Atari 800XE
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| Atari 800XE home computer | |
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Atari Corporation |
| Type | Home computer |
| Released | 1985 (Germany and Eastern Europe, according to the FAQ)[1] |
| Discontinued | 1992[1] |
| CPU | 6502C (SALLY), 1.77 MHz (PAL)[1] |
| Memory | 64 KB RAM; 16 KB operating system ROM and 8 KB Atari BASIC Rev. C |
| Storage | Cassette or 5.25" floppy disk drive over SIO; ROM cartridge |
| Display | 40 × 24 text, up to 320 × 192 pixels |
| Sound | POKEY: four audio channels |
| OS / Firmware | Atari XL/XE Operating System; Atari BASIC Rev. C built in |
| Predecessor | Atari 800XL |
| Model no. | 800XE |
The Atari 800XE is a 64 KB member of Atari's XE range, sold in PAL markets including Germany and Eastern Europe as the replacement for the Atari 800XL. It is a low-end version of the Atari 130XE and the same machine as the PAL Atari 65XE with the cartridge expansion port; machines have been reported with 800XE and 65XE labels swapped.[1]
History
[edit | edit source]Current's FAQ dates the 800XE's introduction to 1985. It was made in PAL form only, in Taiwan and later in China, and was last manufactured in 1992. Jindřich Kubec, quoted in the FAQ, says the Chinese 800XEs with GTIA problems date from 1992.[1] Some units have a television channel switch and some do not.[1]
Architecture
[edit | edit source]The 800XE has the XE chipset: the 6502C (SALLY) processor, ANTIC, GTIA, POKEY, the 6520 PIA, FREDDIE and the MMU. In the 130XE parts list the MMU is U3 (C061618) and FREDDIE is U6 (C061922, alternative C061991).[2] FREDDIE generates the CPU clock from a 14.187576 MHz crystal on PAL boards.[2][3]
The FAQ describes the 800XE as a "PAL 130XE motherboard".[1] The JER/Eightbitter reproduction documents it as the 64 KB version of Atari's cost-reduced assembly CA200519, shared with the 65XE: two 64K × 4 (4464) DRAMs at U9 and U10, where the 130XE version of the same board has four. There is no second memory bank, so the 130XE's bank-select decoder (U34, C025953 on the 130XE) has nothing to do.[3][2]
Memory
[edit | edit source]The 800XE has 64 KB of RAM and 24 KB of ROM: a 16 KB operating system and 8 KB of Atari BASIC Rev. C. With no cartridge and no powered disk drive it starts in BASIC.[1][3] XE boards are found with operating system ROM C061598 or C300717.[3]
Display and sound
[edit | edit source]ANTIC and GTIA give text up to 40 × 24, bitmap modes up to 320 × 192 pixels, four players and four missiles, and programmable display lists. POKEY provides four sound channels and also scans the keyboard and drives the SIO port.[3]
The monitor socket carries composite luminance (pin 1), ground (pin 2), audio out (pin 3), composite video (pin 4) and composite chroma (pin 5).[1] There is also a built-in RF modulator.[3]
Input, output and expansion
[edit | edit source]The 800XE has one cartridge slot, two controller jacks, the SIO port, the monitor socket, the RF output and the power socket. It has no parallel bus connector of the 800XL kind; it has the Enhanced Cartridge Interface (ECI) next to the cartridge slot instead, which is similar but physically incompatible.[1]
On the SIO port, pin 10 is +5 V/ready and pin 12 is not connected on the XL and XE machines (on the 400 and 800, pin 12 carries +12 V).[1] Atari's 130XE schematic feeds pin 10 from +5 V through the ferrite bead L10, decoupled by C79.[2]
Power
[edit | edit source]The 800XE runs from +5 V DC supplied by an external power pack through a 7-pin DIN socket (J7). The board carries the socket, the power switch and filtering; it has no rectifier or regulator.[3][2] Atari's XL/XE power pack is part C061982.[2] The JER/Eightbitter reproduction draws the pack with a transformer, bridge rectifier, 4700 µF capacitor and LM78S05 regulator, and gives its output as 5 V ±5 %, 1.5 A maximum.[3]
Keyboard and self test
[edit | edit source]The keyboard is the XE full-stroke keyboard with HELP, START, SELECT, OPTION and RESET keys.[3] Holding OPTION at power-on disables BASIC; with no powered disk drive the machine then runs the self test.[1] It covers memory, audio-visual and keyboard tests.[3]
Service documentation
[edit | edit source]Atari published no service manual under the 800XE name. The hosted documents that apply are Atari's 130XE parts list and schematic (Atari 130XE Parts List and Production Test Instructions), the JER/Eightbitter reproduction of the XE field service manual (Atari 130XE Field Service Manual) and Sams' service data for the 130XE (Sams Computerfacts Atari 130XE).
Related pages
[edit | edit source]- Atari 800XE General Maintenance
- Atari 800XE Troubleshooting Guide
- Atari 800XE Capacitor Replacement Guide
- Atari 65XE
- Atari 130XE
- Atari XE Game System
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 Michael D. Current (ed.), Atari 8-Bit Computers: Frequently Asked Questions, comp.sys.atari.8bit FAQ, last modified 29 November 2009, sections 1.7 "What is the Atari 65XE?", 1.9 "What is the Atari 800XE?" and 1.16 (port pinouts). faqs.org. Community reference.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Atari (U.S.) Corp., 130XE Parts List, 25 June 1985, with Atari (Japan) schematic C070065 Rev. B (130XE NTSC/PAL). Hosted here as Atari 130XE Parts List and Production Test Instructions (PDF).
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 130XE Personal Computer Field Service Manual, reproduction by JER/Eightbitter (PDF author "Jurek"), November 2016, with schematics redrawn in May 2014; not an Atari publication. Section 1 (theory of operation), Section 2 figure 2-11 ("Schematic Atari 65XE/800XE 2 X 4464 Assembly CA200519", title block "65XE/800XE (64X4) C103579-001") and figure 2-12 (layout), Section 3 (self test). Hosted here as Atari 130XE Field Service Manual (PDF).