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spookt

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Hi Folks

 

It seems I'll never really get Atari 8 bits out of my blood! I've been out of the scene for a few years and sold most of my stuff off over that time due to some pretty big changes in my life. I have been watching the 1080XLD thread with great interest and I'm pretty certain I'm going to have a pop at building one once the public release happens.

 

In the mean time and having a week off with little to do, I dug out one of my few remaining 800XLs which, the last time I tried to boot it came up with a red screen. This machine was my daily driver at one point and had an original 256Kb mod and a PHI2 stability mod I added so I could use it with an MIO. I thought it would make a good project for the week, getting it up and running. Well it turned out to be a five minute job as the board containing the PHI2 fix had just come loose and was randomly grounding something! Reaffixed, rebooted and up and running.

 

I don't currently have any working SIO2PC solution or even a working 1050. (Dead 1050 is on the list along with a Frankenstein XF551 3.5 conversion I never quite finished.) I looked at Lotharek's options which are reasonably priced, but then discovered the cheapest shipping option to the UK is almost as expensive as the device itself! Years back I built my own using an FTDI breakout board. Can someone tell me if that's still doable and point me to a good choice of board? I'd like to use RespeQt on my Mac to serve stuff, so Mac compatibility would be a big plus!

 

Oh - and I have been lurking here all this time - some great stuff going on as always! Feels good to be back though ;)

Edited by spookt
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the trick with stuff on Lotharek's Lair is to always buy two or more items. postage then gets absorbed into multi-buys.

 

as regards a 1050, I note you're in the UK.

 

I have one for sale on ebay currently with a Happy clone fitted. Also have some other drives listed.

 

if interested send me a PM

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the trick with stuff on Lotharek's Lair is to always buy two or more items. postage then gets absorbed into multi-buys.

 

as regards a 1050, I note you're in the UK.

 

I have one for sale on ebay currently with a Happy clone fitted. Also have some other drives listed.

 

if interested send me a PM

 

Hey Brenski!

 

Thanks - yeah and I know I'll be looking for more stuff from him eventually (especially if I end up building a 1088XLD) but I'm on a tight budget for the next couple of months so looking to keep things as inexpensive as possible. For the same reason I'm not really in the market for a drive right now - thanks for the heads up though. I've actually got a non functioning 1050, a broken 810 and my Frankenstein XF551 to play with and I reckon at least one of those can be persuaded to work with a bit of attention.

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Can someone tell me if that's still doable and point me to a good choice of board? I'd like to use RespeQt on my Mac to serve stuff, so Mac compatibility would be a big plus!

 

Check this posting in the German ABBUC forums: http://www.abbuc.de/community/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=6102

 

Should be easy anough to follow, even if you don´t speak German.

Edited by skr
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Hey Spookt, nice to see you back here old man...

 

Hope life is treating you well after these changes..

 

And yes, this stuff is in the blood, I've had a few moments of "sod it, get rid of it all " as of late but when it comes down to it I just can't do it, I sit and play and its just not an option...

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Check this posting in the German ABBUC forums: http://www.abbuc.de/community/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=6102

 

Should be easy anough to follow, even if you don´t speak German.

 

Thanks - yes looks pretty straight forward as I remember. Just ordered a couple of boards.

 

A bit more tinkering this morning and my 600XL with U1Mb and stereo is back up and running too. Happy days! Though it doesn't seem to want to boot SpartaDOS with the memory config set to anything above stock 64Kb. I either get freezes or Sparta config errors. And it's running the original BIOS too - way back I bought a Xilinx programmer to update to the v2 jed file and never got around to it. Found the programmer but it's a parallel programmer and I have nothing left with a parallel port! Guess I'll need to fork out for a USB version. I seem to recall Jon's new BIOS works on the v1 boards but it would be nice to have it all up to date. More stuff for the list!

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Hey Spookt, nice to see you back here old man...

 

Hope life is treating you well after these changes..

 

And yes, this stuff is in the blood, I've had a few moments of "sod it, get rid of it all " as of late but when it comes down to it I just can't do it, I sit and play and its just not an option...

 

Hey yourself (and less of the "old man" :-D !) Great to see some familiar faces around the place and just as good to see some new folks too.

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This afternoon's project - replacing the flyback transformer and broken power switch in a Philips CM8833. I really don't like working on CRTs because of the high voltages, but I'm still here and the monitor is now working nicely so all's well!

 

post-14167-0-56108400-1556636236_thumb.jpg

 

Next on the list a CBM monitor which I suspect has blown caps.

 

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Hey Paul. Good to see you. :)

 

Though it doesn't seem to want to boot SpartaDOS with the memory config set to anything above stock 64Kb. I either get freezes or Sparta config errors.

The CPLD on the U1MB is known to become corrupted on rare occasions, necessitating reprogramming of the chip. I fixed a board which was mirroring the first 512K of extended RAM in the second half of memory in 1088K mode this way.

 

And it's running the original BIOS too - way back I bought a Xilinx programmer to update to the v2 jed file and never got around to it. Found the programmer but it's a parallel programmer and I have nothing left with a parallel port! Guess I'll need to fork out for a USB version. I seem to recall Jon's new BIOS works on the v1 boards but it would be nice to have it all up to date. More stuff for the list!

Do not flash my firmware to the board until you update to the V2 JED. The new BIOS requires RAM at $D1xx/$D5xx which the V1 JED lacks, and the board won't even boot without it when running the new firmware. There's a red-letter warning to that effect on the download page. ;)

 

None of my PCs have motherboard-mounted parallel ports these days, but since my Xilinx cable is also of the parallel variety, I just use a cheap PCI-E parallel port cart, which works perfectly well. It actually spends most of the time in the drawer (owing to the SATA-III card which usually occupies the same PCI-E slot) and is only hauled out once in a blue moon when I have to update a CPLD (which happened recently when a Xilinx chip died on a brand new U1MB and I had to replace it).

 

Speaking of monitors: I'm hoping to do a Y/C mod on a CM8833-II on the near future (having found out how easy it is), and do you remember that 1084ST monitor? I snagged a NOS example a couple of years back: absolutely pristine, but it doesn't work owing to the primary coil apparently being shorted out (well, it caught fire when I bridged the fuse). Some day I'll have a go at fixing it...

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This afternoon's project - replacing the flyback transformer and broken power switch in a Philips CM8833. I really don't like working on CRTs because of the high voltages, but I'm still here and the monitor is now working nicely so all's well!

 

attachicon.gifIMG_3981.jpg

 

Next on the list a CBM monitor which I suspect has blown caps.

 

I'm in the middle of a CBM 1084S-P repair myself, which I also believe to be blown caps, I have some on order now. I did order a new flyback transformer I've had for a couple of years now, since it went down, just in case. I finally decided to take up the project again recently.

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Hey Paul. Good to see you. :)

 

 

The CPLD on the U1MB is known to become corrupted on rare occasions, necessitating reprogramming of the chip. I fixed a board which was mirroring the first 512K of extended RAM in the second half of memory in 1088K mode this way.

 

 

Do not flash my firmware to the board until you update to the V2 JED. The new BIOS requires RAM at $D1xx/$D5xx which the V1 JED lacks, and the board won't even boot without it when running the new firmware. There's a red-letter warning to that effect on the download page. ;)

Hi Jon - glad to see you're still around. I've been following your youtube vids - some inspiring stuff there, you've been a big part of keeping me hooked!

 

Thanks for the warning about U1MB boards with V1 JED files and the latest firmware. I would most certainly have read the instructions before trying to flash anything since it's been a while. I'll definitely not try that until I manage to update it to V2.

 

None of my PCs have motherboard-mounted parallel ports these days, but since my Xilinx cable is also of the parallel variety, I just use a cheap PCI-E parallel port cart, which works perfectly well. It actually spends most of the time in the drawer (owing to the SATA-III card which usually occupies the same PCI-E slot) and is only hauled out once in a blue moon when I have to update a CPLD (which happened recently when a Xilinx chip died on a brand new U1MB and I had to replace it).

Sadly I don't even have anything with PCI-E slots anymore. I'm down to a MacBook for work and an iPad, though I do run a Win 10 virtual machine and I have an old XP laptop kicking around somewhere. I was looking at the available USB options for reprogramming the U1MB and I see some USB XILINX programmers for ISP / JTAG and also USB chip programmers with adapters for the flash chip. Any advice on what to look for or suggestion of what you've heard works?

 

 

Speaking of monitors: I'm hoping to do a Y/C mod on a CM8833-II on the near future (having found out how easy it is), and do you remember that 1084ST monitor? I snagged a NOS example a couple of years back: absolutely pristine, but it doesn't work owing to the primary coil apparently being shorted out (well, it caught fire when I bridged the fuse). Some day I'll have a go at fixing it...

 

Well the CBM monitor I mentioned is exactly that 1084ST of yours! Turns out it didn't have bad caps, just some spectacular dry joints on one of the adjustment pots, one of which was arcing spectacularly! Cleaned em up and resoldered and it's working again. I do think the flyback is on the way as it isn't focusing particularly well and it's a little whiny. I remember that at one point I offered you it back and never carried through on it. If you'd still like it (as a donor for yours?) drop me a PM, I'm pretty much just round the corner nowadays. I've got the CM8833 working and still have a good CBM 1702 so I'm pretty well covered.

 

I'm in the middle of a CBM 1084S-P repair myself, which I also believe to be blown caps, I have some on order now. I did order a new flyback transformer I've had for a couple of years now, since it went down, just in case. I finally decided to take up the project again recently.

 

I watched a video yesterday of a chap working on a 1084ST and he was complaining that everyone always suspects bad caps. His unit had no sign of life at all and it turned out to be a bad controller IC in the switched PSU. Hope the repair goes well, let me know how it turns out.

 

Like you I'd had the new flyback for the CM8833 for about 3 years along with the replacement switch and it all went into storage and I never got around to doing anything with it. Just pulled out two original UAV boards as well so may spend today trying to figure out how to install those. (Unless my FTDI boards arrive then it'll be SIO2PC fun!)

Edited by spookt
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Hello spookt

 

You might have missed the update of Atari800MacX. We have sound again.

 

Sincerely

 

Mathy

 

Hey Mathy!

 

Yeah I'd spotted that and it was another thing that sparked my interest. Fired up a few old games and that got me wanting to have real hardware on the bench again. Emulation kept me going but I do regret selling off so much stuff, especially given how prices seem to have rocketed! But really had no choice and I did keep a few gems, including my original 600XL which was a Christmas present in the mid 1980's.

Edited by spookt
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Hi Jon - glad to see you're still around. I've been following your youtube vids - some inspiring stuff there, you've been a big part of keeping me hooked!

Thanks! If the videos generated or rejuvenated interest in the hobby, then they've done their job. :)

 

Sadly I don't even have anything with PCI-E slots anymore. I'm down to a MacBook for work and an iPad, though I do run a Win 10 virtual machine and I have an old XP laptop kicking around somewhere.

I finally have a MacBook here (and the trackpad blows any Windows machine I've used out of the water), but I couldn't get by without a dual-monitor Windows desktop (and some means of periodically hooking up legacy ports).

 

I was looking at the available USB options for reprogramming the U1MB and I see some USB XILINX programmers for ISP / JTAG and also USB chip programmers with adapters for the flash chip. Any advice on what to look for or suggestion of what you've heard works?

I can't speak from personal experience since I don't own such a device, but I believe it's this one: eBay Auction -- Item Number: 2536248719801?ff3=2&pub=5574883395&toolid=10001&campid=5336500554&customid=&item=253624871980&mpt=[CACHEBUSTER].

 

Well the CBM monitor I mentioned is exactly that 1084ST of yours! Turns out it didn't have bad caps, just some spectacular dry joints on one of the adjustment pots, one of which was arcing spectacularly! Cleaned em up and resoldered and it's working again. I do think the flyback is on the way as it isn't focusing particularly well and it's a little whiny.

Yes: that display always hummed, which I found quite annoying. Well done spotting the dry joints (I don't think I ever bothered opening the case up).

 

I remember that at one point I offered you it back and never carried through on it. If you'd still like it (as a donor for yours?) drop me a PM, I'm pretty much just round the corner nowadays. I've got the CM8833 working and still have a good CBM 1702 so I'm pretty well covered.

I might take you up on that, since trying to source parts for these things is a complete nightmare. In addition, I'm pushed for space, so I either need to fix the 1084ST (which is still in the original box and polys), or get rid.

Edited by flashjazzcat
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I watched a video yesterday of a chap working on a 1084ST and he was complaining that everyone always suspects bad caps. His unit had no sign of life at all and it turned out to be a bad controller IC in the switched PSU. Hope the repair goes well, let me know how it turns out.

 

Like you I'd had the new flyback for the CM8833 for about 3 years along with the replacement switch and it all went into storage and I never got around to doing anything with it. Just pulled out two original UAV boards as well so may spend today trying to figure out how to install those. (Unless my FTDI boards arrive then it'll be SIO2PC fun!)

Well, I followed the PSU circuit board with my multimeter up to the first definitely bad cap, The big 200v, 220uF cap, which I removed and am awaiting a replacement. But who knows if that's the end of it. I guess it can depend on circumstances; with mine the monitor was working fine, in attract mode on some video game, when I left the room for dinner. Upon returning the 1084 was off and just never powered back on. I'm pretty sure it's just this failed cap, but I will see. There is absolutely no sign of physical damage on the cap itself, not even a slight bulge in the top, but that's the first place there was an interruption in power and testing it separately proved it bad. But I knew it was a safe bet I'd need the flyback sooner or later anyway, from the beginning. I've got all the replacement caps coming, but I'll just follow the circuits and replace as I go, as needed, which hopefully won't be many if any. But the bad cap could just be a side effect of something more. I will eventually get to the IC, if need be...

Edited by Gunstar
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I can't speak from personal experience since I don't own such a device, but I believe it's this one: eBay Auction -- Item Number: 2536248719801?ff3=2&pub=5574883395&toolid=10001&campid=5336500554&customid=&item=253624871980&mpt=[CACHEBUSTER].

I have that model. I had to buy it since I no longer had anything that would work with my older parallel port programmer. I've had no issues with it.

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I have that model. I had to buy it since I no longer had anything that would work with my older parallel port programmer. I've had no issues with it.

Good to hear. Since it was only £20 I decided it was worth a punt.

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Welcome back spookt! It's understandable - most of us are pulled away for various reasons. In an important way it's not about the hardware. It's about the inspiration! You feel it strongly and it's contagious. I was not here on the forums until after you left. Well met.

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