exxos's Atari, Amiga & retro forum

Sometimes you have to think that Occam's Razor is the best path to a solution.

Last night I popped the VIC-20 on the bench to run it up and check which ICs got the hottest and needed heatsinks. Of course they all seem to need one, but whilst doing this, the video on the VIC kept disappearing, which was quite annoying.

The VIC connects to a Retrotink, through to an HDMI switch and then to the TV.

My point? Well, I did a bunch of things that ultimately were unnecessary because I thought the problem lay with the VIC.

I should have gone with the simplest solution and checked all the cables first, because it turned out to be a bad HDMI output cable from the switch to the TV!!!

There's an hour I'll never get back!!!

D 'oh!!

:blonde: :headbang:

Aww, mate; I had the same thing with the twin shifter board colour output having red instead of white on the desktop.

Had to recheck all the pins and contacts weren't bent.

Turned out it was just the monitor lead not fully inserted.

Didn't spend an hour on it though. Thats rough. :(

mrbombermillzy wrote: 12 Apr 2022 09:47 Aww, mate; I had the same thing with the twin shifter board colour output having red instead of white on the desktop.

Had to recheck all the pins and contacts weren't bent.

Turned out it was just the monitor lead not fully inserted.

Didn't spend an hour on it though. Thats rough. :(

Well part of that hour was replacing the VIC IC socket, which was the dreaded single wipe type, and I was going to replace it anyway when the replacement VIC arrives so it got done earlier than planned, but still, went to bed feeling a bit foolish!!

Luckily I had a spare HDMI cable in my big box o' cables :)

We've all done this sort of stuff, and will probably do it again!!! :dizzy:

That’s a bit annoying.

All these high tech monitor connections are a disaster waiting to happen… we should all go back to RF and an old telly. :lol:

stephen_usher wrote: 12 Apr 2022 10:26 That’s a bit annoying.

All these high tech monitor connections are a disaster waiting to happen… we should all go back to RF and an old telly. :lol:

I haven't yet fixed the modulator for the VIC-20 yet, but once I do, I have an old 14" colour TV that would solve a lot of these problems!!

rubber_jonnie wrote: 12 Apr 2022 10:07 We've all done this sort of stuff, and will probably do it again!!! :dizzy:

You are very charitable with your use of "probably" there. :lol:

I suppose I might get hit by a bus this afternoon...

derkom wrote: 12 Apr 2022 12:25

rubber_jonnie wrote: 12 Apr 2022 10:07 We've all done this sort of stuff, and will probably do it again!!! :dizzy:

You are very charitable with your use of "probably" there. :lol:

I suppose I might get hit by a bus this afternoon...

I'm hoping you don't!!

Quick comp mod this evening on my 2600, it's been sitting idly since I moved house:


You can also see the exxos 2600 button replacement prototype PCB installed, they work very well. Buttons are out for cleaning.

Also of interest, the top has a different print layout to my other two which look like this:


Comp mod output looks really nice, it's the kit from tfw8b.

:D

Well, it looks like I have a shopping list for later this year:

1. Concerto cartridge - SD card cartridge for the Atari 7800
2. FinalGROM99 - SD card adapter cartridge for the TI99/4A
3. MegaFlashROM - SD card adapter cartridge for the MSX
4. CoCoSDC - SD card adapter cartridge for the Dragon 32/64 and CoCo 1,2 &3

The Concerto is particularly appealing as it has a slot for a POKEY as used on some extended Atari 7800 carts, plus it also allows the use of Atari 2600 ROM images since the 7800 is backwardly compatible with the 2600 :)

I have 2 spare POKEYs so one will definitely being fitted when it arrives.

Annoyingly, and probably due to the chip shortage, the MegaFlashROM is currently out of stock, and the Concerto and FinalGROM99 I can only find in the US, which whilst workable does add to the cost. More research to see if I can find a seller in the UK or EU.

Give me something to look forward to, and will let me get some more machines running some software.

On a side note, I have this due in the next day or so:


Quite a good deal for £16.95, I've seen just the touch controller going for more than £20.