Another Falcon030 Lives!

[displaced]

Hi!

 

I've just brought my 030 back from the dead after many, many years.

 

I'd tried on-and-off to get it running again, but after recently restoring a Commodore CDTV I thought I'd give my old Atari some attention.

 

It was showing no video output at all, although the fan and power LED were running. On a hunch, I suspected the FalconWING RAM upgrade (visible on the left in the photos) as being the trouble. EDO SIMMs were pretty delicate when new, let alone after all these years. Yesterday, I received a 4MB original Falcon RAM board from eBay (for about a hundredth of its original price... *sigh*). Installed that today and.... IT'S ALIVE!

 

Next is to get an IDE-to-CF (or SD) board for the machine.

 

The case has seen much better days though. Cosmetically, it looks fine, but the threads for the screws are shot, one of the rivets into which the HD bracket screws is missing, and I think a floppy drive post is also absent.

 

Does anyone have a source for a Falcon030 top/bottom case and screw/post set?

 

Cheers,

Chris

[mellis]

Hi!

 

I've just brought my 030 back from the dead after many, many years.

 

I'd tried on-and-off to get it running again, but after recently restoring a Commodore CDTV I thought I'd give my old Atari some attention.

 

It was showing no video output at all, although the fan and power LED were running. On a hunch, I suspected the FalconWING RAM upgrade (visible on the left in the photos) as being the trouble. EDO SIMMs were pretty delicate when new, let alone after all these years. Yesterday, I received a 4MB original Falcon RAM board from eBay (for about a hundredth of its original price... *sigh*). Installed that today and.... IT'S ALIVE!

 

Next is to get an IDE-to-CF (or SD) board for the machine.

 

The case has seen much better days though. Cosmetically, it looks fine, but the threads for the screws are shot, one of the rivets into which the HD bracket screws is missing, and I think a floppy drive post is also absent.

 

Does anyone have a source for a Falcon030 top/bottom case and screw/post set?

 

Cheers,

Chris

 

 

If you are prepared to trash the bottom case anyway, you might try filling the screw holes with glue, let the glue set, and then re-drill pilot holes for the screws. That *might* fix it, and it sounds like you have nothing to lose if you're pitching the case anyway.

 

Let the glue set for at least 24 hours.

[displaced]

That's a great idea!

 

I reckon pushing some epoxy into the holes in the top case which receive the screws would do the trick. I'll test the idea on my old 520STFM which I've not got around to fixing yet. It has the same problem - stripped threads on the casing.

 

(it seems I was not a delicate dismantler when I was in my early teens!)

 

It'd still be good to source some replacement screws and floppy drive stand-offs. I've only got two of those between the Falcon and the ST (and one of those is the weird brass one which the Falcon had).

[KLund1]

A less drastic screw solution is to use flat toothpicks. Drop one in the hole, thick end first, clip of the part that sticks out and put the screw in.

For the IDE/CF/SD HD solution, see my pic.

I had a very hard time finding set of parts that were 'compatible' with my falcon.

Also, suggest a recap of the PSU and Motherboard at some point. If not already done. If a cap blows, who knows what parts will die. A NVDI IC replacement might be in order as well.

Good Luck!!

[doctor_shred]

Nice work. There are so few Falcons around it's always nice to see one brought back from the brink.

 

How are you finding the IDE to CF adaptor? I have one that works ok but refuses to boot from the CF card with HD Driver unless there is a floppy in drive A. I can't seem to configure it properly.

[displaced]

I'm using one of these - although not that exact one. I found an eBay seller selling one as an "Amiga A1200 SD Card Adapter" for less money and with an included IDE cable.

 

HDX (on the Falcon's Language disk) detected and partitioned the SD card just fine. However, I wanted to have TOS/DOS compatible partitions and didn't want to stump up €40 for HDDriver, so I paid €10 for ppera's HD driver - http://atari.8bitchip.info/pphdr.php

 

It's been running fine alongside the floppy drive, with and without a disk in the drive. I particularly like the ability to have several partitions, each with their own AUTO folders and switching between them at boot. The SD card's partitions all show up fine on my Mac, and I've been busily loading software onto it!

 

(now, if only I could get NVDI working -- whenever I have it in AUTO, the 030 boots properly but the monitor reports the signal is out-of-range)

 

Oh - one more thing: I need to sort out my Falcon's NVRAM. I'm thinking of trying the 'scrape the top off and solder a coin-battery holder to the exposed terminals' tactic. I've not noticed any issues with my Falcon having a dead NVRAM battery, which is interesting because some users' machines won't even start up with a dead NVRAM.

Edited May 7, 2017 by displaced

[jdoll]

still don't own but have desired one of these good to see one getting some much needed love!

[displaced]

still don't own but have desired one of these good to see one getting some much needed love!

 

Hehe -- this is what happens when your mum sells her house and you've cleared the loft out

 

So far, I've got my Jaguar set up with a 50/60Hz switch added. I've also restored a Commodore CDTV and my first computer, an Acorn Electron. Working on the Falcon now -- a 520STFM and Lynx Mk.1 are next!

 

Trying to keep everything 'almost as-new'. No case-destructive mods, or any internal mods that prevent any machine starting up as stock.

 

For the Falcon, I want to eventually get a slim-line floppy drive and fit it and the SD Card slot behind a custom 3D-printed plate where the existing hole for the FDD drive is. Sadly, both the Falcon and the ST are missing most of their case screws. I was not so careful in my youth

[uji]

The best way to fix the screw holes is this: Get yourself some really good epoxy like JB Weld and push it into the holes with a tooth pick or something small. Then get some PTFE tape and wrap a thin layer around your screws. Then gently screw them into the fresh epoxy and let it set over night. The next morning when you unscrew them they come straight out because the PTFE tape protects the screws, this leaves a perfect thread left over.

 

I fixed my Falcon cross-threaded screw holes like this and it worked perfectly

[displaced]

Genius -- and I have tubes of JB Weld and PTFE tape!

 

All I'm missing are the screws themselves. Does anyone know the quantity/sizes/types needed (for both a Falcon and a 520STFM which I also need to restore)?

[uji]

They are 1.5mm in diameter and 1cm long (for the long versions) I think the smaller ones for the front are the same but 0.5cm long.