ATARI HOME COMPUTER FIELD SERVICE MANUAL 400/800ATARI believes that the information described in this manual is accurate and reliable, and much care has been taken in its preparation. However, no responsibility, financial or otherwise, shall be accepted for any consequences arising out of the use of this material. Information contained herein is subject to change. Revisions may be issued to advise of such changes and/or additions. Correspondence regarding this document should be forwarded to Manager of Technical Support, Consumer Product Service, ATARI, Incorporated, 1312 Crossman Road, Sunnyvale, CA 94086, U.S. America.TABLE OF CONTENTS ‘Section 1 400/800 Mechanical Description...... Motherboard .. peeeeeeeeeees Ld eee eee eee tte eeeeeeeenen Lod eee eeee seeeee 16 Power Supply s..sscssseseeeeee Program Cartridge ....seseeeeee 400/800 Electronic Discussion ‘Central Processing Unit... CPU 6502 Integrated Circuit Alphanumerical Television . tee eeeeeeee 18 Interface Controller Color Television Interface. . seeeereeeee Lol O ‘Adaptor Grzphic Television Interface seeeeeereeeee LalO ‘Adaptor W/O Decoder « tere eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee LAO Composite Video ....+++ssereeeeeereeeee eee LO Motherboard Console = 400 .......sseeeeeeee ee d-ll Pot Keyboard Integrated «...ssseseceseeeeeceneceoe dell Peripheral Interface Adaptor . esa tell Key-In Key-Out Integrated . ae 1-12 Circuit Memory Map Decoder ... teeter eee eeeeeee eee bal? YO Decoder ..-..e000csc0002 3 Motherboard Console - 800 .......+++ eee ble Bi-directional Data Buffer ........ teeee Aely ROM Personality Board +e L-LS Power Supply « Prrrrreerererss i-le ROM Cartridge . sy ss L-l7 Accessories ....... nee a eeeeeeeeee 1-17 AC Power Adaptor ...2.ceeeeseeee seceeeedel? TV Switch Box ......22+seseeeee sense Lol? "BASIC’ Program Cartridge seeseee bel 2 SILKSCREEN AND SCHEMATICS . seeee 21 3 TROUBLESHOOTING AND TESTING + 31 Overview 31 Tests . x1 Equip: 3 Testing With and Without ss... 3-2 the SALT II Cartridge ATARI Home Computer iiiTABLE OF CONTENTS (Cont) Title Page steeeeeeerene 3a + 32 +32 Overview of Tests... Power-Up Test -....4 Keyboard Test .. Gray Bar Test «1. Keyboard Test ..010. Switch Test weceeee Tone Test .2.ssceeee Display Options Port Test ssseeeseeseeeee Verity ROM Test.. RAM Test... M Test Siar se Star Raider ™ Tose 22200001 Shake Test .. tees Burin wseeecceccccces Description of the Other Functions «..+ e000 Production Test Boot B. feetaeeteed Examine .... Adjust « Summary, 4 DISASSEMBLY/ASSEMBLY MAINTENANCE, ..........0.. el ATARI 400 Home Computer Console - Disassembly ....... 41 Keyboard and Power Supply Access . Keyboard Removal .. Power Supply Removal..-+-.se-++ CPU, RAM and Motherboard Access .. CPU and RAM Removal... ATARI 800 Home Computer Console - Disassembly Access to RAM Boards and ...eeeseeeeeeeesevsses OB ROM Board Access to Power Supply and .. Keyboard Assembly Remove Top Cover... Remove the PCB Module . Remove the Power Supply .ssssssssssecesessee Access to CPU Printed Circuit Board « Access to Motherboard Keyboard Removal ... ATARI Home Computer iv10 TABLE OF CONTENTS (Cont) Title ATARI 400 Home Computer Console - Assembly Module Assembly Reassembly ...... Keyboard Installation .. Power Supply Installation Top Cover Installation . ATARI 800 Home Computer Console - Assuinbly .........4+17 Keyboard Assembly ... Motherboard Installation « CPU PCB Installation Power Supply Installation Module Assembly Installation into Top Cover . Bottom Cover Installation .. RAM and ROM Installation Cartridge Door Assembly PCB Contact Cleaning and Lubricating .- Tools Required .... Procedure Visual Inspection «.2.2.. 400 DIAGNOSTIC FLOWCHARTS .. ites eataeuaierateusel 400/800 SYMPTOM CHECKLIST .. 800 DIAGOSTIC FLOWCHARTS. eersnenes GAME CONTROLLERS ...-002seseeeesesseeeseeceeeeee Sel Joystick (X-¥ Controller) «0065 + Sl Joystick (X-Y Controller) Check ss... 2212 8.3 Equipment Needed «+eseseeesesereoss 83 Procedure. ..seeeees ie 1823 Game Paddle 00. 2...0 a cas Game Paddle Controller Check =... 3-5 Equipment Needed .......+. 3-5 Procedure... eeenne 85 PARTS LIST...... 400 Computer ... 300 Computer SERVICE BULLETINS .. ATARI Home Computer vLIST OF ILLUSTRATION Figure Title Lal ATARI 400 Home Computer Console 1-2 ATARI 800 Home Computer Console 13 MPU Pin Assignments ......+ 1 ANTIC Pin Assignments .. LS CTIA/GTIA Pin Assignments. 16 POKEY Pin Assignments « 17 PIA Pin Assignments 1-8 400 Motherboard Flow Diagr 1-9 400 Power Supply Sete eeeeeeeee 1-10 800 Motherboard Flow Diagram .... LIL 800 Power Supply Flow Diagram . 1-12 300 Personality Board ..... os 1-13 CPU Board Flow Diagram ........- 16 8K Dynamic RAM Flow Diagram . TelS 16K Dynamic RAM Flow Diagram .. 1-16 Game Cartridge Flow Diagram..... 1-17 ATARI Home Computer System .....+.+ Block Diagram 400 Motherboard Silkscreen .++.+sse0e0e0 400 Motherboard Schematic - + 400 Power Supply Silkscreen -- 400 Power Supply Schematic .. 800 Motherboard Silkscreen 800 Motherboard Schematic .... 800 Power Supply Silkscreen 300 Power Supply Schematic 300 Personality Board Silkscreen .....1s0s000 800 Personality Board Schematic ....... CPU Board Silkscreen .. CPU Board Schematic .- 3K RAM Board Silkscreen... 8K RAM Board Schematic ......+. 16K RAM Board Silkscreen .....++ 16K RAM Board Schematic « seeeeeeee 2el6 2-17 +1218 219 2-20 221 3-1 32 SALT Header « 33 SALT Il Menu. 34 Color Bar Test Screen 3-5 Any Video Test Screen 3-6 Gray Bar Test Screen. 37 Port Test Screen... 308 RAM TEST Screen . ATARI Home Computer viLIST OF ILLUSTRATION (Cont) Figure Title Page bel ATARI 400 Console, Sottom Cover Screw Location ... 2 “2 ATARI 400 Console, Top Cover Removal «+ Hl 63 43 ATARI 400 Console, Keyboard Removal .... eee bob a4 ATARI 400 Console, Power Supply Removal ....csscccsee 4-5 45 ATARI 400 Console, Module Assembly tte ee ee eee 4-7 6 ATARI 800 Console, Cartridge Duor =... 0..0c0e 49 Assembly Removal a7 ATARI 800 Console, Bottom Cover Removal ....... 410 a8 ATARI 800 Console, Module Assembly Removal ... wld 49 ATARI 800 Console, Power Supply Removal G12 10 ATARI 800 Console, CPU Printed Circuit ~ ... 13 Board Removal Hell ATARI 800 Console, Motherboard Removal . bel 5 412 ATARI 800 Console, Keyboard Removal . wee eee eee LS S-L Keyboard Connection Chart .. peters ++ 538 5-2 Defective RAM Boards . oe eee IID Fok Keyboard Connection Chart . 07-38 7-2 Defective RAM Boards ...... seen ee 7039 8-1 Joystick (X-Y Controller) ....... wees B2 8-2 Joystick Schematic. cesses BB 8-3 Game Paddle ....-.++-.005 a 8-4 Game Paddle Schematic ..... BS LIST OF TABLES Table Title Page tel Memory Map Selected Lines .... ve b-l3 1-2 I/O Decoder Select Line a L-Le Bel Port Test Legend ...-.seeeeeeee ecg 3-2 Defective RAM Boards ... oe eee Blb 3-3 Defective RAM Identified . ee BLS SL Clock Circuit...... see 5-36 3-2 Defective RAM Boards . sete ee 53D 5-3 Port Test Legend .....0.. 5-40 7-1 Clock Circuit. 7-2 Defective RAM Boarc 7-3 Port Test Legend ... ATARI Home Computer vilINTRODUCTION The ATARI 400/800 Home Computer™ Field Service Manual is organized in 10 Sections: 1 THEORY OF OPERATION - overview of how the 400 and 800 Home Computers work. 2 SILKSCREENS AND SCHEMATICS - electrical layouts and drawings for major components. 3. TESTING AND TROUBLESHOOTING - overview of tests which assist in diagnosing malfunctions. 4 DISASSEMBLY/ASSEMBLY - detailed instructions to completely disassemble and assemble both units. 5 400 DIAGNOSTIC FLOWCHARTS - detailed procedures for troubleshooting and repairing the 400 Computer. 6 — $00/800 SYMPTOM CHECKLIST - quick reference for troubleshooting each computer. 7 800 DIAGNOSTIC FLOWCHART - detailed procedures for troubleshooting and repairing the 800 Computer. 8 GAME CONTROLLERS - overview of hand controller construction and recommended test procedures. 9 PARTS LIST - detailed breakdown of all parts used in each unit. 10 SERVICE BULLETINS - section to be used to hold Field Change Orders, Upgrade Bulletins, and Tech Tips. This manual is designed for use by both the experienced and inexperienced service technician. The Diagnostic Flowcharts (Sections 5 and 7) provide detailed diagnostics and repair procedures for technicians not completely familiar with the ATARI 400/800 Home Computers, The Symptom Checklist (Section 6) provides a rapid repair reference for the more experienced technician. ATARI Home Computer ixSECTION I THEORY OF OPERATION OVERVIEW ‘The Atari 400 Computer Home Console contains the central processor unit (CPU) and memory in the form of the Operating System (read-only-memory (ROM)) and 8K or 16K of user programmable random access memory (RAM). The console contains the keyboard, cartridge slot, controller jacks, and serial input/output (I/O) port for connecting peripheral devices (see Figure 1-1). Figure I-1. ATARI 400 Home Computer Console ATARI Home Computers totThe ATARI 800 Home Computer Console contains the CPU and memory in the form of the Operating System (LOK of read-only-memory (ROM)) and 8K to I6K (standard) of user programmable random access memory (RAM); plus two expansion sockets for additional RAM modules (maximum 43K). The console also contains the keyboard, cartridge slots (2), controller jacks and a serial 1/0 port for connecting peripheral devices (see Figure 1-2). Figure 1-2. ATARI 800 Home Computer Console USER INTERFACE The ATARI 400/800 Home Computer Consoles are general purpose microcomputers using the 6502 microprocessor. The ATARI 400/800 Consoles are the central processing units for their respective systems. Each console comes standard with a built-in typewriter style keyboard, 8K/16K of RAM, ROM operating systems, Connector jacks for adding peripherals and hand controllers, and a 15-foot Radio Frequency (RF) cable for connection to the user's television set. The controller jacks on the front of both consoles accepts the X-Y (joystick) and paddle hand controllers available from ATARI. ATARI Home Computers 12The right side panel of the Atari 400 Computer Console contains a peripheral jack, power ON/OFF switch, and a power jack. The channel 2/3 switch is located on the back of the console. This switch changes the console transmission frequency to either channel 2 or channe! 3 (refer to Figure 1-1). The right side panel of the Atari 800 Home Console contains a monitor jack, a peripheral jack, a channel 2/3 switch, a power ON/OFF switch, and a power jack (refer to Figure 1-2). Both Console keyboards provide a full alphanumeric character set, cursor controls, and special purpose keys. The alpha keys when used in conjunction with the Control (CTRL) key become special gfaphic symbols. To the right of the keyboard is the power ON light and four special control keys (refer to Figure 1-1 and Figure 1-2). From the top to the bottom they are: SYSTEM RESET - Interrupts whatever the computer is doing and restarts the ‘Operating System or Program Cartridge. OPTION + Interrupt used by the Program Cartridge to choose among. the variations within a game or program. SELECT + Interrupt used to select one of several games or programs ‘on the Program Cartridge. START = Interrupt used to Start the game or program selected from the Program Cartridge. 400/300 MECHANICAL DESCRIPTION ‘The Atari 400/800 Computer Home Consoles are made up of seven major functional modules they are: © Motherboard ¢ Central Processing Unit (CPU) Printed Circuit Board @ ROM Personality Printed Circuit Board (Operation System) (800 Oniy) RAM Printed Circuit Board(s) © Keyboard © Power Supply Board © Program Cartridge ATARI Home Computers 13‘The Printed Circuit Boards (PC8s) plug into sockets on the motherboard, using a ‘common Address Bus, Data Bus and clock lines. The various power requirements are routed from the power supply through the motherboard to all printed circuit boards. The keyboard connects directly to the motherboard through a ribbon connector. The sixteen-line Address Bus allows the microprocessor to directly address 64K of memory. The eight-line Data Bus provides the communication and data path between the functional modules. Figures 1-8 thru 1-17 at the end of this section provide function block diagrams of PCBs in the 400/800 systems. Motherboard The motherboard ties all components of the computer system together. It also performs a variety of logic functions. All PCBs and connector cables plug into the motherboard and allow communication between the functional blocks of the 400 and 800 Computer Consoles. The motherboard also performs the following: @ Generates a 3.58 MHz master clock for the Central Processing Unit's PCB. @ Generates the Power-ON RESET for the Central Processing Unit PCB and the peripherals. © Provides the driving circuitry for the Key-Press signal from the Central Processing Unit PCB to the Console speaker. © Converts signals from the various hand controllers into recognizable data for the microprocessor. © Buffers and drives the data lines between the Central Processing Unit PCB, the RAM PCBs, and the remainder of the system. © Does the first memory map decoding of the possible 64K address locations into 8K blocks for the microprocessor. © Generates control signals for the peripheral devices. ¢ Receives video data from the Central Processing Unit PCB, converts it into a composite video and routes it to the power supply PCB. © Combines the sound from the Computer system and the audio tack of prerecorded cassettes. ¢ Develops the sound subcarrier for the television audio as part of the composite video. ATARI Home Computers LatCentral Processing Unit The Central Processing Unit (CPU) PCB is the controller of the entire Console system. The CPU PCB contains the 6502 microprocessor, and the ANTIC and CTIA (or GTIA) chips. The CPU PCB controls the Console system and its peripheral devices through address lines (to select which device it needs to communicate with) and data lines (to ‘twansmit and/or receive data from a selected device) common to the entire system. Operating instructions for the microprocessor come from the ROM Operating System on the Personality PCB. Additional functions of the CPU PCB are: © Receives the master clock from the motherboard and generates Phase | (f1 ‘or Ph 1) and Phase 2 (f2 of Ph 2) clocks used to synchronize the entire system. @ — Transmits a REFRESH signal at least every 2 miliseconds to refresh the dynamic RAM chips on the RAM PCB(s). © Receives the four TRIGGER lines from the fire button on each of the hand controller accessories. ¢ Receives the lines from the four control switches located to the right of the keyboard. © — Generates video signals to be processed by the motherboard before they are sent to the RF module on the Power Supply PCB. ROM Personality PCB The ROM Personality PCB contains information in Read-Only Memory (ROM), the Program of operating instructions for the microprocessor. Two 4K ROMs contain the Operating System, and one 2K ROM contains the arithmatic functions used for BASIC Programming. Information is retrieved from the ROMs by addressing a particular location on the ROM using the Address Bus. The data contained at that location is placed on the Data Bus to be read by the microprocessor. ‘The ROM Personality PCB also provides the CHIP SELECT signals used to select LSI chips throughout the Console system and for the bi-directional data buffers on the motherboard. RAM PCB The Random Access Memory (RAM) PCB performs the function of temporary data storage for the system. The RAM is dynamic, requiring REFRESH, and is available in 8K or 16K versions. Each RAM chip on the RAM PCB has only seven address lines. To address 16K locations requires 14 address lines. To accomplish this, a [i-bit address is ATARI Home Computers Lssent to the address demultiplexer, which first passes the lower seven bits to the RAM chips as 2 Row Address. After an appropriate delay, the highest seven bits are passed asa Column Address. Data is then either put into or taken out of the location selected. The direction of data flow is determined by the Read/Write line. REFRESH occurs at least every two milliseconds. The REFRESH signal is generated ‘on the CPU Board. Keyboard The typewriter-style keyboard is used to generate alphanumeric characters as weil as special graphic symbols. The keyboard allows the operator to communicate with the console system for writing programs or responding to preprogrammed cassettes or cartridges. The keyboard consists of 57 normally open switches. The switches are scanned at 2 rapid rate and when a switch is found closed, that scan pattern is sent to ‘the Pot Keyboard Integrated Circuit (POKEY) for encoding. Power Supply The Power Supply PCB receives 9VAC from an external power adaptor (transformer) and provides +3Vde, +12Vdc, and -5Vde for the Console system. The Power ON/OFF switch is mounted on the Power Supply PCB and removes input power by opening the Vac lines. An interlock switch breaks power to the system when the operator opens the top panel of the Console to install or remove Program Cartridges. ‘The RF Module resides on the Power Supply PCB. The RF Module generates the RF output for the video screen from the composite video signals received from the motherboard, and is switchable to television channel 2 or 3. Voltages: +5Vde A - Supply voltage for the logic PCBs. +5Vde B - Specially filtered for the video circuitry. +12Vde and -5Vde - Supply voltage for the dynamic RAM chips. Program Cartridge The Program Cartridge permanently stores the microprocessor instructions for a particular application. It consists of two 4K ROM chips mounted on the enclosed PCB. Information is received from the ROM chips by addressing the memory locations assigned to the Program Cartridge slot(s). Data in the memory locations is then placed on the Data Bus lines. ATARI Home Computers 16400/300 ELECTRONIC DISCUSSION ‘The remainder of this section provides a detailed discussion of the functions of the seven major modules. Central Processing Unit ‘The Central Processing Unit (CPU) PCB contains the 6502 CPU (or MPU) chip (A303), the CTIA or GTIA chip (A301), the ANTIC chip (A302), tri-level address buffers (2303 and 2304), and the clock generator (Z302A and 23028). CPU 6502 Integrated Circuit The 6502 microprocessor contains register flags, interconnections, arithmetic logic, and control logic, all recognized operation codes. The characteristics of the 6502 microprocessor are: © Byte-oriented structure © 151 opcodes © Decima! and binary arithmetic modes © Seven addressing modes @ True indexing © Stack pointer ¢ Two interrupt levels © 64K address range @ Integral clock circuit © Single +5 volt de power requirement Figure 1-3 is an illustration of the 6502 pin assignments. The functions of the pins are explained on the following pages. ATARI Home Computers 17> a 2 * s 2 Figure 1-3. MPU Pin Assignments Alphanumeric Television interface Controller The primary function of the Alphanumeric Television Interface Controller (ANTIC) chip is to fetch data from memory, independent of the processor, for display on the video screen. Figure 1-1 is an illustration of ANTIC Pin Assignments. ATARI Home Computers 18GROUND CTIA Data CTIA Data Light Pen CTIA Data Interrupt Input Interrupt Output Refresh HALT Address Bus Address Bus Address Bus Address Bus Read/Write Ready Address Bus Address Bus Address Bus Address Bus ‘Address Bus ANS ATARI Home Computer 40 39 38 37 36 35 34 33 32 31 30 29 23 7 26 25 28 23 2 a De DS D6 D7. RES FP hy Pe D3 02 OL oe Ph2 A AS AG ay Ag ag ALL yoo Figure 1-4. ANTIC Pin Assignments Data Bus Data Bus Data Bus Data Bus Reset Fast Phase 0 Clock Phase 0 Clock Data Bus Data Bus Data Bus Data Bus Phase 2 Clock Address Bus Address Bus Address Bus Address Bus Address Bus Address Bus Address Bus 5V PowerColor Television Interface Ad: The Color Television Intertace Adaptor (CTIA) chip retrieves graphics data from memory via the ANTIC DMA process. registers. Figure 1-5 illustrates the pin assi This data is routed to the CTIA graphics jignments for the CTIA and TIA. Address Bus AL 1 40 Az ‘Address Bus Address Bus Ag 2 AS ‘Address Bus Ground vss 3 38 AG Address Bus Data Bus D3 4 37 a Data Bus Data Bus D2 5 36s Dara Bus Data Bus DI é 336 Data Bus Data Bus Dg 7 3% D7 Data Bus Trigger 0 1 8 330 R/W Read/Write Trigger | Tl 3 3a. SST. ‘Chip Select 1 Trigger 2 T2 10 aL sz Chip Select 2 Trigger 3 73 u 30 PH2 Phase 2 Input Console Sw 0 w 12 29° FPHO Clock Out Console Sw 1 Si 3 23 Osc Oscillator Input Console SW 2 52 is 2 yoo Power Console SW 3 33 15 26° HALT HALT PAL Color Delay = PAL 16 25 - CSYNC Output Syne Color Delay DEL 7 26° LUM2 Luminance 2 Output Alphanum. Datad — ANO 18 23° LUML Luminance 1 Ourput Alphanum. Datal = ANL 19 22 LUM Luminance 0 Output Alphanum. Data2 ANZ 20 2 COL Color Figure 1-5. CTIA/GTIA Pin Assignments Graphics Television Interface Adaptor ‘The Graphic Television Interface Adaptor (GTIA) is an extended capabilities version of the CTIA, having additional high-resolution modes. VO Decoder The 1/0 Decoder integrated circuit (Z101) is a one-eight decoder demultiplexer. The WO Decoder is the same in the 400 and 800, but is labeled Z101 in the 800 Console and 2105 in the 400 Console. Composite Video The 400 and $00 Motherboards roure the Composite video signals (COMP CHROMA, COMP LUM, MOD, and COMP VIDEO) to the Power Supply to build the RF video ourput. ATARI Home Computers 1-10Motherboard Console = 400 The $00 Console Motherboard contains the Pot Keyboard (POKEY) (A101) chip , the Per: Interface Adaptor chip (PIA) (A102), the ROM Personality chips (ALG3 "thru A105), the Keyboard Key-In/Key-Out analog multiplexers, the Memory Map Decoder (Z103), the controller jacks (J101 thru J108), the CPU ‘connector jack (3110), the Keyboard connector jack, RAM connectors and Cartridge connectors. Pot Keyboard Integrated Circuit, The Pot Keyboard jrongreced Circuit (POKEY) provides the interface between the Keyboard, the Serial 1/O ports, and the microprocessor. It also contains four semi- independent audio channels, each with its own frequency, noise, and volume control. Figure 1-6 shows the pin assignments of the POKEY. Ground vss 1 40 D2 Data Bus Data Bus D3 2 33° Data Bus Data Bus De 3 38 (Bo Data Bus Data Bus Ds 4 37 AUDIO. Audio Out Data Bus Ds 3 36 AO Address Bus Data Bus 7 é 35 OAL Address Bus Phase 2 Clock a2 7 Be OAR Address Bus Put Scan P6 8 3303 Address Bus Pot Scan 27 9 32 OR/W Read/Write Control Pot Scan Pe to} Powey | 31 csi Chip Select Pot Scan PS u 30 30 ‘Chip Select Pot Scan Pz 12 2 IRQ Interrupt Request Pot Scan P3 3 28 sob Serial Oueput Data Pot Scan PO 16 27 OCLK Serial Ourput Clock Pot Scan PL 13 26 BEEK Bidirectional Ciock Keyboard Scan Rez 16 23 KRI Keyboard Scan 5V Power yoo 7 2% SID Serial Input Data Keyboard Scan S 18 23 KO Keyboard Scan Keyboard Scan Re 19 2 xt Keyboard Sean Keyboard Scan wa 20 a RE Keyboard Scan Figure |-6. POKEY Pin Assignments Be nterface The Peripheral Interface Adaptor (PIA) (6320) has two 8-bit programmable 1/0 ports and two control bits for each port, for a total of ten lines per port. Figure 1-7 shows the pin assignments of the PIA, ATARI Home Computers tetPat Rea PAT EEF Figure 1-7. PIA Pin Assignments Key-in Key-Out Integrated Circuits ‘These two 4051 (Z101 and Z102) integrated circuits are used to scan the Keyboard for input data on the 400 and 800 Computer Consoles. The 4051 integrated circuits are analog multiplexers controlled by the input lines A, B, C and X. Memory Map Decoder The Memory Map Decoder integrated circuit (Z103) on the 400/800 Motherboard is a one-of-ten decoder. Four input lines (pins 12, 13, and 14 and 15) determine which output line is selected, The 400/800 Computer Console uses only three of the input lines (pins 13, 14, and 15 and pin 12 being grounded) for a total of eight selected output lines (SO -S7), Refer to Table I-1 for the line selected for each input combination. ATARI Home Computers 12Table 1-1 Memory Map Selected Lines Signal-Grd ALS ALS AL3 Active Pin - 12 13 18 15 Line Device 8K RAM BLOCK 8K RAM BLOCK 3K RAM BLOCK 8K RAM BLOCK 8K RAM/CARTRIDGE L,R 3K RAM/CARTRIDGE L 2K ROM : 1/0 DECODER (Z105) 9 ROMs (2-"E" & "A") NN awe une GRRGESEesS Peer rr eee Emer rgeece ERreerercagee Beererege WO Decoder The 0 Decoder integrated circuit (Z105) is a one-of-eight decoder /demultiplexer. The 1/0 Decoder is used to select the different output devices, such as PIA chip, POKEY chip and the CTIA/GTIA chip. Only four of the possible output selections are used. (See Table 1-2.) The 1/0 Decoder is enabled by inputs on pins 4, 5, and 6 pin 4 input coming from the Memory Map Decoder (S6), pin 5 input coming from the Address Bus and pin 6 input coming from the Chip Select (CS) line. The Binary Decode is provided by the Address Bus (A08, A09 and Aid). ATARI Home Computers 1-13Table 1-2 1/O Decoder Select Line Enable Binary Decode AIZ All S6é AO ASS AB Active Device Pin 6 6 & 3 2 1 Pin Selected PEE L LoL YO-15 CTIA Hae Gy L Lo 14 Notused HOLL L HOL Y2-13. POKEY MEP baa L HOOK Y3-12 PIA eae H ee — 11 Not Used HOLL H LaHeH Y5-10 External Select —-9 Not Used 7 Not Used Motherboard Console ~ 800 Read descriptions provided in Motherboard Console - 400, for items similar in both the 4800 and $00 Console Motherboards. The following paragraphs describe those items unique to the 800 Console Motherboard. ‘The 800 Console Motherboard contains the POKEY chip (A101), the PIA chip (A102), the Keyboard Key-In/Key-Out multiplexers (2103 and Zi04), the I/O Decoder (Z10L), Bi-directional Data Buffers (Z105 and Z106), the controller jacks (J101 thru 3104), the Keyboard connector jack (3106), the left and right Program Cartridge jacks (3108 and 3103), the CPU connector jact (JLO1), the ROM Personality connector jack (3107), and the RAM Memory connector jacks (J102, 3103, and J104). See Figures 1-11 and 1-12. Bi-directional Data Buffer The Bi-directional Data Buffers (Z105 and Z106) are 74L5243 quad transceivers, commonly referred to as tri-level buffers. Tri-level refers to the three levels that can ‘occur in the device; the first level pin 1 going high and pin 13 staying low, allows dara to flow through the data buffer in the direction of the CPU; the second level, pin 13 going high and pin t staying tow, allows data to flow through the data buffer in the direction of the POKEY chip, the PIA chip and the Personality PCB; the third level, with pin | and pin 13 both staying low, creates a high impedance condition in the data buffers and allows other devices to transmit data on the Data Bus lines. This high impedance state also isolates the CPU and the RAM PC from noise generated froma device using the Data Bus lines. ATARI Home Computers LetaROM Personality Board The ROM Personality printed circuit board plugs into connector Jack 3107 and ‘occupies memory locations D800 thru FFFF. The Personality board contains the ‘operating system on three ROM chips, two 4K chips and one 2K chip (see Figures 1-13 and 1-14). The two 4K ROM chips (A401 and A403) contain the I/O subsystem, interrupt processing, initialization Power-Up and Reset. The 2K ROM chip (A402) contains the floating point arithmetic package. 110 Subsystem The 1/0 subsystem contained in the ROM Operating System provides a high-level interface between the user programs and the Console and peripheral hardware. All peripheral devices capable of dealing with character data have symbolic names (such as K, D, P, E) and may be accessed using a Central 1/0 (C10) routine. Interrupt Processing All hardware interrupts are handled by the interrupt subsystem in the ‘Operating System. Vectored addresses contained in RAM memory point to subroutines in ROM to handle each type of interrupt. Initialization There are two levels of initialization provided by the system, Power-Up and Reset. Power-Up initialization is performed each time the system power is turned on, and Reset initialization is performed each time the Reset key is pressed. Whenever the system power is turned on, the Operating System examines and notes the configuration of the unit. The Operating System performs the following actions at Power-Up: = Determines the highest available RAM address + Clears all RAM to zeroes - Establishes all RAM interrupt vectors - Initializes the ROM Cartridges ~ Sets-up the video screen (24 x 40 text mode) = Boots the cassette if desired = Checks ROM Cartridge for disk boot instructions - Boots the disk if desired and a disk drive is attached - Transfers control to the ROM cartridge, and booted program ATARI Home Computers 1sWhenever the Reset key is pressed, the Operating System performs some, but not all, of the functions performed at Power-Up. The Operating System performs the following actions after the Reset key is pressed: - Clears the Operating System portion of RAM memory + Revestablishes all RAM interrupt vectors + Formats the Handler Address table = Initializes the ROM Cartridges = Sets-Up the video screen for 24 x 40 text mode - Transfers control to the ROM Cartridge and booted program The remaining 2K of Operating System ROM is a floating point program which is not used by the other parts of the Operating System itself, but is available to non-resident programs such as BASIC, Calculator, PASCAL, etc. The following routines are among those found in the ROM program: - ASCII to floating point and floating point to ASCII conversion > __ Integer to floating point and floating point to integer conversion = Floating point log, exponent, and ploynemial evaluation - Floating point number clear, load, store and move POWER SUPPLY The 400 and 800 Power Supply have identical circuitry, with a few exceptions (See Figures 1-9 and I-11). The Console Power Supplies receive 9Vac (1204 and 3206, 400 and 800 respectively) from the external power adaptor (transformer) provides +5Vdc, and +12Vde, and -5Vde for the Console. Both the 400 and 800 Power Supplies have two power ON/OFF switches, $202 and $203 for the #00 Console, and $201 and S202 for the 800 Console. $202 and $201, respectively, are Power interlock switches. ‘The RF signal is generated in both the 400 and 800 Power Supplies from the MOD signal received trom the motherboard. It is routed through the A203 RF Module to develop the RF output through 1203. A peripheral connector jack, 1202 for the 400 Console and J204 for the 800 Console, Provides the serial data~in/data-out port for the system. Devices are "daisy chained” together from this output port. Each peripheral device is identified by a unique address, enabling all devices to reside on one output port. Also contained on the 800 Power Supply board is the Monitor connector jack (3205). Present at 1205 are the composite video signals to drive a video monitor. The 800 Power Supply board also contains switches 5204 thru S207. These switches are the System Reset, Option, Select, and Start, respectively. ATARI Home Computers 1-16ROM CARTRIDGE ‘The Atari ROM Program Cartridge contains two ROM chips designed to provide a specific program application (See Figure 1-16). The 6502 microprocessor reads the information contained within the ROM chips by addressing memory locations 8000 thru BFFF Hex. When the ROM Program Cartridges are inserted in the motherboard, they disable the RAM address locations $000 thru BFFF, in 8K increments. The left ROM Cartridge overlays memory locations A000 to BFFF, and the right ROM Cartridge overlays locations 8000 to 9FFF. ACCESSORIES AC Power Adaptor The AC Power Adaptor plugs into a standard wall outlet to provide the 9Vac used by the Consoles. The other end of the power adaptor plugs into the power jack on either Console. TY Switch Box The TV Switch Box allows the Console to be connected to the 300 ohm RF antenna or 75 ohm cable inputs on a typical televison set. ‘BASIC’ Program Cartridge The 'BASIC’ Program Cartridge (provided) is a standard feature for both Consoles and contains the ATARI BASIC Interpreter. ATARI Home Computers 1-17Figure 1-8 400 Motherboard Flow Diagram ATARI Home Computers 1-18ATARI Home Computers 1-19m4 ATARI Home Computers Figure 1-10. 800 Motherboard Flow Diagram 1-20ft Figure 1-11. 300 Power Supply Flow Diagram ATARI Home Computers Lead) oor raviy (iavog ALTIVNOSEBA ‘BRUISve iD Vid VD AdNOG KRG NCO HOTT “ATH AP OUINOD O/T ® 135 Wa4ING VIVO SASSEUGGY XX9G-XX6O 3 VILD ‘AaNOd "Vid ‘SaO1Aag Anaino wos waxXa TILING /aadYOIIA ssABGGY ‘sng ssawgay on Figure 1-12. 800 Personality Board 1-22 ATARI Home Computer@avou nad EHH 61) 19079 I woLvwANaD: ‘OTD HELI y 39070 ff stav-gav HIN BCE) 350 SAHOLIMS TOULNOD SANIT WaDDIUL ‘SIVNDIS O3GIA wanvads wagang TaAaT-aL, sng ssaucay ‘sng ssaucay wsauaay g Figure 1-13. CPU Board Flow Diagram 1-23Rivv Vit INA 9 vagane syy wagang Hsausay 1oa7as ‘Guvod undw1a AVTRG ‘sna ssauaav Teaaaay waxaTalcInnad ‘ssavggy sna ssaucav Sato Wa & waaane TART REL (4a) sn@ viva ino viva Figure I-14. 8K Dynamic RAM Flow Diagram 1-26 ATARI Home ComputersRiviv WV OIWNAG 99T BRIS waaang AInowID Hsausgy AVTaa 1237s aavog waxavaicinwaa ‘Ssaucay (61-9¥) sna sstugav ‘sassaucav @ wagane TaRaT RAL ino vive ava are (6-00) sna viva RTOS aE Figure 1-15. 16K Dynamic RAM Flow Diagram 1-25 ATARI Home ComputersGuvOd FOGRULUVD aWVD WALSAS ¥ dTOL aa) Wow 01 SNOWLONNA JOBLNOD TIY “IVA Linvaag “MLSNI AWD. (1-gv) sna ssaugay Game Cartridge Flow Diagram Figure 1-16. 1-26 ATARI Home Computers4NOd JOOTANARIIND VIO =F Siuog zzse-¢ — vagyooay sovawaint aveooe ose 7 ‘On VAVG TWINS ann vtnn709°08 aua— so ! lov1 g0ee See 60v9 C_ > joo ( Olbo 2402 > vore > tovs 7 7 ()-——# oo. 9 3 7 z = : 7 : i z si lot g iS E ee 7 7 . FA 8 : z - 7 Hae 2 5 7 : Figure 2-9. 800 Personality Board Silkscreen ATARI Home Computer 214Nadas PERSONALITY BOARD o 3 i ze go: : = gage i He g ke & Se “flare Ta “v ae sade | Figure 2-17. 800 Personality Board Schematic ATARI Home Computer 215ATARI Home Computer iv cpu Figure 2-11, CPU Board Silkscreen 2-16CPU BOARD "ATARI Home Computer Figure 2-12. CPU Board SchematicFigure 2-13. 8K RAM Board Silkscreen ATARI Home Computer 2188K RAM Saat Hoa Boreas th fitters 3 § asesse ssl “Ot > Sater a Figure 2-14. 8 RAM Board Schematic ATARI Home ComputerT™ MOL yy C518 Q——(3 - gosz +t ) Oe Ee: x =) ) —(i - 2082 508 = g0sz A) ——( oo 60SZ — oisz ) i usz 8 — asz C513 cé2t c522 C523 ‘501 z SS I | 1 Figure 2-15. 16K RAM Board Silkscreen ATARI Home Computer 2-20 7504 z502Wve »91 Figure 2-16. 16K RAM Board Schematic 221 ATARI Home ComputerSECTION 3 TROUBLESHOOTING AND TESTING OVERVIEW This section describes the procedures to maintain, troubleshoot, and test the ATARI 400/800 Computer Consoles. The section is divided into two major categories: L TESTS 2, TROUBLESHOOTING TESTS The following discussions pertain to the troubleshooting procedures required to checkout the ATARI 400/800 Home Computer Consoles. Equipment Needed You require six basic pieces of equipment in order to analyze the failures of the ATARI 400/800 Home Computer Console. These items include: © 15MHz oscilloscope Stand Alone Test Cartridge (SALT 1) © Peripheral Port Test Connector ¢ Hand Controller Jack Test Connector © Television Set (properly adjusted) © Small Took Kit ATARI Home Computer Bel‘Testing With And Without The SALT I! Cartridge All tests are reviewed in this section. Procedures for the use of the tests are detailed in Section 5, $00 Diagnostic Flowchart, and Section 7, 800 Diagnostic Flowchart. QVERVIEW OF TESTS A variety of test routines assist you in identifying probable sources of problems within the computer console. Power-Up Test This test prepares the Console for the remainder of the tests. Should the Console fail this test, no other test results can be considered valid. ¢ Format: Connect the power adaptor to the Computer and the Computer to the television set. Make sure there is not a cartridge in the console —turn the POWER switch ON. The words ATARI COMPUTER - MEMO PAD, should appear on the screen in the upper left corner. Keyboard Test This test verifies that all keys of the keyboard are properly functioning. This test =Iso verifies that the POKEY chip's keyboard functions are operating properly. If one key fails, then the problem is likely the keyboard. If more than one key fails, you must perform further tests. (These tests are discussed later in this section.) Format: Depress each key of the keyboard. As you press each key, watch ‘the screen to verify if the computer is echoing the key. Be certain to use the CTRL key with other keys. This checks special graphics functions not tested elsewhere (See Figure 3-1). RAM and ROM Test This test verifies that the CPU, RAM, and ROM chips are all properly functioning. © Format: Due to the possible complexity of this test, it has been broken into four subsections. L Turn the POWER off, insert the SALT Il cartridge (for the 800, use the left cartridge slot), and turn the POWER on. The SALT Header should appear on the television screen (See Figure 3-2). This verifies that the CPU, Operating System (OS) ROMS, and the lower RAM are functioning. ATARI Home Computer 3-2SEE THIS Do THIS rh A og i908 e4+¢40 [S90Og TANEQUSLY a2anean i i 00000 0000000 780000 :vee00080 q i i Figure 3-1. Special Graphics Test 33 ATARI Home ComputerTIA NTSC ROM: MATH NTSA:NTSA a Figure 3-2. SALT Header 2, Ifa green/yellow colored screen is returned, this indicates a probable OS ROM malfunction. Swap-out the ROM set with a known good set (make certain to test after each ROM is replaced), this allows you to pinpoint the defective ROM. 3. If the words, SYSTEM FAILURE appear on the television screen, this indicates that the lower RAM is not functioning. When this happens and a 400 Computer is under test, turn the POWER off, swap-out the RAM board with a known good one and turn the Power on. If the SALT Header is returned to the screen, this indicates a probable malfunction in the RAM board which was removed. Refer to the DIAGNOSTIC FLOWCHARTS, Section 5 and 7 for troubleshooting procedures. If the 800 Computer is under test, turn the POWER off and swap-out the front RAM Card with a know good one. Place the suspected defective RAM CARD into the number 2 RAM slot (the third slot behind the OS), and turn the POWER back on. This lets the SALT If cartridge troubleshoot the suspected RAM CARD later in the DIAGNOSTIC FLOWCHARTS. 4, If RAM and ROM boards have been swapped and the condition continues to persist, swap the CPU board with a known good board to isolate the problems, ATARI Home Computer 3a**NOTE you have isolated the problem to either the RAM, ROM, or the board edge connectors and retest the boards. ‘Once PU ‘The SALT Il cartridge takes you through the next phase of tests. Use the SALT II cartridge to perform the following tests. SALT I Menu ighlighted character in Figure Figure 3-3 illustrates the SALT I menu of tests. The hi 3-3 is red on the screen and is the command letter for each test. Figure 3-3. SALT Il Menu ATARI Home ComputerColor Bar Test This test verifies and allows for adjustment to the color circuitry. With SALT II roperly in place, enter the command letter C and press RETURN. Figure 3-3 is a Pisdk'and white representation of what your television display screen should look like. REFERENCE BAR SAME COLOR Figure 3-4. Color Bar Test Screen A 15-color rainbow scale is displayed above the reference bar with a single color bar below. The color bars directly above and below the reference bar should be the same color (golden rod). If not, proper adjustment of R309 makes the color bars above and below the reference bar identical thus adjusting the color frequency of the console to the proper setting. ATARI Home Computer 36Proper operation of the unit is indicated by you being able to make this adjustment and by consistent color within the entire span of each bar on the screen. Minor glitches on the edges of the color bars are acceptable. Leave this test on for at least 60 seconds in order to catch any intermittent problems, such as a bar momentarily changing colors or blanking out. Any Video Test This test verifies the console's ability to generate a video (TV) display. This test also checks for pattern sensitivity of the ANTIC chip. By entering the command letter A and pressing RETURN, this test is activated. Figure 3-5 illustrates the screen display for the Any Video Test. NOTE: Figure 3-5 is a black and white representation of a colored screen. The screen should have a black background with eight vertical bars. Half of the vertical bars should be narrow, and the other half, much wider. A horizontal bar should appear across the top of the screen. From the left to right, the shade of color ‘on the horizontal bar should change. On the right of the bar, two Vs should be displayed, right side ups one in normal video and the other in inverse video. Figure 3-5. Any Video Test Screen ATARI Home ComputerGeay Bar Test ‘This test verifies that the CTIA (GTIA) is generating the three LUM lines. By pressing the command letter G and then RETURN, this test activates. Figure 3-6 illustrates the screen display of the Gray Bar Test. The screen is divided into eight equal sized horizontal bars. The bar at the top of the screen should be black and subsequent bars should progress to white at bar eight. The bars should lighten in even shades. The screen should be steady and unchanging. These lines may have minor glitches at their edges. A thin white line should always appear just over the top black) bar. No color should appear anywhere on the screen. The areas above the top (black) bar and below the bottom (white) bar are of no importance to this test. This test should be left on for at least 60 seconds to ensure that there is no “flashing” of color or shifting of the gray bars. Figure 3-6. Gray Bar Test Screen ATARI Home ComputerKeyboard Test This test verifies the Console's ability to accurately accept operator input from the keyboard. By pressing the command letter K and RETURN, this test is activated. You are to press each of the keys EXCEPT, the SPACE BAR, CNTL and both SHIFT keys. Each letter pressed is returned to the display screen. Once this portion of the test is completed, hold down the CNTL key and press the letter A. The letters CTRL are feturned to the screen. Now, hold down the left SHIFT key and press A. The word ‘SHIFT is returned to the screen. By holding down the right SHIFT key and pressing A, the word SHIFT is again returned to the display screen. Finally, press the SPACE BAR and then, RETURN. The words KEYBOARD PASS or KEYBOARD FAIL appear on the screen below the keyboard test. If the SALT Il cartridge detects any key failures during the test, the defective keys appear on the screen in the color red. Switch Test ‘This test verifies the proper operation of the four Console Switches (START, SELECT, QPTION, and SYSTEM RESET). By pressing the command letter $ and pressing RETURN, this test is activated. Press the console switches in the following order: |) START; 2) SELECT: 3) OPTION; and 4) SYSTEM RESET. Upon pressing SYSTEM RESET, either PASS or FAIL is returned to the screen. Tone Test This test verifies the ability of the POKEY to generate four sound registers through its sound generation circuits. Press the command letter T and RETURN. A prompt (question) is returned to the screen asking you which register you want to test. You ‘must press the key with the number of the register you want to test (I, 2, 3, or 4) and then press RETURN. The test generates eight tones in descending order. The first three tones are very nigh and may be inaudible to some people. Each tone begins at maximum volume and fades to minimum volume. You must enter the command letter before each register test. Make certain to test all four sound registers. NOTE: The television volume control may have to be turned up in order for you ‘to hear the first three tones. ATARI Home Computer 39Display Options This function, which is not a test, displays a diagnostic matrix when used in conjunction with either the RAM TEST or the PORT TEST. It allows you to identify which ROM chip has failed when used with the VERIFY ROM TEST. By pressing command letter D and RETURN you access this function. The screen returns the prompt to enter a test format, To use the PASS/FAIL indicator, enter the command letter P and press RETURN. To display the ERROR TABLE, enter the command letter E and press RETURN. For the following PORT, VERIFY ROM, and RAM TESTS, press the command letter E and RETURN. The screen prompts yu to enter the command letter S for a single test, or C for continuous testing. You are now ready for the three tests. To terminate any of the following three tests, press the SPACE BAR. NOTE: The RAM test completes its current test before stopping. Port Test This test verifies the ability of the computer system to communicate through the controller jacks and the peripheral 1/0 port. The command letter P and RETURN activates this test. Make certain that the Peripheral Jumpers are in place, and press RETURN again. Figure 3-7 illustrates the Port Test Matrix Display. This figure is a black and white representation of a color television screen. The zeros should be a blue tint. ERROR COUNTER, ADOOOO0000 TEST COUNTER Figure 3-7. Port Test Screen ATARI Home Computer 3-10The four digit number in the lower-right corner of the display screen shows the number of tests completed. In addition, the four digit number above it in red is an error counter which indicates the number of times the test has failed. If a failure occurs, a Red | is displayed in the matrix, this shows you the location of the errored condition. Table 3-1, Port Test Legend should be used to determine the cause of the failure condition. (Please note, a blinking 1 at location A 5 does not indicate a failure.) A passing condition for ail test is indicated by a 0 in that location (iie., CO or D4). If the failed test passes on the next pass, the | is replaced by a0. The error counter in the lower-cight corner of the screen increments by one for each error . Verity ROM Test This test checks the Console’s ROMs by performing checksum tests on them. By entering the command letter V and pressing RETURN you activate this test. The screen displays a checksum for each ROM and the value returned by the MATH PACK ‘together with a PASS or FAIL indicator for each. Upon completion of the test, the screen displays VERIFY ROM and either PASS or FAIL for the entire test. This test can be used to pingoint which ROM is failing. If you suspect a ROM is intermittently failings run this test for 15 or 20 minutes. 7 RAM Test ‘This automatically uses six different tests to verify the operation of the RAM boards. Enter the command letter R and press RETURN to begin this test. A prompt is returned to the screen asking how many 8K blocks of memory to check (maximum of five). Type the number of memory blocks in the unit and press RETURN. (Remember that, | equals each 8K RAM card and 2 equals each 16K RAM.) The computer displays the amount of RAM it is testing. If the amount is not what you entered, one of two conditions may exist: I) the unit does not contain te amount of memory you thought it did; or, 2) the unit has defective RAM card(s). Figure 3-8 illustrates a defective RAM test system response screen. The four digit number in white at the bottom right of the screen indicates the number of tests completed. A red four digit number directly above this is used to count the number of failures. ATARI Home Computer BUTable 3-1 Port Test Legend “#nmr0GBnu6 08 ATARI Home Computer 3o12As was the case with the PORT Test, failures appear as Red I in this display. If the pattern is in a state of constant change, one of the RAM boards probably has a set of defective 7ULSIS8 chips. If you replace the chips make certain that the new chips have the same same date code. This ensures compatibility. To and the determine which board(s) is(are) defective, perform the following three steps: 1) Turn off the power. 2) Remove one of the boards. 3) Start the test from Display Options, page 3-10. If the pattern is stable, look at line B, Columns 4 thru 7 to determine which beard is defective. (See Table 3-2). ERROR COUNTER TESTING 40K SouNTER Figure 3-8. RAM Test Screen ATARI Home Computer 3-13Table 3-2 Defective RAM Boards Defect Indicator Description Ba Ist 8K Block BS; or 2nd 8K Block Ba and BS B65 or 3rd 8K Block B4 and B6 BS and 86; 4th 8K Block or B4, BS and B6 Sth 8K Block Compare rows D and E, if there is a difference between any one column use Table 3-3 10 identify specific defective chips. If more than one column is different replace the 74LS244 chip and retest. ATARI Home Computer 3-14Table 3-3 Defective RAM Identifier Difference Column Description aK 16K Do z512 z512 o Z5uL zu bz Z310 Z510 D3 508 509 bs 2509 2308 Ds 2507 2307 06 2305 7506 o7 7506 2505 M Test This test verifies the proper operation of the Video Buffer Chip (400-Al11 and 800- A103). To perform this test, turn off the Console POWER, remove the SALT Il cartridge and insert the BASIC cartridge. Turn the POWER on and perform the following three entries: ATARI Home Computer 3e13Type: NEW and press RETURN. 2) Types 102"M% :GOTO 10 and press RETURN. 3) Type: RUN and press RETURN. ‘The system starts printing Ms, character after character, line after line. If any are blurred and/or run together, the Video Buffer Chip or another of the discrete ‘components in the video summing circuitry on the mainboard is probably defective. ‘To stop this test, press BREAK or SYSTEM RESET. STAR RAIDER™ Test If the Console has effectively passed all previous tests and performs this game without any visible problems, it is almost certainly operating properly. Turn POWER off, remove the BASIC cartridge, insert the STAR RAIDER™ cartridge, and turn the POWER on. Now, go through the game's various screens and functions (play the game). Shake Test Grasp the unit firmly with both hands and shake it vigorously for approximately 10 to 20 seconds, DO NOT HIT or STRIKE the unit against the bench or other hard object without having your fingers between the unit and the surface being struck. Perform the MEMO PAD test to make certain that none of the connections, boards, and/or components have become unseated, and that the unit is properly operational. Burnin After the unit has successfully passed all the previous procedures and is operating correctly, it is ready for burnin Burnin consists of operating the system continuouisly for a long period of time (recommended 8 hours). Use one of the following three methods. y Insert the SALT Il cartridge and run it with continuous RAM or PORT test. 2) Insert Star Raider ™ or another game cartridge and run it. 3) Perform the 400/800 Console Test (810 Disk Drive required). ATARI Home Computer 3416At the end of the BURN-IN period, check the unit again for any malfunctions, using SALT Il Test checks. Once the unit has passed all the final checkout procedures, it is ready to be returned to the customer. DESCRIPTION OF THE OTHER FUNCTIONS FOLLOWS: Production Test ‘Command letter "Z*. This function allows you to run through the series of test semi= automatically by pressing the space bar. It will ask you the serial number of the unit and print it out on a printer with the word PASS or FAIL. Boot 8 This function is not used at this time. Examine ‘Command letter "E", This allows you to test a specified RAM location (address). Adjust Command letter "J". This is used to debug audio and serial port control lines (Motor Go & Command) on the system console. A fixed frequency audio signal is produced while PIA ports are exercised. SUMMARY This section has taken you step-by-step through all the tests and general troubleshooting steps required for evaluation of a suspect defective 400/800 console. Now read through the section, DISASSEMBLY and ASSEMBLY, before going on to Section 5, Diagnostic Flowcharts, and Section 7, 800 Diagnostic Flowchart. ATARI Home Computer 317SECTION & DISSASSEMBLLY/ASSEMBLY MAINTENANCE ATARI 400 HOME COMPUTER CONSOLE - DISASSEMBLY ‘The following describes the procedures required to disassemble the 400 Computer Console. Read the following NOTES first, then proceed. #2 NOTES e+ Be very careful about mixing screws. Plastic and aluminum Parts can be easily stripped or damaged by puncture if the ‘wrong size screw is used. 2 — Excessive torque on screws can strip the plastic and aluminum parts. © Plastic - 6-inch pounds torque maximum. © Aluminum - 10-inch pounds torque maximum. 3. Protect the plastic surfaces of the console by working on a soft surface (a grounding pad works very well) when the Console is tured over, bottom up. ‘4% Use ALL static control precautions when handling any printed circuit board, KEYBOARD AND POWER SIIPPLY ACCESS To remove the top cover, perform the steps in the exact order given. @ Turn the unit side down. * Remove four screws from the bottom cover (See Figure 4-1). ATARI Home Computer SelFigure 4-1. ATARI 400 Console, Bottom Cover Screw Location © Turn unit upright. © Unhook top cover from keyboard (see Figure 4-2). * Open cartridge door. . Lift top cover off. ATARI Home Computer 42Figure 4-2. ATARI 400 Console Top Cover Removal KEYBOARD REMOVAL To remove the keyboard, perform the following steps in the exact order given. Use Figure 4-3 as a reference for the following two steps. @ Remove single eyboard screw. © Lift left end of keyboard and disconnect keyboard ribbon cable. ATARI Home Computer 43Figure 4-3. ATARI 400 Console, Keyboard Removal POWER SUPPLY REMOVAL To remove the power supply, perform the following steps in the exact order given. Use Figure tb as a reference for the following four steps. Disconnect RF cable from power supply. Remove two screws from power supply. Gently pull power supply away from casting 1/4 inch and lift out the interlock switch plunger. Lift the power supply straight-up off the motherboard connector pins. ATARI Home Computer 4a7 INTERLOCK PLUNGER A J MOTHER BOARD CONNECTOR Figure 4-4. ATARI 400 Console, Power Suoply Removal ATARI Home Computer 45CPU, RAM, AND MOTHERBOARD ACCESS To remove the module assembly, perform the steps in the exact order given. Use Figure 4-5 as a reference for the following two steps. Disconnect and remove speaker assembly. Lift module assembly out of the bottom cover. CPU AND RAM REMOVAL To remove the CPU and RAM printed circuit boards, perform the steps in the exact order given. Use Figure #5 as a reference for the following six steps. Close and latch the cartridge door. Set the module on its back. Remove the eight screws from the bottom shield and lift off the shield. Lift the motherboard assembly out of the aluminum casting. Carefully unplug the CPU and/or RAM boards. Unhook and remove the plastic cartridge guide. ATARI Home Computer 46Figure 4-5. ATARI 400 Console, Module Assembly This concludes the disassembly of the 400 computer console. ATARI Home Computer “7ATARI 800 HOME COMPUTER CONSOLE - DISASSEMBLY The following describes the procedures required to disassemble the ATARI 800 Home Computer console. Read the NOTES on pages 4-1 thru 4 3 first, and then proceed. ACCESS TO RAM BOARDS AND ROM BOARD To gain access to the RAM and ROM boards, perform the steps in the exact order given. Remove the cartridge door assembly. Use Figure 4-6 as a reference for the following eight steps. © Turn the system power switch to the OFF position. © Open the cartridge door. © Turn the cartridge door clamps towards the outside of the Console. © Lift the cartridge door assembly 1/4 inch, pull it towards you, and lift it off. Remove the RAM and ROM modules. © Lift out the RAM module(s). © Lift out the ROM module. © Lift out any cartridge(s). © Turn cartridge door clamps to original position. ATARI Home Computer 408Figure 4-6, ATARI 800 Console, Cartridge Door Assembly Removal ACCESS TO POWER SUPPLY AND KEYBOARD ASSEMBLY To gain access to the power supply and keyboard assembly, perform the following steps in the exact order given. REMOVE TOP COVER Use Figure 4-7 as reference for the following three steps. © Turn unit upside down. @ Remove five screws from the bottom cover. Tilt the back of the bottom cover up and towards you to remove it. ATARI Home Computer 49Figure 4-7. ATARI 800 Console, Bottom Cover Removal REMOVE THE PCB MODULE Use Figure 4-8 as a reference for the following seven steps. Remove two screws from the aluminum casting flange. Remove the single screw from the power supply board (lower left corner). Disconnect speaker cable, remove speaker and set it aside. Turn the unit over. Carefully pull the back of the console top cover assembly to 90° separating it from the PCB module. ATARI Home Computer 410@ Reach over the top cover and unplug the keyboard's ribbon cable. @ Set the top cover assembly aside. © Lift the power supply board straight up. @ Remove plastic cartridge guide by unhooking the latches from the bottom side of the motherboard. MOOULE AssemaLy Figure 4-8. ALARI 800 Console, Module Assembly Removal REMOVE THE POWER SUPPLY Use Figure 4-9 as a reference for the following five steps. © Unplug the RF cable from the power supply board. ¢ Unplug the power supply harness. * Remove three screws from power supply board. ATARI Home Computer ellPOWER: RP CABLE, SUPPLY a MOTHER BOARD WIRE HARNESS Figure 4-9. ATARI 300 Console, Power Supply Removal ACCESS TO CPU PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD Use Figure 4-10 as reference for the following four steps. © Turn the unit upside down. © Remove the nine screws from the lower shield. ¢ Lift the motherboard and lower shield out of the aluminum casting. © Remove the CPU PCB. ATARI Home Computer 412Figure 4-10. ATARI 800 Console, CPU Printed Circuit Board Removal ACCESS TO MOTHERSOARD Use Figure 4-11 as reference for the following three steps. © Carefully slide the tip of a screwdriver underneath the motherboard next to the nylon clip. Gently raise the handle of the screwdriver, prying off the nylon clip. Repeat this operation for the remaining three nyion clips. = © *CAUTION® # + Be careful net to bend any of the pins on the Motherboard Connector. Do NOT allow the tip of the screwdriver to damage traces. ATARI Home Computer 413© Lift the motherboard off the lower shield. @ Remove the plastic cartridge guide by unhooking the four latches from the bottom side of the motherboard. Figure 4-11. ATARI 800 Console, Motherboard Removal KEYBOARD REMOVAL Use Figure 4-12 as reference for the three steps, to remove the keyboard from its case. © Turn the top cover upside down. © Remove four screws trom the four corners of the keyboard. © Lift the keyboard out of the top cover. This concludes the disassembly of the Atari 800 Home Computer console. ATARI Home Computer aleFigure #12. ATARI 800 Console, Keyboard Removal ATARI $00 HOME COMPUTER CONSOLE ASSSEMBLY The following outlines the steps required to reassemble the Atari 400 Home Computer console and it's related printed circuit boards. MODULE ASSEMBLY REASSEMBLY Refer to jure 45 as reference for the following five steps. © Snap the cartridge guide into the motherboard (it only goes in one way). © Insert RAM and CPU printed circuit boards into the motherboard with the component side of the PCBs facing away from you, Before reassembling the PCBs, make certain that they have been cleaned and luoricated. (Refer to pages 4-21 and 4-22 for instructions.) * Set aluminum casting upside down, invert the motherboard and gently lower it into the casting. ‘Atari Home Computer rae***NOTES es ‘The CPU PCB must fit into the guides in the aluminum casting. Install lower shield and secure it with eight screws. Install the module assembly in the bottom cover. KEYBOARD INSTALLATION Reter to Figure 4-3 as a reference for the following three steps. Plug the speaker cable into the motherboard (no Polarity) and set the speaker into the bottom cover. Plug the keyboard ribbon cable into the connector on the motherboard. Gently lower the keyboard over the Power-ON LED and guide posts on the aluminum casting. POWER SUPPLY INSTALLATION Use Figure 4 as reference for the following five steps. ‘Align the power supply over the motherboard connector pins and bottom cover guide posts and gently press it down. Install the interlock switch plunger into the aluminum casting. Make certain that the lower end of the plunger is positioned over the interlock switch and the plunger shaft rides in its notch in the power supply heat sink. Insert and tighten the two power supply mounting screws. CAUTION * * Be sure that the RF cable is not trapped under the module assembly. Route the RF cable through its slot in the power supply board and plug it into the power supply jack. Insert and tighten the single keyboard mounting screw. ‘Atari Home Computer on16TOP COVER INSTALLATION © Open the cartridge door. @ Slide the top cover down aver the open cartridge door and the power-ON LED (Refer to Figure 42). © Guide the top cover locator pins into the keyboard holes and snap the top cover hood under the keyboard. © Close the cartridge door and set the console on its face. ‘Align the top and bottom covers and insert the four screws into the bottom cover and tighten (Refer to Figure 4-1). ATARI800 HOME COMPUTER CONSOLE ASSEMBLY The following outlines the steps required to reassemble the Atari 800 Home Computer Console and its related printed circuit boards. KEYBOARD INSTALLATION Refer to Figure 4-12 as reference for the following two steps. © Set the top cover upside down with the keyboard in it. © Insert and tighten the four mounting screws. se eNOTER ES ‘Check the spacebar and keys to make sure that they are not binding before proceeding. MOTHERBOARD INSTALLATION Refer to Figure t-11 as reference for the following two steps. * Snap the plastic cartridge guide into the top side of the motherboard. © With the motherboard right side up, snap on the four nylon clips of the lower shield. Make certain all four clips are firmly seated. Atari Home Computer 417CPU PCB INSTALLATION Refer to Figure 4-10 as reference for the following five steps. Plug in CPU PCB. Make certain the component side of the board faces away from the plastic cartridge guide and is firmly seated. Tur the aluminum casting over. Turn the motherboard upside down and set the motherhaard and lower shield into the aluminum casting. *** CAUTION * ** Make certain that the CPU PCB sets in its slot in the aluminum casting. Insert and secure the nine screws in the lower shield. Set the console on its feet. POWER SUPPLY INSTALLATION Refer to Figure 4-9 as reference for the following six steps. Carefully align the power supply connector with the motherboard pins. Set the power supply down over the guide pins on the aluminum casting and gently press down. Attach strip connector between power supply and motherboard. Insert and tighten the three screws of the power supply board. Recommend the power supply harness. ** © CAUTION + # = Plug the power supply harness cable from the motherboard to the Power supply pins with the orange or purple wire towards the aluminum casting. Plug the RF cable, the short end, into the power supply jack. ‘Atari Home Computer S18MODULE ASSEMBLY INSTALLATION INTO TOP COVER Refer to Figure 4-8 as reference for the following six steps. © Set the top cover upside down, © Invert the module assembly and lower it into the top cover. Turn the cartridge door latches toward the inside in order to clear the top cover. * © © CAUTION # * * ‘Make certain that the RF cable is not trapped between the power supply board and the top cover standoff (upper left screw hole). * Lift the motherboard one-inch out of the top cover and plug in the keyboard harness. © Insert and tighten two screws into the front holes of the aluminum casting and into the top cover. © Set the speaker into its receptacle foam side down. © Connect the speaker cable to the jack (no polarity). BOTTOM COVER INSTALLATION Refer to Figure 4-7 as reference for the following four steps. ‘© Align the bottom cover with the four-hand-contréller ports. @ Seat bottom cover firmly, all the way around. Make certain the RF cable exists through its hole and is not trapped between the covers. © Insert and tighten the five bottom cover screws. © Set the console right side up. Atari Home Computer 419RAM AND ROM MODULE INSTALLATION Refer to Figure 4-6 as reference for the following two steps. ¢ Insert the ROM Module in the slot closest to the keyboard. © Insert a maximum of three RAM modules in the remaining slots. CARTRIDGE DOOR ASSEMBLY. Refer to Figure 4-7 as reference for the following two steps. © Set the cartridge door assembly on the top cover and slide it to the rear of the cover. This action engages the tab of the door into the aluminum casting. © Lock the cartridge door assembly down with the two clamps next to the program cartridge slots. PCB CONTACT CLEANING AND LUBRICATION ‘The following instructions explain the procedures required to properly clean and lubricate the PCB contacts of the CPU, RAM and ROM boards once they have been removed from the motherboard. Tools Required ¢ EP Safety Solvent or Isopropy! Alcohol © Dust-Free Cloth * Acid Beush © Board Cleaning Brush © Libriplate (DS-ES Lubricant) Procedure 1, Inspect the PCB contact for flux, dirt, foreign material, and deeply serated contact fingers. 2. Moisten the dust-free cloth with solvent and clean the finger contacts. Make sure both sides of the contacts are clean and free of residual lubricant and contamination. Atari Home Computer 4-203 4 3 + eNOTEH + Avoid touching the contact after cleaning. If corrosion or residue remain on the contacts it is necessary to clean the contacts further using the board cleaning brush. Use the following procedures. @ — Moisten the board cleaning brush with solvent and firmly brush the contacts. Four to six strokes is enough. Be careful and do not touch any other part of the board. © Perform step 2 again. Dip the acid brush into the lubricant. Apply an even coating of lubricant to the contact fingers on both sides of the PCB. The coating of lubricant should be thick enough to protect the contact fingers from corrosion. Do not spread the lubricant to areas other ‘than the contact fingers. VISUAL INSPECTION The following instructions explain specific areas to check on the Consoles for damage or abuse. L z 4 5 Inspect the controller jacks and peripheral jacks for broken and/or bent pins. Check the RF cable for cracks in the insulation, bare, or pinched areas. With the console power ON and MEMO PAD on the screen, open the cartridge door to check the interlock switch. Using a smail blade screwdriver, press the plunger down. Release the plunger and see that it is returns to its open position. In its open position the console is powered- down, Inspect the cartridge slot for foreign objects or damage. Inspect the power jack for bent and/or damaged pins. If any of the above damage is found, repair the defective area. Use the disassembly and assembly instructions at the beginning of this section. Atari Home Computer ztSECTION 5 900 DIAGNOSTIC FLOWCHART ‘The Diagnostic Flowchart is intended to be easy to use and the primary aid when ‘troubleshooting the ATARI 400 Computer Console. Follow the prompts in the order presented. When a question is asked, follow the line from that box which best applies to the unit's situation, The flowchart leaves little to chance, it tells you when to perform a specific test and when to replace components. Swap Out Procedure ‘At many places in the diagnostic flowchart, a box tells you to “swap-out" a chip or a number of chips in a particular order. The “swap-out" instruction means that you should replace the indicated components (one at_a time) with a known good component of the same type. The 400 should then be tested with the new, known-good component in place to see whether the "swap-out" solved the problem being checked. If the swap- out did not fix the problem, the known-good component should be removed, and the original component reinserted. In this way, you avoid needlessly replacing good ‘components. Failure to follow the above guidlines results in unusally high chip failure rates and extra expense. ATARI Home Computer Sel400 POWER-UP GATASTROPHIC FAILURES AND ASIC OPERATIONS iar Renove any Carcetaee| and Power-up Consale| Ste Sees Tea clear MEMO PAD | YES ‘on the screen a No Test spectal araphica mode of keysoard using Figure 3-1 Go to START. next page Go to PowER-uP, | PART tt, Page St No Note failures: co be used later wich ATARI Home Computer keyboard test, 5-2400 powER-uP CATASTROPHIC FAILURES AND BASIC OPERATIONS SNOWY SCREEN fis the screen snowy ||ves | Check, adjust, or replace AC power aéaptor, chanel No iss clear MEMO 40) YES |” Go, te PONER-UR: si [Tt eatteveereen *] "|_eatalin Face si No ‘Does Power Supply |_NO [ Check, repair, oF Board. J201. Pins 5, replace ‘the followin Gad 7, have 60 [Sand 7, have sy | easetcnasiiaaee 1N4001 type ‘diod ves jwith INS391 (C017988) owe vettage rege sunese (Au08" anes no [is there 2 good = eewind cohaedtion xt Fini of afucdue | [heck C208. C200, replace i dafecive ves, Sey Ts the AF Module Ts a clear MEMO PAD] YES sissuned ov defer cathe screen | x0 [x0 Gp to sueksGray, Pe] Screen. Page 5-4 Ts a clear MEMO PAD] yo fon the screen YO Go to POWER-UP, PART Il, Page $+! ATARI Home Computer 5-3400 POWER-UP CATASTROPHIC FAILURES AND BASIC OPERATIONS \Go to GREEN/YELLO} LESCREEN, Page 5-6 Noted at the top of if and trace back until clock ‘signal appears. ladieating which component has failed. ATARI Home Computer SLACKIGABY SCREEN [Check Power Supply Board 1 Clock Circuit (ase 7 No: —-= Test Tomage] ie there <5v on Al02, Pin 36 and ‘A303, Pin 30 ves Replace CTIA /GTIA (301) MEMO PAD] Te a clear vES, om the r yo [Row Cnet ee ta there ~5v on J201|_No_[~Check, repair, oF Pia 18 replace the following: cR206 - cn209 - ves replace IN6OOL type | Glodes sith INSIST coi798) GR201 - R203, and je20, czoz, and C210 Ts there siz on |_NO [ Check. repair, or 3201, Pia 2 replace the following: ——— Voltage Regulator (A201) CREO4 and earns C2d3 C205 Check the CPU Board fort No Repair Go to POWEA-UP, PART IZ, Page 5-3400 POWER-UP CATASTROPHIC FAILURES AND BASIC OPERATIONS BLACK/GREY SCREEN (cont) os (On the Mother Deard Iswap-out A103, A111, 7103 ~ 2108, gu03. loa, and xi01 ffs a clear MEWO PAD ‘on the serean [BEE ‘Check and replac ldiscrere components in video summing a L fs a clear MEMO PAD|YES [— Go to POWER-UP] on the screen, PART If. Page 5-8 No eagle ve GREEN/ YELLOW] SCREEN, Page $-6 ATARI Home Computer 3590 PoweR-u2 CATASTROPHIC FAILURES AHD Ba3iC OPERATIONS GAEEN/ YELLOW SCREEN Ta there = dofecave]_YES Es (RAM card in the Ln Unit (cheek lowest Raw siot_crst) Swap-out ROMS (A103), B(A108), ‘and 9(4105) Go to POWER-UP PART Il, Page 5. Teaproue the tolwing 8305, @ clear MEMO PAD|_YES |” Go to POWER-UP, ‘on the screen - ” PART I. Page 5-3 No Go tw SOLID BLUE] SCREEN. Page 5-7 ATARI Home Computer 3-6400 PowER-uP CATASTROPHIC FAILURES AND BASIC OPERATIONS ‘SOLD BLUE SCREEN ‘Are the words = MEMO PAD on the Go to POWER-UP, PART If, Page 5-8 ‘Swaprout the POKEY| (AIO) chip fle the screen aerictty]_NO Black and. Whee ves Swap-out Q107 and Xi01 fon Motherbaord is a clear MEMO PAD|_NO__ [Call ATARI Tech Ln ‘on the screen ‘Specialist Inside California ves (800) 672-1486 Outside California | (800) $38-1535 | (800) 538-1536 | Ga 19 POWER-UP,, PART Il, Page 5-8 ATARI Home Computer 57400 POWER-UP, PART IT Gap Turn power OFF, NOTE 2 tnaert SALT I cartridge. and turn gould be 8K, 16K, power ON 24K, 32K. 00 40K TIA: could be NTSC or PAL Doss screen look | YES ROM: could be - like Figure 3-2 MATH:NTSA:NTSA ‘See NOTE 2 MATH NTSB:NTSB 70 MATH:PALA:PALA MATH:PALB:PALB Go to COLOR tia displayed for any BAR Test, Page 5-9| bad ROM, verify error condition via VERIFY No ROM Teat, Page 5 Te the screen solid | YES [ Reseat SALT green, yellow, oF (careridge and retest rea 80 Dows screen took | ¥ES| Ge to COLOR ke Figure JL BAR. Pa Repeat POWER-UP, PART {, Page $-2 ATARI Home Computercoun saas Teeg RENT voper 40 [aerate HAO Seom ronea-ve, | Go to COLOR BAR "ROUBLESHOOTING, | Page $-10 Go to TIA, Page 5-10 Go to COLOR BAR TROUBLESHOOTING,| Page 5-10 ATARI Home Computer 59490 COLOR 34a TROUBLESHOOTING ap Swap-out \a302, on | Does screen look Nee Figure 3-4 No ATARI Home Computer ves, Trace color circuitry on CPU Board. Make cetain to. check color delay circuit ‘and 2309 510400 COLOR BAR TROUBLESHOOTING (cont) Verify that cach of the following levels and/or signal wave forms exist befare proceeding to the next step. Use SALT 11, COLOR BARS, Ts there 3.50MHa 10_[Swap-out X01, 103, oucillation at RLSB and 10 ‘on Metherboard.. Refer Figure ves Ts there input No__[Trace circutt back #0 signal to base of Drevious st Qld Refer Figure} pecestcemeatat Ts there output] NO [Trace aircuit back to] |signal (rom collector, Previous step oe gui? ater libero Figure ves NO__[Trace circuit back to] Drevious. step Ge to next page ATARI Home Computer