Does this look right

[edweird13]

This is a picture from my 5200. The top fire buttons dont work. I noticed that this chip has one pin that is not connected. Is this right?

[Brian R.]

This is a picture from my 5200. The top fire buttons dont work. I noticed that this chip has one pin that is not connected. Is this right?

 

It's supposed to be like that. I bought a new board from Best and noticed it. I called and Brad said that's the way they are. So if you have a problem, that's not the cause. It's probably your controller.

[edweird13]

Its the 4052 chips I have a gold controller

[BigO]

Rambling troubleshooting thoughts...

 

Is the button malfunction limited to just one port or to one controller? Assuming you have two controllers and the problem is with only one, swap the controllers and see if the problem follows the controller or happens to whatever controller is plugged in to the port where the problem originally showed up.

 

If it follows the controller then the problem is the controller. If it happens only on one port and happens regardless of which controller is plugged in then the problem is in the console's electronics.

 

I'm looking at the 4 port schematic, but I believe that's a 2 port board. Neither my working 2 port nor the 4 port parts machine I have had that pin stuck out that way. It's possible that the pin would serve controller 3 or 4 if they were there, which would explain why the disconnected pin wouldn't be a problem on a 2 port board.

 

If I'm interpreting the picture correctly, we're talking about Pin 11 of the chip, U5/C014805/GTIA. That pin goes to pin 13 of one the controllers which connects to the bottom fire buttons.

 

In short, I don't understand why it "just is" that way, but I don't believe the pin is causing your problem. It is likely to be one of the 4052 chips.

 

Without the 2 port schematic and without tearing into my 2 port machine, I can't tell you which one is most likely bad. If you care to sharpen your troubleshooting skills and come up with a better guess, you could trace pin 14 of the controller port up to a 4052 to figure out the most likely culprit.

 

The aforementioned schematics are available on this site in the 5200 > Archives section.

[edweird13]

Rambling troubleshooting thoughts...

 

Is the button malfunction limited to just one port or to one controller? Assuming you have two controllers and the problem is with only one, swap the controllers and see if the problem follows the controller or happens to whatever controller is plugged in to the port where the problem originally showed up.

 

If it follows the controller then the problem is the controller. If it happens only on one port and happens regardless of which controller is plugged in then the problem is in the console's electronics.

 

I'm looking at the 4 port schematic, but I believe that's a 2 port board. Neither my working 2 port nor the 4 port parts machine I have had that pin stuck out that way. It's possible that the pin would serve controller 3 or 4 if they were there, which would explain why the disconnected pin wouldn't be a problem on a 2 port board.

 

If I'm interpreting the picture correctly, we're talking about Pin 11 of the chip, U5/C014805/GTIA. That pin goes to pin 13 of one the controllers which connects to the bottom fire buttons.

 

In short, I don't understand why it "just is" that way, but I don't believe the pin is causing your problem. It is likely to be one of the 4052 chips.

 

Without the 2 port schematic and without tearing into my 2 port machine, I can't tell you which one is most likely bad. If you care to sharpen your troubleshooting skills and come up with a better guess, you could trace pin 14 of the controller port up to a 4052 to figure out the most likely culprit.

 

The aforementioned schematics are available on this site in the 5200 > Archives section.

Its a 2 port and both ports are bad. I have 3 controllers. I took the board out to replace those chips and saw that pin sticking out and was curious.

[BigO]

[its a 2 port and both ports are bad. I have 3 controllers. I took the board out to replace those chips and saw that pin sticking out and was curious.

 

As I would have been.

 

I think you've got it right then. It's a 4052. That seems very common and was one of the many problems with my machine. Unfortunately, they weren't socketed on my 2 port board. One is now.

[edweird13]

[its a 2 port and both ports are bad. I have 3 controllers. I took the board out to replace those chips and saw that pin sticking out and was curious.

 

As I would have been.

 

I think you've got it right then. It's a 4052. That seems very common and was one of the many problems with my machine. Unfortunately, they weren't socketed on my 2 port board. One is now.

I am going to socket both.

[Brian R.]

As I said, I bought a brand new two-port board from Best and Brad tells me that pin is supposed to be bent out. It was done by Atari. It's normal. He told me why, but I can't remember the explanation.

 

When I first saw it I thought it was a goof and that I'd have to send it back or something and get another. He assured me it's fine and from experience I know it works fine.

 

That bent out pin can't be the cause of your problem.

[BigO]

That bent out pin can't be the cause of your problem.

 

I agree, Brian. I don't think that the bent pin could be the cause either. If you're referring to my post, it was not my intention to gloss over your post or dispute you or Best Electronics who know waaaay more about this than I do. I was supporting your statement. I am one of those skeptics who isn't satisfied with "because somebody told me so". I just did a little research thinking I might be able add a bit of explanation.

 

I believe that it would be a problem with a 4 port and there was no mention of it being a 2 port in the original post. Granted, it probably would only cause a problem with buttons on one port (and ultimately I found that it wouldn't be the buttons originally mentioned), but that detail of the malfunction wasn't given either. Just wanted to get the abiguity out of the way in case anyone referred to this thread for troubleshooting in the future.

 

I am curious as to why it is done that way. It must be to circumvent some fairly common problem like a spurious signal being picked up from the board or something. My 2 port doesn't have that pin treatment, thought it's possible that somebody "fixed" mine at some point while troubleshooting.

 

Just out of sheer curiosity, does anybody know the reason for that pin being disconnected that way?

[Bryan]

That bent out pin can't be the cause of your problem.

 

I agree, Brian. I don't think that the bent pin could be the cause either. If you're referring to my post, it was not my intention to gloss over your post or dispute you or Best Electronics who know waaaay more about this than I do. I was supporting your statement. I am one of those skeptics who isn't satisfied with "because somebody told me so". I just did a little research thinking I might be able add a bit of explanation.

 

I believe that it would be a problem with a 4 port and there was no mention of it being a 2 port in the original post. Granted, it probably would only cause a problem with buttons on one port (and ultimately I found that it wouldn't be the buttons originally mentioned), but that detail of the malfunction wasn't given either. Just wanted to get the abiguity out of the way in case anyone referred to this thread for troubleshooting in the future.

 

I am curious as to why it is done that way. It must be to circumvent some fairly common problem like a spurious signal being picked up from the board or something. My 2 port doesn't have that pin treatment, thought it's possible that somebody "fixed" mine at some point while troubleshooting.

 

Just out of sheer curiosity, does anybody know the reason for that pin being disconnected that way?

 

That's the trigger 3 input of GTIA. Originally I believe Atari hooked up T0 to T2 and T1 to T3 in the 2-port model (possibly so you could play a 4-player game by handing the 2 sticks around), but found an issue that made them lift T3.

[BigO]

Hmm... I just saw some info about board revisions and differences between 2 and 4 port boards in the field service manual. I'll have to read that in more detail to see if I can comprehend this a little better. Though, I only have the one 2 port machine and it doesn't seem to be suffering any ill effects.

Edited September 5, 2007 by BigO

[SINGLE TOOTH]

where is everyone getting these feild service manuals?

[BigO]

where is everyone getting these feild service manuals?

 

Dunno about everyone, but I found it courtesy of the good folks at AtariGuide. Under the "Static" section of this Q&A page, there are links for PDF versions of the 5200 and 2600 field service manuals: http://www.atariguide.com/help/care.htm

[edweird13]

I was able to replace the chips and now its working right. I can play QIX and Adventure II the right way!!! Now I am just waiting for Defender to come in the mail.