Urchlay

Wish you'd stuck around a little longer, didn't get a chance to talk toyou. You saw my name but I was asleep or something...

FreeNode, chat.freenode.net, channel is ##atari (note the two #, freenodehas weird channel naming rules).

SJCarden was seen on IRC tonight (like, just now). He's been out of commission for a while but is recovering.

Ahh, that I didn't know. Keyboard mylar sheet is small & thin enough, you could probably storethem inside the Ataris, between the bottom RF shield and the bottom of the case. That way they won't get lost and won't take up extra space.

The Best mylars are new old stock, right? They're the original part, andthe ones you got have to be close to the same age as the old ones. Better to have a working machine than a broken "all-original" one. If you're worried about collector value, save the old mylars and include them in the package when/if you ever sell them. This is done a lot with old electric guitars: the volume pot or the input jack breaks, and the repair guy will replace it and give you the old/broken one in a little baggie. That way you can restore it to "all original parts" and let whoever you sell it to worry about whether or not it works. It's kind of silly: what use is a broken computer or guitar, no matter how "classic" it is? 10+ years ago I replaced the dead keyboard in my 800 with one from Best, which turned out to be identical, manufactured at the same plant, 2 days after the one that died. I consider that 800 to be all original still. Though it doesn't matter so much as I'm not going to be selling it.

Probably a dirty/loose contact caused by age, it (the power LED) wasworking when it went into storage, not working when it came out (but the rest of the computer seems fine)... might start a new topic for this 1200XL when I get around to messing with it.

I've got a 600XL that spent some years in storage... the power LED didn'twork, so I thought the whole machine was dead. It's connected via the keyboard connector AFAIK, I somehow fixed the power LED by moving the keyboard around: the option & reset buttons were getting stuck in the down position, so I loosened the keyboard screws & wiggled the keyboard a bit, then tightened the screws... now the power LED mostly works, but occasionally will flicker a bit while I'm typing. Also have a 1200XL with exactly the same problem: everything works fine, but no power LED.

Wait, what suspicions? (Maybe you're talking about someone else?) I suspected the OS in my non-booting 800XL might be bad, but it's fine (put it in a 600XL and it works great)... don't think I ever mentioned it on this forum though.

Notice the print on the keycaps is whiter than the yellowed print onthe other keys... I bet you're right. I vote for this, too!

You're writing in a modern language for modern platforms, so you should be able to use samples... my approach would be to find an emulator for whatever system you're "borrowing" sounds from (Atari800 or Altirra for the 8-bit Atari) that's capable of recording the emulated audio (or actually writing it to a file). Play the game, get it to make all the sounds you need, exit the emulator. The result would be a .wav file, which you could load up in any audio editor (Audacity maybe) and copy/paste the individual sounds each to their own .wav file.

Being overly pedantic... the OS does use a DLI when fine scrollingis enabled, e.g. POKE 622,1:GR.0 Which doesn't change the conclusion that DLIs have to be enabled manually for user code, of course.

OP was looking for source code... APE hasn't become open source, hasit? (That would be news worthy of notice)

Careful, warrior! I once had an ingot power supply that failed withreverse polarity. The voltage was around -2V. I was given the "fried" 800XL and ingot supply, and discovered the computer was fine (the -2V didn't damage it), which was surprising. That said, you could find a pinout of the XL power jack, just make sure you know whether you're looking at the male (plug end) or female (jack) view. I was going to include the "ascii art" pinout in this post but unfortunately I don't know how to get the forum software to not mangle the formatting, so have a look at the original page here: http://www.atarimania.com/faq-atari-400-800-xl-xe-what-are-the-pinouts-for-the-various-connectors-on-the-atari_16.html (search within page for "Power") Just recently I made an adaptor out of a Netgear router power supply and the cord from an ingot. I didn't connect pin 2 (shield) to anything, which seems to work fine.

Nostalgia doesn't have to be logical. If someone's first computer was'low end' Atari model, they'll want to hang on to it or replace it with the same model if it's gone. The 600XL also might fit on your desk better than any other Atari. I've got one with the 64K RAM upgrade (2 chips, 3 wires) and composite video output. It's the equivalent of an unmodded 800XL in a smaller package (OK, minus the luma output, when/if I need to use it with a monochrome monitor it's easy enough to add a wire for the luma). A 65XE basically is the same computer as an 800XL (minus the PBI port, if you're in the US). What's not to like? You didn't even mention the 1200XL, there's quite a few 1200XL die-hards. I've got one and I love it, though right now it's sitting on a shelf (again, limited desk space). A lot of us want to have at least one of each model. Though I admit I got rid of my XEGS (wasn't using it, someone else is using it now). The 400 was my first computer. I currently don't have one, but my 800 makes a nice substitute (the 800 was the one I wanted, but the 400 was cheaper so that's what the parents got me). I probably will pick one up someday and use it strictly for cartridge games (the crappy membrane keyboard doesn't matter so much for Star Raiders or Defender). Eh, I'm rambling now... I guess the short version is, which Atari(s) you like & dislike is purely a matter of taste, there's no right or wrong answer.

The Wayback Machine has it: http://web.archive.org/web/20110613114035/http://rossum.posterous.com/a-little-atari-810-disk-drive Very cute...

You're right, I was making it too complicated... and no, there wasnothing connected to the chroma pin. So ChildOfCv is correct, it's the chroma wire acting as an antenna, picking up RF inside the Atari. "WiFi" chroma, who knew Atari was so advanced in the 80s? Maybe "ghost chroma" is the right name for this phenomenon. I bet it's pretty common on 800XLs, just not well known. In fact, from the old newsgroup thread linked to from this thread, I see this: Sounds like what I was seeing. So there's nothing new here... I went ahead & did the chroma mod, connect 100ohm resistor between thejunction of R67/R68 and pin 5 on the connector. My desire to keep things stock lost out to my desire to have S-video output...

The 800's video doesn't need upgrading or fixing the way the 800XL and1200XL's does, IMO. At least, my 800's video is gorgeous, and the 1200XL video mod (I did the SuperVideo one) makes the 1200XL look almost as nice as the 800. The 5V SIO thing is specific to the 1200XL, AFAIK none of the other Ataris had the current-limiting resistor there. The OS upgrade is doable. The fast math just replaces the 2K math pack, you'd use the same code for the 800 as you did for the XLs. Not so sure about the fast SIO. You want a patched version of the 800 OS, not sure if this is readily available. If you want to run the XL OS, it'll take more work (soldering on the OS module, and possibly soldering to the motherboard too) since it needs a 16K EPROM. Also the XL OS might need to be patched some to work on an 800. To get this working, you might end up building most of an Incognito board... better to just buy one, if they're still available. Hmm, the OS module (personality board) has 3 ROM chips on it. IIRC, one of these is the 2K math pack, so if you're doing just the fast math, you'd just be replacing one of the ROMs. Not sure (but someone will know) what type EPROM to use and whether it's a drop-in replacement or would require some logic (like a 2600 cart does). Personally I keep my 800 stock. Maybe if I had another 800, it might get some upgrades... if I had a 400, it definitely would.

They're not random though, they're wrong but self-consistent. Unpluggingthe chroma cable from either end (the monitor or the Atari side) results in a black & white picture, so I still think the chroma is connected to *something* inside the Atari. The "fake s-video" is really nice on the C=1702, there's some red/greenartifacting, but not much compared to using composite. On my LCD TV's s-video input though, fake-composite results in a pure black & white picture, as does the 'weak' chroma signal. I kinda do want the LCD to work, it's inferior for graphics & games, but less likely to give me a headache when doing 80-column text. Maybe. Pin 4's composite, I don't want to stop that working... might need itsomeday. Might try it for testing purposes though. Pure luma? I have that already on pin 1... or is this a typo/thinko,you meant 'pure chroma'? I was thinking to disconnect pin 5 from the motherboard entirely, then doing the old '1-wire chroma mod' (connect pin 5 to the resistor above Q5). Actually I think that's basically the same thing you're describing, minus the 1nF cap (at least, my other 800XL has an extra resistor but no cap). Unfortunately pin 5 can't be gotten at without desoldering the whole damn connector (pins 1-3 are reachable from inside the case at the back of the connector). Plus, before I do anything else, I want to trace this & see exactly what the heck the chroma pin is already connected to.

It's not sabotage, it's a very good question. I've had "800XL lackschroma" in my head for so many years... Now that I think of it, I can't remember if I ever tested it, or just took for granted that it wouldn't work so never tried it. My other (so far, non-booting) 800XL has a chroma mod that was probably done by me in the 80s, so I can't tell you what was originally on its chroma pin.

I spake too soon. The replacement 4050 caused color instability (thehue and/or brightness would drift). So I put the original one back in and it's back to the colors being stable (even if wrong).

Got an NTSC Chelco 800XL. hunmanik asked if I'd post the serial number on this thread. I tried to take photos, but they came out too grainy/blurry, I'd be embarrassed to post anything that bad (plus you really can't read the serial number or board revision). It looks *very* similar to kheller2's Chelco 800XL found here: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/257333-chelco-800xl/ Bottom of the case has a black label, with white text. Says: ATARI 800XL FCC ID: BPA7YJ800 ATARI, INC. MADE IN HONG KONG Has an Atari Fuji logo plus a Warner logo and tiny text reading "A Warner Communications Company" Serial number is 7YJ HA 105853 164 (16th week of 1984, perhaps?) Screened onto the board, partially covered by a couple of "Burn-in passed" stickers, it says: Chelco 1983 P/N: 1508000011 REV. A2 800XL A further oddity: this 800XL has the chroma line connected... but somehow incorrectly: composite video is fine, but luma/chroma gives almost no color saturation and the palette is wrong (greens come out as brown/orange, etc). There's a whole topic about it here: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/290250-800xl-chroma-weirdness/

ATARI 800XLFCC ID: BPA7YJ800 ATARI, INC. MADE IN HONG KONG Has an Atari Fuji logo plus a Warner logo and tiny text reading "A Warner Communications Company" Serial number is 7YJ HA 105853 164 (16th week of 1984, perhaps?) I'll take a proper photo and post it to the serial numbers thread. Hmm, food for thought, thanks for that. I see Rybags posted the detailsof his chroma mod way back then

So I swapped the 4050 from the dead 800XL, but it didn't change anything. The socket looks OK (though my vision isn't what it used to be). I hesitate to spray contact cleaner into the socket, because the normal way to clean e.g. an audio jack would be to spray, then plug/unplug a cable several times to spread it around & make it do its thing... I don't really want to repeatedly plug/unplug the IC, the sockets Atari used only have a few insert/remove cycles before they die. Plus I'd likely bend a pin... Time to break out the ohmmeter and start tracing I guess. Also going to find a magnifying glass (had one, it's gone AWOL). The old c.s.a8 post linked to says the chroma mod is done by connecting the chroma pin on the jack to the resistor just above Q5. Wonder if that's where the chroma pin's already going in this 800XL (somehow I doubt it).

I hadn't yet when I posted that... but I just found the 1200XL powersupply and connected it. On the same 1702, with the same video cable, using chroma/luma inputs, the colors are correct. So the monitor's fine (as I thought). Note: I can't test composite on the 1200XL, I did the 'composite lift' when I did the supervideo mod, was going to install a switch but never got around to it... Aside: it's too bad there's not room for the 1200XL and the 1702 on my desk. By modern standards, both are big beautiful beasts. And the supervideo's output is gorgeous. I haven't yet traced the chroma pin to see where it goes on the mobo. Would a bad 4050 not also cause the composite output to be bad? Or it's a "hex buffer", could just one of the 6 buffers be dying? I might have a spare 4050 in my old box o' parts, will give that a shot. If nothing else I've got another non-booting 800XL I could steal it from (but who knows if any of the parts from that 800XL are any good?)

Not posted here in ages, been lurking a bit lately. TL;DR version: my 800XL's chroma output is connected (stock, not a mod), but the colors are very faint and completely different from what the composite output displays. The full story: About 10 years ago, I got this 800XL... it's AFAIK completely stock. All I did to it was clean the keyboard (someone had spilled what looked like orange juice in there & let it dry), and replace the RAM (worked when I got it, one of the MT DRAMs died while it was in storage, replaced them all with, eh, I dunno who makes these chips but the part number starts with KM). Using a Commodore 1702 monitor for it, which looks great. I had to clean the color adjustment pot, which works now although it's missing the plastic ring/knob that sits on top. The RF shield is missing, and so are the screws that hold the case together. Probably those are in a box in the garage somewhere... The power supply I'm using is from a Netgear router, modern switching supply rated at 5V/2A, and it seems rock-solid. All I did was salvage the 7-pin DIN connector from an Atari "ingot" and solder it to the new power supply. The next day I found in the closet an Atari "beauty queen" power supply, which works, but I'm a bit paranoid about using a ~30 year old power supply. Originally I had color stability issues, which I thought might be due to the power supply, but I fixed it by spraying out the color pot and the monitor jack with deoxit (or actually the generic 'electronics cleaner' spray from Wal-Mart, which I've used for guitars/amps/PA stuff for years without problems). The color is now stable, but read on... This 800XL has a black sticker on bottom, "Made in Hong Kong", and has Revision C BASIC (mask ROM, not EPROM). It also has the chroma pin connected (looks like it came that way from the factory, not a mod). Composite video works great, and looks as good as composite ever does on an 800XL + C1702. "Fake" S-video, with the Atari's composite output plugged into the monitor's Chroma input, works great and looks nicer than composite. There's still some artifacting in this mode, but I'm OK with that. Real S-video, with the Atari's chroma/luma connected to the 1702's chroma/luma, works... sort-of. The picture is beautiful, crystal clear, but the color is very weak (looks black & white unless I crank the monitor's saturation all the way up) and has wrong colors (green becomes orange, for one thing). I don't think the monitor's at fault here, though I do plan to dig up another monitor with chroma/luma inputs and see if it does the same thing. My questions: - Is this a known issue with late-model 800XLs, possibly with a known fix? - Shouldn't the color on composite and chroma outputs be the same, at least as far as the hue? To save time/effort: Please, nobody respond with "You should get a UAV or VBXE". This 800XL, I'm keeping as stock as possible. I just want to use it with the 1702's chroma/luma, if it can be made to work. Don't want to do ClearPic or SuperVideo mods either (not needed, I have a 1200XL with SV if I want that).