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Sophia rev.C - DVI board


Simius

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Hi.

I sent via PM my Atari 800 XL (SECAM) serial number.

 

Again : I would not choose the Sophia DVI version for the 800 XL which doesn't have a separate audio (DIN to Scart socket only) out while PAL XEGS has an available cinch audio out (so it is a better candidate for DVI output).

 

 

 

Edited by JihemB
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  • 1 month later...

Hi everyone.

 

Today I wanted to install my Sophia RGB board into my Atari 800 XL SECAM (while a friend is making me the SCART cable).

Unfortunately I discovered the motherboard is shielded and all components are directly soldered on the motherboard :?

Atari_800XL_SECAM_Shield.thumb.png.331f2ea008560c3297fd8a7cfbd77e94.png

Atari_800XL_SECAM_Motherboard.thumb.png.8f42a548d0f0b56bfdfbfe2d816399a7.png

 

I have to postpone the upgrade until I find "someone with the skills to intervene" (as in "Person Of Interest" ;-)

 

Questions :

 - Do you confirm GTIA chip is the topmost left chip ?

 - So it must be unsoldered from the motherboard and replaced by the chip socket on which Sofia will be plugged (with the chip re-inserted into Sofia's socket) ?

 - Would there be enough room to put the shield back of must I withdraw it definitively once the Sofia is installed ?

 

BTW : Where to solder the audio ouptut pin of the cable ?

Edited by JihemB
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3 hours ago, JihemB said:

Hi everyone.

 

Today I wanted to install my Sophia RGB board into my Atari 800 XL SECAM (while a friend is making me the SCART cable).

Unfortunately I discovered the motherboard is shielded and all components are directly soldered on the motherboard :?

Atari_800XL_SECAM_Shield.thumb.png.331f2ea008560c3297fd8a7cfbd77e94.png

Atari_800XL_SECAM_Motherboard.thumb.png.8f42a548d0f0b56bfdfbfe2d816399a7.png

 

I have to postpone the upgrade until I find "someone with the skills to intervene" (as in "Person Of Interest" ;-)

 

Questions :

 - Do you confirm GTIA chip is the topmost left chip ?

 - So it must be unsoldered from the motherboard and replaced by the chip socket on which Sofia will be plugged (with the chip re-inserted into Sofia's socket) ?

 - Would there be enough room to put the shield back of must I withdraw it definitively once the Sofia is installed ?

 

BTW : Where to solder the audio ouptut pin of the cable ?

The GTIA chip is one of those big ones in the bottom-left of your photo.

 

Yes you need to de-solder it and replace it with a socket first before you begin.

 

Please see my write up at the following address which has some very useful info on the install including how to keep your rf shield and how to get audio etc...

 

 

 

 

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@ Simius : Thanks, I found the actual FGTIA location on my motherboard (see below).

SECAM_FGTIA.thumb.png.83d200c37d3d12b9f79c7240dffd310e.png

 

@GoldenGraham : Thank for your help however, as you can see our respective motherboard are different. There is no RF out on the French SECAM version, the only audio and composite video out is a DIN5 socket on which you can either plug a split cable (yellow cinch for video, red cinch for audio) or a SCART adapter (my case). I was speaking about the mother shield which you put back on your pictures.

My next concerning will the path for the DB9 cable to bring RGB out of the Sofia board and which is supposed to get out the computer using the PBI connector window (to keep the computer as stock as possible).

 

I checked with a friend who confirms it is not easy to remove an unsocked chip to put it back on a socket without professionnal skills and equipment. He even suggest me to search for a new FGTIA chip as a replacement.

 

I'll keep you informed about this project but not in a near future (until I find a professional to process my motherboard).

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  • 4 weeks later...

 

On 1/10/2022 at 12:39 AM, irich2 said:

May I suggest our very own flashjazzcat at https://atari8.co.uk as the professional to process your motherboard?  His work is top-notch and he's located close to you in the UK.

Thanks for your suggestion but, because of Brexit, I avoid as possible business with UK because taxes dramatically increase item price, especially shipping fees.

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Plan B: I just bought on eBay another Atari 800XL from a seller from west-France so this time it is a PAL Atari 800 XL and I checked that the GTIA is actually already mounted on a socket ?.

In a couple of week I'll contact Simius to buy a PAL Sofia from him...

 

In meantime, if a person in France browses this message and wants to try to update his/her Atari 800XL SECAM, he/she can contact me via PM so I'll can resell my SECAM Sofia.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi everyone.

Thanks to those who helped with suggestions for modifying my SECAM motherboard (Mathy, Irich2).

 

I eventually found someone who accept to buy my SECAM Sofia (since he has the skills to modify his own Atari 800 XL with). As soon as the transaction is over, I'll place another order to Simius for a PAL Sofia.

 

I however have to re-check where to connect the audio wire of the cable on the motherboard since I missed this piece of information (maybe on the link suggested by GoldenGraham ?).

Edited by JihemB
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@JihemB  Just to say given the global chip shortage we continue to have, placing an order with Simius now you will likely not be getting your Sophia for a very long time. There is a rather large growing list of AA users who have placed orders already. So as and when he can get the chips and build the next load of batches, I'd imagine there will be a very long wait.

 

I put my name down spring last year if I recall and at the time there was a prediction that April 2022 might be possible. However given the continued shortage your guess is as good as mine as to whether we won't be seeing a more likely date much later this year, even 2023 the way things are looking.

Edited by Beeblebrox
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Tell me if I'm not wrong, you're speaking about Sophia 2 (DVI) although the board I'm interested with should be Sofia 1 (RGB) ?

In both cases, sure the component shortage will have consequences, except if Simius already have ready RGB boards.

 

If he can read us, maybe he will give us some information here, before I MP him.

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15 minutes ago, JihemB said:

Tell me if I'm not wrong, you're speaking about Sophia 2 (DVI) although the board I'm interested with should be Sofia 1 (RGB) ?

In both cases, sure the component shortage will have consequences, except if Simius already have ready RGB boards.

 

If he can read us, maybe he will give us some information here, before I MP him.

@JihemB  I am not sure but I assume Sophia 1 uses the same type of chip as Sophia 2 so the shortage would affect that too. Also I am not sure if Simius is making Sophia 1 units anymore anyway. Best PM him I guess. I assumed Sophia 1 was surpassed by 2. Could be wrong of course. 

Edited by Beeblebrox
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Chips aren’t the same, but the shortage affect both, although not to the same extend. I have ordered a small amount of older chips and I’m waiting for confirmation. If I get it, several Sophias B/C could be available. 

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1 hour ago, Simius said:

Chips aren’t the same, but the shortage affect both, although not to the same extend. I have ordered a small amount of older chips and I’m waiting for confirmation. If I get it, several Sophias B/C could be available. 

@Simius  thanks for confirming. Some potentially positive news there :)

 

Can I just ask - what does the B/C stand for?

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I think Rev A was RGB specific (my mind is a bit fuzzy about the particulars, so I might be wrong about that).

 

Rev B could do both RGB and Component.

 

Rev C was the DVI specific variant.

 

Sophia 2 is the latest which kinda does everything that A,B, and C did, as well as VGA.

 

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Pretty sure that Sophia 2 also allows for far easier switching between the resolutions i.e if you need to connect to different screens with different aspect ratios etc.  My rev C board is fixed at a certain 4:3 resolution and would need to be returned to the guy who makes them if I needed to change its output resolution.

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@GoldenGraham  I believe so. Sophia 2 has an A8 software prog that you run to configure the resolution, and if you have U1MB with FJC's firmware and the Sophia2 firmware plugin installed, (with the two hooked up to each other), you can change the Sophia2 resolutions in the U1MB bios itself AFAIK.

Edited by Beeblebrox
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  • 2 months later...

Hi, I'm in desperate quest for improving output for SECAM XEGS, which is just infamous : faded/bland, shaded, distorted, even blinking.

To get something clean on a CRT monitor or modern TV, I need essentially RGB output which I understand some special version of Sophia can sort out from SECAM signal and produce RGB to a dedicated wire.

 

Is this Secam version of Sophia still available somewhere, or is it released as DIY somehow, since newer revisions exist ?

Cheers

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  • 3 months later...

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