Hello from newbie!

[jal4u2c]

I just recently picked up a used Atari 5200 off Ebay as well as getting the gold rebuild kits for the controllers. After getting the controllers updated i noticed a problem with some of the games but after checking these forums i was able to diagnose and fix the problem. Now i am basking in glorious gameply again! I used to have a 5200 and 7800 back in the day but sold them off because i thought i would have no way to repair the joysticks. It was sad too because i had nearly all the games available at the time including a lot of rare games. Anyways, i am in the process of picking up a multicart from Classics. I know a lot of people don't care for the 5200 because of the controllers problems but when they are working it is an awesome system! Next i am trying to find a trak-ball for it! Then i just need to replace my 7800 and find a CC2! Atari rules!

[TimsterAA]

After getting the controllers updated i noticed a problem with some of the games but after checking these forums i was able to diagnose and fix the problem.

 

What was the problem you were having with some of the games, and what was the remedy? The reason I ask is I've had problems with some games ever since I've had a 5200 (a few of them, actually), and I've never gotten a chance to post out here for some help. I'd say half the games I have (which is 90% of the entire lineup of US releases) have a problem with response to the controller(s). It's like certain directions don't work on some games. For example, with Popeye, I can't get him to go left, or up. On other games, maybe right and/or down or even the fire button may not work. It's so inconsistent, it's maddening. I'd be quick to say it's a faulty controller, but probably half my games work fine in all directions with the same controller(s). It's really weird, and frustrating.

 

The most annoying thing is, I have the same problems with the same games even if using a different 5200 console and/or different cart of the same game. And my controllers were checked out/repaired by Jetset from this site. AND, my main 5200 console was obtained from Steven Tucker ("classics"), and he actually calibrated this machine to the controllers I'm using.

 

I kind of just gave up - because I don't have an answer. If this problem rings a bell with anyone, feel free to chime in with a suggestion.

 

Thanks!

 

--Timster--

[jal4u2c]

After getting the controllers updated i noticed a problem with some of the games but after checking these forums i was able to diagnose and fix the problem.

 

What was the problem you were having with some of the games, and what was the remedy? The reason I ask is I've had problems with some games ever since I've had a 5200 (a few of them, actually), and I've never gotten a chance to post out here for some help. I'd say half the games I have (which is 90% of the entire lineup of US releases) have a problem with response to the controller(s). It's like certain directions don't work on some games. For example, with Popeye, I can't get him to go left, or up. On other games, maybe right and/or down or even the fire button may not work. It's so inconsistent, it's maddening. I'd be quick to say it's a faulty controller, but probably half my games work fine in all directions with the same controller(s). It's really weird, and frustrating.

 

The most annoying thing is, I have the same problems with the same games even if using a different 5200 console and/or different cart of the same game. And my controllers were checked out/repaired by Jetset from this site. AND, my main 5200 console was obtained from Steven Tucker ("classics"), and he actually calibrated this machine to the controllers I'm using.

 

I kind of just gave up - because I don't have an answer. If this problem rings a bell with anyone, feel free to chime in with a suggestion.

 

Thanks!

 

--Timster--

Hey! I was having similar problems. On Popeye i couldn't move down. On Mario Bros. I couldn't move right. And on some games like Super Breakout i could go right but not all the way. Here was the solution: Open up the unit by unscrewing all the screws from the bottom. Remove the top half. There is a white potentiometer on the right side to the front of the system. I put in Milssile Command and turned on the system. Center your joystick then move the potentiometer until the crosshair is centered. Test it a few times to make sure it stays centered. I also checked Popeye and Super Breakout while i had it open to make sure. To put the cartridge in while its like that you have to take a toothpick and push the side slots on the cartridge open and slide it down while its open. Games like Popeye don't have that problem since they don't have the piece that slides over the chip. Anyways, once everything was centered, i closed it back up and put all the screws back and voila! I haven't had any problems since! I also took some alcohol and cleaned all the chips on my games. Some of them were pretty dirty. To do that you just take some cotton swabs and alcohol and open the cartridge the way i explained before and clean away. Just make sure you let it dry before using them. Keep in mind too that i went ahead and paid to get the gold dot and flex9 kits to fix the controllers for good. I have tried all the other methods before and everyone i have talked to that has switched to these they that this solves the problems permenently. Hope that helped a little. I actually found the info to fix the potentiometer in the forums here. It helped alot as i was really getting frustrated with the controllers since i just spent the money to upgrade them.

[jal4u2c]

After getting the controllers updated i noticed a problem with some of the games but after checking these forums i was able to diagnose and fix the problem.

 

What was the problem you were having with some of the games, and what was the remedy? The reason I ask is I've had problems with some games ever since I've had a 5200 (a few of them, actually), and I've never gotten a chance to post out here for some help. I'd say half the games I have (which is 90% of the entire lineup of US releases) have a problem with response to the controller(s). It's like certain directions don't work on some games. For example, with Popeye, I can't get him to go left, or up. On other games, maybe right and/or down or even the fire button may not work. It's so inconsistent, it's maddening. I'd be quick to say it's a faulty controller, but probably half my games work fine in all directions with the same controller(s). It's really weird, and frustrating.

 

The most annoying thing is, I have the same problems with the same games even if using a different 5200 console and/or different cart of the same game. And my controllers were checked out/repaired by Jetset from this site. AND, my main 5200 console was obtained from Steven Tucker ("classics"), and he actually calibrated this machine to the controllers I'm using.

 

I kind of just gave up - because I don't have an answer. If this problem rings a bell with anyone, feel free to chime in with a suggestion.

 

Thanks!

 

--Timster--

Hey! I was having similar problems. On Popeye i couldn't move down. On Mario Bros. I couldn't move right. And on some games like Super Breakout i could go right but not all the way. Here was the solution: Open up the unit by unscrewing all the screws from the bottom. Remove the top half. There is a white potentiometer on the right side to the front of the system. I put in Milssile Command and turned on the system. Center your joystick then move the potentiometer until the crosshair is centered. Test it a few times to make sure it stays centered. I also checked Popeye and Super Breakout while i had it open to make sure. To put the cartridge in while its like that you have to take a toothpick and push the side slots on the cartridge open and slide it down while its open. Games like Popeye don't have that problem since they don't have the piece that slides over the chip. Anyways, once everything was centered, i closed it back up and put all the screws back and voila! I haven't had any problems since! I also took some alcohol and cleaned all the chips on my games. Some of them were pretty dirty. To do that you just take some cotton swabs and alcohol and open the cartridge the way i explained before and clean away. Just make sure you let it dry before using them. Keep in mind too that i went ahead and paid to get the gold dot and flex9 kits to fix the controllers for good. I have tried all the other methods before and everyone i have talked to that has switched to these they that this solves the problems permenently. Hope that helped a little. I actually found the info to fix the potentiometer in the forums here. It helped alot as i was really getting frustrated with the controllers since i just spent the money to upgrade them.

I know you mentioned that Classics calibrated your machine too. I have heard that teh potentiometer can shift while in transit from vibrations of the vehicle and such. That may be why it worked for him there but then acted up when you got it. Just a thought.

[TheNixer]

Wow, I didn't know you had to calibrate with a 5200. I'm in the waiting process of getting a controller back from Best Electronics and this may be the first thing I do when I get it. I got a system off eBay as well but the controller was shot so off it went to Best.

 

I'm hoping to get the replacement soon so I can jump into the Berzerk HSC.

[TimsterAA]

jal - I actually am familiar with adjusting the potentiometer, and had done this (unsuccessfully) using the diagnostic rom (on my 5200 multi cart) already before sending my controllers to classics to check with the console I bought from him.

 

However - I am willing to try it again in the manner you described above and I'll see if I have any different/better luck.

 

Thanks for your input!

 

--Timster--

[jal4u2c]

jal - I actually am familiar with adjusting the potentiometer, and had done this (unsuccessfully) using the diagnostic rom (on my 5200 multi cart) already before sending my controllers to classics to check with the console I bought from him.

 

However - I am willing to try it again in the manner you described above and I'll see if I have any different/better luck.

 

Thanks for your input!

 

--Timster--

 

Well its worth a shot anyways. What can it hurt at this point, right? I have also heard of the pins where the joystick plugs in being bad and casuing similar problems. Let me know if that solves the problem for you.

[Christophero Sly]

I kind of just gave up - because I don't have an answer. If this problem rings a bell with anyone, feel free to chime in with a suggestion.

Have you noticed any other strange occurrences when playing games on this console? I had a 5200 that behaved bizarrely when playing certain games. Turned out it was bad RAM.

[rxd]

I kind of just gave up - because I don't have an answer. If this problem rings a bell with anyone, feel free to chime in with a suggestion.

Have you noticed any other strange occurrences when playing games on this console? I had a 5200 that behaved bizarrely when playing certain games. Turned out it was bad RAM.

 

Around 8 years ago when I dug out all my old 5200 stuff and stated playing video games again, I started going through all my games again for the first time in almost 9 years. Most of the games played fine on my original 1982 5200 and stock controllers, but a thought several played extremely poorly compared to my original memories. I simply attributed to a combination of nostalgia and the fact that games and controllers had improved so much in 17 years that the games and their control had simply become dated. I then bought a 5200 multicart as a simple way to get all the games that I was missing in my library. It worked great except for Galaxian, which would lock up while on the title screen. I figured no big deal, it must have had a bad rom copy on it but I had 2 actual Galaxian carts so I just ignored it. I then bought 2 gold circuit rebuilt controllers from Best Electronics and was really happy with them, but those games that didn't seem to play right still were wrong, thus confirming (it appeared) my original assumption. After around 2 years I went to play Robotron one day and found that the second controller port on my 5200 had died, no more Robotron or Space Dungeon for me. After about a month I bought a replacement 5200 motherboard from Best Electronics, dropped it in and immediately tested Robotron and Space Dungeon. They worked great so then I tried my multicart and it worked fine and as a lark I tried the Galaxian on the multicart and was shocked to find it played perfectly. I then tried those games that I felt the control was very poor on and unbelievably to me they all played 100x better. Seems there was something wrong with my motherboard the whole time but since most games worked fine I was never able to figure that out. I now have very few if any complaints about the control in any 5200 game, except for the spawn of hell Gorf....

[jal4u2c]

I kind of just gave up - because I don't have an answer. If this problem rings a bell with anyone, feel free to chime in with a suggestion.

Have you noticed any other strange occurrences when playing games on this console? I had a 5200 that behaved bizarrely when playing certain games. Turned out it was bad RAM.

 

Around 8 years ago when I dug out all my old 5200 stuff and stated playing video games again, I started going through all my games again for the first time in almost 9 years. Most of the games played fine on my original 1982 5200 and stock controllers, but a thought several played extremely poorly compared to my original memories. I simply attributed to a combination of nostalgia and the fact that games and controllers had improved so much in 17 years that the games and their control had simply become dated. I then bought a 5200 multicart as a simple way to get all the games that I was missing in my library. It worked great except for Galaxian, which would lock up while on the title screen. I figured no big deal, it must have had a bad rom copy on it but I had 2 actual Galaxian carts so I just ignored it. I then bought 2 gold circuit rebuilt controllers from Best Electronics and was really happy with them, but those games that didn't seem to play right still were wrong, thus confirming (it appeared) my original assumption. After around 2 years I went to play Robotron one day and found that the second controller port on my 5200 had died, no more Robotron or Space Dungeon for me. After about a month I bought a replacement 5200 motherboard from Best Electronics, dropped it in and immediately tested Robotron and Space Dungeon. They worked great so then I tried my multicart and it worked fine and as a lark I tried the Galaxian on the multicart and was shocked to find it played perfectly. I then tried those games that I felt the control was very poor on and unbelievably to me they all played 100x better. Seems there was something wrong with my motherboard the whole time but since most games worked fine I was never able to figure that out. I now have very few if any complaints about the control in any 5200 game, except for the spawn of hell Gorf....

 

I was wondering about that since i got my unit off ebay. I may have to replace parts in the future. How much does a new motherboard cost and what is involved in installing it? Also where do you get one?

[rxd]

I kind of just gave up - because I don't have an answer. If this problem rings a bell with anyone, feel free to chime in with a suggestion.

Have you noticed any other strange occurrences when playing games on this console? I had a 5200 that behaved bizarrely when playing certain games. Turned out it was bad RAM.

 

Around 8 years ago when I dug out all my old 5200 stuff and stated playing video games again, I started going through all my games again for the first time in almost 9 years. Most of the games played fine on my original 1982 5200 and stock controllers, but a thought several played extremely poorly compared to my original memories. I simply attributed to a combination of nostalgia and the fact that games and controllers had improved so much in 17 years that the games and their control had simply become dated. I then bought a 5200 multicart as a simple way to get all the games that I was missing in my library. It worked great except for Galaxian, which would lock up while on the title screen. I figured no big deal, it must have had a bad rom copy on it but I had 2 actual Galaxian carts so I just ignored it. I then bought 2 gold circuit rebuilt controllers from Best Electronics and was really happy with them, but those games that didn't seem to play right still were wrong, thus confirming (it appeared) my original assumption. After around 2 years I went to play Robotron one day and found that the second controller port on my 5200 had died, no more Robotron or Space Dungeon for me. After about a month I bought a replacement 5200 motherboard from Best Electronics, dropped it in and immediately tested Robotron and Space Dungeon. They worked great so then I tried my multicart and it worked fine and as a lark I tried the Galaxian on the multicart and was shocked to find it played perfectly. I then tried those games that I felt the control was very poor on and unbelievably to me they all played 100x better. Seems there was something wrong with my motherboard the whole time but since most games worked fine I was never able to figure that out. I now have very few if any complaints about the control in any 5200 game, except for the spawn of hell Gorf....

 

I was wondering about that since i got my unit off ebay. I may have to replace parts in the future. How much does a new motherboard cost and what is involved in installing it? Also where do you get one?

 

It's super easy to install, it just drops right in. I bought mine from Best Electronics http://www.best-electronics-ca.com/ They'll even attach the needed cables for you if you want if you buy them also. I don't remember the price, but I recall it seemed very reasonable at the time. you can give them a call or drop them an email, they're super nice people and have great service. Highly recommended