atari 800 no video

[Scooter83]

Hey I got an 800 that starts up but no video. It worked fine once last night after 30 minutes of trying to get it to work and today it's back to the black screen.

I checked the boards for any possible loose chips that would need adjusting. Every time I turn it on it goes from static to solid black. Open to ideas

[Scooter83]

Will need a s201 switch ( the one that tells the system when the door is closed. ). Seems like the metal was triggering it on and off at random cause a piece of metal broke off and would connect some of the time. So that will need replacing

[Kyle22]

just jump over the switch. A blob of solder on the underside of the board works nicely.

[+DavidMil]

If the switch is not working why would the screen just go black and stay that way? Wouldn't it go back to static as if

the door is open/off? I think there is something else going on here...

 

DavidMil

[Kyle22]

Does the red light below START stay on constantly when you turn the power switch on?

[+DavidMil]

If you leave the computer off for an hour or so, does it always do the same thing when you start it up? When the screen goes black,

you can turn off the computer, pull all the RAM and ROM cards out and then feel them for any excessively hot chips.

One thing you may want to do while you have all the RAM and ROM cards out:

Clean the connector edges of all the cards with a good pencil eraser. Makes sure all the chips are seated properly (do this by

pressing each chip down) then put all the cards back in (make sure the chips all face towards the back of the computer).

You may want to shuffle the RAM cards around too. If that doesn't help, I hope you're comfortable with opening up the computer.

 

DavidMil