Another 1040 STFM and Exxos memory upgrade (1/4mb)

[ChaoticBiker]

GOOD NEWS! :D

It's ALIVE!!!! :D :D :D
Found a further broken trace. This totals to 4! And only found it as noticed a very slight short on one of the pins - and weird bit is it only shorted when board placed normally, didn't short if upside down.... after further investigation noticed when pulling a mem chip out it scratched one of the traces, ever so lightly lifting it bringing it very close to its pin

Also first time started I had this loud buzzing sound like a very fast stuck key, only to realise it's caused by keyboard not plugged in. :lol:

I will now experiment with RAM testing to see if the 33ohm resistors are causing any issues, if yes then will replace them back with 68ohm - though looking at other people mods, I'm hoping it won't be necessary.

[rubber_jonnie]

GOOD NEWS! :D

It's ALIVE!!!! :D :D :D
Found a further broken trace. This totals to 4! And only found it as noticed a very slight short on one of the pins - and weird bit is it only shorted when board placed normally, didn't short if upside down.... after further investigation noticed when pulling a mem chip out it scratched one of the traces, ever so lightly lifting it bringing it very close to its pin

Also first time started I had this loud buzzing sound like a very fast stuck key, only to realise it's caused by keyboard not plugged in. :lol:

I will now experiment with RAM testing to see if the 33ohm resistors are causing any issues, if yes then will replace them back with 68ohm - though looking at other people mods, I'm hoping it won't be necessary.

Splendid!!

:girldance:

[PhilC]

@ChaoticBiker Well done, glad you got it fixed.

[stephen_usher]

:dualthumbup:

[DoG]

Also first time started I had this loud buzzing sound like a very fast stuck key, only to realise it's caused by keyboard not plugged in. :lol:

I hate that. You can do a little mod to disable it, but not really needed if you don't test a lot of hardware stuff.

[ChaoticBiker]

an update on my atari.

It appears to work without an issue on 4MB setting.
Plays games, runs software, etc. Played Lemmings, Populous (both 2MB) and even launched Wolf3d although had mouse issues there (it seems to disconnect mouse when I get to difficulty select screen, but there's a chance a file or two got slightly corrupted when loading it up on the hard drive)

but put it in 1mb setting and we're back to black screen and white border.

Any ideas which lines/where to check? As would like to have the ability to switch.
I am going to temporarily just leave it permanently in 4mb mode, as won't have time to play with this for the next few days - How much of compatibility issue would that be?
given I'll mostly be playing popular games and also using some music software and a midi connected keyboard for music.

[Steve]

@ChaoticBiker If you're playing modern-patched games by PPutnik and others of the like, they are often patched for 4mb compatibility. The only time you would run into this issue is perhaps running a 'stock' game from floppy or Gotek, if the game itself is not compatible. Personally I have never had any compatibility issues.

[ChaoticBiker]

@ChaoticBiker If you're playing modern-patched games by PPutnik and others of the like, they are often patched for 4mb compatibility. The only time you would run into this issue is perhaps running a 'stock' game from floppy or Gotek, if the game itself is not compatible. Personally I have never had any compatibility issues.

OK, thank you.

I'll leave it as is and maybe instead do a full recap for a change :D

[JezC]

@ChaoticBiker Regarding the music s/w & keyboard, most programs will be fine with the extra memory.

I upgraded my original 1040STF to 4 meg back in the late 80s & all the sequencers/editors etc. that I've used are fine with the extra memory.
This includes Creator, Notator, Cubase (v2 & v3), Synthworks editors, Avalon.

If you let us know which music s/w you plan to use then I'm sure someone on the forum will be able to comment on the specific programs you are using!

[ChaoticBiker]

Hi thank you for your reply.
Currently I'm playing with Cubase as it's the one I'm most familiar with.
Will definitely at least try some of the others.

I've completed the exxos PSU mod/upgrade/recap last Saturday, and spent quite a few hours playing about with the atari.
Not having any issues at all so am happy with the result :)

I did mention some issues around the HDD, but it was due to the way it was formatted as Im on TOS 1.02 and that's apparently a bit more restrictive when it comes to hdd partitions. That's all sorted now though and all appears to be working well.

Again, thank you all for the support!