boxpressed Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 I just received a loose XEGS through eBay. Nothing special and cheap since it is missing the lightgun, joystick, and RF cord. When I unpacked everything, this is what I saw on the underside of the console and keyboard, respectively: Notice how the PAL options are marked out by permanent marker. I assume these went out to prospective and actual retailers. Anyone else have one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+orpheuswaking Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 That's interesting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 Haven't heard of it. Now you know what we want... pics of the inside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxpressed Posted August 29, 2011 Author Share Posted August 29, 2011 Are these pretty easy to open up? There are five screws on the underside of the console. Any special considerations? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 XEs are easy, XEGS probably easiest of the lot. Screwdriver and pointy-nose pliers to get the shielding apart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+orpheuswaking Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 Yup, the sheild is the toughest part on the XEGS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxpressed Posted August 29, 2011 Author Share Posted August 29, 2011 I'll try and take a crack at it later tonight. I'm pretty inexperienced with this stuff, although I want to learn. Do I have to damage the RF shield in order to remove it? I'd hate to mess up this thing before I get a chance to play it. It's my first 8-bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 Nope. It's just got 6 or so bendable tabs on the bottom part that fit in holes on the top part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxpressed Posted August 29, 2011 Author Share Posted August 29, 2011 OK. I'll be careful and post some pics when I'm done. How might the hardware be different anyway? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 It probably isn't, but you never know - it might be some early board revision that few people have seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+orpheuswaking Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 Fingers Crossed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxpressed Posted August 30, 2011 Author Share Posted August 30, 2011 OK, friends. Here are some photos of the mainboard. I won't put this back together for another day or so in case you want me to take photos of something specific. I tried to get shots of any identifying markers on the board. Any differences from a retail XEGS? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svenski Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 I'd have to dig one of mine out again to check but the last one I opened had no socketed chips whatsoever - the XE OS sticker is interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 OS is on an EPROM - wonder if it's the released version? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spurge Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 OS is on an EPROM - wonder if it's the released version? I was looking at that also. Be interesting to put that on an eprom reader and get a dump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caterpiggle Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 May I see the old eBay link that you brought Marketing Simple of Atari XEGS ? I do have my own Atari XEGS Box. I see there is Rev. A in common XEGS but your is Rev. 2 ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxpressed Posted August 30, 2011 Author Share Posted August 30, 2011 These are pretty cool observations. I never thought about looking for socketed chips. I hope this really is a different machine than the retail XEGS. I'd be happy to post the eBay link but want to make sure that it is okay since this isn't the auction forum. Also, I found another AA member who has a "Marketting" sample. He has a PAL unit and lives in Europe but bought the thing from B&C! He has the original box and everything else. Thread link here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxpressed Posted September 8, 2011 Author Share Posted September 8, 2011 A friendly bump in case anyone wants to post pics of their XEGS mainboard to satisfy my curiosity! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svenski Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 I have a pic I did for Atari User of the motherboard in one of mine, will see if I can dig it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+kheller2 Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 Stock XEGs board shots here : http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/186115-xe-motherboard-revisions/page__view__findpost__p__2345625 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxpressed Posted September 8, 2011 Author Share Posted September 8, 2011 Thank you! I see that the board revision is different. I guessing that Rev. A (production) comes after Rev. 2 (sample)? Also, my board has 3 socketed ICs, including the one with the red sticker on it. Because of the angle of the shot, it's kind of hard to tell how many of the ICs on the production board are socketed (none)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+kheller2 Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 (edited) I think only one is socketed, and its not the same one as on yours. And my guess is you have a pre-production version of the board. Similar to how a 1200XL REV-13 is a REV-A board. (At least I think its 13.). I was looking at the date stamps on your chips and the latest I think is week 21 or so of 85. Looking at my board the earliest seems to be a few weeks after yours. Edited September 8, 2011 by kheller2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+kheller2 Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 Oddly enough, I just came across a REV 4 board today. I'll post pictures later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxpressed Posted September 11, 2011 Author Share Posted September 11, 2011 Cool. I wonder when the numbers change into letters? When retail production starts? After 9? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxpressed Posted December 29, 2015 Author Share Posted December 29, 2015 Links to photos are broken in earlier posts, so here are some of them. The second photo is of the keyboard. Production XEGS keyboards have a grey cable; this sample has a black cable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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