Randy Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 In the recent TT I picked up, which was originally a German system, the roms were replaced with UK roms, however, it appears the roms were put in upside down! The roms, which are TMS 27C010A-120JL and -15JL marked, have the labels upside down relative to the original roms, and the user put the roms in with the labels up which has the effect of the notches facing right, rather than facing left as seen on both the pcb silkscreen and the German roms. Since it is not working, I am guessing I need to rearrange the UK roms with the notches facing left and retry the computer, does that sound correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParanoidLittleMan Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 What matters is not are ROMs upside down, but is PCB designed for their normal or upside down orientation. There are many cases, by Ataris too when it should go upside down (because it made PCB design easier, lines shorter). So, you need to look white printing under sockets - there are notches well visible. If ROMs were really placed opposite as should, it is very bad thing - then GND and +5V swap, and that means certain death of ROM chips, and possible damage of other chips in machine. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Posted November 16, 2020 Author Share Posted November 16, 2020 Thanks Peter, going by the silkscreen the roms were in upside down, turning them around I got a white screen, so some level of success. But as you noted, this chips are probably fried. Luckily, the seller also sent me the original German roms, which I put in and, bingo, it worked! My German is pretty weak, but was able to at least get around and get the HD spinning and look at that. Problem is, the seller did a typical shitty packing job and there was some minor damage to the keyboard, plugging in a mouse which last checked was working on my STe, but on the TT it only moves the cursor in the horizontal direction, no vertical at all, although I can use the Alt-arrow keys to move the cursor in the vertical direction. Would that indicate a problem with the keyboard? I am guessing not the computer, correct? I also have a floppy that does not appear to work, but will work on that, but right now getting the mouse to work is the next step. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guus.assmann Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 For the Mouse, have a look at the traces from the connector into the keyboard. That's where I would expect damage / bad contacts. And for the Tos-Roms. It should be fairly easy to get another Tos for the machine. Have a (Google) look for Atari TT: Storm, Thunder and Lightning. These are names for boards that give the TT a USB interface, a CF interface and more TT-Fastram. It needs a patched Tos and the Roms are included. BR/ Guus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParanoidLittleMan Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 Yes, mouse problem is usually because broken lines (wires) in it's cable. Should try with other mouse (I guess there is some good one with ST(E) ) . But can be connector problem too, or soldering of connector in keyboard panel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Posted November 16, 2020 Author Share Posted November 16, 2020 This is the second atari mouse with the same problem, i.e., only moves cursor in horizontal direction. In both instances I can tone out the cable, so it is not a cable issue, and yes, putting the mouse back on the STe I found the mouse had gone bad (horizontal cursor movement only) since I last used it, unreliable POS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParanoidLittleMan Posted November 17, 2020 Share Posted November 17, 2020 (edited) This Atari mouses are now about 30 years old, so please don't be so harsh. Which now new one one will work 30 years from now ? All my Atari mouses needed cable repair, and I have about 5 of them. And none is with original connector anymore. Edited November 17, 2020 by ParanoidLittleMan missing coma Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdivancic Posted November 17, 2020 Share Posted November 17, 2020 20 hours ago, ParanoidLittleMan said: But can be connector problem too, or soldering of connector in keyboard panel. I had this problem when I first got my TT. Just reflowing the solder fixed it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Posted November 18, 2020 Author Share Posted November 18, 2020 Well, I was finally able to get one working, not sure about the other two (and one was fine until a couple of days ago...) so now I know that it was just a mouse issue and not with the TT, just need to get the FDD working while I wait on the new roms... I will say that the display on TT medium is absolutely beautiful, and that is with just a couple of the 16 colors available on-screen. Can't wait to try some of PP's games on this bad boy, Frontier in particular! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Posted November 18, 2020 Author Share Posted November 18, 2020 18 hours ago, ParanoidLittleMan said: This Atari mouses are now about 30 years old, so please don't be so harsh. Which now new one one will work 30 years from now ? All my Atari mouses needed cable repair, and I have about 5 of them. And none is with original connector anymore. Yes, I am wondering if they are worth repairing? As it appears it is not the cable, I am thinking it could be either the chip or the opticals in these, which I feel could be hard to source... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guus.assmann Posted November 18, 2020 Share Posted November 18, 2020 It may also be dirt, bad solder joints or solder "Whiskers". Clean it all and resolder as much as you can. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leech Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 On 11/17/2020 at 7:41 PM, Randy said: Yes, I am wondering if they are worth repairing? As it appears it is not the cable, I am thinking it could be either the chip or the opticals in these, which I feel could be hard to source... I believe some people sell optical mouse kits for the old STM1 mice. Welcome to the world of TT ownership! It's much better than it used to be when I got my TT. Much better support now. Yeah, strange to say that, but it's true. So many older games and such wouldn't work on the TT originally. Thanks to people like ParanoidLittleMan, we have many games that work perfectly on it! Just wish someone would figure out how to build new, relatively cheap VME cards for it and the Mega STe... the prices they fetch now are insane. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Posted November 23, 2020 Author Share Posted November 23, 2020 Thanks leech, the TT has just such a wonderful display when in TT medium, can't wait for the new roms to arrive so I can understand what is going on better! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leech Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 Just now, Randy said: Thanks leech, the TT has just such a wonderful display when in TT medium, can't wait for the new roms to arrive so I can understand what is going on better! By the way, if you have a monitor for it (at least 1280x1024) you can get one of the ECL adapters that are floating around out there for the TT and TT high is amazing to do word processing or DTP in! (something special about 1280x960 in that sweet black and white) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjlazer Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 If Atari ST mice are unreliable POS than wait to see how your new electronics work out in a few decades. lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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