Sandor / HARD Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 Hi guys, I got myself an Atari 130 XE recently (after a 20 year gap) and I finally found the time to open it to see the conditions inside. I found a couple of hacky looking wires in there and I haven't a clue what do these fix / improve. Can someone here recognize it as a typical mod / fix? Thanks for any comments! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+orpheuswaking Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 Factory added, something failed during testing 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 My 130XE has the same exact thing. I've seen enough pics fo 130XE's at this point to think some genius at Atari Corp. thought this was a good idea and made it some kind of official factory "fix" to the board layout. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandor / HARD Posted March 4, 2017 Author Share Posted March 4, 2017 Wow, thanks guys! When I opened it, I told my son that I think this was never opened before as even those little twisted metal parts that hold the shielding&motherboard together seemed untouched. Then I saw the cables and thought the opposite Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 Wow, thanks guys! When I opened it, I told my son that I think this was never opened before as even those little twisted metal parts that hold the shielding&motherboard together seemed untouched. Then I saw the cables and thought the opposite Welcome to the forums - I love your old productions! Since you have a 130XE now, can we expect a new demo soon? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbking67 Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 every 130XE has had some of these wires. I believe that there was a design flaw that was fixed. I'm not sure what revisions have what or what these do. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandor / HARD Posted March 4, 2017 Author Share Posted March 4, 2017 Welcome to the forums - I love your old productions! Since you have a 130XE now, can we expect a new demo soon? Thank you Stephen for your kind words! The main challenge is time. It was so much easier to find the time for all this when I was a teenager. BTW, the last time I saw an Atari or Atari code I was exactly half my current age (20=>40) Anyways, I'd love to speed up on all this once again and do something short and sweet. Can't say when, but I want to believe that it could happen some time in the future. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 Nice to see one of our demo hero's on the forum? May I ask what you are up to these days? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfollett Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 Welcome to the forums - I love your old productions! Since you have a 130XE now, can we expect a new demo soon? OK, I'll play the ignorant one. What are the old productions? Are they available for download? I'd like to get in on the complimenting too. Thanks, Bob 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mariusz Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 (edited) Try this VERONIKA http://a8.fandal.cz/detail.php?files_id=3732 JOYRIDE http://www.atarimania.com/demo-atari-400-800-xl-xe-joyride_s11309.html Edited March 4, 2017 by mariusz 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathy Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 (edited) Hello Sandor Anyways, I'd love to speed up on all this once again and do something short and sweet. Can't say when, but I want to believe that it could happen some time in the future. I know the perfect moment for that. There's an Atari 8 bit meeting in Lübeck, Germany, (I checked, Lübeck has an airport as does Dublin) from Friday the 21st of April until Sunday the 23th of April this year. Read all about it on my Atari meetings page. Sincerely Mathy Edited March 4, 2017 by Mathy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 @ Sandor Greetinx from _The Doctor__ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 OK, I'll play the ignorant one. What are the old productions? Are they available for download? I'd like to get in on the complimenting too. Thanks, Bob Bob, look for Teli Sandor.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+CharlieChaplin Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 (edited) Well, Teli Sandor was a member of the HARD Software: http://a8.fandal.cz/search.php?search=Sandor+Teli&butt_details_x=x http://a8.fandal.cz/search.php?search=Teli+Sandor&butt_details_x=x http://a8.fandal.cz/detail.php?files_id=1416 Edited March 5, 2017 by CharlieChaplin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandor / HARD Posted March 5, 2017 Author Share Posted March 5, 2017 Nice to see one of our demo hero's on the forum? May I ask what you are up to these days? Thank you It's very nice to see that there's still people who remember us. These days - apart from my daytime job - I have a nostalgia attack apparently Heaven / TQA was teasing me with A8 stuff for a year or two via email and then I ran into Wieczor / Lamers unexpectedly who started teasing me too. So I got this Atari and and I'm trying to get it working properly. The picture quality is appalling so I'm on the waiting for the UAV mod from Bryan. I'm hoping it'll sort it out. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandor / HARD Posted March 5, 2017 Author Share Posted March 5, 2017 Hello Sandor I know the perfect moment for that. There's an Atari 8 bit meeting in Lübeck, Germany, (I checked, Lübeck has an airport as does Dublin) from Friday the 21st of April until Sunday the 23th of April this year. Read all about it on my Atari meetings page. Sincerely Mathy Haha, that's a bit too fast Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 Of course we remember you, you guys made our machines do weird and wonderful things that seemed almost magical back then, unlike the youth of today where many just don't appreciate how complex what they are seeing on screen is we were there when demo's were invented, home arcade games were brand spanking new and home computers were both brand new and bloody expensive! So yeah, we remember you guys very well Thank you.. hopefully you still code one way or another 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidMil Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 When I worked at Compaq in the board shop, after the first production run it was not uncommon to discover that a trace had been left out or was bad from the board manufacture. So we would do repairs like that to correct the condition. Since I see that others have seen this same fix on other boards, I'd be willing to bet that there was a bad or missing trace on the board. There is nothing wrong with your computer, I can't tell you how many thousands of PC's and laptops have similar fixes. David Milsop Kingwood, Texas 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilmoo Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 When I worked at Compaq in the board shop, after the first production run it was not uncommon to discover that a trace had been left out or was bad from the board manufacture. So we would do repairs like that to correct the condition. Since I see that others have seen this same fix on other boards, I'd be willing to bet that there was a bad or missing trace on the board. There is nothing wrong with your computer, I can't tell you how many thousands of PC's and laptops have similar fixes. An old co-worker of mine once referred to those as "the hardware equivalent of a software patch". 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandor / HARD Posted March 5, 2017 Author Share Posted March 5, 2017 Of course we remember you, you guys made our machines do weird and wonderful things that seemed almost magical back then, unlike the youth of today where many just don't appreciate how complex what they are seeing on screen is we were there when demo's were invented, home arcade games were brand spanking new and home computers were both brand new and bloody expensive! So yeah, we remember you guys very well Thank you.. hopefully you still code one way or another Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+tf_hh Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 every 130XE has had some of these wires. I believe that there was a design flaw that was fixed. I'm not sure what revisions have what or what these do. This mod is IMHO located at all XE mainboards. Sometimes it´s done by the factory with manual wires, sometimes it´s done directly on the PCB (newer revisions). This mod buffers PHI2 a 2nd time specially for the ANTIC chip. This mod will prevent video display from some timing issues with Freddie, which results in disturbations in some graphics modes or PMG. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+CharlieChaplin Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 Famous last words of an electrician: "What are these wires for?" (changed slightly to match the topic) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbking67 Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 This mod is IMHO located at all XE mainboards. Sometimes it´s done by the factory with manual wires, sometimes it´s done directly on the PCB (newer revisions). This mod buffers PHI2 a 2nd time specially for the ANTIC chip. This mod will prevent video display from some timing issues with Freddie, which results in disturbations in some graphics modes or PMG. awesome... always wanted to know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hueyjones70 Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 I have a 130XE without the wires. I picked up another one with the wires and the video will not come up properly. I took our the wires and the video completely vanished. The 130XE with the wires and the one without the wires did not have the resistor. Are three of the connections made to IC pins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Level42 Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 (edited) There are several board revisions I bet. I have a 800XL that has all RAM sockets put in "uneven". I first thought it was poor manufacturing but it turned out that they "hacked in" a resistor (or cap?) to one of the pins of each RAM chip. The "uneven" placement of the sockets allowed for one of the leads of the part to be connected.... I also have a later board revision 800XL and there it's clear they changed the design to add those parts in a neat way to the PCB. Edited April 4, 2018 by Level42 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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