[Atari VCS operating system won’t update. Help!]

I just got my VCS from the recent Black Friday sale. I can't update my O/S as well   Never gets past step 1/4.

 

Should I be patient and wait for the servers to work or would it be easier/more effective to do an O/S update via flash drive? Wasn't sure if the servers were overwhelmed from new owners due to Black Friday.

 

 

 

[Atari 1200XL Club (a rare bunch)]

Good news all! The 1200XL is alive and well. Truth be told, I didn't have the time to diagnose and fix it myself. I met a dude named Paul at PRGE who has a company called EightBitFix,https://www.eightbitfix.com/  (he specializes in fixing Atari 8 bit computers). Here's what he ended up doing to my 1200XL:

 

Keyboard mylar replaced.

Cleaned cartridge port.

Adjusted color pot.

All chips re-seated / New installed.

Cleaned mobo and keyboard.

Restored +5 volts to SIO port.

Did a 1/2 clear pic mod. Video is now cleaner and brighter.

Diagnostics show no errors.

Replaced missing left front rubber foot.

 

If you're short on time (and patience), I highly recommend him! So happy that this 1200 has a new lease on life - this is definitely one of my better estate sale finds over the years.

 

Turns out the CPU was defective. I attached a video of me sucking at Pitfall 2 in case you wanted to see it in action.

 

 

[Atari 1200XL Club (a rare bunch)]

@x=usr(1536) - Absolutely! Once I get the machine open I'll snap some pics to share. I just ordered a conductive silver ink pen and a mini heat gun to do the keyboard mylar fix. Everything should be here by next Wednesday; I think I should be able to work on it next Thursday or Friday.

 

Sound works in Star Raiders but I wasn't able to get the game itself to start (I was able to select difficulty level but that's it). Does the joystick button generally get the game to start? I assumed it wasn't starting because of the keyboard is out. I did hit the joystick button, but nothing happened.

 

I also noticed that the Power LED doesn't constantly stay lit... Do you think the power supply could be suspect or perhaps just a flakey LED? I've gotten stuff from Brewing Academy in the past with no complaints.

 

Thanks again to the forum for taking the time to help me figure this out. Hoping I can get it back up and running soon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Atari 1200XL Club (a rare bunch)]

6 hours ago, x=usr(1536) said:

For anyone who may not know why this is significant: Star Raiders doesn't use any part of the OS in order to run.  If the machine boots and runs Star Raiders but not other software, there's a possibility that either the OS ROM is bad or an upstream issue is making it appear that way.

Absolutely.  Adding to that: since the machine will be open anyway, carefully remove them, hit the legs and sockets with contact cleaner, Deoxit, etc. and see if that makes a difference.

 

@unsafe357: do the results of the RAM / ROM tests change depending on how long the machine has been switched on for, and do they happen in a random or repeatable pattern?  I'm wondering if it may not be a heat issue affecting <insert borderline component here>.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions guys! I'll reseat the chips/clean em' up with contact cleaner while I have it cracked open to do the keyboard repair. Hoping I'll have time to give it a go next week.

 

@x=usr(1536) - The test results to appear to change each time I run the test whether it's cold or been on for awhile. One thing I found odd - when I hit the help key it immediately goes to the memory test. *ONCE* it allowed me into the test menu itself to select a different test if I wanted to. Not sure if this is significant... 

 

Interesting theory on a potential heat issue. Is there anything inside I can apply thermal compound to in order to rule that out?

 

I really appreciate everyone chiming in to help out - I'll let you know the new results once I fix the keyboard and reseat/clean the chips.

 

Thank you!

[Atari 1200XL Club (a rare bunch)]

Thanks for the quick responses!

 

ACML, this is the power supply I'm using: https://thebrewingacademy.com/products/tbas-replacement-power-supply-for-atari-400-800-1050-xf551-1200xl?_pos=2&_sid=c72af2950&_ss=r  I ran another test and got this result (different):

 

 

To even get to the memory test, I have to reboot like 5-10x before I get the Atari splash screen which allows me to go to the Help test.

 

Interesting take, Ricky Spanish - you think the keyboard could affect the test? I'll try repairing the keyboard before ordering any replacement ram chips in that case.

[Atari 1200XL Club (a rare bunch)]

Hi all!

 

I'm happy to report that the Atari booted up! A few quirks to report... As expected, the keyboard appears to be dead. On first boot I did get the colorful Atari splash screen and was also able to boot a Star Raiders cart; none of the function keys worked except for the "select" key. Chopper Command didn't boot, nor did my Brewing Academy SD cart. Now it boots into a blue screen when no cartridge is inserted (no Atari splash). At one point the self-test came on but it hung (I think - I can only surmise since the keyboard isn't working yet).

 

I'll probably crack it open next week to do the keyboard repair. I'm a little worried that the splash screen seems to have vanished... Any thoughts on what would cause this? I've included photos of the splash and the "new" splash, which is a blue screen. It does still boot into Star Raiders with no issues.

 

Thanks! Will keep you all posted on progress.

 

Update: after several resets I was able to get the splash screen back. Sometimes after resetting there is a lot of garbled text that appears on the screen. Bad RAM perhaps?

 

 

Update #2:

 

Oh dear - I think it's torched. Any suggestions on where I could get replacements?

 

 

[Atari 1200XL Club (a rare bunch)]

Thank you both! I'll post once I test it and will let you know if it works (or not). Very excited!

 

Here she is:

 

[Atari 1200XL Club (a rare bunch)]

I joined the 1200XL club today, too! Found one at an estate sale for $90, but no cables. I've ordered a new power supply from Brewing Academy. I've only just learned of the keyboard issue, so I'll anticipate having to do that... Pretty excited, this will be my first Atari 8-bit computer.

[Memory card unreadable]

Unfortunately I'm having this issue with my new GameDrive.  Only solution is to replace the cart itself? 

[CollectorVision Phoenix Release Thread]

36 minutes ago, Swami said:

I had a bad sd card that quit working after a few days and had to use a new one. Preferrably a Sandisk 2GB and reformat to FAT32 before use. Copy a fresh copy of the cores from your PC and use a fresh copy of games from your PC of as many files as possible to the new sd card rather than copying from old sd card to new.

Cool, will give that a shot.  Replacing the SD card made all your issues disappear?

[CollectorVision Phoenix Release Thread]

2 hours ago, Gandor said:

Could any of these problems be sd card related?
Maybe try to reformat the card.

Not a bad idea.  Do you think that could help, Brian?  I get issues with cartridge and SD alike, though.  Sometimes I'll hear the game's music in the background, but no picture of the game itself. 

[CollectorVision Phoenix Release Thread]

It worked again briefly!  Was able to play the Zombie game.  Tried putting in Burgertime. I can hear the music, but there's no picture.  Now it's back to freezing on the menu when I boot off the SD card ?

 

I did some more trouble shooting and tried two more TV's (another Samsung and an Emerson TV) - attaching screenshots from both.  Seems I get different bugs depending on which TV I hook it up to.  The glitch on the Emerson only appeared a few times; after awhile it gave an error similar to the Samsungs - resolution not supported. 

 

 

[CollectorVision Phoenix Release Thread]

Thanks for the suggestion.  Gave that a shot, but still no luck.  Wanted to mention that I've tried hooking it up to an HDMI switch as well.  Earlier I did get it to boot once off the SD card and was able to play the Missile Command style game.  Now when I boot it up, it kind of shows the main menu, but it's garbled and I can't select anything.  I tried leaving it unplugged from the power source and HDMI for a few minutes.  Still getting the same garbled screen. 

[CollectorVision Phoenix Release Thread]

Hello

 

Got mine today.  It didn't work on my Samsung 42 inch TV (the TV said the resolution wasn't supported).  I was able to fire it up on my Sony Bravia briefly, however, after it loaded Time Pilot once, I've had no more luck getting it to work.  Won't boot carts or boot off the SD card.  When it boots now, the word "Phoenix" is displayed, but nothing happens from there.  I downloaded the pinned files and copied them onto the SD card to no avail.  Maybe I got a lemon?