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June 1983 Atari Trak-ball articles for CX-80 and CX-22. From the picture, it looks like the switchless CX-22 targeted to 2600 owners existed in June when the switched on targeted to Atari 8-bit owners was released. Something of a mystery why the 2600 version of CX-22 was used instead of 8-bit, except maybe because 2600s were owned by more people. BTW, I also notice they mention Atari's plans for a new hand-grip proline controller for the 2600, which would become the Space Age controller ... and a short-lived flop, apparently due to a poor membrane contact film for the joystick.

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  • 2 months later...
On 6/28/2020 at 5:49 PM, Swami said:

June 1983 Atari Trak-ball articles for CX-80 and CX-22. From the picture, it looks like the switchless CX-22 targeted to 2600 owners existed in June when the switched on targeted to Atari 8-bit owners was released. Something of a mystery why the 2600 version of CX-22 was used instead of 8-bit, except maybe because 2600s were owned by more people. BTW, I also notice they mention Atari's plans for a new hand-grip proline controller for the 2600, which would become the Space Age controller ... and a short-lived flop, apparently due to a poor membrane contact film for the joystick.

87221153_10222885244666281_1536189924947001344_o.jpg?_nc_cat=100&_nc_sid=b9115d&_nc_ohc=s9WUTUV2KBEAX9qxPQN&_nc_ht=scontent-msp1-1.xx&oh=51e2fc0caacc72ea1f525d75b97ab0b7&oe=5F20C08A

87945420_10222885245266296_3274826522120159232_o.jpg?_nc_cat=106&_nc_sid=b9115d&_nc_ohc=8fOhcGovjEkAX96BRa_&_nc_ht=scontent-msp1-1.xx&oh=26b49ef4cca8ed24f78685aa16afa986&oe=5F1D990E

 

You can add the switch to the switchless "Atari 2600" CX22s. AtariAge User BigO has done it before.

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On 10/24/2019 at 2:27 PM, Swami said:

There is lots unknown, but serial numbers 1-15,000 for the Atari Trak-Ball were joystick mode only and said "Atari 2600" on them. Then, for reasons not completely clear, serial numbers 15,000 to several hundred thousand were exclusively dual mode (joystick/proportional trackball) and not labelled "2600". It suggests they weren't planning true-trackball for the Atari 2600, at least not with the one labelled for the 2600. Word is that Atari would only support pack-in controllers for the 2600 after Atari was sold to Warner in 1983, the same year both the JS and JS/TB versions were released, which probably killed any chance of true-trackball games for the 2600 in the 1980s.

 

Nolan Bushnell sold Atari Inc to Warner in 1976.  Warner sold the assets of Atari Inc's Consumer Division to Jack Tramiel's Tramel Technology Ltd. in July 1984. That became Atari Corp. 

 

Dan Kramer designed the CX22 with the switch to support native Trak-Ball mode from the start. Atari didn't go back and add native Trak-Ball mode to 2600 games because in 1983, they were too concerned with the company not going down the drain since the industry was crashing at that point and Commodore was also hitting everyone with their 8-bit computer price war at the same time. They were in survival mode. Native Trak-Ball mode was heavily pushed on the 5200 games standard especially since Dan's CX53 Trak-Ball controller was - and is - considered to be the ultimate accessory Trak-Ball controller for any console to this day. 

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1 hour ago, Lynxpro said:

 

Nolan Bushnell sold Atari Inc to Warner in 1976.  Warner sold the assets of Atari Inc's Consumer Division to Jack Tramiel's Tramel Technology Ltd. in July 1984. That became Atari Corp. 

 

Dan Kramer designed the CX22 with the switch to support native Trak-Ball mode from the start. Atari didn't go back and add native Trak-Ball mode to 2600 games because in 1983, they were too concerned with the company not going down the drain since the industry was crashing at that point and Commodore was also hitting everyone with their 8-bit computer price war at the same time. They were in survival mode. Native Trak-Ball mode was heavily pushed on the 5200 games standard especially since Dan's CX53 Trak-Ball controller was - and is - considered to be the ultimate accessory Trak-Ball controller for any console to this day. 

That post was based on some misinformation I corrected after further research. There is mostly rumors out there hard to sort through. The Warner reference was just a senior moment, though, haha.  I found that serial number theory I mentioned that I saw posted several places was actually wrong as both had their own individual serial numbering and the switched one came first and just sold tons more. I see how the theory of a change at 15,000 started, though, since the 2600 branded model stopped at around 15,000 units while the switched one went over 200,000. I individually checked several dozen serial numbers for cx-22s on eBay, Facebook, atariage, etc., to find that 15,000 switcharoo was a false rumor. Although, of the many switched cx-22 I found, only two late in the search had serial numbers below 15,000, while all the switchless ones were under 15,000 so the theory seems supported to me until then. Finding a switched model with a serial number of 000189 is what really killed the 15,000 switcheroo theory. 

 

Although they were released for sale about the same time according to magazine articles, I think Dan said that the CX-53 was actually designed before the CX-22. 

 

The fact that the 2600 branded version was switchless tells me they weren’t planning true track ball for the 2600, but it’s only speculation why they removed the switch, as both were released within a few months of each other; Possibly to not confuse 2600 owners, although it would suck if you bought one thinking it was the same as the one that played missile command in TB mode on the 8-bits. 

 

Dan Kramer did the design work for the CX-22 and CX-80 but said no one from “above” ever explained the why’s to engineers of the three different models (cx80, switched and switchless cx22). Again, you will find a few rumors out there. One rumor is the xl/xe division people insisted on their own model, which resulted in the cx80, which ended up mostly over in Europe. Unfortunately, CX80s have no visible serial numbers, so, hard to say how many were made. 

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2 hours ago, Swami said:

Although they were released for sale about the same time according to magazine articles, I think Dan said that the CX-53 was actually designed before the CX-22.

 

Dan Kramer did the design work for the CX-22 and CX-80 but said no one from “above” ever explained the why’s to engineers of the three different models (cx80, switched and switchless cx22). Again, you will find a few rumors out there. One rumor is the xl/xe division people insisted on their own model, which resulted in the cx80, which ended up mostly over in Europe. Unfortunately, CX80s have no visible serial numbers, so, hard to say how many were made. 

 

Dan didn't design the CX80; he designed the CX22 and the CX53. Atari Inc's Home Computer Division designed the CX80 based upon his CX22 and they made it match the XL line more.

 

And to be a completist on the discuss, GCC took the CX22 and designed their own Trak-Ball for the 7800 but it was never released. Code for it is actually in the commercial 7800 Centipede release. Dan has reviewed GCC's schematics and said he didn't think it would've been cost-effective for 1984-86. The late Kenfused wrote the code for the CX22 and the CX80 to work in 7800 Centipede which is implemented in the 7800 Centipede-TB that AtariAge sells in their store.

 

It wasn't really any of Atari Inc's management that dictated which games had native Trak-Ball support. Dan asked GCC to add support for the CX53 into 5200 Pole Position and other titles they were coding for the 5200. 

 

The other thing was that even before the CX22, CX53, and CX80 were designed, Dan built custom Trak-Ball controllers for his coworkers and programmers at Atari Inc. Consumer Division. They had their own version of 3-Base Missile Command for the Atari 8-bit computers which supported 3-fire button Trak-Balls.

 

Here's the one Dan kept:

 

[Edit: Damn it, where did the option to link directly to a user's photo library on this site go to?]

Edited by Lynxpro
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5 hours ago, Lynxpro said:

 

Dan didn't design the CX80; he designed the CX22 and the CX53. Atari Inc's Home Computer Division designed the CX80 based upon his CX22 and they made it match the XL line more.

 

And to be a completist on the discuss, GCC took the CX22 and designed their own Trak-Ball for the 7800 but it was never released. Code for it is actually in the commercial 7800 Centipede release. Dan has reviewed GCC's schematics and said he didn't think it would've been cost-effective for 1984-86. The late Kenfused wrote the code for the CX22 and the CX80 to work in 7800 Centipede which is implemented in the 7800 Centipede-TB that AtariAge sells in their store.

 

It wasn't really any of Atari Inc's management that dictated which games had native Trak-Ball support. Dan asked GCC to add support for the CX53 into 5200 Pole Position and other titles they were coding for the 5200. 

 

The other thing was that even before the CX22, CX53, and CX80 were designed, Dan built custom Trak-Ball controllers for his coworkers and programmers at Atari Inc. Consumer Division. They had their own version of 3-Base Missile Command for the Atari 8-bit computers which supported 3-fire button Trak-Balls.

 

Here's the one Dan kept:

 

 

Yeah, I’ve got a lot of this in another thread referenced above. I just linked to it to avoid redundancy. A lot of it was from an iesposita post. Still, some interesting details added. I wasn't aware Dan didn't design the CX80 inner working, although they seem much more convoluted than the CX22's for some reason. I’m not sue who didn’t dictate what, but someone besides Dan decided it was pointless to include the switch on the 2600 branded model. He referred to the “upper echelon” not asking his advice once the product was done. 

 

I really dont don’t get the part where it’s said they made the cx80 to look more like the XL line. The xl is black and cream. The cx22 switched is black and cream. The Atari 1010 and 1050 are black and cream. The Atari cx80 is all black. 

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20 minutes ago, adamchevy said:

What is the best Atari Trak Ball for the 2600?

I would go with the cx80 or the switched cx22, which you can identify from the cream colored lower half and absence of the words 2600 and pro-line on the top of the case on the edge nearest you. That way, you can play all the trackball conversion carts sold in the Atari Age store or the rims if you have a multicart. Also, an Atari ST or Amiga mouse works with many of those roms. They may have the ST and Amiga mouse choice on the carts as well, but I don’t remember, but someone here knows I’m sure. 

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I would go with the cx80 or the switched cx22, which you can identify from the cream colored lower half and absence of the words 2600 and pro-line on the top of the case on the edge nearest you. That way, you can play all the trackball conversion carts sold in the Atari Age store or the rims if you have a multicart. Also, an Atari ST or Amiga mouse works with many of those roms. They may have the ST and Amiga mouse choice on the carts as well, but I don’t remember, but someone here knows I’m sure. 


Thanks! I’ve owned a few CX80s, does the CX22 have a similar feel when rolled? Does one have better internals than the other?
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4 hours ago, adamchevy said:

 


Thanks! I’ve owned a few CX80s, does the CX22 have a similar feel when rolled? Does one have better internals than the other?

 

The CX80s are more rare than the CX22's, so they will generally be pricier. I did have one of four CX22s I bought from eBay that came with both button stems broke (stems under the button that press the sensor) and I super-glued them together again. The CX80 has a much better, practically invincible level mechanism. I also had a new CX80 from video 61 modded for two button 7800 operation that didn't work in one pair of directions, but I was able to send it back to them and they fixed it and now it works great. In another CX80, the solder broke on one of the wire-to-board connections, but connections and traces looked a bit corroded, while the ones in the video below look like new. So, all these issues could be due to abuse. The CX80 buttons are much larger than the CX22 buttons. Overall, though, they function about the same as far as pressing and rolling, IMHO. Wiring and design is a lot screwier inside the CX80, with all the positioning, mechanisms and wiring going on below the circuit board. Its all above on the CX22, making repairs simpler.

 

Regarding mice, I see four of the ten trackball games in the store require you to choose either trackball or type of mouse you want and the other six are all-inclusive. Not sure how that happened. There are also adapters that let you use USB or PS/2 mice as Atari ST/Amiga mice, but that a whole other topic discussed in a couple other threads.

 

60C04287-BB57-4719-8B9D-C01CD4491394.jpeg

1CBE72B0-E113-4923-B7B5-8CE4A453E9E1.jpeg

F91A10CF-96AD-491D-AAA9-6771E9720D28.jpeg

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The CX80s are more rare than the CX22's, so they will generally be pricier. I did have one of four CX22s I bought from eBay that came with both button stems broke (stems under the button that press the sensor) and I super-glued them together again. The CX80 has a much better, practically invincible level mechanism. I also had a new CX80 from video 61 modded for two button 7800 operation that didn't work in one pair of directions, but I was able to send it back to them and they fixed it and now it works great. In another CX80, the solder broke on one of the wire-to-board connections, but connections and traces looked a bit corroded, while the ones in the video below look like new. So, all these issues could be due to abuse. The CX80 buttons are much larger than the CX22 buttons. Overall, though, they function about the same as far as pressing and rolling, IMHO. Wiring and design is a lot screwier inside the CX80, with all the positioning, mechanisms and wiring going on below the circuit board. Its all above on the CX22, making repairs simpler.  

Regarding mice, I see four of the ten trackball games in the store require you to choose either trackball or type of mouse you want and the other six are all-inclusive. Not sure how that happened. There are also adapters that let you use USB or PS/2 mice as Atari ST/Amiga mice, but that a whole other topic discussed in a couple other threads.

[/url]  

60C04287-BB57-4719-8B9D-C01CD4491394.thumb.jpeg.498baca04e5cb391acd4eb83bb4c7ab1.jpeg

[/url]1CBE72B0-E113-4923-B7B5-8CE4A453E9E1.thumb.jpeg.de960c1f06898c99abbd3cba322e329b.jpeg

[/url]F91A10CF-96AD-491D-AAA9-6771E9720D28.thumb.jpeg.72ac06f4a7e6e065623895edb7f195b5.jpeg

 

 

I recently came across a rebuild kit for CX22 Trak balls from best electronics. I purchased a very nice looking CX22 on eBay, but the right button doesn’t function. I’m going to do a full restore\rebuild on it and see if I can’t get an extremely smooth and fully operational CX22. I tried to find another CX80 but they are all up above $80.00 now days for nice ones on eBay.

 

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On 9/4/2020 at 9:05 PM, Omegamatrix said:

I have started a troubleshooting guide and a modification guide on the first post.

 

If anyone has some really good links please list them and Thomas or I will add it to the first post. 

 

Ask BigO to contribute. He's added switches to the switchless CX22s, he's made them work with the ST as a Mouse replacement, etc. Hell, he took a CX53 and modded it to work as an ST Mouse and he modded the Wico trackball to output gray code so it would do native Trak-Ball mode.

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On 9/3/2020 at 9:48 PM, Swami said:

The CX80s are more rare than the CX22's, so they will generally be pricier. I did have one of four CX22s I bought from eBay that came with both button stems broke (stems under the button that press the sensor) and I super-glued them together again. The CX80 has a much better, practically invincible level mechanism. I also had a new CX80 from video 61 modded for two button 7800 operation that didn't work in one pair of directions, but I was able to send it back to them and they fixed it and now it works great. In another CX80, the solder broke on one of the wire-to-board connections, but connections and traces looked a bit corroded, while the ones in the video below look like new. So, all these issues could be due to abuse. The CX80 buttons are much larger than the CX22 buttons. Overall, though, they function about the same as far as pressing and rolling, IMHO. Wiring and design is a lot screwier inside the CX80, with all the positioning, mechanisms and wiring going on below the circuit board. Its all above on the CX22, making repairs simpler.

 

Regarding mice, I see four of the ten trackball games in the store require you to choose either trackball or type of mouse you want and the other six are all-inclusive. Not sure how that happened. There are also adapters that let you use USB or PS/2 mice as Atari ST/Amiga mice, but that a whole other topic discussed in a couple other threads.

 

60C04287-BB57-4719-8B9D-C01CD4491394.jpeg

1CBE72B0-E113-4923-B7B5-8CE4A453E9E1.jpeg

F91A10CF-96AD-491D-AAA9-6771E9720D28.jpeg

 

I really dislike the Video61 "7800 Trak-Ball" modded CX80s. They aren't real 7800 Trak-Balls, meaning they won't automatically do Trak-Ball mode in the commercial release of 7800 Centipede. There's no 2 Fire Button 7800 Trak-Ball games [Crack'ed hasn't been modded to support Trak-Balls, and not that it would even work well with the buttons spaced out so far away unless you had 3 hands]. 

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  • 2 months later...

During the last days I have created a trackball hack of Meltdown. Unfortunately it doesn't play well with the trackball, probably because the cursors are moving only in fixed intervals and you have no real target cursor. As of now, I have no idea how to improve here, the code doesn't allow smooth cursor movement and it would require a major rewrite to fix this.

 

Anyway, attached you find my hack (for all three trackballs, NTSC and PAL-60). For instructions please check AtariProtos.com (note: I have removed the game variations 6 ..15).  

 

If you want to test with Stella, you have to use 6.2.x or older. 6.3 and 6.4 have an auto fire bug in trackball games. It will be fixed in the next release.

Meltdown_TB_V0_1.zip

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  • 1 month later...
  • 4 months later...
On 9/7/2020 at 7:49 PM, Lynxpro said:

 

I really dislike the Video61 "7800 Trak-Ball" modded CX80s. They aren't real 7800 Trak-Balls, meaning they won't automatically do Trak-Ball mode in the commercial release of 7800 Centipede. There's no 2 Fire Button 7800 Trak-Ball games [Crack'ed hasn't been modded to support Trak-Balls, and not that it would even work well with the buttons spaced out so far away unless you had 3 hands]. 

What trak-ball works with the 7800 Centipede original commercial release?

 

 

 

 

The 2600 Millipede and Centipede hacks for the trackball are outstanding!  Breathes a whole new breath of life into the games.  I got new high scores in both of them. The control is excellent.  Did a great job.

The Missile Command, really not so much, though it's not really the trackball's (hack's) fault, I don't think. It doesn't allow you to shoot fast enough.  I think it was limited to 2.  I saw there was an "arcade missile command" hack, but it says no trackball support. Haven't had a chance to play it yet.  I have also not played Missile Command on a regular basis in quite a long time.

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, christo930 said:

What trak-ball works with the 7800 Centipede original commercial release?

 

 

 

 

The 2600 Millipede and Centipede hacks for the trackball are outstanding!  Breathes a whole new breath of life into the games.  I got new high scores in both of them. The control is excellent.  Did a great job.

The Missile Command, really not so much, though it's not really the trackball's (hack's) fault, I don't think. It doesn't allow you to shoot fast enough.  I think it was limited to 2.  I saw there was an "arcade missile command" hack, but it says no trackball support. Haven't had a chance to play it yet.  I have also not played Missile Command on a regular basis in quite a long time.

 

 

 

All he's saying is you can't use any Atari Trak-Ball in trackball mode with the original 7800 centipede -so, not sure what he is saying that is specific about V61 version. The V61 will work in trackball mode with the 7800 Centipede TB hack. The V61 CX-80s are just two separate buttons for Fire 1 and Fire 2; They still have joystick/trackball switch.

I think any CX-22 will work and any CX-80 that wasn't made into an Atari mouse, since the original Centipede 7800 game is joystick only. All CX-22s have joystick mode, the black and white ones have joystick and trackball mode that can be switched, and all non-moused CX-80s have the joystick/trackball switch as well. There is a Centipede trackball mode hack for the 7800 as well.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Okay, I have to say, these games are AMAZING.  I bought a CX80 a while back, hoping to use it with trackball versions of the games, and I finally got around to downloading and trying some tonight.  WOW WOW WOW ... Missile Command plays just like it does on my 5200 with CX53!  Centipede plays just like it does on the 5200 with CX53!  These games are amazing.  Thanks so much to whoever modified these to work with the CX80 in trackball mode!

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