The pic below still has the capacitor in place but doesn't actually contain the full circuit and was bypassed with a 0 Ω resistor but you get the idea.
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Oh..to answer about your color bars question.
So..first off with the UAV at least, those bars won't actually match when the rest of the colors are set correctly. You will always have the right bar seem more olive or brown vs the left side. It is the same way with the color bar generator for the 2600. If you do properly match them as you stated, the other colors will look a bit off. So for 2600 games I eyeball the color using Pitfall. But on the 7800 side, what I do is wait for the console to have been on for about 5min and then adjust so that the bars are close but always with a bit more brown/olive on the right side bar vs the left.
Through RF output, it is a different story and you actually do want those to match up. In fact, I usually use the RF for that purpose and then leave it. The UAV will alter some of the tints on the colors and that is just how it is. Again, it was initially designed for the Atari 8-bit computer line and its palette of colors as a result. Changes were made to it so that it could be used on the 2600 and 7800 but there is some tradeoff in the process with color accuracy as a result. 90% of the time it is where it need to be though.
And now I realized you are using a concerto. That 7800 utility actually tests the POKEY too during the audio test. But ONLY if it detects the Pokey. However, as Fred didn't include the RNG on the HOKEY (Which I'm assuming you are using?), it doesn't see the Pokey chip and as a result you are only getting the TIA audio channels on that test. With an actual Pokey installed, it will play the two TIA channels, and then 4 more channels showing Pokey Audio channel 1 - 4. On mine Concerto, that pokey test is absent with my HOKEY. However, with a HOKEY in my old Mateos cart it does work, but doesn't display while playing the tones, they just play on their own.
And...there are some unused vias you can use on the board to test continuity of the connections to the UAV. They are all pretty easy to get to minus the points for Sync and Lum 1 which are covered with components on the board. But the rest of them can be checked in other places. Remind me and I can send you an old diagram I have as I used to wire the UAVs to those alternate points vs along the resistors a few years back.
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The audio output pad uses a standard size that comes in the KiCad footprint library actually. But I'm confused on the via spacing comment? They are spaced to match up with the resistors you solder it down onto. The other vias on the top are aligned with the vias on the UAV and those I can't control of course.
Odd about the audio the way it was but yeah, I told you before in PMs that the audio had been done in stereo as I could tell from the old mod that was in place. But didn't know they removed the trace completely as that wasn't needed. Glad you sorted it out and got it corrected though. What's up with Tower Toppler though? Unless that is through a Concerto? I don't think TT is working through the Concerto yet is it?
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Interesting you mention this game. I had been playing it a few years ago when it first released, but after some time when I had the system in sleep mode and I think the battery died. I had a similar issue. Only what happened in my case is that somehow the actual SD card inside the 3DS had corrupted itself and was preventing the system from booting at all. It wasn't until I removed it that it would even boot up again. When I reinserted the SDcard, it would still boot up but I then found all of my progress on quite a few games seemed to have been wiped out. One of those, was the Badge Arcade. I really didn't feel like starting over so I removed it off my 3DS and never desired to put it back on. I've also never had an issue with the 3DS like that since so I'm not saying the game was to blame for what happened...but it was the app that was running at the time the system was in sleep mode and ran outta juice.
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Be sure to provide your thoughts on that mount board. Again, Marlin over at The Brewing Academy has 2 already made boards in hand I sent him at no charge along with the BOM and gerbers for the PCB so that he is able to mass produce them quicker than I'm able to hand solder them.
But it does make it all nice and tidy in that spot.
BTW I would suggest also that you lift the right side leg of C64 to disable the extra timing circuit. That will restore compatibility to many of the Activision games and also helps with bus stuffing too. Unless that is what one of your switches is for? To selectively turn that on/off at will? I've thought of that, but the ONLY games I know it for sure will disable without it, are the 2600 versions of Dark Chambers and Kung Fu Master. Both of which have better versions in 7800 form that will play without issue. I've been told that 2600 Double Dragon is also affected by this, but I've not been able to recreate that myself.
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I will take note of those 3906s for the future. The only controller issues I've had from 7800s were always the TIA at fault with stuck trigger buttons since the TIA controls that in 7800 mode. But yours was sorta the opposite in that they were working in 7800 mode and not in 2600 mode properly. So yeah...I will keep track of that.
As for the resistor value, it also depends on how much actual current is coming into that LED. As LEDs 40 years ago weren't what they are today, they took in more current and looked more dim. Now, they require much less and most LED calculators will state that only a 150Ω is needed. All of the ones I buy tell me they require a 150Ω and that is actually was was installed originally in the 7800 and 5200 as well way back when. So I put the 460Ω in there to be sure it isn't going to dye out quickly with a different colored one in place.
Remove all of the old wiring from the audio stuff since you won't need it once the UAV mount board is in place and soldered down the south leg points of R5 and R6. Just make sure you jumper that cap they removed at C10 so you can restore the external audio trace.
WHOA!!! What the hell is that huge inductor choke doing there in place of the audio tuning coil?! That is NOT stock and I've never seen that before. It likely won't even be needed since again, with how the audio will ultimately be done, that won't even come into play, but yeah...what the hell?
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You know...there are a few pins off the cartridge port that aren't connected to anything in the 5200 that could be used for other purposes. Say..you wanted to jam a UAV into that CX-55 adapter and then run the s-video from it using two unused pins on the cartridge port. From those pins you run the chroma and luma signals to the output of your AV jacks or tie them to the output you already have on the original UAV installed in the 5200?
The service manual will list the unused pins that were never connected to anything on the 5200 and I'm sure that it would be of use here.
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I plan to solder up some more of my 7800 UAV mount boards this weekend Nathan and will let you know when I've got them ready. I know you are waiting on me so you can install the UAV into this 7800. BTW..on that LED, they likely didn't replace out the original 150Ω resistor that fed the original. One of the things I do with LED swapouts these days is install a 460Ω resistor to drop that current way down and make the LED not laser blinding bright anymore. On some of them, I will actually take the LED and run it on sandpaper on the top of it to flatten it and make it diffuse the light to also lessen that laser point brightness.
BTW, I'm pretty sure I know who did that HDMI mod work and I've criticized it before. Mainly because of the fact that they were powering it from the 7800s 7805 which, isn't designed to drive that much stuff since those converters want a 1A output supply by themselves. But I also criticized the cost. I now that on the one I ripped out and replaced with a UAV several years ago, that they paid about $250 for their HDMI modded 7800.
So yeah...I will be sure to shoot you a PM when I've got those mount boards done.
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@SoundGammon Brand as a replacement 4052? I don't know that I have a recommended brand. I know I stated that the ones I've seen fail most often are the RCA branded ones. But then you see where I used RCA branded ones to replace the failed chips LOL! I know you can purchase them cheaply from console5 as I last purchased some from there and I think they were Ti brand. I'm sure you can get them even cheaper in larger bulk amounts from mouser or digikey. But I only purchase about 4 - 8 at a time. I tend to get things like that in pairs for no particular reason.
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I never played Ultima or Starflight originally back then. I was more into the Sierra adventure games. But I did fall in love with Wing Commander on that same 286 back then. At least the happy ending to that, is a decade later I got the 'Original' back from my mother's garage, cleaned it up, and still own it to this day. Although it doesn't get used much and sits in the box stored away. I have my heavily upgraded 'Daily Driver' for playing on.
But yes, once we got that 286, I lost interest in console gaming since for me at that time, console games couldn't touch what gaming was like on the PC back then. That changed once the DC,GC,PS2, Xbox came out.
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The wrinkling on the manuals is due to the empty space between the disc tray and manual themselves. They bow inward and it causes them to crease and just not fold right over the years. I've started to save and collect pieces of foam from work that I can then cut into shape to match the foam that some games came with as a filler for that empty space.
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I too received my PC collectors version and really feel it was a great value overall for everything that comes in it and how well it is all packaged up. The fact that the game is a lot of fun to boot is just icing on the cake!
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I actually have one of those Nintendo exploded views of the controller that I've been wearing quite a bit recently!
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While I haven't tried to cheat in the way you've specified, this is only something that would work on college level classes. When I was in high school, no food or drink of any kind was allowed in the classrooms. Didn't matter that we had snack and soda vending machines at each end of the school and on each floor.
However, let me tell yo another way that also works, that I actually used lots of times...hehe.
Some of you may or may not know of my horrible difficulties in mathematics. I had to struggle to get through college algebra and trig. In fact, I had to take both of those classes twice each to finally pass them.
Anyway, we were allowed and encouraged to use calculators...especially the TI83+ series of calculators. These calculators are pretty basic in most of the algebra and trig functions they can do and require programs to do anything complex. Well, we weren't allowed to use such programs needless to say and our calculators were checked by the teachers/instructor before each test to ensure we weren't using programs on the tests.
However, they only tried to execute the programs to see what they did, they never actually tried to edit any of the programs to see what they really were. So, while I couldn't program myself, I use the programming function to create programs comprised of text notes. I would have forumlae, notes, and even sample problems and their answers text into the calculator as a program. If you tried to run the program, it would simply error out immediately since it wasn't an actual program the calculator could understand. But if I went into the calculator editor program mode and start looking at the programs, I could use it as a cheatsheet and scan for forumlae and anything else that I thought might help me on the tests. It did...quite a bit. I was flunking my tests and then started to get Cs and Bs on most of my tests from then on. And none of the teachers/instructors ever knew about it.
Oh...you might think it took forever to put these "notes" into a program on the calculator. Not true, part of the greatness of the TI83+ was that I could load stuff into from my computer. I had special docking software and everything for it. So, all I had to do was type it all out on the computer and then load it up into the calculator. Far as I know, this should still be something possible to do today. I know that most high schools and colleges still allow the use of a calculator even during exams, so creating your notes into a "program" that actually doesn't do anything, should be a safe way to "assist" you on such exams.
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Solaris is about my favorite game on the 2600. However, due to the insane difficulty of Solaris and the fact that I still question it is even possible to beat the game without cheating in some way, that Starmaster is overall the better game. And the review was really more or a comparison between Starmaster and Star Raiders. I also have a Star Raiders review and I thrash it quite a bit. Course...the 5200 version of Star Raiders kills them all?!
Also I know quite a few people and I tend to agree that for basic space sim game like star raiders and starmaster, that Phasor Patrol I believe is considered to be the 2600s best game in this genre. However, I don't have a supercharger or the game...and haven't really messed with it in emulation so I can't comment on it myself directly.
Thank you both for taking the time to look them over and I appreciate the comments!
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Atari 7800 Powering On / Off issues...
in Stories from the -: ITC :-
A blog by -^CrossBow^- in General
Posted
Likely just a hold over from the 5200 since it works on the exact same setup? Only in the case of the 5200, you have 2x as much to deal with since it has twin VRs switched on by a pair of those 210s. So you can get a 5200 that looks to power on but still dead because only one of the two VRs comes up due to a faulty 210 that should be driving the power over to it.
That said, I've only had one 5200 where I had to replace that 210 while I've done this like 3 times over the years in various 7800s. Then again, I've serviced a LOT more 78s than 52s so I'm sure the stats are the same between them.
You know in thinking about this, I'm sure they did this because of how they handle the reset to the system? They actually reset the 5200 and 7800 using the reset pin from the 4013 IC to quickly cycle the power off/on this way.
I only really learned about this after getting my BackBit Pro cartridge because for full use of the cartridge, you have to attach a reset wire off the 4013 ICs back to the BBpro cartridge so the button on the cartridge can control the soft reset function and work as intended.