Atari 2600+

Ghengis

Hi,

I've been dropping some not-so-subtle hints that I'd like the new Atari 2600+ from Santa this year: I think even herself got the hint so here's hoping!

https://atari.com/products/atari-2600-plus

I've been playing with Stella for years and ordered the paddle controllers and the extra d-sub connector joystick so I can plug them into my Pi400 using an adaptor, to get the old fashioned feel of the Atari joystick and paddle controls for Kaboom!

I have no original Atari game carts or system, so I thought this would be an ideal way to get an Atari nostalgia trip, ready to go HDMI.

I have Atari 50 on my PC, and its great, but I'd love the idea of having something that looked like an original Atari VCS (isn't that what they were called in Ireland in the 80s? Not Atari 2600?) that I can just plug right into the TV HDMI port and go.

I read a number of reviews, and some mentioned that it won't run multicarts like the Harmony or Uno. I thought that was a bit strange, as the unit comes with a 10 game multicart, selectable by dip switches.

I had a look at PCBway and they have custom PCBs that they can pre-assemble: I have very little experience soldering, and would be willing to have a try, but it looks like the PCB needs some soldering skills beyond a few capacitors or resistors that I could order from Mauser.

https://www.pcbway.com/project/shareproject/UnoCart_2600.html

There's also a dip switch multi cart version on PCBway, but if I had them assemble the boards, I would have to desolder the eprom, load the rom files, then resolder it in place?

https://www.pcbway.com/project/shareproject/ATARI_2600_MULTI_GAME_CARTRIDGE_PCB.html

Having seen what people were able to do to the various mini systems recently (NES, SNES, PS1), what do people think the chances are of the 2600+ being hacked to allow additional games to be loaded?

If the SD card version would work with the 2600+, I think it would be ideal as I wouldn't need to desolder/solder the Eprom, or need to get an Eprom programmer?

I'd love some advice/guidance/thoughts on the 2600+. Might be a good opportunity for me to try start learning to solder!

Thanks

Inviere

I'm guessing that the more advanced multicarts with logic on them don't work because this is an emulation device. When you power it on with a cart in, it simply dumps the cart to a ROM file in ram, and then uses an emulator to run the ROM. This causes issues with multicarts because on power on, what gets dumped is the bootloader, and not the ROM.

Re the simpler dip switch ones, I don't see why they wouldn't work with the 2600+ so maybe someone more knowledgeable might know?

KeRbDoG

The DIY one which uses an SDCard would be harder to build due to the soldering of the STM32F407VGT6/7

The multi-cart with DIP switches can have 16 games, are there more than 16 awesome games on the Atari 2600/VCS? :) Also, you wouldn't have to solder the EPROM on the board as you can use a socket instead. note though, its a EPROM so you'd also need a UV eraser before you could reprogram...unless it also supports an EEPROM?

Ghengis

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121383860#Comment_121383860

Yeah, the big chip soldering looks way out of my league. I think PCBway can assemble the board so I was hoping to go that route, really for the convenience of a game selection screen, rather than dip switching.

I think I'll go with the 16 game dip selection: its minimum order of 5 boards, so I'll probably do an Activision cart, a paddle cart, etc. I think I can order the PCB and components together, so I'd need the sockets and an eprom programmer from Amazon.

Is there a 3d printing service in Ireland that I could get the cart shell printed? Probably one on PCBway as well, havent had a look around the site yet.

Thanks

Ghengis

Many moons later, I finally have a result!

Turns our PCBway only assemble certain PCBs, not these ones, so I bought a soldering station, fan, magnifier, chip programmer, EEPROMS, resistors and lots of other bits from Amazon.

The chips were expensive enough, so I took a punt and ordered some from Aliexpress, as well as some chip sockets (I got the wrong ones, 24 not 28pin!)

I couldn't get the programmer to be recognised by Windows (I got a cheap one for about €30 on Amazon) so I had to buy a new one from Amazon US, cost me $90 imported. This hobby is getting expensive!

Finally had a try today: new programmer works perfectly after a firmware update.

I've never soldered before and was a bit apprehensive: I've watched Mark Fixes Stuff, Stezfix, etc on YouTube so I had an idea of what to do.

I got the hang of it fairly quickly, I think: the solder seems to want to go where it should. Working using a magnifying glass was a bit weird, but again, I adjusted (much better than just using my specs).

Everything went great, until I tried to put the Eprom into the socket. What a fiddly pain in the arse! Pins bending, straightening them with pliers, took at least as long as most of the soldering, I'd say. Might skip the socket entirely next time.

Anyway, back into the house, kicked the little fella off the PS5 so I could try it out. First time, no success, but then I checked and reseated the PCB in the middle of the slot, and it fired up! Changed the dip switches and (so far at least) all looks to be working correctly.

Next will be making 8k game versions: I already got 8k and 16k cards made in PCBway (I have 10 of each 4k, 8k and 16k now) and am waiting for the 3 pin DIP switches to arrive for the 8k. Can use 4 pin and snip the outside legs off instead?

Would appreciate any advice on where to get some cart shells 3d printed at a reasonable price?

Few pictures attached here: they don't show the shaky nerves!

Inviere

Fair play, well done 👍