Need some opinion on a 800xl i just got

[Turd Furgason]

Just picked up a 800xl ...here's the problem, when i cut it on i get a sort of "white screen" with a couple of purple tinted horizontal lines on it. If i reboot it i usually get the same thing except sometimes i get the ocasional blue screen (no text) with those same lines. I am new to the 8-bit atari cpu game, and was not sure how hard these are to troubleshoot

 

 

Thanks

 

-Turd

[atariksi]

Just picked up a 800xl ...here's the problem, when i cut it on i get a sort of "white screen" with a couple of purple tinted horizontal lines on it. If i reboot it i usually get the same thing except sometimes i get the ocasional blue screen (no text) with those same lines. I am new to the 8-bit atari cpu game, and was not sure how hard these are to troubleshoot

 

 

Thanks

 

-Turd

 

This thread should help: http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=140554

 

If the tinted horizontal lines have more than 16 shades and are scrolling even over the background color, it's the power supply/rf interference.

 

If they not scrolling and have less than or equal to 16 shades, it could be the video buffer chips.

[Turd Furgason]

Thanks for the reply...i might try to capture some picture of it and upload them....i had stumbled across that other thread as well, some of the posts seem to mention that some of the chips are "socketed" so i might open-her -up and try to reseat what if anything i can.

 

I'm not finding a ton of info on teardowns for the 800xl (as you might imagine)

 

But i will also make sure to check voltages from the supply and across the board where i can.

 

I should also mention i am using a RF connector from a old NES...this 800xl came with no cables except power. I would guess that this should work ok...it seems to work fine on my master system as well as NES ...it is the cable that is Single RCA type /to / Coaxial .

 

When i switch the 800xl on i get a definate change on the screen from loud static to this calm whiteish screen....the purple lines do not really look (drawn) they do seem to have a appearance of some kind of interferance so i will check shielding inside the device as well.....it is clear from all other powercables/devices that could cause some kind interference via inductance.

[Osbo]

That's probably your problem. Get a F connector and hook the 800 straight to the TV.

[Turd Furgason]

Thanks i will look into it.....i ended up taking it apart today...i noticed 2 IC's were a little raised up....one went right back down, the other i removed and reinserted...no change in behavior. I did notice one thig...one of the IC's i had to reseat had discoloration on all of it's legs....none of the others seem to have this.

 

I can take a picture of it and it's location if anyone has one of these already apart that i could compare with

 

 

Turd

[Turd Furgason]

that f connector that you mention.....it there a cable that goes from the large "monitor" port (kinda reminds me of an old AT pc keyboard) to the F connector (coaxial) ?

 

 

 

This might be a stupid question

[Turd Furgason]

update....i took a standard rca cable and stuck a f connector converter on one side and went into the 800xl on the other side...same white screen same purplish lines....not really sure if the guts of a rca cable are exactly the same though

 

 

 

Turd (learning about 800xl's the hard way) Furgason

[atariksi]

that f connector that you mention.....it there a cable that goes from the large "monitor" port (kinda reminds me of an old AT pc keyboard) to the F connector (coaxial) ?

 

 

 

This might be a stupid question

 

The large port (5-pin DIN) contains the chroma, luma, composite video, gnd, and audio pins (not for all Atari models) and you can convert it to s-video cable or use the DIN to RCA cable available on Ebay and other places. That would allow you to narrow down whether it's power supply or RF circuitry in your machine.