exxos's Atari, Amiga & retro forum

:cheer: :cheer: :cheer: An unexpected but good result nonetheless.

I'll have to send you a ram and floppy pcb soon then.

PhilC wrote: 06 Aug 2026 12:15 :cheer: :cheer: :cheer: An unexpected but good result nonetheless.

I'll have to send you a ram and floppy pcb soon then.

Bit of a shocker for sure. Will likely order a membrane this afternoon.

Appreciate the offer of the PCB 👍

Am I correct in saying that to run BASIC I need a cartridge for that?

What's weird is that the second replacement tr2 worked just fine, I can only assume that something that was shorting was dislodged during the replacement?

Not overly concerned since it works now.

A better replacement for the BASIC cartridge is replacing the ROM with a WD27C512, a bodge wire and the newer ROM version with BASIC baked in.

The best way to get these is to install the "ep128emu" emulator and find the ROM images.

That's the rom upgrade that I did, really simple to do and leaves the cartridge port open.

Indeed. It just needs pin 1 of the 27C512 lifting and a bodge wire soldered on to it and pin 17 of U6.

Hmm interesting :)

So a bit more tinkering and the membrane is mostly working, but ultimately shot, so I have ordered a replacement.

A few more bits done:


Heatsink removed and cleaned and a new power socket fitted since the old one was a bit erratic.

I also reassembled the heatsink with a little heatsink compound. No more crud in the fins either, so better all round.

You can also see the modulator is off so I can clean the can and also get any crud from beneath it. I'm considering, depending on how well the can cleans up, converting it to composite. Will see how that goes.

Mainboard is in need of more cleaning, but I'm wary of going too mad since it works!!!

Also fixed the broken off PCB standoff:

Why composite video when there's good ol' analogue RGB and stereo audio (needs a bit of amplification) on the monitor edge connector?

stephen_usher wrote: 06 Aug 2026 15:34 Why composite video when there's good ol' analogue RGB and stereo audio (needs a bit of amplification) on the monitor edge connector?

That's just for now as its convenient for me, I will likely do something regarding RGB and audio later, but for now Composite is all I need.

I want to get the machine up and running and tidy first, then will do more :)

@rubber_jonnie I've got some edge connectors for the RGB, you'll just need to cut them to fit. I'll send with the PCBs when I get time / remember to do it.