sd cartridge for 7800?

[Everett1954]

Batari and RevEng. I recently picked up a 2nd 7800. This is a console only with no accessories, power supply or any A/V modification., RF output only.

 

It is an X model, S/N 72R4BR X 014703. I used my power supply and joystick to test it out. After trying 2600,7800 and Harmory Encore cartridge, which all worked perfectly, I tried out the low current Concerto cart..

 

The first thing I ran was Utility test with integrity test. It ran for 4 hours with all green and no red squares! All the other test looked the same except for the internal ram test which now had Mirror 20 passed (not on other 7800) along with the others from previous 7800..

 

I ran the official diagnostic cart file and while it passed on my other 7800, it failed with a frowny face and X4 (not sure what the X4 means) on this one tried many times.

 

This new 7800 never had a blank rom menu either, even after re powering many times! The new 7800 plays most games with no graphical artifacts or freezing.

 

RevEng on the two games you provided, Bon-q still loads to a white screen and your version of BasketBrawl freezes during load at 30% (tried multiple times)

 

The version of BasketBrawl I have now plays flawlessly with no graphic artifacts.

 

I have not tried all 7800 games yet, but I do notice some supergames freeze during the loading (never happened on my other system).

 

78001987, what problem games do you have so I can try them out on this new console?

Edited December 19, 2016 by Everett1954

[78001987]

Batari and RevEng. I recently picked up a 2nd 7800. This is a console only with no accessories, power supply or any A/V modification., RF output only.

 

It is an X model, S/N 72R4BR X 014703. I used my power supply and joystick to test it out. After trying 2600,7800 and Harmory Encore cartridge, which all worked perfectly, I tried out the low current Concerto cart..

 

The first thing I ran was Utility test with integrity test. It ran for 4 hours with all green and no red squares! All the other test looked the same except for the internal ram test which now had Mirror 20 passed (not on other 7800) along with the others from previous 7800..

 

I ran the official diagnostic cart file and while it passed on my other 7800, it failed with a frowny face and X4 (not sure what the X4 means) on this one tried many times.

 

This new 7800 never had a blank rom menu either, even after re powering many times! The new 7800 plays most games with no graphical artifacts or freezing.

 

RevEng on the two games you provided, Bon-q still loads to a white screen and your version of BasketBrawl freezes during load at 30% (tried multiple times)

 

The version of BasketBrawl I have now plays flawlessly with no graphic artifacts.

 

I have not tried all 7800 games yet, but I do notice some supergames freeze during the loading (never happened on my other system).

 

78001987, what problem games do you have so I can try them out on this new console?

other than what you listed here, Alien Brigade was the only other inconsistent/not working game from the commercially released roms. Try that one and see what you get.

 

every other problem I had was related to when I added POKEY to my concerto. When I don't have pokey in, I can run every game except Bon-Q, Basket Brawl, and Alien Brigade.

 

sounds like you made a good score there!

[Trebor]

I ran the official diagnostic cart file and while it passed on my other 7800, it failed with a frowny face and X4 (not sure what the X4 means) on this one tried many times.

 

Per Mitch's site:

X4 - I got this error when I installed the standard NTSC OS in a PAL machine. I also
     got it once when I hit a console button at the color adjustment screen.

From John Harvey's site:

Error codes in the code that I haven't figured out (yet):

1) Numeric codes:
X0, X1, X2, X3, and X4 -- I found these codes in the following code segment:

;;;;;;;;; START CODE ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

LF884:
     LDA    $F88B,Y  ; $B9,$8B,$F8
     TAY             ; $A8
     JMP    $F026

LF88B: ; SIX error codes used by F884.
     dc.b   $A4      ; will display "X4"
     dc.b   $A1      ; will display "X1
     dc.b   $A2      ; will display "X2
     dc.b   $A0      ; will display "X0
     dc.b   $A3      ; will display "X3
     dc.b   $03      ; will display "03

;;;;;;;;;;; END CODE ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

[Everett1954]

other than what you listed here, Alien Brigade was the only other inconsistent/not working game from the commercially released roms. Try that one and see what you get.

 

every other problem I had was related to when I added POKEY to my concerto. When I don't have pokey in, I can run every game except Bon-Q, Basket Brawl, and Alien Brigade.

 

sounds like you made a good score there!

Yeah, but too bad she is an ugly beast. The aluminum cover plate is completely missing, but i can always swap covers or find another. I think Ill keep it RF for now too. I will try Alien Brigade tonight. I also have not tried a Pokey in it. Will do that too.

I shouldn't complain as it was only $12 ($18 with shipping) from Etsy. It was shipped in a bubble envelope (no box), surprised it arrived intact! Of course the best part it Works (mostly) with Concerto!! now if only we can get all the other 7800's working.

Have you tried the Atari Diagnostic cart image on yours? Does it pass or fail?

Edited December 19, 2016 by Everett1954

[Andromeda Stardust]

 

I shouldn't complain as it was only $12 ($18 with shipping) from Etsy. It was shipped in a bubble envelope (no box), surprised it arrived intact!

You are extremely lucky!

[Everett1954]

I almost passed on it, it looked kind of shabby in the picture, but i thought i could use it for parts if it didn't work. The guys Etsy store sold clothing items and it was his personal item he stored many years ago (strange he didn't have any accessories, I didn't even get an RF cable).

 

So yeah, I'm glad:

 

1) it arrive intact (the corners were poking out of the bubble package. ) don't know how he squeezed it in there) Thank you PO for getting it to me in one piece.

 

2) it worked.

 

3) It works with Concerto!

 

Now lets see if with the help of everyone we can get Concerto to work on ALL 7800's .I am going to keep trying things on both systems.

 

When I get time after the holidays, I am going to compare the two circuit boards side by side to see if i notice any component differences.

Edited December 19, 2016 by Everett1954

[Jinks]

Cool. Will buy an x machine too hopefully for 20-45 bucks. Thats all they are worth in junk condition.

I peeled the plastic off my plates on my consoles last month for something to do.

[Everett1954]

Well before you buy, are we sure all 7800 X models work with the Concerto? 78001987 has an A1 (or A3? ) unit that appears to work on par with mine.

 

If you want to try one I say go ahead but no guarantees...

 

Anyone have an X model 7800 and tried Concerto? Your Result?

 

Oh, even my nicer 7800 does not have plastic on it.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Mind I ask why "X" consoles are considered so terrible? Weren't these the last production 7800 consoles?

[Everett1954]

So Tonight when I went to try the integrity test I got from one to three red block. If i would restart and run again same thing but the block where in different positions.

 

Alien Brigade and Both version of BasketBrawl played fine. Bon-q still gives me a white screen followed by a black screen.

 

Tonight I also had a couple power ups with blank menus. So it is not 100% on my latest unit.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Not sure this matters at all, but on my 7800 when I ran the integrity test I was getting 3 red blocks consistent...every time I power on and test it. It is the very last block in the lower right then green and then the next two going left from the lower right again. Again I don't know if that is anything helpful especially since I'm testing a concerto cart. But thought it was interesting. I'm running mine through the Mateos 16 in 1 so that might be part of the reason for it? I haven't tried to run it on my other 7800 but...yeah.

 

Explain again wha the integrity test is doing again exactly? It is just doing a checksum scan on the actual test rom that you are running over and over? or is it checkiing the checksum of data it is placing into ram on the 7800 mainboard? If the latter would that indicate a possible issue with ram chips that are or possibly failing?

[iesposta]

Mind I ask why "X" consoles are considered so terrible? Weren't these the last production 7800 consoles?

My serial "X" 7800 will not start Moon Cresta, and Beef Drop is displayed skewed/twisted and is unplayable.

[RevEng]

Not sure this matters at all, but on my 7800 when I ran the integrity test I was getting 3 red blocks consistent...every time I power on and test it. It is the very last block in the lower right then green and then the next two going left from the lower right again.

Are you sure those weren't dashes, instead of red pages? It sounds like it, from the description of their location.

 

There are 3 pages that go unchecked, because they hold checksum result comparison data.

 

 

 

Explain again wha the integrity test is doing again exactly? It is just doing a checksum scan on the actual test rom that you are running over and over?

Yes, it calculates the crc for each cart rom page and compares it to a stored result, repeatedly. The repeat part is supposed to help discern between loader/eprom corruption and more ephemeral bus problems.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Are you sure those weren't dashes, instead of red pages? It sounds like it, from the description of their location.

 

There are 3 pages that go unchecked, because they hold checksum result comparison data.

 

 

 

Yes, it calculates the crc for each cart rom page and compares it to a stored result, repeatedly. The repeat part is supposed to help discern between loader/eprom corruption and more ephemeral bus problems.

 

Yes they did have dashes in them, but were also red...so I figured that is what the red blocks were that had been mentioned?

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Yes..the spots I'm talking about are the same ones with the dashes here in Kosmic's post of his results here:

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/230751-sd-cartridge-for-7800/page-41?do=findComment&comment=3648408

 

Only mine aren't black in the background, they turn red along with the dashes?

[Jinks]

Green good. red bad. dashes just a cursor of it scanning right?

[Andromeda Stardust]

Green good. red bad. dashes just a cursor of it scanning right?

Yes, the dash scans across the screen continuously. In the photos I took, the dash was moving across the image from left to right and then down. My camera shutter stayed open long enough to expose the dash as it moved across multiple tiles.

[Jinks]

The dash looks 3 long to my eye and my camera.

[RevEng]

The dash looks 3 long to my eye and my camera.

 

Yeah, but there's just 1 per frame. They move fast enough to leave after images on your eye.

 

If you load up the utility in an emulator you can single-step it and confirm.

 

 

 

Yes they did have dashes in them, but were also red...so I figured that is what the red blocks were that had been mentioned?

 

Sorry, I misspoke while posting from my cell, and meant to say dots, not dashes. The red positions you described sound like where the black "dots" are in everybody else's test. Is that correct?

[Everett1954]

So my Concerto does not like my Pokey or .bin files.

 

With the Pokey installed (I checked for correct orientation and bent pins) game files refused to load. Removing the Pokey lets the games load.

Also It does not show up as detected by the 7800utility. Tonight she ran cart integrity all green.

 

My X runs Moon Cresta just fine, the only thing it will not run is Bon-Q.

 

I have tried to run a couple .bin files but either blank screen or odd graphics after loading. Anyone have any luck with .bin files?

[Andromeda Stardust]

So my Concerto does not like my Pokey or .bin files.

 

With the Pokey installed (I checked for correct orientation and bent pins) game files refused to load. Removing the Pokey lets the games load.

Also It does not show up as detected by the 7800utility. Tonight she ran cart integrity all green.

 

My X runs Moon Cresta just fine, the only thing it will not run is Bon-Q.

 

I have tried to run a couple .bin files but either blank screen or odd graphics after loading. Anyone have any luck with .bin files?

 

Atari 2600 BINs run flawlessly on mine, provided they don't use exotic mappers. I don't think the Concerto supports 7800 ROMs in BIN format. Installing or pulling Pokey had zero effect on my system as far as game compatability goes. I did get audio in games that supported it, assuming they booted at all...

[Andromeda Stardust]

The dash looks 3 long to my eye and my camera.

It is wholly dependent upon shutter speed.

[Everett1954]

If you try and use a 7800 .bin you get a message that says it will try to load and run it but if it doesn't work try a .A78 file. The files I was trying on it were 7800 .bins and they did not work.

[Andromeda Stardust]

If you try and use a 7800 .bin you get a message that says it will try to load and run it but if it doesn't work try a .A78 file. The files I was trying on it were 7800 .bins and they did not work.

Okies. 2600 BINs don't have headers like a78 files. So the Concerto uses some algorithm to detect whether a .bin file is for a26 or a78?

[chouimat]

Is the concerto cart still available?