An Answer To The Restless Atari ROM
Referring to the letter from Joe Cocuzzo in the March 1983 issue about the "Restless Atari ROM," I have had a similar problem with my Atari 800. After many trips to my authorized service center the problem was still present.
I believe I know what the problem is. Placing cartridges in and out of the machine flexes the mother board. As this board flexes, the chips on it work loose in their sockets. Eventually intermittent failures can occur.
When the machine starts to misbehave, I reseat all of the chips. This corrects the problem for about six months, depending on how often cartridges are inserted.
David Fehr