Task: Purchase the Sys-Check Device for Diagnostic Testing of the RAM and ROM of Atari XL/XE 8-Bit Computers
Needed: Sys-Check, Atari 8-Bit Computer with PBI Slot
Time: 5-10 mins
Disclosure: Note that as an eBay Partner Network Affiliate, I may earn from qualifying purchases.
Introduction
Troubleshooting an Atari 8-bit computer that won’t boot is always a frustrating process. Fortunately, there is a device that can help. The Sys-Check diagnostic board was developed by Jürgen van Radecke (aka tfhh) specifically to test the RAM and the ROMs of the Atari XL and XE computers that feature a Parallel Bus Interface (PBI) slot. According to a post on Atari Age forums by Jürgen, there are several additional useful features including a RAMBO-compatible 512KB RAM expansion and the ability to store up to four different operating systems in the flash memory. This is a very useful device, and I am not sure why it took me so long to get one! Thanks Jürgen!
Instructions
The first step is to purchase the Sys-Check device (currently V2.2) from Jürgen. He provides instructions on how to make this purchase in this Atari Age post. The device is currently 45 Euros. My purchase was easy and arrived in no time to the United States. I was happy mine came with a 3D-printed case.
The second step is to read carefully the instructions he provides with the purchase.
The third step is to run the diagnostic test. Plug the Sys-Check into the PBI slot with the DIP switches facing up as shown below. You will need to plug in the 5V power cable to pin 7 of the joystick port on an 800XL that does not have a 5V PBI patch. The first four DIP switches should be in the ‘on’ position with the last one ‘off’ for the diagnostic test. Then power on the Atari. Sys-Check will immediately start the RAM test. Once that is finished you can progress on to the ROM test. You can then run it continuously if you want to be sure everything is working correctly over some period of time. The completion screens are shown below. I provide an example of a failed RAM test in the comments below.
Comments
It is really nice to have a device that will test the RAM and ROM on a dead computer. I removed the U9 RAM chip from the working Atari 800XL tested above to make sure the dead test feature worked. Indeed, Sys-Check booted just fine and immediately identified the bad (missing) RAM chip as shown below in the leftmost column of results.
