bones Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 (edited) This was posted in the 8-bit computer forum initially, tho in retrospect it probably should be here. Anyhoo... I was tweaking the gameroom setup and finally got around to plugging in the XEGS after 6 months of neglect. Unfortunately the system didn't turn on, so I suspect a faulty power supply. Tried another Atari computer power supply and the system LED lights up, but that's about it. The only thing that shows up on my monitor is the standard square in the upper left hand corner of the screen. I've tried to load games off cartridge, no dice...tried to load the built-in Missile Command, nada...tried the keyboard, no change on the screen, just that damned green square It does recognize the reset button, so that's something. Opened the system up and the motherboard looks ok, no burns, rust, etc. Any ideas on a quick fix to get this running? I'd be ok with replacing a couple of capacitors or resistors if that would do it. Looks like Atari cheaped out and surface mounted all the chips, so no easy swap outs there If I can't get this going guess I'm in the market for a loose XEGS! BTW, is it ok to use the 1.5 amp power supply versions for this system? I've tried both the 1 and 1.5 amp ones with the same result. Edited January 6, 2006 by bones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdie3 Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 Try doing a diagnostic on it - Hold down the OPTION button and turn it on simultaneosly I think it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bones Posted January 6, 2006 Author Share Posted January 6, 2006 Try doing a diagnostic on it - Hold down the OPTION button and turn it on simultaneosly I think it is. 995256[/snapback] Cool, will try that tonight, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdie3 Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 I have a spare XEGS I can trade or sell if you can't figure it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bones Posted January 7, 2006 Author Share Posted January 7, 2006 Tried the Option trick, but it just stays at that screen. PM coming up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdie3 Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 Apologies.. I was wrong. Try this: Plug keyboard in, power up holding down select - Missle Command should appear, press Reset - diagnostic screen should appear. Let me know how this works for you. I tried this tonight and I ran a diagnotic on my XEGS using this method. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Almost Rice Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 Tried the Option trick, but it just stays at that screen. PM coming up! 995554[/snapback] I have the same problem. I had to socket all my 40pin chips and replaced them 1 by 1. The PIA was my problem. After replacement of the PIA, the system worked but erracticly and not with the keyboard. The keyboard could be detected, but no key presses registered except for those on the console. The only chips I have not changed are the Freddie and ROM. I guess you would need a spare xl or xe to pull the chips from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bones Posted January 8, 2006 Author Share Posted January 8, 2006 Drats, no dice on that either, just the green square sitting there staring at me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdie3 Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 I have the same problem. I had to socket all my 40pin chips and replaced them 1 by 1. The PIA was my problem. After replacement of the PIA, the system worked but erracticly and not with the keyboard. The keyboard could be detected, but no key presses registered except for those on the console. The only chips I have not changed are the Freddie and ROM. I guess you would need a spare xl or xe to pull the chips from. 996245[/snapback] You should have just got a new one considering the trouble you went through with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Almost Rice Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 You should have just got a new one considering the trouble you went through with it. 996325[/snapback] I know, but I have just having some fun and trying to figure things out. I was going to pull the pokey for the CC2 for my 7800 anyway. It was not much harder to desolder 3 more chips and socket them. Its nice to figure how things work. Somehow regulars here keep offerring their spare XEGS system to other with the same problem and I miss out. So I just decided to pull the chips. I had 1week off for Christmas so I had plenty of time. BTW, I pulled the ram chips and socketed them too. I then took the ram and inserted them into my 600xl. I now have a 64k 600xl. So the XEGS had good ram. If I ever get my XEGS to work I will make it my testbed. Just need some extra parts. Bones, you willing to part with the dead XEGS when you get the working one? I'll pick up the shipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Almost Rice Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 Drats, no dice on that either, just the green square sitting there staring at me 996320[/snapback] Hey bones, I have been looking at it the system you sent me. I could get it to work a little. I adjusted the Pot. to get the color to blue. I also tried a few carts. I have included screen captures of what I got. Sounds work ok. I could not press Start Select or Option. The keyboard worked on BallBlazer. Also got some sound in Asteroids. Now, I am guessing that the GTIA that is bad. It looks like games based on modified ATascii graphics are the only ones that work somewhat. I'll take a look this weekend at removing the chip. All the chips are soldered. The system I had, the 6502 and Antic were socket. Also this give me time to soak up some input from everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classics Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 Thats really strange. Its either GTIA, ANTIC or the video output circuit. I'm betting on GTIA as well though. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bones Posted February 8, 2006 Author Share Posted February 8, 2006 Drats, no dice on that either, just the green square sitting there staring at me 996320[/snapback] Hey bones, I have been looking at it the system you sent me. I could get it to work a little. I adjusted the Pot. to get the color to blue. I also tried a few carts. I have included screen captures of what I got. Sounds work ok. I could not press Start Select or Option. The keyboard worked on BallBlazer. Also got some sound in Asteroids. Now, I am guessing that the GTIA that is bad. It looks like games based on modified ATascii graphics are the only ones that work somewhat. I'll take a look this weekend at removing the chip. All the chips are soldered. The system I had, the 6502 and Antic were socket. Also this give me time to soak up some input from everyone. 1014988[/snapback] Excellent, that's more than I was able to get out of it. My XEGS power supply died while plugged into that console, wonder if it took out the GTIA chip with it? Yeah, having no socketed chips was the nail-in-the-coffin for me, my soldering skills are horrible Anyhoo, good luck with the tinkering - always nice to hear happy endings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightSprinter Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 Bah, mine powers on with just a black screen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Almost Rice Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 Bah, mine powers on with just a black screen. 1015170[/snapback] Mine was doing the exact same thing. I switched out the PIA and it works better, but still not 100%. I think I did not solder some pins correctly when I socketed all the 40 pin chips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightSprinter Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 Well, mine is a more serious problem. I turned it on when hooked up to a C64 power supply. The piece behind the power socket witht he copper wiring coiled around it burnt and smoked. The smell's gone though, but the system's pretty much shot it seems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 Bad idea. The C-64 PSU has the same plug as the XL/XE PSU but the pin assignments are different, plus it also supplies 12V AC and 5V DC where the Atari one only supplies 5V DC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Almost Rice Posted February 10, 2006 Share Posted February 10, 2006 Success!!! The problem was the GTIA chip. I have not fully tested the XEGS though. Basic starts now with the keyboard plugged in. Missile command works too. I will be putting it through the paces in the next few days. I have not tested the SIO yet. Thanks again bones. Also the system also had to deal with static through the keyboard port when I was unpacking. bones did too good a job on that, but it seems to still keep on ticking. Its a wonder our Ataris can survive bad PS and static and keep on ticking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightSprinter Posted February 10, 2006 Share Posted February 10, 2006 (edited) Ok, now for mine. How can one restore it after I smoked that metal piece behind the power socket with the copper wiring around it? Despite I have another one that's working I want to try and get this restored before possibly trading it off to a friend. So is there any way to replace the torroidal transformer (found out after speaking to someone I know who has some electronics know-how online) and see about getting some chips replaced in order to restore this thing back to working order? Edited February 10, 2006 by NightSprinter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Almost Rice Posted February 10, 2006 Share Posted February 10, 2006 (edited) Ok, now for mine. How can one restore it after I smoked that metal piece behind the power socket with the copper wiring around it? Despite I have another one that's working I want to try and get this restored before possibly trading it off to a friend. 1016162[/snapback] I was lucky. Having some of my game carts work hinted at a bad GTIA chip. Yours is harder to diagnose. Having plugged in a Commodore PS into the XEGS, I would start with a pinout of the PS and see what they got connected to in the Atari. Compare what was the power output into and what the Atari was expecting. I would look at what the AC lines were connected to. Then find where those line directly connect to. Those chips are most likely fried. Also plug it in and try any and everything to get it to work or just to make sure what is not working. Good Luck NS. If you cant get it working, you could ship it to me like bones did. Edited February 10, 2006 by Almost Rice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightSprinter Posted February 10, 2006 Share Posted February 10, 2006 Absolutely nothing, AR. Just plugged in every cartridge I had, and hit every button possible. No dice. If you wouldn't mind extra money to do so I'd have you fix the Wico Command Control bat-handle stick I have (provided I can find a new leaf switch for the fire button on the base, I broke an end contact from the other one). Just let me know how much it costs to get the work done on the XEGS and the stick and I'll try and have everything ready to send next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Almost Rice Posted February 10, 2006 Share Posted February 10, 2006 (edited) Absolutely nothing, AR. Just plugged in every cartridge I had, and hit every button possible. No dice. If you wouldn't mind extra money to do so I'd have you fix the Wico Command Control bat-handle stick I have (provided I can find a new leaf switch for the fire button on the base, I broke an end contact from the other one). Just let me know how much it costs to get the work done on the XEGS and the stick and I'll try and have everything ready to send next week. 1016187[/snapback] I am assuming you are from Canada. I know that, from Canada, my last shipped item cost nearly $50. It was a heavy item, but I have not bought many items from Canada because of the prohibitive shipping. So you may be better off buying one of eBay. I have noticed some listings that went for lower prices in Canada. Sorry it was birdie3 that I was thinking about. Anyway, bones had given me his broken XEGS since he already received a replacement. Also, I was buying a couple of monitor switches from him and he just threw the XEGS in the same box. That was what I meant by my shipping comment. The worse that could have happened was I would have a lot of spare chips. Now, I currently have 3 working XEGS(I got 2 while buying other things while waiting for bones to get his XEGS) and a broken one. Currently, the broken one has a bad PIA and GTIA chip also some of the soldering may need to be looked at. I any case all the chips were socketed and the 64k chips are now residing in my 600xl. So, my dead XEGS has revived another XEGS and made my 600xl a 64k. Also I have an extra Freddie, 6502, Antic, and Pokey to troubleshoot other projects. It don't mind looking at it for you. I might be busy by the time it gets to me. Too bad I have some time this weekend. Back to the problem: How can one restore it after I smoked that metal piece behind the power socket with the copper wiring around it? 1016162[/snapback] What does the damage look like? I will take a picture of it tonight to see if we are talking about the same thing. In the mean time Here are the pinouts. Available at the Commodore 64. 5 PIN DIN 'O' FEMALE (At the computer) 7 PIN DIN 'O' FEMALE at the computer. Pin Name 1 Shield Ground 2 Shield Ground 3 Shield Ground 4 nc 5 +5v In 6 9Vac in 7 9Vac in Compare that to the Atari Power Adapter Plug: 7 6 3 1 5 4 2 1. +5V 2. Shield 3. Ground 4. +5V 5. Ground 6. +5V 7. Ground Edited February 10, 2006 by Almost Rice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdie3 Posted February 10, 2006 Share Posted February 10, 2006 Sorry it was birdie3 that I was thinking about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightSprinter Posted February 10, 2006 Share Posted February 10, 2006 This is just strange.. I'm not seeing any sort of physical damage to the torroid. If I fried it and caused smoke to come from it (y'know, the horrid-smelling, invisible type of smoke?), wouldn't there be "some" kind of visibly-evidant damage? What would be the problem in this case? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Almost Rice Posted February 10, 2006 Share Posted February 10, 2006 Sorry it was birdie3 that I was thinking about. 1016348[/snapback] birdie, I was thinking NS was going to ship the damaged XEGS to me and it would have been expensive coming from Canada. Since he is not I should have just deleted the who section. This is just strange.. I'm not seeing any sort of physical damage to the torroid. If I fried it and caused smoke to come from it (y'know, the horrid-smelling, invisible type of smoke?), wouldn't there be "some" kind of visibly-evidant damage? What would be the problem in this case? 1016385[/snapback] You could have done lots of damage. I will have to wait until I get home to follow the traces and see what to check for first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.