ATARI 800 XL repair + creating a USB power supply, a video cable & doing the CHROMA Mod

[@boredofcarverticaladverts]

Just picked up two atari 800xl without any cables and just seen this video and gave it a try with an old usb and it worked! Pure genius!

[@RetroWK]

I am glad it worked. I know how frustrated I am when I get machines without the proper PSUs and cables.

[@33ordie]

One of the creator of the USB standard worked at Atari, and also created the SIO which is the ancestor of USB :)

[@fabiohals3630]

Wonderful video.. You save the life of my 800xl here in Uruguay is extremely difucult to find a source power for Atari.. Now I can make my own power cable.. Thank you very much

[@RetroWK]

Thanks for watching and enjoy your 800XL!

[@nickolasgaspar9660]

That "rubber stuff" isn't for mounting the keyboard. It prevents the keyboard from bending when abused. The ribbon cable can be easily removed by lubricating the connector with some contact cleaner. That also works well with Speccy ribbon cables and with socketed ICs.

[@hollgo626]

Sehr schönes Gerät. Bei der letzten Boardrevision ist chroma angeschlossen, aber diese Maschinen sind etwas seltener. Die meisten XL haben von Haus aus eben nur composite und luma am Videoport, da hat man ggf. etwas zu basteln😂 Das drrrrrr Geräusch beim Start ist vollkommen normal, da checkt der Rechner, ob ein Modul im Cartridge Slot steckt....erschreckt aber jeden Newbie, hat mich auch nervös gemacht beim ersten Start...

[@horaciodelre2210]

20:01 basically you have to solder the black wire to any of the pins on the left (5, 3, 7) and the red wire to any of the pins on the right (6, 1, 4)

[@gamedoutgamer]

Nice peaceful video. Enjoyed it. Chroma+luma looked pretty good here. Note that your keyboard is the best variant for the 800XL's: the ALPS mechanical. Types fast and has a very satisfying sound. If you want to disable BASIC you can hold OPTION down and press RESET while in self-test and it will go back to self-test with BASIC disabled. Saves having to power cycle the machine since each power cycle puts a small amount of stress on the computer. With basic disabled the diagnostic RAM test will then test the last 8k block. Enjoy!!

[@RetroWK]

Thanks! The keyboard is really awesome. I just got the SIO2SD in. Video coming soon!

[@PG-gs5vb]

It is not the best idea to use a 5-pin DIN connector for power. The 7-pin connector is used in order to prevent connecting power to the AV socket. You have to be very careful when connecting the power to the Atari since it is an easy mistake to misplace it. And the consequences would be detrimental. Also, on most devices, composite jack is yellow, so you kinda made a cable that does not follow the standard. ;-)

[@RetroWK]

Yeah, I also said so in the video. Best to use the appropriate 7-Pin connector.

[@Charleshawn66]

I bought a C64 cable made in England or Ireland, cant remember a few years ago, but I took a photo of the paper that came with it and saved it because the composite was on the black and the red and yellow were the Luma & Chroma and the audio was the white. Maybe Europe has a different color standard because he made his just like the cable I got from Europe?

[@RetroWK]

@@Charleshawn66 These are the colors used on the back of the Commodore 1702 monitor ... even the NTSC version. I don't know if that is some kind of color coding standard.

[@Charleshawn66]

Awesome video That RF shield is crazy that you have to pull the board out to get to its screws on the underside! Would of made it much harder job to an authorized service agent back in the 80's!

[@RetroWK]

Yep. Crazy construction. I had to open the machine three times during the project and it was a real pain.

[@PG-gs5vb]

And by the way, it is advisable to use 2A or higher rated PSU, especially if you plan to expand your Atari in the future.

[@cnfuzz]

Yes , much to risky to power this on a USB supply , those supplys depend on the sole voltage chip , far more likely damage than the original supply

[@luisenriquecastillo329]

Greeting I hope you are fine, recently I bought one Atari 800XL new, but isn't working good, I have a random failure, and the black screen, but if I insert a cartridge, the computer give video on screen and apparently works, Do you seen this problem before??,

[@RetroWK]

Sounds like a dead BIOS ROM or BASIC ROM to me. The ATARI can run cartridges without those ROM chips. Not sure if the 800XL combined those two into one ... try removing it and if the cartridge still works it should be this. Cheers!

[@luisenriquecastillo329]

@@RetroWK Thanks, I going to check!

[@MrWaalkman]

Excellent work! It's nitpicking, but @24:03 I think that you mean "shell" instead of "hull". But what would I know? I'm from Frankfurt... :) As for removing that memory chip, having done what you almost did, I was certainly squirming in my seat. My standard method for dead chips these days is to clip the legs and pull the pins one by one.

[@MrWaalkman]

Could also be called a "hood" I suppose...

[@RetroWK]

Thanks! Yeah, could be shell ... it's definitly not hull ;-) Cutting the legs is a good idea. I am just hesitant about that because the ic could still be OK.

[@CheshireNoir]

If you don't mind me asking: where did you get your TS100 soldering iron stand?

[@RetroWK]

Sure. It's 3d printed and the ring (hold the iron) is a washer melted into the print. The model can be found here: www.thingiverse.com/thing:2150796

[@KrautRockt]

grüße, tolle videos!...ich lern gerade dazu und hätte da mal eine frage: kann man bei commodore die ram (oder auch andere!) chips mit einem übergestülpten erstatzchip testen?...ich dachte immer das ein defekter chip, den gebrückten chip zerstört...?!?...sorry, für meine dumme frage! ach ja, ne kleine noch zwischendurch: wenn beim atari2040 ste der bildschirm weiß bleibt, ist er ram da auch defekt?? und wo ist beim ste der 1 sockel beim ram? oben odr unten?...sorry, für die vielen fragen, habe eine große sammlung bekommen..und versuche mich daran obwohl ich bisher nur 64er hatte..;-) alles gute dir und weiterso, mein abo hast du!..

[@RetroWK]

Danke! Es gibt einige Maschinen, wo das wohl funktioniert. Beim ATARI 800XL und C64 bin ich mir relativ sicher (99,743241%) dass das nicht funktioniert (jedenfalls hat es bei mir noch nie funktioniert). Ich glaube mich aber zu erinnern, dass ich es in anderen Videos gesehen habe und dort hat es funktioniert. Wenn du Hilfe beim reparieren brauchst, sag bescheid. Grüße aus Köln!

[@KrautRockt]

@@RetroWK hey, dankeschön..ich werd darauf zurück kommen..;-) ...lg und alles gute dir! de KrautRockt!er aus Chemnitz

[@spartanx5806]

nice!

[@frankowalker4662]

I thought the A1200 RF shield was bad. :)

[@cesargaldamesbert]

hi pal! I made a tiny brand new Power Supply and works perfect!, but I've tried to do the video mod and cannot get color from the signal... I have a very sharp image but in black and white... mi board does not have C56, so I raised left leg on C54 and took a cable from junction on R76 and R68 to pin 5 on Monitor output... what can be happened? I watched a video from some guy that took off completely C54 and C55 and it works too... please give me some lights 🙏 I'm plugging my 800XL on a Sony Bravia 32'' LCD TV (KDL-32EX305)

[@RetroWK]

Hey! I would love to help, but that was my first Atari mod. Did you check for the mod for your board revision?

[@cesargaldamesbert]

@@RetroWK Hi, i was a little confused… i realized that i needed another kind of cable, and another tv or monitor ha ha! So It finally works!

[@mattx5499]

Why did Atari use a 5 pin plug if only two are needed for the computer to work and it creates the danger of pluging the power plug into video out by accident. Some engineer in the Atari company really though it a good idea?

[@RetroWK]

Can't tell you. I think earlier models needed also 9v, but don't quote me on that!

[@reav3rtm]

In XE refresh they changed it to 7 pin.

[@nickolasgaspar9660]

They use a 7 pin connector for powering the machine. You can not fit the 7pin in the 5 pin video connector. Only if you make your own power cable and you make a mistake.