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#8bit

12 posts12 participants0 posts today
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Charlie Balogh

Commodore 116 keypad repair:

First I tried to use this black goo called Keypad™️ Fix, but it didn't work. In fact, it made things worse. Maybe I did it wrong, but I tried twice, no success. So instead, I used a 3mm wide self-adhesive copper strip to try to make a new contact surface on the pads. It was a nuisance to apply, it's ugly, and who knows how long it will last, but finally one can type without being too annoyed.

I take it as a win.

KeyPad-Fix "black goo" for keypad repair in its original package.
Keypad Fix being applied to the C116 keyboard pads.
Self adhesive copper strips applied to the keypads instead.
Keyboard in test with the copper strips. The machine is all assembled, and working.
#commodore#retrocomputing#8bit
Public
ITs History!
The #Atari 1200XL was a 8bit #homecomputer running a #MOS 6502 #CPU at 1.79 MHz. When this beautiful machine was launched in 1983 with 64Kb RAM the price was under thousand dollars, but... https://youtu.be/JyA5tA5mmYY

$omehow, in the #8bitwar the #C64 was much more popular even when specs been almost the same. The difference in #BASIC language was less significant for the success. Most likely that competition was won by #Commodore because Jack Tramiel took the advice of his grandfather so serious.
https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/22449/Atari-1200XL/

#retrocomputer #vector #graphics #vintage #Atari1200XL #8bit #computer #vectorgraphics #svgART #svg #cgi #art #illustration made by #gfkDSGN with #GPL #Inkscape and #FreeSoftware instead of #Adobe #Illustrator #Ai #SaaS #BS
Atari 1200XL retro computers revisited in a series of digital vector lithography
#bs
Public
Charlie Balogh

More "extremely exciting" Commodore 116 keyboard work:

Instead of fixing the broken keypads, I decided to replace a part that I just couldn't stand looking at, but otherwise worked - the very dirty and butcher-soldered keyboard cable. But apart from the eye sore, I also wanted to make the keyboard detachable again. Perfect excuse.

So here we go. A pair of Adafruit pitch adapters, a flat flex cable, some soldering. Looks better, and it's working.

The previous hacked-up keyboard ribbon cable still attached to the keyboard PCB, and the mainboard, and the parts of the new adapters and cable laid out on the desk.
The new adapters assembled and connected, also soldered to the keyboard PCB. Also above i lays the old cable and the butchered original keyboard flat-cable socket on the mainboard, that the ribbon cable was attached to, for comparison.
The new adapter is now soldered to the mainboard as well, and the two ends are connected via the new flat flex cable.
Keyboard test of the Diag264 running, showing all keys are functional at least on the circuit level. A small piece of foil was used to connect the contacts, not the rubber pads yet. Below that, the mostly disassembled C116 under test.
#commodore#retrocomputing#c116
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Public
Charlie Balogh

Commodore 116 keyboard repair and modding in progress. 😨

Step 1:
Drilling the plastic rivets, and making tiny screw holes in the case, using a 1.4mm drill bit. The drill stop is set up in a way, that one can't drill through the plastic.

Step 2:
"It's cheaply built keyboard smoke! Don't breath this!"

Step 3:
Using 22 tiny M1.7x4mm screws in place of the rivets. The keyboard can be freely dis- and reassembled now.

The Dremel-based drilling setup and the C116 on the workbench.
Drilling the case plastic rivets out via the keyboard PCB for alignment, and creating screw holes. (Reenactment. It's recommended to hold the piece down with the other hand instead.)
Cheap keyboard "smoke" or rather, very fine chips and dust, as result of the drilling process. SanDisk USB thumb drive for scale.
22 tiny M1.7x4 screws got installed and thus the keyboard got converted to one that can be disassembled in the future.
#commodore#retrocomputing#8bit
Public *
sverx🗨️

Did you ever dream to write your own videogame for the #SEGA #MasterSystem? 😲

xfixium has released a *complete* #video #tutorial: "Make Your Own Game with #devkitSMS" where he creates a Ms. Pac-Man clone using the #C language! 😍

The whole series is here: youtube.com/watch?v=9jGkoHX3BS and you also can download the ROM (for free) here: smspower.org/Homebrew/MsPacMan , with the whole source code freely available here: github.com/xfixium/SMS-Ms-Pac- 😁

Screenshot of xfixium's port of Ms. Pac-Man for the SEGA Master System
Screenshot of xfixium's port of Ms. Pac-Man for the SEGA Master System
#retrocomputing#retro#videogames
Continued thread
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Charlie Balogh

Commodore 116 "project" update:

During the week, a new-to-me TED, an 8501 CPU, and a PLA arrived from evilBay. All of them new-old-stock, allegedly. They're in a good external condition, no signs of previous use on the pins, so probably true. I want to believe. 😅 But more importantly, they do actually work.

Now onto the difficult part - the keyboard repair.

The three most important and unique chips from a C= 264 series computer: an 8360R2 TED, an 8501 CPU and a 251641-02 PLA next to each-other on a white surface.
The three chips from the previous photo, inserted into their respective sockets on the C116 mainboard.
First fire up to test the chips. BASIC V3.5 boot screen appears w/o issues.
Second test - Diag 264 cartridge running - with the TED color bars test show. The system now passes with flying colors, minus the keyboard.
#commodore#retrocomputing#c116
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