Editing Atari 400 800 Field Service Manual June 82

The '''ATARI Home Computer Field Service Manual 400/800''' is Atari's own field service manual for the [[Atari 400]] and [[Atari 800]], '''June 1982'''. 219 scanned pages. '''The scan has no text layer''', so it cannot be searched and values must be read from the page images.

== Contents ==

Atari's own section list:

* '''1 Theory of operation''' — user interface; 400/800 mechanical; central processing unit; ROM personality PCB; RAM PCB; keyboard; '''power supply'''; program cartridge; then the electronic discussion, device by device: the 6502 CPU, ANTIC, CTIA, GTIA, the I/O decoder, composite video, the 400 console motherboard, POKEY, the PIA, the key-in/key-out circuit, the memory map decoder, the bi-directional data buffer, the ROM personality board, the power supply, the ROM cartridge, and the accessories (AC power adaptor, TV switch box, the ''BASIC'' program cartridge)
* '''2 Silkscreen and schematics'''
* '''3 Troubleshooting and testing''' — with and without the '''SALT II''' diagnostic cartridge; power-up, keyboard, RAM and ROM tests; the SALT II menu and each of its tests: colour bar, any video, grey bar, keyboard, switch, tone, display options, port, verify ROM, RAM, memory, ''Star Raiders'', shake and burn-in; plus production test, boot B, examine and adjust
* '''4 Disassembly/assembly maintenance''' — the 400 and the 800 separately, each in removal and installation order, ending with '''PCB contact cleaning and lubricating''' (tools required, procedure, visual inspection)
* '''5 400 diagnostic flowcharts'''
* '''6 800/800 symptom checklist'''
* '''7 800 diagnostic flowcharts''' — including a RAM error-counter table that maps a fault indicator to the '''specific defective RAM device''' by Z-number, separately for 16K and other configurations
* '''8 Game controllers''' — joystick (X-Y controller) and game paddle: how each works, schematics, and Atari's own check procedure for each
* '''9 Parts list''' — 400 computer and 800 computer, listed separately
* '''10 Service bulletins'''

== What it settles ==

'''Section 9 is a real component-level parts list.''' It is laid out as assembly, Atari part number, description and '''location''', and covers the power supply board as well as the main board — so, unusually for a machine of this period, '''the 400's internal supply is documented at component level''' rather than being carried as a single exchange item. Capacitors appear with type, value and voltage rating against their designators.

Section 7's RAM error-counter table is the other item worth knowing about: it converts a diagnostic indication into a specific socket rather than leaving the reader to swap devices.

Section 8 gives the joystick's real mechanism — five calculator-type keypads on a small PCB, four under the stick and one under the button, with diagonals produced by two closing at once — and states that the game paddle is a '''1&nbsp;M&#937; potentiometer'''. Atari notes that earlier joysticks had a spring-loaded button.

== What this manual does not contain ==

* '''No text layer''', so nothing can be searched and OCR of the parts list is not reliable enough to quote from. Read the page images.
* '''No coverage of the XL or XE machines.''' For those see [[Atari 1200XL Field Service Manual]], [[Atari 600XL Field Service Manual]], [[Atari 130XE Field Service Manual]] and [[Atari 800XL Service Manual]].
* '''No monitor or television coverage''' beyond the TV switch box and the RF modulator.
* '''No disk drive or printer coverage.'''
* The SALT II diagnostic cartridge is assumed available; section 3 also gives the tests that can be run without it.

== Pages that cite this document ==

* [[Atari 400]] · [[Atari 400 General Maintenance]] · [[Atari 400 Troubleshooting Guide]] · [[Atari 400 Capacitor Replacement Guide]]
* [[Atari 800]]

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[[Category:Atari Service Manuals]]
[[Category:Service Manuals]]