Mega-Hz 512K SRAM Upgrade Photos?

[+Larry]

I have one of these, but never have installed it. I do have a one-sheet installation doc, but I remember that there used to be some photos of the installation(s) that I'm sure would be useful.

 

Looked at Wolfram's site and don't see them anymore -- probably replaced by the "Mega-Ram." Googled, searched here, and can't even find the thread that Mega-Hz had.

 

Anyone have any additional info on the installation photos or other info about this? BTW, mine will be installed in an 800XL.

 

Thanks,

Larry

[+orpheuswaking]

Larry, give me a couple days, I think I may actually have the install instructions on a hard drive somewhere...

 

until then http://orph.atarinet.com/photos/main.php?g2_itemId=4417

[+Larry]

Hi-

 

OUTSTANDING! Great photos -- just what I needed.

 

I have a single doc sheet titled "512K.txt" in case you find the same thing. That's all I got, AFAIK.

 

Thanks!

-Larry

[kogden]

Recently installed one in my 600XL a couple weeks ago. I like it. Fairly painless except I had to remove the ANTIC socket so there would be clearance to close the case again. Would probably take less effort in an 800XL with socketed chips.

 

http://mega-hz.no-ip.com/Angebote/512K/512k.html

 

You'll need to translate the page if you're an English speaker. Fairly straightforward instructions. Even google translate didn't mangle them beyond incomprehensibility.

 

Will post photos eventually when I'm done playing around inside the machine and get things cleaned up some. Mine works really well and I'm quite pleased. I didn't bother with the coin cell to preserve the RAMdisk but I wired up the 2 toggle switches so I can switch banking modes and play with the few programs that use 130XE ANTIC extended banking.

 

If you have a 600XL, you'll need to upgrade to 64K base RAM first....found out the hard way.... and a couple solder pads required to do the 64K upgrade are VERY hard to get to with the upgrade PCB soldered to the board! Jameco has 41464 chips in stock for like $1.60 USD last I checked.

[+Larry]

Hi Kogden-

 

Thanks for the link and tips. That's good info about the 600XL needing the 64K mod prior to using the 512K upgrade.

Did you use the new V3 upgrade board or the older "red" one? If you used the V3, did you get the bare PCB and add your own header and socket? And if you did, any issues? I would think that one would need to clear all those solder holes prior to installation. (?) I presume that with the new "kit" you directly solder to the MMU and PIA pins as opposed to the earlier kit (which I have) which has separate attachment points. Wolfram certainly reduced the cost of the kit nicely!

 

I did translate his page via Google. My goodness, how much the "machine translations" have improved over the years! They were originally usually fairly unintelligible, but now, virtually perfect!

 

Take care,

Larry

[+orpheuswaking]

I haven't found the file Mega-Hz sent me (and I could be mixing it up with the Mega-Mem upgrade he sold me) I do recall making most of the connections with the translated webpage as they are fairly straight forward.

 

The two versions are interesting in comparing Cost vs Ease of use. Personally I prefer having the adaptor for the MMU but I can see how lowering cost is a good idea also.

[mimo]

I bought one of the earlier ones and never managed to get it working. Is there a file for the pic anywhere, I think mine may need replacing. Other than that I am at a total loss as to why it is failing.

[BigBen]

On my side you find more infos about the first 512k memory extension.

 

BigBen

Edited September 20, 2011 by BigBen

[flashjazzcat]

On my side you find more infos about the first 512k memory extension.

 

BigBen

Can I just say - that's a real nice website.

[Marius]

I have built this upgrade in my 600XL, and I must say: it is outstanding.

 

I did not built the battery backup thing, but I don't need that at this moment.

 

It is a very stable concept. No problems at all, even when the computers is on for months.

 

Greetz

M.

[flashjazzcat]

Wish I could program GALs...

[kogden]

Thanks for the link and tips. That's good info about the 600XL needing the 64K mod prior to using the 512K upgrade.

 

No problem. Mine "worked" with only 16K base.... had 16K base RAM and 32 banks of 16K extended RAM LOL Obviously not ideal for running most software. At least Jameco had the chips cheap.

 

Did you use the new V3 upgrade board or the older "red" one? If you used the V3, did you get the bare PCB and add your own header and socket? And if you did, any issues?

 

It's a V3 I'm pretty sure but he was nice enough to put the header and socket on the PCB. Nice quality PCB too. It came with an MMU adapter board but no PIA adapter board. I kinda like the adapter board concept for socketed machines, just not enough room in the 600XL chassis.

 

Adding header and socket to PCB would be fairly easy but I didn't need to. The hardest part was desoldering and removing the ANTIC socket and soldering the PCB to the Atari motherboard. Was fun though. Would do it again. Would be easy with a nice Hakko desoldering station or something. I used a cheap $12 Radio Shack "desoldering iron".

 

Great upgrade though, highly recommended.

[mimo]

Wish I could program GALs...

send me a GAL and I can program it for you

[flashjazzcat]

send me a GAL and I can program it for you

I may well take you up on that - thanks!

[+Larry]

Success! Thanks to all that helped with useful info.

 

The only real issue I had in installing this in an 800XL was that my V2 SRAM kit used square header pins. With round header pins, it would have been a piece of cake. I ended up not using the PIA board at all. Instead, it was a simple matter of soldering six wires from the Antic/SRAM board to six consecutive pins on the PIA. (Pretty sure that Mega-Hz' new V3 kit does not typically include the PIA board at all.) Here's the MyDos ramdisk (SD)

 

-Larry

[+orpheuswaking]

Good to hear you got it working