Muzz73

I came into an SM124 recently and noticed that the screen is in the middle of the tube and there's a huge border around the outside. It makes the desktop look tiny and seems like an incredible waste of real estate. My old system's SM124 wasn't like this and I don't see any controls on the outside of this monitor for adjusting the screen size. I seem to think that I've heard mention of this before, but I thought I'd see if anyone out there knew of some way I could adjust this thing without having to take a drastic measure of some sort. Thanks in advance!

Oh, man... I have a Tweety Board sitting around, doing nothing. I didn't see the big deal of splitting the funky Yamaha sound three different directions, but you guys are making me want to drop that thing in there, now!

If you aren't able to get that one working again, Bruce at B&C Computervisions still has them for $19.95. http://www.myatari.com/index.html

I found this pic on the web: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=764420983568546&set=a.586689304675049.1073741826.100000019541825&type=3&theater Is this the blitter fix? It appears to be the same size chip and the one that's stacked up in mine and also appears to be connected to the same pins on the 68000. The little board has an extra wire coming off of it, but it I might imagine that it's for power, which the piggy-backed chip seems to be getting from the one on the bottom. Does this look like a blitter fix that someone might have done as an afterthought? The Mega has a dealer sticker on the underside of the case, so I know it has been serviced at an Atari Dealer (somewhere in Florida, IIRC) at least once before.

Yeah... this is one little chip (off to the left, in the pic) piggy-backed on top of another and wired to the 68000 directly. I was also wondering if it had anything to do with the battery wires being un plugged when I got it. Man, now I'm REALLY curious what is it is.

If this is the blitter fix, how can I tell if my ST actually needs it? I read somewhere that Atari applied it to all early Megas, but not all of them needed it. Can someone verify this? If it doesn't needed it, am I hurting anything by leaving it in? The ST seems to work just fine the way it is, so I am very punchy when it comes to messing around with the internals. Especially being that I have been waiting many years for a Mega ST and this is the first one I have ever seen up close. I don't want to mess this up. Sorry for all of the crazy questions. I have loved ST's for many years and, as I was saying, have never gotten my knuckles around one of these before. I'm pretty jazzed about it! Thanks, again!

My Top 10 List: 1) Yar's Revenge 2) Pitfall 3) Adventure 4) River Raid 5) Joust 6) Ms. Pac-Man 7) Missile Command Berzerk 9) Popeye 10) Chopper Command That'll probably change tomorrow...

Oops... sorry about that! No, it wasn't even good beer. I told him to make it something heavy and British. He brought me Coors. And I let him leave with my ST, figuring that I was doing a favor for a friend. Boy, was I a chump...

All I have been able to manage is a bad cell phone pic, but here it is: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=762767703733874&set=a.586689304675049.1073741826.100000019541825&type=3&theater I hope you guys can see it. If anyone can, does this look like the blitter fix? Thanks in advance!

Exactly! I love both platforms and own both types of machines. I had Amigas first and ST's later. I totally agree that both machines have their good and not-so-good points. I have an A500, dual floppies, 1084, 2MB RAM, ECS and KS 1.3/2.04. This machine is great for games. More capable pound-for-pound than my ST. My ST is a Mega ST 4, PS3000 & SM124, SF314, TOS 2.06 and a few other odds & ends. I use this machine for everything, including games. Why? Because although the capabilities aren't as spectacular as the Mig, there's a lot more software available for it and though I'm not really sure why, I just enjoy it more. Back in the day, there was a lot of mud-slinging and every discussion turned into a flame war. If you liked both machines, both sides ignored you. It was crazy! Wow... flashbacks of my youth and the 80's BBS scene... "Mycomputerisbetterthanyourcomputer!!" LOL

Please, if you don't mind... what is the Blitter chip fix? I've never heard of it before. I wouldn't think it'd be an FPU; it's too small! I'll try to get pics up tomorrow night. Thanks! Louis

I have the worst one yet... I traded a working 1040STf, SC1224, SM124, external Golden Image FDD and sound sampler for... a case of beer! What makes it even worse is that I didn't even get a full case of beer... the guy showed up with an 18-pack and I still called it square! I am ready for your judgement, now. I throw myself at the mercy of court, as there is no excuse for what I did.

If that doesn't pan out for you, you might try Bruce at B & C Computervisions. I needed the battery cover and e-mailed him. He said he'd have to take one off a Mega ST, but was willing to do so if I needed it. That being the case, he now has a Mega ST without a battery cover, so he might be willing to part with the lid. It can't hurt to ask!

Yes. It has a small board with the two TOS 2.06 ROM's on it, connected to a ribbon cable that goes to another small board that is plugged into the MegaBus slot. There are two more (smaller) ribbon cables going to the first Hi and Lo ROM sockets onthe motherboard. I figured that makes sense and that is was all be part of the TOS upgrade, but there are also little wires connecting this-and-that to legs on the 68000 and a little I.C. piggybacked onto another on the far left side, toward the front. Since I've heard that there is some minor soldering involved when shoehorning a TOS 2.06 upgrade into an older ST, I didn't think anything of it, but now I am starting to wonder why that little chipis piggybacked the way it is. I'll try to get pictures up soon.

Thnaks for all the suggestions!

I hope it's a spider. All spiders should die. All spiders should die because they are spiders. Spiders suck. Spiders are evil. Death to all spiders.

Funny thing... when I got it, the RF shield had been removed and the inside of the lid had been lined with aluminum foil and duct taped in place! As you might imagine, I have since removed said foil... I can imagine that the previous owner would have done that for cooling purposes, but the foil was blocking the top vents, so out it came. OK, thanks for the advice and I'll give it a whirl tonight.

Hello, all... I just came into a Mega ST 4 w/TOS 2.06 and am very stoked! I have a question, though... I opened it up and found that the battery wiring was disconnected, there was duct tape wound around and over the battery wire connector, and there was duct tape over the connector on the wires that come from the front/left of the motherboard. I removed the duct tape from both connectors, but now I am wondering; do they plug in to each other (one is two-pin male, the other is two-pin female), or am I missing parts? It's not easy for me to get photos and upload them, but I will try if it helps. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Nice! Congratulations! You will not be disappointed in the ST! I used to rescue any computer I saw from the Goodwilll Bargain Barn in Santa Cruz, California (as long as it wasn't a PC). I used to pay $5 for C=64's (the last one I got was only $3) and I NEVER got one that didn't work! Those were the days (20+ years ago)...

Awesome... I was wondering whatever happened to ABACUS! Thanks!!!

Does anyone know if there are still any Atari User Groups in California, anywhere? Any info. would be appreciated. Thanks! Muzz

Thanks! I'll give it whirl and will post pics after I get around to doing it.

Beautiful! I've only ever seen one ST in a thrift store and it was almost 20 years ago. Yes, I bought it and used the heck out of it! It was a 1040STfm, SC1224 RGB, mouse and SF314. I used to see 8-bits in the thrift stores and I'd buy them and put them away until somebody needed one. The last one I saw was a 1200XL that looked like it had been rolled down a hill and hit by a bus. It saddened me to see it like that, so I didn't pick that one up. I should have...

Since it isn't going to be all original if you paint it, why not do it with style? I got the ugliest, yellowest, most sunburned VIC-20 I could find from my Commodore User Group and gave it the once-over... I took it all apart, stripped it down to just the housing, scrubbed it, painted it bright red, put the white keyboard from a C=64-II (or 64C, if you prefer) in it and voila. Snappy! I used that spray-on paint that is designed to stick to plastic patio furniture and doesn't require a primer coat. I bring this up, because I plan on doing the same thing to my aged 800XL at some point (just not in screaming red). I'm trying to find a color that wouldn't look too offensive with the dark brown of the 800XL's keyboard, and all I come up with is white, beige or brown. :/