Starting Over With the VCS

[SoCalAttorney]

So I finally got the label to return my VCS. I am going to start fresh, including faster member. So for those that have had their VCS work for a while, please give me you feedback on the following:

 

1. 16gb RAM or 32 gb? 

2. What speed RAM? I was thinking 3200, which I believe is the maximum.

3. I was planning using the changes post by ETA Prime. Anything else you suggest?

4. Thermal paste? My system was always running hot.

[THX-1138]

I'm moving home at the moment, but I do plan to do some upgrades when settled.

1. I'm aiming for 32GB, but would be happy with 16GB - it really depends on what you need all that memory for.  I do run some memory intensive applications sometimes, but day-to-day I've been using 4GB on a laptop just fine.
2. I will use DDR4-2400 as recommended by Atari.
3. Storage. I already put a 256GB M.2 in mine when I got my VCS as it was a spare drive, I boot Linux off this. I do intend to replace it with 1TB but I'm never gonna fill that as the bulk of my data (files, media etc) is stored on a home server.
4. I am considering this, I've not yet looked into what would be involved.  I did some encoding tests and decided I had to do something, fortunately in Linux I can just adjust the CPU governor for now.

 

[justclaws]

Honestly, I would say don't do anything to it, for a month.
Since you've been so incredibly unlucky with your last system, I think leaving it stock would be a good safeguard.

I have a VCS with 8GB RAM, totally standard, and totally happy with it for the VCS games.

I also have another system with 16GB, but that's only because I use Windows 10 and Linux too on it, occasionally.
I think changing the RAM is something you should wait for, only when you are sure you don't have any other issue.

[+sixersfan105]

I, too, am pleased with my stock system. In time, maybe I'll install Windows on a stick or external drive and perhaps make some additional changes, but for now, I'm happy with Atari OS and its offerings.

[+sramirez2008]

Just finished a few games of Robotron on Antstream.  My system is stock as well, but I do run Windows 10 on an external SSD for my emulators.  Happy gaming everyone.  Looking forward to Tempest 4K. ?

[Rob Merritt]

I upgraded the ram to 16 gb of 3000 and run it at that speed. I added a 256 gb M.2 SSD internally for Atari os storage and attached an external 500 gb ssd for windows 10. I also replaced the thermal pad with thermal paste.

 

I currently use a Logitech mk470 wireless keyboard and mouse bundle.

 

The noise really bothers me still and I’m thinking over my options to replace it.

[stirrell]

5 hours ago, Rob Merritt said:

The noise really bothers me still and I’m thinking over my options to replace it.

Are you still getting a lot of fan noise after adding the thermal paste? Did it make much of a difference? I am curious because the fan on mine runs quite a bit.

[Rob Merritt]

3 hours ago, stirrell said:

Are you still getting a lot of fan noise after adding the thermal paste? Did it make much of a difference? I am curious because the fan on mine runs quite a bit.

The thermal paste helped a lot and the VCS 800 runs a lot cooler. The noise is still there. especially in windows mode (which honestly is 90% of the time I use the VCS 800 its in windows). For me, its more of a frequency issue than a volume issue. 

[SoCalAttorney]

On 2/26/2022 at 7:14 AM, Rob Merritt said:

The thermal paste helped a lot and the VCS 800 runs a lot cooler. The noise is still there. especially in windows mode (which honestly is 90% of the time I use the VCS 800 its in windows). For me, its more of a frequency issue than a volume issue. 

How hard was it to remove the pad? Did you see any videos of people who used thermal paste on the VCS?

[Rob Merritt]

15 hours ago, SoCalAttorney said:

How hard was it to remove the pad? Did you see any videos of people who used thermal paste on the VCS?

The pad peeled right off. Like it was a vinyl sticker. Applying thermal paste was just like applying any other thermal paste to a cpu in a pc. Just put a pea size drop on the cpu and reattached the heat sink and fan.

[SoCalAttorney]

So my replacement VCS arrived this week and is having similar issues. Comments and suggestions are appreciated.

 

I haven't made any changes yet to the settings, so this is just straight out of the box. I have cable internet at home and am using a Netgear Nighthawk CAX30, so I plugged the VCS into it with a CAT5 cable. The set up process went normally and downloaded the BIOS and SO updates. But I am still having the same issue with the app store not downloading, so even the pre-installed VCS Vault wouldn't work because it wanted to download an update. I have the same issue over wi-fi.

 

I have Windows 10 on an SSD in a USB cradle and Windows is working fine over both wi-fi and Ethernet.

 

It seems really odd that the app store can't connect to the Internet but I can get all the OS updates. 

[Atarick]

13 minutes ago, SoCalAttorney said:

So my replacement VCS arrived this week and is having similar issues. Comments and suggestions are appreciated.

 

I haven't made any changes yet to the settings, so this is just straight out of the box. I have cable internet at home and am using a Netgear Nighthawk CAX30, so I plugged the VCS into it with a CAT5 cable. The set up process went normally and downloaded the BIOS and SO updates. But I am still having the same issue with the app store not downloading, so even the pre-installed VCS Vault wouldn't work because it wanted to download an update. I have the same issue over wi-fi.

 

I have Windows 10 on an SSD in a USB cradle and Windows is working fine over both wi-fi and Ethernet.

 

It seems really odd that the app store can't connect to the Internet but I can get all the OS updates. 

If you've only booted up with the USB in so far I'd give a try to booting up and installing updates sans usb.

Edited March 19, 2022 by Atarick

[SoCalAttorney]

3 minutes ago, Atarick said:

If you've only booted up with the USB in so far I'd give a try to booting up and installing updates sans usb.

I wasn't booting up with the USB. I only used the USB to test Windows after running into the problem with the app store.

[+SabertoothRetro]

Have you tried adjusting any of your firewall settings on the router?

[SoCalAttorney]

5 minutes ago, SabertoothRetro said:

Have you tried adjusting any of your firewall settings on the router?

I turned them off and also did a factory reset of the router and there was no change. 

[joeatari1]

Hmm.  Try setting up a VPN.  Might be an issue with your internet region.  There is a VCS owner on a French island in the Indian Ocean that had this exact same issue.   It's a long shot and I'm just throwing darts but it's worth a try.

[stirrell]

Is it possible for you to hook the system up directly to your modem or to try the system at a friend’s house to rule out that the issue is related to the router?

[SoCalAttorney]

9 hours ago, joeatari1 said:

Hmm.  Try setting up a VPN.  Might be an issue with your internet region.  There is a VCS owner on a French island in the Indian Ocean that had this exact same issue.   It's a long shot and I'm just throwing darts but it's worth a try.

I appreciate the reply. I'm willing to try anything at this point.

[SoCalAttorney]

2 hours ago, stirrell said:

Is it possible for you to hook the system up directly to your modem or to try the system at a friend’s house to rule out that the issue is related to the router?

I should have been more clear. It is a Netgear Nighthawk CAX30, which is both a modem and router. So currently do have it plugged into the modem.

 

But regarding you second suggestion, that is something I haven't tried yet.

[stirrell]

13 hours ago, SoCalAttorney said:

But regarding you second suggestion, that is something I haven't tried yet.

I know it is a pain but it just feels like it is somehow network-related. Can you make a hotspot on your smartphone and connect through that to circumvent the router?

[Atari Nut]

Is it possible your cable company is doing some filtering?  I have a Comcast Business account at the office.  Comcast had some internet security (forget what they called it) that I was unable to turn off.  It was re-directing legitimate traffic to bogus IPs because it thought the traffic was malicious.  I had to call in and they needed to escalate the ticket to get it turned off.  Once off, traffic was flowing correctly.  But if the modem gets reset, I have to have them turn it off again.

 

Edit:  You may also want to try changing the DNS setting on your router.  Try something like 8.8.8.8 if it's currently using something different... like your ISP's DNS.

Edited March 20, 2022 by Atari Nut

[SoCalAttorney]

On 3/20/2022 at 1:31 PM, Atari Nut said:

Is it possible your cable company is doing some filtering?  I have a Comcast Business account at the office.  Comcast had some internet security (forget what they called it) that I was unable to turn off.  It was re-directing legitimate traffic to bogus IPs because it thought the traffic was malicious.  I had to call in and they needed to escalate the ticket to get it turned off.  Once off, traffic was flowing correctly.  But if the modem gets reset, I have to have them turn it off again.

 

Edit:  You may also want to try changing the DNS setting on your router.  Try something like 8.8.8.8 if it's currently using something different... like your ISP's DNS.

Now it gets even weirder. The app stores wasn't working over wifi and when plugged into the modem/router. The ISP (Cox Communication) acted like I was nuts when asking about filtering and then things started working properly after the I turned the firewall backed on. Before, my friends list worked, so I have no idea what was going on. Now the only remaining issue is the time is off by 7 hours every time I boot up. 

[SoCalAttorney]

On 3/20/2022 at 11:33 AM, stirrell said:

I know it is a pain but it just feels like it is somehow network-related. Can you make a hotspot on your smartphone and connect through that to circumvent the router?

It fixed after I turned the firewall back on. I can't say if there is a correlation or just coincidence.  

[Tinman]

The only way the store works for me is by using a hotspot on my iPhone.  I have no idea why this is.  My home WiFi does not work, nor does Ethernet.

[SoCalAttorney]

1 hour ago, Tinman said:

The only way the store works for me is by using a hotspot on my iPhone.  I have no idea why this is.  My home WiFi does not work, nor does Ethernet.

That's was so dang frustrating about this situation. The problem is intermittent for me. Right now, there is app store downloading issue is back. Chrome works fine for now. the Friends list works and I can chat with people and yet the app store won't download stuff again. 

 

I haven't tried the hotspot method yet. Weird that it so random and intermittent.