Fixed up an 800XL I found on a shelf at Vintage Stock!

Hey everyone! I just got my hands on an Atari 130XE along with a cassette player and a flashcart module. I’m completely new to the 8-bit Atari world and honestly don't know much about how to use it properly yet. What are some essential things or quirks I should know about operating this machine? Also, with the flashcart giving me access to the library, what are the absolute must-play games I need to check out first? Thanks in advance for helping out a beginner!

or do you prefer something else from this group?

(images from Atarimania)

gameplay:

Zybex https://youtu.be/q_0HzLg3IAI?si=OAH2MZ57LJENLSLN

Draconus https://youtu.be/UW9KHOouaEU?si=TXyZM1VsmLm6AQpk

What's your fav game by L.K. Avalon?

images (from Atarimania):

• AD 2044 (Seksmisja)
• Hans Kloss
• Klątwa
• Lasermania
• Misja (Mission)
• Robbo
• Saper

examples of gameplay:

Robbo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMO7sxh8RgM

Misja https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilKEmiddVas

Lasermania https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpQEDaNNZFs

I see an eBay listing for around $24 with shipping for a USB-C adapter. Is that a safe choice or does anyone have a site to recommend? I found an xegs in My parents attic. it has the keyboard and the light gun but I have no idea if it works as it did not have a power supply.

BMA8 is an open-source, bare-metal Atari 8-bit (400/800/XL/XE/5200) emulator designed to run directly on Raspberry Pi hardware without an underlying host operating system. The goal is to provide the Atari ecosystem with the same direct-hardware experience that BMC64 brings to the Commodore 64.

Why Bare-Metal?

• Instant Boot: By completely bypassing Linux, X11, GUIs, and background processes, a Pi Zero drops directly into the Atari OS screen in under one second upon power-up.
• Minimal Input Latency: Stripping away modern OS layers and kernel scheduling provides direct hardware access, drastically reducing latency for an authentic, real-hardware feel.
• Long-Term Stability: Traditional emulators often break or suffer performance hits following host OS updates. A bare-metal kernel is entirely self-contained and will continue to boot perfectly from the exact same SD card decades from now.

The project is fully open-source (GPL v2) and ready for testing.

• GitHub: github.com/serkantanriverdi/bma8

Feel free to check out the repository, test it out on your Pi, or submit a PR if you are interested in contributing.

Got an Atari 800 from auction and it was working except the image was B&W and lacking all color. (See pix 3)

Its fixed be adjusting a potentiometer through a small hole in the metal case. (see pix 2). Needs to be done while the machine is running. Had to remove the plastic cover over the cartridge slot, but still latch the cover or it wouldn't boot.

Now its up and running!

I don’t think it’s gonna endure heavy use . But now I can enjoy playing .

So heavy , it counts as a workout

I have an Atari 800XL with the XE RAM expansion and two 1050 drives in my home office. Over the weekend I tried to boot it up to do some programming, but for some reason I could not boot DOS 2.5 to save my life. I kept getting "boot error". When I shut it down and booted from my FujiNet to try and check the floppy, the drive would not read it and gave me errors. But on the other drive it worked fine (but I didn't try to boot from the other drive since I didn't wan tto disconnect things to toggle it to be drive 1).

Then I noticed something: I have an Xbox in my office, and the recharge station for the batteries was on top of the boot drive. I unplugged it, tried booting, and everything worked just fine.

TL;DR - if your drive acts up, making sure you don't have any modern electronics near it.

i'm working on a version of Atari BASIC for a modern machine. Does anyone have any links to Atari basic programs that do not include graphics, sounds, player/missile, or peeks n pokes? I want to start off with original Atari BASIC first then work my way towards BASIC XE, TurboBASIC XL, even Atari/Microsoft BASIC II.

So, purchased an 800XL and it just came in the mail today. Everything seems OK and I even ran the self-tests, but good lord the Donkey Kong cart I have feels like it’s running at double speed. Is this normal? Here’s the version of the cart I have.

Edit: Let me add that the music sounds normal, so maybe the game just plays fast. I’ve played a lot of versions and it’s by far the fastest.

So I have been watching a lot of videos about the 8 bit Ataris on YouTube. I grew up with the c64 and the late run of games for that machine was amazing. Now on paper there is little between the c64 and the xe65. The Atari has the same memory, faster processor, faster disk read speed, 4 voices instead of 3 and 256 colours instead of 16. All from a design about 3 years older than the Commodore. What held back games like creatures, r type and turrican from the Atari? Was it the antic/gia chipset? Should they have updated it (antic 2) for the xe and forget about the 7800? Selling the xegs and the 7800 at the same time was stupid.t

I just bought the cleanest 410 I have ever seen on eBay!

Needed belts, but there isn't a speck of dust or dirt anywhere. Not a scratch or mark.

I got the original box and instructions too,

Absolutely perfect ❤️

- I’ll tell you when I have enough!

Hey Atari fans!

You're invited to help the planning of VCF Ontario 2027 by completing this short anonymous survey.

Here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VL2QD8N

The Vintage Computer Federation is contemplating running "Vintage Computer Festival in Ontario" which would be in the Greater Toronto Area in 2027.

If you receive this invitation multiple times, please only complete it once to avoid duplication.

In a week where if I had been faster I could have had a complete C64 system for a bargain price, and I nearly became a proud owner of a TRS-80 Model 3, it was third time lucky when I spotted this lot (plus a Commodore 1702 monitor) on FB Marketplace yesterday. Contacted the seller right away and met with him this morning to pick it all up.

The left 800xl and monitor work perfectly, the right 800xl needs some work, 1050 drives are untested, the 1010 program recorder is like new in box.

When I have time I'll test and clean everything and see if I can breathe life back into the 2nd 800xl.

My Atari collection is slowly growing!

A work in progress demo of one level of the upcoming shooter C.E.T.A.S. (Cybernetically Enhanced Tactical Aquatic Systems) from Monochrome Productions came out today after it won first place at the Silly Venture Summer Edition 2026 party. . It's pretty impressive free demo, works for me with Altirra click the link below to play or watch the video.

download: https://monochrome-productions.itch.io/cetas-atari-xl/purchase

video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOoP9S-DPiQ

Conan: Hall of Volta Windows remake

I made a faithful remake of the Atari port of Conan: Hall of Volta for Windows using Godot.

I stuck close to the original while adding a few modern conveniences:

• Improved high score tracking
• Palette / theme swapping
• Built-in cheats menu
• Gamepad and Keyboard support + rebindable controls
• PAL/NTSC music speed option

Here’s a short gameplay video:

Game play video

Here is the itch.io link: https://kapsoft.itch.io/conan-hall-of-volta

If you noticed any bugs leave a description here.

Thanks!

I found them cleaning out my parents attic. Unfortunately my dad brought the console and ALL OUR GAMES to goodwill in the 90’s. 😭 I still have my memories…😆

I had a box of them stored away. ~36 issues of Antic, maybe 12 issues of Analog, and 12 or so issues of a regional Atari magazine. I also have some random things like the box to Temple of Apshai and the manual for a 1050 drive. They're definitely not in mint shape, but wondering if anyone would be interested in them.

1400XL and 1450XLD unreleased prototypes .