Supercharger 2600 games on Harmony Via 7800 functionality?

[Rick Dangerous]

Hiya!

 

So my heavy sixxer is off being modded so I have been playing 2600 games on my new harmony cart on my 7800 latley.

 

I can't get "The Official Frogger by Sega" to load...The screen goes black each time I try one of the 3 roms of the game on there.. (latest v11 rom update from the 2600 forum)

 

Anyone know of any reason these games wouldn't play via harmony on the 7800? As far as I knew the hardware was identical when the 7800 is playing games in 2600 mode..

 

Thanks

[Dauber]

Pretty sure it works on mine (I'll double-check tonight)...it might have to do with your 7800, believe it or not, because some games are fussy depending on how old or new the console is.

 

Which version of the 7800 do you have? Expansion port? No expansion port but a cutout for one? Or no hint whatsoever that an expansion port was ever thought of?

[Nutsy Doodleheimer]

I found this on the 7800 FAQ on the site. It depends on your motherboard revision that certain carts and accessories will work or not. Good thing to check is the serial number and the left side base of the console where the expansion port is if there is one or not.

 

There are known incompatibilities with some NTSC versions of the 7800. Games that may not work include Robot Tank, Decathlon, Space Shuttle, Time Pilot, Kool-Aid Man and the Supercharger. In short, 7800s manufactured in 1984 seem to be fully compatible, whereas those manufactured later have inconsistent incompatibilities.

Test decks:
Serial # Board part#
Deck# 72R4BR- Country Expansion port CO25233- Board Date
----- ------------- ------- -------------- ----------- ----------
1 AT 8 5037836 Taiwan Full port 001 REV A 84-25
2 A1 76 5904610 Taiwan Full port 002 REV A 87-17
3 A1 77 5951337 Taiwan Hole/no pins 002 REV A 87-17
4 A3 87 5139813 Taiwan No port 002 REV B 88-28
5 A3 07 5298641 China No port 002 REV B 88-30

Board part number/revision is taken from the underside of the board, just above the cart slot. The full number always begins with "CO25233." The boards' top side has a different part number, "CO25234," but no revision level is given. Board dates are also taken from the underside of the board, near the Atari logo. The notation is changed a bit to make sorting by date easier. They're really written like "2584" instead of "84-25," which would indicate the twenty-fifth week of 1984.

The carts tested were:

• Decathlon (2 different carts)
• Robot Tank (3)
• Space Shuttle (5)
• Supercharger (2)
• 7800 Food Fight

Results: "Yes" = cart works fine.
"No" = cart doesn't do a thing.
"Roll" = cart works, but picture rolls.
"Lock" = cart plays for a while, then locks up the system.

Deck #
Cart 1 2 3 4 5
------ ------ ------ ------ ------
Decathlon 1 Yes No No Yes Yes
2 Yes No No Yes Yes
Robot Tank 1 Yes Roll Roll Roll Roll
2 Yes Yes Roll Roll Yes
3 Yes Yes Roll Roll Yes
Space Shuttle 1 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
2 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
3 Yes Roll Roll Roll Yes
4 Yes Roll Roll Roll Yes
5 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Supercharger 1 Yes No No No No
2 Yes No No No No
Food Fight Yes Yes Lock Lock Yes

[Dauber]

Wow...I have an unusual case, then. My 7800 is either deck #4 or deck #5, and it plays Supercharger stuff like a champ (nine years and eight days ago I had a gathering at my place and someone -- I think Supercat -- brought a Supercharger and it worked perfectly on my 7800), but it does have the Food Fight "lock," but not often, and when it does, it's always right before a certain level (forgot which one) generates.

Edited January 29, 2016 by Dauber

[Rick Dangerous]

Thanks guys, much appreciate the information. My 7800 is at home but i'm pretty sure it's a later one and thus has some compatibility issues.

 

Oh well, no big, the 2600 will be back in a few days

[Trebor]

There's been a couple of compatibility threads over the years. For instance, the one linked here. It is noted that some A1 consoles work perfectly fine with the SuperCharger (games) while others did not. No A3 or X serials are listed; however, likely the same can be presumed about them. Regarding earlier models such as the AT or EP serials, they yield the best results overall.