Broken 400

[Tanman]

Ok, pick up a 400 for $10 that doesn't work. Figured it would be a good place to get my feet wet on fixing old 8-bits. So, what do I do now?

 

I figured I need to start with some design specs. Anyone direct me to a thread or site that I an pull this stuff up from?

 

Thanks!

Tanman

[Rybags]

<dbl>

Edited April 13, 2010 by Rybags

[Rybags]

What's wrong with it?

 

Most of the schematics you'll need are here http://www.dereatari.republika.pl/schematy.htm

 

There's a Field Service Manual for 400/800 around somewhere too (probably not that site).

 

Chances are you'd get better results by just posting problem symptoms here and someone is likely to know the answer.

 

Field Service Manual

 

http://www.google.com/url?q=http://docs.google.com/viewer%3Fa%3Dv%26q%3Dcache:4i34aLtefN4J:www.digitpress.com/library/techdocs/Atari_400-800_Service_Manual.pdf%2Batari%2B%2522field%2Bservice%2Bmanual%2522%26hl%3Den%26pid%3Dbl%26srcid%3DADGEESiHD3kdZ7jvOuPdE3ruZqRYNad9E_4_81ew_LfKljNcCXgVP1i6TIe1pO9gRwGthSSsLYqIXQn0Ga94WhHpfF5JcgXGoaFZAUl50XO4SDmtGXqBH033ITpJnQEmuFQ0x9m9pmkZ%26sig%3DAHIEtbT-5c9yjxVYOKEmnCQ_TY1IeI4CwA&ei=k_nDS5i-J5GIkAXPrKyLDg&sa=X&oi=gview&resnum=3&ct=other&ved=0CBYQxQEwAg&usg=AFQjCNG3AE_Cm7aOleaGW-r7mjvypvDG6g

Edited April 13, 2010 by Rybags

[Tanman]

It has not arrived yet. I'll dig into it and see what it is doing. Hopefully just a loose something that is an easy fix. Thanks for the links. Just what I needed.

 

Tanman

[Rybags]

Tip #1 (got me the other day)

there's effectively 2 power switches, side of machine and the button that has to be activated when the cart door is closed.

I had my machine put half back together and forgot to put the little plunger back in for the door switch, so nothing happened.

[atariksi]

Tip #1 (got me the other day)

there's effectively 2 power switches, side of machine and the button that has to be activated when the cart door is closed.

I had my machine put half back together and forgot to put the little plunger back in for the door switch, so nothing happened.

 

You can stick a fork in the cartridge door switch if your cartridge door has issues (My A800 has problems closing the switch when I close the cover).

[atariksi]

It has not arrived yet. I'll dig into it and see what it is doing. Hopefully just a loose something that is an easy fix. Thanks for the links. Just what I needed.

 

Tanman

 

Normally, it's the video that goes bad on the A400/A800 as the capacitors or other parts on the power board seem to have a shorter lifespan than the rest of the computer. Most chips are socketed so besides having a longer lifespan, even if they go bad, you can swap them with chips from another machine line A5200.