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Help with 1200 XL please


mimo

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My newly acquired 1200XL arrived this morning.

As far as I know, this has had no modifications as yet.

The XL powers up and I get the ATARI logo on screen, should I be able to do anything else?

I put a River Raid cart in, but the start, option select etc do not work!

any pointers where I should start looking for the fault? I'm guessing that the answer is going to be that the keyboard is f.u.b.a.r, but hoping for a cheaper fix!

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My newly acquired 1200XL arrived this morning.

As far as I know, this has had no modifications as yet.

The XL powers up and I get the ATARI logo on screen, should I be able to do anything else?

I put a River Raid cart in, but the start, option select etc do not work!

any pointers where I should start looking for the fault? I'm guessing that the answer is going to be that the keyboard is f.u.b.a.r, but hoping for a cheaper fix!

 

The Atari Logo on the screen is a good sign. There is no basic built into the 1200xl, thats all it does when you power it on without a cart or disk.

 

The keys not working are a common problem with 1200xl. You can try giving them a work-out, press em kinda hard, you may get em working. If not, you can try the keyboard tune-up.

 

http://www.retrobits.net/atari/keyboard.shtml

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My newly acquired 1200XL arrived this morning.

As far as I know, this has had no modifications as yet.

The XL powers up and I get the ATARI logo on screen, should I be able to do anything else?

I put a River Raid cart in, but the start, option select etc do not work!

any pointers where I should start looking for the fault? I'm guessing that the answer is going to be that the keyboard is f.u.b.a.r, but hoping for a cheaper fix!

 

The 1200XL will give you the Atari rainbow logo screen if nothing is attached, as the 1200XL does not have the test mode and built-in Basic that the 600/800XL's do. I would insert a Basic cartridge and test all the keys on the keyboard. The 1200XL's were notorious for oxidizing contacts in the keyboard causing intermittent key failure. Look at my 'sticky' post in this forum for the common repair for the problem. Hope this helps.

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unfortunately the "silver" keys are the most dead :sad:

Not stating the obvious (you are probably already aware of it), but in the sticky thread there is an extensive and thorough description of how to fix the 1200's keyboard. I would also suggest that you measure the traces of the mylar foil with a multimeter. They might have oxidated to the point that they are no longer conductive. Because of the matrix-like shape of decoding the keyboard, this would lead to whole groups of non-functioning keys.

 

re-atari

Edited by re-atari
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  • 3 weeks later...
unfortunately the "silver" keys are the most dead :sad:

Not stating the obvious (you are probably already aware of it), but in the sticky thread there is an extensive and thorough description of how to fix the 1200's keyboard. I would also suggest that you measure the traces of the mylar foil with a multimeter. They might have oxidated to the point that they are no longer conductive. Because of the matrix-like shape of decoding the keyboard, this would lead to whole groups of non-functioning keys.

 

re-atari

 

Bugger - I just read all of this and realised my 1200XL is now the same... :roll:

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Bugger - I just read all of this and realised my 1200XL is now the same... :roll:

Here is a (badly scanned) partial schematic that shows how the keyboard matrix and CD4051's are wired to POKEY.

 

post-9683-1183297093_thumb.jpg

 

Sadly the individual keys are not marked here, hope it helps anyway.

 

re-atari

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Here is a (badly scanned) partial schematic that shows how the keyboard matrix and CD4051's are wired to POKEY.

 

post-9683-1183297093_thumb.jpg

 

Sadly the individual keys are not marked here, hope it helps anyway.

 

re-atari

 

Thanks - I'm gonna get all the stuff together and give it a bash.

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