Add machine inventory with serial numbers and manufacturing dates to Atari fleet

2026-09-17 17:00:25 +00:00 · 2026-09-12 20:42:21 +02:00
parent a3fe5d8048
commit d9ee54d1d0
5 changed files with 24 additions and 0 deletions
@@ -23,6 +23,17 @@ parent: "/retro/"
 <li><strong>The spare <a href="/retro/mega-st2/">Mega ST 2</a></strong>, a reserve and test machine, kept in largely original condition, used to safely test upgrades before they go into the "real" machines.</li>
 </ul>

+<h2>Machine Inventory</h2>
+<p>All four machines were manufactured at Atari Taiwan Manufacturing Co. (indicated by the "A1" prefix in the serial numbers).</p>
+<table>
+<tr><th>Machine</th><th>Serial</th><th>Manufactured</th><th>Board</th></tr>
+<tr><td>Mega ST 2</td><td>A1 7B 4010182</td><td>11/1987</td><td>CA200019 / C100167-001 Rev.5.0</td></tr>
+<tr><td>Mega ST 4 "High"</td><td>A1 05 4009044</td><td>05/1990</td><td>—</td></tr>
+<tr><td>Mega ST 4 "Low"</td><td>A1 08 4011143</td><td>08/1990</td><td>—</td></tr>
+<tr><td>Mega ST 4 Heirloom</td><td>A1 08 4011015</td><td>08/1990</td><td>CA200019 / C100167-001 Rev.B</td></tr>
+<tr><td>Keyboard (Heirloom)</td><td>A1 07 4085985</td><td>07/1990</td><td>CA200043-004</td></tr>
+</table>
+
 <h2>Extensions Not Yet Installed</h2>
 <p>A few upgrades have been bought or built but aren't in a machine yet, either waiting to go in or kept as spares:</p>
 <ul>
@@ -19,6 +19,10 @@ parent: "/retro/"
 <li>Its own original Atari keyboard and mouse.</li>
 </ul>

+<h2>Details</h2>
+<p>Serial: A1 08 4011015 · Manufactured August 1990 · Board: CA200019 / C100167-001 Rev.B</p>
+<p>Original keyboard: A1 07 4085985 · Manufactured July 1990 · Board: CA200043-004, fully disassembled and cleaned on 6 March 2022.</p>
+
 <h2>Role in the Fleet</h2>
 <p>This machine serves as a nostalgia and comparison reference. When problems occur on one of the modified Megas, I can test against this unchanged original state to distinguish bus, flash, or configuration errors from genuine hardware faults. It can also be used as a test platform for uncritical experiments, but stays as close to original as possible for nostalgic reasons.</p>

@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@ parent: "/retro/"

 <p>Received for free in 2026, this Mega ST 4 was fully rebuilt and is today my primary workstation. It's the most capable machine in the fleet, running Geneva as a real multitasking environment.</p>

+<h2>Details</h2>
+<p>Serial: A1 05 4009044 · Manufactured May 1990</p>
+
 <h2>Work Performed</h2>
 <ul>
 <li><strong>Blitter patch</strong>, removed an existing patch and carefully bridged the severed trace with wire, verifying it with a continuity test. The installed blitter (marked S9012 / MM9092V, a National variant from week 12/1990) belongs to an unproblematic batch where the classic Mega ST blitter patch is generally no longer needed.</li>
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@ parent: "/retro/"

 <p>Bought via eBay as a bargain, this Mega ST 4 is today my LowRes demo and gaming machine. It's the most heavily expanded of the fleet, but tuned for fast disk-image swapping rather than productivity.</p>

+<h2>Details</h2>
+<p>Serial: A1 08 4011143 · Manufactured August 1990</p>
+
 <h2>History and Repair</h2>
 <p>I had originally cut out the TOS ROMs to experiment with external solutions, and afterwards it was unclear whether the board had been damaged in the process. Moving the <a href="/retro/storm-cloudy/">Cloudy/Storm ST combo</a> to this machine via the MegaBus connector brought it back to stable operation. The actual problem turned out to be a poorly and incompletely soldered CPU socket.</p>

@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@ parent: "/retro/"
 <h2>Current State</h2>
 <p>It runs on original TOS with the internal RAM configuration, without the separate 4 MB expansion, which was removed for testing purposes and now sits set aside.</p>

+<h2>Details</h2>
+<p>Serial: A1 7B 4010182 · Manufactured November 1987 · Board: CA200019 / C100167-001 Rev.5.0</p>
+
 <h2>History</h2>
 <p>Everything in this machine was moved over to the <a href="/retro/mega-st-high/">Mega ST 4 "High"</a> that I was given, including its original power supply. It's not really a parts donor though, it's simply the spare machine now that the new Mega 4 carries the main setup. Back then it had an intermittent fault: after being on for a long time it would eventually show a white screen on boot. I first suspected the 4 MB expansion and removed it, but the fault persisted. Only after reverting it to the old TOS and a fully original state did it run stably again.</p>