pbishop Posted March 28, 2003 Share Posted March 28, 2003 I'm having trouble with my 5200. The problem began 20 years ago. At the time (~1983), I thought the joysticks were the problem so I ordered 2 new ones. They didn't fix the problem. I pulled the unit out of a closet a few weeks ago and it still boots up, but the same problem persist. I just got another used console off of ebay and the seller said it would play games. I seem to have a similar problem with this unit. I now have 8 joysticks (3 Rev. 7, 1 Rev 8 and 4 Rev 9's). On some of the joysticks I could get the Reset and Pause buttons to work - (Frogger doesn't require the Start button to be pressed to begin) and could even play Frogger (joystick and fire button worked), but I could not get the Start button to work on any of the controllers. I took each controller apart and triggered the Reset buttons using a metal screw directly on the flex circuit. The flex circuits appeared fine (like I said, some were brand new). Does this sound like a problem with the console or something I'm missing on the joystick? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted March 28, 2003 Share Posted March 28, 2003 If you have two consoles and they both have similar problems then I would suspect the joysticks, new or not. Use a pencil eraser and polish the flex circuit contacts for the start button (and others). Mitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbishop Posted March 30, 2003 Author Share Posted March 30, 2003 At first I thought you all were nuts about the eraser thing fixing the joysticks. I decided to give it a try, and I couldn't believe it - it half way works! You have to keep hitting the button to get it to start, but my old Atari from 20 years ago still works! The only thing now is that the sound isn't coming through - I'm getting static like when the TV goes off the air. Does that sound like the console or mayebe the RF switch is bad? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted March 30, 2003 Share Posted March 30, 2003 Now go over it again with the eraser. Are you having problems with the sound on both of your 5200s or just one? Mitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbishop Posted March 31, 2003 Author Share Posted March 31, 2003 You know my question didn't sound so stupid at first. The sound problem seems to be with only one of the units, so I'm sure that means its not the RF switch. Any ideas on how to fix this on the console? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 Well, I think the most likely suspect would be the Pokey sound chip. If you are feeling adventurous, you can try swapping the Pokeys on your two systems and see if the problem follows the chip. They should both be socketed so it shouldn't be too major of an issue. Mitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbishop Posted April 1, 2003 Author Share Posted April 1, 2003 Which one is Pokey? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted April 1, 2003 Share Posted April 1, 2003 Do you see the four big chips near the center of the board? It's the bottom left chip of the four. Location U7. Mitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbishop Posted April 3, 2003 Author Share Posted April 3, 2003 Okay, I finally took some time this evening and swapped the Pokey chips out of my 2 - 5200's. Unfortunately nothing changed. I knew there was a reason I suspected the RF switch - the 5200 which has working sound is a 2 port model and uses a different switch to connect to the TV. My 4 port model is the one that has no sound coming through. This is the one for which I have the original RF switch. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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