Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!burl!codas!mtune!rutgers!mit-eddie!apollo!henry_k
From: henry_k@apollo.uucp (Keith E. Henry)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.8bit
Subject: 800XL Hardware Problems
Message-ID: <399db0e9.c998@apollo.uucp>
Date: 11 Jan 88 20:17:00 GMT
Reply-To: henry_k@apollo.UUCP (Keith E. Henry)
Organization: Apollo Computer, Chelmsford, MA
Lines: 26

My Atari 800XL appears to have a hardware problem.  When I RUN the
program:

10 PRINT "HELLO"
20 GOTO 10

It works for a second or so, then changes the color map, prints
garbage at the bottom of the screen, and hangs.  A RESET is required
to bring the machine back to life.  Occasionally, I get error 12
(non-existent line number) instead.

Although many things work OK (including the self-tests :-) ) I would 
like to fix this problem.  ATARI Customer Service at 1-800-538-8543
appears to be non-existent.  This leads me to the following
questions:
   
1) Is there a known fix for the above problem?
2) Are there any known design problems which require hardware 
    changes to fix?
3) What is the state of ATARI these days; including their Customer 
    Service department?

Please reply directly.  If deemed appropriate, I will later summarize 
to the NET.

/keith