yoras Posted October 17, 2005 Share Posted October 17, 2005 Ok, I have been silently watching this forum for a couple months and now have purchased a Rev B FB2 unit at Target (voice works in quadrun) and pulled out my trusty soldering iron. I opened it up and noticed the PCB is about 25% smaller than the one pictured on the AtariMuseum Mod Hack page. I have also noticed that there isn't a jumper wire from IC2. The instructions state "You will move the Black wire from IC2 to the other side of C4" My question is is it still relevant to have the jumper to C4? If so, what is the other connection point. I have already connected all 24 points and hooked up a switch to J3 but am still having problems. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+batari Posted October 17, 2005 Share Posted October 17, 2005 Ok, I have been silently watching this forum for a couple months and now have purchased a Rev B FB2 unit at Target (voice works in quadrun) and pulled out my trusty soldering iron. I opened it up and noticed the PCB is about 25% smaller than the one pictured on the AtariMuseum Mod Hack page. I have also noticed that there isn't a jumper wire from IC2. The instructions state "You will move the Black wire from IC2 to the other side of C4" My question is is it still relevant to have the jumper to C4? If so, what is the other connection point. I have already connected all 24 points and hooked up a switch to J3 but am still having problems. Any help would be greatly appreciated. 949842[/snapback] My Rev B FB2 says to use J9 instead of the black wire to C4 (look on the FB2's board.) There appears to be a 0 ohm resistor across J9, which I assumed must be removed, so I removed it and soldered a switch across J9, but my cart mod does not work, and nobody has responded with help. If you try the switch across J9 and you do get it to work, please post... Or if someone knows anything that I apparently don't, please post... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt Vendel Posted October 17, 2005 Share Posted October 17, 2005 Interesting... lets see a pic. Curt Ok, I have been silently watching this forum for a couple months and now have purchased a Rev B FB2 unit at Target (voice works in quadrun) and pulled out my trusty soldering iron. I opened it up and noticed the PCB is about 25% smaller than the one pictured on the AtariMuseum Mod Hack page. I have also noticed that there isn't a jumper wire from IC2. The instructions state "You will move the Black wire from IC2 to the other side of C4" My question is is it still relevant to have the jumper to C4? If so, what is the other connection point. I have already connected all 24 points and hooked up a switch to J3 but am still having problems. Any help would be greatly appreciated. 949842[/snapback] My Rev B FB2 says to use J9 instead of the black wire to C4 (look on the FB2's board.) There appears to be a 0 ohm resistor across J9, which I assumed must be removed, so I removed it and soldered a switch across J9, but my cart mod does not work, and nobody has responded with help. If you try the switch across J9 and you do get it to work, please post... Or if someone knows anything that I apparently don't, please post... 949912[/snapback] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+batari Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 (edited) Interesting... lets see a pic. 949917[/snapback] BTW, J9 is on the right near the yellow wires I soldered in. When I tried to desolder the 0 Ohm resistor at J9 I screwed up its solder pads so I followed the traces to R10 and C7 and soldered wires there instead. Indeed, shorting these connections does enable the FB2 ROM and it works properly so I know my screwup wasn't fatal. But carts don't work when shorting J3 and opening J9. Edited October 18, 2005 by batari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt Vendel Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 Couple of questions - Does Quadrun have voice on your unit? You bought this at Target? I haven't seen a m/b like that one and wasn't informed that an even smaller version was being made, now I'm quite curious to see one of these... Curt Interesting... lets see a pic. 949917[/snapback] BTW, J9 is on the right near the yellow wires I soldered in. When I tried to desolder the 0 Ohm resistor at J9 I screwed up its solder pads so I followed the traces to R10 and C7 and soldered wires there instead. Indeed, shorting these connections does enable the FB2 ROM and it works properly so I know my screwup wasn't fatal. But carts don't work when shorting J3 and opening J9. 950114[/snapback] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keilbaca Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 (edited) Sounds like production has gone out of your hands That usually means, cuts for certain things. I'm afaid when they say smaller version, they are going to cut out the extra room made to do the mod so its cheaper... Is a Rev. C still in plans to make it a lot more compatible with carts Curt? Couple of questions - Does Quadrun have voice on your unit? You bought this at Target? I haven't seen a m/b like that one and wasn't informed that an even smaller version was being made, now I'm quite curious to see one of these... Curt Interesting... lets see a pic. 949917[/snapback] BTW, J9 is on the right near the yellow wires I soldered in. When I tried to desolder the 0 Ohm resistor at J9 I screwed up its solder pads so I followed the traces to R10 and C7 and soldered wires there instead. Indeed, shorting these connections does enable the FB2 ROM and it works properly so I know my screwup wasn't fatal. But carts don't work when shorting J3 and opening J9. 950114[/snapback] 950142[/snapback] Edited October 18, 2005 by keilbaca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoras Posted October 18, 2005 Author Share Posted October 18, 2005 Couple of questions - Does Quadrun have voice on your unit? You bought this at Target? I haven't seen a m/b like that one and wasn't informed that an even smaller version was being made, now I'm quite curious to see one of these... Yes this is the same as mine. Yes I bought it at Target and yes the voice is present on Quadrun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt Vendel Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 Just IM'd with one of the engineers, that is the newest version of the motherboard with a better layout of the contact points and easier method of cart/internal game selection. I've requested a 1/2 dozen units into my office to examine and perform the mod on, I'll post when I have more info for everything, thanks for the great photo's. Curt Couple of questions - Does Quadrun have voice on your unit? You bought this at Target? I haven't seen a m/b like that one and wasn't informed that an even smaller version was being made, now I'm quite curious to see one of these... Curt Interesting... lets see a pic. 949917[/snapback] BTW, J9 is on the right near the yellow wires I soldered in. When I tried to desolder the 0 Ohm resistor at J9 I screwed up its solder pads so I followed the traces to R10 and C7 and soldered wires there instead. Indeed, shorting these connections does enable the FB2 ROM and it works properly so I know my screwup wasn't fatal. But carts don't work when shorting J3 and opening J9. 950114[/snapback] 950142[/snapback] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keilbaca Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 That sounds good, I hope some of the games that had troubles work now. That would be really cool. They actually do look a little bit better to solder/mod on. However, as mentioned before, when he did it the cart slot doesn't work. Do you think that they maybe crossed a few lines and made them different labels, crossing address lines? Just IM'd with one of the engineers, that is the newest version of the motherboard with a better layout of the contact points and easier method of cart/internal game selection. I've requested a 1/2 dozen units into my office to examine and perform the mod on, I'll post when I have more info for everything, thanks for the great photo's. Curt Couple of questions - Does Quadrun have voice on your unit? You bought this at Target? I haven't seen a m/b like that one and wasn't informed that an even smaller version was being made, now I'm quite curious to see one of these... Curt Interesting... lets see a pic. 949917[/snapback] BTW, J9 is on the right near the yellow wires I soldered in. When I tried to desolder the 0 Ohm resistor at J9 I screwed up its solder pads so I followed the traces to R10 and C7 and soldered wires there instead. Indeed, shorting these connections does enable the FB2 ROM and it works properly so I know my screwup wasn't fatal. But carts don't work when shorting J3 and opening J9. 950114[/snapback] 950142[/snapback] 950148[/snapback] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt Vendel Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 Yes, more or less, my part in this run was completed, production handles things going forward, so they made revisions, however I should still be receiving any changes/revisions as part of the process. It appears while it is obviously done to reduce board size and cost, at least the mod process was actually improved just slightly (I would've still preferred a doublesided board and a direct cart footprint, but it is what it is.) I'll keep you posted once I receive them in, usually takes 3-4 days to come over from HK. Curt Sounds like production has gone out of your hands That usually means, cuts for certain things. I'm afaid when they say smaller version, they are going to cut out the extra room made to do the mod so its cheaper... Is a Rev. C still in plans to make it a lot more compatible with carts Curt? Couple of questions - Does Quadrun have voice on your unit? You bought this at Target? I haven't seen a m/b like that one and wasn't informed that an even smaller version was being made, now I'm quite curious to see one of these... Curt Interesting... lets see a pic. 949917[/snapback] BTW, J9 is on the right near the yellow wires I soldered in. When I tried to desolder the 0 Ohm resistor at J9 I screwed up its solder pads so I followed the traces to R10 and C7 and soldered wires there instead. Indeed, shorting these connections does enable the FB2 ROM and it works properly so I know my screwup wasn't fatal. But carts don't work when shorting J3 and opening J9. 950114[/snapback] 950142[/snapback] 950144[/snapback] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt Vendel Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 The run on the eproms was already completed for the US/NTSC's so no, the games have not be updated. Some have already been corrected and one was actually fully re-written from the ground up to vastly improve it. These will make it as I've mentioned, into future revisions of the units for Asia/Europe and 2nd run orders in the US post-holidays... I have brought in several homebrewers to go into the code and correct the sync issues and change a lot of how the kernels display onthe screens, Yars' Return was finished about 2 weeks ago and it is a far, far better game now with some expertly handled tweaking by one of Atariage's resident homebrewers. Atari has already paid for the work on FB2 for its games, I'm personally taking care of the tweaking and updating work directly for improving the games... while yes, this is business, it is also a personal passion and I feel obligated to see that these games (while done well for games written in 2 months by programmers who never touched a 2600 before) are improved and released out in future FB2 consoles and other iterations in the works. Curt That sounds good, I hope some of the games that had troubles work now. That would be really cool. They actually do look a little bit better to solder/mod on. However, as mentioned before, when he did it the cart slot doesn't work. Do you think that they maybe crossed a few lines and made them different labels, crossing address lines?Just IM'd with one of the engineers, that is the newest version of the motherboard with a better layout of the contact points and easier method of cart/internal game selection. I've requested a 1/2 dozen units into my office to examine and perform the mod on, I'll post when I have more info for everything, thanks for the great photo's. Curt Couple of questions - Does Quadrun have voice on your unit? You bought this at Target? I haven't seen a m/b like that one and wasn't informed that an even smaller version was being made, now I'm quite curious to see one of these... Curt Interesting... lets see a pic. 949917[/snapback] BTW, J9 is on the right near the yellow wires I soldered in. When I tried to desolder the 0 Ohm resistor at J9 I screwed up its solder pads so I followed the traces to R10 and C7 and soldered wires there instead. Indeed, shorting these connections does enable the FB2 ROM and it works properly so I know my screwup wasn't fatal. But carts don't work when shorting J3 and opening J9. 950114[/snapback] 950142[/snapback] 950148[/snapback] 950149[/snapback] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keilbaca Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 The run on the eproms was already completed for the US/NTSC's so no, the games have not be updated. Some have already been corrected and one was actually fully re-written from the ground up to vastly improve it. These will make it as I've mentioned, into future revisions of the units for Asia/Europe and 2nd run orders in the US post-holidays... I have brought in several homebrewers to go into the code and correct the sync issues and change a lot of how the kernels display onthe screens, Yars' Return was finished about 2 weeks ago and it is a far, far better game now with some expertly handled tweaking by one of Atariage's resident homebrewers. Atari has already paid for the work on FB2 for its games, I'm personally taking care of the tweaking and updating work directly for improving the games... while yes, this is business, it is also a personal passion and I feel obligated to see that these games (while done well for games written in 2 months by programmers who never touched a 2600 before) are improved and released out in future FB2 consoles and other iterations in the works. Curt That is absolutely fantastic news. I wonder who the programmer was who fixed up Yars' Return. I really liked it, although buggy and I also liked Asteroids Deluxe, even though the homing ships aren't that smart (they automatically line up vertically as they go to you, so you just point down and fire). Sounds like this great product is only getting better, and I'll wait to cart mod one of the later models of it, because of the cart compatibility. Any word of possibly adding a pause? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supercat Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 The run on the eproms was already completed for the US/NTSC's EPROMs? Even OTPs would seem odd for the sort of volume I'd think you'd be doing, or have they gotten really cheap? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+batari Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 The run on the eproms was already completed for the US/NTSC's so no, the games have not be updated. Some have already been corrected and one was actually fully re-written from the ground up to vastly improve it. These will make it as I've mentioned, into future revisions of the units for Asia/Europe and 2nd run orders in the US post-holidays... I have brought in several homebrewers to go into the code and correct the sync issues and change a lot of how the kernels display onthe screens, Yars' Return was finished about 2 weeks ago and it is a far, far better game now with some expertly handled tweaking by one of Atariage's resident homebrewers. Atari has already paid for the work on FB2 for its games, I'm personally taking care of the tweaking and updating work directly for improving the games... while yes, this is business, it is also a personal passion and I feel obligated to see that these games (while done well for games written in 2 months by programmers who never touched a 2600 before) are improved and released out in future FB2 consoles and other iterations in the works. 950155[/snapback] I am very happy to hear that the games are being fixed! I'll keep trying to get my cart mod to work, and then maybe I'll sell it at cost when the Rev C. FB2's come out. I bought mine at Target as well, BTW. Let us know if/when you get the mod working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.J. Franzman Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 (edited) I wonder if the legend is misprinted on the rev B board and should have said J19 instead of J9. The location of J19 is right near C4, which is what was originally the second connection to change on the FB2 prototypes to enable the cart port. Edited October 18, 2005 by A.J. Franzman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feralstorm Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 Great to hear improvements will be coming to the new FB2 games. I'll definitely grab a "Rev C" FB2 when they are available and findable. I've been a little reluctant to grab the Rev Bs out now, but I may yet, though I already have 2 FB2s (neither talking, one GCC Millipede, One Atari Millipede) Maybe I need a Rev B if only for the spare Joysticks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+batari Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 SUCCESS!!!! The problem, as it turns out, was not with my soldering or screwing up the solder pads on J9, but with the edge connector itself - it's an old MFM cable, I think, and it seems to have pulled away from the ribbon cable over the years. I reseated the cable and it works now! So J9 is correct - and you need to remove the existing 0 ohm resistor across its leads and replace with wires leading to a switch. Now to see if it runs my own games... * crosses fingers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoras Posted October 19, 2005 Author Share Posted October 19, 2005 (edited) SUCCESS!!!! The problem, as it turns out, was not with my soldering or screwing up the solder pads on J9, but with the edge connector itself - it's an old MFM cable, I think, and it seems to have pulled away from the ribbon cable over the years. I reseated the cable and it works now! So J9 is correct - and you need to remove the existing 0 ohm resistor across its leads and replace with wires leading to a switch. Now to see if it runs my own games... * crosses fingers 950208[/snapback] Well, I haven't had much luck. I'm able to get the 40 in 1 menu to appear but as far as my own cartridges, I'm unable to get any to work. I've installed a DPDT switch that shorts J3 and opens J9 at the same time yet no results. Have you had any further luck? Please let me know your results. Edited October 19, 2005 by yoras Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+batari Posted October 19, 2005 Share Posted October 19, 2005 SUCCESS!!!! The problem, as it turns out, was not with my soldering or screwing up the solder pads on J9, but with the edge connector itself - it's an old MFM cable, I think, and it seems to have pulled away from the ribbon cable over the years. I reseated the cable and it works now! So J9 is correct - and you need to remove the existing 0 ohm resistor across its leads and replace with wires leading to a switch. Now to see if it runs my own games... * crosses fingers 950208[/snapback] Well, I haven't had much luck. I'm able to get the 40 in 1 menu to appear with a DPDT switch opening J9 and shorting J3 at the same time but as far as my own cartridges, I'm unable to get any to work. Have you had any further luck? Please let me know your results. 950762[/snapback] Yes, most games I've tried do indeed work. I was happy to find that Thrus+ worked flawlessly! I'd double-check your connections. I personally soldered the cable on wrong the first time and had to desolder the whole thing before it worked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoras Posted October 19, 2005 Author Share Posted October 19, 2005 FINALLY!!! I got it working. To all who are reading this let me give you some great words of wisdom that I, myself should have done... Pay attention to the cartridge connector pinout as described in the FAQ just like Curt said!! It only took me 3 hours before I considered this to be an option. I'll work on the cosmetics of my mod tomorrow and put up pics!! I'm gonna go try berzerk cartridge then go to bed. FB2 Rev B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antron Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 (edited) scratch Edited January 23, 2007 by antron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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