[comp.sys.atari.8bit] 800XL Video Problem

gonzalez@bbn.com (Jim Gonzalez) (09/07/90)

A friend of my SO is having difficulty with his recently-acquired 800XL.
He's a former recording engineer, so he's got some electronics smarts, but
it's all analog.  To add to the confusion, all I know is what he told me
over the phone (he lives in upstate New York, while we live in eastern
Massachusetts).  Also, I haven't looked at an 800XL in nearly 10 years.

The problem is that when he powers up the machine, the display is "hashed".
Judging from the description, it sounds like the scan rate is off (60Hz
driving a circuit configured for 50Hz, for example).  He was wondering if
there was some switch that might be set wrong.  Typing on the assumption 
that he's at the monitor level, he sees no apparent change in the screen 
display in response to basic commands.  Does this ring any bells?

				-Jim.