The Atari ST was my third computer "back in the day". I loved to play Xenon, Virus and Starglider and I still have the disks. But I sold my ST. I bought another one a couple of years ago but have not spent the time fixing it. Now I am determined. I have the black screen with white border. I have had a look inside, which was really interesting, cleaned it up and have the same problem - which is good because it shows that I put it back together properly!
I am also into Spectrums, and have a lot of them, have a ZX81 that I fixed, MSX and more.
There's a few topics on diagnosing and fixing these sorts of problems. IIRC that's often a memory issue.
I think @rubber_jonnie amongst others has done several posts about this kind of problem.
Will try and point you to some relevant posts when I am online from home later today.
popeymon wrote: Thu Aug 06, 2020 2:00 pm
Greetings,
The Atari ST was my third computer "back in the day". I loved to play Xenon, Virus and Starglider and I still have the disks. But I sold my ST. I bought another one a couple of years ago but have not spent the time fixing it. Now I am determined. I have the black screen with white border. I have had a look inside, which was really interesting, cleaned it up and have the same problem - which is good because it shows that I put it back together properly!
I'd also get a datasheet for the RAM and check 5v and GND are good across the board, and there are no shorts. Buzzing out all the address/data lines etc is worthwhile too.
I'd also suggest getting a diag cartridge and null modem cable to connect to a serial port on a PC. If a machine doesn't boot, then you may well be able to see diag data across serial, which is a big help.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
popeymon wrote: Thu Aug 06, 2020 2:00 pm
Greetings,
The Atari ST was my third computer "back in the day". I loved to play Xenon, Virus and Starglider and I still have the disks. But I sold my ST. I bought another one a couple of years ago but have not spent the time fixing it. Now I am determined. I have the black screen with white border. I have had a look inside, which was really interesting, cleaned it up and have the same problem - which is good because it shows that I put it back together properly!
I'd also get a datasheet for the RAM and check 5v and GND are good across the board, and there are no shorts. Buzzing out all the address/data lines etc is worthwhile too.
I'd also suggest getting a diag cartridge and null modem cable to connect to a serial port on a PC. If a machine doesn't boot, then you may well be able to see diag data across serial, which is a big help.
Thanks. I have ordered the Exxos diag cartridge. That is where I will start. I will also look at the MMU and the RAM.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
I think that makes at least 3 Wurzels now on this forum.
I am also in Somerset. We were all Amigas at school. Although some poor sod had a Dragon!
I also got most other consoles and computers, but only Atari I have is a Jag.
