The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 and manufactured until 1992. All are based on the MOS Technology 6502 CPU running at 1.79 MHz, roughly twice that of similar designs, and were the first home computers designed with custom co-processor chips. This architecture allowed the Atari designs to offer graphics and sound capabilities that were more advanced than contemporary machines like the Apple II or Commodore PET, and gaming on the platform was a major draw – Star Raiders is widely considered the platform’s killer app. Machines with similar performance would not appear until the BBC Micro in late 1981 and the Commodore 64 in 1982.

The original Atari 400 and 800 models were released with a series of plug-n-play peripherals that used Atari’s unique “SIO” serial bus system. Over the following decade several versions of the same basic design were released, including the XL and XE series of computers and matching peripherals. All of these used the same basic logical design, with various changes to the physical layout to lower production costs as chipmaking and manufacturing processes improved over time. The early machines were expensive to build, but dependable. Later models like the XEs were greatly cost-reduced and generally not as robust. Sub-models of these later designs were sold into the eastern European market after sales of the main lineup had ended.

Overall, the Atari 8-bit computer line was a commercial success, selling two million units during its major production run between late 1979 and mid-1985, putting its sales on par with machines like the Sinclair ZX Spectrum and TI-99/4A. Its primary competition in the worldwide market was the Commodore 64, by far the best selling computer of the 8-bit era. Atari also found a strong market in Eastern Europe and had something of a renaissance in the early 1990s as these countries joined a uniting Europe. Some estimates place sales during this period at another two million units.

Atari 400 inside the package:

Package Contents:

• Atari 400 Home Computer.
• Manuals.
• External Power Supply.
• 48k Ram Expansion Kit (this one was added by me and not included in the original packaging)

Atari 825 – 80 Column printer:

Atari introduced with its Atari 400 and 800 series computers its first 80 Column printer.   The Atari 825 which actually a repackaged Centronics 737 printer.   Earlier models had limited capabilities, the later 825 models with the extended basic character set had the capability of producing the Atari ATASCII graphics character set.  The Atari 825 required the use of the Atari 850 interface module to allow it to communicate with the Atari 400 and 800 computer because it had a Centronic parallel interface on it instead of the Atari SIO interface which the Atari 820 and Atari 822 printers had built in.

The B Key 400:

The B Key 400 is a replacement keyboard for the keyboard membrane of the Atari 400.

Read more…

I finally found a time to do the replacement of all the electrolytic capacitors of my Amiga 1200 that was beginning to have serious problems of stability.

Since I had disassembled the amiga i took the opportunity to do the E127R fix that solves some problems of graphics glitches with the interface Indivision AGA 1200.

The fix is very simple to do, you need to short the E127R resistor with a jumper.

I have also replaced the original power supply of the Amiga with a ATX power supply can supply more ampere and is a little stable than the original.

Commodore Amiga 1200 Recapped:

Commodore Amiga ATX Power Supply:

E127R Amiga 1200 Indivision Fix:

This Commodore 64 was found in the trash from a friend, although aesthetically in a good state, the computer doesn’t work.

Defect:

Sorry, this entry is only available in Italian.

Scene World is a C64 magazine on disk dedicated to various activities of both C64 scenes.

“Both” means, that we are supplying information and texts of both scenes; NTSC and PAL.

Download: Scene World #24 (1264)

source: sceneworld.org

Relaunch64 is an IDE (text-editor) for C64 assembler-coding on Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. Relaunch64 has a clean and intuitive user interface, yet it offers many features that make coding faster and easier.

Java 7 or higher is required to run Relaunch64. The program is licensed under the GNU GPL 3 (or higher) and free for private and professional use.

This editor works together with common cross assemblers like Kick Assembler, ACME, or 64tass. Other assemblers might work as well, but syntax highlighting may not be 100% correct.

Download: Relaunch64 v3.3.2 (Windows/OSx/Linux) (1265)

source: popelganda.de

I lost too much time to repair only one of two psu, not convenient. Better to replace only the PCB with a ATX power supply (only the PCB!)

Defect:

• Dead.

Replaced components:

• 2 x Diode IN4001
• 1 x Diode Zener 5v1
• 1 x Triac BTB 16 200B (recovered from another power supply)
• 6 x Electrolytic Capacitors.
• 1 x Power supply plug with a filter RIFA inside.

Download: Commodore 65 High Resolution Photo from the auction (1393)

source: ebay.fr wikipedia

Click to view original size

I have repaired last year these computers for a dear friend.

Commodore 64 #1

Defect:

• Black Screen.

Replaced parts:

• Replaced 4 x 4264 RAM (U9,U10,U11,U12)

Commodore 64 #2

Defect:

• Out of Memory.
• Expansion Port (Cartridge) don’t works.

Replaced parts:

• Replaced 3 x 4264 RAM (U12,U24,U22)
• PCB track interrupted of the expansion port (A5 Address Line). Fixed with a bridge.

Commodore 64 #3

Defect:

• Garbled screen and then Out of Memory.

Replaced parts:

• Replaced 4 x 4264 RAM (U24,U12)
• Replaced 1 x 74LS257 Data Selectors/Multiplexers (U13)

Commodore 64 #4

Defect:

• Black Screen and then Out of Memory.
• No Sound.

Replaced parts:

• Replaced 2 x 4264 RAM (U9,U10)
• Replaced 1 x 74LS257 Data Selectors/Multiplexers (U25)
• Replaced 1 x 6581 SID (U18)

Read more…

Clicca per ingrandire l’immagine

I have repaired last year these computers for a dear friend.

Commodore 128 #1

Defect:

• Black Screen.
• Missing CAS on PIN 1-4 of the 74LS32 (U9)
• Missing CHROMA video.

Fix:

• To fix the problem of lack CAS on 74LS32 i had to make a bridge from the PIN 41 of the PLA 8721 because a pcb track under the socket was interrupted.
• Broken solder joints on the RF Modulator.

Commodore 128 #2

Defect:

• Black Screen but sometimes it works.

Replaced parts:

• Replaced the socket of the 8721 PLA.
• Replaced 8721 PLA (U11).

Note:

The main problem was the PLA. In the C128 mode sometimes works and sometimes not. Works always C64 mode.

Some new games or tools (Cracked / Trained or Unrealeased) for Commodore 64 have been released from your favorites groups.

Titles:

• Assembloids Basic +2
• Maniac Mansion Demo Disk
• Demoni 101% +4DGHF
• Charlie and the Jugs +4HD
• Scramble
• Scramble +3 V2
• Scramble +3 V1
• Xain +
• Populous Preview
• Xain
• The Eidolon +6D
• Baffle 101% +2HF [pal/ntsc]
• Scramble +5H
• Scramble V1.1
• Rocket Smash EX [64kb cartridge]
• Rocket Smash EX +3DH
• Q10 Tankbuster +24D [crazy hack]
• Bumble-Bee HS
• Zombi Terror
• C64hess – Chess Puzzles +D
• Ski Jumping &ED

Download: All Games in One Archive (3091)

source: csdb.dk

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I have repaired a Commodore Amiga 2500 (A2000 Motherboard) with Black Screen for a dear friend.

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Defect:

• Black Screen.

Diagnosis:

• The Battery Acid has corroded a track (not visible to the naked eye) connected to the PIN 10 of the resistor packs RP900 and then the same track is connected to the CPU.

Repair:

• I have made a small bridge between the two points on the solder side of the pcb  and the problem was fixed in 5 minutes.

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I have fixed 3 x Commodore Amiga 4000 Motherboards and 2 x Commodore Amiga CPU Cards for a dear friend. Below the description and photo of each repair.

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Commodore Amiga 4000 Motherboard #1:

• I have done an accurate cleaning of the leaked battery acid even in the holes between pcb layers.
• Replaced some SMD electrolytic capacitors with a high ESR value.

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Commodore Amiga 4000 Motherboard #2:

• I have done an accurate cleaning of the leaked battery acid even in the holes between pcb layers.
• Replaced all SMD electrolytic capacitors with a high ESR value.

Click to view original size

Commodore Amiga 4000 Motherboard #3:

• I have done an accurate cleaning of the leaked battery acid even in the holes between pcb layers. I have also made a “bridge” because a track of the pcb was completely corroded.
• Replaced all SMD electrolytic capacitors with a high ESR value.

Still a couple of months with the battery acid and this Amiga was to throw in the trash.

Click to view original size

Commodore A3640:

• Replaced all SMD electrolytic capacitors with a high ESR value and a first acid leak.

Fixed the problem of the 3 capacitors installed with the wrong polarity. The silkscreen on the pcb are wrong. Thanks Commodore.

Click to view original size

Commodore A4CPU EC030:

• Replaced all SMD electrolytic capacitors with a high ESR value.

I must thank Andrea Pierdomenico for The original Black CD Caddy for Commodore CDTV.

CBM prg Studio Version 3.2.1 is released. There are a lot of new features in this version. I’d really appreciate it if you report any bugs you find or have any suggestions/comments.

CBM prg Studio allows you to type a BASIC or Machine Code program in using a nice Windows environment and convert it to a ‘.prg’ file which you can run on an emulator, or even a real C64 / VIC20 or PET if you’re feeling brave and have the right kit.

CBM prg Studio is the result of merging C64PrgGen and VIC20PrgGen. Adding new features and fixing bugs in two apps which were 95% similar was a bit of a nightmare so merging them made sense.

It was also a good opportunity for a face lift and to add some new features, such as:

• Programs are project based, meaning all related source files, sprite files etc. are kept in one place and multiple source files can be linked more easily.
• Tabbed MDI.
• Syntax highlighting.

What CBM prg Studio isn’t is a front-end for tok64, cbmcnvrt, bastext or any other tokeniser / detokeniser / assembler. It’s all been written completely from scratch.

New features:

• Screen designer speed up.
• Speed up of switching/adding/opening files and projects.

Bug Fixed:

• Assembler:
  • Duplicate labels not detected in projects.
  • SYS call always created at start of file.
  • Build order not correct.
  • Assembly dump showing both parts of the code within conditional assembly statements.
  • Code reformatting issues.
  • Negative numbers in BYTE and WORD sequences not assembled properly.
  • Numbers in strings in BYTE sequences not assembled properly.
  • Numbers in TEXT sequences not assembled properly.
  • Arithmetic in WORD sequences not assembled properly.

• General:
  • Sprite Designer grid glitches.
  • Exception thrown when generating .prg with the output window closed.
  • Code indent/outdent/comment/uncomment would add extra carriage return.
  • Code comment/uncomment would add extra REM statements.
  • Problem adding existing files to a project.

Download: CBM prg Studio v3.2.1 (1118)

source: ajordison.co.uk