??? Defective Atari 2600+ Console ??? or something else ???

[E. King]

Did this customer happen to get a defective Atari 2600+ console ? or is there something else going on here ?

Watch entire video and then share your conclusion.

[fluxit]

I'd go with bad power supply, or defective console, although I've also seen similar problems with a bad HDMI connection. 

All of these can definitely cause crashes.

Edited December 10, 2023 by fluxit

[Albert]

Yeah, that's obviously not normal behavior, not even sure why you'd make a video like this instead of just exchanging it for another unit.  I would like to see him test those same three cartridges on a real 2600 to verify they work without issues (assuming he has one, as the thumbnail for the video shows a Heavy Sixer behind the 2600+).  From the video alone, it looks to be a problem with with the console or an issue with the power supply, as you stated.

 

 ..Al

[chad5200]

In the guy's defense... if the problem is the power supply... the system does not come with a power supply and there is nothing in the included in the documentation about what is recommended to use (minimum amperage, etc) for a power supply.

 

[Albert]

1 minute ago, chad5200 said:

In the guy's defense... if the problem is the power supply... the system does not come with a power supply and there is nothing in the included in the documentation about what is recommended to use (minimum amperage, etc) for a power supply.

I agree, I doubt the 2600+ has unusual power requirements, but it would be good if some guidance was given since a power supply is not included with the console.

 

 ..Al

[THX-1138]

2 minutes ago, chad5200 said:

In the guy's defense... if the problem is the power supply... the system does not come with a power supply and there is nothing in the included in the documentation about what is recommended to use (minimum amperage, etc) for a power supply.

 

It says 5V 1A on the underside, that was the first thing I looked at when I got mine.

[Brad_from_the_80s]

I don't think it's power supply.  It requires exceedingly little power to boot and run, and anything that can power other mini consoles can power this one.  You can come up with a power configuration that either won't work or maybe is just too powerful, but you almost have to be trying.  It booted, it showed the logo, it detected a cart and tried to load it.  The black screen behavior is what I occasionally see with problem carts, particularly Activision, and usually requires a reboot/re-insert.  So I might have thought defective cart or cart reader.  But then the reset switch failing to respond I've never seen before. 

 

Every product has defective units.  There is no indication that this is common, and I've only heard mention of something like this a couple times and I think at least once it was user error.  Hell, one guy was complaining when he didn't even plug it in.  But if he really got a lemon then it could be any number of uncommon but not unheard of things, like defective DRAM.  Assuming no external cause and all other variables eliminated, should just exchange it and try again.

 

Also, at the end of the day maybe Atari should have just included the little power brick for $130.

[scifidude79]

No, it doesn't have unusual power, I power mine using the USB port on my TV.

 

3 hours ago, Albert said:

Yeah, that's obviously not normal behavior, not even sure why you'd make a video like this instead of just exchanging it for another unit.

That's what I was thinking too. Especially a 5 minute video. 🙄 Return it for an exchange or refund. Someone even suggested it in the comments, his reply was basically "Why bother? It took a long time to get this one." 🙄

 

Like @Brad_from_the_80s said, there's no product that doesn't have defective units.

[John Stamos Mullet]

E King sees to be hellbent on posting threads and comments that complain about or make the 2600+ look bad. 
 

My first real 2600 was also DOA on Christmas Day in 1982. It happens all the time. Return it and get another one. 

[+LS650]

If you read the comments on that video, a couple of people have written that he will unfortunately need to do a warranty return.

His response is essentially, "But I shouldn't have to!"

 

Not the sharpest knife in the drawer, that one.

[AgentOrange96]

Hello all, this is my video. Let me address some things I'm seeing here. And if anyone has the golden ticket for getting it to work, I'd be super appreciative!

First, I'd like to state that I received this unit yesterday as I was in a late batch of pre-orders it seems. I was working on another video with my initial thoughts when I ran into that problem.

The video will be officially published tomorrow, but here's a sneak preview for the AtariAge community:

 

You will see in the attached video, I noted the 1A power requirement on the bottom. I used a 2.4A power brick since I had one convenient. I also tried a few others to no avail. Oddly, my OnePlus charger will not power it at all. Anyway, it's not a power issue.
I did try cleaning the contacts on the cartridge and on the system itself to no avail. Those of you asking me to try a real Atari 2600, I do with a real Atari 2600 cartridge in the originally linked video at the end of it.
The 10-in-1 and 4-in-1 cartridges don't fit well in a real 2600, I believe due to the dust-shield pins not being the same. However, I've since found that you can make it work. Unfortunately, shortly after that video, I ran into an issue with my real 2600's power supply (It was already being finicky, which is why it's off screen in the video) I need to remedy tomorrow. I'll test the 10-in-1 after I get that fixed. But please keep in mind that the other cartridge that worked in the old 2600 (and is thus a known good) did not work in the 2600+.

 

I am very aware that rejects happen. This relates directly to my job. I am an SLT engineer at a prominent CPU company. I am responsible for test programs that we use to test every CPU we sell in real systems. While we strive for a low dead parts per million (DPPM) count, shit happens.

Here's my concern, mine is ~50K serial number, and I received mine quite late. I am not the only one with this issue, and these users reported their issues much earlier than me: (Meaning, an even lower count of units had sold by this point)

- /u/ReviewRude5413's defective Atari 2600+ on Reddit

-  /u/Positive-Election-67's defective Atari 2600+ on Reddit

 

Given this, I suspect a relatively high DPPM on this product, indicating a quality issue. This implies that they aren't properly testing their full systems before shipping or they are severely lacking in coverage. Either way, this should be addressed.

Per why I haven't RMA'd it yet, I just got it yesterday and only opened it today. I was in the middle of making the video I linked. I've read that there is a pending firmware update, and I'd like to see if that fixes it. (Or if there's an original FW file I can flash, I'd love to try that.) We have way too much ewaste in the world, so if I can get this one working, that's better than getting a replacement and having this one scrapped if the only thing wrong with it happens to be firmware.

Also, I'd like to note that there is absolutely no support information for the Atari 2600+ on the Atari website.

 

Lastly, I would like to touch on my reasoning for posting this video in the first place. They are two-fold.

1. The linked posts describe the issue. People dismiss it as dirty cartridges or slots. Here is documented proof of the issue along with a clear visual on what the symptoms are.

2. In my opinion, the attitude I display here is mildly amusing. I could have made the video matter of fact, but that'd be boring. Instead I opted to share the pain in a sarcastic tone for entertainment purposes. You will note a very different demeanor about this whole thing in the video I linked.

 

If anyone has any ideas, I'm all ears. Otherwise I'll keep you posted. Thanks!

-AgentOrange96

Edited December 11, 2023 by AgentOrange96

[AgentOrange96]

1 hour ago, ls650 said:

Not the sharpest knife in the drawer, that one.

Aw thanks! That's so sweet! ❤️

[John Stamos Mullet]

6 minutes ago, AgentOrange96 said:

Aw thanks! That's so sweet! ❤️

He wasn’t talking about you, unless this is an E. king sock puppet burner account.

[AgentOrange96]

3 minutes ago, John Stamos Mullet said:

He wasn’t talking about you, unless this is an E. king sock puppet burner account.

E. King posted my video. That comment was discussing the comments section on the YouTube video, which is my YouTube video. Thus they were talking about me.

I got a good laugh out of opening a thread here though to see myself getting called stupid. I thought it'd be funny to reply because it's like yo I'm here I see yah. xD

Edited December 11, 2023 by AgentOrange96

[John Stamos Mullet]

15 minutes ago, AgentOrange96 said:

E. King posted my video. That comment was discussing the comments section on the YouTube video, which is my YouTube video. Thus they were talking about me.

I got a good laugh out of opening a thread here though to see myself getting called stupid. I thought it'd be funny to reply because it's like yo I'm here I see yah. xD

Maybe the offputting sarcastic tone is the reason you only have 4 subscribers on YouTube. 
 

just a thought.

[AgentOrange96]

4 minutes ago, John Stamos Mullet said:

Maybe the offputting sarcastic tone is the reason you only have 4 subscribers on YouTube. 
 

just a thought.

That is 100% irrelevant to anything discussed here. In reality, I know you bring this up because you are salty about me correcting you about another comment. Even more so than I am about my 2600+ not working.

For context though, it's a small channel I made as an offshoot of another small channel. I make content for both very rarely and I do it for fun. Subscriber count doesn't matter.

 

I understand that I made a snarky reply to someone calling me stupid behind my back which isn't particularly constructive. But overall I'm not inclined to continue this subthread with you after this reply I'm writing now. I feel doing so will just lead to a thread full of bullshit rather than any productive resolution to this issue.

[John Stamos Mullet]

31 minutes ago, AgentOrange96 said:

That is 100% irrelevant to anything discussed here. In reality, I know you bring this up because you are salty about me correcting you about another comment. Even more so than I am about my 2600+ not working.

For context though, it's a small channel I made as an offshoot of another small channel. I make content for both very rarely and I do it for fun. Subscriber count doesn't matter.

 

I understand that I made a snarky reply to someone calling me stupid behind my back which isn't particularly constructive. But overall I'm not inclined to continue this subthread with you after this reply I'm writing now. I feel doing so will just lead to a thread full of bullshit rather than any productive resolution to this issue.

Nobody is “salty”.
 

i think most people are just tired of the unfunny, cliched, angry gamer nerd sarcastic review videos. 
 

A public website full of people who didn’t even know you existed commenting on a video you posted publicly isn’t really people talking  “behind your back”.

 

You publicly posted your “content” (god, I hate that word) and in doing so you opened yourself up to criticism. Fuck around and find out, right? Making content isn’t for everyone. YouTube is 95% “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.”

 

As for a productive resolution to your issue… you have a defective unit. Return it for a refund or a replacement. There. Problem solved .

Edited December 11, 2023 by John Stamos Mullet

[Ben from Plaion]

6 hours ago, AgentOrange96 said:

Hello all, this is my video. Let me address some things I'm seeing here. And if anyone has the golden ticket for getting it to work, I'd be super appreciative!

First, I'd like to state that I received this unit yesterday as I was in a late batch of pre-orders it seems. I was working on another video with my initial thoughts when I ran into that problem.

The video will be officially published tomorrow, but here's a sneak preview for the AtariAge community:

 

You will see in the attached video, I noted the 1A power requirement on the bottom. I used a 2.4A power brick since I had one convenient. I also tried a few others to no avail. Oddly, my OnePlus charger will not power it at all. Anyway, it's not a power issue.
I did try cleaning the contacts on the cartridge and on the system itself to no avail. Those of you asking me to try a real Atari 2600, I do with a real Atari 2600 cartridge in the originally linked video at the end of it.
The 10-in-1 and 4-in-1 cartridges don't fit well in a real 2600, I believe due to the dust-shield pins not being the same. However, I've since found that you can make it work. Unfortunately, shortly after that video, I ran into an issue with my real 2600's power supply (It was already being finicky, which is why it's off screen in the video) I need to remedy tomorrow. I'll test the 10-in-1 after I get that fixed. But please keep in mind that the other cartridge that worked in the old 2600 (and is thus a known good) did not work in the 2600+.

 

I am very aware that rejects happen. This relates directly to my job. I am an SLT engineer at a prominent CPU company. I am responsible for test programs that we use to test every CPU we sell in real systems. While we strive for a low dead parts per million (DPPM) count, shit happens.

Here's my concern, mine is ~50K serial number, and I received mine quite late. I am not the only one with this issue, and these users reported their issues much earlier than me: (Meaning, an even lower count of units had sold by this point)

- /u/ReviewRude5413's defective Atari 2600+ on Reddit

-  /u/Positive-Election-67's defective Atari 2600+ on Reddit

 

Given this, I suspect a relatively high DPPM on this product, indicating a quality issue. This implies that they aren't properly testing their full systems before shipping or they are severely lacking in coverage. Either way, this should be addressed.

Per why I haven't RMA'd it yet, I just got it yesterday and only opened it today. I was in the middle of making the video I linked. I've read that there is a pending firmware update, and I'd like to see if that fixes it. (Or if there's an original FW file I can flash, I'd love to try that.) We have way too much ewaste in the world, so if I can get this one working, that's better than getting a replacement and having this one scrapped if the only thing wrong with it happens to be firmware.

Also, I'd like to note that there is absolutely no support information for the Atari 2600+ on the Atari website.

 

Lastly, I would like to touch on my reasoning for posting this video in the first place. They are two-fold.

1. The linked posts describe the issue. People dismiss it as dirty cartridges or slots. Here is documented proof of the issue along with a clear visual on what the symptoms are.

2. In my opinion, the attitude I display here is mildly amusing. I could have made the video matter of fact, but that'd be boring. Instead I opted to share the pain in a sarcastic tone for entertainment purposes. You will note a very different demeanor about this whole thing in the video I linked.

 

If anyone has any ideas, I'm all ears. Otherwise I'll keep you posted. Thanks!

-AgentOrange96

If you'd be so kind I'd like to see this machine and get the factory to look at it and provide a report back. I'll arrange pick up and courier back. Anything faulty will be replaced.

 

DM me to arrange if you want me to look at it.

[boggis the cat]

7 hours ago, AgentOrange96 said:

The 10-in-1 and 4-in-1 cartridges don't fit well in a real 2600, I believe due to the dust-shield pins not being the same. However, I've since found that you can make it work.

I had no issues with the 4-in-1 on PAL (NZ manufactured) and NTSC (probably Hong Kong) ‘Vader’ units.

 

The 10-in-1 pack-in with the 2600+ was very finicky to get working on the 2600+, but worked on the real 2600s after a couple of attempts.  Not sure if it’s the switches and/or the contacts.  The 2600+ has pretty weak wipers in the cartridge slot, and I have had to clean carts that work OK in the real 2600s.

 

Incidentally: I paid NZ$400 for my first 2600 back in 1982, and paid NZ$230 for the 2600+.  The inflation-adjusted amount for 1982 at today’s rate would be NZ$1800.  So I guess the build quality might be a bit reduced. 

[82-T/A]

10 hours ago, scifidude79 said:

That's what I was thinking too. Especially a 5 minute video. 🙄 Return it for an exchange or refund. Someone even suggested it in the comments, his reply was basically "Why bother? It took a long time to get this one." 🙄

 

Like @Brad_from_the_80s said, there's no product that doesn't have defective units.

 

I think everyone is missing the obvious... the point isn't about whether or not this 2600+ failed, but how many views, clicks, and conversions he could get on his video to help him get to the point where he can monetize. I looked quickly at his channel, and he has a couple of other channels he created recently... one focusing on automotive videos, etc. When you see people creating separate YouTube channels for distinct "lines" of interest... and they have everything filled out as if you're going to the channel for content, then the intent is usually because he has dreams of creating a YouTube channel with which to live the life of Justin Beiber, Lauren Z-Side, and Mr. Beast.

 

Not making fun... but just emphasizing that while your average person would e-mail Atari support, he's doing this.

 

[+LS650]

8 hours ago, John Stamos Mullet said:

He wasn’t talking about you, unless this is an E. king sock puppet burner account.

Actually, I was.  He could just do a warranty return and be done.  Anything else is wasted time.

[CapitanClassic]

9 hours ago, AgentOrange96 said:

Here's my concern, mine is ~50K serial number, and I received mine quite late. I am not the only one with this issue, and these users reported their issues much earlier than me: (Meaning, an even lower count of units had sold by this point)

That's a strange concern. Other users have reported issues, but what percentage of 2600+ systems would you expect to be dead on arrival?

 

The first batch of PS2 systems had a failure rate of about 2%. With 500,000 shipping to the USA, that means approximately 10,000 broken PS2 systems shipped that first Christmas. Have you seen 200+ videos/posts of people complaining that their 2600+ was DOA?

[Recycled]

I'll have to test the 10in1 tonight. I haven't taken it out of the box. The 4in1 paddle works great.

[Ben from Plaion]

We want as close to zero failures, because its a massive hit to the bottom line when people return things. Its the biggest thing I watch post launch after sell through figures. I pull returned machines out from retailers as soon as they are reported and test them. Of course normally 90% of returns are perfectly fine and we'll either give them away or dispose of them - this absolutely kills me. "Oh Amazon were so good with my return - they just refunded me straight away", yeah that refund is debited back to the manufacturer - the manufacturer/supplier always loses out.

 

Anyway @AgentOrange96 be good to see your machine, diagnose whats happened. Fix it and put this whole sorry episode to bed.

 

 

[AgentOrange96]

4 hours ago, Ben from Plaion said:

If you'd be so kind I'd like to see this machine and get the factory to look at it and provide a report back. I'll arrange pick up and courier back. Anything faulty will be replaced.

 

DM me to arrange if you want me to look at it.

 

36 minutes ago, Ben from Plaion said:

We want as close to zero failures, because its a massive hit to the bottom line when people return things. Its the biggest thing I watch post launch after sell through figures. I pull returned machines out from retailers as soon as they are reported and test them. Of course normally 90% of returns are perfectly fine and we'll either give them away or dispose of them - this absolutely kills me. "Oh Amazon were so good with my return - they just refunded me straight away", yeah that refund is debited back to the manufacturer - the manufacturer/supplier always loses out.

 

Anyway @AgentOrange96 be good to see your machine, diagnose whats happened. Fix it and put this whole sorry episode to bed.

 

 

Hello Ben,
That works for me. Given the posts I linked in my first comment on this thread, I wanted to make sure this got the proper attention such that the quality overall can be improved. Your ask to have the factory look at it implies a desire to learn and presumably adjust processes as needed. I appreciate that a ton!

I also appreciate the fact that you mention fixing it and replacing anything that's faulty rather than just wholesale replacement. I think we need more of that in the world.

I definitely empathize on the RMA front. I tend to work with early RMA's for products I work on, and while it's hard to fully 1000% test a CPU, often we are unable to find anything wrong with it. Other times we'll find something like thermal grease on the pins/pads and it works fine after cleaning that off. Of course some do come back faulty, and we figure out if/how our processes need to adjust.

Anyway, thank you very much for responding and being open to getting to the bottom of this. I'm excited to properly put the hardware to the test and I'm hopeful this will strengthen the product as a whole! I can get in touch via DM's for details you might need. Again, thank you!