How to Fix a Atari Gamestation Pro with `Prepare IDB Fail`

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TIP:
When I unscrewed the bottom panel of the console that has the weight in it to make the console heavier I used it so I could hang the buttons over the corner of my desk so you do not press down on them when the console is upside down and turn on the console on my accident so I put the bottom panel on the left side of the console it keep it balanced so the power and the Home buttons were hanging over the desk so I could press the power button when I needed too.
How To Fix:
Find a USB-C data cable to plug into the PC and into the AGSP, you can use the one that comes with the Atari2600 Plus, I did... .

If yours does not boot then open it up and unscrew the main PCB board, its black, you will need the ribbon cable connected to turn it on, now turn over the board, I black taped the green board then stuck the black board on it with blue tac to hold it in place, you need to short the 2 pin holes next to the NAND Chip, its above the SD Card slot on the right side of the board(see pic1) as you turn it on, I used a jump pin wire that has two pins on it one at each end, I taped it together with black tape and made sure it fitted in the two holes correctly so had the right spacing between the pins, I held down the RESET button too as I was doing it, so hold RESET, power button and then wiggle the pin wire until you see `MASKROM on the RKDebvTool v2.72 then you can stop and let go, once you get into that mode then you can flash it with the firmware 1.30.
Now move the firmware folder `3. Firmware` to your desktop and remove the space in the folders name `3. Firmware` to `3.Firmware` and added from the folder the Loader.bin and Firmware.img to the RKDevTool v2.72 and you should see them all blue, then press RUN Button on it and it will then flashed the firmware OK and get it working again... 

PIC 1 - Short two pin holes with a jumper cable

Found MASKROM from the AGSP

Added Loader.bin(1)

Added Firmware.img(2)

Pressed RUN Button to start flashing and finished all OK and its.. ALIVE... ALIVE...

All done and the AGSP is now working again...

I hope this works for you too...  

 

Oh and it works too with the Custom Firmware image too, if you put the firmware-c.img in the same folder and replace it in the firmware(2) in the RKDevTool 2.72 with Firmware-c.img
 

Edited May 5 by Spanner

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Summary

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MAKE SURE the firmware files are on the Windows Desktop ONLY so copy the `3. Firmware` folder to the Desktop(you do not need everything on the Desktop, only its firmware files) and remove the space in its name so its `3.Firmware` or change it to `AGSP-Firmware` this way you can keep the firmware on the desktop and just copy any new firmware to that folder you want to flash and then delete the older one.

You will need a USB-A to USB-C data cable(if you have a Atari2600 Plus you can use its USB-A to USB-C power cable, its a data cable for flashing its firmware) and its USB-C plugged into the USB-C Port in AGSP PCB Board and the USB-A plugged in to a USB Port on the PC, make sure its has enough power to power the AGSP.

It will NOT FLASH it in `LOADER Mode` only in `MASKROM Mode`, and if you try to do it anyway it will come up with `Prepare IDB Fail` in the RKDevTool v2.72 app half way thought flashing its firmware in it, so MAKE SURE it on `MASKROM Mode only` and it will flash it everytime with no problems...
Once's the firmware is flashed properly on AGSP then when you Press and HOLD Down MASKROM Mode button next to the USB-C port and then Press and HOLD Down POWER Button it will automatically be in `MASKRON Mode` in the RKDevTool v2.72 app.

Shorting the NAND and Putting it in MASKROM Mode

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You can now run the RKDevTool 2.72 app.
NOW... Press and HOLD Down MASKROM Mode button next to the USB-C port and then Press and HOLD Down POWER Button and then wiggle the pin wire at the same time to short the NAND(reset it) until it comes up with `MASKROM Mode` in the RKDevTool 2.72 app, then let go of everything, then add `Loader.bin` and `firmware-c.img` files(like the above pics) then Press the Run Button and it will flash it OK...  then Test AGSP to see if it boots OK, you might need to plug it into its own Power Adapter now to see its GUI load up, it GUI didn't work when AGSP PCB Board was powered by my PC but its lights on it came on so it booted OK...
The lights around the buttons(HOME and POWER Buttons) on the console and around the stick on the Joystick do not work if the console can not boot correctly or the NAND has been flashed wrong.

AGSP working again...

 

Let me know if its worked for you...?

Edited Thursday at 04:17 PM by Spanner

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Another idea would be to link the `RKDevTool v2.72 app` to your Windows Start Menu so you can load it from there.