Banquo

I got a great deal on it and was really excited to finally play Popful Mail on a real Genesis, but no such luck. It wouldn't read discs at all, not even audio CDs. Cartridges work fine. So I did a lot of reading online and decided to buy a new laser for it, an Optima 6S. When I changed them and put in an audio CD it worked great, and I started loading a Sega CD game and it was working, played the intro, then froze. Reset it, couldn't read the disc. Couldn't read the audio CD any more either, did something burn it out that fast? Decided to recap it and spent the day doing that, no change though. I'm a bit worried that the previous owner screwed around with the laser pots trying to get it to work and got them all out of adjustment. Really not sure where to go from here other than just put it on ebay and hope I can at least break even after buying all the parts. I'm guessing someone with some knowledge and an oscilloscope needs to adjust everything. Any suggestions?

I think it was a little over a week or something like that if I remember correctly but I'm sure it depends on where you live. Jameco still has them but you can get them from many other sites if you haven't ordered one already, I'm really not sure what the best is now. I fixed that link up there if you want to see how I fixed it, I had forgotten all about making that page. Good luck with it!

You might watch ebay for really cheap games in crushed or damaged boxes that have the insert.

Oregon Trail. I would love to see a proper port instead of that that text only version. Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego and the various sequels.

Thanks, I thought it was probably normal. I was planning to open it up some time and give it a good cleaning and checkup and maybe grease all the moving parts so I was just wondering if that was something I needed to look at.

I just had a quick question about my 1050 drive and inserting disks. Are you supposed to have to apply pressure to lock the disk into place? Mine works sort of like a spring loaded SD card slot where you insert it and then have to push it and lock it in. The drive works fine and ejects ok so I thought this was normal until reading the manual just now, and it says you just slide in the disk and turn the lever down. I was curious if there's actually something wrong with mine. I've never seen any other floppy drive where you have to insert the disk this way.

I was having the same issue with Bob Term and can confirm that ctrl-J works for it as well. I was able to enter a city code and get my local forecast (a bit hard to read since it clearly isn't meant for 40 column displays but works well enough). Here is a list of the 3-letter city codes: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/NWS_WFO_ID.txt

These are great, I've been listening to some of your others on Youtube. Would you be willing to share your Castlevania III - Beginning, I'd love to run it on my 800.

I was going to recommend something like the Lantronix MSS-100 because it supports DNS and you wouldn't have to look up IP addresses to type in, but the UDS-10 is fine too. However from what I understand, and someone correct me if I'm wrong, you need the Atari CX-87 modem cable for the UDS-10, not the CX-88 null modem cable. However you can use a null modem adapter to convert it if I'm not mistaken.

My Atari is now online and I've connected to a BBS for my very first time! It turns out I need to log into my MSS100 and change some settings, especially enabling modem emulation which it turns out is very important. This guide helped me out a lot. I also logged into it from Filezilla and updated the firmware which turned out to be very simple; just dragged the new firmware file over and it did the rest. Things are still a little flaky sometimes, like when I first boot up to Bob Term it will not let me type anything into the terminal at first. After a while it will finally work though, and also I sometimes get a No Carrier error. Once it stops being stubborn though everything works great; I found a very active BBS and made an account, read lots of posts, posted my first message, played a few games and had a lot of fun.

My gender changer arrived today, doesn't seem to have changed a thing though. I hooked it all up, turned on my 850, booted my 800 up to my BobTerm 1.21 disk, but the serial light on the Lantronix still doesn't do anything. I'm not sure if it's even working or not because I have no idea what I'm doing once I get into the terminal program. I'm afraid this is all way over my head. Edit: Ok I messed around a while and after setting the baud rate to 9600 I was able to type in the terminal. I typed HELP and it says "Lantronix MSS100 Help Menu" so apparently my Atari is connected to it. Then things are kind of garbled and it says "The folwigcma aeavia", not sure what's going on there. Like I said I am clueless at this and can't find any idiots guides that tell me what to do once I boot up the terminal. Edit 2: Ooh, I'm getting somewhere. I logged into the Lantronix from my PC and set the baud rate from 9600 down to 1200. Set it to the same on the Atari and now stuff is coming through correctly and no longer gibberish. I guess 9600 was too fast. Now I can actually read the help menu and topics. Maybe I will get this figured out eventually. Just typed ping www.google.com in BobTerm and it's working, yay! Now if I can just figure out how to connect to a bbs.

I'll check to make sure I have the latest version and get a copy of Ice-T too. I guess I will leave the firmware alone for now unless there's some reason it needs to be updated. I'll be sure to read the BBS thread too, thanks!

Yeah I'm afraid that might be the problem too. I think it was meant for printers so it probably isn't going to work for this. I'll go ahead and order a proper gender changer for it and try again next week. I need to read up on how to use Bob Term to connect to a BBS anyway. I also forgot to mention that the MSS-100 is using the default settings so I'm not sure if I need to configure anything on it or not. It looks like the firmware is out of date too.

A while back I decided I wanted to get my 800 online so I started ordering parts. My Lantronic MSS-100 arrived today so I finally had everything I needed, or so I thought. I could not find any gender changers in my box of parts; I was sure I had one but I guess it has vanished. I did find a Radio Shack Data Switch however and thought "I bet this would work". Maybe, maybe not? I currently have my Atari 800 connected to the 850 interface, and the 850 is connected to the Radio Shack data switch with an Atari CX-88 null modem cable, and the switch is connected to the MSS-100. I can see the Lantronix from my PC just fine, but I'm not sure if my Atari is connecting to it. The serial light on the MSS-100 is not active at all. Is the data switch not passing everything through correctly or am I doing something else wrong. I've booted up Bobterm on my 800 but at this point I have no idea what to do next. Here's a photo of the setup. Any ideas?

Cool, thanks! I never even considered the possibility of using a dial-up modem with a VoIP service. That sounds perfect. They appear to be going for a bit more than I was looking to spend right now but I'll definitely keep an eye on those. I think for the moment I'll just go with the Lantronix, but someday I would love to get an acoustic coupler modem and an old desk phone and go online with them if just once. For now I'll be happy to connect to some BBSs and experience them since it is something I missed out on. I had a Colecovision and a 2600 but I never got a computer until '98, long past the BBS days. Looking forward to doing more with my Atari 800 than just playing Donkey Kong.

Thanks! That does appear to be what I want to do. Sounds a bit complicated though; you're probably right that the Lantronix is the best bet. Plus if I get the Lantronix I can use it with my TI-99 and any other old computer I might get someday. I'll bookmark that link though, it will be interesting to learn how to set it up even if I don't end up doing it.

That seems to be asking about how to connect two local computers together using a modem, like both in the same room. I was looking for a way to connect an old computer online using an old modem but not by dialing a phone number but by somehow interfacing it directly to the internet and having it "dial" up an internet address the way the Lantronix does when it simulates a modem. Maybe it's a stupid idea, I was just curious. I thought it would fun but I probably should just get the Lantronix and forget about using an old modem. I'm totally confused.

Recently I've been learning about how to get my Atari 800 online and I believe I know what I need now; an Atari 850 interface, a CX-87 serial cable, and a Lantronix MSS-100 with a null modem adapter (or a Wifi232 if I could find one). After thinking about it though what if I could get an even more nostalgic experience and use a real dial-up modem to connect to a BBS over the internet without actually doing so over the phone (I have a landline but that would mean long distance charges). Is there is a way to use an actual vintage modem and trick it into thinking it is dialing up over the phone but actually have it connected to my router and make it dial up an internet address? I know the Lantronix simulates a modem but using a real one would be awesome. I searched around but didn't come up with much of anything so I don't know if this is even possible. I figured if anyone knew it would be someone here.

Thanks, that's good to know. I was worried that something might be failing. It's odd that it has never done it before and it now does it regularly but it's not a huge deal. It works great after it starts up, though I still wonder if new caps might be a good idea. They are nearing 40 years old. Ouch, sorry about that sharing site. I have an ad blocker so I guess I didn't notice it opening anything. I'll remove the link and upload it here. Edit: I just realized there is something I'm doing different now, I can't believe I hadn't thought about it. I've always used the TI RF Modulator to hook these computers up to my TV, but I recently made a composite cable for my Atari 800 and learned it is also compatible with the TI-99/4A so I was using it just now. Apparently that's why I'm hearing the first strange beep; I just tried the RF modulator and now I only get the one normal beep. Oh well, live and learn. Thanks again for the info. I think I'll keep using the RF modulator though; the picture looks almost the same to me (these TI RF boxes were really great) and I find that first beep kind of annoying.

This only started happening today when I hooked it all up again, last time I used it was about a year ago. I've never heard one do this before and was wondering if this is a sign of trouble. As soon as I turn it on it make a lower than normal pitched beep followed by the regular startup beep. It only does this if it has been turned off for a few moments making me think it might be capacitor related, but I hoped that someone here might know exactly what is going on with it. I have tested the power supply and it is fine, and once started up everything seems to work normally. Here is a recording of the beeps:

It was just an observation, I've never had any problems with switches on my other old computers and I've read about a lot of problems with the XE switches so I was just saying it sounds like they used cheaper quality switches. I didn't mean to sound stupid or offend anyone. Nevermind, sorry I even posted.

I got a new in box 65XE about a month ago and the switch on it was also not great. At first it wouldn't budge and I had to press really hard to get it to come on. It loosened up a little after a while but it's still difficult to turn off and on. Sounds like they used really poor quality switches in these things.

A few months ago I got what I thought was an amazing deal on a JVC X'Eye. It was dirty but it was said to work. I cleaned it up and found it would not read discs very well, and soon wouldn't read them at all. Opening it up I found a few leaking caps and decided to order a kit and recap the entire console. A few weeks later it was done, and it now at least tried reading discs instead of saying put a disc on the tray, but still wouldn't work. So I figured a new laser was needed, ordered a JVC Optima 6S replacement and installed it today. At first it worked perfectly, games would load right up. However halfway through the first level of Sonic CD it froze and has never worked again. It just tries loading the disc forever. I noticed the laser pot was cranked all the way up on it, could that have burned it out that quickly? I should have checked it but I assumed it would have been set properly from the factory, probably a mistake. Anyway I give up on it, weeks of trying and spending money on parts only to end up in failure. This is why I don't like disc based systems and I'll probably never buy one again. I'll stick with cartridges from now on.

Yes the keyboard has a nice feel to it, though not as nice as my Model M of course. I would probably like the Extended Keyboard II I think. I took the computer out and opened it up to see what I could salvage if anything, and there wasn't much. The photos I took were nothing compared to the horrors I found underneath the power supply when I took it out. All the chips and caps and everything under it were eaten completely away. It had even eaten through the RF shielding on the side and into the plastic. The front portion of the motherboard was clean and I pulled the two ROM chips and a third longer chip which I don't know what is called at the moment. Those were the only 3 socketed chips. The top half of the case can probably be cleaned up and saved but the bottom is in very bad condition. I don't know if the power supply works or not, it has a lot of corrosion on the outside but the inside seems clean. The only other thing I saw that could be saved is the speaker. I suppose one could desolder the RAM chips but I don't like even touching the thing, so much corrosion and wet green sludge on it. I'm guessing they aren't worth it.

Follow up time; the seller finally contacted me again and asked if I would consider a partial refund and just keep everything. I think after ebay contacted him he realized he was going to take a big loss on it. I was actually considering asking him about it but from his first email and lack of followup I figured he wasn't going to be reasonable. Anyway I got most of my money back and get to keep everything. The computer is of course junk but maybe I can clean up the case at least, and the monitor, drives and keyboard all seem to be in good condition. I can't test them at the moment unfortunately but I'll take a chance. If I can get a good GS now to go with the rest I think it will still end up being a pretty good buy, I hope. I'm glad it's over anyway, wasn't looking forward to lugging this huge heavy box back to town and possibly dealing with an angry seller over it. Spacecadet, that's good advice. I agree I jumped too quickly on it and the lack of any pictures of it running or of the inside should have been red flags. It just seemed like such a great deal I was afraid someone else would snag it. I will definitely be much more careful in the future and make sure to get all the details. I do find it very hard to believe he even tested it and there is no way it powered on like the auction stated. Maybe someone told him it powered it on, it seems he sells donations, but I learned a valuable lesson in any case. Thanks again everyone for all of your help and support; I'm hoping I'll be able to make a post about my working GS system someday.