It's 600XL time!

[stephen_usher]

At this rate the only original thing will be the PCB. :-)

[rubber_jonnie]

At this rate the only original thing will be the PCB. :-)

I have put all the original ICs back post testing :)

On a positive note I have stock of EVERYTHING IC wise for this machine, bar the PIA, which could still be bad, but I'll get to that.

[BennehBoy]

Out of interest, do you guys have a go to 'brand' for double wipe sockets, I've just got a load of Chinese 'cheapo' ones that are a bit flimsy but work ok.

[rubber_jonnie]

Out of interest, do you guys have a go to 'brand' for double wipe sockets, I've just got a load of Chinese 'cheapo' ones that are a bit flimsy but work ok.

For my part, not particularly, just whatever I can lay my hands on, or whatever stock is in my drawer. I bought some from eBay, quality is generally ok if you find a good seller and stick with them. They are likely Chinese, but I have never had any issues with them.

Otherwise I tend to buy from smaller electronic stockists as I find the bigger brands tend to rip you off for P&P unless you put in a large order.

Some people prefer the turned pin sockets, but I'm not a fan, as ICs with shorter legs sometimes tend to have connection problems, and if you are re-using an IC and it has some solder left on the legs, they can be a tight fit.

But, each to his/her own, it's whatever works for you.

[BennehBoy]

I'm not a fan of turned pin ones either.

[stephen_usher]

Unfortunately for the large socket sizes, such as CPUs, there's no choice as only turned pin versions are available now.

[rubber_jonnie]

Unfortunately for the large socket sizes, such as CPUs, there's no choice as only turned pin versions are available now.

Definitely seems to be the case for 68000s, all I have for those are turned pin, but managed to replace all mine in the 600XL with dual wipe types. Going to need a restock though!

As for the 600XL, the sockets are done now, but it's made no difference to the problem. I still get that brown screen on boot.

So what do I know?

Well the only main IC that is untested is the PIA, the rest are known good. Annoyingly I have 2 other machines, an 800XL and a 65XE, but neither has a socketed PIA and I really don't want to start desoldering them.

Actually, the BASIC ROM is also untested, and I don't have a spare, plus it's using a 24pin package, however I think that should be bypassed if you press Option on boot, but the option key is not recognised.

It also seems that the Star Raiders cartridge bypasses the OS, but using that results in the same brown screen.

The data lines look like nothing is going on, address lines are doing something, but CAS stops working as soon as the brown screen appears, though RAS continues to work.

The clocks are good across the board and the CPU has activity on the SYNC pin, suggesting that code is running.

All of the LS and other support ICs have been replaced with new items, no difference. On atariage, there is a suggestion of a stuck bit, so I may have to do a comparison with the address lines on my 800XL during boot, see if I can figure it out there.

I seems to be trying to run, just never quite makes it, I think this is going to be quite the thing to fix.

[rubber_jonnie]

Ok, so it seems that the Western Design Center W65C21S6TPG-14 (CMD / Rockwell) PIA is a direct replacement for the R6520 in the XL. At just over £6 including postage, I'll take one thanks very much :)

[stephen_usher]

Yeah, why not. Push the boat out.

[rubber_jonnie]

Yeah, why not. Push the boat out.

Hehehehe :)