Life, the universe & everything...Atari (well, mostly)

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stephen_usher
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Re: Life, the universe & everything...Atari (well, mostly)

Post by stephen_usher »

You can fit a 3(?) cell AAA battery holder plus diode as a replacement for the expensive batteries. Far cheaper to run on those.
Intro retro computers since before they were retro...
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
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JezC
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Re: Life, the universe & everything...Atari (well, mostly)

Post by JezC »

stephen_usher wrote: Sun Sep 19, 2021 10:12 pm You can fit a 3(?) cell AAA battery holder plus diode as a replacement for the expensive batteries. Far cheaper to run on those.
Ah, that's a handy tip! I'll see if I can spot a suitable holder on Farnell or RS...thanks!
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JezC
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Re: Life, the universe & everything...Atari (well, mostly)

Post by JezC »

I've still not managed to have a deeper dive into fault-finding on the H4/H5 boards...but I have been looking through some of the other STF/M system on the repair pile...

One's a 520STFM with a 2 Meg RAM upgrade (but still with TOS 1.00 in 6 ROMs in sockets) mentioned in an earlier post - it's one of the early motherboard revisions with the processor near the mouse/joystick ports (and no Blitter pads) - looked like C070523 Rev D. I've found a set of TOS 1.04 EPROMs ready to fit to this come the weekend.

Another is a poorly looking 1040STF (C070523-001 Rev. A) which looks as if it once had a memory upgrade that has since been removed. All custom chips are socketed but when powered up, there's no sign of life on the display & only the keyboard power LED comes on - and no obvious change on pressing the reset button.
It's also had the floppy cable cut in half at some point, so definitely will need some TLC (if it's not destined to become a candidate for the donor pile).
I've not yet had chance to try the diag cart and check or serial output...possibly at the weekend.

If I can borrow the scope from work over the weekend, I hope to spend some time on this one to see if I can hone those diagnostic skills a bit more, ready to tackle the two poorly remake boards.

I also have a GreaseWeazle plus 2x Goteks and an external floppy drive for an Amiga (the latter unearthed in a box in the garage) to look at - not to mention the SD2IDE adaptors, the CF card from @PhilC (so that might mean an excuse to unbox the Falcon! :mrgreen:) as well as the batteries for the BBC Master. Oh yes, and there's the DIP to PLCC adaptor board from the very generous @stephen_usher to build up (along with various STE/Mega ST TOS switchers).

I feel like a lottery win is the only way I'm going to get enough time to actually make any significant inroads into the above as well as continuing to sort out the shelving in the garage...anybody with a good set of numbers is welcome to share them if they care to ;)
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sporniket
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Re: Life, the universe & everything...Atari (well, mostly)

Post by sporniket »

JezC wrote: Tue Sep 28, 2021 10:42 pm I feel like a lottery win is the only way I'm going to get enough time to actually make any significant inroads into the above as well as continuing to sort out the shelving in the garage...
I feel the same...
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JezC
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Re: Life, the universe & everything...Atari (well, mostly)

Post by JezC »

No win on the lottery over the past 2 days...sigh.

I managed to try the CF card that I got from @PhilC - thanks again for that! - and tried it in my Falcon...success!

It showed the HDDriver boot info & promptly showed 2 bombs & restarted...boo!...so I tried swapping partition D for C & then it booted to the desktop OK & it's currently running Gembench.

So, I'll need to back up that card before I do anything too daft with it.

At least I now know that I have a working CF adaptor etc in the Falcon...and I can try it on the TF536 (again, kindly provided by @PhilC - thanks once more!) once I sort out the issues with the H4 & H5.

On the H4 front, I tried to hunt around for any potential short last night without any success (but only spent about 10 minutes on it) so I will have to save up & order a milliohm meter & try to find it that way.
So, maybe I should make the time tomorrow night to try and make some progress with the floppy drive issue on the H5...after I'm back from taking my daughter to her karate class!

Well, it's a plan - as to whether it will work out that way, who can tell... ;)
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JezC
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Re: Life, the universe & everything...Atari (well, mostly)

Post by JezC »

As usual, my original plans were thwarted...so the only notable progress since my last post is to put TOS 1.04 in that 2.5Meg Atari STFM...and it still works (for now, at least).

So that's another functional system ready for a recap/keyboard repair (missing right Shift key) when other projects are blocked.

I've also unearthed my supply of memory upgrades to target that Rev F2 board (though I need to check which SIMMs are OK before I bother to fit it... :roll: )

Now, which box has all those 30 pin SIMMs in it...and no, I don't want to borrow the two SIMMs out of that other system I've just upgraded to TOS 1.04!
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JezC
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Re: Life, the universe & everything...Atari (well, mostly)

Post by JezC »

Darn...that 70789 Rev F2 has the shifter soldered in...so it will be a rethink on this & I may swap the TOS 1.04 out for some TOS 1.02 ROMs instead & then fit those TOS 1.04 ROMs into a different system with a memory upgrade already fitted.

Ho hum...

I've also been somewhat distracted by trying to get HD Driver 11.08 to make a small CF card bootable (without success thus far).
I think the one negative comment about HD Driver is the lack of an electronic copy of the manual...I have a much older version (v6 or v7) so I'll resort to reading that to see if that gives me any clues...
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JezC
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Re: Life, the universe & everything...Atari (well, mostly)

Post by JezC »

Well, forgot to update here when I actually fixed that H4 board.... :oops:

Next disaster is that the TV I was using has failed...and I suspect the caps in the power supply.

So, using the VGA monitor for now...

Then my plans to order an ST V3 TF536 were thwarted because they had sold out :cry: so I have ordered a birdseed V2 TF536 board to ultimately go into one of the systems...next is to get the rest of the components on order!

Feels like not much is going my way at the moment, so I am beginning to feel the @exxos pain...

:awwww:
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exxos
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Re: Life, the universe & everything...Atari (well, mostly)

Post by exxos »

JezC wrote: Fri Dec 10, 2021 12:34 pm Feels like not much is going my way at the moment, so I am beginning to feel the @exxos pain...
I seem to be in plumbing nightmare currently. Last week the neighbour behind came around telling us that we have a increasing in size damp patch on the side of our house :roll: Is just one thing after another. Like I cannot do my day job because of equipment breakdowns, which I cannot solve because my printers are crap. Not like I have time to work anyway because a lot of stuff has gone out of stock in my store. Also other problems because of parts shortages. Development stalled several months back. Currently I have little time for Atari stuff, because of constant "ongoing household disasters". Had a cold for the past two weeks which is not helping end aside from that, being totally exhausted, I was going to say I have my health at least, but I don't even have that anymore :lol: :roll:
https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/atari/ All my hardware guides - mods - games - STOS
https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/atari/store2/ - All my hardware mods for sale - Please help support by making a purchase.
viewtopic.php?f=17&t=1585 Have you done the Mandatory Fixes ?
Just because a lot of people agree on something, doesn't make it a fact. ~exxos ~
People should find solutions to problems, not find problems with solutions.
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JezC
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Re: Life, the universe & everything...Atari (well, mostly)

Post by JezC »

@exxos Well, you have the comfort of not having lost your marbles on top of all the above...wait.... no...what did you post the other day?....

:hide:

At least you're not alone on this forum!
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