any way to retrieve information off of a cracked atari chip?

[qbertandernie]

i got a prototype atari game for free froma firend, but i tried it and it displays nothing but snowy screen. the chip is cracked like someone set soemthing heavy on it. is there any way to get data off of it?

[Poofta!]

if the chip it self is cracked, its gone, if the metal connectors are cracked you can take the chip out by cutting the other connectors and solder it back using extra wires.

[qbertandernie]

yeah, its the chip itself. i didnt figure there was any hope for it, but figured id ask the folks here anyway.

not that it matters, but heres some pics





wow...that chip picture came out really bad!

[rbudrick]

You can try having someone dump it. You've got nothing to lose at this point.

That's a proto? Odd...no Eeprom. What is it?

-Rob

[qbertandernie]

who has the capability of dumping it? i wondered if anyone would try, though i doubt any data will be salvageable.

what is it? beats me. the story i got was a guy was looking through his dads estate and found a box of atari protos. he had asked his mom where they came from, and she told him his dad was a programmer for a while at atari. some of the protots he had found mention of on the internet and planned to sell. he apparently gave this one to the owner of a game shop who cares more about the newest imports, so it came to me because this guy knows im more into classics.

unfortunately, the game store owner doesnt know the guys name or phone number, but i havent been watching ebay of late to see if this story checks out.

[video_game_addict]

Isn't that just an epoxy blob?

[qbertandernie]

looks to me like a chip glued onto a board. ill try and get a better photo of it and repalce the crappy one

[slapdash]

Any luck getting a better photo?

[LocalH]

That's too big and squarish to be an epoxy blob, it almost looks to me like some sort of surface mount chip. It most definitely does not look like an EPROM (which normally look ike a standard ROM chip with a glass window on top that is often, but not always, covered with a sticker).

If you have access to a scanner, you'll get much better pictures by simply scanning it (although if there is a small window on top of that chip, cover it with a small sticker before scanning it to prevent any UV at all from entering the window - I don't know if the average scanner bulb gives off UV but it's better to be safe than sorry, even if you think the chip is damaged).

[qbertandernie]

im a lazy bastard, but heres the scan...finally!

nothing written on the chip, its just compressed. if anyone has the ability to dump and wants to try with this one, let me know. id be willing to send it out to someone who is a regular, provided i'd get it back.