morelenmir Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 Is there a particularly good programme or cartridge that can be left running to test the long-term stability of an A8 system? In the past I have just allowed 'Self Test' to run for long chunks of time, but have recently learned that entire feature was really a huge con by Atari to give a marketing edge - especially when it comes to memory testing the 130XE. I have also allowed the VBXE 'remix' of the 'OldSkool' demo to run for extended periods which by its nature is probably fairly demanding on the hardware and would presumably very quickly expose an underlying fault. I wonder if anyone can suggest something better? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Westphal Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 Salt or super salt cartridge. ( Stand Alone Long Test ). Best Electronics- $25 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morelenmir Posted January 21, 2016 Author Share Posted January 21, 2016 Salt or super salt cartridge. ( Stand Alone Long Test ). Best Electronics- $25 I have heard about that one Paul - I think it is one of those cartridges which require the actual hardware in order to work and not just an image of the contents? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Westphal Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 It requires extra hardware for one of the tests, not all. There are many. Even has a little test for paddle pots. You can tell it to run for as many times as you want ( 24hour burn-in ). When testing is done, and you see a bunch of weird characters, that chip is a problem, but you usually know right away. It is how I found out I had a CTIA in one of my 600xl's. It also does not like my 600xl internal 64ram upgrade, even though it works fine. It is worth getting if you plan on doing repairs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Westphal Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 Yes, actual hardware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle22 Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 Did you try Acid800? http://atariage.com/forums/topic/171296-acid800-an-atari-test-suite/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morelenmir Posted January 21, 2016 Author Share Posted January 21, 2016 Did you try Acid800? http://atariage.com/forums/topic/171296-acid800-an-atari-test-suite/ I will give that a try. I thought it was just for emulators, but I guess it should also run on the real hardware! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 Flash the Ultimate BIOS. If the PBI BIOS wasn't the buggy one and the machine bricks, you know you have stability issues. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.