spacemanrocks Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 Well, the bad luck continues. After my original STE died, I purchased an STF. That one was dead on arrival. So I purchased an STFM from a member here as untested. Kinda knew it wasn't going to work, but took a shot at it anyway, and yup, doesn't work. No biggie, I expected it to be that way anyways. So I decide to go to the cesspool known as eBay. Find an STE for a good price, pics show it working, win the auction. It arrives today in a thin cardboard box with no protection except some screwed up pieces of college papers, and taped together with duct tape. This has been a very upsetting day. Sorry, had to vent before cleaning up 10 million pieces of smashed up Atari STE from the floor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anzac Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 what a crime. you can always open a dispute on ebay and at least get a partial refund. you can then use the parts to recover your dead STE and still keep parts for the future... also, the other two machines are probably recoverable. probably just PSU issues with faulty capacitors... Exxos (Chris) has PSU repair kits and whole PSUs that will give a whole new life to your machines... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arnuphis Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 Yes! Dispute that right away and recover some money. If you are interested, I got a large haul of Amiga gear from a local computer club to sell. In amongst it was a 520STM in its box. Box is battered but it looks otherwise intact. I can see if it works and let you know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krisu13 Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 All I got to say is sorry to see it happen. There are not too many Atari STE’s around left and we lose them to brain-less people. To sweet up your grief I could buy from you keyboard and TOS if it is 2.06. PM sent. THX Kris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+nurmix Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 Wow. Just when I think the stupidity meter has pegged with bad eBay seller packaging, surprise... Ugh. So sorry to see this mess. I'm sure you've already done so, but I'll echo what others have said, file a claim with eBay/PayPal and get your money back. I still have that tested and working 1040 STF available once you get things settled if you're interested. Sent from my Keyboard Component using Jack's Conversational Intelli-talk cassette Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacemanrocks Posted April 6, 2017 Author Share Posted April 6, 2017 Thanks to everyone that's offered to sell me one or buy the parts from me, but at this point i'm broke and just about done trying... video game / vintage computer collecting is an expensive hobby as it is, and the amount of money i've thrown at trying to recreate my childhood has pretty much maxed me out for now. It's a sad state of affairs but it is what it is. Just wanted to post this to remind everyone that if you buy something like this on ebay, for the love of god demand they pack the damn thing correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KLund1 Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 Very sorry to see that. It has happened to me several times. ALWAYS ask seller to pack it well before paying. There are 2 cases for sale that might be of help. They are for 520STFM's, so you would have to drill a couple holes to accommodate all the STE connections in back http://www.ebay.com/itm/Atari-520STFM-Computer-Shell-Sold-as-is-Parts-Only-Repair-Work-/282418284215?hash=item41c17106b7:g:1xYAAOSwB-1Y1yc4 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Atari-520STFM-Computer-Shell-and-Motherboard-Sold-as-is-Parts-Only-Repair-Work-/282418287844?hash=item41c17114e4:g:SwMAAOSwc-tY1yrP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
English Invader Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 Thanks to everyone that's offered to sell me one or buy the parts from me, but at this point i'm broke and just about done trying... video game / vintage computer collecting is an expensive hobby as it is, and the amount of money i've thrown at trying to recreate my childhood has pretty much maxed me out for now. It's a sad state of affairs but it is what it is. Just wanted to post this to remind everyone that if you buy something like this on ebay, for the love of god demand they pack the damn thing correctly. Emulation is still an option if you're on a budget. The ST is well supported by Hatari and Steem and the Automation and PP catalogues will give you access to all the games you'll ever need. It's not the real thing but it's something. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Umberto Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 Been selling on eBay for years, get your money back. It is the responsibility of the seller to guarantee the product arrives as pictured. I have sold many expensive Atari and non Atari related items. It is guaranteed by eBay to arrive safely even if the seller is selling "AS IS" and "NO REFUNDS". Open a case with eBay and get your money back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz73 Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 Oh, man... that is wrong on so many levels. I've only ever seen an STE once and after almost 30 years, I have never gotten my hands on one. To see something like that makes my heart sink a bit. :^( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nebulon Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 Well, the bad luck continues. After my original STE died, I purchased an STF. That one was dead on arrival. So I purchased an STFM from a member here as untested. Kinda knew it wasn't going to work, but took a shot at it anyway, and yup, doesn't work. No biggie, I expected it to be that way anyways. So I decide to go to the cesspool known as eBay. Find an STE for a good price, pics show it working, win the auction. It arrives today in a thin cardboard box with no protection except some screwed up pieces of college papers, and taped together with duct tape. This has been a very upsetting day. Sorry, had to vent before cleaning up 10 million pieces of smashed up Atari STE from the floor 20170405_133747.jpg 20170405_134201.jpg 20170405_134402.jpg 20170405_134411.jpg 20170405_135423.jpg How in the hell?!?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctor_shred Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 Whoa, that's terrible! The same thing happened to me many years ago but at least that was a brown old 520STFM. Apparently as the plastic ages it becomes increasingly brittle so I guess the moral of the story is pack STs like they're made of glass. I hope you get some money back on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz73 Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 If it works, you can just replace the casing a la B&C Computervison or Best Electronics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nebulon Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 The closest thing I can think of that happened to me was when I purchased a physical modeling synthesizer from eBay and had it shipped by UPS. UPS left it on-end at my door in the middle of the winter and didn't bother to ring the doorbell or notify me that it was there. From what I could tell, it looked like they must have slammed it down onto the ground pretty hard because when I opened the box the end of the board that was on the ground was shattered with a nice crack extending up toward the LCD screen. Having said that, I've never seen anything so thoroughly destroyed in transit as that poor STE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNameOfTheGame Posted April 12, 2017 Share Posted April 12, 2017 Have you tested to see if it works? There are cases out there if the main system is ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacemanrocks Posted April 12, 2017 Author Share Posted April 12, 2017 Have you tested to see if it works? There are cases out there if the main system is ok. I'll be testing shortly.... it had 2 256k sticks of memory but one of them is damaged pretty bad... also the floppy drive has a lot of rattling when i move it so i'm guessing that's in pieces on the inside too. I've ordered replacements for both, so when they arrive i'll be powering it up for the first time. I've managed to drill some holes into an STFM case that I got from a dead machine here, so the board itself is installed in a new bottom half of case right now. But yeah if they are around and this ends up working i'd love to get an actual case.... stay tuned though, we shall see what happens........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacemanrocks Posted April 12, 2017 Author Share Posted April 12, 2017 Should also point out that the seller tried to make me send the thousand pieces back and he would consider a refund, I told him thats not acceptable, he escalated it to ebay and they refunded me in full within 10 minutes..... so that was at least something. Really hoping I can get some life out of this.... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nebulon Posted April 13, 2017 Share Posted April 13, 2017 Should also point out that the seller tried to make me send the thousand pieces back and he would consider a refund, I told him thats not acceptable, he escalated it to ebay and they refunded me in full within 10 minutes..... so that was at least something. Really hoping I can get some life out of this.... I'm glad you got a refund. The seller sounds like a real schmuck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tickled_Pink Posted April 13, 2017 Share Posted April 13, 2017 For so many things to be damaged it must have had a damned good smack by the carriers, irrespective of the amount of packaging and the alleged brittleness of old plastic. The casing, I would perhaps expect. There was a similar image posted on FB regarding a UK unit a few days ago, but not as bad. But for the memory and the drive to be mashed up as well ... Still, at least you got a result of sorts. I take it that it's a different model to all your others? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjlazer Posted April 15, 2017 Share Posted April 15, 2017 Wow really surprised you got a refund without sending it back, I thought that was standard practice. What a jerk, wanting it back in 1,000 pieces! He should of packed it better! Go to B&C or Best and see if you can order a NEW case for it! It will be like a new machine! I did that years ago on one that was broken, but it was broken before it was shipped so I knew about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacemanrocks Posted April 15, 2017 Author Share Posted April 15, 2017 So ladies and gents, i'm pleased to announce that I now have a fully functioning Atari STE! :D It is definitely a frankenstein but i'm very happy with it. This is a combination of an STFM that I got as non working and the smashed up STE..... 1 - Case from the STFM, with holes drilled for the RCA jacks... jacked that up a bit, so abandoned any thought of cutting out a space for the enhanced joystick ports.... also for the life of me I could not not get the STE motherboard to fit in the STFM case with the STFM shielding. So that ended up as a bit of a hack job, with the half of the shield that goes under the keyboard still in place and the rest of it cut off. Really hope that's not going to cause me issues down the road... like getting blown up or something.... 2 - Motherboard from the STE. Thankfully the installed chips were fine if a little loose, one of the original memory sticks had a deep mark through it, decided to leave that alone... 3 - Floppy drive from the STFM 4 - 4 Meg memory installed and tested 5 - Power supply ordered from B&C (U.S one to replace the UK ones from these machines) 6 - Keyboard PCB from the STFM, half the keys from the STFM, other half from the STE. Had no idea those keyboards were made up of so many tiny components.... Big thanks to everyone that has helped me with my questions while getting this whole mess sorted out... now it's time to re-live my childhood and enjoy my Atari! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+nurmix Posted April 16, 2017 Share Posted April 16, 2017 (edited) So ladies and gents, i'm pleased to announce that I now have a fully functioning Atari STE! :D Congratulations! Well done! Can you share some pix of the STFME? Sent from my Keyboard Component using Jack's Conversational Intelli-talk cassette Edited April 16, 2017 by nurmix Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacemanrocks Posted April 16, 2017 Author Share Posted April 16, 2017 Congratulations! Well done! Can you share some pix of the STFME? Sent from my Keyboard Component using Jack's Conversational Intelli-talk cassette Sure can, when I get back home i'll take some Also late last night, as luck would have it after I posted this, the floppy drive seems to have given up... i'll take it apart during the week and see if things need to be adjusted and cleaned, if not i'm going to look into some kind of Satandisk / Gotek thing for it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eightbit Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 And you will have a Gotek in about 2-3 days Post some shots of some good old ST games playing when it is done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacemanrocks Posted April 20, 2017 Author Share Posted April 20, 2017 Well, I thought my smashed up STE nightmare was over last week, but then realized the floppy drive failed. It let out this god awful screech sound, and then nothing. I probably could have opened it up and made sure the belt was OK, cleaned it, whatever - but given my current luck with this project, I decided to just leave it be. Determined to finally put this whole saga behind me, and get a fully working ST again, eightbit very kindly sold me a Gotek USB drive. And I have to say, these things are absolutely amazing!!! Please work!!!!! Please work!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Got some Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge going! Got it mounted inside the case... could have done better with making the floppy slot larger and sanded down the edges a bit or something, but considering i'm supposed to be working I didn't have a great deal of time..... looks OK anyway She's so pretty And there we are. Ordeal over! Well, minus getting hold of one of those fancy 4160 STE labels, but that can wait. Fully functioning Atari STE with 4 Meg RAM and a Gotek USB drive! Thank you again to everyone that messaged me with assistance, advice, motivation etc etc... you guys are awesome! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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