Is my Atari 2600 broken?

[Vintage Firebeard]

Hello everyone! First off let me start by saying my name is Sam. I love vintage games of all kinds but of course the Atari 2600 was my first and the most important video games console I've owned. As a child I had the large 6 button Atari 2600 but it somehow got lost along the way. More recently I acquired an Atari 2600A (all black) and until even more recently, I hadn't had a chance to test it out. I bought the small RF adapter from Radio shack so it plug right into my TV, although I am running it through the antenna in on my NES'S RF adapter. I have tested it both ways, directly into the TV and through the RF adapter and that makes no difference. But when I start the system up without a game inside I see a purple line on the left of the screen and a green line on the right, everything else is black. When I turn the system on with any games inside, each game gives me a different pattern but none of the games boot to what I remember. Most of the time it's just screen roll with a buzzing. Sorry for the first post being a help needed but I didn't know where else to turn. Has anyone else ran into this and is it fixable or pretty terminal?

[A.J. Franzman]

The 2600 should never be turned on without a cartridge inserted. The "screen roll with a buzzing" sounds to me like your unit is in need of repair. Almost any problem with a 2600 can be fixed, but very few people want to pay what it costs to have it done since systems are available cheaply on eBay, Craigslist, etc.

[Benzman66]

My thoughts are a bad chip needs replaced. Pretty easy to do if you have any type of electronics experience. Just pop out and swap (providing your board is not one with soldered chips).

Edited November 26, 2010 by Benzman66

[R.O.T.S]

Atari2600A all black i take it that is a Dark Vader you have?

Sounds like a logic fault for sure more RAM related than CPU but never can be sure,something not quite right with the changing display though are you sure it has correct power supply?

[Vintage Firebeard]

Atari2600A all black i take it that is a Dark Vader you have?

Sounds like a logic fault for sure more RAM related than CPU but never can be sure,something not quite right with the changing display though are you sure it has correct power supply?

 

It's an official Atari 9v DC adapter.

 

And yes, it's the Vader! I was pretty excited until I actually turned it on and found it wasn't working right.

Edited November 26, 2010 by Vintage Firebeard

[SlowCoder]

The 2600 should never be turned on without a cartridge inserted.

This, I have never heard before. What would be the reason for this?

[Vintage Firebeard]

The 2600 should never be turned on without a cartridge inserted.

This, I have never heard before. What would be the reason for this?

 

I was going to say the exact same but I figured they wouldn't say it without reason. Now that there is more than one person in doubt of this theory...where exactly does it say that?

[BigO]

Not to totally derail the thread, but the only reason I can think of to not turn on a 2600 with no cart is that the contacts in the cartridge socket might be more susceptible to static. And that's a stretch. On the other hand, I don't recall A.J. saying any blatantly stupid things so I'll wait to see what he has to say.

 

I've done it many, many times with no known ill effects.

Edited November 27, 2010 by BigO

[BigO]

I've had 2600 consoles that wouldn't play any games. The symptoms could have been described just as the OP did here (at least as I interpret what was written). The problem I had was dirty contacts on the cart and/or socket.

 

Pictures might help.

Edited November 27, 2010 by BigO

[Vintage Firebeard]

I've had 2600 consoles that wouldn't play any games. The symptoms could have been described just as the OP did here (at least as I interpret what was written). The problem I had was dirty contacts on the cart and/or socket.

 

Pictures might help.

 

I can get some pics and post them up.

[Vintage Firebeard]

A few different games give me different patterns so I took a handful of pics. I've noticed some even distort the channel and mute on the TV. Sadly, ET gives me the most hope because what is orange in the pic, turns from orange to gray and back to orange again. But a few games, including Pele's Soccer, act as if I never installed a cart at all. Hope these help!

 

This is Pac-man:

 

Space Invaders:

 

Submarine Commander:

 

ET:

 

Pele's Soccer:

[Vintage Firebeard]

On a side note, is there anyway to repair an old Atari DC adapter? When I got this it had the original adapter and it was DOA, so I tracked down another Atari DC adapter but I'm only assuming if my first one went, the second one's clock is ticking. I know there are replacements but I like to stick with OEM, makes me feel better for some reason.

[Benzman66]

You can repair an old adapter, buy why go to the trouble when you can get an OEM in the marketplace here or on EBay? They are not usually that much either.

 

As far as the pics, I say it could be one of two things;

1.Voltage regulator

2.IC chips

 

Voltage regulator is the cheapest to start with. About $2 at Radio Shack. Ask for a 7805 5+/- voltage regulator.

If that does not cure the problem, next is swapping the chips on your own, or send the system in to one of the repair people here on the forums.

Edited November 28, 2010 by Benzman66

[Vintage Firebeard]

You can repair an old adapter, buy why go to the trouble when you can get an OEM in the marketplace here or on EBay? They are not usually that much either.

 

I didn't know I could get the OEM adapters here, thanks!

 

As far as the pics, I say it could be one of two things;

1.Voltage regulator

2.IC chips

 

Voltage regulator is the cheapest to start with. About $2 at Radio Shack. Ask for a 7805 5+/- voltage regulator.

If that does not cure the problem, next is swapping the chips on your own, or send the system in to one of the repair people here on the forums.

 

Does this seem to be the general consensus? The voltage regulator might not be a problem to swap out but I know I would probably screw up the IC chips.

Edited November 28, 2010 by Vintage Firebeard

[Benzman66]

Sometimes the ACs are for sale the marketplace, it is hit and miss, but you can definitely get them on Ebay anytime.

 

The ICs are not hard to swap, providing your board isn't one that has them soldered in. Most boards have sockets and all you have to do is pop them out and push the new ones in. It's easier than you think.

 

I would 95% bet one of those two remedies will cure your problem.

Edited November 28, 2010 by Benzman66

[A.J. Franzman]

Swapping the ICs is fairly easy, but the main three are all extremely static sensitive. Proper precautions and handling methods must be used to prevent inadvertently destroying them, especially now that cold weather is upon us (in the northern hemisphere) and household heating brings low indoor humidity and high static build-up potential.

 

The original AC-DC adapters can be repaired, but opening them cleanly requires use of proper tools and a certain degree of skill. A nice, sharp wood chisel employed along the original seam can often open them up with minimal damage.

[atari2atari]

A few different games give me different patterns so I took a handful of pics. I've noticed some even distort the channel and mute on the TV. Sadly, ET gives me the most hope because what is orange in the pic, turns from orange to gray and back to orange again. But a few games, including Pele's Soccer, act as if I never installed a cart at all. Hope these help!

 

This is Pac-man:

 

Space Invaders:

 

Submarine Commander:

 

ET:

 

Pele's Soccer:

 

I had similar graphical problems on a light sixer a few weeks ago, although usually the game would start fine, begin resetting less than a minute in, and then would start producing graphical glitches.

 

Replacing the RIOT IC solved the problem.

 

I would recommend Best Electronics, both for a RIOT IC (he calls them "Atari I/O Chip CO10750 $8.00") and for a replacement, new-in-the-box DC adapter:

 

Parts List

 

Power Supply

 

Order some joystick replacment parts, too, while you are there - - his upgraded parts are well worth it!

 

-a2a

[Wolf9545]

Are you sure that the switch in the back is flipped to the correct channel and you have tuned your tv to that channel? I did that once and thought my Atari was broken until I saw I was on the wrong channel.

[A.J. Franzman]

Wolf, are you blind or just ignorant? One would not see anything like his posted screenshots if the TV were on the wrong channel.

[Wolf9545]

Neither, I can see just fine and fully went to college and graduated. There have been times that I went to connect my Atari to my tv and the channel selector switch was on the wrong channel. When I went to turn on the Atari, the tv produced an odd picture where I can see the colors / odd images from the game, just like the images he posted. In the ET image you can see a different color than the other images and I was thinking that maybe the game is showing a bit.

[Nukey Shay]

I was going to say the exact same but I figured they wouldn't say it without reason. Now that there is more than one person in doubt of this theory...where exactly does it say that?

 

I can't recall if the console manual stated something like it (such as a guideline for troubleshooting if a game refuses to appear)...but in any case, the worst that could happen is the console won't have a program to run. Hence, the random vertical bars and audio tones caused by whatever random values exist in the corresponding registers.

 

It seems to me that any hardware problem existing between cart and console could cause what is shown in the pictures (including falsely-joined or missing solder connections), right? Program can't run properly, random junk shown.