ngtwolf

A little late on this thread, but just to chime in that i agree with many of the posts here and 100% of Bill's posts. I do disagree with the passive-aggressive posts about people being dumb or self-absorbed or whatever other silly reasons. The only thing i have to add, since growing up with many home computers such as the C64/C128, Apple II, Atari 800/ST, Amiga, Dragon, etc... I also owned an IBM clone when it first came out and eventually switched over to it full time. It was lousy at games and it's true that IBM Clones were a number of years behind the other personal computers (specifically the Amiga and ST of the time), however there was something to be said for totally non-proprietary technology that was commoditized, upgradable and affordable. I think many of us 'computer folks' were still happy using non IBM Clones and learning and using them. But, I think the big change occurred with regular folks. I think the biggest thing is that non-computer inclined folks were using PC's (and to a lesser extent, macintoshes) at work, and they were trained on those devices When it came time to get a PC for home, they bought what they knew how to use. Businesses trained regular folks on how to use PC Clones and those devices ran the applications they knew how to use (and the applications that businesses themselves needed). If they had questions, they could ask their work "computer guy" the next day. I think at the end of the day, theres a lot more 'non computer' users then there are techies and whatever you can do to get that audience, the better. Heck, look at the amount of iOS users, especially in the US. It's a completely locked down device but it's easy and regular folks can use it without having to know anything technical. Of course, Dos/Windows were pretty lousy interfaces compared to other GUI based computers, but I think teaching people how to use your computer was a big selling point, and most businesses took on that task for the PC's they purchased for their employees to use at work. In the end, I even switched over to the clones for the sole reason that the devices could be upgraded easily and cheaply as I could afford it. If I needed a new video card, I just put one in.. A faster CPU? Upgrade just the motherboard. More memory, swap out a few Sims. While I technically have a completely different PC then i did 20 years ago, it wasn't swapped in one shot, it was upgraded as technology changed in a series of micro transactions over decades.

Okay, that green wire isn't ground, it goes to pin 18 on the video chip and the other end is just hanging there. Since the docs don't mention it, i'm guessing it came lose from a part of the board but no idea where it goes back. In fact, moving it around, the pin 18 side came lose so i had to solder that back on. I'll keep looking but its not looking good unless i can see a picture of another ezram ii that might give a hint as to what isn't working. edit: okay, the 2nd pin on the bottom right of j2 here looks like it has some wires coming from it.. maybe that's where it came from... let see if I can manage not to blow something up.

Great, thanks so much! Odd it doesn't address that weird (possibly ground) wire, but no matter, i'll go through this and make sure everything looks connected properly.

Thanks for this advice, I've done the retrobrite as well on some systems but have used the creme. I did learn early on not to use saran wrap, I've actually put things into those large ziplock style bags (like the vacuum type for blankets and stuff) and had better luck that way, I've never tried or considered it on an Atari ST (luckily mine have been out of the sun and while probably darker, definitely not brown), but I did try it on a few Commodore 64's with mostly bad results. Luckily with the C64 there is a paint that almost completely matches the original brown breadboard color for fix bleaching mishaps (Retroleum Satin French Beige). Hah! Anyway, I'll try the clear myself next time and I definitely learned the lesson about too long in the sun.. I left some stuff out all day in (what seemed overcast) california sun and .. yeah... bad idea. C64's or common atari's are one thing, but I would probably never risk retrobrite on anything rare or irreplaceable. I have hopes that the retrobrite naysayers are correct and that my retrobrite disasters will fade back to the way they were before in a few years, but I kinda doubt it.

Hi All, I have an Atari ST from my childhood that in the last few months I've been working on restoring back to health. It was in storage but apparently with rain, it didn't fair to well. In any case, I got it all cleaned up and working, had to replace a couple chips, etc. However, in part of taking everything out, i removed the EZRAM II memory upgrade. I've been able to put it back in successfully (or at least to the point where the computer doesn't act weird), but I have no idea how to tell if it's working. The Diagnostic cartridge still shows 512k (or there-abouts anyway), and not sure if this should show up in that anyway. I know I have the part that goes under the video shifter as well as the one that goes onto the other chip (mmu I think) in correctly, however there is also a loose green wire coming from it. Does anyone know if that was supposed to connect to something? If anyone has any instructions or a picture or something showing how it connects, that would be great. Unfortunately there isn't really much out there when scouring the web other than one original ad and a couple random posts. Thanks!