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Quick & Easy Video Upgrade for 800XL


Bryan

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I would like to get a UAV for both my mod system and my old 400.. get my baby off of the RF!

 

What is the best way to get 80 col.? I like to use my system for bbs telnet and I am hoping to also write some code and my Interactive fiction on the 8-bit.. just because.

 

I know there was the xep80 hardware.. is there any mod out or was.. that helps with the display of 80col? Man if we could get a GUI and 80col.. (donuts...)(drool)

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I would like to get a UAV for both my mod system and my old 400.. get my baby off of the RF!

 

What is the best way to get 80 col.? I like to use my system for bbs telnet and I am hoping to also write some code and my Interactive fiction on the 8-bit.. just because.

 

I know there was the xep80 hardware.. is there any mod out or was.. that helps with the display of 80col? Man if we could get a GUI and 80col.. (donuts...)(drool)

 

 

Other than the XEP80, there's not too many options for true 80-column text video on the 800XL. If you've got a lot more time than me to go slow and do it right, there's Lotharek's VBXE ...

 

http://lotharek.pl/product.php?pid=106

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If you want to word process in 80 columns on stock hardware and have a decent, sharp video output:

 

http://atari8.co.uk/the-last-word/

Thanks flashjazzcat ... but you know my wish was for a GUI too ;) that I could load the last-word in.. and it could keep both the GUI and various programs running saved in ramdisks so that I could switch back and forth ...

 

OH my its like christmas!!! :)

 

James

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Thanks flashjazzcat ... but you know my wish was for a GUI too ;) that I could load the last-word in.. and it could keep both the GUI and various programs running saved in ramdisks so that I could switch back and forth ...

 

OH my its like christmas!!! :)

 

James

 

A simple task swapper might serve you well in that case (there were a couple which could bank-switch the entire base 64KB, but I forget their names and I'm not sure which disk operating systems they work with).

 

As for running TLW under a GUI: there will eventually be a native GUI version of the word processor which runs as a pre-emptively multi-tasked application, if I live long enough to write it. :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well back on topic! :)

 

I got my S-video cable made.. not as pretty as my composite .. lots of shielding on this cable.. made it tough to slide my din cover over it. IT looks great!!

 

I think I will still do the UAV.. but I am very happy with what I have at the moment.

 

James

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  • 6 months later...

Well, I could not wait for Bryan to get to this next batch of UAV upgrades.. so I was going to do this to another 800xl - the one I have my U1mb in.

 

But something did not work.

 

I end up with a very dark screen on composite or s-video. The pics are on my phone and I forgot that at work.. so I will edit this msg tomorrow and put them on.

 

C56 had a 181K ceramic in it.. I removed it.

I removed L5 from the board (it was a 82ohm?(grey,red,brown) .. and then ran a line from the front hole to the + side of C3

R53 was 330ohm so I piggied the 100ohm

10ohm piggie on R116

1k from R58 to C55

and line from R68 RH side with 100ohm resistor to the 2nd from the Right pin on Video port.

 

This should have given me the result I wanted.. but no. DARK very.. not usable.

Edited by Bikerbob
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  • 5 months later...

Holy thread resurrection batman. Sorry, I was redirected to this thread from the one I created last night about the poor quality composite picture I am getting from my PAL 800XL.

 

Here's the thing though, my 800XL doesn't appear to have a revision and doesn't look anything like any of the pictures in this thread. In fact it appears to be a PAL 800XLF and I can't see how to improve the picture quality. The only socketed chip seems to be the GTIA and it doesn't have any of the parts mentioned in this thread to remove or change:

 

 

IMG_0677.JPG

 

I've searched the forums and it is pretty much identical to the pictures in post #16 here from orpheuswaking:

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/74493-800xlf/

 

Does anybody have any ideas how I could go about fixing this mess of an image:

 

StarRaiders2.jpg

 

Thanks in advance.

Edited by steddyman
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  • 2 months later...

When the instructions say to remove a component, should I just cut it out or unsolved and remove?

Functionally it doesn’t matter. Aesthetically it’s neater to remove. Personally I like to remove, clear the old solder out of the via and then fill it with fresh solder - it’ll be easier to clean out again if I decide to restore to stock configuration at some point.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I attempted the Quick & easy upgrade and when I power on the computer the monitor flickers through some gray and orange static then settles down to solid gray. I would like to start over but I removed L5 and I can't find it, probably trashed it, I read on another thread that it was an 82 OHM inductor; does anyone have any more specifics about the item and where is a good site to purchase resistors, inductors etc. There isn't a Radio Shack within 100 miles of my home and I haven't been able to find any electronic parts places. I know I can buy on line but I would like to buy quality instead of quantity.

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I attempted the Quick & easy upgrade and when I power on the computer the monitor flickers through some gray and orange static then settles down to solid gray. I would like to start over but I removed L5 and I can't find it, probably trashed it ...

 

You mean, go back to stock video? Ugh, why? It's terrible on the 800XL. :)

 

Just post pictures of your work and someone is likely to be able to spot what you did wrong and help you fix it. Chances are you've just got a solder blob or something causing failure to boot or a garbled picture.

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Update on my attempt at Quick & Easy for the 800XL. I removed all of the piggybacked resistors and disconnected the wire connecting the chroma output. I disconnected the front end of the wire that connects C3 with the front hole of L5. Now when I power on, the screen flickers for a second or two then boots up but then goes blank after 5 to 10 seconds. I booted with a pacman cartridge installed and with nothing and got the same results. I figure that I must have fried some component when I was soldering. I will attach pictures later.

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Further update, I test booted the motherboard today and it booted ok and stayed on for about 2 minutes, then the screen went blank. I rebooted several times and each time it took less time for the screen to go blank. Evidently something is heating up and shorting out and I can't find where any of my solder joints may have bridged to another circuit.

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Further-further update. I noticed that after the computer is powered on for a minute or two, the antic chip gets warm, I swapped out for another antic chip and the problem persists. I also found that I can rub my fingers across the antic chip after the screen goes blank and the screen will come back on. I would suspect that I must have fried a resistor or something when I was applying the upgrade, there must be some Atari expert out there that knows enough about trouble shooting to give some advice about what needs to be examined.

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Further-further update. I noticed that after the computer is powered on for a minute or two, the antic chip gets warm, I swapped out for another antic chip and the problem persists. I also found that I can rub my fingers across the antic chip after the screen goes blank and the screen will come back on.

 

Sounds like something isn't making good contact. Carefully remove the ANTIC and take a close look at the socket, hole by hole, preferably with bright light under magnification. It's quite possible that you have one or more bent or broken wipes (the metal strips that make contact with the chip pins and then transition down through the vias on the board).

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  • 9 months later...

Hi Guys,

 

This thread is old I know but maybe some of you can guide me through a small issue I have with this mod. All looks fine and I have a crisp and clear picture on a PAL 800XL after performing this mod. The only thing is a checkered pattern I do see on the background which I do not have on another 600XL after having performed a different mod. I am using an S-video cable with an LCD monitor.

What can cause this and is there a way to improve the image?

 

PS : The 600XL mod looks totally different, I remember having to cut a couple of traces and solder some resistors in parallel but the result is much better without this zig-zag effect. :?

 

Many thanks

Rick

post-37196-0-08269800-1528387174_thumb.jpg

post-37196-0-76922200-1528387202_thumb.jpg

Edited by repetto74
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The only thing is a checkered pattern I do see on the background which I do not have on another 600XL after having performed a different mod. I am using an S-video cable with an LCD monitor.

 

I'd be more worried about the rotated text. Must be a challenge to type in a BASIC listing with that set-up!

 

With that being said, those symptoms can also show up when using thin cabling, or bad cabling, or too long... well, anything with cabling, but that's just one possible cause of many.

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Hi Fox-1 / mnx

 

Sorry for pictures, the problem comes from pictures taken in landscape mode with an Iphone :-)

 

With that being said, those symptoms can also show up when using thin cabling, or bad cabling, or too long... well, anything with cabling, but that's just one possible cause of many.

 

 

Can't be the S-video cable as it is the same I am using with the modded 600XL and the output is far better.

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OK I have solved this finally! :-)

 

For info the right hand side of resistor C54 should be lifted up. This will cut the RF box from the video signal so you will loose composite output but the zig-zag patterns are completely gone by doing this. Probably the RF modulator is just making some interferences.

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OK I have solved this finally! :-)

 

For info the right hand side of resistor C54 should be lifted up. This will cut the RF box from the video signal so you will loose composite output but the zig-zag patterns are completely gone by doing this. Probably the RF modulator is just making some interferences.

 

When I did this mod, I didn't have any such "zig zag" patterns but (1) I was using a CRT display rather than an LCD flatscreen and (2) I did have some vertical DRAM access lines, especially at the left side of the screen. To reduce those, I eventually cut the RF modulator leads, which removed it from the circuit entirely.

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