hueyjones70 Posted November 1 Share Posted November 1 I have a 130XE that hasn't booted for several years. Yesterday I decided to see what SYSCHECK could find out and SYSCHECK SAID that all of the memory was all OK. What is the best place to begin troubleshooting. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374749-atari-130xe-doesnt-boot-and-syscheck-says-memory-is-all-good/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted November 1 Share Posted November 1 another duplicate? 2 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374749-atari-130xe-doesnt-boot-and-syscheck-says-memory-is-all-good/#findComment-5558855 Share on other sites More sharing options...
xrbrevin Posted November 2 Share Posted November 2 have you tried booting the OS from the SYSCHECK board instead of the internal one? Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374749-atari-130xe-doesnt-boot-and-syscheck-says-memory-is-all-good/#findComment-5558899 Share on other sites More sharing options...
hueyjones70 Posted November 2 Author Share Posted November 2 No, but I will. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374749-atari-130xe-doesnt-boot-and-syscheck-says-memory-is-all-good/#findComment-5558937 Share on other sites More sharing options...
hueyjones70 Posted November 4 Author Share Posted November 4 I replaced the OS and the Freddie and it now boots most of the time. Sometimes it doesn't boot, sometimes it boots to self test. When I run the self test it only checks the base memory. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374749-atari-130xe-doesnt-boot-and-syscheck-says-memory-is-all-good/#findComment-5560431 Share on other sites More sharing options...
hueyjones70 Posted November 4 Author Share Posted November 4 There are a couple of wires that connect pins on the 74LS08 to the 74LS138 and to a via for the GTIA and another wire that connects two capacitors and I am not sure that I now have them connected correctly can someone tell me exactly what the connections are supposed to be? Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374749-atari-130xe-doesnt-boot-and-syscheck-says-memory-is-all-good/#findComment-5560449 Share on other sites More sharing options...
xrbrevin Posted November 4 Share Posted November 4 65XEs and 130XEs all have 2x wires as standard. there are forum posts about it but i think it was mentioned that at the time, manufacturing staff were idle and were given the task as they were paid by the hour..! the memory self-test does not test the extended memory unless you update the OS ROM to the XEGS later type. you can use a number of programs to test it tho - xram, simplechecker are 2x i can recall you could try unplugging the keyboard and see if it boots to selftest, it could be a membrane issue causing the option key to be held down. an OS issue can also cause it to do the same but you have replaced that already. the MMU plays a part in booting the OS so it might be worth a look. you can make an MMU from a GAL chip if you have a programmer - the files are on the forum. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374749-atari-130xe-doesnt-boot-and-syscheck-says-memory-is-all-good/#findComment-5560463 Share on other sites More sharing options...
hueyjones70 Posted November 4 Author Share Posted November 4 All of the boot issues occurred without a keyboard attached. Have several spare MMUs. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374749-atari-130xe-doesnt-boot-and-syscheck-says-memory-is-all-good/#findComment-5560472 Share on other sites More sharing options...
TZJB Posted November 4 Share Posted November 4 45 minutes ago, hueyjones70 said: There are a couple of wires that connect pins on the 74LS08 to the 74LS138 and to a via for the GTIA and another wire that connects two capacitors and I am not sure that I now have them connected correctly can someone tell me exactly what the connections are supposed to be? Does this help? Looks like U18 pin 9 & 10 to U2 pin 15, and U18 pin 8 to GTIA pin 32. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374749-atari-130xe-doesnt-boot-and-syscheck-says-memory-is-all-good/#findComment-5560480 Share on other sites More sharing options...
scitari Posted November 6 Share Posted November 6 (edited) The fact that it boots fine some of the time sounds like either a failing IC with a short or a socket that is faulty. Touch the tops of all the chips when the computer has been on for a few minutes to see if any are too hot to leave your finger on. That is one way to detect a shorted IC. If you have a multimeter, you can check to make sure there is 5V reaching the ICs. A voltage that is on the edge (e.g. 4.5V) could create sporadic failures. If your chips are socketed, I would remove them and reseat then after spraying some contact cleaner in the sockets. Oxidation can create intermittent contact of the pins. If you have an oscilloscope you can make sure the key chips are reading and producing correct signals. You can also flip the circuit board over and see if there are any bad solder joints or disconnected bodge wires. This is the process I use when diagnosing a system like this. I would love to see photos of the top and bottom of the circuit board. A key question is whether it crashes after it has been on for a while or is it only an intermittent bad boot? Good luck!!! Edited November 6 by scitari 2 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374749-atari-130xe-doesnt-boot-and-syscheck-says-memory-is-all-good/#findComment-5561345 Share on other sites More sharing options...
reifsnyderb Posted November 6 Share Posted November 6 I'd try swapping out the MMU and see what happens. 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374749-atari-130xe-doesnt-boot-and-syscheck-says-memory-is-all-good/#findComment-5561380 Share on other sites More sharing options...
TZJB Posted November 6 Share Posted November 6 Please attach pictures of the board. We like pictures! 3 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374749-atari-130xe-doesnt-boot-and-syscheck-says-memory-is-all-good/#findComment-5561488 Share on other sites More sharing options...
hueyjones70 Posted November 6 Author Share Posted November 6 On 11/4/2024 at 5:03 PM, TZJB said: Does this help? Looks like U18 pin 9 & 10 to U2 pin 15, and U18 pin 8 to GTIA pin 32. That helps a lot. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374749-atari-130xe-doesnt-boot-and-syscheck-says-memory-is-all-good/#findComment-5561583 Share on other sites More sharing options...
hueyjones70 Posted November 6 Author Share Posted November 6 After getting all of the wires solder in correctly and replacing the Freddie and the OS, it has booted correctly about a dozen times. I also let it run the diagnostic self test for a couple of hours. 7 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374749-atari-130xe-doesnt-boot-and-syscheck-says-memory-is-all-good/#findComment-5561585 Share on other sites More sharing options...
TZJB Posted November 7 Share Posted November 7 12 hours ago, hueyjones70 said: After getting all of the wires solder in correctly and replacing the Freddie and the OS, it has booted correctly about a dozen times. I also let it run the diagnostic self test for a couple of hours. A successful result. I am glad that we could help. 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374749-atari-130xe-doesnt-boot-and-syscheck-says-memory-is-all-good/#findComment-5561765 Share on other sites More sharing options...
hueyjones70 Posted November 17 Author Share Posted November 17 Not entirely successful, it has started blinking out. When I let it run the self-test or a continuous program the video will blink out for a second or two. I replaced the 4050 IC and nothing changed. I figure it must be a bad connection in the video circuit or a bad component, (resistor or cap). Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374749-atari-130xe-doesnt-boot-and-syscheck-says-memory-is-all-good/#findComment-5566812 Share on other sites More sharing options...
TZJB Posted November 17 Share Posted November 17 11 hours ago, hueyjones70 said: Not entirely successful, it has started blinking out. When I let it run the self-test or a continuous program the video will blink out for a second or two. I replaced the 4050 IC and nothing changed. I figure it must be a bad connection in the video circuit or a bad component, (resistor or cap). The video consists of some large ICs too. ANTIC and GTIA for instance. Are these socketed? You haven't uploaded a picture yet. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374749-atari-130xe-doesnt-boot-and-syscheck-says-memory-is-all-good/#findComment-5566992 Share on other sites More sharing options...
TZJB Posted November 18 Share Posted November 18 @hueyjones70 I just remembered that U20 CD4050, should ideally also be linked to the ground plane if possible by strapping U20 pins 8 & 9 to ground, as there is very little ground area in the vicinity of the U20 chip. This is intended to reduce picture interference and is often quoted in the S-Video modification, but may help the normal output anyway. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374749-atari-130xe-doesnt-boot-and-syscheck-says-memory-is-all-good/#findComment-5567661 Share on other sites More sharing options...
hueyjones70 Posted November 18 Author Share Posted November 18 In order to try and isolate the problem I hooked up the RF output and had no video problems do I switched to composite and again had no video issues so the problem seems to be specific to the chroma circuit. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374749-atari-130xe-doesnt-boot-and-syscheck-says-memory-is-all-good/#findComment-5567800 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+kheller2 Posted November 18 Share Posted November 18 Or your tv/monitor. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374749-atari-130xe-doesnt-boot-and-syscheck-says-memory-is-all-good/#findComment-5567875 Share on other sites More sharing options...
hueyjones70 Posted November 19 Author Share Posted November 19 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374749-atari-130xe-doesnt-boot-and-syscheck-says-memory-is-all-good/#findComment-5568046 Share on other sites More sharing options...
hueyjones70 Posted November 19 Author Share Posted November 19 (edited) I had completed the Peterson 320K RAM upgrade but I took it out to make sure it wasn't part of the problem. I will try another TV tomorrow. I was running the video through a converter with Video and S-Video inputs and HDMI output. Edited November 19 by hueyjones70 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374749-atari-130xe-doesnt-boot-and-syscheck-says-memory-is-all-good/#findComment-5568049 Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted November 19 Share Posted November 19 The solder work on this is very inconsistent. Amazed it's worked enough for syscheck to give results. The solder blobs, overfill and underfill of joints on the pcb is crazy. I would invest in a decent iron, good lead based solder and seriously good flux. It need a good cleaning and follow that with pulling the excess solder off the blobs. Then fill in those voids holes and cracks. Some wires appear to have holes melted in the insulation, and possible whiskers. I'd clean those up, heat shrink or replace them. 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374749-atari-130xe-doesnt-boot-and-syscheck-says-memory-is-all-good/#findComment-5568060 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+warerat Posted November 19 Share Posted November 19 I'm going to head this one off at the pass to save you a post and state that your 320K upgrade isn't going to work properly either (you will only have four banks that can hold unique data). One of these things is not like the others, One of these things just doesn't belong, Can you tell which thing is not like the others By the time I finish my song? 1 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374749-atari-130xe-doesnt-boot-and-syscheck-says-memory-is-all-good/#findComment-5568067 Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted November 19 Share Posted November 19 64K and 256K if the blurry one is just that... while hinting along with the great song. still need to clean the crap out of this and check their is no rust in the rf can while your at it. saw more voids and crack when looking a second time. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374749-atari-130xe-doesnt-boot-and-syscheck-says-memory-is-all-good/#findComment-5568212 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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