10 replies to this topic

[highendsystems]

Hi everybody!

I've got a dead 256K 800XL. I didn't do the upgrade, my dad bought it that
way 20 years ago. It has a switch on the back to toggle between 130XE mode
or XL mode utilizing 2 Ramdisk. It came with "Snitchy" software, is this the
Rambo XL upgrade? Anyway the 800XL doesn't work anymore.

Can I use the 192K upgrade in my XEGS?

Can I use the 800XL memory to upgrade a 600XL to 64K?


Thanks,

Chris

[Guitarman]

highendsystems, on Mon Mar 13, 2006 11:03 AM, said:

Hi everybody!

I've got a dead 256K 800XL. I didn't do the upgrade, my dad bought it that
way 20 years ago. It has a switch on the back to toggle between 130XE mode
or XL mode utilizing 2 Ramdisk. It came with "Snitchy" software, is this the
Rambo XL upgrade? Anyway the 800XL doesn't work anymore.

Can I use the 192K upgrade in my XEGS?

Can I use the 800XL memory to upgrade a 600XL to 64K?


Thanks,

Chris

The 600XL would be a no. The 600XL used 2 4416 chips (16Kx4bit) and the 800XL uses 8 4164 chips (64Kx1bit) or 8 41256 chip (256Kx1bit) if you have the 256K upgrade installed. To upgrade the 600XL to 64K, you will need 2 4464 chips and 3 jumper wires. You can get this upgrade from B&C ComputerVisions or a couple of other Atari dealers. I have it installed in one of my 600XL's and it works great.

The XEGS will not take the update from the 800XL since it also uses a 2 chip memory setup. The XEGS uses the 2 4464 chips. In fact, there have been many that use the 2 4464 chips from a broken XEGS to do the 600XL upgrade, since these are the 2 chips needed.

Edited by Guitarman, Mon Mar 13, 2006 1:02 PM.

[highendsystems]

[/quote]

The 600XL would be a no. The 600XL used 2 4416 chips (16Kx4bit) and the 800XL uses 8 4164 chips (64Kx1bit) or 8 41256 chip (256Kx1bit) if you have the 256K upgrade installed. To upgrade the 600XL to 64K, you will need 2 4464 chips and 3 jumper wires. You can get this upgrade from B&C ComputerVisions or a couple of other Atari dealers. I have it installed in one of my 600XL's and it works great.

The XEGS will not take the update from the 800XL since it also uses a 2 chip memory setup. The XEGS uses the 2 4464 chips. In fact, there have been many that use the 2 4464 chips from a broken XEGS to do the 600XL upgrade, since these are the 2 chips needed.
[/quote]


Okay, how about this --

If I upgraded the 600XL with RAM chips from a spare (working) XEGS, could
the 600XL take the 192K upgrade from the dead 800XL?

Thanks

[Guitarman]

highendsystems, on Mon Mar 13, 2006 3:02 PM, said:

Okay, how about this --

If I upgraded the 600XL with RAM chips from a spare (working) XEGS, could
the 600XL take the 192K upgrade from the dead 800XL?

Thanks

If the upgrade in the 800XL is or is like the Rambo XL, no. It is real not a 192k upgrade since the original 64K chips had to be removed from the 800XL and replaced with 256k chips to do the upgrade. I have not seen any info on the net for an upgrade for the 600XL outside of the 64K.

[Almost Rice]

highendsystems, on Mon Mar 13, 2006 4:02 PM, said:

Okay, how about this --

If I upgraded the 600XL with RAM chips from a spare (working) XEGS, could
the 600XL take the 192K upgrade from the dead 800XL?

Thanks

The closest upgrade that may work is the XEGS upgrades. They were basicly 4464 chips stacked on top of the original 4464. There were 2 upgrades. One to make it 128k and the second to upgrade the 128k to 192k. They were designed for use with the Freddie. So if you can figure it out it may be usable on the 600xl. The problem is I have not heard of anyone doing this. You already have a 800xl that has a 256k upgrade. You are better off getting a 800xl and transferring the upgrade over. This would be the easiest and most cost effective. This is assuming the problem with the broken 800xl is not with the RAM.

[MEtalGuy66]

Get a 130xe off Ebay. You'll be alot happier. Or trade someone all those old/broken machines for a working 130xe.

130xe + SIO2PC/APE can do 95% of everything.. You'll be much happier in the long run.

And if you ever just HAVE to have more ram, its easy to upgrade, but honestly, 128k is more than enough for most applications you'll want on an 8-bit machine.



But on another note.. If you just absolutely love the 600XL.. Any RAM configuration you want can be "hard wired" into it. Its not that big of a deal. I believe it uses the same mmu (CO61618) as the 800XL. If not, you can just get that chip out of your dead 800xl and swap them. They should be socketed in both machines. Then, your biggest obstacle is pin compatabiity differences between the 800XL's "x8" ram socketing scheme and the 600XL's "x2" scheme. You can either build a small PCB to hold whatever DIP ram chips you decide to use, or, just hard-wire in a 30-PIN SIMM.

[MEtalGuy66]

Or you could just mail me the 800XL, as it sits, and Ill fix it for $20.00 + whatever parts it needs. Youd also be responsible for insured shipping both ways.

I mean unless the machine has been hit by lightning, its gonna be a fairly common/cheap failure.

Theres plenty of old-schoolers on this forum that could fix it for you.

[Xebec's Demise]

MEtalGuy66, on Sat Mar 18, 2006 1:33 PM, said:

Or you could just mail me the 800XL, as it sits, and Ill fix it for $20.00 + whatever parts it needs. Youd also be responsible for insured shipping both ways.

I mean unless the machine has been hit by lightning, its gonna be a fairly common/cheap failure.

Theres plenty of old-schoolers on this forum that could fix it for you.

What would you charge to upgrade a 600xl to 128k XE compatible? Or just sell me one if you already have one that you could upgrade?

[MEtalGuy66]

Quote

What would you charge to upgrade a 600xl to 128k XE compatible? Or just sell me one if you already have one that you could upgrade?

$20.00 + parts & shipping.

[highendsystems]

MEtalGuy66, on Sat Mar 18, 2006 1:33 PM, said:

Or you could just mail me the 800XL, as it sits, and Ill fix it for $20.00 + whatever parts it needs. Youd also be responsible for insured shipping both ways.

I mean unless the machine has been hit by lightning, its gonna be a fairly common/cheap failure.

Theres plenty of old-schoolers on this forum that could fix it for you.

Wow, cool. Here are the symptoms of a dying 256K 800XL

1. Had to unplug-replug power supply with unit on, or power up power-strip
with unit on -- to get it to boot. (I considered the PS, but same unit powers
XEGS just fine)

2. The "I" key or the "K" key would stick sometimes.


I had the unit apart at one time (after failure), and the upgrade doesn't appear to
be piggy-back, but a separate PCB with small chips which is soldered to a bigger
socketed chip. The PCB is also wired to a toggle switch on the back. It came
with the softwate - Translator & "Snitchy Switch". For some reason I'm thinking
this isn't the Rambo XL upgrade, but I dunno....does anyone?

$20 is quite reasonable, but would you consider a working/good condition XEGS
w/o power supply or keyboard in lieu?

Thanks!

[Xebec's Demise]

MEtalGuy66, on Mon Mar 20, 2006 10:44 AM, said:

Quote

What would you charge to upgrade a 600xl to 128k XE compatible? Or just sell me one if you already have one that you could upgrade?

$20.00 + parts & shipping.

I'll take one!

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