Finding this was lucky - Atari 800

[HigashiJun]

:bravo:

[rubber_jonnie]

Woo hoo, missing spring found :)

[rubber_jonnie]

Cleaned and reassembled:

IMG20250327181415.jpg

Keyboard is fine, something that was a worry, and carts (Other than SIDE3, Pico and UNO carts) so carts that were intended for the 400/800 work just fine, but there seems to be an issue with SIO in that it won't boot from my SDRIVEMax (Either of them) so I need to do some investigation as I need SIO to be working.

It's weird as the SDRIVEMax turns off when I have the 800 powered on, and like the 400 I power the SDRIVEMax externally, something to do with the 400/800 differences.

Maybe something like a bad solder joint, but no more troubleshooting tonight.

[rubber_jonnie]

Reflow of SIO port seems to have made a difference, have been able to boot now and I think the 400/800 have some idiosyncracies with SIO compared to the later machines.

Will keep testing but I think what I really need is an Incognito

[HigashiJun]

Woo hoo, missing spring found :)

Yay !

[rubber_jonnie]

And this was the first Atari experience I had, an Atari 800 running M.U.L.E in a computer shop in Liverpool:

IMG_20250328_094338.jpg

The shop is long gone now, they were great days back then with so much variety in computing and some amazing computers.

I stood and started at the amazing graphics and sound for ages, and I knew the sales assistants in there well enough that they didn't think I was a weirdo :)

[HigashiJun]

Ah, sweet memories of another age...

[rubber_jonnie]

Ah, sweet memories of another age...

Very much so.

[alexh]

It's so strange I lived not far away from you in Preston and there were no Atari 800s on display at the time.

I remember seeing : CBM Vic20, C64/128, Sinclair ZX80, ZX81, Spectrum 48/128, Amstrad CPC464/6128, Acorn Electron, BBC B, Dragon32/64. I think I might have seen a Tandy TRS-80 Coco (in Tandy)

Never saw Atari 400/800 or Apple II(e/gs) or Oric, Jupiter, or MSX on display either.

The only Atari I remember seeing was the 2600 woody

[rubber_jonnie]

It's so strange I lived not far away from you in Preston and there were no Atari 800s on display at the time.

I remember seeing : CBM Vic20, C64/128, Sinclair ZX80, ZX81, Spectrum 48/128, Amstrad CPC464/6128, Acorn Electron, BBC B, Dragon32/64. I think I might have seen a Tandy TRS-80 Coco (in Tandy)

Never saw Atari 400/800 or Apple II(e/gs) or Oric, Jupiter, or MSX on display either.

The only Atari I remember seeing was the 2600 woody

Interesting.

Locally to me on the Wirral, it was mostly the likes of Dixons and WH Smiths where I found most machines. I got the 65XE that I still own in Dixons in Birkenhead. It was a large branch and had a lot of variety. The same branch also furnished me with an Aquarius and an Oric 1, though both ended up being faulty and being returned, something quite regular in those days.

Liverpool was different though, as well as the likes of Smiths and Dixons, there were independents that stocked everything, and even a John Lewis that had all sorts, so Atari, TI, Commodore and others. In fact my 600XL came from JL, though it went back because it was faulty in exchange for an 800XL which I had for years.

Oddly I never saw a VCS though. Or in fact anything like Colecovision or Intellivision.