I worked in a computer repair shop in the late 80s, early 90s and watching you troubleshoot these old machines is a real time hop for me. Keep up the good work.
These C64 repair videos are going to come in handy. Getting up the courage to test a C64 and C128 I picked up from my parent's house almost a year ago. Need to cobble together some power supplies to test them. Now I know what chips to pull before even flipping the power switch.
I enjoy your troubleshooting so much. You employ so many methods, and obviously have quite a bit of experience doing so. I love your reference system with the quick release sockets ... that certainly helps a lot!
This reminds me of the old days when a friend in Texas owned an ol C64, not ol at that time but ended up trading it up for an Amiga. Most specifically, I got a chance to see how the owner of the shop my friend did the trade it worked. It was pretty amazing then as it is now seeing how the mechanics of those ol machines worked.
Some very good diagnostic tools here, which probably saved you hours. 1/ ZIF Socketed C64 2/ Test Harness. Time I started getting that gear together. Thanks Adrian.
Hello again! I commented on another C64 video of yours about me trying to get a C64 with 250425 board. I finally scored a breadbin model , ser. no. P5,3XX,XXX and newer 1541 drive and 1660 modem for less than $150 shipped. I figured it would be a 425! From watching you I first opened it up cleaned out the dust and debris. I tested the outputs of the death brick and got good voltages, (I have an Oscope) plugged it into the 64 and measured 5 and 12 and they are right on... I haven't got a video cable yet but I looked at the video out socket with my oscilloscope and I see the luma and sync pulses, and signals on the other pins, so it may be good! Also ordered heat sinks with peal and stick adhesive tape on them already. It had the metal RF cover with fingers to each chip and all of the big IC's are socketed! I desoldered the bottom RF shield and , as you always, do, pitched it! I'll let you know how I make out! Thanks for the help!
Hopefully it works! Sadly a black screen C64 always outputs a good video signal ... so it's not really much of an indication unless you can see the flashing cursor in the signal on the scope.
@@adriansdigitalbasement My scope doesn't have TV sync capabilities, but I do see the typical vertical sync pulse interval... We'll see when my cable comes. I worked on NTSC systems back in the 80's & 90's at Kodak and I actually built a sync separator circuit for this scope... based on an 1881 sync chip, if I could find it!
You can do shift+run/stop and check for the tape motor to start. Either by connecting a datasette, or if you don't have one my measuring the voltage on the tape motor pin of the datasette connector. If this works, the C64 is very likely in good working condition.
Excellent! Always nice to see 64's saved =D It seems to be a common problem with those SIDs failing that way, I've had a few like that recently where you can barely hear the sound but the pops are really loud.
I want to give a quick shout out to Nathan Divino and the awesome intro music he made for your channel. When it comes to intros on youtube I pretty much skip all but yours.
Thx a lot for this video ... just dug up my commodore machines, and despite the fact they were all working learned a lot and pretty sure I’ll end up with a broken one someday ... great video as always !
I have a box of C64's I picked up on Ebay about 5 years ago, I think I paid $100 for the lot of 8. This video inspired me to get off my butt and see if they're fixable... I was originally just going to strip them for parts, but this video saved them... I think! :)
When I get a ram chip that is definitely way to hot, I clip the 5v leg if not socketed to see if the machine will change behavior. It's a very easy way to troubleshoot for additional trouble.
I think you could fix one of those boards in your sleep :-) The joys of diagnostics but a good ending. I have spend days trying to sort out a 486 pc so I do empathise. Fun video. Cheers.
When you do it for the first time, it looks totally overwhelming and you have no idea where to start. But after a while, you a nose for it, and after onlt a few systematic checks on a board, you know where to look for the defect and which parts you should test. Once a part tests as defect, the repair is often quick.
Again, your troubleshooting skills and knowledge are great! I have learned so much from you. You make me want to do this myself. I wish I had the time, spare parts and tools to do this. I haven't had a physical C64 in years. I just use emulators these days, but I would really like one.
You really made me worry after that last yoga video. But phew... good intro for this video. You really are the commodore c64 master, these repair video’s never bore me. Keep them coming!
Adrian you are a c64 repair machine! That was a hard and fast video, personally I would be happy if you slow it down a little. Sometimes watching those in between steps makes it a little more immersive. I think I did something similar with my latest video, cut out what I thought was boring but now it feels too rushed. Looking forward to part 2
James Wyld In my opinion, the ARMSid is the best replacement for the price. Pop it right in the socket and you can barely tell it isn’t a real SID. Sounds absolutely amazing, supports the paddle and mouse control, and costs less than a real SID.
Adrian, What are the chances that you might make a C64 kickstart video? Something with recommendations for people just getting back into the hobby... with absolutely needed purchases, like a replacement PSU, SD2IEC or Pi1541, SCART or other video output options, what fastloader to buy... that sort of stuff?
Leaving important components out, I've been there, spent too long scratching the head only to notice that one part missing, not everyone admits to it either... :P
I remember I had to upgrade CPUs and RAM in a few hundred boxes at work and you had to run a BIOS update first so it would support the new processor. I know at least two early morning ones got the new processor installed before the BIOS update, which meant I had to yank the processor back out, put the old one back, update, then reinstall the new one
Hi Adrian, Great content. Do you have a list of what zif sockets one would need to build a diagnostic board like the one you use? Also, what camera do you use for you new videos. Keep up the good work. I love the content and look forward to trying my hand ad fixing some old systems I have been accumulating.
Why do Commodore 64s always have so many problems? It's not just the age, I have several other vintage computers and none of them have any problems. I have two VIC-20s and they both work fine. But every time I see a video about a Commodore 64, they always have a bunch of bad chips.
@@ct6502-c7w I think there are a few things at play. Commodore continually reduced the cost of the C64 as much as possible throughout its life, so corners were cut everywhere they could. At the time 64K of RAM was a lot, so I imagine they bought ram from the lowest bidder every chance they could. Additionally MOS versions of common logic chips seem to fail more often than their more common TI, Fairchild, Signetics, etc parts. Why this is, I'm not entirely sure, but I know for some chips like the PLA had process problems that caused the internal layers of the chips to degrade. Perhaps some of these manufacturing "short cuts" found their way into other chips. C64s with the paper RF shields held in too much heat causing chips to overheat, and pretty much all C64s came with cheap but "good enough to get the job done" power supplies. Quite a few chips get killed by overvoltage by people innocently turning them on to test them out without enough knowledge to check the voltages first or pull sensitive chips. Add all those things up and you have the possibility for a lot of broken C64s. Usually it's not too bad, but when SID chips die, I get very :'( Everything else in the C64 can be replaced in FPGA, but SID chips are irreplaceable.
@@mrb5217 Thanks for replying. I guess that makes sense. It's just so frustrating, I bought a C64 a while back and I still have never been able to get it to work. It's the only computer in my collection that doesn't work.
ADB is like good quality coffee on a snowy weekend just daydreaming out the window. Don't ask me why I have absolutely no idea, it's like the electro-nerd's whale song.
Would love to see a video of how you would fix a C64 without the option of swapping them into another known working board. Most of us only have one C64 and cannot swap out chips with working ones.
Adrian, I am looking for a better oxidation removal solution. The stuff I have now is from MG Chemicals and it also claims to contain a lubricant. The problem I have with it is the odor is overpowering, even in small doses. It has a similar odor to plain old gasoline. A stronger than usual message about using in a well ventilated area is printed on the can. You appear to use DeOxit very liberally with no mention of odor. Is it a little less toxic to be breathing around?
No it doesn't really smell much of anything --- Deoxit D5-6 I use has this formulation: 5% DeoxIT® (active ingredient), 75% odorless mineral spirits (carrier solvent), 20% propellant. It's not a harsh chemical like a lot of the other ones.
Yeah as Daniel said, short boards don't fail much ... but also I only just encountered a short board for the first time the other day. They are just not that common in the US. By the time the 64C was out, people had moved onto 16bit.
Oh I remove both -- I didn't mention it but the lower RF shielding and the cage around the VIC-II all get removed and tossed as well. The purpose was simply to meet FCC requirements at the time. C64s in some other markets didn't have any shielding at all...
Yeah sadly my camera picks up a 60hz hum when powering it from USB -- and even with noise filtering, you're hearing the hum. It would be all the time if it weren't for noise filtering. I've luckily worked out how to power the camera from a USB power bank so that shouldn't be an issue anymore.
Hi Adrian ! You should really sell appropriate "DeOyx" drinking kits and T-Shirts. If I'd done it this time I'd had problems following to the end ... ;-)
Since these were given to me, I don't sell them. Perhaps I'll do a giveaway. Sometimes the boards are friend's boards or boards that just go into stock to help maintain my own 64 machines.
I've been really burning to ask about it; but.. What's the tiny little screen that makes a cameo appearance in almost all of your videos, displaying seemingly random demo's or programmed routines (I loved that eating Animation, tbh)
Not really! There are ones from the Amiga (8502 I think they are called) and then mostly work -- but the clock functionality in the Amiga one is different and incompatible. Anything that uses those timers or clock may not work right.
I want to ask you about the voltage regulators. I recently measured one of mine and the 7812 showed something like 15 volts (it's an PAL board) and after chatting with Jan Beta he told me that the 7812 needs to go. Are those voltage regulators like an ticking timebombs never knowing when they go bad and by so doing they can kill both the VIC and SID chips: Any idea why those seem to be failing?
They are ticking time-bombs. The one in the power supply has a high chance to explode and immedeate action needs to be taken if you encounter an original C64 power supply. The regulators inside the C64 are also ticking timebombs, but they rarely break. Therefore measuring the voltages on a board is sufficient, preventive replacement is not really needed. If you measure 15V though, act immedeately and replace it before applying power again. Linear power regulators fail because they produce a lot of heat that is bad for the electronics inside it.
wonder what's special about the micron ram on the 64, I have had a pile of apple II's and atari's and some euro machines using them and never replaced them
If I see 64k Micro RAM I basically just assume it's bad. My Apple IIc repair video had two bad MT RAM chips as well .. and I have a ton of them I've pulled from 64 boards.
I've had bad luck with mt ram as well, but if it is an issue with both the c64 and apple iic, perhaps it has something to do with the lack of air flow in both machines... maybe the mt ram is more susceptible to death by higher temps. Who knows...
@@brianv2871 Granted, they ain't cheap! If he knew someone who really wanted a C64 and couldn't source one any other way, though, at least he could start them on the journey with the motherboard and they could get the case and keyboard. But I see where you're coming from for sure.
Nah since these were given to me -- perhaps I'll do a giveaway. Sometimes the boards are friend's boards or boards that just go into stock to help maintain my own 64 machines. :-)
What is a good ram replacement? I have board with memory errors and bought some MT ram but have since seen that this brand of ram has a high failure rate.
I think any 64k DRAM is fine -- MT isn't always bad. Just don't install it into the motherboard without a socket so you can quickly swap it out to test in the future.
Watching Adrian repair C64s instead of watching the Super Bowl
@@Damn-Son LMAO
Wow, the Stuper Bowl is on already.
The what?
After that terrible halftime show I just shut off the tv.
@@chris.cantwell The stuper bowl. It's where people drink too much beer, get drunk, and argue about baseball.
Deoxit to Adrian's Digital Basement is to Brake Cleaner for South Main Auto. You should give Deoxit a theme each time you bring it out lmao.
I worked in a computer repair shop in the late 80s, early 90s and watching you troubleshoot these old machines is a real time hop for me. Keep up the good work.
These C64 repair videos are going to come in handy. Getting up the courage to test a C64 and C128 I picked up from my parent's house almost a year ago. Need to cobble together some power supplies to test them. Now I know what chips to pull before even flipping the power switch.
Man, you need to post more videos. I'm addicted to your videos haha.
Always a great joy to follow your troubleshooting, especially when you can get the boards working afterwards !
I enjoy your troubleshooting so much. You employ so many methods, and obviously have quite a bit of experience doing so. I love your reference system with the quick release sockets ... that certainly helps a lot!
Always enjoy watching these c64 repairs... it appears you are getting quicker in fixing them! 😁👍
@@geekwithsocialskills deoxit is the holy water for the c64!
4,75-5,25V is within spec for logic signaling. From what i've heard anything above 5,25 can fry chips.
This reminds me of the old days when a friend in Texas owned an ol C64, not ol at that time but ended up trading it up for an Amiga. Most specifically, I got a chance to see how the owner of the shop my friend did the trade it worked. It was pretty amazing then as it is now seeing how the mechanics of those ol machines worked.
Excellent. I love it when I see more Commodore boards saved. Looking forward to the other parts.👍
Just wanted to say thanks for taking the time to share your hobby with us Adrian. I really appreciate it.
Some very good diagnostic tools here, which probably saved you hours.
1/ ZIF Socketed C64
2/ Test Harness.
Time I started getting that gear together.
Thanks Adrian.
Thanks I'm going to put some links to those parts.
Hello again! I commented on another C64 video of yours about me trying to get a C64 with 250425 board. I finally scored a breadbin model , ser. no. P5,3XX,XXX and newer 1541 drive and 1660 modem for less than $150 shipped. I figured it would be a 425! From watching you I first opened it up cleaned out the dust and debris. I tested the outputs of the death brick and got good voltages, (I have an Oscope) plugged it into the 64 and measured 5 and 12 and they are right on... I haven't got a video cable yet but I looked at the video out socket with my oscilloscope and I see the luma and sync pulses, and signals on the other pins, so it may be good! Also ordered heat sinks with peal and stick adhesive tape on them already. It had the metal RF cover with fingers to each chip and all of the big IC's are socketed! I desoldered the bottom RF shield and , as you always, do, pitched it! I'll let you know how I make out! Thanks for the help!
Hopefully it works! Sadly a black screen C64 always outputs a good video signal ... so it's not really much of an indication unless you can see the flashing cursor in the signal on the scope.
@@adriansdigitalbasement My scope doesn't have TV sync capabilities, but I do see the typical vertical sync pulse interval... We'll see when my cable comes. I worked on NTSC systems back in the 80's & 90's at Kodak and I actually built a sync separator circuit for this scope... based on an 1881 sync chip, if I could find it!
You can do shift+run/stop and check for the tape motor to start. Either by connecting a datasette, or if you don't have one my measuring the voltage on the tape motor pin of the datasette connector. If this works, the C64 is very likely in good working condition.
Well it
Looks like I have a black screen! Dang! First step is cleaning all of the sockets and IC pins!!!!
This kind of troubleshooting run-through is fantastic and really, really helpful.
Respect for your good "saving old Computers"-Repair-Job. I love it !
Excellent! Always nice to see 64's saved =D It seems to be a common problem with those SIDs failing that way, I've had a few like that recently where you can barely hear the sound but the pops are really loud.
i can watch your c64 repairs all day long ;) great job
I love your videos so much. I love electronics especially vintage electronics and computers
Man, could have used your skills years ago during my 8-bit heyday. Good job!
I want to give a quick shout out to Nathan Divino and the awesome intro music he made for your channel. When it comes to intros on youtube I pretty much skip all but yours.
The full track is on Nathan's soundcloud. Leave some positive comments- it's like a ghost town there.
soundcloud.com/itsnathandivino/neon
Thank you for the video. Gave me some joy after a rough week.
Thx a lot for this video ... just dug up my commodore machines, and despite the fact they were all working learned a lot and pretty sure I’ll end up with a broken one someday ... great video as always !
I have a box of C64's I picked up on Ebay about 5 years ago, I think I paid $100 for the lot of 8. This video inspired me to get off my butt and see if they're fixable... I was originally just going to strip them for parts, but this video saved them... I think! :)
You, Gadgetuk164 and Janbeta are the Jedi order of c64s repairs
When I get a ram chip that is definitely way to hot, I clip the 5v leg if not socketed to see if the machine will change behavior. It's a very easy way to troubleshoot for additional trouble.
I think you could fix one of those boards in your sleep :-) The joys of diagnostics but a good ending. I have spend days trying to sort out a 486 pc so I do empathise. Fun video. Cheers.
When you do it for the first time, it looks totally overwhelming and you have no idea where to start. But after a while, you a nose for it, and after onlt a few systematic checks on a board, you know where to look for the defect and which parts you should test. Once a part tests as defect, the repair is often quick.
Is there Adrian's Analog Attic?
A pack of shiny new TDK compact cassettes on camera :) So retro..
I don’t know anything about electronics, but watching these videos makes me feel like I do. XD
Yey another repair video.
Love it thanks Mr black
That ZIF socket board is the true workhorse of this channel.
I honestly never knew how useful that machine was going to be when I made it!
Again, your troubleshooting skills and knowledge are great! I have learned so much from you. You make me want to do this myself. I wish I had the time, spare parts and tools to do this. I haven't had a physical C64 in years. I just use emulators these days, but I would really like one.
You really made me worry after that last yoga video. But phew... good intro for this video. You really are the commodore c64 master, these repair video’s never bore me. Keep them coming!
Adrian you are a c64 repair machine! That was a hard and fast video, personally I would be happy if you slow it down a little. Sometimes watching those in between steps makes it a little more immersive.
I think I did something similar with my latest video, cut out what I thought was boring but now it feels too rushed.
Looking forward to part 2
Nice. I always enjoy a C64 repair video.
I really enjoyed this video, I would've love to see you use your other tools to see what exactly those chips were doing.
Here i am watching another Adrian video. Nice Controller.
I envy your skill and your tools; the only thing I have in common is the cheap red sharpie marker * sigh *
Very nice and interesting T&R session! Thanks Adrian!
How nice it is to see when a C64 comes to life.
quite a haul, Its so sad when the SID is broken! still interesting video
Yeah, I feel bad for every broken SID too. At least there are real options like the FPGASID to get at least the functionality back.
Are SIDs particularly sensitive? I remember even back in the day, the SID broken in our family's 64 and we had to replace it.
In my (limited) experience it's rare that a 6526 is so FUBAR that it causes a black screen... Nice repair video as always!
I don't recall running into that particular fault myself either!
Thank you for every single video posted ♥
Thanks, Adrian for posting another C64 repair video. Looking forward for the next one :-)
Great video... really interesting... so what is the best SID replacement?
James Wyld In my opinion, the ARMSid is the best replacement for the price. Pop it right in the socket and you can barely tell it isn’t a real SID. Sounds absolutely amazing, supports the paddle and mouse control, and costs less than a real SID.
wooohooo! Thanks Adrian! That's the engineer's take on Game of Thrones -- I mean Game of Sockets
Made my day when I seen you post another repair video
Awesome! And I have a couple more in the pipeline. :-)
Adrian, What are the chances that you might make a C64 kickstart video? Something with recommendations for people just getting back into the hobby... with absolutely needed purchases, like a replacement PSU, SD2IEC or Pi1541, SCART or other video output options, what fastloader to buy... that sort of stuff?
You should really look into getting some silver sharpies. You can order them on Amazon, and they write really well on those old chips.
That's a great idea. I'm going to order some.
Isn’t that exactly what he’s using in the video?
Leaving important components out, I've been there, spent too long scratching the head only to notice that one part missing, not everyone admits to it either... :P
When you put together an expensive gaming/rendering rig, and then forget to turn on the PSU, and spend two hours checking other stuff.
I remember I had to upgrade CPUs and RAM in a few hundred boxes at work and you had to run a BIOS update first so it would support the new processor. I know at least two early morning ones got the new processor installed before the BIOS update, which meant I had to yank the processor back out, put the old one back, update, then reinstall the new one
Hi Adrian, Great content. Do you have a list of what zif sockets one would need to build a diagnostic board like the one you use? Also, what camera do you use for you new videos. Keep up the good work. I love the content and look forward to trying my hand ad fixing some old systems I have been accumulating.
Good job! :) Get a hundred more boards and check them! I would watch you testing every single one. ;)
thermal fingers are handy :)
Nice one Adrian great blog mate
The dual camera setup works well, good job. Could maybe use a little better lighting on the overhead view though.
CH Products joystick...my favorite. Converted it to Atari style for my computer.
I like to watch your C64 repair videos when I run out of my own broken C64s to repair. It saves me from spending money buying more broken ones :-P
Why do Commodore 64s always have so many problems? It's not just the age, I have several other vintage computers and none of them have any problems. I have two VIC-20s and they both work fine. But every time I see a video about a Commodore 64, they always have a bunch of bad chips.
@@ct6502-c7w I think there are a few things at play. Commodore continually reduced the cost of the C64 as much as possible throughout its life, so corners were cut everywhere they could. At the time 64K of RAM was a lot, so I imagine they bought ram from the lowest bidder every chance they could. Additionally MOS versions of common logic chips seem to fail more often than their more common TI, Fairchild, Signetics, etc parts. Why this is, I'm not entirely sure, but I know for some chips like the PLA had process problems that caused the internal layers of the chips to degrade. Perhaps some of these manufacturing "short cuts" found their way into other chips. C64s with the paper RF shields held in too much heat causing chips to overheat, and pretty much all C64s came with cheap but "good enough to get the job done" power supplies. Quite a few chips get killed by overvoltage by people innocently turning them on to test them out without enough knowledge to check the voltages first or pull sensitive chips. Add all those things up and you have the possibility for a lot of broken C64s. Usually it's not too bad, but when SID chips die, I get very :'( Everything else in the C64 can be replaced in FPGA, but SID chips are irreplaceable.
@@mrb5217 Thanks for replying. I guess that makes sense. It's just so frustrating, I bought a C64 a while back and I still have never been able to get it to work. It's the only computer in my collection that doesn't work.
@@ct6502-c7w You should send it to Adrian do so he can make a repair video about it
What do you think causes chips on these C64 boards to go bad so often? Power supply over-voltage?
ADB is like good quality coffee on a snowy weekend just daydreaming out the window. Don't ask me why I have absolutely no idea, it's like the electro-nerd's whale song.
Would love to see a video of how you would fix a C64 without the option of swapping them into another known working board. Most of us only have one C64 and cannot swap out chips with working ones.
In your elecronic picture frame...Multnomah Falls? Since the computers came from Lincoln City, I assume you are in Oregon?
Amazing video as always 👍🏻❤️
I could watch this stuff for hours. I revived my original C64 after a bad CIA gave it black screen.
ADRIAN'S DIGITAL BASEMENT, what is the name/brand of the SIG replacement chip, you called it a swing SIG?
Of course dual camera are good, better avoid to use the Sony as main camera, it keep crashing.
Hi Adrian, Great video I am sure this has been asked but where can I purchase the Commodore DEVelopment & HomeBrew Cartridge with Port testers?
Oh check out the description. I added some links to the test cartridge and the video where I make the harness. That's an open source project.
Adrian, I am looking for a better oxidation removal solution. The stuff I have now is from MG Chemicals and it also claims to contain a lubricant. The problem I have with it is the odor is overpowering, even in small doses. It has a similar odor to plain old gasoline. A stronger than usual message about using in a well ventilated area is printed on the can. You appear to use DeOxit very liberally with no mention of odor. Is it a little less toxic to be breathing around?
No it doesn't really smell much of anything --- Deoxit D5-6 I use has this formulation: 5% DeoxIT® (active ingredient), 75% odorless mineral spirits (carrier solvent), 20% propellant. It's not a harsh chemical like a lot of the other ones.
@@adriansdigitalbasement Great! Glad to hear it.
Very nice.
Adrian, I'll take all of your dead SID Chips. Happy to pay postage.
Just replaced the SID on my 83 manufactured C64 - I can tell you replacements are not cheap - $50 CAD for mine.
Yeah and I worry that unless the seller is not unscrupulous -- you may likely get a bad chip from Ebay.
SIDs are way expensive. It is a bummer. I bought an ARMSID and it works great including the POTs. Very inexpensive alternative.
These videos are the best! BTW, I have never seen you fixing a shortboard C64, aka the later revisions of C64c. Are those rare where you are?
Of all C64s that fail, I'd estimate that less than 10% is a short board. So yes, they are kind of rare, they are like tanks.
Yeah as Daniel said, short boards don't fail much ... but also I only just encountered a short board for the first time the other day. They are just not that common in the US. By the time the 64C was out, people had moved onto 16bit.
Why don't you like the top RF shielding, but do like the bottom shielding? Seems to me there were both there for a reason, originally.
Oh I remove both -- I didn't mention it but the lower RF shielding and the cage around the VIC-II all get removed and tossed as well. The purpose was simply to meet FCC requirements at the time. C64s in some other markets didn't have any shielding at all...
I want part 2, I want part 2, I want part 2, ... ;-) Greetings, Doc64!
Not to complain, just inform.
The mic sounds generally good, but there is a buzz sound that trails your speaking.
Yeah sadly my camera picks up a 60hz hum when powering it from USB -- and even with noise filtering, you're hearing the hum. It would be all the time if it weren't for noise filtering. I've luckily worked out how to power the camera from a USB power bank so that shouldn't be an issue anymore.
ADB Halftime Show :)
Hi Adrian ! You should really sell appropriate "DeOyx" drinking kits and T-Shirts. If I'd done it this time I'd had problems following to the end ... ;-)
LOL!! It's a great idea, at least the T-Shirt part.
Yaas more C64!
you said Oregon correctly. that deserves a like hahahaha
What do you do with all the c64's you fix? Do you give them to friends sell them or keep them?
Since these were given to me, I don't sell them. Perhaps I'll do a giveaway. Sometimes the boards are friend's boards or boards that just go into stock to help maintain my own 64 machines.
Haha. I love that MSI heat sink.
Haha. From an old motherboard - always good to salvage any usable parts from them. :-)
I've been really burning to ask about it; but.. What's the tiny little screen that makes a cameo appearance in almost all of your videos, displaying seemingly random demo's or programmed routines (I loved that eating Animation, tbh)
Oh it's one of these, the Tivoo Pixel Art Display: www.amazon.com/Pixel-Art-Bluetooth-Speaker-Programmable/dp/B07FMJFCDJ
Weird. They seem to have a heat sink pad for the 12V regulator, but it's not bolted down? That seems like a way to cook the regulator.
Yeah it's the same on all C64s... Strange right?
When did you get the Hakko and what size tip are you using? -Mark.
Are there alternate 6526 replacements available for the C64?
Not really! There are ones from the Amiga (8502 I think they are called) and then mostly work -- but the clock functionality in the Amiga one is different and incompatible. Anything that uses those timers or clock may not work right.
What do you do with all these C64s?
Thank You.
Do you ever work on TI-99/4a’s?
Hot ram chip could also be yanking the 5v line down.
What’s a guy gotta do to get a sponsorship from Deoxit?
What do you do with these boards after you repair them?
I want to ask you about the voltage regulators. I recently measured one of mine and the 7812 showed something like 15 volts (it's an PAL board) and after chatting with Jan Beta he told me that the 7812 needs to go. Are those voltage regulators like an ticking timebombs never knowing when they go bad and by so doing they can kill both the VIC and SID chips: Any idea why those seem to be failing?
They are ticking time-bombs. The one in the power supply has a high chance to explode and immedeate action needs to be taken if you encounter an original C64 power supply. The regulators inside the C64 are also ticking timebombs, but they rarely break. Therefore measuring the voltages on a board is sufficient, preventive replacement is not really needed.
If you measure 15V though, act immedeately and replace it before applying power again. Linear power regulators fail because they produce a lot of heat that is bad for the electronics inside it.
wonder what's special about the micron ram on the 64, I have had a pile of apple II's and atari's and some euro machines using them and never replaced them
If I see 64k Micro RAM I basically just assume it's bad. My Apple IIc repair video had two bad MT RAM chips as well .. and I have a ton of them I've pulled from 64 boards.
I've had bad luck with mt ram as well, but if it is an issue with both the c64 and apple iic, perhaps it has something to do with the lack of air flow in both machines... maybe the mt ram is more susceptible to death by higher temps. Who knows...
Ray Carlsen also mentions the Mt chips being notorious on his c64 repair site so check him out :)
One of the first.
Are you going to build full C64s with these when you're done, or have them as known working boards if you get a system with a totally dead board?
The problem now is a shortage of cases and keyboards to do that, but at least he's got backup boards as chips die.
@@brianv2871 Well there's a reproduction case you can buy (C64C style), and keyboards as well, I believe. But yeah, spare mobos is good too.
@@thedungeondelver yeah, there is, but last i checked, the cost of those were a bit crazy... you could still buy an entire c64 locally for less.
@@brianv2871 Granted, they ain't cheap! If he knew someone who really wanted a C64 and couldn't source one any other way, though, at least he could start them on the journey with the motherboard and they could get the case and keyboard. But I see where you're coming from for sure.
C64 Repairathon 2: Electric Boogaloo
what do you do with all those repaired boards?
Do you eventually sell the C64s you rehab?
Nah since these were given to me -- perhaps I'll do a giveaway. Sometimes the boards are friend's boards or boards that just go into stock to help maintain my own 64 machines. :-)
What is a good ram replacement? I have board with memory errors and bought some MT ram but have since seen that this brand of ram has a high failure rate.
I think any 64k DRAM is fine -- MT isn't always bad. Just don't install it into the motherboard without a socket so you can quickly swap it out to test in the future.
Thank you for this