Elijah Mirecki Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Hello all, I just bought an Atari 800XL from an old electronic store with the pacman game.. When I got everything set up, there was nothing but a black screen... The Power light turns on, and there SEEMS to be a signal.. but nothing but black Some things that people said might be the problem are... - Bad PSU (even though there is the power light) - oxidated game slot - oxidated IC's (remove and put back in every IC) - Need to run through VCR (...????) Thanks for any help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sloopy Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Are you connecting with RF or composite? with no cart do you get a blue screen with 'READY' prompt? no you shouldnt need to run it through a VCR... sloopy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elijah Mirecki Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 RF, but i am not going through the switch box. Nope, still a black screen... but something interesting is that if I have the cart in, and jiggle it back and forth, there will be random colors flashing all over the screen.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19Echo Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 are you doing a straight connection without the switchbox ? as in going straight thru the composite connection? if so, i think thats where you messed up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fibrewire Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 The solution. Buy this and turn your TV to whatever channel the switch on your atari is set to. That's not an RCA video out from your Atari, it's how Atari output the composite video and audio and modulated it to whatever tv channel the switch is set to. Newer consoles had the RF adapter plug into a jack on the back of the console. http://www.radioshac...oductId=2123169 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sloopy Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Check to make sure your getting 5V from the PSU, and then start swapping chips with a known good A8... sloopy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elijah Mirecki Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 (edited) I am going to try this out.. do you think it will work? http://www.hardwareb...Composite_Video && http://atrey.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~pavel/atari/600xlmon.html @19echo I tried going through the switch box, but it did not give any signal at all. @fibrewire That is how I was connecting @sloopy if all else fails, I will try IC swapping.. although I don't know any one with an A8XL... Edited February 12, 2012 by Elijah Mirecki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19Echo Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 I'm sure if you buy that small connector from radio shack, it will solve your problem. I have a couple of those myself and works like a charm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elijah Mirecki Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 @19echo yes, that is how I was connecting in the first place... I am trying the composite hack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sloopy Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 you already have an 800XL, you dont need to add the AV port, its already there... sloopy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fibrewire Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Did you check the cartridge slot to make sure some metallic bug didn't get smashed into the slot? The computer should do something without any cart in the slot, so leave the cart out for now. You can open the case and check any chips to see if thermal expansion has wiggled them out of their sockets over the last 30 years. With the motherboard out of the case and on a flat non-metallic surface, you can press the chips back into their sockets. You can carefully check the motherboard for cracks or broken solder joints around the chips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elijah Mirecki Posted February 13, 2012 Author Share Posted February 13, 2012 (edited) Yeh, I was just trying it in case the built in AV was broken.. I will try popping the chips and such... EDIT: There could be a possibility of having to re-solder some things... correct? Edited February 13, 2012 by Elijah Mirecki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fibrewire Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Yes, the cheapest soldering iron to get would be radioshack's most expensive in-store model with the little dial that lets you select wattage. http://www.radioshac...oductId=4342791 Get a tube of 60/40 rosin core solder as well http://www.radioshac...oductId=2062719 Also, watch this video, it will save you years of headaches http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_NU2ruzyc4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elijah Mirecki Posted February 13, 2012 Author Share Posted February 13, 2012 Yes, I have done a fair amount of soldering in the past, but that video did have some good tips, and I did not know what flux was thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elijah Mirecki Posted February 15, 2012 Author Share Posted February 15, 2012 Ok -- I have come across a little issue.. I started re-soldering the IC's.. but accidentally severed some of the tin strips :S How does one fix that? I tried a pencil but it didn't work.. Now I am getting no signal at all (but still power light) ... Also -- I found some severed connections on the far left of the board.. they definitely done on purpose. Are they supposed to be severed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19Echo Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 can you post a picture? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sloopy Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 You may want to talk to someone about fixing it for you... there are some revisions of XL with factory cut traces for patches... sloopy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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