Modding 7800 for Pitfall II (2600) compatibility?

[CloakandDagger]

I recently got Pitfall II (2600) off ebay and was sad to see it won't even come up on my 7800. (Black screen). At first I thought it was DOA but further research suggests it could be one of the few 2600 carts with a compatibility issue.

 

 
The above thread links to a Shells URL that is now dead, but I was able to find an old snapshot of it in the wayback machine:

 

https://web.archive.org/web/20060615235117/http://www.schells.com/7800mod.shtml

 

So my question is:

* Is this procedure safe? The above info is back from 2002, a lot has changed on the 7800 scene since then. Will it break compatibility with any homebrews such as Bentley Bear's Crystal Quest, or Rikki & Vikki?

* Is it ill-advised for an electronics noob to attempt this procedure?

* Does it depend on which edition 7800 I have (serial number, etc.). FWIW, i do NOT have any expansion port on my 7800.

* I actually have two 7800's, one unmodded, and one with the RCA a/v mod. Is there a better one on which to attempt this?

 

Thanks for any input!
 

 

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Quite familiar with this. I actually do this to about 90% of the 7800s that I've worked on for AV mods and repairs. I did this most recently on a 7800 that didn't work with the activision titles like Space Shuttle and Robot Tank, but once I clipped the right leg off the capacitor, those games were working. But get this, 2600 Dark Chambers still worked as did Stargate (Another game possibly effected by this). So near as I could tell, the only game to still have issues was 2600 Decathlon, but that game can be problematic regardless. 

 

Also, this timing circuit was specifically added for supposed compatibility issues on 2600 games and does not affect any 7800 games or Homebrew games I've tested. I have two 7800s easily on hand with one of them having this capacitor clipped and it hasn't been an issue for any games I've tried it with. It will even play decathlon but can take a few tries to get it to come up.

 

[phoenixdownita]

2 hours ago, CloakandDagger said:

I recently got Pitfall II (2600) off ebay and was sad to see it won't even come up on my 7800. (Black screen). At first I thought it was DOA but further research suggests it could be one of the few 2600 carts with a compatibility issue.

 

 
The above thread links to a Shells URL that is now dead, but I was able to find an old snapshot of it in the wayback machine:

 

https://web.archive.org/web/20060615235117/http://www.schells.com/7800mod.shtml

 

So my question is:

* Is this procedure safe? The above info is back from 2002, a lot has changed on the 7800 scene since then. Will it break compatibility with any homebrews such as Bentley Bear's Crystal Quest, or Rikki & Vikki?

* Is it ill-advised for an electronics noob to attempt this procedure?

* Does it depend on which edition 7800 I have (serial number, etc.). FWIW, i do NOT have any expansion port on my 7800.

* I actually have two 7800's, one unmodded, and one with the RCA a/v mod. Is there a better one on which to attempt this?

 

Thanks for any input!
 

 

https://books.google.com/books?id=bGEbLt1C168C&pg=PA229&lpg=PA228&dq=atari+7800+dark+chamber+hack&source=bl&ots=kOqT9GZitr&sig=ACfU3U0Fx5e-PO5WyijraO0zMaFdJ2sUCg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjOr53w2pfmAhWiOH0KHbIsCGwQ6AEwBXoECAoQAQ#v=onepage

 

It's the same hack you refer to just in "book" form.

[CloakandDagger]

Wow thanks for the google book link, what an excellent resource!

[John Stamos Mullet]

In my experience, Pitfall II is not one of the games affected by this hack/timing circuit. Those games are limited to: Robot Tank, Space Shuttle, The Activision Decathlon, and the Starpath Supercharger.

 

The problem with Pitfall II is that on most production runs, it was made with notorious thin PCB boards, and in most cases with the 7800, it's simply not making good conduct with the pins in the cart port. I would clean the PCB contacts on the Ptifall II cart with isopropyl alcohol, and try it again. The Activision game H.E.R.O. can have this issue as well, as they also used similarly thin PCBs in that one as well.

 

But yes - that hack is helpful, and the only thing it breaks is Dark Chambers for the 2600, which is kind of irrelevant on the 7800, since the 7800 version exists, is not affected by this hack, and is much better.

[CloakandDagger]

3 hours ago, John Stamos Mullet said:

In my experience, Pitfall II is not one of the games affected by this hack/timing circuit. Those games are limited to: Robot Tank, Space Shuttle, The Activision Decathlon, and the Starpath Supercharger.

 

The problem with Pitfall II is that on most production runs, it was made with notorious thin PCB boards, and in most cases with the 7800, it's simply not making good conduct with the pins in the cart port. I would clean the PCB contacts on the Ptifall II cart with isopropyl alcohol, and try it again. The Activision game H.E.R.O. can have this issue as well, as they also used similarly thin PCBs in that one as well.

 

But yes - that hack is helpful, and the only thing it breaks is Dark Chambers for the 2600, which is kind of irrelevant on the 7800, since the 7800 version exists, is not affected by this hack, and is much better.

 

Thanks very much, quite interesting alternate issue to check, and I will certainly try a thorough contact cleaning of my Pitfall II cart contacts with isopropyl alcohol before putting my 7800 under the knife.  

 

However, the 2002 post I linked to did specifically mention Pitfall II, and furthermore, the OP in that post, @Tifany stated that after doing the hack, Pitfall II worked.  Could it be a coincidence?  @Tifany do you remember any details of that fateful day >17 years ago and have any opinions here?

[Tifany]

Hey there!

I had actually forgotten all about that post! 2002 was a while ago! If my brain is remembering things correctly, Both Pitfall 2 and robot tank were not working for me, but worked fine after the mod. Could be there was a revision that broke compatibility with Pitfall 2? It was about that same time that I was cleaning all of my carts too... so may have just been a coincidence. Anyways, after the mod my 7800 played everything that I threw at and I eventually had it AV modded.  Sadly, I do not have a 7800 these days, but it went to a good home - I donated to it Stephena for him to pay around with.

 

I remember when i first got the 7800 though - i was going nuts trying to find a way to switch it into "2600 mode" because I kept trying robot tank and pitfall 2! Once i tried some other games I figured out that it would just play 2600 carts without having to "switch" anything lol

 

Thanks for the blast from the past!

 

 

[+sixersfan105]

I've never had any issues with Pitfall II on my 7800, but can absolutely attest to having to get most Activision titles seated *just right* on 7800 consoles in general.