Most liked posts in thread: Commodore C16 Repair

Sweet, case looks in good condition.

 

Always great to hear a success story, you have great times with it..

 

Yep, the little crt is so key to reliving the experience, the notion of blowing up already pixelated graphics just makes it feel false (for me). I rarely use a full screen on my 27" monitor when looking at the C64 or Atari, I use the crt emulation on Altirra or soft screen on the C64, it just looks right. I was given a Sophia 2 (which seems to have died) and I looked at my XL on the monitor in pin sharp graphics. Yes it was super clean and not an artifact in sight, but it looked odd to me. It would be like ZX80 emulation without that little screen roll at the beginning.

My real machines do go into a 14inch monitor, the comp signal is a little (very little) bit cleaner but it looks right. Right size and right aspect.

As for Richies sterling work on his machines, amazing stuff. I was the same a while back, sadly hand tremors and pain mean I rarely touch a soldering iron, solder splatter from a hand twitch could lead to a dead machine. So it's really nice to see a man after my own heart, looking after and upgrading our little man toys, he puts so much effort into it, massive set of clapping for that.

Applause for a fellow tinkerer, his exploits are a master class in making good an old machine and actually knowing a great deal about the machines..Nice one mate. Credit where credit is due.

Careful tho, all this good work and you will have Andy sending you another duff Oric to look at. Personally, I always thought the duff state was just how they were.

 

To be fair, none of the 8 bit versions of Turbo Outrun were much good. I seem to remember the C64 version was done by Chris Butler, he was the go-to guy for 3d versions (Thunder Blade etc) and it was dire. Glad the old C16 was doing good stuff.

On a nice note, I have a new toy coming thanks to a quick sale of sommit. The new toy is a WiiU, got it for a nice price and even got a fiver knocked off. I have a Wii and always wanted a WiiU and a PS3, Well the WiiU itch has been scratched. The machine itself does not have a huge catalogue, but the stuff I like is on it, and best of all, its jail breakable too

Even got 2 real games for it as well..

 

I have the Uncharted trilogy on the PS4, but yes stuff like that is my thing, Arcady racers. BUT those titles you mentioned are more than enough, thank you..

As always, no rush, as and when it can go..As a fellow pain sufferer, I appreciate you don't need the hassle. So take it easy, please.

Meant to ask, did you fire up the Expert cartridge? I only ask as being a machine code monitor, I know it would be right up your street. I never did use it when I got that one you now have. I was more thrilled with all the old averts

Will understand if its a not yet, I did sort of overload you in a good way

And that's my last real itch scratched, I still would like to find an 400Mini at a sane price, but as its just to look at, it can wait. The PS3 was my real goal. So thank you..

 

Yep, all done..Again, thank you.

The Expert was my first cart monitor for the C64, and yes, it's more clunky than the AR6. I sort of got used to it but got an AR as soon as they came out. It's just that you rarely see them sold and I got it at a very good price. The adverts in the box are just mega fun..

 

Here is the memory upgrade all the way from Hungary..

 

PS3 here 2mozz according to RM text....Nice...

There's no stopping the mod master called Richie..Is there any software that uses the extra?

 

Yeah now I can access all these homebrew games for the system and demos. I picked up a 1531 cassette drive off feeBay for £12 a week ago. It was faulty so sold as seen. It was reported as totally dead, so opened it up and lo and behold the 5v wire to the motor was separated from the terminal. Once soldered it worked but the belt was very slack and couldn’t turn a cassette tape. New belt fitted and now works fine.
So now have C16 and 1531. I would like to get a 1551 disk drive at some point as well and I need to get a C16/+4 Joystick as well but that will happen when it happens I guess.

 

You have been very lucky with the dead machines, not stunned, the belt was duff. Over time, the rubber goes brittle, usually the first time you use it, it snaps. A loose 5V wire, handy..

Might see if anyone does replacement on off buttons for the PS3, seems that some PS3 need to go into safe mode before they can be exploited, for that, the on / off must be directly pressed and held.

Will have a look around, not planning on modding the PS3 and WiiU straight away. Going to have some fun first and then do the deed.

 

I quite enjoy fixing stuff so I’m not too phased by stuff not working on arrival. Doing the research and diagnostic work is very satisfying when you have a working system at the end.
That being said CBM machines are a bit more tricky due to the custom chips that were until recently only available from other machines. This C16 has the TED and the 8510 CPU, it seems really hard to get a 8510 these days where TEDs are a bit easier to find.
The Atari’s have a similar problem with custom chips but they seem a bit more robust. Commodores silicon seems more flaky.

 

Yeah, Commodore, always known for cheapest, often batch failed use of chips. I heard the stories of buying batches where the percentage of failures was too high, so Commodore brought them cheap and used what seemed to work. Even if its an urban myth, the fact is Commodore gear has always had a high failure rate.

 

Lock up yet women and ram chips lol

Ended up I played C16 games for a good hour last night on the emulator. Still prefer it to the C64!

 

64 is my preferred machine of the 3 but the 264 series are good little machines. Right kit at the wrong time, I guess.

 

That's a great question Paul and one I was thinking about the other day. My favourite 8bit console is the 7800, Megadrive for 16-bits, but overall console would have to be the PS/2 I think just for the sheer variety of racing games on it.

Computer wise it's alwasy going to be the 800XL as it was my first home computer and I still get a lot of enjoyment from it. The ST is my favourite 16-bit computer but If I had to choose one machine between it and the Amiga, then I'd keep the Amiga as I use that for Playing Sensi, Kick Off and Arcade Pool.

Handheld it has to be the PSP. A great machine with some excellent games and some of my favourite racers like Sega Rally, Ridge Racer and Outrun.

Of course, like yourself, thanks to the wonders of the PC I can emulate the majority of systems

 

I should say that I am prone to straying from my faves, might be the Snes one week and then the PSX the next, not so much with the computers. I owe the 800XL a LOT, it paid me and gave me many legs up in the industry. The Amiga too

 

I think my favourite console is a split between the PC Engine and Sega Dreamcast overall. Computers are trickier, all the computers I own have something going for them. If I was put on the spot I would go for my C128. It plays C64 software, has a great version of BASIC, built-in sprite designer and machine code monitor.
I will always have a soft spot for my Oric’s as well.

 

How could I have forgotten about the PC Engine? Brilliant little console with some of the best arcade conversions available.

Back on track, Forgotten Worlds still have a Commodore 16 for sale with datacorder and a few cassettes for £100. Talk about tempting but Richie's (mega)C16 is much nicer looking!

 

Bringing this topic back full circle, I managed to prise the C16 from Richie on my recent trip across the border. It's a lovely machine and today an SD2IEC drive arrived for it Already tried it out and loaded up a couple of games, enjoying it so far.

Thanks again for giving me first dibs on the C16 Richie, you can be assured it is now in a loving new home and will get plenty of usage!

 

Impossible. I only advertised it on Facebook

Have it plugged into an LCD tv at the moment but going to bring a 14" crt out of storage tonight and set it up for that.

The SD2IEC is a nice little SD drive solution as well. Only cost £25 off EBay and I was up and running in minutes with it.

 

Nice one...At the mo I have machines and real games all over the bedroom, might be passing on some of the games as they are taking up so much space. Tis the joy of those cheap little SD type devices that make for so much free space.

There's game's I'll always hold on to, but there's a lot of so so stuff that others might find fun.

 

That's a pity Richie, it would have been hoping for too much to have it arrive all working after getting the Dragon that way.

TED seems to be a regular fault in the C16 and Plus/4 but with your skills I'm sure you will have it up and running soon enough no matter if it's a dodgy TED or a knackered CPU.

Look forward to seeing the pictures, it's hard to get a nice condition C16 these days, they all seem to have been battered about a bit.

 

Turns out it was the TED chip after all and not the CPU. I have Heatsinked the 8501 and TED to try and keep them cooler. I will probably get another TED as a spare next month and have replacements for the 8501 and PLA ready as well, If and when the current chips fail. I guess you can tell that for now the C16 is staying here. I will stick some photos up showing it and it working later.

 

That's excellent mate, good result. Are you going to get an SD card reader for it?

 

They're nice machines Paul. I prefer them to the C64 because of the more colourful palette. Even if they don't have a SID for sound.