Atari 2600 Pal Technical Problems

[Romuluz]

Hi,

 

i went to my Cellar today to get my old Atari Stuff. I managed to get it to work with an old Tube TV.

 

But... Problem No. 1: The Colors are Wrong. Green Labyrinth instead of Blue in Adventure. Also the Yellow Dragonduck is Pink

and Problem No. 2: Joysticks work but Paddles don't. Both Paddles are in well shape and funktioning, as i have testet them on my Retron77.

 

The Wrong Colors wouldn't give me a headache as i plan to Mod the Console for Composite. But the Paddles not working is another thing.

 

Has anyone any Idea what's going on inside the Machine?

 

Kind Regards

Rom

[alex_79]

4 hours ago, Romuluz said:

Problem No. 1: The Colors are Wrong.

There's a trimmer in the console to adjust the colors. What model do you have (6 switch, 4 switch , Junior)?

4 hours ago, Romuluz said:

Problem No. 2: Joysticks work but Paddles don't.

What games did you try with the paddles? What's the exact behavior? The player doesn't move at all, or does it move erratically? What happens if you plug/unplug the paddles while the game is running?

 

 

[Romuluz]

3 hours ago, alex_79 said:

There's a trimmer in the console to adjust the colors. What model do you have (6 switch, 4 switch , Junior)?

What games did you try with the paddles? What's the exact behavior? The player doesn't move at all, or does it move erratically? What happens if you plug/unplug the paddles while the game is running?

 

 

The Model is a 4 Switch Woodgrain, Pal.

The Games i tried were Circus Atari, Video Olympics and Super Breakout. I switched the Paddles (i have 2 Sets) while Game(s) were running. And the Behavior is nothing. No Response at all

 

Edited June 9, 2022 by Romuluz

[alex_79]

1 hour ago, Romuluz said:

The Model is a 4 Switch Woodgrain, Pal.

This is a picture of a 4 Switch "Vader" PAL model. The board should be almost identical to the woodgrain one. Circled in red is the trimmer to adjust the colors.

1 hour ago, Romuluz said:

The Games i tried were Circus Atari, Video Olympics and Super Breakout. I switched the Paddles (i have 2 Sets) while Game(s) were running. And the Behavior is nothing. No Response at all

Weird. Try 4 players variations (e.g. game 5 in Video Olympics) with paddles plugged in both ports. None of them work?

 

 

 

[+Stephen Moss]

Paddles could be several problems....

1) No 5V connection from pin 7 of the controller port - player sprite would probably be stuck at one side of screen and fire button not working.

2) The capacitors are shorted - player sprite would probably be stuck at one side of the screen and fire button would work.

3) Either of the above could also present if there is an issue with the TIA, if it is a TIA issue then that could also be the cause of the incorrect colours as the TIA generates the video and audio signals. 

 

[Romuluz]

So, i tried meddling with the Trimmer. I used Adventure as a Standard. I got some Colors that looked halfway OK but then i put in Jungle Hunt and the Colors were wrong again. I tried for 1 Hour or more but got no useful results.

 

i also tried the paddles with two pairs plugged in and tried Video Olympics with 4 players. With 4 Paddles plugged in sometimes the Left ones give a response every now and then and the right ones worked but only in extremes. Which means your Paddle on the Screen is either on absolute Top or on absolute Bottom. From one to the other in a millisecond.

 

If i had to guess i also would say that the TIA is halfway in Chip Heaven. But since i'm not able to handle a soldering Iron i'm out of options.