Why You Need To Update Your Atari 2600+ Firmware!

Рет қаралды 5,195

5 ай бұрын

The new Atari 2600+ 1.1 Beta Firmware is out (if you haven't heard) and there's a few improvements. Some games work now and some still don't! Also, updating the firmware can be tricky so be cautious. Took me a bunch of times to get my computer to even find the device.
Update Your Firmware:
forums.atariage.com/topic/358...
DISCLAIMER: I accept no responsibility for any problems you have while performing this update. Please refer to the AtariAge thread above to request assistance.
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/ @gregsvlog
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Пікірлер: 72

@coffeecuparcade 5 ай бұрын

Appreciate you going through all that trouble. I did a couple streams where I tested over 120 carts, only ran into 6 or so that didn't work. So far I think the console is a winner, and firmware updates should make it better over time

@chris.b0 5 ай бұрын

Ich habe zig Spiele gereinigt oder mehrfach reingelegt und auf einmal geht alles🎉

@activeaction8374 5 ай бұрын

Oh I remember when I had to update my 2600 about 50 years ago to get games to work. Like never. The comparison should be if the games being emulated via Stella on the PC can also run on the 2600+. This is because I believe the 2600 Stella emulator can also run games like Pitfall II, but the 2600+ cannot. So whatever Stella can run, the 2600+ should also be able to run.

@markracer3281 5 ай бұрын

When trying to update my 2600+, my pc would not recognize the hardware. I tried on another pc and all went well. Go figure... And before the update, my new copy of Berzerk (voice enhanced ed.) would glitch. With the update, I no longer experience this issue. Have you played Atari today? 🙂

@GregsGameRoom 5 ай бұрын

My computer has had issues with USB since I updated the chipset drivers. Who ever thought the default Microsoft ones would be better?

@curtis3948 5 ай бұрын

I wouldn't rule out Robot Tank, if I remember that has issues with the 7800 system as well. I'm surprised Pitfall II worked on the 7800 as that has a custom chip in it and has been known to cause issues on that system as well. The 7800 isn't 100% backwards compatible for all 2600 games.

@GregsGameRoom 5 ай бұрын

I may have to hook up my Vader to verify for sure. (The 7800 is easier since it's always ready to go!)

@ReptilianRichardRamirez 2 ай бұрын

I honestly love the 2600+. It's currently my favorite piece of retro hardware. Atari was wayyyyy ahead of my time and I wanted to experience like it was back then. I debated whether I should get the atgames gold, the my arcade game station plus and this.. Im glad I chose this, currently only have the 14 games that game with the console and the paddles but most mini consoles only come with 20 games so its really no different. Now I'm hunting for cartridges for it.

@oshiobeast5157 4 ай бұрын

I'm trying to get the update for the 2600+ and it seems that the form says that the files Aren't there to do that according to what I'm finding. I also signed up for an account and I'm still waiting to get approved to join in the forum.

@XV250 5 ай бұрын

I have a Plus in addition to three old 2600s. I love it - HDMI output looks great, it plays my 7800 carts fine, and I found the firmware update easy and trouble-free. It took me 7 or 8 minutes tops. It's on my living room coffee table now, and my old 2600s are back in storage. 10:43

@GregsGameRoom 5 ай бұрын

Glad you didn't have any issues updating!

@danootto6382 5 ай бұрын

Well Greg, after watching your test, I decided not to go with the beta. My untouched plus worked with more than 75% of the ones that failed on yours. I'm having 99% success on my 7800 PAL and NTSC 7800s only Rampage, one I really want to see on my TV. I just got Commando 7800 in and gave it a light clean. It loads great and I got pretty far first try too. Eye opening video of yours.

@GregsGameRoom 5 ай бұрын

That's fair.

@danootto6382 5 ай бұрын

@GregsGameRoom I got to thinking.... You must have the same brand swabs as I ended up with. The cotton just frays out and so many times just pieces of them get on the game connectors. May be that some of that may unnoticed get into the 2600+ slot. I also broke a 7800 game tab accidentally in the 2600+ I was fit to be tied $150 game. It still works but grrrrrr

@ratix98 Ай бұрын

Congo bongos speed issue was fixed? California games seemed sluggish to me. Frogger works for me. Robot tank i have two variants. Blue label and the gray label both don't work for me either. I havent updated to the beta firmware yet as I just got the system today. For what it's worth porkys plays well and battlezone works. If I find the timr to do the firmware update I can probably try more games.

@scottlinux 5 ай бұрын

Oof, that firmware update process is rough. :/ Thank you for the video and the stack of carts tested!

@GregsGameRoom 5 ай бұрын

Some have an easier go of it. I think it depends on the USB controller to be honest.

@P5ychoFox 5 ай бұрын

Yes Zebra (not Zeebra) here in the UK. Not that you see many in the UK.

@GregsGameRoom 5 ай бұрын

You'd see ZEBRAs in the ZOO... :D

@LaurenGlenn 5 ай бұрын

Circus Convoy worked! That was why I upgraded. Sad that now the device doesn't turn off when I hit the power switch... but it does run more things. I think they fixed the boxing game though with a 1.1.0.4 dumper from what people said.

@shaky6669 5 ай бұрын

yea, Robot Tank does not work for the 7800 as previously mentioned. there like 3 to 5 2600 titles that don't for various reasons.

@GregsGameRoom 5 ай бұрын

Wonder if it's the revision of the 7800? I've had some people say Robot Tank works.

@shaky6669 5 ай бұрын

@@GregsGameRoom definitely could be. I remember Kurt and others working on the XM had lots of issues due to the revisions of the 7800.

@agentmith 5 ай бұрын

Your robot tank cart looks like it might be a PAL one

@cavalleri 3 ай бұрын

Has anyone gotten a "Prepare IDB Fail" error message? I can't seem to get past that error. Anyone have any ideas on how to fix it?

@treyslay753 10 күн бұрын

I'm getting the same error message. I was able to update the dumper, but not the firmware itself.

@g4z-kb7ct 5 ай бұрын

All the non-working games really don't make sense. It's just running an ARM9 port of Stella. Which of course runs pretty much every game flawlessly. I think their auto-bankswitching type detector is flawed. If it chooses the wrong bankswitch mode then it's not going to work, which is what's probably happening with the non-working games. They really need to allow some kind of user access to the Stella menu so people can go in and tweak the settings like we can with the PC version of Stella. Back to the drawing board and another firmware update some time soon to avoid further embarressment LOL! I'm not going to bother updating the firmware at this stage since I don't have any of the non-working carts and I can play any game incl. Pitfall 2 on my real A2600, or my Colecovision which has a version that's twice as good ;-)

@GregsGameRoom 5 ай бұрын

Stella 6.7 should be able to play everything. Wonder if it's the built-in dumper software that's the problem?

@g4z-kb7ct 5 ай бұрын

@@GregsGameRoom Yeah that could be the issue. I updated my 10-in-1 to a 16-in-1 (i.e. reflashed rom in the cart) and swapped out the silly dip switch for a hexadecimal rotary switch. I noticed when swapping games (much quicker and easier now) it tries to read the cart too quickly. It really needs a small 1-2 second delay before trying to read it. All games are known and dumped so it might be a good idea that when the cart is inserted and dumped it shows the name of the game on screen as a verification that it dumped it correctly. So if a game cart is bad or it didn't dump it correctly it should show 'unknown game' instead of the 'Loading Game Failed' error. If the dump is good it should show the name of the game to prove it dumped it correctly. They have 256GB NAND internal storage on the board and Stella is about 10MB. With the O/S and a game cart crc32 database maybe it's 50MB (max) so it's not like they don't have any storage space to do stuff. Might also be nice if it remembered the last 20 carts too and some kind of optional menu that can be accessed to select and play them. One thing is for sure they had better fix it quickly or it's going to be another failed Atari product.

@Yey1nasJourneys 5 ай бұрын

Greg- I watched and keep watching so that I can learn but my brain just can’t compute 😂 but it’s fun watching you play sir! 👍🏻

@GregsGameRoom 5 ай бұрын

LOL, yeah, the video was mostly geared towards watching me make totally unfunny comments. ;-)

@MrMurdock2021 4 ай бұрын

I would advise metal cleaner that you clean brass with

@steveford1070 4 ай бұрын

I was a bit disappointed with the plus tbh with me the compatibility is about 70% though solaris looks glorious over hdmi

@jvanb231 5 ай бұрын

I was so excited when I ordered my 2600+ and now I've had it for a month and haven't unboxed it.

@OriginalGrasshopper 5 ай бұрын

You’re missing out! The 2600+ is so much fun!

@jvanb231 5 ай бұрын

@@OriginalGrasshopper I’ll get around to it eventually

@TheExistentialNerd 5 ай бұрын

I have Robot Tank and it does the same thing. However, I know it works. I also saw some others comment about how the 7800 doesn't play well with Robot Tanks, and I can confirm. That game is rather finicky. It is one of those that is confirmed to still not work yet. Pitfall II may have issues do to bank switching, and the emulator doesn't know how to read it properly from my understanding. Real Sports Boxing is also a confirmed problem game for the system. Again, I assume a bank switching issue, as well. Coleco games are also on the list of weirdly not compatible. I am hoping that sooner or later someone will figure out a way to hack the system to give us access to the "hidden" microUSB port on the internal PCB (along with a button in there). I don't want to use it for emulation, but perhaps as a means to play the non-functional titles.

@GregsGameRoom 5 ай бұрын

Maybe different revisions of the 7800 work with Robot Tank?

@m0nde 5 ай бұрын

Don't you need a 7800 controller to play 7800 games properly?

@mknightstalkerx 5 ай бұрын

Yes

@GregsGameRoom 5 ай бұрын

A lot of the games only use 1-button so a 2600 controller is sufficient.

@steveford1070 4 ай бұрын

Can't they just put all the games in rom then have the carts as a key?

@MrMurdock2021 4 ай бұрын

Also unocart don't work on the atari 2600+

@mknightstalkerx 5 ай бұрын

Im guessing that, pitfall 2 still doesn't work?

@GregsGameRoom 5 ай бұрын

Correct.

@mknightstalkerx 5 ай бұрын

😢

@treyslay753 10 күн бұрын

Pitfall 2 is now working in latest update

@markrotondella4689 5 ай бұрын

I'm only interested in paddle support. If they can fix the paddle emulation I'll get one otherwise meh.

@OriginalGrasshopper 5 ай бұрын

I own a 2600+ and haven’t experienced any issues whatsoever with any paddle games, even PAL ones. It’s a fantastic little system!

@markrotondella4689 5 ай бұрын

@@OriginalGrasshopper The new Paddles are fantastic I might be sensitive to it. The 2600+ is resolving movement about half the resolution that it would on a real Atari.

@skrumy70 5 ай бұрын

I can get the intellivision Astrosmash to boot up but not start

@GregsGameRoom 5 ай бұрын

Sounds like my issue with Spike's Peak

@Earths1stgamer 4 ай бұрын

Oh Robot Tank needs a 2600 7800's unless its a RevA wont work.

@adamkalb1412 5 ай бұрын

Try Spraying Deoxit 5 into each cartridge

@ineedst 5 ай бұрын

Try just having one rom on your multicart

@GregsGameRoom 5 ай бұрын

Doesn't work that way on the Cuttle Cart 2.

@Reaperman4711 5 ай бұрын

2600+ doesn't seem to be working as well as I'd hoped. It's stylish, so I'll probably get one eventually, but now's not the time. I do notice that I keep forgetting it exists until youtube reminds me about it, which isn't a great sign.

@GregsGameRoom 5 ай бұрын

LOL, yeah, it's not for everyone.

@michaelbotting806 5 ай бұрын

Since doing the beta 1.1 update my Atari 2600+ is working great. I have 55 Atari 2600 carts (including multi-carts) and 13 Atari 7800 carts. And they are all working without any issues.

@Mc-uj4wn 5 ай бұрын

Bad bad bad,disappare a lot a sprites,several games unplayable😢

5 ай бұрын

Robot Tank don't Work? In 5:55 Never buy this, better play Atari in raspberry 03/4x

@BigTallywacker 13 күн бұрын

id rather punch myself in the nuts than use the firmware update, its janky at best, and broken at worst. Quite possibly the WORST firmware updater i have ever used. It will QUICKLY tell me "one maskrom device found" then VERY quickly tell me NO DEVICES found. Youd think for the price i paid for this, Atari could come up with a better program than something like this. Whatever games dont work ill just plug in my ORIGINAL f-king 2600 or 7800 system instead, its less painful and the games will actually work without rippin my hair out over a firmware program that looks like it crawled out of 1994..

@pinebarrenpatriot8289 4 ай бұрын

Why dont people just get a REAL Atari 2600? It plays better, its the real thing, and 2600's arent ridiculously expensive(yet). My original 2600 Jr. works perfectly with every game almost first try everytime. I just keep a towell over it as well as my Sega Genesis to keep the dust out.