Atari Creep Posted January 16, 2017 Report Share Posted January 16, 2017 So my lady being the awesome person she is got me an Atari Flashback Portable on Amazon!!! The box was sealed but after opening it I noticed clear signs of it being a used item, scuffs on the back, slight scratching on screen from slifing on another surface...... (I do not know yet if where she got it from stated used or not yet) It seems to work fine aside from 2 things regarding sound and I would like to know if they are normal or not. 1. The unit has a hum when on. It did not interfere with any of the game sounds and I am ok with that. 2. When I activate a game from the menu there is a crackle sound much like you would get from a dirty pot on an old radio or guitar equipment. Are these noises normal for this kind of thing? Signs of other issues yet to show up? I am ok with them, they do not hinder anything as far as playing the games but if the seller did in fact state it was a NEW item and swapped out for a used one I would like to pursue making a claim and keep people honest. Unless I do find out later today that it was sold stating it was in fact used or these sounds are normal!!! Thanks a ton in advance for your input guys!!!! Lost Dragon, MaximumRD, Rowsdower70 and 1 other 4 Quote Don't just watch TV, PLAY IT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowsdower70 Posted January 16, 2017 Report Share Posted January 16, 2017 Mine does not hum, nor does it crackle lolAs for the screen, it does come with a film over the screen you can remove if it IS new. Lost Dragon, greenween, jmjustin6 and 1 other 4 Quote "For you - Rowsdower from the 70 - have been appointed Omnivisioner of the Game Grid." ~ Atari Adventure Square Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari Creep Posted January 16, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2017 Mine does not hum, nor does it crackle lol As for the screen, it does come with a film over the screen you can remove if it IS new. Thanks for the feedback. This helps a great deal. Lost Dragon and Rowsdower70 2 Quote Don't just watch TV, PLAY IT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted January 16, 2017 Report Share Posted January 16, 2017 Mine does crackle. Most notably when the unit is turned on. More like a quick "pop" and again when you pick a game. The sounds are a little off -- the tone seems low. In general. I had no idea about the screen film. Indeed, mine had it, so I peeled it off. Looks much better now. I still love this thing. Lost Dragon, greenween and Rowsdower70 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari Creep Posted January 16, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2017 Mine does crackle. Most notably when the unit is turned on. More like a quick "pop" and again when you pick a game. The sounds are a little off -- the tone seems low. In general. I had no idea about the screen film. Indeed, mine had it, so I peeled it off. Looks much better now. I still love this thing. I didn't see it either. Mainly because there was no pull tab to remove it. Hahah Over all its nice, I like it. The hum is not as noticeable but that crackling sound when I enter or exit a game bothers me. greenween, Rowsdower70 and Lost Dragon 3 Quote Don't just watch TV, PLAY IT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arenafoot Posted January 17, 2017 Report Share Posted January 17, 2017 So my lady being the awesome person she is got me an Atari Flashback Portable on Amazon!!! The box was sealed but after opening it I noticed clear signs of it being a used item, scuffs on the back, slight scratching on screen from slifing on another surface...... (I do not know yet if where she got it from stated used or not yet) It seems to work fine aside from 2 things regarding sound and I would like to know if they are normal or not. 1. The unit has a hum when on. It did not interfere with any of the game sounds and I am ok with that. 2. When I activate a game from the menu there is a crackle sound much like you would get from a dirty pot on an old radio or guitar equipment. Are these noises normal for this kind of thing? Signs of other issues yet to show up? I am ok with them, they do not hinder anything as far as playing the games but if the seller did in fact state it was a NEW item and swapped out for a used one I would like to pursue making a claim and keep people honest. Unless I do find out later today that it was sold stating it was in fact used or these sounds are normal!!! Thanks a ton in advance for your input guys!!!! My screen was perfect (still is). I kept my protective film on (at least I think its still on) and I know I bought a brand new unit since I bought it at BB&B personally. Mine has a minor hum while in the SD card mode. But no crackle. I rarely play any of the games with the sound up or even on at all anyway. greenween, Lost Dragon and Atari Creep 3 Quote Brian Matherne - owner/curator of "The MOST comprehensive list of Atari VCS/2600 homebrews ever compiled." http://tiny.cc/Atari2600Homebrew author of "The Atari 2600 Homebrew Companion" book series available on Amazon! www.amazon.com/author/brianmatherne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenween Posted January 17, 2017 Report Share Posted January 17, 2017 I haven't had any issues with the humming or popping. I knew about the protective screen so I removed it right away. Quote "Better to be king for a night than schmuck for a lifetime." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaximumRD Posted January 17, 2017 Report Share Posted January 17, 2017 Thanks a ton in advance for your input guys!!!! Just so you are aware there is a major Compatibility and testing thread on AA that should prove useful to any owner of this handheld, lot's of testing going on, swapping out or repair of ROMS that do not work and having complete archived zips ready to unpack onto the root of your SDcard all solid and proven working for your device. Check it out. Atari Flashback Portable Compatibility List http://atariage.com/forums/topic/258970-atari-flashback-portable-compatibility-list/page-1?hl=+flashback%20+portable Rowsdower70, Lost Dragon, StormSurge and 2 others 5 Quote I am Rob aka MaximumRD aka OldSchoolRetroGamer and THIS is my world http://about.me/maximumrd "For you, the day Bison graced your village was the most important day of your life. But for me, it was Tuesday." - M. Bison Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeddyGermany Posted January 17, 2017 Report Share Posted January 17, 2017 Mine does crackle too. Furthermore the Battery low lamp doesn't work! Atari Creep, Lost Dragon and jmjustin6 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowsdower70 Posted January 17, 2017 Report Share Posted January 17, 2017 Mine does crackle. Most notably when the unit is turned on. More like a quick "pop" and again when you pick a game. The sounds are a little off -- the tone seems low. In general. I had no idea about the screen film. Indeed, mine had it, so I peeled it off. Looks much better now. I still love this thing. I do get the little pop when a game initializes, but thats normal for most anything with multiple games. I dig mine a lot too, if it played Dragonstomper it would be perfect. Lost Dragon and Atari Creep 2 Quote "For you - Rowsdower from the 70 - have been appointed Omnivisioner of the Game Grid." ~ Atari Adventure Square Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arenafoot Posted January 17, 2017 Report Share Posted January 17, 2017 Just so you are aware there is a major Compatibility and testing thread on AA that should prove useful to any owner of this handheld, lot's of testing going on, swapping out or repair of ROMS that do not work and having complete archived zips ready to unpack onto the root of your SDcard all solid and proven working for your device. Check it out. Atari Flashback Portable Compatibility List http://atariage.com/forums/topic/258970-atari-flashback-portable-compatibility-list/page-1?hl=+flashback%20+portable Thanks for the feedback. This helps a great deal. Not only that list MaxRD posted above, there's also the ROMs that have been hacked to work (and some that already worked - made better) on the AFP. Most of them are posted/linked on that Compatibility List. Or you can watch this thread as Nukey Shay is hacking them on a daily basis- http://atariage.com/forums/topic/259166-flashback-portable-needed-controller-hacks/page-7 Enjoy! MaximumRD, greenween, Lost Dragon and 1 other 4 Quote Brian Matherne - owner/curator of "The MOST comprehensive list of Atari VCS/2600 homebrews ever compiled." http://tiny.cc/Atari2600Homebrew author of "The Atari 2600 Homebrew Companion" book series available on Amazon! www.amazon.com/author/brianmatherne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenween Posted January 17, 2017 Report Share Posted January 17, 2017 The Defender arcade hack is great!!! Lost Dragon, RickR, Arenafoot and 1 other 4 Quote "Better to be king for a night than schmuck for a lifetime." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arenafoot Posted January 18, 2017 Report Share Posted January 18, 2017 (edited) The Defender arcade hack is great!!! in case the others missed it...... there's work being done to fix some of the games that do not work on the Portable, so that they can be played or even made better for the AFP! Here's where we are at right now: Crash Course (hb) removed title screen <bankswitch conversions> bankswitch conversion of several games RealSports Tennis background colors edited Juno First (hb) ROM modified Star Raiders hacked original ROM for AFP use - No Keypad Kool Aid Man hacked in 2002 - this works on the AFP Tapper fixed the screen cutoff at bottom Budweiser Tapper (hack) fixed the screen cutoff at bottom Acid Drop (hb) fixed loading issues - but still cutoff at bottom Beat'em and Eat'em <partly fixed> loads but no control Custer's Revenge fixed loading issues Enduro raised the screen to see number of cars & days Jawbreaker fixed loading issues Lochjaw fixed loading issues Marauder fixed loading issues Shark Attack fixed loading issues Squeezebox fixed loading issues Words Attack fixed loading issues Scrollout (hb) Flashback Portable Support added Fix it Felix Sr. (hb) fixed loading issues Defender II changed "game select" S button for smart bombs Defender II The difficulty switches now work for inviso & hyperspace. Raiders of the Lost Ark select and reset to move the marker & the color switch to drop Bloody Human Freeway (proto) fixed the collision problems Circus Atari {built in game} D-pad not as good as paddles - use Zellers "Circus" Freeway fixed the collision problems Double Dragon Arcade updated sprites and made it compatible w/ AFP Raiders of the Lost Ark Difficulty switch removed. The spider gfx fixed. Bloody Human Freeway (proto) Glitch removed from the corner. Free space used to tally the number of times run over (max99). Freeway (2 Players) added a Player 2 feature for the AFP Backgammon/Nackgammon hacked to use the D-pad and buttons for Player 1 & 2 Defender Arcade (hb) hacked to work on the AFP Asteroids changed color/bw button to Hyperspace for 1 or 2 players Defneder Arcade (hb) changed "game select" S button for smart bombs To find the ROMs for these games, go to my homebrew list: https://1drv.ms/x/s!ArXu52QZivTrgVbQayev1Wc1QprN then click the AFP tab at the bottom of the Excel spreadsheet. All titles are linked to the downloads. Edited January 18, 2017 by Arenafoot greenween, Atari Creep, Lost Dragon and 1 other 4 Quote Brian Matherne - owner/curator of "The MOST comprehensive list of Atari VCS/2600 homebrews ever compiled." http://tiny.cc/Atari2600Homebrew author of "The Atari 2600 Homebrew Companion" book series available on Amazon! www.amazon.com/author/brianmatherne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeddyGermany Posted January 18, 2017 Report Share Posted January 18, 2017 Wizard of Wor needs to be hacked. It must be started as player two, so this should be changed. Atari Creep and Rowsdower70 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowsdower70 Posted January 18, 2017 Report Share Posted January 18, 2017 Wizard of Wor needs to be hacked. It must be started as player two, so this should be changed. I noticed this one the other day. I couldn't control my dude. It's a great port for the Atari. Atari Creep 1 Quote "For you - Rowsdower from the 70 - have been appointed Omnivisioner of the Game Grid." ~ Atari Adventure Square Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari Creep Posted January 19, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2017 Awesome info guys!!!! I would have "quoted" individual posts but too many to work off of. MaximumRD 1 Quote Don't just watch TV, PLAY IT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arenafoot Posted January 19, 2017 Report Share Posted January 19, 2017 Wizard of Wor needs to be hacked. It must be started as player two, so this should be changed. I noticed this one the other day. I couldn't control my dude. It's a great port for the Atari. Wizard of Wor still works - with the two player option. As the original required player 1 to use the right joystick, and the D-pad and buttons are for the left side joystick/fire button, it can still be played on the AFP. Just choose the two player game and control the blue player on the left side. BTW - the Wizard of Wor 2: The Arena (homebrew) works too on the AFP - just a couple of distracting lines appear on the screen during gameplay. MaximumRD 1 Quote Brian Matherne - owner/curator of "The MOST comprehensive list of Atari VCS/2600 homebrews ever compiled." http://tiny.cc/Atari2600Homebrew author of "The Atari 2600 Homebrew Companion" book series available on Amazon! www.amazon.com/author/brianmatherne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeddyGermany Posted January 19, 2017 Report Share Posted January 19, 2017 Wizard of Wor still works - with the two player option. Good news! Thanx for that! Arenafoot and MaximumRD 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arenafoot Posted January 19, 2017 Report Share Posted January 19, 2017 Here's a list of game titles requested by gamers to be fixed/hacked to work on the AFP - hopefully some (or all) will be worked on, in the near future: Donkey Kong VCS Defender 2 - Is there a way the smart bomb button from controller 2 be changed to a difficulty switch so it can work? Frantic Galaxian - This is full of glitches. Rally X - Maybe an earlier version can be hacked? Scramble Space Rocks Stay Frosty 1 / Stay Frosty 2 Spy Hunter Star Raiders (any/all Starpath Supercharger games) Berzerk - invisible wall removed to play Squish'em Raiders of the Lost Ark Merlin's Walls Cosmic Ark Pitfall II Adventures of Tron - title screen messed up Halo 2600 - fully playable Zippy The Porcupine - full game does not run xxxx = (done) hacked to work on the AFP xxxx = DPC+ games will not work on AFP greenween and MaximumRD 2 Quote Brian Matherne - owner/curator of "The MOST comprehensive list of Atari VCS/2600 homebrews ever compiled." http://tiny.cc/Atari2600Homebrew author of "The Atari 2600 Homebrew Companion" book series available on Amazon! www.amazon.com/author/brianmatherne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arenafoot Posted January 24, 2017 Report Share Posted January 24, 2017 (edited) in case the others missed it...... there's work being done to fix some of the games that do not work on the Portable, so that they can be played or even made better for the AFP! Here's where we are at right now: Crash Course (hb) removed title screen <bankswitch conversions> bankswitch conversion of several games RealSports Tennis background colors edited Juno First (hb) ROM modified Star Raiders hacked original ROM for AFP use - No Keypad Kool Aid Man hacked in 2002 - this works on the AFP Tapper fixed the screen cutoff at bottom Budweiser Tapper (hack) fixed the screen cutoff at bottom Acid Drop (hb) fixed loading issues - but still cutoff at bottom Beat'em and Eat'em <partly fixed> loads but no control Custer's Revenge fixed loading issues Enduro raised the screen to see number of cars & days Jawbreaker fixed loading issues Lochjaw fixed loading issues Marauder fixed loading issues Shark Attack fixed loading issues Squeezebox fixed loading issues Words Attack fixed loading issues Scrollout (hb) Flashback Portable Support added Fix it Felix Sr. (hb) fixed loading issues Defender II changed "game select" S button for smart bombs Defender II The difficulty switches now work for inviso & hyperspace. Raiders of the Lost Ark select and reset to move the marker & the color switch to drop Bloody Human Freeway (proto) fixed the collision problems Circus Atari {built in game} D-pad not as good as paddles - use Zellers "Circus" Freeway fixed the collision problems Double Dragon Arcade updated sprites and made it compatible w/ AFP Raiders of the Lost Ark Difficulty switch removed. The spider gfx fixed. Bloody Human Freeway (proto) Glitch removed from the corner. Free space used to tally the number of times run over (max99). Freeway (2 Players) added a Player 2 feature for the AFP Backgammon/Nackgammon hacked to use the D-pad and buttons for Player 1 & 2 Defender Arcade (hb) hacked to work on the AFP Asteroids changed color/bw button to Hyperspace for 1 or 2 players Defneder Arcade (hb) changed "game select" S button for smart bombs To find the ROMs for these games, go to my homebrew list: https://1drv.ms/x/s!ArXu52QZivTrgVbQayev1Wc1QprN then click the AFP tab at the bottom of the Excel spreadsheet. All titles are linked to the downloads. since Jan 9th - these titles have been changed/hacked to work (or work better) on the AFP: 1/11/2017 Defender II The difficulty switches now work for inviso & hyperspace. 1/13/2017 Raiders of the Lost Ark select and reset to move the marker & the color switch to drop 1/13/2017 Bloody Human Freeway (proto) fixed the collision problems 1/13/2017 Circus Atari {built in game} D-pad not as good as paddles - use Zellers "Circus" 1/13/2017 Freeway fixed the collision problems 1/14/2017 Double Dragon Arcade (hack) updated sprites and made it compatible w/ AFP 1/14/2017 Raiders of the Lost Ark Difficulty switch removed. The spider gfx fixed. 1/14/2017 Bloody Human Freeway (proto) Glitch removed from the corner. Free space used to tally the number of times run over (max99). 1/14/2017 Freeway (2 Players) added a Player 2 feature for the AFP 1/14/2017 Backgammon/Nackgammon hacked to use the D-pad and buttons for Player 1 & 2 1/16/2017 Defender Arcade (hb) hacked to work on the AFP 1/17/2017 Asteroids changed color/bw button to Hyperspace for 1 or 2 players 1/17/2017 Defender Arcade (hb) changed "game select" S button for smart bombs 1/19/2017 Popeye Arcade (graphic hack) some graphic edits to Popeye (bankswitch version) 1/20/2017 Spy Hunter remapped second fire button to color/bw button 1/21/2017 Star Trek Impulse Engines (forward) also work by pressing Color/BW button, Photons (back) can also be fired using Select. No solution for warp drive yet, so it is still 1/21/2017 Beamrider remapped color/bw button for torpedoes 1/21/2017 Popeye Arcade (graphic hack) more graphic changes on levels 2 & 3 1/22/2017 Beat'em and Eat'em Directional controller hack 1/22/2017 Popeye Arcade (graphic hack) more graphic changes 1/23/2017 Spy Hunter background color hack - and uses remapped button 1/23/2017 Berzerk (2 player hack) changed title screen to "Berzerk Flashback" & 1 Player same as before: To find the ROMs for these games, go to my homebrew list: https://1drv.ms/x/s!ArXu52QZivTrgVbQayev1Wc1QprN then click the AFP tab at the bottom of the Excel spreadsheet. All titles are linked to the downloads. Edited January 24, 2017 by Arenafoot Quote Brian Matherne - owner/curator of "The MOST comprehensive list of Atari VCS/2600 homebrews ever compiled." http://tiny.cc/Atari2600Homebrew author of "The Atari 2600 Homebrew Companion" book series available on Amazon! www.amazon.com/author/brianmatherne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arenafoot Posted February 8, 2017 Report Share Posted February 8, 2017 add 3 more to the fixed ROMs list for the AFP: Donkey Kong VCS Spy Hunter Berzerk - invisible wall removed to play greenween and StormSurge 2 Quote Brian Matherne - owner/curator of "The MOST comprehensive list of Atari VCS/2600 homebrews ever compiled." http://tiny.cc/Atari2600Homebrew author of "The Atari 2600 Homebrew Companion" book series available on Amazon! www.amazon.com/author/brianmatherne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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