pixelmischief Posted December 25, 2015 Share Posted December 25, 2015 A few weeks ago I did some work on my Falcon. Namely, I removed the original power supply, wired up an adapter, and plugged up a standard ATX power supply. It worked fine for days. Then, busy with other things, I put it in a storage bin. Now, I fire it up, and the VGA output looks as you see in the attached image. I switched out the 14MB RAM module for the original 4MB joint. No difference. CTRL+ALT+DEL does reboot the box. Also, when I connect headphones to the audio out port, I can hear the keypresses. What, oh what, could it be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christos Posted December 25, 2015 Share Posted December 25, 2015 Try ctrl alt rshift and undo and see if that works Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixelmischief Posted December 25, 2015 Author Share Posted December 25, 2015 Try ctrl alt rshift and undo and see if that works Something changed. Below are shots of various colored bar screens I've gotten since your suggestion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christos Posted December 25, 2015 Share Posted December 25, 2015 I thought it might be the nvram. That would reset it. Try connecting it to a tv with the rf modulator. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixelmischief Posted December 25, 2015 Author Share Posted December 25, 2015 Try connecting it to a tv with the rf modulator. Does the RF modulator use a different set of signals? The reason I ask is because I tested the Falcon with an RGB output block connected to a Best Electronics VGA cable, then connected to an Ambery box and the output is exactly the same, except for a thick white border. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christos Posted December 25, 2015 Share Posted December 25, 2015 There is a small chance that the nvram is stuck at tv mode in which case the rgb or the vga out wont work. I d also remove the hard drive. The error you have points to a ram issue but you said you tested two modules. I am basically trying to eliminate videl issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixelmischief Posted December 26, 2015 Author Share Posted December 26, 2015 (edited) Connected to RF. Similar effect. White border, black screen, a few colored bands. Jeez, I forgot how awful it was to set up RF. So, Videl then? What are my options to get this puppy serviced? Edited December 26, 2015 by pixelmischief Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christos Posted December 26, 2015 Share Posted December 26, 2015 Hmmm...just one more thing... Try again with the original power supply. About repair options. Depending on where you live you can ask here or the atari forum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixelmischief Posted December 26, 2015 Author Share Posted December 26, 2015 The original power supply isn't an option. But I am fairly confident the problem is not there, since I ran the machine for nearly a week with the new one. I live in the U.S.; New York. Are there some well-known persons I should contact directly, or should I just start a new topic in this forum with a request for help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exxosuk Posted December 26, 2015 Share Posted December 26, 2015 The original power supply isn't an option. But I am fairly confident the problem is not there, since I ran the machine for nearly a week with the new one. I live in the U.S.; New York. Are there some well-known persons I should contact directly, or should I just start a new topic in this forum with a request for help? I would strongly recommend you look for "SMT re-work" companies locally. While I work with SMT stuff (in UK) and could possibly do it, I wouldn't be happy working on a £800+ machine as I know there can be small blobs of solder which can be behind the pins and short out the chip which can't be seen even under a magnifier. There are probably others who may take up the challenge, but I really would look for a re-work company and get it done professionally on proper SMT machines and they will x-ray it for shorts. IMHO you don't want a "cheap job" on such a rare bird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixelmischief Posted December 26, 2015 Author Share Posted December 26, 2015 I would strongly recommend you look for "SMT re-work" companies locally. IMHO you don't want a "cheap job" on such a rare bird. Thank you for this. Agreed. The only reservation I have is that we cannot be sure that a rework will fix it. I mean, what if the Videl is dead? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exxosuk Posted December 26, 2015 Share Posted December 26, 2015 Thank you for this. Agreed. The only reservation I have is that we cannot be sure that a rework will fix it. I mean, what if the Videl is dead? I'm assuming that your Videl is dead (not saying it is, just a guess, others might have other suggestions) and assuming you are going to change the chip - in which case use a professional re-work company as they will change the chip for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exxosuk Posted December 26, 2015 Share Posted December 26, 2015 Its possible you could have bad RAM also. Though with no display it would be hard to rule out unless you have a second machine to try it out on. You could try re-seating the RAM card to see if that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixelmischief Posted December 26, 2015 Author Share Posted December 26, 2015 Its possible you could have bad RAM also. You could try re-seating the RAM card to see if that helps. I had "hoped" bad RAM was the problem, since it is an easy fix. But re-seating the RAM and even replacing the 14MB module with the original 4MB module did not help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exxosuk Posted December 26, 2015 Share Posted December 26, 2015 I had "hoped" bad RAM was the problem, since it is an easy fix. But re-seating the RAM and even replacing the 14MB module with the original 4MB module did not help. If you have a scope, I would suggest you try the 5V rail on your ATX PSU. A lot of PSU's have really spiky voltages, its possible that could be blowing chips on your falcon. So would test it out and make sure that the PSU doesn't have issues in case that is the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fletch Posted December 28, 2015 Share Posted December 28, 2015 Pixel, I'm in Pennsylvania, if you'd like to send me your RAM I'd be happy to test it in my Falcon for you. I don't have much else to offer, but I could help you eliminate that as the issue if you want. -Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calimero Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 @pixelmischief what happened with your old PSU? Why did you change it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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