THX-1138 Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 3 hours ago, tuf said: 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! Even in 6 months there have been several OS updates and they have to be done sequentially, rebooting sometimes as needed. A lot of people are having problems because there is no visual indicator as such and they think it's either not working or just in an update loop, so they do things like pull the power etc and cause even more problems. I believe the updater itself has been improved but, you need to bring the system up to date to have that for further updates in the future. Personally I think a progress bar and something to say which OS revision is being applied would help. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuf Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 5 hours ago, THX-1138 said: Even in 6 months there have been several OS updates and they have to be done sequentially, rebooting sometimes as needed. A lot of people are having problems because there is no visual indicator as such and they think it's either not working or just in an update loop, so they do things like pull the power etc and cause even more problems. I believe the updater itself has been improved but, you need to bring the system up to date to have that for further updates in the future. Personally I think a progress bar and something to say which OS revision is being applied would help. Yup lots of obvious things wrong with the process. Great hardware, not a great OS experience. Also a shopping cart in the store would be nice - tough trying to buy 5 or 6 games in one go. Also not locking the system up 50% of the time after purchasing a game would be great too. I use mine as a Batocera gaming console most of the time, which its wonderful at. Switched it back over to buy Atari 50th and some holiday sale games and it took a week just to get it to boot up again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzip Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 15 hours ago, THX-1138 said: Personally I think a progress bar and something to say which OS revision is being applied would help. Yeah a revision number and a note to say that there may be other updates after the reboot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoatari Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 I opened the bios update file in Google drive but it states the file is in owners trash and will not allow a download Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+joeatari1 Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 59 minutes ago, Geoatari said: I opened the bios update file in Google drive but it states the file is in owners trash and will not allow a download Please go HERE and go to Troubleshooting and check the pinned messages. You will find a new download and a video with instructions on how to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyindrew Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 What I find helpful with VCS updates is if I turn off WIFI connections with other devices in my apartment (phones, tablets). I find the download times go quicker and smoother once this happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cousin Vinnie Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 So................... what do you do when the OS can't download and you are sitting here looking at this cool looking brick? Im not a technical dynamo. Vin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevymad Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 You need to build a USB flash stick for it. I found the link to the file and how to on discord. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davpa Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 Is this a new VCS or have you had this VCS for a while and it is not updating? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davpa Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 Well, instead of waiting for an answer, I'll just answer to what I think you might need: First, download this zip from this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/18h01VknAi8eFsCFxeEe2DiCMo1XoT6Y9/view?usp=sharing While that file is downloading, watch this video that I made that walks you through what you are going to with that file: https://vimeo.com/784422540 Hope that helps. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Helper Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 Same thing for me but I am going to try and plug it via Ethernet and try to get the update that way first. If that does not work then I am going the USB route. The thing that I find funny is that at least my VCS does not even work with the Atari Vault straight out of the box. You would think you could at least play that even if the OS cannot update. But it just says an error has occurred try again later. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LevelUp Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 i want to thank everyone on here for helping me understand how to flash my VCS i bought black friday sale,i got the OS flashed and running last week , even though Atari Support took two months to email me the proper flash instructions ,low and behold i got a package from Atari yesterday with a foldable memory stick ,im guessing its the flash files,the return address just said Atari no address was given, means alot they looked out and tryed to make it right,much respect to customer support 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scuttle Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 (edited) I had to update the BIOS first to version 24. Then unplug the VCS. Then flash the new firmware and then unplug the VCS. Then it finally worked for me. Only took a couple weeks to put it together. I bought a VCS from the holiday sale. Edited February 21 by scuttle Misspelled word. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterG Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 On 1/22/2023 at 8:29 AM, davpa said: Well, instead of waiting for an answer, I'll just answer to what I think you might need: First, download this zip from this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/18h01VknAi8eFsCFxeEe2DiCMo1XoT6Y9/view?usp=sharing While that file is downloading, watch this video that I made that walks you through what you are going to with that file: https://vimeo.com/784422540 Hope that helps. Thank you so much. I got the console today and was really bummed that it was kind of broken out of the box. I used your instruction to flash it via usb and it worked. Much appreciated. Thumbs up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbo graphics 220 Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 (edited) On 1/22/2023 at 6:29 PM, davpa said: Well, instead of waiting for an answer, I'll just answer to what I think you might need: First, download this zip from this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/18h01VknAi8eFsCFxeEe2DiCMo1XoT6Y9/view?usp=sharing While that file is downloading, watch this video that I made that walks you through what you are going to with that file: https://vimeo.com/784422540 Hope that helps. This helped me too, such a battle to find these files. Now my system works after flashing the bios and then flashing the flash memory on the console. Edited February 27 by turbo graphics 220 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davpa Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 9 hours ago, turbo graphics 220 said: This helped me too, such a battle to find these files. Now my system works after flashing the bios and then flashing the flash memory on the console. I do want to apologize for the battle you had to go through. This update issue was something that started recently (before Christmas) and this has been a struggle to get resolved. While flashing a new system is not at all what we want for a user experience, it was the quickest solution to get people up and running. Part of the problem is the VCS is doing multiple updates sequentially, it is time consuming and looks like the VCS is not doing anything. The flashing of the system cuts to the chase and makes all the updates in one fell swoop, but requires steps that a customer shouldn't really have to do. So currently we are stuck in a no-win situation at this time. Again, thanks for being patient and not giving up on the VCS at the start, I think you'll be happy you got over this hurdle. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbo graphics 220 Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 12 minutes ago, davpa said: I do want to apologize for the battle you had to go through. This update issue was something that started recently (before Christmas) and this has been a struggle to get resolved. While flashing a new system is not at all what we want for a user experience, it was the quickest solution to get people up and running. Part of the problem is the VCS is doing multiple updates sequentially, it is time consuming and looks like the VCS is not doing anything. The flashing of the system cuts to the chase and makes all the updates in one fell swoop, but requires steps that a customer shouldn't really have to do. So currently we are stuck in a no-win situation at this time. Again, thanks for being patient and not giving up on the VCS at the start, I think you'll be happy you got over this hurdle. Thanks, its all working good so far. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzip Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 16 hours ago, davpa said: I do want to apologize for the battle you had to go through. This update issue was something that started recently (before Christmas) and this has been a struggle to get resolved. While flashing a new system is not at all what we want for a user experience, it was the quickest solution to get people up and running. Part of the problem is the VCS is doing multiple updates sequentially, it is time consuming and looks like the VCS is not doing anything. So are you saying that if you just leave the VCS on long enough it will resolve itself eventually? Just so we know what to tell people when they show up here with that issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuf Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 32 minutes ago, zzip said: So are you saying that if you just leave the VCS on long enough it will resolve itself eventually? Just so we know what to tell people when they show up here with that issue. That's not the case. It just hangs forever unless you do the flash procedure. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davpa Posted March 1 Share Posted March 1 20 hours ago, zzip said: So are you saying that if you just leave the VCS on long enough it will resolve itself eventually? Just so we know what to tell people when they show up here with that issue. That is a hard thing to say. Many people have left it alone for a few hours and it finishes the updates and all is good. A good number of people say that it doesn't complete. Are they not giving it enough time? Is the system, in their particular cases, hanging up and caught in a loop? Impossible for us to tell remotely. Regardless, the flashing of the system takes under 30 minutes to have everything up-to-date and functional, so it is the fastest and simplest way to deal with the unfortunate issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhd Posted March 1 Share Posted March 1 (edited) Is there any viable market for already-updated consoles? I am suggesting that someone purchase the consoles, re-flash them and do all of the required updates (and perhaps even install some software), and then resell them at a markup to reflect the value added. If they were willing to ship outside of the United States that would be even better. It's like buying an already built and configured PC rather than a box of parts and then assembling it yourself. Most people prefer the latter option even if it costs more. I know that if I was going to buy a VCS (which as a Canadian I cannot buy direct from Atari), I would pay an extra fee for one that is ready to go when I unbox it. Edited March 1 by jhd Typo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterG Posted March 1 Share Posted March 1 12 minutes ago, jhd said: Is there any viable market for already-updated consoles? I am suggesting that someone purchase the consoles, re-flash them and do all of the required updates (and perhaps even install some software), and then resell them at a markup to reflect the value added. If they were willing to ship outside of the United States that would be even better. It's like buying an already built and configured PC rather than a box of parts and then assembling it yourself. Most people prefer the latter option even if it costs more. I know that if I was going to buy a VCS (which as a Canadian I cannot buy direct from Atari), I would pay an extra fee for one that is ready to go when I unbox it. I think I saw that someone in france does what you just described. BTW, I just posted little "Guide" how to reliably get the machines to work with the collected infos from others so you might take a look. It is not too complicated once you have all the infos that you need. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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