bradd1978 Posted November 13, 2021 Share Posted November 13, 2021 Just bought one of these cheap with the red test screen on it. There are apparently two files you can load onto an SD card that can help get you out of the screen but can't find them anywhere. I found one youtube video that had a dead link to them. Any help is appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draxxon Posted November 13, 2021 Share Posted November 13, 2021 (edited) can you show me the youtube video and the link, please. So, you get into the test screen normally by powering on the system while holding start+select. Are those buttons stuck down? Have you tried loading the official firmware update on an SD Card and tried to re-flash the system? Here is the Atari Flashback 9 Gold Firmware Update V.2.1.1 atari_update.img Edited November 13, 2021 by Draxxon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradd1978 Posted November 13, 2021 Author Share Posted November 13, 2021 The files are linked in the description but sent me to a dead end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draxxon Posted November 13, 2021 Share Posted November 13, 2021 (edited) Ok so, that channel file and rom-05cb.bin file I have never seen before. I also know opening up the system and holding the little reset button and powering on into safe mode doesn't really help anything. Here is another website talking about it: At @ames sega mega drive red screen | GBAtemp.net - The Independent Video Game Community @rocketfan, what do you think??? Any ideas? Other options would be to email atgames, they are helpful in my experience. That had to be where those files came from. Here is the FULL update. (these updates need to be names "atari_update.img" for the system to see them. AFB9G_2.1.1_FULL.img Edited November 13, 2021 by Draxxon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradd1978 Posted November 13, 2021 Author Share Posted November 13, 2021 Ok thank you so much for the info. I did open it up and got it into recovery mode. I used an atari_update file on an SD card but it didn’t seem to do anything nor did it even show on the screen when I tried rebooting from the SD. I just emailed ATgames so fingers crossed. Another AA member posted about this and received these files from Atgames that solved the problem apparently. I bumped his thread asking about it as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draxxon Posted November 13, 2021 Share Posted November 13, 2021 (edited) i read the comments a little bit on the video you shared. People had trouble with the fix on AFB9Gold because of the wireless joysticks. I guess you have to use a wired one to fix it. The problem they ran into was they couldn't exit the pitfall test game. To exit a game with a joystick that doesnt have the "menu" button like the atgames P1 joystick, hold SELECT button on the console and press down on the joystick to exit. (or maybe its Select+Up, I always forget which is manual rewind and which is manual menu/exit) BTW, it looks like the GBATemp guys used android tools to push a full image onto that sega flashback and got it working. Good luck, let us know! Edited November 13, 2021 by Draxxon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradd1978 Posted November 13, 2021 Author Share Posted November 13, 2021 Ok sounds good. I actually was using a wired controller when attempting all this. So loading a full AB9Gold image could help if I had one? I’ll wait and see if I hear anything from Atgames after the weekend. I’ll keep you posted. If I do get these files I’ll definitely share 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draxxon Posted November 13, 2021 Share Posted November 13, 2021 (edited) There was a full AFB9 dump around here somewhere, I dont remember if it was regular or gold version though. The 2nd (60+ MB) file up there is the FULL Update image, not system dump btw. I do have the android tools and drivers if you end up needing them. EDIT: Well, shit, here they are in case Im not around. Android_Tool_v2.69.rar RockUSB_Driver_Assistant_v4.8.rar Edited November 13, 2021 by Draxxon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketfan Posted November 13, 2021 Share Posted November 13, 2021 (edited) I dug into some of the startup scripts. On the AFB9, the channel.txt is just a blank (or any contents) file you can put on the root of the SD to get into that diagnostic screen (pretty sure anyway). On AFBX I can see that has been changed to holding down select and start together. I suspect on some systems maybe you needed both. So I will guess the other bin file is a firmware update (sure sounds like it). It looks like somehow a copy can get located in an internal partition (/data where the high scores and stuff go) and that would trigger it to always appear. Yes, long story short - if you can't follow the video with just the file, then for sure agreed that a full FW update from android tools may fix it. Edited November 13, 2021 by rocketfan 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draxxon Posted November 13, 2021 Share Posted November 13, 2021 (edited) I just assumed that hold select+start on boot was test screen for AFB9s. It is for the X and a lot of other AFBs. So my bad on that. I was wrong. I remember WD Gaster saying something about a blank channel text file to get into the LFB test screen over at the GBATemp forum now that I think about it. I think the full firmware Update image above will work. Im suprised it wont flash from the SD Card now. Those Android tool drivers can be a PITA, BTW. Edited November 13, 2021 by Draxxon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketfan Posted November 13, 2021 Share Posted November 13, 2021 You may still need the start+select, but on the 9 you also need the channel.txt for sure. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draxxon Posted November 13, 2021 Share Posted November 13, 2021 And that makes sense because the LFB1 is the exact same thing. I only recently discovered the test menu on the AFBX myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradd1978 Posted November 15, 2021 Author Share Posted November 15, 2021 Great news! I heard back from Atgames and they provided me with two files to load via SD and prompt me through the test screen. Worked perfect and the system is now running Now to make use of that SD slot and do some upgrades Thank you @Draxxon @rocketfan for your help! I've attached the files here for anyone that needs them Re__Atari_Flashback_9_Gold_Red_Test_Screen.zip 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draxxon Posted November 15, 2021 Share Posted November 15, 2021 Cool, I put the video on youtube, and linked to the files in your post. Hopefully we can help some other people. Thank you for sharing. Glad to hear you got it working. BTW, the custom firmware mod is here: Atari Flashback Nexus (Community Project) - AtGames Flashback and Portable Consoles - AtariAge Forums Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draxxon Posted November 15, 2021 Share Posted November 15, 2021 On 11/12/2021 at 10:56 PM, rocketfan said: the channel.txt is just a blank (or any contents) i see that the channel file had the number "1" in it. I also see that when the fix gets to channel: 1 on the red screen, the screen turns blue when it fixes itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradd1978 Posted November 15, 2021 Author Share Posted November 15, 2021 59 minutes ago, Draxxon said: i see that the channel file had the number "1" in it. I also see that when the fix gets to channel: 1 on the red screen, the screen turns blue when it fixes itself. Yeah it does, then goes into Pitfall and you exit out. I pulled out the SD card and powered on and it was good to go 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Everton Posted December 10, 2021 Share Posted December 10, 2021 guys.. my atari flashback 9 gold turns on the light but the image doesn't appear anymore.. already i changed the hdmi cable and nothing.. anyone know what it can be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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