Advice on using Sophia 2 and RetroTINK 5X

[NAMSS Gamer]

Now the PCB for my Atari 5200. There is both a video mod and a power mod for my console that was previously installed. I’ll have to find out what to do with the GTIA chip on my 5200 console.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

@NAMSS Gamer Yeah that looks a lot similar to the low budget 5200 boards and it even has the GTIA connections in nearly the same location. So again, what you should be able to do, is install the Sophia, and then run the wires from the mod board to the same pins on the top of the Sophia and it would likely work.

 

[NAMSS Gamer]

32 minutes ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

@NAMSS Gamer Yeah that looks a lot similar to the low budget 5200 boards and it even has the GTIA connections in nearly the same location. So again, what you should be able to do, is install the Sophia, and then run the wires from the mod board to the same pins on the top of the Sophia and it would likely work.

 

We’ll see. I mean I don’t think I should do anything with that other chip where there’s a wire going out of one of the pins for audio along with a resistor there. Nor should I temper with that cable and other stuff that is used for a power supply modification, right? Just remove the GTIA chip and if I want to keep the s-video and composite signal, re-run the wires from the board back to the Sophia 2, right? Would all this be a good plan to get the best video for my 5200?

Edited April 28, 2023 by NAMSS Gamer

[+-^CrossBow^-]

1 minute ago, NAMSS Gamer said:

We’ll see. I mean I don’t think I should do anything with that other chip where there’s a wire going out of one of the pins for audio along with a resistor there. Nor should I temper with that cable and other stuff that is used for a power supply modification, right? Just remove the GTIA chip and if I want to keep the s-video and composite signal, re-run the wires from the board back to the Sophia 2, right? Would all this be a good plan to get the best video for my 5200?

You shouldn't have to mess with your power conversion mod or audio setup at all.

 

What I'm stating is to keep track of which pins the wires off the AV board are going to on the GTIA. Desolder them off the GTIA and remove the GTIA. Pop in the Sophia and then solder the wires off the mod chip, back to the same pins but on the Sophia. Pretty sure that would work. And you can keep your RCAs for the audio that already have in place since the Sophia is only providing the DVI or I assume you are going to use just the DVI output?

 

[NAMSS Gamer]

1 hour ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

You shouldn't have to mess with your power conversion mod or audio setup at all.

 

What I'm stating is to keep track of which pins the wires off the AV board are going to on the GTIA. Desolder them off the GTIA and remove the GTIA. Pop in the Sophia and then solder the wires off the mod chip, back to the same pins but on the Sophia. Pretty sure that would work. And you can keep your RCAs for the audio that already have in place since the Sophia is only providing the DVI or I assume you are going to use just the DVI output?

 

Yeah I think I can just keep the audio stuff intact and then use DVI simply for video. But if I don’t want to use composite or s-video anymore after the Sophia 2 installation can I just leave the wires alone after getting them off the GTIA chip?

[+-^CrossBow^-]

3 hours ago, NAMSS Gamer said:

Yeah I think I can just keep the audio stuff intact and then use DVI simply for video. But if I don’t want to use composite or s-video anymore after the Sophia 2 installation can I just leave the wires alone after getting them off the GTIA chip?

Why not leave them in place for use? You just gonna leave the jacks in there doing nothing then?

 

But to answer your question, if you desolder the wiring off the GTIA, you need to insulate the ends of them or remove all the wiring to the composite and s-video completely at that point. But I would just insulate the ends of them in case they are ever needed for use again in the future.

 

But again, I would just adapt the older AV board with the Sophia so all the options are there. 

[Simius]

I do not recommend soldering directly to Sophia's pins. Small SMD components are right next to it. It is better to solder to the corresponding fields of the motherboard

[+-^CrossBow^-]

7 hours ago, Simius said:

I do not recommend soldering directly to Sophia's pins. Small SMD components are right next to it. It is better to solder to the corresponding fields of the motherboard

Thanks for the input on that. To me it didn't look like that big a deal to do as I stated but then I though it was more difficult soldering new output wiring off the bottom of the output pins for the recent YUV output install I did into a 5200. Mainly because all of the analog pins are right there next to the pin headers that plug into the socket. But yes, I can see how some with less experience might have issues with this.

 

[NAMSS Gamer]

Ok guys I got my Sophia 2 devices and I’m having some good news already. I decided to start installing my Sophia 2 on my Atari 800XL and after following the instructions correctly and plugged in the DVI to my computer via a DVI to HDMI adapter, I got a really nice picture. I’m very pleased I’m able to get it to work. I’ll have to show you a picture later.

[Beeblebrox]

36 minutes ago, NAMSS Gamer said:

Ok guys I got my Sophia 2 devices and I’m having some good news already. I decided to start installing my Sophia 2 on my Atari 800XL and after following the instructions correctly and plugged in the DVI to my computer via a DVI to HDMI adapter, I got a really nice picture. I’m very pleased I’m able to get it to work. I’ll have to show you a picture later.

great news!!  

[bfollowell]

Granted, it is a an extremely easy upgrade to do. Still, I'm glad yours went well.

 

It definitely sounds like you're 5200 upgrade will be a little different just because of the existing AV mod. Hopefully, you'll have just as much luck with it.

 

Good luck.

 

[NAMSS Gamer]

Well guys, I got the Sophia 2 installed on my 5200 and the video works, but for some reason some games like Dig Dug can't get the video display showing even when there is audio and it responds to controller presses. I tried to see if I can change the resolution in DVI mode but no button seems to respond. Can someone help me out, please?

Edited May 1, 2023 by NAMSS Gamer

[Beeblebrox]

Can you upload an image of the 5200 install and run through what you did from start to finish?

[NAMSS Gamer]

I got the video to run and I did manage to change my resolution to around what’s equivalent to a 16:9 resolution regarding the mod for my 5200. I already tested a number of games including pac-man, dig dug and Zaxxon and so far only the dig dug one is a game that couldn’t display video. The rest could. I had to use the numeric keypad to change the settings for my dvi mode resolution but presses always seem to make the scrolling go too fast. But yeah the video on both my Atari systems are now vehemently improved.

Edited May 2, 2023 by NAMSS Gamer

[+-^CrossBow^-]

12 hours ago, NAMSS Gamer said:

I got the video to run and I did manage to change my resolution to around what’s equivalent to a 16:9 resolution regarding the mod for my 5200. I already tested a number of games including pac-man, dig dug and Zaxxon and so far only the dig dug one is a game that couldn’t display video. The rest could. I had to use the numeric keypad to change the settings for my dvi mode resolution but presses always seem to make the scrolling go too fast. But yeah the video on both my Atari systems are now vehemently improved.

@Simius updated the 5200 configuration program to provide single button movement on the resolution side. It is located in the original Sophia 2 thread. Now it still scrolls too fast on the options side but that isn't quite as critical as the resolution side.

 

[NAMSS Gamer]

6 hours ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

@Simius updated the 5200 configuration program to provide single button movement on the resolution side. It is located in the original Sophia 2 thread. Now it still scrolls too fast on the options side but that isn't quite as critical as the resolution side.

 

I'm wondering how I can fix the video problem I have when trying to play Dig Dug. No video, but there is full audio and the controls are responsive.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

6 minutes ago, NAMSS Gamer said:

I'm wondering how I can fix the video problem I have when trying to play Dig Dug. No video, but there is full audio and the controls are responsive.

Well, I don't know that I tried that game, but I still have one of the 2 5200s I did with a Sophia and that one happens to have the DVI on it so I can try and test it out a bit later and see? The other one I did was wiring for component YUV output so it did not use the DVI or ribbon cable at all but again, Dig Dug isn't one of the games I usually use for my burn in testing so this is the first I've heard of this.

 

[NAMSS Gamer]

17 minutes ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

Well, I don't know that I tried that game, but I still have one of the 2 5200s I did with a Sophia and that one happens to have the DVI on it so I can try and test it out a bit later and see? The other one I did was wiring for component YUV output so it did not use the DVI or ribbon cable at all but again, Dig Dug isn't one of the games I usually use for my burn in testing so this is the first I've heard of this.

 

I tried some other games and they did have video. I'll have to see if there are any other games with this no video problem.

[bfollowell]

1 hour ago, NAMSS Gamer said:

I tried some other games and they did have video. I'll have to see if there are any other games with this no video problem.

Probably shooting in the dark here, but are you certain that cartridge worked before? Do you have another unmodified 5200 you can try it on or did you try it on this one before you opened it up and modified it? Just trying to narrow it down to the 5200 or the game cartridge.

 

 

Edited May 3, 2023 by bfollowell

[NAMSS Gamer]

12 minutes ago, bfollowell said:

Probably shooting in the dark here, but are you certain that cartridge worked before? Do you have another unmodified 5200 you can try it on or did you try it on this one before you opened it up and modified it? Just trying to narrow it down to the 5200 or the game cartridge.

 

 

I'm using an Atarimax Ultimate SD Cartridge for my 5200 roms. That and the rom offered to control the resolution of the DVI output are the only ways for my 5200 video display to be tampered with. The cartridge is read great. I don't know if Dig Dug used a different resolution or if the rom is bad. Pac-man displays fine, so does Zaxxon and Berzerk. I'll have to go through the rest of my roms and see if there are any other games that would have video problems.

[_The Doctor__]

make sure the 5200 isn't one that needs the 5200 cpu timing fix... something to check

[+-^CrossBow^-]

11 hours ago, _The Doctor__ said:

make sure the 5200 isn't one that needs the 5200 cpu timing fix... something to check

I've only had this fix work in a few cases. As such and given the labor to do it, I find it best to just replace the CPU completely with a different branded one at this point. That said, I know I've played DigDug with Rockwell based sallys in 5200s before without issue so I think the OP should try another copy of the ROM from somewhere else to be sure it isn't something as simple as a corrupted ROM file.