1200XL questions

[MGustafson]

I just picked up my first 1200xl and brought it home.

 

I've been using my 800xl for years so I'm not new to Atari by any means but I have never really researched the 1200xl (just seen bits and pieces about it).

 

I have a couple of questions:

 

1.I love the feel of the keyboard but some of the keys weren't working. I mashed the keys a few times rather hard and then they started to work normally. Is this common and is there an easy fix for it? I have the keyboard torn apart right now and took the circuit board off. Is there any way to peel apart the contacts for the keys without destroying them? I think I just need to clean the contact thuroughly but not sure how to go about this.

 

2.I need to confirm that the 1200xl does _not_ have BASIC buit in by default. I figure it doesn't since the machine goes to the Atari logo but I'm not sure if something is broke or not. I got a great deal on a ton of stuff from a guy who bought it all at a storage unit auction so he had no idea about the systems condition.

 

3.Are there any upgrades I could do just by swapping chips from an 800xl (I got three of these from the same guy)?

 

4.Are there any easy (freeish) upgrades I could do to this machine to enhance its performance? I bought this with the idea of learning how to mod Ataris so I've never done any upgrades to the 800xl's before.

 

5.How many of these were made? I never saw a count but I am interested. I know they were only sold for a year or so. The serial on the bottom of mine says 423 and I'm jsut curious how far the production run went.

 

6.Same question on the 800xls as above. I got 2 of the older white labels and 1 of the newer brown ones so I'm just curious.

 

Thanks for any help you can give.

[Rybags]

2. Confirmed - BASIC still on cartridge but there are mods to add a resident ROM.

 

3. Not many that I know of - the 800XL is essentially the same except it has the PBI exposed and built-in BASIC. I think some people have successfully put the OS/BASIC ROMs in. Some 800XLs (E Europe?) have the Freddie chip so I assume that might be able to be used as part of a 128K + RAM upgrade.

 

4. Built in APE/SIO2PC and A/V port mods are probably among the easiest and most popular.

 

5. How many? It was the lowest selling of the full-blown production Ataris (possibly except the sub 512K STs?) since it wasn't on the market too long. So, probably < 300,000.

[MGustafson]

Thank you for the info. I did get an Ape Face with the lot I purchased. Is the APE/SIO2PC a mod on this or a seperate unit? Do you know where I can get a detailed photo are schematic of the 800xl and the 1200xl board so I can try swapping chips?

[Urchlay]

1. See the restoration thread: http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?s...t&p=1268741

You can also buy a new-old-stock 1200XL keyboard from B&C Computervisions or Best Electronics for $30ish. They're not cheap, but they're worth it.

 

2. BASIC is not built in, but you can get an APE/Warp 32-in-1 OS mod from atarimax.com, which will give you built-in BASIC and 32 different OS ROMs to choose from.

 

4. The Clearpic or Supervideo mods are *highly* recommended for the 1200XL, as it has the worst video of all the Ataris. If you can't or don't want to do the full mod, you can improve the picture slightly by soldering a wire from the (unconnected) chroma pin on the monitor jack, to the correct spot on the motherboard (I can't find my notes that say exactly where, but you can search this forum), then using a monitor/TV that supports s-video. By itself, the one-wire chroma upgrade isn't much of an improvement, but it's something you'll end up doing anyway if you decide to do the Supervideo mod later.

 

Also for 4, you can upgrade the RAM to 256k or 512k, add a PBI connector (like the 800XL has), and/or add an internal MyIDE.

 

I have a 1200XL with the Supervideo, 256K RAM, 32-in-1 OS, and internal MyIDE mods (all by Steve Tucker from Atarimax, except the supervideo by me), and it's my favorite Atari of any I've ever owned. It's like the Cadillac of Atari's...

 

I did get an Ape Face with the lot I purchased. Is the APE/SIO2PC a mod on this or a seperate unit?

 

Despite the similar names, the Ape Face and APE/SIO2PC are totally unrelated.

 

APE is DOS or Windows software you use with the SIO2PC hardware to emulate disk drives, get your Atari on the 'net, and other stuff.

 

There are alternatives to APE (I use AtariSIO on Linux), but they all work with the same SIO2PC hardware.

[Rybags]

APE comes in various flavours and can be bought from http://www.atarimax.com or you can build your own.

 

Schematics are here: http://jsobola.republika.pl/

 

I've hosted the Hardware Manual here:

 

http://amd.streamload.com/rybags/Hosted/At...dware_part1.PDF

http://amd.streamload.com/rybags/Hosted/At...dware_part2.PDF

http://amd.streamload.com/rybags/Hosted/At...dware_part3.PDF (combined size about 5.5 meg)

 

OS Manual (combined size about 11 meg):

 

http://amd.streamload.com/rybags/Hosted/At...16555_part1.PDF

http://amd.streamload.com/rybags/Hosted/At...16555_part2.PDF

http://amd.streamload.com/rybags/Hosted/At...16555_part3.PDF

http://amd.streamload.com/rybags/Hosted/At...16555_part4.PDF

 

All 8-bit machines use essentially the same custom chips (POKEY, ANTIC, GTIA) although PAL/NTSC have their own ANTIC.

 

The 6502 should be common between XL/XE but the 400/800 used a different version so isn't compatible.

 

PIA should be universally compatible.

 

RAM chips would vary greatly due to changing suppliers and the fact that the computers were made in different countries and there were also different motherboard revisions for each model through it's life.

 

Easiest way to find compatible replacements for RAM is to just Google the part number - that will usually tell you what type of chip it is (e.g. 64Kx1 DRAM, 230 ns access).

 

Common advice is that you should use RAM chips with a maximum access times of 250 ns.

[MGustafson]

Thank you guys for the info and help.

 

I've been playing around for the last few hours and my first 3 questions are answered.

 

as far as question 4 (the mods) I've decided that instead of free or low cost mods I'm going for the 32 in 1 os and the supervideo/clearpic mods first. I want to add an internal hd and possibly a ram upgrade. About how much will either/both of these mods set me back cash wise and how difficult are they? Also which ram upgrade should I go for? I'm figuring I'm gonna wind up spending a pretty penny getting this this supercharged but I've always planned on that with a 1200xl once I found one.

 

Still wondering also about the amount of units produced with both the 1200xl and the 800xl. Anyone have access to data on the total amount of each model? It's just idle curiosity thats driving me on this one.

 

Thanks again so far,

Mike

[Rybags]

There's a 1 meg SIMM upgrade that I'm very interested in. Most complete doc seems to be for the XEGS.

 

I have that machine, plus 130XE and 800XL but I'd likely try it on the XEGS first.

 

For yours, I'd just advise to try a monitor cable adaptor (DIY if you want) and see how you find that standard output - then do the SuperVid if you're not happy with what your machine produces.

 

Must have is an APE interface - although nowadays there are other options like USB cart and compact flash adaptors.

 

Realistically, you could fit practically every bit of software you'd ever need onto a 256 meg card.

 

Production figures? I think there was a thread about it here somewhere.

 

Fairly sure the 1200XL was only around 200-300 thousand tops. 800XL probably 1.5 million.

 

But, it's a fair bet that the Atari 8 bitter was outsold by the C-64 by a factor of at least 8 to 1 - and the C-64 topped 20 million IIRC.

[charliecron]

The 32in1 upgrade is nice, but, you can also use an OS out of a 600xl or 800xl, and add basic too, see the first half of Bob Wooleys PBI upgrade...thats what I opted for, just because i had the chips laying around...

 

http://www.retrobits.net/atari/pbi.shtml

[+Guitarman]

The 32in1 upgrade is nice, but, you can also use an OS out of a 600xl or 800xl, and add basic too, see the first half of Bob Wooleys PBI upgrade...thats what I opted for, just because i had the chips laying around...

 

http://www.retrobits.net/atari/pbi.shtml

 

 

This is the way I went with 3 of my 5 1200XL's. I have the 32in1 in the 4th system and a CSS UltraSpeed OS in the 5th. If doing just an XL OS upgrade and you don't already have the parts, be sure to get the RevC BASIC chip for the upgrade. I must say the 32in1 is a sweet addition, especially in a 1200XL but if you are looking for just the most widely used OS, the XL OS mod is the way to go.