spawnshop Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 (edited) So I picked up a few new 2600 consoles to play around with, one of which was a Light Sixer unit. It seems to have some graphics issues and I can't seem to figure out what it is. Basically, when I power it up, it gives me a flash of the game graphics a bit, then vertical lines, or horizontal lines, with our without sound, etc. It's different for every game. Similar to when powered up with no game in the slot, but it's definitely reading it somehow. I've already cleaned the switches and cartridge slot (any tricks to that one other than cardboard?) And I've already tested all of the games in another working system. I've switched out the RF cable to double check that, and same thing... I opened her up and everything visually looks OK, but I'm not sure where to begin to test if it's some sort of chip problem. Anyone have any ideas on this? Thanks in advance for any help Edited September 10, 2015 by spawnshop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spawnshop Posted September 11, 2015 Author Share Posted September 11, 2015 Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller? Maybe i should just chock this up to being a $12 brick.....for parts anyway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted September 12, 2015 Share Posted September 12, 2015 There are a lot of possibilities. Your best bet is to download this, read through the trouble-shooting flowcharts and just work through things until you ID the issue. http://www.atarimania.com/documents/Atari_2600_2600_A_VCS_Domestic_Field_Service_Manual.pdf 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spawnshop Posted September 12, 2015 Author Share Posted September 12, 2015 There are a lot of possibilities. Your best bet is to download this, read through the trouble-shooting flowcharts and just work through things until you ID the issue. http://www.atarimania.com/documents/Atari_2600_2600_A_VCS_Domestic_Field_Service_Manual.pdf Thanks. I'll give it a shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigO Posted September 12, 2015 Share Posted September 12, 2015 (edited) Could still be a dirty cartridge socket. Or a bent pin. If the RAM is shot in the RIOT, I can imagine it scrambling a game like this. A bad address or data line somewhere could make it read gibberish from the cartridge. Not sure if a bad TIA could cause this behavior, but I wouldn't put anything past a TIA. The good news, if there is any, is that your main chips are socketed. That means it's a minor task to swap them out with ones from a working system to troubleshoot the problem. I'd inspect and clean and clean and clean the cart socket and at least one cartridge before condemning anything else. There are people around here with a lot of actual repair experience who might be able to narrow this problem down at a glance. Don't give up hope. Edited September 12, 2015 by BigO 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zylon Posted September 12, 2015 Share Posted September 12, 2015 (edited) Definitely one or more bad IC's there. I would also count on the voltage regulator failing as well. When it fails, IC's die. Edited September 12, 2015 by zylon 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spawnshop Posted September 12, 2015 Author Share Posted September 12, 2015 SUCCESS!!! Thanks for the tips guys......turns out it was a bad A202 chip. I have a doner 4-switcher system now, but this one is repaired and ready to play!! (well, after I reassemble it first ) Definitely one or more bad IC's there. I would also count on the voltage regulator failing as well. When it fails, IC's die. Could still be a dirty cartridge socket. Or a bent pin. If the RAM is shot in the RIOT, I can imagine it scrambling a game like this. A bad address or data line somewhere could make it read gibberish from the cartridge. Not sure if a bad TIA could cause this behavior, but I wouldn't put anything past a TIA. The good news, if there is any, is that your main chips are socketed. That means it's a minor task to swap them out with ones from a working system to troubleshoot the problem. I'd inspect and clean and clean and clean the cart socket and at least one cartridge before condemning anything else. There are people around here with a lot of actual repair experience who might be able to narrow this problem down at a glance. Don't give up hope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted September 12, 2015 Share Posted September 12, 2015 SUCCESS!!! Thanks for the tips guys......turns out it was a bad A202 chip. I have a doner 4-switcher system now, but this one is repaired and ready to play!! (well, after I reassemble it first ) A202 is the 6532 RIOT (RAM, Input/Output, Timer) chip. When that one goes, it can cause all kinds of weird problems. I have a 4-Switch Woody that wouldn't recognize the difficulty switches. Games I tried all seemed to work fine, but I couldn't use the switches. No matter what I did to them (cleaned the hell out of the switch mechanism, inspected board traces, verified continuity with a multimeter, touched up the solder points, even removed one of the switches entirely and reinstalled it), nothing. As soon as I replaced the RIOT, both switches work perfectly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spawnshop Posted September 12, 2015 Author Share Posted September 12, 2015 A202 is the 6532 RIOT (RAM, Input/Output, Timer) chip. When that one goes, it can cause all kinds of weird problems. I have a 4-Switch Woody that wouldn't recognize the difficulty switches. Games I tried all seemed to work fine, but I couldn't use the switches. No matter what I did to them (cleaned the hell out of the switch mechanism, inspected board traces, verified continuity with a multimeter, touched up the solder points, even removed one of the switches entirely and reinstalled it), nothing. As soon as I replaced the RIOT, both switches work perfectly. Can you buy the chips separately without buying a full console? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted September 12, 2015 Share Posted September 12, 2015 Can you buy the chips separately without buying a full console? Best Electronics still sells them, and you can find them online if you dig around. I got a batch of 5 new-old-stock 6532 chips from an eBay seller a few months ago. These were made as recently as 2010 so they shouldn't be hard to come by. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spawnshop Posted September 12, 2015 Author Share Posted September 12, 2015 Best Electronics still sells them, and you can find them online if you dig around. I got a batch of 5 new-old-stock 6532 chips from an eBay seller a few months ago. These were made as recently as 2010 so they shouldn't be hard to come by. Do you know if a R6532P will work? Like this one?: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1PCS-R6532P-R6532-8-BIT-Microprocessor-DIP-40-IC-CHIP-/250893307700?hash=item3a6a680f34 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted September 12, 2015 Share Posted September 12, 2015 Yep, it'll work fine. That just means the chip is in a plastic package rather than ceramic. Won't be a problem. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spawnshop Posted September 19, 2015 Author Share Posted September 19, 2015 Yep, it'll work fine. That just means the chip is in a plastic package rather than ceramic. Won't be a problem. So I have another light sixer that has a bad TIA chip (The one on the bottom #201). Do you know if I can replace those with one I can buy off ebay? Or is that one specific for Atari and have to get from Best? I rather not pay $10 a pop on those if possible.....the systems (non-working) only cost about $10-$15 each. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 So I have another light sixer that has a bad TIA chip (The one on the bottom #201). Do you know if I can replace those with one I can buy off ebay? Or is that one specific for Atari and have to get from Best? I rather not pay $10 a pop on those if possible.....the systems (non-working) only cost about $10-$15 each. Well TIA chips ARE specific to Atari - they are custom chips designed by Atari and not used in anything else (except the 7800). So assuming the eBay chip isn't bad itself, it will be fine. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spawnshop Posted September 19, 2015 Author Share Posted September 19, 2015 Well TIA chips ARE specific to Atari - they are custom chips designed by Atari and not used in anything else (except the 7800). So assuming the eBay chip isn't bad itself, it will be fine. Oh, OK. Shoot. So it the TIA chip is bad in my system, basically, ATARI doesn't make them anymore, so I can't get generic ones on ebay......correct? I have to get genuine chips from a system, huh? I guess best electronics is my best bet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 Oh, OK. Shoot. So it the TIA chip is bad in my system, basically, ATARI doesn't make them anymore, so I can't get generic ones on ebay......correct? I have to get genuine chips from a system, huh? I guess best electronics is my best bet. You can find used ones on eBay probably, or on the Marketplace forum here. If the seller says they work (and has a good rep) you're probably okay with a used one. But yeah, eventually one day they will be gone. Of course, Atari made literally millions of them so that day is not in the immediate future. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spawnshop Posted September 20, 2015 Author Share Posted September 20, 2015 You can find used ones on eBay probably, or on the Marketplace forum here. If the seller says they work (and has a good rep) you're probably okay with a used one. But yeah, eventually one day they will be gone. Of course, Atari made literally millions of them so that day is not in the immediate future. Cool. Thanks so much for your advice! I was able to resurrect a few more consoles to add to my collection with your help 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spawnshop Posted September 21, 2015 Author Share Posted September 21, 2015 OK, now that I have my first light sixer all fixed, I'm having issues with assembly.I finally had some time to sit down with it yesterday and put it together, and I have everything aligned as far as screw holes that i can see. But once I have the motherboard fully assebled, the cartridge reader in the slot doesn't align properly and is too low. It makes it almost impossible to put a cart in.It looks to me like once i start putting it all together and sandwiching the TIA Mobo inside the shielding case, it gets squished together too much some how. But I reassembled it exactly the same way I took it apart, which is confusing me. Any suggestions? Is there a trick to this that i'm missing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0078265317 Posted September 21, 2015 Share Posted September 21, 2015 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Atari-2600-TIA-chip-C010444-/291551859990?hash=item43e1d85516 Probably asking too much. But if its atari and genuine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zylon Posted September 21, 2015 Share Posted September 21, 2015 OK, now that I have my first light sixer all fixed, I'm having issues with assembly. I finally had some time to sit down with it yesterday and put it together, and I have everything aligned as far as screw holes that i can see. But once I have the motherboard fully assebled, the cartridge reader in the slot doesn't align properly and is too low. It makes it almost impossible to put a cart in. It looks to me like once i start putting it all together and sandwiching the TIA Mobo inside the shielding case, it gets squished together too much some how. But I reassembled it exactly the same way I took it apart, which is confusing me. Any suggestions? Is there a trick to this that i'm missing? I put the board in the metal casing with the screws loose and insert an activision cart to line it up before tightening the screws. I do the same with the two casing screws in the center for getting a good alignment. I always assemble these with a cart inserted. Just use a Freeway or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spawnshop Posted September 21, 2015 Author Share Posted September 21, 2015 I put the board in the metal casing with the screws loose and insert an activision cart to line it up before tightening the screws. I do the same with the two casing screws in the center for getting a good alignment. I always assemble these with a cart inserted. Just use a Freeway or something. Thanks. But why an Activision cart? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigO Posted September 21, 2015 Share Posted September 21, 2015 (edited) I'd guess it's because they don't have the protective dust cover to fight with. Edited September 21, 2015 by BigO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zylon Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 I'd guess it's because they don't have the protective dust cover to fight with. That, and they are just a little thicker around and seem to line up the parts better. Red label Atari carts will do the same. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spawnshop Posted September 22, 2015 Author Share Posted September 22, 2015 Sweet, thanks for the tip! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thadsilverfox Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 I had the same issue and have tried several carts to line the light sixer cart slot up on several occassions. No matter what I do there are always a few carts that never want to slide in smoothly. I never had that problem with any of the four switch versions that I have come across, just the sixers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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