Updated cartridge socket giveaway

[Ben from Plaion]

5 hours ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

It is public now. Although for reasons I can't figure out...YT insists on having the word UAV in the title when it is linked even though this video has NOTHING to do with UAV boards or drones.

 

 

Thanks a lot for posting such an excellent and informative guide.

 

Edited November 11 by Ben from Plaion

[Ben from Plaion]

11 hours ago, karri said:

Does the new I/O board have the HALT signal connected?

Does it allow paddles to work with less jitter?

Does it make paddles work for 7800 games?

Does it allow single button joysticks be detected properly?

 

So many questions...

No, No, No, and I think this has been resolved at a firmware update level in an as of yet unreleased firmware build from @raz0red.

 

The parity board I spoken about is being designed at at the moment, however I'm unsure that I'll ever release it because it causes complexity with updates and we are still unsure whether the original 2600+ IO PCB board can be updated to achieve parity anyway.

 

It's a live topic without a clear answer.

Edited November 11 by Ben from Plaion

[atwwong]

9 minutes ago, Ben from Plaion said:

No, No, No, and I think this has been resolved at a firmware update level in an as of yet unreleased firmware build from @raz0red.

 

The parity board I spoken about is being designed at at the moment, however I'm unsure that I'll ever release it because it causes complexity with updates and we are still unsure whether the original 2600+ IO PCB board can be updated to achieve parity anyway.

 

It's a live topic without a clear answer.

Maybe release the parity board in a new Plus system and call it the 2600A+ or something... 😁

[Ben from Plaion]

Just now, atwwong said:

Maybe release the parity board in a new Plus system and call it the 2600A+ or something... 😁

Oh boy AA posters are so often on the mark, it's quite frankly amazing how many times I read posts and they match conversations I've had...it's so funny.

 

I honestly had a discussion in the last couple of weeks about the use of the 2600A+ title name, but it wasn't for the parity board, it was for something else. 

 

 

[MrChickenz]

7 minutes ago, Ben from Plaion said:

I honestly had a discussion in the last couple of weeks about the use of the 2600A+ title name, but it wasn't for the parity board, it was for something else. 

The Atari 2600A+ Six Switch?😄

Edited November 11 by MrChickenz

[Gabe]

28 minutes ago, Ben from Plaion said:

The parity board I spoken about is being designed at at the moment

Not to take this too far off topic, but what is a parity board and what's different/special about it in comparison to the regular board?

[Ben from Plaion]

6 minutes ago, Gabe said:

Not to take this too far off topic, but what is a parity board and what's different/special about it in comparison to the regular board?

A IO PCB board for the 2600+ that uses the same functionality of the IO PCB that the 7800+ uses. It enables better paddle resolution, Trackball TB mode, video keypad, and driving controller functionality.

[+sramirez2008]

14 minutes ago, MrChickenz said:

The Atari 2600A+ Six Switch?😄

Or…

[MrChickenz]

Just now, sramirez2008 said:

Or…

Makes sense! 

[Ben from Plaion]

15 minutes ago, MrChickenz said:

The Atari 2600A+ Six Switch?😄

I often don't respond to your posts as they are too close to things I can't talk about because they are so close to discussions we have and yet are likely to happen or not happen. It's a tricky position I'm in to exciting the market with prospective products to disappointing them with teasing stuff that doesn't happen for whatever reason.

[MrChickenz]

11 minutes ago, Ben from Plaion said:

I often don't respond to your posts as they are too close to things I can't talk about because they are so close to discussions we have and yet are likely to happen or not happen. It's a tricky position I'm in to exciting the market with prospective products to disappointing them with teasing stuff that doesn't happen for whatever reason.

It’s great to know things are afoot at least! 😄
Sure would like to get a peek behind that curtain though!

 

 

Edited November 11 by MrChickenz

[Bitsized]

1 hour ago, Ben from Plaion said:

No, No, No, and I think this has been resolved at a firmware update level in an as of yet unreleased firmware build from @raz0red.

 

The parity board I spoken about is being designed at at the moment, however I'm unsure that I'll ever release it because it causes complexity with updates and we are still unsure whether the original 2600+ IO PCB board can be updated to achieve parity anyway.

 

It's a live topic without a clear answer.

OH.  Maybe I misunderstood.  I thought the parity board (to achieve functionality with trackballs, keypads, and driving controllers) would be able to be swapped into last year's 2600+, is this not the case?

[Ben from Plaion]

5 minutes ago, Bitsized said:

OH.  Maybe I misunderstood.  I thought the parity board (to achieve functionality with trackballs, keypads, and driving controllers) would be able to be swapped into last year's 2600+, is this not the case?

Yes it would be.

 

There are three IO PCBs being talked about for the 2600+

 

1. The original launch version 

2. An update version that I've given away here on AA as well as being included in recent manufacture of 2600+ restocks

3. A parity board for the 2600+ that matches functionality to the 7800+. This has not been made yet and is being developed at the moment.

[TheRingBearer]

1 hour ago, MrChickenz said:

It’s great to know things are afoot at least! 😄
Sure would like to get a peek behind that curtain though!

 

 

(scream in the distance)

 

🤣 Let's wait and see.

[Bitsized]

58 minutes ago, Ben from Plaion said:

Yes it would be.

 

There are three IO PCBs being talked about for the 2600+

 

1. The original launch version 

2. An update version that I've given away here on AA as well as being included in recent manufacture of 2600+ restocks

3. A parity board for the 2600+ that matches functionality to the 7800+. This has not been made yet and is being developed at the moment.

Pardon my confusion, but for clarification:  Is the parity board (#3) able to be swapped into the current 2600+?

[Ben from Plaion]

10 hours ago, Bitsized said:

Pardon my confusion, but for clarification:  Is the parity board (#3) able to be swapped into the current 2600+?

Yes

[MarcinJ]

Unfortunately, either my fingers are too clumsy or my PCB board does not fit into my 2600+,

while replacing I could not fit the new board into the case. 

The reason is that the guiding gaps in the cartridge slots were too narrow for my case and I damaged the plastic parts inside the cartridge slots 😕

 

Here is the comparison of the old PCB (right) and the new one (left)

The old one had gaps twice as large as the new one. 

Did you encounter the same issue? 
The new board also does not detect any game. 

Edited November 14 by MarcinJ

[MarcinJ]

Fortunately, the old PCB still works well. 

Meanwhile I have dismantled and put together 2600+ so many times I could work for Plaion. 😜

[Ben from Plaion]

34 minutes ago, MarcinJ said:

Unfortunately, either my fingers are too clumsy or my PCB board does not fit into my 2600+,

while replacing I could not fit the new board into the case. 

The reason is that the guiding gaps in the cartridge slots were too narrow for my case and I damaged the plastic parts inside the cartridge slots 😕

 

Here is the comparison of the old PCB (right) and the new one (left)

The old one had gaps twice as large as the new one. 

Did you encounter the same issue? 
The new board also does not detect any game. 

Send your machine to me and I'll have it sorted asap and sent back. No worries my man

[MarcinJ]

27 minutes ago, Ben from Plaion said:

Send your machine to me and I'll have it sorted as

Wow, thanks 🙏 You’re amazing. 

[+Fred_M]

1 hour ago, MarcinJ said:

Unfortunately, either my fingers are too clumsy or my PCB board does not fit into my 2600+,

while replacing I could not fit the new board into the case. 

The reason is that the guiding gaps in the cartridge slots were too narrow for my case and I damaged the plastic parts inside the cartridge slots 😕

 

Here is the comparison of the old PCB (right) and the new one (left)

The old one had gaps twice as large as the new one. 

Did you encounter the same issue? 
The new board also does not detect any game. 

Just to be sure: did you remove all the screws so that the front panel comes loose? When you try to push the IO board in without removing the front panel, the board will be stuck on the small black capacitor on the right of the slot.

[infinite.pies]

On 11/12/2024 at 10:11 AM, Ben from Plaion said:

Oh boy AA posters are so often on the mark, it's quite frankly amazing how many times I read posts and they match conversations I've had...it's so funny.

 

I honestly had a discussion in the last couple of weeks about the use of the 2600A+ title name, but it wasn't for the parity board, it was for something else. 

 

 

I'm not too keen on the idea of taking my 2600+ apart to swap out parts, but if/when there's a new version of the 2600+, I'll be clamouring to be the first person in the southern hemisphere to place my pre-order.

[Ripweade]

1 hour ago, infinite.pies said:

I'm not too keen on the idea of taking my 2600+ apart to swap out parts, but if/when there's a new version of the 2600+, I'll be clamouring to be the first person in the southern hemisphere to place my pre-order.

That's my thought right now.  It was a struggle to replace the slot, and mine didn't work (I think I broke a solder joint because the new slot wiggles on the PCB).

 

I'm gonna hold out for a year or two when the new ones have updated slots and PCBs.  Yeah, I'll buy another one and keep my current one as a backup.  

[Tidus79001]

Please add me to for the list for the next round of give away PCBs.  Thanks!

 

[Dionoid]

On 11/11/2024 at 9:53 PM, Ben from Plaion said:

The parity board I spoken about is being designed at at the moment, however I'm unsure that I'll ever release it because it causes complexity with updates and we are still unsure whether the original 2600+ IO PCB board can be updated to achieve parity anyway.

Hi Ben, when you say "complexity with updates", does that mean that a possible parity board will need to use the 7800+ firmware updater, which could confuse people? Or that the firmware updater needs some way to detect either a 2600+ or a 7800+ and use the corresponding firmware image?