Popeye 7800

[+-^CrossBow^-]

19 minutes ago, darryl1970 said:

It doesn't appear to be an issue with the game. @Phylax stated none of the Atari Basic games save high scores. However, his 2600 games save high scores.

 

When I got one of my 7800GDs, I was having a similar problem. James informed me that the GD's high score cart needed formatted, so to speak. I needed to run a first-run Atari 7800 game (Ms Pac-Man, Dig Dug, etc.) in order to "format" the built-in high score functionality. From that point on, my 7800GD saved high scores on the 7800 BASIC games. I guess the stock games have an extra initialization for empty high score carts.

 

I don't know if the AVox and Savekey work the same. I suggested above as a shot to try.

I've got both an Avox and savekey along with an actual HSC (Although it doesn't keep scores without power). And I've got the 7800GD. I believe my 7800GD has the high score file already on it as I've likely initialized it in the past not long after I got it and played a game or two.

 

So are you needing someone to verify if the Avox and Savekey devices are keeping scores with Popeye then?

[+darryl1970]

1 minute ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

I've got both an Avox and savekey along with an actual HSC (Although it doesn't keep scores without power). And I've got the 7800GD. I believe my 7800GD has the high score file already on it as I've likely initialized it in the past not long after I got it and played a game or two.

 

So are you needing someone to verify if the Avox and Savekey devices are keeping scores with Popeye then?

I don't think this was a concern for anybody else in the thread. I think it was just trying to help Phylax. I think he's the only one to report that issue, and he said it seems to be true for all of the 7800 games he's tried so far.

[RevEng]

On 4/22/2024 at 4:44 PM, Phylax said:

[...] So whatever is happening does not seem to be a problem with Popeye, but rather that the AtariVox is working fine in 2600 mode but not in 7800 mode. 

How old is the AtariVox? There was a problem with AtariVox and the 7800 (in 7800 mode) in units sold before December 2019. Technically the problem was also triggered by a 2600 game on some units (the Champ games Wizard of Wor) but it was definitely more pronounced on the 7800.

[+darryl1970]

1 hour ago, RevEng said:

How old is the AtariVox? There was a problem with AtariVox and the 7800 (in 7800 mode) in units sold before December 2019. Technically the problem was also triggered by a 2600 game on some units (the Champ games Wizard of Wor) but it was definitely more pronounced on the 7800.

@Phylax hasn't responded in about a week or so. That's why I checked in. That's good insight.

[Phylax]

On 5/2/2024 at 8:07 AM, darryl1970 said:

Any luck with initializing the HS with a stock game?

No luck, unfortunately. I requested a replacement Atarivox and Albert is helping me out with that. Hopefully the replacement will sort it out. I’ll update when I’ve tried it out. 

[+darryl1970]

1 hour ago, Phylax said:

No luck, unfortunately. I requested a replacement Atarivox and Albert is helping me out with that. Hopefully the replacement will sort it out. I’ll update when I’ve tried it out. 

Based on @RevEng's insight, it sounds like that could be the issue. Good to know these things. It sounds like all will workout well.

[JagChris]

On 5/2/2024 at 11:23 AM, RevEng said:

How old is the AtariVox? There was a problem with AtariVox and the 7800 (in 7800 mode) in units sold before December 2019. Technically the problem was also triggered by a 2600 game on some units (the Champ games Wizard of Wor) but it was definitely more pronounced on the 7800.

What problem was that? I have new Vox and I just wish to make sure its not still happening.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

2 minutes ago, JagChris said:

What problem was that? I have new Vox and I just wish to make sure its not still happening.

The older model had issues with the Avox essentially playing some glitched sounds for a bit and then not working at all until you unplugged it from the console and plugged it back in. Dungeon Stalker was the one game I had the most issues with at the time as I was lucky to have it last through the first appearance of the wizard without it going nuts on me. There was a workaround for it at that time which, I did do. That was to remove the PIC controller IC chip that was responsible for handling the Vectrex side of things. So removing that chip corrected the issue for me on Atari games at the expense of it not providing speech for Vectrex stuff anymore. Later on I bought one of the newer versions to dedicate for use with my Vectrex.