Noah98 Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 I bought a reproduction cartridge of The Last Starfighter for Atari computers on ebay. The cartridge looks good, and the board looked pristine when I opened it. I tried it on both my 800 XL and my XEGS, and it's not working on either computer. I just get a black or green screen. All of my other games work fine. Any troubleshooting tips? I'd love to have this game working on cartridge! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oracle_jedi Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 Maybe a picture of the board since you have the cartridge open. Do you have any other cartridges with socketed 27128 PROMs that you can swap in to check the board? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 (edited) If its from B&C then I'm sure they will replace it, I can't think of any reasons bar a faulty cart, the program works on those computers and as there's only a few parts in the cart it really has to be a duff cart. Just tried loads of versions and they do work fine on my 800XL, I did find one labelled "Classics fix" but no mention of what the fix is, thinking it might be for putting it on a Atarimax cart?? Edited December 19, 2020 by Mclaneinc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+orpheuswaking Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 try it in the XEGS without the cart shell and see if it works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
invisible kid Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 If it has no case take care to insert it in the correct orientation which is chip-side towards the back of the machine if I remember correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah98 Posted December 19, 2020 Author Share Posted December 19, 2020 (edited) Still no luck! Here are some pics of the inside. Edited December 19, 2020 by Noah98 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FifthPlayer Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 I would try reseating the chips. I did this for an Atari "Centipede" cartridge (old brown-shell type with socketed chips) that wasn't working and it fixed the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah98 Posted December 19, 2020 Author Share Posted December 19, 2020 Tried reseating the chips, but still nothing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjlazer Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 Did you clean the cartridge edge connector really good? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah98 Posted December 20, 2020 Author Share Posted December 20, 2020 15 minutes ago, tjlazer said: Did you clean the cartridge edge connector really good? Yeah, the edge connector looks really good. I think the chips are bad. ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Westphal Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 I was down there helping him last year for a few weeks. Maybe you got one I did All jokes aside, He will replace it as he is an excellent Dude. Stuff happens and he is really busy these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah98 Posted December 21, 2020 Author Share Posted December 21, 2020 On 12/19/2020 at 10:22 PM, Paul Westphal said: I was down there helping him last year for a few weeks. Maybe you got one I did All jokes aside, He will replace it as he is an excellent Dude. Stuff happens and he is really busy these days. I didn't realize it, since it was listed as brand new, but the seller was not B&C. Also, I tried reseating the chips again and broke one of the legs, so it's toast now. I do still have the cartridge shell and board with sockets, lol! ? Guess I'll have to try to get one from someone else. It would be nice if I could just buy the chips. I do have an eprom programmer that I used to use for nes games, but I have no idea how to even start with Atari carts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 Sorry to hear, as you know the game is a finished proto and is out there in numerous formats (normally not cart though), if you have a SIO2SD etc etc its out there on all the usual sites..Keep the PCB incase someone can help with the eproms as I suspect its the chips themselves that are corrupt.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavin1968 Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 15 hours ago, Noah98 said: It would be nice if I could just buy the chips. Was going to say its probably bad EPROMs. If I could find the ROM files I could burn you a new set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavin1968 Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 I actually was able to burn it on a 16k EPROM just fine. If you want to get one I can sell you the PCB and EPROM, I don't have the two EPROM version, just the single one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavin1968 Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah98 Posted December 21, 2020 Author Share Posted December 21, 2020 1 hour ago, Gavin1968 said: I actually was able to burn it on a 16k EPROM just fine. If you want to get one I can sell you the PCB and EPROM, I don't have the two EPROM version, just the single one. Just let me know how much! Is the single EPROM version any different? I assume it would be the same and fit fine in the cart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavin1968 Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 13 minutes ago, Noah98 said: Just let me know how much! Is the single EPROM version any different? I assume it would be the same and fit fine in the cart. Just got to this link: https://www.vintagecomputercenter.com/product/atari-8bit-8k-16k-cartridge select 16K with EPROM and Yes for Burn Rom. I will get it shipped in the morning if you get it today. It is ready to go. I would hope it would fit in the cart, it is a standard card so it should but I am not positive. The picture I posted was of the actual cartridge. Thanks, Gavin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah98 Posted December 21, 2020 Author Share Posted December 21, 2020 42 minutes ago, Gavin1968 said: Just got to this link: https://www.vintagecomputercenter.com/product/atari-8bit-8k-16k-cartridge select 16K with EPROM and Yes for Burn Rom. I will get it shipped in the morning if you get it today. It is ready to go. I would hope it would fit in the cart, it is a standard card so it should but I am not positive. The picture I posted was of the actual cartridge. Thanks, Gavin Just ordered and sent you a private message. Thanks! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavin1968 Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 (edited) You are welcome, and thank you. I will get it set out first thing in the morning as the mail has already come today. You should have gotten a tracking number emailed to you. Edited December 21, 2020 by Gavin1968 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjlazer Posted December 26, 2020 Share Posted December 26, 2020 Just ordered 4 16k carts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah98 Posted December 26, 2020 Author Share Posted December 26, 2020 Just got the cart today and all is well! Fun game so far! Thank you again. Need to start ordering carts more often! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snicklin Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 On 12/22/2020 at 7:03 AM, Gavin1968 said: Just got to this link: https://www.vintagecomputercenter.com/product/atari-8bit-8k-16k-cartridge select 16K with EPROM and Yes for Burn Rom. I will get it shipped in the morning if you get it today. It is ready to go. I would hope it would fit in the cart, it is a standard card so it should but I am not positive. The picture I posted was of the actual cartridge. Thanks, Gavin I just took a look at this link as I didn't know about it. Wow, this is an amazing service that you have here. Is there a specific banking scheme (maybe if you have a link to it, if possible, that would be great) that this needs to comply with to work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavin1968 Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 On 12/26/2020 at 12:03 PM, Noah98 said: Just got the cart today and all is well! Glad you got it and it's working for you. Enjoy and thanks for the order! Gavin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavin1968 Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 16 hours ago, snicklin said: Is there a specific banking scheme (maybe if you have a link to it, if possible, that would be great) that this needs to comply with to work? This is a standard 8/16kb cart for the Atari 8bit. Here is the specifics. Best, Gavin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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