99/4A Console Exchange Program

[matthew180]

Also, would you either explain how your console exchange program works, or provide a link to another thread in which you (possibly) already do?

 

There is not program as of yet, mostly because I cannot get anyone to send me a bad console... Any time I see someone post that they have a bad unit, got a bum unit on ebay, "I wanted to get back into the TI, but the console I got is bad, so I probably won't bother now...", etc., I offer to fix the unit. No one has taken me up.

 

I want to do my part to help grow the community, and when I see someone saying "I was going to get into the 99/4A, but my console is bad...", it bums me out.

 

I kind of envisioned having a few consoles that I "rescued" from being thrown away because they were "bad", fix them, and then trade people who get bad units on ebay or who's consoles finally fail in some way. You send me a bad one, I'll send you a good one. It could be just the motherboard, or the whole console. However, I need to get a few consoles to fix *first*, and since I'm going to donate the time (and money for replacement parts), I don't want to pay for the bad console too.

 

So, anyone interested in helping out, if you have broken hardware you want to donate to help get this going, please send it over. I took all my spare working hardware to the TI Faire back in 2005, so I only have my one console and PEB now (plus the board I'm using to hack on and test new stuff like the F18A.) I don't want to get too much stuff right away, but a few consoles and such would be a good way to start I think.

 

Matthew

 

---- UPDATES BELOW ----

 

I have decided to update this first post so people won't have to read the whole thread for the latest news. I'm going to include a donor section, the current "rules", and available gear.

 

 

*NEWS*

 

Dec 14, 2010

We have gear! Lots of consoles and some other random spare parts, with lots on the way (hopefully). If you want to take advantage of this program, read the eligibility below and make a post.

 

Dec 13, 2010

32K card fixed. Two bad DRAMs replaced.

 

Dec 10, 2010

Console fixed. One bad DRAM replaced.

 

 

COMPUTER EXCHANGE PROGRAM (CEP) ELIGIBILITY

 

* You must have an Atari Age account with at least 5 posts to participate.

* You pay shipping both ways.

* Have broken gear to exchange.

* Donate at least $1 (or more) to the program via PayPal.

 

Pretty easy IMO. Also, I'm going to add a "Get Set" program to the, uh, program... Basically, if you don't have a 99/4A and you want to get set up to program or play 99/4A games on real gear, I'll send you a "get set" starter kit, if you qualify.

 

 

GET SET KIT (GSK) ELIGIBILITY

 

* Be active on the Atari Age forum. That means you have been here a while and you are not going anywhere soon. You must be an active contributor in some sub-forum on Atari Age.

 

* Start to participate in the 99/4A sub-forum (the forum you are reading this post in.)

 

* Pay for shipping.

 

* Donate at least $5 (or more) to the program via PayPal.

 

Your "Get Set Kit" (GSK) will consist of a 99/4A console, power brick, A/V cable, cassette cable, XB cart (depending on availability), and a game cart of some sort. There will also be a "Super GSK" that will include an E/A cart and stock PEB (32K, SSSD, RS232) depending on availability.

 

 

HOW TO APPLY

 

All applications (what you are asking for, what you are getting) will be public via this thread, which keeps everyone accountable and honest. Obviously address information and such will be transacted via email or PM. To apply, make a post with your request:

 

Program: (either CEP or GSK)

My broken gear: {list your gear}

GSK Request: {basic or super}

 

 

DONORS

 

Without these people, there would be nothing to exchange! If I have missed someone, please let me know!

 

* OLD CS1 (3 consoles)

* Mad Hatter (32K card)

* InfernalKeith (12 consoles)

* Tex*In Treasures (3 power bricks (all I needed from the 2010 Faire))

Edited December 14, 2010 by matthew180

[Opry99er]

I will send you one next week Matthew... The joystick port is bad and it's missing a couple keys. Black&Silver.

 

**as a donation to the program**

Edited November 29, 2010 by Opry99er

[unhuman]

Yeah - I wanna do this - would prefer to ship guts only - since that weighs a lot less.

 

Anyhow - still need to determine cause of my issues (my cable versus the TI)

[+OLD CS1]

I cannot see a reason to keep six consoles here. The two I found in storage are good just have cosmetic defects, and then I have the one with bad VDP RAM. You can have those three, which leaves me with two working and my first console. I will get them shipped either tomorrow or Tuesday.

 

EDIT: If you would like, I also have three modulators which I will never use again and some power supplies.

Edited November 29, 2010 by OLD CS1

[matthew180]

I will send you one next week Matthew... The joystick port is bad and it's missing a couple keys. Black&Silver.

 

**as a donation to the program**

 

Cool, send it on over. I can't fix keyboards that are physically damaged, but I can get some spares from Texin Treasures. However those are going to be beige. Maybe he has some blank though. If I get a few spare consoles then I'll probably always have a spare keyboard of each color. I'll also add the diodes to the keyboards, i.e. the Alpha-Lock fix. I've already done it on both of the keyboards I have and it works great. No more worrying if the alpha key is up or down when using the joystick.

 

Matthew

[matthew180]

EDIT: If you would like, I also have three modulators which I will never use again and some power supplies.

 

Modulators I don't need, I don't think anyone is hooking up a TI that way any more? I'll probably need to get some of the A/V cables to provide with the console. Eventually I'll be able to include an F18A, as an option of course.

 

Spare power supplies are always good, send them if you want, or just hang on to them until I need one to send to someone. Either way.

 

I wish I could post my address, so just PM me if you don't already have it.

 

Matthew

[matthew180]

Yeah - I wanna do this - would prefer to ship guts only - since that weighs a lot less.

 

Anyhow - still need to determine cause of my issues (my cable versus the TI)

 

Well, console case parts will be good to have too, but if you only want to ship the guts, that's fine too. I'm sure I will need a few spare parts of all kinds though, since consoles will come in with various problems, broken or cracked cases, etc.

 

If you send your suspect motherboard, I can verify that the console is at least working. Maybe you can be the first "customer".

 

Matthew

[+InsaneMultitasker]

Matthew, I may have some 'extra' 9901s that I could share if the need arises.

 

One benefit of the 9901 is that when an input or output is damaged the chip may still be of value. For example, CorComp used 9901s in some cards, and a chip inadequate for the TI console may be sufficient for a card needing fewer IO pins. The same is true between the Geneve and the TI.

 

Tim

[S1500]

Considering I have 2 consoles, I might go in on this somewhat.

[matthew180]

Ok, the exchange program is in effect! I have a few consoles now thanks to OLD CS1 and I'm working on the one with a video problem. I pulled the 9918A and plugged in my F18A and everything works great. So, it is either the VDP or the DRAM. I'll have to unsolder the eight DRAM chips and start swapping them to confirm what the problem really is. I suppose at this time I should probably see if my EPROM programmer can test DRAM ICs.

 

Matthew

[marc.hull]

Ok, the exchange program is in effect! I have a few consoles now thanks to OLD CS1 and I'm working on the one with a video problem. I pulled the 9918A and plugged in my F18A and everything works great. So, it is either the VDP or the DRAM. I'll have to unsolder the eight DRAM chips and start swapping them to confirm what the problem really is. I suppose at this time I should probably see if my EPROM programmer can test DRAM ICs.

 

Matthew

 

Before you go and de-solder the whole damn thing give this a try. Piggy back a known good DRAM onto each one in succession until the problem clears (all voltage and ASD measures respected, of course.) This is an old trick I have never tried but would like to see someone of your obviously superior intellect try. Now before you start arguing.... stop being a pussy and give it a go

[jchase1970]

Ok, the exchange program is in effect! I have a few consoles now thanks to OLD CS1 and I'm working on the one with a video problem. I pulled the 9918A and plugged in my F18A and everything works great. So, it is either the VDP or the DRAM. I'll have to unsolder the eight DRAM chips and start swapping them to confirm what the problem really is. I suppose at this time I should probably see if my EPROM programmer can test DRAM ICs.

 

Matthew

 

Before you go and de-solder the whole damn thing give this a try. Piggy back a known good DRAM onto each one in succession until the problem clears (all voltage and ASD measures respected, of course.) This is an old trick I have never tried but would like to see someone of your obviously superior intellect try. Now before you start arguing.... stop being a pussy and give it a go

 

 

Paralleling chips? neat idea, I'm interested to know if it works to.

[+save2600]

 

Paralleling chips? neat idea, I'm interested to know if it works to.

Works often with old arcade machines :-)

[InfernalKeith]

PM me your address. I have a number of consoles that either don't power on, make funny noises, or may just need a new keyboard. I'm never going to fix them, they're eating up space, and if you can get 'em working (or even cannibalize them for parts) I'd be happy to donate them to the cause. I'll have to sort through what I have this weekend (and what a coincidence, I planned to spend all day tomorrow cleaning the basement) but I may have as many as a dozen I can send along.

[+OLD CS1]

 

Paralleling chips? neat idea, I'm interested to know if it works to.

Works often with old arcade machines :-)

 

And the Commodore 64, the Atari 800XL, Amiga 500, blah blah blah. So, yeah, DO IT!

[matthew180]

Before you go and de-solder the whole damn thing give this a try. Piggy back a known good DRAM onto each one in succession until the problem clears (all voltage and ASD measures respected, of course.) This is an old trick I have never tried but would like to see someone of your obviously superior intellect try. Now before you start arguing.... stop being a pussy and give it a go

 

Ha. Is that how you cowboys do it?

 

Seriously though, I have always *wanted* that trick to work, but I have never seen it work. Depending on how the original chip failed, it is more likely it won't have any affect. For example, if a logic gate is internally shorted, or is blown open, you will have a high or low signal that you will not be able to over drive with the piggy-backed IC. Also, a failure is usually never that cut and dry.

 

However, I figured I would try your antics just in case. It didn't work...

 

Matthew

[marc.hull]

Before you go and de-solder the whole damn thing give this a try. Piggy back a known good DRAM onto each one in succession until the problem clears (all voltage and ASD measures respected, of course.) This is an old trick I have never tried but would like to see someone of your obviously superior intellect try. Now before you start arguing.... stop being a pussy and give it a go

 

Ha. Is that how you cowboys do it?

 

Seriously though, I have always *wanted* that trick to work, but I have never seen it work. Depending on how the original chip failed, it is more likely it won't have any affect. For example, if a logic gate is internally shorted, or is blown open, you will have a high or low signal that you will not be able to over drive with the piggy-backed IC. Also, a failure is usually never that cut and dry.

 

However, I figured I would try your antics just in case. It didn't work...

 

Matthew

 

 

Yea we call it bare back If an address line fails open (which from what I understand is the usual case) then it should work. I'll bet a nickle that it is not a DRAM problem you are looking at....

[Opry99er]

Look out Matthew.... It'll be a plugged nickel or a wood soda fountain token... Hahahaa!!!! Wooden soda fountain tokens....Anyone remember those??

Edited December 5, 2010 by Opry99er

[InfernalKeith]

Started unearthing consoles to donate to the cause today, and realized I have even more 99/4A's hiding out in my house than I thought. I may have a hoarding problem... :/ Gonna fill up one big box with consoles that are either DOA or have a minor issue (IIRC a couple of them just have minor keyboard issues) and send them out Monday. There may be more if you need them after that, too.

[+retroclouds]

A good initiative! It's just amazing how many good things happened this year! What an awesome community

[matthew180]

Yea we call it bare back If an address line fails open (which from what I understand is the usual case) then it should work. I'll bet a nickle that it is not a DRAM problem you are looking at....

 

If it failed open, then my initial logic probe checks would have found that really quickly. I just looked at the schematic again and there is nothing in the DRAM to VDP circuit other than the 9918A, the 4116 DRAMs, and 3 decoupling cap for each 4116. When I swapped the 9918A with my F18A the computer worked fine, so it is either the DRAM or VDP. I put the VDP in another computer and it worked, so I'm down to a bad DRAM.

 

I just got them unsoldered last night (I forget how much of a pain in the ass flow soldered DIP packages are to unsolder!) but I don't seen to have eight 16-pin DIP sockets?!?!? Inconceivable! I have tubes full of 14-pin sockets, for some unknown reason.

 

Anyway, I'm not going to detail repairing each console, I just figured I would post this one for OLD CS1 since he donated the first three consoles to the program, and one of them has this video problem.

 

Matthew

[+OLD CS1]

Anyway, I'm not going to detail repairing each console, I just figured I would post this one for OLD CS1 since he donated the first three consoles to the program, and one of them has this video problem.

 

Matthew

 

Cool, thanks. Yeah, I suspected that one was bad VDP RAM by the pattern in the video. Of course, that immediately discounted a possible bad line from the VDP, but I have generally found RAM to be the weakest link irrespective of the computer: C64, Atari, TI, Amiga, etc.

 

Reminds me that I completely forgot to send you the extra keyboard. I also still have like five or six power supplies. I think I am going to work on replacing them with something more modern. I am not a big "eco-friendly" guy, at the same time I do not like that my TI PSU while idle draws half as much power than my entire entertainment system in the same state (4.44W versus 9.3W, the later including a 32" CRT TV, Latitude docking station, amplifier, DVD player, and VCR.)

[marc.hull]

Anyway, I'm not going to detail repairing each console, I just figured I would post this one for OLD CS1 since he donated the first three consoles to the program, and one of them has this video problem.

 

Matthew

 

Cool, thanks. Yeah, I suspected that one was bad VDP RAM by the pattern in the video. Of course, that immediately discounted a possible bad line from the VDP, but I have generally found RAM to be the weakest link irrespective of the computer: C64, Atari, TI, Amiga, etc.

 

Reminds me that I completely forgot to send you the extra keyboard. I also still have like five or six power supplies. I think I am going to work on replacing them with something more modern. I am not a big "eco-friendly" guy, at the same time I do not like that my TI PSU while idle draws half as much power than my entire entertainment system in the same state (4.44W versus 9.3W, the later including a 32" CRT TV, Latitude docking station, amplifier, DVD player, and VCR.)

 

 

I thought you had a black screen with a death screech ???

[+OLD CS1]

I thought you had a black screen with a death screech ???

 

Not mine; mine was the garbled Master Title Screen.

 

BTW, I found out last night I was mistaken about my power consumption. The TI power supply by itself draws a little over 4W, and my entire entertainment system in stand-by draws a little UNDER 4W. The 9W figure was when I have my sleeping laptop in the docking station.

[matthew180]

The 32K card sent to me by Mad Hatter is fixed; 2 bad DRAM chips. The console OLD CS1 sent me is also fixed, 1 bad DRAM. The power supply buzzes though, so I'll probably swap it out now that I have a stock of consoles in various conditions.

 

I'm also going to update the first post with some status, so go look there for updated information on the exchange program.