1200xl L1 & L2 not working

[Ricky Spanish]

 

This keeps getting better & better. Since popping the fuse in the PSU, the L1 & L2 LED no longer work. I checked continuity from the wires all the way to the tracers on the CB and all's good. Any ideas ? Tried searching the forum but "LED" "1200XL" is pretty generic & tons of non-relevant things pop up. 

 

PS : the power-on LED works just fine. 

[ACML]

The red LEDs on the 1200XL are notorious for not putting enough solder on the PCB.  On the back side of the little PCB, reheat the solder where the leads come out the through holes and add a little more solder. That usual does the trick.  Reestablished good continuity.

 

 

[+videofx]

Had same problem on mine. Resoldered them and now they work again

[Ricky Spanish]

With my PSU troubles out of the way, I re-soldered the cathodes no joy.

Cleaned the prongs where the ribbon cable connects. No joy.

 

L1 and L2 still not working, power lights up no problem. Anything else to check ?

I find it hard to believe both going out at the exact same time. Then again, I don't

remember seeing them turn on after my 256K Rambo XL install either. 🤔

[ACML]

When you run the RAM self test, do you get any activity on L1 or L2?

 

[Ricky Spanish]

18 minutes ago, ACML said:

When you run the RAM self test, do you get any activity on L1 or L2?

 

No Sir.

[+mytek]

1 hour ago, Ricky Spanish said:

Then again, I don't

remember seeing them turn on after my 256K Rambo XL install either. 🤔

The RAMBO XL takes over the PORTB I/O that would have normally controlled those LEDs. Best your going to see is a dim flickering when extended RAM is accessed, and only if that occurs rather frequently.

[Ricky Spanish]

7 hours ago, mytek said:

The RAMBO XL takes over the PORTB I/O that would have normally controlled those LEDs. Best your going to see is a dim flickering when extended RAM is accessed, and only if that occurs rather frequently.

Well, that explains it then. Thanks !

[ACML]

On 5/8/2023 at 12:06 AM, mytek said:

The RAMBO XL takes over the PORTB I/O that would have normally controlled those LEDs. Best your going to see is a dim flickering when extended RAM is accessed, and only if that occurs rather frequently.

I have a new production RAMBO 256K board and have long debated on whether to install it in my 1200XL or not.  Loss of the L1/L2 LED functionality is a NO/GO for me.  BITD, having 256K or RAM made sense and was "cool", but in 2023, I struggle to think of a positive reason to have it.  I can play 128K Atari XE carts and bigger with either an UNO or Ultimate cart.  In 2023, I can't imagine needing more than 21K for a spreadsheet, 37902 free for BASIC or 16K free in a word processor as it would only be for nostalgia's sake.  Your input has put my mind at ease on this one.  Thanks!    

[+mytek]

14 hours ago, ACML said:

I have a new production RAMBO 256K board and have long debated on whether to install it in my 1200XL or not.  Loss of the L1/L2 LED functionality is a NO/GO for me.  BITD, having 256K or RAM made sense and was "cool", but in 2023, I struggle to think of a positive reason to have it.  I can play 128K Atari XE carts and bigger with either an UNO or Ultimate cart.  In 2023, I can't imagine needing more than 21K for a spreadsheet, 37902 free for BASIC or 16K free in a word processor as it would only be for nostalgia's sake.  Your input has put my mind at ease on this one.  Thanks!    

I tend to go with an SDrive solution on a lot of my systems, so having the extra RAM is good. And if you build the RAMBO yourself, as well as find cheap 256Kx8 DRAMs, then it's a very inexpensive and easy to install upgrade for the XLs.

 

As for the loss of the LEDs on a 1200XL... I don't miss them, because having way more 800XL computers without this feature, I never got used to it being there. And its not like what they did indicate was really all that useful or indispensable. On a couple of systems I just repurposed those LEDs to show the state of other things (can be used as a drive activity light for one).

[ACML]

On 8/1/2023 at 9:38 AM, mytek said:

I tend to go with an SDrive solution on a lot of my systems, so having the extra RAM is good. 

 

As for the loss of the LEDs on a 1200XL... I don't miss them, because having way more 800XL computers without this feature, I never got used to it being there. And its not like what they did indicate was really all that useful or indispensable. On a couple of systems I just repurposed those LEDs to show the state of other things (can be used as a drive activity light for one).

Not tracking the connection between SDrive with expanded memory?  To me, SDrive is just another floppy emulator, same as SIO2SD.

 

BITD, it did repurpose LEDs to be RAMdisk activity and such.  Cool for five minutes, then the novelty wears off.  I guess for me, these are now for entertainment and nostalgia and stock functionality is now cool to me.  I still marvel at what Atari designed some 40 years ago.

 

[flashjazzcat]

1 hour ago, ACML said:

Not tracking the connection between SDrive with expanded memory?

I think the connection is that SDrive - being a disk emulator - can't emulate large bank-switched cartridges, so the onus is on extended memory to accomodate all the code. Of course depending on what you're doing, it can be useful to emulate cartridges AND have plenty of extended memory. I would also observe that SIO-based loading methods have the additional problem of slowness when compared to Ultimate/UNO, etc, when it comes to reading large executable files into RAM.

 

[+mytek]

1 hour ago, flashjazzcat said:

I think the connection is that SDrive - being a disk emulator - can't emulate large bank-switched cartridges, so the onus is on extended memory to accomodate all the code.

Bingo, that is exactly my reasoning! Thank you

 

Anyway I'm not trying to disqualify @ACML's alternative, because for many it makes good sense. I was just putting it out there as a reason one might choose to go with the RAMBO-XL on the 1200XL and in the process give up the LED functionality. As we all know from frequenting these forums, everyone has their own unique take on what they want out of their systems, and which upgrade path they wish to take.