Atari 1040STe Torched By Soldering Iron! Can Anybody Help?

[Binarygeek]

Hi Folks

 

I picked up an Atari 1040STe with 4Mb about 6 months ago, you know, one of those "untested" things? Of course it didn't work. That part is ok. I didn't know what to do with it, so I just put it away. I read about the TOS jumpers at W102,3, and 4 and checked it out. What I saw made me cry (pics attached). Seems as if one of the previous owners decided to change the jumpers, and destroyed the board while doing it. That jumper block is just a train wreck.

 

Guys, I don't have the soldering skills to even go around this thing, much less touch it. I'm having a great deal of difficulty just using an ohmmeter on the thing. To top it off, I'm also blind in one eye so I don't have any depth perception.

 

I figure this thing will work if the traces are repaired. I mean, why attempt to upgrade the TOS if the computer doesn't work in the first place? I do have some TOS 1.06 ROMS, and when inserted it boots to a white screen.

 

Is this thing even salvageable??? Anyone have the skill to take this cluster f*ck on? Any saviors amongst the crowd? Somebody please tell me yes. Look, you can't screw it up anymore than it is now, and if you do it isn't a problem. I mean it doesn't work now anyway. Anyway, pictures attached and they are the best I can get.

 

Thanks,

Rick

Edited January 12, 2018 by Binarygeek

[Keatah]

I'm not expert in ST operation or repair. But this "soldering damage" is very minor. Like a fart in a cyclone. Anyone with some experience should be able to clean that right up.

 

PCB repair is PCB repair whether it be an Apple II (my area of expertise), or Intellivision or a radio.

Edited January 12, 2018 by Keatah

[Osgeld]

few times I agree with Keatah, it looks worse than it probally is, I was expecting a big black burn mark with wires peeling away

[AMenard]

I've seen boards with traces eaten by battery acid that got repared. This can be fixed. Most old electronics can be fixed even in way worst shape.

[Umberto]

Easy fix

[tjlazer]

Don't even know how you can mess that up trying to change those resisters. What do the ROMs look like? V2.06?

[Binarygeek]

Don't even know how you can mess that up trying to change those resisters. What do the ROMs look like? V2.06?

Hi

 

Thanks for the encouragement, guys. TOS is 1.06. Actually, they are jumpers, not resistors. Used for selecting 28 or 32 pin TOS ROM's.

 

Again, though, I can't do the soldering on this board. The depth perception loss makes this very difficult (try putting a key in a lock with one eye closed), and even more dangerous to the board. Anybody out there want to get this thing going again PLEASE PM me with your rate. Overall the computer is in very nice condition and the case is really clean. And to boot, it's an STe. I really want to get back to the Atari ST and am looking forward to it.

[walter_J64bit]

I hate that Atari don't use Jumper Connector that would make easy to install a new TOS. I hope that you can get your Ste back in working order. :thumbsup:

[+poobah]

Where are you located?

[Binarygeek]

I hate that Atari don't use Jumper Connector

No shit! They pulled the same stunt on the Atari 1050 drive board. In the interest of saving 14 cents, the number of shortcuts they took with the 800 and 800XL, among others, is astounding. They can be a real bitch to repair.

[Osgeld]

the op was only 1 state away from me so it arrived today, and I fixed it (and installed pin headers so they could use jumper blocks as they see fit)

 

all the (significant) damage was on the bottom side of the board, missing 1 ground and 2 traces, no big deal, so yay another one kept out of the bin!

 

 

[Keatah]

Nicely done.

 

TRIVIA: Those stake pins and jumper "covers" called Berg Connectors & Berg Jumpers.

[walter_J64bit]

Pics please, I count this as an upgrade!

[Binarygeek]

Atari 1040STE computer REPAIRED!!!

 

Thank you Osgeld.

 

He said mail it to me, and I'll take a look at it. I mailed it, and then some pictures popped up for me. He had repaired it and was showing me pics of the repaired board. I couldn't believe it! The STE is alive and kicking. I didn't think the board was repairable (even though comments in this thread didn't think it was a difficult repair at all) and had put it in my "dead" board can. Well, Osgeld repaired it. I think he told me it took 87 minutes. He also put it some jumpers in at W102, 103 and 104, so I can easily change the board for different types of ROM's. Total cost? A little under 9 bucks, which was used to mail the board back to me. He didn't charge me a dime. Jeezus, What. A. Stud.

 

I'm waiting for some EPROMS from e-bay to get here, and I'm gonna put in TOS 1.06 and 2.06 selectable by switch.

 

Again I can't believe this thing is rolling, and I've been playing Gunship for just hours. I had forgotten how much fun this computer is, and I'm looking forward to slapping this thing back together and doing a little programming, I used to use the Hisoft Devpac (or something like that).

 

Thanks to everyone for your help.

 

Rick