Atari 2600 Jr Black Screen + Weird Sound - Help

[nesboy43]

Hello, i recently got an Atari 2600 Jr and it was working perfectly for a few days but now it always displays a black screen with a few tiny white dots regardless of what game is put in. It also makes the same continuous buzzing type sound. I am putting the RF cord into a Coax adapter to go into the TV (no switch box). I tried the same adapter and cord on my Sega Genesis and the picture was perfect and worked fine. I am worried that my system itself is broken. I have tried channels 2 and 3 and have the same results. Sometimes if I switch on my TV to the channel the Atari is not set to I will get these wavy white lines (so if Atari is set to 3 and TV goes to 2), not sure if there is any significance in that. Also, the power adapter does slightly spark when plugged in so I am pretty sure it is working.

 

Does anyone know what the problem could be? I used some compressed air and tried it on both a CRT and an LCD to make sure it wasn't TV specific.

Edited November 11, 2012 by nesboy43

[kennetzel]

Mine gives me a black screen and wierd noises when a cartridge isn't in all the way. Maybe carts aren't registering as being in.

[nesboy43]

Just checked to make sure on multiple carts they were pushed in all the way. Same issue unfortunately, sometimes a get a screen of grey stationary diagonal bars though.

[atari2atari]

Just checked to make sure on multiple carts they were pushed in all the way. Same issue unfortunately, sometimes a get a screen of grey stationary diagonal bars though.

 

Unfortunately, what you describe there sounds a lot like a defective integrated circuit ("IC" or "chip").

 

Likely to be the TIA chip, or one of the other three.

 

They are soldered to the circuit board on the later-model 2600 units, like the Junior, rather than socketed like on some older models, so replacement is not trivial, but not too bad if you are handy with a soldering iron.

 

Good luck - - maybe it will resolve itself, or perhaps not be a bad IC, but do keep us posted!

 

-a2a

 

EDIT: see the link in my signature ("Composite Video Modded . . . ") for images of the circuit boards on Juniors and the ICs I am talking about.

Edited November 12, 2012 by atari2atari

[nesboy43]

Unfortunately, what you describe there sounds a lot like a defective integrated circuit ("IC" or "chip").

 

Likely to be the TIA chip, or one of the other three.

 

They are soldered to the circuit board on the later-model 2600 units, like the Junior, rather than socketed like on some older models, so replacement is not trivial, but not too bad if you are handy with a soldering iron.

 

Good luck - - maybe it will resolve itself, or perhaps not be a bad IC, but do keep us posted!

 

-a2a

 

EDIT: see the link in my signature ("Composite Video Modded . . . ") for images of the circuit boards on Juniors and the ICs I am talking about.

 

Thank you so much for your information, really helped. Tested it at at a family member's house who happens to have a wooden model and unfortunately even with using their powercord and going through their switchbox (as compared to coax converter) it did not change the consoles output. However the power cord for the jr did power their unit on perfectly so you are right about it being the system itself. Just out of curiosity, do you know what would cause this chip to fail? I just had it in an entertainment cabinet and the power strip was always turned off when not playing it. I'm really just baffled as to why it just wouldn't work one day when the night before it was perfect. I have lots of other old game consoles and have never had one give out on me like this. Is it the type of thing that is just completely random?

 

The user I bought it from on here is great and incredibly generous though and is kind enough to send me a replacement even though it's failure wasn't his doing (worked great when I got it a week ago). Hopefully he'll be able to fix or salvage the Jr in some way.

[atari2atari]

The general answer to "what would cause this chip to fail" is "bit rot" - - integrated circuits go bad, sometimes due to nothing you did.

 

That said, static electricity is a bad thing you CAN directly be the cause of. Older consoles that are not as well-shielded and protected as newer devices are particularly susceptible. Static through the joystick, static from touching a switch on the unit - - these are common ways to fry a unit.

 

However, environmental conditions such as heat, desiccation, and/or radiation (yes, really!) can all cause an integrated circuit to suffer a few minor faults.

 

There are LOTS of delicate pathways within an integrated circuit, and if a few get corrupted, it's a done deal.

 

Glad you are finding a resolution, however, so best of luck in your future gaming!

 

 

-a2a

[nesboy43]

Thanks for your info.

[gameofyou]

I am currently troubleshooting a similar problem on an Atari Jr. After making some measurements, I found that the input to the 5V regulator was low, which made the output low. I traced this back to the Power switch. The switch is faulty/corroded, so that when you switch it on there is still 100 ohms or so of resistance which causes a voltage drop. I am going to try to find a replacement switch and see if that solves all my issues.

[shadow460]

What causes an IC to go bad? Well, I'd say that in this case, nothing. We're talking about a console here that's had 30 years to corrode and gather gunk inside, plus it's had 30 years of being stored in who knows where, getting hot and cold, etc. If it were a ROM IC, then yeah, I could see it failing due to bit rot. Maybe the three main ICs do have a bit of ROM in one or all of them.

 

It's kinda like a PS3 failing due to heat, except that your 2600 didn't generate the heat that might have injured it. That would have come from the environment where it's stored. (Let's not go vacuum sealing our 2600s in a climate controlled clean room, though, OK?) It's probably something simple like dirty or corroded contacts somewhere (like the switches or the IC sockets) or a solder point has finally given way on the board. Moving the console will eventually cause a weak solder joint to fail completely, rendering the console useless until it's repaired.

 

It's likely to be fixable.

[Botbird208]

I have a suncom joystick, and whenever I move it it a direction, part of the screen goes white and fuzzy. Will this break my atari?

 

Its not that fuzzy, for example a few white dots will be there, and I can still see the game, but now my console doesnt work every once in a while. To get it to work, I move the video cable around.

 

I really dont want my console to brake! plz help!

 

ps I have a 4 switch woody.

Edited December 30, 2013 by Botbird208

[Rex Dart]

I have a suncom joystick, and whenever I move it it a direction, part of the screen goes white and fuzzy. Will this break my atari?

 

Its not that fuzzy, for example a few white dots will be there, and I can still see the game, but now my console doesnt work every once in a while. To get it to work, I move the video cable around.

 

I really dont want my console to brake! plz help!

 

ps I have a 4 switch woody.

 

 

 

Sounds more like an issue with the console itself. Do you have other controllers to test?