hatman72 Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 Hi, thanks for accepting me into the forums - this is my first post and I need some advice! I recently picked up an Atari 65XE (PAL version) which I assumed was totally dead - I get a black screen when I turn it on, no sound, and none of the buttons get it into diagnostics mode, etc. It came with a few cartridges and none of them worked either. However, I bought a few other cartridges off eBay and it turns out that 3 of them load! The three that load are QIX, Defender and K-Razy Antiks. None of the other cartridges work, including Pac-Man, Ms Pac-Man, Hero, Donkey Kong Junior (I know they are working). For the three cartridges that load only the fire button works on the joystick i.e. none of the directions work - it makes for very short games! I've had a good look round the various forums and I can see plenty of issues relating to black screens but not the other behaviour I am seeing, and I am struggling to understand what could be different about the three cartridges that load. I'm new to Ataris and am hoping someone can identify the most likely cause of this behavior is. None of my chips are socketed unfortunately. So, just to recap: - Without a cartridge it always starts with a black screen - With some cartridges it does start but the joystick directions don't work - None of the RAM chips are running hot (there are 8 of them) Many thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatman72 Posted July 20, 2022 Author Share Posted July 20, 2022 Bumping this thread as it got approved today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StickJock Posted July 20, 2022 Share Posted July 20, 2022 The joystick directional inputs go into the PIA chip (triggers go to the GTIA chip), so maybe your PIA is bad? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeblebrox Posted July 20, 2022 Share Posted July 20, 2022 (edited) @hatman72 Welcome to AA OK, first thing, switch on the Atari whilst holding the Option button and keep it held down. This disables built in Basic and would typically take you to the self test option screen. Still a black screen? Secondly make sure you have audio on the display and have it turned up. When powering on with no cartride and without holding down option, do you hear anything at all? Edit: ok, just reread your first post and realised you have already confirmed things in this regard. So as stickjock says the PIA could certainly be at fault. What brand of RAM chips have you got? Do they have MT on them? Also, can you leave the machine on with no carts and leave it on for a good while. See if any other chip gets hot to the touch after perhaps 10mins. Any which are notabley hotter are worth checking into. FYI modern replacement PIA chips are avaialble and relatively cheap, so if it is the PIA then socketing and replacing it is relatively easy. BTW what power supply are you using? Perhaps upload a few pics? Edited July 20, 2022 by Beeblebrox Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatman72 Posted July 20, 2022 Author Share Posted July 20, 2022 1 hour ago, StickJock said: The joystick directional inputs go into the PIA chip (triggers go to the GTIA chip), so maybe your PIA is bad? Thanks @StickJock, I had wondered about the PIA. Would that make it fail to go to BASIC though (and prevent most cartridges from working)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatman72 Posted July 20, 2022 Author Share Posted July 20, 2022 1 hour ago, Beeblebrox said: @hatman72 Welcome to AA OK, first thing, switch on the Atari whilst holding the Option button and keep it held down. This disables built in Basic and would typically take you to the self test option screen. Still a black screen? Secondly make sure you have audio on the display and have it turned up. When powering on with no cartride and without holding down option, do you hear anything at all? Edit: ok, just reread your first post and realised you have already confirmed things in this regard. So as stickjock says the PIA could certainly be at fault. What brand of RAM chips have you got? Do they have MT on them? Also, can you leave the machine on with no carts and leave it on for a good while. See if any other chip gets hot to the touch after perhaps 10mins. Any which are notabley hotter are worth checking into. FYI modern replacement PIA chips are avaialble and relatively cheap, so if it is the PIA then socketing and replacing it is relatively easy. BTW what power supply are you using? Perhaps upload a few pics? Thanks @Beeblebrox, I may well go down the route of replacing the PIA as it seems it could be a factor. The RAM chips start with KM and are from Korea. Photo attached. None of the chips get hot and if I load one of the games that work it stays working happily for hours. The power supply is a modern replacement and is definitely ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeblebrox Posted July 20, 2022 Share Posted July 20, 2022 @hatman72 no worries Ram is a reliable brand. So there is a modern alternative for PIA which works well - I've bought a few of them from Mouser earlier this year: Mouser electronics, (WD65C21). https://www.mouser.co.uk/ProductDetail/Western-Design-Center-WDC/W65C21N6TPG-14?qs=opBjA1TV902p0LqHsLVgSw%3D%3D&countrycode=GB¤cycode=GBP Get a decent round precision 40pin dip socket for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeblebrox Posted July 21, 2022 Share Posted July 21, 2022 @hatman72 btw where are you based? In the UK? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted July 21, 2022 Share Posted July 21, 2022 (edited) 28 minutes ago, Beeblebrox said: @hatman72 btw where are you based? In the UK? Have a look at his chips, should give you a clue.. I personally don't know the chip details to what is NTSC or PAL. Edited July 21, 2022 by Mclaneinc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeblebrox Posted July 21, 2022 Share Posted July 21, 2022 (edited) @Mclaneinc Ah, sure, I know this is a PAL machine. Rather I was asking to see if the OP was in the UK and thus maybe anywhere near me. A PAL owner could still potentially be anywhere in the world, although I am assuming obviously more likely in Europe and the UK. Edited July 21, 2022 by Beeblebrox Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGB1718 Posted July 21, 2022 Share Posted July 21, 2022 34 minutes ago, Beeblebrox said: btw where are you based? In the UK? Something I've always wondered is why at least Country should be mandatory when joining the forum it does help a great deal when someone asks for help. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted July 21, 2022 Share Posted July 21, 2022 3 minutes ago, Beeblebrox said: @Mclaneinc Ah, sure, I know this is a PAL machine. Rather I was asking to see if the OP was in the UK and thus maybe anywhere near me. A PAL owner could still potentially be anywhere in the world, although I am assuming obviously more likely in Europe and the UK. Just keeping you on your toes I find most users keep to their territory unless they are devs so want a non their country machine to test on......Normally...Mind you, what is 'normal' these days 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted July 21, 2022 Share Posted July 21, 2022 (edited) 3 minutes ago, TGB1718 said: Something I've always wondered is why at least Country should be mandatory when joining the forum it does help a great deal when someone asks for help. It should be but PC'ness makes it an awkward question. I'm one of those people who wants people to know roughly where I am, my real name and what I look like (the last one is not so important, but nice if you go to a meet up) Edited July 21, 2022 by Mclaneinc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted July 21, 2022 Share Posted July 21, 2022 22 minutes ago, Mclaneinc said: Just keeping you on your toes I find most users keep to their territory unless they are devs so want a non their country machine to test on......Normally...Mind you, what is 'normal' these days I'm certainly no Dev, but I'm UK as you know and I think 52% of my Ataris are NTSC ? But then again, I've never been normal 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGB1718 Posted July 21, 2022 Share Posted July 21, 2022 2 minutes ago, mimo said: I've never been normal ===? ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatman72 Posted July 21, 2022 Author Share Posted July 21, 2022 7 hours ago, Beeblebrox said: @hatman72 btw where are you based? In the UK? Yep, I'm in the UK - near Reading Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeblebrox Posted July 21, 2022 Share Posted July 21, 2022 8 minutes ago, hatman72 said: Yep, I'm in the UK - near Reading @hatman72Cool. I'll PM you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatman72 Posted August 1, 2022 Author Share Posted August 1, 2022 Update: - I had a spare socket (for the PIA) so I installed that last week and everything remained the same so I was confident that the socket was working correctly. - The replacement PIA turned up today so I popped that in and .....YAY! The 65XE boots to BASIC and the joystick works! I was able to plug the keyboard back in and run the RAM test - that comes back all good (green). I need to give it a bit more of a thorough test but the initial signs look promising that it is working well. So I am very happy about that - thanks to those who responded!! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeblebrox Posted August 1, 2022 Share Posted August 1, 2022 (edited) @hatman72 Excellent result. Grab one of the excellent new 64K games that has come out in the last year or so, (Albert, Final Assault, Last Squadron to name a few), and have a blast! Edited August 1, 2022 by Beeblebrox Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatman72 Posted August 1, 2022 Author Share Posted August 1, 2022 1 hour ago, Beeblebrox said: @hatman72 Excellent result. Grab one of the excellent new 64K games that has come out in the last year or so, (Albert, Final Assault, Last Squadron to name a few), and have a blast! Thanks - at this stage I can only load the cartridges that I own - I need to look at a way to get other games onto it. I was looking at an Unocart but obviously didn't want to get one until I was sure I could get this working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeblebrox Posted August 1, 2022 Share Posted August 1, 2022 Take your pick. AVG and SIDE3 carts are great. Check out here for a comparison chart : https://atari8.co.uk/firmware/side3-beta-loader/ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spanno Posted August 3, 2022 Share Posted August 3, 2022 Nice to see you got it working > I had wondered about the PIA. Would that make it fail to go to BASIC though PIA’s portb controls the mapping of the OS and BASIC roms, so it lines up with what you found. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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