Problems starting games with harmony cartridge

[Tyros]

Hi there,

I recently bought a harmony cardridge SD Version Deluxe and attached it to a Atari CX2600 console. This console was modified to hdmi output and a new stronger power adaptor. I transferred several PAL- .bin roms from the AtariMania Website to the SD-card.

2 problems occured:

 

1. The roms are loaded and also the games do start. But in more than 50% of the games trying to start gaming by pressing the fire button has no effect. They remain in the starting screen of the loaded game. Other games work fine. This also happens when I use original cartridges. All are loaded but only some could be started.

 

2. I had to put the roms in the main directory of the SD-card. Using subdirectories resulted in a crash of the whole system.

 

Do you have any ideas what´s wrong ?

thanx

[RevEng]

Between the Harmony and your HDMI mod, I think it's likely your console's stronger power adapter still isn't able to supply enough current. This would also account for the RIOT chip not able to raise the logic level high enough, and the ARM chip crashing during certain operations.

 

If not, it still sounds fairly power-related. e.g. dirty power, insufficient voltage, etc.

 

What's the rating on the power supply?

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Have you tried using the Reset switch?

[Tyros]

Hi,

power suppy has

Input:

100-240 V

60-60 Hz

0.3-0.45 A

 

Output:

7.5 V

2.4 A

 

Using reset switch results in system crash

[RevEng]

Output:

7.5 V

2.4 A

 

Using reset switch results in system crash

The stock adapter is 9v. 7v tends to be the bare minimum input for 5v linear regulators, but no idea about the one in the 2600. 2 possible issues come to mind here - either the regulator itself is limiting the current (likely if it wasn't replaced as part of the mod work), or the demand on current is causing the supply to sag below 7v. (less likely if it's truly 7.5V at 2.4A)

 

I'll let someone with more practical hardware expertise comment here. I'm mostly software-focused, only dabble in hardware somewhat.

[R.Cade]

Not enough power, for openers. Atari won't run reliably on only 7.5v, even stock with no add-ons.

Edited July 23, 2017 by R.Cade

[Rom Hunter]

1. The roms are loaded and also the games do start. But in more than 50% of the games trying to start gaming by pressing the fire button has no effect. They remain in the starting screen of the loaded game. Other games work fine. This also happens when I use original cartridges. All are loaded but only some could be started.

 

Most of the games start by using the Reset switch.

 

Edit: sorry, didn't read the crash thing.

 

Edited July 23, 2017 by Rom Hunter

[Tyros]

Finally I found a solution:

 

1. Replaced the power suppy up to a 9V 500 mA adaptor

 

2. I found out that the reset switch of my console was also modded. It´s called "switchless pause-mode". Pressing the reset switch a shorter time results in pause mode (you can then continue by pressing the fire button on the joystick). Pressing the reset switch a longer time results in the normal effect of this switch (e.g. starting some games).

 

Took me nearly a year to find out but now i´m happy.

 

thx guys