Atari Lynx II

batari

Hey guys, looking for some help/advice if possible..

Bought an Atari Lynx a few weeks back off a woman. Sold it to me with around 15 games, leads, pouch etc. Now I knew there was something wrong with it when I bought it (only cost 30 quid) but thought, as you do, half the fun would be getting it up and running again.
So with the powers of the Interweb I've tried anything I could find to fire her up, but so far nothing. Atariage seems to be the best place for advice but it seems these things are terribly problematic and resistors/capacitors can burn out.
Anyone here any experience with them, or experience fixing broken consoles? Soldering etc. would definitely not be my strongpoint.

polyfusion

I've done a few transplants on Lynx IIs before, but nothing as intricate as troubleshooting or replacing components on a board. I have one that needs a volume pot, but that's as adventurous as I'd delve.

I presume you've done the obvious (you didn't say), and tried it with a cart in, because you won't get a flicker out of it without a working cart in there.

Also, have you tried it with batteries? If you're trying it with a variable power supply, have you checked the polarity is correct?

batari

Yea tried it with a game in, with batteries, with the original adaptor, with a different adaptor that I know works for sure. Even tried a nice trick off Atariage of plugging in an adaptor and then running some wire from the battery compartment to the headphone jack that seemed to get it fired up for some people!

Ah would be nice to see it working, nothing worse than having a load of games lying around that ya can't play!

polyfusion

Next thing then I think is to open it up and look for anything loose, damaged or burnt.

Good price for it though, I think, at £2 per game (unless they're all Kung Food!).

batari

I could probably open it with my eyes closed at this stage, I've done it so often! Hoping the more I open it, look at it like I have a clue what I'm doing, and put it back together again, it'll just magically start up..not so.

Can't see anything burnt out though, that's the killer. ah might have to open her up again tonight and say some sort of resurrecting prayer to the retro Gods.

polyfusion

Any dry solder points, particularly around the power in area? I seem to recall reading about a problem where if there was a problem around there, a unit mightn't even boot on batteries. Might be worth testing for continuity around there.

Also, check that all connections are fully in, even if that means taking them out and pushing them back in (there are a few ribbon cables, IIRC).

Same goes for the cartridge slot. I remember getting one *faulty* Lynx, and sure enough it wouldn't boot when I got it, but putting a cart in and out a few times fixed it. Dirty contacts inside the slot. Might be worth taking apart and cleaning in here as best you can.

It's been quite a few years since I took one apart myself, but I might take one apart at the weekend, see if I can see anything else that could be suspects for you to try. I have some spares, but again, it's been so long since I looked through that box, I'm not sure whether I have a spare mainboard that works fully. I'll have a look and see what I have. Big advantage I had with my bits and peices is that I had a fully working one from new, and was able to swap out parts as I got them to test what was working, and then do a Frankenstein on them to get individual units working again.

Of all the portables I've had, it really is the most user friendly unit to be working with. Thinking about working on them has given me a bit of a craving to get some more, and play around with them, try to resussitate/ressurect another one or two!

batari

Cheers for the info polyfusion, appreciated. I'll bust it open again tonight and have a good look and give it a good clean!
If it doesn't end up working for me, would you consider having a look at it if I send it to you?:) you seem to have a good idea about the workings of them.

polyfusion

Any luck getting it working yet?

Took me a while to get a chance to bring down the box, open one up, and remember how to dismantle them, so if your's is still not working, I'd be happy to have a look at it; at the least I should be able to determine whats working and whats not. I have some spares, I think including a fully working mainboard (but not entirely sure). And I have a working screen, but it's missing a few lines. So it might be possible to do a Frankenstein on it.

batari

No joy. Nothing happening.
If you don't mind so, pm me your address and I'll chuck her in the post. Very much appreciate you even bothering to have a look at it!

polyfusion

Sent you a couple of PMs, but I don't see any messages in the sent items folder. Did you get any of them?

batari

Just saw them now, replied. Thanks again!