Atari XEGS: Installing Ultimate 1MB and s-video jack

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Soldering and test equipment:
● FX-951 T12 soldering station
● Best BST-863 hot air rework station: www.replacebas...
● Anesty (Duratool) ZD-915 thru-hole desoldering station
● Amtech NC-559 Tacky Flux: store.rossmann...
● Goot Wick Desoldering Braid: store.rossmann...
● Cynel Sn60Pb38Cu2 Tin/Lead Solder Wire: www.tme.eu/gb/...
● SysCheck v.2.2 by tf_hh: www.abbuc.de/co...
Equipment and software used for video production:
● Open Broadcaster Studio: obsproject.com/
● Logitech B910 webcam: amzn.eu/42EH5Qf
● Logitech C910 webcam: amzn.eu/gxMSNg0
● USB AV/s-video capture dongle: www.amazon.co....
● 135W Photography Studio Softbox Light: www.ebay.co.uk...
● Final Cut Pro
● Apple Motion
● 15" mid-2014 Apple Retina MacBook Pro
#atari
#8bit
#retrocomputing

[@Martin.Krischik]

16:45 It would have been really helpful if you mentioned which pins you attached the 3rd ribbon cable. That was a bit too quick. There seem to be no written description on how to connect the Ultimate 1MB so the videos is all we have.

[@flashjazzcat]

You know from the vendor's instructions and the labelling on the board that you need Phi2, Halt, Reset and R/W. Halt is on pin 35 of the CPU or pin 9 of ANTIC, and the rest are here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_FREDDIE

[@Martin.Krischik]

@@flashjazzcat Thanks for the link. 👍 Well, Lotharek keeps the price down by not providing printed instructions, sockets for the ICs or jumper for the XEGS. 😂 PS: I did get the one with your firmware. 😉

[@flashjazzcat]

@@Martin.Krischik LOL. He's a fiscal wizard for sure. And thank you. :)

[@CDP-1802]

Thanks for making these videos, I just installed a U1M, UAV and Sophia DVI in a 1200XL and a 130XE and these videos were invaluable.

[@richardkelsch3640]

I am glad you went back to the 70s style bumpers, as that is certainly your channel's personality people remember. Your camera set up is getting much better. I would say your channel now equals the quality of your repairs/upgrade, and that is stellar quality. Keep up the good work. Also, the age old frustration of software programmers dealing with hardware engineers. I am actually amazed at the patience. :D

[@flashjazzcat]

Thanks Richard. I don't know that this makes any difference at all to channel growth or views, however. I spent a whole evening editing this latest video (from several hours of footage), after 125 views during the first twelve hours (usually the busiest time for any video), this is not really a sensible use of my time. It's possible people have simply heard enough of current topics (U1MB, etc). Almost anything outside of the realm of 8-bit Ataris (hot air and soldering station reviews, etc) is doing better than the repair/upgrade videos.

[@richardkelsch3640]

@@flashjazzcat Well, that depends on what you want the channel to be. Just strictly Atari, and just strictly repairs and upgrades, will definitely begin to dry up, or at least eventually begin to compete with your previous videos. Maybe think about a howto series. Think of the most typical problems with each of the 8 bit Atari computers, and make an episode addressing just the issues typically run into by that computer model, how to fix it, and suggested upgrades in addition to the fix, or bypassing the issue that are typically used (including avoiding trace lifting as is usually an XE problem, as you know). Begin with the oldest model, and each episode in the series can be the next model up. Make each video be a go-to source for whatever specific model someone might own. That way, you would become the Atari video troubleshooting and upgrade guide. What I have found are most entertaining, isn't just viewing the PC board, but also showing the issue on a schematic before and after. You can even make soldering/desoldering videos. Why not basic electronics videos describing how each of those colorful parts in an Atari work (on a rudimentary level)? If you get to be entertaining enough, and branch out a bit, you can even have people send you things in the mail, out of the blue. This is how a relative nobody with computer repair experience began his KZbin channel, and now it is really popular (Adrian's Digital Basement). You certainly have far more Atari repair experience than him. So it depends on how much effort you want to give it. Maybe branch out into Atari consoles too, or if you are brave, try other 8 bit computer brands.

[@richardkelsch3640]

Oh, two more things, make a clip for your web site, and have that at the end of each video. Have a brief (less than a minute) overview of where everything is (firmware, etc.). I thought of something else gimmicky too. I don't know if you would be game for it. Video yourself in, front of a Green Screen, of just you, your guitar, a very cheesy toothy grin with you slightly nodding, and strum the guitar once. Keep that video as a template, and at the end of each episode place a different ridiculous background over the Green Screen. Make the clip less than 15 seconds.

[@flashjazzcat]

@@richardkelsch3640 There are only so many broken Ataris to work on, and only so many things which result in them not working (bad RAM, dead CPU). Basically I'm happy just to make videos showing what repairs or upgrades I'm working on at any given time, and if that's not sufficient to sustain a KZbin channel, it's something which must be done for pleasure alone. Fortunately I enjoy video editing, but when one invests four or five hours into the editing process in order to raise quality levels and develop the channel and channel development does not occur, there's no point in flogging a dead horse. I've already touched base on the most common issues - sometimes more than once. I'm no electronics expert, meanwhile, so I leave circuit theory to those better qualified to describe it. :) It may simply be a personality thing. I've long considered starting a second channel solely devoted to jazz guitar, which is almost guaranteed to have much wider appeal. In the meantime, I'll just have to make Atari videos whenever I get the urge to do so. I spent the last year in a concerted channel 'push' and aside from getting me over the line in terms of monetisation (which will probably not pay anything out for another two or three years), I'm basically back where I was in 2017.

[@flashjazzcat]

@@richardkelsch3640 After a series of comments telling me how ill/ugly I looked, I thought it wise to keep the camera off my face entirely. :)

[@grahamrolle3923]

It's rather sad that your channel isn’t bringing in the views, and you even mentioned them being in decline. I've likely watched all of your video's and more than once. The improvements have been great, from the early days of updating the lighting, better sound, and now great production. I love working on the hardware side of the 8 Bit Atari's I have, and now have a nice collection I've recently been reviving some of the design work I did many years ago; and intend upon rebuilding some items. I my case I've never created a video for KZbin, BUT I do want you to succeed and keep making them, they are also a great inspiration to the way I do some of the upgrades on my machines, and I’m sure others feel the same. Keep going and hopefully numbers will at least return, and increase. I’ll point out that you can have more than one channel, so why not go for that Jazz Guitar option alongside Atari’s and of course writing the software for Side 4 :) (Well one day)

[@flashjazzcat]

Thanks so much Graham. I may start that second channel; it's been on my mind for a while.

[@craftsman123456]

Where do you find all the jumper settings for the 1meg board

[@flashjazzcat]

There's only one jumper: XEGS mode, which is open (regular XL/XE) or closed (XEGS).

[@michaelstoliker971]

So I was watching a Jan Beta video the other day where he was working on building a power supply for an old Radio Shack model 1 and he was talking about how he and some other retro channels were doing something called SepTandy where they would all work on some Radio Shack computers for this SepTandy event. I suggested that perhaps next month they could do an Octari event and all work on an Atari of some sort for that month but I didn't get the feeling they where taking my suggestion seriously...perhaps because it's so hard to find a broken Atari to work on. However, I think I might be on to something and wondered if I might be able to coerce you into working on an Atari computer next month for Octari? Perhaps we can find an Atari and stuff it full of MOS chips so that it's well and truly broken so you have something to work on? Let me know what you think.

[@flashjazzcat]

That certainly sounds like an interesting idea, but the channel growth is stagnating and views are going down the toilet. Of course anything that raises the profile of the channel is welcome, but it might seem laughable if a channel which gets 250 views per video participated in an event with much larger channels. Each successive video I upload is now performing about half as well as its predecessor, and unless some interesting new subject matter can reverse the trend, I will eventually lose heart. I've invested over a year in the new edited-format videos, but since May or so this year, things have stagnated and then gone into reverse. Anyway: while enthusiasm can be maintained, I'm delighted to receive new ideas for videos. :)

[@cathrynm]

@@flashjazzcat Well, I still quite like the channel myself, even so.

[@MotownBatman]

Nice job! I've always wanted one of these, Ugly as hell, Looks like a Demented Easter Basket LOL Cheers! Dryden, MI, USA

[@TheLemminkainen]

so with 1mb expansion u can run 128kb games? i own AVGcart?

[@flashjazzcat]

Certainly. Disable the PBI HDD and SpartaDOS X on your U1MB, and AVG will function normally.

[@brianwild4640]

what does the Ultimate 1MB do ??

[@flashjazzcat]

Provides 1MB of RAM, four software selectable operating systems, four BASIC ROMs, four (optional) XEGS game ROMs, a real-time clock with battery backed RAM, four user hardware configuration profiles, a PBI hard disk/FAT-hosted ATR handler (for use with SIDE/SIDE2/SIDE3), a built-in FAT game loader/partition/disk image manager (for use with SIDE/SIDE2), user-flashable ROM slots and firmware updates, built-in SpartaDOS X disk operating system, etc.

[@ThePbrook1967]

Where can we get all the parts needed? And step by step instructions.... I am in America I can't afford to send it to you. :(

[@flashjazzcat]

There's a copius amount of Ultimate 1MB installation tutorials on my channel, and most of them have links to the vendors in the description.