Replacing GTIA

[Tezz]

Hey all, I just picked up a bunch of Atari gear including several 65XE's. As all the European 65XE's shipped with the bad GTIA, I intend to replace it with a good (PAL) one from Best Electronics. I was wondering if anyone on AtariAge has replaced one and how difficult/easy it is to desolder it and whether it's gonna be a fiddly job. I will upgrade them all to 320k also once thats done with the Scott Petersen upgrade.

 

[mimo]

let me know, because I want to replace the GTIA on a 130XE

[drac030]

As all the European 65XE's shipped with the bad GTIA,

 

Nope, I have European 65XE and the GTIA it has is good.

[Tezz]

Nope, I have European 65XE and the GTIA it has is good.

Oh really? I always thought that they were all shipped with faulty GTIA's... That'll be great if these are good. I understand that the GTIA is not socketed on the XE's so it'll be unpleasant desoldering job to replace it if it is.

mimo let me know, because I want to replace the GTIA on a 130XE

No problem I'll post some photos and text if and when I do mine

 

 

I've been reading back through the forum and remembered the replies that MetalGuy wrote about the XE's and how badly they were manufactured so I might have a lot more than the GTIA to look at when these arrive

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?s...c=85558&hl=

 

Tezz

[Urchlay]

Nope, I have European 65XE and the GTIA it has is good.

Oh really? I always thought that they were all shipped with faulty GTIA's... That'll be great if these are good. I understand that the GTIA is not socketed on the XE's so it'll be unpleasant desoldering job to replace it if it is.

 

Apparently it's a particular batch or run of GTIAs that were defective. I think the Wikipedia article for the Atari 8-bit says the bad GTIAs were manufactured in China in 1991... but I'd take that with a grain of salt (I thought Atari 8-bit manufacturing was already shut down before 1991).

 

AFAIK, nothing is socketed in any of the XE machines, unless you're lucky enough to get one that MetalGuy has repaired or modded (he desolders all the chips and solders in sockets).

[puppetmark]

I have been soldering, desoldering and fixing atari 8 bit computers for over 15 years. Desoldering anything from an XE board can be tricky. You need good equipment and some soldering skill. If you apply too much heat the taces will break away from the board. The PC boards are made very cheaply.

 

I would not recomend desoldering wick, A desoldering iron with a bulb for sucking the solder seems to work the best. It usually takes 2 attempts at each hole to get the solder out. I only apply the heat for about 2-3 seconds ,suck out the solder, then let it cool and try again. Patience is the key.

 

After the chip is out, Install a socket and use a 15W soldering iron to solder the new socket in place.

[Tezz]

I have been soldering, desoldering and fixing atari 8 bit computers for over 15 years. Desoldering anything from an XE board can be tricky. You need good equipment and some soldering skill. If you apply too much heat the taces will break away from the board. The PC boards are made very cheaply.

 

I would not recomend desoldering wick, A desoldering iron with a bulb for sucking the solder seems to work the best. It usually takes 2 attempts at each hole to get the solder out. I only apply the heat for about 2-3 seconds ,suck out the solder, then let it cool and try again. Patience is the key.

 

After the chip is out, Install a socket and use a 15W soldering iron to solder the new socket in place.

Thanks for the advice It's a shame the boards were made to such a low standard. I'm hoping the GTIA is gonna be ok but I will install the 32-in-1 os which will need to de-solder the original. I will make sure I take my time.

[Sikor]

Hey all, I just picked up a bunch of Atari gear including several 65XE's. As all the European 65XE's shipped with the bad GTIA, I intend to replace it with a good (PAL) one from Best Electronics. I was wondering if anyone on AtariAge has replaced one and how difficult/easy it is to desolder it and whether it's gonna be a fiddly job. I will upgrade them all to 320k also once thats done with the Scott Petersen upgrade.

 

You are wrong - mostly 65XE series have good GTIA (only in last series, in 130XE board was some problem). Problem was with China made 800XE series (last series of 65XE for German market).

[Tezz]

You are wrong - mostly 65XE series have good GTIA (only in last series, in 130XE board was some problem). Problem was with China made 800XE series (last series of 65XE for German market).

Yes! my knowledge has been updated! and hopefully will be good news when they arrive. So that leaves just the 320k mem upgrade and 32-in-1 os upgrade to do.

[krupkaj]

You are wrong - mostly 65XE series have good GTIA (only in last series, in 130XE board was some problem). Problem was with China made 800XE series (last series of 65XE for German market).

yes, what I know the serial number of serie with bad GTIA starts with letter X. After replacing the GTIA the machine works perfectly.

 

BTW there is hardware patch from BeWe soft. I did not tried it but it fixed most of problems.

[Mathy]

Howdy Jan

 

Maybe somebody who knows more about electronics then me should have a serious look at this problem and BeWe's solution. IIRC I've compared it to the Super Video upgrades by Ben Poehland and saw that what Jiri does is part of what Ben does. Only Ben's upgrade is much nicer.

 

Greetings

 

Mathy