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vectormatt

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Posts posted by vectormatt

  1. I’ve also noticed that games like K.C. Munchkin and UFO! have those sparkly dots across the top of the screen. On other games like K.C.’s Krazy Chase! and Attack of the Timelord they appear towards the middle/bottom. Definitely seems more like a digital issue. Caps probably wouldn’t help much as you say, but I may try anyway for giggles on the red output. I can also try testing the ram and other components. It’s definitely not bad enough to ruin the fun of playing the games though.


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  2. I recently recapped my O2 and voice module and installed the RGB mod. I’m playing some games through a Sony PVM 1415. The picture is absolutely phenomenal. The photos can’t do it justice. The one thing I do notice on some games though, particularly fast moving games, is some small red sparkles on parts of the screen. Is that something normal with the Odyssey or possibly a ram issue? They are pretty tiny, like static, the color is always red and they only happen on fast moving games.

     

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    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

  3. Hi there, I have some working Lynx II machines and bought 2 GameDrives.  One of them works great, the other keeps telling me "Firmware Undreadable".  I'm thinking it's defective because the SD card will work in the other GameDrive.  The working GameDrive works fine in both Lynx II's.  Any suggestions?

     

    Thanks!

     

    Matt

  4. Now that the Fry button is being used to exit back to the menu - is there some way to enable some of the game glitches like the Space Invaders "double shots". I actually do like being able to exit to the menu quickly rather than booting up each time.

  5. Uh-Oh, did I make a newbie mistake? :)

     

    Should I have mentioned that I've owned a Lynx I and II since the day they were released and I own about 20 carts? I originally got the diagnostic cart to fix 2 more consoles, but then I decided to try some other games that I didn't own.

     

    Oh well, flame away. I can handle it. :-o

    • Like 1
  6. I actually do have the Atarimax flash cart, but somehow I bricked it while flashing the firmware one too many times while troubleshooting some boards using the Atari 5200 Zero RAM DRAM Test. It wasn't a problem with the firmware though, I think it was probably due to the flakey power switch which most likely corrupted the firmware during the transfer. Atarimax was *very* kind enough to exchange it for a working one. So I would prefer to run the diagnostics from a normal 32k rom and not take any more chances. ;-)

  7. Hi there everybody,

     

    I'm looking for an Atari 5200 32k rom pcb that I can use an eprom with such as a 27256. I was corresponding with AtariAge for a while they said they had some, but suddenly they don't respond back anymore. Not sure why.

    Does anyone know where I can get one or two of these? I'm also looking for a bare bones eprom board for the Lynx. I bought a diagnostic cart on ebay and I've since loaded other games, but I don't want to pay that much to get a second one. AtariAge said they may have one of these as well, but stopped responding.

     

    Thanks!

     

    Matt

  8. I was able to verify that this works on a dead board as well as a working board using the Ultimate SD cartridge. I just put core_boot.rom in the /Recovery folder to flash it, then removed the rom and left the /Recovery folder there. The RAM test came up fine. Reflashed by putting the standard core_boot.rom in the /Recovery folder to flash it, then removed the rom and left the /Recovery folder there like the last time. Even on my dead board the RAM's tested fine, so it must be a problem somewhere else. thanks!

     

    Matt

  9. I found two different versions of the lynx schematics. The only problem I'm having is I can't identify the pin numbers for the Mikey & Suzi chips and some other IC's. Is there a datasheet available anywhere that is a little more readable?

     

    Thanks,

     

    Matt

  10. Well, I'm not really an expert at this, but I quickly created an ExpressPCB drawing of this mod. I need to review it. The cost of producing 20 of these would be $300 or $15 per board and would go down if there was more interest. Rather than be hasty, I can do a test proto board first while waiting to see if other members suddenly pop-up over the next week or so saying "Oh so-n-so is already doing that." My goal is to have a couple of my 5200's modernized before Christmas. Especially since I just ordered the new Atari Max SD cart.

  11. Has anyone done some sort of cad drawing (ExpressPCB for example) for the Atari 5200 Mod that they'd be willing to share? I wouldn't mind making a small run of PCB's to have something clean and professional.

  12. Well, I decided to exercise a little more patience and got everything working 100%. In fact, better than before I think. I just needed a little practice. I bought a CAIG CircuitWriter™ Pen from Radio Shack for about $10. You have to push the tip of the pen down to get the ink to come out, so I did that on a separate piece of paper and soaked the tip. You don't want to wet the tip directly on the plastic otherwise you'll get some bleeding. Then I painted over some of the hairline cracks, most of which were in the folds of the plastic. You have to be really careful the ink doesn't bleed over to another trace. I would also shine a bright flashlight through the plastic to find any hairline cracks or bridges. I let the ink dry for 4 or 5 hours and then carefully wiped the residue off. After 24 hours of drying I took a Q-tip and lightly cleaned the plastic with some rubbing alcohol.

     

    If you need to clean the contacts with an eraser, do it very gently. I think I used too much force and it eventually caused some issues. Then gently clean with a Q-tip soaked with a tiny bit of rubbing alcohol. Dry by tapping (not rubbing) the cleaned area with a tissue paper.

     

    Also, word of warning - When you put the conductive ink over a trace - it loosens up the original ink and if you try cleaning up a mistake it will erase the original trace. So you'll have to draw it back on.

     

    Having said all this, I will probably take your offer and buy a plastic matrix or two just in case. ;)

  13. Hi There,

     

    I've been trying to repair one of these flaky plastic controller matrixes with a conductive ink pen but I'm starting to get frustrated. Does anyone have a spare controller for sale? I have a 1st generation intellivision, but it probably doesn't matter what kind of controller it is as long as I can swap parts.

     

    Thanks!

     

    Matt

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