Got a HUGE Lot of Atari 8 BIT Stuff Tested and need some help!

[zincmann]

So I came into a large lot of Atari Bit Computers and Disk Drives

 

- 2 Atari 800s in Box COmplete 

 

1. 1 Seems to work 100% (But cannot get disk games to load properly - More on that later)
2. 1 Turns on but keyboard does not work at all

- 1 130 XE (Seems to work 100%) but its apart as I am retrobriting keys and part of the shell

- 1 1050 in Box Complete

- 1 1050 Loose but has an odd silver switch on the side installed by the former owner

- 1 810 in Box Complete

- 2 810's Loose

- 1 Indus GT 

- 1 1010 Tape Drive

- a crap ton of games on disk 

- several carts

 

 

So I hooked up all the drives to test them out.  the two Loose 810s seemed to have the same errors both tried loading and they are loud with that grunting noise on occasion and they both say boot error on the screen 

 

The Loose 1050 seems to load and then gets to a point where the screen is garbled (have not gotten one disk yet to boot correctly here)

 

Have not tested the other 1050 in box as I just got tired of hooking up moving devices around and same results.

 

So one project at a time here, but hoping its just a head cleaning issue?

 

Also I have my own 800XL which I have not used in many months when I did last time It worked fine, I did not have it plugged in to any PSU or video cable and was covered with a dust cover.  Tonight I went to turn it on to test the drives as well and got the bsod (Black screen of death) Tried several video cables here but the original one I used was a known good one.

 

Again one project at a time LOL

[+kheller2]

And the power supply question shall be asked:  what power supply are you using on the XL/XE?

[+Allan]

3 hours ago, zincmann said:

So I came into a large lot of Atari Bit Computers and Disk Drives

 

- 2 Atari 800s in Box COmplete 

 

1. 1 Seems to work 100% (But cannot get disk games to load properly - More on that later)
2. 1 Turns on but keyboard does not work at all

- 1 130 XE (Seems to work 100%) but its apart as I am retrobriting keys and part of the shell

- 1 1050 in Box Complete

- 1 1050 Loose but has an odd silver switch on the side installed by the former owner

- 1 810 in Box Complete

- 2 810's Loose

- 1 Indus GT 

- 1 1010 Tape Drive

- a crap ton of games on disk 

- several carts

 

 

So I hooked up all the drives to test them out.  the two Loose 810s seemed to have the same errors both tried loading and they are loud with that grunting noise on occasion and they both say boot error on the screen 

 

The Loose 1050 seems to load and then gets to a point where the screen is garbled (have not gotten one disk yet to boot correctly here)

 

Have not tested the other 1050 in box as I just got tired of hooking up moving devices around and same results.

 

So one project at a time here, but hoping its just a head cleaning issue?

 

Also I have my own 800XL which I have not used in many months when I did last time It worked fine, I did not have it plugged in to any PSU or video cable and was covered with a dust cover.  Tonight I went to turn it on to test the drives as well and got the bsod (Black screen of death) Tried several video cables here but the original one I used was a known good one.

 

Again one project at a time LOL

Does your disks seemed to be commercial software or mostly pirate software. If you can and have the time can you take a picture of your disks? When you get your hardware working, please consider archiving your software into ATRs/ATXs. There is still a lot of Atari software that is not archived onto the Net. Enjoy your Atari. Also please read this thread. Like Karl mentioned:

 

If you have this power supply. DON'T USE IT! It will kill your Atari.

 

[Beeblebrox]

@zincmann  Wow that is a haul! 

 

Would love to see photos of the 800s and their boxes - never seen an 800 AND the original box. 

 

I have a couple of 800XL boxes and one 600XL and the promo illustrations on the 600XL box really made me laugh (in a modern day context of course)

- check these out:

 

(love the placement of the setup on the floor for a morning workout; and the couples one is hilarious!!

 

BTW both images taken from the internet

 

 

Edited January 28, 2022 by Beeblebrox

[xrbrevin]

as standard:

810 drive will only read 90k disks (low density)

1050 drive will read 90k and 130k (low & enhanced density)

IndusGT drive will read 90k, 130k and 180k disks (low, enhanced and double density)

 

but stock drives can be modded to read the other densities. you'd have to get the screwdriver out to find out.

 

its possible your disks are recorded in double density and thus the Atari drives wouldnt read them unless they are modded. try using the IndusGT as it handles double density natively. it uses a 12v DC power supply - the Atari drives use a 9V AC power supply so make sure you dont mix them up!

[zincmann]

Thanks for all the feedback, I will respond to every individual response in the next couple of days as I get around to them.  for now here are the pics of what I picked up BEFORE I started cleaning it all.  I plan to keep 1 810 (Boxed), 1 800 Boxed and, the 1050 Boxed and the 1010 (No Box).  I have really no space for any of this but hate to sell all of it.  I will use it eventually.  ?

 

 

[Mclaneinc]

Wow, nice haul there...

 

Do check the PSU's for ingot types... Deadly..

 

I hope you can archive the disks or pass them on to someone who could do it, always a chance of a rare unarchived goody..

 

[zincmann]

McLaneinc so the 99% of the disks are copies very few if any are original. But I am happy to catalogue them when I get around to it.

 

[zincmann]

So this is the power supply I have for my 800XL "circled" in blue Ok so its not circled LOL but its the brown rectangular one in the left hand bottom corner with the other power supply on top of it.  That is the one that seems to not be working properly or fried the 800XL which I will need to get around to eventually.  OTherwise the "ingot" one I suppose came with the original 800? I think I have one with the 800 and if thats the case I will indeed toss.

 

 

 

[zincmann]

2 hours ago, xrbrevin said:

as standard:

810 drive will only read 90k disks (low density)

1050 drive will read 90k and 130k (low & enhanced density)

IndusGT drive will read 90k, 130k and 180k disks (low, enhanced and double density)

 

but stock drives can be modded to read the other densities. you'd have to get the screwdriver out to find out.

 

its possible your disks are recorded in double density and thus the Atari drives wouldnt read them unless they are modded. try using the IndusGT as it handles double density natively. it uses a 12v DC power supply - the Atari drives use a 9V AC power supply so make sure you dont mix them up!

I do have all the original power supplies for the drives so yes that's the one thing i DID check was having the correct PSU with several Commodore computers I am more than acquainted with faulty power supplies doing  harm. 

[Mclaneinc]

Ah good, if it's not the ingot you are good to go.

 

So many of those have done soo much damage.

 

As for the disks, you probably have the same sets that did the rounds back then, but they looked in good condition. Probability of a rare item is low, but there's always a chance.

 

And just saw your latest post, yep, there's a rogue C64 (I presume) PSU that does the same as the ingot to the 64's. Good to see a multi machine person like myself (there's actually quite a few on here)

 

Cheers

 

Paul..

[+bf2k+]

The Ingot would not have come with the 800.  The 800 takes an AC power supply.  The Ingot would work on an 800XL or 130 XE... but not for long.   The Ingot is a 5v DC supply.

 

[dzzy1982]

Cut off the DIN connector and a section of wire and than chuck that ingot in the bin. You can use the wire to make a new PS for it. A genuine Raspberry pi 4 PS is 5v with 3a out.

[+kheller2]

It’s important to start with a baseline of one working computer and drive.  Since the home made disks could be double density and not every drive you have is that, I would start with the Indus drive (or look at the 1050 and see what mod it has).  You did state you got partial boots on some setup, so a little more detail about that setup and what you did could help pinpoint issues. 

[Mrshoujo]

2 hours ago, zincmann said:

So this is the power supply I have for my 800XL "circled" in blue Ok so its not circled LOL but its the brown rectangular one in the left hand bottom corner with the other power supply on top of it.  That is the one that seems to not be working properly or fried the 800XL which I will need to get around to eventually.  OTherwise the "ingot" one I suppose came with the original 800? I think I have one with the 800 and if thats the case I will indeed toss.

 

 

 

The 2 rectangular supplies on the left are the repairable ones. Open these up and check the capacitors then get numbers off the voltage regulators. They'll be bolted to heat sinks. They should be 7805 or close variant. Pick up some Arctic Silver thermal paste if you plan to swap them out.

 

Basically give them a check on components and voltages. Any other supply which puts out an AC voltage is just a step down transformer and should be safe.

 

The drives, aside from cleaning and lube, might need new belts and speed adjustment. 300 rpm or close enough! Just need to locate the adjustment pot on the board in case you need to do that.

Edited January 28, 2022 by Mrshoujo
Added info

[zincmann]

2 hours ago, bf2k+ said:

The Ingot would not have come with the 800.  The 800 takes an AC power supply.  The Ingot would work on an 800XL or 130 XE... but not for long.   The Ingot is a 5v DC supply.

 

Actually i Believe I have the INgot for my 130XE.  I will discontinue using it.  I will have to buy a new power supply before I use it again.

[+bf2k+]

I like these... from Jameco.  They are tiny and can deliver plenty of current (up to 3a).  I recently bought 5 of them to replace Ingots.  I cut the cables off of the Ingots and put them on these.  They are also adjustable output.  Set them to 5.1v and go!

 

 

[zincmann]

35 minutes ago, Mrshoujo said:

The 2 rectangular supplies on the left are the repairable ones. Open these up and check the capacitors then get numbers off the voltage regulators. They'll be bolted to heat sinks. They should be 7805 or close variant. Pick up some Arctic Silver thermal paste if you plan to swap them out.

 

Basically give them a check on components and voltages. Any other supply which puts out an AC voltage is just a step down transformer and should be safe.

 

The drives, aside from cleaning and lube, might need new belts and speed adjustment. 300 rpm or close enough! Just need to locate the adjustment pot on the board in case you need to do that.

Thank you will do so.  I am not going to toss this one out iuntil I look at it.  One project at a time of course as you can see I have a lot right now with all the drives, power supplies etc.  I am working on finishing restoring the 130XE but will be tossing the psu because it is an ingot.

[gilsaluki]

13 minutes ago, bf2k+ said:

I like these... from Jameco.  They are tiny and can deliver plenty of current (up to 3a).  I recently bought 5 of them to replace Ingots.  I cut the cables off of the Ingots and put them on these.  They are also adjustable output.  Set them to 5.1v and go!

 

 

I second those.  Amazon has them as well.

[zincmann]

14 minutes ago, bf2k+ said:

I like these... from Jameco.  They are tiny and can deliver plenty of current (up to 3a).  I recently bought 5 of them to replace Ingots.  I cut the cables off of the Ingots and put them on these.  They are also adjustable output.  Set them to 5.1v and go!

 

 

Got it thanks for the suggestion.  I might just buy a pre-built one of good quality, yes I could do it myself but with all the projects I have sometimes the easier route is a quality one. Any suggestions there?

[+bf2k+]

2 minutes ago, gilsaluki said:

I second those.  Amazon has them as well.

And I just noticed that the price at Jameco has gone up and the Amazon price has gone down (+)

[zincmann]

50 minutes ago, kheller2 said:

It’s important to start with a baseline of one working computer and drive.  Since the home made disks could be double density and not every drive you have is that, I would start with the Indus drive (or look at the 1050 and see what mod it has).  You did state you got partial boots on some setup, so a little more detail about that setup and what you did could help pinpoint issues. 

Will do, once I get the 130 XE restored i will run a test with that or the 800XL.  I also have an XEGS which I know works and can use with the drives.  Either way I will document when I get to that next.  Thanks for the help ?

[zincmann]

I do assume that the boot process is the same no matter what 8 bit computer / drive combination I am using i.e.  Sorry for these questions I grew up with Commodore and never had Atari computers so trying to learn the ropes.

 

Atari 800 + 810 DD + POwer and Option Key = Autoboot?

 

Atari 800 + 1050 DD + Power and Option Key = Autoboot?

 

Atari 130xe + 810 DD + Power and Option Key = Auto Boot?

 

Atari XEGS + 1050 DD + Power and Option Key = Auto Boot?

 

Atari 800XL + 810 DD + Power and Option Key = Auto Boot?

 

And so on and so forth

[+bf2k+]

800's don't have built-in basic so no reason to hold option key (unless you have a basic cart plugged in that you want to bypass.)

 

I am guessing that you mean Disk Drive when you say DD.  At first I thought you meant Double Density (which the stock un-modified Atari drives do not do...)

[zincmann]

1 minute ago, bf2k+ said:

800's don't have built-in basic so no reason to hold option key (unless you have a basic cart plugged in that you want to bypass.)

 

I am guessing that you mean Disk Drive when you say DD.  At first I thought you meant Double Density (which the stock un-modified Atari drives do not do...)

Yes sorry I meant Disk Drive (should have been clearer).  And I am guessing I do not need to have basic cart in 800 then to run games from disk.  So just turning on the Atari 800 with a disk drive on and operational as well as the correct density disk for the drive type should "theoretically" boot properly? Since its Friday I will have more time this evening and this weekend to tinker and report back.