Thanks to my friend Andry for the donation of a few Software on tape.

Thomson MO5/TO7/TO9:

• Histoire de France (M.P.S.)
• Pays du Monde (Infogrames)

Vtech Laser 310:

• DemostrationsBand (Vtech)

Dragon 32:

• Backgammon (Oasis Software)
• Invader Cube (Oasis Software)

Sharp MZ-700:

• Anthill Raider (Solo Software)
• Flipper 700 (Tecnomec)
• Advoka.
• Head Driver.
• Egg Bas.
• Account Management.
• Address Data.

Timex Sinclair 1000:

• Backgammon.

Radio Shack TRS-80:

• Some tapes of not original software.

For this donation i thank: Andrea C. from Trieste.

The Sharp PC-1360 is a small pocket computer manufactured by Sharp. it can also be considered as an electronic calculator.

The PC-1360 was introduced in 1987 and was used by engineers, and favored by programmers for its decent programming and graphical capabilities. It was the top model of the (very small, only two models) 13XX series. It has a LCD display with four lines, also the SC61860 CPU, two RAM extension slot which work with the cynox RAM cards, a 15 pin serial interface and also a powerful BASIC. This is the best models for graphic applications.

Gallery:

source: computinghistory.org.uk

I have repaired the Sharp Twin Famicom AN-500R for a dear friend.

Sharp Twin Famicom AN-500R Repair.

Defects:

• Black screen.
• Distorted sound.

Fix:

• Cold solder joints.
• Cleaning the volume slider on the second Joypad.

The microphone is mixed into the output signal, if the contacts of the volume slider are dirty you hear a background noise which disturbs the in game audio.

Gallery:

Gallery:

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The Sharp MZ-2500 (SuperMZ) series was launched on the Japan market in 1985, the computers in this series all used a Z80B processor running at 6MHz. They included a data recorder and at least one 3.5 internal floppy disk drive, as well as a YM2203 FM sound chip, hardware scrolling, and a palette of 256 colors (upgradable to 4096) and it takes from 2 to 8 seconds to define P.C.G (user generated characters, similar to sprites).

This makes them among the most powerful 8-bit machines ever released for home use. Some models are also compatible with the MZ-80B and MZ-2000.

Sharp MZ-2500 (SuperMZ) Advertising:

Sharp MZ-2500 (SuperMZ) RGB cable pinout:

This cable provides an RGB video signal from a Sharp MZ-2500 to a SCART television set, which is the highest quality signal achievable from your Sharp MZ-2500.

I thank Fabio Bovelacci (Frater Sinister) for the donation.

Donated item:

• Commodore Amiga 500 with PSU, Mouse, Manual.
• GVP HC+8 Series II for Amiga 2000/3000/4000.
• Compatible 512k Memory Expansion for Commodore Amiga 500
• Psion Organiser II with Serial Cable.
• Sharp – EL-6200 Organiser
• Motorola FPU 68882RC50 50MHZ

Autopsy:

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This computer/console in good cosmetic condition is arrived for a repair from a friend a few weeks ago. The defect is The Black Screen of Death, the computer turns on but doesn’t turn off, the standby LED remains faint green.

Unfortunately after several hours spent to trying the fault and i have tried just everything, the computer is still dead, my suspicion falls on the Custom Chip “SCOTCH” IX 1267CE from Sharp.

Components that have been tested and replaced:

• Tested all capacitors.
• Tested all transistors.
• Tested all SMD fuses.
• Test all the Coils.
• Tested all voltages.
• Replaced 74LS08 ic that controls the logic of power on/standby.
• Replaced 74LS244 ic that controls the logic of power on/standby.
• Replaced the power supply.

Download: Sharp X68000 Schematics (1598)

from Wikipedia:

The Sharp X68000, often referred to as the X68k, is a home computer released only in Japan by the Sharp Corporation. The first model was released in 1987, with a 10 MHz Motorola 68000 CPU (hence the name), 1 MB of RAM and no hard drive; the last model was released in 1993 with a 25 MHz Motorola 68030 CPU, 4 MB of RAM and optional 80 MB SCSI hard drive. RAM in these systems is expandable to 12 MB, though most games and applications did not require more than two.

The X68k ran an operating system developed for Sharp by Hudson Soft, called Human68k, which features commands very similar to those in MS-DOS (typed in English). Pre-2.0 versions of the OS had command line output only for common utilities like “format” and “switch”, while later versions included forms-based versions of these utilities, greatly improving their usability. At least three major versions of the OS were released, with several updates in between. Other operating systems available include NetBSD for X68030 and OS-9.

Early models had a GUI called “VS” (Visual Shell); later ones were packaged with SX-WINDOW. A third GUI called Ko-Windows existed; its interface is similar to Motif. These GUI shells could be booted from floppy disk or the system’s hard drive. Most games also booted and ran from floppy disk; some were hard disk installable and others require hard disk installation.

Since the system’s release, Human68k, console, and SX-Window C compiler suites and BIOS ROMs have been released as public domain and are freely available for download.

Early machines use the rare Shugart Associates System Interface (SASI) for the hard disk interface; later versions adopted the industry-standard small computer system interface (SCSI). Per the hardware’s capability, formatted SASI drives can be 10, 20 or 30 MB in size and can be logically partitioned as well. Floppy disks came in a couple of different formats, none of which are natively readable on other platforms, although software exists that can read and write these disks on a DOS or Windows 98 PC.

source: wikipedia

How to write the .DSK files to Floppy Disk for the Sharp MZ-80B ?

The answer is quite simple, first of all there you need an old computer with harddisk with installed the operating system DOS/FreeDOS and a Floppy Drive 5¼. The tool to use is the CPDWrite (Copy Protected Disk Writer) v1.03 and some floppy disk image in .DSK format for the Sharp MZ-80B.

Below you can download the archive containing many floppy disk in .DSK format and the utility to write files on Floppy Disk.

The original archive was downloaded from this web page, but unfortunately the only one floppy disk that seemed to be more interesting ‘DISK15.DSK’ containing the games for this computer was corrupted. I found the problem and i have fixed with the use of a hex editor, the fixed version was included in the archive.

Download:

• CPDWrite v1.03 (1363)
• MZ-80B (DSK) Floppy Images (1389)

Autopsy:

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from Wikipedia:

The Sharp MZ is a series of personal computers sold in Japan and Europe (particularly Germany and Great Britain) by Sharp beginning in 1978.

Although commonly believed to stand for “Microcomputer Z80″, the term MZ actually has its roots in the MZ-40K, a home computer kit produced by Sharp in 1978 which was based on Fujitsu’s 4-bit MB8843 processor and provided a simple hexadecimal keypad for input. This was soon followed by the MZ-80K, K2, C, and K2E, all of which were based on 8-bit LH0080A Sharp CPU (compatible to Zilog Z80A) with an alphanumeric keyboard.

From the first Z80 processor-based model to the MZ-2200 in 1983, the MZ computers included the PC, monitor, keyboard, and tape-based recorder in a single unit, similar to Commodore’s PET series. It was also notable for not including a programming language or operating system in ROM, like the IBM PC. This allowed a host of third-party companies, starting with Hudson Soft, to produce many languages and OSes for the system. In an era when floppy disk drives were too expensive for most home users, the MZ’s built-in tape drive was considered faster and more reliable than the drive on competing computers; however, this meant that the MZ series was relatively slow to adopt floppy drives as a standard accessory.

The MZ series is divided into several lines, including the text-based MZ-80K series, the graphics-based MZ-80B series, and the MZ-3500/5500 series, based on a completely different architecture. In 1982, Sharp’s television division released the X1, a completely new computer. The X series proved to outsell Sharp’s own MZ series, and in response, Sharp released the MZ-1500/2500 machines, which featured powered-up graphics and sound capabilities. However, this series saw little marketplace success, and eventually the company abandoned the line in favor of the X68000 series.

The MZ name lives on as the initials of two of Sharp’s most well-known products: the Mebius line of PCs, and the Zaurus line of personal digital assistants.

Sharp MZ-80B Loading Basic from Disk Drive CE 510:

source: wikipedia

We must always remember to remove the filter capacitor RIFA before turning on a computer off for over 30 years. Otherwise it might happen that you can see from the photos and the video.

This time is my fault because i had completely forgotten.

The Magic Smoke of a RIFA capacitor:

Autopsy:

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I have repaired the PSU with the failure of stanby mode of the Sharp X68000 (gray version). The failure was caused by two electrolytic capacitors and the voltage regulator 7805 in short circuit.

I have also tried to repair the external case of the Sharp X68000 (gray version) that during the first transport in Italy many years ago was destroyed.

from Wikipedia:

The Sharp X68000, often referred to as the X68k, is a home computer released only in Japan by the Sharp Corporation. The first model was released in 1987, with a 10 MHz Motorola 68000 CPU (hence the name), 1 MB of RAM and no hard drive; the last model was released in 1993 with a 25 MHz Motorola 68030 CPU, 4 MB of RAM and optional 80 MB SCSI hard drive. RAM in these systems is expandable to 12 MB, though most games and applications did not require more than two.

The X68k ran an operating system developed for Sharp by Hudson Soft, called Human68k, which features commands very similar to those in MS-DOS (typed in English). Pre-2.0 versions of the OS had command line output only for common utilities like “format” and “switch”, while later versions included forms-based versions of these utilities, greatly improving their usability. At least three major versions of the OS were released, with several updates in between. Other operating systems available include NetBSD for X68030 and OS-9.

Early models had a GUI called “VS” (Visual Shell); later ones were packaged with SX-WINDOW. A third GUI called Ko-Windows existed; its interface is similar to Motif. These GUI shells could be booted from floppy disk or the system’s hard drive. Most games also booted and ran from floppy disk; some were hard disk installable and others require hard disk installation.

Since the system’s release, Human68k, console, and SX-Window C compiler suites and BIOS ROMs have been released as public domain and are freely available for download.

Early machines use the rare Shugart Associates System Interface (SASI) for the hard disk interface; later versions adopted the industry-standard small computer system interface (SCSI). Per the hardware’s capability, formatted SASI drives can be 10, 20 or 30 MB in size and can be logically partitioned as well. Floppy disks came in a couple of different formats, none of which are natively readable on other platforms, although software exists that can read and write these disks on a DOS or Windows 98 PC.

source: wikipedia

Autopsy:

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I have built a cable from 6-DIN to VGA to use this computer with a Monitor VGA Multisync (15khz)

from Wikipedia:

The X1 is a series of home computer released by Sharp Corporation from 1982 to 1988. It was based on a Z80 CPU.

Despite the fact that the Computer Division of Sharp Corporation had released the MZ series, suddenly the Television Division released a new computer series called the X1. At the time the original X1 was released, all other home computers generally had a BASIC language in ROM. However the X1 did not have a BASIC ROM, and it had to load the Hu-BASIC interpreter from a cassette tape. On the plus side however, this concept meant that a free RAM area was available that was as big as possible when not using BASIC. This policy was originally copied from the Sharp MZ series, and they were called clean computers in Japan. The cabinet shape of X1 was also much more stylish than others at that time and a range of cabinet colors (including Red) was selectable.

The RGB display monitor for the X1 had a television tuner, and a computer screen could be super-imposed on TV. All the TV functions could be controlled from a computer program. The character font was completely programmable (A.K.A. PCG) with 4bit color, and it was effectively used into a lot of games. The entirety of the VRAM memory was mapped on to the I/O area, so it was controlled without bank change. Since X1 had these features, it was very powerful for game software.

While X1 was struggling to sell, the PC8801 (from NEC) was quickly becoming popular in the Japanese market. In 1984, Sharp released the X1 turbo series with high resolution graphics (640×400, while X1 had 640×200). It had a lot of improvements, but the clock speed was still only 4 MHz. In 1986, Sharp released the X1 turbo Z series with a 4096 color analog RGB monitor. An X1 twin, which had a PC-Engine in the cabinet, was finally released as the last machine of the X1 series in 1987. Then this series was succeeded by the X68000 series.

Sharp continues to sell desktop PC/TV combos in Japan through its Internet Aquos line, where an X1-style red color scheme is available.

Download: Sharp X1 (CZ-812CR) Rom (1400)

source: wikipedia

Autopsy:

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Donated By: Andrea Pierdomenico

Mini Floppy Disk Drive for the Sharp PC-5000 (compatible MZ-800 through the interface MZ-1E05)

The Sharp Mini Floppy Disk Drive CE-510F is a double-density, double-sided 5 1/4 unit with a capacity of 320K per disk. The drive, of course, must be operated with AC power and is not portable.

The Sharp MZ-1E05 Interface is a Floppy Disk Card for MZ-700/MZ-800.

Download:

• Sharp MZ-1E05 Service Manual (1740)

Sharp MZ-800 Booting Disk Basic from Floppy Disk Drive:

Have been replaced 4 tantalum capacitors short-circuited with 4 electrolytic capacitors. The computer has been tested and works perfectly.

I was very lucky in this repair, the fault is a broken belt that is used for the operation of the Floppy “Quick Disk”.

?hd=1

Autopsy:

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Thanks go to Andrea Pierdomenico for sending these two things in perfect condition and ‘seems’ never used.

from SharpMz.org:

The Quick Disk drive in terms of cost is was a more practical proposition for the home user. The drive is built into the computer for the MZ-700 and MZ-800 in place of the data recorder.

The Quick Disk allows you to load 64K of sequential data in 8 seconds, which is a vast improvement in performance compared to cassette tapes. However, the Quick Disk operates in a very similar way to cassette tapes in that data has to be accessed sequentially, rather than at random as is possible with the floppy drives.

A special Quick BASIC is supplied. However, perhaps the most interesting way of using the Quick Disk would be as a back-up store to the RAM file card, described in the next section, as this configuration would give a very effective system which was rapid in use, at reasonable cost.

source: sharpmz.org