SS Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 Does anyone know if the 1064 memory expansion module has +5V out connected on its PBI output slot? I have a 1064 arriving in a few days and I am wondering if I will be able to connect my Sys-Check to its PBI output? And, if so, if I will need to connect the Sys-Check's exterior power cord or not. Thanks for any ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 (edited) Edited July 20, 2019 by _The Doctor__ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 (edited) even it it doesn't you could add it back easy... Edited July 20, 2019 by _The Doctor__ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathy Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 (edited) Hello guys The 800XL also doesn't have 5VDC on pins 47 and 48. This can be cured easily, so why wouldn't it be just as easy to fix that on the 1064. BTW the original schematics can be found here. It would be nice if somebody could come up with a way to easily connect and disconnect the wire from the Sys-Check that takes 5VDC from the joystick port. Sincerely Mathy PS The Doctor was faster... Edited July 20, 2019 by Mathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddtmw Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 Hey. Not to hijack this, but is there something I can do inside on my 800XL to allow it to work with Syscheck without having to pull 5 volts from the joystick port? Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 8 minutes ago, toddtmw said: Hey. Not to hijack this, but is there something I can do inside on my 800XL to allow it to work with Syscheck without having to pull 5 volts from the joystick port? Thank you! You can add 5V DC to the PBI slot. I've never bothered with this mod myself since I don't have any PBI devices, but it should be dead simple: just solder a single wire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddtmw Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 "I love this plan! I'm excited to be a part of it! Let's do it!" If only I had details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SS Posted July 21, 2019 Author Share Posted July 21, 2019 1 hour ago, toddtmw said: is there something I can do inside on my 800XL to allow it to work with Syscheck without having to pull 5 volts from the joystick port? It is an easy mod. I did it to my 800XL PBI connector. Just follow the picture in this link. https://atariage.com/forums/topic/251315-sys-check-v22-ready-to-use-batch-available/?do=findComment&comment=3613515 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OmaOhneBH Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 14 hours ago, SS said: I have a 1064 arriving in a few days and I am wondering if I will be able to connect my Sys-Check to its PBI output? That's exactly what I tried a few months ago, I tried to connect my Sys.Check to two different 1064s - in both cases I only got a black screen, not sure why, maybe the metal pins weren't clean enough after more than 30 years of no use at all, I did not investigate. I hope you have better luck! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred_M Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 13 hours ago, Mathy said: The 800XL also doesn't have 5VDC on pins 47 and 48. This can be cured easily, so why wouldn't it be just as easy to fix that on the 1064. BTW the original schematics can be found here. And what about a 600XL? The 1064 is not made for the 800XL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+kheller2 Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 3 minutes ago, Fred_M said: And what about a 600XL? The 1064 is not made for the 800XL. The 600XL has the +5 lines. The 800XL does not. And it does not appear the 1064 has +5 on the passthrough connector.. but it can easily be added, just as easily as on the 800XL. (And in case someone asks, no you can't insert a 1064 into an 800XL .. at least not while still cased). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 In theory a 1064 should work on an 800XL with +5V mod - given that it disables internal Ram. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SS Posted July 21, 2019 Author Share Posted July 21, 2019 1 hour ago, kheller2 said: And it does not appear the 1064 has +5 on the passthrough connector.. If I am interpreting the picture and schematics correctly, I don't think that I see a 5V connection to the output PBI slot either. How dumb is that? Especially because the 1064 is made specifically for the 600XL and the 600XL was the only machine that did have the +5V line there. Very short sighted of them. No wonder the PBI was never utilized for expansions in the way that it should have been; Atari cut off their own nose once again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathy Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 Hello SS, guys The 600XL did have +5VDC because of the 1064. In it's shortsidedness, Atari killed a lot of features and stuff, doing only what it thought would be "needed". The 800XL doesn't need the 1064 and there were no other PBI devices planned (read: they were killed before they hit the market), so it didn't need +5VDC on the PBI. And since plugging a 1064 into the back of a 1064 makes no sense either, the 1064 also does not have the +5VDC on its PBI. Atari did a lot of nice things, but they also did a lot of things that most of us now would call "plane stupid". Sincerely Mathy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+kheller2 Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 It is my understanding that the PBI spec changed a few times (including exactly what signals to use and what pins) There are several docs out there that show this when you compare them. The +5 line was only needed to power the 1064. The 1090 didn't need it (and it wasn't killed until AFTER the 800XL was released). So, saving money, why would Atari route it? If we really want to complain, we should all complain about the lack of video jack on NTSC 600XLs (and the lack of chroma on the 800XL). But then again, the 400 only had RF, just like the 600XL. Please do not think I'm disagreeing with you. I would be nice if Atari was consistent! Give me +5 on the 1200XL SIO please, all video pins connected and the exact same PBI pinout. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SS Posted July 21, 2019 Author Share Posted July 21, 2019 42 minutes ago, kheller2 said: If we really want to complain, we should all complain about the lack of video jack on NTSC 600XLs Worst decision ever. I know that it was again another cost-cutting measure but why put it on the PAL board but not on the NTSC? Thankfully there are a few people who are a lot smarter than me who have come up with some modern solutions to this problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathy Posted July 22, 2019 Share Posted July 22, 2019 Hello guys And then there was the decision to scrap the ECI from the American 65XE. Instead of just removing it/leaving it off, they chanced both the PCB and the bottom case. BTW IIRC I read an article in ANALOG Computing years ago that Atari left chroma of the video connector on the 800XL because they wanted to make space for a second audio signal (as in stereo). Sincerely Mathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SS Posted July 23, 2019 Author Share Posted July 23, 2019 On 7/20/2019 at 5:02 PM, SS said: I have a 1064 arriving in a few days and I am wondering if I will be able to connect my Sys-Check to its PBI output? On 7/21/2019 at 8:03 AM, OmaOhneBH said: That's exactly what I tried a few months ago, I tried to connect my Sys.Check to two different 1064s - in both cases I only got a black screen, not sure why, maybe the metal pins weren't clean enough after more than 30 years of no use at all, I did not investigate. I hope you have better luck! I picked up my 1064 from the Post Office this afternoon. As it turns out, I was able to daisy chain the SYS-Check to the 1064 to get a total of 576K! It looks a bit like a Frankenstein monster this way but at least it will work for when I need the extended RAM. I wonder why the combo didn't work for OmaOhneBH? I did have to connect the exterior power cord to the joyport but otherwise everything was completely straightforward. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OmaOhneBH Posted July 24, 2019 Share Posted July 24, 2019 8 hours ago, SS said: I wonder why the combo didn't work for OmaOhneBH? I did have to connect the exterior power cord to the joyport but otherwise everything was completely straightforward. Because I wouldn't use the external power cord regularly with a 600XL, so I wasn't eager to try that - I'm glad it works for you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred_M Posted July 24, 2019 Share Posted July 24, 2019 I am happy to see that the 1064 arrived safely ? I hope you will enjoy it ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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