VCS BIOS Related Discussions

[martink]

13 hours ago, Clint Thompson said:

With the news of the VCS manufacturing being discontinued

That's not what I heard. I heard — from an Atari employe on the Atari discord — is that Atari is looking for a new manufacture and are selling off stock until they found one.

[leech]

what kind of screen are you using to connect it to?  Sounds like maybe it is at a refresh rate / resolution that cannot be handled by your current screen?

[Goochman]

Jusat opened my VCS which I got yesterday.  It has a 2021 OS image on it and the first thing I did was go into the BIOS.  The celebrate password worked out of the box for me.

[Gemaster4975955]

I am conecting it to a tv.

[martink]

On 12/21/2022 at 6:20 PM, Goochman said:

Jusat opened my VCS which I got yesterday.  It has a 2021 OS image on it and the first thing I did was go into the BIOS.  The celebrate password worked out of the box for me.

I hope you changed the Password. If not it will stop working after the BIOS update.

[Linux_Lover]

Were you able to get this sorted Gemaster?

[Aragorn7]

On 12/20/2022 at 4:15 AM, MrZarniwoop said:

Refresh the BIOS per instructions from Atari.

Yes I know this response is a little late, but for all those who may still come here and have the latest Atari OS as of this date, the password as stated earlier in this thread is Atar!C3l3br8te$50Ye4r$ . You will need to delete this password and leave the field blank to make any future changes unless you just like entering the password. This will work fine until the next update, when likely Atari will institute a new BIOS password.

[STeSearcher]

I know this has been asked a thousand times...but what key do you press to get to the bios?  I have my original backer VCS which upgraded itself to the most recent OS and I've held down the ESC key and the Delete key separately to no avail.  I think I tried Alt-delete too.  Search brought up many, many threads but everyone just skips over that part since it's common knowledge except for me. 

[RadiATIon]

You have to press the ESC key with a wired keyboard.

[STeSearcher]

4 hours ago, RadiATIon said:

You have to press the ESC key with a wired keyboard.

That was it.  Thanks.  Luckily, I guess I had remove the password right after I received it.  I was able to make the speed changes.

Thanks again.

[imajeff]

On 1/22/2023 at 11:38 AM, RadiATIon said:

You have to press the ESC key with a wired keyboard.

I press ESC key with my wireless keyboard all the time (of course a wireless keyboard still has a USB dongle so there is no difference whether it has a wire or not). Only trouble I've had is not pressing it at the right time, so I repeatedly press it and one of those is at the right time.

[zzip]

On 2/19/2023 at 10:29 PM, imajeff said:

I press ESC key with my wireless keyboard all the time (of course a wireless keyboard still has a USB dongle so there is no difference whether it has a wire or not). Only trouble I've had is not pressing it at the right time, so I repeatedly press it and one of those is at the right time.

Yeah As long as it's a wireless USB, it will work,    A bluetooth keyboard would not.   That might be the confusion in the thread.

[chipsgravy]

I have an issue where I cannot access the bios at all to the point I think itmay be overwritten. Pressing Esc brings up 2 options Atari OS on Slot A or Atari OS on Slot B. I cannot find a way around this. I removed the CMOS battery overnight but I am gussing that is only for date and time? It had no effect on anything anyway.

 

The way this happened was I installed an M2 drive with windows 10 on, then when windows went to restart to install updates it booted into Atari OS and started installing the latest update. I let it continue but ever since I have had these two instances of Atari OS and no way to access the boot menu. I am tempted to try shorting those pins, but as an amateur am not sure its worth the risk. Do you think it would fix anything?

 

Thanks

[Zoyx]

Try the Del key?

 

You've always had two instances of Atari OS. That is part of the design is having redundancy.

[Aragorn7]

On 12/12/2023 at 11:46 AM, chipsgravy said:

I have an issue where I cannot access the bios at all to the point I think itmay be overwritten. Pressing Esc brings up 2 options Atari OS on Slot A or Atari OS on Slot B. I cannot find a way around this. I removed the CMOS battery overnight but I am gussing that is only for date and time? It had no effect on anything anyway.

 

The way this happened was I installed an M2 drive with windows 10 on, then when windows went to restart to install updates it booted into Atari OS and started installing the latest update. I let it continue but ever since I have had these two instances of Atari OS and no way to access the boot menu. I am tempted to try shorting those pins, but as an amateur am not sure its worth the risk. Do you think it would fix anything?

 

Thanks

If trying the DEL key doesn't give you access, you could always try reflashing the VCS. It will restore the system to an original state and you will just have to update and then download your games again.