It was like Christmas today! The FB seller contacted me that he was available so I could come to get the Atari 130XE he was selling. I got quite a haul - at least in my opinion. I got an Atari 130XE, 1050 Disk Drive, two joysticks, 3 manuals (1 for the 130XE, one for the 1050, and one for Atari Paint), power supplies, and a bunch of cartridges (including PacMan, Donkey Kong, Defender, and others). I ordered a replacement power supply and a monitor cable from 8-bitclassics.com.
I ordered an expansion unit for the cartridge port from Bits of the Past (https://www.bitsofthepast.com/). I got the "130XE Cart/ECI to PBI converter with a cartridge port in a RA orientation" for $20. And I am glad I did - it sounds like he is shutting down - get what you can while there is still stock. I am thinking some rubber feet on the bottom to keep it level with the unit - making cartridge insertion easier.
Alright, quick update. I reached out to the person (Joe Strosnider) that repaired my Apple //c and he is going to replace the RAM on the Atari 130XE. It ships out today, and he should have it by Thursday. I am hoping to hear some news over the weekend. Worst case scenario, I have a line on a couple units as "options".
I have another "simple" question. Would the 1MB upgrade available from RetroHax resolve this issue? If someone were to install that on the current system, does it bypass the existing memory and MMU? I could not tell from the site. Just a thought.
Here are the images I promised. She is naked as a jaybird. If you look at the images, you will see they are MT4264-15 RAM chips. Someone also said that it may be the "Freddie" chip.
I will take pics (I honestly forgot when I took her apart). But, all the RAM chips were soldered (with small resistors (I think) in front of them). There were only two socketed chips on the whole board. Expect new pics later this morning. Thanks! =)
So this is what I am getting on booting the 130XE. Looking for someone that can repair this unit for me.
Ohh, it was here you said you posted pics :). I was looking on the BBS.
This is that link I promised on SFHQ in reply to your question about the FTDI thing..
And I also want to mention that https://best-electronics-ca.com/ has really awesome replacement key cups for the XE keyboards.
I found this from Jason Moore - Says with the APE software, the SIO2PC USB can be used as a modem. here is the link to Jason’s project page on the subject: https://atariprojects.org/2018/09/29/connect-your-atari-computer-to-a-pc-15-30-mins/
Nice! What a haul! Carts Galore and with a little TLC on the badges, the hardware will be good as new. Congrats
I also ordered a SIO2PC USB universal interface from AtariMax last evening. If I understand what I read, it will allow the PC to be a floppy drive for the unit (via USB) and act as a modem?
Congratulations! Looks like quite a haul to me. You're going to have lots of fun with that Christmas booty! :)