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Topic for newbies or veterans returning to Atari


Philsan

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  • 2 months later...

Hey all. This place is dangerous.

 

I had not unpacked my old atari gear for at least a decade, but then I stumbled on the Antic podcast.  Now my 800xl is out and running and it was so much fun just programming some BASIC again.  I’ve ordered an Sdrive max from vintagecomputercenter which I can’t wait to get - so I’m reading these forums to take my mind off waiting for it, but it is not helping :-] 

 

I still have a 130xe too that has a seized power switch that needs replacing (though I need to figure out how to test that it even works first - I know it did when it used to run a BBS of ramdisk way back). If it works, I think I might need to try out a fujinet for that machine.... I may be in trouble.

 

AtariAge has been wealth of info, so thanks to all who are keeping the atari 8-bits alive.

 

Edited by cs84
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1 hour ago, cs84 said:

Hey all. This place is dangerous.

 

I had not unpacked my old atari gear for at least a decade, but then I stumbled on the Antic podcast.  Now my 800xl is out and running and it was so much fun just programming some BASIC again.  I’ve ordered an Sdrive max from vintagecomputercenter which I can’t wait to get - so I’m reading these forums to take my mind off waiting for it, but it is not helping :-] 

 

I still have a 130xe too that has a seized power switch that needs replacing (though I need to figure out how to test that it even works first - I know it did when it used to run a BBS of ramdisk way back). If it works, I think I might need to try out a fujinet for that machine.... I may be in trouble.

 

AtariAge has been wealth of info, so thanks to all who are keeping the atari 8-bits alive.

 

you can take a spudger or credit card and insert then on both sides in between the silver retention tabs and the black plastic pivots... the button will pop out but the switch will remain, push in the shaft slightly to spray contact cleaner in the switch... then take smooth or covered pliers and grip the stub/switch shaft and work it back and forth while keeping outward tension... it will give up and start working again. make sure to grip the shaft and hold the switch body... not the pcb.... once it's moving again and working line up the black rocker switch with the stub and guide it down into the retention tabs... bobs you uncle... good to go...

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34 minutes ago, _The Doctor__ said:

you can take a spudger or credit card and insert then on both sides in between the silver retention tabs and the black plastic pivots... the button will pop out but the switch will remain, push in the shaft slightly to spray contact cleaner in the switch... then take smooth or covered pliers and grip the stub/switch shaft and work it back and forth while keeping outward tension... it will give up and start working again. make sure to grip the shaft and hold the switch body... not the pcb.... once it's moving again and working line up the black rocker switch with the stub and guide it down into the retention tabs... bobs you uncle... good to go...

thanks. I did find similar instructions here and already tried all that. The metal stub did gain some give after lubrication and some rocking, but it still doesn’t seem to fully rock properly, I got it to move quite alot -even with the switch face back on, but it doesn’t seem to fully click on properly and the unit gets no power. (I know the power supply is good) so I think it needs to be replaced completely.

 

Is there a way to safely “short out” the switch to be “always on” when I plug in the power supply ? if so I could test that the machine can turn on.

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You could but I wouldn't suggest the end user doing that, just get rough with the switch, you have nothing to lose. Buy a new switch if that doesn't work. I really don't wish to see that post which reports that the power supply, Atari, or connected peripherals died because wiring was wrong or something touched this or that.

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  • 2 months later...

Good afternoon all.

 

I recently scratched an itch and treated myself to an 800XL and an SDrive Max so I could experience one of the machines I never had any time with in the actual 80s.  I've cleaned it up and got the SDrive up and running and been able to play a few games but I seem to be struggling with XEX files.  I'm rebooting with Option held down, getting in to the SDrive loader, putting one in D1 and resetting.  Some loading happens, but I'm usually bounced back to the Ready prompt with no idea what to do next.  Any suggestions?  Am I missing something fundamental?  This is even happenning with Time Pilot which I presume is Known Good.

 

Many thanks!

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  • 1 month later...

I am looking forward to unpacking my 800XL and games soon, 6 years in storage. Probably have to get an SD card solution as the disks are untested AND there is no copy of Rescue on Fractalus on any of the disk labels sadly so I only have my sealed cartridge version.. 

 

Probably make an event of it and connect up my 800XL to my projector (over 120 inch "screen") and pipe the audio through my trusty Dolby amp, that is going to be an epic day indeed my friends :)

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  • 2 months later...
22 minutes ago, Atari Punk 78 said:

I have a dumb question, please forgive me, but is the Atari XEGS really a 64k system? When I run the memory test it only ever shows 48 boxes (all green). The manual states each box stands for a k a piece. Is my system faulty?

I own an XEGS. It’s really a 64k system. I’ve run games that required 64k on it. 
 

As I understand it, the guts are almost identical to a 65XE. 

 

Bob

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19 hours ago, Atari Punk 78 said:

But then why does it only show 48 cubes instead of 64?

 

From Atari XEGS manual:

The memory test works something like a stoplight. When 
ROM is tested, two bars appeaT on screen. If the bars turn 
green, ROM is working correctly. If the bars turn red, ROM 
needs servicing. 


MEMORY TEST 


ROM 


ROM 

I ■ I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 


OR to exit 


When RAM is tested, 48 small squares appear, each represent- 
ing 1 kilobyte of RAM. If a square turns green, that kilobyte is 
good. If a square turns red, RAM needs servicing. 

Note: If you entered the Self Test program from ATARI BASIC, 
you will see 40 squares instead of 48 during the memory test. 
ATARI BASIC is using the other eight kilobytes of RAM. 
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  • 3 months later...
On 9/3/2021 at 6:23 PM, Atari Punk 78 said:

Also, could an XEGS be modded to hold more ram?

Yes, that has already been done- the mod is called 576NUC+ - your XEGS comes back in a cool tiny box, with 576K of ram, PS2 keyboard connector and enhanced video out! Contact Brewing Academy for the mod... ?

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 1/1/2022 at 1:27 PM, massiverobot said:

Yes, that has already been done- the mod is called 576NUC+ - your XEGS comes back in a cool tiny box, with 576K of ram, PS2 keyboard connector and enhanced video out! Contact Brewing Academy for the mod... ?

Will it make "Flight Simulator II" Go any faster?

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Atari 8-bit newbie here ... I was unexpectedly gifted an Atari 800 (48K RAM) for Christmas. I'm poking around here and doing some Googling to figure out what I need to know. I didn't have one back in the day (I was a CoCo user).

 

I understand that much of games/software won't work on the 800 because of the need for more RAM, or using graphics only available in later systems. How about the homebrew scene? Do many 8-bit homebrew games support the 800?

 

What is my best SD card extender type solution for this system? It looks like AVGCART should work, but will just stick out awkwardly from the cartridge port, correct? Any other good options?

 

Thanks in advance for any newbie advice.  ? 

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Hi @Karl G

You are lucky to have received an Atari 800, a milestone in computing history.

In 1979 it offered 128 colors, sprites, overscan, 4 channel sound.

 

But, as you pointed out, it's not the best machine to run old and new software, unless you install Incognito board.

 

Homebrew software usually works on XL/XE 64KB machines (sometimes 128KB), you can find out if a game runs on Altirra emulator emulating Atari 800.

Being a beta tester, I know that the new crossplatform online racing game 8bit-Slicks works on 800.

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