Atari VCS operating system won’t update. Help!

[davpa]

Hey, I’m sorry for your updating woes, certainly not what we want you to experience. It seems that older versions of the AtariOS is just having issues updating when it might be a large jump in version numbers to catch-up to the current build. Here is the link to the latest version of the AtariOS with the bios upgrade 24 option: Current AtariOS build and BIOS install

 

This is not update, but the latest production version for users who need to re-install. Download the file, flash it to a USB (using Etcher or Rufus), then plug in the USB to a turned off VCS. When the VCS boots the flashed USB will kick in and install a fresh copy of the OS.

 

I apologize for this extra step to have things working, but this will fix everything in most cases.

[grayskull]

54 minutes ago, davpa said:

Hey, I’m sorry for your updating woes, certainly not what we want you to experience. It seems that older versions of the AtariOS is just having issues updating when it might be a large jump in version numbers to catch-up to the current build. Here is the link to the latest version of the AtariOS with the bios upgrade 24 option: Current AtariOS build and BIOS install

 

This is not update, but the latest production version for users who need to re-install. Download the file, flash it to a USB (using Etcher or Rufus), then plug in the USB to a turned off VCS. When the VCS boots the flashed USB will kick in and install a fresh copy of the OS.

 

I apologize for this extra step to have things working, but this will fix everything in most cases.

Was coming back to say my ticket was responded to Saturday night (within 30hrs of opening it) with the link and directions to flash the OS. Completed the process today (very painless) and can happily report things are running great now! Was impressed with the response from customer support on the weekend.

 

Excited to start exploring the device some more - plus all those reimagined games!

[Vyncynt]

Hello everyone!
I also recently purchased the VCS as a Black Friday special direct from Atari, but am stuck in the dreaded update loop! I went through the same troubleshooting steps others have, but stopped just short of updating the firmware because it was from a Google drive link and I was a bit skeptical about it being official. Submitted a support ticket with details. I have a feeling they will tell me to do the same thing they told @grayskull to do. Will keep everyone posted!

[JacenTheIntern]

15 hours ago, davpa said:

Here is the link to the latest version of the AtariOS with the bios upgrade 24 option: Current AtariOS build and BIOS install

…I apologize for this extra step to have things working, but this will fix everything in most cases.

Quote truncated to save space. 
 

Thank you, davpa! I’ve been looking for this link. I currently have a ticket open (same issue as others have described - finally opened the VCS to ensure everything’s good before it’s wrapped as a holiday gift) and asked for the option to manually flash my VCS, but haven’t had a response back yet. Ticket was opened Friday afternoon and included the words “very attractive paperweight” so no surprise on getting kicked to the bottom of the support queue. 
 

I’m going to give this a go over lunch, and with luck, kill my support ticket whilst enjoying my VCS later today. 

[+Neon Wraith]

8 minutes ago, Vyncynt said:

Hello everyone!
I also recently purchased the VCS as a Black Friday special direct from Atari, but am stuck in the dreaded update loop! I went through the same troubleshooting steps others have, but stopped just short of updating the firmware because it was from a Google drive link and I was a bit skeptical about it being official. Submitted a support ticket with details. I have a feeling they will tell me to do the same thing they told @grayskull to do. Will keep everyone posted!

You can use the link from Davpa two posts above.  He is an employee at Atari and his google drive doc is legit.

[Vyncynt]

I received an email from support with similar instructions as others have received. Step 1 did not work at all. I used step 2 to flash the unit. Once booting into the flash menu, please realize that on a 32" 4K TV the text is extremely tiny. After selecting the option to flash the system, there was a blank screen for a few minutes followed with an Atari logo saying it was installing Atari OS version 22020812.084133.production. There is not any sort of progress indicator. Once finished, it will ask you to remove the USB drive and restart. Upon this restart, everything went through smoothly. I connected to wifi, it said an update was available, it downloaded and installed an updated BIOS (which actually did have a progress indicator). Upon the next boot, the Asteroids startup video didn't jitter at all. I realized that my existing Atari account did not work, so I had to setup a new account which appears to be dedicated to the console. I used the same email address as my original Atari account. It sent a confirmation email which I had to click in order to authorize the unit. After that, I was good to go!

 

Tip: Connect a USB keyboard anytime you need to do any typing. Huge time saver!

[+MrZarniwoop]

On 12/4/2022 at 5:57 PM, davpa said:

Hey, I’m sorry for your updating woes, certainly not what we want you to experience. It seems that older versions of the AtariOS is just having issues updating when it might be a large jump in version numbers to catch-up to the current build. Here is the link to the latest version of the AtariOS with the bios upgrade 24 option: Current AtariOS build and BIOS install

 

This is not update, but the latest production version for users who need to re-install. Download the file, flash it to a USB (using Etcher or Rufus), then plug in the USB to a turned off VCS. When the VCS boots the flashed USB will kick in and install a fresh copy of the OS.

 

I apologize for this extra step to have things working, but this will fix everything in most cases.

Thanks for this. A friend enjoyed my Atari VCS and bought one from Black Friday.

 

Out-of-box, it simply wouldn’t update.

 

After flashing the BIOS and OS updates on the Atari Debian PC on USB stick also bought on Black Friday, it went into an updating loop of installing 4 updates and rebooting over and over.

 

After flashing the new BIOS and new OS update in your post, all was well. Thank you.

[LevelUp]

Greetings everyone ,first time posting on here ,I have read this thread and see I am not the only one having issues with the initial update and setup of Atari VCS ,I jumped on the Black Friday special All In Bundle and the Atari PC On A Stick ,I have made a ticket with Atari support and it’s been two and a half weeks of silence , the last post mentions the issue can be fixed if you have the Atari USB stick, I’m not very keen on computers and don’t have a PC , the question I wanted to ask is do I need a keyboard and mouse to make an attempt at flashing the OS and does the Atari PC on a stick have the software installed to flash my system properly to start the updates,thanks for any help

[+Neon Wraith]

5 minutes ago, LevelUp said:

Greetings everyone ,first time posting on here ,I have read this thread and see I am not the only one having issues with the initial update and setup of Atari VCS ,I jumped on the Black Friday special All In Bundle and the Atari PC On A Stick ,I have made a ticket with Atari support and it’s been two and a half weeks of silence , the last post mentions the issue can be fixed if you have the Atari USB stick, I’m not very keen on computers and don’t have a PC , the question I wanted to ask is do I need a keyboard and mouse to make an attempt at flashing the OS and does the Atari PC on a stick have the software installed to flash my system properly to start the updates,thanks for any help

The files are on the flash drive.  Put the drive in a USB slot and then power on the VCS.  The VCS will recognize the flash drive and give you 3 options, flash BIOS, flash OS, PC mode boot.  You will want to flash the BIOS first and then the OS.  You will need a keyboard plugged in to do this though.  Good luck.

[LevelUp]

Appreciate the feedback joeatari1 ,after I did what u suggested the power on screen stopped glitching ,now It is stuck in a continuous loop of updating all 4 and restarting ,before it would go from Updating 1 straight into the log in screen ,now I can’t get to the log in screen because it does all 4 updates and restarts over and over, I see a couple posts back mrzarniwoop had same issue after flashing with Atari pc on a stick ,looks like he used the file sent by davpa and it fixed his ,problem I have is I don’t have a pc or usb stick or the know how to put that file on a stick ,it’s been almost two weeks and no reply from Atari support, maybe I can buy a cheap usb stick for just this porpoise and figure out how to do what mrzaniwoop did , do you guys know of a cheap compatible usb I should by? Thanks for any advice I really appreciate it 

[+MrZarniwoop]

It's not very hard. I used balenaEtcher to flash the latest version of the AtariOS with the BIOS upgrade 24 option that davpa posted to a small USB flash drive. After that, boot with the flashed USB drive in your Atari VCS. You'll need a USB keyboard to pick the options, I did both the BIOS and OS and all was good afterwards.

[LevelUp]

Thank you mr zarniwwoop for the info,appreciate the feedback it’s been almost a month still no word from Atari Customer Support, it’s been a bummer trying to get my VCS to update it just keeps looping threw over and over , it seems that belana etcher won’t work on older laptops I have tried on 2 different laptops with older versions of windows with no luck ,does anyone know how big of a usb stick I will need to flash the new OS? It looks like the file is 1.8 gigs is this a fact? My stick is only 927mb ,it was enough memory to put the firmware on my ps4 hard drive 2TB upgrade , does anyone think I can put the info on the stick with only my VCS using the PC on a stick I bought from Atari, I’m a little worried I might erase the PC on a stick I bought,my VCS pc mode downloaded Belana Etcher no problem it’s on my Home Screen now,is the VCS capable  of formatting a usb stick ? I didn’t see a eject option ,it seems to work good in pc mode  ,I just need to get in the console side so I can jump on that Xmas sale , appreciate any and all feedback …Thanks

Edited December 22, 2022 by LevelUp
Wanted to add more detail

[1strail]

By now your are past this problem, but now on Dec. 22, 2022, Atari just released an OS update and I got the exact same endless loop screen after 3 restarts.  After that I just turned it off and to my shu-grin, when I turned it on, it went right back into the same update screen.  At that point I was fuming, so I just quasi ignored it and started to type a rant in discord.  As I was typing, in the corner of my eye, I noticed the screen was static and waiting for me to choose the user account.  Very weird.

[Bmac86]

Just in case anyone has this problem for the future, and while they wait for Atari support to answer: I just received my VCS on December 26th and had the dreaded “Failed to fetch data” message, -kept clicking retry and it never worked. Had to flash the OS to the most recent file, but then I got stuck in the update loop the OP talked about. After watching it update, reset, update, reset etc over 4 times, I ended up getting around it by starting with my ethernet cord plugged in, then after making ethernet my internet selection in initial setup but before it could locate the updates, I quickly removed the ethernet cord. I also never hooked up my VCS to wireless. Once I got past the update screen I plugged my ethernet cord in and it allowed me to make my initial profile and everything. Downloading games now and couldn't be happier!

 

I will also say that I tried to update the system after getting my initial account created, but clicking the "restart to update" put me back in the update loop again. So hopefully there is a more concrete fix for avoiding that update loop to get the most up-to-date VCS OS. But for now this is an easy workaround in case anyone else has the issue. Hope this helps!

[MegaManFan]

For what it's worth I came to the forums today looking to resolve a similar issue because I seemed to be stuck on 83% forever, but when I walked away and was reading this thread I heard a couple of loud "computer fan is on sounds" and I went to the back of the rec room to see it had rebooted while I was away. So maybe... that first update when you launch it takes forever? Because it was not a small amount of time. The system works fine now that I've got that squared away.

[LevelUp]

Does anybody have a link to the discord that helps people get these flash files on a memory stick,I hear it’s helpful but I never used discord before , I probably missed out on the Atari store Xmas sale ,I need to get this walnut fired up 

[+Neon Wraith]

https://discord.gg/atarivcs

 

Go to troubleshooting and checked the pinned messages.  If you are still having an issue or need clarification ping davpa and he will help.

[LevelUp]

Thank you joeatari1 for the link, I appreciate your help 

[+swlovinist]

I purchased an all in one bundle on sale from Atari and like others the console is stuck in an update loop.  I have an extra usb stick and wired keyboard, and know that I need to flash the bios correct?   I put in a VCS work ticket to make sure.  

[RadiATIon]

You have to flash the OS. Yes. You'll find the information on the AtariVCS Discord channel #troubleshooting.

 

Thanks David Paige alias Davpa :

 

The upgrade is available : Here is the link to the latest version of the atari os with the bios upgrade 24.

 

here is a video that goes step by step flashing a VCS as explained by Davpa

 

and just in case, your VCS could be locked up with Secure Boot. connect a usb keyboard > keep clicking on DEL as the VCS boots up> puts you in a menu select option > pick "reboot to firmware interface" > pick administer secure boot > enter password **Atar!C3l3br8te$50Ye4r$** > disable enforce secure boot > press F10 to save & exit

 

Good luck. 

Edited January 2, 2023 by RadiATIon
Thanks Davpa

[+swlovinist]

3 hours ago, RadiATIon said:

You have to flash the OS. Yes. You'll find the information on the AtariVCS Discord channel #troubleshooting.

 

Thanks David Paige alias Davpa :

 

The upgrade is available : Here is the link to the latest version of the atari os with the bios upgrade 24.

 

here is a video that goes step by step flashing a VCS as explained by Davpa

 

and just in case, your VCS could be locked up with Secure Boot. connect a usb keyboard > keep clicking on DEL as the VCS boots up> puts you in a menu select option > pick "reboot to firmware interface" > pick administer secure boot > enter password **Atar!C3l3br8te$50Ye4r$** > disable enforce secure boot > press F10 to save & exit

 

Good luck. 

Atari VCS customer support helped me and it worked!  Just like above.  Thank you.  

[Xtrominator]

Hello my Atari Fans. I'm Xtrominator and I brought an Atari VCS on Black Friday and I couldn't update the system. After a week of trying to figure out why it wouldn't update, I brought from the Atari.com website the USB stick for the PC mode and the USB stick has a Bios update and a Firmware update. To fix your Atari VCS first buy the USB stick from the Atari.com website and once you have the USB plug it in your Atari VCS with the power off and disconnect the internet and power on the Atari VCS and you'll have 10 seconds to select C with a keyboard before logging into Linux and once you are on the menu you'll see some options like Bios and the Firmware, first select the Firmware with no internet connection and manually install the Firmware and then after it finishes and restarts do the same process again and select Bios and after it restarts connect the internet and start updating the system. Every time there is an update to the Atari VCS you'll need to repeat the same process again with the USB stick, only this time just select Bios only. This is how I'm getting my Atari VCS to work. I hope my information helps.      

[Pete5125]

I mean honestly this is ridiculous from a customers standpoint not working out of the box, I have a friend I told about the Atari VCS, he just wanted a system to play old 2600 games with kid, was furious he had to hook it up to his computer, get a USB stick reset it, still couldn't get it to work.

 

Atari has not been fast to answer concerns he was looking to swap units, he finally got a refund offer.  But Atsri could of had a few games purchased, and good word of mouth instead they got a peed off customer and I'll will.

 

They have to know not everyone is a computer wiz, should be set to go out of box.

[zzip]

18 minutes ago, Pete5125 said:

I mean honestly this is ridiculous from a customers standpoint not working out of the box, I have a friend I told about the Atari VCS, he just wanted a system to play old 2600 games with kid, was furious he had to hook it up to his computer, get a USB stick reset it, still couldn't get it to work.

 

Atari has not been fast to answer concerns he was looking to swap units, he finally got a refund offer.  But Atsri could of had a few games purchased, and good word of mouth instead they got a peed off customer and I'll will.

 

They have to know not everyone is a computer wiz, should be set to go out of box.

It seems like the earlier and later units work out of the box,   but there's a bunch that apparently had issues with the flashing process in manufacturing and have to go through this,  At the very least Atari could ship a flyer with units telling people what to do to reflash it if first time setup doesn't work.   

[tuf]

I had to reflash a system just because it sat for 6 months w/o being powered up.  It's not just with new systems.

 

Atari needs to do a little better job with it's OS patcher methinks!