Futureproofing my Oric Atmos

[Kon]

I'm a Sinclair kid, but a couple of years ago I bought an Oric Atmos. I love the machine. I haven't a lot of time to play with it, but it is out again this week.

My machine seems pretty robust but I have a couple of questions about the future:

- I'm still using the original PSU; is there a replacement or alternative that would be safer to use in the future?

- A couple of keys on the keyboard are sticky / require repeated presses (notably the '2' key). Is there a fix for this?

- Does anyone bother with a joystick?

Is there anyone in the UK who works with / fixes these machines? I'd be happy to pay someone to give it a look over.

My Atmos is, generally, much happier than my Sinclair machines!

[kenneth]

Hello,
The new Oric PSU is available on Ebay

https://www.ebay.fr/itm/191651968253

Some games are playable with IJK/PASE mode joysticks.
This one is easy to make for IJK mode:

https://ceo.oric.org/adaptateur-de-joys ... pour-oric/

This one is IJK-PASE compatible:

http://retrowiki.es/download/file.php?id=200025569

This one is 2-players compatible:

https://forum.defence-force.org/downloa ... hp?id=3264

[Dbug]

I'm a Sinclair kid, but a couple of years ago I bought an Oric Atmos. I love the machine. I haven't a lot of time to play with it, but it is out again this week.
(...)
Is there anyone in the UK who works with / fixes these machines? I'd be happy to pay someone to give it a look over.

There's mutant-caterpillar:
https://www.mutant-caterpillar.co.uk/sh ... ts_id=3292

In addition to what Kenneth answer, I would say that a good thing to do would be to put something on the expansion port, like a cut connector of floppy drive, or some sticky tape, to avoid plugging the power supply connector on the expansion bus by mistake when trying to restart the machine.

I would also advice finding something like one of these on-off switches, makes it more practical to restart the machine

That one was from https://www.thefuturewas8bit.com/shop/p ... witch.html

[xahmol]

On the keys: cleaning the keyboard might help.
(See my experience https://forum.defence-force.org/viewtop ... ean#p24768 )

For future proofing, you might also to check mass storage options.
Basically Erebus for tape, or Cumana Reborn for disk.
https://www.idreamtin8bits.com/modern-m ... -computers

[Symoon]

I would also advice finding something like one of these on-off switches, makes it more practical to restart the machine
image_2023-01-17_073633408.png
That one was from https://www.thefuturewas8bit.com/shop/p ... witch.html

Thanks for the link. Sadly, more than £25 for the shipping to France, is really discouraging!

[Dbug]

I bought mine years ago, before Brexit was even something being discussed.

That being said, that was just an example, I believe i've seen similar types on Ali Express, they even have white ones for your Oric 1.

[Symoon]

Thanks, some on Amazon too, I simply wasn't using the exact right keywords and was flooded by other results.

[jacqu]

- A couple of keys on the keyboard are sticky / require repeated presses (notably the '2' key). Is there a fix for this?

I had a similar issue on two Atmos keyboards, especially on the first row (numerical keys). The culprits were lots of cracked solder joints on the keyboard PCB. I ended up reflowing all the key switch terminals solder joints. Since then, no more unresponsive keys.

See this thread for more details: https://forum.defence-force.org/viewtopic.php?t=2469

Hope it helps,
Jacques